Today I am thankful for the health of my family.
I am thankful that I've had Anthony's eczema under control for months now and I have a very good regimine for flare-ups.
We all had colds in the last two weeks and we were able to get rid of them with no doctor visits, no ear infections and no medicine. Some eucalyptus oil, honey, cinnamon, extra Vitamin D and C, lots of healthy foods, and vaporizers and we're good to go. Oh, and we can't forget the handy snot suckers as my husband likes to call them. I caught Anna sucking Mickey Mouse's nose out today...
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Truth
(I will preface this by saying I had many opportunities to write about being thankful today. But I couldn't. I wasn't feeling thankful for a country with a leader whose agenda seems to be completely anti-Catholic. I was nervous about the election and fearful of another 4 years under Obama. That being said, I realized that in the end, there is something far greater that I am truly thankful for)
I am thankful for the Truth.
And I don't mean truth, you know, whatever people decide to believe to suit their own purposes.
I mean the Truth that Christ taught us.
That every human being deserves respect. Every life deserves to be lived.
Marriage is a holy union between a man and a woman.
Sex is procreative and unitive and the two cannot be divided.
God is the creator of all things.
I am thankful for a Church that guides its members to the Truth of Christ. I am thankful for the Pope and the Bishops who stand up for this Truth. And I am thankful for the many members of the Body of Christ who will continue to fight for Truth.
So regardless of the man who stands in office and his own personal agenda, the Truth will set us free. And the Church will not fall.
Christ will always win. Truth will always win.
I am thankful that my parents raised me in the Church that Christ founded and that I can raise my children to understand the Truth that Christ taught us and still teaches us today.
And while I fear for our religious freedom with four more years under Obama's rule, I can have faith that in the end, Thy Will be Done.
I am thankful for the Truth.
And I don't mean truth, you know, whatever people decide to believe to suit their own purposes.
I mean the Truth that Christ taught us.
That every human being deserves respect. Every life deserves to be lived.
Marriage is a holy union between a man and a woman.
Sex is procreative and unitive and the two cannot be divided.
God is the creator of all things.
I am thankful for a Church that guides its members to the Truth of Christ. I am thankful for the Pope and the Bishops who stand up for this Truth. And I am thankful for the many members of the Body of Christ who will continue to fight for Truth.
So regardless of the man who stands in office and his own personal agenda, the Truth will set us free. And the Church will not fall.
Christ will always win. Truth will always win.
I am thankful that my parents raised me in the Church that Christ founded and that I can raise my children to understand the Truth that Christ taught us and still teaches us today.
And while I fear for our religious freedom with four more years under Obama's rule, I can have faith that in the end, Thy Will be Done.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Caseworkers
Today I am thankful for the caseworkers in all areas of adoption.
Most specifically, our caseworker. We have gotten to know our caseworker very well over the last 3 years. When we started the adoption process, we were more than a little apprehensive. She calmed all of our fears.
She is kind, gentle, loving, and incredibly helpful. She has been doing this a long time and knows the ins and outs of adoptions and foster care.
She was here at our house today for our 6 month re-licensing monitoring. And she was here to talk about our upcoming AWC process. She just puts our minds at ease. She's always willing to answer questions. She loves working with us and we love working with her.
It takes someone special to be able to work as an adoption worker. We've interacted with many of the different caseworkers in our agency and they're all very special people. They care so much about their work. Their hours are often crazy and their workloads are heavy. And yet they do their job because they care. The children are their priority and that is exactly how it should be.
I am so thankful for all those out there who put some of our most vulnerable children as their first priority.
Most specifically, our caseworker. We have gotten to know our caseworker very well over the last 3 years. When we started the adoption process, we were more than a little apprehensive. She calmed all of our fears.
She is kind, gentle, loving, and incredibly helpful. She has been doing this a long time and knows the ins and outs of adoptions and foster care.
She was here at our house today for our 6 month re-licensing monitoring. And she was here to talk about our upcoming AWC process. She just puts our minds at ease. She's always willing to answer questions. She loves working with us and we love working with her.
It takes someone special to be able to work as an adoption worker. We've interacted with many of the different caseworkers in our agency and they're all very special people. They care so much about their work. Their hours are often crazy and their workloads are heavy. And yet they do their job because they care. The children are their priority and that is exactly how it should be.
I am so thankful for all those out there who put some of our most vulnerable children as their first priority.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Sunday
Today I am thankful for Sunday dinners.
Every Sunday, my family meets for 9am Mass. We take up an entire pew with my parents, my sister and BIL, and our little family. When my little sister is home from school, she sits with us as well.
And each Sunday, after Mass, we head to the parish hall for donuts. Anna eats her donuts with grandma and then goes and plays with her friends. We stay and chat as long as we want.
Then we head to my parents and my mom has always fixed something delicious. We always eat too much. Anna has now learned the art of eating chips and dip with my family. We are extremely efficient when it comes to dip eating and Anna now takes her place among the women.
Sundays are a time for faith, fellowship and family. We are so thankful that both of our families live in town and we get to see them often. And we're thankful that Anna and Anthony get plenty of time with their cousin.
Every Sunday, my family meets for 9am Mass. We take up an entire pew with my parents, my sister and BIL, and our little family. When my little sister is home from school, she sits with us as well.
And each Sunday, after Mass, we head to the parish hall for donuts. Anna eats her donuts with grandma and then goes and plays with her friends. We stay and chat as long as we want.
Then we head to my parents and my mom has always fixed something delicious. We always eat too much. Anna has now learned the art of eating chips and dip with my family. We are extremely efficient when it comes to dip eating and Anna now takes her place among the women.
Sundays are a time for faith, fellowship and family. We are so thankful that both of our families live in town and we get to see them often. And we're thankful that Anna and Anthony get plenty of time with their cousin.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
My beautiful babies
Today and every day, I am thankful for my two beautiful children.
I cannot even accurately describe how thankful I am for these two bundles of energy. Through years of infertility, these are the babies we longed for. Through all of our adoption paperwork, these are the babies we hoped to bring home. Through our adoption fallthrough, we had hope that one day, we'd bring children into our home.
When we first got our phone call about Anna, I just remember dropping to my knees and saying thank you. I didn't know what else to do. It's humbling, to have a baby dropped in your lap. I did nothing to deserve the wonderfulness that is Anna. She is an absolute joy and has been from day 1. She was the perfect baby, always happy, fantastic sleeper, super snuggly, loveable, cuddly, beautiful, and most importantly, ours. I am thankful for her each and every day. She breathed life into our home and has continued to do so each and every day since. She is our entertainment and often times our challenge.
When we got the phone call about Anthony, all I could think was, is this really happening to me? Am I really going to have two beautiful babies, a boy and a girl, and in just 13 months? And again, I dropped to my knees in thankfulness. And I prayed that this adoption would work out and that we'd get to bring Anna's brother home. And we did. And he has been the best son I could have ever asked for. He is such a happy child. He's always quick to give us a smile. He brightens the day of everyone around us. We often hear in daily Mass (after Anthony's spent the entire 30 minutes saying "bababababa" and blowing raspberries) that he absolutely made their day. He just has something about him that is infectious happiness. You can't look at him and not keep smiling. He's such a special little boy and I am so thankful that I am his mother and that I get to see his shining face each and every day.
What a blessing it is to be a mother. And to be a mother to such wonderful babies. I am so thankful for their adoptions and their stories.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Friday Quick Takes (36)
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Gratitude: Day 2
Today I am thankful for the chance to be able to stay home with my kids. It is such a blessing to be able to watch them grow and be their primary caregiver. We've had to make sacrifices to be able to afford it, one of those being me working from home. Some days it's a challenge. But in the end, it's an incredible blessing. I love my staying home with my babies and I'm so grateful for that time with them.
And it's moments like yesterday when I realize how lucky I am to be able to watch my children all day every day. Anna found our infant carseat (which we don't use unless we're riding in someone else's car or taking my niece somewhere). It was sitting in the living room and she dragged it to the family room. It took a lot of effort on her part, but she was persistent. Then she proceeded to try to lift Anthony into it. He's half her weight, she can't lift him. So in the end, she simply succeeded in rolling him over multiple times. And he thought it was the most hilarious thing ever. He was laughing and grinning at her and she was in turn, laughing hysterically at him. I'm so glad that they get to spend their days together. They just LOVE playing together!
Once she realized she couldn't lift him, she decided that Mickey Mouse was a good substitute :-).
I'm in a cleaning frenzy today. The last three weeks have consisted of: 1 week of hives, 1 week of intense tailbone pain, 1 week of allergy problems and a sore tailbone. Needless to say, my house was a disaster. I just didn't have the energy to keep up with it and frankly, my tailbone yelled in rebellion when I tried to do housework. And so I let it get bad, something I rarely do.
Today, however, my tailbone only hurts when I sit for an extended period of time or when I drive. Which means, my house is being whipped into shape. I've done laundry and vauumed and swept and wiped down lots of surfaces, picked up endless amounts of toys, and changed all bedding.
Now if only I could find the motivation to tackle the bathrooms...
Anna enjoyed helping me make Halloween sugar cookies. She's a great little helper!
Complete with a GeeGee and flour on her shirt :-)
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Here are my very own Minnie and Mickey Mouse on Halloween!
Anna quickly got the hang of trick-or-treat. When we went to our parish's Truck-or-Treat on Saturday, she was completely terrified of everyone. She kept saying "no" when they'd offer her candy and she hid her face the entire time.
Apparently going door-to-door is a completely different experience because she loved it. She's familiar with our neighborhood and we talk walks around our little block (we call them our nature walks, she stops to look at everything) all the time and it's a short distance, but it takes us forever. She knows most of our neighbors too, so she was a complete ham, knocking nicely on everyone's door and saying "tweet". She loved it when they offered her the bowl and she could pick what she wanted, mostly M&Ms.
We're a little afraid that she's going to want to knock on everyone's door every time we take a walk now though...
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| Checking out her loot. |
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| Daddy and Anna, headed to the neighbors'! |
And as is the usual, I didn't make it in any of the Halloween pictures. Whoops. I wore Anthony and he was absolutely adorable with his little ears sticking out. He loved all of the attention and people. Next year I'll remember to take a family picture...
Anthony's our little eater. He loves his food and he's finally getting the hang of grabbing things and putting them straight in his mouth!
This is the first (and last) weekend we've had in a LONG time that we have no plans, nothing going on. I'm looking forward to relaxing and hanging out as a family. Next weekend starts our PRIDE Foster Care training which is twice a week for 4 weeks, 3 hours a piece (except for next weekend which is 6 hours). We're excited to get started on becoming AWC qualified!
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
November
November definitely has to be one of my favorite months of the year. So here are some highlights:
1) All Saints Day! Happy Feast Day to everyone! I absolutely love this Feast Day. It is so important to honor those who have gone before us and lived lives of holiness. The Saints have been instrumental in my faith life and I am constantly asking them for prayers. Each night we pray our own family litany at the end of our nightly prayer. There are a few Saints that are always on the list and others that make appearances on their Feast Days or on other random occasions. Here's our family's nightly litany.
St. Anne and St. Clare... Pray for us! (Anna's patron saints)
St. Anthony and St. Francis Xavier... Pray for us! (Anthony's patron saints)
St Theodore, St. Joachim, and St. Justinian... Pray for us! (Our Godson's patrons)
St. Cecelia... Pray for us! (My niece's patron)
St. Matthias and St. Joseph... Pray for us! (The patrons of Anna's Godparents' son)
St. Catherine of Siena... Pray for us! (My confirmation name)
St. John... Pray for us! (Jeremy's confirmation name)
Blessed Pope John Paul II and Blessed Mother Teresa... Pray for us!
2) November is National Adoption Month. I've posted about it the last two years 2010 and 2011 and honestly, if I were to sit down and write a new post, it would probably be remarkably similar. Adoption is so close to our hearts and so very important and special to us. So in this month of November, I intend to write multiple posts about adoption and what it has meant for our family.
3) And of course November is a month that reminds us to always be thankful. Here in the U.S. we have a day set aside for thankfulness. It's one of my favorite holidays, but at the same time, it's a yearly reminder that we should be thankful every day, not just once a year. I love that it's a holiday directed towards spending time with those you love and reminding them why you're thankful for their presence in your life.
So to honor National Adoption Month, All Saints Day, and a month of gratitude, I'm setting my goal high (along with other bloggers) to post daily on something I'm thankful for. Most will include some aspect of adoption in our lives, let's face it, that is our life right now :-). Many will include Saints and how their intercession has impacted our lives. And all will be a reminder to me to count my blessings each and every day and never take for granted the beautiful blessing of my family. Realistically, it's not always possible for me to post every day, I will try, but well, if I don't, I'll make sure I at least have 30 "things" that I have shown gratitude for, how bout that?
Day 1 of Gratitude:
I am first and foremost thankful for the gift of my husband. He is kind, loving, sweet, gentle, quiet, strong, and absolutely wonderful. I am thankful for our marriage and the opportunity to spend each and every day of my life with him. I am so grateful for his giving heart and his support in all that I do. He is a wonderful husband and father and I can't imagine life with anyone else. The road of infertility and adopton was not always easy, but I always knew I had someone walking it with me. I never felt alone and I because of him, I was never hopeless.
Jeremy and I lead a Catholic retreat together when we were in college. We chose St. Joseph to be the patron of the retreat. I think it is so fitting that we felt such a strong pull towards him. Jeremy reminds me a lot of St. Joseph. While not a lot is known about him, we do know that he accepted God's plan willingly and without argument. I don't know that I'd would be (or have been) so quick to accept God's plan. Jeremy, on the other hand, much like St. Joseph, willingly accepts God's plan in his life. St. Joseph was the perfect example of a father here on earth (obviously with God being the all-perfect Father). And I'm thankful for his intercession in our marriage and in our parenting.
St. Joseph... Pray for us!
1) All Saints Day! Happy Feast Day to everyone! I absolutely love this Feast Day. It is so important to honor those who have gone before us and lived lives of holiness. The Saints have been instrumental in my faith life and I am constantly asking them for prayers. Each night we pray our own family litany at the end of our nightly prayer. There are a few Saints that are always on the list and others that make appearances on their Feast Days or on other random occasions. Here's our family's nightly litany.
St. Anne and St. Clare... Pray for us! (Anna's patron saints)
St. Anthony and St. Francis Xavier... Pray for us! (Anthony's patron saints)
St Theodore, St. Joachim, and St. Justinian... Pray for us! (Our Godson's patrons)
St. Cecelia... Pray for us! (My niece's patron)
St. Matthias and St. Joseph... Pray for us! (The patrons of Anna's Godparents' son)
St. Catherine of Siena... Pray for us! (My confirmation name)
St. John... Pray for us! (Jeremy's confirmation name)
Blessed Pope John Paul II and Blessed Mother Teresa... Pray for us!
2) November is National Adoption Month. I've posted about it the last two years 2010 and 2011 and honestly, if I were to sit down and write a new post, it would probably be remarkably similar. Adoption is so close to our hearts and so very important and special to us. So in this month of November, I intend to write multiple posts about adoption and what it has meant for our family.
3) And of course November is a month that reminds us to always be thankful. Here in the U.S. we have a day set aside for thankfulness. It's one of my favorite holidays, but at the same time, it's a yearly reminder that we should be thankful every day, not just once a year. I love that it's a holiday directed towards spending time with those you love and reminding them why you're thankful for their presence in your life.
So to honor National Adoption Month, All Saints Day, and a month of gratitude, I'm setting my goal high (along with other bloggers) to post daily on something I'm thankful for. Most will include some aspect of adoption in our lives, let's face it, that is our life right now :-). Many will include Saints and how their intercession has impacted our lives. And all will be a reminder to me to count my blessings each and every day and never take for granted the beautiful blessing of my family. Realistically, it's not always possible for me to post every day, I will try, but well, if I don't, I'll make sure I at least have 30 "things" that I have shown gratitude for, how bout that?
Day 1 of Gratitude:
I am first and foremost thankful for the gift of my husband. He is kind, loving, sweet, gentle, quiet, strong, and absolutely wonderful. I am thankful for our marriage and the opportunity to spend each and every day of my life with him. I am so grateful for his giving heart and his support in all that I do. He is a wonderful husband and father and I can't imagine life with anyone else. The road of infertility and adopton was not always easy, but I always knew I had someone walking it with me. I never felt alone and I because of him, I was never hopeless.
Jeremy and I lead a Catholic retreat together when we were in college. We chose St. Joseph to be the patron of the retreat. I think it is so fitting that we felt such a strong pull towards him. Jeremy reminds me a lot of St. Joseph. While not a lot is known about him, we do know that he accepted God's plan willingly and without argument. I don't know that I'd would be (or have been) so quick to accept God's plan. Jeremy, on the other hand, much like St. Joseph, willingly accepts God's plan in his life. St. Joseph was the perfect example of a father here on earth (obviously with God being the all-perfect Father). And I'm thankful for his intercession in our marriage and in our parenting.
St. Joseph... Pray for us!
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