The Goose Is a Hoot

The more cynical among us might say that the reason babies can be so smelly, cranky, and tough to figure out is because they’re cute. It’s like nature’s defense mechanism.

 

Likewise, toddlers can be cantankerous and stubborn because they’re hilarious.

 

Here’s living proof:

 

John recently got an iPad, and even more recently found an app that features both Elmo and the alphabet (can life get better?!). He showed me the game’s stats the other night after Jacob had been playing. We can’t figure out how to pull a screen shot (though Jacob probably could), but here’s what it said:

 

Times letter c was selected: 8

Times cookie was selected: 17

 

That’s my boy.

 

* * *

 

On Saturdays, we light a candle at church before Our Lady of Guadalupe, for whatever intention we’ve been praying for that week. The “candles” are electronic; you push a button on top and the light flickers realistically for about twenty-four hours. Jacob, of course, gets to put the dollar offering in the box and then gets to choose and light the candle. After that’s done, we all say a Hail Mary together.

 
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Last week, in the midst of our Hail Mary, Jacob wandered just a step or two to the side of the candle structure. Next thing we knew all the candles were dark. We quickly found the switch and turned it back on, but the system does not have any kind of memory. We lit as many as we thought were lit before, said an extra prayer, giggled, and moved on.

 

* * *

 

Jacob talks a lot these days. He speaks as sincerely as he can, but by no fault of his own, sometimes things he says are just not true, like when he tells me stuff Henry “sometimes” does. (I wish I had an example, but I’m blanking.)

 

Two weeks ago, he was saying “all over the place” when he spilled something: “chicken all over the place”, “crumbs all over the place”, when there might be one dropped piece of chicken or three crumbs from a muffin. That exaggeration, I’m sure, is something he learned from me.

 

Where he got his newest phrase is more of a mystery. Every day Jacob tells me about something that happened “last night.” This is odd in two ways: first, he rarely speaks in the past tense. He’ll talk about things that already happened, but the verbs he uses are all in the present. Second, none of the things he says actually happened the night before. For a while, I thought he meant, “yesterday”, but that theory’s been disproven as well.

 

“I go church last night.” (We go to church in the morning.)

“I eat sausage last night.” (We didn’t have sausage last night . . . or yesterday . . . or the day before.)

 

* * *

 

As we get more and more entrenched in toddlerhood, there are more and more instances like these to make me laugh. Maybe it’s a defense mechanism. Or maybe toddlers are just awesome little people.

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Grief Update: I’m Still Freaked Out

Henry is to be born in less than three weeks. I feel him kicking all the time. I’m at the point where I’m going to the doctor and hearing his heartbeat every week. People ask when I’m due almost every day. Some days all I can think about is holding and nursing this little boy. I know just which blanket to swaddle him in (until he poops through it).

 

And yet . . . part of me is still not convinced that we will bring a healthy, whole baby home from the hospital.

 

As strong as my faith and the support of John, family, and friends are, grief still creeps up on me from time to time. I don’t see it coming; I don’t recognize what it is until I’m already crying. Thank goodness I’ve been able to schedule doctor’s appointments early in the day, because I was a mess before the last one, almost shaking before I went in. When I’ve chosen to wait until the afternoon, the whole day feels wrong.

 

This is a time when I am reminding myself that God can get me through this. He got me through a difficult time earlier this year, and I have no reason to doubt His constancy or His promise. I am reminding myself that it is okay to be afraid, anxious, or whatever else—as long as I don’t let it end there. Yes, these next few weeks are a scary time. Yes, something could go wrong. But we’re doing everything we can to avoid that. And after we do everything we can, the only thing left to do is to have faith. Perhaps that’s really the only thing to do in the first place.

 
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Most of the time, I am okay. Better than okay! I’m excited to meet this little guy. I can’t wait to see Jacob interact with him. I want to be snuggled on the couch with my best friend beside me, gazing at yet another one of God’s beautiful creations—a creation which we had the privilege of being part of. I know there will be times ahead when there’s a whole lot of noise and not as much peace as I’d like. I’m trying to take the quieter moments now and store them away, so that when things do get hard, I will know how badly I wanted whatever is to come.

 

The reality of this pregnancy is that doctor’s appointments are tough for me. I don’t sleep well nor am I super pleasant to be around the day and night before. On the other hand, I am blessed with a doctor who is intelligent, rational, compassionate, and downright funny. He understands my fears and does his best to allay them at every visit.

 

My grief isn’t totally gone. It never will be. I sometimes worry what my next—God-willing—pregnancy will look like. Will I be this nervous? Will I be so fearful? Will I continue to be taken by surprise by my own emotions?

 

I’m still freaked out. But that’s not what matters. What’s important is that I still have hope, faith, and most of all, love.

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Joyful and Triumphant

Saturday night, while John took the Christmas decorations from where they’d been stowed in our giant living room closet and I prepared dinner (which, coincidentally, was red, green, and white), we listened to Christmas music for the first time this season.

 

I love a good Mariah Carey or “Last Christmas” in December, but this year I was hesitant to turn on seasonal music. As much as I’ve been looking forward to Christmas and in theory wanted to get the decorations out, when the time came I kind of froze.

 

Some of that had to do with blogs I’ve been reading lately that are reminding me Advent isn’t Christmas; Advent is a season of waiting, of preparing, of hoping. I love that about Advent, and I didn’t want to be celebrating quite yet. The other thing, which I realized just before my doctor’s appointment last week, is that there is part of me that still doesn’t believe we’ll bring another little boy home in a few weeks. Again, not time to celebrate yet.

 

John and I agreed to listen to religious Christmas music, as a way of easing into the season. When the music started to play, this is what I heard:

 

O come all ye faithful
Joyful and triumphant!
O come ye, o come ye to Bethlehem!

 

I was already finished cutting the onions, so that wasn’t the reason there were tears in my eyes.

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Rather, I felt a weight shift in me: Advent is a season of waiting, yes, but it is a season of joyful waiting. The hope is certain. The promise will most definitely be fulfilled.

 

I always kind of thought that having a birthday around Christmas would be a bummer. You’d get overshadowed every year. Now I’m learning that, at least from a mother’s perspective, this is the very best time of year to meet this little man.

 

We continued to listen to songs about welcoming a new baby boy into the world. I heard the word “joy” more and more. I am under no illusion that Henry is the Son of God, but I know for sure that he is a son of God, a child of our Father.

 

Two and a half weeks until I hold him in my arms. I make that statement based on trust, hope, love, and faith in our good and gracious God. And that is absolutely something to celebrate.

*     *     *

 

http://carrotsformichaelmas.com/2012/12/03/little-holydays-the-feast-of-st-nicholas/

 

The adorable button isn’t working for whatever reason, so click the link above to read other posts joined together in the “Little HolyDays” Link Up: Advent Edition, hosted by three Catholic bloggers, interested in exploring the liturgical year.

 

Thanks to Haley at Carrots for Michaelmas and the other two bloggers for hosting!

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