Colleen - 5 months

Colleen - 5 months
Originally uploaded by laurengulde

"When wild flowers wake from their slumbers,
And shake the bright dew from each breast;
And Robin pours forth his sweet numbers,
To mate tucked away in her nest;
What form noiseless trips o'er the clover,
With step and with grace of a queen.
The neighbors all know her and love her.

My dear little Irish Colleen."

~Old Irish Folk Song

If only I knew how to sing it!

she'll hate me for this someday!

Colleen - 5 months
Originally uploaded by laurengulde

But I couldn't resist. At least I didn't take any of her little chubby legs!
Doesn't she just make you SMILE?
I love Colleen!

Colleen's favorite past time...

Colleen - 5 months
Originally uploaded by laurengulde

chewing on her hands. and smiling at her mommy. and playing with her feet. and grabbing everything. especially the phone, while I'm on it. Those on the other end can tell cause they can hear her little fingers scraping on the receiver.

This photo shows Colleen's healthy little baby self- nice and round and cute!

John McCain DOES read my blog!

McCain says he will NOT choose a pro-choice VP!

He's a smart man...

Obama, McCain and Abortion

After years working in the Pro-Life movement, and admitting that I have sometimes become a bit "numb" to the issue, this current news topic once again brings the horror of abortion to the forefront of my mind. Talk about a slippery slope... the same legislation that allows one person to "eliminate a pregnancy" eventually leads to killing babies that have been BORN ALIVE.

In Obama's interview on Saturday night (while the rest of us were watching Phelphs swim into history) he was asked “When do babies get human rights?”

The senator from Illinois responded:

“I think that whether you are looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade”

Fr. Jonathan Morris (my favorite priestly correspondant) wrote:

What I find disturbing is that while Senator Obama says he doesn’t know when babies get rights, he has always felt comfortable voting to refuse the right to life to all pre-born babies, even ones who are aborted outside of the womb, through partial birth abortion or, shockingly, even after a botched abortion.

Senator Obama doesn’t know if these babies have human rights, and still he is willing to vote in favor of letting them die?

You don’t have to be a theologian or a scientist to know that kind of moral thinking is deeply flawed. Ask a hunter. When a deer hunter sees something moving in the bushes, and he isn’t absolutely sure it is a deer, and not a fellow hunter, he cannot shoot. He must clear up his doubt before acting. Anyone, of any pay grade, knows when it comes to defending human life it is only just to err on the side of caution.

You go, Father!

While all this is going on, McCain ponders a Pro-Choice VP. Helllllooooo? You've got to be kidding me! That would be a really BAD idea, Senator McCain. (because I know he is among the 5 people that read this blog!)

Just a little reminder (at least to myself) that we are dealing to real little people here. Not concepts, talking points or positions. PEOPLE. They at least deserve for us to really discuss this issue before the presidential election.

Pro-Lifer talks to Barak Obama today...

I just go an email from Brian Gibson, the director of Pro Life Action Ministries in St. Paul, Minnesota. They save many lives through their prolife work. I met him many moons ago when I was the director of the Coalition for Life. He was the man who taught me all there is to know about sidewalk counseling. He shared his organization's goals and objectives and the TRUE definition of peaceful pro-life activism. I based the Coalition's mission after what I learned from him. He is a great man!

This morning, he met and talked with Barak Obama. I honestly couldn't pick a better person to talk to a presidential candidate about abortion. Here is his email... it's worth reading! Pray for Barak!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Lauren,

As I was en route to our St. Paul office after my regular sidewalk counseling time at Planned Parenthood this morning, I came across a parked motorcade at the Copper Dome Restaurant. I surmised, with all the police and Secret Service types in the area, that it was Mr. Obama's motorcade. I parked quickly across the street and then proceeded to see if I could get close enough for him to hear me call out a plea fro the unborn. To my surprise, there were very few people there (with a small crowd starting to gather as word spread) and that I could easily walk right into the restaurant and see the Presidential candidate.

I quickly began to pray for the right words and the right boldness to be a good witness for the babies that Mr. Obama has forsaken in his political career. Once in the restaurant, I learned that I could not get in far enough to see him and that I would have to go outside as he departed the building. A Divine appointment took over and I found myself at the very front of the crowd where Mr. Obama was going to shake hands and interact.

As he came out, many in the small crowd reacted as if Mr. Obama were Hollywood celebrity. He walked directly toward me and reached out to shake the hand of the woman next to me. At this point I was praying diligently for the right approach and the right words. I think these came to me.

Mr. Obama reached for my hand and came in close enough that I could speak directly to him in his ear. I told him that he needed to change his beliefs and political response to the unborn. That they, like us, are human beings. He reacted with both a willingness to listen and a bit of a shock that he was being challenged. I continued, with Mr. Obama responding that he knew it was a difficult subject and so forth. But we continued to hold the handshake I spoke again and we conversed for several minutes, many times longer than he spoke to anyone on the sidewalk this morning. Our conversation ended with me letting him know that I had just come from Planned Parenthood trying to save lives and that abortion is killing a much higher percentage of black children than any other race.

The encounter was polite, not the way I have had encounters with politicians who are pro-abortion in the past. This, I believe, was the work of the Holy Spirit. I don't even think any of those around us had a clue as to what our conversation was. But, for this unusual moment, my audience was not those within hearing or the media, but a Presidential candidate. And I know he heard the truth, which he acknowledged. He thanked me for my approach and I pressed him to honestly pray and change his position. Whatever we think of Mr. Obama, we all can pray for a deep change of heart toward the unborn.

In other news: 40 Days for Life Twin Cities first planning meeting will be held on August 28, from 11 AM - 1 PM at Bethlehem Baptist Church, downtown Minneapolis (near the Metrodome). All interested in learning more or helping with the organizing of this important campaign can go to www.40daysforlife.com/twincities for more information and the link to the church for directions.

Call Brian Walker at Pro-Life Action Ministries 651-771-1500 ext. 211 or send him a message at Brian.Walker@plam.org to RSVP for this meeting.

A very good video is available to view at HTTP://www.40daysforlife.com/show.cfm regarding the whole 40 Days for Life Campaign.

Sincerely in Christ,

Brian Gibson
Executive Director
Pro-Life Action Ministries
http://www.plam.org

If you remain indifferent in time of adversity, your strength will depart from you. Rescue those who are being dragged to death, and from those tottering to execution withdraw not If you say, "I know not this man!" does not he who tests hearts perceive it? He who guards your life knows it, and he will repay each one according to his deeds. Proverbs 24:10-12

P.S. Summer has long been a "slow" time for donations to our ministry. Add to this "slow" time an increase in life-saving activities and the associated costs, increases in all expense (just like everyone else), and the costs involved in this upcoming 40 Days for Life Campaign have left us in dire need. Please help us with a generous donation today. Your gifts keep us on the front lines of this abortion battle, saving lives today and taking on the giant abortion industry. Donations may be made over the internet at www.plam.org and by clicking on the "Donate" link. Certainly, you are welcome to donate via postal mail at P.O. Box 75368, St. Paul, MN 55175-0368.

Santa Clara Design

Wanted to let you all know about my Santa Clara Design Website as well as my new design blog. I'm excited to have a place to post about my favorite things (besides those running around my house right now!) - designs, fonts, logos, photography and other pretty things. And maybe if I get a fun project, I'll post the finished product there as well!

coolest thing EVER!!

Wordle has combined my three favorite things into one -
Design, words and fonts.

and it's free!

tomorrow, I'm going to have the kids do their own word list - should be fun! now, go and make your own, and then come back and post a comment to share!!

sweet, cute eyes

Colleen is "Sweet"
Originally uploaded by laurengulde

I couldn't resist! I'm sure I'm the only one that wants to gaze at my daughter's photo all day long... but she's just so CUTE!! Look at those smiley eyes! She's not blinking... she's just smiling. That used to happen to me when when I was little. I'd smile and then couldn't see anymore! and if you click on the photo and look a bit closer, you'll see the little crinkle she gets on her nose when she gets when she REALLY smiles. There's no faking that! And that's a one-of-a-kind Colleen trait. No other Gulde's have that crinkle. Except maybe me...

Thanks for a great photo opp, Rachel!

my Colleen is "Sweet"

Colleen is "Sweet"
Originally uploaded by laurengulde

My dear friend Rachel (we go back way back to LLYC Summer Camp, 7th grade) hand stitched this for Colleen when she was born! She's truly very talented. Check out her AverageJaneCrafter Blog.

Thanks for being super creative and for being such a great friend! As you can tell, Colleen really likes her new duds!

Mederic and Marie...

For the Laverty's...! Here's a couple of photos that Mederic emailed me of himself, Marie and Josephine. Look at her eyes!

...they should be on the cover of "French Family" magazine!

For the non-Laverty's... this is my French cousin Mederic, his wife Marie and their new baby.

Mom, you might forward this to the aunties!

Sanity...

I mentioned earlier one of my new favorite blogs... The Nesting Place. My friend Blair mentioned it once and I was so glad she did!

Yesterday she just about saved me from insanity with her imperfectly beautiful post.

If you are feeling out of control and like your home is a mess with no end in site... yet you long for your house to look like a page out of southern living, this is the post for you!

It's really a bunch of links to peoples IMPERFECT homes! Quite wonderful to see that other people get stuck in the mess of life sometime, just like me! You know, I'm the one who will throw things in the bedroom, stuff stuff in the closet when a friend calls to "stop by" in 10 minutes. And I think we all wonder at times, "is everyone faking it, or is it just me". ( I know I do!) Well, this post really answers THAT question! Enjoy the fellowship!!

Gifts on a Budget...

Sorry to just point you to someone else's blog, but I thought this was a great list of ideas...
The Nesting Place, one of my new favs, has a great post on Gifts on a Budget. Read and have fun thinking up cools things to give when you have lots of love, but little cash!

stuff to make you think...

So, for the three of you that don't already read the St. Mary's blog on a daily basis, I wanted to pass along a few new posts that I just love. They're written by Sarah. Don't know her, but want to! Her writing is so beautiful, deep, clear and inspiring. She's one of those types that make you want to be holy!

Here are a few of her latest:

Submerged

Spelling

and more...

Also, Marcel at St. Mary's recently wrote up this great description of "Catholic Basics" which are "short blurbs on why Catholics do what we do in the Mass for those who may not understand it fully." Even though I am Catholic, I really enjoyed and appreciated his clear and simple descriptions and the Scripture associated with each explanation. Good job, Marcel!!

okay, last one...

pretty emelie
Originally uploaded by laurengulde

Another of Emelie. Remember, if you want to spend even more time on your computer today, you can click on any of these to go to our flickr site to see everything...

Sorry to all you friends who see us every other day and know what my children look like... these were mainly for out-of-towners!!

pretty emelie

pretty emelie
Originally uploaded by laurengulde

If you knew how hard it was to get a good pic of Emelie smiling, you'd pay me for this one. I think most 8 year olds are that way! That's why I love these photos of Emelie so much. She's hard to catch, but when you take the time, it's worth it!!

my two guys...

Jonathan's kindergarten graduation
Originally uploaded by laurengulde

Jonathan and Curt at graduation. Oh, and Colleen snuck in as well.

Some day I will blog on all the various and crazy ways that these two are alike. There is a reason that they call Jonathan "Curt, Jr."

Jonathan's kindergarten graduation

Jonathan's kindergarten graduation
Originally uploaded by laurengulde

Here's one of all of us at graduation. It's just really hard to get a good photo of 6 people all at once. Separately we're dandy... all together... good luck!

I thought Emelie was hilarious in this one!

Emelie and her friends at the Reading Campout

Emelie at Reading Campout
Originally uploaded by laurengulde

Here's Emelie, Hannah, Celeste and Erin.They've all bee great friends since kindergarten!

Emelie is dressed up as Nancy Drew, and so is Erin. They decided that Emelie was Nancy Drew "sleuthing" and Erin was Nancy Drew "not sleuthing". So we could tell them apart...

Jonathan's kindergarten graduation

Jonathan's kindergarten graduation
Originally uploaded by laurengulde

Here's another great shot from Jonathan's graduation. Who knows, maybe in 12 years we'll have another shot of all of these kiddos when they're 18!