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!

FOR SALE: 220 Orchard St., Front Royal, VA

JMJ

 We finally have our house on the market!  I can hardly believe it is finally for sale, but so much has happened to get us here that I guess it shouldn't surprise me.



As usual, I've been terrible about posting to this blog!  My apologies to those of you who check up on us once in awhile on here because I haven't updated in ages.  We are just about to have baby #6, we moved in Aug., we spent the whole summer and most of the fall and a lot of money getting the house fixed-up.  Craig's been busy with Spiering Photography (which is a huge blessing!).  Joseph started going to REAL school, Aine and Henry are learning to read.  There has hardly been a moment to enjoy life; and yet . . .

We DO enjoy life.  We've enjoyed having more space at this house.  We've spent time with friends and family.  We've enjoyed feast days and birthdays--Cecily turned 4 a few weeks ago!!!!  The kids have gotten into playing cards, drawing pictures, and writing their own stories.  Life is full to brimming.



Now, without further ado, here is the official like to the listing of our house.

http://220orchardstreet.utour.me/



Please check it out and spread the word!  It is a wonderful family home very near Historical Main St., Front Royal.  It is near to the heart of the town and the Heart of Jesus--just a little over a block from St. John the Baptist Catholic Church.  It was faster for us to walk to mass, even in inclement weather, than to buckle everyone in and find parking.  What a blessing it was to walk to holy hours or daily Mass.

Blessed feast of St. Elizabeth of Hungary!  She is a wonderful patron to have for our baby who will arrive very soon.

                               

Summer soccer

JMJ

And some photos from the kids playing soccer this summer.  Which child do you think the coach thought was a soccer all-star in the making?  Not the one you're thinking . . .

Nope not this one either.  

Coach thinks Aine is a born soccer player!  She is small, coordinated (for being 5), and fast.  

                         

 


She would have chosen soccer practice over ballet class! 

                         

They all had a blast, even the wee ones.

                        

 

Cecily's 1st day of school

JMJ

I guess this seems like Cecily's blog!  Ha, ha!  It just works out that these are the photos I have and this is the time I have to post them.  Cecily began Atrium with her three older siblings this Fall.  She was so very excited.  It is a very special time for her, getting to do her own works on her own schedule.  

God bless!

All Saints Day~Cecily 3 years old

I just posted the photos from Cecily's 1st birthday, so I should get these posted to see how much they all have grown:

Advent and St. Andrew

JMJ

Blessed feast of  St.Andrew to you!  Please join me in saying the St. Andrew's Christmas Novena.

Say it 15 times each day until Christmas to help prepare our hearts for the coming of the Christ Child.

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment In which the Son of God was born Of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, [here mention your request] through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen.

Here is a bit about this humble saint, who always pointed toward Christ rather than himself:  
St. Andrew was a native of Bethsaida in Galilee, a fisherman by trade, and a former disciple of John the Baptist. He was the one who introduced his brother Peter to Jesus, saying, "We have found the Messiah." Overshadowed henceforth by his brother, Andrew nevertheless appears again in the Gospels as introducing souls to Christ. After Pentecost, Andrew took up the apostolate on a much wider scale, and is said to have been martyred at Patras in southern Greece on a cross which was in the form of an "X". This type of cross has long been known as "St. Andrew's cross."
from http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2013-11-30

image from http://newtheologicalmovement.blogspot.com/2010/11/st-andrew-apostle-of-cross-and-father.html

With this great saint, Holy Mother Church begins the new year and the season of Advent.  I'm sorry I'm not doing much of my own writing for this post, but this mama is tired, and others have said it so well already!  Jodi posted an excerpt from fisheaters.com at our homeschool co-op blog and I thought it was certainly worth sharing--as I watch our neighbors put up their Christmas lights and outdoor decorations.  :)  This time of year is fraught with opportunities to share the faith!  We don't have to be a scrooge about Christmas before it happens.  We should still have joy, but it is more the anticipation of the joy, rather than the celebration and experience of it.

Catholic apologist Jacob Michael wrote something very interesting about how secular America sees "Christmas" as beginning after Thanksgiving and ending on 25 December, and then makes "New Years Resolutions" at the beginning of the secular year:

...what Christians do (or should be doing!) during Advent and leading up to Christmas is a foreshadowing of what they will do during the days of their lives that lead up to the Second Coming; what non-Christians refuse to do during Advent, and put off until after Christmas, is precisely a foreshadowing of what they will experience at the Second Coming.

We Christians are to prepare for the Coming of Christ before He actually comes -- and that Coming is symbolized and recalled at Christmas. Non-Christians miss this season of preparation, and then scramble for six days after the 25th to make their resolutions. By then, however, it's too late -- Christmas has come and gone, Our Lord has already made His visitation to the earth, and He has found them unprepared. This is precisely what will take place at the Second Coming, when those who have put off for their entire lives the necessary preparations will suddenly be scrambling to put their affairs in order. Unfortunately, by then it will have been too late, and there will be no time for repentance. The Second Coming will be less forgiving than the Incarnation. There will be no four-week warning period before the Second Coming, like we get during Advent. There will be no six-day period of grace after the Second Coming during which to make resolutions and self-examination, like the secular world does from Dec. 26 until Jan.1.  from http://www.fisheaters.com/customsadvent1.html

Let's not fall into that mentality, shall we?  Let us, together, prepare our hearts and homes for God to come and be with us.  Let's also tell our neighbors why we don't have our decorations up.  They might be looking for just that meaning to be put back into their lives.  Shall we offer them the Christ Child?  What could be a better Christmas gift?!

And last but certainly not least, someone reminded me that today is nine days before the feast of the Immaculate Conception which means there is just enough time to say a novena to prepare for the feast day!  Here is a seemingly wonderful (I just signed-up) site that will send the novena prayers to you everyday, which is very helpful if you are like me and end up printing a ga-zillion-and-two copies, er or maybe nine, because I misplace it each day and don't want to take the time to look for it because if I don't say the novena right then, it's not going to happen!  Anyway, my bad habits aside, here's the link: http://www.praymorenovenas.com/immaculate-conception-novena/#ixzz2m9V9wS00

A blessed Advent to you all!  He is coming!  Prepare the way of the Lord!