An Interview

Today, I am being interviewed by Sarah over at Clover Lane. 

Sarah was one of the very first bloggers I "met" and her blog continues to be one of my FAVORITES!  She has a series of interviews of moms from various faiths, and chose me to be the Catholic spokeswoman...what an honor! 

Oh, and we *may* even have a legal agreement that her Patrick and my Maggie will wed one day - let's hope :)

Mother's Day is ONLY Ten Days Away!

Consider this your warning!  Every year when I think about what I want to do for Mother's Day, I always come to the same conclusion...Mass followed by a lovely brunch at any nice restaurant.  But every Mother's Day for the past 6 years, Phil has to lead the CCD program at our church immediately following 8:30 Mass, and so I go home with the little ones, and then think of something else to do later in the day.  Last year I went to lunch with my mom and one of my sisters and then shopping for an hour.  That was heavenly!  I love hanging out with my mom on any day, but Mother's Day is especially sweet.

My mom is the greatest mother in the world.  She raised 6 kids, who then blessed her with 19-going-on-20 grandkids.  That's the best gift you can give to your mother, right?  Allowing them to become a grandmother?  In my mom's case, she became Gammy.  I think she enjoys her role of grandma even more than her role of mother :)  Beginning this summer, all of her children will live within 15 minutes of her.  Even though we all went away to college/grad school/med schools and lived in various states (OH, NH, MO, CT, CA)...we all came back "home" in the end.  It's really such a blessing to live near each other, especially to allow our children to play with their cousins all.the.time.  I hope they can always look out for each other and stay friends. 

My Mom laughing so hard at my Dad's proud poop-scooping skills.

But back to Mother's Day.  What's the best kind of present to give to a mom?  I think one thing that all moms truly enjoy is pictures and picture gifts that capture memories.  And I think Shutterfly has the best quality products to peruse.  We ordered our Christmas cards from them last year, and they were my favorite...we won't be going back to those other companies. 

Just in time for Mother's Day, you can choose from Mother’s Day Cards , Personalized gifts for Mom , or even a Mother’s Day photobook.  All great choices for a great mom, grandma, or wife (hint, hint) in your life!

Are you a blogger? Click here to sign up for a chance at 50 free cards from Shutterfly.

Wordless Wednesday: Swimming Lessons

Another Joy of Pregnancy

I am a terrible sleeper.  Seriously, it's a cross.   I am a light sleeper, and every little noise wakes me up: a kid's cough, Phil's heavy breathing when he's congested, ice cubes being made in the freezer, a loud truck driving by, even the heat turning on in the house. 

 As if I don't have enough reasons to wake up suddenly in the middle of the night, now I am suffering from charlie horses in my calves.  This happened a few times when I was pregnant with John-Paul but I haven't had them since. 

It's terrifying to be suddenly awakened in the middle of the night with a horrible pain in your leg.  I try to grab my foot to stretch out my calf, but my big pregnant belly won't allow me.  So I yell at Phil to wake up and pull my toes back, which I'm sure he appreciates ;)  Then, because of the adrenaline rush, I can't fall back asleep for about an hour.  And my calf is sore for the next week.

Phil told me charlie horses are due to lack of potassium, so I brought a banana to eat today.  Hopefully that will cure it.  Does anyone else suffer from this?  Any tricks to making it stop?

****UPDATE****
I had my midwife appointment last night, and she told me to take between 500 mg and 1000 mg of Magnesium to prevent the charlie horses.  I took 1000mg last night and no cramps!  There is a potential side effect of "soft stools", and I won't be updating you on whether or not I experience that.  You're welcome :)

Easter 2011 in Pictures

The kids wake up to find a HUGE Easter basket on the kitchen table.  They were thrilled and started digging right in:

 (Love Maggie's face in the background!)

All dressed up in our Easter bonnets outfits:

Easter dinner at my brother's house this year. 

Huge baby side view.  That's the face you get if you try to take a side view picture of my baby bump.  Two strangers asked me yesterday if I was having twins.  I guess they didn't get the memo.

My goddaughter, Abby, really did wear an Easter bonnet.  And a pretty dress that we all had to ooh-an-aw over :)

On the menu: pulled pork (below), lamb, sweet potatoes, cole slaw, corn, potatoes, cornbread, cake, ice cream, hot fudge, and rice krispie treats.

Time for the Egg Hunt!

My other goddaughter, Bridget, races to get the goodies!

My Dad gets put in charge of picking up all the goose poops....which he seemed to enjoy :)

Hope you all had a Blessed and Fun Easter!