Evangeline's Baptism

 Sleeping through being changed into her gown.

 Big brother love.

The Exsufflation

We were very blessed to have a Traditional Baptism, after the Latin Mass.

The Imposition of Hands

 Evie's godparents came from Ohio, and we were also joined by Zach's friend Brendt.

The Imposition of Salt

Evie slept through the whole thing, amazingly!

Evangeline Grace Marie, I baptize you in the name of the Father + and of the Son + and of the Holy + Spirit.

The Annointing with Chrism

The White Garment

The Lighted Candle

Our family

With the godparents

Our little saint

Evangeline's Birth Story

I love reading birth stories, but always feel like mine will be lame. Lame or not, I am going to share Evie's birth story. Read ahead at your own risk - not necessarily for the weak of heart, er, stomach. 

I can't remember exactly how things started - I think I woke up with a really awful, different kind of contraction. Then I had to go to the bathroom. That was at 8 on Monday morning. Once I got back in bed I had another contraction. Something told me I needed to get Zach up, so I whispered, "I need your help...I think I'm in labor." When he asked me why I told him I had had two contractions from hell, and wanted to shower so that I could get in the birth pool. (That is a major indication of where I was at - before I was really uncomfortable, but didn't NEED to get in the pool. It was not optional this time.)

I woke my Mom up when I got out of the shower and promptly went to the porch and got in the pool. The water definitely helped, but there were a couple of times when I thought, "Boy, I could go for an epidural right about now!" Internally I was laughing at myself for that and thought of the one mom in What To Expect When You're Expecting who after planning on a natural birth, starts yelling at her husband to "get the juice!" I knew I had to be near the end to be having such crazy thoughts.

Around 8:50 Zach called Deb to give her a heads up that I had gotten in the pool, but my contractions were between 5-10 minutes apart, so not a huge rush.

In the next hour Zach and Mom were in and out, setting things up, praying with me through contractions. The Hail Mary's and music on my birth playlist were so helpful for keeping me motivated. The Piano Guys instrumental version of "A Thousand Years" and Josh Groban's "Falling Slowly" were two that really resonated with me.

Deb got here a couple of minutes before 10, and my first contraction after that, I felt the urge to push. I told her and she said we would see what the next one was like. The next contraction was really mild, so Zach ran inside to set the couch up for me to use when we were done outside, and my Mom went to put the fan in the kitchen window because the sausage had made it smoky. No sooner were they gone than another contraction started and I knew it was time for the baby to come out. I am a really quiet birther - quiet as in silent, but I couldn't help letting out low pushing sounds. Mom heard through the open window and dashed out. I don't know if she made it before Evie crowned, but her head was already out when Zach got back onto the porch. It felt like one long push and she was out. Mom said it was probably 3 pushing contractions, but I never stopped pushing. It seemed like an eternity, but in reality maybe a minute? The cord was around her neck, and her chest was wider than her head so Deb helped wiggle it out, but she made it out smoothly.

I knew she was a girl without being told. Deb was suctioning her behind me and without thinking I asked if she was okay. A second later she was in my arms. My sweet, vernix covered little girl. Tony came out and met his little sister. His face was so precious.

At one point he reached out and put his hand on my shoulder. 

We stayed in the pool until the cord stopped pulsing and we clamped it. Then we took up residence on the sofa for the rest of the afternoon. 

A few of the blessings I am counting: Minimal blood loss. Deb said I lost less blood than anyone she's ever seen. No tearing. I was praying to get away without a tear this time, and it has been awesome. That my Mom was here. We kept joking that I would end up having the baby one of the times she wasn't here, but God had other plans, and I'm really glad. My milk has come in already. It came in quickly with Tony, but you never know. Evie has nursing figured out, too, which is fantastic.

Evie has been such a good baby so far. She is a great snuggler. Tony is still in love with her. He runs into my room when he hears her crying, "Baby EBIE!" It makes me so happy!

The birthday buddies. We wondered if she would end up sharing a birthday with someone in the family, and she decided to join Cora on her first birthday. Sweet girls.

Love,

Jess

The Story of the Broken Belt

You know those crazy ideas you hear, and you think, there's no way that actually works? 

Sometimes they do.

See that? That's a shoelace doing the work of a serpentine belt. 

Our serpentine belt broke two Fridays ago and the battery died while Zach was on the interstate. We were blessed to have free towing through my in-laws AAA, which took the van to a gas station, and a friend from school who generously gave up many hours of his night to go with Zach and try to figure out what was wrong. A quick look under the hood and he saw the broken belt, along with a fried battery. 

There isn't anywhere to get a serpentine belt at midnight, so he suggested using a shoelace. Said he saw it in a movie (I asked Zach what movie, MacGyver?). You can only imagine the amount confidence that inspired in Zach, but a pack of shoelaces costs less than $2. They picked up the shoelaces and a new battery at Wal-Mart, and headed back to the van.

With a new battery and shoelace, the van started up, and drove 20 miles back to our house. Zach said he could feel the alternator slipping a little because the shoelace loosened up while driving, but it made it.

Once they got it home, they took the battery back to Wal-Mart, and made a successful return. Zach is still laughing about that. He bought a better quality battery from AutoZone the next day, and they got it put in, along with the new belt on Sunday.

It never ceases to amaze me how people will come together to help you out. My in-laws helped us, my Dad was on the phone with Zach trying to help him troubleshoot, Ryan gave up his night, Brendt picked up my sister-in-law and took her to the hotel because I didn't have a car. It restores a little bit of one's faith in humanity. And is a reminder that you need a community. We don't have an ideal community (which to me would be a faith-based community), but I am grateful for what we do have. (On the flip side, I also have to remind myself that Catholic communities are not necessarily the most edifying, either. They hold their own host of problems. Right now I cling to my long-distance Catholic community, and remember that there is a reason for everything, even being alone as an example to many people who don't know what being Catholic means. We are forced to go outside of our bubble and share our Faith through the way we live. I pray we don't do a disservice to the Church.)

Love,
Jess

Finding God in the Small Things...

You know when you're praying for something, and it doesn't seem like it's going to work out? But then, through a series of small miracles, everything comes together and you can't believe it?

Buying a minivan has been on my mind for a while. With another baby coming, and three years left without an income, and the prospect of leaving New York with three children (maybe four on the way), I've been praying about how we could do it. Ideally, we wanted to sell Zach's car, and be able to pay cash for a van. Our financial situation wouldn't change, but we would have something that should last us for a while. 

A few weeks ago I came across a van at a dealership in Virginia. It looked like it was in good condition, and the price was reasonable, and I was left with hope that if we could sell Zach's car, we shouldn't have too much trouble finding a good van.

A couple of weeks after I saw the ad online, I told my Mom about it. She told me to ask Dad to run over and check it out, since it was close to his office. I think he ran over there on a Thursday. On Saturday morning I loaded Tony up in Zach's car and headed south to hopefully make an even trade for the van.

One thing I was concerned about was the key for Zach's car. It was broken (it was the electronic key with the buttons on the top of the key shaft). Buying a brand new key would cost $80. Yikes. However, I couldn't take it to the dealership with a key that wouldn't hold together (and if we ended up keeping the car, Zach had to have a new key). I called a Honda dealership off of 81, to see how long it would take to get a new key. 15-20 minutes. So I stopped. It ended up being close to an hour, because the parts department was ridiculously busy. I couldn't complain in the end, though, because I paid $12 for a new key shaft and plastic casing! The electronic chip was still functioning and that's what makes the keys so expensive. I felt God smiling on me right then, because I knew we couldn't afford to put out a lot of money to get the van. 

Initially the dealer wasn't going to do an even trade. Zach's car had some scratches, and dents from his bike rack that were pretty bad. I couldn't really blame him, except that the van is 5 years older than Zach's car, and has a little more mileage. My Dad told him that I just didn't have the money to make up the difference that he wanted, and thanked him for his time. Before we left, he came back asking for a little more than the processing fee (which I was prepared to pay), and with generosity from some special people, I am now driving a minivan.

The generosity was overwhelming. I'm still crying about it. The world is such a sad, miserable place, and it's easy to forget that there are kind people out there. People who will help you, out of the goodness of their hearts. I cry almost every time I go to the Farmer's Market and the owner of the farm we buy our meat from gives me 10lbs of meat and 5 dozen eggs for the price of the eggs.

I try to hold all of the kindnesses done to us in my heart, so that when I have an opportunity to pass it on to someone else, I do. Life is too short not to give, and I never want to forget that.

Time to stop writing things that are making me cry.

I love the van. It is really comfortable, and I'm not dreading packing what will soon be four of us (and the dog) into my car to go on long rides. I like knowing that if I find a great deal on a dresser at Salvation Army, I can actually bring it home. Sometimes I felt silly for wanting a minivan with only two children, but I got over it. Aside from not having the financial flexibility to wait until we absolutely needed one, I'm just happy to have space for people or things. One of Zach's friends took us to dinner a couple of weeks ago, and he and his girlfriend were smooshed in the back with Tony's huge carseat. Forget anyone going with you when you have two carseats in the back of a 2006 Corolla (which feel rather more compact than the newer ones).

Now I thank God for His never-failing goodness. And St. Joseph. I was especially thankful to him, since all of this happened the weekend before his feast day.

Have a blessed Holy Week!
 Love,
Jess