Woah 31 Weeks!

I have a very silly husband who will use any prop to get a laugh...including my headband! This is his demonstration of what Clare looks like if she resembles Jon more than me. My instructions for the photo: "Okay, now look like a little girl." Anyway, we can surmise that when Clare is a twenty-something, she will look like some version of these two goofs. 

7.5 Months in Sewickley--our favorite hangout in PA!

Prostaglandin Abortion

I am at once deeply saddened and grateful at watching this short clip. Sad, in tears in fact, because beautiful children, willed by God to exist, are killed by their parents in such a gruesome way. Grateful because of our Catholic faith that upholds the dignity of these children. Father Frank Pavone is a saint for our time and has done so much to serve and love the unborn with his life. I pray that there is an end to contraception and abortion and a new love and culture of life that treats children as incommunicable gifts instead of products to be manufactured (in vitro fertilization, surrogate motherhood, etc) or burdens (contraception--especially as it causes early abortion) --both of which are rooted in selfishness. Don't have sex if you're going to be surprised or dismayed by a pregnancy! We are not dogs or cats that need to be sterilized! We have free will--exercise it for the sake of yourself and your future children! Don't rely on your false freedom to murder your child as a way to escape responsibility for your choices! We must protect our children, not kill them in their vulnerability.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDpcj1DUcTw

"Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you."

Isaiah 49: 15

7 1/2 Months

This image perfectly illustrates the two newest sensations I have had in the last week or so: kicking/punching very high in my abdomen (which usually makes for a good arm rest except when a kick shocks you in the middle of class); and one of Clare's body members lodging itself in my ribs so that when I bend slightly to eat it ain't so pleasant. No more sipping soup for me--that bowl's coming to the face!

Jon 'helps' me make chocolate covered strawberries..

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

Lamentations 3:22-23