When I called my parents the morning of October 7 to let them know that Brian's mom had passed away, my dad was obviously upset when he answered the phone. At first, I thought he was just upset as he knew why I was calling so early in the morning. Then, I quickly figured out that mom wasn't feeling well, and dad was VERY worried about her.
"St. Dar" had already been out to check mom out,and she thought maybe mom just had the flu. This helped to calm dad down, but we all were still a bit worried. I spoke to mom a few times throughout the day on Friday, and knew she still wasn't feeling well, but she seemed better than she was that morning. I was a little surprised when I called dad at 9:30 that night to see how she was doing, only to find they were in the emergency room.
They admitted mom, and they determined she had a bowel blockage. We were hoping that it would clear itself, but it didn't, so they did surgery on Monday afternoon. They found that mom had several adhesions that were wrapped around her bowels, which was causing her issues. They freed everything up, but she was in the hospital for nearly 2 weeks.
Mom has spent the last few weeks at home recovering. She is still very tired, and trying to get her digestive system back in normal working order.
She returned to work on Monday of this week, but only part time. I spoke with her Monday night and she was exhausted.
Please continue praying for her!
Our Family
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
another amazing moment for mommy
Sunday night, I returned home with the boys while Brian stayed in Toledo for a concert with his friend Jay. It was just me and my boys, and I was soaking up every moment!
As I prepared to give the boys a bath, Lincoln kept asking for a book (he loves to have books read to him). I calmly explained to him that we needed to take a bath, then mommy would read any book he wanted. I even asked him which book he wanted to read....to which he replied "Biscuit".
Now, please understand that Biscuit is a book that we have read for months to the boys. They love it as it is about a puppy, includes "Woof" about a hundred times, and is very simple for little kids. However, we hadn't read Biscuit for 3-4 days...so I was BLOWN away. I couldn't believe that he could tell me a specific book that he wanted to read!
How did my little baby get to be so smart, so quickly?
I just love that little man....
As I prepared to give the boys a bath, Lincoln kept asking for a book (he loves to have books read to him). I calmly explained to him that we needed to take a bath, then mommy would read any book he wanted. I even asked him which book he wanted to read....to which he replied "Biscuit".
Now, please understand that Biscuit is a book that we have read for months to the boys. They love it as it is about a puppy, includes "Woof" about a hundred times, and is very simple for little kids. However, we hadn't read Biscuit for 3-4 days...so I was BLOWN away. I couldn't believe that he could tell me a specific book that he wanted to read!
How did my little baby get to be so smart, so quickly?
I just love that little man....
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Must be doing something rght...
Parents frequently quesiton how they are raising their kids. Do I praise my kids enough? Do I discipline them the right way? We want so desparately to be "successful parents" by raising stable, strong, intelligent, and well-rounded children.
For us, faith is an intregal part of that equation.
We took the boys to church for the first time when they were just over a week old, and had them baptised the following weekend. We want to raise them in the Catholic faith. We carefully chose their Godparents - selecting those who would help us teach them the Catholic faith, but also set an example for how to treat people, and live their life honoring God.
These were decisions that Brian and I made for our boys.
Now that they are older, teaching faith is getting harder.
Taking the boys to church is very challenging. They are little boys...they don't want to sit down and be quiet. The want to run around and make loud noises. We continue to take them, but there are weeks that we don't get much out of church. This is where my story begins.
We were having a rough time in church over a month ago. We had tried getting the boys to read books, gave them snacks - nothing seemed to work. Lincoln was unusually fussy, so I scooped him up in my arms. I tried talking to him softly to settle him down, but nothing worked. As a desperate attempt, I pointed to the crucifix that hangs over the alter, and told him that was Jesus. I instantly had his attention. I continued, explaining to him that we were at church to talk and pray to Jesus, but we needed to be quiet. Next, he placed his little finger over his persed lips, and said "Shhhhh...". My heart melted.
One down - one to go.
Jackson is definitely a harder nut to crack. He enjoyed looking at Jesus, and Shhhh'ed me as well, but exploring won out. I declared a minor victory for that week.
It was a few days later that I realized it wasn't a minor victory, but a slam dunk. We were taking the boys upstairs to do baths, and one of them pointed at the crucifix/sick call in our downstairs hallway and said "Je-sus. Shhhhh." Both Brian and I did a double take, but then our little guy said it again. He remembered seeing Jesus on the cross at church, and recognized Him right there in our home. We continued upstairs for bathtime, and were astounded when the boys also found the crucifix that hangs in our bedroom, just outside the door from where we do baths. We again heard "Jesus".
This has continued over the past several weeks, and has become a part of our nightly bath and bedtime routine. We say "Hi" to Jesus when we go upstairs for baths, and we tell Jesus goodnight when it is bedtime.
Somewhere along the way, the boys seemed a bit confused by how Jesus could be in the hallway downstairs, then beat them upstairs. Brian quickly explained this to them as Jesus is everywhere (like Brutus...but that's another story). The boys have embraced that understanding - Jesus IS everywhere.
A few weekends ago, we went to visit mom to see how she was progressing. We had to find Jesus. That same weekend, we went to visit my Grandmother, and let me tell you she was beeming when the boys found her crucifix and proudly informed all of us that it was "Jesus". She couldn't believe they had really said it, but we assured her she had heard correctly, and shared the story above with her.
Since that weekend, I've also made note of other ways that we have taught our boys the importance of faith, just through our everyday actions. We always say prayer before dinner. Lately, we have actually been saying "Are we ready to pray", and I'm very proud to say that some nights when we do this, I've actually seen the boys put their spoon/fork/food down, and stretch out their hands to Brian and I so that we can all hold hands around the table as we pray. Additionally, the boys are starting to say "Amen" at the end of the prayer.
I pray that God will continue to guide us in raising our little boys in His likeness. And on those tough days, I'm going to remind myself that our boys know who Jesus is, so we must be doing SOMETHING right. Right?
For us, faith is an intregal part of that equation.
We took the boys to church for the first time when they were just over a week old, and had them baptised the following weekend. We want to raise them in the Catholic faith. We carefully chose their Godparents - selecting those who would help us teach them the Catholic faith, but also set an example for how to treat people, and live their life honoring God.
These were decisions that Brian and I made for our boys.
Now that they are older, teaching faith is getting harder.
Taking the boys to church is very challenging. They are little boys...they don't want to sit down and be quiet. The want to run around and make loud noises. We continue to take them, but there are weeks that we don't get much out of church. This is where my story begins.
We were having a rough time in church over a month ago. We had tried getting the boys to read books, gave them snacks - nothing seemed to work. Lincoln was unusually fussy, so I scooped him up in my arms. I tried talking to him softly to settle him down, but nothing worked. As a desperate attempt, I pointed to the crucifix that hangs over the alter, and told him that was Jesus. I instantly had his attention. I continued, explaining to him that we were at church to talk and pray to Jesus, but we needed to be quiet. Next, he placed his little finger over his persed lips, and said "Shhhhh...". My heart melted.
One down - one to go.
Jackson is definitely a harder nut to crack. He enjoyed looking at Jesus, and Shhhh'ed me as well, but exploring won out. I declared a minor victory for that week.
It was a few days later that I realized it wasn't a minor victory, but a slam dunk. We were taking the boys upstairs to do baths, and one of them pointed at the crucifix/sick call in our downstairs hallway and said "Je-sus. Shhhhh." Both Brian and I did a double take, but then our little guy said it again. He remembered seeing Jesus on the cross at church, and recognized Him right there in our home. We continued upstairs for bathtime, and were astounded when the boys also found the crucifix that hangs in our bedroom, just outside the door from where we do baths. We again heard "Jesus".
This has continued over the past several weeks, and has become a part of our nightly bath and bedtime routine. We say "Hi" to Jesus when we go upstairs for baths, and we tell Jesus goodnight when it is bedtime.
Somewhere along the way, the boys seemed a bit confused by how Jesus could be in the hallway downstairs, then beat them upstairs. Brian quickly explained this to them as Jesus is everywhere (like Brutus...but that's another story). The boys have embraced that understanding - Jesus IS everywhere.
A few weekends ago, we went to visit mom to see how she was progressing. We had to find Jesus. That same weekend, we went to visit my Grandmother, and let me tell you she was beeming when the boys found her crucifix and proudly informed all of us that it was "Jesus". She couldn't believe they had really said it, but we assured her she had heard correctly, and shared the story above with her.
Since that weekend, I've also made note of other ways that we have taught our boys the importance of faith, just through our everyday actions. We always say prayer before dinner. Lately, we have actually been saying "Are we ready to pray", and I'm very proud to say that some nights when we do this, I've actually seen the boys put their spoon/fork/food down, and stretch out their hands to Brian and I so that we can all hold hands around the table as we pray. Additionally, the boys are starting to say "Amen" at the end of the prayer.
I pray that God will continue to guide us in raising our little boys in His likeness. And on those tough days, I'm going to remind myself that our boys know who Jesus is, so we must be doing SOMETHING right. Right?
A little late...November special dates
Birthdays:
- November 1 - Uncle Bob Gels turned 74
- November 3 - Daphne Wolff turned 30
- November 12 - RJ Willinger turns 31
- November 14 - Knox Willinger turns 2, Stephanie Wappes turns 24
- November 20 - Alissa O'Connor turns 8
- November 28 - Pete Hug turns 89
- November 1- Brian and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary!
- Novmeber 14 - Sean and Beth O'Connor celebrate their 13th wedding anniversary
- Novemer 21 - Rodney and Dennis celebrate 22 years together!
- November 25 - Dennis and LouisAnn Brunswick celebrate their 57th wedding anniversary
- November 28 - we remember Brian's Grandma and Grandpa Hart's wedding anniversary
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