Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!! What does my Valentine's Day look like this year?

There is just something so beautiful about a single red rose :)

Rocky and I are going on our Valentine's Day date later this week since we have a youth group night every Tuesday. So we'll be spending our evening going to Mass, praying a rosary, and hanging out with a bunch of super awesome teens! We don't really take Valentine's Day too seriously so the actual day isn't too important to us. But since we go on a date at least once a month anyway, it's a nice excuse to go out and be romantic :)

My crazy girl never stands still for pictures anymore! haha :)

Gemma joined a preschool co-op group with a few Catholic families in the area which has been really great, even if she's a little young for super structured learning, it's nice for both of us to get out and socialize. I was a little too excited to get to make valentines this year for all her little classmates! Where did I go for ideas? Pinterest! where else?? :)

Here are the valentines I made, which I modified from a few different ideas I saw:

Those are little tubes of bubbles! They read: "Being friends with you makes me BURST with joy!" :)

 I saw an idea on Pinterest for bubbles valentines and I totally loved the idea because I wasn't keen on any kind of candy valentines considering the age group these were going out to. What's so great is that I already had these bubbles! Heart shaped bubble wand and all - they were leftover wedding bubbles from forever ago! (recognize them, Jaime? ha!) In fact, I already had all the materials for these so it cost me nothing to make! So jazzed about a free, cute crafty craft :):)

What about you all? What does your Valentine' Day look like this year?

Benjamin Louis

For awhile now, Rocky and I have known we would name one of our sons Benjamin.

This past Thursday was the day we finished the 33-day long St. Louis de Montfort - Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary. Some of you may be familiar with it. Rocky and I had consecrated ourselves individually before we ever met, and then we renewed it together, dedicating our Marriage to Jesus and our Lady, and again, renewed it to dedicate little Gemma when we were pregnant with her. So this most recent renewal was for our most recent addition to our family.

You see, this past Friday was supposed to be the day that I made my announcement here on my blog that we were expecting Baby #2. But the bleeding had started the day before - the exact day we completed our Consecration. And I thought I'd wait it out to see if the bleeding cleared up, as it had when I bled with my pregnancy with Gemma. It didn't this time around.

Last night, we held our tiny, tiny baby in our hands. We wept over him, and we just knew he was a boy. Our first son. To be honest, I'm still so shocked. It's hard to accept that just a few days ago, he was growing in my belly, and now he's gone. I just can't make sense of it.

This morning, we said goodbye to our sweet baby boy, Benjamin Louis. We placed his little body into a box, sang a hymn, and sent him out into the water off the dock in our backyard.

Even in the midst of this pain, I'm so grateful that we have an eternal perspective. That I can find some comfort knowing that he's in Heaven now with Jesus, and that our gentle Mother is holding him in her arms. It doesn't make me miss him any less, but it at least gives me a small token of comfort in knowing he's there. A friend of mine this morning who has known this kind of loss herself said "Just think, as parents, our job is to get our babies to Heaven so ... check. One down." I'm so thankful for my faith. I know I'm not going through this alone.

This morning at Mass, the responsorial psalm was "Praise the Lord, who heals the broken-hearted." I do praise Him, and I pray for healing, because my heart is truly broken today. All I can do is keep praying, cry when I need to, and thank Jesus for the beautiful blessing of my daughter, Gemma, who has already made me smile so many times today. Without her, I don't think I would have smiled for a long, long time.

This Post is About Poo

I just wanted to throw that right out there in case anyone has a weak stomach and can't handle the potty talk.

Anyway, Gemma is not even 18 months old yet, but I'm already considering potty training her. Or at least starting to entertain the idea of it. But, CA, why do you feel such a desire? Surely your child is too young.

Well, I see your point, but I also see Gemma's poop. Let me clarify. I started my day today by cleaning poop off the carpet, yes, carpet. You see, my wild lovely child like to take her diaper off and then do her business. And she has an uncanny knack for then walking through her business once she's finished. It's horrific and happens more often than can possible be acceptable.

So clearly, she is aware of when it's time to go numero dos. I've even picked her up mid-pooping-on-the-floor-antic, and rushed her to the toilet to catch some or (on a good day) most of her crap. Small victories, yes, but I'm looking for a greater glory. You know of what I speak. Diaper free days, a confident and independent pooper, happily using the potty on cue every time... in short, a fully potty-trained toddler.

Maybe I'm a crazy daydreamer! What do you all think? Is she too young to start potty training? My gut says she could probably handle it. In the meantime, any tips on how to handle her poo on the carpet shenanigans?

My Baby is a Toddler

So I've been evading an obvious truth for quite some time now... my baby isn't really a baby anymore. I mean, of course she'll always be my baby but the truth is, she's been a toddler for quite some time now. Supporting evidence for this statement:

Exhibit A: Has developed a love for goldfish, applesauce, string cheese, etc... classic toddler numnums.
Exhibit B: Throws tantrums over tragedies such as: not wanting to put clothing on before leaving the house, me setting her down so I can go do some miscellaneous chore, being told to stop and/or being forcibly removed from the destruction or pain she is causing to some thing or someone, being put into her stroller at the mall/zoo/any public place where she is running around like a crazy lady... usually putting herself into imminent danger. This list goes on and on, but you get the point. 
Exhibit C: Demonstrating a curiosity in and subsequent need to play with literally EVERY THING that crosses her tiny path - animals, knives, grass, garbage, other children's possessions, my ears, pieces of food she found on the floor, paper, flour, etc.

And if all this still isn't enough to convince you, may I present to you...
Exhibit D:

Yep. Red Marker. Allll over the wall.

Little punk could NOT be happier with herself!

 Now it's time to go see just how "washable" crayola washable markers truly are! :)

Upcoming Events

Deeeeeear Lovely Readers,

There are some seriously exciting things happening over the next few weeks here on ye olde bloggy blog.

I just wanted to give everyone a sneak peek at the upcoming schedule:

Saturdday 1/21: My first ever book review! I'll reveal the book at that time :)

Thursday 2/2: I will be posting the LOOONG awaited recipe for my world-famous enchiladas! Prepare your mouth for copious amounts of watering.

Friday 2/3: Look out for an exciting announcement about this here mommy blog o'mine!

Monday 2/6: I'll be launching my campaign to reach 150 followers!

Date TBA: Whenever I reach that number is when I do my first ever giveaway!! (And it's gonna be awesome!)

Hope you all are ready for the upcoming amaaaazingness!! :)

In the meantime, I'll leave you with a pic or two of Gemma doing her new favorite thing: playing with flour. Rocky has started calling her "my little flour girl" :) So adorbs!

Thoroughly diggin it ;)

Big Sister Training :)

This week I started my new job - nannying my next door neighbor's baby during the day since she had to go back to work. It's only a few days in, so we're still adjusting but all I can say is praise God this is literally the world's easiest baby!! She sleeps a bunch, eats like a champ, chills out wherever I put her, and smiles every single time I come over to her. So stinkin cute.

Gemma is working on the transition as well, as you can imagine. She's slowly learning that this is a real, live person, not another baby doll! She's also working on her boundaries... as you can see sometimes a tangible boundary is necessary, especially when Baby M is sleeping!!

Baby M asleep, being protected by the gate from curious little hands!

It's so cute though to watch Gemma be so fascinated by this new little person. And I have to say, it's like the ideal training for her if/when we add another sibling to our family (which, of course, we're always hopeful and open to!). She gets to gradually acclimate to having someone else vying for Mommy's attention, and also learn little ways to be Mommy's helper. She is SO gonna me my right-hand woman, there is no doubt about that! :)


For those of you who have been through this (adding a new baby - whether sibling or charge - to your house), any tips? Specifically on how to teach GENTLE touching?!

Fear Mongering

As a parent (together with my husband), it is my responsibility - tremendous and terrifying responsibility- to make decisions for and on behalf of my child. What she will wear, eat, drink. What type of education we will give her. Then there's the more controversial topics like extended breastfeeding and co-sleeping.

We begin this process of making decisions for our child often before we even realize it's for the child. For example, choosing which prenatal vitamins to take during pregnancy, which prenatal care practitioner we choose, where we decide to give birth. While those decisions may seem about us, the parents, they are simultaneously affecting the child as well. And from the very beginning, with those early choices, and continuing on through the journey of parenthood, we are bombarded with information and opinions from friends, family, medical staff, parenting forums, strangers in the grocery store - about how to care for our children.

Like I said, the responsibility is tremendous, and at times, terrifying. We all want what's best for our children. We want them to have better lives than we did. And we don't want to make any mistakes. So when it comes time to make a tough choice about a particular issue, what do we do? Research. We want to be making a well-informed choice. So we study both sides of the issue. We ask friends and family what they've done. We pray about it and ask the Spirit to lead our choices. And unfortunately, very often in our journey to make a choice about this thing or that, we run into fear mongering. Whether or not some of the things that are presented to us in a fear-inducing way are true, it's the delivery of such information that is so wrong. I mean, c'mon people. We all know that there are pros and cons to every side of every decision. There are facts and there are opinions. Do we really need to subject ourselves to fear and hysteria? I don't think so. To me, the facts matter most. The opinions of those who want what is best for me and my child affect me too. But the fear-mongering - I try my best to just tune it out. But regardless, you can't escape it.

Examples:

Homebirth. "Your child will DIE if something goes wrong and you're not in the hospital! Are you really willing to put the life of your child at risk??" Or. "You WILL have a c-section if you deliver in a hospital."

Circumcision. Though I don't have a son, I've seen the fear mongering on both sides of this issue. "Your son will DIE of penile cancer if you don't circumcise him! All the other boys will ridicule him! He'll get infections!" Or: "Your son will DIE of blood loss if you circumcise him! He will be robbed of his dignity and sense of self! He will associate violence with sexuality!"

Vaccinations. "Your child will DIE of disease XYZ if you don't vaccinate her against it!" Or: "Your child will suffer brain injuries or terrible autoimmune issues if you give her all those shots!"

Co-sleeping. "You'll roll over your child and suffocate him if you sleep near him! You will never get her out of your bed - she'll be in high school still sleeping with you!" Or. "You will alienate your child and teach her to distrust you unless you co-sleep! He will die of SIDS if you're not close enough to him!"

I could go on and on. And if you're like me, you've seen all these arguments and more on so many different issues. Here's the problem with all this fear mongering. It can damage our ability to make the right choice. It makes us emotional about topics to the point where we'll make a knee-jerk decision just to ease the tension in our hearts. What we should be doing is looking at the facts. No matter the topic: take the emotional fear-mongering skewed opinions out of it, and place the facts in front of you. Study the facts. Pray for guidance. Make your choice, and be at peace about it.

I know it's easier said than done, because let's face it: these are our children we're talking about! We can't be objective when it comes to our child; inevitably there will be an emotional element that can't be severed while we make decisions on his or her behalf. But we can still protect ourselves from excessive fear-mongering, and I truly believe it is absolutely vital to do so.

What do you all think? Have you encountered this? How do you deal with all the fear that is thrown at you as a parent?