A little Disciple

This week has been jam-packed with so much!  First off, in answer to my last post, we have TWO bottom teeth fully visible and totally sharp!  Secondly, we have already been to 4 Christmas parties, with many more to come as we go to South Bend next week.  Crazy. 

At these Christmas parties, two of which were very big parties at our church, I realized what a "little disciple" our Attila James is.  Seriously, could he bring anymore of the Lord's Joy to those around him?  We had a party for our youth group and everytime I came up to a teen/group of teens, James lit up and was so sweet with them.  He would smile and laugh at them and even reach out to touch their faces.  I have found this is his present form of affection.  To reach out and feel all around your face.  Some people, he really loves to grab lips (our friend Nick and Attila).  He loves to grab noses.  Sometimes, he will even lean in and give a baby kiss to people (ya know, mouth wide open, drool all over your cheek)!  And for one friend of ours, he closed his little eyes and nuzzled his forehead against theirs.  It was the cutest thing.  Then when we go shopping, so many people love him!  I'm sure most Moms experience this with their babies.  I love to see people light up when they see our son.  Babies are such blessings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And so many times, as James will sit and babble (or scream, hehe) I love to think to myself that Jesus Christ, GOD HIMSELF, was once like this little boy!  And Mary had the amazing gift to sit and watch in adoration the purity, innocence and joy of Our Lord.  O mystery of mysteries... The Word became Flesh, and dwelt among us!

Merry Christmas!  I can't wait to share of our adventures in cold, snow-filled (hopefully) Indiana!

A missing tooth...

Our little James is teething.  This is obvious by his unexplainable fussiness and his need to always have something in his mouth; he will forcefully put something in his mouth and fuss and fuss until its something that satisfies his needs to chomp.  BUT there is no sign of an impending tooth.  No raised bumps, no white coming through his gums.  His gums looks the same as they did when he was a newborn.  I feel like this little man has been teething for MONTHS and it has been particularly bad for over a week now.  I just had to rant!  And say, "Come, little toother, come, let my son out of his misery (for now, atleast)"!!!  The end.  I wish I could write more, but baby is asleep and I am home on a break from a retreat that I am helping out with for our seniors.  Tomorrow, Attila and I are giving talks about feminity/masculinity as Christians and how that applies to dating.  With a couple weeks until we go home to South Bend, we are anxiously waiting to see our familia but trying to keep our focus on the task laid out for us here in Tejas!  Love to you all!

A Day in the Life (sort of)

So, many times through out a week, I comment to Attila about how "upside down" our lives are.  Completely different then our quiet, laid back life in Frankfort.  Some good friends of ours hate the word "busy" (because it is so easy to use that as an excuse for things) but I hate to say that our life is busy, especially compared to what it was in Indiana.  And I have to admit it, I kinda like it!  Through some of the crazy days, though, we still have peace and joy, from our great Lord, who has us where He wants us.  Yay!  I thought I would share what a typical day looks like for us:

6:30 AM - Momma wakes up to get ready for work
7:30 AM - Nurse baby, get things gathered for work, and head out!
8:00 AM - Usually at work by now.  Morning announcements. (Attila and baby at home sleeping in together)
8:25 AM - Teaching Church History to Juniors (I have 9 students in this class)
9:20 AM - First period is over so I had back home. 
9:30 AM - Nurse baby, breakfast time for family, play time with baby (or nap time if he didn't sleep in)
10:00 AM - On certain days, Attila will start to head into work.  If not, we get the morning together to relax and play with Attila James.  Sometimes we take turns entertaining baby so the other can lesson plan (Attila plans Confirmation nights and Middle School youth group nights, so he basically lesson plans, too).
12:00 ish - Lunch for whole family (if T went into work earlier he comes home for lunch.)  Baby nurses and will usually eat a little bit of oatmeal mixed with fruit (purreed of course).  At this time he is usually waking up from a nap or needs to go down for a nap.
12:30 - play time OR nap time for baby.  Mom and Dad get housework done or other work.  Or relax.
1:45 PM - Gather stuff for work and pack the diaper bag for the day (somedays we will leave earlier to have some family prayer time at the church)
2:00 - Mom back to work to teach 2 afternoon classes (Introduction to Catholicism with Freshmen and PE).  Dad and baby to Most Precious Blood (our church and Attila's work) where Dad does work while baby naps/plays in the office.  Since James is now eating solids, Attila is usually able to feed him while Mom is gone, which is nice.  He eats green beans or carrots and has a little bit of water.
4:00 - Momma is done with work and heads to the church to see the boys (the school and church are about 2 blocks from eachother).  Nurse baby and Mom and baby play till Dad is done with work.  This is where things can get crazy:
              -On Mondays, we stay and pray the Rosary with our friends at 5 pm then Attila has a middle school planning meeting at about 5:30.  Mom and baby go home and Dad gets a ride home and is home around 7.
             -Attila has Tuesdays off, which is when Mom makes yummy dinner and we have a nice evening at home.
             -On Wednesdays, there is Lifeteen (which is our Confirmation class).  There are over 150 teens that are signed up.  So its basically "all hands on deck" for the night. We have girls come in to babysit while Attila runs the night and I lead a small group.  We eat dinner at the Church.  The class starts at 6:30 and we are not home from everything until about 10 pm at night!  But we love it.  The teens love Attila James, too!
             -Thursdays, Attila sometimes stays for an event for teens that we have called "Young Apostles".  There are 3 Youth Ministers at the Church and not all of them need to be there for it.  If he stays, he's not home till after 9, otherwise, he works during the day and we go home together at 5 pm.
              -Fridays - Attila works during the day and we have the evening together UNLESS there is a retreat (which lasts all weekend). Currently he is on a "camping retreat" for the weekend.  The next retreat is in January and then in March.  Also, we will probably start going to athletic games at the high schools more regularly on Fridays. 
              -Saturday - day off for Attila!  Momma will take a couple hours to lesson plan.  We do housework and grocery shopping.  Go to church at 5:30 pm.  Saturday nights we try to hang out with friends!
              -Sunday - another big day for Attila's work.  If we didn't go to church Saturday evening, we go in the morning and Attila heads into work at 1 pm.  "The Edge" (middle school youth group) is at 3 pm and the High school Bible Study is at 6:30 pm.  He is not home until 10 pm.  I get to spend time resting, finishing up things for work, and playing with baby!

I hope that gives y'all an idea about how a day/week goes for us.  For Attila's work, since he is ministering to the youth, they are always trying to improve at "relational ministry" so as time goes on, he will be spending more time with the teens, like going to lunch at the high schools and attending high school events.  Basically, we spend a lot of time at church!  But like I said, we love it.  We love serving the Lord and it works for our family.  God bless!

Milestones

I thought I would update y'all real quick about what it is this Teeny Valentiny has been up to.  I was just sitting on the couch with him in my lap, scrolling through the internet.  I had a cup next to the computer.  Attila James lifted himself up from the sitting position, leaned himself against the side of the couch, and reached out to grab my glass.  So I gave it to him and he proceeded to try and lift it and put it to his mouth.  TOO BIG!  He wants to grab, grab, grab.  Right now he is rolling around on the floor, trying to get to the computer cords.  Here is a list of new things he does since we've moved:

Roll around to get to places he wants to be, from his back to his belly, from his belly to his back.

On his back or his belly, he reaches for things in his sight and will "shimmy" his way toward them.

Eats solids everyday now.  Cereal once a day mixed with fruit and we just started adding half a container of veggies around dinner.  Somedays he eats more then others.

Yells, quite loud. 

Gets frustrated very easily while trying to maneauver toys/objects.  Gets frustrated when he can't grab what he wants.

Sits up and plays.  He will still fall every now and then, but I've been watching him the past couple of days catch his balance when he's about to fall over. 

Loves to watch himself in the mirror. 

Loves to bang his chubby little hands on every surface, even Momma's flabby belly :)

Wants to holds every utensil, plate, and cup that Mom and Dad use.

Is teething like a maniac.

Loves to be tickled.  Wants to be entertained most of the time and will fuss until someone is sitting near him while he plays. 

Hates being strapped in the car seat.

Loves loves loves to play with Daddy.

Is experiencing seperation anxiety from Momma.

Takes better naps for Daddy then he does for Momma. 

Loves to sleep in in the morning with Dad while Momma goes to work.  As much as I wish I was a full time stay at home Mommy, I love that Attila and James are getting some great time together.  Attila has been gone now for 2 whole days on retreat and I can tell that baby misses him.  It is too sweet.  Yay for amazing Dads!

We've been to the beach a couple of times and James does NOT like being close to the waves.  They scare him :(  But I'm sure in the spring it will be a different story. 

More to come later!

Update to our crazy, but so blessed life!

This is going to be a quick post seeing that our life right now has been taken up a notch...or two...or three notches maybe!  We've moved to Corpus Christi, Texas.  It was all very quick and sudden, hence why we've basically dropped off the face of the earth.  Attila accepted a job as a Coordinator of Youth Ministry in the middle of August and a couple weeks later, to our surprise, I was offered and accepted a part time teaching job as well.  Back at the end of June, we had no intentions of moving to Texas.  Little by little, God set out little markers along the way pointing us there in the month of July.  The month of August was like an extreme gush of Holy Spirit wind moving in our lives so that we would get the message clear that we were being called down here.  By the middle of September, me and the baby flew down so that I could start my teaching job and find us a place to live (we stayed with amazing friends).  By the first of October, Attila was down here with literally everything we owned stuffed in a U-Haul.  We hadn't found a place to live yet, so we stayed with some more awesome friends while all our stuff stayed in storage.  This could've been such a stressful, hard time.  But we had the peace of Our Lord and great friends who supported us.  Finally, we are in our own apartment, almost all unpacked.  It's a cute little place and I am already enjoying decorating and making it feel like home.  God has us where he wants us and our hearts are resting in Him.  He has been so faithful to the desires of our hearts, providing for us every step of the way.  We would've never imagined Texas, but we're here, putting all our trust in the One who saves, fulfills and satisfies our souls. 

It is very different down here, yes.  Almost everyday its sunny and hot, with a nice wind.  We're adjusting just fine!  We've already been to the beach a few times.  But we do miss the fall weather and our wonderful family and friends.  We love you all and we're so thankful for your patience with us since we were not able to tell everyone personally about this move due to the speed at which this all happened.  We hope you understand.   We're sad that we didn't get to say goodbye to everyone, either, but there really aren't any goodbyes in this life.  We'll see you all soon!  Pictures and more stories to come!

All our love!

Safe, Certain, and Permanent

"By the time a child comes to the age of reason home, with all its order, happiness, and beauty, means just one thing to him: certainty.  In this respect home is to him precisely what God is to him, it is safe and certain and permanent, not simply because it is a house with four walls and a roof, but because it is built on the rock of love, his parents' love for God, and for one another, and for him." - Caryll Houselander

My heart.

I do hope I can have an orderly home :)  But, I know there will be NO shortage of love, beauty and happiness, by God's sweet grace and mercy.

Become like children

This whole past week, Attila and I have been putting on Vacation Bible School (along with other volunteers, of course).  As much as it was stressful to plan this year (we were NOT as organized as last year, but do the kiddies care?) we have had fun and have been in awe of the purity and innocence of these beautiful children.  It is such a joy to work with them and to learn from them.  These kids are our friends, really.  We had a woman from the diocese come check out our VBS program yesterday and she made a really good point.  VBS is usually 15 hours for one week in the summer.  Religious ed. on Sundays during the school year lasts about 30 ish weeks and each session is usually about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  VBS is half that!  It really is a great tool to teach the children about our faith in the middle of the school break, and to surround them with God's love and His grace.  We had such a great group of kiddos who were soaking up anything we tell them about the Lord.  And we had water games.  What else do you need, really?!

I have some good memories of VBS from when I was little.  Planning the crafts and seeing everything come together this week gets me so excited for when our little James is ready to engage his faith like this.  The crafts alone get me thinking of so many crafts that I can do with him at home!  And he survived this week.  He was barely home during the daytime, he witnessed the stress of his parents, and he's been introduced to a large group of crazy, loud children.  Today, he spent some time with two of our little friends who are 7 and 8.  He loooooved watching them run around.  He would sit, watch them with excitement, and move his little legs so fast, wishing he could join them.  Too cute!

Praise God.  "The disciples asked Jesus, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?  He called a child, whom he put among them and said, 'Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever welcome one such child in my name, welcomes me."  Matthew 18:2-5