Friday, November 28, 2014

Beyond Thankful

This year has been eventful. My pregnancy was quite the adventure from start to finish including a hospital stay at 36 weeks due to high calcium resulting in a parathyroid removal surgery at 37 weeks. I gained a whopping 60 pounds and gave birth via cesarean to a 9lbs 9oz chunker. As you may have read last month, Vincenzo has his own set of "challenges". Nothing like Evan but enough to cause worry and questions. But I still cannot help but be incredibly grateful for my perfect children and my perfect life.

Perfect. A word that many people strive to be. But what is perfect? I absolutely do not strive to be perfect in society's eyes nor want to be. Perfect has a different meaning depending on who you ask. And to me, perfect is what I want it to be. Perfect is being happy with your life. Perfect is being happy with yourself. Perfect is cherishing every moment with the people you love. I am happily married and have happy children. If you ask me, that's pretty perfect. The saying goes, "There is no such thing as perfect." This is true in respect to society's perfect because that perfect is not real. Perfect is what is perfect to you. I have my perfect so I can't say that it doesn't exist. No, it may not be what many consider perfect but it is to me.

This Thanksgiving is very special to me. My family is complete now that Evan is a big brother. We have 2 new babies in the family other than Vincenzo, who we will get to visit with on this holiday. I am beyond thankful for my family. And that goes for every single person in it. My parents and in-laws have been a huge help since the baby has been born (and obviously prior to). They have given me breaks and I have gotten many full night's sleep. They bend over backwards to help us when we need them and I am incredibly grateful for that.

My husband is truly an amazing person. I am so thankful for everything he does for our family. He works so hard to provide for us and makes it possible for me to stay home with our boys. Something that I do not take for granted and am so privileged to do. I know there are mornings when he's leaving for work before 6am wishing he was the one who got to stay home. He is such an amazing father and if you thought Evan had a nice smile, you should see it when Joe walks in the room. Evan absolutely adores his daddy and Vincenzo too!

I am beyond thankful for the life I have been given and the life I get to lead. I love my normal. I love my perfect family, pets included! I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and holiday season. Remember to not take the precious things in life for granted. Spend as much time as you can with your loved ones and cherish those moments.


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Thursday, November 13, 2014

On the Move

Evan has been army crawling for months now. While I was pregnant most of his crawling was done in his room on his play mat. I was nervous to let him crawl around on the hardwood as I didn't want him to fall over and bump his head. It was obvious he was getting the hang of it and if he actually did fall over he knew to keep his head up to prevent it from whacking the floor. So I let my guard down and let him have free roam of the living room/kitchen area.

Though I never thought it would take 4 years for him to do this, I always wondered how crawling, aquaphor and dog hair would pan out. And yes, just as I presumed, a sticky mess! Luckily Evan's new found motor ability has kept me cleaning the floors constantly. I vacuum, swiffer, mop, then swiffer again to make sure he doesn't collect too much dog hair/dirt on his skin. No matter how much I clean the floors he still ends up finding the spots I missed, so he tends to go right into the bath after a good hour of crawling around. Then ironically enough the floors are sticky with aquaphor when he is done leaving me to cleanup yet again. But hey- totally worth it!

He is able to get onto 4 point (hands and knees) with no problem but has NO balance and tends to face plant when in this position. He will only go on four point when I ask him to as he remembers the result of his balance issue. He will use 4 point to get into a sitting position from laying down. Yet another huge motor milestone. While this transition is also a bit unstable, he has been achieving it more and more with less falls and little spotting.

His favorite thing to do these days while crawling, is investigating the piano room. Yet another floor to clean for him but more area to explore and move around on. It's a new world having him move on his own, something his brother will be doing very soon too! Here is some footage of Evan on the move!



(If you were curious to what Evan says at the end of the video, he said "I want Daniel Tiger". His new favorite show)

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Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Life with Two Kiddos

Life has been very busy as a mom of two. Evan kept me busy as is, add a newborn and WOW! I am still adjusting, trying to make sure Evan gets just as much attention as before without him feeling jealous. Luckily he has been a very good brother and the jealousy has not surfaced yet. The worst I get is Evan saying "Mama, put baby down," in order to get something he asked for. I chuckle and think it is pretty darn cute that he thinks I cannot multitask!

With a new baby comes times where I find myself "keeping Evan busy" so I can feed the baby or do baby "duties". This usually means Evan is watching a show on the iPad. He is currently obsessed with Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. He sings along with all of the songs, giggles and repeats most of what they talk about on the show. Fortunately he is learning something. Life lessons/morals like taking turns, listening to directions for safety, being calm when need be, thinking happy thoughts when scared and the list goes on. I feel guilty sticking him in front of the iPad but recently he begs me to watch it. Over and over and over. Luckily it is not the only thing he does in a day.

Evan is starting to become more independent and is now army crawling all over the house. It could not come at more of a perfect time. He loves to scoot all over the place with some cars and balls. We make forts with big boxes and sheets over the couch and coffee table. I've made him a road, with masking tape, that he got a kick out of for a few days. He is definitely enjoying the independence and I do not feel as guilty as he is doing something motor, FINALLY!

School is going very well for Evan. He still LOVES it and is the happiest kid as he boards the bus. He loves being a big brother and is quite the helper too! Enjoy the video and current pics of our boys!


Halloween: "Smarty Pants and Tigger"


He refused all other costumes!!


Fall hikin' with the boys


Playing with Bruli! He always tells Bruli to come in his fort!




Such a good big brother!!


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