Wondrous Wednesdays (7)



In the spirit of gratitude, I’m listing wondrous things happening in my world every week on Wednesday.  If you are a blogger and want to list what you are grateful for, feel free to do the same on your own blog every week and please be sure to link back to my blog.   If you are not a blogger, feel free to comment here on my blog with your own three wondrous things you are grateful for on Wednesday. 

(1)

Baby girl is taking steps and has been since last week on Wednesday. What is cute is that usually she has to hold onto something. Sometimes she just starts going and then realizes she's not holding anything, stops and plops down. When she is holding something, she's really getting confident now and is going a bit faster than she should. No accidents thankfully (I probably shouldn't even write that down!). Most of my wondrous stuff has had to do with her recently, but she's learning so much. New words every day too. She seems to be talking a lot for a one year old, but maybe we just don't remember much of Alicia. Have to start writing down the words she knows.

(2)
I know I mentioned him last week, but my hubby deserves another wondrous Wednesday nod for unexpectedly walking the Jimmy Fund Walk with me and our girls. He is so good to me for just jumping right in and being willing to walk with me. It all started from the get go. The girls were cranky and crying from breakfast time, I was pulled over by a cop, then there were parking difficulties and several toddler potty trips. I don't know I will do a walk like that with young children again. It was an experience but truly it was such a beautiful day for a walk. Unfortunately we didn't even see Caroline but I heard that everyone had a good day. Have to say that I am glad that I didn't keep the 24 pound baby in the babybjorn for the whole walk either. My back hurt less than a quarter mile in and I kept her there for 2 miles. YAY umbrella strollers!

(3) 

This past Monday was four years that my mémère passed away. You're probably thinking and this is wondrous in a good way? Yes, because we are so blessed to have had 95 years (ok, so I wasn't there for ALL of them) with such a sweet, funny and spunky lady. I think about her in those last days: calling me and my hubby cuckoo; saying that he and I needed the training and not our dog; eating some of my apple pie ice cream; her saying with her cute little silly smile that she was “living it up;” and my mom sleeping nearby while I was there holding her hand in the wee hours when she breathed her last, saying way more than ten Hail Mary's in that decade because I wasn't sure how many I had already said. Love her and miss her so much. But I am so blessed and thankful for having such a beautiful example of love and life to learn from.

Wondrous Wednesdays (6)



In the spirit of gratitude, I’m listing wondrous things happening in my world every week on Wednesday.  It hasn't caught on yet, but it is important to me to be thankful for all of God's blessings, so I continue it whether anyone will join me or not. 

I chose to list three things because Wednesday is the third day of the week.  If you are a blogger and want to list what you are grateful for, feel free to do the same on your own blog every week and please be sure to link back to my blog.   If you are not a blogger, feel free to comment here on my blog with your own three wondrous things you are grateful for on Wednesday. 

(1)
This past weekend was our first weekend with our new priest, Fr. Joe.  Oddly enough the pastor before Fr. G was also a Fr. Joe, an older gentlemen who was very quiet and kind.  That Fr. Joe and I corresponded periodically when I went to college and beyond.  We even had dinner together a few times when I moved back to NH from Boston.  At any rate, we went to a different mass this past weekend, 6:30pm on Sunday night.  I had met Fr. Joe before when I worked at NH Catholic Charities a few years back and he looked the same with that great big smile.  It was wonderful to see that our new priest is a very animated homilist and really connected the readings for that day with the 10th anniversary of 9/11.  I look forward to hearing more homilies from him and getting to know him through the programs we are involved in at our parish.

(2)
I'm very thankful to those individuals who have contributed to my fundraising for the Jimmy Fund Walk in honor of little Caroline.  Really looking forward to it, although I have not prepared at all and have done little to no walking.  It is supposed to be a beautiful fall day on Sunday and I hope that I get the chance to say hello to Caroline with our little girls.  Now just to figure out logistics of where hubby is going to park the car and how and where we will meet up with hubby.  Oh and how I will manage 5 miles while pushing the double stroller.  But that is besides the point.

(3)
I don't think I've said this enough to my hubby but he is wondrous to me!  I am so blessed he found me!  He always lets me know how much he loves me and our girls and that we are the most important thing in his life.  He is a wonderful father and I really enjoy stealing glimpses of him playing with our girls or catching him snuggling with them watching a movie.  I also know first hand how difficult it is to go to a job that you don't enjoy and he continues to do so even though he's been there almost three years, disliking it for pretty much that long.  He is the best husband, sacrificing for me and our girls like that.  What an awesome example of Christ's love he shows us.  Sacrificial love.  Not many people out there are willing to sacrifice like that.  Most people are only look out for themselves and what is my partner doing for me, but my hubby knows that there are difficulties and sacrifices involved.  I am truly a woman richly blessed.  I shouldn't have let him wait six weeks to see this one... sorry hubby.  Love you!
 

Sweet Caroline, BAH BAH BAH!

Imagine that you have a six year old daughter and you are on vacation in Disneyland with the whole family (she has an older and a younger brother). Her eye is bothering her and you think the jerking movement is probably no big deal. The school nurse had seen something wrong with her vision test just recently and your daughter is scheduled for an appointment when you get home.

A few days later when you get back from Florida, you head to the appointment wondering what this will mean – maybe glasses? Maybe just a patch for a short period of time? But at the appointment you are told that your daughter's eyes are healthy and there is no correctable disease they can find. Odd. So they schedule an MRI two long days later. You are supposed to get results that same afternoon but you can't help but research potential outcomes. Then the day of the MRI arrives and you never leave the hospital because of some devastating news: cancer. She has an inoperable, incurable, plum sized tumor lodged deep within her brain.

This is the news that hubby's cousin's family received about their daughter back in 2007. At the time, we had no children and even now that I have two beautiful daughters of my own, I can't possibly begin to even pretend to understand what they went through and continue to go through to this day. Caroline has a tumor known as a Pediatric Low Grade Astrocytoma (PLGA). It is inoperable and presently incurable. Front line treatment options for PLGAs date back to the mid-1980’s, and remain toxic, invasive and highly ineffective. While significant strides have been made in many forms of childhood cancer, pediatric brain tumors have all but been neglected.

This past year was a difficult one for Caroline and her family. The doctors did end up doing surgery in May of 2010, her dad was flown in from Iraq where he was stationed at the time, and were unable to get all of it, just the “extra” growth of the tumor that had been affecting her vision. Caroline had to relearn how to walk and talk and many other things we all take for granted. She is currently undergoing a trial round of chemo that is unapproved by the FDA. This chemo is a Phase II clinical trail which basically tests investigational drugs to learn whether or not they will be effective, determine dosages and evaluate potential side effects. While the FDA has not approved RAD001, it has been studied and shown to be effective in the treatment of other cancers. RAD001 is an oral regimen, so Caroline will take the drug daily for 12 four week courses (48 weeks). She is currently in round 9.  Poor thing! The last report I've heard is that her her vision and the tumor as shown on an MRI from July of this year are both STABLE! Praise God!

I have donated my hair to Locks of Love twice in Caroline's honor, but this year I am walking the Jimmy Fund Walk on September 18th by her side in her honor, she completes a portion of the walk every year. My fund-raising goal is achievable - $250. Basically either 10 donors at $25 or 25 donors at $10. This is the final push before the walk.  Please consider donating in honor of Caroline. No gift is too small. Whatever you can give is greatly appreciated.

To read more about her story, including her Make-A-Wish wish to meet the pope, go to http://www.teamchickaroo.com/.  To donate online please go to http://www.jimmyfundwalk.org/2011/kpierog.  Or if you would prefer to write a check, make the check payable to “Jimmy Fund Walk” and email me for my mailing address.  Thank you in advance for whatever you can do.

Seven Quick Takes Friday (7)

Thanks to Jen at Conversiondiary.com for hosting.  Hoping to get back to more blogging next week, but this first week after the move has been hectic.

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I left our previous house a mess.  Wasn't proud of it, but having packed until 3:30am in the morning the night before our move, I just didn't have the chance.  The day of the move the movers showed up early, my dad showed up later than I expected to pick up the baby, there were three trips to Hudson - two with the movers, and by the time we were finishing up the last trip by ourselves at 7pm, I just wanted to see my babies.  I missed them horribly with all the preparation for moving last week.  I planned on going back to clean, because I felt horrible leaving it the way I had, but I never did. 

-2-

My parents' house - also a mess.  The living room has been taken over by toys - I think there are only two more boxes/items in the garage that need to be brought in and found a place.  The girls' bedroom is mostly set up for them.  Furniture in place, just need to hang a few more things on the wall and set up the closet.  Our room is a mess.  Still need to get things for us from the garage and the basement.  Once we are settled in another week or so, maybe then I can start on some other projects.  Projects I have been intending to do for quite a while.

-3-

The weekend we moved, our parish priest announced in his homily that he is leaving to go to a new assignment at the Seacoast right after Labor Day.  Gee, just as we move closer to church.  Ok, so, it definitely isn't all about the priest, but he has done so much for the parish that it's difficult to imagine our community without him.  Will probably have another post on this at another time this month.  Really going to miss Fr. G.

-4-

The first donation came in for the Jimmy Fund walk this week.  I'm really a bit nervous as there is only a little more than a month to go.  Must! Fundraise! Now!  Getting my letter in the mail is still on my to do list for this coming week.

-5-

Jimmy Fund Walk Worry #2: I must do more walking so I can do the Jimmy Fund walk in mid September.  I'm horribly out of shape.  The great thing about having moved in with my parents is that even though my hubby gets home late, we should be able to start taking walks.  We went last night, not for very long, but I'm hoping it will help.  Will also have to start nightly walks with the girls after dinner.  Got to get ready to push that jogging stroller...

-6-

Need to start preparing for Hannah's birthday party.  She turns one in just over a month.  How did THAT happen?  Time is flying by way too quickly.  Hoping to get invites in the mail sometime by the end of next week.

-7-

Also need to start prepping for teaching Theology of the Body in the fall.  Haven't figured out when we will start teaching, probably sometime in September, so I have to check in with our deacon.  This fall we will be teaching part II, having split the curriculum into two sessions over the spring and fall.  Wow, the fall!!!  It's so crazy to me that the summer is almost gone.  Didn't do nearly enough relaxing...  But it does mean that football and hockey will be starting up again soon.  WOO HOO!!!!

Seven Quick Takes Friday (4)

Thanks to Jen at Conversiondiary.com for hosting.  Let's get right to it... 

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Wanted to make it to the beach this week to visit with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law and their kids.  It's been such beautiful weather this week here in NH.  It never happened though.  It would have been Wednesday or Thursday that I took the drive out since I work Monday, Tuesday and Friday.  But it was a good thing I didn't on Wednesday because I ended up feeling horrible right after the girls' bed time.  Nauseous and dizzy.  Would not have been a good drive home.  I think that I may not have had enough water that day.  Maybe it wasn't enough carbs. Anyway, Thursday I visited with my mother-in-law who broke her foot the first day of summer watching our girls.  I figured she would have normally spent some time at the beach so we should go spend some time visiting with her.  It was a really nice visit, although the girls wanted to do nothing but climb on mama.  I wonder if it's the cast that is having Alicia be so standoffish with her Nana.  Alicia did do some drawing on her cast which she hasn't until now.  Nana's cast should come off in two weeks!  Hopefully!  I STILL feel guilty.

-2-

There was lots going on this week that I needed to get done.  I left my post-it "to do" list behind at my mom's house on Tuesday, so I rewrote the list in a notebook.  After taking a look at said list today, I only ended up accomplishing three things on my "to do" list out of a possible 14.  The list just keeps getting longer and longer.  Posting on my blog was on the list, but it will have to wait until early next week.  I started it, but never got back to it.  "Holy Roller" post will be coming next week.  I think...  tonight I'm off to finish thank you letters for my daughter's birthday presents along with the pictures I insert from her annual photo shoot!

-3-

Our 10 month old started crawling this week on Monday.  Funny thing is, the day I said that I wasn't ready for it, she started.  Now the fun begins.  A little delayed, this whole crawling thing, but her sister started walking at just a little over a year, well before she was crawling.  As much as I don't feel ready for this, I'm glad she's becoming more independent.  She was getting heavy, carrying her around all the time - I think she weighs almost 24 pounds.  Now, big sister Alicia HAS to pick up all her small toys.  She just turned three so this shouldn't be a big problem, but any tips on how to keep her focused on it so I'm not nagging her all the time?  Although, I suppose it's a mother's job to be a nag. 

-4-

Time to get going on my fundraising for the Jimmy Fund Walk in Boston on September 18th.  I've come to the conclusion that fundraising is not my thing, although in 2001 I raised quite a bit of money for the American Stroke Association.  I've committed to this walk in honor of a brave little 10 year old girl with an inoperable brain tumor (my husband's cousin's daughter - diagnosed at the age of 6).  Check out her website here, read especially "The First Year" and "Make-A-Wish" pages.   Last time we saw this sweet little girl was a few months back and she was so interested in watching and playing with both our little girls.  Anyway, I decided that it was best to step outside of my little world and help with a very worthy cause.  I only need to raise $250, so basically 10 people at $25 will do it, even 9 people would do since I'm considering myself donor #10.  Please consider donating if you can.  Every little bit helps.  I will be sending out a letter and email soon (this was also on the above "to do" list).  Thank you in advance for whatever you can do.  As far as my physical readiness for the walk, I'm not AT ALL ready.  OK, so it's only 5 miles I plan on walking, but I'll be pushing a double jogging stroller with at least 50 pounds worth of kiddos in it!  I signed up for this walk with the intention of adding walking to my routine and it has yet to happen.  Maybe in a few weeks when things settle down.  But don't we always tell ourselves this?!

-5-

Surgery for my cousin's endometriosis was just Wednesday.  The surgery went well and she seems to be feeling alright.  I'm really hoping it helps her and her husband on their journey to having children.  She started learning about the Creighton method recently and is seeing the Na Pro doctor that I saw when we had trouble conceiving baby #2.  She has a blog about her experiences with IVF and her more recent journey to learn Creighton. (There's also a link to her blog Eat.Scream.Cry on my "Bloggers" tab.)  Sending lots of love and prayers for a speedy recovery and to achieving the family of their dreams.  They will be great parents when it happens for them.  If you could add it to your intentions, please pray for them as they continue their struggle with infertility which will hopefully turn around very soon.

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"Just going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car." G.K. Chesterton.  I LOVE this quote.  Don't just stand there in church!  (OK, but you still should GO to church!)  Don't be afraid to live it people!  Get out there and be an example of Christ for others! 

-7-

Confession time:  I'm not doing so great with saying the rosary daily.  Actually, I haven't even said it once since posting about praying the rosary.  Best of intentions not put into practice.  Poop! (my favorite curse word since becoming a mom!)  Maybe soon?!  Why do I struggle with spending time in prayer?  This bothers me; ok bothers isn't the right word.  This makes me sad.  I MUST CARVE OUT MORE TIME FOR PRAYER!!!