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!!