coming out of my shell

I've been contemplating what I want to do with my blog.  It has been hanging out here with very little attention from me.  I haven't had a reason to blog, and I've had a million reasons to blog all at the same time.  I don't feel I have anything momentous to write about, but I have a million little ramblings in my head.  I can't put the ramblings together enough for a single post, so I never post ANYTHING.

So I am ready to give up.  I am ready to give up on trying to post anything hugely important and just start with getting some of my ramblings out of my head.  I worried for a long time that no one would care.  What if people read my thoughts and thought I was lame or stupid.  Now I'm showing my insecurities.  But I've finally come to the place where I'm OK with it.  Now, I may write something and retreat back into my proverbial shell for a while, but that's OK.  It's more than I was doing before.

So ramble on, I tell myself.  It's a good time to start, too.  For so many reasons.

Peter Francis

We welcomed Peter Francis into our family on July 1, 2011!  He weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces and was 20.5 inches long.  He is 9 weeks old tomorrow, and he has chunked up quite a bit since this picture was taken.  I can't wait to see how much he has gained at his next check-up.  

Peter is the sweetest baby.  He is already sleeping through the night (and has been for several weeks!), and he never complains unless he's hungry or tired.  And he usually doesn't even cry when he's tired - he just falls asleep silently.  I can't imagine having a better baby!

I miss my blogs.  Peter is our fourth boy, and I just don't know where people find the time to read or write blogs.  Maybe my time management skills could be tuned up.  I went back to work full-time six weeks after Peter was born, my husband gained employment after being unemployed for 14 months, we sold our house and moved into another house, and one of our cars died a horrible death.  It's too bad life doesn't stop for a while when these little miracles are born so we can soak up all that is marvelous about them.

kristy

Clarification on the Israel vs. Palestinian situation

I enjoy keeping up with world news.  However, I don't keep up with it enough to fully understand the background of what the media is talking about.  I saw the video last week of President Obama meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  I didn't understand what the debate was specifically about.  They disagree about borders, but why?  One thing that I could understand was the tension in the room.  Can you say awwwwkward...


I ran across an article today in the Washington Post by Charles Krauthammer that made me feel very much more informed about the situation.  I know I can't be the only one feeling like I'm in some bubble while the rest of the world debates, and since a little information goes a long way, I wanted to post this everywhere I could. 


Happy reading!  And happy understanding!


kristy

peace amid the storm

Amid the storms that invaded my life over the last year, I have learned something that has made all of the trials worth it.  I am not sure if I would choose to go through it again, because growing hurts.  But the peace I feel on this side of my trials is amazing, and I never would have had that if I hadn't gone through what I've endured.  The peace is indescribable, really.   The peace is with me every minute of my day.  When I doubt and start falling into despair, peace and love pick me up and embrace me and bring me back to the light again.

I am obviously a big fan of Lifehouse's music.  Please excuse the commercials.  Kinda tacky, but I guess they have to make money like the rest of us...

Chesterton and me

I am loving Chesterton quotes!  G. K. Chesterton seems like a no nonsense guy, but that's just my first impression of him.  I love the way he plainly states the obvious.  


I have started reading my first Chesterton book on my Kindle.  It's called Orthodoxy.  Why Orthodoxy?  Because it was free on Amazon at Christmastime when I got my Kindle!  I wasn't sure where to start with Chesterton, and starting with a free book sounded right up my isle.  


I have to admit I have a newfound love of reading.  Unfortunately I did not enjoy reading growing up.  So I am not sure if that explains the difficulty I am having with Orthodoxy.  I love the book, and I love reading Chesterton.  But this first Chesterton book of mine seems to be a bit...rambling.  I am in the middle of the book and it seems like it is just starting to make sense and get good.  I can only read through about ten pages at a time, and I go back and re-read passages to help them sink in.


I ran across a wonderful quote from Chesterton today (not from the book I am reading, but from Fallible Blogma): “The difficulty of explaining ‘why I am a Catholic’ is that there are ten thousand reasons all amounting to one reason: that Catholicism is true.” – G. K. Chesterton


Yep, love it!  It sums up why my mouth is left hanging open and speechless when I get the question, "Why the Catholic Church?"  


peace be with you today!


kristy

Baby boy #4 brewing in the oven!

The cat is out of the bag.  I'm 21 weeks pregnant!  I still can't believe it.  I have a VERY funny story on the sequence of events that concluded in this baby's conception.  I'll have to post more about it one day.  It goes something like this: I finally surrender to God's will concerning contraception and then find out that God has a hilarious sense of humor.  I am still laughing!

I found out that my fourth baby is another BOY!  Another stinky boy.  I'm just kidding.  I love having boys, and I didn't care one way or the other what this one would be.  A girl would have been exciting merely because it would have been different from what we are used to.  But a boy would be a relief, because we already have so many boy things, and I could get by with pairing the baby up in a room with one of the other boys.  And on Wednesday the ultrasound confirmed that baby boy #4 is in the making.  (As a side note - everything else looked great, too, which was my biggest relief.)  Now comes the fun of choosing a name....

I am really starting to believe that God must have some marvelous sense of humor.