St. Joseph's Vanguard And Our Lady's Train

Baby Stuff

Katie — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:13:34 +0000

I don’t know what it is about baby stuff, but I–I hope other young mothers understand–am a sucker for cuteness. Check out some of the things that I’ve found so far:

Baby Dress–have to wait to buy any of these dresses until we actually get a baby and know her age. The baby boy clothes are a little less sweet but still cute:

Christening Gown–I can’t buy one of these until we are actually able to adopt.

Crib Bedding

Okay, apparently I like Battenburg merchandise.

For diapers, I think I’m going to go with BumGenius because they are one-size-fits-all; this is important for us, since we won’t know the age of our infants until the day they arrive at our home. Special thanks to Mrs. Fruit for introducing me to BumGenius.

I have my eye on some furniture but am not ready to buy it quite yet. And, finally, who can resist Montessori baby stuff?

Expectations Keep Changing

Katie — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:14:18 +0000

At first, we were under the impression that we would foster a baby for a year. Then, we learned that a year is the longest time possible to foster, and actually, 6 months is usually more common.

Most recently, however, we talked with two foster moms who care for babies and both said that their usual amount of time with a baby is 2 weeks; 4 months was the longest a baby had ever stayed with one of the mothers. Yikes! I’m not sure if I can handle a 2-week stay. That doesn’t seem like quite long enough–no time to establish a routine or catch my breath or normalize a sleep schedule.

There’s so much uncertainty with this process. Devin and I know of two different couples who both were able to foster two babies a piece and adopt all of them. On the other hand, we’ve met one family who fostered babies for a year with the hope of adopting and was unable. I’m not really comfortable with the not-knowing but that may just be what Our Lord wants for me. Dear Hannah and Elizabeth, please pray for me.

Mountain Pass Tower Defense

Devman — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 22:56:27 +0000

Alpha 1 version is up for brave souls to try.

You can scroll down that page and read my alpha introduction to the game. It uses Silverlight 2 Beta 2, so just follow the directions to install it (it’s fairly fast), and email me if there are problems. Have fun!

Mandola’s Winery

Katie — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:20:58 +0000

What a lovely place. I experienced the perfect moment yesterday evening, sitting on a bench in a grove of oak trees, looking west over the vineyard at the sunset, enjoying the sweet breeze, eating artichoke-parmesan fritters and listening to the plunkings of the guitarist seated nearby.

The wine is great, especially the Verentino. It’s only 30 minutes from South Austin and a lovely drive through Texas hills. Enjoy!

The Goodness of People

Katie — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:15:14 +0000

Yesterday, I was reminded that people are good. We had a little break during our 6-hour Behavior and Crisis Management class and were chatting with our fellow participants. I asked the woman next to me the reason for her interest in foster care; she explained that she and her husband have already chosen the profile of a 7-year old boy on the TARE gallery whom they were interested in adopting. “But,” she said, “I’d really like to adopt enough boys for a whole baseball team” Her husband grinned and rolled his eyes. The woman to my left, Jennifer, who is currently adopting a sibling group, 3 and 5 years old, agreed; “I want to adopt, like, 15 children, and sometimes I make my husband nervous.” We met her husband on Thursday at our Psychotropic Meds class, and I don’t think he’s that nervous–he’s clearly smitten with their adoptive children. Many of our other classmates shared their sentiments, and we all laughed.

It was refreshing to see such goodness. We were talking about children as a source of joy, not as burdens or bothers. And, the gusto was contagious, making us all a little breathless as we contemplated opening our homes to many many children. Just as negativity and fear can spread, so does love, igniting nearby hearts and wreathing faces in smiles. Laughter seemed to bubble up inside of us at the audacity of generosity. Absolutely lovely.

Foster Class Tonight

Katie — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 22:21:52 +0000

Psychotropic Medications. If you have any questions about such chemicals, just ask me tomorrow; I promise to answer all your questions.

Lullabies

Katie — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 22:20:18 +0000

Devin and I are beginning to compile lullabies that we’ll sing to our babies–don’t laugh, Devin has a good voice, and I think men can sing lullabies, too. We especially like: Raglan Road, an Irish ballad–melancholy but beautiful; Kindle My Heart, from the sweet movie, “A Little Princess”; and Suo Gan, a lovely Welsh lullaby featured in “Empire of the Sun”–I’ll sing the English translation.

Politics: A Real “Fact Check”

Devman — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 02:24:14 +0000

From the Family Research Council, more of what most pro-lifers already know about Sen. Obama but worth making clear as he continues to deny that he voted to let babies born alive be tossed aside and left to die–whether in 5 minutes or hours, as it sometimes took.

For all of his stirring speeches, even Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) can’t talk himself out of the controversy that’s emerged over his position on the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act (BAIPA). The legislation, which protects newborns who survive an abortion from infanticide, became a federal law in 2002. In Illinois, Obama actively opposed an identical piece of legislation as a committee chairman, stating later that he would have endorsed it had the bill contained the same language as the federal version. When it surfaced that he voted against the BAIPA, Obama lied in several interviews, including this one with Chicago Tribune in 2004 in which he told reporters that “had he been in the U.S. Senate two years ago, he would have voted for the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act.” This week, the National Right to Life Committee uncovered new documents proving that the Illinois version of the Act was taken verbatim from the congressional bill, which means that the man running for president has been lying about his position on the issue for six years. The deception continues on his website, where a June 30 “fact check” claims that the Illinois and federal bills “did not contain . . . exactly the same language.” Is it any surprise that a man who referred to babies as a “punishment” would vote for the killing of innocent children who survive abortions? As David Limbaugh writes in yesterday’s column, “Are pro-life Obama supporters so selfishly hooked on a feeling… that they’ll back Obama and his party in the most immoral crusade since slavery? It appears so.”

Additional Resources
David Limbaugh: The ‘Making Abortion Rare’ Hoax
Jill Stanek: New documents show Obama cover-up on born-alive survivors bill

Big Game Hunters

Devman — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:05:05 +0000

Here are our pictures from the Texas Alliance for Life Safari day:

It’s looks like the Serengeti but it’s actually just south of Austin around the landfill run by Waste Management.

Olympics: Men’s 400M relay

Devman — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:12:04 +0000

Totally awesome–I’m full of American pride.