'Tis the Season

I cannot believe that Miss Michaela Marie (my M&M girl) is 4 weeks old today!! My mom came over to watch the big girls today so I could go to mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception with just Michaela. Listening to the readings and wonderful homily about how Mary was conceived without sin made me reflect even more holding a newborn on how Mary answered God's call to give birth to Jesus and is such a perfect example of Motherhood to follow and strive for! These last few weeks have been challenging with recovery, adjusting to a newborn again, keeping up with the two toddlers, a hubby working 12 hour shifts for a week, trying to keep house....and then with this time of year I always seem to get stressed anyways. I tend to be a bit OCD (ok, I know my family members are saying, a bit?) and like to be organized and have everything just so in my little world. Well, I am slowly learning that God probably gets lots of chuckles out of "our plans". So my advent activities and Christmas decorations and fun things I had wanted to do for this special time of year are not happening. And I am learning that that is OK and that next year will come and I can try again. Right now....the season for me is exactly what it is...my duties and responsibilities as a mother with all the nursing, changing diapers and constant care comes first. If I happen to get in a fun craft project or event then bonus points to us. I am learning that with each additional child not only do routines get changed and rearranged, but priorities do as well and so do my expectations of myself. I came across this poem the other day and truly enjoyed it...these baby moments and little times with my LITTLE ones are short and fleeting and I truly want to cherish them as long as I can. So especially today when we remember how perfect and immaculate our Blessed Mother is and a great example to model after and during this Christmas season when we remember how Mary said yes to conceiving and accepting the responsibility of being Jesus' mother....I too want to thank Jesus for my girls and say YES to my vocation as a mother and try to live it out as best and fully as I can. (And now the people in my life need to remind me of this Post when I get stressed out and overwhelmed!!)

BABIES DON'T KEEP

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing, make up the bed,

Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

Lullaby, rockabye, lullaby loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peek-a-boo

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew

And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo

But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo

Look! Aren’t his eyes the most wonderful hue?

Lullaby, rockaby lullaby loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow

But children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!

I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

- Ruth Hulbert Hamilton