Looking for "a good house where God wants us to live"

That's Meghan's prayer, and we're working on it.

We have met with our credit union and a realtor. We have toured a few houses. We have missed seeing a few houses before contracts were signed on them.

30-day novena to St. Joseph begins today, the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. Want to join us?

EWTN has the words of the prayer here.

Thank you (in advance) for your prayers!

Unexpected

I didn't expect to find myself in tears after I wrote this letter. It's just a business letter.

John P. and Judith G. Riordon 

H223

June 28, 2012

Masaki Kojima

Northern Housing Office Co. Ltd.

Dear Masaki-san,

The purpose of this letter is to give 30 days written notice of our moving from H223. We do not yet have orders, but we learned today that we will most likely be leaving Misawa on 29 July 2012. For this reason, we wanted to inform you as soon as possible that we are moving.

Also, there is a family with 5 children arriving to work in John’s office in late July. They may be interested in renting H223. We understand that you cannot hold the house for a particular family, and we will do our best put them or their sponsor in direct contact with you as soon as possible.

Thank you for the past six years of rental in H223. We have been privileged to call this house our home.

Very truly yours,

John P. Riordon                        Judith Gibbons Riordon

Welcome

To Lawrence Thomas Patrick Riordon

Born 17 March 2012

11:40 a.m.

7 lbs. 2 ozs.           20 inches

What a precious gift you are to our family, Laurie. We cannot wait to meet you in person, watch you grow, and see God's good plan for you.

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you;" 

--Jeremiah 1:5

Departure

Patrick is out for the evening: his last night in Japan. He won't be coming back before we move this summer. A few minutes ago, I went out to put away mittens and snowpants that had been hung up in the front hall after today's romp in the ever-falling Misawa powder. I glanced out the window at the front walk and saw the footprints from Patrick's earlier departure. They are half-filled with snow now. By morning, they will be gone.

Look who's riding!

Matthew is "riding with pedals." This summer, he had become very frustrated by riding with training wheels. They don't work well on our gravel road, often embedding in the gravel, or preventing the regular wheels from touching the ground when he gets to a low spot or pothole. He cannot keep up with the older kids, and he feels left out when they fly out the back road without him.

Last month, my friend mentioned that she and her husband had removed the training wheels and pedals from their kids' bikes to create a homemade version of the balance bike. They were successful in increasing their boys' (ages 5 and 7) confidence enough that they have now learned to ride independently. So we talked it over with Matthew and decided to remove his training wheels, but not his pedals. At first, he was timid and didn't really believe he could ride without the training wheels. He tried on one day, then left the bike in the garage for most of July. No amount of encouragement could get him to try it again.

Until Saturday, when we went to a birthday party down the road, at which the kids were encouraged to bring their bikes. Since we were walking over, Matthew pushed himself along on his bike and discovered that he could push with his feet and balance and go much faster than on training wheels. Best of all, "Katie was right," he didn't get stuck in potholes. He was pleased and excited.

But it was a little hard on his calves. The pedals scraped them slightly, and he was talking about taking the pedals off, but as we walked along, I saw that he was balancing and coasting so well that he was very close to really riding. I told him so and encouraged him to give it a few more days of practice before we took them off.

After we got home from the party, he stayed outside and practiced balancing and coasting.

Sunday afternoon, he came running into the house yelling "Mommy!" at the top of his lungs. I ran out to the front hall expecting to see blood. Instead, I saw a triumphant Matthew who told me, " I am riding my bike. WITH PEDALS!!" He stayed outside for about 20 more minutes, then came in and said nonchalantly, "I haven't been doing much outside, Mommy: just riding my bike WITH PEDALS!"

Exultation!

The list is up

And Patrick's name is in the top 15. So he is off to Nagoya this weekend with the soccer team.

Congratulations, Patrick!

Go Eagles!

Update on Feb. 24, 2010: At last night's parents' meeting, we found out that the Nagoya tournament was cancelled, so it's another week before the soccer team will travel. Patrick was really looking forward to the trip, the game, and visiting a new city, so he is understandably disappointed. He'll just have to keep working hard at practice and make the list for the next trip. I know he can do it. :)

Happy 18, Patrick!

chocolate raspberry cake
Good choice!

As long as there are friends....

Make a wish.

Got it!

May God grant you many years, Patrick.
With love,
Mom

Altar serving

This morning was Joseph's first time serving at Mass. He was a little nervous before Mass.



After Mass, he confessed that last night he had a dream that he was at church to serve for the first time, but we were there early--before the 8 a.m. Protestant service that precedes the 9:30 Catholic Mass. In his dream, he put on his cassock and surplice and was ready to serve, but didn't have a candle, and it was time for the entrance procession, so he went forward with the procession anyway, but then he realized that it was the Protestant service, and he wasn't supposed to be there, so he had to escape through a pew and out the side door of the church.

Whew! Thank goodness it was only a dream!

You did a fine job, Joseph. Dad and I are very proud of you.

Breakfast

Meghan ate big-people oatmeal with peaches for the first time today.

(password: oatmeal)

M at Breakfast from John & Judith Riordon on Vimeo.

I was so happy about her neatness--until lunchtime when she spread her yakisoba across her tray, her bib, and herself. She is still a 15-month-old, and luckily, her cuteness makes up for most of it. ;-)

First haircut

Meghan's bangs have been in her eyes, so Katie and I decided it was time for her first haircut. I just trimmed her bangs a little, but it made her look much older.

She wasn't sad when I cut her hair, but she didn't want to stay in place to have her picture taken.



While we were playing beauty shop, we made some pigtails, too. She wouldn't let me do them until Katie had the brilliant idea of letting Meghan brush her hair while I brushed Meghan's.

Once we let her get down, she started dancing around. A new haircut dance?

Maybe it's the new pigtails dance.


Here she is later with the pigtails out. She has those cute curls in back all the time. Her whole head gets curly after her bath and on humid days, just like Katie's did.

Lunch

Meghan is very interested in feeding herself these days. When lunch consists of brown rice cereal and whole milk yogurt, it's highly messy entertaining.

Want some? I love to share.

She's pointing at the pink rabbit in the bottom of her bowl. It always surprises her when she notices the decoration on it.

So tired!

Naptime is next. :-)

Being Tommy's Mom

Photo credit: Patrick

One afternoon about a year ago, I was at the gas station. A woman I didn't recognize approached me as I was filling our van with fuel. "Are you Tommy's Mom?" she asked. "Yes," I replied. "Oh," she continued, "I just wanted to tell you how grateful I am that he was there to help my daughter." She then told me what a good influence Tommy had been in a challenging time.

"Are you Tommy's Mom?" I had been asked a few weeks earlier by a different woman. "Yes," I said. "Well," she said, "You probably already know this, but he is such a great kid." And she proceeded to tell me how my oldest son's actions had helped her and her family.

A friend of mine who worked with Tommy last year reminds me every once in awhile how impressed she was with his level of responsibility in a challenging work situation.

In the wee hours of the morning on May 5, 1989, my first child was born. It happened in the usual way with an anxious phone call to a midwife followed by an anxious drive from Silver Spring, Maryland, down to Georgetown, John trying to drive both quickly and gently as we navigated the construction on the Beltway. Each bump set off another painful contraction.

We arrived safely, and about 3 hours later, so did Tommy. I was a night law student at the time while working full-time in a firm downtown. I was exhausted as I held that small, warm bundle. Exhausted and exhilarated. And frightened. And wondrous. "Hello, little baby, we love you," I had said before we even knew he was "he". I have continued to say it as we have gotten to know who "he" is.

He is a gentle young man with an open heart and a cheerful manner. He is a conscientious young man who is learning to make his own way in the world. He is a talkative young man who stops to listen to the difficulties of others. He is sometimes a slow mover, but takes immediate action when needed. He is a thoughtful young man with a lively sense of humor. He has had his share of hurts and troubles, but his spirit of perseverance keeps him looking up, his eyes on the eternal goal.


As a new mother, I was for a time uncomfortable with the name "Tommy's Mom". Influenced by the writing in popular women's magazines, I worried that it lessened my value, my dignity, to be labeled by the name of my child. I was young and ambitious and focused on worldly success. I wanted to be known by my own name for my own achievements. As time went on, I first accepted the inevitability of the name. Then I grew to understand that Tommy, and any of our children whose names have become part of mine, is a daily gift of grace and love to our family and to the world. In giving me this child to nurture and love, God did not limit my dignity. He increased it.

When I was first called "Tommy's Mom" I did not appreciate the honor that was being given to me. But I do now. When someone asks me if I am Tommy's Mom, I respond,"Yes," with a grateful, joyful heart.

Happy 20th birthday to my dear son. May God grant you many years.

A thousand words

Last Friday, we actually were up to a little more than playing hookey. We went out with my friend, Therese, so she could take photos of the g irls in the lovely matching Christmas dresses my mother made for them. And of Meghan in what we call her "cherry blossom dress", which Mom made for her to wear for Easter.

Meghan is not quite 11 months old, but we wanted to catch the cherry blossoms for her one-year-old photos.

It was a bit too sunny that day, and Meghan was recovering from a cold. It was also nap time. But Therese handled the challenges of the light and the crabby baby and the clothing changes with grace. Best of all, she took beautiful photos of our beautiful daughters. Not that we're proud of them or anything. ;-)

If you are in Misawa and are looking for someone to capture your family on film, I highly recommend Therese. She is a true artist.

Take a peek at Therese's website: http://www.thereseannphotography.com/

If you'd like to see her photos of our daughters, scroll down to the lower left of the page, and click on the set of photos labeled "Sweet Sisters."

Thanks again, Therese. :-)

Worth the wait

When we were in China, we swam in the hotel pool, but Joseph was very uncomfortable in the water, not wanting to venture much out of reach of the wall. This was not the "comfortable in the water Joseph" who was swimming around in the deep end two summers ago.

So when the time came for swim lesson sign-ups two weeks ago, I waited 3 hours in line to sign him up for three months of lessons. At the time it seemed like a huge pain for such a little thing, and I was pretty annoyed about the whole process. (Although the presence of a friend in line was fun.)

Yesterday was his first class.

When we got home he said, "As I was getting into the pool, I was thinking, 'Well, I hope I don't drown.' And when the lesson was over I was thinking, 'Awww, do we have to get out already?'"

If he doesn't learn another thing in the next three months, it will still have been worth that wait in line.

Nine months

Believe it or not, Meghan is nine months old. With each baby, the first year seems to fly faster and faster, even though I want to cling to each moment and hold them all in my heart.

We went to Meghan's well-child check-up on Friday and the doctor told us, "Developmentally, she's a rock star." You have to love a doctor who confirms your suspicions that your child is simply amazing.

Meghan weighs 18 lbs, 1 oz. and is 27 inches long. She dropped to the 50th percentile for weight but remains in the 97th percentile for height. I failed to write down her head circumference again. I'll have to call and check on that, but it was in the correct range on the growth chart. All in all, she's growing fine.

One nice thing about her being child number six is that I don't worry so much about weight numbers anymore. When Patrick was a baby, he took a similar plunge from 75th to 50th percentile in weight at this same time (between 6 and 9 months). At the time, the doctor had me worried that he was losing too much weight. Now, knowing that he's fine, I'm not worried about Meghan at all. She's following a family pattern. Thankfully, this doctor did not tell me to feed Meghan cookies, which was the helpful advice of the doc who saw Patrick at his 9-month check-up. This doctor said, "She looks great. She is developing well. Her height increase tells me that she's well-nourished. I'm not worried at all about this weight change."

Hooray for Meghan!!

And she's up!

In celebration of her 9-month birthday, Meghan did this on Wednesday:

*

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The gate is now up at the bottom of the stairs.

*Photo credits: John

Time for a new bed

Meghan has outgrown her bassinette.


Last week when I went to get her up from her nap, I found her trying to sit up in it.


I wish I had abs that strong!

So we re-arranged our room again to replace the bassinette with the Pack and Play. We had to move the bed over another couple of inches so it would fit, but it's the best option we have to allow me some sleep along with the convenience of being near for nighttime nursing. Sometimes Meghan gets scared when she wakes up and can't see us (day or night). From the Pack and Play, she can still at least see my arm, and often my face, if I'm facing the right direction while sleeping, so she feels secure and peaceful in there.

No more crunches, though. It's a shame. They were pretty cute.

First haircut

Sort of. I've been cutting Matthew's hair since he was little. But last weekend, he asked to go to the barber like Joseph.

So we took them both.

Matthew did much better at sitting still for the barber than he does for me at home. I'm thinking this is going to be a permanent change.


The result:



Too grown up!


Hey, mom, take a picture of me, too! :-)

Tommy at school

John brought home some photos of Tommy moving in at UD.

His dorm: Madonna Hall

Tommy's desk

closet space

They bunked the beds to get more space.

So, there you have it--a typical college dorm room.

Before leaving, John also took some nice photos of the campus:

chapel

See you in December, Tommy! Don't forget to call and email. :-) We miss you and we love you!!