so much to celebrate!!

today marks a very special day, for more than one reason.  today we have the chance to celebrate, not one but three very remarkable little people!  for on this day 6 months ago an amazing little lady entered our life and  four years before her we were blessed on this day with not one, but two very spectacular little boys!   and for me, the best way to sum it up is that God has an amazing plan for me and my family!

there are so many ways that the measure of 6 months can seem like a lifetime long...waiting for a loved one to return home, time spent between visits with a dear friend, the final chapters of a pregnancy...but once that precious baby enters your life, you wish more than anything that you could slow the clock down by half!  it amazes me that Sicilya has been in our life for 6 months already, but on the flipside, it feels as though she has been a part of our family since the very beginning! 

we have been so blessed by her sweet disposition, her gentle touch, her heart melting grin and her echoing laughter!  there is nothing about this precious little face that i could ever find less than amazing.  she is the happiest, most content baby i have ever known!  she loves her daddy, she is mommy's little angel and without a doubt, she is a princess to her big brothers!  and although they all love her equally, the unique bond between her and Vincenzo is becoming very obvious!  no one gets that belly roll laugh out of her like he does!

things to know about our 6 month old baby girl:

 ~ she LOVES her feet, thankfully they are connected to her because i cant imagine if she ever had to leave the house without them!  and she prefers those feet without socks on, better for chewing i suppose!

 ~ she LOVES to eat...green veggies i think she could do without, but she eats them anyway and there hasn't been anything else that she has turned her head to!

 ~ she is starting to discover the fun in playing "peek-a-boo" and pulls her blankie, bib, pants, etc...off her face with a big grin!

 ~ she wakes up happy, everyday.

 ~ she is a wonderful sleeper, during the night and during her daytime naps.  7pm is her bedtime, whether i want it to be or not!

 ~ she has a blast in her jumperoo...smiling and giggling as her little legs send her to places she never knew she could venture to!

 ~ although we are still (thankfully) a while away from crawling, she gets herself around the family room in rolling circles from her back to belly and belly to back pretty well.

 ~ she has discovered the Starbucks cup...if i walk in the door with one in my hand, she better at least have a chance to lick the lid and pretend that she is drinking from it!

 ~ she has recently had the opportunity to sit in a shopping cart, outside of her carseat - what an adventure!

 ~ she has her two bottom teeth, fully in and a bottom right molar seems to be on its way!

 ~ thumb sucking is here to stay, but thankfully only when she is first laid down to sleep

 ~ she lets us know she is tired, but rubbing her eyes - its adorable!

 ~ tags...tags on blankies, bibs and baby dolls, she loves tags!!

 ~ Tomlin...he walks by and her face lights up, we may have thought he was the perfect boys dog, but he also seems to have a soft spot for this pink kid rolling around the house and for as gentle as Sicilya is with him, he is even gentler with her!

 ~ and thankfully for me, she still loves to nurse.  its so relaxing for us both as she snuggles right up with me, gripping my shirt with her free hand or rubbing my skin.  she never makes eye contact but is always at peace.  im so grateful to have the chance to share this special bond with her, but we are at the top of the slope...only 6 months left - its so bittersweet!

and then there is Matteo and Vincenzo...how is it even possible that they are 4 years old already!?!?

matteo (in the front), vincenzo (in the back)

 * they are both loving preschool this year, its been a much easier transition than we had last year!

 * naptime/bedtime continues to be a challenge, because when you are 4 and have a roommate, every night is a slumber party!  so they are still separated for naps and have a one chance limit at bedtime.  its a work in progress and i know one day they will understand what bedtime means!

 * they LIVE in pajamas...if they don't have school, they generally choose to stay in their jammies all day...if they do have school, they generally ask to change back into their jammies as soon as they get home!

 * they have both really become fun game players...memory and dominoes are their games of choice

 * they LOVE playing on their leapfrog computers, unless of course Nonna's i-phone is an option, then that becomes their first choice of game playing!

 * Vincenzo continues to be the more emotional of the two, if you say something to him the wrong way you have to prepare yourself for the crocodile tears that come without true explanation!

 * Matteo has developed a pretty funny personality in the past year, becoming quite the little wise guy!

 * they love having a baby sister and are sure to tell me often how happy they are that she is a girl, because they really did not want a baby brother!

 * they both LOVE Jesus, have a blast at youth group on wednesday nights (they may have a slight crush on their youth group leader) and are also learning so many wonderful things in their sunday school class.

 * they love to practice their writing skills, especially learning to write their first names. 

 * they can both "read" to us, in their own rendition, The Very Hungary Catepillar, from beginning to end. 

what more can i say?!?  my kids amaze me a little more each and every day and although our life may sometimes seem chaotic and totally out of control, we love it and wouldn't trade a single second of it!  we are blessed beyond measure and so grateful that God has entrusted us with 4 of His most beautiful creations!

day 2...

today i have so many little things to be thankful for and it puts such a huge smile on my face, its always been the littlest things i charish the most and a day when they just keep piling up is almost overwhelming!!
so today, i am thankful for...
 - 3 little boys who love going to school
 - for a morning spent with my husband, sharing coffee that we got for free with our coupon from starbucks, for thanksgiving blend that tastes so amazing with a splash of eggnog in it! and a walk in the warmth of the fall sunshine!
 - for the $40 i made selling clothes to the consignment store (that will help the christmas budget!)
 - for the smile on Sicilya's face that melts my heart and makes me so grateful to have such a happy, healthy  and content baby girl!
 - for a church that my kids love going to just as much as frank and i do, and their wednesday evening kids club that gives us an evening out (although tonight frank is working, so i think Sicilya and i may head to starbucks for some time stuck in a good book!)
 - for the coupons for free frosty's at wendys that the boys got for halloween...it gives me an easy, yet very special treat to endulge in with them tonight before we pick their daddy up from work!!  (and to hear the excitement in their voices as they figure out which means more, the frosty or going to dads work!)

and the one big thing i am thankful for is just today, November 2...on this day 21 years ago, i became a big sister and although there have been times in my life when i may have found that to be very annoying!!....i am grateful for my brother and i can only pray that he knows how much i love him!  Happy Birthday Dan...be safe, enjoy and welcome to a world of being a real adult!!  hopefully the gap between us will start to close now that we are officially in the same age bracket!  i LOVE u!

day 1...of 30 days of thanks!

for my day 1 of thanks...i have to say i am thankful to be posting this a day late - it means i spent yesterday doing things with my family instead of wasting my time away on the computer.  it means i am one day refreshed from the virtual world i sometimes find myself living in!  not that its all bad - some of my dearest friends are just a click away (instead of (1200+miles) thanks to the internet...although phone calls generally have more value than the click of a button, but who has time for that these days!?!? 
i have been blessed with a beautiful life, its up to me to embrace whats before me, charish every moment and hold them all close in my heart. 
and the night spent snuggled up on the couch with my love gave me a small glimps of who we were before we became "mommy and daddy (aka...shannon and frank)"  its so easy to lose your identity once you become a parent...and maybe, just maybe, through these 30 days of thanks i will be able to find pieces of myself  :)

  ~  forever blessed and eternally grateful

Fall Flavors...part 2!

With the introduction of Sicilya's first tooth, it seemed only natural that we introduce to her "foods with flavor"!!  for weeks now she has been a big fan of her rice cereal - she gobbles it up every morning with a smile on her face and a foot in her hand! 

so this weekend i finally gave in and decided to accept the fact that she is growing up and it was time to introduce something new.  with fall right around the corner it only seemed appropriate that her first vegetable should be squash...and she LOVED it!!  naturally we had the camera 'locked and loaded', ready to capture the face of the very first taste of this bright orange vegetable...

but Sicilya, being the laidback, easy going baby that she is, just ate it like she had been eating it her whole life!  there was no face, there was no spitting it out...there was only her way of asking for more, grabbing at my hand and the spoon, trying to feed herself as if i just wasnt doing it fast enough!  i swear, this baby never ceases to amaze me - its something new everyday and everyday it just keeps getting better!  she really has been the most perfect addition to our family - and even her big brothers would agree!!  we are often reminded how grateful they are to have a sister because "we didnt really want it to be a baby boy"!!  (out of the mouths of babes!)

a Friday of firsts....

today was a very big day for our baby girl...not only has she developed her first cough (sadly)  but she has also sprouted her first tooth!!  frank met me at work this morning, for our usual friday morning car (+baby) swap, so that i can do the grocery shopping while the boys are all at school and he can head off to work.  well, while hanging out at Starbucks for a few minutes, Sicilya started coughing this terrible sounding cough.  my poor girl!  she'd had a bit of a runny nose earlier in the week and the boys and i had all been sick, so i wasnt entirely surprised.

but what did surprise me while i watched her little cough was the white tooth poking through her gums on the bottom left!!  she has been chewing and drooling for about a month now - but i would have never guessed we were that close to getting teeth!  it seems so soon!!

naturally, every time i try to catch a glimps now, she either bites my finger or sticks her tongue out - so please be patient on a picture of this one - it could take me a little while!!

im hoping that the cough is really nothing more than a result of a busy week of teething, i really hope i have been able to spare her this nasty cold we all had.  and it is just amazing to me how quickly she is growing up, i wish more than anything that i could slow things down a bit, but tuscan is my living proof that slowing their childhoods down is next to impossible. so instead i will charish every moment to the best of my ability, i will document as many of the precious memories as i can and i will carry as much love in my heart as it can possibly hold.  everyday is a blessing and we never know what tomorrow will bring, so charish it while its within our reach!

Extreme Couponing!!!

this summer while on maternity leave, frank and i became big fans of the TLC show Extreme Couponing....and for me, it became a personal mission - i wanted to have an experience similar to those i was watching on tv. 

i've ALWAYS shopped with coupons...my whole life.  my parents always used coupons, so when i started buying my own stuff, coupons were just the way to go!  generally, i wont buy something if its not on sale and i dont have a coupon for it!!  i would rather go a week without most things than have to spend full price on anything, its just the way i am - and thankfully so because its made it that much easier for frank and i to learn to live within a budget!!

but my reason for this post is that i want to share with all of you - I DID IT!! to the best of my ability anyway - i had my moment today!!  in two shopping trips to walgreens i was able to pick up:

4 - 29ct. huggies little movers denim look diapers

1 - 26ct. huggies little movers pull up diapers

1 - 216ct. huggies wipes

2 - colgate sensitive pro relief toothpaste

1 - aquafresh extreme clean deep action toothpaste

2 - skinny cow candy bars

2 - hershey candy bars

so to sum that up, its 5 packages of diapers (142 diapers total), 1 wipes refill pkg, 3 tubes of toothpaste and 4 candy bars for a grand total of.....

spent  = $19.84  !!!!!!!!

a total savings of   $71.29

with equals about 77% savings!!

what can i say?? im a little excited!!

Sicilya's 4 month doctor visit...

one week early!!  at some point we will get on the right track, i hope!

but a week early or a week late...it was a great check-up either way. Our beautiful girl weighs 14lbs and she measured in at 25 inches.  she is at the 81st% for her height and the 65th% for her weight.  and to me, that sounds perfect, not to big but not to small!!  unfortuntely she did need two shots and an oral vaccination, but i was very thankful that her behaviors the remainder of the day were much more characteristic of herself, unlike her last round of shots!  she cried a lot harder this time and her cry lasted a bit longer...but i can handle that a lot easier than i can handle my baby not acting like herself!  one dose of tylenol a few hours later and she was good to go for the rest of the day!

and i have to say, as the weeks go on Sicilya just amazes me more and more.  i am incredibly grateful to have a baby who at almost 4 months old has decided to sleep through the night!  and i dont just mean from my bedtime until the time i need to get up, i mean from the boys bedtime until the boys wake up!  she is generally in bed and sleeping no later than 9pm and lately, she has been sleeping until 630-7am!  some mornings i wake her up to feed her before i go to work, but that is more so for my own personal convenience.  and when i do, she will then sleep until nearly 9am!  frank will then give her a bowl of cereal and that usually holds her over until i get home to nurse her again!  what can i say, she is an amazing baby!!

we've set up her jumperoo and exersaucer this week, both of which she seems to love.  her head still gets a little bobbley at times, so we have to sit with her while she is in either one, but its just amazing to see the look on her face as she finds all the new discoveries around her!  she loves being talked to lately, patty-cake makes her smile every time (she likes to roll it and roll it as fast as she can!)  her belly and neck are both becoming tickle-ish enough to get a giggle out of her!  and the doctor said as soon as we start feeding her cereal twice per day, give it 2 weeks and we can introduce her first orange vegetable!  im certainly in no hurry for her to grow up, but i do look forward to watching her enjoyment as she is introduced to new foods!  she sure does seem interested in things now that she has her own place at the kitchen table!!  if only they didnt have to grow up so quickly...

fall flavors!

ive never been much a fan of pumpkin pie, but its never mattered to me because there are plenty of other fall flavors that i find much enjoyment in!  pumpkin loaf, momma beth's homemade pumpkin cake (minus the walnuts of course!) pumpkin scones, homemade apple pie...yum!!  but there is one flavor in particular that gets me every year and makes me so grateful to be back home.  home, the place where i can  enjoy the changing of the leaves,  the way they smell as they crunch under your sneakers or just while driving down the road with your window open! 

but even before all that, we are able to kick off fall with this tradition...

a cider slushy...

and fresh baked apple cider donuts from the Cider Mill!

and of course we bought a gallon of cider to enjoy this weekend!  it was the perfect treat at the end of a chilly back to school kind of day!  although im sure this is just the first of several visits this season!  i cant help that its on my way home from work  :)

1st day of school...1st day of school!!

(please read that title with the voice of Nemo in mind!)  :)

so its absolutely hard to believe, but having lived through it today i know it must be true.  my first born, my baby boy, my 5 year old, my kindergartener started school today!  as much as i wish i could freeze time and make believe it isnt true, my guy is growing up right before my eyes!

so today was the day that we watched Tuscan board the school bus and be whisked away to start a brand new adventure!  i pray that his enjoyment is as great as his anticipation.  i hope he never forget his manners and that the things i have tried so hard to teach him follow with him in his heart as he spends his first (nearly) 8 hour day out of my sight, out of my care and out of my presense! 

he woke up right on time this morning, all bright eyed and excited looking!!  he crawled in bed with us for a few minutes before requesting pancakes for his 'first day' breakfast. frank and i ate breakfast with him and it wasnt until he headed back upstairs to get dressed that the twins decided they might join us!  dressed, teeth brushed, hair done, shoes tied, lunch packed and backpack on and he was out the door!

and then we waited....and waited...and waited a bit more - his bus was supposed to be there around 8:45, so we were outside 10 minutes early, as requested by the transportation department, but by 9am i started to worry that maybe they forgot about our street! 

well, little did i know that was just Gods way of preparing me for the wave of emotion that took over when the bus rounded the corner at 9:10am!!  it hit me much harder than i had expected...but i held the tears back and kissed him quickly before he ran up the steps of his bus and gave us a little wave out the window!  and just like that he was gone, not to be returned to my arms until 430pm!!  (the bus had a few issues being late today, he is supposed to be dropped off by 4pm!)

thankfully his smile getting off the bus was just as big as the one he had getting on!  Tuscan's first day of kindergarten was a huge success.  he was so proud to report that he had eaten all of his lunch, he even said he ate all the healthy foods first and his snacks last!  he cant wait to go back again tomorrow...and that makes me a very happy Momma!!

 even Tomlin was excited for Tuscan to get off the bus, everytime he thought he heard one he came running to the door to watch for his boy!!

too big, much too fast!

as if eating cereal and sleeping through the night werent accomplishments enough this week, Sicilya decided there were a few more things she wanted to add in.  im not sure if this is her way of distracting me from the fact that tuscan is starting school in less than a week, but even if it is...its not making any of these growing up things any easier to handle!

yesterday we officially declared her a thumb sucker!!  she has been making attempts to suck on her fingers when she is hungry for quite sometime now, but its become more than just that!  now when we check on her at night, she is peacefully asleep...with her thumb in her mouth!  she looks super cute - although i of course have my long term concerns!  none of the boys were ever binkie babies, nor did they ever suck their thumbs...they love their NieNie's (blankies) but i never had to worry about anything that could get hard to give up as they got older.  a blanket is a blanket, they dont leave the house - a binkie hanging out of your mouth when you are two years old and trying to talk through it, that was never something i wanted to deal with!  but i guess ill worry about the future when it gets here and for now i will love how absolutely adorable Sicilya looks with her little thumb safe in her mouth!

(not sure why its loading sideways - but you get the idea!!)

Sicilya has also really been enjoying her tummy time, holding her head up, reaching for her toys...tonight i laid her on her belly in her crib while i put the boys to bed.  when i went back to her room to put her jammies on her, she was still laying the same way looking at her little stuffed giraffe.  i turned my back for 2 seconds to grab a onsie from the drawer and in that time, she rolled over - from her belly to her back!!  and she just thought she was the coolest girl ever, she had the biggest smile of pride on her face! she is just simply amazing!!



Busily growing...

As if yesterdays celebration of her first solid meal wasnt enough, last night Sicilya decided it was time to sleep through the night!  we put her to bed around 945pm and she didnt wake up until 7am - thats 10 hours!!  and better yet, after i fed her at 7am, we laid her back in her bed to change her diaper, she chatted with her crib toys for a few minutes and fell back to sleep!  its nearly 10am now and she hasnt made a sound! 

But yesterday also seemed to prove reason for all this time spent sleeping - she is growing like a weed!  within the past week i have cleared all of her 0-3mo clothes out of her dressers and replaced them with 3-6 or just 6mo clothes.  while at kohls yesterday, i bought her an adorable one piece outfit, size 6mo.  i debated the 9mo one, but settled on the 6mo figuring there was no way it wouldnt be a bit big itself...wrong!  i got it home and tried it on her, something i have never done with the kids as babies before, and it just fit!  it might fit for the month or so, but there is now way it will fit through the fall and into the winter!  so i will be taking it back today and exchanging it for the next size up - which is just crazy to me!  

Sicilya has a doctors appointment next week wednesday, where we will find out her current height and weight - i cant wait to see where her numbers come in at, she doesnt seem to be anywhere near as big as Tuscan was at this age - but it sure will be fun to compare!

                  if she can get it in her hands, she doesnt hesitate to stick it right into her mouth!!

                                           

breakfast time!!

At Sicilya's 7 week doctor appointment, her pediatrician told us we could start cereal within a few weeks if we were interested.  At 7 weeks, i felt like i didnt want to rush things!  we have known all along that we want to wait as long as possible to introduce formula, mainly because i dont want a reason to become lazy about nursing and pumping.  Sicilya is my last chance for nursing my babies, something that i have always truly enjoyed and i want to take advantage of my ability for as long as i possibly can.  But, now that i am back to work and she isnt in LOVE with her bottles, we figured it was a great time to introduce something else into her diet.  so today was her first experience with cereal!  and she LOVED it.  she didnt even make a face!  frank and i of course made a big to-do about it, we were all excited, expected a big mess because she would be spitting it out and rubbing it all over her face - well we were way off!  she ate every bite in her bowl, she loved it so much we made her another bowl, just to use up the little bit of milk that was left in the bottle...and she ate all that too! 



so at least now we have an understanding as to why she was eyeballing our food so intently - she wanted to try the whole eating thing for herself!!  i become more and more amazed everyday with how quickly she is growing up.  she is such a gift, a true miracle...our families completeness!



3 beautiful months...

it is amazing to me that we have already reached this milestone.  the past three months have just flown by.  as much as i love watching Sicilya grow and develop everyday, it also makes me a bit sad that she has to do it all so quickly.  in just the blink of an eye she has gone from being this tiny, helpless newborn to a little girl with sparkly eyes, two dimpled in her big grin and a mellow personality that really makes her, the BEST baby ever!   

just 3 short months ago, she was so small that we had a hard time dressing her.  nothing fit right and we were afraid of breaking her little arms while trying to get them in the sleeves of her shirt!  for weeks, all she did was eat and sleep.  she made no eye contact, there were no real facial expressions and she really required no entertaining.  newborn diapers fit for the first 5 or so weeks and even newborn clothes were something we scrounged through her dressers for.

now just a mere 3 months later everything has changed!!  she has grown in such amazing ways and continues to make us feel more and more blessed as the days go by.  she makes eye contact not only with us, but she has also found her hands and feet and she loves to "socialize" with the bunny on her bouncy seat and the fish on her swing!  she has a tendancy to get irritated when they dont respond to her, but that just lets me know its a good time to intervene and take advantage of her social moments myself!  she loves listening to the music on her mobile in her crib, just laying there watching eeyore and his friends circle by overhead. 

her smiles have become something of a regular occurance and no matter how many times a day we get the chance to see it, each and every time i find my smile growing bigger and bigger looking back at her.  her two little dimples and the sparkle in her eye, she is such a happy and content little girl!  holding her in my arms and having her smile back at me is such great therapy, she really has a way of relieving the tension that this crazy life sometimes carries with it!

in just the last few weeks we decided it was time for Sicilya to start sleeping in her own crib.  we knew the time would come eventually and with me going back to work, it just seemed right.  we didnt want my alarm clock to wake her up when i get up!  and just as we suspected, she made the transition so simply!!  changing beds and bedrooms did not inturrupt her sleeping pattern at all, thankfully!!  she still wakes up sometime between 2am-3am, she eats for a few minutes and then goes right back to bed without any fuss until close to 8am, almost everyday!  she is the first of our babies that we have been able to simply lay in her bed, with the music from her little pink seahorse playing and she falls asleep on her own.  we really are so blessed!

she quickly went through the size 1 diaper phase!  they lasted for less time than the newborns i think. we are using up what we have with the size 1-2's ready for a quick swap and the 2's will be following quickly behind im sure!  she has grown so much in length and weight in just the last 5 weeks, its amazing!  her chunky little thighs are so cute, she has actually developed a triple roll behind her knees!!

we have reached that time when we have to wear all the favorite outfits "just one more time" as she is quickly growing out of her 0-3 month wardrobe!  and that is very bittersweet for me. knowing she is our final chapter in the baby section of our life, i know i dont have any reason to hang on to her clothes as she grows out of them.  but to just get rid of them all seems so final!  many of them i dont feel much attachment to because we were so fortunate to have been given so much.   but some of the cutest ones, i think ill have to hold on to!!  i can hope that maybe some of the dresses and fancier outfits will fit her dolls, right?  at least from this first round of clothes!

in the last three months, here are some of the things that Sicilya has either done or experienced:

 - her first week, she had 2 doctor appts in 3 days, where she gained 2oz! she visited mommy and nonna's works and made an appearance at her brothers preschool, she was visited by her great grandma, met the neighbors and she slept through a lunch at chipotle with mommy, nonna and her 3 brothers!

 - she has been in attendence at not just one, but both of our churches almost every sunday.

 - Sicilya has been to 3 parades, a dog birthday party, several bbq's, a surprise 8th birthday party, 2 preschool graduations, several dinner dates and has had a few sleepovers at Nonna and Poppa's house (with mommy and daddy of course!)

 - she has had her first photo shoot with jess, and they both did an amazing job, capturing all the newborn baby features that i never want to forget.  she also enjoyed her first bubble tea with jess and i and her three brothers!

 - for two weekends in her first 3 months, she has been amazingly content during two loooong weekend yardsales.

 - she has experienced her first trips to the Buffalo Zoo and the local library

 - she has been strawberry and blueberry picking...and although she hasnt been able to taste the "fruits of her labor" yet, she will be able to enjoy them in a few more months, fresh from the freezer!

 - Sicilya has gotten her ears pierced and received her first gift of jewelry (a pink and silver beaded bracelet) from the girls across the street.

 - she has been to the drive in movie theater and gone swimming in a big pool and experienced a lunch and river walk at mississippi mudds....some summertime traditions!

 - she has gone from sponge baths, to baby bath tub baths...with a few bubble baths with mommy in between!

 - she has been successful, not only at nursing, but she has also learned to be accepting of her meals from a bottle.

 - she has been left with a sitter, twice - our cousin Debbie and my Gram.

 - she has also been a "toy tester" for fisher price, twice!

 - Sicilya has also been on her first road trip, to Ohio, slept in a hotel, visited the Cleveland Zoo and attended her Grandpa Frank's wedding!

what can i say, she really has been a busy little girl...and she's only 3 months old! i can only imagine what our future has in store. and i cant wait. i cant wait to see what the coming days... weeks... months will be filled with.  since having Sicilya and having a chance to be home with my kids for a few months, with nothing else to worry about, i have learned a bit about myself.  i have realized that my priorities are pretty near to where they should be, much of the time. i have learned to just sit and watch my kids play in the yard, to listen to the sounds of their laughter and their brotherly banter.  i have learned that God is the center of my life, moreso than i had realized.  i have learned that money can not bring half the amount of joy into my life that my family does.  i now know that i could be very content as a stay at home mom. 

Sicilya is a lifelong dream come true...and dont get me wrong, my boys are my blessings just the same...but i dreamed of having a daughter my whole life and with 3 boys before her, i was losing hope!  but God has a plan for me and so far His plan has been pretty amazing.  i am so blessed.

to my sweet Sicilya,

i always dreamed of having a baby girl but i never could have imagined it would bring me such a sense of purpose and feeling of contentment. you have changed my life in ways you may never understand. you have solidified my beliefs in ways i may never understand.  you are a blessing beyond measure, created by the hands of God and the love of your mommy and daddy...i look forward to everyday!

 millions baby girl,

  ~ mommy

my super hero...

like many girls, i have always had one man in my life who has always been a constant, whom i have always looked up to.  the one man i know i can call no matter what the situation may be, no matter what time of day, someone i can always count on.  i know he will never judge, never criticize and always do what he can to help.  he is a man who has always found it easier to express his love with helpful advice and a helping hand, rather than the more emotional things in life.  but for that very reason, i have grown up believing him to be solid as a rock, there is very little that can break him down, and even less that will keep him down.  that man is my dad, my super hero...my invinsible one.

well today my dad sits broken, physically, in a hospital bed.  and that very fact fills me with so much joy because to be broken, means he is still alive.  i still have time to count on him, to hug him, to thank him for all he has done and continues to do in my life. 

my dad was in a motorcycle accident last night.  he crashed into the side of a car, driven by a man who wasnt paying attention.  my dad had no time to react and knew exactly what was happening to him before it even happened. 

he and beth were on their way home from Gowanda Harley Davidson, they were picking the bike up after having it in the shop for a week getting some repairs done on it.  less than 10 minutes from their house, my dad was approaching a right hand turn, where the two vehicles ahead of him were turning, he slowed down behind them..and beth was just a few seconds behind him.  she saw the whole thing happen.  she saw the black car blow through the stop sign, she saw my dads bike crash into the cars left front fender.  she saw my dad fly acrobat style over the top of the car.  the next thing she saw after putting her car in park, was my dad laying on his side in the middle of the road.  he wasnt moving, he wasnt making any noise, she really couldnt even tell if he was breathing. 

all the meanwhile, she had been dialing my phone number, the first thing i hear when i answered the phone was "bri, stay with us!"  she was frantic...my heart sunk.  the rest became much of a blur for both of us i think.  in a matter of moments, she was surrounded by witnesses and police. i had called frank, who left work and headed straight to the scene.  my neighbors came over to keep an eye on the kids until i figured out what i was going to do and where i needed to be. 

after much to do, my dad was taken by ambulance to ECMC, where he sat in the ER until nearly 7am this morning. the guy who pulled out in front of him was sent off with a citation - "failure to yeild to the right of way"...

after multiple CT scans, it was determined (thankfully) that there was no internal bleeding, there was no brain or spinal injuries...what he does have is his life, 3 broken ribs and a broken pelvis.  no fun, for sure...painful, without a doubt...but he is alive, he will recover and someday this will be just a memory.  surgery is not completely ruled out at this point, but the good news is, if they do operate it will only be to help his recovery.  surgery may enable him to get up and out of bed and moving around a bit sooner.  so we wait.  we wait and see what the doctors recommend and what decisions are made from that point on. 

i went to see my dad this morning, when i picked beth up to bring her home.  she needed to pack up some stuff for the two of them and make the necessary phone calls before she headed back.  but i have to admit, i was scared.  i cried most of the way to the hospital, partly because i was scared but mostly because he is alive.  i am so grateful that his injuries are so 'minor'.  God has such a way of being so wonderful in even the scariest of situations. 

i know it will be a slow process, but my super hero will be back soon enough.  taking my boys for rides on the John Deere (a much safer man toy in my opinion!), helping and teaching frank to do work on our cars, offering me words of wisdom and financial advice and finishing up the work on the house of his dreams.  i pray not only for a speedy recovery, but for my dad to have a chance to see life through a different perspective.  i pray that he lives life for today and stops worrying about what he "should have/could have" done.  he is and always has been such a wonderful man, a loving provider, a hard worker.  now i think its time he sit back and enjoy the fruits of his labor.  enjoy the many blessings surrounding his life.  enjoy the opportunities to do the finishing work on his house, to be grateful for the chance to do these things himself and be proud of it.  life is much to short to be anything less than happy! 

thank you to everyone who has been praying for him and our family in the last (nearly) 24 hours.   there are a lot of details that will take a while to unfold regarding so many aspects of this situation, so the continue of prayers is very grateful!  i will keep you all as updated as i can, with as many details as i know.  and if there any ways that "help" can be accepted, i will be sure to let those who have offered the details of those situations as well! 

and for now, my dad will rest and heal and gain an understanding of what it means to do "nothing"!  in time he will again be my rock solid super hero, but this time, i may be encouraging him to reveal his softer core!  i love you dad and thanks for the scare - i know now that i need to "bother" you during the day with the most random of phone calls, just to know i have heard your voice one more time.

summer traditions...

in just the last few years i have become a fan of summertime farmers markets!  nothing beats fresh produce and i am all about supporting the locals.  so today the kids and i packed up and headed out to the market in North Tonowanda, with the neighbors.  it was a first time visit for all of us and i know for sure, frank and i will be heading back before the season is over!!  we got some great stuff for very reasonable prices.  although the next time we go, it will have to be on a saturday morning - it may be crowded, but i hear there are many more vendors on thursdays and saturdays! 

after the market we headed over to mississippi mudds for some hotdogs and ice cream.  that has been a summer tradition of mine since i was a kid, so its always fun to be able to share that with the boys and by next summer Sicilya will be able to enjoy the tradition as well!!  we walked off lunch along the river. the water was so calm and relaxing...and as usual the boys thoroughly enjoyed the company of the girls across the street, as much as i enjoyed some adult conversation with their mom - aka, my BNF - best neighbor friend (according to her fiance!)

if only summer could last more than a mere 4 months around here....

we then eneded the evening with a delicious trip to bubble tea, where we met up with Jess!  the boys were a little rowdy when we first got there, but considering they downed their passion fruit bubble tea in under 10 minutes, i guess i shouldnt have been surprised - thats a lot of sugar!!  amidst several trips to the bathroom, jess and i were able to get caught up a bit on our crazy summer and enjoy each others company...and of course, relish in Sicilya's first trip to bubble tea!!

the best is yet to come...

i woke up at my parents house today (after a semi unexpected sleepover-which is a story in itself!) but i woke up to the fresh smell of a morning summer rain, the sound of the rain pouring off the roof and thunder in the not-so-far distance!  in so many ways this morning reminded me of this same morning 7 years ago...but in other ways it was entirely different.  for starters, my parents live in a different house now - we live in the house they lived in 7 years ago!  but more importantly was the person laying next to me this morning. 

on this day, 7 years ago, i woke up listening to the rain pouring off the roof, laying next to one of my oldest friends, a friend so dear to me that i asked her to be my maid of honor because i just couldnt imagine any other person standing beside me on one of the most memorable days of my life.  little did i know...

on this day, 7 years ago, i got up and headed to the salon.  i spent my morning being pampered with hair and makeup...craving nothing more than a cheeseburger and a dr. pepper!  the joys in life, right? little did i know...

on this day, 7 years ago, i put on a beautiful white dress and some high healed shoes...i crawled into the backseat of a limo with my two best friends and two of my cousins.  we had our pictures taken 1000's of times - oh, the memories! but little did i know.....

on this day, 7 years ago, i married a very handsome, devoted and loving 22 year old guy.  surrounded by our friends and family, before the eyes of God we made a vow to love each other no matter what, to stick it through even in the darkest of days and to sacrafice and compromise as needed, to validate each others feelings and fulfill each others needs.  we made a vow to spend the rest of our lives together and to do whatever it took to make it work!  little did i know...

on this day, 7 years ago, when the party ended we headed back to a hotel. we slept in a king size bed and we packed our bags and headed to the bahamas the next day for 10 days in sunny paradise!  little did i know...

little did i know that, today i would look back on the past 7 years of my life with a smile and a happy heart.  i will be the first to say, it hasnt been easy. there have certainly been times i wasnt sure we would make it through, but one thing always kept us fighting for our marriage, God and the commitment we made on July 31, 2004. 

little did i know that i woould wake up today, in my parents house...with my amazing husband by my side, our baby girl in her crib just a few feet away, the sounds of little feet running down the hallway to see if we are awake and ready for breakfast yet. that i would start my morning with snuggles and cartoons with 3 of the cutest boys i have ever know, homemade pancakes and waffles, because at Nonna's house everyone gets what they want! that i would lounge around in my jammies until its time to leave and then we all head to the grocery store for a promised trip to the candy isle, where i teach our boys the value of money.  and that we would then pile back into our minivan and head home, to the place that frank has lived nearly all his life. 

little did i know that i put my babies down for a nap and enjoy the simplicity of a nice quiet shower.  that i would choose a black dress - its slimming and i did just have a baby less than 3 months ago!  i would do my own hair, my own makeup and slip my feet into some comfy flip flops. 

then i thank the babysitter (debbie, thank you again!) and head out the door with the one man who has continued to make my dreams realities for the past 7 years.  we grab a coffee at starbucks, we make a stop at target, holding hands as we walk through the store looking for the perfect pink dust ruffle for our baby girls crib!  then we head off to dinner, where we not only enjoyed an amazing meal, but we even more so enjoyed each others company.  we laughed, we talked, we smiled into each others eyes...the things we rarely find the time to do in the chaotic beauty of our everyday life!

we finished the night off, not with a dance, but with a hand in hand walk through the park before we head home for a competitive game of Wii family game night!!

had someone told me 7 years ago all the things we have experienced, all the adventures life has taken us on and where we would be on this very day - i would have laughed, i would have barely believed them.  but i can tell you there isnt a moment i would have changed.  the journey we have taken has brought us to where we are today and there is no other place i would rather be.  this is what life is all about...these are the memories we are making!

happy anniversary to the man who has stood by my side and helped make our life as amazing as it is.  i love you frank!

its a wonderful life...

today is my birthday...i am 28 years old and for once, my age is becoming hard to believe.  for so many years of my life, i lived in a way that was older than my age and in many ways, i guess i still am.  but for the first time, I'm finding it hard to believe that I'm actually this old!  i can only imagine what 30 is going to feel like!!

i have to say though, i feel so blessed.  many people like to measure their life's successes by very materialistic things, money in the bank, cars in the driveway, careers and travels and various other possessions.  for me though, my successes wake me up every morning, they tell me thousands of times a day how much they love me, they hug me and rub my back, they brush my hair, they make me laugh...my successes make me angry in ways i never knew, they make me cry just by looking in their cute little faces, they scare me in ways that spiders never could, they have given me life's greatest promotion...from Shannon, to Mommy!

i may have had the same job for 9 years, taken a step forward and then stepped back again...i may drive a car that is 7 years old, but its paid off...i have surrendered to a mini van, something i swore i would NEVER do, but it gets my precious cargo where it needs to be safely...i may live in a house thats been in our family for nearly 30 years, but its full of love and memories. 

so much of my life may have turned out differently than i would have planned, but i have someone very important to thank for that...God!  He has created more wealth in my life than any human ever could have.  I am eternally grateful for the ways He has taken over my life, changed my course of direction and taught me to slow down.  life is such a precious gift and my past 28 years have shown me so much.  i have loved and i have lost, i have been angry and i have forgiven, but even more importantly i have been forgiven!  i wasnt always the person i am today, i havent always turned to God in the good and the bad, but when i look back i know in my heart that He was always working in me.  I am who i am today because of who i was back then and although i know there are things i wish i could have changed, i live with no regrets.  I hold my chin high, proud of the woman, the mother, the wife, the daughter, the sister and friend that i am today.  love me or leave me, take me as i am and know that i will give back to you in the ways that you have given to me!  i am grateful, i am blessed.

so today i celebrate my 28th year, watching my husband - my best friend -  splash around in the kiddie pool with our beautiful little boys, with my baby girl on my lap.  i soak in the sun and plant their smiles and laughter in my memory forever.  i enjoy a wonderful meal at Mangia with my husband, our daughter and our wonderful neighbors. i will pick our boys up from VBS and listen to their hearts explode with love for Jesus on our way home. and to make the day even better, when i get home i will enjoy cake and cookies with my beautiful family of 6 and our God-sent neighbors and their beautiful twins daughters. 

i may never be a billionaire, but i know in my heart i am one of the richest women in the world and i couldnt ask for more!

Amazed...

life in general is pretty amazing, from the big events down to the small details, i am so grateful for all that i have!  today had its reasons to stand out though.  for one, Sicilya is already two months old - crazy as that may seem!!  and although i find it totally hard to believe, i also still have that comfort with her that makes me feel she has been in our life forever. bringing her home has been such an easy transition, almost too easy, and it just adds so much to how blessed we already feel!

the real tear jerker though, was this afternoon...for a few months now we have been trying to explain to tuscan what it means to be baptised.  we had chosen not to baptise our kids as babies because its something we really want them to understand and chose for themselves when they feel ready to have that sort of relationship with God.  so, as babies, we had them dedicated in front of our church and our family.  our hope since tuscan was a baby was that we would have raised him with enough belief and understanding that he would maybe make the choice before kindergarden.  but we are also open to the idea that it may take a little longer for him to fully understand.  so today, i pick him up from VBS and he is telling me about his day, the things he learned, the friends he made, etc.  out of nowhere he says "ya know mom, i really want to be dunked in that water soon so that i can have Jesus in my heart forever."  my eyes filled with tears, my heart filled with joy, it was a moment that i will never forget!  tuscan is such a passionate little boy and his love for Jesus is something he is so proud of.  having heard him speak those words, without any encouragement from anyone else just gave me that reassuring feeling that we really are doing something right as parents! 

before dinner tonight, we headed over with the neighbors to their grandma's house a few blocks away and jumped in her pool!  even Sicilya had on her bathsuit and swam around with me for a bit!  of course, i forgot my camera, so there arent any pictures this time!  but she LOVED it and she looked adorable (of course!!)  then we finished the night off in our backyard with a box of bakery fresh cupcakes!  one of the many advantages to making friends with the neighbors - their family owns the local bakery!!

so big, too fast!

not only can i say that 3 month clothes are starting to look exceptionally cute on Sicilya, because they actually fit but tonight we have reached a milestone!  during a brief moment of tummy time, after the boys were tucked into their beds and the dog was outside, while the livingroom floor was momentarily safe...Sicilya decided that tonight would be a great night to roll over!!

i was shocked!  for safety reasons, i cant say she gets much tummy time in this house!   so by no means was i excepting much more than some bobbing of the head when i laid her on her blankie tonight.  but i should have known... everything about this baby has come as a wonderful surprise!  after less than a minute, my little bundle of pure sweetness rolled from her belly onto her back with less effort than it usually takes me!  and just to be sure she knew what she was doing and it wasnt some sort of fluke, i laid her back on her belly and watched her do it again!!  then i called frank.  moments like that need to be shared right away, otherwise - im likely to forget.

and now she lays here, on the comfort of the boppy on my lap as i type.  a position i know she will all to quickly grow out of, an opportunity i need to take advantage of every moment that i can.  it was only (already) 5 years ago that my Tuscan was doing the exact same thing, and now hes nearly to big to even sit on my lap!  im trying so hard to hold on to as many moments as i can while Sicilya is little, i know all to well how quickly they go by and i dont want to just go through the motions, i want to make my minutes count, as many of them as i can anyway.  life is precious, my children are my world and i just want to be my best for them and their daddy. i am so blessed!

pretty and pierced!

the day started off with an early phone call from Nonna, asking if the kids and i would like to hang out for the afternoon - shopping, lunch, etc...well of course that was an offer that i would never turn down! 

as i was getting ready for the day, a thought came to mind - Nonna had been talking about how she hadn't bought much for Sicilya yet because she really didnt need anything, so i thought it might be sort of special if Nonna was the one to be with us when Sicilya got her ears pierced!!  Frank and i have been talking about it for a few weeks now, so i knew he would be ok with it and to me, it just seemed like a special mother/daughter/nonna type of thing to do!  of course, with the love and support of her 3 big brothers!!

so after a shopping trip to kohl's and lunch at Red Robin, we headed over to the mall.  Nonna was a wreck and ill admit, i was a bit nervous myself.  we let the boys decide on which earings she should get, tiny gold hearts with little pink stones in the centers!  sadly, there was only one girl working, so we had to do each ear, one at a time.  there was some crying - but just from Sicilya...Nonna and i managed to restrain ourselves from breaking down in front of the crowd that had formed!  but Sicilya did amazingly well!!  it was no different than her reaction to getting shots last week, she was sound asleep in my arms just moments later as we were walking back to the car!

im so glad we did it while she is so little...ive been able to clean them without any reaction from her and she just looks soooo beautiful!  or should i say, extra beautiful, because she certainly hadnt been lacking in the beauty department! 

i never called frank to tell him we did it, so when he got home from work it was super cute to see his reaction when he noticed!!  he was so excited, there may have actually been a slight tear in his eye!  and for me, it was like a right of passage - ive wanted a baby girl for as long as i can remember and what makes her more girly than pink and purple clothes?  getting her ears pierced of course!!  i know many others may not agree with our decision, but my ears were pierced when i was a baby, im just carrying out a tradition!

ps - Sicilya also experienced her first drive-in movie tonight...we took the boys to see Cars 2, with the girls from across the street and their mom...of course, she was a wonderful baby the whole night, all snuggled up with us!

4th of july...

there are so many reasons to love summer and in our family the month of july is a pretty fun one!!  we kick it off with a celebration of our independence and that is followed by 3 very important birthdays, for 3 consecutive weeks, my dad, myself and momma beth!!

this years celebrations may have been the beginning of a new tradition with the introduction of our newest family member!!  we went to two evening parades, followed by fireworks, two days in a row and it was awesome.  it really gave us that small town america feel, with some wonderful family time, laughs, smiles and memories!! 

the boys were mesmerized by the fireworks, although matteo was so tired he slept through them on the 4th!  Sicilya watched the whole show on the 3rd, never flinching with the loud noises but she also slept through them on the 4th (that night was the weaker of the two shows!)

my lil girl, snuggled up in the new sling!!

shall we call her lady liberty!!

and just one more reason to celebrate!!