from Caring Bridge...

Well we are moving out of the NICU!!!!!


Marianne has overcome the hurdle of her two month shots and her a's and b's have subsided. She is now BACK in the Special Care Nursery, (a transitional nursery for the "feeders" and "growers")



Her weight is right at 6.5 lbs. She is plumping up!! Her thighs have a little roll in them. I was marveling at her amazing and miraculous growth. Her legs used to be no thicker than my finger. God is so good!! What a blessing to be a witness to this fearsome part of her life... where God puts on the finishing touches of our bodies before we are born. Oh it has been such a privelidge!!! She's a beautiful baby, and if you don't believe me, ask her Daddy. (Or her Nani) (or her Nonna!)



So now on to the business of feeding and growing. As you know, she has reflux (not reflex- silly me-although all her reflexes are stellar as a newborn's should be!). Reflux is proving to be an obstacle for her to appreciate and love feeding. So sometimes she will take her bottle fantastically and lots of times she struggles with getting just 10 mls down. A full bottle at this point is about 50 mls. It is breast milk that is fortified with iron, extra calories and some vitamins for good measure. We are going to work more on breastfeeding and she is given 4 times a day to try either one. So every other feeding is an opportunity for Marianne to bottle or breastfeed. Her Occupational Therapist has been keeping a close eye on her and is going to experiment with a slower-flow nipple for her bottle and/or a thickener.

All of this will just take practice and time and PATIENCE and TRUST. I'm clinging to the end result: a baby that will bottle or breastfeed for each feeding.

As always, thank you for your prayers for us. We keep you in our prayers, too.

Oh- and the house... well, no news to report. A showing on Friday... I'm just going to put that one back in God's hands.

A home for Christmas...

That is one of my requests for Christmas this year...the other being for Marianne to come home from the hospital.  Well, I guess it's the THOUGHT that counts, right?  Silly Santa.

don't say I didn't warn you...

Another distracted driver has hit the road.

Looking Ahead...with TRUST

“If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world ablaze!” – St. Catherine of Siena

It is the beginning of the year and often we look to writing New Year’s resolutions. But last year I sort of bucked the system of “resolutions.” I invite you to join me this year: instead, take on a one-word challenge, one virtue or attitude to help us “be who we should be,” as St. Catherine might frame it. The challenge I set for myself last year was to embody gratitude. At the time, I was in a place where I felt very deserving of many things, and these things just were not happening for me or my family. I wrote “gratitude” on the chalkboard in our kitchen and placed around my home bible verses relating to being grateful. My circumstances may not have changed much, but my perception of them sure did. The Lord allowed me to see how Gino’s long hours were such a blessing to us because that meant a job, a home, food, clothes, etc. Lots of playing and loudness and dancing in the kitchen could have made me grouchy (and sometimes did!), but it reminded me of how blessed we have been with healthy children. An April pregnancy followed by a premature October delivery made me grateful for each one of our five children, all of whom arrived in God’s time and with their own unique personalities full of love and zest for life. Having a baby in the NICU for the past two months (and counting) helps me appreciate the awesome gift of life that each newborn represents. Being exhausted from going up to the hospital each day to visit our newborn and still running our home and running after four more kiddos make me so thankful for the help I have received from family and friends and STAMA moms: help with our children, meals, grocery shopping, decorating for Christmas, doing laundry… the list goes on, and the number of people who have lent a hand over the past ten weeks has been overwhelming. Yes, over the past year gratitude has become ingrained in how I frame the events of my life.

This New Year, I feel called to take on another one-word challenge. We are waiting for our baby to come home from the hospital. We are waiting for our house to sell, and waiting to find our new home. It would be very easy for me to feel anxious, frustrated, and impatient about each one of these situations. And believe me, I have! So, perhaps our Father needs me to work on trust.
.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not;

In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:4-5

Marianne is still in the NICU and many prayers for her growth and health are appreciated. Thank you STAMA for your continued prayers and love and help for our family. You can keep up with her progress at: www.caringbridge.org/visit/mariannerossini

Prayer for the New Year
O God of new beginnings and wonderful surprises, thank you for the gift of a new year. May it be a time of grace for me, a time to grow in faith and love, a time to renew my commitment to following Your Son, Jesus. May it be a year of blessing for me, a time to cherish my family and friends, a time to renew my efforts at work, a time to embrace my faith more fully. Walk with me, please, in every day and every hour of this new year, that the light of Christ might shine through me, in spite of my weaknesses and failings. Above all, may I remember this year that I am a pilgrim on the sacred path to You.
Amen

Summer Day 1

This morning the children woke up at 6:15. My husband was also awake. He actually left the house at 0645. This is unbelievable considering that it was like gathering cats to a bath every morning to get them out the door by 0745. Go figure.
I just finished round 4 of the olive oil treatment for lice for me and C. As I am pain-stakingly combing through her hair I am observing S scratching her little head like crazy. LORD help me.
So now it's 1015 and I am wiped out already. The laundry is up the ceiling and my little 2.5 cu.ft. washing machine is about to kick the bucket. We are meeting with realtors to put our home on the market. This means we need to start moving out of our home to make it "show ready". All I want to do is wiggle my nose and make it happen like Samantha did on "Bewitched".
Troops are restless. SUmmer joy.

Faith and Failure

Last night, as I was leaving to go to a meeting after dinner but before the children's bedtime, Caroline runs to her backpack and says, "I have to finish all of these worksheets by tomorrow!" Now, she was holding a 60 page chapter book and about 12 pages of questions. "WHAT?!"- I screamed in my head - "Really?" I said outloud, "well, you've got 20 minutes until bedtime, I guess I know what you'll be doing. I'll set the timer." She got to work fast after some grumbling and me looking at her with that, "you got yourself into this" look. Than I left for meeting. She stayed up about 20 minutes past bedtime and than woke up on her own about 45 minutes earlier and worked away. Now it was time for school. She still had 2 chapters and 3 pages of questions to go. "But I'll get a number!" (this is a disciplinary mark) "Yes, you probably will- but I doubt you will let this happen again, huh?"
Oh it was so hard to let her fail. It is minor, I fully realize, but it would have been easy to let her stay up later, and to help her with the questions. But how would that have really helped her? Anyhow, I read the following post on Faith and Family and was reminded how quick we want to label ourselves by our accomplishments. That is not how our Heavenly Father sees us. To him, no matter what, we are His Beloved. And that makes a world of difference.


Faith & Family : Features : Fail Forward

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snow

I LOVE this picture.
I love how the older three are looking up at the snow in awe and wonder. And I adore how totally frustrated Lydia is that she is being held by Caroline.




What a wonderful time of play in the snow. Gino was out in the thick of it, creating the largest snowman to ever reside on our street.

Meet Snowbot 2010:

Grossed out...

sometimes, the mucus that pours forth from my children just overwhelms me.

Jan 29

So this month I got to get away for the First Patino Girl's Get-Away Weekend. The occasion was Gina's 40th and we left wondering what took us so long to do something like this?


And we set the next date before we parted ways. It was relaxing and invigorating. I learned to digital scrapbook (for the mom-on-the-move..."you mean can scrapbook on my laptop while I sit in the car waiting for Caroline in Step dance class??").



I also got a jump on Tommy's baby book... yay! The kiddos enjoyed their Daddy weekend, too. (All I know is that all the icecream was gone when I returned)

Upon my return, Sophia got very ill. She vomitted for 8 hours- unable to keep anything down. We had to take her to the ER after seeing her ped. She was shutting down from dehydration. Turned out to be strep.



After pumping her up with IV fluids and antibiotics and antinausea meds, and watching "The Little Mermaid" a few times, she was good to go- praise GOD.




Caroline got sick after that and than Lydia, too. Now it seems like we are reaching the end of sicklesville and so we made some rice crispy treats after picking up the kids to celebrate.


(well, don't you go through carpool in your wedding gown?)


It's amazing how quickly ALL the kiddos show up in the kitchen when I start opening up some marshmellows. It is so hard to sneak eat around here!! :)


Lydia loves the marshmellows that Tommy added to the top.


Tommy gave the Treats two thumbs up.



Than, today, Caroline came home from school with fresh lettuce from the Stonewall Gardens. (note Tommy's t-shirt) We were so excited that we made a big salad to go with the Red Curry Lentil Soup I made for dinner. Yum!! Until Gino discovered our little dinner guest at the end of his fork. It is not the greatest picture, but there is a little caterpillar at the edge of the tine saying, "don't eat me!". While a bit stomach turning, it was also gratifying to be reminded that no chemicals had been used in the growing of these leaves.

Jan 29

So this month I got to get away for the First Patino Girl's Get-Away Weekend. The occasion was Gina's 40th and we left wondering what took us so long to do something like this?


And we set the next date before we parted ways. It was relaxing and invigorating. I learned to digital scrapbook (for the mom-on-the-move..."you mean can scrapbook on my laptop while I sit in the car waiting for Caroline in Step dance class??").



I also got a jump on Tommy's baby book... yay! The kiddos enjoyed their Daddy weekend, too. (All I know is that all the icecream was gone when I returned)

Upon my return, Sophia got very ill. She vomitted for 8 hours- unable to keep anything down. We had to take her to the ER after seeing her ped. She was shutting down from dehydration. Turned out to be strep.



After pumping her up with IV fluids and antibiotics and antinausea meds, and watching "The Little Mermaid" a few times, she was good to go- praise GOD.




Caroline got sick after that and than Lydia, too. Now it seems like we are reaching the end of sicklesville and so we made some rice crispy treats after picking up the kids to celebrate.


(well, don't you go through carpool in your wedding gown?)


It's amazing how quickly ALL the kiddos show up in the kitchen when I start opening up some marshmellows. It is so hard to sneak eat around here!! :)


Lydia loves the marshmellows that Tommy added to the top.


Tommy gave the Treats two thumbs up.



Than, today, Caroline came home from school with fresh lettuce from the Stonewall Gardens. (note Tommy's t-shirt) We were so excited that we made a big salad to go with the Red Curry Lentil Soup I made for dinner. Yum!! Until Gino discovered our little dinner guest at the end of his fork. It is not the greatest picture, but there is a little caterpillar at the edge of the tine saying, "don't eat me!". While a bit stomach turning, it was also gratifying to be reminded that no chemicals had been used in the growing of these leaves.

January 5

If you go to google and type in "daily readings of the catholic church" you are going to get this great link that gives you the readings, and than leads you to a daily meditation that is a video.
The readings plus the reflection really spoke to my heart this morning. It's a funny time- I feel disconnect with my husband over several things, but we're working on it- because we DESIRE to be connected... and several times over the last TWO days, I have been touched by God. Through a dream, God spoke to me, very plainly it was HIM- after tossing and turning through many bad dreams and ugly thoughts about my relationship with Gino, I heard a voice say, "You are dwelling on separating with Gino- STOP. You need to dwell on reuniting with Gino." This stirred me immediatly out of my sleep and I woke up with these words echoing in my heart. God? Are you listening to my pain right now? YES. Not only listening, but reaching out to be with you in your pain and pull you through this pain. God desires me. He desires you. It's so simple and so unbelievable and yet it is the truth of the WORD. As it is written: from 1 John 4: 9-10

9 In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.
10
In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.

GOD LOVED US and sent his SON as atonement for all our sins, so that we might be reunited, and connected with HIM.

Than Gino and I made it to a Beyond Cana meeting, where we were talking about this book, which I own, but have not read yet. Because I'm busy reading Heat Wave. Oh the shame of it all. Anyhow, we talked about the seasons of marriage. The Good Friday-dying-to-ourselves season, and the Holy Saturday-waiting-for-God season and lastly, the Easter Sunday-joyful-and-physically-spiritually-emotionally-united season. Our discussion took us from how to reach other couples who are stressed in their relationship, to how it is perfectly normal to feel each season wholly and cyclically, just like in the church. I walked away refreshed and recommitted to the knowledge that my husband and I are 100% committed to the covenant that we have with each other. This is one of those seasons where we just need to get through by talking more, listening even more and praying above all even more.