For the Graces of Motherhood

"Powerful is your intercession with God, Mary, for you are His mother.

Tender too is your love for us, for you are our mother.

Confidently, then, I come to you as a child, poor and needy, to seek your aid and protection.

In every trial of motherhood, I beg your aid.

For the grace of happy delivery, I come to you.

For your holy assistance in guarding and directing each tiny soul with which God entrusts me, I call to you.

In every sorrow that comes to me in my motherhood, I confide in you.

That I may have strength to bear cheerfully all the pains and the hardships of motherhood, I lean on you.

That the sweetness of motherhood may not, through my neglect, be embittered in later years by pains of regret, I trust in you.

That the will of God may always be fulfilled in me through each act of my motherhood, little and great, I beg your aid.

Never forsake me, dear Mother, my hope, my consolation, my confidence, and my trust, but ever be at my side to aid and protect me, your needy child. Amen.

Mother of love, of sorrow, and of mercy, pray for us!

Thanksgiving

Mary, I am so happy! I, too, am a mother. Thank you for joining me in my petitions to your Divine Son, dear Mother of Happy Delivery.

You were with me in my Bethlehem, thank you. I know you are with me now in my Nazareth, thank you, thank you.

Amen."

This weekend has been a fun-filled fest of pure yuck.  But that's life, right?  The good news is that the girls weren't too cranky over it so that made it easier for us (the helpless adults who could do nothing but clean up and comfort the best we could) to deal with...

Another source of good news...... ONE month into a new school for children with autism and my sweet nephew is like a WHOLE NEW CHILD.  It's amazing the difference when a special child is with people who are trained to educate them.  I thank Jesus for little mercies every day.

Things are still looking up around here (for me personally anyways).... I love when the Lord gives you an answered prayer.  He's always looking out for me.... rationally I know this.  But, still, it hasn't stopped a period of spiritual lows for me lately.  A personal issue to be sure, but still, it's there.  The fact that it's coincided with my pregnancy makes me feel guilty to a certain degree, but I'm slowly working through it.  That I give to the Lord as well.  

Prayer to Achieve Inner Peace

"Slow me down, Lord.

Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind.

Steady my hurried pace with a vision of the eternal reach of time.

Give me, amid the confusion of the day, the calmness of the everlasting hills.

Break the tensions of my nerves and muscles with the soothing music of the singing streams that live in memory.

Help me to know the magical, restoring power of sleep.

Teach me the art of taking minute vacations - of slowing down to look at a flower, to chat with a friend, to pat a dog, to read a few lines of a good book.

Slow me down, Lord."

Pumpkin Carving 2009

Condi's new bed and nap spot :)

More to say....

I gotta tell you.... I feel like I should have so much more to say then I really do.  I mean my life is pretty full, right?  I am so incredibly busy ALL the time.  Who wouldn't be with 2 busy, BUSY little girls and another angel on the way.  Oh, that's right.... I haven't even taken a moment to say that we are having another beautiful little girl :)  And we COULD NOT be more EXCITED over her!  We have decided on a name too.  Jace wants to name her Maggie.... thus in a few short months you will all be able to meet our very own, Amanda Margaret, aka "Maggie."

I keep getting this one question though.... "are y'all going to try again for a boy?"  I feel like people are implying that in no way could 3 beautiful, vivacious daughters ever be enough for Trey and I.  And I've been having this feeling for weeks now that our family is complete...  and I don't know how I feel about it honestly.  I feel guilty thinking that Trey and I may not have more children... doesn't that sound strange???  It feels strange too me...

Oh, and why can't the stork bring my babies I ask.....  cause I know pregnancy is suppose to be a beautiful thing, but truthfully I abhor it.  BUT, I do so like what pregnancy brings me---- my children.  Who would I be without them I wonder sometimes?  I was born to be a mother.  I honestly feel that way.  Other people dream all their lives about being a doctor, lawyer, teacher, etc.  I dreamed about having children.  There was nothing that I wanted more... and I feel that a mother's value has slowly been undermined and lessened over the years.  And I am saddened to think that because I am not out punching a time clock that I have less value in some people's eyes, or that they think they are better than me because they have been "MORE" than "just a mother."

whatever.  eloquent, right? yep... that's me.  I'm just a mother and I'm better for it.  I'm doing exactly what I was born to do, and exactly what God wants from me.

Prayer to keep the Presence of God

"Lord, God Almighty, you have brought us safely to the beginning of this day. Defend us today by your mighty power, so that we may not fall into any sin, and that all our words may so proceed and all our thoughts and actions be so directed as to be always just in your sight. Through Christ our Lord. Amen."

Babies 2008

Rory Beach 2009

St. Ignacius Loyola

"Teach us to be generous,

        good Lord;

Teach us to serve You

     as You deserve;

To give and not to

    count the cost,

       To fight and not

     to heed the wounds,

To toil and not to seek for rest,

        To labor and not

     to ask for any reward

Save that of knowing we do

Your will.

Amen."

Agatha Christie

"I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable... but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing." ~