You can read more about St. Gregory the Great here and here. Or you can read all his writings, here.

St. Gregory the Great, pray for us!

We budget about $20 for a Date Night. We’re not big movie folks – we’d rather just eat. I think the next date night we’re going to get some good steaks from the store, and splurge on side dishes and have a nice meal at home as opposed to going out. Still send the kids to Greg’s parents, but be able to have good food and reconnect with each other.

Sometimes we’ll have a spur of the moment date night, usually when we’re both realizing we need to rework communicating with each other.

We don’t see Date Night as a “get away from those kids!” time (although it’s nice to not have extra ears around). We both believe that our marriage needs to be fed in order for it to grow; and it’s so easy to lose each other in the demands of raising kids and working and running the home and so on. Date Night forces us to come back to each other and help keep those flames of love a-crackling.

If we nurture our marriage, the effects of that will flow into all things, especially the children. With the help of God, we want to present to them a realistic look into the beauty of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony.

The ICP stitch site is healing up nicely, however; The Neurosurgeon wants to ensure that it is all the way healed and only removed half of the stitchings. We have to return in one week for the other half to be removed. While the stitches are in place, Greg can only wash around it with a washrag – no direct water on his head at all. Greg has been looking forward to FINALLY giving his head a good wash, but is forced to wait a wee bit longer. Poor guy. He feels like he has cradle cap, although his head is not nearly as gross as he thinks it is. But, he pointed out the last time he actually used shampoo directly on his hair was August 5th … so I see his point. I’d feel pretty grody, too.

So that’s where we’re sitting, as of now. The kids are getting really good at traveling and we’re becoming “regulars” at the hotel we stay in while we’re in town. It’s all for a good cause, naturally; but I’ll be glad when it’s all said and done.

2. Slowly catch-up (again) on laundry, chores, and so on that lapsed during our last trip to The Neurosurgeon (and prepare for the next trip, which is one week from tomorrow).

3. Re-adjust the Autumn Cleaning List to allow for said trip next week (and then the angiograms the week after that!).

4. Prepare wardrobe swap-out for me, Greg, and the kids; and take note of anything needed for the cooler weather – like footed sleepers for Benedict.

5. Write drafts of all the blog posts spinning in my head! Oy!

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Thank you, Gae for hosting each week!

+ For Lt. BIL, safe travels overseas and eventually to Afghanistan, for safety in Afghanistan and a speedy return home.
+ For Greg’s Grandparents, who are experiencing poor health.
+ For low stress while getting everything together for the birthday party.
+ For holiness of our little family.
+ To follow God’s will, regardless of what that entails.
+ For Greg’s ICP site to be closed, we travel on Monday to get the stitches removed (and probably another shunt adjustment).

A book from Grandma and Grandpa and some presents in the background. She never did like wearing the crown, despite enjoying it last year. Maybe next year!

We found a copy of A Is for Altar, B Is for Bible at a Catholic bookstore when we were waiting to see The Neurosurgeon.

She gave up on opening presents for a while, but was intrigued with the giant Amazon box.

It’s a broom set!

Once the broom set was out, it was the only thing she wanted to play with.

She promptly put it to use.

The birthday girl in dire need of a nap. She had a cupcake before laying down but refused to have a candle on it.

Elise at 2 and Benedict at 5 months. I swear they’re from the same gene pool.

Consider this my first BIG haircut since 2005. I cut off about a foot because I could no longer keep my hair bunned and the ponytail was constantly sliding down my head, it was so heavy. It’s quite a change for me, and I’m still getting used to it (mainly when I brush it and wash it).

And yes, I did donate the cut hair to make wigs for pediatric cancer patients.

We love you, Elise!!

Not too long after I wrote about the CSF leak that had been glued shut, Greg came home and had me look at his head. And sure enough, it was still leaking. We did just as The Neurosurgeon asked which was drop everything and head in. We packed up some overnight stuff and gave the kids lunch, and off we went.

The Neurosurgeon ended up re-stitching the ICP site shut and deduced that Greg’s head was at too high a pressure since the ICP site was leaking in the first place. He turned his shunt down to 90mmHg and off we went. Greg has to sleep in a recliner for the next week or so while his head gets used to the new pressure.

We go back on the 30th to take the new stitches out. Unless, of course; Greg has any reactions to the new pressure.

The kids are doing remarkably well despite the fact that who knows when we’ll need to drop everything and go on a very long drive. I’m going to get some Car Toys and keep them out in the Mom-Mobile for the sole purpose of entertaining Elise when we go. Poor Benedict is still teething something fierce so for the scheduled appointments, I’m going to freeze a washrag in breast milk for him to chew on (and still get some yummy comfort milk at the same time).

So now back to the grind (again). I need to basically pick up where I left off yesterday – laundry, mainly. Maybe today I can get a nap in.