The Third Prayer

Tuesday:
Sure Cinco de Mayo is Wednesday but we started our celebration a day early with Mexican Lasagna for dinner. 

Yum.  If anyone wants the recipe, leave me a comment and I’ll post the recipe in the comment section.

Frank didn’t like it the first time I made it.  I don’t think he liked it the third time either.  But last night, it was a winner.  And Mary Rene, she demolished her plate, and even had some for lunch on Wednesday.

Wednesday:

On a normal Wednesday, we have dinner with our friends Emily, Chris and their beautiful daughters, Ella and Beatrice.  Since the holiday fell on a Wednesday we wanted to stick with our dinner tradition.  But we also decided to invite our friends Nicole C & Jim and my parents.  Everyone offered to bring a dish, which is so helpful since I planned on cooking the main course.  I found a recipe online for crockpot chicken fajitas so around 10 a.m. I got the crockpot started.  About an hour later, we left to go to the store and when we returned…the smell filled the house.  Love it.  I wanted to stay outside all day so I could keep walking in and out to smell the good food.  Can’t wait to try it.

Frank had the brilliant idea to get a pinata to make this a real party.  My mom offered to buy a pinata as her contribution to the party.  So around 11 a.m., she showed up with the larger than life pinata.

Not at all what I pictured when she said she got a ‘duck pinata’ but it is freaking awesome.  Mary Rene was fascinated with it at first but quickly got scared.  We tried to get her to hug or kiss it but she refused.  Finally she gave it a far away wave.

I grabbed a knife and made a hole in the back of the head to start stuffing it with candy and toys.  Mary Rene became interested again and wanted to help.

When I had stuffed all the candy and toys, which probably only filled the foot of this enormous duck, Mary Rene wanted ‘more more more’ things to put in it.  I didn’t have anything else to add and she started to pick up some random toys laying around the house.  I’m not sure if she put anything extra in the pinata or not.  I guess we’ll find out in a few hours.

A few hours passed and the guest started to arrive.  Ella was a sweet little dear and brought Mary Rene her very own bug catching kit!

Mary Rene may be a girlie girl through and through but I’m sure she’ll be finding bugs to put in her new bug house.

It happened to be Ella’s sweet momma’s birthday!  Happy 34th Birthday Emily!

WOW!  I can’t believe Beatrice is getting so big and is already six months!  How time has flown by.

Unlike Mary Rene, Ella instantly fell in love with the pinata and was ready to give it a big hug!

What a little cutie!

After our nice Mexican meal of chicken fajitas, tacos, beans, rice and layered taco dip, it was time to crack away at the monsterly huge pinata.

Ella’s daddy, Chris, showed her how to swing the bat just right.

It only took her one practice swing and she was ready to go.

It was so cute to see the girls hitting the pinata because it would barely move but you could tell they were swinging their best.

Next, Frank showed Mary Rene how to hit the pinata.

And just like Ella, she quickly learned and gave the pinata some good love taps.

I don’t think the girls would ever have been able to open that monster so the boys took some hilarious swings at it.  Eventually, Frank and Nicole C ended up tipping the pinata over so the prizes would spill out.

Ella had fun with her new toys and Mary Rene was enjoying collecting the candy.  She didn’t try to eat any of it but instead, she was helping me clean up.  Smart little girl.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Proof that Mary Rene is a girly girl.  She refused to eat breakfast the other morning until she was wearing her new shoes.  She is starting to pick out what she wants to wear in the morning.  Sometimes the outfit is appropriate and sometimes, not so much.  I went ahead and let the sandals slide since it was only for breakfast.  (Eating left-handed by the way.)

Proof that Mary Rene is going to be a good big sister.  She likes to help out around the house and that includes feeding Sophie B.  (Petting left-handed by the way.)

Need another reason?  When she woke up from her nap on Friday, she walked in the front room and Frank was still napping on the couch.  I put my finger to my mouth and said, “shhh, daddy is sleeping.”  Mary imitated me and then wanted to make sure daddy was taken care of.  He only had one blanket on him so she went into action.  (Using right hand.)

Okay, so she went a little overboard and we lost Frank for awhile.

View from Sophie B’s perspective…

There he is!

Well, maybe she is good at covering up a person but not good at letting the person sleep.

I’ve been craving Slurpees lately and Frank has been a dear to get me one here and there.  Well, I can’t drink the Slurpee alone, no, not in this house.

She finds it pretty funny that my tongue turns bright red after drinking the Slurpee.

Mary Rene has become a big cuddlier lately.  After she gets out of the shower and we are brushing her hair and rubbing lotion on her, she wants to lay her head against my chest and have me hold her.  The days we are home alone, when she wakes up from her nap, she’ll come find me in the front room and climb in my lap and cuddle for awhile.  I love these moments.

 We have officially become a ponytail family.

I guess I need to explain those stickers on her face.  We’ve been doing Easter egg hunts all week in preparation for the big hunt on Easter.  Last Wednesday, I did a Easter egg hunt in our backyard for Mary Rene and her friend, Ella.  (Ella, her sister Beatrice and her mommy, Emily come over on Wednesday nights for dinner. Love that family!)  I put stickers in some of the eggs as a prize.  Now we have stickers everywhere in the house, including on Sophie.  Yesterday Mary Rene decided they should be on her cheeks, hands and shirt.  So cute.

Since our church decided not to have their Fat Tuesday celebration we decided to host our own.  My friend Emily, with her beautiful daughters, Ella and Beatrice, and Frank’s friend Jim came over to help celebrate. 

It was completely last minute and I found myself at the grocery store three hours before our guest arrived.  But hey, isn’t that part of the fun.  Frank sent me a text message with everything to consider buying at the store: king cake, dirty rice, jambalaya, oysters, creole chicken, red beans and rice, shrimp creole crawfish and hurricanes.  I looked for every item and was only able to find jambalaya, shrimp and red beans and rice.  So I decided I would also buy gumbo soup, mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers,

mini tacos and potato wedges.  Oh, and pudding for dessert. 

Yeah, a lot of good junk food.

As you can see, Mary Rene also took full advantage of the beads and had to wear every single pair that her friend Ella brought over. 

Even Beatrice got to play with some beads!

The girls were having fun playing while we enjoyed some much needed adult conversation.

Beatrice was happily handed off from person to person so Emily could enjoy her food in peace.  Oh I remember those days!

Isn’t she a sweetie?

At the end of the night I told Mary Rene to hug Ella good-bye and she clearly misunderstood me and started to mount her instead.

Mary Rene was bummed when her little friends left so Jim provided her entertainment and let her do flips on the couch.

He was a good sport tossing her around but I think she equally wore him out.

Overall, our private Fat Tuesday celebration was much better than the one we used to have at church.  I think we might be doing this again next year.

We had a play date with my friend Emily and her two adorable daughters, Ella and Beatrice, my amazing Goddaughter.  That’s Beatrice playing in the background and Ella giving Mary Rene a good hug.  I must say, those girls are so adorable and sweet and we had fun playing with them.  Mary Rene was being a good little girl and sharing her necklace and toys with Ella.  She also liked pointing at Beatrice and didn’t mind at all when I held her!

But what did she learn while over there?  That big girls hold their own bananas!  It was snack time while we were there and I pulled out Mary Rene’s banana and would give her a bite here and there.  Ella asked for her banana and Emily handed it to her and Ella ate away.  At the time I didn’t notice but Mary Rene must have been watching her really close.  The next day, and everyday since, Mary Rene has insisted on holding her banana all by herself.

She is growing up right before my eyes!  She thinks she is something else as she walks around holding her own banana and taking bite after bite.  I guess she was a little jealous of Ella and wanted to be like her.  So cute.

I have learned that Mary Rene likes when I play with her hair.  She has been waking up in the middle of the night, screaming in pain from those darn teeth, and many times I am able to soothe her by running my hands through her hair.  She calms down pretty quick and slowly closes her eyes again as I stroke her head.  Sometimes during the day she will run her hands through her hair and then come in my lap.  I take that as my cue to start playing with her hair.  Such a girlie girl.

Our Parents as Teacher educator was over for a visit on Saturday.  Mary Rene is starting to get familiar with her and is always ready to see what is in her bag! Our educator was having Mary Rene imitate her as she cut up fruit and vegetables with a plastic knife and fed the baby doll avocado.  Mary Rene was having fun and picked up on the game really quick.  After awhile though she decided to take all the toys and scatter them like crazy throughout the house.  Mary Rene enjoys these visits and at one point went and sat in her lap so she could read her a book.  When she was about go leave, Mary Rene went up to her, grabbed her face and kissed her!  Besides spontaneously kissing Frank and me, she has never done that to someone.  I was so taken back by it but realized it was because Mary Rene really enjoys these visits and having “her friend” come over to play.

Mary Rene added “yum yum” to her list and I think it is because of our PAT visit.  They were playing make believe and feeding the baby doll and our PAT kept saying “yum yum.”  Later that day when I was feeding Mary Rene lunch she said “yum yum.”  So cute!

Nursing…still going strong.

I wasn’t feeling good all weekend and we decided to stay home for the Superbowl instead of going to a party.  I made some homemade chips and Frank ran up to the local bar and got us hot wings and mini tacos.  So we snacked just like we would have at a party but it was only the three of us.  Mary Rene started pointing at my wing so I put it towards her, she opened her mouth and I gave her a bite.  Instead she licked the sauce and quickly pushed it away, started crying and was pushing her tongue in and out of her mouth.  She kept crying and was touching her tongue with her finger.  Frank and I couldn’t help but laugh as we watched her reaction to the hot sauce.  I took the lid off her sippy cup and let her drink some water.  She didn’t want to stop drinking and we just kept laughing.  It was the best laugh we both have had in awhile, even though it was at our daughter’s expense.  Did she learn her lesson?  No.  A few minutes later she did the more sign as she pointed to my wing!  This time I took the hot sauce and skin off and let her have a bite of the chicken.  I’m so glad I was feeling well because we had such a good time hanging out as a family.  Plus, the bonus laughter was great!

This morning I pulled off “pregnant women” from the Advent chain.  And what a fitting day to pray for pregnant women.  An hour later I found myself at Mass and the Gospel was Luke 1:39-45, the story of Mary visiting Elizabeth. 

And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. (Luke 1:41.)

Father Jay Harrington, the priest who baptized Beatrice last weekend, went on to give one of the best homilies I have ever heard.  He talked about pregnant women feeling their unborn baby kick and poke them throughout the pregnancy.  He talked about fathers who said they would put their face against their wife’s belly and the baby would bump them.  As I listened to him talk, I looked down at my little Mary Rene and instantly was taken back to when I was pregnant with her.  I remembered feeling her first little poke when I was sitting in the lobby at the dentist.  I remembered as the weeks went on, the pokes became kicks and head butts.  Soon, Frank was able to feel her too.  I remembered the countless nights that I would lift my shirt while I was laying on the couch and I would watch her move from one side to the other.  I remembered those last couple months when she would be squirming all over the place while I was trying to sleep (oh how things haven’t changed.)  And eventually all that kicking and head butting stopped because she was born.

My mind was filled with all those pregnancy moments until Father Jay said, “Elizabeth was far enough along in her pregnancy that she knew what her baby’s movements were…and when John the Baptist lept she knew she had never felt anything like that.”  And at that moment it really hit me…

John lept for joy.  They say that at a certain point in the pregnancy, an unborn baby can hear his/her mother’s voice and those that she is speaking to.  John the Baptist heard the mother of Our Lord, and he lept for joy.

So my thoughts shifted away from my pregnancy with Mary Rene to the birth of Christ.  We will be celebrating the birth of Our Savior, the tiny baby Jesus on Friday.  I’ve been so consumed with getting shopping done, taking care of Mary Rene, other little things, that I am wondering, is my heart ready to leap for joy?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot today and in order to prepare my heart, I will be taking a blog break.  Out of routine, I will write my Mary’s World Tuesday post and I’m sure I will be back on Christmas.  But for now I am going to prepare my heart so I can leap for joy.

Dear Beatrice-

Today you became a child of God and a member of the Catholic Church!  Congratulations!  You were a sweet little angel throughout the Mass and didn’t cry once when Father Tim poured the Holy Water over your precious little head.  As the picture above shows, you were at peace and it seemed almost as if you knew what was going on this special day. 

And what a special day it was.  When I first got to church and saw the visiting priest I was a little upset that you wouldn’t receiving your first sacrament from a parish priest.  But Father Jay Harrington did such an outstanding job that I don’t think any other priest would have done better.  He took every opportunity possible to mention your name and the wonderful sacrament you were receiving.  You were blessed, literally, to be baptized by such a reverent priest.  (My husband, Frank, and I wish he would become a permenent priest for us-he was that great!)

It was only fitting that today’s Gospel reading, Luke 3:10-18, was about John the Baptist. 

Now the people were filled with expectation,
and all were asking in their hearts
whether John might be the Christ.
John answered them all, saying,
“I am baptizing you with water,
but one mightier than I is coming.
I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

And today, on the Third Sunday of Advent, you were baptized with the Holy Spirit, the promise of the Resurrection of Christ and life everlasting.  Oh what a beautiful day!

I was honored and priviledged to be your mom’s sponsor when she joined the Catholic Church back in 2008.  We didn’t know each other before, but we instantly hit it off and became friends.  We stayed in contact after RCIA ended and she started giving me mommy advice when I was pregnancy with Mary Rene.  When Mary Rene was born, your mommy was always so helpful and answered any questions that I had.

And again I have been given such an amazing honor, but now, to sponsor you.  It is fitting that earlier in the week we pulled your name off our Advent chain to pray for you.  We spend that day, and today of course, praying that you always feel the closeness of God.  No matter what, He is always there for you.  And today is proof.  The Second Reading says it more beautiful then I ever could:

Brothers and sisters:
Rejoice in the Lord always.
I shall say it again:  rejoice!
Your kindness should be known to all.
The Lord is near.
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

-Philippines 4:4-7

I take this role very seriously and want you to know that you will always be in my prayers.  My constant prayer will be that while you are always filled with the love of God you also feel His love and understand His love.  God’s blessings on you sweet baby girl.

-1-

So, we may have pinpointed why Mary Rene was waking up so much in the middle of the night.  I really wish this wasn’t the reason but I really think it is.  All that caffeine was getting to her and keeping her up.  I didn’t start drinking coffee again until she turned one.  By that time she was only nursing four times a day, morning, two naps and at night.  I would time my morning coffee at the perfect time so the highest level of caffeine in my blood stream would not be near the time she nursed.  In October, I went on my soda kick and that lasted until a week ago.  So I was drinking a cup of caffeined coffee in the morning and an occasional soda in the afternoon.  I know some of you will comment and say, “that’s not much caffeine, you are fine.”  But if you think about it, I went caffeine free for the first year of her life.  She was not used to it at all and then out of nowhere I was drinking it like an addict.  On top of that, she decided to start nursing more.  Even though she is only napping once a day, which would turn her nursing sessions in to only three a day, she has started asking to nurse frequently throughout the day.  Yesterday, I nursed her about eight times.  And that’s with going to work for seven hours!  This has been going on for about a month and there was no way for me to calculate when she would nurse next to make sure the caffeine wasn’t at its highest point in my blood stream.  So, no caffeine for me.  And since I stopped drinking the coffee, which gave me a huge headache the next day, she has only woke up once each night.  So we are back where we started.  Now we just need to know what the trick is to get her to sleep through the night. 

-2-

Back in August we were at my cousin’s house and Mary Rene was playing with her son’s Little Tikes washer & dryer.  She was having a really good time putting gumballs in the dryer and opening and closing the door.  My cousin said we could have it since her son never used it.  Well, that was in August.  I kept asking my mom about it and finally…

sweet!  I decided to keep it at my parent’s house because they have more free space there and I knew they would get a kick out of Mary Rene playing with it.

First Mary Rene had to do an inspection to make sure it was in working order.

Then my dad had to show her how to wash the towels.

She ended up washing both of her sippy cups, some mardi gras beads and two washcloths.  She played with it for a bit but had too many other toys to occupy her that day.  I’m sure next time I am over she will be washing everything in sight.

-3-

What else does Mary Rene have to do when she is at my parent’s house?

-4-

I’ve been sewing like a mad woman this week.  I finished a cute Dora the Explorer shopping cart cover for a friend’s daughter, a holiday bib for Mary Rene, I started making a pink ladybug dress for Mary Rene and I finished making her some cute pink reindeer pj pants.

I’m getting so quick at sewing and just loving it.  I really wish I could find a way to do this for a living.

-5-

I coudn’t find my master Christmas sheet so I decided to go through all the cards from last year and rewrite the list.  Mary Rene decided to help.

That was a disaster.  For some reason she loves cards.  When we go shopping, to entertain her, I just go to the card section, put a card in her hand and she is fine while I shop.  Beats picking up toys and ending up buying them.

-6-

(For a minute there, I thought this was going to be an “All About Mary” post.”)  We were invited to four holiday parties and one birthday celebration tomorrow!  And unfortunately they are all at the same time so we can only attend one.  Oh how the holidays get so busy.

-7-

On Sunday, my Goddaughter, the beautiful Beatrice Louise is getting Baptized!  Please say a special prayer for her.

Beatrice & Mary Rene-

Today is the Feastday of St. Nicholas.  This is a saint that as you get older, you will grow to love because of what he represents and who has taken his place.  St. Nicholas was a fourth century bishop of Myra, a city in Asia.  That is a fact. 

The legend side of St. Nicholas starts with a story about him helping out a poor man who had to provide dowry for his three daughters when they married.  If he didn’t provide the dowry they would be forced into prostitution.  St. Nicholas had a kind heart and made sure the man had the dowry so his daughters could marry and their honor would be protected.

That is where the legend started and it only grew.  The legend goes on to say how he gave gifts to the poor and was a very charitable man.  If he happened upon someones open shoes then he would slip coins in them.  This is why we set our empty shoes by the front door on the eve of this feast day.  (opps…I forgot to do this!)  When I was a little girl, St. Nicholas always visited our house.  We left our shoes by the door and the next morning we would find an orange, apple, candy cane and some nuts in our shoes.

Many people wanted to carry on the generosity of gift giving from St. Nicholas and that’s how Santa Claus came to be.  On Jesus’ birth, Santa comes and brings everyone presents.  Just like the Wisemen did for Baby Jesus when he was born.

And if you girls are good, Santa might come visit you too.

Darling Beatrice-

Today is the start of Advent which is the beginning of the new liturgical year where we will be primarily reading from the Gospel of Luke.  But more importantly, during the Advent Season we are preparing our hearts for the birth of Christ.  By far, this is my favorite religious season of the year. 

Three years ago I wouldn’t have said that.  Three years ago I could have cared less about the Advent Season.  I was too busy shopping for the perfect Christmas gifts to give to my family and friends.  But nearly two years ago I was pregnant with my beautiful baby girl, Mary Rene.  And that right there opened my eyes and changed the way I look at this season.

Two thousand plus years ago at this time, Mother Mary was eight months pregnant.  Baby Jesus was growing bigger and bigger each day inside of her.  As He grew, He would kick and elbow Mary throughout the day.  She would feel the kicks, maybe put Joseph’s hand on her belly and they would just sit in awe as Baby Jesus would kick away.  Sometimes, maybe Baby Jesus would get the hiccups and Mary would be able to feel them as her belly vibrated and bounced.

Mary was probably having trouble sleeping during this last month (especially because she didn’t have a pillowtop bed and a full-size pillow to lean against!)  Each day she grew more and more uncomfortable as Baby Jesus grew and grew.  But no matter how uncomfortable she got, she didn’t care.  No amount of discomfort can compare to the anticipation on the arrival of a new baby.  She was probably counting down the days and wondering, when would she finally have her precious baby boy?  Each day she woke up, she wondered, could it be today?  She was filled with so much excitement and joy on the arrival of her precious baby.

And that right there is why I love the Advent Season.  I remember the month before my Mary Rene was born and how excited I was as I anticipated her arrival.  I remember how uncomfortable I would get and the lack of sleep from all the kicking.  My back hurt and I was exhausted from the extra weight.  But none of that mattered.  I would have gone through months and months more of uncomfortable moments to get the end result-a beautiful, healthy baby girl.

And I can guarantee you, your mommy felt the same way about you. 

For nine months, we do our best to keep our babies safe while they are growing inside of us.  If we feel like the slightest thing is going wrong we call our husbands and our doctors.  We breath again when we know everything is okay.  For nine months, we anticipate the arrival of our precious baby.  And the day arrives and…wow.  You see a glimpse of God.

But Mary saw more than a glimpse of God when Baby Jesus was born on Christmas day.  Mary held God in her arms.  Mary cradled Our Savior and held Him close in her arms.  She probably nursed Him just like your mommy does for you.  She rocked Him to sleep and sang Him lullabies, just like your mommy does for you.  She swaddled Him and kept Him warm and safe, just like your mommy does for your.  Mary, filled with joy of being a new mother, loved Our Savior, no different than your mommy loves you.

But the big difference, Mary also felt great sadness.  As she held her precious newborn baby, she knew that one day, her baby would sacrifice His life for mankind.  For me.  For your mommy.  For you.  For all of us.  This tiny little Baby Jesus was born to save us from our sins.

And that is why during the Advent Season, we prepare our hearts for His arrival.  We have less than a month to get ready before He arrives.  We become more prayerful and give God thanks and gratitude for all the blessings He has bestowed upon us.  We pray for the less fortunate and ask God to shine His love on them.  We do everything we can to be right with God so when He arrives, in the form of a tiny baby, we are ready.

I hope your first Advent season is filled with all the love you can get from your mommy and daddy.

Love your Godmommy,

Trena

-1-

Monday morning around 8 a.m. I got a call from my good friend Laura’s husband.  Laura had her baby 45 minutes prior to his call!  Congratulations Laura!  And boy, is baby Cole a cutie.  I was able to make it up to the hospital and see him and he just took my breath away.

Boy has some cheeks don’t ya say?  He looks a lot like his big brother, Caden.

-2-

Yesterday I made it over to my friend Emily’s house and I had the pleasure of meeting my amazingly, beautiful, Goddaughter, Beatrice.

Wow!  Like Emily said on her blog, she is perfect in every way.  And Beatrice, she looks a lot like her big sister, Ella.

-3-

Last week my friend Jenn gave birth to her second son, Jaxson.  I went to visit but both kids were napping so I just left a gift at the door.  Sunday I get to meet my friend Katie’s newborn son.  Yesterday my friend Alexis gave birth to her first baby!  Do you feel the baby fever?

-4-

Tuesday while I was on my morning run I noticed that two teenage boys were  pulling on another teenager’s jacket and kicking the person in the back of their legs.  When I got closer I noticed it was a girl.  I stopped in front of her and asked if she was okay.  She said yes and the boys backed off.  It really did appear that they were just teasing her and I happened on the situation.  But I still decided to warn the lady that was walking past me about the situation.  The next morning, one of the bully boys and the girl stopped me and asked if they could pet my dog.  They started asking a lot of questions about Sophie and were both talking about their dogs.  Yesterday they ignored me when I ran by.  I don’t really know what to think about these kids but I’m glad I said something.

-5-

When I returned back to work after having Mary Rene, I was on a 10 month trial to see how working part-time was working for the company and myself.  My boss and I were supposed to reeveulate the situation at 10 months.  When she was in town (she is located in Overland Park, Kansas) in July she mentioned coming back in August to discuss my full-time return to work.  I reminded her that my 10 month trial would be up in October, not August.  She said she would wait until then to discuss it.  She was scheduled to come in town in October but she never came. Yesterday she called and said we had something important to discuss.  I got a lump in my throat and was prepared to lay out the facts and fight to stay part-time.  But instead, she asked for me to take on another project.  I agreed.  So for now, I’m still part-time and hope to stay for as long as I can. 

-6-

Something is wrong with Mary Rene and we don’t know what it is.  She doesn’t have a fever or a cough so we don’t think she is getting sick.  How do we know something is wrong?  Besides the obvious fact that she is extremely crabby and scream crying, she has not nursed in over 24 hours now.  This leads us to believe that she has some serious teething going on.  I just hope those teeth come through soon so we can get back on schedule.  I really don’t think she is self weaning because there are too many other teething syptoms going on with this.  Needless to say I had to pull the pump back out.  Fun.

-7-

Mary Rene found a new toy.

Hey, she knows what the real purpose of the toy is…

Sophie doesn’t like the toy so much…