Music Box Jumper View B

I finished sewing the Oliver + S Music Box Jumper in View B. I made bloomers to match, as well as a toddler girl's purse I designed (if one can use so lofty a term) and sewed in five minutes.

For me, sewing still reminds me of doing origami. When I read through a pattern ahead of time, I cannot envision how each step will result in a piece of clothing, but at the last moment, it all comes together as a dress! For this project, I felt a lot of confusion about sewing the yoke. When it came time to connect the yoke and the skirt, I realized I had sewn the yoke wrong, but I still couldn't see how. I ripped out a seam and studied the instructions for an hour. I decided to walk away from the project for a day in hopes that I'd come back with a fresh mind and the instructions would make sense. Indeed, when I returned the next day, suddenly I could "see" what I was supposed to do! It made sense and I figured it out. That showed me the power of brain fatigue.

I am learning things about sewing each time I do a project. For example, button holes do have a right and wrong side to them. Now I know! I think what I am enjoying so much about sewing is that I can actually finish a project and look at it, completely and utterly done. Everything else about the job of a homemaker is cyclical and continuous. I clean and it is dirty ten minutes later. I cook a meal and people are hungry two hours later. I teach a lesson and it has to be taught again to little children hundreds of times. So it is a wonderful hobby to sew and be able to start and complete a project.

Birthday Weekend in Atlanta

Below are belatedly posted photos (taken by talented Aunt Holly) of our 24-hour jaunt to Atlanta to celebrate the birthdays of Pop-Pops, Anne, and me.

Our children loved playing with their cousins' new puppy.

Back to Real Life

Back to real life after our lovely five hours out alone without children last night: illness strikes again!

John has thrown up six times this morning (and is now asleep, as above, in his little nest on the couch). I've set up camp in the den and am making fabulous progress catching up on correspondence, items I've been meaning to order online, and paperwork tasks that have been building up for month. I am "interrupted" (called to duty, really) only when John throws up or I need to change a load of the resulting laundry.

Now I'm starting to feel queasy, which I hope is psychosomatic, but I'll know soon for sure . . . . There go our weekend plans!

Happy Fifth Anniversary!

Friday was our fifth wedding anniversary!

Two aging singles + the sacrament of matrimony + five years = one marriage, three moves (cross-country, state-to-state, in-town), one home sale and one home purchase, one major job change, and beautiful children ages four, two, and 30 weeks' in utero. God has been better to us than we merit! (But isn't that statement true in all circumstances?!)

Ha ha! This is the first photo in which I can see the end-of-pregnancy weight gain in my face.

We hired our beloved babysitter for the evening and went to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants: Brio Tuscan Grille. We shared the roasted red pepper and mozzarella bruschetta. Chris ordered a Ceasar salad and I ordered a bistecca insalata (love those!). For our entrees, Chris enjoyed a veal Marsala classico and I had the penne Mediterranean. Chris got to have bread pudding for dessert while I ordered the most divine sampler I know of three creme brulee: mocha, vanilla, and caramel. Eating Brio's creme brulee is like eating something divine which I hardly dare call "food" because nothing else I taste on this earth seems to fall in the same category.

After dinner, we went to a delightful movie theatre we found recently. As Chris pointed out, "there is not a teenager in sight!" (only well dressed, polite adults!). The clean and fashionably decorated theatre even sells beer and has luxury seats available for purchase (larger seats in leather that recline). We watched "The Way Back," film about a group of men who escaped the Siberian gulag in 1940 and trekked 4,000 miles to freedom. I quite enjoy stories of perseverance under Communist and Nazi regimes (I've read so many priest-prisoner biographies from that era!) and this was no exception. I worried if a movie set in the wilderness could possibly hold my attention for more than two hours, but there were enough continual points of conflict that I was interested the entire time.

For a gift, Chris gave me a wonderful selection of chocolates he hand-picked from a local chocolatier. And winning many points for creativity, Chris ordered me five cans of coffee beans from Cafe Sant'Eustachio, the best coffee we've had, which we found on our honeymoon in Rome. There is only one importer in the United States we have found who brings in these beans from that tiny cafe, as Chris discovered when he bought me one can as a gift after I gave birth to our first child. Five cans for five years is pretty wonderful! I gave Chris a statue of the Holy Family, the best family after which we could try to model our little family.

Happy anniversary, honey! May there be many more!

Mary Looking Sweet

"Smiling"

I scored this dress at a recent Land's End sale, which was 30% off everything, including clearance items, with free shipping (no minimum order). These knit dresses go for something like $25 and I think I paid $7, plus I got turtlenecks for the children for $6 and suede shoes with great supportive soles for me for $6 (slip-on, very useful toward the end of pregnancy!). I love good bargains!

My Little Peacemaker

Source of image: http://www2.hci.edu.sg/y08hci0118/DtoD/home/index.html

John is proving to be quite the little peacemaker. I'm curious to see how much this trait will express itself in the negative (if John cannot withstand any conflict, so chooses peace at all cost) or in the positive (that he is fair, judicial, and merciful in negotiating conflicts).

I've noticed that if Mary is crying because we are having a standoff (say, I won't let her get dressed until she does a potty check, so she's throwing a full-out tantrum while I sit calmly and wait), John will go to lengths to get her to stop crying, such as putting on a lullaby CD and bringing her her favorite stuffed animal. If I am correcting Mary's bad behavior (and I'm being calm and reasonable!), John will come and tell me, "It's okay that she did that, Mama." Earlier today Mary purposefully poured out her water bottle all over the floor (a favorite naughty pastime of hers) and when John saw me making her wipe it up with a towel, he ran and got a towel in order to join her in her consequences. One time we had a standoff with Mary that lasted at least 30 minutes because she refused to say 'sorry' for hitting John (purposefully and hard). John kept apologizing for her despite our telling him that she had to apologize, not him. He's even told me at other times, "I'm apologizing for Mary since she won't do it."

And just now Mary and John were drawing on paper with pens. I caught Mary drawing on her hands and I corrected her, telling her that if she did it again I'd take away the pen. Two minutes later she was drawing on her skin again, so I calmly took away the pen. She cried. So John gave her his pen and told me that he wanted to "give her another chance," even though it meant he didn't have a pen to draw with (and I didn't give him a new one). "I can wait to draw, Mama."

I have a feeling we're going to have to teach him over the years to be able to withstand the discomfort of conflict better.

I recall that this peacemaking is a very melancholic trait. In fact, I even remember an anecdote of a peacemaking melancholic apologizing on behalf of a prideful choleric in a conference I listened to on the topic of the four temperaments! And now I get to see that played out in my own kitchen!

New Bookstore!

I have discovered a self-labeled traditionalist Catholic bookstore thirty minutes' drive from our house and it is excellent--quite excellent. The store offers a very good selection of books and I now have six new ones, waiting to be "devoured." (I wonder how early I can get the kids to fall asleep tonight.) You may write your condolences to my patient husband via comments to this post!

While in the store, John occupied himself beautifully, spending most of his time digging through some baskets on the floor with inexpensive items. He found a basket full of plastic statuettes: "Saints, Mama, saints! Wow! Who is this? And who is this one?" He was enthralled with a cheap plastic crucifix, with engraved stations of the cross on it, on which a glow-in-the-dark Jesus is hanging. You know, when I first converted to Catholicism, my newly Catholic aunt and I commented to each other for at least a year about the outright kitcsch of Catholic spiritual aids. And now I've become quite accustomed to them and here I have bought a glow-in-the-dark Jesus for my child because he couldn't stop saying that he "loved" it. Of course, he already has a crucifix in his room, up high. I told him that perhaps it would help him when he wakes up in the night to see this Jesus glowing right next to his pillow and he could say a prayer to Jesus instead of calling for Mama and Daddy.

Also, I finally got around to hanging these little key hooks I have had floating around, to be used to hang rosaries in John's room. (We have that chair in John's room because it is where one of us grown-ups will sit during bedtime routine or while reading a story to the kids.)

Chapel Veil

After breakfast, I overheard another fight breaking out because Mary was insisting that she was wearing a chapel veil and John was telling her it was a scarf. I have a large collection of lovely scarves from my single days when I had the energy to manage yet one more piece of pretty, decorative clothing on my person--unlike now when my accoutrement are a baby in a sling, a toddler on my arm, and a heavy diaper bag! So the children use my scarf collection for imaginative play and I'm glad the scarves get good use.

Mary sees that I wear a chapel veil at Mass and has lately begun imitating me: this occasionally results in a screaming match of John saying it is a scarf and Mary saying it is a chapel veil.

I negotiated the fight and peace reigned again. I re-routed John's skating path around where Mary was "praying" while wearing her "chapel veil" (photo above).

And now as I listen, John has wrapped himself in a half dozen scarves and is saying that he is Joseph wearing his coat of many colors, and that his sister is the Blessed Virgin Mary, and that they live in heaven together, and that heaven is behind the big curtain in the den. (I have a feeling there is some understandable confusion going on about St. Joseph, husband of the BVM, and Joseph of the Many Colored Coat.)

How precious! I love how children simply imitate what they see. I've never spoken one word to Mary about how women should wear chapel veils. I'm way more irritatingly pedantic with adults than I am with my children because my children simply imitate!

Children's mimicry is also a wonderful tool for refinement of the parental soul because my ugly traits and habits are mirrored back to me in no time at all and I feel deeply ashamed to see my sinful actions coming from a perfectly innocent child.

Postscript: Speaking of Mary praying, I witnessed her doing some praying, as real as a two-year-old can do. Last week after John had his vaccination, he cried on and off all day about how much it hurt. We were at a stationery store when he started up again weeping and, at that point, I simply had to tell him that even if his ouchie really hurt, I needed him to be a brave boy, stop wailing so loudly, and calm down. Mary quickly suggested, "You could pray, John!" John retorted angrily that we had already prayed to his Guardian Angel to help his ouchie stop hurting (which we had done, in the doctor's office), but Mary was undeterred. For about two minutes, she folded her hands and prayed persistently to God, muttering requests that He help her brother stop having an ouchie.

I consider that to be real praying, as much as a two-year-old can envision God listening to her, which makes me think I should internally give more respect to the many times Mary approaches me out of the blue and says, "I want to pray for souls." She pesters me until I say 'yes,' so now I say 'yes,' quickly, which involves sitting her on my lap, we both fold our hands, and I pray for us, "Heavenly Father, we pray for the souls of the faithful departed and for the release of the holy souls in Purgatory. Amen." Then Mary makes the sign of the cross and run off to play. She does this a few times per week. Even though her understanding of God is far less than mine, the value and efficacy of her little prayers is probably far higher than mine because of the purity of her soul.

Food Journal Expanding

John's Food Journal is expanding with entries. If he so much as tries a nibble of a food, we draw a picture of it in his journal, which he finds exciting. Chris and I struggle to know why John's eating is so limited (some "chicken and egg" issues from his babyhood) and to know what we are supposed to do to help him. But we sure do work on it. John enjoys his weekly Occupational Therapy with Miss Melissa and just a week ago we started having John try a nibble of everything served at each meal--which I truly don't think he would or could have done sooner than this (but I well might be wrong).

I divided up John's food journal pages by food categories. Some of you will laugh when you see what I have to count as fruit and vegetables, but I had to start John with some successes, so he could don the label of a Boy Who Likes Fruit and Vegetable (Flavors)! And my close friends who have listened to the trials and tribulations will know how tremendously huge some of these "wins" listed below really are.

Fruit Flavors

Fruity snacks (like gummy candies)

Currants

Cereal bars (strawberry, apple, fig)

Apple sauce

Mini Wheats cereal (strawberry, blueberry)

Dehydrated apple crisps

Chocolate-covered Craisins

Vanilla yogurt-covered Raisins

Toaster pastries (strawberry)

Dairy

Milk with Ovaltine

Yogurt-covered pretzels

Macaroni & cheese

Cheese pizza

Homemade shake (milk, yogurt, fruit, honey)

Nuts

Peanut butter (smooth)

Nutella

Oats and peanut butter granola bar

Dark chocolate almond spread

Vegetable Flavors

Chive & onion cream cheese spread

Garlic roll

Fettuccine Alfredo with green specks

Grandmom's pumpkin bread

Cheese pizza (sauce = tomato)

Veggie & Flaxseed Tortilla Chips

Snapea Crisps

Fried okra

Cooked broccoli

Raw carrot

Raw celery

Black bean

Meat

Chicken nuggets (including one brand that is not Tyson!)

Fried egg

Tofu

Ground beef

Toys Randomly Placed

You know you have kids when you daily find toys randomly placed around the house, like this dolly in the pantry. It always gives me a smile.

The Big 3-0

Welcome to 30 weeks! I'm three-quarters done! It sounds much more positive to say it that way than: I have ten more weeks to go?!

You can see how a 30-weeker is developing here and here and here.

Kvetch!

I'm a bit lax about taking my perfectly healthy children in for well-child visits, especially since we don't follow the CDC vaccination schedule (which is how the schedule for well-child visits has been determined). I didn't manage to get my kids in for their one- and three-year visits until last May. This year I thought I'd try harder to get them in on schedule, so I made appointments for their two- and four-year visits for today.

I arrived and the receptionist informed me that our health insurance wouldn't cover well-child visits more than once per year, and our last ones were only nine months ago. I could have our well-child visits for $240 or I could go home.

My fellow mothers: I just know you know how frustrated I was having gotten very broken sleep the night before (as always), packed up two little kids to get us out the door by nine o'clock, waddling along with my six-month pregnant body. They couldn't have told me about this problem when I scheduled the appointment on the phone?! Kvetch, kvetch, kvetch!!!

I opted for a shots-only appointment because I've been so lax that the kids are quite behind even our family's own delay-and-separate schedule. And now I won't go back till they are three and five years old.

Poor John: This was the first year, at four, that he was old enough to anticipate the shot, be terrified before, and be hysterical afterward. I had/have a phobia of shots, so it's important to me not to pass that on to my children. I was very calm, but did let him know it would hurt a tiny bit and be over very fast. He hid behind a chair and was crying even before he got his shot. Then he cried hysterically for ten minutes afterwards, crying so hard that he almost threw up. It was quite ridiculous, but I calmed and distracted him. I discovered toward the end that the critical cause of his hysteria was the Band-Aid placed on his shot. John is really scared of Band-Aids. So I took it off him and the crying stopped. Lesson learned!

And in true Gregarious Mary fashion, she introduced herself to every other patient waiting in the lobby and walked the circuit around the room, continually talking to them all.

January 22: Day of Penance

For my Catholic readers particularly, I want to draw attention a day ahead of time to the fact that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has established January 22 as a day of penance, which applies to all of us Catholics:

"In all the dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 (or January 23, when January 22 falls on a Sunday) shall be observed as a particular day of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion, and of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life. The Mass "For Peace and Justice" (no. 22 of the "Masses for Various Needs") should be celebrated with violet vestments as an appropriate liturgical observance for this day."

General Instruction of the Roman Missal, no. 373

January 22 this year marks the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton--both decided the same day--which took away states' rights (read: our rights as state citizens who can vote) to decide about abortion laws, and which established federal law that abortion is permitted through all nine months of pregnancy for any reason. Many people to this day don't know that last part. Another interesting fact most people don't know is that "Jane Roe" (Norma McCorvey) and "Mary Doe" (Sandra Cano)--both very young, impoverished, and ignorant--consider themselves duped and used by the political and legal system into being plaintiffs in those cases. McCorvey never had an abortion, but did place all her children through adoption: She now has her own pro-life ministry. Cano never had an abortion, was, in fact, always pro-life, and believed her lawsuit was about obtaining a decree of divorce, not an abortion. Her story is well worth reading. Both McCorvey and Cano are avid pro-life advocates and speak for such organizations as "Silent No More."

In light of this sad anniversary and having just come from the children's doctor's office, I thought I'd also share a website for any interested parents which provides information about which vaccinations are created using aborted fetal cell lines. Click on "Vaccine Sources" here to check on the source of each vaccine. It sounds so clinical and reasonable to talk about a "fetal cell line," but it is quite Frankensteinian that, in one sense, these children are forced to live forever, their cells being kept alive perpetually in vitro, sold perpetually to vaccination manufacturers (reminds me of slavery), and then inserted into all of our children's bodies, where their cells forever float around with our children's cells. So much for resting in peace.

One can read descriptions of five fetal cell lines here. For example, the RA 27/3 cell line used for the Rubella vaccination means, if I understand everything right, that this was the 27th baby aborted before successfully finding a fetus infected with Rubella. There had been a Rubella outbreak in the 1960s and all pregnant women exposed to the disease were encouraged to abort their babies in case the babies were born ill or deformed. The vaccine researchers obtained the aborted remains of 26 previous wanted babies who had been exposed to Rubella, who were then aborted, but who had not contracted the disease. Only on the 27th abortion, did the vaccine researchers hit the jackpot with a baby who had contracted Rubella, whose cells could be perpetually kept alive to create the vaccination we use today.

It's shaking to me to see that a company can buy a "human cell line" (read: cells of someone's precious baby) for $75. Not a whole lot of money for living body parts, it seems to me.

Please know that our family doesn't believe in a one-size-fits-all solution for what each family decides about vaccinations: our decisions to delay and separate (and exclude some entirely) are based on our circumstances of being a homeschooling family that is not currently traveling internationally. We are blessed to have the flexibility to make these choices and I don't forget it.

Please pray, fast, and do reparation on January 22.

McDowell Park

Today we made a morning outing to McDowell Park.

There was still some snow on the ground.

The kids insisted on stopping in at the Visitor's Center before our walk and then ran around frenetically, visiting all the animals and displays.

No, Mary does not have a problem with her eyes, as seen in all these photos. She is "smiling." One wonders whether how her two-year-old posing smile compares to John's two-year-old posing smile, which was a fierce grimace!

Back at home, John was very pleased with himself for inventing "bubble shoes," which he said would protect his feet if he walked on anything sharp, like thorns.

Tuesday Happenings

Technology: I find it remarkable that complex computer technology is so readily learned by tiny children. Mary has known how to operate my iPhone for a couple of months already, with no formal instruction, of course. (My rules about the iPhone are that the children must ask permission to use it, which they virtually always do, and they must play with it within my eyesight.) Mary can get in and out of all her favorite games and back to the main menu, and she can cause the phone to make fun sounds. And John is even more savvy with the iPhone!

Little Helpers: Today I was busy washing breakfast dishes when Mary insisted she wanted to put on her shoes. It occurred to me for the first time that I could ask John to help her, which he readily did (although note that the shoes are on the wrong feet!).

I remember so many conversations with mom-friends farther down the path and they'd try to tell me about the light at the end (really: beginning) of the tunnel, when the children start to become more competent and independent. And now here I am starting to live that life! John is four and he loves to be a Super Helper (as we call it, like being a Super Hero). These days, his reply to my request for most forms of help is--amazingly--a cheerful, "Okay!" Less and less am I bending my bulk over to pick up the few hundred items off the floor every day because I ask him to pick them up for me (so maybe I pick up only a hundred things!). John helps me (usually asking me if he can please help me) unload dishes from the dishwasher, run the washer and dryer, fold laundry, put away laundry, pick up his toys, run and fetch things, cook and bake, empty bathroom trash cans, and serve some simple foods for he and Mary (bowls of cereal, cups of water--and here I know my friend Sarah is laughing at me because her kids by three or four are frying their own eggs!).

I am just at the beginning of having Little Helpers who are actually helpful to me, so I just want to share that with some of my friends who are not even as far along the path as I am. I think of some girlfriends of mine whose first children are not yet two years old, maybe who are pregnant with their second, and things are at a peak of difficulty. Within one to two more (very hard!) years, you too will have a Little Helper! It's glorious! It gives me energy and makes me feel like I can keep growing our family and it will get better and better.

Circle Time Day 2: Today I didn't get around to our brand new Circle Time till after dinner. When I suggested to the kids that we have Circle Time, John said, "Yeah!" and Mary cheered, "Yippee! Yippee!" I thought that was quite hilarious and endearing because I'm truly not a very entertaining teacher yet. We read our saint of the day, then prayed a decade of the rosary (Mary self-regulated when she couldn't keep still and climbed into my lap herself!), then read several charming poems about mice. We listened to a fun Catholic children's song (and now John can excitedly answer that first catechetical question: "Why did God make me? To know him, to love him, and to serve him.") Then we read Bible stories, and John chose to learn about the Tower of Babel and Abram's initial journeying. What fun! I am loving this age!

Don't Tell Me They Don't Understand! Every child is different in achieving understanding about different things, but I sure see a good understanding in Mary (26 months) about a lot! Tonight I caught her having climbed to the top of a tall bureau where she is not allowed--not because I actually think she'll fall (she won't) but because it is one of the few places in the house where I can put some of my items that the kids are not allowed to touch. I told her 'no' and pulled her down. Then I walked back in the room moments later to find her up there again, playing with the things she knows she's not allowed to touch. Before I could say a word, she plopped onto her bottom, her feet swinging casually off the edge of the bureau and said, "I just taking a rest!" I countered, "No, you are not!" She elaborated, "I praying." Then she folded her hands in prayer and said, "Dear Heavenly Father. Pray, pray, pray. Aaaaaaa-men." She's just lucky I didn't die laughing.

Potty Training Update: Ten days into it and Mary had her first day with no accidents. She's been staying dry overnight too since only a few days into this, so I think when I run out of disposable diapers, I'll just stop having her wear them at night. Yay, Big Girl!

Circle Time Renewed

I am trying again to renew the idea of having Circle Time with the kids. My goal is to be both more organized and more relaxed. By relaxed, I mean that I'm not going to try to have it at the same time every day, just to squeeze it in some time most days. By more organized, I mean that I want to try to have our Circle Time contain certain common elements--so, I made a pictorial sign.

I'd like Circle Time to include praying a decade of the rosary, reading at least one Bible story (but John always requests more and more till I have to stop him), reading a poem, learning about the saint of the day or special feast day, and listening to and/or singing a song. In an ideal world, these elements would all be coordinated, but I'm not going to aim for that right now.

Today we began by reviewing the pictures on the poster, and both children called out, "I want to pray the rosary first!" Strange since we (regrettably) aren't in a good habit of praying the rosary as a family right now. Praying the rosary daily as a family really is an important goal. I can't tell you how many times I've heard from mothers of big families who say that the first step to training children to be quiet and still in Mass is to pray the rosary together daily. How likely is it that the child will know how to be quiet and still for an hour once a week if he's not getting practice in shorter periods daily (by praying the rosary)? And, as should be obvious, praying the rosary has many more fruits than simply quiet children at Mass!

For our rosary today, my goal was to have the children to be respectfully quiet and each to stay on his or her own pillows and not flop around/lie down. Mary was unable to stay still, so she had to sit on my lap (which is exactly what we do at Mass).

We read about Adam and Eve and their being expelled from the Garden and about today's saint, St. Anthony of the desert. We read a poem about St. Nicholas (just happened to be vaguely religious, it was chosen by John by poking his finger into the index) and listened to Salve Regina in simple tone. (John complained a little by asking when the song would be over, but not two minutes later he was making up an obviously Gregorian chant-style song which he sang with great interest. These things do rub off!)

I had to interrupt myself many times to remind children to sit still, don't talk over me, and 'you'll need to sit in my lap if you can't sit on your pillow.' But at the end, each child asked me, "Can we do Circle Time again tomorrow morning?"

That was gratifying.

29 Weeks

Music Box Jumper

I sewed the Oliver + S Music Box Jumper for Mary, plus matching bloomers using a free pattern I found online.

This was the first time I sewed button holes, which was a challenge and I made some mistakes.

I did not sew the blouse.

Mary 'smiling' (Note that she refused to stand still for photos, so I brought over a table and asked if she was strong enough to climb on top of it: she ran over instantly and stood atop the table in triumph so I could take photos.)

Spaghetti for Dinner

Today Mary made us 'spaghetti' for dinner.

That 'spaghetti' is made of the tassels from a throw blanket we keep in the den. No children were disciplined in the making of this spaghetti, as the throw was already old and falling apart--but I'll probably regret that!

Today I had the pleasure of attending my third sewing machine mastery class while Chris watched the children. We still have snow on the ground, but the temperature is up to about 45 degrees, so the kids got to play in the snow and go to the playground.

Charlotte March for Life 2011

Today I took the children with me for the Charlotte March for Life; Chris had some business meetings he couldn't cancel. (Last year Chris went alone and I stayed home with the kids, but I can't remember why--I'm imagining one of us was sick.) We went to the March for Life in Washington D.C. last year, but have already discerned for reasons of my pregnancy and Chris' business travel that we won't be able to attend this year.

It was very important to me that I do everything I could to participate in the local march. This morning I woke with so many reasons it would have made more sense to stay home: We had thought Chris could come with me, but then he couldn't, so I'd be managing the stroller and children by myself. I woke with a piercing headache and dizziness, and I vomited profusely (from pregnancy, not contagious illness). Then I randomly bonked my head really hard and cried for ten minutes (which is so unusual for me!).

Mary sleeping on the walk

Then once on the walk, I discovered a few more reasons I would have felt a whole lot more comfortable in my nest of a home: The temperature was about 35 degrees. I had assumed that the sidewalks downtown would be free of snow and ice, but I was very wrong and I had worn entirely inappropriate shoes. I wondered, how bad would it be if I slipped and fell at six months pregnant? Pushing 100+ pounds of stroller and children on icy sidewalks for three hours was really hard, so I was having uncomfortably strong Braxton-Hicks (read: harmless) contractions the whole time.

I find it incredibly hard to ask for help and show weakness, but I made myself ask for and accept help on several occasions today because I really wanted to show my support for the pro-life cause, even though I'm not at my peak of vim and vigor right now. So many people are pro-life, but still don't get out there and allow themselves to be visible! Thank you to everyone who helped me be there today, including my husband in helping us get out of the house this morning.

After stopping downtown to listen to speeches (as led by Fr. Frank Pavone), we marched a few more blocks to the federal courthouse where we prayed the rosary. I was praying only with my rosary when Mary demanded, "Where is my rosie?!" So I passed out rosaries for the children too.

When the march disbanded at the courthouse, I got swept into a big crowd heading back by a different route. Suddenly I discovered that the crowd were the high-school students who were boarding buses parked a couple of blocks away, so they boarded the buses and left me standing all alone, no idea where I was! I was so grateful that Chris had printed out a map of downtown for me, so I used the map to make my way back to our parking lot, but I felt creeped out the whole time because I was walking along deserted back roads of downtown and I was all alone with my little ones. Thank you, Guardian Angels, for keeping us safe!

Also, thanks go to to the very appropriate patron saint chosen by the organizers for today's march: St. James Intercius, who was martyred by being cut into 28 pieces, which he survived until the end.

On a side note: Mary is doing great with potty training. The last couple of days she has stayed dry overnight. After several days of pottying every 20 minutes, yesterday she stretched herself to every 60-90 minutes, including staying dry on a shopping outing. She's been having one to two accidents per day. Then today (Day 6 of training) I put her in a diaper for the March for Life (because the consequence of her wetting herself on the march was having to change her wet clothing in 35-degree weather!), but when we got back to the car three hours later, she was still dry! My big girl!

Now we are home and I am collapsed on the couch, resting, drinking water, and hoping my legs aren't too swollen (as those oh-so fashionable medical grade support hose hadn't arrived in time for me to wear them today!).

EDIT: You can see a picture of me marching along looking rather fatigued in our Jan. 21, 2011, diocesan newspaper here on page 6--me wearing a red skirt and hat. And click on "Interactive" for a slide show or video.

That Is One Way To Find Out

John, age 4 (excitedly): "When the new baby is born, after it grows old enough to talk, then we'll be able to ask the baby if it is a boy or a girl!"

From Russia With Love

Or . . . How We Were Not Blown Up Today





Today the weather allowed the postal worker to deliver our mail, after which Chris brought me an unusual package from Moscow, asking me if I knew anything about it. We began feeling pretty nervous, remembering those many newscasts during the Unabomber's reign of terror about how to recognize a suspicious package. We had no idea why we were receiving a package from Moscow of all places, it was registered mail and was encrusted in labels, and it was wrapped in heavy brown paper and twine.

The package even had weird red streaks (more than in this photo) that were either red marker or blood (our paranoid minds wondered). We were quite wary of our opening the package and Chris got the idea that I should email every international friend we know to see if any of them sent us the package. Then I remembered that I had told my father two months ago that I wanted the children to have Russian nesting dolls. My dad is just the thoughtful type to listen carefully to a special gift request and to get me authentic Russian nesting dolls, since that is what I asked for.

I contacted my dad and he said yes, we should open the package: it was from him!

Mary began cooing about how this one was the mama, this one was the baby, this one another baby . . . . The children are really enjoying the seven beautiful dolls and played with them for a solid half hour before being interrupted.

During potty training at this cold winter time, I have Mary wearing John's long tee-shirts and Baby Legs, which are leg warmers designed for diaper-clad babies and toddlers (make diaper-changing much easier). She refuses to wear socks or slippers in the house, but it's 68-70 degrees in here, so I figure she's not suffering much, no matter how much snow we can see through the windows!