Why I'm a stay-at-home mom

A little pick-me-up From an e-newsletter I receive, "Emphasis on Moms":

Sometimes stay-at-home-moms are mislead into thinking that because we are not in the corporate work force, we are not contributing to society as a whole or making progressive changes in the world. Mothers are contributing the MOST and BEST of all ~ guidance and molding of well-balanced, learned individuals who continue this cycle by bringing glory to God and by making society a better place. By rearing these honest, hard-working citizens and instilling integrity and character, everyone on earth benefits. This is h u g e!

You are desperately needed – you have amazing impact – far beyond your little corner of the universe.

Katie on the Move!

No, Katie's not walking QUITE yet -- but it's only a matter of time. She can already walk while holding on to us with one hand. And just the other day, she stood up ALL BY HERSELF for about 5 seconds! (before she fell to the ground with a plop) She's gotten that strong pretty quickly, too -- for example, here's a picture of her from early July:


wishing

She couldn't pull herself up yet.

But here's one taken just a couple weeks later:


up!

She's so pleased with herself! It's interesting watching her develop -- she doesn't really seem driven to do something until she's really ready for it. At least, she doesn't get easily frustrated when she can't do something. She's got more of a temper than Miriam -- just try taking something away from her! She'll wail as if she were in the depths of despair, but distract her with something else and she's instantly all smiles again.


escape!

She loves looking out the screen door. It's so cute seeing her little hands pressed against the window from the outside.


sock

She has this thing for socks -- they're her favorite toys. She loves carrying them around in her mouth, just like a puppy. (Incidentally, I love this color on Katie -- with her Mediterranean skin, she looks good in bold colors.)

Actually, she'll carry anything in her mouth, even if she has to open it as wide as it goes:


The Crawling Eye

(thought the B's would appreciate that caption...) :)

More pictures to come... stay tuned!

More Pictures

Here are some more windows into our life:

This dress came courtesy of Grandma B.

our little Suomalainen


helping Mommy cook

This is making me think twice about trying to plant a vegetable garden next year:

Juliet's long-lost cousin


family portrait
I was SO proud and impressed when Miriam drew this picture! I only wish she'd done it on paper so I could have kept it. I'm glad I had the camera handy at least. Her pictures are getting more fun, now that she's trying to draw things from life (instead of just scribbles and M's and twisty circles). She can draw a pretty ugly spider (big circle with zillions of legs). Thanks to Aunt Tine for the doodle pad -- Miriam still LOVES it. We bring it everywhere!

Happy Birthday, Gabriella

Today would have been Gabriella's first birthday. I haven't forgotten her. "Can a mother forget the child of her womb?" The grief still comes and goes in waves. I had a really difficult time a couple months back where I felt almost resentful towards Katie because she wasn't the baby I thought I was SUPPOSED to have. But now I can't imagine life without our Katie bear. Nothing happens without a purpose. God wanted us to keep Katie, and not Gabriella, for some reason which we will find out eventually. There's a lot of peace in that thought.

Picturefest!

Okay, we've got a lot of pictures stored up, just waiting for us to find some time to post them! Keep checking back over the next week or so and we might actually put them all up.


shades


our Kewpie doll


swingin' babe

Katie thinks swings are hilarious. She giggles especially when it swings forward towards me. In this shot, it was a hot day so I had to put the sling under her to keep her little legs from getting burned.


sweetness & lace

Miriam insisted that they wear matching outfits to church this day.

cuties


Can you find the REAL baby doll?

The management assumes no responsibility for the fashion sense of its offspring.

fashion maven


A lesson in video gaming.
Miriam explains the game "Spyro" this way: "Some dragons are nice, and some dragons are not nice. The green dragon is not nice, but the purple dragon is nice. He flies awound and awound and spits fire evewywhere!!"

I love this picture of us from the 4th:

Patriotic Pickles

Our Big Fat Beach Vacation

All right, over a month later, here are some highlights from our awesome week at Bethany Beach, Delawhere.

Miriam was totally psyched for the trip:


swimmer

This is a picture of our little cottage:


beach house

Okay, so it had to hold 15 people!
We all had SUCH a blast. I think everyone had a relaxing, fun time. There were lots of extra hands around so I think all of us moms got a little break. It was a major baby-fest week:


Maggie Lu & Maximum Blabs


the oldest baby :)

I had time to do a lot of reading (Jane Eyre here):


chillin'

The house also had some bikes, so I spend an afternoon re-teaching myself how to ride and trying not to look like an idiot. (no picture of this, thankfully!) We also had a couple ping-pong death matches, in addition to a wiffle ball championship series.

Katie 2 & Katie^3 got along well:


Katies

Of course, the highlight for Miriam was the fact that Edy was there too.


friends

They spent most of their time dressed in Aunt Katie's old dancing costumes, chasing each other around the kitchen island:


princess running

jailbird running

And of course, there was...


THE BEACH!

Well, this was the public part. WE spent our time here:


private beach

Much nicer, I think you'll agree. :) Miriam LOVED the water, as you can see from this picture:


M at beach

Note how she's running to the water and splashing and cavorting and giggling with glee... Okay, reality check. She's clinging to Daddy for dear life. And every time she talks about our trip now, she says, "We went to Bethy Beach but I didn't like the water kabuzz I was scaaaaaaaawed." We couldn't get her to go within 20 feet of the waves. I can't say I blame her -- even though the waves weren't that high, they crashed really loud and fast. Very intimidating to someone 36 inches tall. So the little ones ended up playing in the sand while the grownups braved the surf.


beach girls

Katie had a blast wherever we put her -- just give her something to chew on and she's content!


beach baby

Finally, I just want to apologize to all mothers everywhere -- I know you all THINK you have or had the cutest baby in the world, but I have to say that no, we really win the prize for cutest baby in the UNIVERSE.


cutie

We gotta figure out how to cash in on that.

Harry Potter and the Pope's Pronouncement

Recently Charlotte Church reportedly told off Pope Benedict XVI because he allegedly said that the Harry Potter book series, by J.K. Rowlings is "evil" and should be "banned" (there is apparently some confusion as to what JPII said, but others have outright stated that the books are evil). Here is what I told others when I initially read that news.

This statement strikes me as absurd. I think that Pope Benedict XVI is far too careful and pastoral a thinker to simply state that the Harry Potter series should be banned. I think it's far more likely that he urged caution.

As it turns out, the letters in which Pope Benedict XVI mentioned his views of the books have come to light, and they can be found here. He seems to think that the books are a bad influence. I agree with him, but only to a degree (keep reading if you want to know why).

After I first read Church's quote, I also had a number of different things to say about the topic, but, after reading a few articles, I realized that others have communicated my thoughts better than I had originally done. In light of that fact, I'll post a few links for those of you who want to read more on the possible dangers of the Harry Potter books.

From Lifesite News:
Copied (with permission) from Catholic Insight. Of particular interest to me are the comments from different writers at Chesterton Review.
http://www.lifesite.net/features/harrypotter/proandcon.htm

Steven Greydanis has one of the more balanced articles I've read at his website, though he does, IMO, leave out some issues, but I still recommend his article over any other article that I've read.
http://www.decentfilms.com/commentary/magic.html

Here's another article from Michael O'Brien. I include primarily because I think he has some good points about Harry's treatment of other people.
http://www.lifesite.net/features/harrypotter/obrienpotter.html

I must say right now that I disagree with many of things that Michael O'Brien has said. I think he treats the Harry Potter books unevenly, as he seems to apply more stringent requirements to Rowling's books than to Tolkien's books. Here's an example from the first link.

O’Brien quotes Kimbra Gish as pointing out how the books portray in a positive
light activities condemned in both the Old and the New Testament—enchanting,
divination, charms, consulting with familiar spirits, "abominations" in the eyes
of God which must be driven out.

I'll touch on some of those aspects very briefly.

1. Divination--The practice is almost entirely viewed as fraudulent, since it is viewed by looking at a teacher who is an obvious fraud. There are some examples of creatures who practice fortune telling (centaurs), but they seem to say that divination is nearly impossible anyway.
2. Enchanting--This is an example of uneven treatment. In the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) there are examples of enchantment. Think of the Gandalf's enchantment on Butterbur's Beer or else the Lembas bread. The magic of the elves also include enchantments.
3. Charms--Here's a definition of charms according to Encarta: "a special phrase or rhyme believed to have magical powers", or "to affect somebody or something by, or as if by, the use of a supposed magic spell". Once again, the first definition is fulfilled by Gandalf in LOTR. Regarding the second definition, think of Lothlorien. Celeborn and Galadriel each possess power over that physical world, and that power comes from magical rings.

I have yet to read any articles about the Christological references in the book, but some of them, IMO, are very, very strong and resonant. For example, in book 5 you read that Harry is protected from harm--from Voldemort in particular--because he is covered by the blood of his mother, who loved him so much that she gave her life for him. I see this as a very strong reference to Christ.

I brief, I think along the same lines as Steven Greydanis. There is good in the books, but there is the potential for some people to be opened up to the occult. This potential stems from the fact that Rowling does not build the hedges that Tolkien and Lewis build (once again, read the Greydanis essay on the topic). Rowling does not believe in the world of magic, thus treating it like it is a completely fantastic world, but magic and the occult is real. Therein lies one of Rowling's faults. She does not believe in a world that really does exist, so she does not take the time to guard young minds from that world's dangers.

Most children will not be taken into the world of the occult because of the books, but parents should not simply trust themselves to benevolent providence on the matter. Parents are charged with keeping watch over their childrens' souls, and that charge should be taken with the utmost gravity. Parents should read the books first, and read the books with their children afterward.

Katie-Bear update

Well, the Bear has started "solids". I use quotes because, as anyone knows who has ever fed a baby, the word "solid" is used very loosely. The real term should be "liquids with some texture", but I guess that's too long to say. We started Katie off with some mushy banana -- but she decided she liked doing it herself better:


banana babe

I wouldn't have minded doing it that way if she hadn't tried to eat half the banana in one bite!

So far we haven't found a new food that she hasn't made a yuck face for. Well, except perhaps mashed avocado, which seems to be her favorite! Of all the first foods, I thought for sure that THAT one would merit a yuck face!

I have mixed feelings about her starting solids. For one thing, she seems to be sleeping better at night -- for a while there she was waking up 3x at night, where she used to wake up only once! So getting something a little more filling into her seems to be helping. On the other hand, MY BABY IS GROWING UP! *weep weep, sob* Feeding baby solids is just proof that SHE DOESN'T NEED ME ANYMORE! *weep weep, sob* All right, I'm not THAT emotional about it. But weaning is a big deal, and it starts with feeding solids. It's kind of silly how emotional some women in my La Leche League group get about weaning. I was so anxious for Miriam to wean! I couldn't wait to feel like I had my body back. I doubt I'll feel any differently about Katie weaning. For one thing she's not a very polite nurser -- has a little too much energy to lie still. I can't believe she STILL kicks me in the ribs. I thought we were done with that 8 months ago!

Anyway, in other Katie news, she is now OFFICIALLY crawling! *sigh* And now I get to spend my days pulling her away from the bookcase... pulling her away from the plants... pulling her away from the phone books (she successfully ripped the cover off of one)... pulling her away from lamp cords... pulling her away from the CDs... have I mentioned that we haven't finished baby proofing yet? :)

It's been fun watching her develop into this stage. It happened so quickly though! Within 6 weeks she went from sitting to roll/scootching, to army crawling (on her belly), to genuine hands-&-knees crawling, to trying to stand! In the picture above, you may notice a little bandage on her big toe -- that was taken during her scootching phase when she developed blisters on her big toes! Our rug is really terrible for rugrats -- now Kate's got chafed knees. She doesn't seem to mind at all -- she never even complained about the blisters (just mostly tried to eat the bandages). She just keeps on truckin'! I'm wondering how long before she figures out the stairs... we need some more baby gates!

Working Document on the Eucharist

Lifesite News reports on some of the language used in a working document on the Eucharist to be promulgated by the Vatican later this year. From the news article:

The Vatican held a press conference today (July 7, 2005) to present the "Instrumentum laboris" (working document) for the Eleventh Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, scheduled to be held in the Vatican from October 2 to 23, 2005 on the theme: "The Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church." The document, drawn up on the basis from Church leaders
throughout the world to a draft called the "Lineamenta", lamented "the fact that
too many faithful receive communion without having sufficiently reflected upon
the morality of their lives." (Italics are Mr. Pickles)

Amongst some of the language/topics in the document:

1. Catholics commit a sin when they support politicians who support pro-abortion or "other grave acts against life, justice, and peace." (I think it will be interesting to see if this language remains and if it also mentions the death penalty. Some will inevitably spin this to include the death penalty. For example, read this recent letter from the President of the NCCB.)
2. Those who publicly support abortion are "committing a personal action which is profoundly dishonest and are a source of scandal."
3. A lack of the sense of the sacred, which includes liturgical vestments and practice, as well as Church architecture.

The document isn't final, but, in its current form, these snippets are a welcome breath of fresh air. I look forward to what it says when it is finally published.

Miriamisms III

Earlier I forgot to mention another funny part of Miriam's bedtime ritual. We keep her toothbrush & paste in a little cup for her, separate from our own. So at the end of every toothbrushing session, she has to put everything back JUST SO. Once when we were in a hurry trying to get her ready for bed, one of us plunked everything back in her little cup. But Miriam let out a shriek and said "NO!!! It has to WEAD!" and proceeded to readjust her toothbrush so the bristles were facing the toothpaste, so the brush could read.

Miriam often likes to request "Tuppence a Bag" (or as she used to say, "Tuppits a Tha") from Mary Poppins for her bedtime lullaby. As you may remember from an earlir post, the words "something something" featured prominently at the beginning of the song, b/c Mommy couldn't remember the actual lyrics. Well, once when Miriam was watching the movie I made a point of staying to listen to that song, instead of retreating into the office like I normally do. So the next time Miriam requested it as a lullaby, I started singing the correct words, but she stopped me and said, "No, Mommy, sing 'something something'!" She won't let me sing it correctly even now. Indeed, another time when she was watching the movie, after the song Miriam said, amazed, "Mommy, she didn't say 'something something'!!"


I meant to write about this a long time ago, but kept forgetting until now. Since Miriam is among those numbers blessed with long, thick hair, windy days are a trial. Like her Mommy, she hates having hair blown in her face. Last fall, whenever we'd go for a walk on a windy day, Miriam would shriek at the trees. Finally I figured out what she was yelling: "TREES!! STOP WINDING!!!" I just about fell over. I guess she subscribes to Calvin's theory that wind comes from trees sneezing or something!