A Life of Love

Siena is Turning 1

2013-07-18T18:29:00.001-07:00

Ok so it's been forever...um...I have no words for how fast this past year soared by. There have been so many adventures, fun trips, some great times and some very sad times since I've last written. Our kids have grown up and our youngest is almost walking already. As I prepare to celebrate her first year with us I find myself emotional thinking about how special this little girl is.

So what makes her so special? I could probably write forever, but here is a summary:

SMV. She has my same exact initials.
Her birth made me feel like a strong woman, and still does
She has the sweetest disposition
Her belly laugh is high and squeaky and makes me belly laugh in return
First word--Daddy (still waiting for Mommy. She says MaMa, but not always directly at me)
She was my life-saving comfort the day she turned 4 months--the day my Daddy walked into Jesus's arms
She is determined, especially when going after something she knows mommy isn't too keen on. If I stop her she throws a one-year-old tantrum. I can't help but laugh because she is so cute.
She sucks her thumb when she's tired. I love this now, but know that it could become trouble in the future.
She is a momma's girl...mommy will do when she is upset.
She loves her brother and sister. C makes her laugh all the time. They all play so well together it warms my heart.
She has the best hugs, blows kisses and waves bye bye
Her little tongue goes a mile a minute and she makes the cutest blah, blah, blub, blub sounds
She loves taking a flat palm and smacking her open mouth to make fun sounds
We love the little pucker lip face she makes
She says "Hi!" when someone walks in the room
Love that she is so petite, don't love that part of the reason she is so small is due to a UTI that kept her from gaining any weight for three months. She is back on track now and doing great. I can't wait for her 1 year check-up to see where she is on the growth chart this time. Just to give you an idea, at 4 months she was at 50%, 6 months she was 32%, and 9 months she was 6%, then we had her weight checked at 10 1/2 months and she was up to 14%--moving in the right direction.
She didn't explore textured food until 10 months. But now she loves feeding herself. She even reaches for the spoon and likes to try by herself. I am so excited about this because due to the UTI she wasn't interested in anything but smooth puree.
She absolutely loves the pool, splashing and kicking. She giggles when I dip her in and jump up then dip her back down to her shoulders. Oh her smile...how magical.
She travels so well. In her first year she has been to Disney World, and Cocoa Beach, FL to visit Great Grandma Julia; she has been hiking many times with the family in the North Georgia mountains, She flew to PA in December, then drove back to PA in June and up to Boston and back home. What a trooper.

And the list goes on... We love this girl. What a complete joy.

Great Grandma Julia & A Trip to Disney

2012-11-28T19:53:00.002-08:00

My husband had some vacation days to use up before the end of the year, so we took a trip to Disney World in Orlando. Honestly, I think that I was the most excited of all to be at the parks. I just love Disney so much. It's hard to believe that Leo has been there twice already and he is only 22 months old! Our week started with a trip to Sea World. Our favorite show by far was the dolphin show. It was like Cirque du Soleil with dolphins, birds, divers and flying trapeze artists--so cool.

We also checked out Epcot. It was a great place for the kids to meet some of the characters up close.

Mid week we drove out to the beach to spend some time with my grandma. This was such a highlight for us. Carmella bonded so quickly with her Great Grandma. She stayed by her side the entire day and was so upset when we had to leave. It was wonderful to see Grandma. We had such a nice visit. Seeing her hold little Siena was precious and very special for me. We love you, Julia, thanks for such lovely hospitality.

The next day we went to Magic Kingdom. This was by far our favorite park. We saved the best for last. Pushing it to the max, we stayed all day, ending the evening with the light parade. The kids did great, but mom ended up at the clinic the next day. I had a double ear infection, sinus infection and bronchitis. Overall I managed fine. The biggest issue was that I couldn't breathe well and my chest hurt. A good dose of antibiotics, steroids and an inhaler did the trick. I felt much better after a few days or so.

Our Disney vacay was a great little escape. I'm not sure what the kids enjoyed most, but the entire car ride home Carmella kept asking to go back to the hotel. There was a bunk bed in our room and she got to sleep on the top bunk. That might have been the highlight for her.

Ella Turns 4

2012-10-29T19:54:00.000-07:00

Our little girl is growing up...way too fast. We had two parties for her this year. A "family" party with our clan and my BFF, Crystal's family. We ordered pizza and had bite-sized cupcakes for dessert. She got to open presents from us and the grandparents.

From Grandma and Grandpa V.

From Grandma and PopPop S.

Since her actual birthday was on a Monday, they celebrated it at preschool. I sent in some carrot cupcakes and they sang "Happy Birthday" to her. I do carpool on Mondays so here she is in her birthday crown with her best buddy, Chloe.

Then, the following Saturday, we had a friend party for her. We invited Chloe and all the girls in her class for a Pancakes and Pajamas party. The girls had a blast!

Happy Birthday Carmella, we love you so much. You've grown into such a sweetheart. You make us laugh every day with your pure silliness. The quote of the week stems from confusion over throwing you two parties. You asked me a couple of times after your first party and before your second one: "Mommy, will I turn five at the pajama party?"

"No, sweetheart, you will still be 4." Please don't rush it.

Leo's Laugh

2012-10-29T19:31:00.000-07:00

A Little Bit of Fall

2012-10-29T19:25:00.002-07:00

This is and has always been my favorite time of year. I drag my family out to do all kinds of Autumn activities as often as I can. I love the colors, textures and crisp cool air of the season. Living in Atlanta we don't always get the crisp cool air, but this year it has been close to what I remember from my years spent in the North. Plus, the color palate has always looked nice on me.

Pumpkin Patches

Hayrides

Pumpkin Farms With Awesome Tractors and Wheelbarrows

Scooping out pumpkins and creating fun faces. The best part is eating the roasted seeds. Yummy.

Siena Marie

2012-10-02T12:02:00.001-07:00

The newest member of our family is here! Well, she is already 7 weeks old, but that's still brand new to us. There has been quite a bit of pressure put on me to create some new blog posts...so here you go! In the past 7 weeks, I have been quite busy. We have had my mom here, Mark's folks here, my mom again, and then we took a trip to NC to the Outer Banks to spend some time with my whole family--sisters and all. Then I got back to an adult-empty home. Yep, just me and my three nuggets. Mark had a business trip and I was left to tend to the unpacking and readjusting to a normal daily routine by myself.

God is so wonderful though. And I'll tell you why: I had several ladies fighting over who was going to take Carmella to and from school that week; and we had four dinners prepared for us over the course of the week. So I can say with confidence that we were well cared for and I made it through just fine.

If you want a little drama, please read on...if not, skip to the photos--they're great!

--The Birth Story--

Thursday, August 9 I had a scare of false contractions. I really thought it was going to be time to go to the hospital. It was quite early for our little Siena to arrive so I was doubtful that they were the real deal. I was once told to take a warm shower and if the contractions continue, then they are real, if they stop, then, well, keep on with whatever you were doing, there will be no hospital run that day.

Saturday morning (Aug 11) we attended a pool party. That afternoon I started having contractions. I thought it was a false alarm until we started timing them. We called a babysitter at about 10 pm because the contractions hadn't slowed or stopped, in fact they were getting stronger and closer together. I called my OB/GYN and they said to go to the hospital. So we did.

Mark's parents weren't due to arrive at our house until Aug 17th. So if this was the real thing, we needed reinforcements ASAP. We called in our two best sitters who tag teamed all weekend long until my mom was able to get there on Monday afternoon.

We arrived at the hospital and continued laboring all night long. They assured us that this was the real deal and we were going to have the baby soon. 10 hours past. It was about 9 am the next morning and still no baby. In fact, the contractions had basically stopped. A nurse came in and checked me saying that I hadn't made any progress and did not dilate any more than when I first came in. They gave me something to eat and started preparing me to go home. Mark and I were devastated. They didn't want to induce unless I had made some progress during contractions. The baby was due on Aug 21st and she was still a few days too early for the hospital to allow me to be induced. They like the babies to be 38 weeks or more, I was two days shy of that. Tears came in bucketfuls.

They hooked me up to a monitor and said they wanted to make sure the baby's heartbeat was stable before sending me home. During this time (about 2 hours) I started having contractions again--really strong ones. So the doctor checked me after a few hours and said I had dilated more. They were actually going to go ahead and break my bag of water and put me on Pitocin to get the contractions going even stronger. I was going to have this baby after all.

I declined any sort of pain medication and wanted to try to do this completely natural. I basically did it with Leo since the epidural didn't take. So I put my brave face on and truly grinned and bared it. The doctor and the nurse were quite impressed that I wasn't screaming at all when the contractions went through the roof. I kept telling them to wait because the screaming would for sure come. It wasn't until the pushing that they got an earful--but they were ready for it. And it didn't take long.

Wow, Siena was born at 3:46 pm, weighing 7 lbs 9 oz and measuring 20 inches long. She was and is perfect. What a roller coaster.

[Big Bro and Big Sis meeting Siena for the first time. They were both sooooo excited and wanted to give her kisses right away.]

[Grandma holding Siena for the first time.]

[Doting Big Sis.]

[Mark's parents came to visit on the 17th as planned. Grandpa and Grandma got some quality time with the kids for sure.]

We had a great time with all. Thank you for all the help, support and companionship for the big kids during this time. We sure feel loved. The kids really miss all the attention they got from the grandparents. Then we headed to the beach and they had cousins to play with for a full week. What a complete joy. I can post about this later, or you can just go and visit my sister's blog to get a photo journal from her viewpoint. It is wonderful, I promise. http://larslaurel.blogspot.com/

Work Days

2012-07-01T18:38:00.000-07:00

My parents came for a short, packed several days. I put my poor folks to work while they were here. Fortunately for me, we were trapped inside Thursday to Saturday because the temperature was well into the 100s...way too hot to do much outside. So all my little projects to prepare for the baby ended up being the main focus of the visit. On Thursday my dad sanded, stained and polyurethaned a tall dresser for Leo's big boy room. And he, with the help of my mom, installed a shelf in each girl's closet for me. Then Friday the work continued. While I cleaned out Leo's closet to get it ready for baby girl, my folks put up a curtain rod and curtain in Leo's new room. Saturday the work continued as my mom and I moved Leo's crib into his big boy room and put together the new crib for the nursery. We rearranged all the furniture in the nursery as well just so it looks like a fresh, different room for a new baby.

It's difficult to get an idea of the feel of the room, but at least you can see baby girl's crib.

Also, on Saturday we finished off Leo's room by putting up airplane wall decals and some name letters and a picture. Leo is so pleased with his big boy room. Every time he goes in there he starts jumping up and down and says "happy". I think he likes it.

Somewhere in there we had time to do a little shopping and check out the Farmer's Market. But mostly their visit was filled with work, work, and more work. Oh, and I cannot forget that my dad did ALL the cooking while they were here. Yummy!

I didn't get much rest, but it was all worth it. My to do list for "before the baby" went from 8 daunting items down to 2, very manageable, items. A big, huge, whopping thank you goes out to my folks for helping me get all this accomplished.

A Shower for Baby #3

2012-07-01T18:09:00.000-07:00

I know it is not normally customary to have a shower for a third baby, especially since it is a second girl, but I got one anyway! What a blessing. My mom threw me a shower in PA for C, but we were living in Chicago at the time. I had some dear friends from childhood and college days attend, but since I didn't know anyone where we lived in Chicago, I didn't have the pleasure of sharing that moment with anyone there. I never got a shower for Leo since we moved in the middle of my pregnancy from Chicago to here. Therefore, technically, I never really had a shower with friends from where we live: until now.

Crystal, a friend of mine since my Florida days, now lives only 20 minutes from me. She had the sweet idea of throwing a party for baby Vig #3 while my mom was in town this past week. It took a lot of quick planning on her part, but she pulled it all together with the help of two of my neighbors. There were approximately 20 ladies that came to shower the baby with love, good wishes and beautiful gifts. It was so much fun! Thanks to all who came and to the ladies who put it all together for us. I do feel so blessed.

Here is a picture of me and Crystal.

My mom and my first baby girl.

Some friends... (a sampling from the party)

June Visit with the MA Vigs

2012-06-06T18:31:00.000-07:00

M's folks flew in for a fun-filled week. They basically joined us for a glimpse into our daily lives. It's crazy around here, so we welcome extra hands any time we can get them. They arrived on Thursday evening and they got to get right into our schedule the very next morning with C's swim lesson. She loved having an audience and really showed off her developing swimming skills.

Then Saturday morning we all headed up to the mountains for a picnic lunch overlooking Allatoona Lake. It was a beautiful day for a picnic and a gentle stroll through the woods on a lakeside trail.

That evening C had her dance recital (see our post First Dance Recital). L stayed at home with our neighbors and the four adults accompanied one excited little girl to her big show.

Then Sunday we attended church, went out for lunch and came home for naps (all of us). Monday became a workday of sorts. It was raining all morning so we couldn't go outside anyway. I used this time to start preparing the spare room upstairs for L's big boy room. It took about 4 or 5 hours to clear out and organize all the infant girl clothes in that closet. Hugo helped me take out some of the extra closet shelves so it would be effective as a clothes closet and not just a storage closet. Renee and Hugo did all the heavy lifting of boxed up clothes and ran them up and down two flights of stairs to the basement storage area. I sure felt productive and was thrilled to have the help.

Tuesday was our last full day together. I had to run off to the doctor to do a three-hour glucose test because I failed my one hour test the previous week. So Renee and Hugo had the kids to themselves all morning. Thankfully L took a long nap and C was happy to watch Bolt with them. I passed the first two hours so I didn't have to stay for the third hour and was home for lunch. The rain let up for a bit so we could take a little walk and get the kids outside for a bit that afternoon. Then we all went out for dinner that night to celebrate my good sugar test numbers.

Wednesday morning came way too quick--it was time to say goodbye, see you in a few weeks. We are already counting down the days until they come back to see us when baby girl is due at the end of August.

First Dance Recital

2012-06-06T17:51:00.000-07:00

Our sweet three year old had her first dance recital over the weekend. Her paternal grandparents came for an extended weekend to see her dance, which made the event extra special for her. The company put on a really superb show. I was blown away at how many dancers they actually train. There were four shows altogether, each lasting three hours. Our show was the very last one at 7 p.m. on Saturday night. This is the same company where Melanie Moore, So You Think You Can Dance's winner last season, trained at for several years before appearing on the TV show. So I guess I am saying that it is a first-class operation. And they sure put on a first-rate show the other night. Our little dancing princess did a wonderful job. I had tears in my eyes the whole time she performed...each tear was filled with excitement, joy, pride and nervousness for her up on that big stage.

Her dance was called "Wendy's Storybook" the second dance in the Neverland program. They came out from behind a large story book with smoke and everything. The girls all lined up and started their little moves. Most of the girls starred doe-eyed off into the darkness of the audience, but our little star followed the older girl in front of her and did all of her moves really well. Then it came time for the tunnel where C and another girl were supposed to hold hands and make a bridge for the rest of the little dancers to go under. C was ready to do her part, but her partner was off in Neverland somewhere staring into the distance. So C got visibly upset on stage, stomped her foot, and yelled at the girl to come to the mark and make the bridge with her. It was sooo funny. C couldn't get over it so she grabbed another girl and stood in the middle of the stage making a bridge with her even though that part of the dance was over and they had moved on to the next thing. She quickly got back in her spot and finished the routine. It was unbelievably cute.

Here she is during the rehearsal when all the little girls did pretty much what they were supposed to...

And these next shots are from the night of the actual recital. We weren't allowed to take any photos during the performance, so we have some before and after shots instead.

...here's a shot of Leo just because.

Water Works

2012-05-02T20:48:00.000-07:00

Even though Leo hasn't been feeling very well lately, we still try to have a little fun. It was in the 80s this weekend and the kids wanted to turn on the sprinkler. It's great entertainment for the parents and so much fun for the kids.

Easter Weekend

2012-04-08T17:00:00.005-07:00

Our Easter weekend kicked off with a rocking Good Friday concert featuring Chris Tomlin and David Crowder. You know, I have to say that one really feels alive when they can get away and do something to revive the spirit and refresh the soul. We went with another couple and had the best time.

The next morning we took the kids to an Easter breakfast with the Easter Bunny. They did a little egg hunt after breakfast in the church yard. In comparison to some of the egg hunts we took C to last year, this one was much more relaxed which was perfect for our toddling 15 month-old.

That evening we had a little cookout with our good friends, Chip, Crystal and their two kids, Bri and Braxton. The kids had fun playing in the yard and eating outside on the deck.

Sunday was much quieter. We went to church then did our own little egg hunt in our back yard. I didn't feel like cooking or cleaning up after a meal so we decided to eat out. So it was Mexican for Easter this year. Can I just say...yummy. The best part was coming home, putting the kids to bed and not having to clean up a mess. Momma can put her feet up and write a blog. It's a real treat. (P.S. A big shout out to Grandma Stallings for the adorable Easter outfits the kids have on. Thanks sooo much! They looked stunning!)

Hope all your Easter celebrations were filled with the love of Christ! He has risen! He has risen indeed!

A Zoo Day

2012-03-30T13:01:00.003-07:00

Even though Leo currently has Hand, Foot and Mouth disease, we decided to go to the zoo for the day yesterday. He stayed quarantined in the stroller while Ella had a play date with a friend. They had so much fun. Ella even learned how to use the camera on my phone and took a few photos herself; some of which turned out pretty nice.

Here are Carmella and Kendall posing for the camera in front of the tiger habitat.

Here they are roaring for the tiger. If you look in the background the tiger lifts her head. She must have heard the girls roar.

The girls had so much fun. They are finally at the stage where they play with each other instead of playing side-by-side. It was totally refreshing for Kendall's mom and me too. We had a lovely time talking with each other with minimal interruptions.

Swim Class

2012-03-30T12:40:00.003-07:00

Carmella loves her swimming lessons. Her excitement gets her in trouble at times. The problem is, she has a hard time closing her mouth when she puts her face in the water because she is smiling too much. It's so cute. She is the youngest child in her class by a year or more, but she holds her own. She has improved so much since the first day. In the beginning she wouldn't put her face in the water at all. Now, she can hold her breath under water for up to five seconds. I am very proud of her. But to be honest, I just get a kick out of how much she likes it.

I have to back up a bit and tell you how we came to even get signed up for lessons at this particular pool. The pool is walking distance from our house and the lessons are by far the cheapest around. However, signing up is quite a stressful process. As a swim person myself, I really don't understand why it has to be so difficult to get a kid into lessons. Sign-ups start online at say noon on a Saturday. If you are not logged in and ready to go the second they open up the sign ups, you are out of luck. There is only one class per age group for each two-week session. I think there are four sessions total throughout the spring for which parents can sign up their kids. I knew we wanted to do the first two sessions so I got logged on and signed up the second the list went public.

Just for curiosity sake, I logged back in after I successfully added Carmella to both of the Spring sessions I wanted. Sure enough, only 4 minutes after the sign-ups went public, all classes were filled up for all four sessions. I felt lucky to even get on the list.

My thoughts are that if there is such a demand for lessons, why not add classes and teachers? They are missing out on a huge money-making opportunity here. It just kills me. I used to work at a pool and half my day was spent booking swim lessons. The more the merrier. If we had a wait list, we would simply add a class. I guess this place isn't quite at that level, but I simply see missed opportunity written all over it.

But isn't she sweet?

Randomness

2012-03-26T12:07:00.007-07:00

Since I have been so bad at blogging lately, I must put everything into one post. We will start with our current state of being and end with some fun things we've been up to the past few weeks.

The biggest challenge we face right now is getting and keeping everyone healthy. Last week Leo had a stomach virus that lasted three days with a mild fever. After the three days, he somehow ended up with Pink Eye. Once we had that all taken care of we thought we were in the clear, until... Sweet Carmella had a really bad night and wound up in the ER with a nasty case of croup. It was so scary. She couldn't catch a breath at all and sounded horrendous. At the ER she got a breathing treatment, a dose of steroids and an orange Popsicle. She came home and slept okay the rest of the night. However, her parents were on edge all night long.

Mark left two days later for a business trip. I ended up battling a sinus infection and two unhealthy kids who couldn't seem to make it through the night without some issue. Mark came home several days later feeling really sick himself. So we muddled through this weekend and somehow survived. Leo's Pink Eye returned this weekend along with a fever and night terrors. Last night was his first night sleeping through in almost a week. Thankfully he slept--because his pregnant momma really needed the rest. I am praying that we have seen the worst of it and will have a healthy week this week.

Okay, now that the illness portion is finished, I can get on with the cute, fun stuff. Somehow in the midst of it all we found a few healthy days to get out and have some fun. The first two photos are from a place called Champion Kids. C discovered that she could operate the rope swing by herself and Leo discovered how fun it is to jump into the foam pit.

And since you can't see from the foam pit photo, C got her hair cut (by me). I was tired of pulling her hair back and using a ponytail holder that only seemed to shred her baby-fine hair. So I created some bangs or fringe so I wouldn't have to keep pulling it back. Here she is at a dear friend's 3-year-old birthday party last week. Everyone keeps saying how grown up she looks.

And here are two more shots of our little nature lover, Leo. Always needing to have something in his hands to hold, carry, or play with.

That's it for now. I hope to take some pictures at C's swim lesson today and write more this week. All my love!!

A Tea With Belle

2012-02-29T07:00:00.003-08:00

Carmella and I went to a tea with princess Belle and brought along some friends to share the moment. All the little girls dressed up and looked so sweet and beautiful. It was a big day for them. They met Belle on the way into the tea house and got even more excited about their morning.

We all got settled at our table and they announced that they would be serving Apricot tea. All the girls tried it and to my surprise, Carmella really liked it and drank all of hers.

Then they brought out the snacks. The girls got a special tray full of yummy treats. Carmella tried everything that had chocolate on it. For instance, there was a glass slipper shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwich with the tip of the toe dipped in chocolate and adorned with sparkly jewels. They also had crown shaped sandwiches with the top of the crown dipped in chocolate, among many other delicious treats. The adults got a different tray of food that was simply wonderful and perfect for us.

[Chloe, Bri and Carmella]

[Bri and her mommy, Crystal]

[Carmella and our next door neighbor "Moppy"]

Almost as soon as we finished our tea trays Belle came around to our table to meet the girls and get pictures taken. The girls just loved every moment of it. When tea was over, Belle gathered the girls in the big room and told them a very interactive story that got everyone excited and engaged.It was such a special day to be able to share with my precious little girl.

New Baby on the Way

2012-02-27T07:50:00.007-08:00

The biggest news around here is that we are expecting our third baby! We found out a week or so before Christmas and broke the news to Mark's parents at Christmas dinner with a scroll that said: Jeremiah 1:5-- "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you..."

They got the reference right away and could celebrate with us early. I am now almost 14 weeks and already starting to show. I have been blessed with friends and family who have passed down maternity clothes to help me be as comfortable as possible during an Atlanta summer pregnancy. The baby is due a few days after my birthday, on August 26th.

The best part of this pregnancy is that we have no plans of moving. We moved from Boston to Chicago when I was 12 weeks pregnant with Carmella and we moved from Chicago to Atlanta when I was 6 months pregnant with Leo. So basically, I don't know what to do with myself this time around. I have to organize the play room and turn it into a bedroom for Leo, but other than that, there are no major things to do. I guess running after two kids under 4 is quite enough for now.

Leo's 1st Birthday

2012-02-27T07:41:00.005-08:00

Okay, so Leo turned one Jan 12. We are now almost to March, but I am finally getting around to posting photos. This is to appease the family members who have been hounding me to update my blog. Apologies all around for my tardiness.

We had a quiet celebration at our house for the little one-year-old. Our friends, Crystal, Chip and their two kids, Bri and Braxton came to help us eat cake that evening. Leo opened one or two gifts and stuffed his face with cake. I think he knew it was a special time for him, but it is hard telling.

Christmas Week

2012-01-03T17:27:00.000-08:00

On Christmas day we welcomed Mark's parents to our home. They made the journey from Massachusetts and got to our house just in time for Christmas dinner. I made a wonderful boneless ribeye roast accompanied by Yorkshire pudding and roasted root vegetables. It was a big hit with our weary travellers.

The next morning we celebrated Christmas. I guess we can get away with postponing Christmas for a day since the kids are so young and don't know any better anyway. I must say, it was lovely to have the extra family members there when we opened our presents. It made it all the more festive.

Two of our presents to Mark's parents were activities for the whole family to enjoy together. Monday evening we went to Atlanta Botanical Gardens to view its special lights display. It was beautiful walking through forests of trees all strung up with colorful lights. One of the highlights was a three-story tall Christmas tree completely made out of fresh poinsettia plants. Simply gorgeous.

The other present didn't come until Thursday morning. We went to a puppet show at the Center for Puppetry Arts. It was a wonderful rendition of Rudolf, the Red-Nosed Reindeer--you know, the version that has Hermey, the misfit elf that wants to be a dentist. It was virtually identical to the movie with a few fun ad libs. None of us had ever been to a puppet show like this and it was surprisingly cool.

The rest of our days were filled with quality play time, some walks to the parks and rest and relaxation. The rest part was mainly on Mark and myself because we both came down with terrible colds...unfortunately passing it along to the grandparents toward the end of their visit. Sorry again Mom and Dad!!

In fact, by the time New Year's Eve came around, everyone was so tired that Mark was left rolling in the new year by himself. Woo Hoo! I passed out by 10:15 and I think Mark's folks even earlier. I don't know, it was all a blur. I was so exhausted. We all simply said "Happy New Year" the next morning. Boy have times changed.

As you have seen by my earlier post, Leo has been practicing his walking. He is getting a little better at it every day. Today I think he took about 7 steps before crashing to the floor. I can't believe how fast he is growing. Almost a year and already weighing in at what Carmella weighed at 2 years--25 pounds!! But what a sweet boy he is. Such a delight. They both are.

There is quite an emptiness in the house since Grandma and Grandpa left. Carmella did much better today, but yesterday she was so sad all day. Poor thing. Thanks guys for making this such a special Christmas week! We love you.

Baby Steps

2011-12-31T12:47:00.001-08:00
Leo's first few little steps.

Way to go!

Well Aunt Dona, you were right! He did take his first few steps while Grandma and Grandpa were here!

New found freedom

2011-12-06T17:13:00.000-08:00

He's almost 11 months old already and brave as can be. He escapes and starts climbing up the stairs every chance he gets. He likes to get on his feet and let go of whatever he is holding on to just to see how long he can stay up. He's cruising around with push toys throughout the house. He is so excited about this that he couldn't nap today. I don't blame him...it is pretty exciting.

Ella-isms

2011-12-06T16:51:00.000-08:00
Lessons of the day from our curious and determined daughter.

"Ladybugs don't eat cheerios"

_____________

Daddy: "Do you know what patience means?"

C: "Yes. It means to wait very loudly."

_____________

C: "No Daddy, you're the alligator. I'm the monkey."

_____________

Our new bedtime routine (which changes frequently):
C: "Okay, one more jump hug, then I am going to zip your lips, unzip them and hug you again."

Before it was, C: "I am going to hug you, kiss you, and then I am going to smell you."

We have since added jump hugs where she stands at the edge of the bed, lifts up her arms and jumps into our arms. I can't resist it! I love getting "one more jump hug".

Today's Conversation

2011-11-17T08:26:00.000-08:00
C: "Where's my wand?"

S: "Here it is, sweetie."

C: "Hey, it doesn't work."

S: "Have you tried using magic words?"

C: "POOF! It still didn't work, Mommy."

S: "Well, maybe it's the kind of wand that needs your imagination to work."

C: "Oh. Okay, I'll try that.

POOF!

Wow, did you see that?"

S: "What?"

C: "There is a rainbow.
POOF! Hey look! Now it is a yellow rainbow. (Pointing) Yellow, yellow, yellow. POOF! Wow!
Look, now it's a blue rainbow. (Pointing again) Blue, blue, blue."

S: "That's great honey. See I knew your wand worked."

C: "POOF! Now it's a brown rainbow..."

Halloween Day

2011-11-01T05:54:00.000-07:00

As a neighbor and friend pointed out: "Wow, how many costumes does Ella have?"

True, very true. We ended up with multiple costumes for our little girl. She wanted to wear a variety of things this week and actually wore two different ones on Halloween Day itself: One for school and one for trick-or-treating.

The school costume was Super Girl and she looked super cute in it.

For going to the block party and for Trick-or-Treating last night she wanted to be a ballerina and wear one of my old recital costumes when I was about her age. She called herself a ballerina princess and wore the outfit with such pride.

We met a new neighbor at the block party and ended up going house to house with them. The little girl (also 3-years-old), dressed as an elephant, grabbed Carmella's hand and led her up to each door. The pair of them had the best time ever.

Leo went as Tigger, growls and all. Below is a video of him practicing his growl and of sis joining along for the fun of it.

Pre- Halloween Activities

2011-10-26T17:41:00.000-07:00

I think we already have enough candy.

Everywhere we turn Carmella seems to be getting more candy and it isn't even Trick-or-Treat night yet. She dressed up for dance class this week and chose to wear a bee costume. Then we got invited to a neighbor's church for Wednesday night dinner and costume parade. She again wanted to wear the bee. I think she looks Bee-u-t-ful--even if it is just a play dress-up, hand-me-down outfit. Her actual trick-or-treating costume will be a lovely ballerina tutu that I wore for a recital when I was a little girl in dance.

Two more events to go. A neighborhood party on Saturday and then the actual trick-or-treat night, Monday. So many opportunities to dress up. It's perfect for my little one who is so in to dress up these days.