Getting rid of "stuff"?

Just last night, friends and I were having a discussion about "stuff" -- what to do with all the toys that aren't played with and clothes that aren't worn -- all the stuff that's weighing down our houses and weighing on our minds. We all had reservations, to some degree, about getting rid of any of it, for various reasons.

Just this morning, Martin and Jordy reminded me why I myself am hesitant to get rid of anything: Martin dumped out one of the tubs of toys we have in our front room -- a big tub, which I'd recently been thinking I could empty out and get rid of a lot of the stuff on the bottom of it, since the boys never play with it. That Martin dumped it out is highly unusual -- he hasn't been interested in much of what's in there for months, nor has Jordy. But this morning, it was like they'd been let loose in a toy store. "Mama," Martin kept saying from inside the tub, where he'd crawled to retrieve every last toy, "I found lots and lots of cool things!" (Seriously, he said that like five or six times.)

Jordy too was excited with so much of what was found -- toys long since broken, toys long since grown out of (baby things), as well as other things that just haven't been played with. He found a bigger horse to go with the smaller horse he got for his birthday, which he loves, and he's been carrying both of them around all morning saying, "Horse!" and holding up one of them; then, "Horse!" and holding up the other; then, "Two horse!" and laughing, delighted with himself and the horses.

The boys entertained themselves with the contents of the tub all morning. So, though I was somewhat unsure in my conversation last night about my own feelings about getting rid of toys, this morning I'm pretty sure I won't be purging any time soon.

Wishful thinking

Martin loves movies. He loves the ones he watches all the time, and he loves thinking about and talking about the movies that he hasn't seen, like ones he's seen previews for, or ones we own that he hasn't seen. He loves rifling through our video collection and asking about ones he's unfamiliar with, "Is this just for moms and dads to watch?" (That's what we tell him about movies we don't want him to see.)

We recently borrowed "An American Tail" from the library, and one of the "previews" on it is for Universal Studios in Orlando (which is referred to as a "theme park" in the clip). Of course, Martin thinks it's a preview for a movie, and asks, every time he sees it, "Is that a movie just for moms and dads to watch?" Because he wouldn't understand if I tried to explain it to him, I always just say yes. And then he always says, "Maybe I can watch "Theme Park" when I grow up?"

Natural Family Planning classes

For those of you who live close by, you might be interested to know that I've arranged for a Natural Family Planning course at church, to start in September. It will be a three-class course, meeting at the following times:
Sunday, September 21 from 2:00-5:00
Sunday, October 26 from 2:00-5:00
Sunday, November 23 from 2:00-5:00

I'll be putting announcements in the bulletin for the next four weeks; here's the first one:

LEARN NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING
Natural Family Planning (NFP) trains a couple to recognize the natural signs of fertility, and either avoid them or take advantage of them, depending on whether or not a couple hopes to conceive. NFP is 100% safe and 100% natural, and it's been proven to be 99% effective in avoiding pregnancy. NFP agrees with the Church's teachings regarding family planning.

For more information, or to sign up, email me.

Weird, but cute!

Jordy's been doing the cutest (and weirdest!) thing recently: We have this little prayer card with a picture of John Paul on it, which Jordy loves. Separately, he loves letters and recognizes them all, and loves the idea of spelling words (because of watching Martin, I'm sure).

Recently, he'll say a grouping of letters -- maybe E-X-I-T, while looking at the exit sign, or R-S-B-P because that's what he happened to pull off the fridge -- he'll say them slowly, like he's spelling a word, and then finish with "John Paul!" Like as if that's what he spelled. Example: "T-J-A-P-I -- John Paul!"

Conversations with Martin

This morning, two gems:

Martin: Mom, do you think Tommy's a weirdo?
Me (laughing): Yes!
Martin: Are you a weirdo?
Me: Yes.
Martin: And Dad? And Gabe? And John?
Me: Yup!
Martin: We are all nutters?

__________________________

Martin: Mama, when you were a little girl, you ate and ate and ate and that made you into a big mama?

Remembering our baby

One year ago today, I knew for sure that I'd miscarried our third baby.

I've been surprised recently to find that I'm remembering so keenly things to do with that time. Like, this past August 8 (a week and a half ago, the Feast of St. Dominic) I attended a Dominican function, and remembered instantly that August 8 of last year, I'd attended a Dominican lunch at my friend Patty's house, and shared with my fellow Dominicans that I was pregnant.

And two days ago last year is when I went to the midwives for a 6-week confirmation-of-pregnancy appointment (yes, we had excitedly told everyone very early on that we were expecting), only to be told during the ultrasound (to rule out anything wrong, because I'd been cramping and spotting a little since the night before) that there actually was something wrong -- the ultrasound tech couldn't find the baby. After a blood test measuring my pregnancy hormone levels, they were pretty sure I'd already miscarried, but since I hadn't started bleeding yet, I held out hope. On August 19, though, I knew it had happened.

Today I'm remembering our little one, who I think about often. I'm remembering that, though it's sad, it's also really happy -- our third baby is safe and happy in heaven, and our fourth baby, Louie, is here with us, which wouldn't have been possible if I hadn't miscarried. And I'm remembering these words from Mother Angelica's "Miscarriage Prayer," which I've thought of so often with awe and gratitude over the past year: "He was created and lived a short time so the image of his parents imprinted on his face may stand before Me as their personal intercessor."

If you have time to cry ...

... read this: The girl in the window.