It Happened Again

I blinked and one of my kids turned 5!

Nicolo came into this world in a big way, all 9 lbs of him, and he stole my heart the moment I saw him.  He answered a lot of questions that I had, number one being can you love another baby as much as the first...YES! He is so different from Francesco and I love that the most about him.  He may not be my baby anymore but he will always be my baby boy. 

The Things I Don’t Want to Forget

• I truly believe that you children become what you tell them they are.  I love the saying from the book “The Help” where Aibileen tells Mae Mobley, “You are kind, you are smart, you are important.”  We say that often at our house as our family motto.  During the first week of 1st Grade Francesco had to write about himself, and this is what he wrote: I am 6 years old, I am an artist, I am kind, I am smart, I am important.  When he told me about it I almost cried. It goes to show that they are listening and my words do stay with them.

• One night as I was putting them down to bed we recited our motto.  I usually phase it in a question like, “You are?” So I said to Nicolò, “you are?” he said “kind”, I then said “you are?” he said “smart” then I said, “and you are?” he said, “acceptable!”  I love this kid.  He is very acceptable and important.

•  I get asked for a lot of things every morning, from where's my milk to can I have cookies for breakfast. My favorite request one morning came from Francesco, who just wanted to "snuggle for a minute."

• One time Francesco sneezed and no one said "bless you" so he got upset.  I told him that I "blessed him 100 times" so that if no one was around or no one said "bless you" he had my blessing.  He came to me the other day as said he need more cause his 100 blessings ran out. I am really not all that surprised he was keeping track.

•  Nicolò was looking at a book at Francesco's piano teachers house that was written in Chinese.  I asked him if he could read it his reply was, "No, it's in Spanish." Then one day he was singing the song Gangham Style which has Korean words and I asked, "what are you singing?" his reply was, "I don't know, it's Spanish."  If he doesn't recognize a language it's automatically Spanish to him.

• Gave Francesco a kiss one day and he then appeared to be wiping it off. I said, "Why are you wiping off my kiss?" His response was, “I’m not, I am just spreading it around."

• I asked Francesco to go ask his Dad how to wirelessly connect the PlayStation Controllers, first answer was: "put in new batteries". That did not help, so I sent him back to ask again. Second answer Francesco came back with was: "Google it".

• Asked Nicolò what he wanted to be when he grew up, he said, "in Kindergarten".  I said no I mean when you are a real grown up, he said, "a Daddy."

• According to Francesco if you want to get married you have to go to the city, find a girl that will be your friend, hopefully fall in love and then she will ask you to marry her.  I was curious as to why he had to go to the city, his reply was, "that's where all the marrying girls will be."  Good to know!

• One evening asked Francesco what his favorite part of the day was? His reply, "right now, because you got home." Am I a lucky woman or what?!

Come Monday

Eight weeks seems like a long time but it's not (unless you are 32 weeks pregnant and can't sleep).  Come this Monday I go back to work and I have mixed emotions.  Part of me is excited to get back to the project that I was working on and to my co-workers who have been so supportive.  A big part of me is going to miss the one-on-one time with Carmela.  Who wouldn't miss this cutie?



When it comes to getting everyone out the door in the morning I am not fretting too much about that process.  I am pretty sure the morning routine will be fine, we have that fined tuned for the boys.  During the past couple of weeks I  have been getting myself and the baby ready for the day and taking the boys to school.  My fear is the "end of the day routine", even before the baby I dreaded end of the day.  What to make for dinner that doesn't take too long and is still nutritious (I am not anal about the nutritious part but try to not make it a complete week of less than perfect nutrition), getting through the homework fight(which is my least favorite task), fighting about piano practice, fighting about showers and then the stalling that occurs at bed time. Even now with me home,  the end of the day is chaos.

Carmela is doing great, she got here first set of immunizations so she is ready for daycare.  She will fortunately get one more week at home with her Nanna before she heads off into the real world. My biggest fear about daycare is the germs, baby's always get sick once they start daycare.  Hopefully with her immunizations and with me still breastfeeding she will not fare to badly.  She is growing beautifully.  At 2 months she is 11 lbs, 3 oz and 22 inches.  She is right around the 50 percentile for head, height and weight.  It's odd to me that she is middle of the road since the boys were always at the high end of the 90 percentiles for everything.

 


We are  still breastfeeding with formula supplement but we have moved to soy formula in the past week.  I am still restricted from dairy and miss cheese terribly :-( That's okay though, she is totally worth it.  She still gets up every two to three hours at night so the breastfeeding morning and night has been helpful (since I don't have to make a bottle at 2 am).  I have some concerns about pumping at work since I've never done it and I am not sure when I will have the time or where I will do it (it not a pretty sight I tell you).  I am going to give it a try and see how it goes.

Monday will be here before I know it and I think I am ready.

Come Monday it'll be alright!

 

Pleasant Surprise

I occasionally allow the boys to take pictures with my camera as long as I am supervising.  Lately though in the midst of all the chaos that comes with a newborn the level of supervision has declined.  So when I went to pull off some pictures from my memory card I found multiple shots done Francesco that I was completely unaware that he had taken. It was obvious that their father was around but probably not paying that much attention (LOL).  It's fun to see things through his eyes and how he set up things to be photographed.  Let's say it was a pleasant surprise.



This is my favorite shot out of all of them, I love how Nicolo is trying not to be in the shot.

Run for My Money

You would think that by the time you got to your third child you would have it down backed.  You've raised 2 others who are still alive and kicking - and driving you nuts - so the third should be a piece of cake.
Well that is a huge myth!  Nothing about my third pregnancy or my third child is anything like the first two.  To start I had more complications during this pregnancy (that is probably due to my advanced maternal age, or as my chart states "elderly multigravida"). On a positive note, I am breastfeeding her more than I was able to with the boys. On a not so positive note, she has a allergy to cow's milk protein.  What does that mean, that means I cannot eat any dairy or soy (40 % of babies with cow milk protein allergy are also allergic to soy).  Since she was only a week old when she started having symptoms we are not even going to try soy until she is at least two months old. Plus since she did not gain any weight I now have to supplement with special formula - which only comes in a small canister.  It's been crazy but she is totally worth it!  Since we started supplementing she has gain weight, so that is good news.  I never had to worry about the boys, they were always in the 90th % for weight, this little one is only in the 50th.  On another positive note, since I can not eat dairy or soy, I will not be indulging in a lot of the holiday treats.  That should be good for my waistline (LOL). 

Of course I've been snapping a few photos.  I can't wait for her to be more awake but for now I love the sleeping baby shots.

She's here! 11/29/2012

Well, the day finally came and our little girl is here.  Carmela Rose was born 11/29/12 @ 11:15 pm, weighing 7 lbs, 14 oz and 19 inches long.  She came out kicking and screaming with a full head of hair and long beautiful eyelashes.
She was due on the 12th of December and we were scheduled for a C-Section on the 8th (today).  I had had some physical complaints along the way but nothing serious until the end.  My public bone was extremely painful to the point of not being able to even lay down on my side for the past month, I slept sitting on the couch.
Then something strange started to bother me.  I began to have this all over itching, my chest itched, my back itched, my neck, my arms etc. and I did not have a rash at all. I mentioned this to my doctor and told him I was concerned.  My clinical background as a Physician Assistant gives me just enough knowledge to be dangerous.  I had learned that itching in late pregnancy without a rash is a symptom of Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy.  (ICP) is a pregnancy-related liver disorder in which there are abnormalities in the flow of bile (a substance produced by the liver that aids in the digestion and absorption of fats). These abnormalities lead to a build-up of bile acids (components of bile) in the mother's blood, resulting in symptoms such as severe skin itching. There is also risk to the baby which could be premature delivery (prior to 37 weeks), meconium ingestion, meconium aspiration syndrome and even stillbirth.
So even though the primary presentation is itching all over with out a rash the most prevalent itching occurs in the palms of the hands and soles of the feet.  That I did not have, but to be sure the doctor did a blood test for my bile acid level.  It came back normal 8 (ref range 0-10).  So he felt that the itching was just due to pregnancy but not concerning for the baby.  I was told to take benadryl at night to help get to sleep.
A week and a half goes by and I am still itching even worse, I also am tearing up my skin from scratching all the time.  I call and ask if there is anything else I can do and they prescribe a steroid cream.  I also ask if we can do the test again, they agree and draw blood.  I go for my regular appointment and we talk about how he is still not concerned about ICP but do talk about moving up the c-section date due to the sever pain in my pubic bone.  He tells me he will call to let me know if he can move it to the 5th of Dec.
The next day I am out of work for maternity leave one day.  I am at home itching away and the phone rings, it's the doctor.  He was originally calling to tell me he was going to be able to reschedule the c-section but had checked my lab work prior to calling me.  The new test came back and my bile acid level was 80!  He said he had to sit there for a minute and process it, he could not believe how high it was after being normal 2 weeks prior. He called and said that the high level warranted having the baby @ 38 weeks to avoid any complications, and could I come in that night.
So, we rallied the troops and went to the hospital.  I had to wait 6 hours due to eating Oreo cookies and milk just prior to his call.
Then at 11:15 pm Carmela Rose was here and she was healthy!
 
Heading Home

Snuggle Time

And the countdown begins - Week 35!

 So I've made it to week 35!  I took this picture this morning and Francesco told me I looked like a blueberry.  I think I look like Violet from the Willie Wonka movie after she ate the gum.  Just waiting for the little orange guys to roll me away.



As of right now I have exactly 33 days till my scheduled C-section.  I am pretty certain that she will not wait that long since that is only 4 days prior to my due date.  I tried that with Nicolo and at 39 weeks exactly I went into labor, same for Francesco (except I did not have a C-section scheduled then).  I know that it take 40 week gestation to have a baby but not my babies, it take 39.  Not to mention that Nicolo was 9lbs at 39 weeks. 

We have been contemplating the height and weight of this little girl; Michael say she'll be 20 inches and 9.5 lbs., I say she will be 21 inches (cause she feels long) and about 8.5 lbs.  We'll see soon enough.  I have not bought anything in the "newborn" size. I did finally get the car seat so we can bring her home and a few baby essentials.  It strange that with number three I don't feel the need to have all the stuff that I had to have for number one.  I have a place for her to sleep, stuff to feed her, change her, clothe her, and get her home safe. Sound like enough for me!

20 Weeks and Counting

Wow, 20 weeks went fast.  Now time will slow down for me, it always does.  The boys are also a little impatient and want to know when the baby will get here almost daily.  We had our 20 Ultrasound and because I am AMA (a.k.a. - advanced maternal age) I got a Level II at the same time.  The difference was a radiologist came in and pushed the transducer around and looked at the baby for all of a minute after the Ultrasound tech took all her pictures and measurements for about 45 minutes.
The baby was super uncooperative during the scan, but we were able to find out the gender.  I was convinced before I had gone there that this was a boy and so when the Ultrasound tech started to point out to us the female anatomy I almost fell off the table - literally because I was in such a odd position so she could get a look at the babies spine.  So it's official we are having a girl!
I am still in shock and Michael is in denial.  I even offered to put her in a Nunnery while we were still at the Ultrasound, he said, "No, I just need to invest in a gun." Nicolo was excited to find out he was having a sister and Francesco wasn't surprised.  Francesco said, "What I told you I wanted a sister? See my wish came true."  Now for the hard part, Names!  What a daunting task that is, the boys were easy for me and I even had a boy name I really liked.  Now I just don't know, arghh. 

Stay tuned!

And Now For Something Completely Different

So in keeping with the theme of complete chaos in the Giordano household we have some news.  Coming this December we are expecting a new baby.  What is that saying, new job, new house, new baby?

Yes, you heard me right!  We are having a baby!

I sometimes still can't believe it but I have the pictures to prove it.

 

So how is that for something different?

Picture Day

The weather here in California has been different than back East.  When we got here in January it wasn't cold enough for a coat but not warm enough to not have some kind of light jacket.  I bought Francesco a sweat jacket that fit the bill, and he really liked it, maybe a little to much.  We had come to find out he was wearing the jacket all day without taking it off.  This became a point of contention with both Michael and I since we didn't understand why he wouldn't take it off.  His excuses were, I'm cold, I like it, I didn't want my shirt to get dirty.  This constant wearing made the jacket its self dirty.

Skip to school picture day.  The week before I had taken him to get his hair cut, and the lady that cut his hair did not know how to work with his cowlick, so even though his hair was not a puff ball any more it wasn't the greatest. We decided that he could get his picture in his uniform, khakis and a polo, and sent him to school with the money for his picture.

Then a few weeks go by and he comes home with a picture folder in his bag.  When I pulled out the pictures I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

 That is the jacket, that I now hate and look at his crazy hair.  He thinks the picture is great, since he loves the darn jacket.  I tried to throw the jacket out once but he found it in the trash can of the laundry room and recused it. My husband has asked me to burn the thing.

Then there is Nicolo.  I saw signs at the daycare for pictures but never got a notices or an order sheet in his cubby.  I figured that they would want you to pay for the pictures ahead of time like Francesco's school.  Come to find out Nicolo had his picture taken at school and we did not even now it.  The company that did his pictures but the kids in different outfits, fireman, golfer, tuxedo.  Then once the picture were ready you got to pick the one you liked and purchase them.

So the one day I sent Michael to get the boys the pictures were in and available.  He calls me to ask which one I wanted.  I asked which did he like best, he said they were all cute but he like the tuxedo one the best.  So when they got home I open up his pictures and this is what I found...



How stinking cute is that?  I also laughed so hard I cried.  I love it.  My little lounge singer.

The contrast between the two also cracks me up.  

Turning 4

Nicolo's birthday just passed and he is 4. This was the first year that I think he realized it was his birthday and was so excited for the day. His excitement had me really excited too. The other reason I was so excited this year for him was because this was the first year I really knew what to get him for his birthday. Every other year we already had a lot of the stuff he liked since Francesco had been into it the year or two earlier. This year he has developed some of his own personal likes of things and characters. For instance he loves Mario Brothers, and the character Yoshi in particular. So of course he got a lot of Mario stuff, which he just loved! He is really coming into his own, even interjecting in conversations now too. He use to just let Francesco do all the talking, not anymore. He is also expressing his dislikes more often, he never really threw tantrum as a toddler - he making up for it lately.

I love his face in this shot, he is just so happy the day was all about him.
I took this yesterday and it totally captures him, he wouldn't smile because that's what I wanted him to do.
He loves tools, and being in the garage with his dad. Yesterday they were building Monster Trucks.
Here he is with his Best Friend in the whole world, Francesco. I love the fact that they are friends, lately at night I can hear them talking to each other in their room. They are either doing pretend play with stuff animals or making plans for the next day. Happy Birthday my sweet Nicolo!

Just around the corner...

In 10 day, yes only 10 days my baby will be 4! Wow, is all I can say. Nicolo has grown into such a strong willed little boy with a HUGE personality. He definitely knows what he likes and dislikes. It crazy to think that a little boy doesn't like peanut butter and jelly. Now, peanut butter and Nutella is a different story, aka - chocolate sandwiches are a staple. He won't drink anything other than water, milk or chocolate milk. (Are you seeing the chocolate trend?)
He is my stuffed animal lover, he has more than I have room for, not to mention the 53" teddy bear he talked his father into buying him yesterday. What's great is that he can remember when and where he got each one. He also loves real animals and on occasion a little too much. Our new kitten Aston is very tolerate though, sometime I think he even like the attention Nicolo gives him.
Nicolo=Dirt, Dirt=Nicolo - enough said. He is my independent child, the one that wants to do things himself, can play by himself and can get into trouble all by his quiet sneaky self. If I find the bathroom sink full of soap water and 25 matchbox cars in the sink I really don't have to ask who did it.


Case in point, I just had to step away to bath him due to a "marker incident" which ended up with it all over him and his hand print on my back. I really love this kid! He is the one that keeps me guessing and makes everyday an adventure!

Making Valentine's

Thanks to my wonderful mother the boys received a care package that consisted of chocolates, brain teasers, water guns, little soft balls and the supplies to make valentine's. She spent a lot of time making them and we really appreciate them. Today we worked on putting them together to hand out. Of course MomMom and Nana were on the top of the list of people to get one.

What I love the most about this picture is he is using what he learned at school to write his sentence. He is putting his finger down to make sure that he has a finger space between words. He has already internalized the good writers checklist.


This is Francesco's completed sentence, we have the heart, which is after the I, because he made a mistake but we salvaged the card with the heart. The best part was he like that so much he continued that with the rest of his cards.


This is the front of the card, my Mom made this part and then we attached them to the cards.


Nicolo was a little harder to engage in the activity but he did make one card for his cat Aston. He just love that cat!


Making the Valentine's was fun. We have a few to send out in the mail but they probably won't get there till after Valentine's but know we made them ahead of time. (I just hope to get to the post office tomorrow)

Spelunking - well sorta

So we did a little cave exploring today. Headed east to Volcano, CA where they have the National Landmark, Black Chasm Cavern. We ventured down into the cave via very deep steps, but the experience was totally worth it. I have never been in a cave let alone one so unique. This cave had stalagmites, stalactites, flow-stone and columns (when the stalagmites and stalactites meet) but they also had these cool helictite crystals that grow in all different direction due to the porous marble and capillary action.



It was a fun trip, we even did a little gem mining which the boys loves. They really wanted to pan for gold but we were not able to do that this time. We almost bought them Miner's Hats, but we came to our senses quickly. Definitely on the list of place to take the Del Vecchio's when they head west this summer.

Like I need more issues?

So....
Michael thought that Pixel (our 8 year old cat) needed a companion. Not to mention that he is home with her everyday now, but she is not a lap cap (which I think he was looking for). So this past weekend we went to the local animal shelter. We debated over a 4 mouth old kitten and a year old cat. I thought....older cats are harder to place so lets adopt the older cat. So we did, and named her Cali (short short for California).
The only problem was that the cat did not like me, Michael, Francesco, Pixel or even Nicolo for that matter. We tried but no matter what we did that cat was vicious and dangerous. I just could not risk the health (cat bite infection) of my children or my other animal. Plus what is the point of getting another cat (family member) who stays in one room all the time because she can't socialize with any of us?
So, Cali went back and as bad as I felt about the whole thing I had to remind myself that I have to think of my family as a whole and not of just that one animal. Michael took her back and came home with a ~ 4 month old male kitten who is black and white.
More so he is that he is sweet, laid-back, non-aggressive, loves to be handled, loves to be held, thinks Nicolo is the bee's knee's and totally respects Pixel and her outburst - all which consist of a little bit if hissing and a meow (that chick is all talk and no action).
Aston, as we have named him in tribute to our HOMETOWN, is super laid back, knows how to stepback from Pixel and LOVES Nicolo soooo much. It's like they were meant to meet. My photo is Aston, sleeping with Nicolo and this scene is a huge sigh of relief for me!



A day ago my Nicolo was in full blown tears because the psychotic cat we brought home tried to bite him completely unprovoked. He did not understand, he was being so gentle and she attacked him. It is hard explain to your 3 year old he did not do anything wrong, seeing your child break down after being completely appropriate with an animal and they still attacks - is hard. The last thing I need is for my Animal Lover to become fearful of animals. Aston has turned that around completely an we all love him...even Pixel...she just does not know it yet!

100th Day

It's been a while but we are still here at I Miei Due Bambini, we just happen to be on the other coast now. The move to CA went well, a few issues with getting our cars here but overall not bad. It really hit me when our cars showed up, driving a rental car when we first got here made me fell like a visitor. Once my mini-van got here it was official, we moved.
So far all is going well. The kids are adjusting better and quicker than I am. The one thing I can say that I am completely impressed with is Francesco's school and teacher. She has been so helpful and such a great influence on him with this transition. He still asks for his prior teachers and class mates but he is really enjoying his new school.
Coming up soon he was assigned a 100th Day of School project. We had to get 100 of something and display it for the occasion. In the process of the move we found a box of Pez Dispensers and since we have gotten here we came across it again. I can't find the towels, but I found the Pez Dispensers. We thought that would be different and we had 100 of them so it fit the bill. Thanks to my sister (who both Francesco and I miss the most) we used pipe cleaners and foam core board for the display.
Pixel of course had to get in the picture - as you can see she made it here in one piece too.


The Star Wars ones are both Francesco and my favorites.


I am hoping as we continue to settle I will find a little more time to blog. Now I really need to keep this up so all my wonderful friends and family can see what i miei due bambini are up too.

The Reason...

for the season.

Change

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

~ Mark Twain

That being said, change is on the horizon for all of us here at I Miei Due Bambini. I accepted a new job and with acceptance of that new position we will be relocating. Now we don't do things small around her, by relocating we are going to the West Coast. Just typing that gives me a knot in my stomach, but we are really doing it.

I am really excited about my new position, I am going to be doing the same type of work as now but working on a new project as well as an advanced position. We are also fortunate that both my sister-in-law and brother-in-law live in the town we are moving to and only 5 minutes away. Another blessing is Michael does not need to find a new job, whewww! Our kids are young and seem to be excited about the move, it all just seem to be falling into place. It's still very crazy and busy here! I picked a fine time of the year to move, let alone relocate across the country.

Wish us luck! Here is hoping you all have a very Merry Christmas and an extremely Happy New Year. I will update as soon as we settle.

Mom Moment - "what you are doing matters"

I just had one of those "Mom Moments", you know the ones that melt your heart and tell you what you are doing matters.

Francesco fell earlier today on his bike and hurt his left abdomen by landing on the handle bars, ouch! He will have a bruise and he is sore but otherwise okay, thanks to his helmet. I of course came to his rescue, and did all the things a mom would do, from kissing it, to rubbing it, to just reassuring him he was okay. Then at dinner he complained because his pants were irritating the sore spot. I offered to get his PJ's on after dinner to help with the discomfort . So, once we got his jammies on I asked him if he was okay and he said yes. I then said, "see jammies make it all better!" He says to me, "actually, you make it all better!"

I literally was at a lost for words, and for those of you who know me know that is rare. My mouth dropped, my heart burst and I had that moment. I had that, "what you are doing matters" moment. Loved it!

I had to put this down so as to A) share and B) have it to come back to when I need it (when he is about 15 - LOL).

And, just because a post seems unfinished without a photo, here are my two boys that have taken me on this great adventure of motherhood and I couldn't have asked for any better!

The Kids Where Here {4}

“The things which the child loves remain in the domain of the heart until old age. The most beautiful thing in life is that our souls remaining over the places where we once enjoyed ourselves” ~Kahlil Gibran