Per Crucem ad Lucem

You Just Broke Your Child

2011-06-22T14:28:00.000-07:00

I liked this article about being a good father, although I did find the physical touch aspect of it odd. Otherwise, a good read.

You Just Broke Your Child. Congratulations.

The gifts marriage bestows

2011-06-08T13:45:00.000-07:00

It's so refreshing to have faithful Shepherds who teach so clearly (ok I might be biased since I'm from the Arlington Diocese originally). Today Bishop Loverde is reminding us of the basics about marriage:

"Marriage is not a human construct that society and individuals can redefine at will. It is not made by man. God created marriage with a profound and beautiful meaning and effect."

Read the rest:

The gifts marriage bestows

Heroic Husband

2011-06-08T13:28:00.000-07:00

This story about a husband dying while saving his wife's life during the recent tornado in Missouri is so touching. An amazing modern day example of what every husband is called to do: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church and delivered Himself up for it" (Ephesians 5:25). What a beautiful story of sacrificial love!

Husband dies saving wife from Joplin tornado

You may kiss the Cross

2011-06-08T13:22:00.000-07:00

This is a neat story about a tradition in Croatia, where the bride and groom hold onto a Crucifix while they profess their vows, and then they each kiss the Crucifix after they have said their vows. The Crucifix is blessed and placed in a prominent place in their house afterward as a reminder of Christ's sacrificial love for us and how we are each called to love each other. What a neat tradition!

You may kiss the Cross

Contraceptive Contradictions

2011-04-12T12:15:00.000-07:00

Here's a great article by Fr. Tad explaining why all forms of contraception are always and entirely wrong. Thank you Lord for fantastic Priests like Fr. Tad!

Contraceptive Contradictions

Why do we let them dress like that?

2011-03-21T18:35:00.000-07:00

Everyday I am appalled by the immodest dress of increasingly young girls, and I always wonder, "why do their parents let them dress like that?". It is mind boggling and very disturbing. I cannot for the life of me understand why mothers not only let their daughters dress in such an immodest way, but the mothers themselves take them shopping and buy these immodest clothes!

While I certainly went through my own phase of dressing more provocatively than I should have, I am so thankful for my parents who always stressed modesty, my school's ultra-strict modesty guidelines, and especially the examples of all of my older, modest sisters. Looking back though, I cannot believe my mom ever let me wear shorts with writing on the butt! That's like a target for pedophiles, right on my behind, are you kidding me? Why do we let our daughters dress this way?

Jennifer Moses asks this exact question in the Wall Street Journal, and although I don't quite agree with everything she has to say, I think she makes some interesting points.

Why do we let girls dress like that?

If only it were that easy...

2011-03-21T18:23:00.000-07:00

We have a lot of great neighbors and a lot of great children for Cormac to play with. One of my favorite neighbors is four-year-old Noah. He has taken quite an interest in "Corvick" lately, it's sweet. He's also well-spoken and very polite. Yesterday he met a new neighbor on the sidewalk and said "Hello. How are you today?" very matter-of-factly (Martha, you would have been so proud!). He even waited for the adult to answer, then when the man asked Noah how he was, he said "Fine, thank you very much."

Tonight we saw a mom holding a new baby walking towards us, and Noah said "Look! A new baby! He came from Amazon." I laughed and said no, babies come from God! He was sure babies came from Amazon but I said again no, babies come from God. Then he said "well at least moms and dads come from Amazon!" Then I started to wonder if maybe there is some town in Korea named "Amazon" and that is where his family is from? So maybe I shouldn't be correcting the poor child if his family really did come from Amazon. So I suggested he just ask his mom about it (his mother is pregnant and due in August so I figured this topic would be coming up soon).

Later, Noah's dad came outside and I mentioned how Noah had been entertaining us and then that Noah had told me babies came from Amazon. The dad grinned and then explained: Noah had gotten mad at his mom the other day and asked for a new mom. His dad told him "ok, I'll just order you a new mom from Amazon." He told Noah she was ordered, but then Noah said he changed his mind, so dad canceled the order. But Noah still believes babies come from Amazon. And moms and dads. Hilarious.

Pure Joy

2011-03-19T19:22:00.000-07:00

Piggy-backing on Martha's awesome joy-filled blog, I always want to remember how happy our little man is. He is so innocent and full of pure joy. He loves being outside, he loves running through grocery stores, he loves holding a cell phone, he loves any stick he finds outside, he loves chasing our 3 year old neighbor around, he loves his daddy.

He just gets so excited about the most simple things in life. "Cormac, do you want to go outside?" His reaction: "GO! GO! GO! GO! BUBYE! GO!" as he races, full speed, to the front door, biggest smile in the world on his face, drumming on the door until I finally open it. Once it's open, he continues with "GO! GO!" as he makes his way down our flight of stairs (yes, all by himself! When did he grow up?). As soon as he reaches the bottom he does a quick happy dance, then sprints around to find a toy some other child has left in front of our apartment or a good walking stick (he ALWAYS carries a stick while he is outside). He adores our 3 year old neighbor, Bon. Bon can ride a bike, which Cormac thinks is just the greatest thing ever, and Cormac chases him all around the sidewalks, yelling "Boh! Boh!" (he can't quite pronounce Bon yet). If Bon isn't outside yet, Cormac will say "Boh? Boh?" while waving up to their apartment, until Bon comes out, at which point Cormac erupts into applause and makes his way up Bon's front steps as fast as he can to meet him. Bon isn't particularly interested in Cormac, which makes Cormac's obsession with him even funnier. My favorite thing about Bon is that when he says "Cormac", it sounds more like "dormat" in his Korean accent. Every time he says it, I laugh.

There are so many other occasions of pure joy in Cormac's every day life, he lights up at the simplest things. It's infectious and hilarious and we love it. But one more current example is his love for the grocery store. Normally, he sits in the cart, which is only fun for a few minutes, then I have to switch in new food items or toys or snacks to keep him entertained. But when I am just running in for a few items, I let him walk instead of getting a cart, and he loves it. It's like Christmas. This is especially true at Whole Foods because it is so huge and open and there is so much for him to see. If the store isn't crowded, I let him run free up the aisles, making him stop when he reaches the end so he's not out of sight. He laughs so hard and runs so fast, flailing his arms around all at the same time that he almost falls, and I'm sprint-walking behind him just cracking up. Sure we're a scene to see but what a simple way to experience this infectious joy, while doing a little grocery shopping at the same time. He loves to help pick out the items we need and throw them in the basket, and then he sprints off to find the next item. He especially loves the produce section. He goes straight to any red, round item, assuming they are apples, and tries to reach every one (apples, tomatoes, red peppers). Maybe it's just because I'm his mother, but it's hilarious to watch him running through the store like a crazy person, laughing his head off. I suppose he's so used to always being inside a cart in the grocery store that his new-found freedom is quite exhilarating for him, at least for now.

Cormac had to ride in the cart today at Target, but he still had a fabulous time kicking, laughing and clapping. We got Kody a fly swatter (he cannot stand flies in the house, but his current solution to flies is spraying cleaning solution at them to kill them. It's completely insane and unsafe so we got him a fly swatter). Cormac loved playing with the fly swatter in the cart, then we passed the toy section and he saw all of the balls, so I gave him a ball to play with in the cart, and the rest of the trip he just kept saying "BALL!" and laughing and clapping. You'd think I had just given him an ice cream cone. Entering and exiting Target is always full of joy too because he points out each and every giant red (concrete) ball in front of the store and just laughs hysterically at each one, clapping and yelling "BALL!". It's awesome.

Dear Cormac thank you so much for your pure joy and happiness. The simplest things in life make you so happy and your joy is infectious. We love seeing you so happy and enjoying life.

Every vote counts.

2011-02-11T18:09:00.001-08:00

Disenchanted citizens always complain that they don't vote because "their vote doesn't count anyway".
Besides the fact that we as faithful citizens have a moral duty to vote, let me give you another reason to vote:

The election contest for our State Rep was so close (she won by 12 votes) that the loser challenged the election. The election challenge has been going on since November and the master of the contest made his final decision today: our State Rep won by FOUR votes. The pro-life challenger lost by FOUR votes. Four.

Every. vote. counts.

Politics in action.

2011-02-09T19:30:00.000-08:00

Today was a very long, but very successful day. I am exhausted and just want to go to sleep right now, so I won't summarize the day. But I just wanted to write this tidbit down to remember, because it's quite a gem.

The Committee started hearing testimony on our bill at 9am this morning. They finally voted our bill out of Committee at 6:10pm. So it was quite a long day. Many Senators had several very annoying, pointless questions for witnesses, which made everything unnecessarily longer.

But my favorite question of the day was from a certain Senator, who shall remain nameless, who actually asked, in all seriousness,

"What is the definition of simultaneous?"

At which point I may or may not have banged my head against the wall several times and simultaneously thrown my phone on the floor. It depends on what the definition of "throw" is.

Our tax dollars, hard at work!!

The wisdom and innocence of children.

2011-02-08T18:38:00.001-08:00

Today while I was working from home, Cormac came and sat on the couch next to me and was looking at my computer. I went to a new page that had a picture of a 7 week old unborn baby on the top. Immediately Cormac pointed to the picture, shouted "BABY!" and clapped.

Cormac is very used to looking at pictures of babies online, we show him pictures of his cousins, especially sweet little Annabelle Clare, and he says "baby" for every picture. But we've never shown him pictures of unborn babies tomorrow.

The very first time he saw a picture of an unborn baby - a teeny tiny seven week old unborn baby - he knew, without prompting, that he was looking at a baby. If only all of us could see the world with the wisdom and innocence of children.

Dear Cormac, I love you and I am so proud of you. I hope this is only the beginning of your excitement for the unborn. May you always recognize and work to protect the dignity of every human being, regardless of size or circumstance.

The Murder of Christians

2011-02-07T12:44:00.000-08:00

Joseph Bottum has an eye opening post on Catholic Vote today about the murder of Christians in Muslim countries. This is happening on our world, right now. He documents almost daily violence against and murder of Christians in Muslim areas over the past two months. It is frightening. Of course we don't hear much about this in the media since it doesn't fit into the politically correct lunacy that Islam is a "religion of peace". But we should all be aware of the increasing violence against Christians and pray for their safety.

The Murder of Christians

Birthday Blessings

2011-02-06T13:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was our sister Shannon's birthday, and today our twin nephews Joshua and Joseph turn four! Oh how much we love all of them and wish we could be with them to celebrate their special days! There are so many fabulous things about being from a large family, and one of them is that every week or two, or even a few days in a row, someone is having a birthday! We just wish we lived closer so we could join in on all of the celebrations!

Happy birthday Shannon, Joshua, and Joseph! We love you all so much!

Testing the limits

2011-02-05T14:49:00.000-08:00

When I think about me and my blog, I think: "blogger: FAIL". And you'd all be right to think the same thought. I am sorry for neglecting my blog, but now that I have familial competition for the "best blog in the family" category, I guess I better step up my game.

Obviously I have a lot to catch up on from the past 3 months, but that will have to wait for another day. Today I'll share one of our favorite Cormac habits of the month.

We have been training Cormac to associate "no" with pain and punishment since he was six months old and he has done pretty well at learning and obeying this command. But, like all toddlers, he is always trying to find a way around this and trying to explore new ways to test the limits.

We only have a few items out that he is never allowed to touch: our laptops, the xbox, the ipod dock and ipod, the router, and the trash can (you know, the important things). So naturally those are the items he tries to touch when he is being mischievous. And naturally he gets in trouble every time he touches them. Then he will stop trying to touch them for a few days (or hours, depending on who has done the disciplining).

In the last few months though, Cormac has been trying to get around this rule by using a spoon, a sock, a lego, a car, or really any other item he can find, to touch the computer/ipod/router/xbox or trash can with. The first few times it was rather funny to watch him cautiously reach toward the computer with the wooden spoon, looking around to see if he'd get in trouble or if this clever new trick was somehow acceptable. At first I did not want to discipline him for this because he was being creative and trying to create a way to achieve the pleasure of touching the computer without the pain of punishment. But sadly we could not let this clever trick go unpunished. Sorry little man.

Yes, I know all toddlers try this. Yes, I know he's not that original. But he's our first and it's been fun to watch him try all different objects to see if he'll get a different result with any of them. He's even managed to turn the xbox on using a spoon and he wiped down the trashcan when he was reaching for it with a paper towel.

Dear Cormac, we love your creativity and your seemingly innocent face as you try to get around the rules. We also love your perseverance, although I fear you have inherited stubbornness from both of us, in which case, we're all in trouble.

His repentance must also be public....

2010-10-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

We. love. Archbishop Burke. Love. Love. Love. Thank you Lord for this Shepherd.

Surgery tomorrow!

2010-10-11T18:32:00.000-07:00

Kody is having reconstructive knee surgery tomorrow! Please pray for him. We are so glad he is finally having surgery, and so thankful it is here in the USA with great doctors, and very thankful for our insurance. We'd appreciate your prayers for Kody, for his surgical team, for his recovery, and specifically that his body will not reject the cadaver ligaments that he'll receive during surgery. There is some risk of rejection, as there is with any such transfer, so we'd appreciate prayers! We'd also really appreciate continued prayers during his rehab and recovery. I'm sure it won't be easy for him hobbling up and down the stairs to our apartment, hobbling across campus, not being able to drive, and going through all of the pain of rehab to relearn how to use his knee. I know he is up for the challenge, and the end result of being able to run again will be worth it, but we'd appreciate your prayers for a smooth rehab and for an abundance of grace during this time.

We are so grateful to Sara and Jerod (and Sara's mom!) for babysitting Cormac for us tomorrow while we're at the hospital. Surgery might take four hours, plus the pre-op and post-op time, so we could be at the hospital for eight hours or more. We are so thankful to have such great friends who are so good with Cormac and willing to watch him for us. It's such a relief to have such trustworthy friends to leave him with! Thank you Sara and Jerod!!

Thank you all for your prayers and support during this time. I am a bit anxious, but glad Kody is finally having the surgery and hopefully starting the healing process soon. God is good.

Guess who we met?!?!?!

2010-09-20T20:09:00.000-07:00

This weekend, we had the pleasure of meeting Miss Isabella Rose for the first time! Oh she is so beautiful and lovely. Thanks Valerie and Steve for letting us come visit! We are so happy for you and can't wait to see her again!

Cormac looking at Miss Isabella

The girls and our babes

The boys, and Miss Isabella

I love her!!!

Step by step

2010-09-20T19:09:00.000-07:00

Tonight, Cormac took his very first steps all by himself! He has been walking using "walkers" since before we left England, but never showed any desire to let go or take steps on his own. Until today. This morning, he started letting go of the couch, chair, table, etc, on his own when he was standing up holding on to those items.

Tonight, he wanted a toy that he likes to chew on, so I held it, a few steps away from him, and reached out, trying to convince him to take a few steps toward me. Every time before tonight, he just laughed, plopped down on the ground, and crawled over. But tonight, he giggled and took a few steps toward me! His very first steps on his own. Then I made him do it again, and again, and again. Kody was gone when all this happened, so once he got home, he made Cormac do it several more times before he let him go to bed.

I don't think he'll be walking on his own any time this week, but it's fun to see him let go and take several steps on his own. He is so good at walking using "walkers" (upside down trash can, upside down laundry basket, chairs, exercise ball, etc) and he's good at standing up on his own and walking while holding one of my hands. He still needs to work on his balance some more before he's really off on his own, but it's a good start.

We are excited, but oh so sad. Is my baby really almost a walking, toddling, talking one-year-old?! Say it isn't so.

Thank you Lord for this blessing in our life, for all the joy he brings to us, for the laughter and the tears, for his health, his smile, and his silly little laugh, for the bruises and the cuts, for all the dirty diapers, for the smiles and the hugs. Thank you Lord for making me a mother and entrusting me with this beautiful soul.

We have a date!!

2010-09-20T18:47:00.000-07:00

Kody saw the surgeon today and he scheduled his surgery for October 12!!! Praise the Lord!!

The surgeon brought in his team to check out K's knee - they poked and prodded, called him a 'specimen of science' and said he was a fascinating case. But thankfully, they agreed to do the surgery (the first surgeon he saw said he wasn't qualified to do this complex of a surgery, even though it would be challenging and fun, so referred him to this top surgeon). We're so glad someone has finally agreed to do it and we have a surgery date! So please keep K in your prayers as surgery approaches. The surgery will take four hours, plus twelve weeks of rehab. The doc said the first two weeks will be extremely miserable. So please keep K in your prayers! Thanks.

40 Days for Life fall campaign!

2010-09-17T20:07:00.001-07:00

Don't forget, the 40 Days for Life fall campaign starts next week! This campaign runs from September 22 through October 31. Sign up for just one hour per week, to stand and pray in front of an abortion facility. You will not regret it. Cormac and I are all signed up for our hour! Have you signed up for yours?????

Prayers for il Papa

2010-09-17T19:43:00.001-07:00

I'm actually having a hard time watching the news accounts of our Holy Father's visit to the UK because it is making me sad that we aren't there! Oh how I wish we got to stay and have a chance at seeing the Holy Father in England. The local parish in Cambridge announced the process for obtaining tickets while we were still there, and it did not seem difficult at all. I think we might have had a good chance of getting tickets, if only....

Anyway, as our Holy Father leads this historic visit, please, let us all keep him in our daily prayers. The attacks on him are relentless: the devil does not approve of all the good he is accomplishing through Christ for the glory of God. Please pray for his safety and his health, and for all the British people, that their hearts may be open to the Gospel and Christ's vicar on earth, that their lives may be transformed by the grace of God.

St. Michael the Archangel, ora pro nobis.

Viva il Papa! Viva!

Cormac update: the pacifier

2010-09-17T18:21:00.000-07:00

Before Cormac was born, I was against pacifiers. I did not want to use one. I haven't cleansed my home of all plastic products like some of our friends, but I recognize that a baby sucking on a piece of plastic every single day for months or years might have some negative consequences. Never mind the possible teeth issues, or the whole using it as a crutch problem.

Now I recognize each baby has a different temperament, and all parents have different parenting methods and techniques. Each family has to prayerfully discern what methods work best for them and their children, and I am not here to pass judgment on anyone else, especially when it comes to pacifiers.

I just did not think I would need to use one myself.

Kody on the other hand, had a very different idea and thought we absolutely needed pacifiers. I naively though something along these lines 'oh he'll see once the baby is born that we really won't need a pacifier' and so I did not buy one. After Cormac was born, admittedly he was probably the world's easiest baby, but he did cry a couple of times. While mom was visiting, she and Kody went out to buy some essentials for us, and Kody came home with two pacifiers for Cormac! I was not very happy about this, but he wanted to try them. At first Cormac did not even like it of course, and kept spitting it out. But he finally took to it, much to Kody's satisfaction, and he ended up using it pretty much every time he went to sleep. I recognized that infants need to suck, and a pacifier can be a good solution to this constant need, so I gave in to the pacifier.

After the first three months or so, I had a strict rule that the pacifier was only for the crib, Cormac could not just suck on it any time he wanted. The other parent didn't always agree with that rule, but I tried.

Before we flew home in April, I read that sucking on a pacifier or nursing during take off and landing might help with the ear pressure so infants wouldn't be in so much pain while flying. So I brought the pacifiers on our flights and used them during take off and landing and it always went well. I may have dropped the pacifier on the floor of the airplane bathroom at one point, and I may have just washed it off in hot sink water and then gave it back to Cormac. Thankfully he survived!

Being the naive first time mom that I am, I also read that it would be easier to wean infants off of their pacifiers by six months. I tried to use it less and less, but a certain other parent was rather attached to it. I decided not to fight this too much, since we had several flights coming up in July and August and I thought we might still want the pacifier then, especially for the international flight.

Cormac did great on all his flights and most of the time never needed the pacifier at all. Once we got to the USA, usually he went to sleep without the pacifier, and I started not giving it to him at all. Sometimes, the softy parent would sneak in and put the pacifier in the crib, 'just in case', but Cormac wasn't using it at all. Somewhere between England and Austin, the pacifier magically disappeared! Cormac never seemed phased by it at all, he had no problems sleeping without it, I don't think he even noticed. The softy parent asked for it a few times, suggesting that Cormac really did need it, but alas, the pacifiers were gone, never to be seen again.

And thus concludes the story of the pacifier, at least for this child.

And I apologize for writing an entire post all about pacifiers.

Cormac update: Sleep

2010-09-17T17:59:00.000-07:00

I failed miserably at writing a monthly post about Cormac for the past few months, and now I can't exactly remember everything that happened at the exact time. So instead, for my own future knowledge, I thought I'd just summarize his important developments in the major categories over the past few months. Might be slightly boring but I know in a few years, I'll be glad I kept track of it.

I figured I'd start with sleep since that is the first question every single person asks a mother: "does he sleep through the night?". Well in short, YES! Thank you Lord.

But let me back up. Before we went home in April, Cormac was sleeping through the night. Then we came home to the USA for almost three weeks, and his sleep schedule was somewhat off, he was in the same room as me, and he was starting to get his first teeth. All of that resulted in him waking up during the night to nurse. When we got back to England, again another major time change for him and his first teeth were coming in. Then, we had several visitors so his crib was moved into our room for awhile. We also did a lot of traveling to Scotland and Wales, during which he was of course in our room as well. All of this, combined with some growth spurts, led to some not so great sleeping patterns: he'd wake up once or twice to nurse during the night. Usually after the early morning feeding, I'd just let him go back to sleep in bed with us because he wasn't wanting to go back into his crib. Bad, bad, bad. But once we got back to Stukeley Close and his crib was back in his room, we got back onto a better schedule. We did have to let him cry it out for a few naps and a few nights because he did not like being alone in his own room anymore. But it really wasn't that painful and he was pretty much back to sleeping through the night by the time we left England.

Once we were in the USA, again a major time change and Cormac was back in our room and back to waking up once to nurse. We were traveling and staying with so many different people, and having him sleeping in our room made it harder to let him cry it out. So again we developed some bad habits, it wasn't too hard to break. (When I say up during the night, he'd usually eat around 11 or midnight, then sleep til around 5 or 6AM, then nurse and back to sleep for another hour or two. Really not that bad but not ideal.)

Since we have gotten settle into our apartment, and Cormac is older, eating more solid food, and can go longer between feedings, we have gotten on a much better schedule. Cormac is pretty flexible so we can vary the schedule depending on what our days look like, but in general he sleeps from about 7:30pm to 7:30am. And we are oh so grateful! Sleep, glorious, uninterrupted sleep! We are so thankful that Cormac has his own room now, and we don't even use the baby monitors anymore. We are glad he is getting a good night's rest.

As for naps, I think before we left England he was still taking three naps a day, but now he is down to two. Usually his morning nap is around 9:45 or 10AM - 11AM, and his afternoon nap is around 2:30 or 3 - 4PM. He's still flexible enough that if we're out running errands, we can push back his nap without him completely falling apart, and he can take his naps in the car too.

Overall I think he's a great sleeper and we are so grateful.

We did have a slight hiccup with the whole 'let him cry it out' part a few times. One parent is more of a softy than the other parent, so the stern parent handled the 'crying it out' bit while the softy parent was out of the house. Worked like a charm!

Isabella Rose

2010-09-17T17:52:00.001-07:00

Our friends Valerie and Steve had a baby girl on Wednesday September 15. Valerie was in labor for the entire day: about twenty hours, what a champ! Isabella Rose finally made her appearance around 11PM. We are so excited and can't wait to meet her soon. We have seen a few pictures of her online and she is just beautiful, with a full head of dark hair! She was a healthy 8lbs 1 oz, and she and Valerie are both doing well as far as I know, praise the Lord.

We were lucky enough to go down to San Antonio for Valerie's baby shower just a few weeks ago. I am so glad we were back in Texas and able to make it. It was great to see their beautiful house and her pregnant belly as well as meet her wonderful new friends in San Antonio. We sure miss her in Austin but I hope we'll still be seeing her and Isabella a good amount.

Congrats Valerie and Steve! We are so happy for you and can't wait to meet Miss Isabella. Cormac is pretty excited too, but he probably won't be able to pronounce her beautiful name for quite awhile.

Melissa and Seth

2010-09-17T17:50:00.000-07:00

Two of my closest friends from college, Melissa and Seth, got married today! Melissa was my roommate freshman and senior years of college and she was a wonderful roommate and is a dear friend. Seth is an awesome guy and they are great together. We are so happy for them but so sad that we can't be in New Jersey today to celebrate this important day with them.

Melissa and Seth, we love you and are praying for you! We are so happy for you and hope to see you soon! Enjoy your honeymoon and may God grant you a multitude of graces for a beautiful, fruitful marriage!

What's cookin

2010-09-16T19:21:00.000-07:00

I was inspired by a friend's blog post about some meals she was making this week, and decided to try two of the items myself because they sounded delicious (also it just took me three different tries to remember how to spell 'delicious'. Wow.)

Anyway for dinner I made Pioneer Woman's Pasta with Tomato - Blue Cheese Sauce* and it was fantastic! Kody loves spaghetti but I'm really not a huge fan, so I thought maybe this recipe would mix things up enough that I might like it, but still be close enough to spaghetti that Kody would like it. I think it succeeded. Next time I make it, I think I will use two cans of the diced tomatoes instead of just one. Maybe I drained my can too much or maybe I just like my spaghetti extra saucy, but it didn't make as much sauce as I would have liked. I didn't even make the entire box of pasta so I don't think too much pasta was the problem. I'd also add more blue cheese next time because it was just that good. I also left out the crushed red peppers (don't tell Kody!) because I don't like spicy food, and you can also do without the half-and-half. Kody and I both really need to eat meat at every meal, so I cooked some chicken breast with just a little oil and a tiny bit of Italian seasoning, then just threw it on top of the pasta as I served it. Seemed to work fine. I also made garlic bread and Caesar salad to round out the meal. The best part was we had enough leftovers for both of our lunches the next day! Overall this was a great recipe: not too difficult, not too expensive, both of us really liked it, and made plenty for leftovers.

I figured I should try to be a good wife every once and awhile and make cookies or dessert occasionally (I don't want to do it too often or then it's not special, right? Right.) and this recipe sounded incredible. I made Pioneer Woman's Hot Chocolate Triple Chocolate Chip cookies *. The cookies were good, but I think I am finally realizing that no cookies will ever taste as good as my mom's congo squares or her chocolate chip cookies made from scratch. But only when she makes them. I made congo squares in England and they never ever tasted as good as when my mom makes them. Anyway, with that in mind, these cookies were good, but they weren't the kind of cookies that I want to eat five of in one sitting (thank goodness for that!). I would make them again though. Interestingly, everyone who tried them had different reactions. I personally thought they were a tiny bit too sweet and next time I might use a bit less sugar (I know! Can you believe I am even saying that?! Me, of all people!), but a co-worker said she loves butter and could tell there was a lot of butter in them (2 sticks) (and yes I am that brown-nosing employee who brings homemade cookies into work. But that way, I'm not tempted to eat them at home AND I get brownie points at work so don't hate), another friend said they tasted salty, which she liked. I also almost left out the white chocolate chips because I despise them (who really likes those things? anyone?) but I felt guilty doing that so I added them in the end, and another friend said the white chocolate chips looked like little marshmallows since the cookies had hot chocolate in them, hmm so maybe that is why the recipe calls for those nasty things. Overall a good recipe that I would make again.

Finally, another dish we have been making a lot is Pioneer Woman's Spinach with Garlic Chip*. We eat a lot of spinach, and adding a bit of garlic to it makes it more tasty than your boring old steamed spinach with a bit of salt (no offense mom!). It's also really easy and for some odd reason we both really like garlic. Also it's easy to pick out the garlic chips and just feed Cormac the spinach. I have done this same recipe with fresh green beans and broccoli since Kody doesn't love those vegetables but the garlic makes them a little better. It's not as good as the spinach, but it works.

And now I have written an entire post about recipes I have cooked this week. What is the world coming to?!?

* I do realize that not all of the recipes on Pioneer Woman's website are actually HER recipes and that most have been submitted by readers, but I just like saying that I made her recipes. I'm weird.

An Eventful Month

2010-09-16T18:39:00.000-07:00

I had this running list in my head during the month of August, and have been meaning to post it. Now here we are halfway through September, and well, here I am finally getting around to posting it.

The end of July through the end of August was a very busy month for us, obviously. We moved out of our house in England, moved back to the USA, visited with friends and family, went on vacation, finally arrived in Austin, and stayed with more friends before finally settling into our new apartment. Our family and friends are so incredibly generous and helped us in so many ways, especially over the last month. We are forever grateful for all of you and know that we pray for you everyday.

Cormac did amazingly well during this fun but stressful and hectic month. I added up some of his stats:

7 different cribs/pak-n-plays

6 different carseats and 6 different houses

5 different planes for 5 different flights totaling more than 16 hours in the air

4 different states and 4 new teeth!!!! (this could have been disastrous but thankfully he isn't too fussy even when he's teething

3 different time zones and he slept through 3 different take-offs/landings on the flights! amazing.

2 different countries, and met 2 brand new cousins!

1 happy little man, who never seemed phased by any of it

0 the number of times he cried during any of the flights.

That doesn't even count the numerous different babysitters he had (thanks mom, Bridgit, Ruthie, so many friends, etc), all the new clothes and toys (thanks mom, Jean, Michaela, Katie, etc.), all the new foods he tried, or all the help we had caring for him, feeding him, moving all of our stuff, etc. Just a few of the things that stood out in my mind. We couldn't have done it without such wonderful friends and family.

All that to say that the only real constants in Cormac's life were Kody and me, and he didn't seem to mind at all. We are so thankful that God gave us such an easy-going baby, it definitely made this experience so much easier. We had a great time visiting with so many friends and family, but it is also nice to be settled into our own place now and back on a good routine.

Spice racks and fruit baskets and aprons, oh my!

2010-09-16T10:48:00.000-07:00

I am not sure which of these three new items I am most excited about, but I do know I am FAR too excited for weird kitchen items these days.

I got this idea in my head that I NEEDED to have spice racks to hang on the wall in our new kitchen. Our friends Ruthie and Valerie both have spice racks hanging in their kitchens and I thought it was a great way to keep track of our spices. I used to have so many spices, all crammed in the cabinet, and sometimes I couldn't find the one I needed so I'd buy a new one, only to find the old one still half full in the back of the cabinet. I'm hoping by displaying all of our spices in alphabetical order, that won't happen. It also frees up more cabinet space for other things and will hopefully make me more likely to use my spices since I always have them on display. It's really win - win - win!

While at Valerie's house, I also noticed her hanging fruit basket and decided we really could use one of those too! We eat a lot of fruit, but again sometimes it can get 'lost' inside the fridge, and a fruit bowl on the counter takes up space. So we bought a three-tiered hanging fruit basket and I love it! Now we can see all of our fruit, it frees up counter space, and we're more likely to eat it since it's easily accessible. Win - win - win again!

Luckily I found both items on great sales, and Kody hung them both up for me while I was at work yesterday! Awesome.

However the item I am most excited about is my new apron! Kody bought it for me as a surprise 'housewarming' gift. That might seem odd, but he knew I really wanted a new apron since I only had one apron in England and I wore it almost every single day while we were there. The problem with only one apron is that I don't have another one to wear when my main apron is filthy and in the wash. So he surprised me with a new one and it's great! I'm always excited to put it on, which makes me more likely to cook, which is really another win- win, especially for Kody! (Sadly the apron doesn't have any effect on the outcome of my cooking though.)

I'm thankful for these three simple, helpful, albeit kind of odd, kitchen items and having food so that we may eat! Thank you Lord.

Haircut!

2010-09-13T21:43:00.000-07:00

I have to get to bed, since I have to Skpye in to work tomorrow morning for a meeting (I love Skype!). But today I am thankful for a haircut (finally!), my awesome stylist, and a relaxing time at the salon. I'm also thankful to Kody for watching Cormac while I went out. Of course my stylist asked to see pictures of Cormac (she's the same girl who cut my hair before we moved to England too) and I'm probably the world's worst mother because I did not have any pictures of my son! Not even on my cell phone (granted I only got my phone back one month ago but still).

After dinner I took Cormac to one of the parks in our neighborhood. It was swarming with children and he loved watching them! He went up and down, up and down, up and down the slide over and over (thanks Kody!). He had a great time and was towering over the other 10 month old babies. Cormac is getting soooo close to walking. He is standing on his own and letting go, and then once he realizes he is standing up all by himself, and claps and just laughs and laughs. It's the best.

Kody's been enjoying watching the Chefs play on MNF while I've been working. The Chefs are winning right now, so at least K will be in a good mood tomorrow, even if I can't stand the Chefs.

Off to bed!

Thankful.

2010-09-12T19:04:00.000-07:00

Today was another simple but good day. Kody took Cormac to an early Mass and let me sleep in! (Normally we try to go to Mass as a family, but it was nice to get to sleep in and then go to Mass alone and be able to concentrate and pray in silence! What a treat!) We are so thankful for our wonderful Cathedral: the Church is so beautiful inside, our Priests are fantastic, the homilies always insightful, the music reverent and solemn. We really enjoyed the Chaplaincy in Cambridge, but it is so nice to be back at the Cathedral. I've seen several of my former students, kids from our youth group, and fellow core team leaders. It's fun to seem them all after having been gone an entire year!

After Mass, I came home to feed Cormac and put him down for a nap, and then I went out to run errands, all by myself again! In England, we had all of our groceries delivered to us and it was FANTASTIC! We were so spoiled. I am grateful for the convenience of a car here, and know everything is still much easier with one well-behaved baby than it will be once we have 5 or 10 little ones running around. But still, it's nice to be able to go to the grocery store by myself, and have Kody here when I get home to carry all the groceries in for me! I'm also thankful that our apartment is close to the parking lot, and that we only have to carry groceries up one flight of stairs.

I made pork tenderloin, roasted potatoes, and sauteed spinach and garlic for dinner, and now we are just enjoying the Redskins game in peace and quiet since Cormac is down for the night. Of course I am wearing my Chris Cooley jersey and hoping the Skins win so I can rub it in to all the Cowboy fans tomorrow! Sorry!

Another thing I am really enjoying is having all of our stuff out of storage! I'm amazed at how little clothes I survived on last year (and also that I only bought two new shirts the entire year!). But it did get very boring to have to wear the same clothes over and over and over again. Since all of my clothes are out of storage and hanging beautifully in my closet (organized by color and style, of course) picking out an outfit each morning is kind of like Christmas! Each day I can pick out a dress or skirt or shorts and say "Oh! I haven't worn this in over a year!" (and since I was very pregnant when we left Texas, most of my clothes I haven't worn in almost two years!). Very exciting. I also gave away at least seven bags worth of clothes to Good Will, and I'm still working on going through and giving away a lot of the stuff I don't need.

We are also very excited to be able to use our pots and pans, knives and dishes, etc. Our kitchen in England was only so-so. The kitchen had no steak knives (we could never afford steak while we were there anyway), the pots and cups weren't great, etc. Of course, we got by just fine and added a lot of things to her kitchen thanks to Freecycle. But it's nice to use our nice steak knives, and in hindsight I'm so glad Kody insisted we get really nice knives even though at the time I had no idea how to use them. Now, thanks to Kevin, I know how to use the different types of knives in my knife block, and I even know how to make different dishes which would require such different knives! I still don't love the heavy duty Calphalon pots Kody picked out simply because they are so. very. heavy. But it is nice to have such a variety of pots and pans, with lids that fit, and again be able to use those different pots and pans thanks to Kevin!

One of our favorite things in our kitchen is our wine glass collection. We have wine glasses from all of the wineries we went to while we were dating, different wine festivals we have attended, the winery where we had our reception, and most of the wineries we visited on our honeymoon in Napa. We love using the different glasses and reminiscing about that particular wine tasting. It's fun to be able to use these glasses again, and of course I get excited just thinking about meals because I get to use my Emma dishes! It's the little things in life. And we are so thankful.

Cormac had a great day with Kody and I'm thankful Kody takes such good care of Cormac and I'm able to have alone time.

Thank you Lord for a restful, simple Sunday.

A good day.

2010-09-11T21:31:00.000-07:00

I want to work on writing down more every day happenings, more of the small things, more of the people and moments I am thankful for.

Today was a pretty simple day, but it was a good day. Kody took care of several things for us in the morning (he sold our washing machine! yay! Know anyone who needs a dryer?) and I worked on some unpacking/organizing in the apartment.

Then this afternoon we met the Roses for dinner at Central Market. I always chuckle when I think about what a happening place Central Market is. For those of you not familiar (or with Wegman's loyalties) it's a grocery store. But like Weg's, it's so much more than a grocery store! They have a fantastic cafe (oh course it's nothing compared to Weg's, Mary! ;)) and a great outdoor playground for the kids, so many parents bring their children there to play while the parents get to enjoy good food. Plus they can buy their locally grown organic groceries while they are there! Central Market also has live music every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. You might think it is odd, but this place is always packed.

Anyway we met the Roses there this afternoon so the kids could play on the playground and we could eat and catch up. It was 97 degrees today, but when we were deciding whether to eat inside or outside, Katie said "oh it's actually not too bad outside", and the men agreed with her! So we got to eat outside. Ahh Texas heat, how I have missed you! While we were there, Devin saw two co-workers, and a random couple came up to him and said they recognized him because they read his blog! Kinda freaky but also cool. Seriously Central Market is the place to bed.

Cormac had a great time with his wonderful godparents, and he really enjoyed playing on the playground. He was intrigued by the older, more mobile kids racing all around him and sat near the top of the slide just watching them play. Kody also taught him how to climb up the slide (clearly a great idea) and probably had as much fun on the playground as Cormac did. Thanks for a wonderful afternoon Roses! Your children are splendid and we're so glad Cormac can spend so much more time with you now that we're back in Texas.

Tonight we popped some popcorn and ate some ice cream while we watched a movie. The movie wasn't very good, but we had a good time critiquing it afterward anyway.

Overall a good day with great friends. I am so thankful for days like today.

Another infant dead at Planned Parenthood

2010-09-11T19:23:00.000-07:00

An infant was found dead inside a storage bin at a PP in Winston-Salem today. It's too early to know the cause of death or how old the infant was. How disgusting, despicable, disturbing. That poor infant, we just pray he did not suffer and that he is reunited with our Lord now.

When will this stop? When will we say enough? When will we stop funneling millions of tax dollars to PP each year?

I'm glad this death is being investigated, but one has to wonder about the mental gymnastics of the authorities and lawmakers involved in order to somehow try to justify the legal killing of unborn babies, while still condemning the murder of infants a few hours or days outside of the womb. It makes no sense.

I pray whoever harmed this infant will be brought to justice, and may God have mercy on him.

Eternal rest grant unto this infant, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul, and all the souls of the faithful departed and aborted, rest in peace. Amen.

$5.2 million

2010-09-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

Compared to our national debt, stimulus packages, bailouts, and national health care plan, $5.2 million might not seem like a large sum of money. But to the average American, or even the average local business, it's probably a decent chunk of change.

So imagine if an organization over billed the government to the tune of $5.2 million!

Except you don't have to imagine, because that is exactly what one PP affiliate in California did. One audit of the PP affiliate in San Diego found that they had over billed the government AT LEAST $5.2 million! And that's just one affiliate!

Audits of other PP affiliates in California were shut down by none other than PP's own lobbyists. Gee, I wonder why!

One example of the over billing that the article mentions: PP spent about $225,000 on one type of contraception, but billed the government for about $918,000, resulting in a PP profit of around $692,000! And that's just for one type of birth control!

In the article PP first claims that the billing guidelines were unclear (I have seen the billing guidelines in TX and they are in fact very confusing, but then again when has government paperwork ever been clear and concise? If I mess up my taxes, can I claim that it was simply because the forms were too confusing [I mean if I'm NOT an Obama nominee].) In the same paragraph, the PP rep then claims that the California legislature said these billing practices were not actually illegal. So which is it: they were too confusing to understand, or they understand them and believe they are legal?

PP requested a hearing in the 9th Circuit claiming federal law had been misapplied, but the 9th Circuit denied it so now the case goes back to trial in California (at least that's my understanding from the articles but I could be wrong).

The sad thing is this is not an isolated case. PP needs to be stopped. Hopefully this case will shed more light on the shady accounting tactics of PP and law makers will finally wake up and stop funding the abortion giant.

We can hope.

Abortion facilities and hospitals.

2010-09-10T20:31:00.001-07:00

Should abortion facilities have to follow the same regulations as hospitals? Logic would suggest that yes, facilities that offer surgical procedures should have to follow certain state regulations to insure the safety of the patients.

Unfortunately, abortion facilities are usually exempt from many regulations. Many states have tried to require abortion facilities to abide by similar regulations as hospitals, but so far most states have failed.

However, in the grand old Commonwealth of Virginia, the AG seems to think that it is Constitutional to hold abortion facilities to the same standards as hospitals! (Without mentioning any names, the Constitution expert in my home concurs.)

Hopefully, in light of this favorable opinion from the AG, Delegate Marshall and others in Virginia will be able to pass laws regulating abortion facilities. Obviously this is not a perfect solution, since abortions will continue, but hopefully there will be less abortions and more oversight. I will not say 'abortions will be safer' or 'women will be safer' because there is no such thing as a 'safe' abortion and no woman is ever safe during an abortion (not to mention the complete assault on the safety of the unborn baby!). So I will not say these regulations will result in safer abortions.

I will say that women deserve better, and this is a small step in that direction.

Whaddya know, abortions are increasing!

2010-09-10T20:10:00.000-07:00

National abortion rates have actually been decreasing for several years.

Except at Planned Parenthood, aka the largest abortion provider in the country.

PP likes to argue that they provide many other services besides abortions, and always remind us that they provide adoption referrals and prenatal care. In fact, PP does provide other, limited services, they do occasionally offer referrals for adoption, and sometimes they do provide prenatal care.

But let's just look at the data so we have an accurate understanding of the numbers.

In 2008, 96.3% of PP's services provided to pregnant women were abortions. 96.3% (that's 324,008 abortions in 2008). The other 3.7% were adoption referrals (a total of 2,405 in 2008) and prenatal care (9,433 in 2008)

These numbers show a 6% increase in abortion totals at PP from 2007 to 2008, and a decrease in adoption referrals and prenatal services.

Let's just think about this for a moment. If a pregnant woman walks into a PP, the unborn baby in her womb - complete with his own beating heart, detectable brain waves, and unique DNA - has a 96% chance of being aborted.

96% of unborn babies who are brought inside of PP are murdered right there inside those walls.

96%.

An unborn baby inside a PP has less than a 4% chance of making it out of the womb alive.

I'm not a betting person, but I certainly wouldn't like those odds.

So the next time someone tries to tell you PP offers lots of other services, just remind them that 96% of women who enter PP with two beating hearts will leave with only one.

How's that for health care, huh?

Sick and twisted, but there is Hope.

2010-09-10T19:29:00.001-07:00

I missed this story last weekend but thought it was just too important not to post about it.

A woman in MD was injured from an abortion, which is horrendous and awful, but really not all that surprising. When the police went to investigate the abortion facility, they found aborted babies. In the freezer. Again, I'd say this is horrendous and awful, but frankly not all that surprising.

Remember earlier this year when another abortion facility in PA was raided, and aborted babies were found in jars? Gut-wrenchingly awful, but not surprising.

The abortion industry is so sick and twisted that sadly these stories aren't very surprising anymore.

But in Christ, there is hope. Hope personified through people like Abby Johnson, the former PP director turned pro-lifer here in TX. Hope personified through people like Bernard Nathanson, the former abortionist and co-founder of NARAL, turned prominent pro-lifer.

Abortionists who keep dead babies in display jars and freezers need our prayers and the Grace of God to change their ways and repent. Will you stop and pray for their conversion right now?

Thankfully, the next 40 Days for Life campaign starts on September 22. Will you sign up for one hour a week to pray for the conversion of these sick and twisted abortionists? If we don't, who will?

Christie for the win!

2010-09-10T19:06:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've mentioned how much I like Gov. Chris Christie of NJ, so I'll just throw that out there again: Gov. Chris Christie is awesome.

Watch this amazing video. I love how the teacher tries to have an attitude with the GOVERNOR after she asked him a question and he's honestly trying to answer her question! It never ceases to amaze me how rude and childish some adults are. Anyway Gov. Christie makes some very important points, all of which the media will ignore I'm sure, namely that the money from President Obama was a one time deal, and the previous Governor used it all up in one year. So although there isn't any of that money left, one cannot blame that on the current Governor, who had nothing to do with it (clearly logic and comprehension of chronological order don't seem to be strong points for the teachers of NJ. Ahem).

Then, as usual with these types, as soon as they don't like what they are hearing or *gasp* their faulty logic has been corrected, they play the civility card and cry about Gov. Christie's tone being alienating and mean (I guess I missed the memo about politicians being required to be nice). One of my favorite things about Gov. Christie (and surely one of the things that annoys teachers and liberals [sorry to be repetitive!] the most) is that he always has an answer to their complaining. Gov. Christie accused of being mean? What about the email from the teacher's union employee, to teachers in her county, asking them to pray for the death of Governor Christie! The nerve! How mean! How alienating! How uncivil! Will the teachers and the teacher's unions condemn that as mean, uncivil, and alienating?

Oh wait. That was said about a republican so it's fine. No need to worry, he obviously deserves it.

Anyway I'll stop before I give away the entire video because you really should watch it for yourself.

Just to be clear, I do not dislike all teachers. In fact I happen to even love a few of them! What I cannot tolerate are teacher's unions, teachers who think they are entitled to all kinds of ridiculous perks, and teachers who have the audacity to be condescending and rude to a legitimately elected authority figure at a public gathering. Just imagine what kind of manners they are teaching their students.

Back in the ATX

2010-09-10T18:43:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the blogging break. We made it back to Austin and into our new apartment. We are still finishing unpacking, decorating, and trying to turn this space into a home, but we are getting there. We are so thankful for this apartment, especially having two bedrooms!

Kody has started classes and is trying to get into a good routine for working on his dissertation. He finally saw an orthopedic surgeon today. This surgeon said he cannot operate on K's knee, but referred him to 'the only surgeon in Austin who could do this kind of surgery'. He also said he had never seen an injury like this before (same thing the surgeon in the UK said). Great. So please keep those prayers coming!

Cormac is doing so well. He hasn't seemed phased by all the traveling and moving. He is growing so much and seems to love his crib (thanks Roses!), all the space, using any and every item available as a walker (his favorite is an upside [unused and clean] trash can - it slides well on our linolium floors). He doesn't seem to mind the heat and still has an easy-going, cheerful disposition. I think he's somewhat of an extrovert - he enjoys being around people and warms up to strangers very quickly. We are so grateful for such an easy, sweet son.

I started working at my old company this week. I'm only working part-time, and thankfully I'm able to work from home, aside from going into the office one day a week. I am excited to be doing work that I love, but it will be a challenge to balance being a good wife, mother, and employee. Hopefully we will get into a good rhythm, but we'd appreciate some prayers in this area too!

DISCLAIMER: The views represented on this website are my own and do no necessarily represent or reflect those of my employer (or K's employer for that matter). Just wanted to throw that out there.

I want to work on several blog updates about Cormac, our time in England, moving back to the USA, our time in TX so far, etc. I will try to work on those as time permits. I did finally get my camera back, but haven't downloaded the pictures onto my computer yet. I need to remember to start taking pictures again! I'll work on it. But for now, this first post will have to do for getting me back into the swing of things!

Sad.

2010-08-06T16:18:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome time in NoVa with friends and family, and then a great week at OBX with my family. We had so much fun. Unfortunately we had to leave early, which I am not too happy about, and just no happy about leaving my family in general. Now we are sitting in the Orlando airport, waiting for our flight to Ft. Myer. Better go chase after Cormac. So sad to be leaving.

Thanks everyone for a great time at home! Love you all!

Emma Gianna

2010-07-29T05:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday our niece Emma Gianna turned six! I'm a day late with her birthday post, but I think she'll forgive me since we got to spend the entire day with her instead!! I'm so glad we were able to celebrate your sixth birthday with you Emma!

Emma is such a sweet young lady. She held little Lauren yesterday and played with all of the other babies. She is always such a happy, kind, and considerate girl.

When Emma was born, I was babysitting David and Kaela. I think she had a fairly traumatic birth but I don't recall all the details. What I do remember was the van.

Shannon and Anthony had recently bought a new-to-them minivan, and I was entrusted with driving David and Kaela around in the van. There was some issue with the tires leaking though, and Anthony gave me very strict orders about checking the tire pressure constantly. Being a twenty year old girl, I of course had never checked the tire pressure or put air in the tires, and really didn't think it would be that big of a deal if the tires were leaking a little bit of air. I think I must have shrugged off Anthony's first explanation because then I got a very stern lecture about how important the children in that van were and if anything happened to them, so help me God (ok so he didn't really say it like that but whatever he said sure scared the heck out of me!). So, every time I drove that van, I was a nervous wreck, praying the entire time that the air wasn't leaking out of the tires too quickly and that we wouldn't tip over.

I had been instructed to stop at every gas station I drove by to check the air in the tires, so that's what I did. I had some difficulty at one gas station, and couldn't get the air machine to work, and both David and Kaela were asleep inside the van. Of course I could not leave them in the van to go into the gas station to ask for help. I remember just pacing around the car for a few minutes praying someone would come into the gas station or someone would come over and ask if I needed help. Finally a gas station worker did come out and help me. When I triumphantly retold the story to Anthony, 'yes, yes, I stopped at every gas station and put air in the tires, even when I couldn't get the air machine to work I did not leave the kids in the car, I just waited until a worker came to help me!', he wasn't too impressed. I think his reaction was more like 'really Dee? you couldn't figure out the air machine and you needed help?' and also 'darn right you put air in the tires at every single gas station, just like I told you to!'. Every time I got to the hospital, Anthony would go outside and check the tire pressure in each tire to make sure I had filled it correctly.

Thankfully, none of the tires ever exploded, the van never tipped over, we never got into any accidents, I didn't dent the van, and nothing happened to David and Kaela. Since I was so stressed about the air pressure in the van tires, I don't really remember much else about Emma's birth. I know I took David and Kaela to meet her in the hospital, and I got in trouble for having my cell phone on inside the hospital when I brought them in. (I think Anthony made some remark about how someone could have died because my cell phone signal cut off their life support machine.)

And Kody wonders why I am so uptight.

Anyway, all that to say, Emma's birth left a lasting impression on me. Thanks to her birth, I learned how to check the air pressure in van tires, how to put air in tires, where all of the air machines were at most Northern Virginia gas stations, how dangerous it was to have your tires too full of air or lacking too much air, etc.

Emma is a great student, a fabulous pianist, and a wonderful dancer. She's a great friend and always a joy to have around. We are so glad we got to share your birthday with you yesterday Emma! Thanks for being such a great cousin to Cormac too.

We love you! Happy sixth birthday.

Cormac and Emma on her birthday! She's missing just a few teeth.

HOME!

2010-07-29T05:33:00.000-07:00

We made it home to VA Tuesday evening! It's so nice to be back in the USA and home in VA! Our trip was long, but went pretty smoothly. Cormac was fantastic the entire time. He never cried or fussed or gave us any trouble. He did hit his head on a metal bar on the plane and cried for a few seconds but that was it. He was amazing. Kody did an awesome job moving all of our stuff and taking care of all the logistics for our trip, I'm so grateful.

Now we are enjoying a few short days at home before heading to the beach. Cormac is having a grand time playing with his cousins and friends and we're enjoying visiting with everyone. It is so wonderful to be home!

Thanks for the prayers for our journey. Thank you Lord for bringing us home safely!

Deo Gratias.

26!!

2010-07-23T14:33:00.000-07:00

Today is one of the most important days of the year for me because I get to celebrate the birth and life of my husband. I have a lot I'd like to say (although he doesn't read this anyway - the other day he actually said "what blog? you still write on that thing?!") but every plate, cup, pan, and towel in our house needs to be washed, every floor vacuumed and scrubbed, every piece of clothing folded and packed, etc.

So for now, I will just say happy birthday Kody. I thank God every day for the gift of your life, for bringing us together to glorify Him in this world and the hope of being with Him in the next, for the son that our love has generated who He so graciously entrusted to us, for the laughter, tears, adventures, and every single eye roll along the way. I thank God for your Faith, your courage, your loyalty, your perseverance, and your joy.

I thank God especially for this past year. How it has stretched us and pulled us in ways I never could have imagined. How we have grown, how we have changed, how we have clung to each other, the memories and friends we have made, how God has provided and our Faith has grown.

Today has been a bittersweet day. A day to celebrate the life of Kody (and Kevin!). Cormac and I brought him breakfast in bed, gave him a card and a birthday present (a Wolfson scarf). Then Kevin and Mike babysat Cormac so Kody and I could go see Toy Story 3 (his only request. Luckily it opened in the UK today!). Then, we had our very last Summa potluck. We invited our amazing neighbors Rex and Wendy, our landlord/gardener/fix-it man Richard, his partner, and his friend who helps him garden, plus Andrea's parents and brother, and Brandon Wall's mom, and a few other friends just to make sure we had a full house. What a fun night we had. Oh but the goodbyes. Goodbyes are never fun. We ate. We sang and the men blew out candles. We laughed, we rocked crying babies. We fit leftovers into makeshift tupperware (the UK just doesn't do tupperware like the USA!), washed pots and pans and jammed the dishwasher full (mom would be proud!). We gave back books we had borrowed and our friends returned maternity clothes and infant socks. We took lots of pictures. And then, we had to say goodbye. And we cried. And I tried to remember through it all that today, today is Kody's birthday and without his birth 26 years ago, none of this would be possible. None of this would have happened to me, I wouldn't be living this amazing life. And as sad as I was to say goodbye, I am happy and thankful for all that the Lord has blessed me with, most especially my husband.

The leftover dishes are calling my name, and I can get one more load of laundry in before the men return from the pub and we call it a night. So I should go. Cormac is teething so if tonight is like last night, I will be quite tired tomorrow. Tomorrow is our final day all together here at Number 8. Tomorrow is the mega cleaning day. Sunday Mike leaves. Monday Kevin leaves. Tuesday we leave. It's hard to even say those words.

But tonight, as I finish the dishes, I thank God for Kody. Tonight I thank God for so many wonderful friends that we ran out of dishes and forks ( several times! how embarrassing! except it's not my house and these are not my dishes so it's not my fault, right?!). Tonight I thank God for bringing us to England, for providing for us every step of the way, for lifelong friends, for a sad little boy who just wants to snuggle with his mom because his teeth hurt, and for loving family waiting for us in VA! Tonight, I thank God for life.

Happy birthday Kody. I hope you had a wonderful day and I can't wait to see what this next year holds for us. Thank you for being a godly husband, a loving father, and a loyal friend. We love you and are so thankful for the gift of your life.

Happy 26th birthday!!

Lauren Felicity

2010-07-20T01:41:00.000-07:00

We have a very special new niece, Lauren Felicity! Lauren was born on June 11 and weighed 6 pounds 2 ounces. She is healthy and doing well.

Lauren is such an answer to prayer and such a huge blessing in such a tiny little body. Kaitlyn and Timothy are overjoyed to have a new little sister and have been taking quite good care of her. They welcomed her home with a huge banner and gifts. She is one very loved little lady. She is pretty lucky to have Mic and Joe as her wonderful parents.

Cormac's so excited to have a new playmate, I hope someday they'll be best buds!

I can't wait to meet her in a little over a week and kiss those sweet cheeks! Congrats Mic and Joe!

Look at all that dark hair!!

Dear Old Dad

2010-07-19T14:01:00.000-07:00

Today is a very special day because today we celebrate the birth of my father! Happy birthday dad! Thankfully we'll be home to celebrate with him in just one week!

Obviously with someone as unique as my dad, there are quite a few funny stories and random tidbits I could recall here today: the way he puts chap stick on by holding the chap stick still and moving his lips, instead of the other way around; how he'd say we were leaving at 3PM, and then at 2:45 wonder why you weren't ready yet? (I bet he always did that just so he could say "anyone else ready, or just me?". I also bet Kody would have been left behind several times...), the way he'd give us baths when we were little and mom was working nights: he'd only use shampoo to wash our hair AND our bodies, he said shampoo worked just like soap.

Dad was "green" long before liberals started requiring us all to be green: he installed dimmer lights so we'd use the least amount of light possible, and he put a 5 minute maximum on our showers (of course these tactics were just to save money, not to make Al Gore happy).

Thankfully Dad was intelligent and never let any of us entertain any liberal ideas. He's always been an expert in politics and graciously imparted some of that wisdom to each of us. He's always been a staunch defender of the unborn- he and mom were at some of the original March for Lifes (or so I'm told, that was WAY before my time! :)). I think I learned my affinity for justice from my dad too. He understood the importance of discipline and thankfully ran a tight ship (ok so none of us were thankful for it at the time, but looking back I'm sure we all are now!).

There are many other dad stories but the best thing about my dad is his love for his Faith and family. God was always the most important thing and dad made so many sacrifices to make sure we all went to Catholic schools and were grounded in our Faith. Dad has always put family first, always had time for us, and always been so generous. He always had more room in our family for more friends to join the 'east coast'. At Bridgit's wedding, dad gave a short speech at the beginning of the reception. My favorite thing that Dad said was that his only regret was not having MORE children. Luckily for him he now has a whole bunch of grandkids, and God willing, they'll keep on coming!

Dad always made it to all of our athletic games and many of our practices. He coached all of us at different times, taught us about commitment, hard work, and responsibility. He made sure we all did well in school, sports, work, and life. I am a better person because of the dedication of my father.

Happy birthday dad! Thanks to your generosity, hard work, and love, you will have quite a legacy through your children and many grandchildren. We hope you had a great day and have a wonderful year. We love you Gramps!

P.S. JUST GET UP?!?!?

With Mom and Dad at Bridgit's wedding.

Cormac loves his Grandpa

Update on Kody's knee surgery

2010-07-11T07:52:00.001-07:00

Sorry it has taken me so long to update about Kody's knee but thank you for your prayers for his surgery.

His surgery went well, but it turned out to just be an exploratory scope so the surgeon did not do anything to repair his knee. The surgeon recommended an entire knee reconstruction, and with that said Kody probably would only have a 50% chance of being able to run again. Kody goes back to see the surgeon this Thursday, and hopefully then we will find out if they will be able to do the surgery here or if we will have to wait until we're back in Texas.

Aside from the bad news that they did not actually fix anything in Kody's knee, the day went pretty well. Our taxis and train ride all went well (when we got in the taxi in Ely, Kody asked our driver to bring us to the Princess of Wales day surgery center. The taxi driver said ok, and then radioed in something about 'POW'. I guess it was too early in the morning for me because I was rather surprised by his use of POW [think horror movie where the passengers are locked inside a cab with a crazy driver!] so I asked him why he had said 'POW'? He said it stood for Princess of Wales, of course! whew), we were at the hospital early, Kody got into surgery early, and the surgery was quick (since they didn't actually do anything but take pictures!). While Kody was in surgery Cormac and I walked around the hospital and then around the hospital grounds and thankfully Cormac had a good nap in his stroller while we walked. The hospital used to be a RAF (Royal Air Force) hospital until the NHS bought it about ten years ago. So it is rather small (a "cottage" hospital as they call it, as opposed to a large factory hospital like Addenbrookes in Cambridge). It has a few rehab clinics, a day surgery clinic, speech pathology, and not much else. It had a much more personal feel than Addenbrookes and Kody was well taken care of. Of course they brought him a cup of tea right after surgery and they let Cormac and me sit with him until Rex arrived to drive us home.

We got home just in time to prop Kody's leg up, and then the men started showing up to have seminar in our living room so that Kody could attend.

We'd appreciate your prayers for Kody's follow-up appointment on Thursday! Thanks! I'll update once we know more.

Daniel Jon

2010-07-11T05:05:00.000-07:00

Today our nephew Daniel Jon turns thirteen! Time flies.

Bridgit and I were lucky enough to be staying with Meliss and Bob for a month when Daniel was born. Bob was in flight school in Corpus Christi, and Monica and Dominic were still little tykes then. For some reason Mom and Meliss (or maybe it was just me?) thought Bridgit and I might be helpful (ha!), so we got to spend an entire month with them in Texas! I remember the scorching heat and the prickly sticker things that were EVERYWHERE. Any time we went outside, we'd get them stuck to our clothes, shoes, socks, etc. Then when we'd go back inside, they'd inevitably get stuck on the carpet and in our sheets. Ugh they were terrible.

Anyway back to Daniel. We were having a great time in Texas, but Daniel didn't seem to want to join us on his own. Finally Missy had to be induced, and Bridgit and I got to watch Monica and Dominic while she and Bob went to the hospital (ok we all know I was really in charge of all three of them. Or was Martha already there and I just blocked that part out and imagined I was in charge? Hmmm I'm not quite sure). Today I realized that I was incorrect about David being the first baby I held in the hospital, since we got to go to the hospital to meet Daniel and I got to hold him then. I think there was some drama about it being a teaching hospital and Meliss had signed some forms she regretted but maybe she doesn't want to remember all of that so I won't go into it! ;)

I don't remember much about Daniel being a baby so I think that means he was a really good little guy. I do remember not being allowed into the commissary with Missy because Bridgit and I did not have military ID's, riding all over Corpus in Meliss's green minivan, learning about Selena, and visiting the aircraft carrier that is stationed in Corpus. I also remember not being able to go to the beach because the water was actually too hot. One day it finally cooled down enough and Bob rented jet skis for all of us. That was a fun day. We also went go-cart racing and went to the base pool several times. Toward the end of our stay, Martha showed up to spoil all the fun (I mean help out!) and then Bob's family came into town, Bob received his wings, Daniel was Baptized and then we flew home.

Now Daniel is thirteen and I hear he is working hard at a lawn service business that he started with his brother (you know, one of those jobs Americans won't do). Daniel is more quiet than some of his siblings (but really, who can get much talking in when Maria is around? ;)) but he is always happy. He gets his looks and his easy-going nature from his dad's side of course and thankfully being related to us doesn't seem to have negatively effected him too much in those categories. One of the things I love most about Daniel is how great he is with children, especially babies (ok all of Missy's kids are great with babies because they are blessed to always have so many around!). Daniel always asks to hold the new babies and helps take care of them, and he's great at keeping toddlers entertained and out of trouble. Daniel is a fantastic athlete and a great student. He likes to read almost as much as he likes to play ball. Daniel is a delightful young gentleman and he always makes us laugh. He's a great role model for his younger brothers and a big help to his parents.

Oh and lucky for Daniel, he can always get free Slurpees at 7-11 every year since his birthday falls on 7-11!!

Happy birthday Daniel! Hope you have a wonderful day! We love you.

Meeting Cormac for the first time (sadly the only picture of the two of them I got!)

Holding the fire torches for Fr. Peffley at the rehearsal dinner (Daniel is a great fire torch assistant and a great altar boy!)

This week...

2010-07-11T04:47:00.000-07:00

Our time in Cambridge is sadly coming to a close. This week we will be quite busy:

Monday Cormac has his 6-9 month check-up at the surgery. Hopefully I can convince them to weigh him since he hasn't been weighed since March (I'm a bad mom, I know).

Monday night the men are getting together to read the final question of the Summa together in an historic classroom at Trinity College. There has been talk of an evening punt afterward. Someone also suggested something to do with fire and blood, but I'm hoping they might opt for something a little less dramatic, like signing each others copies of the Summa (in ink, not blood).

Friday was technically their last seminar with Tom, but he has scheduled an optional final seminar for Tuesday evening to wrap things up, which Kody will attend.

Wednesday evening we are going out for a group dinner. First we are all meeting at Tom's house for pictures and champagne and then heading to a restaurant overlooking the River Cam for a fancy dinner! There have been rumors that the men might wear their tuxes....

Thursday Kody has his follow up appointment with his surgeon at Addenbrookes so we are praying that will go well.

Friday we will have our second-to-last potluck at our house.

I'm sure we'll try to fit a few more fun events in there just to make sure we don't have too much time to rest. Wouldn't want to have to start cleaning and packing yet!

I am so grateful for the wonderful friends and awesome memories we have made here. We are very sad to leave (although definitely looking forward to being back in the USA!).

He Finished!!!

2010-07-11T04:28:00.001-07:00

Last night (July 10, 2010) Kody finished reading the Summa! He has read the entire Summa Theologiae from cover to cover! What an accomplishment, I am so proud of him. He had plenty of major distractions this year (having a son, many visitors, injuring his knee, etc) but he still finished a few days ahead of schedule! Bravo Kody!

Obviously more important than just reading the entire Summa is understanding and applying it. I'm amazed at how much Kody has learned and how his understanding of God has deepened throughout this year. The men read the entire Summa on their own time, but class discussions mostly focused on Who God Is and on Being. If they failed to understand those basic principles, nothing else really mattered, so Tom spent the majority of time on that. I have learned so much just in my discussions with Kody and I'm blown away at the complexity but also simplicity with which he understands God. It's pretty awesome. Just don't get into a discussion about free will vs. predestination with him because it might make your head spin.

Of course, I've also had a fun time playing devil's advocate in our discussions. Kody can think and speak about these abstract ideas for hours; I can usually only last for a few minutes of deep thought, then I throw out my nice absolute yes or no, and then when I cannot adequately explain my position, I can always just back it up with "well it's called a MYSTERY for a reason! We can never fully understand it until we get to Heaven." I'm loads of fun, I know.

Anyway, congratulations Kody. I am so proud of you and impressed by you. I have learned so much from you and have loved watching your Faith grow this year. I admire your discipline and passion which have carried you through reading an ancient, often times slightly boring text non-stop for the past ten months. I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for you next.

Now get working on that dissertation!! :)

St. Thomas Aquinas, ora pro nobis.

Surgery tomorrow

2010-07-05T14:06:00.000-07:00

In your charity, would you please pray for Kody's knee surgery tomorrow morning? Please pray that God will guide the hand of his surgeon, for a successful surgery, and a quick recovery for Kody.

Above all, may God be praised.

Thank you so much for your prayers!!

Fr. Alban offered his private Mass tonight for Kody's surgery, and we were able to attend. It was so comforting to be able to receive our Lord together on the night before his surgery. I know it calmed Kody's nerves a lot. We are so grateful for such wonderful Priest friends in our life and for the gift of our Lord in the Most Holy Eucharist.

Jesus, we trust in You.

His all

2010-07-01T13:21:00.000-07:00

I know I'm way behind in blogging. We have been enjoying this wonderful weather and our last few weeks in Cambridge. I can't believe we have to leave soon.

I just want to write this down so I can always remember it because it says so much about Kody.

Someone asked Kody his opinion about a book. He had already read this particular book and remembered it, but hadn't read it for a few years. He could have written a good summary, but it wouldn't have been excellent since he hadn't read the book in awhile.

So instead of working on his Summa reading today, he bought the book on Amazon so he could have it on his Kindle, and he has been reading it all day. It's so important to him to give an honest and thorough critique of the book that he is rereading it and taking notes.

At times I am tempted to accuse him of getting sidetracked, or being indecisive in these types of situations because I'm such a black or white, yes or no kind of gal, but I need to remember that he is working so hard to give his all. He wants to do such a great job in this book critique that he is rereading the entire thing! He wants to make the right decisions for our family so badly that at times he agonizes and prays about it for days. I love that about him. He really is the perfect balance for me.

I love that when someone close to us asks his opinion, he stops everything, buys the book, and reads it cover to cover in one day so he can write an informed and honest critique.

And he still had time to go to the pool with Cormac and me today!!

Thank you Kody for always giving your all and living with such a big heart in everything you do.

John Aidan Joseph

2010-06-21T12:17:00.000-07:00

Our newest nephew, John Aidan Joseph, was born on June 14, 2010. He weighed in at 7 pounds 13 ounces. Both Jean and John are doing well and are home with Jake, Keira, and Jason. We are so thankful that he is healthy and that everything went well for Jean. We can't wait to meet him in a little over a month! I'm sure he and Cormac will be best buds in a few short years.

Congrats Jake and Jean!

John Aidan Joseph

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T15:15:00.000-07:00

Happy father's day to all of the awesome dads in our life!

Kody got his own post, but I wanted to say thanks to my own wonderful father, who is always so generous and gives great advice. He taught me the importance of perseverance and commitment, as well as teaching us to always put our Faith first. He has always been such a hard worker, providing for all of us, and was always present at all of our sporting events. He has always expected the best out of us, and for that I am grateful. Thank you dad for all of your support, guidance, and love. Thank you for being each of our number one fan but doing it quietly (chapstick in hand). Thank you for being steadfast in your Faith. And most of all, thank you for being a fantastic grandfather. Hopefully when you say "Anybody else ready or just me?" Cormac will be more like me than like Kody, and he'll be able to say "I've been ready and waiting!". I can't wait to teach him "Just get up?". Thanks dad.

Happy father's day to Cormac's godfather, Devin! We are so grateful for you Devin! Thank you for the wonderful example you set for Cormac and for your friendship. We miss you but we'll see you soon!

We're so blessed to have a brother and several brothers-in-law who all happen to be great fathers. I love watching them with their kids and we learn so much from each of them. Thank you all for being such great dads and such great examples of Christian fatherhood.

And lastly, happy father's day to all of our spiritual fathers- our priests. Where would we be without our amazing priests? We are so thankful for our priests, especially Fr. Vander Woude and Fr. Peffley who presided at our wedding, our good friend Fr. Daniel in TX, and Fr. Alban McCoy who Baptized Cormac here in Cambridge. Thank you for your sacrifices and your leadership. We will keep you in our prayers!

Hope you all had a very blessed father's day!

Cormac and his gramps. Just get up?

What a dad

2010-06-20T14:51:00.000-07:00

The most important role of a father is to lead his children to Christ and thankfully, Kody takes this role very seriously. While Cormac was still in the womb, Kody would read the Bible and the Summa to him often. In the hospital the day Cormac was born, the first thing Kody read to him was the Creation story from Genesis because he wanted him to know about the world and his Creator. Then I think he read the Nativity Story and then the Passion of our Lord and we prayed together as a family before Kody left the hospital for the night.

Once we got home from the hospital, Kody would read the Bible and the Summa to Cormac every morning. He still leads us in prayer and closer to Christ everyday. I'm so thankful for a husband who is seeking Christ himself, and who knows that if he fails at this most important task, nothing else really matters. Thank you Kody for being our spiritual leader and being such a fine Christian example to our son.

Of course, Kody also changes diapers, gets up with Cormac in the middle of the night, sings him funny bedtime songs, loves playing with Cormac and overall delights in being a good father. He protects us and provides for us. He makes us laugh and he keeps us on our toes. Kody has shown us all around England, Scotland and Wales. He is a fantastic father and loves taking care of Cormac.

Kody, thank you for being a wonderful father, for loving our Lord and leading us to Him. Thank you for taking such good care of us. Happy Father's day!

First picture together

Rocking Cormac to sleep

Playing in the yard

Whisky distillery in Scotland

Be a Dad!

2010-06-20T02:50:00.000-07:00

In honor of Father's Day, here is a nice short piece calling men to follow Christ and be good fathers.

Be a Dad

The Lord God of the universe is calling all of us to be great men, men that are examples of Him and who use Him as our example. We are called to become another Christ in this world. Our goal is to bring others to Him.

Do it and you will live forever.

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful dads in our life! Thank you for being servant leaders and striving to lead your families toward Christ.

Michaela Rose

2010-06-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

Our niece Michaela Rose turns eight today! Happy Birthday Miss Kaela!

Kaela is one of the happiest kids around, she is always smiling and laughing. Kaela was born to be on stage - she has been a ham since she was a baby. She had such big, kissable cheeks as a babe that grandpa always called her "cheeks". She still is cheeks #1.

From a young age Kaela has liked pretending to be a princess. When she'd come to visit, she'd announce "Today I am Sleeping Beauty. Which princess are you?" and she'd play princess all day long.

Kaela is great with babies and excellent at conversing with adults. Sometimes her talking stands in the way of doing other things, like eating. She has her mother's curse of being one of the slowest eaters in the world, but she has important things to say so food can't stand in her way.

I always love being around Kaela. She is bubbly and talkative and always entertaining. She is gentle and kind - I don't think I have ever heard an unkind word come from her mouth.

Happy birthday Miss Kaela Rose. We love you and miss you. Can't wait to see you in a few short weeks. Hope you have a wonderful day.

Kaela is a great dancer! Check out this attitude at Bridgit's wedding

Saying goodbye

Back from Wales

2010-06-19T07:32:00.000-07:00

We made it back from Wales last night. It was a long drive thanks to a lot of traffic, but we made it safely. We had an amazing time, it was a wonderful week! God is so good.

Now time to play catch up.

Pray for Kody's knee surgery

2010-06-14T04:44:00.000-07:00

Kody will finally be having his knee surgery on July 6. Please keep him in your prayers.

To make sure his surgery is even more of an adventure, the surgery will not be taking place at the hospital here in Cambridge, but in a town thirty minutes away -Ely. We will take the train to get there in the morning, but the hospital said Kody is not allowed to take public transportation home from the surgery. Thankfully, our wonderful neighbors Rex and Wendy have agreed to drive us home from the surgery (yes, the same Rex who drove us to the hospital when I was in labor!). I'm really not sure what we would do without such generous friends! God surely provides. We are so thankful.

Please pray specifically for a successful surgery on Kody's knee, and a speedy recovery. We move back to the USA on July 27, so he has exactly three weeks to heal. All things are possible with God.

We appreciate your prayers!!

Choices

2010-06-13T06:05:00.000-07:00

Watch this.

h/t: Katie Rose

The Hookses

2010-06-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning we are all leaving for a Summa Project retreat at The Hookses in Wales. This place is so remote that it does not have internet access, cell phone service, or even a TV. Call me crazy, but it's hard for me to imagine somewhere in a civilized country that does not have internet access.

Regardless, the time away from internet and all the other distractions will be good for all of us, I'm sure. Thankfully the house does have a dishwasher, washing machine, toilet, and shower, so we'll have access to some modern luxuries at least.

Since I just got back in the swing of blogging and told everyone I was back to blogging regularly, I'm going to try to set my posts to automatically publish while I'm gone. We'll see how that goes.

We should be back in Cambridge late Friday evening.

If anything did go wrong, maybe we'll be able to find a mailbox somewhere and send word that way.

Otherwise, please keep all of us in your prayers while we are away on retreat!

Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

2010-06-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

Today is the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus! It's also the end of the year for Priests. Hope you all had a fruitful year for the Priest and have a happy solemnity of the Sacred Heart!

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!

One Whole Decade.

2010-06-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

Our nephew David Anthony turns ten years old today! An entire decade has gone by since the day he was born. Unbelievable.

I remember the day Shannon told me she was pregnant - I had gone to Maggi's house after volleyball practice to wait until mom could pick me up. Shannon and mom came to pick me up, and Shannon told me the news in the car on the way home. I was so excited since this would be the first niece/nephew living nearby. I remember how scary David's birth was because the cord was wrapped around his little neck and we were pretty scared for awhile. I remember holding him in the hospital when he was just one day old and thinking how incredibly tiny and delicate he was. That might have been the first baby I ever held in the hospital.

David was (and still is) a brilliant child. On his third birthday, he came downstairs and read the sign hanging on the wall for his birthday! He also gave us great gems like yelling "Aunt Baaaatha!" down the stairs when Martha came to visit because he couldn't pronounce "M's" yet.

David has always been a sensitive and loving young man. One Lent, Shannon and Anthony took him to see a reenactment of our Lord's Passion, and he cried because the soldiers were whipping Jesus. He could not understand why anyone would hurt our Lord. David, I hope you always keep that innocence and love of our Lord.

David is quite the talented fellow as well - he is an amazing piano player, he is learning the trumpet, he plays soccer and basketball, took tae kwon doe, and I think he won first prize for his science fair project last year too!

One of the things I love most about David is that he is a complete gentleman. He opens doors for ladies and says please and thank you. At Bridgit's wedding, David came up to me and asked me if I'd like to dance with him. I said I'd love to, and he led me onto the dance floor and led me in a swing dance! How many (almost) ten year olds do you know who would do that?!

David we love watching you grow into a holy young man. You are such a great older brother, friend, cousin, and nephew. You always have a huge smile on your face and are full of joy. I always enjoy our conversations and learn so much from you! We love you. Happy birthday!!

David and Cormac meet for the first time.

Ever the gentleman, David offered to push the stroller for me.

Saying goodbye.

Sweet Sixteen

2010-06-10T03:24:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe, but today our oldest niece turns 16! Happy Birthday Monica Rose!

I remember when Monica was born: 9:48 on a Friday night. That weekend was my all-star soccer tournament, but gram and gramps left first thing Saturday morning for Ohio and missed my soccer game. I think Jake brought me to my games instead. I don't think I played very well that weekend because I was so excited about our first niece!

Bridgit and I got to enjoy two summers living with Monica (and her wonderful mom) because Bob was away at training. Monica, you should ask your mom about the words she'd sing to you to the tune of the song "Do your ears hang low?". I also got to share a room with Monica for two years in New York, although I wasn't the best roommate since I thought I was such a cool college and always going to football games. Sorry Roses. But it was still a lot of fun to share a room with you, at least for me.

Monica, it has been so much fun to watch you grow up. You are a beautiful young lady and an excellent "roll" model (just like Martha!) to all your siblings and cousins. You are an excellent student and dancer and such a hard worker. We are all so proud of you. Thank you for coming to visit us here in England and for all your help with Cormac when we were home in April. Remember to always seek our Lord first in all you do, and if your parents ever let you get your driver's license, don't take the long cut home!

We love you and hope you have a spectacular birthday!

Bridgit and Zach's rehearsal dinner 4/15/10

The Road

2010-06-09T07:32:00.000-07:00

Over Memorial Day weekend, our household watched The Road (Cormac McCarthy's book that was turned into a movie). Kody and Kevin had read the book, but Mike and I had not. We all really enjoyed the movie, and I would recommend it (although it's not appropriate for children - it's rated R). HOWEVER, do NOT eat right before or during the movie! You will regret it.

I'll leave the movie review to Kody since that is his forte. Movie reviews from Kody are kind of like the game seven degrees of Kevin Bacon because he can find a Christ figure or a Christological theme is just about any movie he watches. The Road is no exception. Kody really loved the book and the movie because of the sacrificial love of the father for his son, which obviously represents the love of God for us (obviously!). It's a post-apocalyptic story, so it's somewhat depressing, but worth watching.

As a side note, we did not name our son after Cormac McCarthy, he was named after St. Cormac, Irish Bishop and King. After Cormac was born, Kody learned about Cormac McCarthy and decided to read The Road, which was fitting since it's about fatherhood. I tried to read the book but failed miserable. Maybe someday I'll pick it up again.

And yes, we did watch the credits just to see Cormac's name in print on the big screen (or tiny laptop screen).

Face to face

2010-06-08T10:40:00.001-07:00

Mormick checking himself out in the mirror this morning. He started head-butting himself shortly after this, to which Kevin replied, "Truly, he is Kody's son." Kevin said it, not me!

Philly's Shower

2010-06-08T09:01:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we had a surprise baby shower for Philly and Miss Lydia Sue at the Orchard. Luckily we had great weather and Philly was surprised. Since Philly's family and friends from home couldn't be at the shower, Andrea and Jill asked them to each write a letter to Philly, which the girls printed out and gave to her at the shower. It was a great idea.

We had a lovely time sipping tea, watching Philly open presents, and chatting about babies. Now we're just anxiously awaiting the arrival of Lydia Sue. She could come any day now!

Baby girl clothes!

Reading letters from home.

Baby Juliann joined us!

Congrats Philly!

Laundry: FAIL

2010-06-08T04:22:00.001-07:00

Yesterday the temperature was low 60's and a chance of rain. The sun was also peeking through at times and there was a decent breeze, so I decided to hang two loads of laundry outside, hoping they'd dry before the rain came. I kept checking outside to make sure it wasn't raining since I didn't want rain-soaked laundry. I went out a few times to see if the laundry was dry, but it was kind of muggy out so the laundry wasn't drying quickly. This is the hardest weather to hang-dry laundry because it is too warm to have the radiators on inside our house (after our last electric bill I hope we never have to turn the radiators on again!) but that means it takes two or three days for laundry to dry inside. But most days it isn't quite warm enough for the laundry to dry outside, plus then there's always the risk of rain. Yesterday I decided to try my luck with hanging the laundry outside.

Anyway, you can probably see where this story is going: by night time, I was tired and forgot all about the laundry. I accidentally left the laundry out all night in the pouring rain so now the clean laundry is soaking wet. Have I mentioned how much I'm looking forward to using my dryer once we're back in Texas?

Now the question is: to rewash or not to rewash?

Courage in action.

2010-06-07T15:23:00.000-07:00

This takes courage. What a man.

Bravo!

Alasdair MacIntyre

2010-06-07T14:50:00.000-07:00

Last week, Professor Alasdair MacIntyre came to speak at the Catholic Chaplaincy here in Cambridge (Fisher House). Of course, living with a bunch of philosophers, our household was quite abuzz about the upcoming lecture. Amazingly, Kody was ready for the lecture early, left early, and was rewarded with a front row seat at the lecture! Actually, Kody, Mike, and Kevin had the 3 front row seats, it was rather cute. Wish I had gotten a picture but I didn't want to be that crazy American walking in front of everyone to take a picture (I was already the crazy American who brought an infant to an academic lecture, so I didn't want to push my luck).

Anyway, it was a beautiful day so Cormac and I walked to Fisher House for the lecture. I was hoping he'd fall asleep on our walk there but he was so fascinated by all the people about to run into us (sidewalks are very narrow here, but for some reason when people see a stroller heading towards them, they just continue to walk two or three across until I literally come to a complete stop right before hitting them, and then finally they form a single file to get past the stroller. The roads in town are too narrow and windy for me to push the stroller in the street, otherwise I would). Or he might have been slightly traumatized by our fast pace (we walked there in just under 25 minutes! It took us 50 minutes to walk home at Kody pace [in his defense he does have a hurt knee and was walking his bike home too]). Or maybe it was because Cormac's sun hat kept falling down over his eyes (people would walk by just staring at him with this funny face, so I'd lean forward [while still walking briskly] and yank the hat back up, and he'd break out into a huge smile because he could see again. But he never actually cried when the hat would fall over his eyes. Such a chill kid.) Either way, he did not sleep on the way there.

We sat in the very back so we could escape quickly if he did fuss, but the only noises he made during the lecture were three sneezes! He was too interested in all the people at the lecture to sleep there either (he finally fell asleep on the walk home). But he did so well, and we enjoyed the lecture. After the lecture, Fr. Alban remarked that he must have been well Baptized. Yes, that must be it! (Fr. Alban Baptized him).

After the lecture we went up to the Fisher House roof so the men could hover around Professor MacIntyre and try to ask him a few questions. Kody was smart and used Cormac as a prop to get MacIntyre's attention. MacIntyre is known to be a bit curt, but Kody opened with, "Professor, it was an honor for my son's first academic lecture to be one of yours." To which MacIntyre responded, "No, the honor was all mine to have such a well behaved baby at my lecture". Then Kody proceeded with his question and discussion with MacIntyre. He was quite the proud father.

The real fun was had in the days after the lecture when we got to discuss and debate and rediscuss several points in MacIntyre's lecture. Ahh, the life of a philosopher.

Similar to the whisky trail, people kept commenting about "starting him early" on Philosophy. I accidentally mentioned out loud that several people said that on the whisky trail as well, and the publisher of Prospect magazine (they sponsored the lecture) actually said "Oh fantastic, we'll have a young drunk philosopher!". Oh, swell.

As a side note to Cormac: your father really wanted to name you Alasdair, partly after MacIntyre. Someday, you can thank me for that veto. You are welcome.

Dad introducing you to Professor MacIntyre. I think you were more interested in the flowers.

Your first academic lecture!

Memorial Day in Cambridge

2010-06-07T13:38:00.000-07:00

On Memorial Day, our household attended a memorial service at the Cambridge American Cemetery. (Memorial Day was a Bank Holiday here, I think to commemorate Victory in Europe Day).

The United States has several (24 I think) cemeteries in foreign countries. The CAC is the only one in England. I think there are over 3,000 American soldiers buried there, and over 5,000 names listed on the wall of the missing.

It was a chilly, drizzly, cloudy day, but there was still a large crowd at the memorial. It was so wonderful to see Old Glory waving in the wind and I teared up during the playing of the National Anthem! I also might have been chanting USA! USA! for a good portion of the day. We were so happy to see so many Americans, so many soldiers proudly serving our great country. And there were children everywhere! So awesome. We do see a fair amount of babies in Cambridge, but otherwise, not many children in England and we didn't see any children in Scotland, so it was quite refreshing to see so many families with multiple children! USA! USA!

We are so grateful to all the soldiers who lost their lives defending our freedom. Thank you. We will never forget.

Top of the memorial chapel at the cemetery: To the Glory of GOD and in memory of those who died for their country.

There were 3 fly-overs: B-52, KC-135, and F-15's. I think this is a B-52.

The home of the free, because of the brave!

I had a festive red, white and blue outfit picked out for Cormac, but then that morning turned out to be much colder than expected so I guess we'll have to save it for the 4th of July. I forgot to bring his hat and coat, but at least had a fleece and a blanket!

Pretend you don't notice the flagpole growing out of Kody's head.

The men of Stukeley Close.

Inside the chapel: Into they hands O LORD.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!

2010-06-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

The liturgical calendar is awesome (for many reasons, but today I'm discussing just one) because it asks us to contemplate different phases of Christ's life and death throughout our year. The month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus - the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart is June 11. The Church asks us to honor Christ's Sacred Heart in a special way this month - remembering that He allowed His heart to be pierced by our sins, and to beg Him for mercy.

On a different note, it is a common practice for the President of the United States to dedicate a month to a specific cause and asks us to celebrate that cause during that particular month.

Unfortunately, our President has dedicated June to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender pride month. How far we have fallen as a nation when our President dedicates an entire month to celebrating sexual deviance. It is abhorrent.

Mr. President, I can no more celebrate sexual deviance than I can celebrate lying, cheating stealing, murder, or any other sin. I take no pride in the sadness of those trapped in sexual sin. Instead, Mr. President, I will spend this month praying for all those taking part in or effected by sexual deviance. I will pray to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, beg Him for mercy on those suffering with same-sex attraction, for mercy on each of us sinners, and mercy on our sinful, twisted nation. I will not celebrate sin. I will not take pride in the normalization of sin. Instead I will drop to my knees in prayer, begging for mercy and forgiveness.

Will you join us in contemplating the Sacred Heart of Jesus this month? Will you join us in praying especially for healing for those partaking in sexual deviance? Will you join us in praying for the conversion of our nation? In this month of mercy, let us all beg for mercy, for each of us is a lowly sinner.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, we love you. Save souls.

Here is a Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus if you're interested.

The Pill is an abortifacient

2010-06-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

Although we don't know just how often it occurs, we do know that the birth control pill can act as an abortifacient. Would you want to risk unknowingly aborting your own children? It might not happen often, but one child aborted is one too many.

Here's a decent video explaining how the Pill can act as an abortifacient.

I wish more women knew that the Pill can act as an abortifacient. I wish more women knew just how harmful the Pill is to their health, too. But mostly, I wish all women knew the overwhelming peace and joy that comes from trusting God completely and not relying on dangerous chemicals to suppress one of the greatest aspects of being a woman: our fertility.

Lammas Land

2010-06-07T03:36:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a really nice, warm day. Philly and Brandon were taking Alyas to the wading pool near our house and invited us to come. So we decided to bring Cormac to the pool for the first time. The water was a little bit cool, and Cormac wasn't quite sure what to make of it at first, but he did OK. Cormac liked sitting on the side or riding in Alyas' blow-up frog better than actually being in the water. He enjoyed checking out all of the kids, floats and toys in the pool. Alyas was more interested in kicking the soccer ball around the park with his dad, but he did stop long enough to get a picture with "Mormick". I was the whitest person at the pool by far; I definitely need to work on my tan before we go to the beach this summer!

After sitting in the pool for a bit, Cormac took a one and a half hour nap on the blanket, so Kody was able to read and I was able to observe British culture. Since it was such a nice day, the pool was full of young families (only 1 or 2 children each though, no large families except a crazy Irish extended family that made quite a scene) and I got to enjoy plenty of people watching. One of the strangest things we observed was the naked children everywhere. So many of the children were in the pool naked or just wearing their underwear! Not just toddlers, six and seven year olds were swimming naked, and I saw a girl who looked to be about ten years old running around in just her skivvies! Many children did have swimsuits on, but the naked children and kids swimming in underwear really stood out. Another odd thing I observed was that almost all the children came to the pool dressed in regular clothes, and then would completely undress right there on the grass in front of everyone, down to their skivvies or put on a swim suit if they had one. Often when they'd get out of the pool, they'd take their swim suits off to let them dry, and just sit around in nothing but a towel while eating and taking a rest. Then when they wanted to get back in the pool, they'd have to squirm and wiggle themselves back into a semi-wet suit. It was weird. Another thing that stood out was that hardly any of the adults had swim suits on either. Most of them were in nice clothes - pants and even dresses - and they'd just wade into the pool after their children while fully dressed. Kody couldn't find his swim trunks, but he at least wore athletic shorts. I'm not sure if many of these people just don't own bathing suits, and who could blame them - most bathing suits are so unbelievably immodest (although I kind of doubt they would be too concerned with that). Or if they just weren't planning to come to the pool and just decided to stop by on their way home from the city centre? But most of them had blankets and towels and food so that doesn't seem right. Maybe Cambridge is a more liberal college town and parents here don't mind letting six, eight or ten year olds run around naked? I guess they aren't too concerned with child molesters and child porn? I'm not sure but it was all very strange to me.

Other than the lack of bathing suits on other children, we had a great time at the pool and hope to bring Cormac back again soon. Unfortunately they are calling for low 60's and rain this whole week, so it might be awhile before we get back to the pool at Lammas Land.

Thanks for inviting us Philly, we had a great time!

Cormac's swim shirt was a little bit too small on his tummy!

Feet in the water!

Poolside with our buddy Alyas.

Hanging out in Alyas' cool float.

Exhausted after all of that fun. Napping by the pool.

Dad reading the Summa, of course.

Successful first day at the pool!

7 months (a week late)

2010-06-06T09:28:00.000-07:00

Sorry I'm a week late on this.

In May, Cormac got his first two teeth! The first one started to peek through and for a day or two he was just a bit fussy, but nothing too upsetting. Then a day after the first one came in, the second one appeared. He loves chewing on anything he can get his hands on.

We finally started Cormac on real food this past month. His first food was homemade, mashed up green beans. He made a funny face after the first bite, but being such a laid back baby he just ate what was put in his mouth and hasn't had any trouble with eating anything since. After green beans, we tried peas, which he really seems to like. Kody is a softy and decided Cormac needed something that Kody deemed more appetizing than green beans and peas for his third food, so Cormac got to have bananas. Since we would be traveling to Scotland soon, we needed some food for Cormac that would travel better than homemade green beans and peas. I bought a couple of jars of pre-made baby food. We tried one jar but it smelled gross and Cormac didn't like it as much as fresh food. Instead we fed him fresh avocados and pears, and more bananas. He loved them all. Once we got home, he started carrots and plums too. In the next few weeks, we'll try squash, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and maybe apples. He's liked everything so far and seems to be a great eater. He can eat an entire pear, avocado, banana, or plum in one sitting.

Cormac went on his first road trip when we drove to Scotland a few weeks ago. He was fantastic in the car and throughout the entire trip. He had a fever the first day and a small cough and stuffy nose, but being my mother's daughter, I had packed a medicine bag full of baby Tylenol, baby cough medicine, syringes, thermometer, teething gel, etc. so we were all set (don't worry, I did not use it all, but I was glad I had it). The only time Cormac was really upset the whole trip was when the fire alarm kept going off in our hostel at 4AM on our first night. He had the saddest cry, he was so scared because it was so loud. Kody might have said "I'm gonna go kick some body's butt!" in the middle of the night because he was so angry about the fire alarm. Turns out a toaster was setting off the alarm. Other than that, Cormac had a great time touring Scotland and visiting whisky distilleries. Everyone kept commenting that we were starting him out young. Why do people say that? As if we were giving him whisky? It's just a strange comment. More about Scotland in another post though.

Since returning from Scotland, Cormac has gotten much closer to crawling, but still isn't quite there. He can move all over the room just by rolling around, and he so wants to crawl - he gets on his tummy and just lunges back and forth, back and forth rocking on his tummy. He hasn't figured out the hand/leg coordination bit yet, but we aren't in any hurry to have him crawl since this house is not baby proof at all. He can finally sit up on his own for a minute or two, but he still isn't great at it - we're still working on it. He loves his door bouncer and chewing on all his toys. When the weather is nice, he likes sitting outside. He can't crawl off the blanket yet, but he has figured out how to pull the blanket all the way up so that he can reach the grass right under him. I like that: working smart- he figured out how to get the grass without actually having to move. He is definitely Kody's son. Unfortunately it means we have to watch him on the blanket every second or else he'll have a mouth full of grass.

Cormac loves to watch the washing machine spin around. As soon as I put him into his highchair, he is arching his back and turning his head to see if the washer is on. He is more entertained by the washing machine than any of his toys.

We had to stop swaddling Cormac this past month because he was turning himself over onto his tummy, while completely swaddled! At first he was not sleeping well when he wasn't swaddled- he was waking himself up every hour or two. But now he is finally getting the hang of it and usually sleeps on his tummy.

We had several visitors over the last month: Kody's friends from Oxford came to visit for a night and we took them punting and showed them Cambridge, then Kevin's pastor from Austin, then the Ratiu's came from Austin, and finally Kevin's parents came for two weeks! We loved having so many visitors, but it meant that Cormac's crib was back in our room. He wasn't sleeping well since he wasn't swaddled and he was also eating more during the night, but I think he's finally getting back to sleeping for 7-8 hours at night, waking up to eat, then sleeping for another 2-3 hours. We like that schedule MUCH better.

Cormac is such a happy, laid back baby. We are having so much fun with him. He is very ticklish and he's easy to make laugh. We love you little man, can't believe how quickly you are growing up!

Cormac's first time punting on the River Cam when Nik and Lisa came to visit.

Eating green beans for the first time.

He loves his bouncer. Kevin might have popped his collar.

Touring Edinburgh. Cormac had an awesome seat for the day, thanks Philly and Freecycle and thanks Kody for carrying him all day!

First time on a swing in Craigellachie, Scotland. Looks safe, huh?

6 months (a month late)

2010-06-06T06:55:00.000-07:00

I missed a 6 month update and I'm a week late for a 7 month update, but better late than never I suppose.

First, a 6 month update from what I can remember. Most of you saw him during this time anyway, but I mostly type these for my future reference (and for my mom:)).

Cormac started off April celebrating his first Easter. We had a wonderful Summa dinner to celebrate Easter with all of our friends, but missed being home to go to Mass with our entire family. A few days after Easter, we flew home to VA for Bridgit's wedding. We were able to rent a car so Kody could drive us to the airport (thanks mom and dad!) so that made the start of our trip shorter and much less stressful. Cormac did well on the 7-8 hour flight, he only cried once towards the end of the flight because he was so tired. I was able to rock him to sleep quickly and then he slept in the bassinet provided by the airline. Flying with an infant is much easier

when you have a bulkhead seat and a bassinet! Cormac loved looking around at all of the new faces and shapes and colors on the plane; he was fascinated by it all. Thankfully, so many people were so kind and helpful throughout the entire trip, which made flying by myself with an infant much easier! A lady helped me through security and held Cormac while I gathered all of our luggage off the table, and she buckled him into the Ergo carrier for me. Another gentleman carried my carry-on up the steps into the airplane (we had to board our plane on the tarmac), the flight attendants were all so helpful, etc. I was so nervous about flying with Cormac and for many days before the flight prayed that he would do well and everything would be ok, and God provided. Thank you Lord.

I think Cormac was a bit overwhelmed when we first got to VA - just so many new faces and everyone was so excited to see him. Plus there were so many more females than he is used to! But he warmed up to it quickly and loved all of the attention. He did fairly well adjusting to the time difference, although he stopped sleeping through the night while we were home. Maybe that was from the time difference, but he was also growing a lot and needed to eat more often too.

We had a great visit at home - Cormac got to meet his great-grandparents, finally met his grandpa, all of his aunts and uncles and every single cousin! He also got to meet a lot of our friends, and several of their brand new babies - it was so much fun to introduce him to everyone. He had his first and second cousins sleepover at Jake and Jean's house, thanks Bean!

Cormac attended his first (and hopefully only) bachelorette party, his first wedding, and another Baptism. He was officially inducted into "east coast" gatherings, as we call our large family get-togethers, and was fortunate enough to celebrate many of our friends' and families' birthdays while we were home!

Little man got to experience shopping in NoVa with Miss Emily and little Miss Adelaide, and visit several of our favorite restaurants, like lunch at P.F. Changs with Aunt Mic, Aunt Shannon, and the cousins, and chips and soft tacos at Rio Grande with Mary and Emily! Unfortunately for him, he wasn't able to taste any of the great food just yet, but he had fun nonetheless. We also had a movie night at Aunt Martha's and dinners at Aunt Shannon's and at Jake and Jean's houses too. Cormac's favorite part was probably his play dates with Adelaide, but I think he was jealous that she had a tooth and could already sit up. She probably wasn't too impressed with him just lying around.

Cormac reached a few exciting milestones while we were in VA: he stood up by himself for the first time (while holding onto a planter) on the deck with his gramps. He also rolled over from his back to his tummy for the first time (finally!) while playing with his gram. We had tried rice cereal twice before we went home, but started feeding it to him more regularly while we were there, he loved it. Jean let us borrow her exersaucer while we were home, and Cormac loved it!

Cormac also had his first major run in with global warming - I mean global cooling - I mean climate change - when a volcano in Iceland erupted and the ash clouds prevented us from flying back to London. We missed Kody, but we were grateful for a few extra days at home too. We had such a wonderful time at home, thank you everyone for making our visit possible and so

special. We can't wait to get back home in July!

The flight back to London was even easier than the flight home. Cormac slept almost the entire flight, waking up just once to eat in the middle of the flight. Thank you Lord. Several others were so kind and helpful on this flight too - like the young grandmother who offered to hold Cormac at the very beginning of the flight so I could eat my meal. While she was holding him, the fasten seat belt sign came on because of some turbulence, and her husband got the infant belt from me and they just fastened Cormac onto her belt so I could finish eating! Normally I might have been a little uneasy about the whole thing (strangers, germs, what if Cormac got scared and started screaming? etc) but I was so hungry and recognized I really needed and appreciated the help.

We were so glad to see Kody at the airport! Thankfully we finally made it back to London and Kody got us back to Cambridge safely. We enjoyed a few nice days outside before it got cold again. Our friends Jill and Peter had their baby girl, Juliann Eve, while we were in American. We finally got to meet her when we got back. She was 9 lbs at birth but compared to Cormac, she still seemed so tiny! I can't believe he used to be that small.

I think that brings us up to May. Sorry if I left something important out but it was such an eventful month!

I could only pick a few pictures, so I picked them based on seniority, obviously. :)

Plaid shorts and polos with his 92 year old great- grandfather, Papa Cooley

Buddies - Cormac loved hanging out in the yard with gramps.

Combined, these two women have raised 18 children and have too many grandchildren to count. They make excellent grandmothers! Great-grandma Short and Grandma Cooley

Glad to be back home with dad.

You can run, but you can't hide.

2010-06-04T03:08:00.000-07:00

If I were part of the teachers union hierarchy in NJ, I'd be getting a little bit scared right now. He's on to you, and he's not about to stop.

Have I mentioned how much I like Gov. Christie?!

I bet his mother is glad she chose life...

2010-06-03T03:07:00.000-07:00

Actually I've never met any woman who wasn't glad she chose life, just women who regret abortion.

Imagine how different the world would be if his mother had chose to abort him instead. Wow.

Praise the Lord for mothers who choose life!

Gov. Christie takes on teachers unions!

2010-06-03T02:51:00.000-07:00

Teachers unions are one of my absolute least favorite groups of people. Sure, I appreciate good teachers, but their unions are just atrocious. Politicians are usually too scared to take on the almighty teachers unions for fear of losing an election, but not Gov. Christie.

(watch all the way to the very end)

I can't believe this obnoxious teacher is waving her finger in the Governor's face, insisting she teaches because she loves it, while whining about lack of compensation! In the video she claims she is paid less than the $83,000 she has determined that she deserves, but another news report I watched reported that the NJ Board of Education said she makes $86,000!!!! A teacher! Making $86,000 to indoctrinate innocent children of America! And yelling at the governor that she doesn't get paid enough! And what about her education! Clearly it is the tax payers job to pay for her education! Again, I appreciate good teachers and think they should be compensated justly, but I can't stand whiny teachers who complain about their excellent compensation, benefits package, SUMMERS OFF, holidays off, inability to be fired, etc. Teaching is one of the few professions I can think of where employees are not compensated based on one's ability to produce results. The worse students perform on tests, the more money government throws at the schools and bad teachers, in the hopes that somehow more money will infuse students with knowledge so they can perform better on next year's test. The whole system is broken.

Bravo Gov. Christie for standing up to the almighty teachers unions. Hopefully more politicians will follow suit.

Swagger Wagon

2010-06-03T02:36:00.000-07:00

This just cracks me up. Well done Toyota!

h/t: Katie Rose!

Back to blogging

2010-05-29T04:21:00.000-07:00

My apologies for my blogging break. We went home to the USA for a few weeks, then got stuck there for a few extra days thanks to the volcanic ash, then once we got back, we had a continuous stream of visitors and house guests. After that, we went to Scotland for a long weekend. Add in all the packing, unpacking, laundry, cleaning, cooking (ok Kevin does that), landlady coming to visit, and caring for an infant, and we barely had enough time to break things like laptops, dishwashers and plates (but we still managed to break all three. And by we, I mean me). All of that to say there wasn't much time left for blogging.

But now I will try to catch up. Promise.

HOME TOMORROW!!!

2010-04-07T12:30:00.000-07:00

Cormac and I are going HOME TOMORROW!!!!! I am beyond excited. I haven't been sleeping well the past few nights because I am so excited. I hope I am able to sleep some tonight, but I doubt it. I am just praying Cormac does well on the flight. Please pray for us, that we have a safe, smooth flight. I am nervous about nursing on a plane, and about Cormac sleeping, etc. I don't want to be THAT mother whose infant screams the entire flight! Please Lord, let us have a peaceful, smooth flight!

But on the other side, we'll be in VA with my entire family! For a wedding! And Baptism! Wahooooo! I am so so excited.

Thanks for your prayers!!

Jesus Christ is risen today!!

2010-04-04T02:27:00.000-07:00

After spending forty days in the desert with our Lord, sacrificing by doing penance, giving alms, and offering extra prayers, and then reliving Holy Week, we followed Christ to His death on the Cross on Good Friday. Then we spent three days in darkness, anxiously waiting for our Lord to fulfill His promise.

Today we come out of darkness and we rejoice because our Lord has truly risen. He has conquered sin and death, He has saved us and set us free. He is the Savior of the world. Let us go out and tell the whole world: He has risen as He said!

Today is the most important day of the entire year for Christians, so important that we will celebrate it for the next eight days - the Octave of Easter, and continue celebrating it for the next seven weeks until Pentecost. We pray you all have a blessed Easter.

Mike watched Cormac for us last night (thanks Mike!) so Kody and I could attend the 9PM Easter vigil together. It was beautiful. Three candidates were Baptized, several more were Confirmed and received our Lord for the first time in Holy Communion. So exciting. But my favorite part was the closing song, which brought back such wonderful memories of Fr. Fasano's Easter Masses with the trumpets blaring and the choir singing (unfortunately we didn't have any trumpets last night but I still belted it out!):

Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!
Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!
Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia!
Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!

Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia!
Unto Christ, our heavenly king, Alleluia!
Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia!
Sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia!

But the pains which he endured, Alleluia!
Our salvation have procured; Alleluia!
Now above the sky he’s king, Alleluia!
Where the angels ever sing. Alleluia!

Sing we to our God above, Alleluia!
Praise eternal as his love; Alleluia!
Praise him, all you heavenly host, Alleluia!
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Alleluia!

This is what is sounds like (sorry I couldn't find a better version)

Congrats to all the neophytes and happy anniversary to all of our friends who have entered the Church on past Easter vigils! We are praying for you. A blessed Easter to all!

Now off to prepare our chickens for our Easter dinner.

And I am making these:

It’s Not Swimsuit Season Yet Deep Fried Cadbury Caramel Eggs

(I have to actually fit in a bridesmaid dress in less than two weeks. Oh well. These will be soooo worth it. Mom, you can take out my dress, right??)

ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA!

2010-04-03T23:55:00.000-07:00

He is not here, He has risen as He said! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Behold the wood of the Cross

2010-04-02T04:40:00.000-07:00

Behold the wood of the Cross, on which hung the Salvation of the world.

Come, let us adore Him.

Shower: FAIL

2010-03-31T07:06:00.001-07:00

We have quite an odd shower/bath set-up here in Cambridge, and we have had quite a lot of problems with it (some of them, admittedly, were due to user error).

The first problem we had was back in January and was completely my fault. Kody normally bathes Cormac, but he had recently hurt his knee playing football and wasn't able to make it up the stairs, let alone bathe Cormac. I was in the midst of taking care of Kody and Cormac, while also trying to get the house ready for my sisters' visit. Cormac hadn't been bathed in awhile because I just never had the time or energy to bathe him. One night, I finally got around to taking a shower just before bed, and I thought I'd bring Cormac in with me to try to bathe him in the shower with me. It seemed like the only way I could fit in bathing him that day. So I brought him in and laid him on the floor next to the tub, and proceeded with my shower. As you can see by the picture below, we have an exceptionally long and high bath tub (it was very hard to get in and out of it while pregnant!). The shower curtain only stretches half the length of the tub. One has to take a few extra steps to reach the shampoo on the window sill. Also notice the large silver radiator on the left side of the picture.

While showering this particular night, with Cormac lying on the floor, I fell out of the shower. Yes, I fell OUT of the shower. I slipped after replacing my face wash on the window sill. While falling I was desperately trying not to land on Cormac, but I was also trying not to smash my head on the radiator either. As I fell, I pulled the shower curtain down with me. Amazingly, I did not hit my head on the radiator, I did not fall on Cormac, and he didn't even cry! I was a bit sore but got up to quickly finish my shower and bathe Cormac. Mike heard me fall and came running up the stairs to make sure I was alright. Thankfully I was, how awkward would that have been if I weren't since Kody couldn't even make it up the stairs? I'm still amazed that neither Cormac nor I were hurt by this incident, and yes I learned my lesson, I'll never bring him in the shower with me again!

At first just the curtain had come down, but the track was barely hanging in the ceiling. By the next day, the entire thing had fallen down. We thought about trying to fix it ourselves but decided we better call our landlord and have him take care of it. So Richard came over a few days later to fix the track and get the shower curtain back up. In the mean time, we were all showering without a curtain. By the marks in the wall, it was obvious the curtain and track had fallen down a few times before, so I wasn't the first one to rip it out of the wall, but now our landlady will come back in July to see this on her ceiling:

The next shower mishap luckily wasn't my fault. We have a removable shower head with this strange contraption that adjusts the water level and temperature. The plastic clip that holds the shower head in place was already cracking when we first arrived, but last month, it finally bit the dust.

First Mike tried to superglue it back together, but that didn't really work. Then he remembered that duct tape fixes everything, so he duct taped it back together:

Thankfully, the duct tape has held so far, but Mike ordered a replacement piece online in case it breaks again in the future. It was an adventure to shower while holding the shower head in one hand for those few days the clip was broken.

The contraption that adjusts the water level and temperature has to be turned on by a switch in the ceiling (light switch on the left, shower switch on the right. and yes the cord for the shower switch broke so I can't really reach it)

Apparently this switch is necessary because this is an electric shower, and the switch has to be turned on to allow water to come out of the shower. It's annoying, but we never run out of hot water! Recently, the water has been cutting out during our showers, and we have to push the start button over and over. Sometimes the switch is tripped and we have to lean out to pull the switch to turn the water back on during our shower. But in the past few weeks, the switch hasn't been working well and is increasingly more difficult to turn on. So, we decided to leave it on, because we were afraid that we'd pull the entire switch out of the ceiling if we just kept yanking on it over and over. There were times when I just couldn't take a shower because I couldn't get the switch on, and I had to wait for Kody to get home to turn it on for me. So leave it on we did.

This morning while I was showering, the water turned off completely, and I could not get it back on. This is why:

Some of the wires inside the box fried and were burning through the plastic! I thought I smelled something funny while I was showering but couldn't figure out what the smell was. I just figured I needed to clean the shower, which I was going to do today anyway since we have guests coming tomorrow. But no, I was smelling burning plastic and smoke! Thank the Lord that this didn't start a fire! Thankfully, our landlord Richard was here working on the yard this morning, so we told him about the shower switch and he was able to take a look at it right away. When he removed the plate, he found a few fried wires inside. Richard said he has rewired these boxes before, but he did not do the wiring for this box (so we can blame the problem on faulty wiring!). Luckily Richard is able to come over first thing tomorrow morning to fix this, but he said we'll be without power for an hour or two while he works on it. I'm praying it's a fairly simple fix and he can get it done in one day. Kevin's guests are arriving tomorrow night and it would be quite embarrassing for them not to be able to shower!

Luckily I got to shower this morning, but the men hadn't (they rarely shower before noon). So now they will stink for the next day, but at least I'm nice and clean!

I realized that each of our shower incidents happen right before our guests arrive: I pulled the shower curtain down right before Meliss, Michaela, and Monica arrived and they had to shower without a shower curtain the first day until Richard could come to fix it. Mike broke the shower head clip right before Dr. Koons and his daughter arrived, and I had to explain to Emily that she had to shower by holding the shower head in one hand, because we were still waiting for the glue on the clip to dry and the new piece to arrive in the mail. Now we just have no working shower at all, but hopefully it will be fixed before our guests arrive tomorrow!

Please Lord: no more problems with the shower!!!

Pretty amazing that I could write a post thing long all about a shower, huh???

He Provides, part II

2010-03-31T05:29:00.001-07:00

Right before Cormac was born, I wrote a post about God providing so many things for us, including a Moses basket, car seat, and stroller. He has since provided for us in many more ways, and we are continually humbled and overjoyed by His generosity to our family. We had another amazing experience of Divine Providence this morning:

Kody has been working hard on doing our taxes, but we cannot claim Cormac as a dependent without his SSN, which we still did not have. So Kody hasn't been able to complete our taxes or figure out exactly how much money we owe or if we will receive a refund.

Yesterday Kody spent a painful half-hour on skype with the Social Security Administration, but they refused to tell Him Cormac's SSN or even if a number had been issued to him yet or not. The only information they would give us what that yes they had received our application, which was filed back in January. Then they told us to call the IRS for further instructions. Kody was certainly not in the mood to call the IRS after dealing with the SSA, so we didn't bother calling and I said I'd call them today.

This morning, Kody was quite nervous about our taxes, Cormac's SSN, and a few other large expenses. We prayed together, asking our Lord to provide guidance and peace regarding our taxes and other expenses. Then I told Kody it would be ok, God always provides for us, and I went upstairs to take a shower. Before I could get in my shower, less than 10 minutes after we finished praying, Kody came clamoring up the stairs with a letter!

Cormac's SSN arrived this morning! The letter from the Embassy was dated yesterday. Somehow, the letter made it to us in 1 day, which is pretty remarkable for the Royal Mail. I'm sure the letter must have been mailed before Kody spoke to the SSA at 5:30 PM yesterday, either she didn't know it had already been mailed or just couldn't tell us.

Either way, we have his SSN and now we can complete our taxes! The letter said we should receive his actual Social Security card in about four weeks, but we have the SSN and that's all we need for now! Thank you Lord! He really does always provide, and we are so thankful!

(We received Cormac's passport back in February, exactly two weeks after we applied for it at the Embassy. They said the passport would only take two weeks to process because it only went through the Embassy, but the SSN could take up to two months because it had to be processed through the USA first. We're glad we have his passport so he can fly home with me next week!)

Deo Gratias!

5 months!

2010-03-30T03:39:00.000-07:00

Oh Cormac James, you have brought us so much joy and laughter these past 5 months. How has it already been 5 months? I can't believe it.

This past month, we set up Cormac's crib in the guest bedroom. The first few nights he woke up several times during the night, but now he seems to be doing well in his own room. We are so grateful to our neighbors for letting us borrow their crib!

Last week Cormac got his last set of shots (the shot schedule is different here in the UK) and he did incredibly well. He did not even cry for the first two, and only cried a little bit for the third. He weighed in at 16 pounds 1 ounce.

Cormac celebrated his first St. Patrick's Day, St. Joseph's solemnity with a Summa dinner celebration, and his first Annunciation and Palm Sunday.

In the last week Cormac has found his toes. Usually he grabs his toes with one hand, while chomping on the fingers on the other hand. He is close to rolling over from his back to his tummy and when he's lying on his back, he's always trying to pull his head up, but he doesn't seem too interested in trying to sit up any time soon.

He's been laughing and babbling a lot more, including some new tones and screeches. His motor skills and hand-eye coordination are improving everyday, and of course everything he can get his hands on goes straight into his mouth. No signs of teeth yet but he drools like crazy.

In the past few weeks, we won a door bouncer and a highchair off of Freecycle (more about that in another post)! His feet barely reach the floor when he's in his bouncer, but he seems to enjoy it. He isn't eating any food yet, but it's nice to put him in the highchair and roll it up to the table so he can be eye-level while we eat dinner. The highchair is still a little big for him, but he does pretty well in it so far.

We are looking forward to Easter and then finally bringing Cormac home to VA to meet his grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and all 17 of his cousins! Please pray he does well on the airplane!

Adele's Adoption!

2010-03-29T14:52:00.000-07:00

On Friday, Miss Adele's adoption was finalized! She is now officially part of her forever family. Congrats Devin and Katie! We so wish we could have been there for this special day.

Thankfully, our friend Sara took a bunch of great pictures of the adoption ceremony and the get together afterward.

As Katie mentioned in her post, when she first found out she was pregnant with Edmund, she was sure she was having a daughter. Then the ultrasound showed they were having a baby boy instead, and she thought her mother's intuition must not have been as strong as she thought. But it turns out she was correct - God was giving her a daughter, just not the way she expected.

Deo Gratias!

Punting

2010-03-29T09:37:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my last post, Kody surprised me by bringing me punting on the River Cam. We went with Philly and three of her friends who were visiting from Nebraska. Thankfully, Mike babysat Cormac for us so we didn't have to bring him along, thanks Mike!

A punt is a flat, narrow boat used in shallow water. The punter uses a long wooden or metal boat to steer and push the boat. You can pay to go on a guided tour punt, or take a smaller punt out on your own, which is cheaper. We opted to take a private punt, and Kody offered to do the punting. He did a fantastic job steering and guiding us through the River Cam. No outing is complete without Kody's pipe, so yes, he smoked his pipe while punting! Every single punt we passed made a comment about his pipe. The professional punters were quite impressed that he was able to punt and smoke a pipe at the same time. Thankfully, the pipe never fell in the river (I was worried) and we never ran into any walls, bridges, or other punts. Pretty successful first attempt at punting!

Punting with his pipe! Mathematical Bridge in the background.

The River Cam runs along the backs of many of the oldest colleges, so punting provides a unique view of many of the beautiful chapels, gardens, gates and buildings that we wouldn't otherwise get to see.

Unfortunately we went slightly over our allotted time, which caused us to be late getting back to the rental car. We got there right as the meter maid was writing us a ticket and apologized, but he was not in a merciful mood and gave us the ticket anyway. Oh well.

I had a great time punting, thanks Kody!!

Random trivia #1: In Cambridge, one punts from the back of the boat. In Oxford, one punts from the front of the boat. You can tell where someone learned to punt by where they stand in the boat to punt. Of course each university thinks their own way is the 'right' way.

Random trivia #2: There aren't any large quantities of rock or stone nearby Cambridge, so the early settlers were not able to build a wall around the towne. Instead they had to use the River Cam to protect the towne from intruders, so the towne was built within the bends of the river. Then they built a few bridges over the river, but were able to guard those to protect the city. Hence the name "Cambridge" - the towne with the bridges over the River Cam. Pretty profound, I know.

Random trivial #3: The legends about the Mathematical bridge are false (it was not built by Isaac Newton, and yes it was built with nuts and bolts). The Mathematical bridge connects two parts of Queens' College (Queens', not Queen's, because it was founded by Queen Margaret of Anjou and then refounded by Queen Elizabeth Woodville, so two Queen foundresses). The reigning Queen has special privileges at Queens', and Queen Elizabeth comes to visit Queens' occasionally. Queen Elizabeth is quite short, and several years ago, before a planned visit the college added an additional, lower hand rail onto the Mathematical bridge just for her so she wouldn't slip while walking across it.

Philly's Punting Pictures begin here. Scroll to the right for the rest. She also snuck pictures inside of King's Chapel, if you look through the rest of her album!! (I won't tell, Philly!!)

SURPRISE!

2010-03-28T08:21:00.001-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, we have been quite busy!

In the past few weeks I have helped plan or been the recipient of several surprises.

-At the beginning of March, Andrea Jill and I planned a surprise birthday lunch for Philly's birthday at The Orchard. Luckily the weather was nice enough enough for us to sit outside, although it was still a bit chilly. We had a great lunch celebrating the birth of Philly, complete with English tea pots which we cannot manage to pour without spilling and yummy desserts.

Pictures start here, then continue by clicking to the left.

-The next weekend, Andrea Philly and I planned a surprise baby shower for Jill at a tea shop

in Ely. We took the train to Ely, saw the Cathedral, and had tea in an old fire engine house. It was fun to shower Jill with baby gifts, and we did not have to play any annoying baby shower games either! Win. Now we just wait for baby Swanson to arrive!

Pictures here.

-The following weekend I helped Bridgit's bridesmaids plan a surprise bridal shower for her at her future sister-in-law's home just outside of Richmond. This surprise was a little harder to plan since I'm so far away, but I think Bridgit was surprised and received lots of wonderful gifts!

-Bridgit's bridesmaids and I have also been planning her surprise bachelorette party. She knows the date, but she doesn't know what we will be doing. Thankfully, I'll be home for that one!

After that, I think I'm done with planning surprise parties for a little while!

I also was the recipient of a few good surprises recently:

-Last week the weather finally warmed up and we had a few sunny days (the sun does still exist! hurray!) Kody surprised me by planning to take me punting on the River Cam. Three of Philly and Brandon's friends from Nebraska were visiting so Kody planned for us all to go together. Despite their friends getting a parking ticket on their rental car because we went 45 minutes over the meter, we had a great time! (more on punting in another post)

Me and Philly on the punt, with Kody navigating in the back, the Mathematical Bridge is behind us.

-Last summer at TAL, we had an ADF fellow named Seth. Seth happened to be studying at Oxford this past term and wanted to come visit Cambridge. Last week he was able to come up for the day and we had coffee in the shadows of King's College while talking politics and abortion law. It wasn't exactly a surprise since we had planned it the day before, but it was still neat to see a friend from Texas here in Cambridge.

-I failed to order corned beef and cabbage in time for St. Patrick's Day, but Kody went to the butcher this past week and secretly ordered some corned beef for us! Yesterday he went and picked up the corned beef from the butcher, along with potatoes, onions, and cabbage and surprised me with it all! So last night we got to have our St. Patrick's Day corned beef and cabbage, just ten days late. The corned beef wasn't quite like what we are used to in America, but thanks to Kevin's help, I think it turned out pretty well!

-The final surprise of the past few weeks was of course Rep. Stupak selling out the unborn for 30 pieces of silver, I mean $726K for three airports in his district and a worthless, unenforceable executive order (not all surprises are good!). I know, I know, I shouldn't be too surprised by a pro-life Democrat selling out the unborn and voting for government-run health care, but Rep. Stupak had held strong for so long! He seemed like the real deal! I had so much HOPE, thanks to Obama's never ending campaign of hope-n-change. I guess I learned my lesson. Now back to working to elect true pro-lifers who won't throw pro-lifers and the unborn under the bus.

I think that's enough surprises for now. Overall it's been a pretty eventful month!

Timothy Patrick

2010-03-17T09:14:00.000-07:00

Today our nephew Timothy turns 5!!! Happy Birthday Timothy!! Such a special day for a birthday. Whenever I think of Timothy, I think of his enormous smile and his happy-go-lucky personality. Timothy loves babies and has such a sweet personality. I'm so glad we got to see you on skype tonight Timothy! Hope you had a wonderful birthday. We can't wait to see you in a few short weeks!

Happy Birthday!

Marshall on Fox

2010-03-16T11:25:00.000-07:00

Watch our good friend (and Bridgit's Godfather) VA Delegate Bob Marshall explain his bill on Fox News. This bill bans the federal government from requiring citizens to purchase health insurance.

Awesome! Gotta love the Commonwealth. Thanks Delegate Marshall!

Sugar Sugar

2010-03-11T14:18:00.001-08:00

I can't help but love Rubio's newest ad, because it plays my all-time favorite song: Sugar Sugar by The Archies.

Oh, and the latest polls have Rubio leading Crist by 32 and 33 points. Sweet music to my ears!

Tugging at my heart

2010-03-07T08:04:00.001-08:00

h/t: Glib and Superficial

Cecilia Agnes

2010-03-04T12:50:00.000-08:00

We have a new niece! Cecilia Agnes was born Thursday, March 4, 2010, weighing in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces, and 20 inches long. Mom and baby are doing well, but please keep them in your prayers. Both Meliss and Cecilia are home already, hopefully getting plenty of rest!

Cecilia might not know it yet, but she is already one of the most loved baby girls around. Her 9 older siblings are so excited to help out with their new baby sister. I'm sure they'll be changing lots of diapers and helping burp and bathe her, right?

We can't wait to meet her in April! Such a beautiful little girl, I can't wait to smother her in kisses!

Congrats Meliss and Bob! Love and prayers.

St. Cecilia, ora pro nobis. St. Agnes, ora pro nobis.

Deo Gratias.

Miss Cecilia Agnes

The proud brothers and sisters with Cecilia

Traditional Anglican Communion: Welcome Home!!!

2010-03-04T08:24:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, the Bishops of the Traditional Anglican Communion in the United States decided to join the Roman Catholic Church! Thanks to the Apostolic Constitution, Anglicanorum Coetibus, which Pope Benedict XVI recently approved, they will be able to join the Catholic Church while using the Anglican Use form of the Mass.

Welcome home!!

So exciting! As Fr. Z says, Christ really is using Pope Benedict XVI to be the Pope of Christian Unity. Deo Gratias!

h/t: Devin Rose

More Risks Associated with IVF

2010-03-03T07:34:00.000-08:00

There are many risks associated with IVF, especially in the hyper stimulation of the ovaries and retrieval of the eggs. Last week a new study showed another risk associated with IVF: increased risk of stillbirth. The study looked at 20,000 pregnancies and found IVF pregnancies were four times as likely to end in stillbirth. That seems like a pretty high risk to me!

As AUL's blog notes, one of the biggest problems with IVF in the United States is the lack of informed consent. Women are not told about all of the risks and complications associated with IVF, and therefore are not giving truly informed consent when they sign up for IVF. This is unacceptable and needs to change. IVF clinics should be required to give women all of the facts and warn them about the possible risks, including death, from hyper stimulation and IVF. Why do we continue to allow IVF clinics to get away with this?

Women deserve better.

Perkins blocked from Prayer Luncheon

2010-03-03T07:20:00.000-08:00

(I'm sorry for posting 2 stories from the NY Times in a row! Yuck. So I had to quickly post something from a Catholic site so you wouldn't start to worry about me being infected with liberalism!)

Tony Perkins was supposed to speak at a National Prayer Luncheon at the Air Force Academy, but he was uninvited because of his views on homosexuals in the military.

Perkins is an ordained minister, and a Marine Corps vet. He supports 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and does not think Congress should repeal this Act. Studies show open homosexuals serving in the military is not a good idea, and the majority of the military don't want DADT to be repealed either.

But none of that matters when it comes to political correctness and the homosexual agenda. There is only one acceptable position, and that is supporting an immoral and destructive lifestyle, even at the expense of national security.

So much for tolerance, huh?

Cohabitation doesn't work.

2010-03-03T07:08:00.000-08:00

I've blogged about this before, and all studies show the same thing: living together before marriage is not a good idea. Unfortunately, our society still doesn't seem to understand this and sadly the number of young people cohabitating before marriage continues to rise at a staggering rate.

The NY Times even acknowledges a recent study which again proves what we already know: couples who live together before marriage are more likely to get divorced.

Couples who live together before they get married are less likely to stay married, a new study has found.

Amazingly, the article goes on to say:

"Just because some academic studies have shown that living together may increase the chance of divorce somewhat, young adults themselves don’t believe that.”

What a twisted society we live in where young people are convinced, despite all evidence to the contrary, that living together before marriage is a good idea. Besides the moral implications, which there are many and I do not mean to downplay those whatsoever, young people still choose to ignore the evidence that they are actually hurting their chances at a successful marriage by cohabitating before marriage. It's baffling.

Women deserve better. Children deserve better.

On to the General!

2010-03-03T06:02:00.000-08:00

Gov. Perry won the Texas Republican gubernatorial primary yesterday! Perry received over 50% of the vote so Texas is spared from a costly run-off. It's rather scary that the Libertarian-running-as-a-Republican Medina received 17% of the vote. This woman isn't sure if the government had anything to do with 9/11, and claims to be 100% pro-life but is against incremental pro-life laws like requiring a sonogram before an abortion. Hmmm.

The NY Times piece on the race gets one thing correct: this was a rejection of Washington and big government all the way. They still managed to work in jabs like this:

Mr. Perry was also helped by the national recession, which did not hit Texas as hard as it did the rest of the country, allowing him to claim his conservative fiscal policies were the reason.

Really? Texas' economy is doing better than just about every single other state. Texas' economy is something like the 8th largest economy in the world, larger than most countries. And somehow, they have managed to keep it afloat, unlike California. Perry has been governor for the past 10 years, I think he had something to do with the Texas economy doing well. The best we can give him is "allowing him to claim" his policies were responsible? Ha. While Perry was governor, he (along with the Lt. Gov.) got the legislature to set aside close to $10 million in a rainy day fund for when the economy went bad. If only all states, and American families for that matter, were wise enough to put aside money during the good times, to have when things got tough. Part of the reason Texas has continued to do so well economically is because they had the foresight, under Gov. Perry's leadership, to put that money aside, and to not raise taxes. He has also done a tremendous job in bringing new jobs to Texas, especially high tech jobs, including funding many different types of Adult Stem Cell Research - bringing new jobs and future cures to Texas.

Anyway so glad Perry won, now we can turn to the general election, where he'll be facing former Houston Mayor Bill White.

We'll be watching for KBH to finally step down from her Senate seat, so the Texas musical chairs can begin: RR Commissioner Michael Williams and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst will both likely be running for KBH's Senate seat. AG Greg Abbot will likely run for Lt. Gov., and former Solicitor General Ted Cruz will run for AG. Ahhh I love campaigns! I'm bummed I'm here in England, missing all the fun!

Through The Eyes Of A Convert

2010-03-03T05:59:00.000-08:00

Our good friend (and Cormac's Godfather!) Devin Rose has an article up on the KoC website Fathers for Good. Check it out. Congrats Devin!

Through The Eyes Of A Convert