Sister Nina!

About a year ago, my best friend from high school Nina entered a religious order named The Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary based in Miami, Florida. They are a beautiful order that is attracting a lot of young women (if you want to read more about the order you can go to their website http://www.piercedhearts.org/). Their formation program is pretty strict though, so when Nina left we had no idea when we would ever see each other again, and while anyone can write Nina letters, she only has a phone call home to family about every other week. I've missed her a lot this past year when so much has gone on in my life (and in her life too!). Well, God worked some stuff out and we got to see her! A few of the sisters moved to Peoria last year (this is their first convent outside of the Motherhouse) and took over running an existing retreat house there. The Bishop of Peoria was so thrilled with the sisters and their ministry that they decided to rename the retreat house and have a special re-dedication ceremony putting the retreat house in their care... and the Bishop also offered to fly all of their sisters in Miami up for the occasion!

So James, Lucy and I roadtripped to Peoria on Monday night and made it just in time for an evening mass and Cenacle (a prayer service that the sisters do regularly in Miami). We stayed overnight and the next day attended the outdoor dedication mass and celebration. It was so wonderful to see Nina. She seems so happy and at home with the sisters, and there is a peace about her that I've never seen before. She was so excited to meet Lucy. She told me that she has prayed for her every day, even while I was pregnant. I sent her an ultrasound picture, and she said she took it in the chapel everyday and prayed for her to be happy and healthy. No wonder Lucy is such a good baby!

Lucy has been teething quite badly lately and so everything ends up in her mouth, including Nina's cross! Lucy just kept looking at me like, "Mom, this is what I'm talking about... that plastic fish teether is nothing compared to this!" Nina was happy to let her chew on it.

All of the sisters loved seeing Lucy and would just come up to me and hold out their arms for her. This is Sr. Laura snuggling Lucy.

After a wonderful visit, it was hard to say goodbye. We finally got in the car and headed home. Lucy was more than happy to take a turn driving.

Lucy was also very happy to be an honorary grill master at Steak N Shake.

In other news: We're taking a shrt break on the solid food. Lucy had her 6 month pediatrician visit and had to get an oral vaccine, which was apparently very yucky. Every time the nurse would squeeze a little bit in her mouth, Lucy would screw up her face and kick her legs and punch her arms in disgust. The nurse said that while some baby's cry, she had never seen a baby be so dramatic before. And now, whenever we feed Lucy solid food, she has the same reaction, so we're giving it a rest for a while.

We're in a bit of a busy season here. James is not only in the middle of fall outreach on campus, but he is also doing two parish talks back to back! He is re-appealing to his original two parishes, so this past weekend we were at St. Elizabeth of Hungary and this weekend we will be at St. Justin the Martyr. Without going into all the details of how much work and energy goes into a parish talk, I will just say that it is a lot. Say some prayers for us, if you will!

And just in case you haven't had your fill of cute Lucy pictures, here are a few more: