Hail Holy Queen

I have always been a Royal Watcher. Loved me some Princess Diana. Love the fashions, the drama, the fairy tales, etc. Was glued to the TV for her funeral. Loved watching her boys grow up. And yes, I will be watching THE WEDDING.

But this past Sunday when our Priest gave us the assignment of reciting Hail Holy Queen each night this week to pay respects to our Queen, he was not referring to Queen Elizabeth or the future Queen Kate..or Katherine...or whatever her title will be.

I thought it was a really interesting that the Homily this week was focused on a different set of Royals than the major media outlets. The focus was to worship our Lord and our Queen Mary, not people or things. People and things come and go. Faith is eternal and reaches beyond this life. Worship our Lord. Plain and simple.

We are empowered by His love each and every day. So I invite you, faithful blog readers few or many, to join in this weeks assignment. Instead of worshiping electronics, gossip magazines, websites, Facebook (although I know that is how most of you found this blog!), Hollywood stars, clothes, cars, and any other things or people, worship the Lord by saying a short prayer.

Hail, Holy Queen:

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us. And after this our exile, show unto us the blessed Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary. Pray for us, o Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.

The ol' mean mug

Justin's special weekend alone with his parents is coming to an end. And he has gone out with a bang. Leo has spent all weekend with my parents for his special individual time with them which has left me and Justin to spend some great quality time together during the days and time with Jeremy the last two evenings. For the most part it has been a blast!

Not so much this morning. Justin was great for about the first 10 minutes of church. It was all downhill after the second reading. I was trying hard to pay attention to the Gospel and Homily but apparently that is not ok with Justin. He has been getting his fair share of attention this weekend and Heaven forbid that I try and pay attention to anyone else. So after several pouty looks and sassy gestures, I took him out to the back lobby for a quick "discussion" and reminder that behavior such as this might just result in the loss of time with his brand new build-a-bear. And this brought on the tears and a VERY grouchy "I'M SORRY." I'm pretty sure he wasn't.

So as we make it back to our pew, he puts on a HUGE show of pouting. Arms crossed. Trying to look up at me from his scowl to make sure I am noticing how horribly upset he is about being scolded at church. Lots of heavy sighing for effect. HUMFFFF.

And then it was time for his (usual) favorite part of mass: taking money up to the collection basket. I asked him if he wanted to take his dollar up and he barely nods his head yes. I gave him a dollar and directed him to the aisle....where he proceeded to shuffle slowly towards the front (we were about 12 aisles back) with his head hanging as low as possible without actually bending over. It was pathetic! Kids were making it up to the basket and back past him in the time it took him to slowly shuffle to the front. Oh, woe is Justin!!!

And I....well, I got the giggles about it. Yup, the kind where I can't keep it in and the more I watch him pout his way up to the collection basket the harder I laughed. It's not as if he could see me laughing even on his way back, because his eyes never came off the floor except for once when a child ran into him. But even then he just put his sad little chin back on his chest, heaved a deep sigh, and kept on shuffling his way back to me.

So when he got back to our pew, he climbed onto my lap and pretty much stayed there for the next 15 or so minutes. When I stood, he had to be held. When I kneeled, he had to be held. This poor, poor, sad little 3 year old.

And then he went from sad little pouty boy to an angry child. Enter: the ol' mean mug. This kid has a look that could kill. He can furrow his eyebrows, purse his lips, tilt his chin down just so, clench his fists, and then look up with an icy stare. I actually stared him down for a few moments, but felt that maybe, just maybe, that wasn't appropriate in church.

He maintained this look for the remainder of church. Thankfully he was never outwardly hateful or loud. Just consistently mean mugging me at every opportunity. I'm sure the folks behind us were getting quite a show. I'm proud to say that I never once lost my cool with him...probably because I was spending all of my mental energy silently writing this blog in my head :)

The only bright spot came right at the end of church when he asked quietly through clenched teeth to stay and hear the rest of the closing song. Now THAT actually brought a little tear to my eye. Through all of his frustration and anger, he wanted to stay and hear the music through to the end. NICE recovery, son!

I hope that Leo had a better morning in church...

Dance Party Nov 2010

Mama's Boy

What is a mama's boy? Wikipedia says it is a term for a man who is excessively attached to his mother at an age when men are expected to be independent

The definition goes on to say that in recent years, some have begun using the term in a milder sense, merely meaning a man who is emotionally attached to his mother. Though this sense of the phrase is still uncommon compared to the original pejorative intent, mothers in particular may state their pride in their "mama's boy" sons. It is also occasionally used to describe an infant or toddler son who is unusually attached to his mother...In this sense, the 'mama's boy' designation carries little stigma, but is simply an observation of the young child's primary attachment.

Well, my friends, I gots me a mama's boy. And just in case there is any confusion, I am talking about Leo :). He looooooves his mama. And I looooooove him right back. I wouldn't say that I identify him as a mama's boy with pride as Wikipedia describes above. I don't TRY to make him dependent on me. And it is certainly my intention to help him move along the attachment spectrum at an age-appropriate rate (GEEZ that was a little too social-workery even for me!). But I am woman enough to admit that he can melt my heart in an instant. Like his greeting for me every afternoon when I pick him up from daycare. He squeezes my neck so tight and pats his little hands on my back. Yup...melting....

He suckered me in last night. After a full day at my mom's house the boys fell asleep on the way home. I could just kick myself for not packing their pajamas which meant that I had to wake them up to potty and do a quick change-a-roo before shuffling them off to bed. He is normally very good about his bedtime routine and I don't hear a peep out of him once I close the door, but last night wasn't routine and...YIKES. So I laid down in bed with him for a few minutes and every time he would doze off a little bit and I would start to inch away he would reach out one arm, loop it around my neck, and literally pull me back into him. He wanted me squished up against him. Cheek to cheek. And honestly, there was no other place I would rather be!

I'm not sure if it is because he is my baby or if it's because Justin is already showing more independence than I am ready for, but lately I am spending more and more time basking in the love of little Leo. For I know that all too soon he will ask me not to walk him into school or be embarrassed by me (WHAT? MOI???) in his teenage years.

But today, I'm the mama of a mama's boy.

And I like it.

Maybe it's time for another....

snuggle

Oh, I have missed blogging. I actually have 2 or 3 that I started and never finished just because I couldn't quite put my thoughts into words. They will come in time.

This morning, or nearly afternoon by now, I just want to take a minute to reflect on the 30 minutes that I had this morning with Leo snuggled on my lap. I am always extra conscious of the time that the boys will spend snuggled up on my lap because that has always been such a big deal to my mom. We are a family with a great appreciation for rockers and recliners! And my mom has instilled in each of us the love of rocking our babies on our laps. And not just babies. If we would let her I think my mom would still rock me and my sisters on her lap anytime we needed it. Come to think of it, there is a lot less of that now that there are 5 grandchildren to fill that roll. :) I understand now why she would still want to pull us onto her lap for a quick snuggle even into our teenage years and beyond.

I love nothing more than to get one (or both) of the boys tucked up under my arm to rock. Even if just for 2 minutes. But this morning for some reason Leo let me rock him for a solid 30 minutes. And I soaked it up! He had been very busy and active all morning. He spent a good deal of time freaking out that I still have him on strike from Scooby Doo movie because he is ADDICTED! So I'm not sure if he just wore himself out or just needed some mommy time, but he climbed right up on my lap and just let me cuddle him.

The best part is when I can feel his little body relax and sort of sink into me and his head leans against my chest. Ahhhhh. There is nothing like it in the world! Thank you little Leo for making my whole weekend!

(the attached picture is one of my favorites. Leo was 5 months old)

post-wedding pics

4 year anniversary

Four years ago today Jeremy and I were married. And I'll just say it. It was AWESOME! We had the most beautiful late-October day. Very unlike today's temps that just barely made it into the mid-50's. It's funny now because my mom and I fought over the date because she thought it would be too cold. Then it turned out to be such a warm sunny day. She and I laugh about it every year and it was the first thing she mentioned when she called this morning to wish me a Happy Anniversary.

The whole day was so relaxing. No seriously, it was very stress free. At least for me. Maybe there were people freaking out, but I really don't think so. The entire wedding party and all of my best friends spent the whole day at my parents house on Lake Viking. The sun was shining down on the lake the whole time. Jeremy and I were in the same house all day but he stayed upstairs and I stayed downstairs because he was dead set on not seeing each other until it was time. He's pretty sweet that way.

Probably the best part of the day was seeing him for the first time. We did the whole thing where it's just us and the photographer before the ceremony. Very sweet. I highly recommend. Jeremy was so cute about it. All nervous looking and then broke into a huge smile when he saw me. Ahhhhhh...good memories!

The church pews were arranged in kind of a semi-circle so we actually got to sit in the front pew with our parents. Father Matthew's homily was right on the money. I remember him talking about how Jeremy and I bring out the best in each other. That we draw on each other's strengths. I think, or at least I hope, that is still true. I also remember touching my little tiny belly bump when Fr. Matt talked about starting a family. Yup, there was all 11 weeks of Baby Justin attending our wedding via the womb. While clearly unplanned, wouldn't change it for the world now!

Some of my favorite pictures are of me, Jeremy, and our parents in the receiving line after the wedding. Great close ups that really show the pure joy of the event.

and the reception...I think it deserves a blog of it's own. Hopefully soon with lots of fun pictures.

Happy 4th Anniversary honey. LOVE YOU!