Pumpkin Patch Adventure

Last weekend we all went to a pumpkin patch. We went on a hay ride and picked out some pumpkins for the season. Jude got his faced painted, and Faustina declined.

Tiny Dancer [Updated]

The Lee family is finding all sorts of things in the house - some bring back a flood of memories.

I can imagine Gail wearing this in the late 1980's on a big, puffy winter jacket, or maybe pinned on an enormous purse. Priceless.

I bet many didn't know this side of Cynthia!

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Wow. That was a LONG time ago. I think it is safe to say that is a side most people will never see of me! :)

The Mighty Mississippi

I love that we live a few blocks away from the River. It is easy to take for granted how much we use it to enjoy picnics, walks, bike rides, and seeing how the river reflects the grandeur of the different seasons. Last night we took our dinner down to Hidden Falls and then Dad showed Faustina how to skip stones. She needs a lot of practice.

Vocation gift

Our friend Rose recently discerned her vocation to religious life, having always dreamed of getting married and having kids. Her story is amazing. God clearly has chosen her and called her to serve Him in vows. She was named after Rose of Lima (read about the saint here), and entered into her budding order (not yet fully approved) on the Feast of St. Rose of Lima. Again, her story is just too amazing and powerful to not take note of here. We chose to give her a gorgeous hand-painted image of St. Rose of Lima that I purchased when in Peru this past spring. She should have this in the convent. Thanks be to God for His love and making Himself known to us through prayer and fidelity. He has been good to Rose by clearly revealing Himself and His plan to her, and now it is her turn to serve His Church.

DEO GRATIAS MAXIMAS!
Saint Rose of Lima, pray for us.

Jude works wonders

For some reason, the cameras do not often get a smile out of Uncle Travis....but Jude got one out of him!

Part II: birthing the placenta

So the birth of Jude was perfect; the birth of my placenta, however, was a bit more complicated. It did not want to come out. I was not having contractions and a few shots of Pitocin (birth/contraction inducer) did nothing to help.

The midwives decided it was best to go into the hospital. We called an ambulance because I was a bit 'messy' as you can imagine. It, actually, was quite comical. The ambulance arrived in a hurry and I simply walked outside to get in and they wondered "Where is the lady who gave birth?" I replied, "Here I am." They were a bit shocked because I was totally normal and perhaps even a bit annoyed at having to go to the hospital. Mike got in with me and we headed over to United. We chatted with the emergency guys along the way.




The three midwives and my Mom packed up Jude and headed over to the hospital in cars and met us there. It was turning into a mini adventure.

Well, the rest of the afternoon was quite busy. The doctors quickly determined that my placenta was not going to come out on its own - I would have to have it surgically removed. I am not going to lie, I had more pain when the docs were trying to get the placenta out than when I was in labor! The doctors had to manually remove it; no cutting etc. was done - thank God.

Surgery went fine and around 3pm I was done with everything and in recovery mode. We stayed at the hospital for the next 2 days since I had lost a significant amount of blood in the process. We are thankful that the Lord was watching over us as there was some danger involved, albeit somewhat routine.

I must say, I would not change anything at all about the entire experience... except the placenta problem, of course. I am bummed that I won't be able to have another homebirth. There is a 90% chance that the placenta would not naturally extract from the uteran wall again, so to be safe we will have all the rest of our babies in the hospital. At the same time, the Lord was SO present in everything and for that I am grateful. There certainly were moments that were more scary (I lost a bit of blood), but in those times there was a special grace present. Even going to the hospital, I was able to be lighthearted, have patience with doc/nurses, and I was able to trust in God's providence the whole time. Thank you Lord for a healthy baby and your protection over the entire experience!

A quick 15 months

August is practically here and mentally I feel the need to be prepared for baby number two's arrival. I am excited and have been thinking a lot about what life will soon look like. Actually, I feel like baby number two is already 'here' in a sense because my body is very heavy with him/her and my every action is affected.

Faustina and the new baby will be very close in age - only 15 months apart. We were at a couple's house for dinner last week and they also had their first two children very close in age. They made the comment that we won't even remember life with only Faustina around. It has been such a short time with only Faustina and as time goes on the two kids will just always be together and share so many memories and experiences. In one sense I can completely understand that line of thinking; Faustina was only 6 months old when I found out we were blessed with baby #2.

But then again, it has been so much fun and so special to be able to care for Faustina for the past 15 months that I think I will always remember this past year uniquely. It is SO fun to be a parent for the first time. Everything is new and exciting. We are young and admittedly naive in many regards. The more kids a couple has, obviously more responsibility and time is required; with the first child there is still an element of independence and freedom. There are 2 people to take care of 1 child.

As I reflect on this last year, a LOT has happened! My 'year' always revolves around a school year. My father was a teacher, I have been in school myself for most my life as either a student or a teacher myself, and of course Mike is a teacher. Well, the next school year is starting here pretty soon and this new school year includes a new baby!

Here are a few of the things that have happened in our life this past year with Faustina:

- Faustina was born and I was a stay at home mother (and I absolutely love love love it!)

- I cared for little Isaac and then 2 more little ones as the year went on, Ella and Aidrich

- Mike learned a great deal from his Catholic studies courses at St. Thomas. Many nights he would come home from class (especially in the fall)and reiterate his fascinating classes to me and I learned a lot too! Of course, working at Trinity always stimulates the mind and involves intriguing conversations about education as well.

- This was the first year neither Mike or myself have been involved in either coaching or playing soccer!

- During February we learned that Grandma Lee's cancer was back. This has launched my parents and, in turn, me into a new world of learning about food and health. The Lord is good and he is at work in my mother's life.

- Mike went to Peru for 2 weeks

- Mike moved on from Trinity and he has a new position at St. Agnes

- We took a terrific 10 day trip to Michigan to visit Mike's family and were able to camp with Faustina for the first time

- And then there are all the memories of seeing Faustina grow into the lovely little girl she is. These moments are captured in pictures, but perhaps more vivid in Mike and my minds!

Mike and I were asked to be on a 'panel' at an engagement retreat this past weekend. And it was fun to reflect on where we were three years ago as we prepared for marriage and then to think of where we are now. Marriage is so wonderful - I love it! And having kids is....well, it is hard to capture in words and is really just something one has to experience because it is such an incredible blessing from the Lord!

What I love

Especially on a clean table.

Great Granny

Sweet Sixteen

It is hard to believe that Kim turned 16 on Thursday. But alas, she has finished her freshmen year of highschool, has her driving permit, and most everything about her says 'I am a teenager' - in a good way, of course! ;)

Last night Annamarie and I took her to the cosmetic store Bare Escentuals at the Mall of America. This stuff is the cream of the crop when it comes to make-up. Krissa, Annamarie's sister, accompanied us to guide Kim through a make-over (since Annamarie and I are definitely not experts in that arena). Revelations were had as the make-up artists, who were pretty funny, told us their own stories about make-up and how we can help our skin. Kim got done up and we purchased some items for her to take home. The second picture shows Kim holding up her right hand swearing she will never use Neutrogenia facial wash/lotion again since the professionals informed us that it is basically like putting clorox on your face....well, not quite, but close.

Afterward we went to Cold Stone Creamery to indulge our sweet tooth and enjoyed each others' company. It was a fun evening and we all agreed we would have to do it again. Happy Birthday Kim!

Lots of Lettuce [UPDATED]

Mike took several pictures of my meal this evening because he simply cannot believe how enormous I make my salads. He made sure to put a glass next to the plate for relativity purposes. ;) What can I say. I really, really enjoy salads. I go to Sam's Club and get one big bin of organic mixed springs and one of the organic spinach; they last me about 1 week or so. Mike's eyes almost pop out of his head when he looks at how big they are. He says it would take him hours and hours simply to chew up all the lettuce that I devour in about 15 minutes. You have nothing to lose because you can put whatever you like in them and it tastes fantastic. This particular salad has red peppers, onion, walnuts, crasins, apple, cheese, tomatoe, and tuna. And, probably the best of all - they are healthy! Really a win-win situation.

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I would just like to say that overeating is NOT healthy! Kidding. It is a lot of lettuce though!
-Mike

picture of the day

A little one scatters flower petals before a procession of the Holy Eucharist- priceless.

Tweety Bird?!

Does Faustina look like the cartoon character... maybe a little bit!

Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum... Giant Faustina!

Cousins!

Here's Faustina on Christmas day with her new, little cousin, Audrey!

Christmas Eve Morning

New Traditions began with Faustina's first Christmas. We decorated the tree on Wednesday morning, ate the absolute BEST polish sausage from Michigan that Mike's relatives sent us and we luckily received on the 24th, Faustina opened a couple of her presents and we spent the morning enjoying each other.

Merry Christmas!

Grandma All Loaded Up

A few nights ago I all of sudden became violently ill. Grandma and Grandpa came to the rescue and not only did Grandma come over to help for awhile, but she took Faustina HOME with her for the evening which was a lifesaver!

Well, at one point Grandma was going to change Faustina's diaper. I told her they were downstairs drying. For a moment I contemplated vocalizing that she only needed to bring one diaper up (there were about 18 down there), but I figured that was probably obvious. Also, Grandma loves the little babies so much that she often is holding them no matter what she is doing. Well, moments after Grandma went downstairs to get the diaper, I hear her laughing uncontrollably coming up the stairs. She comes around the corner and here Grandma has all the diapers piled on her arms and Faustina hanging on for dear life! It was very amusing. Faustina was not fazed in the least, but she did have a look on her face like, "What are you doing Grandma??".

This situation may give Mike a little bit of insight as to why I do things the way I do sometimes - We Lees can tend to be women of extremes!

Nature walk

We took a drive down to Red Wing recently, and there we went on a hike. As you can see from the pics, Faustina loved staring at the trees. She couldn't keep her eyes of them! Maybe we have a 'green' baby!

No, my hair is not thinning!

chowin' down

Faustina has discovered putting things in her mouth. She incessantly chows on anything, and has discovered that her arms are attached to her body! I wonder if she'll start teething early... hope not!