Peter is a month old today. I’ll be honest, he hasn’t settled into much of routine and some days he’s awake and alert all day and some days he’s a sleeper. Some days he’s super fussy and pretty much needs to be held all the time (usually on a day I have things to do and he won’t permit being held by any other person.) Some days he’s just happy as a clam and thrilled to have his big brother or sister hold him.
The kids love him very much, to the point where I need to shoo them away because they are always touching or kissing him and it is keeping him from sleeping.
He got to meet his godfather on Monday, the 4th and was baptized on Tuesday. His godmother was not able to be here, however he was able to talk with her on the phone that evening.
Going back to routine, now that I think about it, if I nurse him around 11pm, he’s usually good until about 330 or 4 and then he’ll nurse again, then sleep until about 730. So I guess he’s getting a good chunk of sleep during the night (which means, in theory, that I am as well, ha.)
His favorite activities are snuggling, sleeping, and talking to the ceiling fan. I’m sure I caught him have a deep philosophical conversation with it today.
So there you have it, a sleep deprived mama blogging about her youngest 🙂 It’s not profound, but I’ll be happy I did this so that I can remember the things he did at this point.
When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist,others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and bloodhas not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:13-19)
Happy Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul! Today we are going to celebrate this little guy with homemade Tikka Masala and ice cream. 🙂
Welcome to the outside, Peter! As is tradition on my little corner of the internet, I’ll share with you the story of his birth.
On June 7th, I received a phone call from a real estate agent that a couple wanted to look at our house at 9am on the 8th. I agreed to the showing then let the agent know I was 39 weeks pregnant, so there was a slight possibility that we might have to cancel if I go into labor. I didn’t think I would but you never know, right? So we spent the day getting things in shape and ready to show the house. Joshua came home from work and spent the evening mowing the lawn and we all went to bed exhausted.
I would say that labor probably started around Midnight, maybe 1230. I woke up to use the bathroom and noticed some contractions. I wasn’t trying to time them, mainly because I was in denial about being in labor, after all, we did have a showing in just a few hours. I tossed and turned for a while and went back and forth to the bathroom all while unofficially timing the contractions. They were only 10 minutes apart, so I figured I was just dealing with the “pre-labor” that my body likes to do before getting down to business a few days later.
I continued the tossing and turning and going to the bathroom for a while longer, then I just couldn’t get comfortable at all. I was willing myself to sleep in between contractions and praying the Divine Mercy chaplet during them, still denying the fact that I could be in labor. I had a showing at 9am folks, I want to sell this house!
I think it was around 230 I decided to move around a bit more, to stop the contractions. When I stood up, my water broke, except I didn’t think it was my water breaking, I just thought I’d had an accident. Then the sharp pains started. I stumbled over to Joshua, startled him awake and told him I was having some pretty hard contractions and that I just needed him to time them.
We laid in bed timing them for a good long while and they were irregular but getting closer together. I was also shaking a bit during them, having a hard time breathing through them, and sweating as each one came to an end. We still tried to deny that I was in labor (showing at 9am, showing at 9am!!). Another trip to the bathroom confirmed that my water was in fact broken (because no one has that much water in her bladder, no one) and I said to call the midwife.
After calling her, we moved to get the birth stuff set up the rest of the way. Realizing that it was nearing dawn and not sure how much longer I had, I asked Joshua to move the birth pool into the bedroom, so I could labor without the kids around when they woke up. He moved it and began to fill it up. I wasn’t in denial as much at this point and I was hoping it was real. With each labor, I have a hard time making the call to the midwife, because I’m afraid of not really being in labor, so I was hoping I’d made the right decision in calling her. (Thinking, for me, in labor is very interesting, panic about one thing, not worry about another, it’s strange.)
I got into the pool and just sat there for a bit, working through each contraction, and trying to hurry it along and then trying to slow things down, so the midwife could make it. Honestly, I knew that if I moved to my hands and knees, I’d have that baby in about two minutes, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it yet. The midwife arrived, she checked me and said I was an inch away from having a baby. Thank goodness. I was still terrified about that part though, so I stayed put on my back. After some encouragement, I moved to my hands and knees, pushed once, pushed again and had a baby. (I may have yelled at them to get the baby out of me (like hey, pull it if you have to, I can’t do this!). Then he was here. Peter René, born at 645am.
A few of the kids were up and we sent Karol up to get the other ones so they could meet their new baby brother. The cord was cut and then Joshua took Peter out to the living room so they could look at him and the midwife and her assistant could attend to me.
So there you go, the birth of Peter René. Joshua did call the real estate agent and cancelled the showing. They had a good laugh together because I had told her I didn’t think I’d have the baby this week.
After I was cleaned up, the midwife and her assistant left and I snuggled with Peter. I would say that I was pretty much in shock that he was on the outside already. I’m very thankful that labor and delivery went as smoothly as it did. I didn’t feel like it has been 7 hours, those went by pretty quickly.
I normally pray or try to pray during contractions but this time there was something different and as we prayed a Hail Mary or the Memorare, or invoked the saints, the contractions though strong, weren’t as painful as they had been with previous children. It was awesome to know that I was wrapped in Mary’s mantle and the whole communion of saints were praying for me.
This morning, two men were ordained for the Diocese of Savannah. One of the men, Father John Wright was at our parish for six months in 2014, so we got to know him a bit. Sadly, because I’m due any day now, the drive to Savannah for the ordination was out of the question, but thankfully we were able to watch the ordination on line.
I was getting some screenshots of the ordination for the vocation page, this one being my favorite:
Father Wright is hugging our pastor Father Ferguson, look at the smile on his face!
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, in Latin Corpus Christi. It is a day within the Church calendar given to the faithful in order to contemplate this great gift of Jesus’ own Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the form of bread and wine. It was before the Eucharist that St. Thomas Aquinas once wrote, “Godhead here in hiding whom I do adore, masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more; see, Lord, at Thy service low here lies a heart lost, all lost in wonder at the God Thou art!†Such contemplation upon the mystery of the Eucharist, which is the Source and Summit of our Christian life, will necessarily lend itself to us perceiving how the Eucharist is truly the heart that gives life to any Catholic family, meaning that we should begin or continue to avail our lives to the life of grace by embracing in our lives the mystery of the Eucharist.
This is why as a parish family we see great importance in adoration. Adoring the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, the sacrament of God’s infinite generosity towards man, is our generous response to Him in this sacrament of love. These moments before the Lord are simple and yet very profound! As one man once described it to St. John Mary Vianney, “I look at Him, and He looks at me.†What could be more profound then those quiet moments before the Presence of our Lord? It is during this time in adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament that we come to the Source and Summit of our Christian lives in order to configure our lives more to that of Christ.
To encourage more people to take advantage of this opportunity to spend time before our Lord, St. John Bosco once wrote, “Do you want the Lord to give you many graces? Visit Him often. Do you want Him to give you few graces? Visit Him rarely. Do you want the devil to attack you? Visit Jesus rarely in the Blessed Sacrament. Do you want him to flee from you? Visit Jesus often…take refuge often at the feet of Jesus.†Also I encourage families to make an effort to come early to Mass or stay a little while after Mass in order to adore our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament, to take refuge often at the feet of Jesus. Faithfulness here will unquestionably lead to fruitfulness in your life.
I made pizza in cast iron pans tonight. They were amazing, if I do say so myself. Here’s the recipe I used. Just a note: I made the dough at noon and put the pizzas in the oven at 530, I hear it’s even better if you let it go overnight.
I had my midwife appointment today. Everything is going well and I’m at 37 weeks, so this baby can come at any time. (No really, kid, come out soon, please!)
We did an impromptu trip to the park after my appointment and since I hadn’t planned for it, we stopped by Joshua’s office for ice and water. It’s always fun to stop by “work” and hang out for a bit.
The kids told me they were bored at the park. I can’t even. 😉
I spent the morning working on plans for the next school year. We’ve used Kolbe for the past five years, however this year I’m making a switch to Memoria Press for most of the subjects. I really like the way that Memoria’s books look and how their subjects are laid out as well. We’ve used it for Latin, Composition, and History for a few years now, so I’m making the plunge for a few other subjects. I still plan on using Kolbe for Math and Religion though.
I do think I’m crazy for making a switch like this for a school year that begins a month after I have a baby. However, if we are making lots of changes, why not with schooling as well?
Have I mentioned that the baby is hanging out on my hip? Have I mentioned that it’s not pleasant? It gets worse after driving because of all the moving my leg has to do.
