My Not So Quiet Little Boy

Kilian: "I was very quiet at Mass."
Me: "I know you were. You fell asleep after the rosary, and I woke you up to bring you downstairs. You slept through the whole Mass and the Angelus."
Kilian: "I was so quiet. Can I have a donut?"
The only time that my little boy is quiet and/or still is when he is sleeping. 😂

Grow in Me

"Grow, Jesus, grow in my heart, my spirit, my imagination, my senses, by your modesty, your purity, your humility, your zeal, your love. 

Grow with your grace, your light, your peace. Grow despite my resistance, my pride. 

Grow until you reach the fullness of human perfection. Grow as you did at Nazareth before God and before men, for the glory of your Father."

~ St. Bernadette Soubirous ~

Sound Advice for Parents

Happy Feast of St. John Bosco!

I'm sharing this link here so that I can have easy access to it. 

 

St. John Bosco, pray for us!

The Nature Center

We spent part of the day with some friends at a local nature center. My little boys were excited to see the ducks. I couldn't help but smile when I heard Kieran exclaim, "There's a duck. There's a duck."

 

We're looking forward to another field trip next week. 😊 

Tummy Time

Aidan enjoys his few minutes without his "boots and bar" each day. He's very good at rolling from one place to another and pushing himself backwards. Sometimes, I just sit and watch my baby boy in awe. When I see him rocking back and forth on all fours, I can't help but be amazed. He was in and out of a cast on his right leg from July 6 to October 28. Since then, he has worn his shoes and bar for 23 hours each day. Despite all this, he is exactly where he should be. I know that like his brothers and sisters, he will crawl when he is meant to do so.

God is so good!

2016 Personal Reading

Characters of the Passion
by Ven. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
Fr. Saguto recommended this book to me. It is excellent reading for Lent.




Covenanted Happiness
by Msgr.  Cormac Burke
This was another Fr. Saguto recommendation. I'm glad that I read it.




Humility of Heart
by Fr. Cajetan Mary de Bergamo
This book took me almost a year to read. I will be rereading it this year. I highly recommend it.




St. Monica and the Power of Persistent Prayer
by Mike Aquilina




St. Monica: Model of Christian Mothers
by F.A. Forbes




Tasha Tudor's Garden
by Tovah Martin
This is one of my favorite gardening books. I can dream...

Preparing Our Hearts and Minds

The manger is ready and waiting to be filled with soft hay each time one of
our children offers a good deed to God during Advent.

"Before Our Lady conceived Our Lord in the flesh,
she conceived Him in the interior silence of her soul."
~ Advent Recollection: Silence ~

I hope to listen to this Advent Recollection Series again. If we are quiet, it is because, once again this year, my family and I will be focusing on the beauty of Advent and being Christkindls to each other. We will be preparing our hearts, minds, and souls for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

May God bless you with a peaceful, faith-filled, and fruitful Advent!

Repost from 11/30/2014 

Pray the Rosary

"The single most important thing that we can do for our country is to pray the Rosary."

~ Fr. Matthew Hincks ~

Pregnancy Exercise Videos

Each time that I meet with a nutritionist during pregnancy, I am told that it is essential to exercise for at least 30 minutes each day. I find it hard to find the time to do so, but I try to do so at least once or twice a week. It's better than nothing.

Living in the Pacific Northwest makes daily walks questionable; however, I do try to get outside and walk when I can. Using the treadmill gets a little boring after a while. I have found that various exercise videos, checked out from the library, can help with the monotony. The following exercise videos have been helpful. If only I could find the time to use them on a regular basis.

10 Minute Solution Prenatal Pilates Lizbeth Garcia provides a pretty easy and gentle workout.

Denise Austin's Fit and Firm Pregnancy Denise Austin provides an easy 20-minute low-impact aerobic workout which is followed by toning exercises that are geared to specific trimesters. She also includes a 20-minute exercise postnatal segment.

Suzanne Bowen's Long and Lean Prenatal Workout This is probably the hardest exercise video that I have used. Suzanne Bowen does a great job. Unfortunately, I found this workout hard on my right knee. My right knee cap isn't centered and certain exercises can make it ache. I had to skip a few exercises in this video for this reason. However, I still recommend it.

T-Tapp Total Workout This isn't a prenatal workout, but I have used it while pregnant. Teresa Tapp emphasizes proper posture and alignment which I really appreciate. I can do this workout without feeling any stress on my knee.

Please share postnatal pregnancy exercise video recommendations.