Lest I Forget

One of the first places we visited after arriving in Germany was Berg Nanstein. We revisited it this week on one of the first warm, sunny days. After realizing it has been almost precisely two years since that original visit, I decided to go back and look at the old pictures to see how much the kids had grown. After all, Peter is now the age that Therese was back then. So, here are some comparisons of then and now... Then Now     Then Now Then Now Then Now The rest of the pictures are from the other day at the castle. I am having fun trying to learn how to use the camera!

Tomorrow morning at seven o'clock, I will walk into the hospital to be induced. To say that I am nervous is an understatement. Your prayers are most welcome. I have never been induced before, and the only stories I have heard about induction include such phrases as "labor twice as painful" and "only to end up in a c-section". But the doctors have me fearful of a stillbirth given my age. Here I am a few days ago. Do I look ready? Tomorrow is the feast day of St. Maximillian Kolbe and I have been saying a novena to him for a safe delivery. I love how devoted he was to Mary Our Mother. I am praying that she will be with me tomorrow too.

As I wait for Olivia to return from DC after joining in the March for Life today, I thought I'd take a moment to write some thoughts down. First of all, I am so proud of my teenage daughters who fully embrace their faith and are as horrified at the idea of abortion as I am. It literally leaves a sick feeling in my stomach and an ache in my heart when I think about all those babies. Both of my older girls have attended the March for Life several times. One day, I hope to have the chance to be there too. Sophie did not go this year, but she had a good excuse. She is out of the country. A little over a week ago, we loaded up in the van and drove her to the airport to start the adventure of a lifetime. She will be studying in Austria this semester. It is still so odd to think about how far away she really is. I was grateful for the distraction of keeping up with three little ones in an international airport to keep me from completely losing it. It was still more than heart-rending to...

***I am sad to tell you that we had a terrible storm last night and the mama abandoned the nest. I checked on the babies and they have died.***6/11/11 Do you remember the robin that made it's nest in my shrubs? Oh, my heart broke for her the day I found the fragile blue egg on the ground, broken and lost. I cried for the lost baby bird, I cried for the mama that lost her baby. I cried for Gus, our baby that we lost at 16 weeks. Miscarriage was devastating for me. But two weeks ago, she returned. The mama came back to her nest and tried again. This time, there were not one, but two tiny eggs. We were both surprised, that bird and me. I would check on that empy nest every so often, just hoping that I would see this.... She flew right at me, for I had no idea I had intruded! She had been gone for so long, I figured that nest was abandoned for good. I suppose it is silly how much joy those little blue eggs brought me. I dared not write about it, though, until I knew that there would ...