Ohio House passes Pro-life Heartbeat Bill

Good news! The Ohio House passed the most conservative pro-life bill ever.

Here are the three measures that passed:
- H. B. No. 78: Prohibits abortions after the 20th week if a physician determines the fetus would be able to survive outside the womb.

- H. B. No. 79: Prevents certain health insurers from covering abortions.

- H.B. 125: The most strict of the lot, it prohibits abortions after the first detectable fetal heartbeat, or in an estimated 95 percent of cases.

This would save 26,000 lives a year! Wow. It still needs to pass the Senate, and of course there is always the possibility it could end up in the Supreme Court. But it certainly is encouraging news and we're moving in the right direction!

I'll try to hook up the link that I saw it on, making links isn't working for me right now...

A terrific Tuesday

Today we were spoiled as we spent most the day with our dear friend, Lizzia. We started the morning by bringing 4 beautiful roses out to Resurrection. Lizzia always picks out the most beautiful flowers. The kids helped cut and arranged them in the vases. It was an absolutely perfect perfect morning out - it is so peaceful at Resurrection, I love it.
We then went over to Choo-choo-Bob's and soon after to get some Izzy's Ice Cream next door. Seeing Jude eat his ice cream cone was about the funniest thing I've witnessed in a long time. He held onto it for dear life with both his hands as ice cream dripped down his chin onto his shirt and he kept yelling 'truck!', 'car!', 'airplane!'. We then headed over to the park for an hour and ended up at Cecil's. Can't ask for much better of a day! Everyone (which is unusual!) had a long nap and then woke up and was ready to play again seeing that Dad picked up a kiddie pool at Menards for the kids. We had dinner outside and the kids entertained us. It sounds like it is suppose to be hot toward the end of the week - we'll be using the pool again it sounds like.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

The Message of the Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help

The child Jesus has just seen the angels who have shown him the instruments of his passion. St. Michael the Archangel holds the lance and gall-sop. St. Gabriel the Archangel holds the Cross and the nails. Frightened by the sight, Jesus has run to his mother’s arms so quickly that he almost lost one of His tiny sandals. It dangles from his foot. Mary holds Him lovingly but her eyes look at us - pleading with us to avoid sin and love Her Son.

His hands are in hers to show that, as a child, Jesus placed Himself in Mary’s hands for protection and to remind us that He now has placed into Her hands all graces, to be given to those who turn to His mother and ask.

The star on Mary’s veil shows her to be the one who brought the light of Christ to the darkened world - the beacon that leads the way to Heaven.

The falling sandal symbolizes a soul clinging to Christ by one last thread--devotion to Mary.

The golden background is symbolic of Heaven and shines to show the heavenly joy Jesus and His mother can bring to tired human hearts.
- from the blog www.catholicfire.blogspot.com

I am so thankful that today is a special day to honor Mary. Some days I just need a bit of extra grace - it happened to be one of those nights and here she is, as always.

Our 'funny eye face' boy

Jude is so funny. I don't know what else to say. You really just need to know this little boy. I'm posting so many pictures because they capture his personality better than my words can.
Several weeks ago he started doing this goofy goofy face. He looks up out of the corner of his eyes and gets in a funny pose with his body and just freezes for about 5-10 seconds - usually while people are laughing and asking "What is he doing?".
We could not figure out for the longest time why he was doing this crazy face and where in the world he got it from. Then one day I looked over at our book shelf and saw our book of Grandma Lee with this picture on the cover.

That's where he got it! Grandma is still having an influence on him.

Successful half marathon

This past weekend we headed up to Duluth in order for Mike to run the Grandma's half marathon early on Saturday morning (6am!). It turned out to be a fun time - we were fortunate to be able to stay at Grand Superior Lodges which our S-I-L's parents own. It is a big place with a spectacular view of Lake Superior about 50 feet from the window.

I am so proud of my dear husband who ran the half marathon in 2 hours and 20 minutes. His goal?! To finish in any sort of decent time and keep up with the buddy he ran it with! And he did! This is especially impressive since Mike was only able to do minimal training with such a busy spring and weather outside that was less than inspiring to run in.
We both ran the full Grandma's marathon in 2007, but Mike forgot his running shoes! Since he wasn't able to finish that run because his feet were about to fall off in the new shoes he bought, it was even more fun to see him enjoy completing this race.
Unfortunately we weren't able to be at the finish line to cheer him on since late Friday night I got pretty sick and was fairly miserable; I stayed back with the kids in the morning which may have worked out for the best since Mike left at 4am (!). The rest of the weekend I was fine and we relaxed by watching movies, eating good home cooked meals and enjoying the jacuzzi. Can't ask for much more! I don't think I have ever seen Faustina so excited as when we arrived at the lodge. She was bouncing off the walls and exclaimed, "I want to stay here for FIVE minutes!....or maybe forever!" She doesn't have a great grasp of different times yet, so she covered it all, I guess.

Unplanting the planted

See that pile of dirt by Jude's knee? That was one of our geraniums.


As I'm washing dishes looking out the back watching Jude play, I hear myself start to yell (quietly since the others are sleeping) "Jude...! Noooo!" It was too late to save the flower by the time I got out there. As I tried to ask for it back, he did the typical "No this is mine!" gesture and grunted as he held it away from me (the second pic).
I guess boys will be boys....but our plants may not be plants, this summer anyway.

We have a heartbeat!

That's right, we have baby Adkins #3 on the way and on Friday I was able to hear the little heartbeat which was quite exciting. December will be extra special this year with this little one due on Christmas day.

How do I feel? I, actually, feel wonderful - surprisingly. At the beginning, I was a bit worried about how life was going to treat me with baby on the way if I felt like I did with the other two kids (especially Faustina!). But, as it turns out, I hardly know I am pregnant and I feel great.

This spring I was beginning to wonder about a few things with my health after having had a few complications with Jude's birth (having had a DNC and going into the hospital since the placenta didn't deliver). So on the feast of St. Joseph (March 18th) I started a novena (a 9 day prayer) to Mary to figure a few things out. Well, my prayers were clearly answered as I found out I was expecting on Easter! It was a special blessing since the Lord had a lot in store for me this Lenten season. For me, it truly was a joyful Easter and I understood Lent, Holy Week, and Easter on a new level.

It is exciting to think what God has planned for this little one. It is no coincidence we found out about this little one on Easter and the baby is due on Christmas. It is neat to think that I can reflect on how Mary was carrying Jesus during these months leading up to Christmas. Faustina and Jude both had their own unique and special stories that the Lord was very much in charge of. Faustina came right away for us when we were ready for kids and she had perfect timing at the end of the school year. Spending the day with my Mom being in labor with her and the birth was one of the best experiences of my life. (Really! I know, most people think I am crazy when I say that.) We knew beyond any doubt Jude was a boy and he came just 3 weeks before Grandma died - and she was able to be at my homebirth with me! I know she did that for me even though she wasn't feeling great at that point. Jude brings us so much joy, what would we do without him? It will be fun to see the Lord's plan unfold for this little one.

Sunday morning hang out time