26 weeks / 3 days appointment

I'm so overwhelmed with joy at times at all the good fortune we've had. I'm late in posting this, but on January 12 I had a doctor's appointment, and our baby girl is doing really well!!! That's her in the picture below looking at us.

Raffaele is also continuing to do exceedingly well. I'm in constant amazement at how blessed we are. Peace be with all of you.

High Needs infants - sleep

This article describes Raffaele's sleep. It's called, "5 REASONS WHY HIGH-NEED INFANTS SLEEP DIFFERENTLY." Yes, yes, that's Raffaele, who didn't sleep through the night until 18 months and now he sometimes goes days without naps. It has been a sleep-deprived challenge, but we wouldn't have it any other way. He is the most remarkable little, high-energy toddler.

No MBA classes until (at least) July

It's so refreshing not having an MBA class right now. I can do stuff like get the room ready for Raffaele and take care of things around here that haven't been done.

Amazing, but true: I have two classes plus the capstone left to complete my MBA. As long as I finish within 5 years and never take more than one year off, I'm in good standing.

Peace be with all of you.

Just being me

"You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved." - Matthew 10:22.

You can't please everybody, obviously, since people are so diverse. You have to be you.

Me, well, I'm me. My identity includes being a committed Christian. It's part of who I am, and most of who I am doesn't come from actually trying. My beliefs and faith have been with me a long time and are part of who I am, and as long as they are true to the teachings of Christ, I don't change them. I keep them. There are a few parts of me here and there that need fine-tuning as I endeavor to live in a better state of grace. It's a journey. I'm 39 now; remarkable. (The number looks so high.) I know I need to pray more, but it doesn't happen. Although I do pray daily, I could pray more. Or I let other stuff happen. I suppose I let petty things annoy me; St. Gianna Beretta Molla commented on that (although I can't find the quote right now) and said that those things don't matter in the next life. (I like to keep a clean and organized house, though!)

I guess I started this post with that quote from Matthew because I do, at times, face incredulity for my belief system, which is firmly Catholic. People don't understand me sometimes, like when I talk about the openness to life and surrendering the blessing of more children to God's will. People are funny that way, but I understand the secular point of view. When I was in my 20s I thought I only wanted the ideal two children, but now after having come to a greater understanding of the faith and having increased my relationship with God, I see the beauty of surrendering oneself to the will of God. I have to say that all of my experiences have brought me closer to Him as I've endeavored to increase my faith.

Also, people think that because of my faith that I am judging them. I am not. I can understand that this is hard for others to understand. Maybe it's because they judge and they can't believe it's possible not to judge? I don't know. I judge no one. I shudder to think of doing so because of what it says in Matthew 7:2. "For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you." Yikes. Kinda scary. It's best not to judge. Instead, I prefer to pray for people if I think they are going in a direction opposite the Christian faith, but I don't judge them. Praying, "please help Austin find you and discern what you will for him to do and give him the help he truly needs" is different than, "Austin is a bad person."

As far as hating is concerned, that is a strong word (i.e., "hate"). I'm sure they are out there, though--those that hate me because of what I believe. Just because of that--because of my belief system and who I am. I don't ever mean ill-will to anybody, only wishing that they have peace, but I have had my share of purposely mean-spirited messages. As a Christian, it's a little easier to let it roll off of you because as Jesus said, "whoever endures to the end will be saved" and because of what He said in the Beatitudes, "blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." By God's mercy, I do hope to join him in the Kingdom someday.

Peace be with all of you.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, friends! I hope that you receive much peace this year. I'll continue to pray for so many of you. For all those expecting babies, I hope your pregnancies, labor, and deliveries all go really well. I'll continue to pray that all babies be healthy. For those of you who yearn to hold a child, I will continue to pray for you. God bless.

Merry Christmas! Christ is born!

Merry Christmas, friends. Peace be with you all.

We had a blessed and beautiful Christmas day. We woke up at the usual time and went to mass at 10am. We came home and began preparing our annual Christmas lasagna. We began the lasagna Christmas tradition on our first Christmas together as newlyweds, and we have continued the tradition, today being the fourth time that we have prepared a lasagna on Christmas day. Today's recipe was this one. It was very good, and everyone enjoyed it.

Afterwards, we opened presents! I have been amazed that throughout Advent Raffaele didn't touch the presents underneath the Christmas tree. He would just stand back and acknowledge that the tree existed, but he didn't try to climb it, as I thought he would. We didn't quite get around to putting our ornaments on it (except for a very few that we put on the top branches), so I'm sure that if we had actual ornaments on it that Raffaele would have played with them. The tree has not been totally bare though, as it does have lights on it which Raffaele respected and never played with much to my surprise.

Raffaele understands how to open a present now. Last year there was no interest. The interest that he has in it this year is in the act of actually removing the gift wrap, not in getting to the object that is actually wrapped. He received some nice clothes and some toys, which is great since he's been looking at the same toys for a while now. He also received some books, but I'm going to have to store the ones that are not board books, because he tears apart the pages of any book that is not a board book.

I hope that you all had a beautiful and blessed Christmas.

20 week appointment

I haven't posted in a while, but I want to at least get this up. My 20-week appointment a few weeks ago went really well. We are ever-so-thankful that all is going well and that she is healthy. MBA class is over, and I'm taking the next 7 months off. Heartburn is back with a vengeance, but I am trying to manage it with all the tricks and the safe tablets of NemaBase (mostly sodium bicarbonate) that the gastroenterologist recommended to me.

Still so thankful

I'm just so very thankful for everything. I wish peace and happiness to all of you.

Raffaele did not nap today!

I tried to put him down for a nap several times today, but it just wasn't happening.

Raffaele did not nap today. He finally fell asleep at 9:30pm. THAT's never happened.

His bio-rhythm has been going through a change these past two weeks. He's been taking his nap (his one nap) later and later in the day. Well, we'll see where this goes...

Raffaele sleeps through the night

Yes, it's finally happened for us. After 18 months. Two weeks ago, Raffaele slept through the night five out of seven days. This past week, he slept through the night all seven days. And I don't just mean that definition of sleep-through-the-night being sleeping five hours without awakening. No. I mean he goes to bed for the night and sleeps until the morning. For the first in nearly two years, I have slept seven hours straight. I'm so well rested now. I can't believe it.

Raffaele's 18 month appointment!

All went well!

Key stats:
Weight: 28.5 pounds
Height: 33 3/4 "
Head circumference: 49 cm.

(Strange that the head circumference is in metric and the other measurements are in the English system.)

I've been feeling her move!

She's been moving around for a while now. I didn't post about it when it first happened because I wasn't sure if it was really her or if it was something else going on in there. BUT the movements are indistinguishable -- it's her. It's an arm or a leg or something like that moving around. It such an incredible feeling to know that this little life is within me.

It's a GIRL!

At today's ultrasound, we found out that we are having a GIRL!
We are so awesomely excited (can I use those words in combination?) and are so THANKFUL that our baby is healthy, healthy, healthy. All I want to say is Thanks be to God, and thank you for all this beauty. I was praying last night and today that everything would turn out well. We are truly blessed.

So, she's a girl! We are very excited. SO, this will be a whole new ball game for us. I've grown used to the blue clothes with baseballs, footballs, construction vehicles, and dinosaurs. Now we get to move on to pink. I mean, certainly, any color will be fine, including blue, but Mr. FloridaWife would have never permitted pink on Raffaele, so it'll be nice to see some pink around here.

Ultrasound tomorrow!

Big ultrasound tomorrow! I'm praying that the baby is chromosomally perfect and healthy!

We'll also find out if I'm carrying a boy or girl.

This is the one and only time that Mr. FloridaWife ever comes to a doctor's appointment with me. It'll be good to be with him.

Raffaele kissed me!

Sunday morning, Raffaele woke up, smiled at me, leaned in, and KISSED me! He is just so adorable. I love my toddler so very much. He is really developing into a kind, sweet, affectionate, and playful boy. Maybe he learns it from me--I sure kiss him a LOT. Oh, it is so sweet to see him and lovingly hold him and kiss him. What is interesting about him is that he likes to wave at everybody he passes when we go out for walks. He's so friendly. He waves at everyone. There's a little girl across the street, and he hugs her or holds her hand. I am constantly amazed at how beautifully he is developing. We're going to keep doing what we're doing as it seems to be working in regards to his personality and approach towards others.