Sleep, oh elusive sleep...

Cecilia rarely sleeps from 9 pm to 1 am. I should get her a third shift somewhere. The other day, she was quiet and an opportunity arose for me to be able to take a nap in preparation for her owl shift from 9 to 1. As tired as I was - I desperately wanted to spend that time working on either my curriculum, or an article I have been asked to write for a Catholic Magazine. As much as I knew I needed to sleep - I so wanted to work on one of these two things. However, common sense won out and to bed I went. These newborn upside down days will pass all too quickly and I must need follow her routine and enjoy every precious, cuddly, soft cheek to my cheek moment with her. Even those fussy, tummy ache can't sleep moments. The clock is ticking and the pages on the calendar are flipping too quickly. Before I know it she will be crawling, then walking and one day, all too soon, I will be looking at colleges with her, trying to decide which one is the best fit.

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A great game idea

... for the cold rainy days we sometimes experience here in the south and for those still freezing in the north. This game suggestion comes from about far North as you can go and still be in the States. Want to know what it is - click here and then have a rousing game of ooops - almost gave it away. Sorry - you have to go check it out over at Scribbits!

Say just had a grand idea! Anyone who engages in this game- take a picture of the family enjoying a break and then post it on your blog, come back here and leave a comment with your blog's url so we can all check out your home team having a blast. Could be really fun traveling the globe together.

Or if you have another game you play inside to get out the energy that builds up during cabin fever -do the same. Take a picture and send us a comment with a link to your blog.

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a few polls...

poll by twiigs.com

poll by twiigs.com

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Happy Valentines Day

Remember my post earlier this week about the red envelope campaign? Well, what better Valentine gift could we give to the world than to make a huge impact on Obama with this Red Envelope Campaign?

Here are three sites that are promoting it. One of them, as of 5:30 pm EST Friday, had a record of 96000 envelopes mailed. Come on - we can MAKE IT 50 MILLION if we try hard enough to get the word out!

The Red Envelope Project

Send a Red Envelope

Red Envelopes for Life

Just click here for the address again if you want to do this without visiting the above sites. Once there scroll down my previous post and you will have the address and the message to write on the envelope.




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Here comes those dogs...

Elsa is not sure what to think of these dogs... they are kind of cute but...

Oh oh.. they are coming closer!

Get them off! Get them off!!

WHEW!!! They're gone!

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Sweet 35...

Days that is. Or five weeks.

We were heading out to the play ground and I dressed her in this adorable pink velour snowsuit. - it was our first chance to use this absolutely adorable snow suit that was a gift from Peggy on the occasion of Cecilia's welcome party, which we had while her oldest sister was here from Ireland.


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Blowing bubbles with her oldest sister....

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Sometimes...

...life just comes to a stand still when you have a newborn in your life! I have some scheduled posts for the next few days while I focus on getting our life with a newborn into a new groove.

Never mind trying to get school work completed, groceries bought, meals planned and keep moving forward with the new business going while the savings we have been living on d w i n d l e... we have to make life flow with the needs of this tiny fragile blessing that God has entrusted to us. It does not help that she suffers from reflux and is often in pain, There is nothing worse than watching a child, especially such a tiny one, suffer.

Please keep Cecilia in your prayers as well as our new business.

We REALLY need this business to take off. The next two months will be very, very stressful. I will try to keep posting, but it might just be a lot of pictures. I know I LOVE picture snaps of other bloggers' lives. I hope you enjoy the future ones I will be posting.

Blessings
mum2twelve aka mum2abakersdoz


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How long does a new born last...

This is what the Temples are asking over at Blessed Among Men and my answer is...

NOT LONG ENOUGH!

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Please Share this idea with as many people as possible...

A friend from the Raleigh area shared this with me this afternoon and I am hoping that hundreds of thousands, if not more, will do this. It would be an incredible feat if we actually managed to get 50 million red envelopes mailed... This idea was generated John Otto, a prolife advocate. Read on to learn more about what I am talking about.

Dear Friends and Intercessors:

This afternoon I was praying about a number of things, and my mind began to wander. I was deeply distressed at the symbolic actions that President Obama took as he began his presidency. Namely, that he signed executive orders releasing funds to pay for abortions, permission to fund human stem cell research, and federal funding for contraception. I have been involved in the pro-life movement for nearly 20 years, and it pained my heart to see a man and a political party committed to the shedding of innocent blood. This man, and this party lead our country, but they do not represent me or the 54% of Americans who believe that abortion is wrong and should no longer be legal..

As I was praying, I believe that God gave me an interesting idea. Out in the garage I have a box of red envelopes. Like the powerful image of the red LIFE tape, an empty red envelope will send a message to Barack Obama that there is moral outrage in this country over this issue. It will be quiet, but clear.

Here is what I would like you to do:

Get a red envelope. You can buy them at Kinkos, or at party supply stores. On the front, address it to:

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington , D.C. 20500

On the back, write the following message.

This envelope represents one child who died in abortion.
It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything to the world.
Responsibility begins with conception.

Put it in the mail, and send it. Then forward this email to every one of your friends who you think would send one too.. I wish we could send 50 million red envelopes, one for every child who died before having a chance to live. Maybe it will change the heart of the president.

Warmly,

John Otto

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Easily my favourite music artist these days...

Cecilia loves him too. We can usually calm her down by playing his music if she is upset for any reason, from a bad tummy ache to being tired but too agitated to sleep. I think it is partly because for the last two weeks of the Christmas season - while she was still in utero - most of our Christmas music that we listened to was sung by Josh. So it must sound a little like "home" to her.


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The shower...

One of the many decorations the shower crew made for the shower.

Elsa enjoying a ride at the shower.

One of Lydia's last chances to lean with her elbow on her aunt... something she did almost every time she sat on my lap while I was pregnant. Her aunt Emma is bestowing a kiss on her - something Emma does every chance she gets!

Enjoying a delicious drink.
Coffee punch! What else do you serve at a shower in a cafe?! And it was scrumptious!

Playing a fun game - filling in a calendar with guests ideas of what to do while waiting for baby. The calendar is still on my wall beside my computer in my bedroom.

As you can see, it was a full house and a really fun party! Thanks again Peggy, as well as everyone who came to share in the special occasion.

I was blissfully unaware that a young artist had been busy creating a shower hat for me with the bows from Cecilia's gifts...

But it was so pretty that I just had to model it for posterity sake!

The Shower Hat Artist....

Sisters passing out the party favours as the shower drew to a close. It was a wonderful afternoon and I enjoyed it very much.

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Just a reminder!

Don't forget to contact your members of congress and senators regarding FOCA. While you are at it - make sure you inform them as to how to you feel about the PORK Bill they are trying to pass off as a Stimulus bill - which is literally 75% pork and 25 % stimulus and will have your children's children in hock to the government to pay for it.

Oh, and then there is the little matter of the gentleman Obama has nominated to the position of deputy attorney general of the United States. The hearings for the nomination of David Ogden were yesterday - but it is not to late to contact your government reps. Remember, you can locate them here. HSLDA is strongly suggesting that parents protect their parental rights by opposing this nomination. To read about this click here.
(Who is HSLDA? click here)

To refresh your memory about FOCA and the post card campaign click here.

When you are finished clicking, start dialing, writing, emailing or combination thereof!


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Bye Bye...

One last group photo of Aimee and Feidlhim with the kids still at home.
Even the baby made it into this photo!
Excuse the outfits, we woke up to no heat on the main floor (and no hot water in the bathrooms) so we were sporting the layered look.

One last photo of my oldest baby... just before they pulled out of the drive. It never gets easy saying good bye - no matter how often you have to say it. And the larger the family, the more often it seems that you have to say it. Excuse me now while I go fetch my hankie... again!

Not sure how to distract myself now. I have cleaned the kitchen and dining room spotless!!

UPDATE:
Heat came back on @ 2:30 - third time the furnace has done this since the New Year. We are waiting for a repairman to show up. Hot water came back at about 4:45, filled with rust... Yet we had hot water all along in the kitchen, so clearly we need that seen as well. Know of any good plumbers we can suggest to our land lady?

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Danielle Bean » Please help spread the word

Danielle Bean » Please help spread the word

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I might be away for a few days...

We have enjoyed a really nice, but all too short visit with our eldest daughter and child, along with her boyfriend. I'm glad I took so many photos of our day at the park. I caught so many joy filled moments as Aimee played with her little siblings.

Now it is time to say good bye and I am not ready. We watched the calendar flip by day by day as we counted first the weeks, then the days and finally the hours until she would be here with us again and now it is gone. It was much easier to say good bye this summer as we knew another trip was planned with a lot of wonderful dates to celebrate in between. When next we will see her again is unknown. Hopefully not too long in the future, but possibly not for another whole year.

It is very, very hard to say goodbye. Possibly I will be just too sad the next few days to share anythign but some pictures from the past week. I do have the shower post almost ready - just another picture or two I want to add, but it is scheduled to post whether I get them added or not.

Keep our family in your prayers please as we have a few hard weeks ahead. I am not the only one who will be sad for the next little while - but somehow despite my sadness I must help my younger children deal with the hole they will each feel in their hearts with the departure of their sister, who has been so much fun to visit with this past week. And her boy friend, Feidlhim, will be very much missed as well.


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It is with shock and dismay that I learned today

...that author Amy Welborn lost her husband, Micheal Dubruiel yesterday. He collapsed suddenly at the gym and could not be revived. Please keep her and her young children in your prayers.

UPDATE:

For any who would like to help in a tangible way, Amy Welborn and her children Faith and Family has set up a Pay Pal donation button which you can reach by clicking here.

A spiritual bouquet is being created here for Amy and her family.
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A little Snow...

Yesterday afternoon we were at a local park, hiking around the lake, playing a little soccer and swinging on the swings.





By late evening... this is what our yard looked like.







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Virus update...

Hello everyone! I can not decide whether Cecilia is fighting a cold, as I know I am... You see when she nurses - it is not unusual for her to snort milk up her nose and then she has difficulties with a build up of mucus. Noah, now 13, had a similar problem as a new born. It is hard not to feel anxious when things are not just quite normal with your wee baby - isn't it?

Our eldest daughter is here from Ireland and, sadly, with so many of the adult children working and/or in school we have not been able to organize a night when all 13 children can be home so that we can take a family picture of them all. However I do have some lovely pictures from a trip to the park with ten of them together. I will post some later and possibly a video of them all on the swings - well Cecilia is not on the swing, but if you peer really closely you can see her stroller in the back ground!

I might be a bit of a tease - and just post a few pics a day to give myself a little breathing space and still be able to entertain you all a little bit each day or at least every other day! Still planning on getting the shower pics up - there are some really great pictures from that day.

I have to say - that I feel that my blog has become really humdrum and not too inspiring. I apologize if that is the case. There is is much going on and I am s l o w l y preparing to begin teaching ESL classes three nights a week. I have fallen into the trap of judging my blog with others and thinking - oh they are so clever, so sweet, so funny, so thoughtful... and I am just ... boring! I so do not want to be boring! I want to be inspiring and helpful and don't feel I am quite cutting that grade right now! It feels as though my brain is too tired to be witty, funny, entertaining and most especially - inspiring! Many funny cute things happen almost daily here that I could post to give folks a little laugh but by the time I find a moment to blog - I have fogotten them all. I need to start carrying around a tape recorder! Oh well - the pictures will have to do for now.

Blessings to you all!
Christi


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Welcome Thomas James!

There is a new baby in the blogasphere world. Click here to oooh and ahhh and maybe leave a welcoming comment! Congratulations Jenni & David! Read more!