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)