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.