Saints are going to the Superbowl!

I've followed the Saints off and on depending upon where I was in life. This was the most important game of their history. A lot of family and friends are in high spirits because of the team's efforts. I had jumped on the bandwagon earlier this season, but I have to show props for last Sunday's historic game.

It's worth it to watch the whole video.

My loves

Post-nap Teresa talks to her blankie

Teresa has a lovey: a beautiful, soft, hand-knit blanket with tassles on three sides (isn't that clever, to leave one side un-tassled so they don't get in one's face?). The blanket (a shower gift from a friend of my parents) used to hang over the top of my glider, aka "the nursing chair". Starting when she was only a couple months old, sweet little Teresa would reach out and stroke it behind my back while she nursed. She especially loved those tassles.

Eventually I took the pink blanket off the glider and hung it over the side of Teresa's crib. Several times I discovered that she had pulled it down so she could cuddle with it. Then I started laying it over her as soon as I put her down to sleep. She immediately grasps it with both hands and rubs it on her face. She likes to poke her fingers through the little holes in the knitting.

For two months or more, Teresa has been taking one long nap in the early afternoon (2-3 hours). She usually wakes up very gentle and happy, and she doesn't always call or cry out right away. I LOVE peeking in on her and observing her at play in her crib. Yesterday I captured the experience on video. You may need to turn up your volume to hear her cooing to her blankie - but don't turn it up too high or it will sound like I'm shouting when I start talking. Enjoy!

Teresa at play: magazine & blocks

I gave Teresa a colorful catalogue to tear up to her heart's content. I love how she uses her tiny, dexterous fingers to separate the pages in this video:



Teresa has a renewed interest in her blocks the past few days. She has even stacked one on top of another successfully. This video is long, but it shows her moving blocks in and out of the container and a bag. She also pretends they are food (she smacks her lips so cutely!) and offers me some . . . I taught her to smack her lips when she "eats" the little cakes that came with her tea set, but she'll do that with almost any toy now. I wonder when she'll be able to differentiate which toys are food and which ones aren't?

Thanks to our Grandparents and Parents

Today the Church celebrates the Feasts of St. Titus and St. Timothy. In the first reading, St. Paul, who knew St. Timothy personally, remarked on the faith of his grandmother, Lois:

"...as I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and that I am confident lives also in you." (2 Tim 1:5)

The deposit of faith safe-guarded by the Church is fostered by family from one generation to the next. I am so grateful for the faith of my grandparents Rose, Murl, Sam, and Marie, who passed it on to my parents. It's also good to see Memere, Pepere, and Mrs Rita filled with the Lord's joy, which they have passed down to their children and then to Frances.

While Frances and I have chosen to receive faith as a gift from the Lord, it is encouraging, hopeful, and peaceful knowing that it's part of our families' heritage. We look forward to any suggestions to help bear fruit in Teresa and any more children the Lord blesses us with.

Photo Credit: www.traditioninaction.org

Pantry pickup?

I found out via a Charlotte mom's blog that our local healthy food store, EarthFare, is currently offering a "Pantry Makeover" to people who want to try to eliminate high fructose corn syrup (HFC) from their diet. I signed up on their website and printed out my voucher. Then I raided our fridge and pantry for some items to exchange.

I went in with:
1 jar of Welch's grape jam (with about a tablespoon of jam left in it - David makes his PB&Js with this)
1 bottle of A & W root beer (with about a cup of soda left in it)
1 bottle of Wishbone salad dressing (expired...and I had two of them!)

I came out with:
1 jar of EarthFare organic blueberry conserves
1 bottle of EarthFare vitamin-enhanced water (lemon lime flavor)
1 bottle of EarthFare organic salad dressing (Sesame Goddess)

= $9 worth of products, free!

Although I was disappointed about the vitamin water (I thought we'd be able to get a non-HFC soda, like Hansen's Root Beer, which I had once before and loved!), I am THRILLED about my conserves and salad dressing!!! I have "blueberry preserves" on my personal wish list because I quickly finished the jar my mother-in-law gave me when she returned from a vacation in the NC mountains last year - it was absolutely delicious on my waffles! But they're expensive - the EF jar is normally $6 - so I held off on getting them for myself. What a treat to get them for free!

And the Sesame Goddess organic salad dressing (made with tahini and lemon juice) will be a nice way to add some healthy, tasty fat to my diet. Yay!

Teresa's likes and dislikes

Teresa does not like to wear her cute hat:



But she does like to push her walking toy and scatter coasters:



She's become quite skilled at using the pushing toy, pulling it away from the wall to get behind it, standing up and sitting down while holding on to it, and moving it quite quickly (faster than in this video, for sure). But she hasn't mastered maneuvering it when it becomes "stuck" on an obstacle.

Teresa's new swing

My parents gave Teresa a little swing for our backyard playset for Christmas. Yesterday was so nice I put it up and we gave it a try. She likes it!


(I didn't notice the plane flying overhead while I took this video,
but that is the background noise.)

Teresa and Papa

One night she fell asleep on him while he was watching a movie:

We were able to transfer her to her crib without waking her up, yes!!


It isn't easy to play table games with a curious baby on your lap:


This is the 2-person card version of the popular game Settlers of Catan. We got the Settlers of Catan Card Game on Amazon and have really enjoyed playing it a couple times a month. It's a great combination of strategy and chance, so neither of us always wins (as with some other games, such as Risk (David!) and Boggle (me)).


It isn't easy to put away the Christmas lights with a baby's help, either:


But she sure enjoys being involved in anything we're doing!


And she loves her Papa's attention, especially when he's really fun, like in this video:

Pineapple tidbits

More eating adventures:



I didn't get a video of it, but Teresa ate about 2 tablespoons of spicy guacamole yesterday. She loved it! It was funny to smell the onion on her breath when I nursed her twice last night, though. :)

Bonus points to anyone who can name the movie David is watching in the background of the pineapple video!

A little prayer goes...

It's amazing how just spending a few minutes in prayer with Frances can really make a difference in our marriage. Besides the grace the prayer imparts, there is definitely a shared intimacy in its pure expression as Christopher West puts it: "into-me-see."

When I pray, I open everything up to the Lord. I become vulnerable. It allows me to share all of me with Frances who reciprocates. The unifying result makes such a difference, and it's a visible difference reflected in the innocent eyes of Teresa, our daughter. She may only be 11 months, but she bares a two-tooth smile in recognition of the joy we share during and after prayer.

It's not always easy getting together to pray during a busy day, but we realize how important it is. We are always looking for new prayers, books, or suggestions to share the Lord with each other and Teresa. Do you have any suggestions?

Our house at Christmastime

David would like to keep our Christmas decorations up until the end of the Christmas season, the Baptism of the Lord, which is Sunday, January 10. Our pastor is coming to bless our house on Monday the 11th, though, so we may keep everything up another day or two.

We are getting a piano soon, though, and it's going to go right where the Christmas tree is. Hmm!

Pancake Picking

Here's another eating video...the real action is near the end. For those of you who enjoy our silly dialogue in the background as much as you enjoy watching Teresa do things, this one is good. Oh, and she didn't eat the whole pancake David plopped on her tray...but she did munch through about a third of it!

Apple Munching

Teresa enjoys using her 2 teeth to grate off bits of apple when we're eating them. I decided to let her have my core after I ate the rest of the apple. With supervision, she went to town on it for 20 minutes or so and got a good bit of the fruit!