Earthquakes caused by too much cleavage?! http://ping.fm/fbjPp

Earthquakes caused by too much cleavage?!

This article inspired me to write this little post today. An American college student called for women to dress as immodestly as possible for the day (last Monday) in a massive "science experiment" that will disprove the ridiculous remarks made by an Iranian cleric that, “Many women who do not dress modestly...lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity, and spread adultery in society, which increases earthquakes." 


My comments on earthquakes caused by too much cleavage? 


Of course I don't agree that a lack of modesty causes earthquakes. Or that Girls Behaving Badly is the sole cause of our culture's rampant adultery, broken relationships, divorce and general disbelief in the possibility of a lifetime of free, total, faithful and fruitful love. 


However, I do think that our culture's general acceptance of sexy clothing is a symptom of an underlying disrespect--make that a lack of understanding--of the God-given dignity of both men and women. 

My comments on BoobQuake 2010? 

Wearing something to blatantly inspire lust in men isn't respectful to men. It's manipulative. Even if we don't know it or mean to do it. If girls only understood just how much their clothing affects men--and how gorgeous we already are to them!--we'd all realize that.    

We don't have to show off our stuff in order for men (at least the nice ones we'd think more than two seconds about spending a life and having babies with) to think we're the most beautiful creations of God they've ever seen. They are hardwired to love both the beauty of a woman's form and the sweetness of her heart. Dressing modestly helps them to remember that they like the heart part too! :)

Dressing modestly doesn't mean you have to be frumpy, wear a sack, or never wear anything that flatters your figure again. It doesn't mean we have to be ashamed of the blessings of any God-given-especially-good-looking body parts. Modesty just helps the good guys be good and reign in their thoughts out of respect for you.

A friend of mine once told me that one of the guy friends she most respected explained to her that even "good" guys have lustful thoughts pop into their heads; instead of taking those thoughts and running with them, however, those guys throw them out with the trash.

Another point? Let me creep you out by reminding you that "men" aren't just the cute ones we want to notice us: "men" include our fathers, brothers, rabbis, priests, teachers and husbands (etc.!)--men who truly want to keep their minds and hearts clean and clear. 

We're not responsible for what men think, but all of us are responsible for loving and respecting one another. In my eyes, dressing modestly is a wonderful way for me, as a woman, to communicate love and respect to myself and men.

"And the little one said, 'Roll over! Roll over!'" (PLUS a video of Gabriel laughing!!!)

Michael absolutely detests when I sing this song. He says it gives him a headache.

What he doesn't realize is that singing this song has helped Gabriel learn how to roll over from back to front! Wow--yay for baby steps (and rolls)!

Check out these adorable two videos of Gabriel, taken on Michael's new iPhone (yes, it really is paying for itself already :^). The first video is of Gabriel actually rolling over from his back to his tummy. The second video is of Gabriel laughing. It makes your heart happy :).

Yay baby Gabriel!

 

Don't tell me this kid didn't just take your heart and wrap it around his adorable little pinky!?

Babies don't like dragon breath

I used to think that getting up in Gabriel's face while playing with him sometimes scares him. He will suddenly get this cute little frown and furrow his eyebrows in what looks like hurt surprise. 

As I cuddled with Gabriel and talked in Baby Love Babble this morning though, he got that little frown right as I got close to his face. It occurred to me that if I was talking like that in Michael's face that early in the morning, he would probably pick me up and stick me straight in front of the sink to brush my teeth. (And since he's too big for me to pick up, if he did that to me I'd probably just tell him he had to brush his teeth before getting in my face again or I'd really never bake him those chocolate chip cookies!). 

So, I did a little experiment: I went and brushed my teeth, then came back and resumed the Baby Love Babble session. I laughed and babbled and kissed him all over his face--sans any frowns and furrows!

After my very-unscientific-but-nonetheless-highly-conclusive experiment, my findings indicate that Gabriel doesn't like Mommy's dragon breath in the morning. Understandably. So, I've decided that as long as Gabriel has to eat breakfast six inches away from my face every morning, I will start brushing my teeth as soon as I get out of bed. It's the least I can do. I'm sure Michael won't mind either ;^). 

I wonder if Mommy's morning breath was the reason Gabriel cried so much when he was just a little thing. 

I mean, besides the fact that was adjusting to having been thrust out into the cold, hard world in the middle of winter with two first-time parents...

'Father of the Bride' still makes me cry. And another heinous confession.

I just finished watching 'Father of the Bride: Part II' with Michael. I cried like a baby at the end just like I did the last time I watched it about 10 years ago.

The part where Annie, her husband and the baby drive away at the end still gets me. Especially now that I'm the one driving away with the baby...more tears.

And I have to confess that I never made those chocolate chip cookies. Michael really wanted me to but I spent so much time blogging and crying after Father of the Bride that I never baked them. I blogged about them to make me actually go make them as soon as the movie was over. Except I started crying at the end so I didn't make it two steps over into the kitchen. I'm ridiculous, I know. :)

As I'm writing this, Michael is making fun of me for crying over Father of the Bride. He's also playing with the Scary Voice Changer app on his iPhone, which I've already made clear I highly dislike. If I didn't love him so much, I'd go beat him up! That or tell him I'll never bake those chocolate chip cookies...:)

A hot date, shopping sprees, Romaine with dirt on it, and the happiest baby on the block

The happiest baby on the block ;)

It's been a fantastic weekend.

I finished work early yesterday, packed up the baby, and jetted off to run errands for the afternoon. I took some clothes to the resale shop and then went to my favorite children's consignment boutique, Belles and Beaus, in League City. Gabriel has really needed some new clothes for a few weeks now, especially now that it's getting hot outside!

I had an absolute blast on my mini shopping spree. Gabriel racked up in the clothes department with some Little Swimmers diapers (brand-new and 1/3 the price I'd pay at Walmart!), three super-cute outfits, some new socks, a pair of Keds, and two hats! All in great condition and pretty darn inexpensive! Yay for second-hand clothes! I feel sufficiently frugal and environmentally friendly (and my kid looks adorable). 

That night, Michael and I went out on a "hot date"--thanks to our friend Matt. We had such a fantastic time! We do a babysitting exchange with Matt and Lucy, taking turns watching each other's kids while the other couple has a date night. Matt called early this week and reminded me that Michael and I haven't been out on a date in a while. It's great to have friends who can good-naturedly hold us accountable to that! 

I actually dressed up for our date, even putting on a pair of sort-of-high heels for the evening. It's amazing what throwing on a pair of heels can do for a girl! Or at least for me. I think it makes me take the date a little more seriously, because dressing up and wearing heels is something I do for nice occasions. Besides, last night we had the pleasure of going out to a nice restaurant, a sit-down, maybe-get-an-appetizer, don't-just-order-a-cheeseburger restaurant. It was wonderful. 

The first order of the night, however, wasn't dinner. After dropping off Gabriel with Matt, we went and got Michael something that he has been wanting for a very, very long time: an iPhone. Coincidentally (or not:?), yesterday happened to be the very first day we were eligible for phone upgrades. It was a good thing that we got the phone too, because we got lost trying to find the restaurant, and Michael had to pull over and use a restaurant mapping app to find out how to get there. See, it's already paying for itself. :-) And the restaurant was delicious. We'll definitely go back soon if we get the inkling to blow 1/4 of our grocery budget on one meal. :) 

After dinner, we met up with some friends to have a drink for our friend Tyler-Blair's birthday. Michael and I didn't actually order drinks, having just eaten a huge meal and also having no more eating out budget to speak of this month, but we had a blast hanging out with everyone. We are so blessed with great friends here in Houston!

Fast forward to today. All three of us slept in until 8:30, then Michael brought me breakfast in bed. Then I decided to pass on the love and feed Gabriel breakfast in bed, too. :o) After that, I went to the farmer's market in Nassau Bay, while Michael took Gabriel with him to run a couple of errands. 

At the farmer's market, I ended up buying a couple of heads of romaine and spinach, some parsley and some green onions. I'm glad I didn't look as surprised as I felt when the farmer bagged up all my produce and there was still dirt all over everything and roots attached. I'm going to have to scrub that Romaine! I still have a lot to learn about buying au natural. 

After the farmer's market, I went on a tiny shopping spree of my own and bought some clothes at this great little resale boutique down the street from us. I'm pretty excited about my purchases because I haven't bought new clothes in so long! Well, make that non-maternity clothes. 

This afternoon, we decided to go for a walk on whim, and ended up walking almost all the way to Kemah. It felt wonderful to get outside in the fresh air, even though that fresh air smelled like fish and old tires. 

And tonight, I made hamburgers, garlic mashed potatoes, peas and chocolate chip cookies. 

Yes, I'm kind of exhausted. But in a good way. The baby's in bed, the chocolate chip cookies taste great, and life is good. 

Priorities

Gabriel slept in until 8am this morning--which means that I got to sleep in too! It was very nice :)

I don't even remember Michael leaving the apartment for work, even though it means so much to him whenever I get up with him in the morning. (Well, I actually do remember rolling over and putting a pillow over my head when his alarm went off.)

I hopped right to work on my laptop after feeding Gabriel. For once, he played happily in his bouncer. Because I had gotten up late, I decided to postpone my morning prayer and reading until Later Today at Some Point. Instead, when Gabriel went down for his morning nap at 9, I started working again, at which time I realized that I had missed a 9am doctor's appointment!

After I called the doctor's office, I decided I needed to get dressed and do something with my hair. I spent about 40 minutes getting getting dressed and then doing odd jobs around the apartment.

When I came back out to work, I suddenly got flustered because I realized that I needed to get as much done as possible before Gabriel woke up. A few minutes after I sat down, however, he woke up from his nap and started fussing. Since he usually fusses for 4-10 minutes and then goes right back to sleep for another 45, I didn't go get him immediately.

Well, Gabriel didn't go back to sleep, because I let him sleep in this morning, and his body woke him up for his normal eating time in the middle of his nap. It's always grating on my nerves to hear my baby crying, but I continued working, hoping he'd go back to sleep. I was just finishing a phone call with an unnecessarily rude and curt client when Gabriel's fussing reached a fever pitch in the back. As I got off the phone, hurt and irritated, I realized that Gabriel had been fussing for far too long. I threw down my phone and ran into Gabriel's room.

When I saw his red, teary little face, I couldn't help but burst into tears. I felt horrible. I hadn't taken good care of my son this morning. There's no excuse for that.

I realized all at once that my priorities were out of order today.

For my particular life and vocation right now, this is what my priority list looks like:
God
Michael
Gabriel
Family and friends
Work

If I had kept my priorities in order, I would have gotten up and kept Michael company this morning. I would have kept Gabriel on our normal routine. I would have prayed and done my daily reading as soon as Gabriel went down for his morning nap. I would have spent more time playing with my son and less time fixing my hair. :)

A slice of (a not so bad) life

Despite my all of my complaining about the apartment lately, if I'm being honest with myself, this has been a generally good place to live, and I love my life. 

It's especially easy to remember how blessed I am during this beautiful spring. 

On my walk yesterday with Gabriel, we found all the wild honeysuckle that has been making things smell so good lately. It coats the brick fence at the back corner of the property for about a hundred feet! There's been a steady, cool breeze and many lovely spring days over the last couple of weeks. All two windows in our apartment are usually open! 

Going out and walking or sitting by the lake is a daily activity for Gabriel and me. Yesterday, I actually got the courage to take a blanket and feed him outside next to another of the docks we have by the lake. There was no one else out there. I enjoyed soaking up some sun and and Gabriel enjoyed eating somewhere other than the couch!

I spend all day, every day with this baby, but how wonderfully blessed am I to get to stay home and still work (albeit very part-time)? I have the freedom to nap if I need to during the day, and I can still get most of the housework done. My days are all a little bit different, and they're always flexible. 

I can take Gabriel on walks almost every day, which he absolutely loves. He will fuss and fuss and fuss indoors, and as soon as we step outside the front door to go for a walk, he goes silent and usually makes a cute happy baby sound. It will be both sad and good when we put him in daycare part-time starting in July. 

One of the best parts of my life is having Michael usually get home between 3 and 4. He gets to work very early in the morning so he can get home early, and we love it that way! We will take walks or run errands together a lot of afternoons. 

We do a babysitting exchange with some friends, and they reminded me yesterday that Michael and I are long overdue for a date night. I thanked them for holding me accountable, feeling a little guilty. But then I remembered that Michael and I actually get to spend a lot of time together, whether it's walking, running errands, and even eating dinner together every night after Gabriel goes to bed. Still, I know that date nights are a special kind of time spent together, and so we're scheduling something for this weekend :). 

On Tuesday afternoon after Michael got home from work, we all went for a long walk at the Kemah Boardwalk. This is us after we got home. There were tons of adorable little children enjoying the big floor fountain they have in one of the squares. I can't wait to take Gabriel when he's old enough to toddle around and enjoy it!

This is the view from the front of the big dock in front of our apartment. I've made lots of friends out at the dock. A lot of people like to go out there and fish. Michael and I can see the water from our living room window, even though its a small view :). 

This sign was posted up yesterday in the mailboxes nook next to the leasing office. Too bad I don't like cats, because I am impressed by this person's creative advertising!

Our apartment still smells like we smoke 20 packs a day. But when we keep the windows open, I can sometimes smell the honeysuckle drifting in these days. 

Haunted baby toys?

I think a couple of Gabriel's baby toys might be haunted.

They randomly start vibrating or playing their little music tunes whenever Gabriel is not even sitting in them. The best part? Their batteries are dead.


I was feeding Gabriel on the couch this afternoon when I heard the little lion on the Precious Planet bouncer start roaring his tiny roar at me--for about 30 seconds straight! He is only supposed to roar whenever Gabriel pushes him on his little stand on the bouncer.

To add to the noise, Gabriel's safari infant seat started vibrating for no reason at all, so both were doing something they should not have been doing, at the same time.

It was more than a little creepy.

Maybe I'm just hallucinating from being cooped up in this apartment so much. Or maybe this place is haunted.

I wonder if they have a place for "haunted" on the exit inspection form we'll be filling out when we leave to move into our house soon. I'll put a note about that next to wherever I put, "smells like we smoke 20 packs a day because the bathroom pipes leak it from our neighbor downstairs"...

St. Ambrose on the power of God's word

This passage is wonderful for reflecting on the power of God's word--and the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. How amazing would it be if we all received the Eucharist with the kind of faith that would open our hearts to its power and graces? 


How incredible is it that we are offered such a precious gift at every single mass? I am just beginning to understand that Christ opens his arms and dies for love of us each and every time we celebrate the Eucharist. 

"You will say, perhaps, 'this is ordinary bread.' But this bread which is no more than bread before the sacramental words, becomes the Body of Christ from the moment of the consecration. Let us prove it. How can bread become Christ's Body? By what words is the consecration achieved, and whose words are they? They are the words of Jesus. Indeed, all that is said before them is said by the priest: he praises God, prays for the people, for kings, for all men. But when he comes to make present the venerable sacrament, he no longer uses his own words, but uses those of Christ. It is the word of Christ, then, that produces this sacrament. But what word of Christ? That word by which all things were made. God spoke, and the heavens were made. God spoke, and the earth was made. God spoke, and the sea was made. God spoke, and all creatures were made. Does not this show you how powerful is the Word of Christ?"

Frugalista? I'm working on it...

So what's a frugalista? It's a term I recently picked up from my good friend Nicole Reed at Some Good Reedin'.

The definition sounds something like this: "A woman who enjoys getting a good deal, finding a bargain, and generally kicking butt at stretching her hard-earned dollar." I'm pretty sure the definition hasn't made it into Webster's yet.

I would probably get kicked out of the frugal woman blogosphere for trying to call myself a frugalista right now. I'm not adept at couponing or shopping on Black Friday. I don't yet calculate how to make three-course family dinners for $5 or less.

However, I did recently stumble upon MoneySavingMom.com. And MyFrugalAdventures.com. Definitely some good reedin'. There's plenty of help and ideas out there for giving yourself a frugalista makeover!

St. Gerard Majella, pray for us!

I am surrounded by many beautiful women who are expecting, who recently delivered a baby, or whose young children have serious health problems. I think it was just today that I counted up that I have ten women friends whose health and peace are on my heart! The following is my prayer for them--and for myself--today.

St. Gerard Majella, patron saint of motherhood, and all the angels and saints in Heaven, please pray with me for these women and their families. Also, please pray for me that I may be given wisdom and inspiration regarding concrete things I can do to best love and serve my friends. Amen. 


For Sarah
For Betsy
For Lucy
For Angela
For Lauren
For Mauree
For Katie
For Frances
For Rachel
For Heather
For Alexa


Thank you to all of my faithful blog readers for spending a moment of your time today to pray with me, whether or not you know any of these women.  All of these ladies are going to raise children who are going to rock the world with goodness and love one day! And they need all the help they can get. :)

Free food on Tax Day (today) - Cinnabon, P.F. Chang and others! http://ping.fm/X0ADa

Polo shirt adorable-ness

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit,
Inspire in me
What I should think,
What I should say,
What I should leave unsaid,
What I should write,
What I should do
And how I should act
To bring about the good of souls,
The fulfillment of my mission,
And the triumph of the Kingdom of Christ.
Amen.

The first four months of baby, and some news!

Gabriel is now four months and one week old, and he has been sleeping through the night (with one feeding between 1 and 5 a.m.) for several weeks now. The  last two nights, though, he has slept completely through the night: 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.! I can't believe how much of a new woman I am now that I'm getting more than two hours of sleep in a row! 

I know that getting a baby to sleep through the night is a dream for all parents and a major goal for many. For Michael and I, it went from being a major goal to a much healthier, "he'll do it someday, and we're not going to get worked up about it" mentality. In the end (and up to a certain point of course), the fact is that having your baby sleep through the night is not a measure of good parenting or healthy babies. 

I think that Gabriel sleeping all night is part nature and part nurture. There were absolutely several key things that Michael and I did to teach/encourage Gabriel to go down (and stay down) with peace and security for naps. And yet, I also believe strongly that every baby is different, and that something in Gabriel's personality perhaps is probably a factor in his sleeping as well. 

I think that figuring out how to structure naps and feedings has been one of my greatest challenges as a mom. Before Gabe arrived, I read many different books on different philosophies of baby care. (In my opinion, it's pretty crazy not to do some kind of homework before that baby arrives!) In the end, I didn't follow any one of those books quite to a T, but it gave me so much confidence to have different strategies and nuggets of knowledge to try with Gabe. 

In between the two extremes of having no schedule and have a very strict schedule, we ended up finding that we were all happy when we lived something in-between: a flexible schedule that paid attention to Gabriel's needs and allowed Michael and I to take (planned) escape trips away from our tiny apartment! 

Speaking of tiny apartments, I would like to announce that we are buying a home! No more coming home to an apartment that smells like we do 20 packs per day. No more stinky dryer. No more walking up a flight of stairs to get to our front door. No more ceiling thumps from when our neighbors have sumo wrestling matches upstairs. No more tiny, forever-filthy kitchen. Lots more counter space. Lots more hot water for bubble baths! 

I'm so very, very, very excited. :)

Pictures coming after we close (May 7). I don't want to count my chicks before they hatch--and hand me the keys to my first house! 

FauxPaw and Gabe

My mom sent this to me from last weekend. It's a picture of my dad and Gabriel that she took on her iPhone. How funny are the expressions on their faces? 

I can't say no to this man...

A thought on my heart today:

Patience, hard work, faithfulness, self-sacrifice, mercy...Imitating Christ in my day-to-day life isn't easy or always fun, but I can't say no to this man anymore! He is the way, the truth and the life, and I'm sold.

I am so busy this week! But it's a wonderful life :) I just hope I get a very long nap or two in this weekend. @MichaelFranco...*cough, cough*

Photo diary: Easter and visiting Gabriel's GREAT great-grandparents

Gabriel's Gran (my mom) coaxed Michael and I to trek over to Louisiana for Easter, and we had a wonderful (but too short!) weekend. The best part was seeing Gabriel's great grandparents. What a blessing!

Here is my photo diary from the weekend!

Gabriel finally got to meet his second-cousin and fellow Berryhill great-grandchild, Wyatt O'Neal Clark. Wyatt was born just two weeks after Gabriel and gives Gabe a run for his money both in personality and cuteness :) I really enjoyed seeing my sweet cousin-in-law, Lynsay. She has a gentle and beautiful spirit that is like a breath of fresh air. 

PawPaw and Gabe, bonding. 

Gran holding Gabriel. She just beams when she gets to hold Gabriel. It makes me so happy! We had to wake Gabriel a little early from his nap so that Gran and PawPaw could see him before they left. Gabriel was not happy about the turn of events and protested for a while before falling asleep like a rock in Gran's arms. 

Gran and PawPaw enjoy their enormously good-looking great-grandson.

Gabriel's great-grandmother, Colette, is very sick in the hospital right now. Visits from her two great-grandchildren, Wyatt and Gabriel, really cheered her up this weekend :)

In facing all the situations of the day today: "Quid est hoc ad aeternitatem?" or, "What is this in the light of eternity?"