Lately

Back in the day, I felt like I had it all together. I was on time, my kids' clothing matched even when we were just around home, their faces were washed and fingernails clean.

Now, I'm just glad when I can get out the door and it takes less than fifteen minutes. I'm proud of myself when all kids have been bathed within the same 24 hour time period. I'm almost down-right giddy when we've made it through a day when Margaret didn't have a poop 'blow out'.

It's funny how more children in your care demands that you let go of all of those crazy ideals you once held. It's not about perfection any more, but more about survival.

I had to take Gianna in for her one year doctor check up the other week. That particular day she happened to have a huge knob on the corner of her forehead (from the toilet), a scratch under her eye (from falling and hitting the edge of a plastic mixing bowl that was laying on the floor)and a big scratch by the side of her nose (whereabouts unknown). I reassured the doctor that we weren't really in as rough condition as Gianna would lead him to believe and that she was in no way neglected. lol.



The weather has been so nice and unseasonably warm that we are enjoying it as much as possible. This leads to jackets full of mud and numerous wardrobe changes if we go out several times in a day. Sometimes that may lead to a certain boy wearing the only spare pair of mud boots, which just happen to be pink and purple. Thankfully, he didn't really notice and didn't care when I pointed it out either.



It also prompted hubby to take the kids outside one evening as a quick impromptu post-supper outing. He even grabbed the little girls, threw a hat on Margaret and stuffed her in his coat. She didn't mind a bit and he was proud of his creative ingeniousness. Who needs one of those fancy-shmancy carriers?



And, while we certainly have our share of goo-goo-gaa-gaa moments with little Margaret, she is our fourth. Sometimes the attention she gets is in the form of her watching the other kids more than of them watching her. She's kind of getting used to it.



When I think about our lives lately, I'm happy for the imperfections, the running late and the less than perfect impressions. I couldn't care less, because lately our hearts are full and happy at our house.

We're playing in the mud...



Enjoying the fresh air..





And just plain lovin'...



We wouldn't want it any other way.

Wordless Wednesday: New 'Do

Unwanted Attention

I turned off my comments a couple of weeks ago since some people were having problems with the word verification. I thought I'd experiment and see what happens.

I've now had several spam comments left on random posts written back in 2010.

Thankfully, these are Anonymous comments so they aren't posting and I just receive notification in my email. But, it's got me wondering how best to screen this unwanted traffic toward my blog. Is the only best way to do it via the word verification when leaving comments? Anyone know?

While I love traffic here on my blog, I'd really rather not attract any 'ol Tom, Dick or Harry to my little corner of Blogville.

Finding My Mommy Legs

No, I'm not going to show you my post-pregnancy legs. Even though I'm sure you'd all love to see them.

Instead, this is more of a post about settling in and getting readjusted and acclimated to slowing down again. Now that we are almost six weeks postpartum, life seems to be moving back into the direction of normalcy and routine.

We're fine tuning and tweaking all of the to do's that command the day, but we're making steady progress. That's a good feeling.

I'm feeling like I CAN juggle and keep things going each day. It probably helps that I'm not as tired and weathered as I felt during the first few weeks. I've mastered the fine art of carrying both little girls as once, picking up one of them while already holding the other and so many other contortionist maneuvers than I care to mention.

Of course, all of this is made do-able by an extremely helpful husband, two older kids that are helpful to some degree and a baby that only wakes once during the night. All of those factors definitely contribute to helping mommy find her place in motherhood again and feel confident in doing so.

I'm a little unsteady on these legs some days, but I get by. I remind myself often that I am in the company of some very heroic and amazing women who manage many littles every day.

Step by step and day by day I'm granted the grace to do the very same thing.

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With those thought provoking words, let me now turn to discussing my actual physical legs on which I daily stand.

These back-to-back pregnancies did a number on my legs in the spider vein department. Please tell me you can commiserate? And while you're at it, please tell me you have found a miracle cure/way to fix these things that does not involve a medical professional. Is that possible? Any and all suggestions, as always, are most welcome.

Not that I'm being vein vain, but I would like to still look like I'm in my early thirties not well beyond. I'd like these legs to look decent for another 100,000 miles or so, even if it is just for me (and my husband) that see a good portion of them.

First Birthday Girl

While this post is almost three weeks late, I felt that I couldn't let Gianna be outdone by her sister's monumental post. So, albeit late, it will at least get posted.

Gianna's actual birthday, February 17th, we celebrated just a bit with my mom who came to visit/help out for two days. A couple of gifts and some cake were all we needed to call it a small party.

The birthday girl on her big day:

She really didn't care a whole lot about the gifts, but had lots of fun with the wrapping paper after someone else unwrapped the gift for her:

The following Sunday, when we held Greta's baptism, we decided to also celebrate Gianna's big birthday as well. Heck, why invite the same people over twice? And plan two parties?

After baptism, we all headed back to our house for a little lunch and cake, of course. Deciding on a cupcake theme, I found the giant cupcake pan at Joann's and bought it half off with coupon. I then made a few dozen cupcakes, complete with pink frosting, for everyone rather than an additional cake.

With all that was going on and the guests to visit with and entertain, I didn't get as many photos as I could have. I guess she will understand one day, being she's the third child and all. Thankfully though, I handed the camera over to Gianna's Godmother and she snapped some photos and I even got in a few.

We totally forgot just to put Gianna in her highchair and let her plow through her cake. Instead, Gianna got to be all proper and daddy fed her the cake. Sure, it's not as dramatic but the clean up is so much easier!

Gianna didn't really care a whole lot about gift opening that day either. Thankfully, our little great-niece #2 was there to help out and totally enjoyed herself. The birthday girl was a little too busy toddling around and playing with her little girl peeps.

It was a special day to celebrate our long-awaited Baby Blessing, Gianna, and the numerous ways her first year brought us all so much joy. How quickly the time as flown this year and my, how our family has changed and grown as well. We love you, our little Boo-Boo!

Margaret's Baptism

I really thought I would be back to posting the momentous occasion of Margaret's Baptism a lot sooner. Two weeks later, I'm finally getting to it. I guess it's safe to say that the days and weeks fly by faster when you have four kids.

Of course, the novelty and memories have already fainted a bit but I couldn't help but post any way.

Keeping with tradition, we held Margaret's baptism as soon as we were able to coordinate schedules and line up the priest. All of our children have been welcomed into the Catholic Church within their first 2-3 weeks of life. Being that we had not yet had our good friend, Fr. G, baptize any of our children we asked him and he gratefully accepted. We had no idea that it would be one of our family's favorite sacramental celebrations to date. Truly, it was.

We held the baptism in the early afternoon at our parish and invited family that we knew would want to celebrate with us and were geographically able to as well. Reed had also invited another priest friend of ours to join us, but due to driving distance we were unsure that he would make it. To our surprise, he showed up! This was a double blessing in so many ways, but especially since these two priests are dear friends and also the two that introduced Reed and I. They hold a very special place in our hearts and to have them finally both be able to sacramentally bless our family, was very unique. Fr. G was the main celebrant, but Fr. J also helped out with the gospel reading and many of the other prayers throughout.

Fr. G made a point to walk us all through the signs, symbols and explanations of the sacrament, but also made a special point to frequently ask the children present questions.

We began in the back of church and he explained to everyone that they were going to welcome Margaret and her parents into the church, as they would welcome a guest in their home.

We then all processed into the church singing and made our way to the front and the baptismal font.

Father continued with more instruction and questions for the kids.

Reed and I, along with the Godparents (our nephew and his wife) then lay our hands on Margaret as she was baptized. This is one of my favorite photos.

As Father anointed her with the sacred chrism oil, he asked Jonah to come up close and once he could smell the oil to let Father know. He said once he did, that he would stop pouring on the oil and rubbing it in. Jonah apparently doesn't have a very good sniffer because she got an awful lot of chrism. But we love that smell, don't we? One of my favorites.

Our newest little Catholic

With Fr. G

Parents & Godparents

I only wish that I could share more details and have each of you experience the sacrament of Baptism as beautifully as we did that day. Thankfully, Jonah and Lily did get a good portion of it on video and we have numerous photos to commemorate the occasion. It will most definitely be imprinted on our minds and hearts for a very long time.

Monday Morning Wondering

How can two little girls make a full basket of laundry in just less than a week?

Considering that it's full of sleepers, pj's, onesies, burp cloths, hooded towels, pants and shirts for two, maybe that isn't all that bad. It just seems like a lot when I pull it out of the dryer and see it mounded in the basket.

It should be interesting when these two are teenagers. But then, at that point my oldest two will probably be out of the house and I'll have two less for laundry. Boy, that's hard to imagine. And sad.

I guess I'll take the pile of laundry rather than contemplate a quieter and less busy household.

It's Monday Laundry Day here and I'm buried in it. I also have Gianna's 12 month check up this afternoon.

What's on your agenda for the day?

One Month And Thriving

Greta is one month old already today!



She's growing already and weighed in at 7 lbs. 14 oz. when she was in at two and a half weeks. My husband even pointed out last week that she is now sporting a cute little double chin.

It's hard to imagine our household without three girls and a boy or without a newborn. Not that we have fully adjusted, but Miss Greta has made adjustment relatively easy. We've had the usual growing pains and a few setbacks, but for the most part I manage to keep juggling all the balls that are thrown our way. I find that the mornings and mealtime seem to be the hardest times due to the extra demands of a newborn and one year old. We're surviving though and each day is flying by at rapid speed. I'm so grateful that it's the winter season and a slower time right now, so that our obligations are few.

As for mama, I'm doing pretty well too. While Greta bulks up, I'm slimming down and feeling pretty darn good. I got the ok from my doc at two weeks postpartum to go ahead with regular activity/exercise, so that has been an added bonus. Yes, fitting in exercising time even minimally several times a week is a challenge. Yes, there are days I'd rather spend my few minutes of down time reading, resting or napping. Some days I do, but other days I take the half hour or fifteen minutes here and there and do my indoor walk or other cardio, resistance training and hip/thigh exercises (they took the biggest gain this pregnancy and need to be slimmed down dramatically IMHO). I took my first outing alone last weekend, even though it was just quickly to Walmart for a few essentials. I also ventured out earlier this week with all four kiddos to take Greta in to meet the staff at hubby's office and take Lily to piano lesson. Otherwise, Reed has been amazing at being my errand servant and
helper in all departments needed.

Big sister Gianna has taken on some changes this month too. She turned one year old and is now our official in-house little girl and no longer baby. *sigh* She's coming into her own and finding a place here as resident tormentor of big brother and screaming/screeching hooligan. She has also figured out now that the little sleeping person in the house will not be leaving any time soon, so she might as well embrace her.



Now, we will find her frequently smelling Greta's feet or hands or trying to give her little kisses. Thankfully, it's still kisses and not head-butts that some other members of the family have been recent recipients of.



All is well and we remind ourselves not to blink, because this time is so fleeting. Spring will be here before we know it. We'll be outdoors enjoying all of the newness it brings while we push along our double stroller of little girls and our big kids zoom past us on their bikes.

This season is ours to fully embrace and enjoy, for it was beautifully given to us by God in His perfect timing.




**Baptism and Birthday photos are still coming. Hopefully next week!