"Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary, and [she] conceived of Holy Spirit!"
Not the answer I was expecting when I asked Little Bear if he remembered what we were celebrating on the solemnity of the Annunciation! I'm glad he's been paying attention when we say the Angelus.
II
How was your Annunciation Day? We had a... I don't even remember. This pregnancy, I tell you. I think it was a good day overall? Lemon-blueberry sweet rolls for breakfast, a visit to the chiropractor, having time to stop at the thrift store and find a new jacket, making Swedish pancakes for supper... I was pretty worn out by the evening and wound up not making it to RCIA class that night, spending most of the evening flat on the couch, but it was still a good day. I've enjoyed explaining the recent solemnities in toddler-language (Me: "The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her she would be the Mother of God (insert the first part of the Hail Mary), and Mary said 'be it done unto me as you have said,' and then Jesus became a baby in Mary's tummy." Little Bear: "Just like the baby in Mama's tummy!"). What about Palm Sunday? There aren't prayers he hears every day directly related to the story; any suggestions for how I can help him understand it?
III
I found myself jacket-hunting on Wednesday after the zipper failed on the only jacket that still fit me... fortunately, the thrift store had a bunch of spring-weight jackets. I just picked up an extra large fleece jacket that'll continue to be able to zip over baby for the next month or so until it's warm enough that I won't need it. I suppose this could possibly change some day if I ever have a winter baby, but I don't believe in maternity coats. They want such a ridiculous amount of money for them, and there's no guarantee that they will even continue fitting as long as you need them to. My mom never had a maternity coat and she had several mid-winter babies, and I'll likely just continue wearing big bulky coats as well. It's not as fashionable as having a coat tailored for a pregnant belly, but there's really not much (sanely priced) overlap between "being fashionable" and "staying warm" in the winters here anyway.
IV
We planned to attend our parish's weekly meatless potluck and Stations of the Cross this evening for the first time this Lent. After spending the last few nights stuck on the couch, I'm not quite sure why I thought this was a good idea... it was probably more that I'm so sick of not being able to do anything, and I miss participating in parish activities outside of Mass. My youngest sister came over this afternoon to play with Little Bear, and while they definitely made exponentially bigger messes than he's ever made on his own, it was helpful having him happily entertained by someone other than me so that I could peel five pounds of potatoes and make a big pot of potato soup for the potluck. And she helped him clean up all of the messes! That was wonderful. We did make it to the potluck, but I wound up needing to go home and lay down instead of joining everyone else for Stations afterward.
V
Matt's good friend from work is a great photographer, and last Friday afternoon he came out to take some shots of Matt "in his natural environment": splitting logs. He got some wonderful photos (the above is my favorite), and Matt got another week or two's worth of wood split.
VI
Baby has decided that she likes ice cream. Now I'm all in favor of her getting over her ridiculous "I'm going to make you crave cookies, and then make you feel sick right after you finish them" thing against sugar, but it's sure inconvenient when I'm actually trying to be good! Last night I tried eating an apple to appease her, and the visions of ice cream did not go away. Same with tonight's extra bowl of soup. Why can't you want healthy food when I'm trying to be healthy, child? We finally compromised on whole grain cornbread (cornmeal, wheat, rye, flax, oats, spelt, wheat germ...) topped with stewed rhubarb. I'm thinking I'll try to convince her that yogurt is an acceptable alternative tomorrow.
VII
I've spent weeks trying to find an Easter dress--my one maternity dress, a solid black maxi, was so very dark and not-cheerful-looking for Easter--and I finally gave in and admitted that I'd have to buy one new instead of from a thrift store or consignment shop. I hate doing that; new clothes are so ridiculously expensive! But there really wasn't anything in town, and I do not have the physical or mental energy to sew a dress before Easter, and we were running out of time to get something shipped. So on Sunday night I ordered this dress in the "deep wisteria" color that sure looks blue on our computer. When it arrived, surprise! it was very, very purple. If it had occurred to me to Google the color name, it would have showed me swatch after swatch of purple, which means that there's a problem with their particular photo and not with my computer's color display... but it's not the end of the world. I do like the dress anyway, as does Matt. The interwoven style of the bodice is so pretty!
Have a good weekend! Don't forget to stop by This Ain't the Lyceum for more quick takes!
How was your Annunciation Day? We had a... I don't even remember. This pregnancy, I tell you. I think it was a good day overall? Lemon-blueberry sweet rolls for breakfast, a visit to the chiropractor, having time to stop at the thrift store and find a new jacket, making Swedish pancakes for supper... I was pretty worn out by the evening and wound up not making it to RCIA class that night, spending most of the evening flat on the couch, but it was still a good day. I've enjoyed explaining the recent solemnities in toddler-language (Me: "The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her she would be the Mother of God (insert the first part of the Hail Mary), and Mary said 'be it done unto me as you have said,' and then Jesus became a baby in Mary's tummy." Little Bear: "Just like the baby in Mama's tummy!"). What about Palm Sunday? There aren't prayers he hears every day directly related to the story; any suggestions for how I can help him understand it?
III
I found myself jacket-hunting on Wednesday after the zipper failed on the only jacket that still fit me... fortunately, the thrift store had a bunch of spring-weight jackets. I just picked up an extra large fleece jacket that'll continue to be able to zip over baby for the next month or so until it's warm enough that I won't need it. I suppose this could possibly change some day if I ever have a winter baby, but I don't believe in maternity coats. They want such a ridiculous amount of money for them, and there's no guarantee that they will even continue fitting as long as you need them to. My mom never had a maternity coat and she had several mid-winter babies, and I'll likely just continue wearing big bulky coats as well. It's not as fashionable as having a coat tailored for a pregnant belly, but there's really not much (sanely priced) overlap between "being fashionable" and "staying warm" in the winters here anyway.
IV
We planned to attend our parish's weekly meatless potluck and Stations of the Cross this evening for the first time this Lent. After spending the last few nights stuck on the couch, I'm not quite sure why I thought this was a good idea... it was probably more that I'm so sick of not being able to do anything, and I miss participating in parish activities outside of Mass. My youngest sister came over this afternoon to play with Little Bear, and while they definitely made exponentially bigger messes than he's ever made on his own, it was helpful having him happily entertained by someone other than me so that I could peel five pounds of potatoes and make a big pot of potato soup for the potluck. And she helped him clean up all of the messes! That was wonderful. We did make it to the potluck, but I wound up needing to go home and lay down instead of joining everyone else for Stations afterward.
V
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| Photo by Artem Zhdanov |
VI
Baby has decided that she likes ice cream. Now I'm all in favor of her getting over her ridiculous "I'm going to make you crave cookies, and then make you feel sick right after you finish them" thing against sugar, but it's sure inconvenient when I'm actually trying to be good! Last night I tried eating an apple to appease her, and the visions of ice cream did not go away. Same with tonight's extra bowl of soup. Why can't you want healthy food when I'm trying to be healthy, child? We finally compromised on whole grain cornbread (cornmeal, wheat, rye, flax, oats, spelt, wheat germ...) topped with stewed rhubarb. I'm thinking I'll try to convince her that yogurt is an acceptable alternative tomorrow.
VII
I've spent weeks trying to find an Easter dress--my one maternity dress, a solid black maxi, was so very dark and not-cheerful-looking for Easter--and I finally gave in and admitted that I'd have to buy one new instead of from a thrift store or consignment shop. I hate doing that; new clothes are so ridiculously expensive! But there really wasn't anything in town, and I do not have the physical or mental energy to sew a dress before Easter, and we were running out of time to get something shipped. So on Sunday night I ordered this dress in the "deep wisteria" color that sure looks blue on our computer. When it arrived, surprise! it was very, very purple. If it had occurred to me to Google the color name, it would have showed me swatch after swatch of purple, which means that there's a problem with their particular photo and not with my computer's color display... but it's not the end of the world. I do like the dress anyway, as does Matt. The interwoven style of the bodice is so pretty!
Have a good weekend! Don't forget to stop by This Ain't the Lyceum for more quick takes!
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