Elizabeth Perpetua

JMJ

We are proud to announce the birth of our daughter 

Elizabeth Perpetua

Born July 13, 2016 at 2:30 am

8 lb. 12 oz.

21.25 in long

Thank you all for your prayers as we awaited her arrival.  Prayers are always answered and she was worth the wait!  After waiting so long to make her entrance, she decide she wasn't messing around anymore--only four hours of labor and she was here!  

Thanks, also, to our amazing midwife who came out in the middle of the night (something we thought would NEVER happen with a Spiering baby) after being at a birth the night before.  Two days.  Two babies.  No sleep.  How blessed we are to have such an amazing midwife to be on this wild ride with us!  

     St. Elizabeth of Portugal's feast day was July 8th in the old calendar.  She is the niece of St. Elizabeth of Hungary and was known as the Peacemaker.  Our little one will probably get a nickname like Eliza or Betty, but time will tell what suits her most (we're hoping for Eliza sticks).  We chose Perpetua as a middle name for two reasons: We've tried to name each of our girls after one of the martyrs from the Canon of the Mass.  So, St. Perpetua is one of her patronesses.  We also have a devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help.  Her feast day was June 27th, the day before our due date, so it seemed fitting to dedicate this little girl to Our Lady in this way.   

We are so very grateful for this beautiful little life joining our family.  Deo Gratias!    

Lucinda Therese Andrea

JMJ
Blessed Advent!

We are please to announce the birth of our daughter Lucinda Therese Andrea Spiering.

Born Nov. 30th, 2014 at 6:10 pm.  

7 lb. 14 oz.

21 in. long

perfect

We anxiously await the arrival of all babies, but Lucinda's birth was particularly longed for because her due date was too early.  It seemed that she came weeks late, but when she finally did arrive, she proved to be right on time.  The midwife thinks she was born at just days over 40 weeks gestation.

All our babies have come after their due dates.  Twice in the past the midwife has worked with us to to have the babies on a certain day, because it seemed that the babies would just stay put until we did something!  :)  Cecily in particular seemed to need a push to join us here in the sun--she was 20 days late.  When I was pregnant with Charles, we decided to "try" to have the him closer to the due date.  He was actually born only three DAYS after his due date--not three weeks.  

This time, we knew what we were doing.  We had done it twice before and it had worked.  We set a date, a while after the due date and did what we had done before. . . . no labor.  Not even a few contractions.  We tweaked our approach.  Maybe we didn't have just the right combination of herbs, moods, settling, etc.  Still, no labor.  We waiting a few days and tried yet again.  And again, no labor.  Not even the signs of it starting.  We were all tired and discouraged.  What do we do?  Why hadn't it "worked"?  We just let it go over Thanksgiving.  I enjoyed the holiday with family and friends.  The midwife and I touched base again after a respite.  We both wanted to just let God take control.  We didn't know why our attempts had not worked thus far, but we also knew that the baby was healthy and I was healthy.  Why rush things?  Just because, it seemed that I was past my due date, there didn't seem to be any reason for alarm or drastic measures.  We both felt renewed confidence in Our Lord's Providence.  And do you know what?  Lucinda was born the next day.  What a lesson in patience, trust and humility it was for me.  

Her name is a story in itself.  Craig has wanted a Lucy for years.  I have always NOT wanted a Lucy because I felt it was too popular.  I love St. Lucy, but it always did remind me a little of the Peanuts character.  When we had our first girl, we thought we would try to name all our girls after the female saints in the Roman Canon.  We have Anastasia and Cecilia, so it made sense to have a Lucy.  I still wasn't convinced, but then Craig read an adventure from Don Quiote with a beautiful, virtuous character named Lucinda.  Some translations she is Lucia, but Lucinda was less common and still a variation on Lucy.

She is our first to have two middle names.  St. Therese has been my advocate in Heaven since before I knew her.  She had worked so much good in my life, that I couldn't have another child and not dedicate her to this powerful saint.  I've been reading Maurice and Therese by Patrick Ahern.

http://www.amazon.com/Maurice-Therese-The-Story-Love/dp/0385497407

If you have read Story of a Soul and want more insight, READ THIS BOOK.  Reading her letters to this young seminarian whom God had brought to her as a spiritual brother is inspiring.  But reading them as labor grew closer and closer gave me great courage.  Her explanation of suffering is truly an insight into sanctity.  She is writing to him in her last few months before death and she explains that she longs to go to Heaven, not to escape the suffering, but because she knows she will be free to do all the good she longs to do once she is no long bound to this world.  She even says she will gladly live longer--and not be fully united to her Dear Love, Jesus--if she can suffer more and save souls.  Saving souls is her mission, because it is Christ's mission.  I am no saint, but St. Therese was there helping me through the birth of Lucinda.  I know she will help Lucinda throughout her life.  

Lucinda was born on the feast of St. Andrew.  As the month of November came and went, we watched each saint's day come and go.  We do try to name each child after saint that has a feast day near his or her birthday.  We prayed to each saint on their day.  We told each saint that we wold name the child after him if only he would intercede for us that the child be born on his feast day.  Finally, on St. Andrew's feast, the day we begin the Christmas Novena, our baby girl is born.  So, she has three given names: Lucinda Therese Andrea.  

Her siblings dote on her, obviously.  Even this little guy loves kissing on her and showing her where her eyes, ears, and nose are--even though we could not catch him doing it in a photo.  

Enough of me talking and on to what you all really want to see: pictures of our dear little Lucinda.

God has given our family a great blessing.  For each member of our family and all the good He has granted us,

DEO GRATIAS!

St. Lucy,   Pray for us!

St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face,  Pray for us!

St. Andrew,  Pray for us!

Charles Thomas, 6 mo. old

JMJ

Of course it has been six months since I've posted!  It wouldn't really be true to character for me if I posted more often than that, right?

Welcome Charles Thomas

JMJ

Introducing Charles Thomas Spiering.  Born February 19th at 6:26 pm.  8 lb. 12 oz.  All is well and we are so blessed to have him!  Our biggest concern is we won't be able to tell his baby pictures apart form the other children's because he looks just like them!  At least we won't lose him in a crowd of strangers, just his brothers and sisters.

Our midwife, Tierney Dovan of Marshall Midwifery is fabulous!  It is her hot-pink sleeve you see holding Charles out for all his older siblings to see for the first time.  

JMJ

Both my girls have fall/winter birthdays, so we have celebrated them pretty recently.  I thought it would be fun to post photos on them on their birthdays.  It is something they have done in their Atrium class and I think it is a beautiful way to celebrate their growth.  

I'll start with Cecily who turned two-years-old on All Saints Day:

Birthday

1 year old

2 year old

She has become quite the little lady and MUST be carrying around, not one, but TWO baby dolls, AND their covers, which are homemade dolls blankets my mother made for her.  She has just caught onto potty training and I think she is over the hump.  She went on the potty all day today, without me having to sit her down every 10 minutes.  She impressed the heck out of Craig and I by coming to tell us she needed to go!  She seems so much older, just by being a "big girl" and using the potty.  This may be the first time I don't have any children in diapers when the new baby is born.  I can't imagine not changing diapers . . . it's almost a part of me.  :)  Almost.  But like my mom always says:  when you stop changing diapers, you really don't notice it, but you sure don't miss it!  I am really hoping that I get a month or two of very few diaper changes before the onslaught of a newborn, but I'm not going to hold my breath.  

Where did Jan., Feb., and March go?

JMJ

I can't believe I have more pictures than I am able to post.  The days slip by and I think I will have more time to post tomorrow; then the days turn into weeks, then months. 

This was a nice day in March, around the time of the boys birthdays. 

The boys birthdays were hard because it was Lent and everyone was sick.  Actually, I think we were sick most of February, too.  We were well for a little bit, and now a few of us have colds again.  It could be worse, but I will certainly rejoice when the warm weather is here to stay and we are all well in body (an hopefully mind and spirit as well!). 

We have slowly moved to a Gluten free diet because of some of the problems Henry has been having.  He stopped sleep through the night a month or so before Cecily was born.  I don't mean that he gets up once or twice.  I mean that Craig was getting up with him between 15 and 20 times a night.  He doesn't want to  sleep with us, nor have one of us lie down with him.  We really have tried everything.  So I started cutting out wheat.  But the more I read, the more I realized that wasn't enough.  Now, we are doing a modified GAPS diet.  I will have to write more about it later, but it certainly has been a good Lenten trial.