Faith - Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I will not doubt, though all my ships at sea
    Come drifting home with broken masts and sails;
I shall believe the Hand which never fails
    From seeming evil worketh good for me;
And though I weep because those sails are battered,
    Still will I cry, while my best hopes lie shattered,
                                 I trust in thee.

I will not doubt, though all my prayers return
    Unanswered from the still, white Realm above;
I shall believe it is an all-wise Love
    Which has refused those things for which I yearn;
And though at times I cannot keep from grieving,
    Yet the pure ardour of my fixed believing
                                  Undimmed shall burn.

I will not doubt, though sorrows fall like rain,
    And troubles swarm like bees about a hive;
I shall believe the heights for which I strive
    Are only reached by anguish and by pain;
And though I groan and tremble with my crosses,
    I yet shall see, through my severest losses,
                                 The greater gain.

I will not doubt; well anchored in the faith,
    Like some staunch ship, my soul braves every gale,
So strong its courage that it will not fail
    To breast the mighty unknown sea of Death.
Oh, may I cry when body parts with spirit,
    I do not doubt, so listening worlds may hear it,
                                 With my last breath.             

Les Misérables

Les Mis. Why all the fuss? Well, for me, I fell in love with it slowly. In pieces. And very skeptically. 

My first exposure to it was in a church library. I was semi-responsible for processing books, checking them back in and shelving them, and sometimes making the very difficult decision of whether or not a book was clean enough to remain on the shelves. (Big mistake. Give only one person that authority or let all the books stay. But moving on.) I glanced at the back cover, saw the word prostitution or something similar, and immediately proceeded in having a small heart attack. I made a few appeals and then threw the book away. 

Fast forward a few years and a woman named Susan Boyle makes internet history by singing a beautiful rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream." I loved the song, but knew it was from Les Mis which I still hadn't really looked into so I was like whatever. 

A few years after that, I learned a friend of mine loved the book and highly recommended it. Well, you know how much I HATE books and reading. I had it in my hands the next day. 

The book is 1,500 pages long or something. The unabridged version has many French passages that I could mostly translate but still had to look up on occasion. There are long chapters that get dry, then drier than dry. I was reading a LONG time, but it was shortly into my married life and it was nice to keep my brain occupied during long, lonely days. 

When I finished it, I bawled every single tear out of my eyes. The story of redemption is made only more beautiful by the complex and interwoven characters - their passions, their sorrows, their joys. I immediately emailed my friend and told her how much I loved it. 

But I knew there was a musical some guys came up with based on the book. I knew I already loved "I Dreamed a Dream" and "Bring Him Home." I wasn't surprised to discover MANY new favorites after listening to the musical on CD. I enjoyed two different DVDs of live performances and dreamed of watching a live production whenever it came through Chicago.

Well, last night a friend treated me to an absolutely amazing performance of Les Misérables at the beautiful Paramount Theater.

We both refrained from singing along even though we have almost all of it memorized, and thoroughly enjoyed fangirling during the intermission. And of course we got matching mugs after the show! 

Thank you, Mrs. H., for the wonderful night out, and for recommending Les Mis to me in the first place. ;) 

Peter // 5 Months

So I kind of failed to get a nice pic of Peter today. :( He really lost it this afternoon and I was in no mood to try to make him smile after all that. But he turned 5 months today. 

He weighs about 17.5 pounds. He's in Size 3 diapers. He completely outgrew his bassinet, so tonight we set up his pack-n-play and he'll sleep in that till we figure out how to magically create more space. He can almost sit up unassisted, and has learned to talk in a super high, ventriloquist voice that makes us laugh. He has gone back to waking up 1-2 times a night, so I'm dying. :P He's gotten a lot more fussy with his gums being more sensitive. We laugh because the ONLY thing that works to calm him down every single time he's super mad is to play a certain song. The second I play it on my phone he goes completely silent and listens until it's finished. :) Yay for music and technology! 

So thankful for my little boy. Can't wait to get outside more and enjoy the warmer weather!

Easter // 2015

I hope you had a wonderful Easter last Sunday! Our little family had just gotten back from the FL Keys, so we were thankful to have a short and sweet lunch with my family and then get long naps! I was distraught over forgetting to get Peter his first Easter basket, but I guess there's always next year. ;)

Peter // 4 Months

I'm a little late, but my Peter boy turned 4 months on the 16th. He is rolling over now and I think he has to be close to teething, as the drool amount has increased rather much. :P He can now grab toys and hang on to them, and loves putting ANYTHING in his mouth. (Oh great.) He's hanging out at 15 lbs., so I'm extra excited to get to use my collectible Kinderpacks now! He's getting ready to go on his third big out-of-state trip in a few weeks, and now that the weather's been nicer we've been able to do a few stroller outings. He's back to sleeping through the night, too, much to our delight! He is still such a perfect, happy, good little baby and I'm so blessed to take care of him. <3

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

(A little early!)

Peter // 3 Months

My little pumpkin turned three months old on the 16th. We've been having a lot of fun these days, shirking household duties to lay in bed talking, being obsessed with the ceiling fan, discussing what we're going to learn in school, and reading about the farmer who had a dog named Bingo. Peter weighs about 15 lbs now and just graduated into Size 2 diapers. He's been out-of-state twice now. He discovered his thumb and now sucks on it all the time. He loves tummy time and smiling at Daddy. He's my little buddy. :)