Final Summer Days

While we definitely have slowed down over the past eight weeks, we've still had a lot of fun and enjoyed the final days of summer. Just since Dominic has been born, we've managed to visit with a lot of family, swim, have some carnival fun, play dates, apple picking, birthday parties, park play, roller skating and Giana taught herself how to use a hula hoop...and she can hula hoop with the best of them! It's really unbelievable how well she does for her age. I need to post a video.
Fall is here now and I love this time of year. We have some fun plans including a trip (maybe two) to a pumpkin patch, Dominic's baptism, football Saturday's and a trip to Vegas (just Dominic and I!) I'm on the board for my local Mom's Club so I know there are other fun activities in the works. Here's hoping I can keep up the pace with two kids!

Causing Trouble In Cleveland

Dominic bought these two shirts. He tried to find one for Dominic, too but didn't have any luck finding a 0-3 month onesie. He grew up in Cleveland. Enough said. :)

Party, Party, Party!

My father in law loves to throw parties and this particular weekend, he threw two parties in a row! Giana turned 4 on September 6th, which happened to be Labor Day this year. We were in Cleveland visiting Dominic's family for the weekend and my in laws had a "Welcome/Meet Baby Dominic" party on September 5th. Dominic's family and friends came to meet the baby and it was a fun time. The following day, we celebrated Giana's actual birthday. She loved her little cake and enjoyed opening her gifts from us. Dad is already planning Dominic's 1st birthday and Giana's 5th birthday. He says they are both "big ones" so we have to celebrate big. Any reason to have a party!




The following weekend, I planned a "kid party" at our local Rec Center. It was fantastic because they handled almost everything! Giana picked out her princess theme and all we had to do was show up. This year, I needed the help since we were still settling in with the baby. Giana loved it and enjoyed her friends, games and cake.











Later that evening, we had family over to continue the celebration. We had more cake and Giana opened all of her gifts.


Finally, to top off this on going celebration, she was the birthday girl at school the following week. Grandma and Papa made cut out cookies. Giana picked apple and cake shaped cookies and she gave them out to her friends and teachers at school. This is a picture of G when I picked her up...full of sugar. I think it's safe to say that she had a great (never ending) birthday this year. She's already talking about how she will be "5 soon" and a "whole hand!"

Family "Photo Shoot"

My dear friend, Cindy takes fantastic pictures and she agreed to take some pictures of our family. We met at a local park on a beautiful Sunday morning, which happened to be Dominic and my 13th wedding anniversary. We had a lot of fun and are so thankful to Cindy for doing this for us. We'll have these pictures forever and I'll always remember the date they were taken.

Giana doesn't always cooperate when getting her picture taken. We told her that it was an important "photo shoot" and Ms. Cindy was in charge. She thought that was cool and told everyone about the photo shoot and that we all had to "obey Ms. Cindy." It worked! Thank you, Cindy! The pictures are beautiful and below are some of my favorites.

It's All in the Name

Dear Baby Dominic,

When Daddy and I found out that we were pregnant with a little boy, we were so happy! I've always loved the name Dominic, even before I met your Dad and I knew that I wanted to have a son named Dominic. I had no idea how many Dominic's would come into my life. It's a family name on your Dad's side and there are many generations that share your first name, however, you all have different middle names. Daddy agreed to name you Dominic but I had to agree that he got to choose your middle name. He came across the name Massimo when looking up boy names on an Italian website. I thought he was joking. I suggested many other options like Louis, after your Papa. I thought this would be nice since Giana shares your other grandfather's middle name. I also suggested Nicholaus since that's your Daddy's middle name but he thought that would really confuse things. Giana and I really pushed for Anthony. It was our favorite and it's also Uncle David's middle name. Daddy told me that it would be a "game day decision" so I had to wait until you were born to find out what he chose and he chose Massimo. Your full name means "the Greatest Lord" and I'm happy that Daddy picked this name for you. We are thrilled to have our little Dominic Massimo here with us now.

Love you so much!
Mommy

Fake It Until you Make It!

I recently (finally) had some time to look through a few pictures from Dominic's birth and my hospital stay. Just before the baby was born, I posted about not liking hospitals or wanting to stay for very long once I had the baby. While I had a wonderful experience, I still wanted OUT! The IV hurt, and I had every reason to worry about that but the rest of my experience was really good. I delivered Dominic by c-section on Saturday at 8:30AM and I had my doctor convinced that I was ready to come home the following evening about 7:00PM. On Sunday, I felt OK even though I took very little pain medication (I'm just not one to take a lot of medicine) but I acted like I felt great (this is where the "fake it until you make it" part comes in) and I made sure the hospital staff noticed. Shower, make up, dressed, walking around, had several visitors and took Giana to the bagel shop in the main lobby. My doctor wrote up the release papers Sunday night. I agreed to stay just so the baby could be monitored after his circumcision and we went home on Monday morning at 8:00AM. Dominic, my husband (this name thing could get a little confusing!) planned to work that morning, not really thinking that I would be released - HA! He just arrived at work when I called for our taxi service. If I had my car keys, I would have just driven us home. :)

What a nice picture I took of my guys before we left the hospital. Dominic had to go back to work and was concerned about getting spit up and pooped on. :)

What a nice picture Dominic took of me and the baby before we left the hospital. He is still unable to operate a camera. See my post from July titled "38 Weeks Pregnant." This cracks me up!

Just one day old with his proud sister.

Now six weeks old...the time has gone by so quickly!

Are there Blueberry Muffins in Heaven?

Earlier this week, Giana brought home a coloring page that had a Bible verse on it. She asked me what it said so I read it to her and it prompted a conversation about death and heaven. It's always so sweet and refreshing to hear a young child's thoughts and opinions on this subject. After thinking I've done a good job at explaining this to her, in a way I thought she understood, she asked "Mommy, are there blueberry muffins in heaven?" I guess I didn't do as good of a job as I thought I had.

Today would have been my Dad's birthday. I miss him. More then that, I wish he had a chance to meet my children. I do feel like he "knows" them and that gives me peace and makes my heart happy. So, happy birthday, Dad! I hope you are enjoying your blueberry muffin!

First Family Picture

As crazy as it is, the main picture on my blog is our first family photo with all four of us. It was taken a couple of days ago over Labor Day weekend. It's special to me since it's our "first" family picture. We are having a family photo shoot in a couple of weeks so I'll replace it soon but until then I just wanted to enjoy it.

On another note, since I'm using this blog as my personal photo journal, I've posted several pictures tonight in an attempt to keep up with our recent lives and activities. We've been busy and there is so much more to update. One of these days, SOON, I will be posting more photos. Maybe even some home videos if I'm feeling brave enough to let the whole world in on our personal lives. Somehow, videos seem more personal to me so we'll see about that.

School is Back in Session

Giana started 4 year old preschool today. She will be going two afternoons a week. She did really well and had a great day! She has matured so much. No tears from either one of us. So proud of her!

Dominic is One Month Old!

Here's our little chunky monkey one month later. He turned one month old today and is doing so well. He left the hospital weighing 7 pounds, 6 ounces and he now weighs 11 pounds. He likes to eat! I have so many pictures and stories to post but for now this adorable picture I took earlier today will have to do. Still trying to figure out a "normal" routine with two kids...if there is any such thing.

Our baby girl turned FOUR!

Happy birthday to our sweet Giana! She turned four yesterday. It's so hard for me to believe that 4 years have gone by! We love you so much!


New roller skates and they were a hit! More to follow on the party later.