AgeArp - Just Life

So Big

2004-11-03T23:04:00.000-05:00

4 weeks

6 months

1 year

Down the Drain

2004-11-03T22:58:00.000-05:00

It was bound to happen, we got back the swallowed tooth but lost the next one down the drain.

Giulia lost her fourth tooth today at gymnastics. She said she was washing her hands and it fell down the sink.

Now we have to write the letter to the Tooth Fairy and hope she will accept something in replacement for the lost tooth.

I WANT a new camera

2004-11-02T13:44:00.000-05:00

For months I've been waiting and waiting for my birthday to pass ---- for my birthday I bought a new Apple iMac so I could not get a new camera until the next gift getting occassion, X-mas. So X-mas is almost here but still a couple of months away. I was thinking though that I can go out and get the camera and wrap the box in X-mas paper. No one will ever know.

I am going to get a Nikon D70 so that I can finally get some good pix .... but first I need to learn how to take good pix and how to use the camera ....I can't wait! Maybe I'll go this Friday.

On a side note on my decision --- this camera(D2X) was announced last month but since it says it is not available until Jan which in Nikon terms is next July I have to go get the D70 .... maybe I'll upgrade next year.

Diego is 1

2004-11-01T23:11:00.000-05:00

My lil man is getting so big! I can't believe he turned one today. Time is flying by.

Giulia had a half day of school today, I thought I was supposed to pick her up at 1PM but it turns out they got out at 12:50. She was outside waiting for me with her teacher all upset - "I thought you were having Diego's cake without me" - poor thing, a couple of minutes of waiting must've felt like an hour for her.

We started the day with the normal whining for a bottle after he found it was not all prepped and sitting on the night table when he woke up. Off to prep the bottle and make coffee .... then 6:46AM - wow, Diego is 1!

I can remember so clearly 6:46AM, my lil man let out a cry and said hello to me, then got taken away to the NICU. John went off to see him while I was stitched back together and restitched back again after all the stiches ripped - "How is he?" "He is such a hairy thing, he is covered in hair all over, looks like a little monster". I remember counting the minutes waiting until I saw him just after 11AM. He wasn't so hairy, daddy was exagerating, he was just perfect - breathing, tiny, a little hairy, just perfect.

He scared the crap out me being born early, he was not due til X-mas Eve - the three weeks in the NICU seemed like a lifetime - Giulia looking through the window each day to see her little brother, daily weight, learning to eat, such a little guy - 16 1/2 in 4.2 lb ..... He is 1! Where has the year gone?

Diego can do 'so big', point to his hair when asked where his hair is, put out one finger when asked how old he is, say mama and dada, say aaaaahh for Giulia, crawl to Giulia's room to knock all her toys to the floor, crawl to the kitched and stand to open all the cabinets and pull out the cheerios, make brrrrmmm car sounds, wave bye, blow kisses, make indian sounds, shush the lights, grunt at daddy, talk to his toys, and stand on his own for a little bit.

Diego loves to eat, he will try anything and is always hungry. He has two teeth but definately needs more soon because he loves to chew food. He puts everything he finds in his mouth. He is such a big boy.

Happy b-day my lil man - I love you!

Competition .... count down

2004-11-01T19:45:00.000-05:00

Since Giulia is six this year she is eligible for gymnastics competition providing she has her skills by the time the season starts (which for her group is officially in January).

Today a letter came home that says she has a mock meet Dec. 11th. I so want to go watch .... but parents are not invited :( They will have a second one Dec. 18th and parents are allowed to that one. So the count down begins.

School Update

2004-10-30T12:59:00.000-05:00

My final assignments have been submitted. I just completed a database management and a programming course. I could not be happier to be done with them. In two weeks I start LAN Design and Website Tools (where I get to learn Macromedia and PSP8). I am excited about the Web course but not looking forward to LAN Design.

Now to wait for grades.

The house is sold?

2004-10-28T17:26:00.000-05:00

We have been pretty lucky with real estate, never really being burned too bad, but we've had our share of bad experiences with tenants ... even one where the guy showed us a check he had made for millions of dollars to buy a helicopter to let us know he had money but didn't have it for the rent.

Today we sold one of these nightmarish houses after a few failed attempts at closing. The last one was butchered by a crazed tenant who does not want us to sell the house. But now, its finally gone, it went to a buyer who wanted to know if we ever had plumbing issues because the mad tenant had him ask to be safe in buying the house. He asked, we answered, and now the house is gone.

I am celebrating because as much as I like getting rent money I hate tenants that much more.

The Shoot-Thru Mill Circle

2004-10-27T21:29:00.000-05:00

I am still not sure what this skill really is as much as Giulia tries to explain it to me. She's been telling me for a few weeks that she's very close to getting it. Today she came home all excited that she did her Shoot-Thru Mill Circle ALL BY HERSELF.

It goes something like this - "Its on the bars. You are on top and you put one leg over, then you turn around the bar, and then you get yourself back up" - I have to go in one day and see this skill because I think what I am visualizing may not exactly be the skill itself.

Giulia also has her front handspring now ALL BY HERSELF. At least this one I know!

Go Giulia!

Giulia's Yearly Checkup

2004-10-21T21:44:00.000-05:00

Giulia went for her yearly checkup today at the ped. She is now 36 lbs and 42 inches. Did I ever mention she is 6 years old? She is in the 5th percentile for height and the 3rd percentile for weight.

Although she is tiny, she is very strong - she can do a press handstand or is it called a handstand press? Her size is actually an advantage for her gymnastics so I am not complaining.

I had ANOTHER birthday

2004-10-20T22:50:00.000-05:00

I cried most of my birthday. I think it was my worst birthday ever. I don't know if it is because I am getting older or because I expect a little more out of John.

Giulia remembered to wish me a happy b-day in the morning - that was the best part of my day. I ended up having to cook dinner myself, get a cake I didn't like because John didn't think about me before having to run back after Giulia's gymnastics class. To make it worse because he went to get the cake dinner was cold by the time he got home.

This year I wanted to get an Apple computer - it arrived in September and I am very happy with it but I expected to at least get a b-day card.... I didn't even get that.

By the end of the night I was very upset and could not get myself to sleep. So here I am. Looking at the big picture I am very blessed to have had my kids and cake and a computer - but I am so sad at the same time.

Picture Day

2004-10-19T22:24:00.000-05:00

Giulia and Diego had their pictures taken today - what a task!

We arrived at 4:15PM for our 4:30PM appointment. I should have learned my lesson from last year. The studio was extremely hot - I was wearing a t-shirt and was dripping wet. Diego had been fed and dressed and was ready for his first shot. The poor lil man had to wait til 5:30PM for his first picture, by this time he was sweating bullets, getting hungry, cranky, and crawling around almost naked around the studio.

I picked him up and began re-dressing him in his very warm attire for his first picture .... Diego please sit still, please sit still, here look, look here, peek-a-boo, ahhhh, tickle tickle ..... 6:30PM I think I got a good shot --- okay both kids together. Diego stop running off, that pose won't work, he keeps taking off --- mom hold him til I say let go and then step back really quick. 7PM -- I don't think your daughter did well but that's as good as we are gonna get .... outfit change, X-mas pix -- I need at least one shot - this is for the X-mas cards ... the snowflakes are not a good idea, its okay it'll work -- oh please no, not a good idea, don't you have a big snow man? -- 30 shots later we got a shot with a non-flying snowflake -- but Giulia had the longest tired face.

Let's get a Halloween shot - we can't come back for a few months we need to get it now. Three pix later Halloween was done - Stitch was entirely too hot to stand another picture. By 8:45PM the pix were printed but it was too late to go through them. I will have to go back tomorrow.

I have to ask --- why do kids picture places make appointments if they don't keep them? It takes longer to take pix of cranky, tired, hungry, and hot kids. Why oh why?

PCLP once again!

2004-10-12T20:59:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time I was a PCLP (a Principal Certified Lotus Professional). This dates back a few years when I was working at Public Service in Lotus Notes 4. I have always worked for companies that are very up on technology in terms of the versions they deploy; however, in the last couple of years I have been working for a pharmaceutical company and because of regulations and compliance upgrades are very very very very very slow.

Up to last year we were still on the same Lotus Notes 4 release I was in back in my Public Service days (although in between I had already worked on R5 for another company). We are finally on R5 here but becasue it took so long I never felt the need to complete my certification - I had been a CLP in R5 forever, but not a PCLP.

The other day Lotus, who now belongs to IBM, announced that the tests for R5 are retiring as R6 has long been around ... I have not even seen R6 yet. So as I was feeling down to have all my once active brain cells in technology stagnant for so long I decided I needed to get back on track. I signed up to the exam and went to take it and as easy as that I now have a P in my title.

BUT, since Lotus now belongs to IBM I don't even know if that is what I am called anymore - I will just have to wait for my certificate to arrive in the mail with the official IBM name.

Now all I have to do is learn Java so I can get a PCLP on the development side of Lotus as well --- I am still missing my P there.

Cousins?

2004-10-10T22:39:00.000-05:00

Today we visited Diego's buddy - my little cousin Andrew. We had a great time and Diego and Andrew were very well behaved.

Diego is 11 months old

2004-10-01T22:30:00.000-05:00

My lil man is 11 months old. Another month has gone by. I didn't think a baby could crawl faster than Diego did last month but OMG has this kid picked up speed.

This month Diego can make car sounds, do so big, say mama and dada, grunt, blow at the lights, open the kitchen cabinets, crawl around the floor looking for things to eat, and give mommy wet kisses. I also need to make sure I mention that Diego's poops stink - as he gets bigger they get stinkier - he will be potty training early wether he likes it or not.

For his 11th month celebration Giulia did her hair and Diego's

The Dinner Cruise

2004-09-26T22:56:00.000-05:00

Today we went on a dinner cruise for one of John's brother's 25th wedding anniversary. The cruise was beautiful, we got to see the Statue of Liberty at night. I just wish I had a better camera (we'll just have to go back again when I do).

This is Giulia with some of her cousins, uncle, and aunt

This last one is Diego and me - please note for the record "I do not have a double chin"

Giulia is 6

2004-09-18T22:57:00.000-05:00

Giulia was born on Sept 18, 1998 via emergency c-sec. She was 5 lbs and 17 1/2 inches. Today Giulia tuned 6. She is 35 lbs and 42 inches.

Giulia wanted all Kim Possible 'stuff' for her birthday so we got her a new Kim Possible bedroom set (and some other small items).

Grandma, grandpa, and nonno came over today for dinner. This year's cake was triple chocolate fudge cake from Blackhounds (mommy's favorite). After dinner and cake Giulia opened her gifts.

As as side note - we were very proud of daddy today - I sent him to get the cake while I went to get Giulia from Gymnastics and he actually went to the mall shopping for a gift. He picked a beautiful skirt and top outfit and a craft book. Men do surprise us sometimes :) this was one of them. He also turned down a soccer game scheduled for today after I nicely reminded him it was HIS DAUGHTER'S B-DAY!

That was not an orzo!

2004-09-17T21:01:00.000-05:00

For a week or so Giulia'd been complaining about her loose top tooth. On Wednesday, while eating orzos, she complained that she had bitten too hard. I turned to look and her mouth was covered in blood - I told her she needed to be careful because she was biting into her tooth. I asked her to get up to take her to get cleaned up. She started shouting that her tooth was missing - I said, "it can't be missing, it was there a second ago - Open Up!" I looked through the bloody mess in her mouth and it was gone!

"Giulia, you swallowed your tooth!"
"No I didn't"
"Yes you did!"
"No, I only swallowed my orzo"
"No Giulia, you had no orzos in your mouth, that was your tooth!"
"Oh, I thought I had an orzo stuck on my tooth"
"That was your tooth - you swallowed it!"

So - I explained the Tooth Fairy process all over again and I explained the digestive system a little bit --- "No tooth, no Tooth Fairy - that's how it works! Here's what we do - Everything you eat comes out the other end. It takes a day or two but it comes out. The only way it won't come out whole is if your tummy acids digest it - but since you poop out corn whole I think your tooth is safe"

Luckily yesterday there was no school (Rosh Hashanah) so when she had to go poop she promptly called me to assist her. She pooped in a pan - the plan was for her to use to craft sticks to look through. But man, out of any day to stink and poop like a rock, this was the day! I had to assist in the process due to the complications - we spent half hour spraying air freshener and cutting the poop apart.....NO FREAKING TOOTH!

This morning I warned her 'NO POOPS IN SCHOOL" - she went to school and I went to the office. I picked her up at 3pm and she promply reported she had not pooped in school. I went back to the office and upon my return she announced she had pooped and left the artwork for me since once again it was too tough for her to maneuver through (although it looked like she had tried). After 40 minutes - YES 40 minutes when we were giving up hope - I started telling her she may just have to write a letter to the Tooth Fairy explaining what happened and asking her what sacrifice she needed to make in replacement for her tooth - then it happened, we struck gold - it was a piece of poop that would not cut to the bottom, it was the tooth and not another piece of corn.

We grabbed the bottle of bleach and poured half of it over the tooth, then we took daddy's toothbrush and cleaned it very nicely for the Tooth Fairy (just kidding daddy, we used your shaving machine cleaning brush instead)

Sweet Angel Allie

2004-09-14T05:50:00.000-05:00

I have been following Allie's struggles for a couple of months now, each day shedding some tears for her and her family. Early this morning I went to refresh the site and was devastated to learn that Allie passed away last night, Sept. 13th at 11:05PM.

Allison Leigh Scott was born on December 17th 2003. I first came across her story on the babycenter December 2003 board - one of the sister boards to the one I was in with Diego. On May 4th, 2004 Allie was diagnosed with AML, Acute Myeloid Leukemia, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow.

Since her diagnosis her mom, Jenny, and her dad, Andrew, kept us updated on Allie's condition on a daily basis through their website. Each day I prayed for Allie and hoped for a good post. There were many good ones and many bad ones and each one shared by her mommy's selfless writings. I urge anyone that stumbles across my site to visit Allie's page and leave their thoughts or prayers for Allie's family. This little angel touched the lives of thousands of people.

http://www.scotthousehold.com

Allie, we love you!

Giulia's Buddy

2004-09-12T22:31:00.000-05:00

Today we had a visit from Lucia and Lucia. Lucia married the brother of my dad's sister-in-law. Her husband lived here in the US for close to 30 years before he decided to go to Spain, fall in-love, propose, and get married. Poor Lucia left her home, her parents, her town, to come live in a small apartment and have no one around to talk to. They had a baby girl, Lucia, on my birthday almost four years ago. Today, Lucia and Lucia came over to spend some time with us. Here they are (I am learning to use PSP :)

The NSCGA

2004-09-11T22:44:00.000-05:00

As you know by now, Giulia goes to gymnastics classes. This year she turns 6 making her eligible for competition (once she has all the required skills). I've always known that competing means a bigger investment of time and money....I just never knew how much bigger.

Giulia is now doing gymnastics 3 days per week - 3 hours per day. She goes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Yesterday was the first meeting to welcome new parents to the life of competitive gymnastics. I left Diego with my mom and Giulia in piano class for John to pick up and headed in. The gym is 20 minutes away from us (with no traffic).

We were introduced to the Board of Directors of the NSCGA. The NSCGA is the parents organization that funds the gymnasts. During this 2-hour meeting they kept throwing around the words 'assessment fee' but never telling us how much this fee was; instead they told us to attend today's meeting where this fee would be communicated to us and voted on. We then got spoken to about fund-raising and corporate sponsors, and lastly volunteering for administrative tasks and working meets - they could not emphasize anymore how important volunteering was. This volunteer sign-up and all relevant information would also be provided at todays meeting. Ultimately, I wasted 2 hours of my day yesterday to go back and get the relevant information today.

Today's meeting was at 12PM - Giulia's class was at 1PM. John came along since 2 or 3 hours with Diego attending a meeting would probably proof destructive (how right I was). We once again were introduced to the Board of Directors and fund-raising and the 'assessment fee' - the assessment fee mystery for this year was revealed to be &1700; that fee does not include a competition leotard ($60), a membership application ($50), an USGA application ($49), a warm-up ($150), or our monthly payment to the gym ($195). The fee took an hour to vote on, the poor thing was torn to shreds with questions and complaints - but it got approved in the end.

Onto volunteering, I had already taken the time yesterday to speak to the people doing anything computer related since that is the only thing I can volunteer for. Today we were given an information-less handout that lists the positions we can volunteer for (no clue what each does) and this is when Diego decided he'd had enough (an hour and a half into the meeting). He screamed for 15 minutes - and I mean SCREAMED like only Diego can. I had to take him downstairs where finally he exhausted himself and went out. By the time I got back upstairs the meeting was over - the volunteer sign-ups had been discussed without me. We left.

I called the appropriate board members to try to get my name on the list since the screaming child prevented me from doing anything during the meeting and was told the list would be posted on the bulletin board. I explained that I don't go in on Monday to drop Giulia off and so someone else might volunteer for the things I can do (I can only do things doable around my work, school, and Diego schedule - and I explained this to them) - so they tell me not to worry if they are taken I can volunteer for something else someone has not.....hello - did you completely miss the point? I told them that those were the only things I could volunteer to do once again, but they did not want to sign me up and suggested that maybe my DH could do something with his time instead ---- all I had left to say was: 'I don't think so' - and 'oh well, I tried! - thank you for your time'

So much for the importance of volunteering, you'd think with something that important they would have taken my name and written in immediately. Oh well, I tried :)

Back to School

2004-09-08T21:47:00.000-05:00

Today was back to school day for Giulia. The weather could not have been any worse. It was pouring out - Hurricane Charles' impact on NJ. I packed Diego in his car seat and we left. Giulia, my girly girl, had to wear her new leopard skirt and flip flops on her first had of school...it just could not be any other way!

We got within 3 blocks of the school and the streets have 'no parking' signs.....NO PARKING signs....how can you drop your kid off on their first day of school in the pouring rain and with a baby in tow if you are not able to park within three blocks of the school? We waited out the long line driving through the school for 15 minutes - by now the bell rang and we were late, but still we were not moving. Finally at the very end of the school lot I fit myself into a spot (this was a spot for 2 cars - one in front of the other - I became the third car and sandwiched someone in).

Out we go, Giulia, Diego, and I. We walked across the parking lot and the length of the school in the pouring rain, cursing the town for their stupid way of doing things and all the officers for enforcing the NO PARKING signs - don't they have kids? I got to snap a picture of Giulia but I wish I could have snapped a picture of me and Diego who was trying to drink as much of the rain as he could -- did I mention we didn't have an umbrella? - I was not expecting all the drop-off chaos.

As soon as we got inside Giulia ran into her kindergarten teacher and gave her a big hug

Then, just like that, my little girl walked into the school and became a first grader. This year was not as tough as last year watching her go into kindergarten (then my heart just melted) - I think it was the rain that made it easier.

I walked back to the car and noticed that she was in the classroom that led to the street so Diego and I peaked in the window standing in the pouring rain for a few minutes and snapped a picture.

I have a first grader - boy is she growing up fast!

The Garage

2004-09-06T22:07:00.000-05:00

We have been working on building a garage for 2 years now. Timing was not on our side; with Diego being born early, John tearing his ACL, his surgery, the weather, and the numerous attemps at a variance, it is just staring to happen now.

I have to go into a little more detail on this variance thing. A standard size garage is not enough for my Alfa Romeo enthusiast DH. He wanted to build a 30 foot garage ... I don't even how deep it was to be but it was VERY deep. For months he went to townhall to get the variance approved, he sent certified mail to all neighbors, he purchased plans, he brought down trees to accomodate the garage, he contacted an attorney for direction, etc.... time after time he got turned down. He was asked questions like, will your neighbor be able to see your garage from his pool? Why do you need to have a large garage like that? Are you going to be renting it out? ---- Let me take the opportunity once again to say - this town SUCKS! We have a one acre lot people, I could fit an olympic size pool and a tennis court back here - its my fucking property! Why should I give a shit if my neighbor can see it from his pool, I can see his garage from my picnic table - should I have him tear it down?

Anyways, back to my story - John finally decided it was not worth the aggravation to get an extra 10 feet of space and got the ball rolling. "This garage is going to be too small" is all I hear - it's going to be too small to fit the Alfa, the lawn tractor, and the mustang - where is my minivan supposed to go I wonder?

We decided to make the best of the construction time and equipment so here we are yesterday enjoying our cinder block bbq

and here are the kids today having some fun with the mixing sand

Diego's Buddy

2004-09-05T22:41:00.000-05:00

My uncle and aunt had a baby on December of last year. Andrew was supposed to be two weeks older than Diego but since Diego decided to arrive two months early and Andrew two weeks late Diego is now two months older than Andrew.

They came to visit today. We had a great time (well, I did anyway) - Andrew and Diego were too cute together. Diego tried to steal Andrew's binky a couple of times but otherwise he was well behaved.

Diego is 10 months old

2004-09-01T06:22:00.000-05:00

My lil man is getting to be a big boy. His two first teeth started to show but they are still too little to take pictures of. He drools like a little monster now - the other day I asked him for a kiss and he completely drenched me.

We are starting to reintroduce milk-based formula with his Allimemtum now to see how he does with it. His reflux has gotten much better but he still does have it. He loves cheerios and solid foods. I don't think he's tried any food yet that he has not liked.

He is getting to be a much better baby (the screaming has let up a lot but he still has his fits before sleep). He rarely naps more than 10-15 minutes 2 or 3 times a day and those are war - we try for an hour to settle him for 10 minutes, he screams for 10 minutes or so and then he is out for a few but he does wake up much more refreshed.

Diego is now crawling like a champ - he is fast. He also stands against everything. His favorite thing is the aquarium in his crib - he will stand up by it and play with the buttons.

No appointments to update on this time around. I love this li guy!

The Press Handstand

2004-08-30T22:44:00.000-05:00

Giulia, my little gymnast, has been driving me nuts practicing her press handstand over and over. I always fear she's going to get hurt doing these things at home. Well, she's finally got it! I am happy to announce that today Giulia came home all excited with a ribbon for her new skill. She was too cute!

Here's a picture of my Little Giulia from last year - 08/2003 (I don't have any recent gymnastics pictures)

I can't wait to see what she will practice next LOL

The End of Vacation

2004-08-22T08:11:00.000-05:00

It's sunny today and it is expected be sunny and warm all week. It figures! Three weeks of rain while I am out and the moment I go back to work the sun decides to show.

I've written before about the little italian restaurant by us that we love to go to...before vacation we would go 'out' maybe once a month and to our little place once every two or three months - for special days. In the last three weeks we've been there seven times LOL, they even know us by name - they even know the dessert we order. There is a really nice female server that tended to us a couple of times and now whenever she sees us she comes to our table to say hi - I love this place!

Diego's been well behaved when we go to the little italian resturant. Giulia always orders a kids pizza and gives him the pizza bones, I give him a calamari to chew on as his appetizzer, some soup, and some of my pasta -- and OMG - he's quiet and loves it there.

My parents come back from vacation on Wednesday so I'll be working from home while watching the kids on Monday and Tuesday - I am going to miss being off :(

One Lucky Momma!

2004-08-16T17:02:00.000-05:00

I don't think I've mentioned what a lucky momma I am :)

My handsome lil terror!

My pretty gymnast!

My two lil blessings!

Great Adventure

2004-08-11T17:26:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we went to Six Flags Great Adventure and Hurricane Harbor. We skipped out on the Safari because Diego's screaming could have put us in extreme danger.....I don't think the lions would have been happy with his screams.

Since my parents left on vacation we have had two days with decent weather, the day at the lake and today. I am spending my two week plus vacation keeping the kids locked in the house.....they can't even go in the pool - not fair!

I have to say I was not at all impressed with Great Adventure. Giulia could not go on any rides except the 42 inch and under ones. She is almost 6 years old and she could not even go to Skull Mountain as it has a 44 inch requirement. We waited in line, got into the ride, sat down and we were asked to get up to have it measured, she was 43 inch, an inch too short....so after waiting for 20 minutes we got kicked out of the ride. Meanwhile, the regular sized four year old we met got to go on it. Now, this would not have been so bad except that we paid over $140 to get us in and $35 for a stinky burger and hot dog lunch and the poor kid (and us) did not get to do anything other than go on the ferris wheel and the toddler rides.

Hurricane Harbor was a little better, without her shoes she just made it to 42 in (when standing really tall) and she got to go on the tubes with me which, although we had a 30 minute wait for a 10 second ride, she really enjoyed. The only highlight of our day was the Lazy River ride. Each of us got a tube (Diego went on with me) and we went around the park twice - it is a shame we didn't go to Hurricane Harbor earlier while the sun was shining.

So......never again, not until the kids (both of them) are over 44 inches....and we will be taking our own lunch (we saw people eating in the parking lots - very smart thing) and figuring a way to get cheaper entry.....oh I forgot to mention, the only other things that Giulia would have enjoyed such as the bungy bounce - you had to pay additional $$$ for - That is just ridiculous!

He did forget

2004-08-05T17:14:00.000-05:00

Well, he did forget! But - we had a great day anyway. We took the kids to the lake (our first lake visit) and we had a great time.

Diego loved the water and he got to taste the sand. Giulia was more her scared, cold self and did not spend a lot of time in the water.

We went to my favorite place for dinner, PaneVinos. It is a small italian restaurant by us that makes the greatest pizzas and pasta.

It was a very good day!

Diego is 9 months old

2004-08-03T10:33:00.000-05:00

Boy of boy - time is just flying by! Diego is 9 months old (8/1) - he is now crawling, has perfected sitting up, and is pulling up on things to drive me crazy. Of course - he still has NO TEETH.

July was a pretty busy month. I had finals at school, things were hectic at work, Diego was all over the place and would not sit still for a second, my parents left for Spain for 5 weeks, Diego had his Christening (7/11), Giulia's been home from school, and my laptop was rebuilt - I was accessless and completely lost for a while.

I am now on vacation (on and off)....Yesterday we went to the mall to get some back-to-school clothes for Giulia and a backpack. Diego also got his third haircut (and he looks mighty handsome). Of course, while at the mall, he was his typical mean self - he threw a scream fit like he typically does that lasted for a good hour. So we were at Old Navy and I decided it was time for me to buy some clothes that actually fit since I am wearing the same things I have over and over and only have a couple of unstained shirts to wear to the office. I have about 15 items to try (2 sizes since I don't know which size fits) and I go to the fitting room with the screaming baby and Giulia...there is a man tending to the dressing room who tells me I can only take in 8 pieces of clothing -- I am not one of those people who feels confortable with a man tending the fitting room to begin with, especially one where the door is too low for someone who gets close not to see over the top and is too elevated from the floor for someone stepping far enough away to see up -- so anyway, he tells me only 8 items and over a screaming baby I am trying to tell him I need to take them all in because I can't keep bringing the kids in and out and getting dresses and undressed to grab more items.....so he tells me that is the policy, there is no exceptions, and he is very sorry.....I handed him ALL the clothes and left.....so much for deciding to shop for myself and doing it over the screaming baby.....oh well, maybe next time.

Tomorrow is our 8th wedding anniversary. John has forgotten the last 3 so I am not getting my hopes up that he'll remember tomorrow but we shall see :) For our 5th, I had Giulia give him a 5 yr figurine (at the end of the day) and he unwrapped it, opened the box, took it out, looked at it, and said to her - 5! You are not 5 years old - what is this for? - and she said - daddy, its your anniversary :) ---- the look on his face was priceless. Last year I had my godmother call him from Spain and ask him where he was taking me out to dinner - he he

What else is new? Let's see - I got an A in my classes this semester! My car has now passed the 1,000 mile mark, my brother still has not visited, John is back to playing soccer, I have not had a free minute to update the picture gallery with July pictures yet (will do while I am on vacation though), and the weather is horrible - it has been raining for weeks, we have not seen the sun - I have the pool up but we have not been able to go in it - and I am finally taking last year's vacation and the forecast continues to call for rain - no beach for us again this year :(

This was a very long post I know, I will try to write more often and be more brief (as I should) but like I said things have been very, very, very busy

4th of July (or 5th)

2004-07-06T13:57:00.000-05:00

It's been a nice long weekend! I had Friday off and our company was closed on Monday. For some odd reason our town does not do holiday celebrations on Sundays so they decided to celebrate the 4th of July on the 5th.....not a good idea since a lot of people had to work on Monday and most were definately back to work on Tuesday. But anyway, we attended the festivities.

We went to watch the parade at 9:30. This was Diego's first parade. It lasted until 11:45. Diego put on his square crying face each time an ambulance, a firetruck, or the drummers would go by but besides that it was all good.

We then went to the 5th of July picnic in the park....we got hotdogs and burgers but they had no plates, napkins, or ketchup....maybe they are expecting I send a $50 donation next year instead of a $10 one.....this gets me every year....we pay taxes, garbage, sewer, etc and we get donation requests for the 5th of July celebration each year....you get there and you have to pay for food, drinks, rides, petting zoo....about the only free thing is the fireworks. But damnit, they don't even have ketchup!!

While we were enjoying our nutricious, ketchup-free, lunch it started raining so after getting $20 in tickets we didn't even get to take Giulia on the rides...we used 9 tickets for lunch and had 11 left over. We went home!

At 9 we went back to the park for the fireworks display. I have to admit the town puts on a good show, it last about 1/2 hour with a very long mid show and a great finale. We got there and set up the blanket....I went to the drinks truck and got me 11 bottles of water (used up my tickets) he he.

I expected my lil monster to start screaming at the first noise judging from the parade experience, but no, he loved them....when one would go off and there was more than one second delay he would grunt for more.....it was very cute. Giulia had a great time too....but she is always a good girl so I was not too worried of being booted because of her.

After drinking 4 bottles of water and having the biggest need to go pee, it took us 45 minutes to get home....there was so many people!

Overall it was a very good weekend....now the dreaded work week - Ahhh!

Diego is 8 months old

2004-06-30T23:56:00.000-05:00

My Lil Man is 8 months old! He weighs all of 16 lbs and is ~26 inches. Diego was born at 32 weeks and he was in the NICU for 3 weeks. His early arrival should have been an indication of the type of baby we were bringing home.

Where Giulia was a very loving, very peaceful baby, Diego is a monster. We call him Meany Man. Since he came home he has screamed on a daily basis, he throws fits like you never heard before. Part of the problem is that Diego has silent reflux, its not as bad now as it was during the first 6 months but it still does bother him. But this is only part of the explanation - the truth is that he is very strong willed and wants to do things he is too little for...he wants to be a big boy and he gets pissed that he is not.

Lately Diego has been a better baby but he is nowhere near what Giulia was. He is quite the flirter and communicator though. If he wants anything he grunts to get you to pay attention to him, then he yells at you, and then, if you are still not paying attention or haven't figured out what he wants, he proceeds to yell -- loud, long lasting, yells....then they progress to raging screams that last hours at a time. I guess I shouldn't complain since it is a progressive thing and he does give me some warning by grunting first.

Diego's screams can be heard around the block, hell they can be heard three blocks away -- and I thought having the dog bark outside was bad - I bet our neighbors are glad we brought a baby home.

The other day Giuila and I ventured to the mall with Diego, we were looking for ideas for Christening favors...while at one of the stores he embarrassed me so badly I did not know what to do with myself.

First, we are alone in an aisle for a couple of minutes and he is nice and quiet and I am feelng happy to be out of the house with him (this is our first trip shopping btw), then someone comes to the aisle and stands back to back with us looking at the opposite shelf - my lil meany man decides to lay the biggest fart....and it was loud! I am sure the entire store heard it. I turned around and red as a tomato I apologized profusely. In hindsight, I don't even think I told the man it was the baby who farted, I just apologized, he probably thought it was me; to make the story worse, it stunk - the smell just propagated through the aisle and it hovered all around us the entire time - it was the loudest, most perpetual, and most embarrasing fart I've ever been witness too! The man quietly (but laughing) walked away.

Second, he decides that while mommy is holding two bags and Giulia is begging for ice cream he is going to start throwing a fit - still in the same stinky store......and I mean a FIT (Freaking Intensive Tamtrum). An hour and twenty minutes later we are downstairs, the mall is now closed, and we are waiting for John to come pick us up (he left us for a game of soccer) and Diego is still screaming off the top of his lungs...I did everything I could think of, I fed him even though he wasn't due to eat, I changed his diaper, I gave him the binky, I gave him his shoe to bite, I walked him and walked him and walked him, I took him to the door, I took him the fountain....and he was still screaming - this was an hour and twenty minutes later! And here comes an older couple that obviously was at the store where the earlier fiasco took place 'I can't believe that baby is still screaming - its the same baby!' she says to him - I was embarrassed beyond words. Then out of the blue my screaming maniac stops as if nothing - back to tamtum free Diego...of course now the mall is closed and no one is left to witness the wonderful quiet side of my baby. Oh, and what do you know, in walks dad when all is calm and quiet!

Geez - I can't take this kid anywhere! He is lucky he is cute or I'd go exchange him for a quiet baby!

The Tooth Fairy

2004-06-30T22:56:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to share this:

Giulia lost her first tooth on March 27th and her second on June 2nd. We write a letter the Tooth Fairy on the outside of an envelope and then place the tooth inside.

WOW - I have a Blog

2004-06-29T13:46:00.000-05:00

So many of my friends have their own blog that I was feeling very left out. This is my very first blog....its about my family/friends/life.

I am a married gal with two muchkins, Giulia who is 5, and Diego, our latest addition, who was born in Nov 03.

These are my two munchkins:

DH's name is John, as I am sure you will learn, he is an avid soccer fanatic and loves Alfa Romeos....to me this combination represents the innevitable end of family life. I guess I should have thought about that before I married him. All that aside, he is a wonderful man that puts up with me - that in itself is no small task (you will soon learn that too).