Frassati Conference

It was great! Madeleine was a perfect angel the whole time. She may have "talked" a little during some of the talks, but nothing disruptive. She loved Father Dan. She let him hold her a lot, as you can see. Her shirt was a big hit. A friend of mine took a picture so I will post it when she sends it to me. We went up both days. I didn't get to stay for the procession, but it was still great to see everyone and hear the talks. Mass was great both days. We are so blessed to have so many great seminarians! We have 23 right now, not counting the seven priests ordained in the last 3 years. Madeleine got lots of blessings and prayers!

Oh and I made her sweater. It was the first time she wore it - what do you think?

Frassati

Tomorrow we'll be going here for the day, that is, if someone behaves. I can't wait. I'm trying to make her a little shirt to wear for the occasion. I'll get some pictures of it if it turns out. The first one didn't. That's six bucks down the drain.

For the past four years, Ken and I and some good friends have been in charge of the Friday night entertainment. We called it "Late Nite with Fr. Richard," and based it off the Late Show with Dave Letterman. Here we are in the band, can you find us?

Last year we did 80's theme, and the year before we did 70's. I had a great time going shopping in the vintage clothing stores for our costumes! We had the speakers for the weekend as our guests, including Jeff Cavins, Michael Cumbie, the Sisters of Life, and many more great ones! Father Richard always did a hilarious monologue. His brother, Fr. Brian, was his sidekick. (Yes, I need to get some mothering lessons from their mom!) The seminarians always did a set of commercials for vocations. We played a few songs to get the crowd going, and little pieces of songs to introduce the guests. Then we did a "feature song" towards the end. Yes, last year I was up on stage with my maternity 80's costume. Not a pretty sight. It was a great time, but we decided to take a year off. (Mostly because of Madeleine!) Maybe we'll bring it back next year. I missed all the practices!

We're still looking forward to the rest of the conference though!

My First Bib

I got all kinds of good ideas on etsy.com, so I decided to try to make one of my own. It was easy and it turned out great! Here's my model, not looking very happy because I kept trying to pull her thumb out of her mouth to get the picture, and like a magnet it would go right back in!
I just traced around a bib I already had, about a 1/2 inch extra all around. Then cut out some batting and some other material I had laying around for the back. Sewed it all together, flipped it, handstitched the opening, added stick on velcro, and topstitched around the edge. Next time I'll topstitch around the entire edge before I add the velcro. Other than a pillowcase or two and shorts out of capris, this is pretty much the first thing I've ever done. It took like an hour for me to figure out how to thread the machine and get the thread on the bobbin. I'll admit it :)
I do love how it turned out though. Maybe I'll try to make a few more. Also they seem to be very absorbent - she wore it all day and it didn't soak through. And it's much better looking than those white terry cloth ones with the "cute" sayings on them. Not a big fan.

This makes me feel a LITTLE better

HowManyOfMe.com

There is 1 person with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

It seems like everywhere I go I meet babies or young children named Madeline, Madelyn, etc. I thought I was choosing a less common name for my kid. But we spelled it like St. Madeleine, so at least it's a little different. But I guess she's the only person with her first and last name...

Drool

It's not getting too bad yet, but soon she's going to have to start wearing bibs. I've put this off as long as possible. I really dislike them, for some reason. Oh they're fine for eating, but who wants to cover up a cute little outfit with an ugly little bib? I've been looking for some cute ones, but I haven't found any in the stores. They all say stuff like "Flirt" and "Spoiled Rotten" and "Princess." I don't think so.

Then, I found this great site. How did I not know about this before?
I guess this site is mostly for stay at home moms who sell their own handcrafted items. I'm going to have to get in on some of that action.

Here are some of my favorites!

Or I might try to make something like these myself. And soon.

31 years ago today

Mom and Dad got married at St. Mary's Church in Anderson, Indiana.

My mom's youngest sister Christy was 5 years old at the time. She was really mad at my dad for "taking her sister away." She drew a scary face and put it on the door where he was going to change into his tux, trying to scare him away. She wouldn't get in any pictures all day.

They were both 22 when they got married. Mom worked for a few years while Dad was getting his masters in Physics at Purdue. Then they moved to Kokomo for Dad to start his brand new job, and they had me! A few years later they had Michael. Mom always stayed home with us. We've moved to several different towns, and once we moved across the country twice in one year. They always told us to "bloom where you're planted" and then showed it by their actions.

They are the best parents I could ask for, and I really look up to them as a loving married couple, and as parents. I am so thankful to them that they taught us right from wrong, disciplined us with love, always took us to church and taught us about God. We always did things together as a family, and they always played with us and spent time with us. They gave us responsibilities and helped us to become self sufficient. They taught us how to spend money wisely. They were always patient when teaching us new things. I think they really gave us the example we needed to become good parents.

And now they are the best Grandparents!

We love you Mom and Dad! Happy Anniversary!

Swim Lesson

One of us overcame a fear.

One of us enjoyed posing for the camera.

One of us was lulled to sleep by the sound of rushing water.

One of pushed around "The Beast" and tried to entertain a toddler for 45 minutes with books, juice, and snacks.

And a good time was had by all!

You know you're Catholic if...

-You've accidentally genuflected at a place other than church ex. the movie theatre, school auditorium. (MOM!)
-You have a nativity set at your house during Christmas, and have also played with it.
-You have 20+ cousins.
-When you hear the word Madonna, you think of the Blessed Virgin, not the song "Like a Virgin."
-You and friends ever played "Mass" instead of House, or Cops and Bad Guys. (Isn't that why they invented Necco Wafers?)
-When watching star wars and hear "may the force be with you" you respond with "and also with you".
-You know at least five people named Mary.
-You have at one point had to stop a younger sibling from playing in the holy water font.
-You know that Father Stan could take on Eminem any day.
-Instead of change, you find a rosary under your couch cushions.
-You have participated in sword fights using Palms on Passion Sunday.

From: www.reapteam.org

Could this be real?

Madeleine actually slept 8 hours the last 3 nights! I really hope this continues.

Also, I was wondering when she was going to roll over again so I could actually see it. Tonight we were eating dinner and I spread out a big blanket on the floor for her. She rolled from her back to her tummy about 5 times in a row! She's really good at that, but she hasn't figured out how to get from her tummy to her back. Also on her tummy, she scooted all the way around so she was facing the other direction. Ken, break out the gates and the cabinet locks!

We went over to Clay Terrace this evening, got a drink at Starbucks, and took a walk down to Gymboree to get some socks (she only has a few good pairs that actually stay on.) I had her in her sling and she fell asleep with her head on my shoulder. I love that. She doesn't do that very often. People were staring at her - we walked through the common eating area and every eye was on her. The lady at Starbucks said she was the "perfect looking baby." I think so!

Cloth Diaper Excitement!

Finally the post you've all been waiting for, I'm sure!
I was interested in cloth diapers before she was born, mostly because I saw how much the family I work for paid for their diapers, and also because I kind of like the idea of soft cotton instead of plastic on her little bum. In my research about endo, one of the things that they suspect has something to do with it is the use of bleached products (tampons, etc) in that area. Endo is also thought to be genetic, so I want to give her every chance to NOT get it.
But we started with disposables anyway, mostly because of the up-front cost of cloth, and for the convenience of course. It turned out they were not as convenient as I thought. Basically I had to change her outfit every time she pooped. (And believe me, I tried every brand.) Then the poor thing got a rash that would not go away, no matter what I did. We switched to Seventh Generation Diapers and that helped quite a bit, but they are really expensive.
Then I finally ordered a few Bumgenius diapers, and they were great. No more blowouts, and her rash went completely away. I only got 4 of them because they were so expensive, but I was using them and doing laundry every day. That got annoying really fast.

Here's Madeleine in her pink bumgenius.

We saved up for a few more weeks and I ordered a package from Green Mountain Diapers, with one fitted diaper, some prefolds and 2 covers. I really like these too, and they are way cheaper. I have never had a blowout with any of the cloth diapers, although if she poops with the prefold, it usually gets on the cover. I think I still need to get that right.
So now I have enough to wash every other day and use them full time, except I still use a seventh generation disposable at night, for convenience. I'm going to place another few orders and hopefully we'll have enough to let me do laundry a little less often.
I just do a short cold rinse to help prevent stains, then a long hot wash with Charlie's Soap. Then throw everything in the dryer (except I hang dry the covers and they dry overnight.)

For work, I just pack about 6 of them and take a tote bag to put the used ones in until we get home. I do that when we go out too. We have an extra large bag at home.

I was kind of nervous about the whole thing at first, but it really is no big deal. And surprisingly, I really like it! I love making her feel all nice and clean at diaper changes, and wrapping her up with soft cotton. We take our time, I let her air out, and we talk and I kiss all over her tummy. I really enjoy diaper changes - it's bonding time.

Here are three great posts about cloth diapering.

Now, we'll see if I still like it this much when she starts solid food.... :)

Well, she doesn't seem to like weddings...

Last night we tried to go to a wedding reception of an old friend of Ken's. We got there around 7:00, and unfortunately just happened to walk in right before they announced the bridal party. The clapping REALLY startled Madeleine, and she started crying. Then Ken's dad took her and she started really screaming. We took her out in the hall, and I could not get her calmed down. So I tried to nurse her out in the car. That worked for a few minutes, but as soon as we went back in, she started screaming again. I mean screaming like I've never heard her scream before. We tried to calm her down for about 40 minutes, but I finally had to leave. She did not stop crying until we got home, I got her in her pajamas, and started feeding her.

On the way out, Uncle Terry said, "Can't you just see her in a white dress someday?"

Oh Yes, I can.

Roly Poly

Finally the kid rolled! And I missed it!
I laid her on the ground on her back and went into the laundry room to fold diapers. When I came back she was on her tummy!

Speaking of diapers, I PROMISE I'll post about it this weekend.

And Nick, you finally commented! I missed you! How have you been?
In case you were wondering, Nick is my favorite cousin. He's almost exactly one month younger than me and I always had a great time with him growing up.
Some great "Nick Memories:"

Spending the night at his house with the 4 boys. His family was so much fun that is one of the reasons I want to have a big family. They were always coming up with something fun to do. (They had a little girl several years after the last boy - and Nick and I are her Godparents!)

When Uncle Bobby took us all to play tennis. I won't elaborate, but that story still comes up at every family get together.

Playing "booty" in the tennis courts.

Playing video games when we brought Skipper down to Alabama. Blake, Jordan and Maggie were eating grapes out of a bowl on the coffee table. Whenever they'd get up, Skipper would jump up there and eat a few, then jump down before they noticed.

When we entered the neighborhood basketball tournament and WON the whole thing - the grand prize was super soakers and we had a great time with those too.

Our Rhode Island trips - Georgetown and playing basketball every night. Going to the beach when Christy "dove" into the ocean in slow motion as the wave was going out and she landed on the sand. Then she acted like she meant to do it and rolled over just as the new wave crashed down on her head! Walking down to the beach with just the "kids."

Always playing football in your backyard and Nick you would always include us in your "plays" even though you guys were way better than us!

How Michael would never let you and me be on the same team! :)

Playing cards all the time - slapjack, rummy, poker, etc.

Going camping with you guys.

Hope you are doing great, Nick! We'll be down there for "Thanksgivin'."

Google

Most people who get to my blog through Google search for "How to lose 20 pounds in 7 days" and get to this post. I'm sure they are disappointed with my method!

Today, someone got here by googling "Insensitive neighbors feeding squirrels peanuts."

OK!

I earn every penny

Could also be titled: Why I"m drinking an iced venti soy chai from Starbucks right now.

You know the scene in Caddyshack, where the lifeguard finds the Baby Ruth in the pool? Well, today, it wasn't a Baby Ruth.

I decided that I'd be brave today and take all three girls for ice cream (well, sorbet for Grace and I), then to mom's pool. The ice cream went well. That was the last thing that went well today.

We got to the pool, Grace was ready to go in. I got Ava all dressed in her swim diaper and bathing suit with the floaties in it. She's a little tentative in the water, but when I got in with her she seemed to be having a good time. Then she happened to get her mouth under the water just a little. After that, she was terrified. She held on to my neck and wouldn't let go. She wouldn't even sit on the steps. But she didn't want to get out - she just wanted me to hold her in the pool. But she just kept crying. Finally I bribed her with a piece of cheese to get out. She was totally done with the pool so I took off her bathing suit and dressed her in a regular diaper and clothes again (all while I was holding Madeleine - I"m getting good at multitasking!) Anyway, we were having a good time watching Grace when my mom decided to get in the pool. Ava LOVES my mom. She thinks she's her second Grandma. Ava starts begging to get back in. So my mom's friend says, "Why don't you just strip her down and let her go in her diaper." So I did. She was having a great time, but when she got out, her diaper was sagging down to her knees. So I just took it off. She wanted to go back in with my mom. I was holding Madeleine under the umbrella, enjoying watching Mom holding the little naked girl. She was playing on the steps and kept running over to me and talking. When this girl talks, she talks in paragraphs but no one can understand a word she says. She kept running over, talking, then running back to the pool. All of a sudden, she jumped out of the pool. Mom noticed the "Baby Ruth" sitting on the step. Then I looked down at Ava and noticed that she wasn't done. She was squatting and pooping right there on the patio. My mom's dog Skipper, who, as Uncle Louis in the movie Christmas Vacation would say, "couldn't hear a dump truck driving through a nitroglycerine plant," somehow sensed what was going on and came running - as much as a 15 year old Westie can. Ava finished up, stepped in it, and started running. I jumped up, holding Madeleine in one arm, grabbed Ava with the other, and tried with my foot to stop Skipper from "investigating." I handed Madeleine off, grabbed Ava up with a towel, took her inside and cleaned her up and got her dressed. Then mom had to fish out the poop, shock the pool, and I had to pick up the big pile off the patio. Then I got some extra strength cleaner and scrubbed the "poop deck." I have to say, she did try to warn me! Maybe it's time for some potty training.

Is it just me, or does it seem like every other post on this blog is about poop?!

Maybe I should rename it "Up To My Elbows."

Wow!

I woke up this morning to find this amazing drawing over at Chez Ouiz.

Isn't she a great artist ?!

Thank you Ouiz!!!

Tagged!

First one by New House New Job


Five Things I Love about Jesus.

1. He became one of us.
2. He died for us.
3. He opened the gates of heaven.
4. He gave us His mother as our own.
5. He started the best Church and left us with the Holy Spirit to guide it.

I can't stop at just 5.
He also inspires such great love. So much that people would die to themselves, give up everything to serve Him. That's why we have such great saints to look up to and learn from. Just look at Mother Teresa and John Paul the Great :) And even the priests and Sisters at our parish. Ok I'll stop there, although I could go on.

Next one from Ma Beck since I just went to Confession.

1.) How did you start blogging? A friend suggested it would be a good way of keeping people up to date with my pregnancy. Since everyone waited for 4 years for us to get pregnant, this kid was quite the anticipated baby. But I hardly told anyone about it until relatively recently.

2.) What do you hope to achieve or accomplish with your blog? See number one, and we continued with the baby news. I love going back and reading about my last few weeks of pregnancy and early baby days.

3.) Has the focus of your blog changed since you started blogging? How? Not really. Still mostly about the baby and issues/etc with motherhood. Now it's kind of like a baby book. I can go back and look at how much she weighed, and milestones, etc. Good thing too, because I am slacking with her real baby book!

4.) What do you wish you had known when you started? How many great Catholic moms were out there and how much I can learn from them.

5.) Does your immediate family know about your blog? Some of them. Do they read it? Every once in a while. Mostly strangers read it, surprisingly. What is so interesting about my life, anyway? :)

6.) What advice would you give a new blogger? It gets addictive!

There you go! I tag anyone who wants to play along, with one or both!

Big Girl

14 lbs 2 oz, 25 1/2 inches today. Also her physical exam was perfect.

The Doc said that he recommends exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months, but he hasn't seen anyone do that in years. What? It's only 2 more months. I can do it.
Also, he said not to give her milk until she is a year - that some people switch from formula to regular milk around 9 or 10 months to save money. I told him she gets her milk for free and I'd be happy to keep breastfeeding for a year. He said that never happens but to go for it if I want to. Well, it's going to happen in this house, let me tell ya!

I asked if she would outgrow her milk allergy. He said there's a 50-50 chance, but that allergies to dairy are not nearly as bad as a peanut allergy. He said we could do some bloodwork to see how allergic she is to some different things. He recommended that I stay away from all dairy and all peanut products, just to be safe.

He said that he predicts she'll be 16 lbs, 10 oz at her 6 month appointment, and I should bet Ken and make some money :) We'll see if he is right.

4 months old!

I can't believe how fast this is going! People always said that to me but I didn't really believe them. She's been here for 1/3 of a year!
She is such a happy, smiley baby (now that I have given up dairy.) She smiles and "talks" to everyone. She will let new people hold her for a while but always wants to go back to mom eventually. She goes to sleep in her crib around 7:30 every night, give or take a half hour. She still wakes up 2 or 3 times to eat. On a REALLY good night she wakes up once. Around 5am I let her come in bed with me for a few hours. I love waking up to her happy smiley face. On the fourth of July we were trying to sleep in, but she started making noises like she was trying to get Ken's attention. When he looked at her, she gave him a big smile.

Her daddy loves her and says all the time he can't believe how cute she is. He makes her laugh out loud a lot. Almost all the time she has her thumb or fingers in her mouth. She is really good at sucking her thumb. It is always the left one. She tries to get the right one in there but hasn't quite figured it out yet. She hasn't rolled over yet. When I put her on her stomach she gets up on her knees, but won't roll. She does roll very easily from her back to her side, and usually sleeps like that.
She loves Ava and Grace and they always make her smile and laugh. Ava comes up to her every morning when I get there and wants me to pick her up to see Madeleine. She waves at her and says "Hi Baby!" Then she tickles her feet and makes her laugh. When I'm holding her on the chair Ava comes up and says "Baby! Hug!" and gives her a hug. She loves to watch them be silly. Grace can ALWAYS make her laugh. She laughs when she just looks at Grace. Grace thinks it's hilarious to just come up to her and say random words (like Banana, or Knock Knock) and watch her laugh. She'll be playing with them before I know it! We are so blessed to have such a beautiful, happy daughter! And I love those dimples!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a nice day off today. We went swimming at Mom and Dad's, had a cookout, and went to Carmelfest. I even had some non-dairy strawberry sorbet. That is the closest thing I've had to ice cream in a while - it was delicious! Madeleine had a long day and only a few short naps, so hopefully she'll sleep well - if the neighborhood hooligans don't wake her up with those fireworks :)

Don't worry

The great cloth diaper post is coming soon - I haven't forgotten. It's working out really well so far though. (Except people working on the streets around here keep hitting the water mains, so that doesn't help my diaper washing schedule!)

For now I'll leave you with "The Great Poop Incident of 2007."

On Sunday, we were at Borders for our Sunday morning date after mass. She was sitting on my lap, and all of a sudden there was a HUGE noise. I'll leave that to your imagination, but it was NOT very lady like. Then it was clear to everyone in the cafe that we'd be going home and we'd BOTH be changing ALL our clothes.

I had to change her in the car, strip her completely down, basically use every wipe I had. It was EVERYWHERE. She was in her cute little Fourth of July outfit too.

And, we had a great anniversary, paid for by Mrs Duff (Father Dan's mom!) She very generously gave me a Panera Gift card, Starbucks gift card, and 2 movie tickets for helping out with his slide show! So we went to Panera for dinner, then went to see Evan Almighty, then walked around Clay Terrace with our Starbucks. Madeleine was an angel most of the time (except ANOTHER poop incident during the movie.) We kept her out late and she slept well that night too!

This is a new one...

Last night we were sitting in the living room, and all of a sudden we heard a loud "POP" like a gunshot and our electricity went out. Ken went out in the backyard to investigate, and our neighbors were out too. We think a squirrel got into the transformer and...well.. you know. He didn't make it. The electric company came but it was several hours before we had electricity again!