The First Breakfast

As you can imagine, with a new baby in the house there have been lots of questions. Since the boys are only 3, I wasn't quite sure what they would understand about the pregnancy and then arrival of their sister. So we told them simple information like there was a baby growing in my belly that would soon be their baby sister.

Well, they wanted more info than I was prepared to give. So sometimes I had to get creative and think fast and be as honest as possible. They wanted to know, "How did the baby get in your belly?" Well...the Holy Spirit of course. "How is it going to get out of your belly?" Well...The doctor will take it out. "What tool will the Doctor use to get it out?" Well...OMG, I have no idea! A scalpel maybe??

You get the idea, the questions go on and on, especially since taking Isabella home. Lots of questions about her day to day care about feeding, changing, and bathing her, etc.

So last night we are at a local Christmas Festival and on our way out we stopped to pay homage at the Nativity. The boys greeted Baby Jesus and Mary.

And they had some questions...

Luccio wanted to know if he could sit on the ceramic cow? Easy answer-NO!

Cenzo walked up to Mary who was standing over the Baby Jesus. And he wanted to know,
"Does she have milk in her boobies?" Ummmm......

This reminded me of a retreat that I went on that was held at a Franciscan Friary. In the dining room was a huge painting of The Virgin Mary nursing Baby Jesus. One of Friars joked, "You have heard of the Last Supper, well this is the First Breakfast."

The Thankful Thing

I read a fantastic children's book called, The Most Thankful Thing by Lisa McCourt. It tells the story of a mom looking back at her life through a scrapbook with her daughter. She tells the little girl all about her favorite moments like going to summer camp, the prom, her wedding etc. But, in the end the thing she is most thankful for is her daughter. I love that!! It got me thinking and feeling sentimental. Over the Thanksgiving holiday I was reflecting on how people, places and experiences have impacted my life and what has been the most important. Nothing compares to the moments I have shared with my family. I was so grateful to be able to spend the holidays celebrating with my family and friends. And most of all I am thankful for my three beautiful children, true blessings!

The boys were reflecting on what they are most thankful for too. It was talked about at home and at school, so they really seemed to get the concept. They came home from school with paper turkeys they had made and on them their teacher had written what each boy had said they were thankful for. Luccio's said, "I am thankful for my toys." And Cenzo's said, "I am thankful for my Daddy." So cute!! That made Hubby's day!!!

That night Cenzo was sitting with Hubby and I. And out of the blue he said, "I love my Daddy." It was so heartwarming!!!

Then he looked at me and said,"Mama?" I replied, "Yes..." in anticipation of what adorable words he would say.

He said," Mama, I don't like you anymore, I only love my Daddy."

Well...there you go.

Falling For You

One afternoon Hubby raked a giant pile of leaves in the back yard. The next morning when I took the boys outside they were thrilled with the "surprise" Daddy had left for them!! They spent 2 hours jumping in the pile and laughing!!! It was a beautif

ul Fall day and I am so glad we got outdoors to enjoy it!!

Cenzo had to bring his "magazine" outside with him. It's actually a KMART catalog that came in the mail. He has been carrying it around for weeks now deciding on what he wants for Christmas.

We tried to delicately explain that Santa only brings one special gift per child so he better narrow down his list.

Where Oh Where??

Where did the month go?? My little Princess is already 1 month old!! How did that happen? It seems like maybe a week or 2 ago I was still pregnant! The first 20 weeks of the pregnancy seemed to drag along slowly. I was very nauseous and anxious. I wanted some kind of guarantee that all would turn out ok so I could relax and enjoy being pregnant! And after a nightmare pregnancy with the boys, this pregnancy was a very healing experience. I did get to enjoy it and relax once I got to 24 weeks. Greg was home all summer and took care of the boys and we put the nursery together so everything was set. But, once September came it all went into fast forward. Greg went back to work, the boys started preschool, I was going to the OB twice a week (sometimes more) and before I knew it October arrived. The swelling started, my blood pressure went up, I was in and out of the hospital and on bedrest at home. And then the Princess arrived, we celebrated Halloween, and the rest is a blur...

-Cenzo and Luccio LOVE their baby sister! And they are having a great time at preschool! They went on a field trip to a local farm and walked through a Corn Maze, it was so much fun!!

-Isabella is healthy and growing! She had lost some weight after the birth and now she regained it plus some. She is already over 9 pounds. She is eating every 3-4 hours and sleeping nicely. Although she sleeps best in the her swing in the middle of the chaos in our living room OR if she is being held. At night when its too quiet its nearly impossible to put her to sleep in her bassinet and so I hold her as much as possible. I feel like she is only this little once and its flying!! So at night I have been sleeping in the couch and holding her. I know its a bad habit to get her into but she is just so little!!! And she is such a cuddle bug. I figure there is plenty of time to break her of the bait and get her sleeping alone in her little bed. It took a while with the boys too but they are fantastic sleepers so I am not too worried.

-Yesterday my mom took Isabella and Grandma and Papa came here to watch the boys for us. Hubby and I went to the movies to see New Moon! It was great, i really enjoyed it. And it was true to the story of the book. I still LOVE Edward, but Jacob certainly gave him some competition!! We went out to dinner after and I nearly fell asleep at the table. Ughhh!! The exhausted just set in around 7:30 and I couldn't;t keep my eyes open. I am still recovering today! LOL! But, it was nice to go out on our own. I did miss the kids though and since I am nursing I felt the pressure to beat the clock and get home in time for the next feeding because I knew I had only left enough milk for 2 bottles. I still have to work on coordinating that part of it;

All in all everything is going so well!! We are settling into life again. And as Thanksgiving approaches I am counting my blessings! And in the exhaustion I keep reminding myself it will get easier and i will eventually get to sleep again, it just may be a couple of years...LOL

Mama's Helpers

Vincenzo and Luccio are very excited about being Big Brothers. They are really enjoying their new roles as caretakers.

Luccio is very nurturing and concerned. He doesn't like "Baby Sister" to cry. He will run and her pacifier aka "Wubba" and bring it to her and he tells her "It's okay Baby Sister, it's okay." Or he will demand that I "pick her up!" "She hungry, she want her milk! Hurry!" And he is always telling her, "I yuv you Baby Sister." The other day he helped Cousin Nikko feed the baby a bottle, he was so proud!

Cenzo is very gentle with "Baby Bean." He talks to her in a soft, loving voice. And enjoys helping to feed or change her when possible. The other day he helped me give Isabella her first bath. He got all the supplies set up and filled the tub with soap and water. Then he carefully sponged her hair and body. It was so cute!! He kept telling her, "Don't worry Daddy is here." LOL!! I had to remind him he is her brother. But, the difference didn't quite sink in.

It is so interesting to watch my baby boys become big kids. I am seeing how old they really are and how much they understand. Its is a unique experience and so much fun to be a part of as they grow into their new roles and next phase of life.

Family of 5

Now that we have our beautiful boys and our little princess our family is complete! It was such a blessing to take our baby girl home to join her brothers in the chaos that is our household now!! I sat here the other day just taking it all in. The boys were running around, Luccio was playing with his fire engine with real sounding sirens and Cenzo was playing guitar and singing at the top of his lungs. And in the midst of it all, Isabella was screaming full force because she didn't want her diaper changed. And I had to take a moment to Thank God for all the craziness!

I remember one day in November of 2005 Greg and I visited my Grandfather in his nursing home and we left in tears. We had just been through a miscarriage and the holidays were upon us. Visiting with Gramp reminded us that in the end all you have is your family. Kids, grandchildren, even great-grandchildren surrounded Gramps in his last few months. Greg and I left the nursing home wondered, would we ever have a family of our own??

Here we are 4 years and 3 kids later!! I went to the cemetery yesterday with the boys to visit Gramps and remember him on Veteran's Day. And I thought about what a long journey it was to get here and how grateful I am for all of the blessings in my life!

I am really enjoying watching the boys become big brothers and adjust to life with Isabella. they are so proud of her and love showing her off to everyone. And they are always telling her how much they love her. I know there will be ups and downs and days where I will question my sanity with 3 young children running about. But, I do know that in the end this time with my family is priceless.

Welcome to the World Isabella Angelina

On October 22, 2009 at 10:15 am our Princess made her entrance into the world!!! She came out squawking like a little bird!! She weighed 7.13 pounds and was 20 inches long! A good size for a baby born at 36 weeks and 4 days!

Unfortunately, she was having respiratory distress and had to be taken to the NICU and put on CPAP (a breathing mask) and IV fluids. I had an amnio the day before I delivered her and my doc said her lungs were mature. But, apparently she swallowed some amniotic fluid so she needed her airway cleared. I thought they would take her to the NICU for a few hours or maybe a day, but she stayed for 6 days and it was incredibly stressful. I had been through the NICU experience with the boys, but this time I was blindsided. I made it an entire month farther and thought she was so close to term that she would be fine. I wasn't prepared for the ups and downs of the 6 days in the NICU, but that is a story for another post.

Our Princess is just beautiful! We have been so blessed, Thank You God!!!

We debated names right up until the last minute. We had a few that were "unique," but in the end we went with my all time favorite name, Isabella. I had been wanting that name all along, but Hubby thought we should go with something different because of the recent popularity of the name. But, when Hubby saw her he felt she was an Isabella and we figured if were going Italian might as well go all the way and add the Angelina. My dad had been calling her Angelina since he found out I was pregnant, so it really fit nicely!!

Taking our baby girl home was such a fantastic moment. Big brothers and Stregga had a surprise welcome home party for us complete with cake and balloons!! It was so much fun!!!

I can't believe she is already going to be 2 weeks old tomorrow. Time is flying by!!

Tomorrow Will Be Bean's BIRTH Day!!!!

My blood pressure has been high again so I have been in the hospital since yesterday. The docs did all kinds of tests including an Amnio and Bean's lungs are mature enough for delivery, so tomorrow is the day!!! I am scheduled for an 8 am c-section!! And I cannot wait to meet my little Princess!! We are still playing the Name Game so it will be exciting to actually see and hold her and I am hoping that will help us decide!

I will post pics and updates as soon as I can!!

Bedrest Baby

It has been an eventful week. I went to an OB appointment last Tuesday and my blood pressure was high. Over the 2 hours I was there it didn't come down so my doctor said he needed to admit me for a 24 hour observation. He said that I would also do a 24 hour urine test, which basically means you pee into a jug over the course of 24 hours and then it gives you a result of how much protein is being spilled into the urine. My doctor said if the BP came down and the protein is low enough I could go home. However, if the BP stayed up and the protein was too high it would be an official pre-eeclamnpsia diagnosis and I would have to stay in the hospital until Bean could be delivered. SO of course, I panicked for a minute. I was remembering my last pregnancy and several weeks of hospital bedrest. I told the doc I needed to go home and get the boys situated and get a bag. He agreed I coudldleave since I didn't have a headache or blurry vision but I need to be back after dinner to be admitted.

My mom was at the house with the boys. When I got home and walked in, Cenzo said. "Mama what's wrong?" I said "Nothing , why?" He insisted soemthing was wrong with me. It was so strange how he picked up a vibe that I didn't mean for him to get. I sat down with the boys and explained that I was going to sleep over at the hospital so that my docotr could check out me and Baby Bean to make sure everything is ok.

Cenzo had a million questions. He wanted to know, could he go with me? What was I going to wear to sleep? Was there a bed there? Was the doctor going to take the baby out of my belly? How was he going to get the baby out? What is the name of the tool the doctor would use to get her out?

After I explained that Stregga was going to sleep overnight with them at our house, Luccio had a few questions too. He wanted to know, could he watch a movie? And could he have chocolate milk? Once I agreed to both of those he said "Ok, bye Mama."

I ended just being in the hospital for the 24 hours. My BP came down a bit, still elevated but better. And there wasn't a very high level of protein in my urine. SO they let me come home on bedrest.

I have been resting since Tuesday and I was a bit bored of it yesterday but Hubby reminded me that in just 8 more days our Bean will be here and I will have 3 little ones to care for and will not rest again until they go to college, so that out it in perspective, LOL!!!

On Friday I had an ultrasound to check on Bean's growth and she weighs an estimated 8 pounds!!! WOW!! I reached the 36 week milestone yesterday too. SO next Tuesday the 27th is the BIG DAY-the scheduled c-section. I cannot wait to see this baby girl!!!!!!!