First Sunday of Advent...

May your preparation for Christ into your life again
this Christmas be vigilant and filled with His peace.

Here is the song sung at Mass for Advent:

Holy Darkness, Blessed Night
Heaven's Answer Hidden from our Sight.
As we await you, Oh God of Silence,
We embrace your holy Light!

Preparing to Prepare

The first Sunday of Advent approaches, and I found a statue at Mistletoe and Moss that speaks so deeply of the preparation to welcome Christ at Christmas. I was so excited about it that I jumped the gun and made our Advent Wreath a bit early, too! If you can see Mary and Joseph's faces, not to mention Mary's pregnant self, or how determined Joseph looks (and a bit frightened). It makes me so excited for Advent! I love the HOLIdays!

It's almost here!

My fantastic, beautiful, sweet, fun-loving, funny sister-in-law Julia Dawson is due for she and Pete's (David's brother) first child on Thanksgiving Day! They have kept that sex a surprise so stay tuned to see what new little cousin God gives John Paul... be it Leum Kenny or Cecilia Jane! I know- those are great names.

FYI- that's a sprite in my hand- don't want to scandalize anyone.

Don't say the B word!!

Don't say it! Bed rest?!?!? I was told to "get off your feet" by my OB's nurse when I called with my complaints of intense ligament pain, Braxton Hicks contractions, and a few regular contractions here and there (not to mention a constant headache). What does "get off your feet" mean? I must have forgotten to mention that I chase a 15 month old BOY for a living. Is God trying to slow me down for some reason- I was not under that impression that I was too go go go for my/ John Paul's good, but what do I know?

I have a sexy Velcro belt I will have to wear all the time now to keep my belly up, and today my mom wouldn't let me pick John Paul up. After that half way point (23 weeks to be exact), things get a little too uncomfortable for my taste. Oh well, part of the suffering that makes the baby's arrival all the better, right? In the meantime, I am up to my ears in gatorade and water!

Dear morning nap, it's over for us!

That's right... I think my 15 month old is breaking up with his morning nap... I've said this so many times since June, but I'm serious. But I really like his morning nap. It was so good for him. It was so good for me! I wish this were only a break, but I think he's really made closure.

He's doing the whole "I'm cranky and need to lie down, but I'll fool you for 45 minutes, then you'll need to come get me, ok?" And then we play and continue with our day until 1-ish, at which time he'll only sleep for 1hr. 45min. Is this what it looks like? Come on seasoned mamas... what's a pregnant mom to do? I was so looking forward to him keeping it until the new baby gets here in March, so we could all get extra sleep in the morning. I guess that's a special grace that God gives mamas with babies who are extra close together (which I consider 18 months or less).

John Paul at the Park- brought to you by Maria!

This week, we had Benjamin, Grayson, Gianna, and John Paul at the Park!! It was so much fun.

His favorite slide, he heads down HEAD first! Thank goodness it's enclosed!

Oh, and isn't Gianna just adorable!

Isn't the slide so much more fun with Daddy!?!?!

An attempt at fall pictures

We have 1 tree on our entire property. But oh joy! It is deciduous! So I tried to get John Paul to enjoy the leaves in order to capture some candid fall shots, but alas, he was more interested in his daddy and the basketball. I was not meant to be the mom with the great pictures that were just "snapped"... I'll leave that to Maria Lewis when she comes over! By the way, he cut a molar- is that suppose to happen?