7QT: Giveaway, Baby, Snow Days and Renos

1)

Don't forget to enter my giveaway from the last post for an Ultimate Easter Basket, featuring ten awesome items!

2)

Baby Martin #7 Update:

Well, we hit 12 weeks this week, with the official due date being changed to August 24, 2016.  I had the NT Scan done, and everything looked perfectly healthy (thank you Jesus!).  The baby is so so so active on the ultrasound. He/she kept bending his/her legs, then jumping up and sliding back down.  It was so cool to watch, even the ultrasound tech couldn't stop laughing.  I had the blood work taken to find out the gender results within a week or so!

3)

Anybody want to guess what it is before we know for sure?  Here's some "symptoms" to keep you informed:

Baby's heart rate was 166.

My face is breaking out in pimples and coldsores.  It's like I'm Colleen Sweeney from 1996.

Dairy makes me super sick.

I've gained 9 pounds in 12 weeks (aye aye aye!).

And, well, that's it really.  I'm nauseous when I don't eat often (hence the weight gain) and I get pretty bad headaches/light-headedness in the evenings.

4)

The kids had Catholic Schools Week last week, it was very fun!  I only took photos of career day and the basketball game of Faculty vs. Kids.  Spoiler alert, the kids won!

Maggie as a baker.  And a mom and soccer player, in case you couldn't tell.

Eamon as a pro football player.  He still wants to be a priest, but we didn't plan ahead too well!

Andrew as yet another football player.  The Manning boys got nothing on us!

Xander as a builder like Grandpa.  But he's also a baker like Maggie.

JP as a CIA agent, when the business man idea didn't pan out because he couldn't find a briefcase.

And since Declan's not old enough to do things like this, here's a video of him trying to count, but with a potty mouth!

Only CYO kids were allowed to play, so only my Andrew could play - he's the cute one in the middle!  Who, me, biased?

Maggie and the girls cheering them on.

JP with his bff.  I guess 7th graders smile with closed lips??

Declan ate M&M's all night!

The amazing faculty and staff that didn't mind looking like fools ;)  That's our pastor on the end right!

Xander's 100th day of preschool.  Those ears kill me.  And the chapped lips below the mouth are totally what I used to get.  My older siblings called them Clown Lips.  We're not so cruel to Xander Blaise :)

5)

Kitchen reno talk...

We went to research and price out replacing out kitchen cabinets, counters, appliances, and adding an island.  Talk about sticker shock!!  We are thinking of keeping our cabinets, because aside from me wanting white cabinets, they are good quality and we can't justify spending thousands of dollars to replace them.  We will replace our ugly light counter tops with dark ones, and add an island with a matching counter top.  We will also replace our dishwasher, oven, and microwave which are all really old and in need of repair soon.  We're going stainless steel with those.  So...the decorating question I have is:

Should I go with a white island in the style I want, or match the island to the brown cabinets we already have?

I've been googling brown cabinets with a white island, and think these look nice.  I just have a fear that doing it in my actual kitchen will look mismatched:

6)

It's been snowing around here!  We got about a foot last Friday and school was cancelled and then another foot on Monday and school was cancelled again!  Yay for 4 day weekends, especially the Monday after the Superbowl :)

And yay for boys who can shovel!

The kids finally got to use their snowball scoopers they got from their Aunt & Uncle at Christmas!  And we colored some water and they prettied things up a bit!

This weekend is supposed to be in the single digits - which makes cuddling to keep warm a necessity and not just a smooth Valentine's Day move.

7)

Lent is off to a great start.  It's always so easy in the beginning, isn't it?  As a family we are giving up sweets at home and eating seafood on Friday dinners.  I'm the only seafood lover in the house, so it's really everybody else's sacrifice :)  We also "cheat" on Sundays (starting with the Saturday night vigil) and birthdays (you can't choose your birthday), and all major saints days.  So, umm, a lot.  As far as individual sacrifices, I told the kids it was between them and God what they wanted to give up or add on to make them a better person at the end of Lent then at the beginning.  It's funny how some of my kids are great at keeping things like that to themselves and others just have.to.tell.me.  I totally get that, as I want to tell Phil every time I practice a virtuous act.  Restraint is hard :)

Have a wonderful Lenten, wintery, romantic Valentiney weekend everybody!

Go see Kelly for more!

The ULTIMATE Easter Basket Giveaway (Ten prizes!)

I know, I know, it's not even Lent yet (one more day of feasting!) and I'm already talking about Easter!  But you know how some people like to get their Christmas shopping finished before Advent?  Why not get your Easter shopping done before Lent?  That should totally be a thing, right?!?  So I've rounded up some of my favorite Catholic items to create the ULTIMATE Easter Basket for one lucky winner.  Please make sure you visit these beautiful shops, all of the owners were so wonderful to work with and so generous to provide me with an item for this giveaway!  I couldn't recommend them any more whole-heartedly!

Ok, here's what you can win...TEN items in all!

I.

G.K. Chesterton shirt from MONKROCK.  It reads "In Catholicism, the pint, the pipe, and the cross can all fit together".  We gave one of these to Phil's Dad a few years ago, and he loves it!  (You get to pick the size)

II.

A Holy Family necklace from Jaspern Jade.  This necklace is such a wonderful reminder of what our families should strive to imitate even though there are so many difficult crosses thrown our way.  What better example of family life than Mary, Joseph, and Jesus?  Right?!  

III.

A beautiful print from Hatch Prints with a quote from St. Catherine of Sienna "Be who God made you to be and you will set the world on fire."  I thought this would be perfect for a child's bedroom (or any room, really!) as a reminder that they will only be happy if they follow God's Will.  We have this one hanging in Maggie's room :)

IV.

A felt saint softie of the Immaculate Heart of Mary from Saintly Silver.  These softies are so adorable, we have St. Margaret Mary, St. Alexander, and St. Declan!  Erin has so many options available in her store, even those harder to find saints.

V.

A set of Rosary Roses from Annery's Handmade. These pretty roses are perfect for a busy toddler (or older adult whose fingers can't quite grasp small beads anymore)  to hold during the family rosary.  They come in a cute pouch with the mysteries of the rosary cards to help older kids along.  These are definitely going to help make our family rosaries a little more peaceful!

VI.

A onesie that reads "Cradle Catholic" from Marilyn's Diaper Castle.  I saw this onesie and knew I wanted, no, needed it for Martin Baby #7.  How adorably witty! (You can choose the size)

VII.

A Benedictine bracelet for kids from Special Creation 4 U.  We bought these for my older boys to wear (and had them blessed) to help keep them protected through St. Benedict's intercession.  These bracelets are hand woven in Medjugorje and fit children ages 3-13.

VIII.

A lego rosary from Memento Moose.  How cool is this?  These legos can snap together, and as each prayer is said, you can snap off that lego brick and slide it along the cord to keep your place.  The perfect busy boy rosary.  Alexander loves his, but allllll the boys want one now!

IX.

Your choice of a mug:

 or tumbler:

 from Printable Prayers with the following morning offering prayer printed on it:

O God, I offer you this day, 
all I do, and think, and say,
in union with what once was done, 
on earth by Jesus Christ, your son.


What a great way to start each day!

X.

And finally!  From Custom Crayons by Sara, a set of 8 cross crayons (each in their own Easter egg) with an Easter poem explaining the significance of each color.  Great for the toddler set, and such a nice alternative to all the candy kids usually get inside their Easter eggs :)

OK, now you've seen alllll the amazing prizes, so how do you enter to win?

Easy Peasy!  Use the Rafflecopter below and GOOD LUCK!  One winner will be chosen on February 25, 2016 :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Maggie's New Room and Upstairs Reveal

Well this has been a project two months in the making!  

Maggie used to sleep in the landing of the hallway upstairs, while the five boys shared the two upstairs bedrooms (the master bedroom is downstairs).  I've said it before that Maggie prayed for "walls" and a new bedroom for awhile and we finally saved up enough money to make the renovations a reality.

Here's her bedroomarea before:

Then we cleared it out and the kids went nuts.  Open spaces have that effect.

See that column they are all standing in front of?  That's an unused chimney that was walled up.  That railing to the right actually prevents kids from falling onto the stairs behind.

So we hired Maggie's friend's grandpa to do the work, and on the very first day, he had the drywall delivered.  He had done his measurements and figured out a way to get it all the way to the third floor of our house (our second floor is actually the house's third floor because there is an apartment on the first floor...got it?).  I was very impressed with the whole operation.  The truck delivered the drywall....

... I watched it get lifted up past our screened porch...

...and in through the bathroom window on the third floor.  Our hallways and stairways are too narrow to carry the drywall up through the house (our house is over 100 years old) so I thought this way was pretty ingenious.

And then the work began!

That white square on the floor was where the chimney used to be.  I think the hardest part was getting rid of that thing, brick by brick, and then carrying it down two flights of stairs.  Whew!

I wasn't able to take photos of every step along the way, but TADAAAA, the finished product!

^ Maggie is standing on her side of the room above, and below she is standing on the future baby's side of the room.  The paint is Benjamin Moore's Linen White, and my mom gave her that comforter from Pottery Barn Kids (but thrifted!).  We had to get her an armoire since we didn't build a closet, and a headboard with storage because she's a packrat :)

While we were creating her bedroom, we also decided to rip up the carpet and put in laminate hardwood floors throughout the second floor.  They came out so nice!

We painted the little boys' room too!  Before:

After:

Paint is Benjamin Moore's Colorado Gray and I love it so much!   Declan's crib is gone (moved to Maggie's room) and he's in a bed now.  I got them really soft comforters in a pretty shade of light blue to pull the room together. 

The big boy's room got a slight makeover too.   We sold that huge bunk bed because the only way it fit in the room was in front of the window and it just overpowered the room.  

Before:

We got a hand-me-down bunk bed set that ALSO didn't fit in the room (darn you slanted ceilings) so we just kept the beds separate.

After:

I found inexpensive bedside tables that are coming soon to help hide some of their junk.  Perhaps I am an enabler.  Pretty much all of the furniture and beds in the kids rooms are all hand-me-downs from generous family members and friends, so nothing really matches.  I like to think of it as vintage eclectic and pretend it's my style :)

Out in the hallway, across from Maggie's room, is a little library area we set up.

It's just two of these shelves side-by-side with a rocking chair in the corner, but the kids all love it.

And that's it!  Next up is the kitchen and master bedroom renovation.  There's nothing like adding a 9th person to the family to motivate us to finally get the work done we've been talking about for years!  

That's What He Said

Oh Alexander Blaise, you keep us entertained, that's for sure.

:)

Discussing school that day...

Sean always tricks me.

-How does he trick you?

With his MIND!

When I grow up, I'm going to marry you, Mom.

-You can't honey.

Oh yeah, Dad married you first.  Well then I'll marry Maggie.

-You can't marry your sister.

FINE! I'll just grow up and marry Gammy!

Quizzing Declan...

What does the cow say?

-Moooooo!

What does the angel say?

-Alleluia!

What does the banana say?

- (silence)

It says Whoops!

Thinking ahead...

On my birthday, when I turn from 4 to 5, can we go see Pat Patriot again?

-Maybe.

Well, it's just that he's my bestest friend.

Chicken Dance song playing...

I don't like this song.

-Why not?

I just don't like the way it tastes.

Saving My Sanity Right Now

Anne at Modern Mrs. Darcy (a new to me blog found through Ellen) is hosting a link-up called The Things That Are Saving My Life Right Now.  So here's my list of sanity savers this winter...

1)

Future plans.

I always need to be planning ahead, especially when it comes to taking a little family vacation (an overnight to the Cape is a favorite) and making house renovating decisions.  It's just nice to have something to look forward to!

2)

Nice, soft sheets.

I ordered these sheets for Maggie's bed and then more for Alexander and Declan's beds (Declan is in a big boy bed and transitioned so easily!) and now I want some for my own bed, because they are so pretty and soft.  And a great price!

3)

Outside time.

Because the weather has been so wonderful this winter!  Not being stuck inside all the live long day does wonders for everybody's mental state...especially mine :)

4)

Gym membership.

After cancelling our gym membership last summer due to the poor state of the gym, we just joined a new one that's closer to work and owned by a friend!  Feb. 1 was my new new year, after being sick for all of January.  I've been walking hills on the treadmill and ellipticalling my large and in charge belly and feeling so good after.

5)

Vitamin D + Magnesium + Blood Builder.

This is my triple threat daily vitamin dose.  I also take Folic Acid and Biotin and Probiotics, but I swear those top three have helped my mood and energy levels like nothing else.

6)

Grapefruits and Oranges and Limes and Lemons.

Because I'm pregnant and it's winter and they're delicious right now.

7)

My Fitbit.

This is such a good motivator to move more.  Now I'll take the longer way on purpose, park further away than normal, take the stairs more often.  You know, all those things you know you should do, but this rewards you for it.  It's especially nice to compete with Phil every day although he kills me since I sit at a desk and he pace-teaches.

8)

Making my birthday list.

This year, I would like a Netflix subscription because Fuller House will be starting (Full House was my absolute favorite show!)  and a new travel mug that doesn't leak or look like it's been through a war.

9)

Coffee.

After ten weeks of going off coffee because just the thought of it would make me gag back vomit, I have started drinking the heavenly elixir again.  Trader Joe's is a favorite on our house, and we drive an hour away to pick some up.  Their Vanilla Joe Joe's go perfect with a steaming cup of creamy coffee too.

10)

Inspirational saints.

Reading about the letters written by St. Zelie Martin.  She was a working mom who seemed to get overwhelmed with all she had to do (like every mom ever) and yet still was a saint!  There's hope for me!

What's saving your life and sanity this winter??

Genetic Counseling is Not for Wimps

This morning I had my appointment for the NT Scan and Genetic Counseling and Cell-Free DNA blood test.  On paper (or by my LMC date) I am 11 weeks 4 days today.  Let me tell you how it all went down...

I get to the appointment a few minutes early, fill out paperwork, and wait for half an hour even though I am supposedly the first appointment of the day.  Many pregnant women file into the waiting room to sit with me, and all I can smell is stale cigarette smoke.  I know my pregnancy nose is sensitive, but um, eeew, and gross, and you're pregnant so maybe you shouldn't be smoking and/or around people who smoke so close to you that you smell like that.  Finally I get called in and the ultrasound tech squeezes a bunch of warm jelly on my belly (I love it when it's warm and not freezing and starts the scan.  I see my baby!  I see a fluttery heartbeat, and the baby is moving it's little legs and arms all around - so active already!  I may be seven babies in, but seeing a baby inside of you never ever loses it's wonder. 

"You're baby looks so teeny!" she says as she pushes and slides the wand all over my too-big-too-soon belly (gotta lay off the chips!).  

"So what does that mean?" I ask.

"Well, in order to perform the scan, your baby needs to be measuring 36 mm and right now, it's only measuring 34 mm.  These measurements are telling me that you are only 10 weeks, 2 days pregnant."

Me, internally, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Me, externally, "Oh ok, so I need to reschedule?"

Tech: "Yes, in about a week, we should be able to see better.  But you can still go talk to the Genetic Counselor today and she'll go over all your options with you."

After mopping up the (excessive!) amounts of goo from my belly, she walks me over to another waiting room until the GC comes to greet me.  

If you've never had Genetic Counseling, it's pretty sobering.  Although the woman was really nice, she was very straight-forward and stated all the facts in a scientific way, without feeling.  I realize she does this all the live long day, but it's hard to hear things like the following without getting emotional...

"Because you will be 37 at the time of delivery, your baby has a 1/165 chance of having Downs Syndrome and a 1/80 chance for Trisomy 18 (I believe, I can't quite remember the disorder associated with that statistic)."

She continued - "The cell free DNA test will give you (rattles off high percentages) accuracy of predicting your baby will have Downs Syndrome, Trisomy 13, Trisomy 18, Trisomy 21, or any abnormal sex chromosomes.  Do you understand this test and what the results will mean?"  

Mmm-hmmm, I nod my head.  She continues "If you get a positive result for any of these abnormalities, you will then have the option to get the amniocentesis to confirm the results. " 

Me: "I won't be getting an amnio."

GC: "Ok, that's fine, but if you want to STOP THE PREGNANCY, you will be required to get one, as this blood test is only a screening, and not an accurate diagnosis.  When this test first came out, many women were STOPPING THEIR PREGNANCIES because they thought the results were an actual diagnosis."

Me, fighting back tears, and trying to decide how to get her to stop referring to the killing of my baby as "stopping the pregnancy" but ultimately being too emotional to say much: "I will never decide to do that", I manage to squeak out.

She then went on to ask me questions about my ethnicity, Phil's ethnicity, any babies born in our families with disorders, and then asks me if I have any other children.

"Yes, this is my seventh" I reply as I rub my belly.  

"Really?  You don't look like you have that many children!  You look so calm!"

I guess I should try to look more frazzled, I think, but say "Well, they teach me patience!"

She draws a timeline with 6 lines pointing down, and says "So start with the oldest and tell me about them."

"Tell you what?  Their names?  Their ages?  Their birth dates?"

"No", she smiles, "tell me boy or girl."

Oh, well that was vague.  "Boy, Boy, Boy, Girl (she lets out a big sigh of relief on that one), Boy, and Boy."

That ended our conversation and she walked me out to the receptionist to reschedule the NT scan and blood test until I'm actually 11 weeks pregnant.  But, she reassured me, "You won't have to meet with me again, you'll just come in for the ultrasound and lab work."  Phew, I thought, my pregnancy hormones couldn't handle this appointment again.

But the upside to:

1) Hearing about those scary statistics.

2) Feeling as if a baby's life worth is determined by their physical abilities.

3)  Being told I have to redo weeks ten and eleven of this pregnancy.

Is that I got to see this wee babe:

A person's a person, no matter how small, and this baby human being (not human doing) will certainly be loved and cherished by us all.