Zoo Lights Again!

We took the kids to the zoo again! It was pretty cold out so we didn't stay too long but we saw all the indoor animals like the snakes and turtles. Corey gave the kids his super warm sleeping bag to cover them up and the kids seemed pretty cozy!


Checking out the turtles.


Eww...snakes, but at least it was an indoor exhibit and it was warm!

Olivia is saying a lot more words and is even putting words together to make small sentences. Sometimes when I've taken them out for the day, Olivia will go straight upstairs all by herself and will go in her room and open up her books. She loves books! She is a very good listener and helper. Sometimes she reminds me of my Mom not only because she has my Moms eyes but she's a neat freak like my Mom. She'll pick up all of her toys and put them in the toy box everyday. Here she is coloring ~ she LOVES to "cudeee" that's how she says color!


Luca also loves books more than he ever did. It seems like every week he is interested in a different book. This week his favorite is his Truck book where he can match things like what person drives a cement truck and on the next page he'll point to the construction worker and what person drives a firetruck and he'll point to the firefighter, and so on. He's also been asking a lot of questions and his most common question I hear "What's that Momma?" It's just so amazing how their little brains are sponges right now.


Before the zoo we went to dinner at Steak and Shake. Luca looked so serious in his hat!

Christmas Pics

We got the kids dressed in their Christmas outfits so we could get some pictures for our Xmas cards. It was hard to get some good shots of them. We even took them to see Santa at the mall! I'll post the pic later since most of you who read this will get a Xmas card from us! Don't want to spoil the surprise! But here's some pics that I took at home today!




Luca kept laughing whenever he'd touch the reindeer!

Wildlights at the Zoo!

I took the kids to the zoo today since they had their preview night of all the lights. The kids LOVED it and were taking it all in almost the entire time. Corey had parent teacher conferences tonight so he wasn't able to make it but I'm hoping he'll go with us again to see the kids faces when they see all the lights. Can you see the excitement on their faces?

Ok so Luca doesn't look excited but he was and he's been SUCH a good boy these past few days. Telling him that Santa is watching him definitely helps his behavior!

All bundled up! They had on a T-shirt, long john shirt, fleece sweatshirt, and their winter coats and hats & blankets. They refused to wear their mittens but wow is it challenging to get them both dressed and trying to keep track of their hats and mittens when they decide they want to take it off.


We went with their buddies Keegan and Maguire and my friend, Katie.

They had no interest in looking at me for a picture b/c they were amazed at The Nutcracker.

Does this elf look familiar? It's the same guy that was dressed as the Scarecrow at the Spooktacular event!

Visit from Anne & Anneliese!

My sorority sister and co-worker from college came to visit from Atlanta, Georgia today since they were on their way to Toledo! It was so great catching up with Anne and finally meeting her beautiful daughter, Anneliese. It had been several years since I've last seen Anne and thanks to Facebook we reconnected a couple of years ago. Anneliese was born the day after Olivia so they are only one day apart. All three kids were so well behaved the entire time at Red Robin for lunch!



Olivia enjoyed Anneliese's company and I enjoyed Anne's company! Thanks for stopping by Anne! :)

Baby Shower!

I never realized that in Italy they don't have baby showers. We are so lucky that it's a tradition here, even though we end up buying a ton of stuff for our kids, having a baby shower was so helpful to get so many things before the baby even came. My friend, Mariangela, threw a baby shower for Valeria and Kimberly. They are both due on 12/22! They both already have kids but they never had a baby shower. They really enjoyed their 1st baby shower and especially all the games.


They played guess what chocolate game in the diaper. She used all Italian chocolates so it was easier for everyone. All the ladies there were from Italy except for Rita and I...so since we weren't familiar with all the Italian chocolates we helped microwave all the chocolates for Mariangela.



My friend Georgia was in town from California and she drove from Canton to visit me yesterday. It was so nice to catch up and have dinner with her and my friend Erin who is getting married on July 9th! Erin asked me to be in her wedding and I am so excited to celebrate her special day with her!



Double Trouble. Luca has been on a nap strike lately and instead of napping the other day, he climbed up on his changing table and smeared baby lotion on the walls. Well, we have flat paint which I highly DO NOT recommend for anyone with children because nothing wipes off with flat paint. So now his room has grease, finger print marks all over his wall. Is that why they call it terrific twos? But on a positive note, Luca is becoming more and more independent everyday. Now he wants to get and put away his own milk and he doesn't want any help when going to the bathroom! As for Olivia...Luca was sitting on this chair and she went behind him and was strong enough to tip him over! But on a positive note...she has learned how to do a forward roll from watching her brother. I will have to post video of it.

Chuck E Cheese!

I took Olivia and Luca to Chuck E Cheese on Monday with my Mom friends and they loved it. Here's a picture that we took from one of the machines I had to share this on the blog b/c I love Luca's expression. When Corey came home from work, I had it hanging in the mudroom so he could see it, I heard him busting out laughing when he saw the picture. What a ham!




I have a picture of my mom and I when I was Olivia's age and we were wearing matching red dresses. I noticed at Target they had this cute sweater dress for Olivia that was similar to one I had. I didn't buy it at first but since I shop at Target regularly, I kept my eye on it for a while. Once it was on the clearance rack I figured I had to buy it so I could take a picture like the one of my mom and I.

I couldn't find the picture that I was thinking of but close enough...

Black and Whites...

Luca had a sweater on today and asked to take it off. Once Olivia saw him take his sweater off she wanted her shirt off. Both of them were running around the house in their white T-shirts and Jeans on. They looked like little models so I had them jump on our bed and took some shots with our new camera and I love how these turned out in Black and White.

She is so pretty!

And he is so handsome!

I love them to pieces.

They were jumping so much Luca ran to the bathroom and drank some water & spilled it on his t-shirt so he took it off and I kept taking pictures. He was watching TV but it looks like a model pose.

Too cutel!

Trick Or Treat!

We took the kids trick or treating in Aunt Ju Ju's hood since we only have one neighbor with kids in our entire neighborhood. Even though I absolutely love our house I definitely miss all the kids & neighbors in our old neighborhood. Julie & Kevin's neighborhood is awesome during Halloween. They even have a neighbor that makes a haunted house in their garage and it was pretty cool. Plus, all the cousins had fun trick or treating together.

DJ Lance and Dr. Olivia Andres


She's a little slow so I had to carry her so she could catch up with the gang.

Olivia tried saying Trick or Treat but it didn't sound like it so I just had her say Thank You.

I never understand why Columbus doesn't celebrate Halloween on Halloween. Trick or Treating was on Thursday even though Halloween was on Sunday! They also celebrate 4th of July on the 3rd every year. I'm wondering if they'll celebrate Thanksgiving on a Monday?

Luca eating his sucker while trick or treating.

Olivia wanted to hold all the candy instead of put it in her bag.

Evie as Foofa.

It was so cute that their costumes went together.

Gabri wearing Luca's Monkey costume & Baby Elle as a Lady Bug.

I was really hoping to get a picture of all the cousins together but it's getting harder and harder as they are all getting mobile. Maybe next year!