…however, Benedict stood up today. He was cruising around the floor when he found a plastic tote we put toys in, over turned on the floor. He put both hands on it, slipped his feet under him and stood up!

I was reaching for my phone when he fell over, tears, tears and more tears, but fear not, he is all good. I am sure Joshua will want to have him try it again tonight, so I am sure I will have pictures then.

For the record, he is six months, two weeks and two days old.

Today, March 19th, all the Catholic World celebrates the Solemnity of Saint Joseph. Saint Joseph was the man chosen by our Father in Heaven to be the foster father of our Lord on earth. Our son, Karol Jozef, celebrates, in a special way, today’s feast, as he was, in part, named after Saint Joseph. In addition to being the patron of our first born, Saint Joseph is also the patron of fathers, the dying, carpenters and the Universal Church.

Tonight, when our family prayed Vespers together, we sang together this hymn:
Look down to us, Saint Joseph,
Protector of Our Lord,
Who followed you through deserts,
And gave you blessed reward;
Our foes are yet about us,
Be strength now at our side,
Be light against the darkness.
Saint Joseph, be our guide!

We venerate your justice,
The gospels praise your name,
You are the saint all humble,
Who gained eternal fame;
In your devoted family
Our souls in trust confide,
Direct our way to heaven.
Saint Joseph, be our guide.

Melody: Dutch Melody 76.76.D
Music: Holland, 1539
Peoples Mass Book, 1966
Text: Michael Gannon

Today I post, asking begging for advice. I have a sweet, wonderful, funny and charming two year old girl, who is very strong willed and inquisitive. Right now, I am sitting on one end of the couch, while she is tucked in at the other end of the couch, for her daily nap. Except she isn’t sleeping.

I can hear you now, put her in bed, not on the couch. Well, that is where she normally naps, but the past few weeks, she has decided not to nap but to removed all items of clothing from the dressers, removed sheets from the bed, take mattresses off the bed and lock herself in the closet or, she is walking through the house looking to play with someone/thing.  I check on her every three to five minutes, and sometimes, this damage was done in the time it took for me to take a bathroom break. Yesterday, I sat with her for a bit and she fell asleep pretty quickly, but I was unable to monitor the two older kids. Today, Benedict was still awake, so I made the bed for her on the couch.

I have also put her in bed with a swat on the well padded behind, which lead to tears of great sorrow…which only last the time it takes me to walk down the hallway, then she is back to “having fun”.

I am honestly not able to get much work done around the house in the afternoon because of this and am somewhat frustrated by it. I also will admit, it is nice to have 10 minutes to sit and relax in the afternoon, which with her lack of a nap, doesn’t happen. If I let her stay up, we have major melt downs around the time I start making dinner.

In addition to the naptime situation, there is the inquisitive side of her nature, the one the finds her in the bathroom, climbing on things (like from the toilet to the sink, to open the medicine cabinet and play), all done in the time it takes for me to start a load of laundry. I honestly have to keep my eyes on her every.second.of.the day and it is getting old.

She is child #3 and the other two were not so trying. I have tried giving her activities, letting her watch a special movie or putting on soothing music to keep her occupied, but she is drawn to dangerous or bad things.

So, veterans mamas, did you have a two year old like this? What did you do?

author of To Save A Thousand Souls, was on EWTN Bookmark. This episode is 27 minutes long, but well worth it.

Though the book is written for  men discerning the priesthood, Father  Brannen tells of hearing from parents and grandparents  that the book has helped them in helping their children/grandchildren seek out their vocations.

An easy, yet fulfilling read, this book is, as I have said before, a must have for family and parish libraries!

…whatever you call them, do you wear them?

I used to, religiously, don  nylons each time I put on a skirt or a dress.  Then I started wearing longer skirts and the rule became “if the skirt is below my knees, I won’t wear nylons”. (I think this drove my mother crazy when learned that I didn’t wear nylons.) I didn’t  even wear nylons on my wedding day.

Later cotton tights became popular and I actually liked wearing those. In time, my skirts got longer and knee socks covered everything that needed covering, so I quit wearing nylons all together. I did try to return to wearing nylons, but I think pregnancy has removed any desired to have something tight against my belly ever again.

Now my skirts and dresses go well below my knees, I wear strappy sandal-y shoes most of the time and totally forgo nylons or tights. I think the not wearing of nylons may be something that many woman my age are in to. Am I right?  Do my northern friends wear them in the winter? I notice that women at church wear them in the winter down here,  (but then again, quite a few women down here wear boots when it is 60 degrees).

*Today, Benedict rolled over from his back to his front. He did it like he has been doing it every day for his entire life. He has been army crawling for a while, but now he is attacking toys. The Lego box, Lincoln Log box and plastic animal box are all fair game as far as he is concerned. He grabs a hold of the top and pulls it over, then empties the contents. His older brother and sister are not amused when they have to clean it up.

*I am continuing to experiment with Quinoa. My second recipe was a major hit for both a meatless meal and with meat, using the leftovers.  Check for the recipe at Family Hearth.

*Our Steam-vac arrived today. I am looking forward to cleaning the sofas. Our vacuum cleaner was also ready to be picked up from the shop, so Joshua did that on his way home from work. It is nice to have it back, I missed it, no really, I did.

*Back to the Quinoa, I paid quite a bit for it at the local organic store so I checked around the ‘net to see if there was a cheaper way to get it and thankfully, I have. I also discovered that there is pasta made out of Quinoa and Quiooa flour. I have been reading about grains and how the grains we have available to us these days are not very good for us. I am not thinking about cutting out all of our grain intake, but maybe not eating so much. (Quite honestly, we do use a lot of flour around here, lots.)

*We are making the Pork Explosion this weekend and I cannot wait. Southerners do like their pork and I am trying to assimilate, don’t you know. Okay, not really, I will not drink sweet tea, ever.

*Did you know that it is Florida strawberry season? I have been buying some of the best strawberries I have ever had at the Farmers Market. The kids love them, I love them, we all love them, they are soooooooooo good.

*Since Margaret caught her big fish, she has been saying things like “I can do this because I am a big girl and I caught a big fish”. I turned it around on her today when she was not eating her lunch. I told her “Big girls who catch big fish eat all their food” and she started eating. Is this a bad thing?

*How does one keep clothes on her two year old? Caecilia will start out dressed then take her clothes off and run around, then fights when it is time to get dressed again.

*Did I tell you that on Sunday, when after Margaret caught her fish and we were walking back to our friends’ house, Karol ran in to clothesline? He had a nice looking bruise on his neck for a few days, thankfully it went away.

*Last but certainly not least, we purchased a Berkey Water Filtration System a while back. Our water has no tastes and now I drink more than the recommended eight glasses a day. Come the next baby, my midwife won’t have to nag me to drink my water!

*Speaking of Midwives, my midwife with Benedict moved to Atlanta. She was the only midwife in South Georgia who attended homebirths…the day she packed the u-haul to move north to be with her husband, she let her clients know that there was a person to take her place! Prayers have been answered.

*No, I am not pregnant again, not that I would have a problem with that.

Officially done now.

I added two new links to my sidebar today. Let me tell you about both of them.

The first is for andwtihyourspirit.com. There you will find pew cards with the New Translation of the Roman Missal. These cards are awesome, so if you are someone or know someone who is in charge of purchasing items as such for your parish, school or religious order, contact them at 877-585-1551 or Publisher @ AndWithYourSpirit.com. (take out the spaces).

The other link is for the book “To Save A Thousand Souls“. Written by a former Diocese of Savannah (GA) Vocation Director and current Vice-Rector at Mount Saint Mary Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, Fr. Brett Brannen this book is a must have for any man discerning the priesthood, parents and families of young men who are discerning, or for anyone who want to know more about what discerning a priestly vocation is all about. This book would be a great addition to a home or parish library, so add it today!