The world literally stopped, at His birth . . .

During our class on Iconology/Iconography this evening, Fr. Peter briefly mentioned James' (the brother of our Lord) firsthand account of Jesus' birth.

Of course, I knew there were writings from the early church out there - that had not made it into the church canon, but my interest was pique enough that I took the time to look it up online when I got home. I love how the other writings of the saints complement what I've always known from Scripture. And, I can't believe how much I've been missing all these years:

Infancy Gospel of James

~ Mrs. Arcfide

On Contentment

"You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You."

~ St. Augustine

She's Climbing!

So this morning, Saraqael climbed this flight of stairs on her own! She surprised both Aaron and I as we were getting ready for the day... I suppose she didn't want to remain downstairs with Mikaela.

I got this video later in the day, to see if she could repeat the same feat. And she did.
Now, to just teach her how to come safely back down... preferably without tumbling!


  

~ Mrs. Arcfide

Happy Birthday, Little Princess

I can hardly believe she's 4!

The cold, coupled with her fear 

that her balloons would fly away 

made for a more challenging 

photo-shoot.

But she survived. :)

~ Mrs. Arcfide

Mikaela writes cursive

As parents, we experience many moments in life with our children that pleasantly surprise, or impress us.

This was one of those. Our almost-4 year old picked up a marker, and copied her daddy's handwriting.

  See? Of course, it's a little shaky, but I thought it was a good start. :-)

~ Mrs. Arcfide

Child 2

Something about her little determination to keep up her older sister, impresses me.

I see it in her eyes, her body language, and all over her face when she thinks no one is watching.

Perhaps I was too busy doing school, when Mikaela was at that age, to notice. (Yes - those 90 credits I earned between 2009-2011 has a tendency to make *her* newborn days a blur). But, I still can remember enough to realize that Porky is a tad more advanced than Mikaela was, at her age.

Maybe it's because I have time to take her out to see the world a lot more . . . you know, external stimuli, etc. or maybe it's because she just wants to do whatever Mikaela can do. Who knows.

This is Saraqael. Isn't she adorable?!

We call her Porky. Because, well . . . she has Porky thighs.

I mean, lookit. There's no way around it. Those thighs are just . . . porky.

 This is Porky sitting up, soon after she turned 5 months.

And here, she's standing - at 6 months.

We love you, baby. We're so blessed to have you in our lives.

I'm confident you'll be walking before Mikaela did - you have 5 more months to practice beating her. No pressure!

~ Mrs. Arcfide

On Discipline

I grew up in a strict Christian home, where my father often reminded us that he would not hesitate to discipline (ie, spank, cane, smack, etc.) all of his children when the occasion called for it, regardless of our age. . . just because he sincerely believed it was his prerogative to do so, as a parent.

I remember feeling incredibly sad and humiliated about it (I was 20 years old), and even if I had not been "spanked" since I was an early teen, his threats of discipline always caused me to shrivel up, a little, inside. At that time, I was not able to articulate my feelings very well . . . I just knew that I was always the brunt of his displeasure, and that perhaps, there might be a better way to handle discipline.

Fast forward eight years, and I'm now a parent myself, of two precious little girls. I must confess that I have disciplined Mikaela many times, for all the wrong reasons. My frame of reference was the way *my* parents raised me, even though I was keenly aware that I was perpetuating a cycle I did not want to follow.

This is the best resource I have read, to date, on discipline:
Thy Rod and Thy Staff They Comfort Me

Lord, have mercy on us all!

~ Mrs. Arcfide

Baby Bumble Bee

Mikaela recently had a dance recital with OSA, and I'm so glad I attempted to get a few pictures of her right after her dress rehearsal, because it was pouring rain the day of her recital!

She is going through a phase now where she will not look directly at the camera, and when she does, she dramatically distorts her features :-P, so . . .  I'm just glad these pictures came out the way they did.

 

And here's a glimpse of her dance! Guess who got distracted by stage lights and props? The girl on the far right, of course!

Our 2nd Angel

Saraqael Zhi Yi Hsu

A.k.a "Kelly"

Welcomed with love by aaron, johanna, & mikaela

March 21st, 2013 at 5:55 am

8 pounds ~ 19.75  inches

We give thanks to God for her safe and healthy birth at home! 

~ Mrs. Arcfide

Ready

I'm ready.

I think we all are.

Today, March 13th, is the "big day" (aka Due Date) that's been both consciously and unconsciously on our minds since last summer, when we found out we were expecting yet another precious little angel again!

I wasn't as intentional about documenting "baby belly" pictures for my first pregnancy with Mikaela, much to my dismay later when I wanted to scrapbook pictures for her albums.

For Saraqael, thanks to a camera phone, I was able to capture more self-portraits of my growing belly. I also lucked out when I won an online fundraising auction by the Indiana Midwifery Task Force for a maternity shoot by a professional photographer, for a mere $30! I can't think of a better way to support a great cause, *and* have awesome pictures to remember this time of our lives by! :-) 

Enjoy these pictures from the rest of our photoshoot. Many thanks to Beth Droste-Glowinski from Kima Life Photography for her donation to the IMT auction, and great work with us!


~ Mrs. Arcfide

Oh Yeaah. Hi Again.

    The last two months have been pretty busy for us [think 2 cross-country road trips & 1 conference . . . or 7,500 highway miles] - I'm only just now kicking up my legs, savoring this quiet moment at home, and trying to let me be. :-D

    I figured now's as good a time as any to get around to putting a couple important updates on here. (I know, this is lame!)

#1) *Drumrolls*. Yep, one my favorite persons - my MIL - got married!! Aaron and I got a new father, and three new younger brothers out of this deal. And Mikaela, too, got her Poppy, and new Uncle(s) Kyle, 'Ravis (Travis), and  Evan. She has been having a blast - the more people to climb on, the merrier!

#2) We're expecting another baby girl in 8 (yes, EIGHT) more weeks!! How did the time fly by so fast? Oh yeah, we have a three year old distraction this time around - of course. ;-)

#3) And thanks to my wonderful husband and in-laws, I'm now the proud owner of a super cool Samsung Galaxy SIII (see picture #2). Best Christmas gift ever!! Although . . . I'm not sure if they're already regretting this gift, since I now have the power to harass them with texts, and adorable pictures of Mikaela all day. ;-)

I promise not to harass you guys, but just in case you wanna be harassed . . .  you can always  *choose* to follow me here on instagram!
  
~ Mrs. Arcfide

She talks.

I finally got around to putting some batteries into Mikaela's new kitchen set.

Here she is, jabbering away into her now "working" phone. 

She talks. And talks. Non-stop.

PS: Be sure to check out some new videos I added to my You tube channel - including the ones of Mikaela and her adorable friends doing Gymnastics and Dance.

~ Mrs. Arcfide

Almost 3

She's almost 3! I hope you guys enjoy the proofs from her portrait session this afternoon. ♥  

~ Mrs. Arcfide

Mikaela Sings!

A Birthday-Mother's Day

It's a pretty sweet Mother's Day, when

your two year old wishes you, 

"Happy Birthday-Mother's Day!!"

Never mind that my birthday's actually in September. ;-)

Le Sigh

I think of my family. Of course I do.

Especially days like today, on Mother's Day . . . when I wish I could pick up the phone, and call my mom just to hear the sound of her voice again.

I try to remember the good moments (and we had *many*) - those happy, carefree days when my siblings and I rode our bikes for hours, roller-bladed, sang together, went on road trips, and cracked each other up.

But there are other moments. Those moments laced with harsh and almost oppressive expectations, too heavy to bear. My health broke. The last year in my father's house, the dawning realization in my heart, the stress and helplessness I felt - it was all like a bad dream. I needed to get away. So get away I did.
 
On days like today, I pull up a few of my favorite links. I read again the writings of strangers, who seem like friends to me, mostly because they've walked this road before me. These "friends" took all my messy emotions, combed the dark corners of my heart, and wove into words what I would have never brought myself to say.

They know me.

They've walked my journey.

And they've learned to move on.

So now you know. Where I've come from, and where I hope to be. :)

PS: Be sure to read all 7 posts in rebuilding after deconstruction - you'll be glad you did.
 
~ Mrs. Arcfide

To every thing there is a season

Next to getting married and having our baby, graduating again this year was one the of happiest and proudest moments of my life.

I am done with classes. I truly am.

I was fortunate enough to finish among the Top 3 of my graduating class.

In 2003, when I first graduated high school, going to college - let alone graduating from college - was an untenable idea. Nine years later, I have worked full-time, put myself through late-night classes, had an amazing man ask me to marry him, moved half-way around the world, had a beautiful baby, and completed over 100 credits and two Associates degrees in 2.5 years.

My life has been one big, happy roller-coaster ride that I would not exchange for the world. I am so thankful to God, for His blessings, and to my husband, our extended family, and all our friends, for their continuous words of encouragement and support.

They were the ones who poured fuel over my fire on days when I felt like I was burning out.
I could not have done it without them.

I am thankful, too, for this little munchkin, who patiently bore with her parents all 2.5 years of her little lifetime they were in school. She was a constant reminder of the more important things in life outside of books - stuff like food, baths, laughter, dirty diapers, and play-dates.

She looks so deceptively calm and composed in this picture. ;)

 

Me walking across the stage.

Oompa and Ooma - the BEST grandparents a girl could ask for.

With My Man ♥ I *love* him so much!!!

The daughter who did not want to take pictures.

My touch of pizazz to the Pomp and Circumstance.

I will always look back on this chapter of my life without regrets, knowing I did my best for myself, for my family. Knowing I pleased my husband, and made him proud. All that sleep-deprivation was so worth it, in the end!

"So, then, to every man his chance – to every man, regardless of his birth, his shining, golden opportunity…" - Thomas Wolfe.

Thank you, Ivy Tech!

~ Mrs. Arcfide

The Highlight of Mikaela's Week . . .

A Day to Remember . . .

Two Facebook updates today said it all:

Status #1) Done with the last exam of my very last class. No more syllabuses - surreal!! :)

and #2)  So, while I was at school taking my Finals this morning, Mikaela woke up, took off her diaper, and got dressed - all by herself! It was all good until she climbed on our bed, and peed on her sleeping Daddy. Yeeeaah. ;)

So today has been a good day, filled with cramming, testing, meetings, and other domestic sundries like washing sheets, and hosting - since a surprise visitor joined us for dinner.

I'm dog-tired, but grateful for new mercies every morning. Especially grateful to close another chapter of my life.

Hope y'all are doing well! 

~ Mrs. Arcfide

Like it?

 Here's a recent picture that one of my photographer-friends 

took of me, while we were in Chicago!

Elizabeth is SO talented - she can make anyone,
and anything look good, trust me!

More about that trip, to come . . .

~ Mrs. Arcfide