Sunday, January 22, 2012
Update
Well, I admit, I’ve really fallen flat about keeping up my Tumblr. I have been blogging at Catholic Newlywed, but I’ve failed to put each post over here. Now that my little one is here, my blogging time is limited, and this is one of the things that’s gone by the wayside. In the future I’ll try to do better about putting the links to my blog posts (although I probably won’t be posting the whole thing here). You can, of course, also follow me on Blogger, on Twitter (even on Pinterest).
In the meantime, here are the links to all the posts I’ve written since my last post that I put up here:
7 Quick Takes Friday (Take 39)
Baby on a Budget Series Introduction
7 Quick Takes Friday (Take 40)
On Marrying Young (Or Not), Guest Post: How I Met my Vocation
My One Month Old
7 Quick Takes Friday (Take 41): Best Posts of 2011
Baby on a Budget Guest Post: Happily a One Income Family
Baby on a Budget: What You Really Need
7 Quick Takes Friday (Take 42)
How We Cloth Diaper Our Newborn
Time of My Life
Guest Post at The Alluring World: Growing Up in a Mixed-Faith Family
7 Quick Takes Friday (Take 43)
My Sister’s Necklace
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
My Two Week Old
From the moment she was born, I’ve had some serious anxiety about my baby girl growing up. I loved her in that very first moment after birth, when my husband placed her on my tummy. She was small and delicate and so very, very beautiful. Today she is two weeks old and already, she is so big! I can’t believe how quickly babies grow. Now I understand why so many people told me while I was pregnant to enjoy every minute with my baby. That’s exactly what I intend to do. 
Lucia is such a sweet baby. She loves to be hugged and cuddled. She also loves to be swaddled. My favorite moments with her are our quiet times, especially when I’m breastfeeding her. She gets this sweet little smile right after she’s done nursing, as she drifts off into a milk-induced coma. I also enjoy dancing with her - today we danced around the living room to Christmas music and she stared up at me with her mouth wide open.
So far, she hasn’t liked her swing or bouncer, and while she’ll sleep for a while in her Rock ‘n’ Play, she’d much prefer to sleep on the couch, in mama’s arms, or on daddy’s chest. She sleeps in our bed with us at night.
Lulu loves staring out the window, or better yet, going on walks. Although we’ve gone on several outings in the last week, I don’t think she’s noticed because she’s fallen asleep as soon as we’ve put her in the car seat and has barely woken while we’ve been out. We’ve gone to Mass three times since she was born and she’s slept through it entirely each time (which I’m a little surprised about since she was kicking and dancing in my belly all Mass long when I was pregnant).
I don’t want my baby to grow up, but since she must, I can’t wait to see what she’ll do next. And I’m taking tons of pictures and video so I can always look back and remember my sweet baby newborn.
Friday, December 16, 2011
7 Quick Takes Friday (Take 38)
I can’t believe it’s Friday again already! I haven’t had much time online this week between caring for my baby girl and spending time with my mom before she leaves on Sunday. I’ve had a million blog posts in my head but they never made it onto the blog, so for this week’s quick takes, I’m going to do short summaries of the posts I would have written had I had the chance:
—- 1 —-
Last Sunday was Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent. Until this year, I never really understood what that meant, other than that the priest wears pink, but between this great post by Kaylene at Letters from Momma and a great homily by the priest, I feel like I finally have a solid understanding of what sets this Sunday apart. I hope you had a beautiful, joyful Gaudete Sunday.
Breastfeeding is going really well. Other than having some difficulty latching on the right side the first two days or so, Lucia hasn’t had any problems. I was prepared for difficulties and for their to be a painful period of engorgement, but no such issues so far. From what I’ve heard from many mothers, it’s not typical for breastfeeding to go so smoothly and I am very thankful it has been so wonderful for us. Breastfeeding has been such a special mother-daughter bonding time.
Monday was the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Having learned so much about Our Lady over the years in my many Spanish and history classes (I was a double major in Spanish and history with an emphasis in Latin American History), I have a particular love of this apparition of our Blessed Mother. (By the way, don’t you just love learning about Catholic history in a secular class? I love being reminded of how crucial the Church was in the history of the western world.)
We started using cloth diapers Tuesday and we’ve really liked them so far. We are using almost all prefolds with covers, but we do have a few fitteds and one pocket diaper. We were waiting until Lucia’s cord fell off to start and I was a little afraid that we would get too comfortable with disposables in the meantime, but I’ve found cloth diapers to be just as easy. Of course, my mom is still here to do laundry for me and once she leaves on Sunday I may have a more difficult time keeping up with cloth diaper laundry. We are also using cloth wipes (Lucia loves them, especially since we have a wipe warmer!).
Tuesday was St. Lucy’s feast day (it was a big week for Catholics!). Obviously, Lucia is too young for us to celebrate her namesake’s feast day but it was still a very special day for us. I’ve been thinking of ways to celebrate with her when she is old enough to understand. Do you celebrate a feast day with your child? What does that celebration look like in your household?
The weather here is beautiful. We took Lucia for a walk today and I was only wearing a light sweater which I had to take off after we got started. 60s in December? I certainly am not complaining, but it definitely does not feel like Christmas is around the corner. We are going to Colorado to spend the holidays with our families and the cold weather is going to be a rude awakening.
I can’t believe it’s Friday again already! I haven’t had much time online this week between caring for my baby girl and spending time with my mom before she leaves on Sunday. I’ve had a million blog posts in my head but they never made it onto the blog, so for this week’s quick takes, I’m going to do short summaries of the posts I would have written had I had the chance:
—- 1 —-
Last Sunday was Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent. Until this year, I never really understood what that meant, other than that the priest wears pink, but between this great post by Kaylene at Letters from Momma and a great homily by the priest, I feel like I finally have a solid understanding of what sets this Sunday apart. I hope you had a beautiful, joyful Gaudete Sunday.
Breastfeeding is going really well. Other than having some difficulty latching on the right side the first two days or so, Lucia hasn’t had any problems. I was prepared for difficulties and for their to be a painful period of engorgement, but no such issues so far. From what I’ve heard from many mothers, it’s not typical for breastfeeding to go so smoothly and I am very thankful it has been so wonderful for us. Breastfeeding has been such a special mother-daughter bonding time.
Monday was the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Having learned so much about Our Lady over the years in my many Spanish and history classes (I was a double major in Spanish and history with an emphasis in Latin American History), I have a particular love of this apparition of our Blessed Mother. (By the way, don’t you just love learning about Catholic history in a secular class? I love being reminded of how crucial the Church was in the history of the western world.)
We started using cloth diapers Tuesday and we’ve really liked them so far. We are using almost all prefolds with covers, but we do have a few fitteds and one pocket diaper. We were waiting until Lucia’s cord fell off to start and I was a little afraid that we would get too comfortable with disposables in the meantime, but I’ve found cloth diapers to be just as easy. Of course, my mom is still here to do laundry for me and once she leaves on Sunday I may have a more difficult time keeping up with cloth diaper laundry. We are also using cloth wipes (Lucia loves them, especially since we have a wipe warmer!).
Tuesday was St. Lucy’s feast day (it was a big week for Catholics!). Obviously, Lucia is too young for us to celebrate her namesake’s feast day but it was still a very special day for us. I’ve been thinking of ways to celebrate with her when she is old enough to understand. Do you celebrate a feast day with your child? What does that celebration look like in your household?
The weather here is beautiful. We took Lucia for a walk today and I was only wearing a light sweater which I had to take off after we got started. 60s in December? I certainly am not complaining, but it definitely does not feel like Christmas is around the corner. We are going to Colorado to spend the holidays with our families and the cold weather is going to be a rude awakening.
Friday, December 9, 2011
7 Quick Takes Friday (Take 37) - Newborn Edition
My husband and I were blessed with our first child, a beautiful baby girl named
Lucia Rose, this past Monday. Here are a few things I’ve learned in my four days of motherhood so far:
To trust (and love) my body. I am capable of growing a healthy baby for nine (er, ten…) months in my womb, giving childbirth naturally, and providing her sole nourishment for the first several months of her life. God knew what he was doing when He created woman!
To listen to my body. If it’s capable of doing so much, it probably knows what I should be doing much better than I do. When I’m hungry, I need to eat. When I’m thirsty, I need to drink. When I’m tired (and the baby’s sleeping), I need to sleep. There is someone else depending on me now so I need to take care of myself.
That newborns are tiny. I know, this should be obvious, but when I was washing and putting baby clothes away while I was pregnant, the clothes seemed like they would be too small. When the midwife weighed her and said she was eight pounds, I couldn’t believe it; I thought an eight pound newborn would be much bigger, but she looked so small in my arms. And she is absolutely swimming in some of her newborn clothes. Take a look at how tiny Lucia is in her swing:
That there are things much, much better than sleep. Like staring at the little face of my sleeping daughter. I know I should nap when she’s sleeping (see number 2) but I hate to miss anything, even watching her sleep.
That even when you are a mommy yourself, you still need your mommy to take care of you. My mom flew in Wednesday night and has been helping with the baby, especially at night so David and I can get some sleep. It’s been wonderful.
That half the joy of having a baby is seeing other people share in your joy. I love watching the look on my mom’s face as she holds her baby granddaughter. And hearing my dad get choked up every night when he is Skyping with her.
That people can be so generous and caring. We’ve received countless warm wishes for our daughter since her birth, including many from casual acquaintances I wouldn’t have expected to hear from. We got a box from my brother-in-law’s fiancée overflowing with pretty pink baby girl clothes for her niece. Each person in my husband’s lab group is bringing us a meal one night this week (including several bachelors and the couple that had their baby last week!). And I can’t forget to mention all the kind thoughts and prayers left by people here on my blog – thank you! We are truly blessed to have so many people care about our little girl.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Our little one finally arrived on Monday! Head over to my Catholic Newlywed blog to check out her first picture!
Head over to my Catholic Newlywed blog to read my review of The Church and New Media!
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Patiently Awaiting
For you O Lord, my soul in stillness waits,
Truly my hope is in you”
On this, the second Sunday of Advent, my thoughts have turned to patience. And not just because I am a week past my due date and attempting to be patient as I await the birth of my first child. No, I’m thinking about the patience in which we are called to wait for the return of Christ. He calls us to wait patiently, but not to wait idly.
“Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way.
A voice of one crying out in the desert:
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.”
Do I spread the message of the Lord? Am I preparing myself and others for his return? What does this look like in the modern world? Unlike John the Baptist, I am not called to preach in the wilderness. But I am called to live my life in accordance with my faith, to be a living example of the message of Christ. I am called to raise my child in a Christian household. I am called to pray for my husband and to help him to be more faithful. And perhaps this blog is also a way I can share the faith (later this week, I’m sharing my review of The Church and New Media, a book that can help all of us understand how we can be like John the Baptist, sharing the message of Christ through social media).
Kaylene of Letters from Momma recently wrote a post about her
Advent goals. Although I’m a week late on this, I would like take inspiration from her post and make my own goals, not just for Advent, but rather New Year’s resolutions of sorts. Advent marks the beginning of the liturgical year, and I want to make goals for spiritual growth in the upcoming year.
In January, I chose a “
word of the year” to concentrate on. I chose the word obedience. I feel that by focusing on just this one virtue, I was able to lay down a bit of my pride and become a little more obedient to God’s will. Of course, this is still an area that I will continue to work on, that I will continue to need to work on, but I look forward to adding a new virtue to enhance. So this year, I will be working on patience. I am notoriously impatient (just ask my husband) and I feel like this is particularly harmful to my prayer life. Sometimes, you just need to sit and listen, to be patient and let God answer your prayers in his time, in his way. That approach has never really gone too well for me…
I don’t want to overwhelm myself with goals for this year, I know myself well and if I make too many goals, I won’t accomplish any of them. This upcoming year, the goals will make themselves. I will have to learn to be a mother and to balance that with being a wife. So my second goal is simple: to go easy on myself. I tend to be a perfectionist, at least in certain areas of my life, and I want to learn to let go, to enjoy life, and when I make mistakes, to forgive myself.
I hope your Advent has been blessed so far and that you continue to grow in faith as you prepare for the arrival of Christ!
Friday, December 2, 2011
7 Quick Takes Friday (Take 36)
No baby yet! I am currently five days “overdue” and trying to be very patient as we wait to meet our little one. At least as I write this on Thursday evening, there are no signs of labor starting.
When we moved here, several others from my husband’s lab group moved here as well, including another couple who was expecting. The wife was due the day before me (Saturday) and she went into labor on her due date! The baby wasn’t born until Monday morning after a long labor and David and I were able to go visit the new baby Tuesday night. It was so bittersweet holding their little boy! He was so adorable and made me even more anxious to meet our own baby, especially when watching my husband hold him. I can’t wait to see my husband tenderly hold his own child!
David and I went to a penance service at our church on Monday. I had been wanting to go to confession before I went into labor just in case, and it’s been too long anyway. It was really nice to see the church filled with people who were wanting to go to confession and many priests there to hear them. I’ve heard a lot of sad statistics about how few Catholics take advantage of the sacrament; I wonder if penance services were offered more often, would more people go to confession? Perhaps the communal aspect would help assuage some of the fears that people have about going?
I bought the baby’s Christmas present yesterday! I really wasn’t going to get the baby anything (Does that sound bad? He/she doesn’t need anything and there are so many people that are just waiting to spoil him/her.) but there was a really great deal on this children’s nativity set and I just couldn’t pass it up. I love the idea of a nativity scene that kids can actually play with even if my little one won’t be able to play with it until next year.
I am two more presents closer to finishing my Christmas shopping. I am particularly excited about the crucifix we bought for my brother-in-law and his fiancée (it was my husband’s idea!). I’m not done buying all the gifts like I had wanted to be before the baby is born (perhaps that’s why he/she isn’t here yet?) but in reality, I still haven’t completed even half of my before baby goals, but I’m surprisingly okay with that. I’m sure everything that needs to get done will get done, and if things don’t get completed, maybe they weren’t that important to begin with.
My husband finally finished the fellowship application he’s been working on for months! He’s been working so hard on it and if you ask me, I think he’s very deserving of it (although I might be a little partial). He’s just waiting for one last support letter from a professor he would work with if he received the fellowship. He’s been asking her for it for weeks and has yet to receive it and we’re both starting to get really nervous. It’s due on Monday and he really needs to upload it, especially since we may have to head off to the birth center at any time if I go into labor. I find it very frustrating when people in a professional setting fail to complete their obligations in a timely manner. If she wasn’t able to do it within the time constraints, she should have told him so!
I won a box of Godiva chocolates in a giveaway earlier this week! It is supposed to arrive in the mail today. So if my baby doesn’t arrive today, at least I have another delivery to look forward to!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Guest Post at NFP and Me: NFP For Achieving a Pregnancy
Katie of NFP and Me graciously offered me the opportunity to write a guest post about my experiences using Natural Family Planning for her series on the differences between NFP and contraception. After much thought, I decided to write about using NFP to conceive, an aspect of NFP that I feel if often overlooked, yet is something that clearly sets it apart from contraception. Please go on over and read the post and while you’re at it check out some of the great posts Katie’s written!
