we made it!

Drake has (very) successfully completed his first semester of graduate school.  

Let a glorious 3 1/2 weeks off begin!

a little look at life

Tonight I leaned down to kiss the sweet, soft, cushy cheek that I found a few inches below my chin as I walked around donning the Moby baby wrap that has become a daily necessity.  Today was a rush-around, get-things-done-in-every-spare-moment kind of day...not ideal for celebrating the Sabbath.  But for those few seconds, I stood still, and it seemed that time did, too.  I took those moments to thank the Lord and our Lady for the gift of our children - the gift of which I am so undeserving and yet find myself with the immense privilege of having on a daily basis.  In the midst of the leaky diapers, the toddler tantrums, the sleepless nights, children are gifts.  They are not burdens in any sense of the word.  And one of the greatest (if not the greatest) gifts of all is that they are my path to sanctity.  I praise God for that - for the holiness that can be achieved if I merely forget my own plans, my own desires, my own way of thinking and trade it in for the plans of the Giver of gifts.      

Thomas is pure joy to be around -- and perhaps that's not the case 100% of the time, but then again, it's certainly not the case for me either.  The love he shows his sister makes me want to be more kind, more giving, more compassionate.  He loves to learn, whether it's colors, shapes, ABC's, numbers, the taste of an unfamiliar food, a new prayer, or a new way to make Mom and Dad smile.  He loves life, and I love it more because of him.

Maria, aside from being gorgeous, incredibly kissable, and a great, ahem, daytime sleeper, reminds me of enjoying the little things in life.  Whether that's food, clean clothes, or a good cuddle, Maria is pretty easy to please (unless, like the rest of us, she's overtired). She doesn't need the most modern stroller or latest play mat.  She appreciates what is given to her - and while a 7 week old can't differentiate too much, she certainly knows Mommy and Daddy, has learned to trust them, and relies on them for her every need.  Hmmm...maybe I could stand to learn a thing or two from her about trust.  Sounds like the makings of another blog post. 

And Drake?  Well, he's my soulmate, my confidant, and my earthly stronghold.  He challenges me to be a better person, a more faithful Catholic, a more selfless spouse, and a more adventurous soul :).  Sharing in the parenting of our children is one of the greatest gifts I've ever been given.

Praise to the most holy Trinity for so many gifts - all of which I am undeserving and yet have been freely given.  And as we await the birth of our Lord on Christmas morn, I pray for the grace to live a life worthy of the coming of the Christ child.  Come, Lord Jesus, come!

i'm digging this.

He's been playing on our iTunes for several weeks now.  Amazing lyrics, vocals, guitar.  Love it. 

so thankful

The other night I walked into the house after some very chilly and admittedly stressful errands with the kids.  Lines were long, aisles were crowded, parking spots sparse, and I somehow made it back out to our van with an item in my car that I hadn't paid for, causing another trip back in.  But somehow I forgot about all of that when I walked inside to find:

sitting on the kitchen table with the screen open to my gmail account and some of my favorite music playing.  My first thought?  "What the HECK?"  I stood there staring until Drake came back inside with the kids.  He informed me that my dad had called while I was out and wanted to know if Drake thought we could benefit from having a second laptop.  The short answer is "absolutely."  Since Drake gave it the thumbs up, my dad went ahead with his intended purchase and brought over this new (well, refurbished, but new to us!) computer in the hopes that I could have a little more computer access, have music, etc when Drake is using the computer (which is almost all the time given his vocation right now).  With a husband in a doctoral program who also is creating a website as part of his duties as the webmaster for the state music therapy executive board, there is little time for my computer use.  And honestly I had just learned to live with that and would try to sneak on when time allowed.

But I've been living the high life these last few days and figured my first blog post on the new laptop should be directed right to my parents - thank you, thank you, thank you!  I so very much appreciate your thoughtfulness, your immense generosity, and your desire to serve me and our family and ease a little bit of the stress around here.  Heck, now I might even update our blog more than once a month!  Thank you again!