Four Years

Four Years
Two pregnancies
A baby and another on the way
Four moves
Several job switcheroos
Two different cities
Lots of laughs
And some tears
Hundreds of hugs and kisses
One great man.



I can’t believe that Sean and I have been married for 4 years. Four wonderful years!! I don’t deserve the amazing man that God has given me, but I guess that’s the way blessings are. We never really deserve any of them.

Happy Anniversary, Sean! What a blessing you have been to me! I love you so much.

Merry Christmas Eve

Sorry it's taken me so long to update.....things have been super busy with my dad's surgery and visits to the hospital, and Christmas right around the corner.

My dad pulled through the surgery just fine. The new valve seems to be functioning properly. He was in ICU for 2 days and then was well enough to be moved to a room. He's on a liquid diet right now, and his pain is intense, but with each passing day he is looking stronger and stronger. The nurses even got him up, and he walked a little bit yesterday.

My family and I really appreciate all of the support and concern that so many of you have given to us. Thank you.

I can't believe it's Christmas Eve already. My heart is full as the celebration of Christ's birth nears. I LOVE Christmas mass. Next to Easter, it's my favorite. Wish Sean and I could go to midnight mass tonight, but with Hattie it just won't happen this year.

I found this a while back. Don't know who the author is, but I love this short Christmas poem:

A little child,
A shining star.
A stable rude,
The door ajar.
Yet in that place,
So crude, folorn,
The Hope of all
The world was born.

Lord, You gave us hope with Your birth, and that hope was brought to fruition with Your death on the cross, and we wait in joyful hope for when You will come again!

My dad

My dad is having open heart surgery for the second time in 5 years tomorrow around noon. I ask that you pray that the surgery takes place without complication, and my dad comes out of the surgery just fine. Also pray for peace of mind for my dad and my family as everyone is very anxious and nervous about tomorrow's events.

Your family's rootin' for you, Daddy!

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Button

It's true. I'm pregnant. It hasn't exactly set in yet. I am so excited about this baby who we've dubbed Button. Hattie's nickname was Peanut, so we thought we had to come up with something equally as small and cute. So button it is!

I haven't even gone to the doctor yet. Won't go until Jan. 2nd for the first ultra-sound. That feels like light-years away. I think I'm due around mid-August. I wanted to keep our little button a secret for a while, but Sean convinced me that we should tell everyone, so that everyone will be praying for our little guy or gal. I can't really argue with that. Plus, I am so excited that I just want to shout I'm pregnant! from atop a big mountain. No mountains where we live, so the blog is a great alternative!

I just feel so many things right now: excitement, joy, nervousness, worry, thankfulness, EXHAUSTION, and amazement that this new little life is growing inside of me. This may be round #2 for us, but I am just as amazed and in awe of the miracle of life as I was when pregnant with Hattie. Thank you, Lord, for bestowing this blessing upon my body and my heart!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beautiful

I came across this quote today and loved it - What a perfect portrait of the humility and abandonment that we should have towards Our Maker! - So I thought I'd share it with you:

What a joy to be able to say at the end of our days: I have always tried to seek and to follow God's Will in everything! The successes we have had will not gladden us half so much, nor will the failures and the sufferings we have undergone matter in the slightest. What will matter to us, and matter a lot, is whether we have loved God's Will in preference to our own! from In Conversation with God by Francis Fernandez.

I'll Be Home for Christmas

I am so thrilled that we are moved back near family, in our own home, for Christmas this year. Last year brought forth much stress traveling with a then 5 month old. We got such little sleep and spent much of our time lugging things around from one family member's house to another. Packing the car, unpacking the car. Not being able to spend a little time together on Christmas morning with just our little family. I look forward to that this year.

I have also enjoyed getting to decorate a home that is ours this year. Every year it's a treat to unload all of the Christmas decor. I forget things I have to decorate with and am pleasantly surprised what all of the boxes hold each year as I unpack them. I also love finding new things to add. Two weeks ago I found this nativity scene in a little antique shop:

It was super cheap, and I just love all of the beautiful colors in it. I need to find a manger for it, and hopefully one day it will have a home under the tree, just as my grandmother use to place hers, but for now, its home is high on the bookshelf, away from chubby little fingers!

Here are a few more decorations that have gone up in the house:

Notice how sparse the ornaments are at the bottom of the tree. There were plenty thoughtfully placed on the tree to create balance, but the balance that I achieved lasted the duration of the naptime that I was using to hang them. Now many are scattered under the tree and around the house. Luckily I had the foresight to put all of the non-breakable ones at the bottom; however, I lacked the foresight to take a picture of the tree before naptime ended. Oh well, its a little touch of Hattie's decorating to our home.

I took Hattie to see Santa earlier this week. I thought for sure she would SCREAM her head off. She didn't scream to my surprise, but she didn't smile either. She was unphased completely:

Santa doesn't look too jolly either. I wanted to reason with Santa, Look, I'm trying to capture a moment, a memory here, can you just give me a little bit of cheer?!?! Instead, I got the most unevenful event of the year. I think crying from Hattie and an annoying look on Santa's face would have been better than blank stares. It would have atleast been funny for years to come.

{17 Months}

Hattie turns 17 months old tomorrow. This month has been one of big changes in the nap department. She is finally consistently on 1 nap a day. I'm glad we've finally made that switch because we have some predictability back in our lives. The mornings are long, though, and I can see that if I don't keep her entertained, she gets tired and fussy around 10:00 a.m. My goal is always noon, and she gets there most days. If not, it makes for a loooong afternoon because she will not nap again no matter how tired she gets.

Another new development this month is teeth. She has some big chompers coming in in the back, on both sides, up and down. She seems to be handling it pretty well. No major teething from what I can tell. She not fussier than usual. A grace from God!

One of her new favorite games to play is Ring Around the Rosie. She loves it and smiles through the whole thing. She always falls down a little bit before the song is over because that's her favorite part - impatient, just like her mama! She has also discovered the Old MacDonald song. Hattie loves when I sing it to her, so I go on and on and on. Lots of animals that you don't normally find on a farm live at Old MacDonald's farm like bears, elephants and tigers!

One HUGE mistake I made this month (there are always many!) was giving Hattie Ovaltine in her milk. I decided to buy some and give it to her to make up for some of the nutrition I was sure she wasn't getting. She was on a food-strike and was barely eating anything, so I thought it was a good idea. BIG FAT MISTAKE. She loved it and now refuses to drink plain milk. She asks for "choco milk" all day, every day - my little broken record - so Sean and I are considering buying stock in the product since it is now a staple in our household. I just wish other mommies would tell me about these kinds of mistakes before I go and make them. If there is a wrong way of doing things, I always seem to do it.



This brings me to another point, kind of off topic, but I have found that I knew a lot more about parenting before I actually became a parent. I knew exactly what kind of foods my child would eat, how much sleep she would get, all the t.v. that she would never watch, what kind of discipline to use to get her to act the way I want at any given moment. Then I became a mommy.....and well, I really don't know what I'm doing most days.

I feel like we have a good day if:
1.) Hattie eats some of the cereal along with all of the marshmellows in her Lucky Charms. I vowed I would never give my child sugary cereal by the way.
2.) She only watches 1-2 t.v. shows a day.
3.) She wakes up past 6 a.m. and naps atleast once in the day.
4.) I don't lose it before Sean gets home.

Okay, I'm kind of kidding about the last one. I only usually feel that way on Fridays. By then I'm generally about to lose it. One of the biggest realizations that I have had since becoming a mommy is that Fridays are still really exciting days, even when you stay at home with your child. I always thought that once I became a stay-at-home mommy, the days would all feel like the weekend. Not so. But seriously, I think if I would have had some kind of ability to see myself as a mommy of a toddler before I actually became one, I would have majorly disappointed myself. The bar has moved way down from where it was. I realize that being a parent is so much harder than I could have ever imagined. I love it and wouldn't trade my days at home with my precious little girl for those that were spent in a classroom with disrespectful children. Please. My current job, role, vocation is so much more fulfilling, but it's also super hard and humbling.



So as Hattie further grows into being a child for yet another month, I, too, grow into a deeper and a more real understanding of what this mommy thing is all about!

Stinky

I love these little feet.
I'm obsessed with them.
I could kiss them all day long if she would let me.

When Hattie was tiny, she had the stinkiest feet. I think it was because I always had socks on them. She slept the best when she was all warm and toasty. Her hands and her feet would sweat so much and then smell pretty stinky. I thought it was the cutest thing ever. Only a mommy and a daddy could think stinky feet were cute. Sean and I ended up giving Hattie the nickname, Stinky Feet pretty early on. Poor little girl; she's taken on so many nicknames in the past 16 months. It will be a miracle if she turns out normal. She will rightfully blame us for all of her problems :0).

Then when we got her a bear for her 1st birthday, we named him Tinky after her stinky little secret....

Her little feet are no longer so stinky, though. Other parts of her that weren't so stinky before have taken over. Changing diapers is so not fun when your child's favorite food at the moment is Ranch Style Beans. Mommy don't think that stinkiness is so cute. Even I have my limits. Now we like to call her Stinky Booty.

Mother Mary

This little girl is growing up before my very eyes.
I’m still clinging to the baby in her who’s fading fast.
I don’t want her to grow up and feel the pain and suffering that the world brings.
I want her to keep her child-like outlook and optimism, her freshness.
I know that’s not possible, but I can’t help myself.

These thoughts about Hattie have led me to the question: Did Mary, the mother of our Lord, feel this way? Did she want Jesus to remain her baby forever? I know she didn’t bear a normal child, a sinner, like I did, but she had to share Him with the world like no other mother will ever have to share their child. I think about Mary in a whole different light now that I am a mother. She watched her child, her baby, suffer, be mocked and rejected. She was one of the few at the foot of the cross. There was nothing she could do to help her son that wouldn’t get in the way of His plan. It goes against a mother’s nature, though, to sit back and watch your child in agony and do nothing.

The Catholic Church teaches that Mary didn’t have pain in childbirth because pain in childbirth is a curse following Adam and Eve's original sin. The birth of Jesus could not, therefore, bare the mark of original sin. Likewise, Mary had to be clean of original sin in order to make the incarnation possible. This is always a heated topic among our Protestant friends and family. What many of them don’t know or understand about the Church’s teaching is that we believe that Jesus still saved Mary, like God saves each of us, but He just did it in a different way, for His own glory. It was not for Mary’s sake or for her own glory. She was a servant of God, and He chose to bring His Son into the world through a pure vessel. This makes perfect sense to me.



Childbirth is rough, even with the epidural. The contractions, bringing forth life, the healing that comes with it, and I think some feel like it deifies Mary because she didn’t suffer in the way that every other woman does in childbirth. The thought scares many into thinking something that isn’t taught by the Church. The fact is Mary did suffer; she suffered in a far greater way than labor pains by bearing the Son of God and watching Him take on the weight of the world’s sin and evil. I don’t think I could do that. Mary couldn’t have done it either……without God. God blessed Mary with the faith, strength and obedience that she needed to fulfill her vocation. We can see that in the Magnificat, the song of Mary’s praises to God when she goes to visit Elizabeth while pregnant with Jesus:

And Mary said,
46 My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever. (Luke 1:46-55)

What a beautiful example we have to meditate on and follow this Christmas season and always!

Christmas is Coming!

I've been decorating my house for Christmas for the last two days. It's always been a tradition in my family to get out the Christmas decor as soon as the turkey is "gobbled" up. So I thought I'd do a little blog decorating as well.

Today a sweet friend, Katie, came over to take our Christmas card pictures, and these are a few of the great pictures that she got. She was so great with Hattie. I was amazed! Hattie doesn't warm up too quickly to new people, but it didn't take long for her to warm up to Katie.

Really, Katie, you have a talent with the camera and with kids! Thank you for all you did for us today!

Be Not Afraid

Be Not Afraid

1.
You shall cross the barren desert,
but you shall not die of thirst.
You shall wander far in safety
though you do not know the way.
You shall speak your words in foreign lands
and all will understand.
You shall see the face of God and live.

Refrain:
Be not afraid.
I go before you always.
Come follow me,
and I will give you rest.

2.
If you pass through raging waters
in the sea, you shall not drown.
If you walk amid the burning flames,
you shall not be harmed.
If you stand before the pow'r of hell
and death is at your side,
know that I am with you through it all.

3.
Blessed are the poor,
for the kingdom shall be theirs.
Blest are you that weep and mourn,
for one day you shall laugh.
And if wicked men insult and hate you all because of Me,
blessed, blessed are you!

This hymn has been in my head for the past couple of days. We use to sing it all the time at church when I was little, and I recently heard it for the first time in a long time at mass. My favorite part of the whole song is the refrain, as if God were speaking to us, saying, Be not afraid. I go before you always. Come follow me, and I will give you rest.

I know it’s almost Thanksgiving, and I should be counting my blessings, and I am, but I am also aware of the grace that God has bestowed upon me when the blessings are hard to see. He is always there. He is always able and willing to lead me through the fight. What a beautiful love to be thankful for!

Hattie & the BIG Slide

One great benefit we got when we purchased our current house was the plastic Little Tikes playground in the backyard. The previous owners asked us if we wanted it. A free piece of permanent entertainment for our child that would have otherwise cost us hundreds of dollars? Um, sure.

It has turned out to be the best free thing we have ever had! Hattie loves it and would spend hours and hours playing on it, in it, or around it if I had the patience to stay out in the backyard for hours and hours. Much to Hattie's delight, today was such a beautiful day that we happened to spend quite a few minutes in the backyard.

I decided to put Hattie up on the big slide and hold her hands as she zoomed down to see what her reaction would be. She loved it! She asked repeatedly, "Big slide? Big slide?" So Hattie went up and down the slide over and over again, and now I have an aching back to prove it. I also got some great pictures, too, though, so it was totally worth it :0).

Hattie comes face to face with the big slide.


Hattie loving every bit of being at the top of the big slide.


What was funny is after a few times, she got scared of coming down the slide, but every time her body would zoom down and her feet would touch the ground, she wanted to be back up at the top. The actual sliding was not the joy she found in the big slide. I think it was being up higher than Mama. I think she enjoyed looking down on me......hmmm.......Well, Whatever it was, she had a lot of fun, and I loved watching her!

The end.


P.S. Hattie is back to sleeping past 6:00 a.m. WOOHOO!!! Now, Hattie (if you happen to read this), if you start sleeping in past 7:00 a.m., Mama will buy you an even bigger slide! :0)

Very Touching...The Gospel According to Logan

This kid gets it. Press Play to Listen.

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Sweet Picture and a Rant

The quote I added to the picture is brought to you by quite a bit of frustration on my part. I love, LOVE, love my sweet baby girl, but she has still not adjusted well to the time change. Sean and I have been abruptly awakened each morning since last Sunday between 5:00 and 5:15 a.m. It's KILLING me. Who would have thought the extra hour of sleep that I was getting in the morning was vital to my overall ability to function properly.


And Hattie is a mess. She is so tired and cranky and is fighting sleep like a wild banshee.


I love this sweet picture that I took of her, though. I love the fact that I was able to capture one of the few smiles that she has given in the last week or so.


I'll end with one of my favorite bible verses:


"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30

16 Months

Hattie turned 16 months old on Sunday. I know I say this over and over again, but she is growing up too fast! Above is a series of pics I took of her one morning during breakfast. Eating always equals a good time for Hattie. Right now her favorite breakfast is strawberries and a piece of toast. This is why all of the peaches are still on her tray. She is a creature of habit, just like her mama.


Anyways, here are some recent developments of our 16 month old baby girl.

1.) Hattie is finally off the bottle, I think. I know that I should have taken it away from her about 4 months ago, but the bottle has been part of her naptime, bedtime routine since she was 6 months old. Hattie has never been the best napper, so I didn't want to mess with the routine that really seemed to help her nap. At first my plan was to wean her by 18 months when she would most likely only be needing one nap a day anyways, but the more I read about babies and their bottles, the more I found that the closer a baby is to 18 months-2 years old, the harder it is to take the bottle away. So I decided to try offering her the sippy cup instead of the bottle for her morning nap, which she rarely takes anymore anyways. I figured I had nothing to lose. To make a long story short, she accepted the cup of warm milk with ease and went right to sleep when I laid her down. She did ask about the bottle but didn't get upset about it. SO I'm not saying it's going to continue to be this easy, but we aren't turning back now!

2.) Hattie has reached an age where I can teach her fun little things and then let her show them off to our family. It's so fun, and I love seeing how excited she is to preform. Last week I taught her to say, "gobble, gobble" when I say, "What does a turkey say?" She can do this with other animals, too. Right now I'm trying to teach her to say "ho, ho, ho!" when I say, "What does Santa say?" but she says, "no, no, no!" She's also gotten really good at following directions. For instance, last week I bought her a pink little purse at the dollar spot at Target, and when Sean got home I told her, "Go get your new purse and show Daddy." She took off, on a mission, went around the corner, passed the kitchen, turned another corner, went into the den, picked up her purse, and then brought it back for Sean to see. I can't wait until she's tall enough to reach the ice maker, so I can say, "Go get Mama some ice water!" :0) - he he, only kidding.

3.) She is absolutley in love with the Wiggles Monkey Dance song. I happened to show it to her on youtube one afternoon, and she immediately became obsessed. She doesn't like any of the other Wiggles songs except this one. I might have to commit myself to an institution if I continue to hear a whiney request for "monkey, monkey!" about 300 times a day.

4.) Hattie is starting to talk about the potty. I, in no way, think she is anywhere near being ready for potty training as she wakes up with a soaked diaper, about to bust open, from every nap and every morning, but she says, "tee-tee, potty" several times a day, and she is obsessed with trying to flush the toilet, but I think this is only because she knows that I don't want her messing with the handle. She's quite hard-headed, oh, I mean determined and driven ;0).

Wake-up Call

Hattie gets up every morning around 6 a.m. It has been an adjustment for Sean and me, but now we are pretty "trained" because in the rare event that she sleeps in until 7 a.m., Sean and I are still usually up and out of bed by 6:15. I guess you could say that Hattie sleep trained us.

Hattie's usually in the best of moods in the morning, and it really is a joy to go and get her from her crib, even though it's 6 a.m. in the morning and the sun isn't even up yet. I recently taught her how to smile on command. I tell her, "Smile," and she does - a great thing for picture taking! So this morning I went into her room at 6:15 a.m. (I was up at 5 a.m. and could not go back to sleep - why, oh why!?!?). I brought the camera with me and got lots of smiley, goofy Hattie pictures.

Of course Sean and I are totally worried about falling back an hour tonight with the time change. Not quite sure what to do to avoid her getting up at 5 a.m. tomorrow. One would think keeping her up later would help her sleep in, but this usually isn't the case. She usually still wakes at the same time but just a little grumpy from not getting ample sleep. Perhaps, my body is helping me get ready for the early morning tomorrow, and that's why I was up at 5 a.m. today!

Happy Saturday all!

HaPpY HaLlOwEen!!!

We found this stray kitty-cat on our porch this morning. Hopefully we can find her a good home soon! Any takers??? :0)

Have a Happy Halloween!!!!!!

Tis the Season?

Which picture doesn't belong? No, this isn't a reminder of an old kindergarten lesson you might have had. These are pictures of things in my house right now, on the day before Halloween. My child is currently OBSESSED with one of the items in the above collage. No, it isn't seasonally appropriate, but Hattie is currently in love with all things snowman or "snowmeh" as she calls them. It isn't just this snowman that she loves either. She loves them all whether they be on pillows, coffee cups, figurines, or blinking little statues. I blame Hobby Lobby. We have been there a couple of times since the move, and the place is decked out in Christmas decor. The snowmen at Hobby Lobby caught Hattie's eye as soon as we walked in the door the first time, and it was love at first sight! Since then, I have taken her to Hobby Lobby 2 more times just to see the snowmen. This is free, blissful entertainment for my child.

Don't get me wrong, she appreciates the occasional pumpkin, but snowmen are where it's at!

Tomorrow she's gonna be a kitty-cat for Halloween, but gosh, had I known this obsession for snowmen was going to be, I would have tried to find a snowman costume for her!

Lovin' the weather

For the past couple of days, I have taken atleast two walks a day, usually one in the morning with Hattie when it's still pretty chilly and then one in the afternoon when Sean gets home when the weather is just perfect. I should be running considering that my pants are feeling snug, and I am constantly complaining that I need to lose a few, but why would I ruin a perfectly good day with running?!?! Never liked it much. The whole point of this weather being so great is that I don't sweat when I go outside. Why would I want to do something that causes sweat in perfect, non-sweat weather?!?! Anyways, I wish every day could be like the past few days we've had. I am just lovin' it!

We went to Mimi's house this afternoon, and Hattie just loved the wind-chimes......

We took the most precious Halloween pictures of her. I'll have to share those later so we don't spoil our Halloween card that we're sending out. She was totally workin' the camera, which doesn't happen very often these days. She usually wants to get far away from me when I have the camera in hand. Hope I haven't scarred her for life with all of the picture-taking I've done the last 15 months.


Well, it's almost time for The Office, and since we no longer have DVR, I gotta go catch it now. DVR is the one sacrifice for the sake of pinching pennies that has been the hardest to make. If you don't have it, don't get it because once you have it, it's so hard to live without it!!!

Signs

Both my mother and mother-in-law gave Sean and me some signs for our new house as house-warming gifts. Both signs are cute, relevant to the season and have messages that really hit home for me right now.


The one my mother-in-law gave us is in our front yard and says, Give Thanks. This really hits home for me because I have so many blessings in my life to give thanks to God for right now.


First of all there is my dad's health, which isn't perfect, but it could have been so much worse following the stroke. I am thankful that he is home and his speech is improving and that he didn't suffer from any other effects like paralyzing limbs or loss of vision or memory. No permanent damage was done. For this I give thanks to God!

Also, I am so full of joy to be back in Houston. I might bust! This past year has been hard, hard, hard. Moving to a new place with a new baby in the tiniest little townhouse has been a challenge to put it lightly. We have known for over 6 months that we were moving back. It was supposed to happen in the summer and then it was pushed back until the fall. I felt like the move was dangling in my face, but I couldn't quite make it happen for so many months. Talk about frustrating! Then there was the possibility that Sean would have to commute to Dallas until January. But he doesn't!!!! He spent the last several months proving to his bosses that he could hack it in Houston solo right now. I'm so proud of him. For all of this I give thanks to God!

And our sweet Hattie Boof as we like to call her. She is healthy and thriving and so curious. I love getting to spend my days with her. I don't have to miss any moment of her growth and development. What a blessing! For this I give thanks to God!

Finally, I just love our new house. It fits our family so perfectly. We have a big yard for Hattie to run around in, and we have so many new nice neighbors. For this I give thanks to God!

Those are just the recent blessings that are at the forefront of my brain. There are so many more. God has been so good to me and my family. I am so thankful for all of the gifts that He has given me. None of which I deserve.

The sign my mom gave us says, Happy Fall Y'all. This hits home because we are now experiencing the first real cold front of the season, and it's GREAT! Sean and I sat on our patio last night with hot chocolate and had to come in because we were too cold. I'm lovin' it!!! Anyways, here are some recent fall pictures that we have taken outside enjoying the wonderful fall weather!

First at the pumpkin patch:

And then in our front yard:

Oh My

Well, for starters, I haven't posted in so long because we were busy moving, and then when we got all moved in and hooked up to the world wide web, we realized something was wrong with our computer, so after being in the "shop" for a week and a half, the computer is fixed, and I can finally get on blogger and my email again. Honestly, it was probably a good thing that I haven't had the interenet as a distraction for the last week and a half. I have been able to get a lot more done without the temptation of wasting time on the net.

Some of you may have heard that my dad had a stroke last Tuesday. He is okay now (praise God!), but he was hospitalized for several nights and may have to have heart surgery again in the months to come. Thank you for all of your prayers and thoughts for those of you who knew about it! My inbox is flooded with tons of sweet, thoughtful, concerning notes about my dad. I have over 100 new messages that I need to check, so if I don't reply to yours soon, I'll get to it as soon as I can!

Finally, here is a sweet picture of all of my daddy's grandchildren. They all love their Popo very much!

A New Blessing

I finally got a picture of Wyatt Loren. He's so precious and much blonder-looking than his big brother at birth. Shelley and Wyatt are now home, but there is some concern about his weight. He's lost several ounces and is now down to weighing 5 lbs. 5 oz. He is on a strict eating schedule, and if he loses any more weight, he has to go back into the hospital. Shelley takes him to the doctor to get him weighed today. She's under a lot of stress and worry over his weight right now, so please keep her and Wyatt in your prayers.

He passed his hearing test on both ears, which was such a blessing since he failed on one ear the first time he was given the test. My sister keeps commenting how tiny he is. Garrett was over 8 lbs. at birth, so it's a big difference. He's like a little doll. Shelley says when he cries, he "squeaks!" And she says that he sleep all of the time (ah, yes, the bliss of those first few days home!!!). Surprisingly, he has not developed jaundice, but the doctor is concerned that he might, so that is another reason for the strict eating schedule.

Wyatt sure is a cutie, and I can't wait to get some snuggle time with him!!!

Baby Wyatt's Here!!!

My younger sister called me just a little while ago and said that the c-section went without complication. Wyatt is perfect and over 6 lbs. (she didn't know the exact weight), and he has a few strands of dark hair atop his head, very different from his brother who had a head full of dark, dark hair. I'm sure the doctors will keep an eye on him since he was so early, but things are looking good. Praise God!!! Shelley is recovering and a proud mama of 2 boys now! As soon as I have pictures, I'll post some. I can't wait to meet him and hold him next week when we move!!!!

Baby Wyatt

Please be in prayer for my sister, Shelley, and her baby. Shelley's water broke unexpectedly this morning, so baby Wyatt will be born about 6 weeks before his due date. She is having an emergency c-section this afternoon. I'll post an update when I know anything, but in the meantime, please pray for the baby's health and an easy and uncomplicated delivery for my sister.

Finally!

I finally have my camera back, so I have some new pictures to share!

We've been enjoying the cool fall mornings lately. It's still really hot by like 9:00 a.m. so I try to take Hattie outside after breakfast. I can't wait to have a backyard again, so we don't have to get the stroller out every single time I want to take her outside. I can't believe we'll be in our new house in less than 2 weeks! It kinda scares me as I look around at all of the empty boxes that still need to by filled.......hhhmmm.......yet I choose to get on blogger!

Hattie's newest phrase as of yesterday is, "Come-ere." (come here). She says it just like I do. It kind of runs together as one word and has a little bit of a Texas twang to it. Part of me feels like I should pronounce words correctly when speaking to her so she doesn't learn them incorrectly like she's doing. It's so funny, though, the way she imitates me. I can't help but smile when she says it.

She's also very into shaking her finger and saying "no-no!" all the time. This is not as cute, especially when I am trying to get her to eat something. She's become a bit of a picky eater and refuses many of the things that she was willing to eat just two weeks ago by saying "no-no" to almost everything I offer her. It's a great way for her to comfort herself, though. For instance, if she's walking and bumps her head on the table, she'll shake her little finger at the table and say "no-no!" and then she's over it. That's pretty nice.

Another new thing she's doing is she puts anything and everything "night-night." Her dolls, her stuffed animals, a book, my shoe. Anything she can get her hands on. She picks it up and says, "nigh-nigh" then puts it on the couch or back on the floor or whatever. She's such a little mama!

I can see her incisors on the bottom trying to cut through, and her poor little nose has been running and dripping for going on two weeks now, but other than that, life is pretty good for my little girl who will soon celebrate her 15 month birthday.

Now, back to those empty boxes again......

The Pill

I have struggled for quite a while over whether or not to post about this. I don't want to ruffle feathers or start a big heated debate. I simply want to provide information that I have recently found about birth control pills.

It's no secret that Sean and I are Catholic now and hold to the Church's teaching of natural family planning. When we started thinking about becoming Catholic, this topic was one of the first that we researched because we were so interested to know why the Catholic Church was so out of the mainstream with its stance on BC. It didn't take long for both of us to realize that any unnatural form of birth control was the wrong path for our family.

We have had many debates with friends and family (some heated, some contained) about birth control. The most common argument that our loved ones give us is that NFP is no different than taking birth control. Well, simply stated, it is. First of all, it is the Church's teaching, and we must abide by it. I know this leaves out all non-Catholics because most other churches say it's okay.

But even more importantly is what I found when I did a little research on Google. All I did was type in "Does birth control cause abortion?" I got 1,870,000 hits. I didn't have the time to look through all of the sites obviously, but what I found left me feeling weak in the knees to say the least.

This is just some information from one of the many websites that say birth control can cause abortion (rated PG 13):

How does the Pill work?

The Pill has three mechanisms of action which can easily be looked up in the Physician's Desk Reference.

1) Sometimes, the Pill suppresses ovulation. When this happens, an egg is not released and conception cannot occur. (It's important to read on and find out about the high rates of breakthrough ovulation. When ovulation is not suppressed, pregnancy can occur.)

2) The Pill also works to thicken the woman's cervical mucus which can "restrict" sperm from moving up the reproductive tract toward the egg.

3) One way the Pill causes early abortions is that it interfers with the flexing motions and the cilia movement of the fallopian tubes. These changes slow the transportation of newly conceived child from the fallopian tubes to the womb. Unfortunately, many small babies starve to death in the fallopian tubes because chemicals caused changes that prevented them from reaching the womb in time to be nourished.

4) Another way the Pill causes early abortions: If your tiny baby survives the ride down the fallopian tube to your womb, the Pill will almost always cause the endometrium (the lining of your uterus) to reject your child. Chemical reactions often cause the lining of your womb to become thin, shriveled and unable to support implantation of your newly conceived child.This means that in almost every case, your new child will not be able to attach to the wall of your womb where he or she would normally live, grow and receive nourishment for 9 months. This means your tiny baby will starve to death and his or her remains will be passed along in your next bleeding cycle. (The "Study of Abortion Deaths Commission" estimates that this happens in women in America who use the Pill approximately 1 to 4 million times each year.)The chemicals that cause these early abortions are called abortifacients which is the medical term for any chemical agent that causes an abortion.

Breakthrough ovulation proved long ago . . .

Birth control advocates and manufacturers of the Pill have known these facts for years. Have they done a very good job of informing women about how the Pill really works? (Please email us and let us know if you were aware of how the Pill worked before you read this.)When chemists devised the Pill that debuted in 1960, they gave it a huge dose of a chemical that caused most women's ovaries to stop secreting eggs (i.e., to stop ovulation). The theory was "no egg, no pregnancy."However, some women continued to release eggs and get pregnant while on the original Pill. (Studies have shown that an even higher percentage of women release eggs while using today's newer, re-formulated Pills. More about today's Pills in a moment.)In her award winning study of women taking the earlier high dose Pills, Dutch gynecologist Dr. Nine Van der Vange showed "proof of ovulation based on ultrasound exams and hormonal indicators occurred in about 4.7% of the cycles studied." (Source: Sterns, Dr. David, "How the Pill and the IUD Work: Gambling with Life," American Life League, PO Box 1350, Stafford, VA 22555)And the "Textbook of Contraceptive Practice" states that, "Among women who have been followed over a considerable number of cycles, breakthrough ovulations occur in 2 to 10 percent of cycles." (Source: Dr. J. Peel & Dr. Malcolm Potts, Textbook of Contraceptive Practice, 1969, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press) Please note that these references are to the lower breakthrough ovulation rates of the Pills of the 1960's. The new Pills of the 1990's work differently and have much higher breakthrough ovulation rates. This will be explained as you read on.

Why the big secret?

Why aren't most women aware that the Pill causes early abortions? Let's look at the large pharmaceutical companies who advertise, market and sell the Pill. They make huge profits from the Pill -- and they'll continue to make mega-profits -- if women are convinced they're not getting pregnant and they keep buying and taking the Pill everyday. But are they being honest with you? Have they clearly explained that their products cause millions of early chemical abortions each year?

The New Pills: Much Higher Rates of Breakthrough Ovulation . . .The original Pill of the 1960's had to be modified due to harmful side effects that women were experiencing because of the powerful chemicals. All versions of today's "Combination Pill" have a reduced hormonal content. When compared to the Pills of the 1960's and 1970's, this reduces the chance of harmful side effects for women, but it also increases their chances of ovulating and conceiving a son or daughter.Dr. Ronald Chez, a scientist at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), publicly stated that the new Pills of today, with their lower estrogen dose, allow ovulation up to 50% of the time! (Source: Sterns, David, M.D., Sterns, Gina, R.N., B.S.N., Yaksich, Pamela, "Gambling with Life, How the I.U.D. and 'The Pill' Work" (www.top.net/vitalsigns). With these newer Pills, simply missing one tablet, or failing to take the Pill at the same time each day increases the chances of breakthrough ovulation. Reactions with other drugs increases the chances of breakthrough ovulation, especially with caffeine and nicotine, or some prescription medicine (Source: "Abortifacient Contraception: The Pharmaceutical Holocaust" by Dr. Rudolf Ehmann, Human Life Intl., 1993, p.15).Makers of the new "mini-pill" claim it does not have the side effects of the combination pill. However, they don't tell you that scientific research shows the mini-pill does not stop ovulation at all in 67-81% of the women who use it, so the probability of conception is much higher. (Source: Tonti-Fillippini, Nicholas, Linacre Quarterly, 1995)

Isn't that scary?!?!

Of course I don't know if some of the websites claim that the pill can't cause abortions. I probably looked at the top 7-8 sites on the page, and they all claim the pill can and does cause abortions. I am sure there are some that say otherwise, though. BUT even if those articles are out there claiming "no harm" to a potential pregnancy, there is no denying the ones that say there is potential harm. The what if factor is way too huge in my book.

One of the most informative websites that I found about contraception in general can be found here. If you're gonna contracept, this is the best website because it'll let you know which forms of contraception can cause an abortion and which won't. The scary thing for me was seeing how quite possible the mini-pill can cause an abortion. I took the mini-pill after having Hattie for several months before we decided to do NFP. No doctor has ever told me about any of this either. It is so enraging!

My whole point in posting this blog is not to point my finger at anyone. I have been on the pill before, and I never thought twice about it. I just want the information to be known. That's all. I was SHOCKED with what I found, and the only thing that led me to my research is all of the conversations that Sean and I have had with friends and family. And my whole point in posting this is that I couldn't stay silent once I knew.

So now I've said it. And hopefully now you've read it. Go look for yourself if I have struck a chord at all.......and as I hit publish post (GULP!), I hope my conscious will grow a little quieter.

My Blessing

Yesterday at church we dropped Hattie off at the nursery before mass like we usually do. Like always, she got hysterical and obviously upset when she figured out where we were taking her. I HATE dropping her off in the nursery, but taking her into church with us is way worse. She constantly wants to get away from us and move around, and she gets bored really fast. Plus, I think it's good for her to be away from Mama and with other children for an hour or so (even though I am aware that this is probably why she has had 3 stomach viruses in the past 6 months, but what won't kill you can only make you stronger, right?!?! Right. She has to build up her immunities at some point.)

The women in the nursery don't seem to mind. They have never buzzed us to come get her, and they always claim that she stops crying within minutes after we leave her. So we drop her off and quickly head to mass. Afterwards, we go back to get Hattie. While I'm in line to sign her out and pick her up, I over-hear the conversation that goes on between the caregiver and another mom in front of me. This mom is picking up her son who looks to be about Hattie's age. The caregiver is all smiles as she opens the gate for the little boy to go with his mother. She goes on and on about what a precious little boy he is and jokes about how they'e gonna keep him in the nursery forever! They just enjoy him so much! The mom beams with pride, swoops up her angelic child, and happily walks away.

Then it's my turn. Visions of what will be told to me about my angel quickly run through my head. I'm already swelling with pride! Unfortunately, my interaction with the caregiver didn't quite go as I was assuming it would. The second she sees me, her smile drops to a frown. Her brow wrinkles, and she sighs, "Well, my goodness, Hattie finally stopped crying." Then she hands her to me. All the while I'm thinking, "That's it? That's all you have to say about my baby?" Ouch. Knife in the heart.

I know the woman didn't mean to hurt my feelings, and perhaps I'm overly sensitive, but I have never been criticized about my child by a stranger before (It's a rite of passage for mothers that I never even considered!), and I don't even think I could call it criticism, but it was along those lines. It did hurt, though. WAY worse than being criticized myself. Judge me all you want, but don't judge my baby! I know that my child has a bit of a difficult temperment. She's never been laid-back and easy-going, but she is still precious in MY eyes. She is still a blessing to me and her father.

Riding home I kept thinking about my interaction with this woman. Of course, Sean didn't think twice about it. He thought I was overeacting, but I taught before I had Hattie. I KNOW when teachers and caregivers really like a child and when they really don't. There is a definite doting that the disliked children never get a taste of. It's something that just goes on subconsiously.

So I have decided that next time I'm out and I hear a child throwing a fit or doing something less than perfect, I am going over to that mama, and I'm gonna compliment her child. Whether it be, "You have such a beautiful child." or "Your child is so smart. She really knows what she wants." or "I bet he'll be a singer. He has some great lungs!" Whatever it is, my mission is to just dote on a child that may not be the favorite and may not get a lot of compliments from strangers but is priceless to his or her parents none-the-less!

What's in a Name - part deux - Ruth!

Ruth. Even before I ever met Sean's grandmother, when I heard this name I thought of strength and wisdom. I loved that it was a biblical name. Then I met Ruth. And I saw what a strong, godly woman she was. Of course I don't have the stories and connections to tell like I did with my own grandmother, but I have had several experiences with this woman that have left me thinking, smiling, and wanting to know more about her.

I told Sean once, even before we had Hattie Ruth, that his grandmother reminded me of my own in so many ways - strong, religious, putting others before themselvles. This woman is one of ten children. She is a hard worker and has a heart for Christ that I only hope to have. She is always giving and trying to help others. I specifically remember how generous she was to Sean and me around our wedding planning. She helped us out so much because she knew we were in need.

I remember, after we were married, having a long conversation with Ruth in her living room. She talked about her childhood, her marriage, and children (babies to her) to me. I walked away feeling the weight of what she had been through in her life, but I also felt so much wisdom in what she told me! This woman is nearing 90, but she is as sharp as a whistle (did I get that saying right?). She has everything in perspective and even though our world is turning and changing around her, she is a rock and stands solid in her beliefs. I admire that so much!

Ruth is also so thoughtful. Just a week ago, I sent her a card with a picture of Hattie in it. Within days she sent me a thank you card for my card. Who does that? Sean always jokes, telling me that I should send her a thank-you card for her thank-you card, just to see if she'll send me a thank-you card for my thank-you card for her thank-you card! She probably would, too! She is so thoughtful and simply wanted me to know that my card was appreciated. She goes out of her way to make me feel good about something kind that I have done. I miss that "old-fashionness" that she still keeps to.

When Sean and I told her that we were naming Hattie after her, she was so surprised and humble about it. She teases me now saying that "Hattie Ruth may be 'Hattie Ruth,' but she'll be 'Ruth' to me!" I just love that. And I am so looking forward to moving closer to her so that her great-granddaughter will get to know her more. I know that as Hattie Ruth gets older and understands more, she'll be so proud to carry her great-grandmother's name! And I hope with that name she'll carry the wisdom, heart, and strength that her great-grandmother has as well.

This is FUN!

Okay, so what do you think? Is this accurate? I happen to think it is. I hold firm to my opinion that Hattie is a good mix of her mama and daddy......thanks, Look-Alike Meter, for backing me up! I will only be skeptical if everyone else gets similar results from their own pics and kiddos.


To try it out on your own family, go here: http://www.myheritage.com/FP/Company/look-alike-meter.php

Poor Boo-boo!

(We left our camera in H-town when we were house-hunting, so this is an old pic, a pic that Katie took with her amazing camera & skillz while we were at the Children's Museum about a month back. I'm having picture-taking withdrawal!!! I can't wait to get my camera back.)

This morning when I went into Hattie's room around 6:45 a.m. I found her and her crib covered in vomit - bleh! At first I thought she had blown out of a diaper, but then the smell hit me. The smell of vomit is so distinct. We did a quick bath of which she was not too happy about. Then we went downstairs. She seemed fine. More than fine, really. She was giggly, happy, playing so sweetly. So I decided to try and give her some breakfast. Well, she didn't stomach it very well. Actually, it never quite made it to her stomach. So the highchair got a bath, too.

She's had stomach viruses before. This will be #3 for her (she must have a weak stomach like her daddy, I guess.), but she's never been so perky and easy while sick with one like she is this time. It must be a mild one. She played so pretty all day and took AMAZING naps. She did eat a little and hasn't thrown-up since breakfast, so I guess she's on the mend. I pray she's on the mend! Sean's out of town so it would KILL if she got even sicker, and I got sick, too. I'm not even gonna think about that, though. Not a possibility.

I just really love the age that Hattie is at right now, though. 14 months is the most fun! She GETS so much. There is definite brain activity going on at all times. Tonight I put her in some jammies that had cats all over them. I said, "Look, Hattie, you have kitty-cats all over your jammies!" Well, let me just tell you, I heard her saying "keee-cat" for about 15 minutes after I put her to bed. Then there was the beautiful sound of silence, so I can bet what she'll be dreaming about tonight!

I just love the age she's at! I love that she always offers her baby doll juice. She's so polite, ya know ;0)! I love how she "sips" out of an empty cup and follows it with "MMMMM!" I love how she toddles around from one thing to another as if she has so much to do. I love how she gives kisses and hugs so easily. I love the creativity that she's developing. I just love this age!

Good Finds

I found this recipe in one of my Kraft Food & Family mags and made it last night. It's a no frills recipe but pretty good!

"Unfried" Chicken Fried Rice

1 Tbsp. veggie oil

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1 (14.5 oz.) chicken broth

4 tsp. soy sauce

3 cups frozen stir-fry veggies (I used a little more)

2 cups Minute White Rice, uncooked

Heat oil in skillet on med-high heat. Add chicken; cook and stir 5 min. or until cooked through.

Add broth and soy sauce. Bring to Boil.

Stir in veggies and rice; cover. Reduce heat to low; cook for 5 min. (I had to cook it a little longer). Stir before serving. Sprinkle with 1 green onion, sliced, if desired.

Makes 4 servings (but more like 2.5 for us!). But I guess if you served egg rolls or something else with it, it would stretch it out more.

Yummy, Quick, Easy Clean-up, and Sean likes it - a recipe after my own heart!

Also, I found a new consignment kids clothing store. Kid to Kid. It's great. I like it because it was way more organized and not as cluttered as Once Upon a Child, and it was WAY cheaper. I got Hattie 3 fall outfits, 2 long sleeve shirts, a dress, and a pair of shoes for @ $25, and atleast half of my purchase was Gymboree. CHEAP! They also have maternity clothes. I didn't need to look at them, so I don't know how reasonable they are.

Finally, we had our inspection on Monday, and the house is in great shape, no major problems. Our option period is over now. I've started packing atleast 2 boxes a day. We have SO MUCH STUFF. I keep thinking about how I want to decorate. I don't have a vision yet of paint colors that I want to use in different rooms. I want to branch out and not use the same color schemes I had in our other house. I want a light blue room, but I don't know. None of my stuff goes with light blue really, but we looked at this one house that had light blue paint and dark concrete floors in the family room. Oh, I loved it. I want that room! The house had obvious foundation problems so it wasn't an option for us :0(.........Okay........I'm rambling.......... and naptime will probably be over shortly.......gotta go get a box or two packed!

Charlene

Sean's mother's best friend, who battled with brain cancer for nearly 3 years, went to be with the Lord this morning. Her suffering is over, but there lies a rough road ahead for her loved ones who will miss her. I only met Charlie a few times, but her warmth and sweet presence left a mark. She was like an aunt to Sean because she was like a sister to his mother.

She was young. In her 50s. It is tragic, but the comfort that we have is that she loved our Lord. And what a blessing it is that her youngest son made it home in time to say goodbye. She is basking in the glory of the Lord. Her pain and suffering are over. She is home with our Heavenly Father who let the world borrow her for a while.

Psalm 116:15: "Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his saints."

Moving Right Along

I am SO excited! Yesterday we had an offer on a house accepted. It was a great birthday present for Sean. We have had a hard time looking and not really finding "the one." We started out thinking that we wanted to live in the suburbs, but at the last minute, after much prayer and thought, we realized that Sean and the clunk-o-junk car that he drives would not be able to handle the long commute. Plus, Hattie and I both really enjoy seeing more of Sean than less of him. SO on our last day of house-hunting, we focused in on neighborhoods in the city that will allow Sean easy access to work.

We ended up finding a great house that is near our old house. It's not exactly in the same subdivision but pretty dern close. We are excited about it. It's a blank slate, needs lots of paint and fabic and *stuff* but is clean, has good bones, and has total potential. It was built in 1955 so has lots of the character that Sean and I love, like hardwoods (which are hidden by carpet right now) and beadboard and large trees. Let's just hope it doesn't come with the plumbing issues that our last house full of character had $$$$$!

SO providing the inspection goes well and there is no major change of heart by us or the sellers, we will be homeowners and near many of you again in mid-October, which hopefully means cool moving weather!

Happy Birthday, Sean!

Happy 27th Birthday to you, my sweet husband! You make 27 look GOOD ;0)!

What's in a Name?

Before we ever even conceived Hattie Ruth, Sean and I were already thinking about names for our first-born-to-be. It didn't take long for us to decide that our first born daughter would bear the names of two beautiful, Christian women who played such strong roles in our lives.

Hattie Christine is my mother's mother. She was number 11 of 12 kids born to a strong Catholic couple who made a living working a farm as share-croppers. I know that they were poor, but I don't think I can really grasp how poor they were as I sit comfortably in my air-conditioned house, typing away on the computer for sport while my hubby relaxes on the couch watching a football game.

Hattie's father died when she was a young girl, so just a few days short of her 16th birthday, she married my grandfather, probably partly because my great-grandmother needed to marry her off for financial purposes. I remember her telling me that when she got married she and my grandfather had 13 dollars and a bucket to their name. She and my grandfather had 7 children and lived on a farm that they worked as share croppers. They never owned their own house or tilled their own land. They didn't have much at all, but God always provided for them.

Hattie was tough. When I picture her, I always picture her hands. They were rough and wrinkled and looked like a set of man's hands minus their size. I never saw her just sitting around. She was always working, whether it was in the kitchen cooking or outside on the farm. She enjoyed life, though. She would laugh and tell me stories of her childhood and my mother's childhood. She enjoyed a cold beer on her porch swing in the evenings with company. And she could tease and joke around with the best of them.

Most importantly, though, Hattie was the godly woman that I pray my daughter will grow up to be. My grandmother spent much of her days on her knees. She had the most calloused knees. As a young girl, I can remember lying in her bed hot because she had no a/c while she knelt by the bedside and prayed her prayers in Polish. Gosh, how I wish I could go back to one of those moments! She went to church every day to receive communion, and when she moved to a retirement community, she brought along as many women as she could fit in her big green car. Her heart was always fixed on Christ. I know she wasn't perfect, that she was a sinner, but she knew that, too. She was the most humble, giving woman, always putting herself last, and I never once heard her complain or gripe about anything, even when she started to get sick.

She died right when Sean and I started dating more seriously my sophmore year in college, so he never got to meet her.

We named our daughter Hattie because our hope is that she will be like her great-grandmother, a woman who didn't have a lot of "things" but had more gifts than imaginable. I think about her often, especially now that I have my Hattie. I know that she is praying for our family. She knows we have our work cut out for us. Afterall, she spent her life trying to glorify our Lord each day, and she still found time to keep a husband, tend a farm, and raise seven children.

So I think, if the day comes where a child makes fun of my Hattie for her name, which will probably happen, I will have a lot of reasons to tell her why she should feel nothing but proud and privileged to bear such a name.

To be continued......part deux - Ruth!

She Has a Hollow Leg.

The title would NOT be referring to me. No, if I even look at a piece of food, I somehow absorb the calories from the food without even eating it. I'm referring to Hattie of course. That child can eat like a horse and where does it all go!?! I don't have a clue. It amazes me. Just this morning she had: a whole banana, a whole container of yogurt, a piece of toast with butter, a whole cup of a water/juice cocktail, and 5 ounces of whole milk.

Her dinner last night was a fairly large portion of spaghetti and meat, peas and carrots, corn, gold fish, 3 strawberries, a chocolate chip cookie, and 6 ounces of milk.

Maybe it's just me, but that seems like A LOT of food for a 20 lb. toddler to consume. And the thing is that she looks like she hardly eats. She's not skin and bone, but she has always been on the slight side of the growing chart. She can out-eat any toddler around her age, though, I'm sure of it.

And she is the biggest mooch. Neither Sean nor I can eat or even look like we're thinking about eating with Hattie in the room. She's like a dog. She smells it a mile away and is at our feet in 2 seconds flat begging for some, even if you know there is no way the child can be hungry after just consuming an entire meal in adult portions. It's a habit that we've allowed her to form because we've just always shared our food with her. Big first-time parent mistake.

I just don't know where she puts it all, which is why I have come to the conclusion that she must have a hollow leg.

In other news, we are house-hunting this weekend. It's been very stressful trying to figure out where to move in the Houston area. Sean's office will be in the Galleria area. Right now we are thinking Richmond or the Pearland/Friendswood area. Our main reasons for choosing these areas are schools, and they aren't too terribly far for Sean - but they will both still be a fairly long commute for him. We are also considering just renting a house not far from Sean's office for a few years. This way we can take advantage of the fact that Hattie isn't in school yet, so Sean can enjoy a shorter commute, and we don't have to commit to anything we aren't sure about right away. I don't want to rent. I WANT to buy, to plant our roots, own a home, PAINT, make my mark, but I also want to do what is best for our family......... suggestions of areas are appreciated! Perhaps you know of a great neighborhood a hop-skip-and-a-jump away from the Galleria area that is zoned to great schools, insures great neighbors, and has homes that are in the 2,000 sq. ft. range to accomodate a growing family. Oh yeah, and - here's the kicker - it must be affordable for a one income family.

A Heartwarming Freeze

That's exactly what a picture of my baby means to me.

I have found myself getting more and more interested in photography since Hattie's birth. I wish I had the power to freeze time with Hattie. The way she smells, the sounds she makes, the way she looks when she sucks her thumb, her pudgy fingers and toes, the way she lays her head on my shoulder when she's upset or tired. It's so joyful being her mother.

Unfortunately, I can't freeze time, but I do enjoy savoring moments of my baby in pictures. I try to capture her baby ways while I can because I know they will change way too soon.

I did a little photo shoot for practice yesterday afternoon with Hattie while we were waiting for Sean to come home so we could all go out to dinner. This is my favorite shot. I love her expression - so shy and flirty. It's almost as if her high school crush just walked by, even though she's not allowed to like boys until she's 30. I wonder what she's thinking.....

And these are a few others that I like.....each one different......each one allowing a little glimpse into her personality.
Finally, Sean and I watched a great movie last night - Tsotsi - you gotta see it if you haven't already. It is one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen. It made me cry, and I'm not a big sap when it comes to movies, but man, this one is GOOD.