Smartie Pants!

When I get the rare chance...when the baby is sleeping, the house is semi clean, and the boys are happy-I sit down and "work" with them. I feel bad we are not doing more. Sometimes it eats at me....I try not to dwell on it too much...

So today we worked on colors and counting. They have this toy where you put the pegs into the holes on five different vehicles-all different colors. So-I would have the boys find the green truck, the blue train, the yellow car, etc. They did that with ease! Smart boys! Then I started counting the holes. I then started counting using my fingers, and holding each one up in the process. Nicholas eats this ups and tries to count using his fingers as well. I counted to 10 for a change, instead of to five, and Nicholas tried. EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. It was AWESOME! He makes me so proud!!! He doesn't say the full word yet-but he makes the initial sound. I would start and say "one." He would repeat. And we did this from 1-10. Sometimes, he would say the sound before I even did! When we got to eight-he said it-clear as day practically. Then he went straight to nine, and then ten. Without me saying it first. 

Maybe I am doing something right afterall?

Anthony's new love

Anthony LOVES watching cooking shows. How adorable is that? When the show ends-he signs "more." So daddy has to search the DVR to see if there are more shows available. He's a chef in the making! 

No rest for the weary!

It was yet another busy weekend at our household! Where we find the energy is beyond me-but we do! Fall is fast approaching here in New England. And with that-it means the BIG E has arrived! It started this past Friday and we took the boys. My mother-in-law took Annabella for the night and we took the boys to the Big E. They were AWESOME! They were so well behaved, it was crazy. We didn't even get home until 9:30pm! 

Saturday we went to go pick Annabella up from Nonni's house. Then I came home and had to get ready for a baby shower. I brought Annabella with me, so Tony was home with the boys. They were able to go outside and play in the yard with daddy-which is always nice. I got home and picked them all up and we went to Meggie's house, as she was having a party and apparently "Auntie" has talked about the kids since birth-so everyone wanted to meet them. Well-meet them they did! Nicholas was not on his best behavior it was quite late, not to mention no dinner.... Lesson learned there! BUT-from there-we went to Zia's house as it was her birthday. So-Saturday night they went to bed at 10pm... Eek!

And today we ventured to the Big E yet again. However-it wasn't the best experience. We went for about 11am. We had strength in numbers with my mother in law as well as my sister. They are probably cursing themselves for even going! Nicholas was not happy. Daddy...he took them out of the wagon relatively early on in our trip-so they pretty much were not happy in it anymore. We walked around for a bit, ate a bit, and then pretty much left. They went on one ride that they love, where the cars speed around the corners. The smile on Nicholas' face is priceless! I have to load the photos still... And then we came home for a nap-THANK goodness they napped-and then it was off to Olive Garden for Zia Jen's birthday. Back home for cake-and in bed by 8:30pm-which is a lot earlier than the past two nights for them!

The princess is just a doll. Gosh is she the happiest baby in the world or what?!? I'm in the process of mentally preparing their Christmas lists. I want some pink added to the house! Not that I am exactly a girly-girl, but a little change will be nice. I was picturing her today, walking around at her birthday with a stroller and her baby dolls. How cute would that be?!?!?

Alright-space hog is signing off and going to bed. Maybe. 

Apple Picking!

I live for the weekends. As much as I may want to stay home and veg and have someone else watch the boys for a few hours, I also want to go out and do something with them. I feel bad that we stay home ALL.WEEK.LONG. I do not leave the house-except to go to lunch with Tony and his father-or we got to one of the grandparent's houses for dinner. That's it. No parks, no libraries, no malls, no stores. Nothing. I don't even take them outside. I feel HORRIBLE about it. I know this is just a short time period, but I still feel bad that the boys are stuck indoors all the time. It's just hard with the baby and her napping and feeding schedule. Going out is fine-malls, etc... But I'm not sure how I would deal with all three of them-especially if she got fussy, etc. So I stay home. Plus-it's cheaper. Anyways...

So the weekends I always try to do something with the boys. I make sure they get outside and play. We go to different places. We'll take them to the zoo or to the park. And if we can, we bring the baby to Tony's parents house and it's just us and the boys. So this past weekend we went apple picking. It was absolutely gorgeous out-actually even, dare I say, "hot." It was probably at least 80 degrees. And whenever Tony and I have gone apple picking-it's been FREEZING-so this was a change! We went to Echo Hill and I have to say it was a bit disappointing. At least to us adults it was. Most of the apples were on the floor. Not sure if that's because of the insance amount of rain we receieved this year or what. So that was disappointing. The orchards weren't really kept up either. Tall, tall grass. Anthony had trouble walking through it, not to mention the loads of apples scattered everywhere. But-the most important part is that the boys had a good time, and that's all that really matters. As we were on the tractor ride back, I was talking to Tony and I got teary-eyed. This is what parenthood is all about-and it's amazing and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Here are some photos:

THREE months and some photos!

I can't believe it! Annabella is three months old already! Where in the heck did time go?!??! GEESH! She is an amazing baby-I kid you not. She spends her days eating, smiling, cooing, and spitting up. It's a never ending cycle. Let's see-what can she do? Well-not too much! She can hold her head up pretty well. She's a belly sleeper-so that probably has helped as well. No rolling yet-but that could be because she doesn't spend much time on the ground due to her brothers... She is now starting to grab things I've noticed. She grabbed her pacifier this afternoon and it seemed like she was trying to work it back into her mouth. And she used two hands! She loves her bouncy seat as well as the playmat. She spends more time in the bouncy seat-as she's semi safe on the table in it. The boys still manage to find her though! She gets really excited sometimes and kicks her feet with glee and coo's as well. She's so stinkin' happy! 

She is a relatively good sleeper. At night-she did have a stretch where she slept all night, but that was short lived. Now she goes a short period of sleep(like 3-4 hours), wakes to eat, and then does a pretty decent long stretch of sleep. As long as I wake ONCE a night-I'm a happy camper. She's eating 4oz bottles throughout the day. How many times a day-no idea. She's not on any schedule. She eats when hungry though! As for napping-she essentially can be up no more than 90 minutes before she gets really cranky and starts crying. Once I realize how long she's been up for, I go and put her down. Some days she takes really great naps, other days they are 20 minutes in length...mostly due to spit up issues...

Right now she is sleeping in the PNP in my bedroom right next to my bed. Seeing how she's a tummy sleeper, I have her right next to me-it was better than her sleeping ON me. I can hear her sucking on her hand as she tries to fall asleep. So cute! Tony is still sleeping upstairs and probably will until she sleeps through the night and we put her in her crib. Luckily she is used to the PNP so it shouldn't be a difficult transition. Hopefully. 

As for the boys-they did something new today! We went out to lunch with NoNo and Tony. We went to Friendly's and I was tired of bringing in their booster seats with us. So I told Tony maybe we should try their's and worse came to worse-we go to the car and get ours. The problem being that the booster's at the restaurant did not have straps! Well-they sure surprised us!!!! Nicholas didn't move a muscle! He sat in there like a big boy! I was so proud of him! He is just too sweet. Anthony did really well also, with just a few tries at turning around to look at the table behind us. So we may be ending bringing our seats with us. 

Tonight was dinner at my parents. It went well-if you consider the boys eating mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce a success! That's it! Oh-and some peaches! Ah well. They won't starve, right?!?!

Here are some much needed photos! 

           I love this photo! 

Nicholas eating the chocolate chip cookie batter.

Anthony eating the batter.

I'm telling ya-a happy baby!

The kids with their great grandmother from Italy. 

Slowly updating...

Now that I have figured out how to add things to the blog-I am slowly updating it with photos, music, tickers and the like. Of course this is a total time killer! I certainly could be writing the thank you notes I've been putting off for the last three months...or I could do some dishes, or laundry, or... well-you get the idea! People do have to understand I have three children-all under the age of two! I'm not superwoman ya know! Although...there are plenty of people who think so. Why, I have yet to figure out...

Today I took out one of the boys birthday toys-from LAST year. It was a Duplo building set-FARM! The biggest mistake was that I tried to put it together with the boys sitting right in front of me. Silly mommy! My patience wears thin nowadays. In the end though, I managed to put it all together and they were thrilled with the newest addition-even if it was momentarily. The great thing is that they've been starting to engage in pretend play-which is AWESOME! Anthony, moreso than Nicholas, would take an animal and pretend it was eating. So cute! We also have a little kitchen toy that lately they go to the fridge and get me "carrots" or "apples" or whatever floats their boat. Nicholas will go to the fridge, "grab" something, and come back to me and start talking gibberish. It's hilarious and so adorable. 

Overall it was a successful day. NaNa came over and I ran to the grocery store so I could get some thing to complete dinner. It was a success! At least for the adults! It was rosemary ranch chicken-grilled. Super easy and tasty! Now we have another meal to add to our very short list! 

The princess is doing well of course. If it wasn't for her constant spitting up-all would be well! It's all she does it seems. Although-the boys were the same. Last night she was up twice-at 1am and 5:30am. Mommy didn't go to bed until almost 12am, so I was not a happy camper! And because of this-I need to end this sooner rather than later! Tomorrow-PHOTOS ONLY! :) I promise! 

The boys!

Finally I am going to attempt an update on Nicholas and Anthony... Where to begin though? Eek! This is a daunting task-especially if I hope to be in bed by 11pm. 

Well-they will be TWO next month! Can you believe it? I honestly don't know where the time has gone! I feel like yesterday I just brough them home. So sad to think about! 

When we went for their 18month appt, they weren't really talking much yet. They said "mama" and "dada" but not necessarily in the right context. So we had EI come out and evaluate them and they both qualified. We started the speech therapy once a week for one hour. The therapist works with the both of them at the same time. It works out well. She's great with them-and they LOVE her. Always a good thing! Honestly-she's not that concerned-nor was I. They understand EVERYTHING. And she said they do great at imitating, etc. She said they are going to have a language explosion eventually and WATCH OUT! We are up to about 30 words or so. Let's see if I can remember them: mama, dada, dog, Sadie, TiTi(Auntie Meredith), Zia, Nana, NoNo, star, blue, truck(Nicholas), car(Nicholas), down, done, milk(signing too), more(signing too), please(another sign), thank you(yet another sign), NiNi(Nicholas' nickname), ToTo(Anthony's nickname), Be-Ba(Annabella's nickname), Oompa(grandpa Lang), stop, one, cow(moo), sheep(baa), lion(roar), elephant(whatever that says..), pig(oink), cat(meow), monkey(whatever sound that is), no.... I'm starting to run out of words, but I know there are a lot more that I can not think of! And Nicholas is starting to put two words together, mainly: "ToTo...no" 

There was a stretch where I honestly thought I was going to lose it. Nicholas was being rather difficult. And that is an understatement. I envied Tony for going to work. All I wanted to do was leave the house! In hindsight, he was teething. He did get his four canines at the same time. I honestly never know either-no fever, generally no runny nose, no messy diapers, etc. He was just MISERABLE! I was afraid to say something to him, not knowing what the reaction was going to be. He would just cry and cry and cry. Well-it's been a few weeks and he has been AWESOME! He really is a funny little kid. He's such a sweetheart-but boy is he the devil! ;) He is VERY active. He is go go go! On the couch, running around, etc. It's probably why he loves his sleep! He seems to be more of the athletic type, whereas Anthony seems to be more of the academic type. Nicholas has a smile that could just melt your heart. I love when he comes up to me and just hugs me. He will come up and lay his head on me, and leave just as quickly as he came. He really is a sweet kid! 

Anthony is just as sweet! Although...lately he's been a bit tough. He's getting his molars as well. Not sure if that is the only reason. I've been noticing some jealousy with the baby. If I have her, or she needs me, he wants me NOW. No later. It has to be NOW. And he is crying and wants me to pick him up. It's rather sad if I do say so myself. This has been since last week. Which is also when I noticed the teething, so who knows what it is. Up until this point, there was no real jealousy issues with either of them. But, on the other hand, he totally LOVES her. He wants to hold her, kiss her, touch her, hug her... I can't put her ANYWHERE without him-and Nicholas-all over her! It's crazy! I'd love to put her on the floor for an extended period of time-but I just can't trust them. They don't know their own strength! Anthony though is a little sweetheart with her-and us as well. He will just come up to me if I am standing somewhere and hug my leg. It's so stinkin cute! He definitely loves EVERYONE. If Tony is driving the car and starts backing up before I get in, Anthony starts to cry, "Mama! Mama! Mama!" And he'll do the same if I do it to Tony. If I take just him somewhere, he'll question where the others are. I brought him to Dunkin Donuts the other day and as we were backing out, he was saying, "NiNi? NiNi?" I felt bad! LOL! And I have FINALLY learned my lesson...We were going to be seeing Tony's mom yesterday at a birthday party. I mentioned this to the boys. We went to Target with my sister. Came home, pulled into the driveway and Anthony says, "Nana! Nana!" And he started to cry. NaNa was NOT at the house. He proceeded to cry for a good 10 minutes. Poor kid. AND-he did not take a nap. So I ended up taking him to see NaNa earlier while Nicholas slept. And-when Tony came home from work today(I mentioned Grandpa was coming-and they were waiting for him), he said, "HI!" and Anthony started to cry! He wanted Grandpa! He's such a softie!

So-Anthony is the academic one. He is VERY good with puzzles. Although they both are pretty good as well. He is just SO observant of everything! You often wonder what is going on in his head! And he also seems to enjoy watching cooking shows. Very interesting! I am working on them with colors(they do pretty well with this) and counting/numbers. I'll worry about the alphabet later. Once the playroom is complete(Tony redid the closet), I will set up a little classroom type atmosphere and work on the calendar, weather, etc. 

Total space hog. Hence why I don't update as often. Hopefully now I will! Tomorrow I will tackle some photos. I would do it tonight, but it takes forever, it's now past 11pm, and who knows when Annabella is going to wake up. Last night she switched it up. I went to bed by 12, and she was up at 1:30am, and then 6:30am, and I had to get up with the boys because Tony had a seminar to go to. SO! That's a bit of a summary of the boys. I know I'm missing much more...hopefully I'll add some more tomorrow! 

It's about time!

WOW! Have I been the ultimate slacker with this blog! Oops! To say life has gotten crazier is an understatement! A good crazy? Well of course! But crazy nonetheless! Where to begin...

The most important news... Nicholas and Anthony became big brothers on June 10, 2009! Annabella Rose was born weighing 7lbs 9oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. She's a doll! Such a great, happy baby. We love her to pieces!!

Her grand entrance:

  The proud big brothers!

The boys have adjusted well overall. Lately I am noticing a hint of jealousy with Anthony. He seems to want me when Annabella needs me. However-he quickly gets over that and comes up and gives her kisses! He's such a sweetie with her! He gets upset if I take her off the playmat. He wants her to stay! Nicholas loves her as well-except he's a bit more rough with her. He likes to hit her on the head whenever I am feeding her, or holding her. He's always laughing when he's doing it. I'm not sure if he's doing to on purpose or to make me mad! Or-is he just being loving and he doesn't know it? Who knows! 

But Ms. Annabella won our hearts forever when she was born that day. It was a surreal experience-one that I need to have written down for the future:

We got to the hospital for 10am for the c/s. Surprisingly things were on time. I walked into the OR at 11:35am. The OB made her incision at 11:55am. I got teary-eyed as soon as Tony came in. Reality was setting in... It was such a bittersweet moment!

I watched the clock intently. Not knowing if I was going to be meeting Michael Robert or Annabella Rose. At 12:09pm, the OB said, "Announce it daddy!" DH stood up and STARED! He was flabbergasted. He knew what he saw-but he was looking for other parts! ;) He was looking for a penis-but he didn't find one! It's a GIRL! We were FLOORED to say the least! I jsut cried and cried and cried! We both did! The anesthesiologist actually whispered to Tony, "It's a girl!" He then announced it to me. The entire rest of the day-all I said was, "I can't believe it's a girl!"

They brought her over really quickly and I kissed her. Then they weighed and cleaned her up. Once that was done-they handed her back to Tony. He held her, looked at me and goes, "I've got my daddy's little girl." Yes-you certainly did. Blessed is an understatement! 

Daddy and his little girl!

Ms. Annabella is an easy going baby. And HAPPY! On Saturday, August 29th, she laughed for the first time(although-I swear she did at 6 weeks..). As for when she has smiled first....well honestly-she's been doing that since birth! Seriously. But-on August 11, she was crying while I was making the boys lunch. I went over to her and started talking to her-and she started smiling. Then I would go back to their lunch. She'd start crying. I'd go back-and she'd start smiling and cooing. So it was then that I KNEW it was for REAL! As for her sleeping...she's doing REALLY well. Once we stopped the breastfeeding(that was torturous to say the least-but I held out for almost 4 weeks, and then pumped for another 4), things improved with sleep. She gets up once a night-if that! We have had a few nights where she has slept all night long. Tony does sleep upstairs-that way he can take care of the boys when they get up, and I deal with her and sleep a bit later if she wakes in the middle of the night. 

So all in all-we are doing great! Sure there are some bumps in the road, but overall things are good. I have to say, I have the most amazing kids. Do they drive me nuts some days? Certainly. But I most certainly wouldn't change it for the world! 

Now-tomorrow-HOPEFULLY-I will update on the boys and then all will be right in the blogging world again! :)