Giuliana's 6 Month Update!

Little Giuliana turned six months old mid-July! Sadly, I seem to just be catching up with myself but I wanted to still include a little Giuls update because she has changed SO much since her 5 month update.








Giuliana's 6 month stats:
Weight: 12lbs 14oz ( 3rd %ile)
Height: 27 inches ( 90th %ile)
Head: 17cm (75th %ile)

Her growth stats are very similar to what Gabby's were at this age... although Giuilana is taller. I believe Gabby was 65th %ile for height at 6 months. I would really love to start fattening Giuls up with baby food... but she still has no interest in actually eating any solids. She will open her mouth up for me to put the spoon in... and then she spits all the food out. So, Giuliana is still on a breast milk only diet.

Some of Giuliana's new things include:
* Sitting on her own! She started doing this in early July and keeps getting more & more balance.
* Rolling and spinning on her back and tummy which allows her to sort of chase toys of interest. I'll set a toy off to her side and she'll somehow find a way to roll and spin to get it.
* Standing. She LOVES to practice her standing while we hold her hands. She smiles real big as if to tell us "Look! I can do it too!!" Her legs have gotten so strong.
* Interest in sippy cups. She watches Rocco & Gabby drink from them... and has several times reached out for their cups, grabbed them and brought them to her mouth.
* Screams, grunts, and groans to "tell us" that she's happy or sad, that she wants something, or wants to change positions.
* She's started saying "na na na" and "ahhhhh"
* Grabbing and reaching for everything that mommy's holding and everything she shouldn't be touching. And everything goes directly to the mouth, of course.
* She's great at grabbing small/skinny items and she can pass them from one hand to the other.
* LOVES being entertained by Gabby and Rocco. They'll actually fight over who gets to bring her toys or who can dance to make her laugh first. So funny!
* Bashful/shy side. I'll be holding her and Dan or Sarah or a complete stranger will come over to us and start smiling at her and talking to her. She'll give a big smile and then hide her face in my shoulder. It's so cute!
* Sleeping on her side seems to now be her preferred sleep position. I'll always lay her down on her back but find that she's rolled onto her side. I've also busted her on her tummy a number of times which of course freaks me out for all the obvious reasons. So, I seem to be in this mode where I'll put her on her back (even if it wakes her up) as many times as needed even if I'm up in the middle of the night for hours with an upset baby who wants to be a tummy sleeper. During the day, I can logically tell myself she'll be fine. But, at night, all I can think of is "what if Matteo really died of SIDS?" and then I can't allow myself to sleep until I know she's on her back.












Giuliana still has no teeth... but seems to have teething pains all the time. (Dear teeth: PLEASE COME SOON!!).

I gave her the official "first haircut" because she had a patch of hair on top of her head and behind her two ears with hair that was approx 3 inches long. So, it was looking kind of silly. Now it's all sort of the same length.

Giuliana has started to like her daddy. She thinks he's funny and will giggle and laugh at him. And, Dan has started to interact with her more as well. It's funny how men in general really don't begin "bonding" with a baby until the baby hits about 6mnths and has personality.

Still no interest in solid baby foods. I'll try to feed her solids twice a day for 2-3 days in a row, and then take a break. She's just not having it. Of all my kids, Gabby took to solids the best and was eating them happily every day by 5 months.

I'm really behind in blog posts. Life has been incredibly busy over the past few months and I haven't posted a Gabby update in ages. She has grown and changed SO much as a little person in the past year. Matteo's death has had a huge impact on her life and daily activities and she talks about him a lot, every day. I'm hoping to add another Rocco update again soon too!

Donner Lake & Lake Tahoe... an extended vacation!

We're currently on an extended vacation and enjoying the beauty and peacefulness that goes along with living in the mountains. It's great and we feel incredibly lucky to be able to spend the month of July exploring and playing in the Sierra. Our au pair, Sarah, is also enjoying the area and lots of time at the beach.

Dan still has to work, of course, but he's able to work remotely as long as he's within close proximity to his west coast territory. And, he did just return from a trip to Kona, Hawaii with some of his best pals to celebrate a friend's wedding... so no need to feel sorry for him! ;)












The house we're renting is owned by a friend of mine. It's fits our needs perfectly and has gorgeous views of the still snow-capped mountains. Gabby and Rocco share a bedroom and they think it's the coolest thing in the world. Gabby actually asked if they can share a room when we move into our new home. So cute! Also, the kids LOVE the fact that they can open the refrigerator. They couldn't open our refrigerator doors at home... just the freezer doors. So, this is all very exciting to them!

While Gabby understood that this was our "vacation home" from the moment we arrived, it took Rocco a little longer to adjust. When we tried to put him in bed the first night, he said "This is NOT my bed!" And, when we would arrive back at the house after being at the beach or whatever, we'd say "we're home!" and Rocco would say "This is NOT my home!"

Now though... Rocco seems to understand our temporary vacation situation better, because he'll often say "This is our home? Our vacation home? I like it!"

Every day the kids go to a beach, park or we do something new and interesting.

One day, we took the kids to the Tahoe National Forest so they could go horseback riding. Rocco's horse was "Patty" and she was 19 years old and pregnant. She liked to stop and eat a lot. Gabby's horse was "Shroder" and he was 20 year old and had braids in his mane. Dan led Rocco's horse and I led Gabby's horse on the trails. Giuliana was attached to me and I think she enjoyed all the new sites. Rocco seemed a little timid at the start of the ride, but he did really well and enjoyed it. Gabby LOVES horses so she was in heaven! She's been on several pony rides before, but this was the first time she rode solo with no trainer leading the horse (just mommy!). So, Gabby was very proud of herself and talked to the horse the entire ride.

The kids also enjoyed taking a gondola ride at NorthStar Resort. We also explored the village there, played in the sandbox and watched the mountain bikers, etc.

We spent a day playing at Lake Tahoe's Burnt Cedar Beach thanks to an invitation from my friend Julie. Gabby really enjoys playing with her daughters and the kids were excited to have a play date. The beach was AMAZING with breathtaking views of the landscape and mountains surrouding Lake Tahoe. And, there was a great kids pool which meant warm water to swim and play in (because the lakes are ice cold this year!).

We watched the the Truckee annual 4th of July parade. Truckee's such a cute mountain town and the kids enjoyed the old-fashioned parade where candy is thrown by almost every home-made float.

We've made countless trips to the beaches on Donner Lake. And, this weekend we'll be renting a boat on Lake Tahoe.

Dan and I have been enjoying the scenic runs... and our lungs and legs have finally adapted to the 6,500 foot altitude and all the steep hills.

This has been a good transition place for us... almost a way to gently say goodbye to beautiful and sunny California, before we're off on our next adventure.

He came with us...

We officially moved out of our Los Gatos home on Sunday, June 27th.

We received a lot of last minute invites from friends and neighbors for final dinners/lunches/play dates, etc, but we ended up having to turn a lot of people down because we simply ran out of time.

Our moving week and weekend was beyond exhausting. It didn't help that I came down with a nasty cold or that we had a minor heat wave. It must have hit 95 or 100 on our actual moving out day. Dan and I were physically exhausted and tired in every possible way.

The day before we moved, Dan and I split shifts in attending an end-of-school year/moving party hosted by our good friends Christina & Marco (aka, the parents of Gabby's best friends, Sofia & Giovanni). We were entrenched in packing and all the last minute tasks that go along with a big move, but there was no way we could miss this party! Gabby had tons of fun and was able to say good bye to all her school best friends. She talks about her *besties* constantly, but we'll stay connected via snail mail (she's already sent a few pictures/letters!) and Skype. We've had two Skype calls to reconnect with her friends and it's hilarious... LOTS of giggling and very little chit-chat!

After an incredibly exhausting day of last-minute packing, taking care of kids, working with movers, loading a trailer with all of our temporary/necessary items to bring with us, and cleaning... we drove away from what was once our home at 10pm and walked in the door at our vacation home in the Lake Tahoe area at 4am. Yes - A.M.!

Dan and I both expected it to be emotional, but it wasn't really. Probably because we were both BEYOND exhausted and still had a long night of driving ahead of us. Tears fell as I looked into Rocco and Matteo's bedroom one last time, and as I walked past all the places in our home with the haunting memories. My eyes also stung a bit as we said goodbye to our favorite neighbors and family that lived nearby.

When we arrived at the vacation home at 4am, we brought the kids into the house so we could put them in bed. Rocco's first words were "That's not MY bed!" So, thank GOD I packed his Thomas the Train choo choo comforter because Dan had to go dig it out of the trailer so Rocco would sleep.

Monday and Tuesday were a fog because we were still recovering from the move, being up all night driving, and trying to get settled in the rental home. I was also battling a brutal headache for those two days. However... we DID manage to hit the beach and parks!

Wednesday, July 1st was our first day to really absorb all the decisions we made and the changes that had taken place in the past 3 months. Our huge TO DO (moving out of the house) was now checked off the list. Dan was back to work with the move stress off his back. And, I finally had time to breathe and just play with the kids.

So, I went on a long, hard run. I hadn't run in 2.5 weeks because every waking moment leading up to the move was spent packing, taking care of kids or doing move-related things. The run was just what I needed. Beautiful views of the lake, snow-capped mountains, miles and miles of tall trees, and ME time. I cried while I ran. I cried hard as I thought about Matteo and how much I miss him. I wondered if Matteo would have liked it here.I could almost see him standing in front of me just taking it all in (views, birds, trees, etc.), as he always did. I thought long and hard about if he might still be with us, as I often do. And, I couldn't help but reflect on how our lives have changed so much since this time last year.

July 1st ended up being a very difficult day for me.

After Matt died, we've had random occurrences of our fire alarms going off throughout the house while we were all sleeping. It started six weeks after Matteo died. And, oddly enough, it happened during daylight hours on the exact day we began to pack up our house for the move. No fires. No smoke. Nobody was even cooking. Just random, crazy and strange. The fire alarms had never gone off randomly before he died. Not once.

Anyway, I think Matteo came with us...

At 3:30am on July 2nd, the fire alarms throughout our rental home started screaming at us. Call me crazy, but I instantly thought it was Matteo. It was as if he knew I had a really bad day and needed a sign from him.

In the past, whenever I've said to Dan that I thought it was Matteo trying to somehow communicate with us, Dan's always been skeptical in believing that the fire alarms were a possible connection to Matt. But, after we settled the kids back down and got back into bed... Dan and I couldn't help but talk about how crazy this was. I think his actual comment was "It's crazy how this only happens in the middle of the night. Call your friend in the morning and ask her if this has happened to her before when she's stayed here."

So, I called my friend who we're renting the house from and asked her if she's had incidents of the fire alarms going off throughout the house in the middle of the night in this house. She said no... it's never happened.

I honestly believe Matteo has come with us and that this was his way of telling us.

Numb... one year without Matteo

Numb. I think that's a good way to describe how I feel at this moment, today.

One year ago was the last day we spent with our sweet little Matt. I had no idea that when I put him down for bed, that I would never see him alive again. He was just days shy of 18 months. And, now, he's already been gone for two-thirds of his lifetime.

The past year has been the most difficult year of my life. But, somehow the one year anniversary doesn't seem any more painful than the past 364 days of our lives. Every day I hurt. Every day I cry. Every day my heart breaks all over again. And, every day I miss someone more than I ever thought was possible.

Every single day is hard. For different reasons. And perhaps it is punctuated by seeing his twin, Rocco live and play every day, knowing Matteo should be right here with him and with us.

Rocco and Matteo were both 28lbs and 33 inches tall at this time last year. Two weeks ago, Rocco weighed in at 33.5lbs and was 37.5 inches. I almost cried as the nurse read off his growth stats... wondering what Matteo's would have been. I had to look at the height measurement against the wall just so I could touch the 33 inch mark and visually see where Matteo's head topped off when he died. And, knowing his curls put him at about 34 inches. It hurts a lot to think about the fact that I will never have another growth stat for Matteo. I'll never know anything more about my 'lil dude.

Personally, I can't think of living through anything more difficult than the memories from the morning Matteo died. Every memory from our last day with him on the 4th of July, and every memory from that nightmare day that followed is so vivid. His face. The coldness of his body. The instant feeling of just knowing he was gone... forever. Never to see his smiling face again or his wiggle... or to hear him say "mamama".

The morning of July 5th was utter chaos. The first, very worst day of my life. I have never been in more shock or felt so much pain. I have never before felt defeat like I did that morning or have every day since. I felt kicked and punched and beatup. Like someone reached into my chest and ripped out my heart. I remember the nightmare started at exactly 5:09am. I remember holding Matteo and screaming that he was gone and dead and to call 911. I remember Dan telling me to give Matteo to him so he could do CPR as he had 911 on the line... and me not giving Matteo to him because I knew... we both knew... Matteo had been dead for hours. He was gone. And, we both knew it. But Dan still tried. I remember having false hope that it would work and Matteo would come back to life. I remember calling my parents right after I handed Matteo to Dan... and screaming to my mom "Matteo's dead!" in shock... and my mom saying "WHAT?!" and not believing what she was hearing. I remember Gabby watching and listening to all of this and not fully understanding what was happening. I remember Rocco stuck in his crib crying while we were all frantic. I remember hyperventilating when the paramedics arrived and were working on him. I remember the police taking my kids to our neighbors across the street, while I sat there holding my dead baby. I remember Dan being in complete shock... not really believing what was happening.

I remember feeling complete failure and defeat... and that life had just kicked my ass.

Planning a funeral, seeing your child in a casket, witnessing your child being cremated and seeing them put his body into that unforgiving machine, smelling the clothes that he was dressed in for his funeral... I know what death "smells" like. And, it's awful. Having to go through all of your child's things... used clothes, shoes, blankets, unused clothes... and put them into a box. A stupid box... I remember sobbing and crying my heart out at having to do all of these things. I remember holding all of Matteo's *things* as if they were priceless treasures, and inspecting them endlessly, so as not to forget certain memories. I remember spending hours and hours looking at his eyes in different photos as if to get some sort of clue as to why he died.

I remember being so angry... feeling like Matteo was cheated out of life. Why Matteo? I was and still am so incredibly hurt.

I remember feeling completely lost that day... like I wanted to die just so I could be with him and know where he was, that he was ok, that he was safe and not scared.

I don't remember who took care of my family the week Matteo died.... maybe for two weeks. I know my family and friends did most of it as I was completely lost in grief. It consumed me. Grief and planning a funeral became my life that week. And, I honestly don't even remember the second week... just the day we went to witness his cremation. And, I have horrible, vivid memories about that day.

I remember being consumed with trying to figure out what I did wrong. How did I fail as a mom? How could I have let my sweet baby boy die... in his sleep... all by himself. How the hell could I have just let that happen, without even knowing. My poor little dude... was he scared? Did it hurt him? Did he know he was about to leave us?

I remember having no desire to do anything. I just wanted to sit there.... read letters and emails from people, and just look at Matteo's photos and watch his videos.

I remember looking into human cloning and having serious hopes for a few minutes... and then being disappointed.

I remember countless phone discussions with the coroner and other medical experts... trying to find an answer as to why Matteo died. Only to be told 4+ months later that his cause of death was "unknown". I remember being angry and frustrated. What if it would happen again... to one of my other kids?

I remember *softening* every single blog post about Matteo and "how we were doing"... because I didn't want people to really know how angry and sad and hurt I was. And, I also felt that people wouldn't really want to know how I truly felt... because I was, and sometimes still can be, in a very awful place.

I remember how Matteo's death impacted every single relationship I had. It impacted relationships with family members, friends and neighbors. Some were strengthened immeasureably... and some were just different and uncomfortable.

I learned so much about friendships and the people I call my friends. I have the world's most amazing, thoughtful friends. Some people I have never even met in-person have become such amazing friends to me.

I remember trying to be strong at Matteo's funeral... for other people. I remember feeling like our family was so incomplete that entire week because Matteo wasn't physically with us... but when I saw his body in the casket at the church, I was almost thankful just to see his body again... even though it didn't look like him, to me, anymore... because I sort of felt like we were all together again. Or, maybe it was my way of pretending. Or hoping. That maybe things were back to normal. I don't know.

Dan and I are both still in awe and beyond thankful for the outpouring of love and support we've received over the past year. We continue to be so appreciative of every single card, letter, email, text message, and phone call/message. I often find myself gravitating towards those notes and messages when I have a tough day. We are still so thankful for the outpouring of support from people who took the time to make us dinners, bring food, order takeout meals for us, etc. Had it not been for those meals... we probably wouldn't have eaten for weeks. We continue to be overwhelmed with the the love and generousity shown by those who send us flowers, books, balloons, plants, and other gifts. And, we remember every single person who dropped everything in their life to be here to support us on the days surrounding Matteo's funeral.

The past 364 days have been the most difficult of my life. So... on this day and every day, we're remembering Matteo. We continue to love him with all our heart and we miss him beyond words.

I have chosen to share his life in photos with you here: http://vimeo.com/12997105

PS: I'm so thankful to my dear friends/coworkers who took time out of their lives to put this video together for us last year for Matteo's funeral. This video includes a lot of the still photos from Matteo's life. They created another with both still photos and videos. And, another video from the Memorial Service/Funeral.

Moving on...

Exactly three years ago (June 2007), we moved out of our home in California so it could be gutted and remodeled. We bought the home in 2002 as a fixer upper, and since we planned to live in that home for at least the next 20 years of our lives, we decided it was worth the investment. At the same time, we found out we were expecting triplets. While we had a lot of medical concerns related to the multiple pregnancy, we were so excited to be adding to our family. Our daughter Gabriella was 18 months old at the time, and our world revolved around the joy she brought to our lives.

It was a challenging 7 months for us, as I had complications with my multiple pregnancy and we were constantly battling with a few of our contractors to finish the remodel so we could move back into our home before the babies arrived. On January 1, 2008, we moved back into our newly remodeled home. And, just over a week later, we welcomed twin boys, Rocco and Matteo, into our lives. Gabby, was completely in love with her little brothers. And, Dan and I were beyond relieved, elated and proud. We had three healthy, beautiful children. We were back in our newly remodeled nest. And, well, life couldn’t have been sweeter.

In May 2009, we found out I was pregnant with a surprise baby. It was shocking – but exciting too. On July 2, 2009, we found out baby surprise would be a girl… and once again, we couldn't believe how incredibly blessed we were. We'd soon have 4 kiddos to love.

Then two and a half days later, everything about life as we know it changed. Death crept into our home that night and it has never been the same since.

It is impossible to escape the vivid memories of that awful morning while living in this house. Every moment of that morning continues to haunt me. When I walk by or look at specific areas in our house... my mind only wants to replay what happened in those spots the morning we found Matteo dead.

I remember people seeing our remodeled home for the first time when they came to see us for Matteo's funeral. I remember people commenting "oh I love this" or "I love how you did that"... and all I could think was how I now hated this house. It no longer felt like a warm, happy home... it was suddenly just a cold, stupid house. And, I hated it.

Matteo’s death has changed our lives in ways I could never begin to explain. It has impacted every priority, every goal, every conversation, every relationship, and every ounce of our being.

Matteo's death prompted a ripple of change in our lives. Dan searched for and found a job that would allow him to not be required to work around the clock. He now has more time for me and the kids and deals with less work-related stress. His new job has also allowed us the opportunity to move out of state which we were very excited about. And, I decided I'd much rather spend the majority of my time with my kids while they're little, and less time working outside the home or commuting to and from work. We decided we wanted to spend more time living life and less time working to live. We also decided we wanted more living space (inside and out), and more money to spend on fun stuff and good times. So, we decided to put our house up for sale and see what would happen.

Our house sold shockingly (is that a word?) fast. We put it on the market the last week of April... one week before I returned to work. It sold in four days. The sign was out front for a total of 2 days when we received the offer in hand.

Suddenly, we were about to be homeless with a 4yr old, 2yr old, an almost 4mnth old, and an au pair. I hadn't even returned to work yet from maternity leave... yikes! So, that Saturday we hopped on a plane to Denver where we thought we were going to move. After a quick visit, we decided it just wasn't for us.

So, we targeted a different city on the west coast. And, it was a very good fit! Dan's been going there almost every week to look at homes. Giuliana and I joined him on one trip and we fell in love with one house in particular.

Next, I had to "break up" with my work family at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. It was incredibly difficult to resign because I really enjoyed my job, but moreso, I loved the group of people I worked with. They had been there to support me through the birth of 4 children and the death of one. Not sure I would have received the same magnitude of love and support from any other group of people.

Fast forward two months... we're almost finished packing and we move out of this house on SUNDAY! Our "stuff" will all go to a storage unit until we have our final destination secured... which we're hoping to do ASAP!!

We're planning to spend the month of July in the Lake Tahoe area. Dan will be working remotely and traveling a bit for work. But, it will sort of be one very long vacation for the rest of us. A good friend rented her home to us and I'm very much looking forward to this get-away. As we cross the 1 year anniversary of Matteo's death I just want to be away from the noise of life, and be somewhere beautiful. I can't imagine being IN this house on the 4th and 5th of July... too many awful and sad memories.

So... we're moving on.

It's very bittersweet in many ways. We had so many dreams for our family in this house. It was the only home Matteo ever knew. It was the house he died in.

We're hoping this move will give us a bit of a fresh start. One can hope, right?

Giuliana's 5 Months Old

Wow... Giuliana is already 5 months old!

She has some new tricks and habits, including:
* Sucking her thumb
* Rolling from back to tummy and tummy to back
* Grabbing her feet and trying to eat them (all of my kids seem to have discovered their feet at 5 months)
* Grabbing toys and pulling them to her mouth to chew on them
* Back bends... she'll put her feet on the ground and push her back and butt up off the ground
* Laughing at her brother and sister (Rocco does a special dance to make Giuls laugh)
* Grunting and groaning when she's done eating, wants to be held, or wants to change positions
* High-pitched screams to talk and sing to us

Giuliana rarely cries and is seriously the best little baby! She's so good and easy to take care of. She also has big, beautiful eyes and soft, porcelain skin. Her face is framed by her cute baby hair.... long strands of hair that curls behind both ears and then a patch of hair on top of her head that is wild and free... but darling.

She's very busy teething right now... which means she chews on anything she can put in her mouth and she is constantly spitting. We go through lots of outfit changes every day to get her out of the wet tops. I know... I could put bibs around her neck. But honestly, I've never been a fan of any of my babes constantly having bibs around their necks. Not sure why... I just don't like it. Call me crazy, but I'd rather change their clothes.

Giuliana has always been a good little sleeper... until now! Lately, the teething has her waking up 2-3 times nightly. So, mommy is REALLY hoping the bottom teeth cut through soon!

She has developed a regular morning routine which is great and very normal for her age. She normally wakes for the day between 5:45 and 6:15am. She'll nurse and then play on her play mat, the bouncy seat or in her exersaucer. And, by 8:30am she's hungry, and then she naps immediately after she eats.

Her nap lengths are still pretty inconsistent (anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours), but she's still young. Her wakeful times are getting longer... closer to 3 hours between naps now. And, bedtime usually falls between 8-9pm.

Giuliana now eats well from the bottle for our au pair, Sarah. But, she won't take a bottle from her mommy... she'll only nurse with me. And, these days she is very easily distracted when nursing. She still refuses to drink formula, which means mommy remains a milk factory. And, she has yet to take a liking to jarred baby food. She's only tried banana so far. And, while she now willingly opens her mouth for the spoon... two seconds after I take the spoon out of her mouth, she spits out all the baby food. It's like a game and Rocco thinks it's hilarious. While laughing, he'll say "Giuliana... you need to EAT your food! Don't spit it out!"

Mommy's Day

I am REALLY behind with blogging. Life has been crazy-busy for us since mid-April... but I'll save that news for another blog post.

We celebrated my birthday and Mother's Day a day early this year due to Dan's travel schedule. While he had planned a night out alone for the two of us, I decided that I'd rather do a big family date. For so many reasons... one being that I wanted to celebrate my kids. I wanted to have fun with my living children and enjoy them instead of focusing on the fact that sadness crept into our home last July 5th. And, it's easier to focus on that when I'm not engulfed in chaos. I didn't want to focus on how absolutely sick I feel every time I think about the fact that Matteo is no longer physically with us.

Because of our loss, Mother's Day will probably forever be very different for me. By different, I mean that it may forever be more of a day to celebrate my children and how lucky I am to be their mommy versus feeling that I deserve a day of pampering.

So, we went out to a fabulous burger joint where we could watch a little live concert while we ate. The kids ended up dancing on the stage with a bunch of other kids and it added a whole new level of fun to the night. After finally dragging the kids off the stage, we hit one a favorite cupcake bakery and called it a night.

Gabby was beyond excited about the cupcakes. She asked about them every 2 minutes on the car ride home. The cupcakes were my birthday cake... so I was SUPER excited too. I love specialty cupcakes. Love them. Red velvet's are the best. Coconut are second best. Anyway, we get home... I set the cupcakes on the counter, reminding Gabby that she couldn't open or touch the box until I was able to help her. I ran upstairs to change Giuliana's diaper. I come back downstairs, and Gabby is holding the cupcake box and proceeds to tell me they "fell on the floor".

Yeah. Right. I'm sure they just fell onto the floor all by themselves. Maybe they even jumped onto the floor. Uh huh... with no help from the 4 year old, of course.

So, I opened up the box... and well... they were smashed up against one side of the box and no longer looking fancy or fabulous. Just my luck. Oh well. They were just cupcakes, right?

So here I am sharing a photo of my pathetic and sad looking cupcakes, as well as 3 of my darling kiddos. BTW, the cupcakes still were very yummy.

A visit from Gammy & Papa

Gammy and Papa visited us recently so they could be a part of Giuliana's baptism. The kids were SO excited to see them again and kept asking when they would get here.

It's SO CUTE to see your kids start screaming and running full-speed to the door when they know their grandparents (your parents) are standing on the other side. Gabby & Rocco truly adore Gammy and Papa and it's really fun to see them all together.

My parents really did a lot with the kids this visit... they took them to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Gabby still talks about the seahorse exhibit, the baby seahorses, the sharks and stingrays, and she made friends with a penguin too... and she'll tell everyone how the penguin would come up to the glass and try to snuggle her.

My mom also took Gabby to the Children's Discovery museum. Gabby made a cornhusk doll (with Gammy's help) and got to sit in an alien bus (aka, ambulance).

Papa was required to spend LOTS of time playing catch (football, baseball... you name it) with Rocco. Papa also spent a lot of time pitching to Rocco so Rox could show off his fabulous batting skills.

And of course there were numerous trips to the ice cream shop, wagon walks, books read, laughing sessions, grandparent jaw drops, screaming matches, etc. All in all... I'm 99% sure my parents left exhausted and wondering how we were blessed with such energetic and crazy kiddos.