i have converted...

I asked my little monkey to show off his new cloth diaper, and this is the pose he chose:

After almost five straight years of diapering, I finally had the guts to research cloth diapers.  Yep, I had never even looked into it.  It seemed like unnecessary work; something that a busy mom of little ones does not need!

Nevertheless, I have a couple of close friends who love their cloth diapers, so I started asking them questions and was intrigued.  Once I really started researching, I found out that from birth until potty training, most people spend about 2.5K on disposable diapers.  A quick look at my budget definitely confirms this fact!

How much did I spend on my full-time set, wet bag, diaper sprayer and detergent?  $370 total (and this includes some beautiful, upgraded diapers-- you can do it for much less).  This means that with just a toddler, we would make up the cost in under 10 months, but since we are expecting a newborn in February (and will likely still have a toddler in diapers), we will make up our cost in roughly 6 or 7 months.  And then within three years I will have an extra two-thousand dollars (!) in my household budget.  Why did it take me so long to figure this out!

We have had our diapers for less than a week, so I am still very much a novice, but my husband and I have been very surprised with how simple and efficient the cleaning process is.  It isn't gross, even with a toddler, and it feels good to be making less trips out to the trash can.  All it really requires an extra load of laundry every other day.  Also, since our two-year-old is a very good communicator, it is reassuring to hear him tell us that he prefers his new diapers, because they are "soft and cozy".  

So here is to my new baby-rearing adventure... 

Pray Without Ceasing

Every new school year, I find myself re-examining my habits. The last few years I have been teaching religious education classes at our local parish. While I'm getting ready for the new school year, getting ideas together for how I want to teach my students the beauty of the Catholic Church, I often examine what I want to leave with them. I know that one of the things that I remember most about my teachers wasn't so much what they taught but the example they gave me when they taught. Knowing this, I examine myself and how I want to grow as a person, wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, teacher, ect in my spiritual life. One thing I constantly find myself lacking in is daily prayer. I have found that if I have a certain action that I attach a certain prayer to I tend to remember to say the prayer. So, I'm coming up with some different actions that will remind me to pray throughout the day. Things that I do every day and offering up everything I do throughout the day and night to God through prayer. Here is how I will be trying to change my prayer life, obviously I will need a lot of work (so pray for me!) in order to make it an actual routine. I know I will forget and fall many, many, many, many times, but I think that it is important to make time to always pray, and to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Sometimes it will be joint with my husband and my kids, sometimes it may just be in my heart. This way our whole family can get in the habit of praying all the time while our children our still so young.

Most of the time my son wakes me up in the morning, so when he wakes me up, we can start our day with the Sign of the Cross and a quick prayer together. For example, Thank you God for waking us up to start a new day. Please be with us and guide us in everything we do and say today.

At breakfast we say our mealtime grace, at the same time as grace we always Thank God for our family and our Godchildren/people we have sponsored for confirmation each individually by name (for example, Thank you for Mommy, Daddy, Kid 1, Kid 2, ect, Godchild/sponsored confirmed by order that they received the Sacrament). That way we are always praying for each other.

During lunch and dinner time, we say the same grace with thanking God for everyone.

Throughout the day, if I'm driving around, playing with the kids outside, or taking my kids on a walk.I try to either listen to praise music or pray the rosary. Either way, I try to keep my focus on God and figuring out what He is calling me to do according to His will.

When playing with my kids throughout the day, I can thank God for the gift of my children and that I am able to stay at home with them.

When I'm doing the dishes or cleaning, I can thank God simply for the sacrifice (those chores are by far not my favorite part of being a wife/mother) of doing something for my husband and children that will often go unnoticed, until it doesn't get done of course.

While I'm cooking dinner, I can thank God for the ability to feed my family and pray for those who do not have enough to eat that day.

If I haven't driven around or have not said/finished my rosary, right before the kids go to bed we can say a family rosary. After the initial fight of making the kids sit down and focus (which can be very difficult for a toddler), saying the rosary before bed calms them down and gets them ready to fall asleep (if they don't fall asleep during the rosary...BONUS!)

And finally before finally closing my eyes, a prayer of thanksgiving for the blessings of that day!

How do you pray without ceasing?

H is for...Heart of the Home

"A wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish will pull down with her hands that also which is built."- Proverbs 14:1

As women, particularly those of us who are married and stay-at-home moms, we probably find that much of our daily duties are those within the home. Our phones and purses may be filled with grocery lists, recipes, chores to be completed, and our laundry baskets and sinks beckon us in the evenings or at nap time. While it may sound mundane, personally, I can think of no better way to spend my days, than by caring for my children, my family, and creating and maintaining our home.

Our Lord consistently described the "good wife" in scripture as one tending to her household with diligence, and with genuine care (Proverbs 31). While feminists may focus on the woman's roles outside the home, our Lord tells us that true femininity is strengthened and best expressed, when a wife and mother focuses inside the home. My role as a wife and mother, is to be the heart of the home, while my husband is the head.

I could focus on the chores that usually make up my day, but that's really not what makes me the heart of the home. Whenever I become overwhelmed with the number of things on my to-do lists, my husband is quick to remind me that while he loves my cooking, and appreciates his clothes being magically returned to his closet cleaned and organized, he prefers take out and a house in disarray if it means coming home to a joyful, warm wife. We can have the cleanest house, with the best food around, but if there's no joy, who wants to be there?

My husband grew up in a Colombian household, where there is a saying that there is never too little food for an extra person, and that anything can be turned into a bed. I grew up in a traditional American home, but ours happened to be the house where everyone came to play because my mom always had the best snacks and didn't mind having a bunch of kids in her backyard or huddled around the tv playing nintendo. One of our goals is to create a home where our friends and loved ones always feel welcome. It's been a great source of growth for me to host and serve guests, not just with dinners, but by providing a place to sleep families and friends. We might only have air mattresses and couches, but we've managed to host a Catholic band of 4 young adults for a week pretty comfortably.

Given the Colombian culture of my husband, and that you never know when we might have an extra person for dinner, I've learned to cook enough food for at least one extra person. It'll either get sent home with my in-laws who frequently pass by in the evenings, eaten for lunch the next day, or frozen for a quick-fix meal later on. Cooking for 4 is hardly more expensive than cooking for 2 + a toddler, and if it means that I can serve better and more joyfully, then it's worth it, even if the leftovers just go the dog. It is my husband, serving as the head of the household, who sees very clearly the virtue of charity in this, who's led me to this place.

The key to all this, is doing it with love. It is essential to include prayer in our day, to keep us centered on the subject of all that we do. Cooking, cleaning, catering to the needs of others strengthens us as women because these are acts of charity. Opening our home to others has allowed us to feed not only bellies, but souls. Relationships grow and when friends are in need, they know where they are going to be welcomed and loved, and it's allowed us to minister at those times. It is the same with my husband and children. When my husband knows that he's coming home to a home with a wife and child who are ready to greet him with hugs, kisses, smiles, and stories of daily happenings, it drives him all the more to work hard to get through his day quickly and efficiently. This is why the "wise woman buildeth her house," knowing that it will benefit everyone around her, which will bring the most grace and joy to her.

If our vocation is to be a wife and mother, let us make this our priority, and not be the fool who tears down what she builds with her own hands. If we aren't making sure that our actions are rooted in love, we may find ourselves cranky, balls of stress that bulldoze the towers of laundry we fold and give a bitter taste to the food we cook.