Prayer Buddy Reveal

I had the privilege of praying for Ania who blogs at The 411 on the 418's this Advent Prayer Season.  On May 10, Ania announced her pregnancy after years of struggling with PCOS.  I was elated right along with her (although I'm sure not QUITE as much!  :-D).  I had begun following her a year or more ago & had prayed along with her during her journey to become a mom.

Ania, I prayed the Christmas Novena, the St. Andrew Novena & one more (I forget, sorry!) for your intentions that you mentioned, as well as the desires of your heart to be fulfilled.  I am glad to read that some of my prayer for you has helped in a small way.  Know that I will continue to keep you in prayer, especially as .... ummmmm ..... you have only 2 weeks left before your due date!!!  I'm beyond excited for you!  I wish you the utmost in blessing in 2013 for you and your family!

An early morning God-incidence

Christmas is next week.  I have a to-do list a mile long, it seems, but I do have half of the gifts bought that I need to, so I will count that as a win.  One of the projects on my to-do list was to find a substitute for my Holy Hour, which falls on Christmas morning, as we will be out of town visiting our families.  Last night, I got up to go to Holy Hour from midnight to 1 am just like normal.  I spent my time in prayer, then went to the back of the chapel to copy names from the substitute list.  I was worried that I wouldn't find anyone to either trade with or have substitute for me due to the holiday.  Back to my seat I went to finish the hour.

I am reading St. Faustina's Diary (a gift from my mom years ago, but I've never read it, until now) during part of Holy Hour and got lost in the words & pages I was reading.  I realized it was 1:05 am and the next person had never shown up.  He has been late before, so I gave him until 1:10 am.  Then I tried to call him, but no answer, as it went to his voicemail.  I sat back down & thought, "Ok, I was just enjoying reading this book.  I will have another hour to enjoy reading it.  God must have a reason for having me be here for another hour."  A few minutes later the phone rang.  It was the guy who was supposed to be there.  

As he apologized for over sleeping & not hearing his alarm, I had an idea.  Instead of him coming in this morning, I asked him to take my hour for next week and we would be even:  I would do two hours this morning & he would do two hours next week.  He agreed.  It couldn't have worked out more perfectly!!!  

After I hung up the phone, I was elated.  I was dreading calling people to see if they would come in to cover or trade, as some of the people on the list are either no longer available or have restrictions on when they can come (I found this out the hard way when Luke was born ... try getting someone to cover your hour the first night after your son was born!  That's when hubby went by himself the first time.  I couldn't leave Luke's side.)  I was so happy that God had arranged this so perfectly and I hadn't had to make one phone call.  He truly blessed me this morning - so to glorify Him, I wanted to share.

I would love to hear some of your stories of how God has worked in your life (aka "God-incidences"), taking care of you & providing for your needs.  Please share your stories in the comments.  I feel the need to rejoice in God's providence & blessings on me this year, which is a 180 from where I was at this time last year.  

Also, I have to add ... as this just hit me ... I am praying the St. Andrew Novena, which ends on Christmas Day.  The words of the Novena are as follows:  (emphasis mine)

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment

in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary,

at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold.

In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God!

to hear my prayer and grant my desires,

through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ,

and of His Blessed Mother. Amen

My Holy Hour next week would begin at midnight on Christmas Day.  Another God-incidence, I believe.  I will set my alarm & pray the Novena at midnight, for "in that hour" I will beg God to "grant my desires" that I have prayed for in my Novena.  To my Prayer Buddy (and several others), you will be especially prayed for at that time.  I pray that God will grant the desires of your hearts.

Walking App suggestions?

Hello, ladies! Thunder Thighs, here. Does anyone have a good recommendation for the name of a walking app I could download for my phone to use at night (like the Couch to 5k for running ... but for walking)? I have some pain in my knee and don't want to be too hard on it at this point in time.

I'm trying to not be super depressed about splitting out another pair of jeans in the thighs this afternoon. Although I do believe jeans are made of thinner material now than they used to be.

P.S. Lucky as Sunshine, a big thanks to you on the DVD you sent. I need to put that to good use. Splitting out your jeans is great motivation ... so is seeing a photo of myself. :-D

Baby Sickness -- Q & A

Luke has been a sick little boy these last few weeks.  We are at it again with another ear infection, which we discovered at the doctors after we took him in to check out the serious eye goobers/pus he had in his left eye for about 3-4 days (over the Thanksgiving holiday, no less).  More antibiotics in his system for his right ear, this time.  I'm sure it has spread to his left ear, as he has been grabbing at that for the last several days.  His pediatrician has said that because he's had 2 infections within the last 2 months, with a third infection, she will refer us to the Ear, Nose & Throat doctor to discuss the possibility of ear tubes, to help with the pressure & drainage in his ears.  My poor baby is only 8 months old.  Is this common in someone so young?  I am up for anything to ease Luke's discomfort.  We have been keeping him dosed up with Motrin to keep the pain at bay.  I had a ton of earaches as a kid, so I remember the pain.  Ugh.  I was hoping to get some input from those who are familiar with ear tubes ... pros & cons, how have they worked for you/kids, etc.

With Luke's ear infection, comes a sore throat & cough (which we may find out at our re-check tomorrow is bronchitis).  It isn't helped by the temps in the house at night, either.  We keep our house about 72 typically, but have been running it higher at 74 to help with Luke's sicknesses.  At night, the temps seem to drop regardless (and when you breathe dry air through your mouth because your nose is plugged, I don't think that helps either).  We've run the humidifier at night in his room, but sometimes it will quit working in the middle of the night.  I think it may be due to our hard water creating a calcium buildup or something inside.  Luke also likes to squirm out of the covers I put in his crib.  Usually he will start at one end of the crib with a few blankets from his waist down.  Then by morning, he will be huddled at the other end with no blankets.  When I change his diaper in the morning, he always feels a little cold, so we get a bottle & snuggle under a few layers.  I dress him in the one piece footie pajamas (not a super-thin fabric), but even with that, I'd still like to keep him warmer at night.  Aside from a space heater (which I'm nervous about due to a fear of a fire starting (yes, I'm paranoid)), do you have any suggestions on how to keep Luke warm?

Since I'm questioning everything under the sun, here's another one.  Crib bumpers.  We'd purchased a crib set with the thick bumpers that I know you're not supposed to use due to suffocation risk.  So I put those bumpers away & haven't used them.  When Luke started to get wiggly and make 360's in his crib, we wanted to get something so his arms & legs wouldn't get stuck in the slats, so we purchased some bumpers that have large air holes at Targ.et.  Those worked ok, but kept sliding down all.the.time, which drove me crazy (you tie them onto the slats).  I wondered if there was an age when you could use the "thick" bumpers if you know that your child can move away from it.  I'm not willing to risk Luke suffocating with these bumpers, though, so I'm posing the question to get some input before making any changes.

Lastly, but definitely my biggest headache in the question department ... thermometers!  I want to throttle all thermometer manufacturers.  Seriously!  I realize with a squirmy baby that the temps won't always be the same, but with a whole degree difference, I think that is for the birds!  We initially purchased a forehead thermometer, but after comparing that with my digital thermometer I used when taking my BBT (I took it under Luke's arm), I realized that the forehead thermometer was crazy!  So I bought the Brau.n Ear Thermometer, which you can stick in the ear after putting a plastic sleeve over the tip to prevent ear wax getting on the sensor.  That reads a little better, but still varies a little.  I'm about fit to be tied!  Any good recommendations on thermometers?  I'm not thrilled about going "old school" and trying to stick a thermometer up Luke's (very cute) behind.

We like to pull ourselves up on anything now!

Luke is very mobile!  He has been crawling for a month and will go from the crawling position to sitting just like that.  He likes to crawl around his piles of toys for the most interesting things ... this time, he was going after the yellow ball.  

Having fun with Cookie Monster (a gift from his birthmom).   Yes, I stuffed CM in the back of his pants to "ride along" because I thought it was too cute.  I am "that mother."  :-D

Showing off our "I can pull myself up and stand in my crib now" skills.  We've learned to hang on, as when Luke doesn't, he takes a tumble!