Heather's blog

Orthodox

Saturday, August 15th, our family joined the Orthodox church :).

Micheal and Thomas were both baptized, and I was chrismated (the equivalence of confirmation in other churches). 

It was a really kool experience too.  Thomas, at 20 months, was stripped and dunked in a bath or warm water, and oil.  He did a pretty good job considering the situation.  Micheal, was clothed, but went through the same process. 

On Sunday, we all got to receive our first communion.

Our family was there, along with all of our God parents, and probably 15 people from our church that wanted to partake in the celebration.  It was a busy weekend, but one of the best I have had in a long time.  It ranks up there with my wedding and Thomas' birth...that's how important it was to me.  Why?  I don't think a lot of people truly know about the Orthodox Catholic Church, but I believe it is the one true church started by Christ.  Before being Orthodox, I was a devout Catholic, faithful, and as sure as I could be.  Granted, Micheal came a long and questioned me why I with this faith.  It wasn't the easiest thing for me to explain or defend.  That didn't mean I didn't still believe.  We wandered together through churches to find what was the right place for us.  We tried a lot of places.....episcopal, anglican, presbeterian, those were the main ones.  I enjoyed some of them, but something was missing, always.  So, we did check out the Orthodox church about a year and a half ago.  For anyone that goes there....it may seem odd and super traditional.  Everything is chanted, incense is used at every Liturgy, and it's very Greek.  But, they claim to be the one true church, and they back it up.  For the first time in my life, my questions that couldn't be answered from the catholic church, could be answered.  There wasn't any scandal, and Liturgy wasn't based on how much of a concert they could turn it in to.  I wouldn't be suprised if people thought I was crazy for the faith path I have choosen.  But, I can say, today, that I left no stone unturned, and searched and found where God wants me to be.  I got to receive communion on Sunday for the first time and be completely and totally connected with the Body of Christ.

Surviving intensive week

It's Friday, 3 p.m. and Micheal is home.  He successfully finished his first week of his Master's in Family/Marriage Therapy Master's program.  This week was supposedly going to "make or break" the students.

I would say, judging from his demeanor and our discussions, that it went well.  We do have a lot of time and work ahead of us, but hopefully by the grace of God, we will all survive :).  Less than two years from now, we will be done and obviously in a better place for our family.

Way to go babe!!  I'm SO proud of you ;).

Summer

If there is a season I love, it's summer.  I wish that it would never go away.  I have so many good feelings from the season.  Camping, cook-outs, swimming, hot days, sun-shine, gardening, parks, walks, tornadoes, humidity, new life, fresh fruits and veggies, tank tops, flip flops, sprinklers, ice cold beers, bbq's, out door parties.....Yeah, I know, my list can probably go on forever.

It's the beginning of August, and I know it isn't over yet, but I have this urge to do as much as I can now, so I can enjoy the rest of summer.  It's definitely a bitter-sweet feeling though....I really don't like winter.  It's cold, it's bitter, holidays are great, but stressful.

It would be so great if I could live in the months between March-September forever :).  There's still some cold in the early months, but you get to enjoy all the warmth, spring and just a bit of fall.

The "big boy bed"

What a scary word...

Okay, so maybe scary isn't the right word.  Maybe intimidating.  Yeah, that's better. 

We have been working on getting Thomas into his new Thomas the Train bed (so cute by the way) for over a week now.  We have had a few.....struggles.  We'll get there though, somehow, I think?

In the past week, he has been a total bear when it comes to going to bed.  Micheal and I have become partial zombies too.  But, last night, I did have a break through.  He is beyond the rocking chair, which saddens me.  The rocking chair was our final quiet time before he went to bed.  He wants none of that any longer.  So, I've improvised.  Last night, we took our bath, and went straight to the bedroom.  We got dressed and diapered and I asked him if he wanted to read a book.  To my surprise, he jumped on his bed and seemed pretty eager to read.  We read two books, I sang a song to him, rubbed his eyebrows and then I snuck out.  He cried a little, but at least he didn't come running out of his room....

It's back to the basics for us.  I'll put some focus on a specific time and routine and see how it goes.

And then, to take care of the zombie part.  I need to figure out how to keep him in his bed.  It isn't like a crib, where he can cry a little bit, then self soothe himself back to sleep.  He can escape from his bed, and his room to mom and dad's snuggly bed.  I really hate to say this, but I might have to shut his door and let him deal with it.  I haven't done that yet, but he wakes up screaming and as soon as he's in bed with us, he's fine.  He has a night-light, there's nothing in there that he can hurt himself on, he would be safe.  Am I bad mother for making him work though it?  I don't think so...I'm sure the first few nights are going to be really hard on me just listening to him.

Either way, he's gotta be in there by October.  And I don't mean our bed, definitely his.  We can do it, so can he.

Adventures of a 19 mo. old

As I said yesterday, Thomas and I attended Toddler Time at the Y.  What a blast we had! 

As far as water goes, he has come a really long way.  In his first experience, he refused to let go of my hand.  He did not want to go too deep unless we were right there with him.  Since the beginning of summer, he has gradually progressed and his bravery has increased.

Yesterday, we did hold hands, but he was eager to go down this mini water slide.....he really liked it.  He was a little wobbly about sitting down by himself because the water made it a little slippery.  He also was brave enough to run and jump into my arms off the ledge into the water.  WOW.  That was a new one for us.  He also liked to go deep into the water vs. wading at the kiddy area.  If the water wasn't up to his neck, he wasn't satisfied.

Okay, so sometimes that isn't the easiest thing to deal with.  Yes, he's growing up.  I know that.  But that doesn't mean I want that to happen tomorrow, you know?  Granted, it's gradual.  Thank God....I might be an udder basket-case otherwise.  I still call him baby, even though he hardly is one.  I'm sure he will always be my baby.  Sometimes I look at him and just want to swaddle him up and give him a bottle.  Geez.

I think I now realize why people have more kids.  Well, that's some of my motivation at least.  It's the baby years and the experiences you get to go through with your children.  It's great.  Even when it sucks....you can look back and think that it wasn't as bad as you thought.

 

 

 

under the weather

I'm a little icky feeling today.  Last week Thomas got a summer cold and it has been passed along.  I'm not terribly sick, but I feel it coming on.  I have been like this for about two days now and I'm praying that my body fights it.  It's fairly rare that I get sick during my pregnancies.  If I do actually get sick, it will be a first in two pregnancies....

 

Thomas on the other hand is doing well.  He had a sinus infection and is being treated for it.  I get sinus invections.  I really hope this isn't something he stuggles with.

 

Other than that, things are the same around here.  Micheal started his new job last week.  He doesn't love it, but at least he isn't working with who he was working with.

 

Thomas and I are going swimming for a little while today.  He is starting to love the water.  Which, is great, and scary at the same time.  I need to relax myself and know that he will be okay in the water.  I'll feel better once he knows how to swim.

Jon and Kate part duex......

And the saga continues.  I really did have high hopes for Jon and Kate.  I found myself cheering as an underdog.  Thinking to myself and hoping they would make every effort to get through it together for the sake of their children and their own happiness (that they probably wouldn't realize for many years).

A recap for those that don't know what happened.

Jon and Kate plus 8 is a show on TLC.  They have a set of twins, and a set of sextuplets.  Eight kids and two parents makes for a full house and an interesting show.  After the 5th season, and 100 shows, the couple has now decided to seperate and divorce. 

Damn.  Their poor kids.  I don't feel sorry for Jon nor Kate.  But their kids, I most deffinately do feel sorry for.  No child deserves to have their family ripped apart b/c their parents felt it was best for them.  I hate it when people say, "We fight so much infront of our kids.  It will be better for them if we seperate."  Bull crap.  You know, my parents used to fight, and yeah it wasn't always great, but I knew they made up and it was okay.  Divorce/seperation is rather final.  You KNOW they don't make up from that?

I don't want to watch a seperated family go through life.  I want to see and show my kids a family that is together and sticks together through it all, no matter what.  Okay, that doesn't mean I think you can't get divorced.....if there is abuse, abandonment, or cheating, that is a different story.  In Jon and Kates thing, there may have been some infidelity, but I don't know for sure?

Sorry to say this, but I doubt I watch the show very much from now on.  The parents are thinking enough about themselves, and not enough about their children.

Big day

So, tomorrow's a pretty big day.

Thomas and Micheal will be getting baptized, and I'm getting chrismated into the Orthodox church.  I cannot wait!  It will be quite exciting.

So, in preparation, we need to get a white outfit of some sort for Thomas.  Two white towels to dry them off.....they will be getting totally dunked.  I've never seen a full submersion before.  I've always seen the pouring of water over their head type of thing.  We need to get crosses.  I don't know why, but Father Peter said so.  Then we also have to prep for confession.

Now, I am personally not so worried about the confession part.  Being a former Catholic, confession is very normal.  To Micheal, on the other hand, it may be a little bit more foreign.  We are doing what's called a "lifetime confession".  Basically making an effort to remember all past sins so we can start fresh :).  I'm pretty excited about it....but I think Micheal is feeling a smidge of nervousness about it.  Confession is such a personal thing.  It's hard for me to imagine telling someone all of my personal sins that I have struggled with over my 26 years.  The good, bad and the ugly right?  I do believe it is a very clensing feeling.  I hope I am able to start the same reutine for myself that I did in the Catholic church.

Then, on Sunday, we will be receiving out first communion.  That will be the final step we make in joining the Orthodox church.  I guess it will bring us full circle. 

We've waited nearly a year to do this - I hope it goes well.

Without internet.....

I recently changed my home phone over to our cell phone provider.  It would save us about $35 a month and almost $400 a year......little things to save right?

Holy geez, in the past week it has been more of a problem though.  When T-mobile switched my phone service, it caused Att to think that we wanted everything canceled.  Hence, I've been without Internet service for a week now.  It's supposed to be turned back on tomorrow though. 

Without my Internet, I feel like I have been living in a cave.  I forget how much I rely on it.  I look things up, I work, I blog, I surf the net, I watch missed shows. 

So, I've had to haul Thomas and myself to my sister's house to use her wireless for the 4 hrs a day I work on-line.  Poor sis....she is finally done being pregnant.  She is due in 6 days.  She can't sleep, she can't get comfy, she doesn't want to eat, nothing feels good.  I remember what that was like with Thomas.  It's like moving is pointless because causes vagina pains.  Which probably doesn't make sense unless you've had the feeling.  It's like lightning pains when you try to move your legs.  Rolling over causes it, so does walking.  It's an odd sensation.  I assume its from your hips separating in preparation for the baby to make its grand exit :).

Other than that, it has been life as usual.  My little lady is starting to kick...how exciting :).

Disappointing news

Micheal works at a place called the ARC of Sedgwick Country.  ARC stands for Association of Retarded Citizens.  He is currently the Projects Coordinator and has stepped in to the Directors position for the past month because his boss has been suspended.

Suspended?  Oh, do I have your attention now?  Well, I should.  He was suspended a month ago because he propositioned two 15 year old girls for sex and the situation basically had to be "investigated".  They were deciding if he should have been fired or allow him to quit honorably without letting this slip.....or let him come back.

Hmmm.....hard discision.

Let me add a bit more.  It isn't his first offense.  It actually isn't his 2nd.  Yes, it's the lucky number 3.  Who does he work with?  He works with disabled kids and teenagers.  Who did he proposition?  Fifteen year olds. 

Hmmmm.......still a hard decision?

Geez.

Well, the board has decided to allow him to come back.  With the fact being known that he will be going to counseling and "under a close eye".  Does that make your blood boil?  It does mine.  It really saddens me.  Why would they let him come back?  I hope they know what they are doing.