Marwige

Last weekend was our 3rd Three to Get Married retreat here in Nashville. The preparation and prayer and planning was super intense. With over 20 speakers, 12 couples, and the camp people to deal with I would have to say that it was purely God's grace that won us such a peaceful weekend. It wore me out so badly that I ended the weekend with the stomach flu... pregnancy and exhaustion don't go well together!!

With all that being said, I once again was amazed throughout the weekend at God's providential love within each and every couple who was there and each one who spoke. Each had been given such a different path in their marriage and to watch the fidelity through it all was simply uplifting. We had speakers who had converted to Catholicism, some who had spouses with cancer, some with 3 kids, some with 10 and others who were infertile. Some speakers who struggled with in-laws, some with how to raise their kids, others who were newly married, and none who were normal. It was amazing to see God's work in their hearts and lives and relationships. Each one had such a unique story which one way or another they all recognized as their path to holiness.

It was a reminder to me about the story I am living. What will the next page read and how have the previous chapters gone? What will the heavy crosses be and how will we get through? In the end, I don't think it matters as long as Christ is our center. Fr. Baker stressed throughout the weekend that marriage makes no sense whatsoever if you have no relationship with Christ, no goal of Heaven and you haven't decided to completely abandon yourself to Jesus. Of course, you could live life without having these things, but the bottom line is that your life will be pretty boring and pretty predictable. He sent quite a challenge to the couples to live always in the state of grace and to follow ALL of the Church's teachings instead of picking and choosing those you like. There is a wisdom in the Holy Spirit who has inspired the Church. Will we trust Him?

SO bring it. Lord, we abandon ourselves to you. What is it that you will ask of us? How can we be an image in our marriage of Christ's love for the Church.. the ultimate sacrifice.

We haven't been married quite three years and let me tell you, Christ has sent us on a roller coaster ride... it has required lots of trust, but the gifts from Him are countless and really quite hard to believe at times. He will never let you outdo Him in generosity.

Gabriel's First Easter

Cutie Patootie

Gabriel loves crawling under the desk when I am working. He usually manages to make quite a mess... tearing out all the coupons I have organized, pulling all the printer paper out, one sheet at a time, and then somehow getting stuck under there. This is him about to assume his position under the desk! See the look of pure joy (and mischief)?

Yes, he is stuck in a box. How did he get in there? We have no idea. I was sleeping (Patrick lets me sleep in now on the weekend when he is home, since I am el prego) and Patrick went into the kitchen to get his coffee... he came back to the living room to find Gabriel stuck in the box. We are already being very adventurous!

Smile for the mommy!

Look how much he just LOVES his Daddy! Admiration at its best.

Ok, I know, I am an airhead. I taped it sideways again... if you really want to see our little peanut, you will have to turn your head sideways. Sorry. Otherwise, you can just listen to him copy me... I love it! This particular instance, he decided to sing his words a little bit... he must get that from his dad.

Twice the fun...

We are so excited to announce that we are expecting another baby! Gabriel is going to be a BIG brother somewhere around Sept. 29th, 2010, which coincidentally (not really, with God there is no coincidence) is the feast of the arch angels Gabriel, Michael and Rafael. With that being said, Patrick was hoping for twin boys so all of our boys would have the names of the 3 arch angels... much to his disappointment we confirmed 3 weeks ago that there is only one baby in there, although he asked the doctor to check more than once to see if she could find anything else in there. She searched around during the ultrasound, but only one heartbeat and one little body.

We are about 12 or so weeks along and everything is going great. Thankfully I am not nearly as sick as I was last time. The nausea comes and goes and is mostly just bad in the mornings. During the day I am extra tired, but Gabriel is a great distraction. He keeps me on my toes and lets me forget sometimes how bad I really feel. He turned 10 months on the 10th and let me tell you... he can not get any more fun!!

My every day is SO bright because of him. He giggles so much, he copies everything I say and do, and he is really just so darn cute all the time. He vocabulary has made more progress and he has managed to copy me saying, "thank you" and "no no no no no." He also is able to climb all the stairs with no help and he has finally managed to chew and swallow cheerios with no gagging... he must take after his mom with the gagging stuff. He loves being outside just like any boy and he is doing so much better in the car these days. He has begun to have his attachment issues when his mom leaves, but other than that he never complains. We think that we are finally breaking through with a tooth.. it took him long enough!

As much as I love Gabriel, I really can not imagine having someone else in my life that I love just as much! We can not wait to add another little person to love in our life...

(Promise to put up pictures soon... we just moved, so I am not even quite sure where the camera is...)

9 Months a Peanut

Our sweet baby boy is growing and is now 9 months old... holy macaroni. I feel like it was just yesterday we brought him home. He is surely showing his maturation by finally sleeping through the night!! Yea! 8pm-8am with no breaks in between. What a big boy! We are so proud. Patrick and I threw a party the first morning we woke up and he was still asleep... then when he did it a week in a row... we threw a bigger party. Although he is getting older he is not gaining too many pounds. I think he has his mommy's genes and is going to be petite. Still around 15 lbs, but we go to the doc Friday, so we will update you then. Some other new things: He is loving music and dances now. I need to catch this on tape because his little bounces are hilarious and he only does it when music is on. He is concentrating very hard on... well, pulling all the papers out of the trashcan, pulling all the Tupperware out of the drawer, all my clothes out of the drawer, and all the clothes out of the dryer. He loves to destroy things. He's a true boy. More than any other place in the whole house, I find him in the bathroom... staring into the tub. He will always love the tub, although lately he is wanting to stand up the whole time he is in the tub... he's crazy. He loves me to read to him and is starting to copy all the sounds I make. When I say "poop" he responds with "p p p" and when I say "dad" he responds with "da" and in the mornings when he wakes up I can hear him crying, "Ma... Ma... Ma." It is so sweet. Sometimes I leave him for a while so I can hear him say my name more! He is eating TONS. He eats 3 HUGE bowls of food every day (food his daddy makes by the way... on Wednesdays when mommy works). He is still nursing some, but I feel that may end soon. He loves sweet potatoes more than anything else and he hates peaches. He is truly the sweetest boy ever. He waves to us and smiles at us all day long. He giggles a lot, but also has a very serious side, like I said before... when he is emptying things. Below are some recent pictures. Enjoy!

Daddy making Gabriel laugh!

Very Serious.

He loves when we push him around the house in this box!

What a ham! He stopped and smiled when he saw I had the camera.

Daddy and Gabriel sleeping on the couch... Patrick is so faking it for the picture. With the Olympics on right now, do you really think Patrick is asleep. No. We do not miss one event.

Mom-Mom dragging Gabriel around in a shopping bag! The simple joys.

Standing up in the tub. He laughs every time.
He thinks he is hilarious. He must get it from his mom.

Thank you for everything

Ok, so no pictures of Gabriel on this post... but I promise to put some more up soon... I had kinda a reflective day... so here it is.

St. Gertrude once asked Jesus to heal one of her friends... Jesus responded with this: "You trouble me, Gertrude, by asking me for the cure of your friend. I sent her this sickness as a trial. She accepts it with admirable submission to my will which gains great merit for her, and I thus prepare a more beautiful place in Heaven for her for all eternity."

I think this story is perfect for our reflection on holiness... do we accept everything God gives us with submission to His will? Can we really say, "Lord, thank you for everything?" Because sometimes he gives us stuff that we are not happy with in the moment, but we know is for the ultimate good of our souls.

I have been thinking about this a lot lately while I sometimes watch friends or myself struggle with different difficult things God has given. On the other hand, I also reflect on this when I notice the blessings I have in my life, the amazing miracles God has granted me. Do I respond the same to both? Because ultimately the difficult things AND the blessings are GIFTS. He is so good, so holy, so perfect that He wills all things for our well being, even if we do not see it.

There was a night when St. Monica prayed so hard for her son to not leave on a ship to Italy. She wanted him to be converted so badly and she just knew that if St. Augustine left he would have no chance. She begged the Lord on her knees, with sobs and tears... and Augustine left on that ship in the night. You see the Lord had to say no to her prayer in the moment, so he could say yes to her lifetime plee... for him to be converted. It was in Italy that Augustine met Ambrose and was converted.

We have to trust Him. He knows what He is doing. He makes all things new... all things good.

A beautiful prayer a very holy priest once taught me... and I think written by a saint... I say this every time I receive the Eucharist.

Thanks be to Thee, My Lord Jesus Christ

For all the blessings you have given to me,

For all the pains and insults you have borne for me.

Oh, Most merciful Redeemer, Friend and Brother,

May I know Thee more clearly,

Love Thee more dearly,

And follow Thee more nearly.

Amen.

I think this is all He asks of us every day. A young woman named St. Therese once said something like this (I think I reworded it some... ) If you desire to know God, then it is because you already know Him. And if you desire to love God it is because you already love Him. If you desire to be in His will, then you probably are, at least pretty darn close. He is so pleased with your desire.

This is what He asks of us. To abandon ourselves completely to Him. To tell him thank you for everything and mean it.

Handsome Boy and His Nursery

So, I promised my sister-in-law, Jeanne, to finally put up some pictures of Gabriel's nursery. With her living in Italy she loves to be a part of everything from afar. Even though she lives the farthest away from me, she seems to be most in touch with what is going on!
I love that about her.

So, Jeanne, these are for you!

The CRIB... love those naps.

Rock a bye baby.

Poopy diapers live here.

My sweet boy after waking up from his nap yesterday. As you can see, there is a bear in the corner of the picture. I caught him tickling his ear and talking to him... we are lowering the crib today. I am afraid he is going to try to jump out to play with his friend, the bear.

Classic.
I tried so hard to keep him awake before we left for the chiropractor because I love when he sleeps in the car the whole way there. As you can see, even laying him on the ground on his back did not do the trick. He was exhausted. He played so hard that he decided not to wait on his mama any longer. Ohh, gotta love boys who play hard.

Our first attempt at sitting in a big boy seat to eat dinner. He looks happy here, but after a few bites he was hanging off the seat trying to get down. Time for a high chair.

He is drooling so much, my mom suggested bibs all the time, so we don't have to change him ten times a day from being completely soaked. Therefore, we try to stick with the season and sport our bibs accordingly. Still no teeth.

Always Happy!

His Great Mom Mom Peg sent him a life size train (lifesize for him anyway). We couldn't resist. He didn't like it, but it was hilarious. As my dad says, "Oh, Kristi, you are so laid back with him. You laugh when he laughs. You laugh when he gets mad. Nothing bothers you." I didn't realize that I was like that. But, I think I am. I couldn't stop laughing even though he was mad.

Christmas morning. It was hectic. From the Bentley's to the Zimmerman's. I had to explain to him that I had to pack his clothes in there and he didn't get travel that way... he had to get in the carseat again. By the way, Gabriel did this all himself. I did not help him climb into this suitcase. He is a mess.

Isn't he handsome? He told me he wants to model for Baby Gap.

He managed to find these tins in my bag and then stand up while balancing his hands on them... he thought he was so hilarious.

Yesterday I was trying to work for Vandy+Catholic and did everything to occupy Gabriel in the meantime. I have never tried television with him, so I thought I would give it a try. I found a show with talking dogs. Since we have turned the living room into a play room, the coffee table is pushed up in front of the TV. He crawled over to the table, climbed up and stood watching TV with his chin resting on his hands for like 15 minutes. He was so intrigued. I caught it on video. And laughed so hard.