Cruising in Style!

                                           

Emma has a new ride! I think she's going to be stylin in her new buggy. ;) Mommy is rather happy with the purple color choice. If mommy can't have a purple car, than at least she has a purple stroller to push around. ;) Almost to 30 weeks, which means just a couple of months to go!! Woohoo!

The Month of Mary, Mother of All!

                                

                                      

Happy Mother's Day all you mothers! This is my first one and I have to say, I feel so very privileged to be given this title. A mother means so many things and I only hope and pray that I will live up to such a special role. To think that I have received a title in which Our Lady herself was given is such a special gift and blessing. How undeserving and little I feel when I think about sharing such a name with her, who is the Mother of all and most importantly the Mother of Our Lord. I believe May is my favorite month...a month dedicated to Our Lady. What a great opportunity to live each day during this month consecrating ourselves to her and reminding ourselves to place all our concerns and desires in her hands to present them to her Son. What a loving mother! Just as she agonized with her Son during the Passion, walking with Him each step and sharing in His sufferings, so too does she walk with us each step and accompanies us in our journey here on Earth. Just as she hastened to the cross of Our Lord and offered consolation to Him, so too does she run up to us as we carry our crosses and offers her help and motherly affection. Everytime we struggle, she sees it as her child who has fallen down, cut and bruised, hurting and having trouble getting back up. She runs to our aid and offers consolation and her help. Her love is unlimited and though so many times we offend and disobey, she forgives and loves tenderly. How often do we act like little children, nagging her for things she knows is not good for us and putting up a fuss when we don't get what we want. How often she does so many things for us and yet we neglect to thank her and show appreciation or do something in return. We are like spoiled little children and yet she still loves us and cares for us. She is the very essence of a mother. She sets the standards for that role and we must strive to reach that standard ourselves. I must admit, sometimes I have thought, "but she had it so easy with having the perfect child! She didn't have to deal with cranky misbehaving children...she had the perfect son!" But then I thought, are we perfect? No. Do we disobey, misbehave and not listen? Yes. Is she not the mother of all? Indeed she is. Does she have to deal and parent us here on Earth? She sure does. What a difficult job! We may have 8, 10, 13 children we have to deal with, but she deals with every single person here on Earth. Yet, despite having children who often times sin and offend her, she is perfect and fulfills the role of motherhood perfectly. She teaches us patience, charity, selflessness, humility and so many other virtues. What better person to model ourselves after? What other person than she truly deserves this title and role of motherhood? That's why we must strive to be like her in every way, so that we can honor this role which is hers and bring our children up to recognize us as models of the Ultimate Mother, Our Lady. May we never hesitate to run to her with childlike confidence and sincere hearts which yearn for her comfort, assistance and love. If she journeyed through The Passion with Our Lord for our salvation, there is nothing she wouldn't do to help us. Happy Mother's Day, Mary!

My husband was so good to me this Mother's Day. He treated me out to a lovely Italian restaurant, surprised me with balloons, a card and the most beautiful set of pearls! It was truly special. I look forward to the next one when our little Emma is with us on the outside! ;) We can't wait for her arrival!

April Showers Brings...Third Trimester!

          

April showers bring May flowers! We're finally in the month of May which means the temperature is rising and the sun is shining! It's been so lovely here seeing things develop into a vibrant green and flowers blossoming. May has also brought another wonderful thing...3rd trimester! Woohoo! It's so nice to finally be in the last stage. I can't believe there are only 3 months left!! Emma seems to be really excited as she's busy kicking and moving around. I'm constantly reminded of her presence with how active she is! I think she likes that fact. ;) Doesn't look like her pattern of sleep involves night time either. ;) I read a great chapter in "Your Labor of Love" book yesterday about sleeplessness. The authoress, Agnes Perry, talked about some religious orders that get up in the middle of the night to say prayers to Our Lord so that He is kept company at all hours. They also use this time to pray for poor sinners who may be committing sins during the hours of the night. She then compared this to expectant mothers saying that our sleeplessness, whether it be from restlessness, discomfort or frequent trips to the restroom ;), that we have the perfect opportunity to use this time wisely the same way these religious orders do. If we are going to be up and wide awake anyway, why not take the time to keep Our Lord company, remind Him we love Him and pray and offer up the discomfort in reparation for the the sins being committed at that time? I just love this idea! I often lay wide awake with nothing to do and getting myself all aggravated for not being able to fall asleep. Why not use it for something else? That's the beautiful thing about being a Catholic....these sacrifices can be used for a purpose, to grow in love of God and to help our neighbors...if we can do this, why waste a single sacrifice on selfish thoughts and being upset about it? I don't know about you, but I receive so much more consolation by thinking of what my sacrifices can do to help my soul and others get to Heaven rather than by thinking of how ridiculous the sacrifice is and how inconvenient it is.

What I'm looking forward to: Our summer vacation in June!! It's coming up so quickly and Thomas and I can hardly wait to fly out to NH for a week of lounging out at the coast with my family. I'm so excited to be in the area of Cape Cod again...one of my favorite spots! You just can't beat the quaint and beach cottage atmosphere with little shops and peaceful evening strolls along the coast. Isn't the rental house beautiful??? 

Big News in Kansas City: A child has been born! Maddie and Maarten's daughter, Marie Godelieve, a precious and sweet newborn. And now we also have a new member of the Catholic Church! May she always stay close to Our Lady and strive for holiness. Congratulations Maddie and Maarten, we love you!

Days to Remember: Last Saturday Thomas and I decided to have a fun day. We were in Kansas City and took advantage of the nice weather together with mini golfing, Sheridans for ice cream, arcade and then finished with a nice Italian restaurant for dinner and a movie at the drive-in theater. We had such a great time and felt like we were courting again! It's so nice to do that every once in a while!

I hope everyone is having a happy and beautiful Spring. :) Today sure is the perfect time to get out and enjoy the weather...

Looks like Thomas and I are off to the park to play some croquet! Enjoy your day. :)