Mama-luia

I told you last time that we're trying to keep it simple around here as we prepare for Christmas, and it's true. It's hard work, though, being simple. Doesn't that sound counter-intuitive? Yet here I am, struggling to focus on what is most important. For one, we want to have a lovely but simply decorated home. I always liked the song "People Look East" during Advent but this year it has meant so much more to us: Make your house fair as you are able Trim the hearth and set the table It never really struck me how making one's home beautiful would be a way of anticipating Christmas until I had my own family. Sure I loved when we started decorating when I was a kid, but I never thought of it as a 'spiritual' preparation; it just got me excited for when Santa would come. Um.... Now because we're not loaded and I don't want to go ransack a big-box store for decorations made in China (or anything made in China for that matter), a lot of ou...

How far along? 16 weeks. It's unreal to say that really! But yes, time is flying. The days may seem long, but the weeks have gone by incredibly quickly. I LOVE the second trimester! Total weight gain: I have lost 10 pounds so far, due to morning sickness and a seriously tiny appetite. I talked Patrick into buying more snackable 'convenience' foods for the meantime so I could make sure I was getting something in (my favourite yogurt cups that come pre-sweetened -- not as nutritious as mixing mixing plain yogurt and fruit like usual, but more likely for me to actually eat; Spoon-size shredded wheat instead of oatmeal -- as oatmeal is a serious food revulsion of mine during both pregnancies). I think that weight loss will be 'gain' soon enough! Maternity clothes? Loving them! I went shopping with my mom about three weeks ago at a local consignment shop and got an incredible amount of stylish cute things for $53 -- 5 shirts, two skirts and a Bella Band. I'...

Tomorrow is the first Sunday of Advent. I am absolutely over-joyed for this season! I wrote an Advent post last year that I would like to share with you here, to give you a taste of our family traditions during Advent. You'll notice three glaring omissions in this post, mind you -- the feast of St. Nicholas, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (my mother's birthday) and the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Patrick's birthday). When these days come up, I will share with you what we do to give you a flavor for that as well. I think it's tempting to scour the Internet, and amazing creative blogs and think, ohhh I should do that! Unfortunately for me, so many interesting ideas overwhelm me and so I get discouraged and do almost nothing. So I keep things basic. Here are our pared-down Advent celebrations A creche, with an empty manger, awaiting Baby Jesus who appears on Christmas morning and is placed in His manger by the youngest child in the family An Adve...

About two weeks ago, I was with Patrick as we were driving through downtown Halifax. We went past a rather posh store that often has really interesting window displays. I curiously looked, only to be disgusted with what I saw: Several undressed mannequins with brightly-coloured cutouts of hands taped to each breast, and the following words, written in large print -- "Have YOU felt your boobs lately?" Far less noticeable in the display were a few pink ribbons, signifying breast cancer awareness. Given that someone I love is currently battling breast cancer, I was so angered at the insensitivity of this display. While I think encouraging women to do breast self-exams is important, I was so disgusted with how they did it; it made something as devastating as breast cancer somehow sexy ?! Also, if you're a Facebook user, perhaps you remember about four or five months ago when women curiously had a single word, a colour, as their Facebook status. The colour, it turns o...

Thank you all for your prayers. It means a lot to me and Patrick. I promised to keep you updated on us, and so here I am. I would like to do an Advent post soon, but I think that will have to wait until... um... closer to Advent when I actually dig out our decorations and have something to photograph! So instead, I thought I would show you Noah in his All Saints costume, albeit intensely late. Before that, though, I would like to say that I don't want to give the impression that I think Halloween or trick-or-treating is "evil." Heavens, no! I am concerned about how some families celebrate Halloween, either by allowing their kids to dress up in frightening costumes or decorate their homes in creepy ways, or both. But other than that, Halloween is so much fun. I know many lovely families who celebrate Halloween, go trick-or-treating and so on, and I think that is great! In actual fact, I think trick-or-treating is delightful because it gets neighbours who ...

Have you wondered why I haven't been blogging lately? Maybe not, as I am not much of a frequent poster. Although I constantly photograph the little happenings of our life, and think, "what a fun blog post this would be", I am rarely motivated to document my life in this way. Right now, however, there is a more specific reason why I have been away from the computer a bit. It is because some difficult things have been shaking up our little family lately. My mother-in-law has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. We are very hopeful, as it is a very treatable form of cancer, and the doctors found it early on. That doesn't mean, however, that there isn't fear among us, too. This is understandably the hardest on Patrick. Because of that, I don't want to spend my time when he is free in the evenings and I could be with him, or at least, being helpful to him (making him something to eat, folding his laundry and so on) blogging. Tonight Patrick had...