i am blessed...

i know thanksgiving was a few days ago already, but it was a slightly crazy weekend...as usual, but in a relaxing sort of way (if that makes any sense!)

thanksgiving was amazing...probably the best holiday we have ever had. it was totally laid back and relaxing, we didnt have an agenda all day, nothing was rushed and everyone truly seemed to enjoy themselves. and of course the meal was outstanding! not that i have ever doubted frank's cooking ability...but this was by far the best thanksgiving meal i have ever eaten! we were all ready to explode by the time we were done with dessert.

and we made sure to get a few traditional thanksgiving pics of the kids before the night was over. sadly i think this might be the last year for the platter pics, the kids just seem a little to big now!!

we also got our tree up thursday night, it looks beautiful!! and it was so nice to share that with my mom. i love having her back in my life again and its nice to be able to include her in the traditions i am starting with my family. i am so excited that she will be over bright and early on christmas morning to share in that time with us too!!

saturday i spent the day at my parents house with the kids. it was nice to go over there without a plan and just hang out. tuscan of course ended up spending the night...i was able to get a double batch of my famous cinnamon chip biscotti made (they turned out soooo good!)

last night i worked 415-815 but when i got home, frank and i spread out on the family room floor with all the kids christmas presents and got them all wrapped while watching one of the most amazing movies we have ever seen, facing the giants...it was made by a church for about $100,000 and has made millions so far. the message in the movie was so uplifting, frank and i cried during most of the movie...i highly recommend it to everyone, especially this time of year. its a great movie to remind us all of what this holiday season is really about!

today was a pretty good day too. tuscan has been a little out of control lately, so we have been trying really hard to tame that down quickly before it becomes to much a routine. he was even sent to his room for a little while today until he decided to stop with the temper tantrum over eating lunch! and it worked, he was only up there about 10-15 minutes before he was totally calmed down and ready to be a part of the family again...

i got a double batch of peanut butter chocolate chip with m&m cookies made...they are also amazing! and i have a double batch of cutout dough chilling in the fridge, hoping my mom will want to come over wednesday and bake them with me and the boys. frank got the lasagna made for tomorrow, we're heading up to syracuse to kelly and kennie's to see baby riley!! i cant wait, im super excited...and i have so many gifts to spoil her with...shopping for girls is so much fun!

and now im off to get things ready for tomorrow. i have to re-wrap riley's present because tuscan decided during his bad boy weekend to not only tear all the paper off, but he tore through the box too...i could have killed him, but oh well...it was kind of funny in the end!! boys will be boys i guess...so tomorrow i get to see what its like to have a girl!! yeah....!

oh yeah...and i have received an answer to a much repeated prayer this weekend...momma beth has offered to take the kids for us the whole day and over night the tuesday after christmas so that frank and i can spend the day together doing whatever!! i know for sure we are going to go see the movie marley and me (if you havent read the book, you should!) and im sure we will end up at mangia for a nice romantic (free) dinner and bottle of wine...but i dont know what else the day will entail, we havent had an opportunity like this in years and we are so looking forward to it!! thanks x's a million in advance momma beth...you're the best!!

i've been tagged (by megan)

this is a picture tag and here is how it works...

Go to your Pictures file

Go to the 5th folder

Open the 5th picture and post it

Tag 5 people when you're done

so here is mine...

and for whatever reason it rotated itself during upload and i can get it to go back straight...so this is what u get!! its cenzo, back in june...what a cutie!

riley addison...

kelly and baby are home safe and sound...what an amazing way to celebrate their first thanksgiving as parents!!

riley is nursing well, after 2 days of some stubborness...she was 20 1/2" at birth...

the new family will be celebrating their thanksgiving with a turkey on saturday and if all is going well me and my crew will be heading up there on tuesday to meet the newest addition...and to shower her in baby girl gifts!!

more on our thanksgiving tomorrow...i want to go spend the evening with my husband before the turkey really kicks in and i fall asleep!!

let it snow, let it snow...

today was one of the best snow falls we have had yet this year...although none of it stuck!! but it was those big fluffy, lake effect snowflakes that we all have grown to love. the ones that truly symbolize the beginning of the holiday season, and what better day than the day before thanksgiving! we were feeling festive today and decided to let tuscan put his little christmas tree up before frank left for work. he was so excited about it and it was such a good reminder as to what the season is really for. growing up christmas was a really big deal in our house, my mom always went totally overboard on gifts, we ended up with everything we ever wanted! and as much as i appreciated it, looking back now, i wish there was more family time and traditions to remember because i could barely tell you what any of the gifts ever were. so anyway, seeing the look on tuscan's face today reminded me why it is so important to start holiday traditions early on because those are the things that are going to grow with our children, the things they will remember and look forward to when they are all grown up.

tomorrow we are having my mom, my brother and his girlfriend over for dinner. as many of you can probably imagine, this is a huge deal for me. for many years my mom and i didnt have much of a relationship and its really only been since right before the twins were born that things truly and sincerely started getting better. in this past year my mom and i have grown closer than i ever imagined we could. i had been very close to her growing up but then decisions she was making really got in the way of that. so this thanksgiving i am more than grateful to have my mom back, a woman who most of my life shown me great strength and now continues to do so. she has over come so many challenges in the past few years and has now finally landed on top! and i am so proud of her. so tomorrow we celebrate her and we have invited her to help us put up and decorate our christmas tree, something she has not had an opportunity to do in quite a few years! this could possibly be one of the best thanksgivings of my life and i am really looking forward to it.

my one prayer for this holiday season is sort of personal, on a selfish level...but its the one thing i cant get off my mind. i am desperate for some time alone with my husband, a real moment to be a husband and wife - to go to a movie (something we havent done in over 3 years), to go out for coffee...to hold hands in the mall. i miss frank so much, more than words can even describe and i feel like i am so detached from him lately because there just isnt enough time for us. we devote so much time to the boys and so much of the remaining time trying to keep the house intact. by the end of the day there just isnt anything left, no time, no energy...we have been so on edge with each other and i hate it, but we just cant seem to figure out how to move past it and it keeps getting pushed aside. and what makes me feel even worse is the fact that he truly has been pretty amazing lately. he's been getting a lot done around the house so that during the day i have a little more time to devote to playing with the kids or reading to them...i know that this is just where our life is right now and that someday it will get easier, but every once in a while we just really need someone to knock on our door and say "hey, im here...ill watch the kids, you two need some time together" even just a chance to go to the grocery store together...anything, i just want some time to be with him, to talk without being interrupted by a crying baby or someone needing to go potty...etc...(bridget, i will for sure be calling you...kids haircuts is such a small price for me to pay in exchange for a night out with frank! you're the best!)

anyway, its jammie time...then bottle and bed, ill back the week up after that, there is lots to write about since last saturday!!

i'm an "aunt"!!!

congrats to kelly and kennie!! they became very proud parents to an 8lb 13oz baby girl today...sometime around 8pm. her name is riley addison (i think thats how they are spelling it!) i have yet to see pics, but when i do i will be posting some.

they went in to the hospital around 6am for a scheduled induction, kelly was 40 weeks and 5 days today, but this was also her original due date. they broke her water around 9am and she got her epidural around 11am. but by 8pm she realized the baby was just to big for her to do it on her own and she ended up with a c-section anyway. apparently riley just has a really big head!!

but my love and prayers go out to them, i know all to well how challenging the first few weeks of parenting can be and i can only imagine how much more difficult the recovery of a c-section is.

God bless and welcome to our world Riley...i cant wait to meet you!!

a hole in my heart....

so i had to drop kellie off at the airport this morning, 745am and even though we both got a little choked up while saying goodbye, we both did a pretty good job keeping it together. i even made it all the way home before it actually hit me (i think i must have been holding my breath) and then i burst, the tears came pouring. i walked in the house and frank was feeding the boys breakfast and he knew to not even ask. my feelings were all over my face. i couldnt think about her or talk about her at all today without my breath catching in my throat and turning into a faucet of tears. and everytime i started crying tuscan would put his arm around me and say "ok mom, no cry" and he would remind me that kellie had to go home and take care of her dog! that little boy is so amazing to me though, he hugged me so many times today, trying to make me feel better and ease my hurting heart.
its just so weird, this time last night she was sitting right here with me, now she is back in CO again 1500 miles away. it just doesnt seem right. her being here was so natural, the kids fell in love with her right away, she jumped right into our routine like she had been living it with us all along! it truly was an amazing week and i feel so blessed to have such an amazing friend in my life. anyone who is willing to devote a week to hanging out with me and my crazy life is truly someone i will keep around for life! kellie is and always has been one of those friends i could count on no matter what. i have always known i could call her at any time, day or night and i know that if she was living nearer to me, this past year would have never been so hard on us because she would have been here helping out whenever she could. she is my other significant other and nothing will ever replace that!!
thank you mommarita for sending kellie to me. you have no idea how much it meant to me and i had no idea how much i needed her until she was gone again.
phone calls and internet just arent the same when you share that kind of comfort with someone and for the first time i think i can finally say i understand (in my own way of course) how she feels with randy being gone all this year. i suddenly feel so empty and lost, so alone...like there is a piece of me missing. at first i thought i was crazy, but then she said she felt the same way too. her flood of emotions hit when the plane touched down in CO...
friends are a precious gift, but my friendship with kellie is even more than that. i think that if God had intended for me to have a sister, it would have been her...but instead He made us greater than friends! i thank the Lord for you everyday kellie and i will be counting the wake-ups until i see you again!!

mighty taco, mighty taco...(now updated!!)

so i know i have a ton to blog about this week...and i promise i will, for everyday that kellie has been here, but right now i just need to blog that it is 1053pm and frank just left on a mighty taco run!! kellie and i spent some time scrapping tonight and are one bottle of wine down, we are currently playing a game of rummy with frank, he is kicking our butt, so we sent him to mighty! nacho's delux, 3 cheese nacho burrito and cherry empanada's!! i know we probably wont be feeling very well in the morning, but we are living it up our last night together and making/bring back memories!
there will be much more this weekend i promise... and hopefully some pics of our mighty extravaganza!!

he is such a good husband...going out in 15 degree temps at 11pm to bring some silly buzzed on wine girls some mighty!

we ran out of wine...and the liquor store was already closed, so we were sipping on dr. pepper and bacardi half the calorie coconut rum in a frosty beer glass! drinking through straws - that brings back some shan 'n kel memories!! but by the end of the night we could still feel our teeth, i guess that means we are getting old and forgetting how to get drunk!

my empanada dripped on my shirt...i couldnt waste it!!

friday, part 1...

so there was a whole day lived friday before the might taco posting...so to back up a bit...

unfortunately today is kellie's last day, she leaves early tomorrow morning :( but we have had an amazing week! it went by far to quickly but i really think we have enjoyed every minute of it. the only real plan for the day was touching up her hair and lunch at mangia. it seemed silly to have her here for a week with us having eaten out at least once everyday and not bring her to franks resturant! he had to be to work early today, so a 1230 lunch date was set. momma beth met us there, with some very exciting and unexpected news!! i am going to be an aunt!! frank's older brother dave and his wife maureen are expecting their first baby in june!! we are so excited...frank of course cried when his brother told him! so our boys are finally going to have their first official cousin - super exciting! (congrats guys...we're so happy for you!! i know life sounds crazy on this blog some days, but parenting really is the most amazing experience in the world, aside from actually being pregnant of course!) so a celebratory lunch was in order - cheers to dave and enna!!

the fam at mangia!

tuscan and his dessert...it was a brownie with icing and m&m's!! (dont u wish u had one!)

cenzo, after enjoying my eggplant parm panini! he is so italian...

matteo devouring kellie's pasta...he is such a good eater since he turned one!! i think his mission is to be bigger than cenzo this year!

from lunch we headed to the mckinley mall...yes another mall...but kellie wanted to get a yankee's sweatshirt for randy while she was here and i wanted to get my 2009 chef calendar for the kitchen before they sold out. both missions were accomplished! we stopped at the liquor store on the way home to grab the bottle of wine we had been intending to drink all week and by the time we got home the kids were all ready for naps! so down they went and we pulled out our scrapbooking stuff, finally! it didnt last long because matteo decided that napping was not necessary...but we each did get a little done (we continued after bed time until we ran out of stickies)

and that was about it for the day... kellie's hair turned out much better the second time around. she was able to experience one more bath night with us before she left...and then frank came home and mighty taco happened...the rest is history!

such cute little nudies!

my little super heroes!! super cenzo and bat-toe

"dont worry mom, i got that dirty laundry under control for you. bat-toe saves the day!"

just hanging out...

finally today we were able to enjoy a much more laid back day. frank didnt have to work till 2, so we all packed up and headed to red robin for lunch to celebrate the twins bday with their free lunches!!

we made a few stops on the way home, one of which was to get some algae eaters for tuscan's fish tank - we'll see if they end up being good eaters or not!! then kellie and i headed home to get the kids down for naps and color our hair! mine turned out great, the red low lights are very deep and sutle...kellie's on the other hand is a little shocking, i think we will have to touch it up a bit tomorrow...the red just grabbed onto her blonde a little to brightly!

we were supposed to be heading up to syracuse today to visit kelly (& the baby) but she is still very pregnant (40 wks. 3cm. 75% effaced) and we just didnt know if it would be a good idea to haul everyone up there and drag her out of the house. i wasnt so sure my boys would enjoy an afternoon in the hospital if we ended up being responsible for sending her into labor!! so unfortunately, we opted out...in retrospect we should have headed up there monday and done the museum today...but we also didnt want to take a chance of giving kelly the cold that everyone was carrying around earlier in the week. so now i just have to plan a sunday or tuesday to head up there with frank and the kids once the baby is here!

we ended the evening hanging out in our jammies and jess came over and joined us. we made an attempt to take a cute pic of me, kellie and the boys, but the boys werent so interested! so i guess we will have to practice the sears poses and try again in august...yes, i said august!! frank and i are going to take our boys on their first "family" vacation (we took them this past august, but that was sponsored by our parents! this time its just us) we are going to head down to ft. riley kansas, where kellie and randy will be stationed next, and while there we are going to head the extra 7 hours to CO for a few days. frank and i have said for a long time now that we want colorado to be a part of our kids lives because it is so much a part of who we are as a couple! and when better to go than the summer of our 5 year anniversary! we are so excited, not only because i actually know when i get to see kellie again, but also because there are so many people in CO who we want to see again, to meet their kids and introduce ours...its going to be a blast! only 10 months to go!

tuscan's potty progress

today was definitely a mish mash kind of day...our first day without any real plans. so when all else fails, go shopping! we headed to the galleria mall today, a place i havent shopped at in a few years!! and believe it or not we got better deals today then we did at the outlet yesterday. when we pulled into the parking lot and elderly couple was getting into their car and offered us a coupon for macy's, $10 off $25 if used before 1pm...it was only 1153am, we had time!! we had some stinky diapers in the back seat that needed to be changed, so we made a bee line to the bathroom closest to macy's and changed the twins. in macy's we ended up buying 4 sweaters (me 3 and kellie 1) for a total of $27 after the coupon...an amazing deal i know! but while standing in line to pay, tuscan pointed out that he had peed through his diaper...he was soaked and we were shocked! he had only been in that diaper for just about 2 hours, which is why we never thought to check him while we changed the twins. he had been doing so good with using the potty in the mornings that it just didnt cross our minds. kellie took him to the bathroom so i could finish paying and not only had his jeans gotten wet, but his whole stroller seat was wet too, poor guy! kellie said he seemed so embarrased...so then we were headed straight to penny's to buy him a new pair of jeans to wear (macy's didnt have anything worth buying!) and he had to sit on his coat the rest of the day, i really felt so bad for him!

but in some strange way it ended being up ok because while we were eating lunch at jonny rockets tuscan told me that he had to pee...so after a moment of panic because we hadnt really thought about public bathrooms yet, i rushed him to the bathroom and he did it!! i was so proud of him and he was so proud to rush back out to tell aunt kellie!

and it gets better...the twins were feeling better, but getting stinkier by the diaper. i think we ended up changing someones diaper in almost every dressing room we were in! i must say though, with all that chaos in one day, the kids were amazing...they really did a good job tollerating the fact that their day was totally off schedule! my boys amaze me more and more everyday! and the really amazing part was that after that many poopy diapers, kellie still seems willing to stick around her last couple of days! that is a true BFF!