Our Lady of La Leche Shrine & Meeting a Blogger!

My DH and I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. and Mrs. TCIE yesterday in St. Augustine. The Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche was amazing and peaceful. Everyone who has met Mrs. TCIE has said she is wonderful and beautiful! She is! It was so nice to meet her and her husband.

Our Lady of La Leche is a Shrine in St. Augustine, and also the place where the first Mass was celebrated in the US.

This "Rustic Alter" was built to commerate the first Mass. Mass is still celebrated there for parish pilgrimages and also weddings.



My devotion to Mary is ever growing. This place was perfect for that. She is EVERYWHERE...





This is me and my DH in front of the Chapel. (this bought to my attention how very bad my posture is! and that's not good for fertility)



This is an outside shot of Our Lady of La Leche chapel.



Prayer to Our Lady

Lovey Lady of La Leche, most loving mother of the Child Jesus, and my Mother, listen to my humble prayer. Your motherly heart knows my every wish, my every need. To you only, His spotless Virgin Mother, has your Divine Son given to understand the sentiments which fill my soul. Yours was the sacred priviledge of being the Mother of the Saviour. Intercede with Him now, my loving Mother, that, in accordance with His will, I may become the mother of other children of our heavenly Father. This I ask, O Lady of La Leche, in the Name of your Divine Son, My Lord and Redeemer. Amen.

It is hard not to feel close to God in that place. I pray He answers our prayers.

On the grounds, right outside the Chapel, there is this...


My heart sank at the thought of abortion. I saw the headstone and the benches while we were there. It wasn't until I got home and looked at the pictures that I saw that precious angel standing behind, I have NO idea how I missed it.

One of the most amazing things on the grounds is the humongous cross. Its HUGE.


The statue in front of the cross is Father Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales. Father Lopez was founding pastor of the Saint Augustine parish and celebrated the first Mass in the new colony on September 8,1565.



The Great Cross makes you feel so small. Like looking at the stars small. Insignificant but very loved.

How do you spread the NaPro word?

I had my yearly exam with my ob/gyn. I told him I wasn't seeing the RE he recommended me to anymore after our birthcontrol spat. He was completely supportive and asked who was monitoring me for my Synthroid and Metformin perscription. At this time...nobody. He referred me to another RE in the area (one he says is not so pushy). I told him that I was going to go to a NaPro doctor and he looked at me like I had three heads. He said "What?" I wasn't really sure how to answer him. We talked about it for a few minutes, but he was really stuck on an RE because they are ob/gyns and endocrinologist (or something to that effect). I told him about Dr. Hilgers and the training the doctors go through and he still wasn't sure about it. He said "I wasn't taught that in medical school."

At the end though, he said you have to do what you are comfortable with and he will help in anyway he can. WHAT DOCTOR SAYS THIS?!?!? I was soo surprised!! And so excited! He's willing to do anything he can to help my NaPro doctor! I'm wondering what, if any information I can give him to help him understand about NaPro. He may not be too interested, but I would like to give him something. Do you guys have any ideas?

I'm counting down the days to my NaPro appointment...only 1 month! Whoo hoo!

Totally different subject - I had a little IF breakdown last week. The first time (maybe second time) I actually CRIED about IF jealousy. My 19 year old step-son's girlfriend is pregnant. We had a scare with the 17 year old last year, but this time (with the older son) it is for real. She is really pregnant...about 20 weeks and having a boy (YES we JUST found out). I'm going to be a grandma! BOOO!

Husbands like NFP Too

Our Napro teacher gave us this story. She said she doesn't like the men feeling left out of charting, etc and gives all her clients this story. My husband loved it, so I want to share it with you. NFP is a beautiful thing!

When we first married, my wife, Misty, and I were the typical secular couple. We relied on hormonal contraception. Due to bad side effects, that didn't last long. Misty found out about Natural Family Planning (NFP) through a Catholic friend. Admittedly, I was suspicious of all the "hocus pocus" involving cryptic symbols on the NFP chart. That would all change in surprising ways once we got into living the NFP lifestyle.

Before having children, Misty had been an atheist and I had been an agnostic. With our first child, the miracle of life spurred a spiritual awakening in us. We realized the Holy Spirit had already led us into a Catholic life. Even after our conversion, however, NFP enriched our relationship with each other and with God in ways we never expected.

We studied Pope John Paul II's "theology of the body" and became excited about living out our faith and sharing it. It was thrilling to learn the compelling reasons behind the Church's beautiful teachings on sex and marriage.

Much to my surprise, I also learned how grateful my wife was that I was willing to learn how her body worked. I shared the responsibility in planning our family, and also found non-sexual ways of expressing affections and intimacy when we had good reasons to postpone pregnancy. This strengthened our marriage and made me a better husband and father.

When we became Catholic, I knew I wanted to be the spiritual leader of our family, but I didn't understand what that entailed besides bringing our children to church on Sunday. Through NFP and Scripture, I discovered that I had a choice in the kind of man I was going to be.

We often blame Eve for eating the forbidden fruit. But in Genesis, we learn that after taking a bite, she turned and offered the fruit to Adam, who was with her. Adam didn't stop her and say, "This is a bad idea, let's go." He did not protect his wife, but stood by silently while the serpent convinced her to surrender her holiness and damage her relationship with God.

Then there was St. Joseph. When Joseph obeyed the angel who told him to bring Mary into his home, he was accepting the public shame and embarrassment of a pregnant fiancee. He sacrificed his personal honor and reputation to obey God and protect Mary and Jesus.

The choice for a husband is clear: he can be his wife's Adam or he can be her Joseph. A man can stand by silently and allow his wife to suffer the physical and spiritual consequences of contraception. Or he can defend her virtue, body, and soul by using NFP. Today, contraception is accepted and expected. Any man who forgoes it for NFP will likely be exposed to ridicule and criticism. But as St. Joseph taught us, there are some things more important than the opinion of others. May we husbands choose to be Joseph to our wives!

First Review

I had my first Creighton chart review (much later than it should have been) yesterday! I've already been charting for 1.5 cycles. Oh well, better late than never.

She told me she suspected I have low progesterone, because of the TEBB and PMS symptoms. I did learn we used the best day last week (the best type/quantity of fertile cm). Whoo hoo!

Here's my chart, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE any additional input. I always love to play doctor...I konw you do too!!!


(the red pen, is the changes she requested I make)

I absolutely cannot wait for my appointment in July with my new NaPro doctor!

Adoption Song

Even though adoption is not an option for us, it stays with me. I've always loved adoption. This song is written by a Mormon songwriter, but a beautiful song nonetheless. This is the best quality (musically) of the song I could find. Grab a tissue!



God bless these girls/women!

Quick Takes

1. I am supposed to take a "Certified Paralegal" exam this month. I am soo not ready!! My boss really wants me to take it, so I will, but I'm not going to pass the whole thing. The only plus side is...I only have to retake the portions I fail. And fail I will! Legal research....bleh!

2. A really good friend of mine is having her 28th birthday party tomorrow and she's renting a really big blow up waterslide! How fun! I wonder how alcohol and water fun will mix?! This isn't the exact slide, but it's close.



3. I'm sad I'm not going to see my mom for Mother's day. The 2.5 hour drive home is a little much for one day. I hope she'll forgive me.

4. CD10 today. First sign a fertile CM. I have a question for all you Creighton charters. Am I supposed to have 10CK or 10 CLK more than once a day? The other times its a 6C or a 2 or 4. Hardly anything. I should scan in my chart, but can't today. Also, is peak day the LAST day of any kind of fertile CM or the BEST day of fertile CM. If it's the last day, I only had a 10 day LP (including 1 day of spotting). If its the BEST day, I had a 13 day LP with one day of spotting.

5. Hubby and I have been going to the beach almost EVERY weekend. It's wonderful! We love it! I was ALWAYS pale when we lived in Salt Lake City. My poor hubby didn't believe I could tan, but I CAN!! Finally!

6. While we were in Washington D.C. at the Basillica, I bought a book called Angels and Wonders True Stories of Heaven on Earth by Joan Wester Anderson. It's not completely Catholic, but its AMAZING! I want to do a whole post on this book, but haven't taken the time.

7. I can shop AT Old Navy! I have finally lost enough weight to shop in stores OTHER than Lane Bryant. I love it and so does my husband. He took me there the other day and picked out 2 new outfits for me (ALL BY HIMSELF!). One was a cute dress, the other a skirt and blouse. OH, and he also got me two pairs of sandals (which he also picked out). I HATE wearing dresses or skirts, but I love these outfits. I am re-thinking my whole hatred of all things girlie! HAHAHA! I am already planning my next shopping trip!

Basilica of the Immaculate Conception

is AMAZING! I had been there once before, but taking my husband to see it was a whole new experience. We prayed together, we were in awe together. I loved it.

The Basilica is a sight to be seen. It's an amazing place to be. We spent about 4 hours there on Friday, before our flight back home. The only bummer was, we got a parking ticket. HAHA! That's what happens when you do what everone else does. We definitely were not alone in our ticket peril, about 30-40 others were right there with us.

Here are a few of the pictures we took (the ones of us actually in the photo are posted on FB).








It truly is a miraculous place. Praying there gave me such a sense of peace. I wish it could be like that ALL the time!