Happy Halloween!

Many new changes in the past few months! Our home renovations are almost completed and our household items arrive this Friday. Our sweet babies are growing sooo fast. Daniela just turned 3 months today and Dominic is the best big brother ever!

We celebrated our first Halloween in MD as a family today! The children and I carved their first pumpkins. Dominic got to go Trick or Treating for the first time and he loved it- almost as much as he loved eating a few pieces of candy for the first time. Here are some photos from our big day!

Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin!

Sibling love

1 month!

Our baby girl is 1 month old! We can hardly believe how much she's grown since we welcomed her. In the past month, Daniela has:

- found her thumb
- slept through the night (yay!)
- grown out of her newborn diapers and into size 1 diapers
- smiled at Mommy and Daddy

We just moved back to Baltimore and we are so excited to have our family so close.

Life is good. :)

Our newest addition!

Daniela Marie decided to make her grand debut this past Sunday, July 31 at 7:56 p.m.!

We headed to the hospital at 3:30 a.m. that morning after my water broke. I was feeling like I wouldn't make it through the weekend to my 41 week appointment on Monday morning. Especially with the way I was feeling Saturday.

She was 7 lbs, 12 oz. and 21.5 inches long! We are absolutely in love!



And here she is with her Daddy!

4th of July in Anchorage!

Last year Daddy was getting set to deploy so we were low-key around here. This year, we took Dominic downtown for their annual parade and carnival! He had a blast!

It's been forever and a day

Okay, we've had a lot going on in the past month or so and I haven't been good about updating this blog. I am vowing to do better. I hope.

Anywho, Bill and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary recently. I still can't believe it was just 3 short years ago that we exchanged our vows...so much has happened since then! I think we've been through more in our 3 years (5 years together) than some couples experience in a lifetime. I think we've even surprised ourselves!

Dominic is growing by leaps and bounds. We can hardly believe he'll be 2 in less than three months...it just doesn't seem possible! We recently battled RSV and his first ENT appointment to clean out his icky sticky earwax. I am happy to report he is using his words more now! Poor child probably couldn't hear himself before.

Our baby girl is almost here too! Just 6 weeks until her due date. I'm hoping she gets the notion to turn around before next month because right now she's feet first. We've been giving her pep talks and such so we're hoping she's listening! I am in SO much better shape this time around, it would be a huge disappointment to have to undergo a c-section. We'll see how stubborn she turns out to be!

That's all for now!

Hoppy Easter!

We've been busy with Easter activities for the past few days! It's Dominic's first Easter where he's been old enough to enjoy an Easter egg hunt and egg dyeing.

Last year we were just arriving in AK and we did a last-minute run to Target for a basket for Dominic. Here's a pic from last year at 7 months:



And this year at 19 months:

We went to the Easter egg hunt on base today! And just like I thought, it was like Def Con 5. I've never seen so many children under the age of 4 in one place. It was interesting for sure. Dominic didn't mind picking up the eggs but he thought it was more fun to throw them as opposed to putting them in his basket. Everytime he threw one he exclaimed, "I DID IT!!". He ended up with 3 in his basket and he was so tickled!

Next up was our first Easter egg dyeing as a family. I thought Dominic would be covered in the dye but luckily he was more interested spinning the eggs than the dye itself.

His very first egg!


Making an egg for baby sister


Kisses for Mommy (Proving that she isn't just an urban myth)


Our super-bright Easter eggs!

Hoppy Easter to everyone!

Squeaky Clean!

Our little guy has finally outgrown his bath seat and is now using the tub like a big boy. He had that magnetic "W" on his head for a good 5 minutes before he realized it was up there. He keeps us smiling for sure.

The belly!

Here is a photo of my belly at almost 25 weeks! I went to get a pedicure today and realized when I stood up that I can't see my feet anymore. :( The girl who did my pedi said my toes looked great though :) Baby girl must be growing at a rapid pace now!

It's tough being a toddler

Here are some photos taken this week of my son coloring. It's amazing to watch him start a task, suddenly have a problem, see him solve it (and subsequently get over it) and return to the activity. He's getting better at solving problems without my help which makes me happy and sad all at the same time.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We're having a great St. Patty's Day around here! We've had shamrock shakes and we'll eat corned beef and cabbage tonight!

Here are some photos of our little man:
Having such a good day!


When will the corned beef and cabbage be ready, Ma?

Menu Plan Monday!

It's time for Menu Plan Monday! Here is our menu for the week of March 14th!

Monday: Leftover "Poor Man's Steak", mashed potatoes and mixed veggies

Tuesday: Italian Herb Chicken with sauteed veggies and linguine (trying out Philadelphia Cream Cheese's new Cooking Cream)

Wednesday: Leftover Italian Herb Chicken

Thursday: St. Patty's Day! Corned beef and cabbage in the slow cooker with veggies!

Friday: Chinese carryout

Saturday: Family date night!

Have a great week and head over to I'm an Organizing Junkie for more Menu Plan Monday ideas!

Oh dear, I might need help.

So far, I've made 9 hairbows (pinwheels) and bought 2 from Etsy. Again, I might need help. This little girl is going to have so many hair accessories. Yikes.

Here's what I bought from Etsy:
From Bonjour Mae Mae (a brand new store with the CUTEST bows)

Photo Credit: Bonjour Mae Mae- Etsy.com

From Whimsy Baby Designs (SUPER cute and unique baby items)

Photo credit: Whimsy Baby Designs- Etsy.com

Beautiful, no? It's too bad this girl will have all these bows and no clothes. That's right- I haven't bought any girl clothes yet. Time to get cracking on that too I guess!

Sugar, spice and everything nice!

That's what little girls are made of! We're having a little girl! We couldn't be more excited for a little pink in our lives!

She looks very healthy and was kicking me as much as possible throughout the ultrasound.

She doesn't have a name just yet but we're working on it! I think it's tougher to name the second child than to name the first one!

Menu Plan Monday and 20 weeks!

It's Menu Plan Monday! Here is this week's menu for dinner:

Monday: Spaghetti with homemade meat marinara (since we ended up having chicken cacciatore last week)

Tuesday: Fat Tuesday!! Blueberry pancakes and scrapple

Wednesday: Chicken and Dumplings in the slowcooker

Thursday: Baked spinach gnocchi

Friday: Chinese carryout (meatless for Lent!)

Saturday: Leftovers!

I'm 20 weeks today! Happy half-way to me! We have our big ultrasound tomorrow in the morning! Stay tuned for tomorrow's post with all the details!

Iditarod 2011

We went downtown this morning to watch the start of the Iditarod race! It was a little chilly but we managed to have a great time! Here are some photos from our day:

Flashback Friday: Spring flowers

I'm dreaming of springtime. This photo was taken at the Zoo last Spring and it always makes me happy. We haven't seen the green grass here since the first weekend in November. It's been a long winter for sure. And there are signs that it is coming to an end (we can actually see the lines on the road again). C'mon spring! We're waiting for you!!

Visit Christopher and Tia: documentary of us for more flashbacks! Have a great weekend everyone!

So very blessed!

Just recently, I has started to think about what to do with Dom's big boy room and whether we should move him into a larger bed or buy a new set of furniture for the new baby. Either way, we would have to start making our ideas a reality since it takes time to order and deliver furniture to this side of the world.

Then one day as I was visiting my usual website favorites Project Nursery, Pottery Barn Kids (I am in L-O-V-E with their bedding), BabySteals- just to name a few. I decided to enter Project Nursery's Kendall Low-Profile Crib Giveaway. I figured, what do I have to lose? There's a strong probability I won't win but you don't know unless you try, right?

Well, lady luck must have been on my side because I WON! I was one of two winners of this fabulous crib. It was delivered today and I have to tell you, I squealed like a child on Christmas Day when I opened my front door. It will stay in it's box until we arrive back in MD this summer but I am SO tickled we actually own it!

Here is a picture of the enormous box

The color swatch of the crib

The Kendall Low-Profile design

Crib color in the original Kendall design

This crib will match a dresser and rocking chair we currently have at my parent's home in MD. We can't wait to put it together for our new little one!!

A HUGE 'thank you' to the ladies at Project Nursery and Pottery Barn Kids for this amazing prize! We are indeed blessed!