Prayer Request

Please say some prayers for my mother-in-law who will be going through another procedure to have another stent put in.

Thank you!

Peek-a-Boo!

If only I could bottle up this laugh and sell it... I'd make millions... he'd have college paid for! Ha ha!

Friday Fill-ins!

1. The lesson I learned yesterday was on statistics at a work computer training, and yes my head hurts.

2. Around the dinner table is my favorite place where friends and family meet.

3. All these years I never thought I'd be so in love with my little boy.

4. The party started when I arrived.

5. The truth is I am missing my husband right now.

6. Holding him in my arms is what I remember most from that day.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing and hearing from my hubby, tomorrow my plans include going to Indy to visit family and Sunday, I want to wait around for Matt to get home!

Dance! Dance!

Here is a video of Jack dancing... he seems to enjoy reggae and rap! (Good beat?)

(I have no idea what he's staring at, the tv (turned to a music channel) is on his left... so goofy!)

NFP Class #1

The content of this post is my opinions, observations, etc. As you are reading, regardless of personal belief, please keep an open mind and do not comment anything disrespectful. Also, "learnings" I may mention should be taken considering I have not been trained in NFP and am only a pupil in the current session.

Matt and I are finally taking the diocesan Natural Family Planning class(es). I am extremely excited because I have always wanted to better understand the ideas & science behind it. While I've always personally believed in the theology behind it after hearing many different sides to the issue of family planning. Here are a few things that we have learned thus far from our instructors:

1. The very different charting "results" you can have (i.e. what your graph looks like).
2. That if you are charting your temperature even after you have found you are pregnant you can detect issues that may be caused by a drop in progesterone. If you suspect a drop you can notify your doctor to possibly take supplemental hormones to minimize risk of a miscarriage.
3. Towards the end of your pregnancy you can chart your temperature to help give you another sign that labor is soon to come. A drop in your temperature can signal that labor is going to happen [often within 24 hrs as observed from women in the classes they've taught].

We've learned many other things already, but most of them are more on the biology & basics of the temperature side of the sympto-thermal method.

One observation of NFP that I found extremely useful that I read from Michelle at Musings of a Catholic Lady is about family size. I will try to sum up the point without stealing it:

Families that practice NFP are typically bigger, not because NFP doesn't work but because those who practice NFP tend to be more open to children.

Of course, this is not to say people that use other methods to plan their families aren't just as open, but the tendency of openness is there.

Seemed to be a Full Weekend

While we didn't have a lot going on, this past weekend seemed very busy! Friday night we just stayed in, Matt & I watched a movie we Netflix-ed over 3 months ago. Definitely a good reason why we use Netflix, with being so busy moving into our house, Texas for Thanksgiving, then Christmas & New Years we finally got around to watching it. It was Swing Vote and I thought it was very good. I do enjoy Kevin Costner in the things I've seen him in and he didn't disappoint. The movie had a good "moral to the story" of being involved in our civic duty and taking full advantage of our right to vote. I try to vote every chance I get and to be educated on the issues, but it is definitely hard. Something I'll always try to do better at... especially because I have a friend who is very into politics and is always a good resource for a perspective and breaking things down. Although we don't always agree on which side of the issue we're on, I always enjoy hearing other perspectives... it either reaffirms my point of view or gives me a way to think about an issue that I never had before.

Saturday morning we did Jack's 6 month pictures (yes, I realize he's getting close to the 7 month mark) but it was a lot of fun. Although, Jack (normally a very smiley baby) was not in the best mood our friend & photographer Brooke (with Cherished Moments Photography) always gets great pictures! I know the pictures will be beautiful even with his straight face. Much to my disappointment, Matt had to go to Toledo on Saturday to take care of a customer. I understand him having to go, but it was a bummer because he only had Saturday scheduled off this weekend. Saturday evening, Matt and I went to dinner to celebrate our 2nd anniversary at the 94th Aerosquadron. That is the restaurant where Matt proposed to me over 3 years ago and also where we had our rehearsal dinner (2 years ago today). It is DELICIOUS and I do my best to try something new every time we go. It is a more expensive restaurant so we usually only go for our anniversary to treat ourselves! Here is a picture of us from our dinner. (The fireplace behind us was right next to our table where he proposed.)(I'm not exactly thrilled with how I look... makes me realize I need to try and get in better post-baby shape! Oh well, I'll either get back or get pregnant before then... haha)

Sunday, Matt had to work so Jack and I took him lunch to help make it easier that he had to be working all weekend. Not to mention, he has to go out of town this weekend for a lacrosse convention. He is very excited for the Friday night speaker though, he gets to see Lou Holtz!

Well, here are some cute pictures of Jack from recently to finish out the post:Jack playing with tupperware bowls & his Gerber spoons. Daddy thought the bowl on the head was a great hat.

Daddy giving him another hat using one of his stacking cups... his eyes make him look a little out of it, but he was having fun!

Friday Fill-ins!

1. There are places closed due to snow.
2. A strong wind will blow those clouds away.
3. Standing in the snow, opening my mouth to catch snowflakes.
4. My poor baby is coughing, oh boy.
5. He went out tiger hunting and only found leopards.
6. I love playing on Facebook to keep my mind from wandering .
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to being "snowed in" with my boys, tomorrow my plans include getting Jack's 6 month pictures taken and Sunday, I want to take it easy and do some housework when Jack naps!