This and that

Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of losing my sweet Brendan boy.  This time last year was just so so painful.  I loved that baby boy so much, and I always will.  We stopped by to see baby brother on Wednesday-

I took Julia and Tucker to have well-child checkups to get ready for summer camp.  They did great.  Julia is still super tall- 90-97%- and Tucker is in the 75-90% for height, which surprised us.  We thought he was smaller.  He seems small to us.  :)

 I had an eye doctor's appointment on Thursday and wondered what to do with the children (really just Tucker).  :)  I brought them books and they sat quietly alone in the waiting room for an hour.  I was so proud. 

Soccer-

I took Marc at choir practice and Daddy took the three littles to soccer.   Julia kept Charlie busy. 

Teamwork!

These three play together all day everyday.

Marc bought Jiffy Pop the other night and blew their minds!  They loved seeing the bag get bigger and bigger.  

This week

This week was busy as usual.  We bought a new car for Mommy on Monday- I love it!  We had our last mothers-day-out day for the little boys on Tuesday.  I took the opportunity to take the older children to the art museum- here's Marc with St. Mark-

On Wednesday Marc had his last Latin tutoring, Julia had her last horseback riding lesson for the school year, and I took the older two to "homeschool hangout" at the library where they learned all about bees and beekeeping.  They really enjoyed it and have been talking about bees ever since.  Charlie loved having some time to play on the computers while the big kids were gone.

It was during our long day in the car on Wednesday that I decided I did need a DVD player in my new car.  :)  We had it installed Thursday.  The little children are in the car so much waiting for the big children, and it helps so much to have the dvd player when waiting gets too long.

Mommy I'm no trouble.  :)

Marc had a well-child check up at the doctor on Thursday- I love how he carries Charlie around when we are out and about.  Having an older child when you have little children is AWESOME.

In that same vein- Tucker has wanted a "propeller hat" for months- so far we haven't gotten him one, but big brother made him one out of tinker toys and he LOVES it.  :)

On Friday we met up with some friends to do out annual May trip to the shrine in Hanceville to do a May Crowning and visit Nathan Michael.  Right when we pulled up Julia made a bee-line for the horses.

Then we all walked down to the grotto to lay flowers and sing songs and pray-

Dr. Chris brought his mandolin- such a treat!

Then we walked through the castle and came to visit the nativity scene-

Then it was off to have a picnic-

And we said hello to our sweet baby Nathan Michael-

Last Sunday between Sunday school and church I found that Julia had taken Charliebear to see Brendan Patrick-

 She's just the sweetest girl with the sweetest heart-

She loves to play with her brothers-

ANYWAY- after we left the picnic we drove to the splash pad for a day of water fun. They had a blast-

And that's the week. :)

A day for Brendan

Tuesday morning we had a mass and internment service for Brendan Patrick.  It was beautiful.  He was in a tiny urn on this table- between the red roses and the little bunny we bought him in Ireland.  

 
Father offered a beautiful and holy mass in the chapel for sweet Brendan.

Marc read the readings-

 

After the Mass, Father offered special prayers for the baby- they were so beautiful.

Then we processed from the chapel, through the sanctuary and out to the columbarium.

Marky was holding the holy water-

Here's the thing about all of this- it's hard.   Grief is hard.  However I keep telling people- you have to walk right through it.  I don't want to "not think about it" or try to get around it.  I want to face it head on, grieve, and come out the other side.  When I walked in the chapel yesterday I fell apart.  I literally felt like I couldn't possibly sit through the funeral of a second son.  Yet I did.  God gives us what we need when we need it.  And I know the prayers of so many sustained me.  And I cried through the entire ceremony, but then I felt SO MUCH BETTER.  I felt like a weight was lifted.  There is healing in the sacraments.  There is healing in having the Church acknowledge your baby- say your baby's name- and commend your baby's soul to God.

During the service Father said, "this baby was so small, so so tiny- yet his SOUL WAS BIG.  His soul is just as big and just as important to God as our souls.  He is loved eternally by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit."  This is our faith.  This is how we celebrate the sanctity of life.  Fittingly one of my friends gave Charlie a little elephant that looks like Horton from Horton hears a Who.  And of course the theme of that story is "A person is a person no matter how small."  Amen and amen.

Therefore Marc and I have a deep abiding joy in the midst of our sorrow.  As Father said, "Brendan missed the earthly journey- but he has arrived at the eternal destination."  We know we will see him again- we know he is enjoying the peace and joy of heaven.  Thank you, thank you a million times for the prayers.  I am telling you they help.  People think there is nothing they can do to help you in grief, but you CAN!  These cards, flowers, meals- they HELP.   I just can't thank you all enough.