Sounds like life to me...

I have one of the best jobs in the world... I work for the Catholic chaplain at Vanderbilt University. It is amazing to watch God work through our chaplain, through the students, through the sacraments... it is quite miraculous. Working in this job could appear to be peaceful, non-stressful, and totally lax, but it is quite the opposite... when you have a job like this, satan tends to hang around a little more often than with other jobs.

So, the other day, we were having one of those crazy days. Nothing was going right, the schedule for the day totally got thrown off, and it came to the point where Fr. Baker just threw his hands up and said, "Ok, I am at peace now with everything falling apart today."

Loved that. I think I will adopt that quote now as part of my morning prayer. Who has a day where everything goes exactly as planned? Who does actually have their whole house dusted and vacuumed with all the dishes and laundry done? Who is caught up with all their thank you cards and on top of it has answered every last e-mail and returned every phone call they need to? Who doesn't have something wrong with them physically? An aching back, a headache, a papercut? Who is caught up with life? Surely, if you have covered all this ground, you are like Jesus or something. So, have peace with the fact that everything has fallen a part. Just like that country song... "Sounds Like Life To Me." There will always be another diaper to change, another bathroom to clean, a phone call to return. But, have peace with it. No need to stress. All things are passing. Enjoy the moment God has you in, for this moment is His will for you.

He is serious about swim practice.

We crack up every night when Gabriel gets into the bath tub. We rarely get him to smile while he is in there... it's because he is VERY serious about his swim practice. It takes about 3 or 4 minutes for him to realize he is in there and then the kicking does not stop. He would kick all night if we left him in there. It doesn't stop until the towel gets wrapped around him. We have posted bath time fun before, but it just keeps getting better and better... enjoy watching the swimmer do his thing. Oh yeah, and he gets all that serious stuff from his dad. And his really good swimming... that's from me... anyone who was on my swim team could have told you how good I was... haha... and all about the purple participation ribbons I got every week!

Never Tired of Love

God speaks to us in many ways. I am particularly a fan of the way He inspires us on a daily basis with His Holy Spirit whispering softly in our ears to say something when no one else does or to be the first to pick up the item the other dropped or even to just smile when we don't really feel like it. It always gives us a breath of fresh air to obey His call. He does this with the big things too, but I think to hear Him well in those things, we must be a person of prayer and of silence... because that is when we hear Him best. I have to admit I don't always find the time of silence He calls me to, but when I do, I am often graced with His voice. And no, this isn't a voice like a man on the radio or at a sports game. It's simply the voice of God...the peace inside that isn't a feeling, but a knowledge.

Years ago I had an inspiration that I will keep with me always and recently it has hit home a little more in me because now I am a mom. It was a time when God reassured me that He never tires in loving me, ever. He will never be too exhausted to stay awake to listen to me speak or help me get through it one last time. He waits for me to rise in the morning and stays up to watch over me through the night. He adores and loves me in a way I could never comprehend.

Now this is so much clearer to me. I can not love my own child as perfectly as this because I am only human, but I understand now better the love of a parent for his child because I am a mom. Exhaustion is totally overrated when you have LOVE.

You're Just Too Good To Be True...

Love those cheeks. I kiss them all day long!

This is his favorite outfit to wear to Mass.

Boy written all over his face... he wants to get into trouble bad.

Can't take my eyes off of you!
Literally, I could look at Gabriel all day long. Today he and I danced to the song
his daddy and I danced to at our wedding. Love me some Frankie Valli.
Here are some recent pictures. It has been a while because we have been traveling a ton. After being gone two weeks we are back home and so glad to sleep in our own bed.
The latest with our little peanut: He is sucking on his hands, grabbing things and trying to put them in his mouth, giggling just a little, kicking like crazy when you lay him down, lifting his head up anytime he is on his belly, and standing on our legs every time we hold him. He just wants to get down and run around already... I can tell. He has the sense of adventure his daddy has in him.
Oh, love is so grand. I just can't wait to have another!

Beautifully Handsome

We take pictures non-stop of our work of art...
here are a few in the past week... week 12 of his precious life!
Yeah, we said the same thing... he looks different every day and sometimes like me and sometimes like Patrick, but always beautiful... in a boy like way.

It Won't Be Like This For Long

We had quite the car ride to and from the lake this weekend with Gabriel and while driving in the car I could barely hear the words of Darius Rucker coming from the radio in the background over the crying... but, I did make out the part that says, "If you could just hang on, it won't be like this for long." And although I am no close imitation of Mary, I sometimes like to do what she did and ponder things in my heart... it's the introvert in me...

So... I was pondering Darius Rucker's words... as deep as that can be...

Love surely stretches you. A child surely stretches you. I have died to myself and my desires and wants more now than I ever have in my entire life. It makes me wonder about the sanctification mothers who have more than one child go through... because it is hard. But any vocation God calls us to is going to be and the rewards of your fidelity I have found are immense.

One example:
So, it's 4am and I hear Gabriel grunting in his bassinet next to me. Really? You're not going to sleep through the night? Maybe I will just pat his back and he will fall back asleep. So, I stick my arm over and pat away. No. He didn't. He's totally hungry. Ok, so I pick him up with my eyes still closed and think, burp cloth, I need one of those. As I open my eyes to look for one, there are his little eyes looking back at me. He isn't making any noises anymore because his mom is holding him. I look back at him and say, "hello sweet boy" and then I get the most amazing smile in the world, the one where he squints his little eyes after holding the smile for a while. I am so filled with joy to have woken up in this moment. How is it that I am loved so much? How undeserving I am of this love! How much I love him... it really is beyond me. So, I am hanging on, because it won't be like this for long.

He will grow and he won't wake me up anymore and I will miss those days where the world was asleep and God loved me through the night.

You'll have to turn your head sideways to see this....

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Gabriel gave me the best smiles ever today. After yesterday's visit to the doctor Patrick and I were looking forward to two things... 1) some smiles, since he cried all day and 2) to see if he could pull off what he did yesterday and roll over. We accomplished one and he smiled away today, but the rolling over thing, we will have to work on some more. I think he was just trying to impress the doctor. He already knows he impresses us! Sorry, but I always forget to turn the camera sideways when taking video. You will have to turn your head sideways to see this one! Man, do we love him.