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!