Prayer request *updated

If you get a chance, could you say a prayer for my brother-in-law? He's at the hospital right now due to very severe abdominal pain. They're running tests to figure out the cause, and of course we are praying it's nothing serious and something that can be treated quickly and easily. Please pray also for my sister who is at the hospital with their baby daughter, not an easy place to spend the day with a 10-month-old. They don't live near any family and are dealing with all of this on their own.

Omnipotent and eternal God, the everlasting Salvation of those who believe, hear us on behalf of Thy sick servant, J, for whom we beg the aid of Thy pitying mercy, that, with his bodily health restored, he may give thanks to Thee in Thy church. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Thank you for your prayers!

*Update - They were sent home last night, and while some of the more serious things were ruled out (thank God), they have no idea what it is. He's still in some pain and we're still praying it will go away completely. Thank you for praying!

My husband, the actor

I forgot to post the clip of Ryan on The Event, for those who missed it.

It was a lot longer, and closer-up, than we expected. I was so excited that I started cheering and missed the last part of what he said!

The best part was that I let Clara stay up to watch (Luke's always up) and as soon as he came on the screen she pointed and said, "Dada!" I couldn't believe it! I mean, she does that all the time when he's on the news, but it's hit-or-miss depending on whether she looks at the screen, so I didn't expect her to even notice his quick clip that night. But, to my delight, she did. And now it makes a cute story for when she's older.

Oh, our poor kids. When they're teenagers, their parents are going to pull out tapes like this one when their friends come over.

My little boy

I have a little boy now.

And he has a big personality.

And a crazy big sis...

who he just adores.

She can't get enough of him either (first thing she says when she wakes up - "Baby? Baby?")

I have a six-months-old-today most-likely-red-headed boy, who is attached to his mama (literally), lights up when he sees his dada, hates being on his tummy, but is great at sitting up.

He adores his little tool bench, loves to laugh (just not when the camera is out) and lately perks up when the Backyardigans come on.

He's eating two jars of baby food a day, loves petting the cat, and has no idea how to fall asleep on his own.

We don't know what we ever did without him.

Happy 1/2 birthday, Luke! Hopefully the second half of the year will slow down just a tad.

Tonight's Big "Event"

 So I mentioned a couple weeks ago that there was something coming up with my husband that you'd be able to watch. Well, it's tonight!

That's right.. he's going to have a part on the NBC show The Event. It's on at nine. On NBC.

So apparently no one watches this show because a) everyone I tell about this says they've never heard of it and b) it's getting canceled. This is actually the last show ever. And thankfully Ryan had nothing to do with its cancellation. As far as we know :)

He's basically playing himself.. a t.v. news reporter. And the reason he was asked (at least from what I understand) was because his station dealt with the producers of the show when a premier of it was held nearby last Fall, and so they approached his station again when they needed some anchors to shoot some breaking news scenes.

So don't miss it! Ryan's national t.v. debut, tonight at nine on NBC!

Now I'm just hoping our antenna doesn't go out!

The window opens

Luke's almost six months old, which means the window will soon be opening when I can try to get pregnant again.

My doctor told me she recommends waiting nine months after a c-section but then said something about six being safe under her breath, and that's all I needed to hear. Six it is!

I probably should clarify. "Try" might not be the best word. We're just going to remain open to life and see how God continues to grow our family.

I can't help but wonder about my current fertility, though. I conceived last year while taking no medications except metformin, cortisol and synthroid (all maintenance drugs), and there's a good chance I'll conceive in a similar way again. I've had regular cycles since Luke was three-months old (albeit with pretty late peak days) and I know exactly when I'm ovulating, which I never really could tell before. And all my doctors have always told me that the best fix for endometriosis is pregnancy, not to mention my OB said during my section that my pelvis looked beautiful. As of November 2010, I had no endo or adhesions.

I'm actually looking forward to seeing what happens, without all the despair, depression and stress for once. And with two under two, I think it'll be a long time before I start to get worried. All I have to do is look around at our chaotically wonderful home full of teething, crying, poopy babies hugging my legs and calling "Mama" to remember how blessed I already am.

After all, my youngest isn't even sleeping through the night yet. Who in their right mind wants to add pregnancy and another newborn to this?

I guess I'm not in my right mind. I just look at their faces and want more.

I never thought in a million years I'd be talking about this. Trying for our third? It's amazing.

I'll never get it

As I was watching Luke in his "Johnny Jump Up" today, excitedly jumping away, I thought about how big he had become. And how, not too long ago, he had been teeny. The size of a grain of rice.

And how even when he was that small, he was always him.

Never someone or something else. To get rid of that clump of tissue would have been to get rid of Luke.

And then there's Clara. She's another story entirely.

It's so easy to judge someone who finds herself in a situation in which a "choice" needs to be made. But no matter what got her there, she chose life.

And that just blows my mind.

Even when she was the size of a grain of rice, she was still Clara.

And if not for a woman's courageous decision, we wouldn't know her. And our lives would never be as fun or as full.

And that's why I'll never get abortion.

Changes

No, you're not in the wrong place.

I always said I liked consistency when it came to my blog. You could trust my blog. You knew what you were going to get when you clicked on it.

But lately I realized it was starting to look like it was designed in 1996.

I finally admitted change was necessary. Some assumed I would change the look when we brought Clara home, or when I was pregnant, or surely after Baby #2, aka Luke, was born. Well that would probably have made sense but I was pretty swamped. Even now this has been an absolutely crazy last twelve hours because I tried to fit designing a new blog header into my baby-filled day (and my computer's in our bedroom, which is NOT baby proof. Clara was seen running hysterically from the room several times today carrying a vial of Padre Pio oil).

So here I sit at one a.m. bringing my poor little corner of the blogosphere up to date.

My blog - like my life - has changed. Drastically. The pain of infertility has been replaced by the joys of motherhood (I just wrote a new "about me" page if you're interested, which details those changes and how this blog played a role in that).

What was once a place to come to and frantically type as I cried is now a place where I share stories about my beautiful babies (and only once in great a while [i.e. post partum] frantically type as I cry). My blog has never been more than a reflection of my life, and so those changes were never meant to hurt or offend anyone. I sincerely hope they haven't.

It was kind of sad removing my older header. The picture is on a long-gone hard drive and I couldn't recreate it if I wanted to. But that's okay. Just like moving our bed to another part of our bedroom completely re-engergized me this weekend, updating my blog design has already done the same. And now before I get too emotional over a silly blog, it's time to go to bed.

Thanks for reading. And, of course, before I go, here are some gratuitous shots of my kids...

That look of a boy who adores his big sister 

Sweet boy

The bangs were looking good today, despite their apparent unevenness here

This is her current "I'm posing for you" look. Did she get that from us?

What's going on over here

*We had a wonderful Mother's Day. We spent the weekend rearranging and de-cluttering our bedroom. It's amazing how something as simple as moving furniture can really energize you!

*I thought a wrap dress would be great for nursing. What I didn't account for was two squirming babies, one who likes to untie things, and that fact that a wrap dress is not a faux-wrap dress. I came dangerously close to exposing myself at Mass on Sunday. Luckily for me, and the entire congregation, that didn't happen.

*Luke apparently has the Coxsackievirus (all he has is a little cough, but that's what the doctor says is going around), which sounds a lot better to me than Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (which itself sounds better than Hoof and Mouth Disease). Now that I think about it, Coxsackie doesn't exactly sound good, but I grew up not too far from a high school with the same name (which had cute boys, if I remember correctly) so it has an entirely different connotation for me.

*Clara, meanwhile, has a host of illnesses, poor baby. Imagine what a terrible parent I felt like when I took her to the pediatrician the other day. How long has it been going on, asks the doctor. Oh, two weeks. What?? In my defense, she has allergies. And we had been giving her breathing treatments at home, which is what they always say to do when I take her in. I'm not kidding when I say I was afraid the doctor was going to report me when he left the exam room (oh how my mind can wonder!). She's already on the mend, though, and you'd never even know she was sick by her energy level!

*Thank God for chewable Singulair. I no longer have to have carrots spit at me daily.

*I cut Clara's hair for the first time today. Just her bangs, but that was hard enough. When doing any sort of project, I tend to get neurotic about it and attempt to fix it until it's "perfect" and her bangs were no exception. They were pretty crooked after my first attempt so I then chased her around the living room with scissors for the next hour. It's safe to say next time - if there is a next time - I'll be sure to do it right the first time.

*Ryan and I couldn't believe how just trimming Clara's bangs made her look so much older. I swear she was even acting more mature afterwards!

*I saw the endocrinologist for the first time since having Luke. She just read my bloodwork and she didn't even listen to me. "We're going to lower your dose of Synthroid so you can relax and fall asleep easier at night." What? I have low energy, not high. And, lady, I could fall asleep in your office right now if you let me! But apparently my TSH was low, or high, or whatever would make you feel hyper. That's pretty funny because I went to the appointment prepared to tell her how completely exhausted I am all the time. Now I have to decide what to do about this. My old OB/GYN, Dr. B, was great at treating my thyroid and adrenals, but he's two hours away. And he's an OB/GYN. And if I doctor-hop here locally, I'll probably just end up with a doctor just like my current one (who is very sweet, by the way, but that's not the point).

*So I have some news about Ryan, but I can't give it away just yet. But I will say it involves t.v., and something you'll be able to watch (no, he's not interviewing the president again! And it's a one-time thing, not a new job). I'd tell you now, but I want to be 100% sure it's a go before I make the big reveal. But it's safe to say we're very excited over here!

*I know you're all dying for an update on Luke's sleeping habits! Just kidding. There really is no news on that front. He's still not sleeping all that much and is in bed with us for most of the night. Although he did fall asleep ON HIS OWN for a nap three times in the past couple weeks. Each time, music was blaring. Not sure how to recreate that at night (trust me, no one else could sleep with it as loud as he needs it, and I'm sure he'd get sick of it after a few times anyways). For now, we are rejoicing in small victories, and loving on him every chance we get. Sleep is overrated anyways :)

*My heart was heavy yesterday with thoughts of those still waiting to celebrate Mother's Day. I continue to pray that God will heal your wombs and your hearts, and that He will grow your families according to His will.