104 babies and 1 pre-schooler!

Last summer, we had two amazing encounters with sea turtles.  You can read about our turtle walk when we helped mark new turtle nests here.  And you can read about our experience, later in the summer, of watching the hatching of a turtle nest here.

After watching (and sort of helping) those adorable baby turtles get their start in life we told everyone we knew about it.  Our only disappointment (if you can call it that) was that it was so dark.  We could not see the hatchlings very well and could not take any pictures lest we disorient and confuse the baby turtles.  

Anyway--  My daughter’s best friend wants to be a marine biologist when she grows up.  So when she asked if she could come along for a turtle walk with us this year, we excitedly set up another date with the turtle walkers.  We knew there are never any guarantees of actually seeing turtles but my mom, who is friends with lots of turtle walkers, promised to do all she could to work something out to, at least, give us the chance.  She was successful!

So Saturday evening we arrived at the beach to witness a turtle nest excavation.  The walkers wait a few days after a hatching and then they dig up the nest and remove the marking sticks.  Each egg is examined and counted for the official records.  

We stood back watching intently as the turtle walkers began their work.   It wasn’t long before a live baby hatchling was discovered.  It had been left behind when the nest hatched as sometimes happens and it had been stuck there in the sand trapped without its brothers and sisters to help it dig to the surface.  

We ohhhed and ahhed over the little guy watching it scramble around in a bucket as the rest of the nest was excavated.   Before all was said and done another three hatchlings were found.  We took a ton of pictures of the cute little babies and wished them luck for their release which would come a few hours later after sundown.

 

In addition to the excavation, my mom had set up an early morning turtle walk for the our daughter and her friend.  They would accompany a turtle walker on her rounds to check the beach for evidence of overnight hatchings.  I decided after seeing the hatchlings from the excavation that I would sleep in and miss the morning walk on the beach.  There was more excitement to come though….

Early Sunday morning, before the sun even came up, a nest was found with a tiny turtle head sticking out of it.  They assumed the baby turtle had died and the nest had been drowned out somehow.  But as it turned out it was just a hatching that came too late in the night.  The babies stalled their digging mid-hatch due to the rising temperatures of the sand.  The only thing to do was to dig up the nest and save the babies in a bucket until sundown.  Otherwise they would likely die from dehydration or from an encounter with curious tourists.  So my daughter, her friend, and my mother got to witness a second excavation, this time resulting in the saving of about a hundred baby turtles.
 

Later, since the rest of the family missed the early morning excitement, we got to get a peek at the hatchlings sleeping in their bucket in the turtle walker's garage.  It is awesome to have so many connections in the turtle walking world!

As if all that wasn’t enough—we also celebrated my little one’s fourth birthday over the weekend.  She is officially four years old today!  Pre-school starts a week from now and I am full of mixed emotions as I realize how far from babyhood my baby is really getting.  Mostly, though, I feel incredibly blessed to be her mother and to watch her grow and change.  

My newborn baby back in 2009

And this morning at 4 years old!

One last point- really quick, as I know this post is going on forever- the irony of the situation with the turtles is not lost on me as I celebrate the anniversary of my fifth child’s birth (a child who at one point we feared may have serious health problems).  The lengths that are gone to to protect and save baby sea turtles while allowing and condoning and, at times, even encouraging the murder of thousands of unborn baby humans every day is INSANE.  I cannot help but wonder how things could get so mixed up in this country-- that animal life is valued but human life is disposable.  So, even as I ohhed and ahhed over those baby turtles, I also prayed and mourned the human babies lost to abortion.  Our world really needs it so-please, please, please pray with me!

A little of this and a little of that....

So much to write about...so little time.....

My Little Flowers group and I finished up our fourth wreath and our fourth year of meeting together this week.  I have been so privileged to watch 6 very beautiful little girls grow in their faith and in their understanding of virtue.  They have each touched me and taught me over the years and I can't help but be a little sad that we are all finished with the program now.  The girls still seem very interested in continuing to meet together and learn together, so hopefully we will find a new direction to go in next year.  Maybe the Little Women Hospitality group or the Catholic Daughters of America Junior Court.....

It was "take your sons and daughters to work" day yesterday.  I have mixed feelings about this relatively new tradition in America because I suspect it has its roots in the feminist movement, but Tim's office was participating.  Our three oldest children were old enough to go and be part of the well planned programs the company had put together, so off they went to work with Daddy.  They had a great time learning about what Tim does all day and the little ones and I enjoyed  a quiet day of visiting the park and reading stories together (as well as getting some things done around the house).

My birthday was this past week.  Another year is gone.  I am another year older.  I'm not sure how I feel about the mounting number attached to this milestone but I do so enjoy being spoiled by my family and friends.  I am very, very blessed to have so much love in my life and my birthday is always a beautiful reminder of that.

Tomorrow my youngest son makes his First Holy Communion.  He is SO excited.  I am too.  I love the enthusiasm of his youthful yet devout faith.  His is definitely a great example of the faith of little children and the idea of allowing the little ones to lead us.  My son is full of joy and faith and innocence.  There is something indescribably special about experiencing the Sacraments of Initiation through our children's eyes and watching them grow closer to Christ.....  how can we not be led closer ourselves?

We are busy, busy, busy but God is SO, SO, SO good working in it all......  

Life and Death, joy and sorrow

            On Friday, my children and I went to a funeral.  Our very dear friends recently lost their baby at 19 weeks gestation.  It was a devastating loss.  Before going in for a routine ultrasound there was no indication that there was anything wrong or that the pregnancy was not progressing normally.  But the ultrasound revealed that the baby had stopped developing some weeks before and that there was no heartbeat.   

            Our friends were blessed to be given the privilege of having a funeral for their baby and having him laid to rest in the special section of the Catholic cemetery reserved for infants.  The funeral was, of course, a very sad affair in many ways.  But, it was also sort of amazing……   

That tiny little baby was so very loved and treasured - not only by his parents, his 5 older siblings, and his grandparents who were all a part of the Mass- but also by many, many friends and by Our Church as a whole.   The homily was all about how even a life that ends in the womb is a life that is valued and blessed by God.  How that precious little one did live his life, short though it was, to the fullest and his life had immeasurable meaning and importance.  The baby’s father stood up and shared how deeply he was touched by his late son’s short life and how it changed him and inspired him to be a better husband and father. 

Though, I hate that my friends are suffering such a great loss, I loved that the Mass was such a beautifully moving expression of the sanctity of their baby’s life.  It reminded me anew how blessed we are to be part of a Church that understands and celebrates the sanctity of ALL life.  

And speaking of celebrating life…..

On Sunday, my entire family got together to celebrate my grandmother’s 91^st  birthday.  My beloved grandma got to be in a St. Patrick’s Day parade where she was wished happy birthday over and over by the crowd of parade goers.  We had a party for her afterwards with food and family and gifts and fun.  

My weekend was an experience of extremes, I guess.  Life and death.  Joy and sadness.  A life ended so soon after it began and a life that has spanned more than 9 decades.  But, in a strange way- both the funeral Mass and the birthday party were similar.  They were both celebrations of lives that have meaning and value.  They were both tributes to people who are greatly loved and cherished.  And they both were all about how sacred and precious each and every life really is.      

 photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gulfu/4856133666/">Gulfu</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>

A decade of fun!

            Today we celebrate a joyous event at our house!  Today, my middle child--the little girl who looks most like me, who is my most sensitive, most social, hardest-working, and a marvelously imaginative child-- is ten years old.  As I think about this milestone (I now have more children in the “double digits” than the single ones!), I can’t help but think about what life was like when I brought my second baby girl home from the hospital a decade ago…..  

The day we brought our third baby home-- big sister and big brother watch over her

             She came home to a big sister who was 4 years old and a big brother who was just a year and a half.  My life was very full and very busy!  Every day was a challenge that included juggling two little ones in diapers, nap times and sleep schedules that were never consistent, and demands of a pre-schooler, a (very active) toddler, and a newborn that seemed never to end.  But our third child just added more love and more joy to the happy chaos we were already accustomed to.  

I remember being asked, quite often back then, which transition was hardest to adjust to- the first child, the second, or the third.  It was not a difficult question.  For me, without a doubt, going from no children to one child was infinitely more difficult than any other adjustment in my life- ever.  In fact, I recently found an old journal I kept when my first child was just a few weeks old.  As I read my own words, I was struck by how hard the struggle was to find peace in my imperfect mothering.  I wanted so much to feel confident and to truly master the art of parenting.  The old journal made it all come rushing back and I wished I could tell that young new mother that I once was—to relax, trust in herself and just enjoy all that motherhood had to offer.  

Thankfully, by the time I welcomed my third beautiful baby, I had learned a lot.  I was much more relaxed, much more trusting in myself, and much, much better at laughing at and enjoying the ups and downs of motherhood.   

And, now, all these years later, I have learned that you NEVER really master this parenting stuff….but motherhood is an adventure that is **almost** all fun!        

****almost—which means, whenever I remember to relax, trust, laugh, and enjoy the happy chaos****