Failing Lent?

I just had to share this!

People ask me all the time "What are you giving up for Lent?" or more often "Why are you giving something up for Lent?"

My answer usually goes something like this:

"I am Catholic." (even though the Catholic Faith isn't the only one who practices the traditions of Lent)

"Lent is a time of sacrificing, fasting and preparation for The Resurrection, so I give something up during this time as a sacrifice."

"I need to loose weight...so I am giving up sweets.." Just Kidding...that is not why you give something up! Haha!

I am assuming all of you aren't Catholic...a pretty safe assumption.  Maybe some of you don't practice the season of Lent at your Church or in your Faith...but I am pretty sure this explanation will hit him if you love Our Lord.

Ann Voskamp, the author of One Thousand Gifts, tweeted this today and it totally made sense to me and explained the act of sacrificing and fasting something during Lent.

She said (or tweeted), "The Secret to Fasting in a Failing Lent: Fasting is about Communion: be broken of something to be made whole in Him"

...and I was intrigued so I clicked the link on the tweet and read further...(such a gifted writer!)

Voskamp continued, "The realest fast is to hold fast to Christ..Fasting, it is that: abstaining from anything that hinders adoration of Christ."

And then she quoted this from Andrew Murray:

"Prayer is the one hand with which we grasp the Invisible.  Fasting the other---with which we cast away the visible....Prayer NEEDS fasting for its full and perfect development."

And she closes with this thought...which I will continue to ask myself this Lenten Season...and maybe you can too...

"Is my fast failing because I am focusing on what is empty---instead of WHO is filling."

You see...when you give something up...something that possibly is or isn't taking your time away from Christ...when you struggle in a fast or sacrifice...in order to overcome our human nature during that struggle...we NEED God...and this in turn brings us closer to Him...We then are filled by HIM!  Beautiful!

Sweets...you've got nothin' on this girl!

Prayers Answered

2 big prayers of mine have been answered in regard to my Little Man's health. God has such a sense of humor.

I prayed for Evan to poop (may sound silly..but you try not pooping for a week!) and I think I should have been a little bit more specific.  I think I should have prayed for Evan to poop once a day....NOT EVERY DIAPER!

Evan is now pooping...prayer answered.  He is now pooping every diaper, up the back, out the sides, ruined clothes, scared to leave the house pooping!  But he is pooping.  Thanks God for answered prayers :)

The best part of it all is that his reflux is now non-existent!  Evan is bib free and lovin' it!  We still have the occasional spit up or drool...but nothing like before!  Another Prayer answered!

And with those issues gone...Evan is growing and progressing great!  Tummy time is no longer hard for him, he is sitting up and building his back muscles, he is rolling and now Evan sleeps on his tummy!  Amazing!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

Here is how I found my Big Guy after his morning nap...happy as could be!

He can definitely roll from his back to his tummy now!  And he is sitting up great!  We still need support around him, but he sure is learning to hold his own.  

Before I know it...he will be crawling!

God spoke as follows to Noah and his sons,
'I am now establishing my covenant with you and with your descendants to come,
and with every living creature that was with you: birds, cattle and every wild animal with you; everything that came out of the ark, every living thing on earth.

And I shall maintain my covenant with you: that never again shall all living things be destroyed by the waters of a flood, nor shall there ever again be a flood to devastate the earth.'
 'And this', God said, 'is the sign of the covenant which I now make between myself and you and every living creature with you for all ages to come:
I now set my bow in the clouds and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
When I gather the clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds,
I shall recall the covenant between myself and you and every living creature, in a word all living things, and never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all living things.
Genesis 9: 8-13


And I absolutely loved my devotional for this past Sunday in line with this reading...hope you like it, too!


God gave us his covenant.  A covenant is deeper and more personal than a legal contract.  It promises that each party will give 100% of themselves to keeping their promise, even if the other person breaks the bargain.


Notice that God says "when" the clouds come.  Hard times come to us all.  God's covenant, his 100% personal guarantee, is shown in the rainbow.  It bridges heaven and earth, a beautiful reminder that we will never be abandoned.


Jesus Christ is the tangible fulfillment of just how personally God takes his covenant.  He transforms the sign of the rainbow into a person, real God and real man.  We longer need the ethereal rainbow to remind us of God's promises.  We have the solid promises of our Savior as we travel through the season of Lent.


~Lord, Open My Heart~
Julie Davis

Our Week: Build A Bunny and Birthday!

Well...we started the week out with a Poop....when the kid only poops every couple days. no diaper is good enough...as seen.  But, Evan is pooping...so we are happy!

In order to get my fill of sweets in before Lent began, Zoe and I made Double Chocolate Brownies and we ate them with Caramel Swirl Ice Cream.  We all enjoyed them thoroughly.

Love my Little Helper!

Fat Tuesday came quick!  I can't believe February has already come and gone!

Tuesday, we decided to use a gift card Build A Bear that Zoe received from Gianna for her birthday.  Zoe had so much fun!

So many choices...good thing Mommy was there to help her choose a precious little Bunny!

Daddy wanted her to choose a cat...but Mommy always seems to win :)

Time to choose our Bunny's heart and give it some lovin'!

Zoe rubbed her Bunny's heart on her heart, eyes, ears, nose, head and then gave it a big kiss!

Then Bunny got all filled up and Zoe was so excited to hold her!

Time to clean!

And pick out an outfit!

The computer they have to name and insert all the owners information was coded with colors and shapes...so great for Zoe.  We would tell her to hit the square or press the red button and she would do it all by herself!  Zoe decided to name her new Bunny ~Lelow~!

And we are ready to take Lelow home!

But not before we stop and get ice cream...

After the mall, Zach and I had hair appointments.  Zoe's hair is gorgeous...I love it!  I love the little curl it has at the bottom and the blonde is just beautiful...I would not want to ruin this for anything!  But it needed to be trimmed...ever so slightly!  Zoe did so good getting her first "hair cut"...not even a quarter of an inch! Ha!

But we said goodbye to her first couple locks!

And she just loved sitting in that chair...she sat so still and just loved looking into the big mirror at herself!

Wednesday was the beginning of Lent!  Zach and I attended Prince of Peace, where we have been attending the last couple weeks and absolutely LOVE, for Mass and receiving of the Ashes.  On weekdays, there is no nursery available, so Zoe came to Mass with us.  Always an adventure, but she did better.  And she "sang" during the songs and it was so cute!  I had to work that night.  It is always funny seeing how many people either ask me what I have on my forehead or rub their own forehead and say "you have some dirt..."  But it always leads to me explaining Ash Wednesday and the Lenten Season and planting a reminder that Easter is so close!

Thursday, we laid low...played outside...went to the park!  I made Honey Bourbon Chicken for dinner...YUM!  I will be making this again!  Zach loved it!

Friday was Zach's 27th Birthday!!!  I love birthdays! 

Friday morning, we headed over Suwanee Academy of the Arts for Zoe's 2nd Kindermusik class.  She did amazing!  I can't believe how much her language and ability to grasp concepts has changed in 2 weeks! She was tapping, repeating all words, playing along with what the songs were saying...she understood everything and was really grasping what Kindermusik is all about! One proud Mama!

Friday night, Zach and I got to have a night out to celebrate!

We had a fun night planned.  We meet friends for Dinner at Food 101 before heading over to Mission District for a special night on Marriage, led by Chris and Michelle Benzinger! 

Since it was Friday, the menu was cut in half since we couldn't eat meat.  Luckily the menu had a great selection of some great seafood....Hubby was so happy....I, on the other hand, enjoyed a salad and soup.  Still very good and the Cosmo was superb!

 I am always open to working on our marriage and spending time with great friends at the same time.  The Stafford's, Femiano's, Andrews' and Koerner's all attended and afterwards we had a get together at The Andrews' home for dessert (not me) and drinks (yes, please!).  I mean seriously, these people are some of the greatest...you pray to have these people in your life forever!

Another great week!

Shall We Compare

My Sister-In-Law, Kimberly, has always said she thinks that Colin looks a lot like Zoe...and I can't help but agree.  What do you think?

Well, they definitely have the same head shape and size, pointy ears, button nose...and to die for precious smile!

Bye Bye Sweets

HELLO LENT!

Lent has arrived....but before I took full advantage of the term FAT TUESDAY and ate ice cream and thin mints for dinner last night.  I have a problem.  Seriously.

I have come to love the season of Lent.  It is 40 Days of reflection, prayer, fasting and ultimately a time of preparation for the most glorious day, The Resurrection Day! (Yes, I may have just been singing Matt Maher as I typed this sentence)

For every person it is different, but the point of giving something up is to make a sacrifice in your life as Jesus made His own life a sacrifice to save us.  In no way, shape or form, does us giving something up come close to what Jesus did for us...is there really anything comparable...No!

So I am saying goodbye to sweets.  Sweets...really...how is this a sacrifice and going to bring me closer to God?  Well, let me just tell you...this is going to be really hard for me.  I seriously have an emotional addiction to sweets and in turn I am abusing the body God gave to me.  They are not good for me...yet I turn to them emotionally for everything.  I eat!  I am happy...I eat!  I am sad...I eat!  The same way an alcoholic drinks...I eat!  And I am going to seriously need some help from above over these next 40 days.  But I think I will definitely come out for the better...with His help!

I have always heard it takes 40 days to form a habit....I am hoping over the next 40 days to form a habit of resisting the urge to eat sweets as much as I do.

And I am saying Goodbye!  See ya!  Hasta Luego!

As an adult, I have also tried to do more during the Lenten Season!  Last year, I prayed outside an abortion clinic during 40 Days for Life, the year before I went to confession more, and this year I am doing a daily Lenten devotional called 'Lord, Open My Heart' by Julie Davis.  Here is the introduction:

Lent is about restoring our proper perspective toward God.  It is a time for sacrifice and self-denial, a time for prayer and forgiveness, a time for spring-cleaning of the soul.  Julie Davis, author of Happy Catholic and the blog of the same name, encourages a practical and personal approach to opening our hearts and souls this Lenten season. 


Just what I need!  And the best part is it was sent right to my Kindle and I am ready to go!

What are you doing this Lenten Season?

Is It Spring Yet!?

ZZzzzZZZZZzzzz

You can ask anyone that knows me....the number one thing on my priority list in the child raising world is SLEEP!  I think it is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing....a child who is tired is just no fun!

With Zoe, I made sleeping my focus.  I read books, tried different methods, adjusted when needed, paid attention to every little thing having to do with sleep.  And I must say...it paid off!  Zoe sleeps AMAZING!  And she can sleep anywhere!

So with Evan....I knew I needed to have the same focus.  Evan started sleeping through the night without a feeding around 8 weeks.  For some reason, I am going about things with Evan very differently than I did with Zoe.  Zoe was definitely a Cry It Out baby....and it just kills me to hear Evan cry or maybe I just don't want his crying to wake up Zoe.  Evan just needs his pacie and he is right back out...so I just go in and give it to him rather than let him get all frazzled doing the CIO method.  Zoe is a thumb sucker, so I knew she just needed to find her thumb and she would be good.  We swaddle Evan...we didn't this long with Zoe.

This week, Zach just flat out said...no more swaddle.  And to be honest...it was more of a crutch for both of us! But, I do think it has been hindering Evan.  He is 6 months and not rolling really, still isn't sitting up on his own and really isn't very strong for long periods of time on his tummy.

So we said goodbye to the swaddle on Tuesday Night.....and Evan did AMAZING!  I headed off to work after laying him down for the night and Zach said he only had to give him his pacie once!  Success!  But as we all know, naptime is a whole other ballgame. Yesterday's first nap was a fail!  I let him cry, gave him his pacie...and after 45 minutes and 10 minutes until eating time...I just got him up and told myself we would try again in about an hour.  Well, the poor thing ate and was a complete mess he was so BEYOND tired...he couldn't function.  I knew he needed to get some good sleep, so I lightly swaddled him and laid him down when Zoe laid down.  He slept for 3 hours and was the happiest little thing when he woke up.  Evan's last nap of the day, Zach laid him down, swaddleless, and he slept great!  So proud of my little man!  So night 2 quickly approached...and another great night!!!  I had to give him his pacie twice and he woke up at 6:30am to eat!  And our first nap this morning was easy peasy!  He went straight down.  


I think it is safe to say...we have another great sleeper!  Praise the Lord because this Mama needs her sleep!

Beiber Love

Today's LOVES I am dedicating to Justin Beiber....this might be my 12 year old self coming out to say hi...but I just love this kid!

~I LOVE this song~

~I LOVE that Justin Beiber did this yesterday

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

~I LOVE that he believes


~I LOVE that he did this


I just LOVE the kid and I am so glad there is a celebrity out there that has his head on straight...and at such a young age!  I am sure he will still be around when Zoe gets a little bit older and then I will have an excuse to go to his concert...or if he goes on tour...I might have to drag one of my nieces to go with me.  I am sure they wouldn't mind.

Our Week

My Little Guy and I had a great week together while Zoe Jane spent the week with Grandma and Grandaddy.  Zoe stayed in Alabama from Sunday to Thursday night...which was just too long for me.  I am thinking 3 days is long enough....5 is just too long.  I thought since she has gotten a little bit older that it would be easier...nope!

But I must say...I did really enjoy my one on one time with Evan!  He is such a happy little boy and so content.  We worked a lot on building his strength with lots of tummy time, rolling and sitting up.

 Evan has almost mastering rolling tummy to back!

 He just gets a little caught up right here....he hasn't quite learned to use his little foot to push him completely over.

We also tried sweet potatoes...which he hated.  He gagged and gagged and it ended up right on his bib.  Oh well!

Since Evan is still sleeping between 3-4 times a day and so content, I was able to do a couple of projects.  First on the list, reorganize the hall closet.  You know how people have junk drawers, well I have a junk closet.  Things were constantly falling out of it and I had just had enough of the chaos!

Ahhh....much better!  I love organizing!

 Our other project was to build Evan some bookshelves....out of pallets Zach had lying around at work. 

I just love how they turned out and I think they are so cute in his room....now all we need is a comfy reading chair for his little reading nook!

And here is Evan's new trick with his pacie...all smiles here!

Thursday could not get here fast enough....boy did we miss Zoe.  I think Evan missed her the most!  It was so quiet around the house and he is used to being entertained all day.  He got lots of great, uninterrupted naps.

Zoe and Grandma and Grandaddy arrived safely late Thursday night.  Friday morning, we headed to our first Kindermusik class and I must say....it was such a disappointment.  The teacher just should not be teaching...and that is being kind.  But such is life!  Friday night, we had The Koerner's over for dinner to celebrate our sweet Evan!  Evan turned 1/2 a year old and that just calls for cake!

and maybe some wine, too!

We had a great week!