The blog has gotten pretty “baby heavy” since M-Cat was born, so you may be wondering what the boys have been up to these last few weeks.

Well don’t you worry — they are never ones to sit idle, or not be entertained by a horde of relatives. They’ve gone to parades, playgrounds, the zoo (twice!), an amusement park, a fireworks show, a military cemetery (on the Fourth) — you name it.

Last Sunday, Dear Husband took the boys and our dear Father S to a major league baseball game; it was X-Man’s first time! X sat silently in his seat for nine innings (politely clapping at appropriate times) next to Father, who kept score and ate peanuts. Love it!

And yesterday, on my last day of rest, Auntie Krump took the boys to a nearby fort, which they loved. Soldiers, muskets and historical re-enactments rate pretty high in their book, even though they’re still a little too young to enlist …

Here’s a photo of big brother X, who has the magic touch. He patted M-Cat back to sleep on this morning, without us even asking him to. As you can see he is quite pleased with himself! =)

Since we’ve gotten into the business of bringing up babies, I’ve often wished that I was the kind of woman who recovered quickly from birth — not just for my sake, but for the baby’s. I envy those hardy women who can give birth, go home the same day and have their baby baptized within the week.

However our babies have made their exit, I am decidedly not one of those women. So, we have the precarious job of safeguarding our pagan babies until they can be initiated as Christians.

I’m always a little torn about baptism, as my instinct is to get it done sooner than later — even before we leave the hospital! By I do like making the event a bit of a public occasion, at church, with the proper, full ceremony and whatever sort of celebration we can throw together afterward.

The boys’ baptismal days were so very special. Boo Boo was fully immersed on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and X-Man was welcomed into the Church on his patronal feast; both were when they were about six weeks old.

I keep looking at the calendar, trying to find a good date, but every Sunday during ordinary time is pretty, well, ordinary! =P We are trying to nail down the Sunday that is exactly a month after M-Cat was born, so at least I’ll be able to remember it, even though it won’t have great religious significance to us otherwise.

Until then, we’ll just have to trust in God’s mercy, and that — being an omniscient, divine person — he’ll know she is just waiting to be consecrated to him. It’s my body that is holding it up! =P

Sometimes I’ve heard people say that they can’t imagine having more children because they are afraid they won’t have enough love for them, or don’t want to divide the love they share with their current kids.

We have found the opposite to be true in the last few weeks, as we’ve added M-Cat to the family.

Not only are we overflowing with love of her, but we are loving each other more, too.

I love Dear Husband more as I see the tenderness with which he handles his little daughter, calling her his “princess.”

I love Boo Boo more as he assumes his position as leader of his siblings, and proudly takes on the responsibility of guarding and guiding them.

I love X-Man more as he matures into a little boy — no longer the baby! — and loves his sister so completely and gently as the new baby in the family.

As I look at M-Cat and revel in the gift that she is, I am overwhelmed by the goodness of God and the love he has shown to her and to us, simply by creating us all and placing us in this family.

Love begets love; love does not take away love. The more children to love in this family, the more love there is to go around.

It’s been another quiet week at our house. Dear Husband took the week off, so we’ve been enjoying the simple pleasure of just being together. Sadly, it’s quite novel for us to be in the same car, or sitting in our living room, with nothing to do but just enjoy each other. We will miss him as he returns to work this week!

M-Cat is two weeks now, and is probably close to 9 pounds. Her fluttery little eyelashes are growing (just like X-Man’s did) and her mirky blue eyes are deepening. She has retained her impressive head of black hair, too; her mullet is growing steadily!

We’ve had to bring her to the doctor’s to check her jaundice repeatedly (her poor little heels have been poked WAY too many times!), and it seems to have flushed out of her system now. She is much more alert, with eyes wide open, and is awake for longer periods of time — we are enjoying getting acquainted with her better.

I was feeling remarkably well after two weeks, and am almost off of painkillers. After my post-op check with my OB-GYN I resumed some physical activity, and was chastened by my body’s counter-reaction this weekend. Back to the bed and the recliner for me … but at least I’m halfway through “The Two Towers” now!

Six months ago, I blogged about how our third child would be the “tie-breaker” between our distinctly opposite boys.

Boo Boo's first bath

I wrote at the time: Will #3 be of large Germanic build, like Boo Boo — Mr. Weissinger? (Taking after my paternal grandmother’s family.) Or, will #3 be built like another petite Italian like Mr. Serge (Dear Husband’s maternal grandfather’s family), as we like to call X-Man.

Huge or tiny? Blue eyes or brown? Brown hair or blond? Extroverted or introverted? Independent or attached? Loud or quiet?

M-Cat's first bath

At this point, I would have to say that she is falling in Boo Boo’s camp, so to speak. Her sheer size at birth, her voracious appetite, her black hair, her incredible physical dependency on me all remind me of her oldest brother. Looking down on her black fuzzy head, busily nursing day and night, gives me deja-vu sometimes. She has surpassed her birth weight in a week (it usually takes babies two weeks to get to that point); the fat creases in her forearms and wrists have already merited her the nickname “Fat Cat.” She is quite loud, with many yelps, snorts and grunts. She screams when she is left alone for even a second, and is upset if she is not in contact with someone at all times. I’d easily say some part of me is touching her 24/7.

But no matter how she resembles one sibling or another, she will be who she will be.

We have been so blessed to have so many of our family members help out since M-Cat was born. My sister, my mom, my aunt and my sister-in-law all played invaluable roles, filling in all the gaps from morning light to bedtime, taking care of the boys while I rested and Dear Husband went to work all week long. Thank you, ladies; we love you!

It’s been quite a luxury for me to be able to stay on the couch, recliner or in bed for the majority of the day and indulge in morning AND afternoon naps some days. It’s given me a chance to see the boys, spend tons of quality time getting to know and enjoy M-Cat, and almost finish “The Fellowship of the Ring.”

Auntie Kim even stayed over two nights while Dear Husband had to go out of town for 24-hours on a business trip — litigating at his first trial ever!

None of this could have been done without many helping hands.

As I’ve been relieved to discover this week, this isn’t “Lord of the Flies.” Nothing bad happened when we brought home a new baby. Why was I so worried about the boys’ reactions, and a disruption of what peace may have existed at our home?

Though they can be a little crazy and loud sometimes, I’ve realized my boys are civilized people. They are sinful, of course, as we all are, but they have inherent goodness in their souls, and their hearts are pure enough to love well.

I have been astounded by the outpouring of love from both of the boys toward their little sister. They ask to see, hold, kiss and touch her all day. They are endlessly curious about where she is, and what she is doing.

And I’ve been shocked by the things that have been coming out of Boo Boo’s mouth. “Aren’t babies so sweet?” he asked me the other day. He told me another time, “Look how happy she is just to be with her Mama. She loves you!” And commenting, “Isn’t she beautiful?” And declaring, “I love M-Cat!” He’s also been overheard saying, “We’ve been wishing for a baby for so long, and now we have her!” Totally unsolicited. I don’t think we could have had him professionally brain-washed this well!

One of my prayer requests to friends before going into the hospital was that the boys would transition well, we’d all de-stress, and peace would reign in our home. This week has shown me, yet again, how God answers our prayers, and takes care of even the littlest of his believers.

Of course, Miss M-Cat is experiencing many things for the first time. Here are a few highlights from last week…

Her first of many “sink baths” (I’m not kneeling down much these days with my incision healing, so the bathtub is not an option!):

Her first time being “slung” in a sling (and she konked out almost immediately. Yay!):

Our first time being driven anywhere by Auntie Kim! Eek! (I can’t drive for a few weeks, and she only took us a few blocks. She did fine!):

Her first time joining in the family tradition of hanging out at our neighborhood coffeeshop/playhouse (she slept most of the time and I got to have a decaf banana caramel frappe! Yum!):