Dear S.anta...

All I want for Christmas is....

Gabby:
* pet guinea pig
* fake glasses
* crutches
* new bike
* messenger bag
* American G.irl doll

Rocco: (See photo)
He spent an afternoon thinking about and writing a very extensive list of wants, including a...
*B52 bomber plane
* pet dog
* pet cat
* army jet
* pet guinea pig
* helicopter
* nerf gun
* toy motorboat
* rainbow loom case
* fake elf stuffed
* ipad
* star wars something rather
*megatron
* motor boat



Giuliana (she is seriously the sweetest, most easy going kid on the planet! love her! last year ALL she wanted from Santa was a purple monkey!!):
* pony
* dog

Marco:
I think he just wants any cool weapons that Rocco has. Seriously... he's such a funny little boy. Went straight from infant toys to 5 year old boy toys. :)) I know Santa has some appropriate gifts for the little man though!

Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas!

While the holidays are always a little bit of a rough spot for us since having lost Matteo, we still somehow find a way to muster up the strength to keep the traditions and festive celebrations in the forefront of our children's minds and memories this time of year. However, our hearts go out to all of those who have lost someone near and dear this year... we can relate to your sadness and/or struggles.

May your hearts and homes be forever full of love and joy and peace.

xoxo

A Plan to Capture S.anta

The kids devised a plan to capture S.anta Claus...

Dan and I found them all huddled together in a room, talking loudly with lots of excitement. When we asked what they were doing (we knew they were up to something)... they told us they had come up with a great plan to capture Santa.

How awesome is that?!

A couple days later... Giuliana drew the plan out on paper for us.

Annual Santa photo

Annual S.anta photo.

It would not be a Martino family tradition if at least one child was not crying. Marco did well in keeping with tradition this year.

H.alloween finish line...

I love Halloween... I really do!

But, this year, I found myself crawling across the H.alloween finish line at month's end. Moving into our new house at the beginning of the month probably had a significant impact on my exhaustion level. But, I found myself not being able to keep up with all of the various Halloween related events and volunteer situations that go hand-in-hand with having 2 kids in elementary school and one in preschool.

The H.alloween to-do list included:
* Decide costumes and actually purchase them. I know this doesn't sound like a big item, but it becomes an issue when you're so tired from unpacking that every night you forget to ask your kids what they want to be. And, when you finally remember to ask them... you then have to find time to actually place the order online. When you're exhausted at the end of every day from unpacking and organizing and your husband is traveling 4 days a week... the last thing you think to do before bed every night is ordering costumes. So, of course I end up placing a rush-delivery costume order at the 11th hour! Ugh!

* H.arvest Festival event at elementary school. It's one of the school's biggest fundraisers. So, you know... parents are asked to either donate items in the weeks prior and/or your time at the event. And, the day before the event... you find out your kindergartner is supposed to perform at the event. Oh, and the kids are supposed to wear their costumes (you know... the costumes that haven't arrived yet because you suck and just ordered them last night). And, then you go spend loads of money on games and sugar and other crap food that just makes your kids get all fired up and crazy and you come home exhausted and looking at the clock in disbelief that it is SO FAR from bedtime (the kids going to bed, that is)... because you just need TWO MINUTES to chill on the sofa without having to provide butler service to anyone.

* H.arvest Festival at the preschool. Oh yeah... this is the one you so generously sign up to assist at the pumpkin painting station, thinking how wonderful it will be to participate in the fun. And, when you arrive 5 minutes prior to your scheduled volunteer shift... you realize that nobody told you (being the new mom & child at the school)  you should have arrived a half hour prior to that. Why? Well, because you missed the two darling H.alloween songs that all the children sang to the parents! Oh, and when the teachers told all the preschoolers to "go find their parent"... you were the only parent (or set of parents) not there to participate in your child's fun Ha.rvest Festival. Seriously... I think I won the mom of the year award (again!). Thankfully, Giuliana seemed unphased. Granted, I am still reeling with guilt. Ugh!

* Pumpkin Carving! Yay! No... actually, no... it was not fun! Dan chose to do this on his birthday - the day before Halloween... which also happens to be a school night. Oy! It exhausted us and I think we actually only carved three pumpkins that night! We had crying and fighting and drama over not liking the design chosen to be carved, and pumpkin guts everywhere (and I mean EVERY where!), etc. And, to put the exclamation point on how un-fun it was... we were scrambling on H.alloween day to carve the 4 other pumpkins in between dropping kids off and picking them up and watching the Halloween parade, and karate and dance... all prior to trick-or-treating. Jeesh! (Poor Dan!! I felt awful for HIM because his birthday was just pure chaos. Next year... I am hiring a babysitter and we are going out to dinner.... just him & I.)

* Hall.oween preschool party. Yay! I remembered to send Giuliana to school in costume and she loved it! Super fun to see her so excited about another opportunity to wear her costume. And, I was able to see the look on her face when she saw her friends in costume too... so fun! Oh, and I remembered to take home her decorated pumpkin from the Ha.rvest Fe.stival.

* H.alloween costume parades. Extremely important event as your child WILL LOOK for you in the crowd. Oh, and you MUST REMEMBER to dress your child in costume for school that day... and not allow them to bring their weapons (which, for all little boys... this seems to be THE most important/favorite part of their costume). Your little boy will insist it is ok to bring their pirate sword. You will insist it is not ok. Repeat x100. Finally, you win (just before passing out from explanation exhaustion).

* Ha.lloween kindergarten party. SO proud of myself for remembering to bring in the package of 36 string cheese, as assigned by the teachers. Woot! I was feeling a tad bit guilty for not jumping at the chance to volunteer, when asked 458 times... but turns out that on party day, my husband allowed me to go the parade while he watched the two little kids. So, I snuck into the class party...to get a peak before the festivities started... and it looked SO FUN! So, I of course got suckered into helping at one of the activity tables. Oh, and of course it is the art table! So, I actually have to pay attention, clean up, and help the children make ghost skeletons. (Ugh! I mean... ghosts don't even HAVE skeletons! What are they teaching kids these days!). All the while, I am hoping Dan isn't supposed to be jumping on a super important conference call, and instead he has two children pulling on his legs and begging him for drinks and snacks and attention. Oy! I was so stressed while helping out that Dan was going to be so upset with me for being away longer than I had planned... that finally when another mother offered to help at the art table, I passed the ball to her and took off running home!

* Ha.lloween 2nd grade party. I really wish I could have popped in to Gabby's party too... but I couldn't! And, who even knows what time her party started and/or if I was supposed to send her to school with any supplies for the class party. I think I was in the clear. But, ignorance is bliss, right?!

* And finally TRIC.K or T.REATING!! Ok... WHY is Halloween not on a Saturday every year? Why? After school pickup, we had karate, hip hop dance class... then I had to rush children home to feed them and get them in costumes. The kids get SO EXCITED for trick-or-t.reating... and it truly is SO fun. I love watching them go from door to door with such excitement and hearing them say "tri.ck or tre.at". I love being out for an evening walk and seeing the streets so busy with people, and checking out all the costumes. It is just SO FUN! But, in all honesty, I was honestly probably lucky to still be standing by the end of the night! Gabby tuckered out first... saying she was cold and tired of walking. Rocco could have gone another hour at least. Giuliana went strong for the first 40 minutes, and then attempted to revive herself by having Dan hold her between houses. Marco was in my arms and just loved all the people watching. 

This year, I got to the point where I was SO EXCITED to just make it through Halloween trick-or-treating and wake up the morning of November 1st knowing I didn't have to do one more Halloween related errand or event. (

Bring on N.ovember!!

A Devil, Pirate, Lion and Monkey

This might sound funny... but I love being able to celebrate Halloween in California again!

A lot of people go all out in decorating their homes w/gigantic spiders, cob webs everywhere, scarecrows, witches, skeletons, etc. It's always so fun to go driving through your neighborhood and see all the "spooky houses" (how my children refer to them).

Since we moved into our new house on Oct 3rd, I was consumed for the first two weeks with unpacking boxes and trying to get organized. So, once again... I ordered costumes in the 11th hour. The reason I say once again is because in 2010, we had moved into the WA house on October 13th... so costumes were finally ordered the week before Halloween on rush delivery (it was SUCH a crazy time!).

Gabby decided to be a devil... so I ordered a cute devil costume. She told me on Halloween day that she wanted to be a scary devil and even seemed a tiny bit upset about her costume. When asking her about why she wanted a scary costume I could tell their was a bit of peer pressure in having the desire to be *spooky*. [Newsflash parents: apparently, second grade is when getting spooked and dressing up scary is all the rage.] The *cute* costume included a devil ear headband, a devil tale, and a devil pitchfork wand.

Rocco decided to be a pirate. This decision was made 20 seconds after his new best pal David proclaimed that HE wanted to be a pirate for Halloween. David is VERY into the pirate thing. And, I adore Rocco's new best pal! I think prior to David saying he wanted to be a pirate... Rocco had talked about being various things including a karate guy, a ninja warrior, a transformer, etc. Nothing ever stuck. The pirate stuck though! We found him a great costume, complete with an eye patch, earring, mustache (which he never wore), and most importantly... the pirate SWORD! Arrrrrrrrr...

In the interest of trying to reuse some of the many costumes we're gathering... I asked Giuliana if she would like to be a purple butterfly, a lion, B.atgirl, princess B.elle... or if there was something else she wanted to be. She immediately grabbed onto the lion theme and ran with it. I had asked a few months prior what she was going to be for Halloween, without any prompting, and she told me a butterfly. She really likes butterflies and she LOVES the color purple. So... I was somewhat surprised that she didn't want to make use of the purple butterfly costume Gabby had used 4 years ago. But, I seriously LOVE that she chose to be the lion! It was a super cute costume given to us by some fabulous LG neighbors/friends. And, Giuliana looked SO ADORABLE in it because her curly hair stuck out like an extension of the lion's mane. SO SUPER CUTE! And, she would roar w/her big eyes, and a goofy laugh. Beyond adorable!

Marco was C.urious G.eorge. It was that or the bat costume, which I think he would have been a little big for. He looked super cute in the monkey costume and it allowed Dan one final opportunity to wear his M.an in the Y.ellow Hat costume. The two of them looked darling together and it was Dan's last costume hurrah! Over the past 6 years, he had partnered with each one of the kids (except Matteo) to be C.urious G.eorge and The M.an in the Ye.llow Hat. Marco freaked when Dan first came out in costume... we actually had to bribe him with a K.itK.at to pose with Dan for photos. Then, he was fine. (candy = worlds best child bribery tool, always)

C.hristmas 2012 was a bust!

Well, this was a C.hristmas for the memory books! 

I don't recall the 12 Days of C.hristmas song lyrics including "3 kids a puking", "2 parents getting their butts kicked" and "an 8 month old still awaaaaaake at 10pm"! 

Unfortunately, those were our lyrics this C.hristmas. 

That’s right. Our house got hit with a nasty stomach virus. It hit Rocco first. He was down and out hard for almost 2 days. It hit Gabby the next day, and she suffered through a tough 4 days. Giuliana started vomiting on the 3rd day. And, Dan was sick by day 4. 

Thankfully, Marco and I took a pass on it. Which also meant, I was a very busy momma! I must have L.ysol’d the entire house twice in one weekend. It’s no easy task taking care of 3 sick babies, while trying to keep the breastfeeding infant healthy and fed and happy. 

And, let’s face it, the stomach bug is just not meant for kids! Rocco has the best aim in the world when puking. He’ll even wakeup in the middle of the night and run to the toilet instead of just using the bowl by the bed. Gabby on the other hand… ugh! She somehow will be standing over the toilet and the puke goes everywhere. And, if she’s by a bowl, but not the toilet… she’ll run through the house to tell us she has to puke and then get there JUST in time to puke ALL over the bathroom. Let’s hope she grows out of this. Pronto! Giuliana on the other hand, I don’t know how she does it. But, my sweet little, delicate 2 year old never misses a bowl or the toilet.

Not only were our heads spinning with all the sickies, but I felt compelled to just sit with my babies and snuggle them on the sofa to help ease their misery and make them feel loved. Their tummies hurt, they didn’t want to eat anything, they needed extra love, and I just wanted it to take away all their pain and make them better.

Luckily, we were able to work in a number of the regular C.hristmas traditions before we got sick, and after. We got a beautiful C.hristmas tree. The E.lf on the Shelf arrived the day after Than.ksgiving. We spent a fun afternoon making gingerbread and butter cut-out cookies, and we visited Santa.  

Thankfully, by December 26th, the kids seemed to finally be feeling better, but just didn’t have their appetites back yet. So, we missed C.hristmas Eve mass, and we didn’t have our usual lasagna for Ch.ristmas Eve dinner. I think we had chicken noodle soup and soda crackers. We ventured out of the house finally on the 28th, and even then, Giuliana ended up getting sick while we were sitting down in Nor.dstrom’s. So, she subsequently got a very expensive replacement purple outfit that she adored and ended up wearing a lot. 

Holy Christmas Tree!

We picked out our Christmas tree on Sunday, December 2nd.

We got lucky, as it was a rain-free day, sandwiched between rainy and cold days. It seems that November and December are very rainy in this part of the country. For the record, I'm not a fan of November and December in the Pacific Northwest. :)

Gabby and Rocco were very excited to pick out the Christmas tree. Giuliana was indifferent. As was Marco.

The tree we chose, first spotted/chosen by Gabby, is enormous. And, I know I tend to exaggerate... but there is no exaggeration going on with the description of this tree. We must have been high on life when we decided to chop this tree down and bring it home because it is truly unreal.

Or, I guess one would also think to re-think the "chosen tree" when their husband tries to chop it down, and literally disappears under the tree, with only his legs sticking out. Or, when the tree takes forever to chop down? I think our eyes have been warped by living here... most trees you see in these parts of the country are SO BIG. Way bigger than trees in Minnesota. Similar to trees you'd see in the Redwood Forest in CA. This Christmas Tree just seemed kinda regular at the time and not obscenely large. :)

It is almost 8' wide, at the widest part (the base of all the branches). And, it measures 13' tall. It took three grown men to load it onto the truck. And then it took Dan another 3 hours to get it off the truck, go buy a bigger tree stand, and recruit a neighbor who then helped move it inside the house.

We couldn't stop laughing at how crazy big this tree is. And what the HECK were we thinking?! We're clearly nuts!

I can assure you we will never get another Christmas tree this big (it's just insane!), but it has definitely given us some good laughs. Oh, and all for the bargain price of $40! In California, I'm pretty sure buying a tree this size in Silicon Valley would have run us close to $300, if not more. I remember back in the day buying a 7' tree, and that costing us $160. Unbelievable!

The kids were itching to decorate the tree... and this year, we decided to just let them do their business on the tree. I did not hang one ornament. Dan hung under 10. And, our au pair probably hung about 10-15 ornaments. I actually think it's kind of cute and personal though, having the tree mostly decorated by little people. Sure, ornaments are clustered together, and hanging off the tree touching the ground in some spots. And, 90% of the ornaments sit well below 4'. But, I think it looks great - it's all about the lights!

A Turkey Day, Divided!

Thanksgiving 2012 will go down in the Martino memory books as a turkey day, divided.

We started the week out with a trip to the ER for Rocco, who had a coup/asthma attack on Sunday night. It was so crazy, as I *might* have heard him cough twice that day.  It was 11pm, I was brushing my teeth and I heard an odd coughing/hacking noise coming from down the hall and I thought it was Gabby having a cough attack, and being super dramatic about it (which is usually the case). So, I asked Dan if he could go check on Gabby since I was brushing my teeth. Then, I hear him yelling "Rocco, breathe!"... so I rushed over and realized we were dealing with a pretty serious case of croup/cough and told Dan to run down and get Rocco's inhaler. Rocco literally couldn't take a full breath, he couldn't talk, and was just coughing and gasping. It was all very scary to me and I was seconds from calling 911. We were able to get him breathe a bit closer to normal and Dan rushed him off to the ER. They gave him steroids, which helped him significantly. They arrived home around 1am, and Rocco then threw-up dinner (chili.... yum!) all over Dan and him and the downstairs bathroom floor. (Thankfully, it is a tile floor!). Clearly, the steroids didn't settle well in his tummy. Poor kid! Dan then stayed up until 3:30am, so he could have piece of mind that Rocco wouldn't have any more breathing troubles. Since Matteo died in his sleep... any occurrence like this rocks our world, and very quickly brings to surface all of the feelings and emotions and memories from the day Matteo died. And, I know nobody can relate, unless you too have experienced the loss of a child, but the emotions and feelings are so strong and present, they are palpable within our home.

Rocco was totally fine the next day, granted, he did have a little random cough. But, nothing I was overly concerned about. No fever, and his eating and energy levels were fine as well. Well, then Gabby started getting a little cough (so little and sporadic that I also wasn't concerned)... and she felt good enough to still go to school and gymnastics on Wednesday night.

This would be the first time since living in Washington that we would not host T.hanksgiving dinner at our home. Instead, we were invited to our friend's home to join their family. We were very excited about it and all of us were looking forward to it. Still, I decided to let them know we had two little people coughing, and showing mild cold symptoms. I am always very cautious about bringing my kids anywhere, if sick... and VERY appreciative of other parents who act the same way. Since Matteo's cause of death was mostly related to a virus he had picked up, I prefer to not spread germs whenever possible... and for people to not spread them to us. Some kids just don't have good immune systems.

Anyway, Thursday morning arrived (turkey day)... everyone was excited and getting ready to join our friends that afternoon. But, Gabby seemed to be coughing more and started looking horrible. I felt her forehead and knew right then and there that we couldn't bring her. Her temp was just under 100 degrees. She started sobbing, saying she wanted to still go but also saying she felt awful and sick. I felt SO bad for her. I tucked her under a blanket on the sofa, piled up some library books next to her, turned on a movie, and got her some juice and crackers.

Dan & I went for a 6 mile run together (our date, if your will!), showered, and Dan got Rocco and Giuliana ready to go while I finished up making the appetizer and dessert we were supposed to bring. We said goodbye to Dan, Rocco, Giuliana, and our au pair, Adriana... and as Gabby cried, I promised her I'd let her drink a F.resca (she's never drank soda before!), and have treats while watching whatever movie she wanted to watch.

So, Gabby, Marco and I stayed home. It was very quiet. Very uneventful... and definitely did not feel very much like a holiday. Spending a holiday divided... 3 at the party, 3 at home, was the pits.

BUT... there are so many things that are and could be worse. And, we have so much to be thankful for. So, it's best to focus on the positive, be thankful for what you do have, and keep that front of mind. Missing a turkey day dinner with friends and family is really not a big deal in the big scheme of life!

We brought Gabby to the doctor on Friday morning. She was diagnosed with strep for the 3rd time in 3 months. Jeesh! Then, Marco caught the cold virus, as did Giuliana... so we had 2 more sick little monkeys come Monday morning.

If I could, I'd wish flu/cold/virus season would just disappear!

Halloween 2012

Why isn’t Halloween on a Friday every year? Wednesday just doesn’t work for a mom with 4 young kids. Halloween comes and goes so fast when the holiday is in the middle of the week. It’s like a mad dash of carving pumpkins, school party preparations, bringing and wearing costumes to school and after school activities, then toss Dan’s birthday into the mix, etc. I’m exhausted. I was secretly excited when November 1 arrived.

This year, Gabby and Giuliana both chose to be Batgirl and Rocco wanted to be a samurai (I think his decision was somewhat based on the fancy sword pictured with this costume). Marco was a monkey by default… I didn’t think much about his costume and threw the monkey on him as we were rushing out the door to trick or treat in town. I WISH I would have thought more about his costume, because then I would have remembered to put him in one of the twins bat costumes that they wore on their first Halloween. Bummer!!

Since Halloween was Wednesday night, and Dan’s birthday was Tuesday (along w/Rocco’s gymnastics), we decided to carve pumpkins on Monday night. And, since the rain decided to arrive a week into October (after 90 days of no rain)… Dan & I never took the kids to a pumpkin patch this year.

Pumpkin carving is a somewhat exhausting experience for a parent of 4 young, enthusiastic kids. Luckily, we have had the help of our au pairs the past few years. Gabby really loves carving pumpkins. She pulled out all the seeds and pumpkin guts herself this year. Love! I helped her just a tiny bit at the end. She also really enjoyed choosing what her pumpkin should be carved as. Giuliana also seemed to get in the spirit of pumpkin carving this year. It was probably a combination of her own excitement and energy, fueled by the excitement of her older siblings (and her wanting to do whatever they do; be just like them, etc). She used a spoon to whole-heartedly attempt scooping out pumpkin guts. However, at age 2, it was all about the interest and intent, and not much productivity. It was super cute. After she was done trying and playing, I scraped the insides out and let her pull as much of the guts out as she wanted (which wasn’t much). But, she had a grand time! Rocco was a big talker, but when it came time to clean his pumpkin out—he was not a fan. He didn’t like getting the pumpkin guts on his hands. He’d try to pull stuff out with the spoon, but didn’t quite get the concept of scraping the pumpkin walls first… so he just got frustrated and decided to enlist his mother to do the job. He also chose how his pumpkin should be carved and I had to stop him several times from trying to carve the pumpkin on his own.

We ended up carving a B.atman logo, a one-eyed pumpkin, a P.eace sign, a moon/star pumpkin (to represent Matteo), and a silly face.

 

This year, we also decided to make and decorate some caramel apples. Fun activity that lasts all of 7 minutes. MUCH more time put into melting the caramel, cleaning the pan, and cleaning all the sprinkles from the counter and floor. Now that activity is checked off the list - not sure we need to repeat it! ha!

 

On Halloween, both Rocco & Gabby had Halloween parties and costume parades at school. Then, we took them trick-or-treating through town where all the local businesses were handing out treats to the kids. I LOVE this... the kids fill up their treat bags. It's very social becuase it's from 3-6, so it's not yet dark and tons of families are participating so we see lots of school friends. And... the kids get somewhat worn out from this and don't yet feel the need to do much night trick-or- Yes... even at age 6 & 4, the concept of "work a little harder, get more reward" can be taught! ;) 

Easter 2012

It seems as though we've started a family tradition of coloring Easter Eggs the night before Easter. And while the actual egg coloring doesn't last or take long  – I think daddy finds this event a bit stressful. Eggs are being tossed into dye cups, dropped/cracked, little hands are dipping into dye cups… you name it - it's happening. I sort of find it entertaining watching Dan get a little frazzled amidst all the chaos, especially since I am typically the more anal parent and he tends to be more carefree.
It’s even funnier to think that the actual egg coloring probably takes 15 minutes to complete. I swear... it takes me longer to boil and prep the eggs.

The kids love coloring the eggs for Easter. Gabby has always done a really great job. She listens to direction so well and is patient and gentle enough to let the eggs soak up the color and not break them when putting them in or getting them out. Rocco had his best year yet. He dropped his eggs into the dye very gently and had a lot more patience compared to previous years. I think he only started experimenting with his fingers and dying other items towards the end. Giuliana was our wild card this year... grabbing eggs whenever she could, tossing them into dye cups making the dye splash out, she'd reach in and grab eggs out of the dye with her bare hands. Dan hovered over her the entire time.

Earlier that night while we were eating dinner, we spotted 4-6 bunnies in the yard. The timing could not have been more perfect! We went on to explain that the Easter bunny had sent his scouts to look for good egg-hiding places. The kids got SO excited and were jumping and screaming, which obviously scared off the bunnies. But, soon they came hopping back within view . The best part about the bunnies showing up on Easter Eve was this was only the second time we've spotted bunnies in the yard so far in 2012. And, if I remember correctly from last year… by mid-May, our forest will become infested with bunnies and baby bunnies. The kids thought it was a bunny bonanza!
On Easter morning, the kids woke up to finding their Easter baskets sitting in their bedroom doorways. Rocco came running in our room, yelling “The Easter bunny was here! The Easter bunny was here! And, he brought me better toys than the Gree.n Lantern superhero!” Dan and I literally woke up to that and it was hilarious. 

The Easter bunny left candy-filled eggs throughout the house and the kids had a lot of fun searching for them. Giuliana really got into it… and even more so into eating the candy! She must have had a pile of chocolates before breakfast.

 We invited friends over for a big egg hunt in the yard and Easter dinner. The kids all had a great time hunting for eggs throughout the yard. Giuliana had so much fun with it and quickly developed a talent for finding and yelling “EGG!” each time she spotted another. Rocco got bummed out at one point, before he knew there were more to search for in the backyard. He seemed to follow Gabby around and eventually realized he might do better if he ventured in his own direction to hunt for eggs. Gabby of course had no trouble finding eggs and definitely led the race on foot and collected a lot of loot.

The weather could not have been more perfect. It may have hit 70 degrees. The sun was shining bright all day with not a cloud in the sky. It made for a beautiful day and a nice way to reflect on Easter, new life and renewal.

Merry Christmas!

Our Christmas holiday was nice. If you celebrate this holiday - we hope yours was also nice!

Christmas Eve Day was busy. We took our toy donation to Seattle Children's in the morning. After that, we went home and started prepping our Christmas Eve dinner... home made lasagna and bread. When Giuliana woke up from her nap we let the kids open family gifts... gifts from cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends and Dan & I. Then, we raced out of the house at 4:30pm so we could hopefully still find seats for Christmas Eve mass. After church, we came home and ate dinner. (Well... some of us ate and some of us could not stop playing with our new toys. But, those of us who did eat ate enough for the little people who didn't!)

The kids had so much fun opening gifts. They each seemed truly thankful for every gift they opened... it was cute. Rocco started a routine of opening a gift, yelling out with huge excitement what it was, then yelling thank you, and then holding it next to his face saying "Cheeeeeeeeeeeeese" so I could snap a picture (even if I didn't have my camera ready) and then begging Dan to open it. Also, as Rocco would open gifts, Giuliana would be VERY interested in whatever it was he got (Batman, Spiderman, transformers, whatever...). So, Rocco ended up clearing a spot on the kitchen counter to "safely keep his gifts out of Giuliana's reach". And, after a new gift was opened, he would go throw the new gift up high onto his pile. It was hilarious! He was literally storing all his newly acquired gift stash! Of course, it didn't take long for Giuliana to figure out what was going on or where all of Rocco's cool gifts were... which meant lots of negotiating between an almost 4 and almost 2 year old. But, it was funny all the same. I think Rocco kept his *stash* piled in that spot on the counter for at least the next day and a half. Grabbing what he wanted, as it was needed. Tossing unused new toys back onto the pile. I was eventually able to talk him into allowing us to move the new gift stash to the play room and his bedroom.

Giuliana could have cared less about opening gifts on Christmas Eve. She was much more interested in taking what gifts were already opened that interested her from her brother and sister. This created a number or tantrums and meltdowns between her and Rocco on Christmas Eve, as she was very fast to put claim on Rocco's new Batman and Batman mobile. This girl is in LOVE with Batman!! I'd say she loves Batman just as much as Rocco does, if not more. Matter-of-fact, she had a 45 minute meltdown/tantrum before bed on Christmas Eve because SHE wanted to sleep with Rocco's new Batman. I felt so bad for Rocco because HE wanted to sleep with his new Batman. But, we were eventually able to convince Rocco to sleep with his new Buzz Lightyear toy and give Giuliana the Batman. JEEEEESH!! Anyway... Giuliana did show much more interest in actually opening gifts on Christmas morning. And, now as luck would have it, every day she is trying to sneak open her birthday gifts (which are sitting out with Rocco's). Every day, we find her stealing a birthday gift from the pile and when she's busted with it (about to open it, or in route to take it into hiding for her secret opening) she'll run from us holding the gift and we have to catch her and put it back into the pile. She's already opened two of her birthday gifts completely! This little girl keeps us on our toes!

Gabby got a lot of big girl gifts this year from both us and Santa. Even she recognized that she received less toys, and more "grown-up" gifts (or gift that are more useful). Things like new bed sheets and a new big-girl quilt for her room. Earrings, shoes, board games, crafty stuff, and clothing items she had been asking for. She loved everything and was very thankful for all of her gifts and I was glad to see that. And, she had a lot of fun helping the little kids try out their new toys. She's such a GREAT big sister!

Before bed, we read "T.was the night before Christmas". We tucked the kids in. (That sounds a lot easier than it was - because Giuliana's Batman tantrum made it horrible on xmas eve!!) And, then it was time to start the tricky stealth mission of getting the stockings filled and wrapped S.anta gifts downstairs by the Christmas tree. And of course, Dan still had to build stuff. Every year, he waits until Christmas Eve to do this... and then he'll be cursing and complaining in the next room, and he'll come over and complain to me that he doesn't have the right parts or whatever. And, every year, I suggest he starts this earlier... but no. He tells me it's his tradition. And, of course, he has all the parts... it's just he's probably numbed his stress too much with the b.ourbon to notice. Men... go figure!

Anyway, Santa was very generous this year. He surprised the kids with two family gifts. One was a big holiday train (that sings holiday music and has little elves pumping it along the tracks) that the kids LOVE. We'll pull this out each year at Christmas and have it be sort of another Christmas decoration in the house. The other family gift was another i.Pod Touch (to hopefully stop the iFights and provide sanity on our upcoming trips so each child has their own iSomething). Santa gave Giuliana a new baby doll, a wooden baby crib, changing table and high chair, a tea set and some M&D wood kitchen stuff. She was very happy (although I think she would have been just as happy with getting a B.atman doll!). Rocco got lots of transformers, an Optimus Prime transformer helmet and some more B.atman and S.piderman related stuff. He was in Heaven! Gabby got lots of H.ello Kitty stuff (per her request to Santa) including new H.K. wall stickers (to replace the princess wall stickers! wow - never thought this day would come!), a H.K. wallet, a H.K. i.Pod Touch case, a H.K. vanity/makeup mirror, and lots more H.K. stuff. She also got her very own speaker/docking station to put in her bedroom for her i.Pod, some sparkly hoop earrings (she was VERY excited about her hoop earrings!), and a new 2 wheeled R.azor scooter.

By the time Christmas Day hit... this momma was exhausted!! The culmination of all the errands, shopping, wrapping, getting projects done for work and Matteo's Dream Fund, being a taxi for the kids, having Dan gone traveling for business for 16 days in December, being pregnant, volunteering in Gabby's classroom, prepping/planning for 3 kids birthdays... ACK!! I think I spent November and December in a whirlwind of checking stuff off my lists for the past two months and it was as if my body finally said "I NEED A BREAK!". So, on Christmas Day, my feet hurt, my legs hurt and I felt like a semi-truck had run me over. From the moment I woke up, I knew I needed a day to just sit around and do nothing. And, I didn't need to talk anyone else into that (no surprises there!). So, that's what I did. Nothing. And, let me tell you... I can honestly not remember the last time I did this (I'm too Type A to just sit around. I like to be doing something.) But, it felt GREAT! Everyone should do this at least once a year! The kids had a grand time... they played with their toys all day, listened to music, we played the new board games and Dan helped them open toys and played games on his iPad.

Christmas Day was very quiet. But - it was exactly what we needed and we enjoyed it. We stayed in PJ's all day. We ate leftovers... and just chilled!

We hope you also found some time to just relax over the holiday break!

'Twas the Season...

Our holiday season sort of spans the time from Thanksgiving to New Year's. And, since I already posted about Thanksgiving... time to post more about Christmas.

We went and chopped down our tree at a local tree farm the Saturday after Thanksgiving. And, we had it up, lights on and decorated by the end of the day. That was a record for us! Usually, we get our tree home and lights on over Thanksgiving weekend... but the decorations don't get put on for a week or two later... mostly because we always get caught up in some sort of chaos.

The kids did a great job decorating it this year. They needed help getting decorations in the higher spots of course, but in general, they didn't bunch all the ornaments in one spot as they used to do. Both Rocco and Gabby were very involved with the decorating and really seemed to enjoy it. Giuliana sort of danced around and played with ornaments, broke ornaments, pulled some off the tree and put some on.









Some of the other *signs* of Christmas in our house were the swirl of colored lights going up our staircase; the baby J.esus in the manger scene; the cranberry, peppermint and holiday scented candles burning throughout the house; the beautiful holiday cards sent to us by so many friends and family; the darling Christmas tree place-card holders Gabby made for our Christmas dinner table; and then of course, the big signal to the kids that Christmas is right around the corner is seeing presents wrapped and under the tree.

And, as always... Matteo is in our constant thoughts. Holidays seem a little jaded ever since Matteo died... and I honestly think that helps keep us a bit more focused on the reason for the season, instead of getting carried away in the consumerism and crazy behavior that can devour people over the Christmas holiday. Gabby had a number of difficult moments that hit sporadically over the month of December. She broke down sobbing on one occasion... just missing her brother so much. It literally rips my heart out to see her hurt so much... and not be able to *fix* it. And, it takes everything in my power to not break down sobbing right along with her.

The first Christmas after Matteo died, a very dear friend of mine gifted us with a number of personalized ornaments with Matteo's photos. The kids always want to put those ornaments up first and they treat them with the utmost care. I included a couple photos of those ornaments here.

Thanksgiving 2011

This year for Thanksgiving, we had 2 very special people drive a long way to join us... Gammy and Papa. The kids were thrilled to be able to spend a week with their grandparents, and it was fun to have them here to celebrate the holiday with us.

We LOVE hosting holidays and we LOVE making lots of yummy food to share with family and friends. In addition to my parents, we were also joined by local friends of ours, Christina, Taylor and their two year old twins.

Gammy, our au pair, Michalina and Gabby made the cutest turkey place-cards for everyone (see photos). And, they really made the table look beautiful. This year, we had both an adult and children's table. Rocco, Giuliana, Rhys and Maia all sat at the kids table together... which we later realized was a huge mistake as none of them really ate any dinner, they just goofed around and then got bored, left the table and started playing. Oh well... more turkey for the adults!














Gammy and Papa picked out a huge 20lb turkey for our Thanksgiving dinner. Dan was in charge of cooking the turkey and stuffing... and I was in charge of all the other stuff. We started with some yummy appetizers... pesto/mozzarella/arugula crostinis and a a delicious assortment of cheeses. Our first course was my homemade butternut squash soup and sourdough bread. The turkey couldn't have turned out more perfect - Dan did an amazing job. We served the turkey with a homemade stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, mushroom vegan gravy and our friends brought the most delicious homemade cranberries and brussel sprouts that are to die for. Dessert was homemade apple and pumpkin pie, also courtesy of our friends.

I think I ate enough for ten people. But, I had no regrets... it was all delicious! :)

Once again this year, we are thankful for the good health of our family, for the time we were able to share with and love Matteo, for having jobs, a beautiful home to raise our children, and being blessed with so many wonderful friends and family members in our lives. And, as I shared the news below... this year we were also thankful to be blessed with another little baby on the way.

We hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and that you too are able to recognize the good things and fortune in your lives, and share those in some way with the people you love.