My favorite NieNie...

If you haven't started reading NieNie then you really should get with it. It is worth staying up two days straight to read back through her blog. I did and it was worth it. She is wonderful and her spirit is beautiful. Here is one of my favorite posts. It made me crave lemon whipped cream.

Clark Griswold

Clark is on top of our roof. It is 8:26 PM and John is outside hanging Christmas lights. We've never hung lights before so this is kind of important. He can't see a thing and our roof is very, very steep. Really. He might fall a good 40 feet in some places. My mother was telling me a darling story of her childhood. She lived in Houston a good portion of her childhood and her parents put up 1 strand of Christmas lights outside. She KNEW everybody thought their home was beautiful. She thought people drove down their street just to see their lights. Of course, I wanted it all to flow with white lights, etc and our children just desperately wanted colored lights. They were all in bed when John finished, but I had to run in and get them up. We were all standing outside in bare feet and their faces were priceless. True joy!

Michael Phelps

Vianney has the same routine every time we put her for a nap or to bed. We lay her on her back. She fusses. We put her binki in and flip her over on her belly. She then scrunches her buns in the air and does the breast stroke for three swipes. Dominic loves to watch me do this. We were just putting her down and she was extra cute because she knew Dominic was watching so she did her stroke for longer. I heard him walk out of the room and say "Michael Phelps...(shaking his head and laughing).

How can I tell you?

When I found out we were expecting our second child, John was in optometry school in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. We found out on the feast of St. Maximillian Kolbe. I had wanted another baby the minute I layed eyes on Dominic. I was so overwhelmed with love that I couldn't wait to have another baby. I felt that it would be to good to be true to experience such wonderfulness again. So when I looked over and saw the double lines, I couldn't believe it. A whole new person! Who will the baby look like? Will the baby be a boy or a girl? We announced to John's class that night that we were expecting! Everyone was giddy! One guy came up to us and said, "Congrats, but you want like 17 kids so what's the big deal."
How can I tell you that I've never had this one. This one is special to me, to John, to God. This one has a soul, a brain, a purpose. Why do numbers matter? I could only hope to look into the eyes of my 17th child and tell him or her how wanted they were, how there are 16 other people at home yearning to hold you and love you. How you will be the child of my old age.
We found out last Thursday that we are expecting another baby. John told me that from now on he is telling people we have six children. We do. All life is sacred especially in the womb. I told my mother how I feel more giddy than ever. Every time I find out we are expecting, I always say to myself, "I can't believe we get another baby."
Our fertility is a gift. We vowed before we were married that we would never take it for granted. I cannot wait to meet this little one and kiss the neck. I love the neck.

And so it begins...

I have always wanted to blog, but didn't want the responsibility. I didn't want to have readers to impress on a daily basis. I am not a gifted writer, but I want to remember these years and still morn frequently the lost time since Dominic has been born that hasn't been recorded. When John and I were at the Newman Center, this song was our favorite. It reminds me of our gentle and loving God. The lyrics are beautiful and make me cry when I look into the faces of the gifts in our home. Here are the lyrics:

When My Heart Bleeds
Words and music by Eileen Weber

My child, I love you
I love you, I love you
My child, when My heart bleeds
Then your heart beats
You are mine

My God, I love You, I love You
I give my heart, my mind, my soul, my strength
My God, I cling to You, I sing to You
May my life be Yours in every way

I try so hard to please
And I don't know where to turn
And so I cry, O my God
I don't know what to do
I don't know where to go
Can You please help me?

My child, I'm here, I hear your cry
And you are right here in My heart
And when you cry, my heart is crying too
My heart bleeds just for you, rest in My mercy
©1996 Eileen Weber