A day at the Zoo with Papa!

Corey was on Spring Break last week so we took the kids to the zoo! It's been a crazy week since Luca had Pink Eye AND an Ear Infection. Corey also was sick and had either Strep or a Sinus Infection. Then Olivia has been sick with a cough, fever and runny nose. What a rough week but kids were still full of energy at the zoo and had a great time.


Olivia loved the aquarium and had fun looking at all the fish.

This zoo is great because there are a lot of indoor places. It was a rainy day but we were able to visit the aquarium and the snake exhibit. There were other indoor exhibits but Olivia was ready for her nap so we left.

Luca loves his fish hat that his Papa gave him when he was a baby. He gets lots of compliments on it whenever he wears it.

I'm a Big Girl Now!

Olivia's hair is getting so long I was able to put them in little pigtails today! It was so hard to do b/c she cannot stay still any longer. This is exactly why I didn't want her to start crawling - I feel like I've been chasing her all around! Diaper changes are so hard b/c she just wants to move and does not like to stay still now that she knows she can get around wherever she wants. Even though I don't like the crawling stage one thing that I love about this stage is getting her in the morning and she's standing up waiting for Corey or I to get her with a huge smile on her face! I guess that's worth chasing her around all day long!


She's becoming very independent and will insist on holding her own bottle. Gotta love that! She's still not eating her solids very well. She HATES any and all veggies I give her, she will sometimes eat bananas and Oatmeal in the morning but I've been giving her milk with Plasmon cookies (iron enriched) since it's something that she does like and it's one of the only things she will open her mouth for to eat. We tried pasta a few times again but again she has no interest. I guess I'm very nervous b/c in 3 months she will no longer be getting formula and will need to start eating table foods and regular whole milk. I sure hope we will be able to transition easily because so far not so good.

New Cousin Elle is Born Today!

Luca and Olivia have a new cousin, Elle Marie. She was born today at 9:13am weighing 6lbs 13 oz. Corey and I were able to meet her but the hospital had a new rule that only siblings were allowed in the room because of H1N1. Luca and Olivia were sad that they didn't get to meet her and she won't be going home until Tuesday since it was a C-Section - so they'll have to wait til then. My camera was in the diaper bag so I don't have any pics but she was very cute and I will definitely take some pics the next time we see her.

Olivia is 9 Months Old!!!!

So Olivia is 9 months old today and just to prove that today has been one of those days I typed she's 8 months old on her sign instead of 9 months old! I guess we'll have to do a "re-do." It's been a long morning and it's not even 11am!

Fun with Cousins!

My favorite cousin Maria came to visit us in Ohio! Maria lives in Maryland but is from Queens, New York. She has a daughter, Bella, who is 8 days YOUNGER than Olivia. She also has a son, Matthew, who will be turning 3 in June. Matthew wasn't able to come this visit but I hope to meet him soon. Maria's husband, Peter, was coming to Dayton for business and she came along and stayed with us - which was great since I haven't seen her since her wedding in NY 5 years ago! Bella was a cutie and I think she totally reminds me of my Zio (Uncle) Agostino (Maria's dad and my dad's brother) and she also reminds me of my cousin Jack who is Maria's brother. I was hoping Olivia would take some pointers from Bella since she LOVES to eat ANYTHING. I have only tried giving Olivia baby foods that I have made. I tried giving Olivia puffs but she was gagging and seemed like she was choking on it so I never gave her solids after that. Maria tried giving her some of the dinner I made which was Chicken Pesto Pasta with Eggplant and Olivia LOVED it! She must just like food with flavor - I guess I can't blame her.





Matching cousins. When we had lunch people asked if they were cousins because they thought my cousin and I were sisters. Maria bought these super cute outfits from Gymboree.

Stroller ride at Easton. It was a great day for Easton!

Luca giving Bella kisses.

Nanny Mary came back to visit for two days and one night to meet Bella. Gotta love Nanny Mary - Luca is always so happy to see her.

Olivia and Bella are both crawling (full blown crawling no more worm) and they are also cruising on furniture. It also sounds like Olivia says "Cuca" for Luca. I really think that might be her second word other than "Dada". She still hasn't said Mamma. :(

Olivia was looking at Bella because she was crying. She looks like she's so concerned.

Maria and I bought the kids matching outfits. I bought this outfit from Carters. We went to Easton and everyone was asking if they were twins.


Luca was so happy to meet his cuz, Bella. He kept wanting to hug and kiss her. I think he's the most affectionate little boy I know!

This is when Bella arrived to our house. We picked them up in Dayton which is about an hour away and I was able to fit 3 car seats in the back of my car!

1st Trip to the Zoo & Luca's 2 Year Check Up

It was such a beautiful day today that I took the kids to the zoo. It was Olivia's 1st trip to the zoo but Luca 4th trip and he was finally excited to go. I took him a few times last year but he really had no interest plus I was preggars and the smell didn't help so I didn't take him as often as I would have liked. Last year Luca was more interested in getting out of his stroller and walking. This year, he sat in the stroller the entire time and watched all the animals and even named some of them too! These are both horrible pics...my battery on my camera died from the Bday party so I only got 2 pics. This pic is of the monkeys in the background but Luca looks like he's drunk off his grapes! As for Olivia, she was more interested in taking off her shoes and her socks the entire time. She ended up taking off one of her socks & I didn't notice that she took it off and threw it on the ground. So we lost a sock at the zoo.



They had a carousel and we tried putting Luca on the horse but he wasn't so interested. He wanted to sit next to his sister instead.

Luca had his 2 year well visit today and he was such a good boy! The doctor said that he's never had a 2 year old that would allow him to look in both ears without any fuss. He thinks that Luca will be a mediator because he is so well mannered. He kept saying "Hi Doctor". He's so stinking cute. His vocabulary keeps growing everyday and I'm amazed at how quickly he catches on to things. We are working on learning how to spell his name. He says "ECA" I know that doesn't spell Luca but he's getting closer. We took Olivia with us to the doc office and she had a major blowout - I didn't have an extra outfit so she was pantless. I asked the doc about her not liking veggies and that I've been forcing it. He told me not to worry about it and not to force it. I will pretend to give her water so she'll open her mouth then give her the veggies. The doc said she should be getting all her calories from the formula and that if she's doing this at 12-18 months then he would be concerned.

Happy 2nd Birthday Luca!

Happy Birthday Luca! What a great day it was. When I was little my parents ALWAYS made sure to make me feel so special on my Birthday and I want to make sure to pass that tradition on. We would always celebrate my Birthday with lots of friends, cake, food and fun. . I want Luca to know how important he is to us and how I want to celebrate that he was brought to this world on March 6th and how special that is. I want to surround him with all of his friends and family and have a great big party to celebrate his special day. It was so much fun - I know he had a great time just look at his face in this pic.


I put a digital pic frame with all kinds of pics and made sure to post pics of Luca with all his friends and family who came to the party.

I like this pic even though we're not looking.

Nanny Mary to the rescue!

Luca actually blew out his own candle. We were practicing all week!

After we set up were able to snap a pic before all the guests arrived.


Luca loves his new car we got him.



We had deviled eggs, cheese & crackers, grapes, strawberries, goldfish, animal crackers, chips & dip and deli meat rolls & pizza.



Monkey Toss game. I thought it would be a hit - but the wagon was the BIG HIT. The only reason I brought the wagon was to put all the food and drinks in it so it would be easy to carry in and out...wasn't thinking of using it as a toy for the kids. They loved it.


Luca playing with the monkey toss.

So here's the cake. I know it's cute and I did love it but it's not what I asked for. It was supposed to be light blue instead of white and footballs instead of bananas - the bananas looked like real bananas - nice detail. I wasn't so happy because the lady was supposed to drop it off at 4pm but didn't show up until 15 minutes before the party which I started to worry Luca wasn't going to get a Bday cake and as she was leaving the monkey collapsed forward. We ended up having to put a cup under the monkey to keep him up for the party. It was still a super cute cake but I probably won't buy again from that lady.



My MnM friends Kelly & Jimmy.

The little genius - James - he's 6 months YOUNGER than Luca and already knows his alphabet and his numbers. He's very smart. His parents - Michelle and Evan do a great job with him.

More MnM friends Kelly, Nicole, and Mark.

Corey's Aunt Carmen and Grammy.

Corey's Aunt Dayna

Corey's cousin Cara and Tom.

My niece, Evie, Carson and Croy.

Our good friends Matt & Crystal - they were so kind enough to take a lot of pics and video for us at the party. Olivia's Godparents Ante and Jes were also great, too! They helped with Olivia the entire party and even stayed to help clean up.

My MnM friends Katie & Keegan, Rose (Sams wife) & Sophia.

My MnM friends Sam & Ethan.

Nanny Mary was wearing the Bjorn since she was in charge of Olivia at the party.

Nanny Mary worked so hard to help me with the party and with the kids that she took a nap she was so tired! I don't know what I would do without you Mary. I am so grateful to have you as my big sister.

She no longer will stay to sit - she's gotta be on the move!

My sweet little princess in her new Polo outfit!

Bday Packages from Japan and Florida!

I can't believe my baby boy, Luca, is turning 2 on Saturday! It feels like yesterday when Corey bought me wild chicken wings from BW3's on my due date - March 5th to help me induce labor. We both thought for sure I'd go into labor before my due date. Most of my friends who had kids all had their babies early and we just thought I would, too. We couldn't believe there was no baby on March 5th. Corey was so anxious to meet the little baby inside of me and we both wanted to know if it was a boy or a girl since we didn't find out during our ultrasound. He heard that spicy foods induce labor. Well, it worked! At 2am I woke up to contractions thinking that my stomach was upset from the wings. When the pain would come and go I realized I was in labor! Our baby boy was born on Corey's moms Bday - March 6th.

I was so sad that my family wasn't going to be at his Bday so I wanted to make sure Luca knew that a lot of people loved him so I invited all of his pals and I felt like it wouldn't be right to pick a couple friends so I invited 14 of his friends plus their moms and spouses. We also invited Corey's side of the family and our good friends, too. Well, there will be a total of 55 people at his party! That's one big Bday party and he sure will feel loved! I'm making it a monkey themed party since Luca still loves his stuffed animal monkey and HAS to sleep with it every night. Here are the favors we made for the kids. Isn't cute? Inside the monkey pals are banana candies, bubbles, playdoh, and a mini monkey coloring book and crayons. I still need to go out and buy 2 more favors since I only have 12.




Luca and Olivia received a package all the way from Japan. I made sure to record it since Uncle Na Na can't be here to watch them open it. I only could take a short clip since I knew it wouldn't upload if I waited for them to open all the gifts. They got a book that's both in English & Japanese, a puzzle, socks and couple of toys. They loved all of it...thank you Uncle Na Na!


Luca also received a Bday card from his Nonna and Nonno from Florida with a check for his college 403B Plan. They also bought him a beautiful leather chair perfect for his size for his room. I will post pics of that when Luca opens it on his Bday.