Baby Bump Bonding!

Dear Friends and Family,

What an amazing Valentine's day and President's day weekend!  For Valentine's day this year, I read an article that recommended planning with your spouse how you want to spend Valentine's day together.  We tossed around some ideas, leaning toward the easy and low key, and then decided to spring for a babysitter if the opportunity presented itself.  Luckily, my sweet friend Jessica's, fun daughter Jara was free and so Chris and I got a much needed romantic dinner out!  Jara came over at 4:45pm and we transitioned Claire into her care with some great distractions: a cup full of milk, a plate of bacon, and the iPad!  There was barely a wave from Claire as we walked out the door.  She was one happy girl...and so was I! 

My funny Valentine!

 We headed up to Old Stein Inn for an amazing dinner and then tried out the new local frozen yogurt place for dessert! (Hey, when you can't celebrate a night out with an adult beverage, a big dish of Fro-Yo is a good second place.)

My dad also made Valentine's Day special by sending me this beautiful bouquet! Thanks, Dad!

 You could tell that the florist was swamped this Valentine's day because I got flowers from my Dad and my wonderful husband right at the end of the day!  Chris ordered some Lilies and Irises for me from one of the online flower shops.  They came in a box and not one of the flowers was in bloom!  The look on his face was so funny when he pulled them out and handed them to me.  He said, "Honey, Happy Valentine's Day! Here are a bunch of stems!"  I thought that was so funny!  I am happy to report that as of today about half of the flowers have bloomed, and they are beautiful.  Thank you, Chris!

We had some warmer weather on Friday, so I reunited Claire with her beloved bucket and shovel and we headed down to the beach.  It was so nice to get to sit by the water again, and it is really getting me excited for Spring!

On Friday evening, we welcomed my wonderful Sister and Brother-in-love Kelli and Kes for a weekend visit.  Kelli and Kes are expecting their first baby in July, and they just found out that they are also having a BOY!  I'm so excited for them and excited for our little babies.  We spent the weekend discussing boy names, adding items to Kelli's baby registry, and Kelli helped me brainstorm on my decorations for the nursery. 

Two glowing and growing expecting Mamas!

A rare family photo! Thanks, Kelli!

The excited parents-to-be!

 Speaking of the nursery, once Kelli and Kes were on the road, Claire helped me put up the nursery wall decals!  She was such a good helper! Most of them are done...just a few more to go!

After rubbing the decals on the wall, Claire helped me pull off the backing paper!

We are going for a nautical theme!

In my last post, I mentioned Arch Bishop Lori's comment on Faith being a journey and this weekend that idea struck me during the part of Mass where you exchange the sign of peace.  Chris has been encouraging me to go back to the cry room because Claire is at a point where she wants to talk more and the concept of whispering has not been completely grasped.  (Yes, she can whisper, but she tends to only whisper the word "whisper".)  When I was little and attended Mass with my grandparents, I remember being so excited when it was FINALLY time to exchange the sign of peace!  Not only was it a chance to talk and interact, but it also meant the end of the Mass was somewhat near. 

Later in my faith journey, I learned that Jesus gave us the sign of peace after he had been crucified and abandoned/denied by his followers.  Jesus came back to a dark room of scared Christians and gave them his peace.  That's pretty amazing - I think if I were to see a fallen comrade come back from the dead, the last thing I would think he wanted to give me was peace! But really, that's all God wants for us is to have peace with him and with each other.  And so, I came to really appreciate this part of the Mass. 

This weekend, as we were trying to teach Claire more about the merits of whispering and sitting still, the sign of peace, yet again, took on a whole new meaning!  I was exasperated and the Priest looked right at me, waved, and said, "Peace be with you."  Now, I'm not sure if he meant with my heart and spirit or if he meant it for my toddler, but I took it to remind myself to find peace, maybe not during, but at least after toddler struggles.  In that peace, I've remembered that I had these same struggles with my poor parents/grandparents too, I remembered how hard it was to sit through a whole hour of praying, and I realized that Chris is right...we need to go back to the cry room.

May God's peace be with you this week, my wonderful family and friends!
Love,
Bethie