I'm 8 weeks pregnant today (Yay!) and like my other 4 pregnancies the yucky fun has begun (Boo!), but this too shall pass and each day is one day closer to feeling better....eventually!  So my blog posts may not be updated as much as I would like due to being in "survival mode" these next several weeks.

I added a new Free Baby Ticker on the top right side margin >>>>>>>>  that tracks Smith Baby #5's growth and progress until his/her due date on August 3, 2013!  So cool and exciting!  


Today I did get enough energy to paint my Cupcake's handprints on our Christmas tree skirt that we have been doing since Christmas 2008.  I originally posted about our "Handy tree skirt" HERE.  Here are a few pictures from this annual Christmas tradition:

Our family can't wait to share these and other Christmas traditions with our new baby next year!

Today, December 13th, is St. Lucy feast day. Lucy's name means "light", with the same root as "lucid" which means "clear, radiant, understandable." If you do not know about this young, beautiful saint you can read more about her here.

My oldest daughter especially loves this feast day because it is a Swedish tradition that the oldest daughter in the family wears a white dress with a red sash (red symbolizes martyrdom) and she wears a St. Lucy crown with candles on it.  The daughter serves sweet rolls to family members. 

If I wasn't fighting all day sickness because of my pregnancy ( I made the big announcement yesterday on my blog post HERE) I might have been better prepared for this day by actually having sweet rolls ready today. :)  But, then again the day is not over yet so maybe I'll get some energy to bake some rolls :)

Like last year, our family will pile into our van tonight and look at all the Christmas lights (since it is the feast of lights).  I got this great idea from Jen at her blog post HERE. 

Lacy at Catholic Icing has a beautiful post with ideas and resources to celebrate St. Lucy's feast day so be sure to check out her wonderful blog.

If you are not familiar with this image and the story surrounding its origin, I encourage you to read here, where it explains how the Mother of God first appeared to a poor farmer named Juan Diego on December 9, 1531 in Mexico. (If you click on the links above, they will take you to a summary for younger children.  I am sharing this link to share with my own children, but it also does a nice job of summarizing Juan Diego's life changing experience in a simple and short way.) 

The image above was what appeared on Juan Diego's tilma when the bouquet of roses cascaded down from Juan Diego's cloak as he was showing others who were skeptical about his story.

Today's date...12.12.2012...is neat as we celebrate our Mother so I thought I would take a picture of my children on 12.12.12 at 12:12 PM (I even tried to take the picture at 12 seconds after 12:12 PM :) ).  So here they are as they hold a sign and point to the 12:12 time on the oven clock :)


With so many amazing things about this day and so much to celebrate, I think it's time to announce something that our family is excited about....But, before I do here's a little hint about our announcement as it relates to the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe!

Did you know that in the article The Amazing Truth of Our Lady of Guadalupe "the Image of Our Lady is actually an Aztec Pictograph which was read and understood quickly by the Aztec Indians?"
The #6 fact about the image states that Mary, Our Mother, wears "THE BLACK BELT - She was with child for she wore the Aztec Maternity Belt."

So the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe shows our Blessed Mother pregnant with our Savior, Jesus.

So with this little known fact I thought today would be a great day to announce that I too am pregnant with a new little life in my womb!!!! Yep, A Slice of Smith Life, is growing and we are so excited for August 2013 to be here!   My children are super excited to meet their new brother/sister and this is the shirt my youngest, who is 5, wore when we announced to family that we are expecting again :)  "I'm the BIG sister" shirt is the same t-shirt my oldest wore when we announced that I was pregnant with our 3rd child at my son's second Sesame Street birthday party.
So this year we are celebrating the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe for so many special reasons.

A few years ago our family went to Mass to celebrate this feast day at a church named "Our Lady of Guadalupe".
The altar was filled with hundreds and hundreds of roses and was so beautiful.  When our Blessed Mother appeared to Juan Diego at the hill of Tepeyac, there was a field of roses where roses did not bloom before or during the season of winter when roses do not bloom naturally.  Hence, when people celebrate this feast day, many decorate their homes and churches with roses.


After Mass last year we ate at a Mexican restaurant and we went last night to a Mexican restaurant with 6 adults and 13 children!  (3 families total).  I brought a candle with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on it and burned it during our dinner to help celebrate such a special outing with family and friends.

We enjoy reading The Lady of Guadalupe by Tomie de Paola each year because Juan Diego's story about how he was blessed by Mary's presence is too miraculous not to share with my children.  When I read this book, I am always so impressed by the great faith and persistence Juan Diego had even when others doubted his story and experience. 

We also watch the CCC video, Juan Diego-Our Lady of Guadalupe, sometime between St. Juan Diego's feast on December 9 and Our Lady of Guadalupe's feast day on December 12.  For some fun ideas to celebrate St. Juan Diego and Our Lady's feast day go HERE to Lacy's blog post at Catholic Icing.


The image from Juan Diego's tilma is on display in Mexico and has not deteriorated since the 1500s when the image first appeared.  There are many other miraculous facts about this image. You can also read "Our Lady of Guadalupe ‘completely beyond' scientific explanation, says researcher", which is an article that explains how researchers to this day say "there is no scientific explanation for the 478years of high quality-preservation of the Tilma or for the miracles that have occurred to ensure its preservation. "

This year especially, the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe has a special meaning and it will be by God's grace and Our Lady's prayers that I will be able to take one day at a time and welcome another beautiful life into our hearts and home in 2013!
 

Thank you Lacy at Catholic Icing for another great free resource about the Catholic faith!  Here is an explanation by Lacy about her beautiful drawing on the Immaculate Conception:   

Symbolism in this picture includes Mary in the womb of St. Anne (wearing her signature veil). St. Anne and Mary both have their backs turned towards the apple tree to visually state that Mary was conceived without original sin. There are 3 beams of light coming down from the sun that stand for the trinity. Also, the snake (Satan) is unhappy about what has happened here.

On  Dec. 8, Catholics around the world celebrate another beautiful feast day, the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception.  What does this mean?  Many Catholics and non-Catholics mistakenly think that this day celebrates when Mary miraculously conceived Jesus, however this feast day refers to Mary being conceived without original sin.

There are so many great articles and resources to explain this doctrine.  One article I found, "Advent- The Immaculate Conception", does a beautiful job on how to explain such a teaching to young children.  I include the link to the article for myself to refer back to for my children, but if you have time to read it, I hope you too will be blessed by it in some way.

Here is a short video with a priest explaining the Immaculate Conception:



I plan to let my children watch another great CCC movie titled, Bernadette-The Princess of Lourdes See below for an explanation from the CCC website about the graces this beautiful young girl received from God and our Blessed Mother in 1858...

BERNADETTE - THE PRINCESS OF LOURDES
It’s February 11, 1858. Three girls from Lourdes, France, gather firewood in front of a grotto. Suddenly one of them, Bernadette Soubirous, 14, drops to her knees, gazes ecstatically at something beautiful only she can see, and starts to pray. Soon the town buzzes: Has Bernadette, poor, sickly, and always behind in school, really seen a Lady from Heaven? The police chief is angry, the pastor busy, and the crowd amused, but Bernadette is calm and brave. Then a spring bubbles up from nowhere and withered arms and sightless eyes are cured. At last, the Lady tells Bernadette her name: “I am The Immaculate Conception.”
BERNADETTE, THE PRINCESS OF LOURDES, is the exciting true story of a visit by the Queen of Heaven that left all the world a source of health for body and soul.

Then on Thursday, Dec. 9, we will celebrate Saint Juan Diego's feast day by watching the CCC video, Juan Diego-Messenger of Guadalupe.   See below for a summary from CCC about this video and Juan Diego's true story.

JUAN DIEGO - MESSENGER OF GUADALUPE
In 1591 Juan Diego found himself between two worlds…that of the Spanish conquerors and that of his own Aztec heritage. Because of his love for his people and his strong faith, Juan Diego turned to Jesus and His Mother, Mary for help in uniting his people. The answer to Juan Diego’s prayers has become one of the greatest events in the history of the Americas.
JUAN DIEGO, MESSENGER OF GUADALUPE is the true story of how the Blessed Mother chose a hero for a key role in a beautiful miracle that would united diverse peoples and change the course of history.
In the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City the miracle of the tilma of Juan Diego may still be seen, just as it was seen by the bishop in 1531.

Lacy at Catholic Icing  has a great post on the feast day of Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe HERE.  I love all the resources she has for this feast day!  (can you tell I am a BIG fan of  Lacy's site and CCC with all my links to them? )

I can't say enough good things about CCC and their saints and heroes 11 DVD collection and all their other resources!  My children watch these DVDs over and over again no matter what feast day it is! 
 

Today, December 2, 2012 marks the first day of the liturgical year in the Catholic Church with this first Sunday of Advent.  Did you know the word Advent is from the Latin word advenio, meaning "to come"?

During this time of preparation for the Christ Child to come into our hearts and homes on Christmas Day, His birthday, there are so many fun and creative ways to enjoy the Advent season and focus on the reason for the season vs. the hustle and bustle of what our secular world tries to entice us with.... spending money and getting gifts vs. giving our time, talent, and treasures. 


Pictured is our Advent tree that goes up before our Christmas tree. It is decorated with violet Christmas ball ornaments and on the bottom right corner of the photo is a stack of Christmas books that I wrapped in purple paper.  Each night during Advent our children take turns opening a book and we read it as a family.  This has been a favorite Advent tradition for several years now for our family.

Last year I wrote a post with other Advent traditions our family does including the lighting of our Advent wreath, the Jesse Tree, books we read, a Family Fun Bucket Tradition and more! You can read more of how our family prepares HERE, where I also link up with other bloggers who share their Advent traditions also. 
 
Raising and Teaching Little Saints has an awesome Colossal Set of Resources for Advent that you can read about HERE.

There are so many wonderful ways to prepare our hearts and homes for the birthday of Christ! I pray my links will inspire you to try one or two new traditions.

Here's a great 1 minute video about what Advent is not and what Advent is!



May you have a blessed Advent season as we remember that Jesus is the reason for the season!