Baptism

Well, Marina entered the Kingdom of God kicking and screaming today. But just for a minute (the screaming, not the Kingdom of God). This is a short clip of her Baptism--Dan Palmer was using our camera and had a little trouble with it, but you get the gist.

She was really really good--I was actually quite surprised. She smiled and cooed and giggled the whole time--except during the actual Baptism, of which she was not a fan. While she was being Chrismated, she actually sat and grinned at Fr. Marc. Meghan (our photographer for the day) wasn't able to catch it in pictures, which is too bad, because it was pretty stinking cute.

Also fun was the tonsuring because the other baby girls baptized had tons of hair...and then there's our bald little Marina. Fr. Marc actually had to check her head out for a minute to find hair, and ended up clipping it all from the back because there isn't hair anywhere else. "Like the widow's mites," he said as he finished.

On Saturday night, we were asked to be the Godparents of Anthony and Alisha's little girl, Adelaina. It's hilarious, because all the other babies are so tiny, and then there's Marina. She looked like a tank. A big white tank. (The other babies are half Spanish and half Greek, respectively, except Katherine, who is just dark anyway). Check out the pictures, and you'll see what I mean.

So all in all, it was a great day. John and Lesa Morrison had us over for a teriffic brunch, which Lesa was apparently up all night cooking (it was AWESOME). She made so much food, and it was all fancy and fun. We ended up staying over there until about four o'clock just chatting and trying to keep Megan and Jonas from breaking stuff. And as soon as I finish posting, we are headed off to Breandan's birthday party (Happy 29th Man!). Hard to believe that just a year ago tomorrow he proposed to Helen, and now they're married and she's 18 weeks pregnant.

Also an FYI--today gives new meaning to the phrase, "The weather outside is frightful..." It's been snowing for about 24 hours now, and it's showing no signs of stopping (isn't that in the song too?). And I intend to post all the Baptism pictures (there a LOT ) on Walmart.com, so if you want to see all of them, drop me a line and I'll send the link.

Thanksgiving

So the other day, Megan was running around wearing three shirts (yes, three), no pants, and her snowboots. I wish I had gotten a picture of it--it was so funny. She had the third shirt just around her neck, and she had put it on backwards, so it was framing her face like some odd Elizabethan ruff. Dn. John was on the phone at the time, and just about choked on his conversation.

Kari made Meg a book for her birthday--it has a page for every letter of the alphabet, and a picture or an icon for each letter. On the C page, there is a picture of me, and an icon of St. Christina. When I asked Megan who she saw on the page, she pointed and said, "It's Mommy, and Saint Mommy!" Ah, if only.

So we had a great Thanksgiving at my aunt and uncle's. My cousin David was there, who we don't see very often. He and Marina bonded--she sat and smiled and cooed at him for the longest time. It was so sweet. It's funny because the first time he saw Megan was on her first Thanksgiving too. (Perhaps this is a lesson that we should try and see him more often...). And of course, we kept up our family tradition of laughing until we almost cry while Uncle Gale reads Pat McMannus to us. So funny... Here are a few pictures of our day.Marina and Cousin Dave. They bonded!
Megan got into a chocolate mousse parfait while we were chatting after dinner. She trotted into the dining room completely covered in chocolate. The picture--while funny--really doesn't do it justice.


I wish this picture was clearer--Megan and Aunt Robin snuggled up to read a Thanksgiving story.

Thankful

Well, it is the day for Thankfulness, and boy, am I thankful. I started to think about it yesterday, and the simple conclusion that I have drawn is that I --and we-- are SO blessed. So I decided to hit the highlights today, so you can know why my heart is so full.

*First and foremost, I am thankful for my husband. I love him with all my heart, and he is the greatest man alive.

*Secondly, my beautiful little girls. What blessings they are! They bring so much joy to me, and I can't imagine my life without them.

*I am immensely thankful to God that the near accident the girls and I were almost in yesterday was diverted, and that we are safe, whole, and unhurt.

*I am thankful that Kirk Medders and the Simpson Family are alive after their wreck yesterday, and that there are no permanent injuries, and especially the miracle that little Maria came out unscathed while everyone else was hurt. I am grateful and thankful to God for the skill of the doctors, and speed of the EMS team, and the fact that Lisa Silence was in the car behind the Simpsons and able to be there immediately to assist and call for help. God is there even in tragedy, I have no doubt.

*I am thankful for my family--the Youngs, the Macalinos, the Armstrongs, and all of our extended relatives all over the country.

*I am thankful for the Rogers (all of us!) and the Saylors. I am sad that we cannot see them more often--and especially not today--but grateful to God for their health, and the technology that allows us to keep in such close contact. I am also thankful for the plane tickets we have that will take us to see Fr. Gregory, Pam, Fr. Philip, Kathryn and Sarah in just a few short weeks!

*I am thankful that my sister Jessica has found a vocation that she loves (she's a volunteer firefighter) and that it makes such a good and profound difference to people. I am also thankful for the love and adoration she has for my children.

*I am thankful for my sister Efpraxia and the home and calling she has found at the Monastery, and the blessing it brings to all of us that she is there praying for us daily.

*I am thankful for my parents; for their health, and happiness, the fact that the bakery is doing so well, and the joy they bring to my childrens' lives.

*I am thankful for my sister Kali, who is my best friend. She is always there for me, and it warms my heart to see her holding my girls and giving them all the love and attention that she does.

*I am thankful for all the children in my life: my own two girls, my four nephews, our God-sons and God-daughters, and the children of my friends. I hold them all so dear to my heart.

*I am thankful for our friends far and near. My thoughts are especially with our dear friends that are far away--the Howells and the Byers especially--we miss you guys so much. You are in our thoughts and prayers daily.

*And I am thankful for all of our material blessings that God has given us, our cozy and beautiful home especially, with it's warmth and full cupboards, and the laughter (and occasional screams) of our children.

May God bless you all today. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

24 Hours of Excellence

That's right--for the last 24 hours, my baking ability has been stupendous. I have no idea why. I made a cheesecake for my bro-in-law's birthday last night, and it was AWESOME! I almost wanted to shellac it and keep it forever, it was so pretty. Then, I pulled off the best loaves of cardamom bread I have ever made today. One of them is already half gone, and I suspect that Dn. John will have finished my piece while I am typing. (That really isn't fair, because he also has a bowl of ice cream.) I also made a pumpkin roll. It's halfway done (baked and rolled, just not filled yet). So far, so good. I will not have time to fill it tonight, since it's already almost ten.

Anyway, I am going to go rescue my bread from my husband, then go to sleep.

New pictures and videos

Here is a short clip of our last basketball game--Dn. John coaches the St. John's junior high team. Josiah makes a cool steal in this; unfortunately, we were obliterated by Lumen Christi, as you might be able to tell from the expression on James's face in this next photo.



Ah well. The season was a good one--much better than last year's.
And the boys had fun, especially Isaac. Too bad he's an eighth grader and we lose him next year.










Also fun is this video of Marina, being her happy and sweet self. It's about three minutes long, and if you listen carefully, you can hear Megan burp repeatedly in the background.



So the Becks got Megan a Mr. Potato-Head for her birthday,
which she loves. She decided to wear the glasses today, and also to share them with her sister. Good times. I find it highly amusing how Marina looks like a little piggie with her nose all squished.

































Also amusing is this series of photos where Megan discovers the joy of wearing ties. She was pretty excited that her Dad had one on today (he doesn't usually have to wear them to work). Also exciting was the fact that Daddy was wearing pants. I'm not sure what she thinks he usually wears to work (where does she think he works, anyway??), but she was pretty happy he had pants on.

Early Riser

So after waking up three or four times during the night last night (Dn. John got up, so I didn't really keep count) Megan was up at (as Matthew would say) the butt-crack of dawn this morning. And then there's Marina, who only woke up three times in the last twelve hours (if it isn't one, it's the other), and is still completely passed out in her bed. She's been that way since 7:00. Megan and I let Daddy and Marina sleep, and started making casseroles at around 7:30 a.m. So we have one set already finished (it's 9:45) and the rice all cooked and in the pans for another set. So I only have one and a half to go, since I made a bunch of lasagna last night. It worked out well for my sister, because I made waaaaay too many of the ingredients, so her family got a lasagna yesterday for dinner. She was stoked that she didn't have to cook. Apparently my husband told her that she was just taking advantage of my math mistakes. But it's not really the math--when Anastasia and I cooked together, she had the ingredients all figured out to the number for exactly how much we would need to buy. Since I don't split the profit anymore, I just throw whatever I think will be enough in the cart and figure I can just keep what's left. So it's not math errors. I swear. I'm just lazy. (Dn. John is rolling his eyes).

Well, all of us Moms and co. had a blast last night at Brewhouse. It was Katie, Kari, Nikki, Helen, Mary and I. Super fun. We're excited that Anastasia's birthday is coming up, because it gives us an excuse to take her out when she's visiting and do it all over again. We had an early dinner, and were all home in time to put the kiddos to bed. We should definately do it more often, although perhaps to some place cheaper if it's going to be a regular thing. I did however, fill a growler with my husband's favorite brewhouse beer to pacify him for having to stay home with the kids. Breandan came over, and they had pizza and beer and watched TV while Megan ran around like a lunatic.

Speaking of lunacy, I CANNOT take her to church these days! I mean, I do anyway, but it's a complete nightmare. She just runs and yells and rolls around on the floor. The amazing thing is that she still seems to pay attention. Case in point--yesterday she was singing to herself in the corner. I didn't pay any attention until I caught the word "immortal." (HUH??) So I started to listen. There she was, coloring and singing (tonelessly, but singing nonetheless), "Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy 'Mortal, Mercy on us." And last Sunday, when they did the troparion of St. Matthew, she got all excited and started looking around for her Godfather. The child is brilliant--a complete loony--but a brilliant one.

Well, I have casseroles to finish and friends to call since our cell phone minutes are free today. And Hannah and I are having lunch, and I have to return two boxes of lasagna noodles to Walmart because--shocker--I bought too many.

Mystery Shopping

I am a mystery shopper! It's so cool. I signed up online months ago and completely forgot about it. Then I got a call yesterday asking me to do a shop. All I had to do was get an auto insurance quote, and BOOM! $30.00 in my pocket. The added bonus is the place I had to call gave us a $300/year savings over what we currently pay. Yeehaw. I get to do another shop in December too. It's all very exciting.

Today is casserole day! I am still selling casseroles (even though my partner in crime moved away!), and I am starting them this afternoon. I figured I would tackle the lasagnas (I have to make five) and the poppy seed chicken (only 3). Then, I can finish the other things tomorrow. I also need to figure out what I am taking to our family's Thanksgiving dinner and make a grocery list.

I bought a new sewing machine yesterday--I am way excited about it. It has all kinds of fancy features, and 70 pretty stitches, and it's all computerized and shiny. They had them at Costco for $175, but there's a discount center down the road that sold their display model for $137, which is the one I bought. Again, very exciting. The only bummer is that I have to wait until my casseroles are done before I can play with it. So that's Sunday's project. I figure I better get out the manual while Dn. John is home, since it's all computerized. I may need his help.

Tonight, a bunch of us girls are going out to the Brewhouse. We've been planning it for about a month, but it got postponed a few weeks ago because we all had the flu. Now, we're all leaving the kiddos with the husbands and dressing up. I'm not sure my husband is overly excited about it, just because it means he's on baby duty for the evening, but I think Breandan is coming over to "help" and play the Wii and drink beer. Plus, we scheduled it for an early evening so we can all be home by our kids' bedtimes. And then tomorrow Hannah Ray and I are going out for lunch!

The more I type about all this, the more I figure I should stop typing and get a move on my 10,000 projects. :) Happy Feast Day to all.

My support group

Heaven help me, but I adore this picture.
Megan was going to mail herself back to Grammy and Papa in the box they sent.

I have decided that I need to start a support group. It would sound something like this:

"Hello, my name is Christine ("Hello Christine") and I am an overachiever."

That's right, an overachiever. Case in point: I bought some cool Christmas wrapping paper at Costco the other day, and then some pretty to/from stickers at Fred Meyer. Well, I got home and they didn't match. A lesser human being would've just shrugged it off, but I am an overachiever and the thought of paper and mismatched labels would've kept me up at night. So I returned the labels, TOOK SWATCHES OF THE WRAPPING PAPER TO THE STORE (yes, you read that correctly) and bought matching labels, ribbons, and bows.

Now that you have finished laughing at me, let's move on.

This conversation was overheard last night, and I still can't stop laughing: "Marina, whoever designed this shirt should be shot, and then be made to take it off with one hand for all of eternity." Yes, Dn. John was getting Marina into her pajamas last night, and was having some issues with the super-cute pink shirt she had on. Me, I suffer it all for the sake of fashion (and once again because I am an overachiever and my girls have to look cute). Dn. John--well, let's just say he likes the simple things.

A big shout out thank you to our Godson Roman, who delivered our chocolate and caramel covered popcorn last night. Man, that stuff is addictive.

Megan is two!

Megan and her fire truck from Aunt Jessica. She got up this morning, and all I heard for 15 minutes was the siren.


Opening presents from the kids.

Her new toy kitchen that she loves!


And all the play food to go with it!

Having help from Mommy to blow out the candle on her butterfly cake.

So two years ago right now, I'm pretty sure I was getting an epidural. God bless all anesthesiologists. Crazy to think that the 7 lb 11 oz baby girl I gave birth to is now a 30 pound whirlwind of destruction, in her room screaming because she wants to iron, not take a nap (she got a toy ironing board/iron from Sloan for her birthday that she is in love with).

Both birthday parties went off well. Danielle said I handled the house full of kids "gracefully." That's right, I'm graceful. Perhaps the first time in my life that particular adjective has been used to describe me. Anyway, we had a family party last night that was super fun. Aunt Robin and Uncle Gale gave Megan a little Eskimo doll that she is terrified of. She actually started to cry, and told me to wrap it back up. We all laughed, and thankfully the Armstrongs weren't offended. We got her a little toy kitchen that lights up and makes noise that she is pretty delighted with. Kali got her pots and pans for it, and my Mom and Katie got her lots of toy plastic food. Between that and the ironing board, we're really feeding into some little girl stereotypes, but who cares? We have a little girl, she loves pink and imitating her Mom, and she's happy. :) This video is of her opening some presents.

Also fun was her friend birthday party that she had this morning. For those of you who know all these kids, here was the lineup (and for those of you who don't, just imagine!): Evy, Josie, Sloan, Oscar, Katherine, Nina, Lucy, Eleni, Jonas, Noah, Joachim, Macrina, and all their respective Moms. JD showed up for a minute, took one look at all the women, and asked Mary to take him home. :) We missed Luke and Stasia--at least three people commented on that. If Solomon & Heidi had made it, I think we would've had the full contingent of St. John's two year olds there. I made a LOT of macaroni and cheese, and we went through two boxes of Capri Suns. I need to find a nephew I can bribe to take all the trash out for me....hmm, school's out in an hour or so. Perhaps I can make that work to my advantage.

Morning girls

Marina is such a morning person--all you have to do is lay her on the changing table for a diaper change (she hates to be dirty) and she smiles and coos at the ceiling. We caught her this morning being extra and especially cute. You can hear Megan a little in the background also.

A fun video of Megan acting like a complete lunatic for a minute. She also recites (under duress) a poem that we've been working on. I wish I had kept recording for a moment, because as soon as I was done, she asked for a treat. "How 'bout a lollipop?" It was so cute.

Nothing especially important in the cards today. Going to work on Megan's birthday cake and a Christmas present that I'm sewing. Josh has a paper on the church cannons he's working on, and I think Dn. Pat is coming over to talk about developing the back half of our property. So it'll be a productive day.

We did our wills this morning. That's always a fun task when faced with your own mortality, but I live in fear that if we kicked the bucket, our kids would become wards of the state and go to some fourth rate foster care home. We just have to sign and have Dn. Pat notarize when he comes over today. So I feel better.

The girls are huge!

The flu struck down Josh yesterday, although he got it milder than Megan or I. Thankfully, he is better today. At least I assume so--he's at work, so he must be better, right?

Jessica and I took the girls to Target last night....the joys of having our VERY OWN TARGET RIGHT HERE IN ANCHORAGE have not worn off. What a fun store. Of course it was less fun with Megan trying to demolish the store shelves and Marina crying, but still fun. Then we got home, and Marina screamed (SCREAMED) for an hour straight. When David showed up to pick up Jessica, I've never seen her so happy to leave.

So the girls had checkups yesterday. They're huge! Marina weighed in at 12 lbs. 2 oz (in the 95th percentile!) and 23 1/4 inches. So she's gained nearly 4 1/2 pounds and grown three inches in just two months! Megan weighed in at 30 pounds even and is 3 feet tall, on target to be as least as tall as I am, if not taller. Maybe by the time she's old enough, the WNBA will have salaries like the NBA and she can care for us in our old age. A girl can dream, right?

I plan to make a birthday cake for Megan today, so I can decorate it tomorrow and we can eat is Sunday at her party! We are also going to bust into the package that came for the girls from Grammy and Papa Rogers...we won't open any birthday presents, don't worry. :)

Brought to you by MasterCard (I wish)

Today's priceless moment: Megan sticking her head in a plastic bag and saying, "I'm hiding Mommy!"

Mommy then having a heart attack.

The eternal flu bug

Well, the flu struck again Monday night--felling me this time, instead of Megan. I'm telling you, you haven't lived until you've puked in your two year old's potty chair for lack of anything else handy. Those are the special moments nobody warns you about when you tell them you want to have kids. Thankfully, it was only a 24 hour bug, and I am much better. However, Megan is sick again with a different bug, poor girl. It may save her from shots tomorrow though, as she was scheduled to get her two year old immunizations. Poor Marina will have no such luck.

Today is a short post, since my to-do list is twice as long now, as I spent yesterday on the couch watching "Lost" and whining to my husband (bless him--your kids are supposed to keep you up all night, not your wife!!). Also a big shout out to my sister Kali, who helped me in a big way with the girls.

Videos of the girls

This is a video of Megan dancing to "Cotton-Eye Joe". I didn't realize I was singing along with the music at the end, so you get a little "Christine accompaniment" to enjoy. At least it wasn't anything too embarrassing, right?




Sweet Marina being a baby. :) I chose this video over the one where she vomits prolifically at the end. As amusing as that was to me, I figured it might violate the blogspot terms of agreement, where they specifically ask you not to post anything offensive. Haha.

BTW, Marina's baptism is going to be November 30th. Dan and Hilary Beck are her Godparents. So we're looking forward to that...wish all of our out-of-town family and friends could be there too! But we'll take lots of pictures.

Monday's musings

Check out the killer Candy Land cake I made at the bakery! A little five year old was having a Candy Land birthday party. Those kids aren't going to sleep for a week. I tell you, the hardest part was keeping my Dad out of the candy.

Marina in her White Sox onesie, courtesy of the Colemans.

Macrina Labrecque stealing Marina's pacifier. This incident ended in Macrina trying to pick Marina's nose, giving her a bloody nose, and Marina screaming while Kari and I hollered at Macrina. I'm sure the girls are going to be great friends in a year or so. Just not today.
In the ball pit at Olivia's birthday party.

Sunday has come and gone. Megan is over the flu (Yippee!!) and Kali and I made a pretty good amount of moolah at the bazaar on Saturday. And as my chiropractor asked today: What the heck is a bazaar? Does anybody know where that word originates? My only thought was a Turkish bazaar, but to be honest, I don't know what that is either. In any case, I sold a ton in jam alone.

Megan continues to amaze Josh and I with her vocabulary. She uses sentences now all the time. Example: She is downstairs telling her Dad (repeatedly, I might add) "I want to watch Veggie Tales!" What is that, six words? The child is brilliant. Her second birthday is a week from today, which completely blows my mind. Two years ago, I had no children. At least no children who made noise (haha). How things change! She has a checkup on Thursday, and I am curious to see how tall she is now. Josh read somewhere that a person's height is double what they are at age two, so we plan to write it down and see if that is true. Oh, and her other favorite sentence: "I'd like a treat!" Gotta love Halloween candy. Of course, her Dad and I got sweet tooth attacks while she was taking a nap (and we were bowling on the Wii!), and her candy supply is depleted because of this. Benefits of being the parents!

Well, Marina just woke from a sound sleep when she spit her pacifier out, and would now like to eat dinner. I'm not sure about my ability to nurse and type at the same time, so I will sign off for now.

A new blog

At the urgings of Diana Truelson, I have started a blog so that our far-away family members and friends can keep up with our girls. If you live close to us, and just don't get enough of the Rogers family, feel free to log on to listen to me rant. :) I will make this available to my husband also. We'll see if he feels like posting.

So what's new today? Megan is getting over the stomach flu, which began in glory at Fred Meyer last night, where she puked twice. When I returned twenty minutes later to finish my shopping (after taking the puky girl home, where she puked again), they were just cleaning it up. GROSS!! We are slightly sleep deprived after being up with her all night. When she woke up this morning, she fussed because she had thrown up in her new big girl bed (That's right!! A big girl bed!) Marina is currently sleeping peacefully in Luke's hand-me-down baby swing, which Megan took the liberty of smearing with liberal amounts of diaper rash cream the other day.

Our friends the Meads had a baby girl two days ago (Catherine Rose), which makes the fifth baby girl born in our vicinity in the last three months, Marina being #2. (The others are Susannah Phelps, Gabriella Ouzinidies (my apologies for misspelling that, but I know it's wrong), and Adalaina Elwell). My prediction is that all my friends having babies in the spring will have boys (Are you reading this Matthew & Anastasia??), because there are five babies due in the spring, and I know for sure already that one is a boy. In any case, I am taking the Meads dinner tonight, so I suppose I should get my act together and start cooking. Apparently I also need to change a diaper. May God grant that Megan potty trains soon.