Quick Takes Friday

1.  Mother Nature corrected the unseasonably warm weather earlier this week: as I type this post, flakes are falling.  At least we have a Ma.tt Mahe.r concert tomorrow night to keep the cold away.  His music is absolutely amazing. :)

2.  Some KB (who will turn 15 months tomorrow) milestones: imitating!  She can drink out of an empty coffee cup (gee, where did she learn that?), rub her hands (as if with sanitizer), brush/comb hair, and mimic words.

3.  The HHS mandate for Catholic institutions has been in the news this week.  I think cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan succinctly explains in a WSJ editorial why this is such a big deal to Catholics.

4. In reference to #4, I am a non-partisan voter.  Always have been.  Several of my friends and family who work for the church could lose their health insurance if the mandate goes into law. The mere idea of the government imposing its will on a religious group and its tenants scares me.  So the issue is not about partisan politics or whether or not people agree with the Church's teachings; it's about religious freedom.

5.  Soapbox over. Now that KB is one, a new chapter will begin in the coming year.  I think More Like Mary, More Like Me really hit the nail on the head about wanting more children but also afraid of what that can hold, and knowing things will get wishy washy!  Truly, I hope to post more about the matter when not confined to the boundaries of KB's nap time.

6.  I have an appointment with our NaPro doctor next Friday to discuss our quest to TTC for #2.  Two very strange cycles have emerged the past couple months that are disconcerting, so some questions need to be answered.  Oh Lord, here we go again.  Help us to keep walking though fears assail us!

To end this post on a funny note, here is one of my favorite You.Tube videos of all time.  Relax and enjoy a hilarious take on the classical symphony!

Quick Takes Friday: Favorite Things Edition

Chasing Joy penned a fun post about her favorite things, so I've decided to follow suit.  My upper respiratory infection from last week returned as a sinus infection this week, so my head has been a bit cloudy for forming coherent thoughts.  Here's a run down of some of my current favorite books & items. :)

1.  The Keuri.g coffee maker.  My hubby gave this to me for Christmas and I've used it almost daily.  The coffee maker brews coffee in a flash and also dispenses hot water.  It's nice to have a quick mug without having to brew a pot or go to st.arbucks (gasp!)

  2.  Along with my current coffee love affair, I've fallen in love with Bailey's Irish Cream Creamer.  Great for hot chocolate too.  It's like having Irish Coffee in the morning sans alcohol. :)

3.  The Kin.dle.  I've mentioned it before, but the portable nature of the electronic book has made reading easier.  A one-year-old little girl can easily tear pages of a real book or take a bookmark.  But the Ki.ndle holds my place and I like switching back and forth between books.  The only problem is that KB likes to pilfer my Kin.dle too!  I can't keep her away from technology.






4.  The Catholicism Project & Word on Fire.  Fr. Robert Barron recently debut the Catholicism Series, which I look forward to viewing. My husband gave me Fr. Robert's companion book to the series, also called Catholicism.  Whoa.  Very deep but rich reading.  Great insights and a mix of history and theology.  Fr. Barron's Word on Fire blog is also very informative and covers a variety of subjects.  He also has several YouTube videos where he addresses multiple topics.

5.  The Words With Friends ap.  Very addictive and fun to play ongoing games with my family on the other side of the country. :)

6.  Pinterest.  Oh wow, I have become addicted to that website.  Maybe one day I'll actually craft, bake, or cook the many items on my pin boards.

7.  I've grown to love the Organizing Made Fun blog, as there is now an ongoing quest for organization in our house.  The author also has a page of fun and useful printables. 

In other news to save for next week:

The SHE IF support group will turn 3 tomorrow!
My blogoversary was a while ago, so that means it's time for a cupcake. :)

Have a fun weekend!

Quick Takes: Sinus edition

While trying to get back on a million bandwagons (organization, writing, good diet, etc.), I wanted to make this blog a bit more active.  Welcome to my attempt!  These quick takes are a bit mundane, but at least they are something!

1.  The doctor told me I need to lose weight fast, for health reasons and our hope to TTC for #2.  I'm trying to decide between a medically supervised shake diet or Weigh.t Watchers online. It's an uphill battle.

2.  After getting through November and December with no illness, a sinus infection has hit my husband and me simultaneously.  Good times.  Good medicine.

3.  It's hard to read with a one-year-old around, so the Kin.dle has been my friend.  I can read little snippets of books here and there as well as switch between titles.  Very convenient!  It sure beats keeping my books out of grabbing range.

4. Blood Test Buddy and I discovered Pil.ates during December. It's helped my cramps and breathing. .  I absolutely stink at Yoga (picture a zebra trying to do a down.ward dog) so this class is a nice compromise.

5.  Our new friend during the cold winter days is our local Gym.boree.  KB has really enjoyed the weekly classes.  Most of all, I enjoy going to a place where she can play freely indoors.

6. While I'm on the subject of reading, these two titles are on my spiritual reading list: The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers and Saints for Catholic Moms.  Don't miss Saints on Call, written by my friend Christine.  I plan to devote a future blogpost to her awesome prayerbook.

7.  My favorite scent from Bath.and.Body.Works is Stress Relief.  The gel and scrub have made my shower smell so good.  For an added bonus, the Eucalyptus Spearmint aroma has helped clear my lungs and sinuses.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Quick Takes Friday

I haven't had much time to write, let alone think these days, so how about some quick takes to break the blogger silence?

1.  KB will be 1 next week. This year has flown by so quickly.

2.  Because KB was a November baby, this past Monday was her first Halloween. Her costume was a big hit, especially at Star.bucks (I said she was a pumpkin spice latte).

3.  Tomorrow Blood Test Buddy, my mother-in-law, and I will participate in a 5K to benefit our local VA hospital.  I'm walking (ha ha, no running for me) in honor of my grandpa who served in WW2.

4.  This week we celebrated All Saints and All Souls Day.  KB made it through both evening Masses, much to our delight.  We thought a lot about my grandma who passed away this summer.  I cantored the evening All Souls Mass, and it made me feel like I was singing to her. :)

5.  I received lots of wonderful feedback from my last post on keeping in touch with long-distance family.  Feel free to send any more ideas.  When KB blows out the candles on her cake next week, my parents will join us via sky.pe so they can see the big moment too.

6.  My husband and I have become addicted to a wonderful way to enjoy SMORES.  Yes, we are among those deprived of an outdoor fire pit.  However, we have discovered the wonders of preparing smores in the oven.  The marshmallows get perfectly brown (instead of burnt, which always happens to mine) and meld wonderfully with the chocolate.  Plus, if you use foil underneath everything, there's no mess to clean up. And those stacker marshmallows work well too!

7.  As soon as November 1st came, I noticed that many stores immediately switched into Christmas mode.  This is a pet peeve of mine, as I really like Fall and feel rather Christmased out by the time Dec. 25th comes around.  Someone posted this humorous cartoon on Face.book the other day, so I now pass it along to you.  Happy Friday!!

Quick Takes

1.  Tomorrow is the feast of St. Therese of Liseux!!  See my previous post for more information about her. :)

2.  What a difference monthly spiritual direction and confession makes, especially now as a stay-at-home mom.

3.  C.S.I., Crim.inal Minds, and the plethora of crime shows (except N.C.I.S) give me nightmares!! I have to stop watching them!  It doesn't take long for a disturbing scene to get burned in my brain and cause anxiety.  :(

4.  My mother-in-law, a parish secretary, will lose her health insurance if this mandate from the government goes through!  Please follow the link to write an email to your elected officials.

5.  I hate parallel parking, but never knew that inability had something to do with my gender.  harumph!

6.  KB has been teething this week, bringing along all kinds of joys such as the runs, waking up at night, crankiness, etc.  One day, after a late night, she actually fell asleep in her high chair. Guess the food wasn't great either. :)

7.  I really hope to re-do the look of the blog, update the blogroll, etc., one of these days.  Or weeks.  Or years!

Have a great weekend!

Quick Takes Friday: Wacky Weather Edition

Seeing as KB has gone down for a nap (oh, the joys of nap training), why not some quick takes?

1.

Many thanks to the commenters who suggested tunes to add to my iPod library.  Please, can you help me expand my horizons with your favorite song(s)? 

2.

So it's only the first complete week of September, but the weather feels like October.  A rather large tropical storm has decided to hover over this part of the country, dumping lots of rain.  If only there was a way to push the cloud towards Texas.

2.5

Last week we found a strange visitor in our master bathroom.  We have no idea how this fellow got in:

3.

One of the bloggers at Faith and Family Live is running a donation drive for her infertile sister.  She and her husband are traveling to Omaha to receive treatment at the PPVI center.  The blogger has 6 kids herself and stated how watching her sister's IF journey has affected her.  I was so touched to read the comments of the people who donated (you still can via PayPal).  Truly, an example of a village coming together. :)  I consider donating to such causes (please alert me if any IF bloggers out there have something like this) part of tithing.

4.

You've heard of working mom's guilt?  Try Stay-at-home guilt.  It's a phenomenon that I never expected to experience.  Thankfully it's not 24/7.  Although my husband continues to assure me that my care of KB is important (and I know that), I sometimes feel less useful.  Like there's nothing monetary to show for my labors other than sweeping up Che.erios before someone squishes them.  Part of this is coming from the fact that school has started and I'm not in the classroom.  Not that I regret the time spent with KB; that working part of me says I should be doing more.  And then the IF experience comes back to say, "What's wrong with you?  You wanted this."

5.

For all of you Catholics, there's an awesome priest named Fr. Robert Baron who has crafted a stunning documentary series on the history of the Church entitled "The Catholicism Project."  He also has a complete media ministry via Word On Fire, including an app.  I especially like listening to his Gospel reflections.

6. 

I'm trying to go to the gym multiple days a week in order to get back in shape.  Sadly, my weight isn't too far away from my 9MONTHS preggo weight.  :(  Pathetic, unhealthy, not to mention dangerous if/when we start trying for #2 via adoption or natural).  Thankfully our gym has a kid club where KB can hang out.  For added incentive, I'm training for a 5k run for Veterans in November.  Hopefully this will work!

7.

KB has passed many milestones lately.  She will turn 10 months on Sunday.  Oh where, oh where has the time gone?

Crawling lots and lots

No need for the play gym anymore. :(

Pulling herself up like a big girl.

More crawling and exploring!

Curls keep a'coming!

Have a blessed weekend!!

Quick Takes Friday: Slacker Edition

I'm surfing the turbulent waves of an 8-month old whose naps have gotten way too short and a heat wave.

1.  Our part of the country is sharing in the "fun" of the recent heat waves. The pool has become my favorite place to beat the heat.  Thankfully, KB likes the water.

2.  I understand the kind intentions of the word, "Stew.ardship."  But that word has become SO overused.

3.  My husband and I will celebrate our 5-year anniversary next week.  I can't believe how quickly time has flown!

4.  Self-serve frozen yogurt chains are all the rage here.

5.  My spiritual director totally rocks.  He was once married, got an annulment, became a permanent deacon, and recently was ordained a priest.  He also has a daughter.  Needless to say, he can relate to MANY of the family struggles.

6.  All ye who hate processed foods, turn away. :)  I bought some pizza dough balls at S.am's Clu.b and used one to make a delicious calzone last night.  By using sauce in a can, frozen peppers and onions, cooked steak, and 3 kinds of cheese, it made a remarkably fast meal.

7.  #6 is an accomplishment as my creativity in the kitchen has waned considerably since KB arrived.

Have a great weekend!!

Quick Takes: Apocalypse/Rapture Edition!

So according to a minute number of Christians, the world is supposed to end tomorrow.  That means this could be my final post.  Yeah.  Seriously, did these guys ever read Matthew 24:36?  Jimmy Akin penned a humorous article to explain everything.  Oh well, might as well do a Quick Takes, since my blog has been so neglected, not because the end of the world is tomorrow.

1.  Tomorrow to celebrate the end of the world (just kidding), we will attend the priestly ordination of the deacon who baptized KB.  Not only is our dear deacon a wonderful friend, he has been an incredible spiritual director too.  Most of our sessions have taken place at Star.bucks.  How cool is that?  I know he will become an incredible priest.  He was so compassionate during my infertility struggles and rejoiced at KB's arrival.

2.  I was a horrible time manager before KB.  It's gotten even worse.  With my school year ending next week and full-time motherhood kicking in, I need to make some changes.  Pronto.  Easier said than done.

3.  KB caught my stomach bug, so we have spent the majority of the week cleaning up fluids and making sure she stayed hydrated.  Her puking was prolonged enough to warrant 2 visits to the doctor.  Thankfully, she has recovered.  The episode forced me to not take her health for granted.

4.  Please, will someone invent an App to automatically mute political commercials?  We don't have an advanced TV or cable system that allows us to fast forward through those dastardly ads.

5.  My new guilty pleasure is "Ex.treme Coup.oning" on TLC.  It's so fascinating to watch these people pay so little for groceries.  However, I see disadvantages too, particularly the stockpile.  Come on, do you REALLY need 12 bottles of mustard?  Even large families we know do not have that large of a number.  Still, some of the couponers' techniques are useful.  My friend Jennifer started a blog called Jennifer Saves (love the name) where she chronicles her own savings.  She actually follows the rules at stores, and has pointed out to me that many of the TLC couponers do not.  Interesting!

6.  I am so. in. love. with this jewelry.

7.  Unlike Sew, I have not been able to lose baby weight.  The extra pounds sting even more because a mere year ago, I had lost a bunch of weight to prepare for a South Korea adoption BMI requirement.  Now that KB is 6 months old (and I can't use the "but I had a baby" excuse), she can attend the kids club at my gym AND swim in the pool with me.  Hopefully the exercise will help decrease the poundage.

8.  (sorry to go over the limit).  My friend K, who has 3 babies in heaven, will soon give birth to her twins.  I'm so glad God FINALLY turned her sorrow into joy. Her post reminds me of Always Giving Thanks's recent post, who compared her time of waiting to that of Joseph's in the Old Testament.  Infertility felt a lot like that well Joseph got thrown into: empty, dark, and seemingly no way out.  But God was (and still is, although I think He takes too long sometimes) faithful.  Keep praying for all of our IF friends out there.

I look forward to posting on Sunday, just because. :)

Quick (Photo) Takes Friday!

Since my posting has been rather spotty lately, I thought it would be fun to post pictures for the 7 Quick Takes Friday...

1.  Last month, some dear friends threw a wonderful baby shower for me.  Among my many favorite memories, I was most touched by the fact that several friends from the IF support group came to celebrate.  Talk about true friends!!  Baby showers were always hard for me while enduring IF, so my IF friends' presence meant so much.

My friend and fellow local blogger Kerri!

The lovely hostesses!

2.  A huge event took place in my home state, the World Equestrian Games.  My Irish Dance group was invited to perform along one of the walkways leading towards the event areas.  To my pleasant surprise, I was still able to dance some of our routines by toning things down a bit and wearing sneakers.  I even turned a maternity dress into an impromptu costume!

3.  As I mentioned in my previous post, we finally FINALLY found & purchased our first "family" car.  My hubby and I both have driven sedans for a long time, but needed a car with more space for baby gear.  We were pleasantly surprised to find this model; it's big enough to haul baby stuff but not too large for me to maneuver around town.  I'm still trying to figure out how to get the blue tooth to make phone calls through the radio....  A huge bonus/nice providence was that the car salesman didn't give us any B.S.  He had previously lived in Southern California, so he and I reminisced about InNOut Burger, L.A. traffic, and the like.

 3.  I've been washing all of the blankets, linens, tiny outfits, etc. for the baby.  Finally, we can put all of those things in the nursery.  I should mention that this room has always been our guest room.  The previous owners painted it pink.  When we found out our baby was a girl, we decided to keep the color.  Yea for (slightly) less work!

 Our new glider/recliner.  I've slept in it one night already.

4.  Last weekend, my hubby and I went on a "babymoon."  It's a trip that a couple takes as their last hurrah before a child arrives.  We've had more than 4 years by ourselves, so we enjoyed savoring these last moments of togetherness while our child is quiet and portable. :)  Also, I was rather emotional about missing my brother's wedding and stressed about completing baby tasks; this getaway really helped me relax.  We had a very laid back, low cost trip to Cincinnati.

It may look like a tropical getaway, but this waterfall graces the tropical room at a local conservatory.



5.  I saw this ridiculous sign in our hotel bathroom.  Would you pay $15 for one of those bath towels? 

6.  I LOVE cats.  I actually invited  my friend's cat, Willow, to the baby shower.  She is the friendliest cat in the world.  At this point, our house is pet-free, so Willow is my "vicarious" cat.  My husband loves this because she lives at someone else's house.

7.  Finally, besides the coffee shower favors that I gave out, I also gave each guest one of these.  I'll never forget my IF journey, and I hope these little flowers will remind others to pray for those affected by IF.

Have a blessed weekend!!

7 Quick Takes...Yep, I'm on the Bandwagon

OK, I finally did it.  I gave in.  A thoughtful blogpost became lost amid the first week of school.  However, coming up with 7 random things makes it easier.  Perhaps the writing juices will flow more!!

1.  Faith and Family Live (a popular Catholic blog) recently had an excellent post on reaching out to women dealing with Infertility.  It's worth reading the many heartfelt responses. 

2.  Half of our driveway looks like a rock pit.  The city installed a backflow valve so as to help us avoid the nasty sewage seepage that invaded our house this past May.  They only tore up the part of the driveway for which the city is liable; we have to cover the rest.  I will post a picture soon; the driveway looks rather funny.

3.  In the first week of college football, both of my favorite teams won!!  That trend will most likely not continue, but at least the season started on a good note.  Go FIGHTING IRISH and UK Wildcats!

4.  We assembled the crib and picked out a glider last weekend, both of which were on our list of "Things We Can't Do After the Baby Comes."  The next rather painful task is selecting a (newer) family car.  My husband keeps bringing up a 1970s wood panel station wagon.  Yeah, right!  I answered that HE would have to drive it to work.

5.  Last night I had horrible, tightening pains which caused a phone call to my midwife (she gave me her cell #; how awesome is that!). Thankfully, the pain was muscular, not labor.  It was a bit scary to think that the baby could be coming right then.  All You Who Hope alluded to this in her recent post, but buying/receiving all this baby stuff still feels very surreal.  In my particular case, I packed away all hopes of pregnancy in order to cope with IF.  Then when this miracle happened, I've had to unpack those feelings and hopes, as well as convince myself (again) that this is actually happening.   

6.  I neglected to point out in my last post that a "novena" is typically 9 days of prayer for a specific intention.  It hearkens back to the apostles praying in the Upper Room for 9 days between Jesus' ascension and Pentecost.  One of the advantages of a novena is that it brings the intention more to the forefront of your mind.  There are about 15 women in my local area participating in this novena, and so many of you have been included in this prayer effort. :) 

7.  On Wednesday during Latin class, I pointed out to the students that Star.bucks used one of our vocabulary words (via, meaning road or way) as the name of their instant coffee packets.  I'm sure they'll impress the baristas.  In case this looks like a plot to receive Star.bucks cards for teacher gifts, the entire student body knows of my addiction, I mean, affection, for Starbu.cks.  So it's nothing new....