1st Holy Communion for Magdalene (July 16, 2017) / 1st Holy Communion for Tobias (July 22, 2018)

This post is intended to capture both, Magdalene, as well as Tobias's, First Holy Communion Days.

First Holy Communion, the sacrament in which we are able to receive the most precious body, blood, soul and divinity of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ into our body and soul.

To prepare for the sacrament of First Holy Communion, Magdalene and Tobias made sacrifices and said extra prayers as gifts to Jesus and Mary and presented those gifts on the day of the their First Holy Communion.

Daddy and Mommy also took special time with them to prepare them for their First Confession, prior to First Holy Communion.

Magdalene's First Holy Communion was a very special day for many reasons.  She was able to receive her first Holy Communion from from her Uncle Fr. Jacobs at the very first solemn High Mass at St. Philomena Mission in Bremer, IA (Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel), her Tia Brenda flew in for the special day all the way from California, her Vavo Maria Alves flew in all the way from Massachusetts, her Vavo Jose Alves hand delivered her first communion card a week prior and there was an outdoor banquet after Mass to celebrate the day!  Not to mention all of the family members from Iowa that attended her First Holy Communion (e.g. Grandmas', Grandpas', Uncles, etc.).

Tobias's First Holy Communion was very special as well.  He was able to receive First Holy Communion with his friend and Christina's Godson Liam Berst, his Tia Helena flew all the way from California for the special day, many family members from Iowa attended the special day, one of Fr. Jacobs classmates Fr. Carlisle administered the sacrament and a large parish picnic followed Mass.

The excitement on each of their special days was a reminder to us of how we should prepare for each Holy Communion.

Quote from Tobias following First Holy Communion and Receiving the Brown Scapular "This day is getting even better!"

Tobias used his Brave Lion to prepare for his First Confession

Tobias presents his prayers and sacrifices

Magdalene's First Communion Day Coming Soon.......

Welcome Josephina Maria Jacobs

First of all, Christina and I thank everyone that has prayed for our family over the last nine months.  We are extremely grateful for the loving family members, friends, doctors and hospital staff that have supported us throughout all of our pregnancy and child birth journeys.

We also must thank our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as well as all the Saints in Heaven (known and unknown) that interceded to Our Lord Jesus Christ for our family throughout this pregnancy and childbirth.  Especially the Blessed Virgin of Childbirth, St. Joseph, St. Therese of Lisieux, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, Fr. Daniel Cooper and any others I've missed.

On a personal note, I thank you Christina for the love and self sacrifice shown throughout pregnancies and childbirths.  Knowing in full detail, what you will endure and continuing to say "Yes" freely, despite fear or uncertainty, giving all of yourself for our family, is truly an inspiration to me.   I cannot express my gratitude and admiration for you my Love.

Why the name Josephina?

Christina's ultrasound was on March 19th, the Feast of St. Joseph the worker and while driving to Mass that morning, the name Josephina found it's way into Christina's mind.  As we did not know the gender of the child, we were discussing potential boy and girl names along the way.  If it was a girl the name was already agreed upon and settled (GIRL NAME DISCLOSURE PROHIBITED), as for boy names, like always, each was pretty much an option, aside from a few of my unique names (e.g. Urban, Ignatius, Isidore, Xavier, etc.).

The ultrasound technician provided us a piece of paper identifying the gender, which we opened the following day.  Seeing that God had blessed us with another girl, the name Josephina was chosen to honor St. Joseph.

Maternity Photo Shoot on location in back yard

 Francis is trying to figure out what a baby is and what impact that has on him??? (He is a pro with Tia Helena's iphone)

 Percy "Josephina I really hope you enjoy graham crackers as much as I do."

 July 30th - 1 day to Go!!!

July 31st - 6:00 AM (Almost Time) 

 She's Here!  

 1st Meeting of Mama and Daughter

August 1st - Here come the Big Brothers and Sisters!

Police Officer and Our Kids

This summer is going by quickly!  I hope to do more catch up posts before Josephina arrives.  A police officer in our area was super kind to our kids and rewarded Magdalene for wearing her bike helmet.  He even passed out free helmets to the others.  Aren't our little ones getting big!!

Trying to Blog More

I was trying to make it a goal this Lent to write more blog posts.  I have enjoyed reading old posts so much....the kids really love to see the old pictures and videos.  It's fun to remember how we were feeling during certain times of our lives.  I have also been meaning to write about the birth of Francis.....poor Francis.  I think Jordan will be placed in charge of writing that post.  He has the true talent in writing. 

Tomorrow will be such a special day in the Jacobs' household.  We have the honor of attending Holy Mass early tomorrow morning for the feast of St. Joseph.  Magdalene and Francis will be joining us as well.  We scheduled our ultrasound tomorrow as well so that will take place sometime in the afternoon.  Originally we were going to let the gender of our baby (babies according to Jordan) be a secret to us all until "the birthday" but dear Magdalene had her heart set on knowing early.  She is so excited about seeing the baby on the screen and finding out this coming Saturday whether she will have a baby sister (her heart longs for that) or a baby brother. 

She has planned even what treat we will enjoy after the ultrasound.  Our precious daughter would like some ice cream, and since tomorrow is a first class feast...we can get some!! 

We can't wait to share the news with you all soon!