Cianciulli Family

Update on these crazy boys!

2010-12-11T10:07:00.000-08:00

Connor asked yesterday 'Mom, can I be an author when I grow up?' He later told me that he wants to write books about dinosaurs. He also loves to take pictures and practices on his little brothers. He took this picture of Brewer.

Harris is now walking fulltime! He also tells us what he wants and always wants it NOW!

Brewer has started to suck his thumb and is now sleeping in his crib all night - just one wake up around 2am. He is also eating baby cereal everyday now and LOVES it!

More homework photographs of my boys

2010-11-03T07:56:00.000-07:00

Brewer-Brown-Eyes, Mr. Harris Blue Eyes, and My Green-Eyed Growler!

Connor at 4 and a half!

2010-10-27T10:23:00.001-07:00

Connor might just be picking up a few things from his Mama. Not sure if that is good or bad - you decide!

Last night while vacuuming the kitchen after dinner (yes, my 4 year old has chores), he said to his brother 'Harry, if you didn't throw chicken on the floor, I wouldn't have to vacuum. Don't throw chicken on the floor, Harris!'

Then this morning he ran outside to check out the damage to the car (small fender-bender, everyone okay). Before he went out (just for a minute), he said to me 'When I come back here my grilled cheese better be ready and all of my toys that need new batteries better have new batteries!' ha ha ha

And here is my biggest throwing a fit on the steps of the Natural History Museum in DC because he was only allowed to buy two animals and not three and he REALLY wanted what Harris had. Although, this part of the post really isn't anything like his Mama at all! I never second guess myself! ha ha ha Or throw fits!

I can't end this post without telling you that while I am typing it, Connor has spent 5 minutes on his tip-toes cleaning his lunch dish at the kitchen sink! This is not a chore, this is what he wanted to do. Fabulous!

Harris is famous!

2010-10-26T13:07:00.000-07:00

Check out this blog post by our friend at Dining with the Rissers!

Can you spot my Super Middle-Man, Harris?? He's famous!

There he is, munchin' with some mamas and some buds!

Tired and busy

2010-10-15T13:10:00.001-07:00

I forgot how exhausting it can be having a newborn in the house. Brewer is 11 weeks old today and I think I'm finally starting to crash. But there is no 'sleep while the baby sleeps' when there are 3 kids in the house! But I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Mike gets home from work, helps with dinner, cleans the kitchen while I feed Brewer and then puts Connor and Harris to bed. In between all of that we squeeze in a family walk or game or storytime. So, he is exhausted also! But before we know it Brewer will be bigger and not need to eat as frequently and we will settle into our 'new normal.' In the meantime, the house will be a mess but who cares at this point!

This means we won't be updating the blog as frequently...not that we were getting around to it much anyway. But I will still post pictures. I just started a photography course and each week we have a homework assingment. So, you will get to see the kids growing through the homework. Probably not a whole lot of words to go along with them for a little bit. Here are the most recent pics of these beauties!

Birthday Boy!

2010-09-12T16:25:00.000-07:00

Harris turned ONE at the begining of August! Of course, he loved cake. Not much that boy doesn't eat!

Baby Romeo is here!

2010-08-06T12:50:00.001-07:00

Baby Romeo has arrived! Brewer Alexander joined us on 7/30 weighing 7lbs 5oz and 19.5 inches long. He was our longest cooked baby at 38 wks and also our shortest baby! Already he fits in well...napping on the couch with Daddy.

How about this face! The first time Connor heard Brewer cry he said 'he squeaks.' And so now Connor calls him Little Squeaker! Connor is also working on teaching Brewer how to rub noses!

Leaving the hospital!

Biggest one, littlest one!

G6pD update

2010-07-20T16:35:00.000-07:00

In April, Connor got croup - bad. Poor guy swallowed a dime one day and the next day had croup. But he recovered very nicely. And what a sweetheart he was by trying hard to stay away from Harris in hopes that he didn't get sick. Well, keeping their germs separate is just impossible no matter how hard we try (these boys can't get enough of each other!)

Harris started feeling sick in the morning and by the end of the day his fever was 104.3! We managed to get things under control but after a few days of being sick, he stopped eating, got cranky, and started to look pale. A trip to the children's hospital for blood work showed that his hemoglobin had dropped to 6.2 - very low even for Harris who mostly stays between 8.7 and 9.7 The drop was triggered by the infection and fever. So our little vampire got a blood transfusion.

We were lucky enough to be able to have the procedure be outpatient but that meant that we were in a room with recliners full of other children receiving transfusions or chemotherapy. Harris needed to sleep so a nice nurse found us a room off to the side and Mike managed to get Harris to sleep through most of the transfusion which took about 2.5 hours. (100CCs of O).

Harris had blood work several times over the next few weeks and his levels climbed and have remained strong. Last test he was at 9.7. He had a check-up with the hematologist recently and while his spleen is enlarged, it is within the limits that are healthy for a G6pD patient.

We are so blessed to have a baby with G6pD and realize this every time we visit the children's hospital. On one trip we met a sweet 2 year old with cancer who could name all of her doctors. I can't imagine the emotions those parents must have.

So, HarBar is doing fabulously well. He is army crawling his way around the house and is slowly starting to climb (uh oh!). I'm pretty sure he hasn't turned down any food yet - seems to like everything! And we are learning how to survive in a legume-free home. Well, I guess I'm learning to survive. No one else seems to be an addict quite like me!

Baby Romeo Update - 33 weeks

2010-06-24T15:17:00.000-07:00

Since I have no belly pictures yet (that will change this weekend!), I decided to use this ancient picture of the day Connor came home from the hospital! He was so little - below 6 pounds at this point. He sure did catch up, huh!

Baby Romeo is doing just fine at 33 wks. My belly is the right size and he is 'head-down.' Not that that matters for a scheduled C-section!

As of right now, the c-section is scheduled for August 9 but I think we are looking at a July baby. Somewhere between July 19th and July 24th, maybe? But maybe Little Romeo will surprise and be an August baby.

This baby has actually been easier to carry that Harris was which really surprises me. My leg pain is not constant yet and I'm sure it was already with Harris. Plus, I don't need to nap everyday! Most days, yes, but not everyday!

Romeo? No, we are not really naming him Romeo! That is just what we are calling him until he does have a name. Hopefully we will agree on a name before he comes home from the hospital! Suggestions are welcome!

Romeo's clothes are all hung up nice and neat in Harris' closet. Mike put up a second rack so there would be enough room. And, WOW! This kid will be able to change outfits every 10 minutes for the first 3 months! So many tiny baby clothes!

So many friends and family have been so generous! We have been given crib sheets, a crib, a double stroller, a crib mattress, clothes... We are so thankful!

Update on the boys

2010-06-14T14:32:00.000-07:00

These two are still best buddies & Harris thinks Connor does no wrong - even if it is painful! We have had some hot-hot days and playing in the water makes everyone happy! Here is Harris standing at the water table for about 45 minutes at only 10 months old!

And what a good time he had splashing himself! I rescued him from Connor dumping cups of cold water on his head!

Connor has shown a lot more interest in playing a lot of sports lately - golf, baseball, soccer. We believe he is left-handed in sports which means it might be a challenge for us to teach him some things. He has also been practicing riding his bike - with no training wheels. He'll be taking off in no time! And he has started playing soccer with some other friends his age at a local sports center. He likes to be fast!

Here are the best buddies! Harris is only chewing on his thumb!

The ceremony

2010-06-14T13:56:00.000-07:00

Soooo, the reason we had the opportunity to spend 2 fabulous weeks in Puerto Rico is because my baby sister and new baby brother decided to have their wedding ceremony on Vieques. Anyone else that wants to have a destination wedding and invite us, please do so!

The ceremony was very simple and filled with truth and committment while Beky and Dan were surrounded by their very closest family and friends. Beautiful!

I tried to get fancy with some pics of their rings in the sand and this one is a favorite.

And what's a beach wedding in the Caribbean if the bride and groom can't run into the warm, gorgeous water in their wedding outfits!

Vieques

2010-05-09T08:04:00.000-07:00

Our week on Vieques, we stayed at La Finca Caribe with the rest of Beky and Dan's closest 'people.' La Finca is an AMAZING place - just don't expect a resort! Here is Connor under his mosquito net the first night - he wasn't so happy but soon got used to it! No AC meant a lot of open doors & windows so we made sure the boys were covered in case of a mosquito attack. There was never an attack! Although we did learn that there was at least one scorpion in our house - Mark and Whitney brought it home in their luggage!

Coconut on the front porch of Nueva Casa (our house).

Harris sat (successfully) in a high chair for the first time when we took a trip to Esperenza. Vieques is only 22 miles wide so all trips were easy.

Connor climbed a tree for the first time at La Finca. This is right in front of the main house where the majority of the group stayed and the wedding party was held.

Old San Juan

2010-05-05T18:18:00.000-07:00

The original plan was to get a rental car for 2 days while in San Juan. One day for a trip in Old San Juan and one day for a trip to the rainforest. After one day in Old San Juan, we loved it so much we decided to rent the car for 3 days and have 2 days in Old San Juan and 1 day in the rainforest. (never made it to the rainforest - Connor got sick the night before. Too much fun & sun!)

Mike & Connor at the Old San Juan city wall. It is 22 feet thick.

Next is the view from San Cristobal, one of the 2 forts we visited. AMAZING views. San Cristobal has a dungeoun that we got to explore. I tried to get pics of Connor behind bars but he was too afraid he would be stuck there!

This is a view from the other, bigger Fort - El Morro. If it wasn't 90 degrees with a blazing sun, I could have looked at that view for hours. This is the Atlantic Ocean.

And here is Connor playing on some canonballs!

Waterbugs! Pool time in Puerto Rico

2010-04-13T13:08:00.000-07:00

My boys are WATERBUGS! Here are a few pool pics from our two week vaca in Puerto Rico! The picture with Aunt Beky is from ta saltwater pool at La Finca on the island of Vieques. Harris went in with Aunt Beky while Connor practiced walking under water and holding his breath.
The other 3 pictures are from the resort pool in San Juan. By the time we left there, Harris was so relaxed in the water that he needed a little umbrella for his milk!

Many more pictures to follow!

August 2010 - lots of plans!

2010-02-12T07:14:00.000-08:00

August of this year is starting to look like a very busy month! Here is a look:

- Beky & Dan's Michigan wedding reception for a week (this has since been canceled so we will have to celebrate
extra at reception here in June!)

- August will be Connor's last month before preschool! How exciting! He talks about preschool almost every single day and has even asked when he can go look at his kindergarten!

- Harris will turn ONE in August! I already have a G6pD safe cake recipe and I have a feeling Harris will like Cake much more than Connor did on his first birthday!

Here are the boys on Harris' 6 month birthday

OH, YEAH one other thing that will keep us busy in August: Harris will become a big brother! Connor has already let him try on his Big Bro' shirt! Connor was very excited with the news but not until after we explained that this new baby was in addition to Harris - not replacing him!

You read that right, our family has been blessed with a new little one due to arrive August 12. Drs have told us that it's a good bet that this one will arrive a little early just like his/her big brothers! But we aren't going to count on it! 8-)
And for those of you keeping track, yes this is 5 pregnancies in 5 years. Two boys to snuggle everyday, two girls at home with God, and new life growing bigger and stronger in a safe, warm place.

WE ARE BLESSED! (and tired, he he!)

Diapers - a guest post!

2010-02-06T11:36:00.000-08:00

Hi, it's me, Harris! Mama asked me to write something on the blog like Connor used to do all the time. Well, I'm going to write about something very close to me - my diapers! I am very picky about what I use and why shouldn't I be! That's my skin down there!

Before I was born Mama & Daddy bought a fancy new washer that has a setting for cloth diapers so they decided to do a little research on these fancy diapers. They learned that they would save money in the long run by washing and reusing instead of buying and disposing. Plus, the manufactoring & shipping of a cloth diaper ONCE is much better for the Earth than the manufactoring & shipping of disposable (we call them sposies) after sposie for 3 years. Even the water used to wash my diaps is nothing compared to the pollution and energy use in making sposie after sposie. Also, once I become a big brother, my little sibs can use my diaps saving even more money and energy!
Besides, isn't this so much cuter than something that will just be thrown away!

Here is my original diaper stash. I have since gotten some new ones plus outgrown my first pre-folds. Plus, Mama got a fancy new wet bag for going to playdates. Oh, and Mama & Daddy use cloth wipes on me, too. I guess I'm a little spoiled on the pampering...he he!

And, because we are cute and best buddies, here is a picture of Connor and me snuggle-bugging. Connor only used disposable diapers. I don't know how he did it! I am very uncomfortable in a sposie and wake up a lot more at night when I have one on. I guess Connor's bottom is a little tougher than mine!

(Note from my Mama: Here is a good calculator to determine if you will save money by using cloth. And a spreadsheet to determine how much diapering will cost you over 3 years. Keep in mind that the cost varies depending on many factors including types of both cloth and sposies used.)

Pre-preschool

2010-01-17T06:04:00.000-08:00

We never thought we would send our kids to preschool. The goal was for me to be home with them and to take care of teaching them what they needed to go to kindergarten. We work on reading comprehension skills, sight words, sounding out words, are starting to write the ABCs, etc. Anyone that teaches a young child knows that they just soak this stuff right up. And Connor is EXCITED about it! He asked to learn how to read about when he turned 3 and he told me the other day that he will take books to preschool and when he goes he will 'know the words.' Of course, ABCs and 123 s aren't all you need for kindergarten so we do a variety of other things too - music hours, storytime, etc where we learn to sit still, wait our turn, etc. And of course lots of fieldtrips - everything can be a learning opportunity even just helping with dinner! I've gotten a lot of tips and resources from homeschooling moms. I can't imagine ever being a homeschooling mom (I don't have the discipline!) but they have great advice for teaching prechoolers.

Then when we started looking at the public & private kindergarten options for Connor, we discovered something we didn't like at all - all of the kindergarten classes are full day. FULL DAY ! We talked about it a lot - a little obsessively maybe, and decided that Connor can not go from no school program to a full day school program. We feel that would be too much of a change for our little guy - even at 5 years old. Soooooo....the search for a preschool began and we believe we have found the perfect one. We went to the open house last week and Connor got the very last spot in the class we wanted! And is he excited about school! When we left the open house he said 'Maybe tomorrow we can go see my kindergarten?'

In the meantime, our little sneak (caught him on the counter getting goldfish from the cabinet) will continue 'school time' at home. Our latest project is flashcards around the home - on everyday objects. Connor LOVES this and walks around the house spelling out all of the words. When we wrote the words, Connor helped me to sound them out. Here's an example:

5 months old!

2010-01-07T17:00:00.000-08:00

Harris is five months old today! (Connor flashback)

Harris has discovered his tongue, likes to talk baby talk, LOVES toys (Connor pretty much ignored them at this age), and has tried baby cereal and carrots. If we don't get the cereal to his mouth fast enough, he hits the bowl!

Harris may love his toys and his food but his FAVORITE thing of all is Connor. Harris watches everything Connor does and most of the time can be cheered up just by Connor talking to him. Of course, if Harris is loud enough, Connor gets frustrated with the crying and leaves the room! Oh, Harris cries A LOT more than Connor did at this age. Harris wakes up angry most of the time - usually because he is hungry. And he doesn't calm down until the food is in his mouth! (His G6PD D causes a fast metabolism that could be the reason for the angry hunger!)

Harris and his Mama have a lot in common - if we're hungry, we're mad. If we're tired and not in bed, we're mad. 8-)
Harris already loves reading books. He is not happy unless he can see the pages and then he will sit and pay attention to book after book. We try to bring Harris in to Connor's nighttime stories each day.
Slowly our little guy is becoming ticklish and sometimes when he is playing by himself on his tummytime mat or in his swing, he laughs out loud! And of course he loves to snuggle. He sleeps on his belly in the crib for most of the night but around 5 AM he comes into our room and snuggles back to sleep. Harris still wakes up once a night - Connor slept 12 hours straight through by this age. (And Connor still loves his sleep, almost 4 and still takes a 2-3 hour nap everyday.)

Did I mention the drool? We did not experience this with Connor! No teeth yet but could this be the start?

So, our boys are little opposites! Well, except for all the love they get! Happy 5 months Harris!

The missing Christmas card..

2010-01-06T14:27:00.000-08:00

We didn't send out Christmas cards this year. If we had, this probably would have been our picture. Connor is very cooperative for pictures lately and loves posing with Harris.

It shouldn't surprise anyone that we didn't get around to doing Christmas cards since we never even mailed out Harris' birth announcements. Kind of strange since I'm obsessed with taking pictures AND we had professional newborn shots done of our little Baby Bob.

Here are a few pics from Christmas. There are many, many pictures but these are just a few highlights.

Harris got a homemade hat from Aunt Beky and I took a million pictures of him wearing it. We love homemade!

Speaking of homemade, here's Har-Bar in an elf hat I made for Connor's first Christmas. Harris actually ripped a little paper off of his presents but he still needed some help.

We spent Christmas Eve at Mommom and Poppop's for dinner (and massive amounts of legos!) and then went to Mass. Poppop, Mike, Connor, and Harris all fell asleep during the 10 PM service! Mommom and I managed to stay awake!

Christmas day we had breakfast at our house with Uncle Mark and Whitney and then headed to Memom and Dada's. Some illnesses tried to bring down our Christmas spirits but we were blessed with a lot of answered prayers.

The day after Christmas Aunt Beky and Uncle Dan joined us at Mommom and Poppop's. Connor opened his new 'Connor sized' guitar and started strumming immediately! 'Cowboy songs' are his favorite, of course!

We read the Christmas Story to Connor often and make sure he knows the real reason for the holiday. At one point he said to me, 'Mommy, I know it's about Jesus but I really like presents!' We explained to him that Jesus is the best present and we celebrate him by sharing gifts with others. I'm not sure if he understands completly yet, but hopefully we are building a good foundation for him and Harris.

We hope that your Christmas was blessed!

Introducing...N Corno

2009-12-31T14:52:00.000-08:00

Connor got busted rearranging the letters hanging on the wall of his room. Mug shot below:

Feel free to call him N Corno

November???

2009-12-31T14:27:00.000-08:00

These boys can't get enough of each other! If Harris cries, Connor comes running to help cheer him up! We got a popcorn maker and Connor thinks this is how you get every last kernel!

Grandma and Grandpa Gene came down from NY and we all had a very nice visit!

Sometimes the only way to get Harris to calm down is to give him to Connor

Harris turned 3 months on 11/7. Here's a flashback to Connor at that age. (This pic is of Harris)

What happened to October?

2009-12-31T12:30:00.000-08:00

Minutes before we left for Harris' Christening on 10/18, I lost our media card - our ONLY media card. I'm pretty sure I dropped it in the trash. Funny because I did the same to my cell phone a few months after Connor was born. So, I had to ask others to share pictures and I didn't get all that I wanted...Here are a few:

We had a beautiful day on Strubble Trail. Can't get enough of that place in the fall.

We took the train into Phila with our good buddy Colin to see a Disney exhibit. Tons of cute pics of Connor & Colin (holding hands,hugging!) but I haven't had a chance to ask Colin's mama if I can post them yet. She has been a little busy lately!

Baby Bob BOO! showed up on Halloween....Along with Super Why and his Super Readers!

A conversation with Connor

2009-12-17T14:07:00.000-08:00

Connor (right after Mike left the room): You guys are married?

Me: We are

Connor: Can I get married with you?

Me (heart swelling!): Of course you can!

a little while later....

Me: So, will you be my husband?

Connor: Yup, and Daddy will be your wife!

2 months old!

2009-10-17T18:16:00.000-07:00

Harris turned 2 months old on October 7. That went fast and he is really growing! At his 2 month check-up he was 10lbs 7.5 oz (21st precentile) and 22 1/8 inches (19th percentile) long. Of course, his head was in the 44th percentile. Little Bobblehead! Connor was only about 8 pounds at 2 months old so we think of Harris as our little chunker!

He hasn't had a blood transfusion since his second one on 9/1. His hemoglobin level has gone down slightly (lowest 7.8 since last transfusion) but has mainly held steady and gone up slightly. He still goes for bloodwork 2x a week but if the levels continue to climb, the frequency of blood work will decrease which will be great! Right now our plan is pretty simple - Harris and I get up & he eats. Then we bundle up and head to the hospital for bloodwork while Mike and Connor sleep/eat oats/get ready for the day. Since we are regulars in the hospital lab, we know a lot of the employees and some even make a special stop in to say hello to Harris. When we get home, Mike leaves for work.

When Mike gets home from work, Harris is usually just waking up from a nap. I think he already knows our family schedule because he wakes up and then won't settle down until Mike holds him. He is happy as can be getting snuggles from his daddy!

OCNJ 2009

2009-10-15T19:46:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been back from OC for almost a month now so it's about time I posted pics! We had a great time with the family. For the first 2 days, Memom & Dada, their 4 children & their spouses and the 4.5 grandkids were all there together. (4.5 grandkids because one is still being baked!) Connor and Jake spent almost every second they were in the house together doing something like this:

Harris spent his beach time sleeping - sometimes in a tent sometimes being held.

Once Connor got in the water, he never wanted to leave! Our little fish!

This picture is just for fun! Some grown up Cianciulli boys sharing a bathroom!