What's in a name?

Now that we know we're having a boy, the inevitable next question is, "Have you thought of any names?"

Why yes, yes we have!  In fact, after discussing and praying about names since finding out we were pregnant, we had our boy name pretty much picked out going into the ultrasound.

I would like to introduce you to Liam Roderick Crane.

I think he's waving :)

The middle name was the easiest part--we knew even before we found out we were pregnant again that we wanted to name our next son after Alex's dad.  There are so many reasons... both Alex and I are very traditional (ha! you never would've guessed, would you?) and love the idea of names being passed along in the family, but even more importantly we love Rod/Dad so dearly and respect him so highly that it was pretty much a no-brainer to want to name a child after him.  I know Alex's relationship with his dad has been--and continues to be--so precious and formative in his life. And I am eternally grateful to Rod for the example he has set--and continues to set--for Alex in how to be a husband and a father.  We hope and pray that Liam will learn many things from his Papa: faith, love, service, humor, and many more!

We talked about several first names; it had to have some sort of family and/or religious significance, it had to work with Roderick, and it had to be at least somewhat awful-nickname-resistant. The last criterion was more Alex's than mine; apparently fathers are more aware of what boys are likely to do to each other's names than mothers are.  So, for example, Alex ruled out Isaiah because he would inevitably be called Izzy.  My response: Well, we won't call him Izzy!  (The thought had never occurred to me.)  But apparently other boys would, so that name was out.  I'm still kind of disappointed about that one...

So finally we decided on Liam.  William (of which Liam is a derivative) was the name of my great-great-grandfather on my mother's side, and is also the name of a 12th century English saint known for his gentleness, charity, and kindness to his enemies--so the name has double significance for our family.  If you think of any awful nicknames for Liam, please don't tell us!  There is also a St. Roderick (San Rodrigo) who was martyred in Spain in the 9th century during the persecution of the Christians by the Moors.


Both St. William and St. Roderick were priests... hmmm... :)


(In case you're curious about the story behind our first-born's name, you can find it here.)

Whooooo are you? Who who, who who?

Radio Game points to anyone who gets the artist of the song in the title (without googling it!).

We had our ultrasound yesterday, and the baby was very cooperative (so much so that I think the ultrasound tech was amused at our new little one's complete lack of modesty).

So,  without further ado, Michael is very pleased to announce that he is eagerly awaiting the arrival of his baby brother in November!!!

I was convinced that this baby was a girl.  I've been referring to him as "she/her" for pretty much the whole pregnancy (largely because we hate referring to an unborn baby as "it" and I just needed to pick one to go with until we knew).  This pregnancy has been very different than Michael--more nausea, less clumsiness (I developed the very inconvenient and painful habit of misjudging my distance from door frames in my first pregnancy), less weight gain (so far, and praying it continues!), etc.

So when the ultrasound tech told us we were having another boy, I almost asked her, "Are you sure?"  Well, three or four very clear shots later there was absolutely no room left for doubt--the little creature kicking up a storm inside me and making me feel like I'm starving 10 minutes after I finish a meal is, in fact, male.  We are ecstatic :)  Michael is too, he just doesn't quite know why yet.

Leading up to this ultrasound I've gotten a lot of questions from people about what we "want" to have.  My answer was usually "a baby."  I absolutely want to have a girl someday, God willing, but to come out and say "I'm pregnant and I want this baby to be a girl" seemed to imply "I don't want this baby to be a boy."  And that wasn't true at all.  I wanted a girl; I also wanted a boy (preferably not at the same time).  So there were a few moments of readjusting my thought process during the ultrasound, but there was also the absolute certainty that this little boy is exactly who our family needs right now.

7 Quick Takes (vol. 7)

--- 1 ---

We were quite disappointed with the announcement of the Supreme Court's ruling on Obamacare yesterday.  But, as always, our chaplain at the Augustine Institute had some wise and comforting words.  At Mass yesterday he reminded us that the Church always thrives when she is pruned, and that we were chosen specifically for this time.  There was also an amazingly applicable line in the preface to the Eucharistic Prayer, which I was determined to remember... it was something to the effect of God being victorious and the suffering of all his servants being for his glory.  I'm kicking myself for not writing it down immediately after Mass...

--- 2 ---

Also in light of the Supreme Court decision yesterday, Marc Barnes has announced a new project focused on exposing the "wackness" (as he calls it) of artificial contraception. "We want awesome relationships and mind-blowing sex lives. We want women and men to be respected and loved for who they are, to the very depths of their being. We want sex free from fear, love free from use, and a world of people who love and respect their own bodies. In short, we want sexy back. In fact, we demand it."  Check out 1flesh.org.

--- 3 ---

On a lighter and completely different note, this video completely made my week.  I almost never pass along online videos, but well-done music video parodies are the exception.  In case you have the luxury of enjoying your own exceptional tastes in music free from the intrusion of lesser forms, the original song is "I'm Sexy and I Know It."  As far as I'm concerned that's all you need to know about the original to be highly amused by this far superior version, but I might be biased by my Nebraska roots.  (It's a not-so-minor miracle that I'll even admit to having Nebraska roots, but that's a story for another day.)

--- 4 ---

I probably should have warned you that you will now have that song stuck in your head for at least the rest of the day.  Probably longer.  I just wanted some company...

--- 5 ---

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for those affected by the fires here in Colorado.  One of my coworkers was evacuated from her home for the High Park fire.  Their home is one of only a handful in their neighborhood still standing, and it may take as long as a year before they're able to move back in.  Thank you for your continued prayers!

Also, here's a haunting time-lapse video of the Waldo Canyon fire outside CO Springs (two videos in one post... I never do this...).  It's Vimeo and not YouTube, so I can't figure out how to embed it--if you're interested you'll have to click over, sorry.

--- 6 ---

We leave for our ultrasound in one hour!  I was going to wait to post until after we found out, but we'll go straight from our appointment to our nephew's 1st birthday party and won't be home until late-ish.  So you'll just have to check back in tomorrow if you're at all curious about whether Michael is getting a baby brother or sister :)

--- 7 ---

And to finish off this week's quick takes, here's a picture of Michael with two of his current favorite things: his hat and his lawnmower.  Life is good :)

Go see Jen for more quick takes!

Live and Let Die: Tolerance and the Christian

Considering the endorsements and celebrations of June as Gay Pride month by various commercial groups (Target and Kraft Foods' Oreos, to name a few), we are being especially bombarded with the calls for tolerance right now.

In light of this, I found the readings at Mass today,the Feast of St. Irenaeus, bishop and martyr, to be especially striking.  From the first reading:  "Avoid foolish and ignorant debates, for you know that they breed quarrels.  A slave of the Lord  should not quarrel, but should be gentle with everyone, able to teach, tolerant..." (2 Timothy 2:23-24, NAB).  And yes, the Greek word, ’ανεξικακον, actually does translate as "tolerant" (also "patient")--it's not just an insipid word choice by the NAB.

So there you have it, folks, right there in the Bible.  We Christians should stop arguing about stuff and just be tolerant like everyone keeps telling us.  Right?  Not quite what St. Paul had in mind.

Verses 25-26 go on to say, "correcting opponents with kindness.  It may be that God will grant them repentance that leads to knowledge of the truth, and that they may return to their senses out of the devil's snare, where they are entrapped by him, for his will" (emphasis mine).

For the Christian, tolerance is always about the person, and never the act or the idea.  Paul instructs Timothy to avoid foolish and ignorant debates, not to stop talking about the truth.  The idea here is to refrain from quarreling, not all dialogue.  And how do we approach dialogue (which does not mean "beating someone over the head with the truth nicely")?  With gentleness, a desire to teach (not browbeat), and tolerance for the person.  The goal of all of this is not to affirm everyone's life choices regardless of how they fit (or fail to) with our worldview, but to correct opponents.  And we seek to teach and correct gently remembering always that it is God who grants repentance and conversion.  Tolerance opens the door for dialogue and teaching.  It does not compromise on what the truth is, and it most certainly does not deny that there is, in fact, objective truth.

So yes, as Christians we are called to be tolerant.  But it is not a blind tolerance, and it is not tolerance for its own sake.  If we submit, instead, to the world's call to tolerate sin and lies, not only will we risk losing the fullness of life, but we will also miss the opportunity to invite others into that life.



"The glory of God is man fully alive, and the life of man is the vision of God.  If the revelation of God through creation already brings life to all living beings on the earth, how much more will the manifestation of the Father by the Word bring life to those who see God."  --St. Irenaeus

Birthday gifts--a (rather long) reflection

A little over a week ago I mentioned that Alex surprised me with a perfect birthday date, and I promised a more detailed account.  I consider fulfilling that promise within the same month as my birthday to be quite the accomplishment indeed.  So here it is, along with some reflections on some other amazing birthday presents I've received over the years (because when I'm feeling discontent, like, say, about not being able to move forward in the house hunting process, I know I need to step back and reflect on all the things for which I'm thankful!).

I've received some great birthday presents over the years.  Some of the highlights are: my favoritest pair of earrings from my sister several years ago; Tales of the Kingdom from my parents for my 6th birthday (which we recently finished reading to Michael for bedtime stories; unfortunately it's out of print, but well worth the effort if you can find a copy somehow!); The Silmarillion from my aunt Nancy for my 15th birthday; and my uncle Ken making me watch the Star Wars original trilogy and then taking me to see The Phantom Menace for my 14th birthday (no, I hadn't seen the OT before then, and yes, I'm willing to admit that it changed my life); and my parents' wonderful new tradition of sending us date-night money for our birthdays.

Not that Alex's previous birthday gifts left anything to be desired, but this year's deserves special mention.  I thought I was getting new glasses for my birthday (because even though I'd had my current pair for so long, it just seemed like that kind of expense should coincide with a special occasion) and I was looking forward to a date night sometime in the general proximity of my birthday.  

But the Wednesday before my birthday Alex woke me up and told me he had arranged for his Mom to watch Michael while we went to Mass and breakfast afterwards.  I'm pretty sure it was the first time the two of us went to Mass together without Michael since he was born, and a quiet meal alone (whether in or out) is always a treat.  After breakfast at LePeep's--our favorite--we headed over to Barnes & Noble for our annual tradition of picking out birthday/Father's Day books together.  I've been wanting to experiment with some new breads, and much to my delight I found a cookbook filled with bread recipes from around the world: The Best-Ever Book of Bread.  I haven't had a chance to try any yet (baking bread in 100 degree weather isn't all that appealing) but I'll be sure to report back on both successes and failures.  I love this tradition of ours because we nearly always enjoy each other's books as well--Alex's motives in buying me a bread cookbook were hardly (purely) altruistic, and I'm looking forward to reading his gifts as well: Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophey, Spy by Eric Metaxas and Angels (and Demons) by Peter Kreeft.

After taking our time browsing and picking out books, we stopped by DSW to get me a new pair of sandals and Alex some much-needed new dress shoes.  Again, it was such a luxury to not need to entertain a toddler while shopping (and a huge thank you, again, to Cici for making this surprise date possible!).  We had a lovely morning together, made even sweeter by the fact that it was completely unexpected.

Needless to say, Alex has set the bar incredibly high and I look forward to next year ;)

Alex's gifts are so special in part because he knows me so well.  In this way (like many others, including almost never taking the closest spot in a parking lot) he is a lot like my dad.  There are two presents my dad has given me which are without a question at the top of the list of highlights of Presents Past: a Moody Blue's compilation CD set and a tool kit.  I first started playing the Radio Game with my parents largely because I just like knowing the answer to things.  Much to my surprise, I discovered that I actually enjoyed a lot of the music.  And even more, I enjoyed enjoying something that my parents enjoyed so much (I'm sure there's a clearer way of saying that).  I loved listening to the Moody Blues and other groups, knowing that my parents had listened to the same songs in high school and college.  Five(ish) years ago my dad surprised me with my very own Moody Blues CDs for my birthday.

Dad may or may not have been motivated, at least in part, by a desire to take away any incentive for me to steal more of his CDs (a valid concern; I'm hoping my parents have forgotten about that Little River Band CD they used to own but which has been in my possession for the last several years) but that simple gift was (and is) profoundly special to me because it demonstrates how well Dad knows me, and our shared love of the Moody Blues serves as a reminder of all the other (more important) things we have in common.  In fact, our father-daughter dance at my wedding was to their "Voices in the Sky" (which the other guests probably found to be an incredibly strange choice).

The tool kit was such a special gift for somewhat different reasons.  While I do enjoy fixing things upon occasion, thus far I have shown nowhere near the aptitude for that pursuit that I have for identifying songs by artists who were famous before I was born.  I saw the gift of the tool kit shortly before I moved to Denver as a sign of my dad's deeper desire to equip me for the road ahead (and not long after he gave it to me I needed the screwdriver in it to replace my stolen license plates... let me clarify, put new plates on after mine were stolen, not replace stolen plates which were on my vehicle).

Now, of course, Michael gets all the presents (and attention, until he goes to bed and we get to play the Radio Game), but that's okay :)  Dad's gifts are such small tokens of his love for me, but so incredibly precious.  And, as always, they point me to my Heavenly Father's love and his many gifts.  In a similar way, Alex's gift of that relaxed morning together and the joy of his company reminds me to make time to place myself in God's presence and enjoy his company.

As I was reflecting to my friend Nicole the other day, Alex is so good at pointing me to God.  Whenever I try to compliment Alex on what an amazing father and husband he is, his response is always, "It's not me."  I, on the other hand, usually just take the compliment and forget to pass on the credit.  As with so many other things I'm sure Alex will help me work on that :)

I'd love to know--what are some of the best birthday gifts you've ever received?

7 Quick Takes (vol. 6)

--- 1 ---

In one week we find out if we're having a boy or girl!  Assuming the baby cooperates, of course.  The one time you pray for immodesty from your child...

--- 2 ---

People have started asking us if we have names picked out.  It's funny, because with M we knew even before we found out that we were pregnant that if we had a boy he would be Michael Alexander, and if we had a girl she would be Caeli (pronounced "chay-li"--it's Latin for "of heaven") Rose.  This time around we're not even considering Caeli anymore, and we have yet to agree on a first name for either a girl or a boy.  I'm hoping we figure it out soon, because I am so ready to call this little one by name and not just "baby"!

--- 3 ---

M has taken it upon himself to make sure that, in all the excitement of preparing for a new baby, we don't forget some of the more difficult realities--to wit, lack of sleep.  Tuesday night he started running a fever but still slept fairly normally.  Wednesday he was feverish and clingy all day (although he didn't have any other symptoms of anything that we could tell) and Wednesday night he woke up every 10-20 minutes from 8:30 until around midnight, then every hour until 4, and then slept for a glorious 3 straight hours until just after 7.  The crazy thing is--this used to be a pretty normal night (sometimes without the 3 hour stretch at the end).  We probably had at least a month of M sleeping like that every night when he was 4 months old or so... Alex and I both remember that it happened, but that's about all we remember.  I think we tried to block it out for the sake of M having siblings.  Thankfully he woke up yesterday morning with no fever and slept much better last night.  It's a lot easier to deal with those nights one at a time rather than for 30+ nights in a row.

--- 4 ---

More exciting than a random fever and ridiculously short night: I got new glasses this week!!!  I've had glasses since 7th grade, and this is only my 4th new pair of frames.  I got my current pair over 4 years ago (probably more like 6) and so I am definitely excited about these new ones.  Not so excited about the pricetag, even after insurance, but given my track record with frames they should last me another 6 years.  That makes the cost significantly more palatable.  Also, Alex and I decided it was completely worth it to pay the extra $30 for replacement coverage.  Now when M rips my new glasses off my face and throws them to the ground and proceeds to stomp on them after I've only had them for a week I can get a new pair for only $25.  Brilliant.

--- 5 ---

Despite my excitement at new glasses (and a fresh supply of contacts, after having stretched my last 12 month supply for... um... 4 years...), I find eye exams to be somewhat stressful.  I don't know if it's the perfectionist or the teacher's pet in me, but I hate not knowing if I'm giving the "right" answers as I'm reading that stupidly tiny row of letters on the other side of the room.  I understand it's an issue of assessing what level of correction my vision needs, and not a test of my mental abilities, but I feel extreme pressure to still get the "right" answers.  And then I wonder if I'm simply guessing well and therefore not getting the right prescription because that last letter was probably either a D or an O and I just got lucky...

--- 6 ---

And in other news it has been ridiculously hot for much of this week.  I love the first couple really hot days of summer, and then I'm usually ready for fall.  I'm so thankful that I'm only 20 weeks along and not 38 with this weather.  Here's hoping for an early, cool fall!!!

--- 7 ---

If this post seems to be abnormally full of commas, it's because I'm trying to use fewer parentheses.  After reading last week's Quick Takes Alex said that I should blog about how much I use parentheses.  I gave him a don't-you-know-I'm-pregnant-and-super-hormonal-why-would-you-even-say-that pout, and then made him spend the next 5 minutes reassuring me that he does like my writing style and enjoys reading my blog (really supposed to be our blog, but he never writes anything (oh no, I'm using parentheses!)). I'm sure I'll forget and go back to my usual parentheses- and dash-ridden writing soon. And if you really did notice that I'm not using as many parentheses, then I am very concerned about what that level of attention is also revealing about my grammar and other stylistic flaws!

Go see Jen for more quick takes!

7 Quick Takes (vol. 5)

--- 1 ---

My most exciting news for the week is that my birthday is tomorrow!  Happy birthday to me!

--- 2 ---

Actually, that's not the most exciting news.  The most exciting news may be that Michael has--apparently--started saying "Mama."  I say "apparently" because I haven't actually heard him say it.  It would seem he only says it when I'm not around.  Alex reported that while I was at work yesterday Michael ran around the house yelling "Mama!  Mama!"  We've known he's capable of those two syllables for quite some time, but so far he flat out refuses to use them in direct reference to me.  He will, however, sign "mother" when prompted.  For some reason though he'll only sign it backwards, with the pinky side of his hand to his chin instead of his thumb.  He won't sign "daddy" yet.

--- 3 ---

But he will say it... when he's mad.  His current tantrum vocalization is "da da Da DA DA DA DA DADADADADAAAAAA" accompanied by a gurgling voiceless shriek which sounds like he is choking on his own righteous anger.  It's actually pretty hilarious... except in Mass.  I'm sure it'll get old for us long before it gets old for him.

--- 4 ---

Speaking of daddies, I've always loved my birthday being so close to Father's Day (I was actually born on Father's Day, lucky Dad :)).  But this year it called for some scheduling creativity to get all the festivities in this weekend.  We're celebrating my birthday tonight (which is not unusual--it's a Rappana-family tradition to start the celebration early and keep it going as long as possible) and the guys have their Father's Day outing tomorrow.  Which means that, as my brother-in-law Nick so succinctly put it, I'm celebrating my birthday by being pregnant, watching my son and helping watch nieces/nephews, and making supper and baking cookies for my husband while he goes shooting with his dad and brothers.  True, but still a celebration in my book :)

--- 5 ---

And in all fairness, Alex started off my birthday celebration with a spectacular surprise date on Wednesday morning.  It deserves its own post (and now that I've brought it up, I have to blog about it in a timely manner, right?), but in summary it involved Mass, breakfast, coffee, book browsing/buying, and new shoes--all sans toddler.  I feel so incredibly spoiled.

--- 6 ---

And in honor of Father's Day, I must share Alex's cleverness... although a fairly intense nerd phase is required to get the humor.  While reliving our high school nerd days listening to the Dead Ale Wives D&D skit a few nights ago, Alex and Michael were hiding under the blanket.  Alex told Michael, "Should we play D&D?  You have to role to see what your dexterity is.  Oh. You rolled a two..."  (No, Mom, we won't actually teach Michael to play D&D.)

--- 7 ---

On a completely unrelated note, apparently Michael started a blog without telling us.  Or maybe it's just his long-lost twin.  But I'm sure anyone who has children/knows someone with children/has an imagination will find Honest Toddler hilarious.

Go see Jen for more quick takes!

Adventures in Baking: Suomalaisruisleipä

It's okay, I can't pronounce it either.  But I can bake it!

A few weeks ago I was paging through my mother-in-law's Betty Crocker's International Cookbook and found some fun looking new break recipes.  I decided the first one I needed to try was Suomalaisruisleipä, more easily pronounced as Finnish rye bread.  It was my first time baking with rye, and I was quite pleased with the result (and, judging by the fact that only a few slices were left after dinner, so was everyone else).

Ignore the unsightly tupperware I was too lazy to move...

I baked, and Alex cooked.  He constructed some amazing Reuben sandwiches with homemade Russian dressing, sauerkraut, corned beef, and Swiss cheese.  What with all that piled on the Finnish bread and paired with an Oriental cabbage salad, we had quite the international meal.  Quite the delicious international meal.

The chef--who now has no basis to claim there are
no pictures of him on this blog.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm!!!

7 Quick Takes (vol. 4)

--- 1 ---

I have been a horrible slacker at blogging these last few weeks.  Each week as Friday approached I thought to myself, "Well, at least I'll get in my 7 quick takes, and that will sort of make up for things."  And then suddenly I was going to bed Friday night without having blogged, but I thought, "I can still write them and post them tomorrow--that will be okay."  And then I was going to bed Saturday night, thinking maybe I could still get away with a 7 Quick Takes Friday Sunday.  And then pretty soon it was Tuesday and I figured I would just plan for the next week.  Think, procrastinate, repeat.  But this week I'm actually doing it, even though I'm delaying my coveted bedtime for it.

--- 2 ---

Last weekend Alex and I went to see a movie for the first time in... well, we couldn't actually remember the last movie we saw in theatres.  Probably Star Trek.  Which was three years ago.  So we were long overdue for a date at the movies.  (Don't worry, we've gone on plenty of many other dates in the last three years).  We saw For Greater Glory and it was amazing.  Definitely not a family film (rated R, with good reason)--but definitely valuable viewing material for mature audiences.  And it wasn't just the story which made the movie so riveting--it was very well done overall as well.  Consider it strongly recommended: http://www.forgreaterglory.com/.

--- 3 ---

In case you're like me and fairly historically illiterate (don't tell my husband), the movie tells the story of the Cristero War in Mexico in the late 1920s.   With a few fairly minor instances of artistic license, it paints a picture of a time not-so-long-ago in a land not-so-far-away where Catholics were forced to stand up and fight (literally) for the right to practice their faith.  Pretty timely history lesson here.

--- 4 ---

On a much less serious note, I finally finished the second season of Downton Abbey and now feel like there's somewhat of a big gaping hole in my life.  It was so reassuring to know that as soon as I finished one disc, the next one would be on its way from Netflix.  And now... well, now what am I supposed to do on those afternoons when Michael doesn't want to nap and only wants to play contentedly if I'm pseudo-playing with him?  (He loses interest in me actually playing with him fairly quickly--he just wants to know that I'm not paying attention to *gasp* something else.)

--- 5 ---

Thankfully it is finally summer vacation, and so Alex has two glorious months off.  So Alex can sit on the floor and simply not pay attention to something else while Michael plays happily, and I can write or do laundry.  Okay, probably not laundry.  Although I really need to...

--- 6 ---

But instead of doing laundry I would much rather make salsa.  This was going to be its own blog post, but I never got around to it.  And I'm ready for bed and having trouble coming up with seven quick takes, so whatever.  Two weeks ago (I've been slacking, obviously) we had a salsa-making-party to (belatedly--are you sensing a theme here?) celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday.  Now, I don't even like salsa, but as Alex was looking up different recipe ideas online and very generously consulting me, I started thinking about what I would do if I were going to make my own salsa.  I came up with an idea for mango mojito salsa (because of course the name is every bit as important as the ingredients), and Alex (again, very generously) invited me to actually make my girly salsa along with the guys all making their spicy manly salsas.

My experiment consisted of: mango (obviously), green apple, roma tomatoes, yellow onion, cucumber, just a little bit of jalapeno, lime, and mint (cilantro is included in the picture, but upon tasting it before adding the cilantro I decided it was perfect as it was).

I almost forgot to take a picture of the finished product, as we were headed out the door to a BBQ with some friends, so I skimped on the staging.  But I assure you, it was delicious.

I took a picture of Alex's salsa as well, so he wouldn't feel left out.  His was amazing (and again, I'm not generally a fan of salsa): tomatillos, roasted poblano peppers, tomato, onion, jalapeno, cucumber, cilantro, lime, and cumin.

--- 7 ---

Finally!  Seven!  And since this week's quick takes were unusually Michael-free, here are some pictures of summer fun at Cici and Papa's house.

While this looks suspiciously like Michael fleeing the scene of a hit-and-run attack on his cousin, Abby was actually the driver.  She just slid right out of the seat and got herself trapped under the car.  I won't go so far as to say M was coming to her rescue, but he's not exactly the perpetrator (this time).

We love summer :)

Go see Jen for more (and better thought out) quick takes!