Happy Birthday Grandma!

Peter, Amanda, Matt, Jamie, Ben, Udine and I took Grandma out for her 79th Birthday. Jana volunteered to watch all the kids so we could make it work...all our schedules were hard to work around. Thanks Jana! We told her she could go anywhere to eat, Peter even tried mentioning a variety of different places, but when it came down to it, it's the same place every time...Sizzler. We always joke that we always go there and wish we could go somewhere else, but when she makes comments like "This was the best day of my life!" you realize it really isn't about where we want to go or what we want. She loves Sizzler and felt special for being taken there and that is really all that matters. Amanda made her one of her favorite cakes (wacky cake) and she was so thrilled when she saw that. We went back to their home afterwards to visit for a while. They were in good spirits and I think they really enjoyed themselves.

Mia

ONE YEAR OLD

My Aunt Colleen made this dress for Mia

I know I have written a lot about Mia lately, but it's her birthday! I've got to get it all in. Anyway, things to remember about Mia at 1 yr. She is moody...happy one minute, not the next. She LOVES music and you will often find her in her brothers room jamming to it. She looks like a cute little head banger...it's funny. She signs "milk" and "eat" She doesn't talk yet but you often hear her saying "Mamama". She is a very content child if people are around, she doesn't like to be alone. The nickname that the boys and Udine call her is "Gorda". They better use that while they can, I'm guessing when she's older that won't fly. :) She'll wave goodbye when you tell her it's time to go "night night". She doesn't smile very easily for people she doesn't know. And she gives big, wet, open mouthed kisses. :) Oh, she also likes to head butt people; weird.


When I took her to the doctor these were her measurements.

Height: 28.5 inches (31%)
Weight: 17.2 lbs (3%)

I thought she'd weigh a lot more than that. She looks so chubby, but I guess she's still on the small side!!

Birthday Celebrations

August 2oth was Mia's birthday - 1 year old! How does the time go by so fast!? I think child #4 is getting the shaft in our family...we didn't get her anything for her birthday and I didn't even make a cake! That day while at the store I was beginning to feel guilty so I bought some cupcakes so we could sing to her that night. She loved the song, hated the cupcake. hahaha She was able to open a gift from Grandma and Grandpa though and all enjoyed that. It was a doll and when she (Luca) got it open, Diego said "What do you do with that?" ah, yes, we are used to a house full of boys around here. She knew exactly what to do though...she gave it a kiss right away. Luca loves to feed the baby and put her to bed in a box with the top shut tight. oh, it is so fun to see how his mind works.

On Sunday the 23rd we had family over for cake and ice cream to celebrate both my birthday and Mia's. Jamie made Whacky cake for me and Mia loved it also! Homemade over store bought did the trick! She enjoyed it this time around! It was a fun evening and a great excuse to be with family.

On Tuesday August 25th (my birthday) Udine took off work to be with me all day! Woohoo! I was so excited when I found this out! I have the best husband in the world! He lined up babysitters for the whole day! Jana took Luca and Mia. Jamie took Diego and Alessandro after school was out. Thanks guys! We went to Park city for the day and walked the outlet malls, went to a movie (GI-Joe) and went out to eat at Carrabas. It was so nice! So strange without any kids, but so wonderful to spend the whole day with Udine. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday...Udine spoiled me rotten. :)

First Day of School

This is exactly how he feels....so sad to be starting.

Alessandro on the other hand, so excited...even about his new lunch box he picked out. :)

August 20th was the first day of school. So sad, summer went by way too fast!!! Alessandro was excited to start 1st grade and Diego was not excited at all to be going back...3rd grade this year. I quickly noticed that my little ones are not the messy ones because the house stays much cleaner while the older boys are at school. And it is definitely easier to go shopping with two kids instead of 4. But I still love having my kids at home. Part of it is probably because I feel like I'm protecting them from the outside world while they're here at home and I know I can't do that forever. But I'm enjoying it while I can. Diego has already developed an attitude since school has started...the things they learn at school sometimes drive me crazy!! I'm sure it will only get worse from here on out! Anyway, now the homework starts, the piles of papers and the schedules to keep track of. Fun fun.

Help!

This is to anyone who lives nearby.... Would anyone be willing to show me how to do this blogging thing! I find it more frustrating than enjoyable at the moment. I try to post pictures certain ways, etc, but when I go to post it, it doesn't show up how I thought I had it saved. Anyway, I just need someone to walk me through this stuff. I'm not very good at teaching myself these kinds of things. So if you are patient and willing to walk me through things I'd love your help!! Let me know if you can, thanks!!!

It's about time!!

Mia will be 1 yr in two days and she has just barely figured out how to eat foods that I give to her on a spoon! She has always spit it out and never swallowed. The only thing she would eat was bread and she'd chew on crackers. But in the last couple weeks she has eaten a whole bowl of potatoes, sweet potatoes and has eaten many different fruits! Woohoo! We're making progress! She still chews and spits out a lot of food once all those good juices are gone, but hey, at least she'll eat some meals now!

It's off!!

On July 13th Alessandro got his cast off! Only six weeks after getting it on! We were shocked and thrilled! We were told he'd have longer, but the Dr. said there was enough bone growth to take it off as long as we kept him down for the next few months. No running, jumping, wrestling through the end of Sept. Awesome! It has taken him a few weeks to figure out how to walk again but he is finally there. He's a bit slower and has a big limp, but at least he can walk! He'll have a limp for a couple of years because his broken leg is about an inch shorter than the other. It should catch up to the other as he grows. Now that he can get around the hard part is keeping him from not being too rough, especially with his older brother. Boys will be boys. They're so darn physical!!! We're just excited Alessandro has had some of his summer to go swimming and other fun things without a big cast on.