Fa la la la laaaaa la la la whew.

The Mothers Goose is officially done with 2009. We sipped our last drink, ate our last app, "put our hands up" for the last time and bid adieu to a whirlwind of a year. Fortunately for us, we were able to celebrate the holidays and end of year with those that make us feel warm and fuzzy - the remarkable cast of characters that is our framily (friends + family). We kicked off our white Christmas with a wonderful visit from the Seattle based Leary Reevesssesss. Veronica had no trouble getting into the spirit of Christmas in New England - that is until mean Auntie Mer took away her hat and gloves and handed her over to Lucia. Good thing the week was filled with more cheers than jeers - I think a lot of smiles can be attributed to the constant matching of outfits. So Santa came and it was like the North Pole exploded in our living room. It's a darn good thing the kids enjoyed themselves (this just in: kids *love* Christmas, who knew??) because I fear our house will never be the same. Of course, December 25th was not the end of our festive fun... no sooner did we say goodbye to the Leary Reevessss than we packed up our car with dirty laundry and headed to Maine to celebrate birthdays and get more toys! So with 2009 drawing to a close, we knew we could squeeze in a few more drinks, a few more tasty morsels and a few more laughs with our BFFs from the mile square city. Carmen worked her charms on Luke, while Lucia worked to perfect her Jersey hair and attitude - quite frankly, I think she nailed it.
Oh, and one last thing happened in 2009 - Carmen started to talk. Well, we think she can anyway - she can say "mama"(usually when she's really, really mad... grrrreat), "see", "eyes" and I know I've heard some approximation of the word "cat." I'm sure it won't be long until she's chatting away like her older sister who according to Mimi, introduced herself to a waitress by saying, "Hello, my name is Lucia and I have two moms!" Love it.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

Well, some of us think so anyway... With a mere 13 days until Christmas, the Mothers Goose has been very busy with flock festivities. Mama Mer and Mimi braved the mall crowds to take the girls to meet the man with the bag and some had more fun than others. While Carmen was busy screaming bloody murder, Lucia managed to squeeze in some very specific gift requests for Santa - "a pink backpack, a Dorothy doll and a suitcase with a handle." What can I say, the girl knows what she wants.
The festivities continued with our second annual trip to see the Boston Pops with Luce's BFF (she told him so today) Owen. We all had a wonderful time singing along with Santa and the symphony, and if any of you (Nonne) are interested in a fantastic arrangement of the 12 Days of Christmas, I highly suggest this download. Speaking of three French hens... here's Carmen eating some chicken. Enjoy.

It's the Magic Number...

With the dawn of Lucia's third (3rd!!!!) birthday I have been singing Sunrise, Sunset all_week_long. Perhaps a little premature, but I don't remember growing older - when did she? So yes, Lucia turned 3 on the 19th and we've been on a birthday bender ever since. On her actual birthday, Ellen was kind enough to send home the rest of the cake she made so of course we recycled. And Lucia got to open some presents, including some really cool stuff from her Jersey boy Luke. This was all prep for the big birthday event - SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY! Lucia had a loosely themed party ("her favorite things") which involved lots of costumes, the Wizard of Oz, Papa's sauce, eggrolls and pancakes. I believe a good time was had by all and once again we couldn't have pulled it off without the help of our family and friends (Nonne, Mimi, Auntie Ashlee - - thank you!!). This morning Lucia woke up and said, "I had a really fun party... now I want my 4 year old party." I told her she'd have to wait a bit for that one.

Don't Fall On Me...

What is it up in the air for? Well Halloween came and went and to the amazement of *no one* our children went through a few costume changes. Despite the big lead up to being Tinkerbell for Halloween, when it came down to the actual Halloween day itself Lucia decided she couldn't leave her alter ego behind. It was such a nice weekend for trick or treating, even the Mothers Goose got in on the act. Now will someone please come and take our leftover candy? PLEASE??

Give Peas A Chance...

As you can see, Carmen is fast following in her sister's foodie footsteps. Avacado, turkey, banana and rice are at the top of her list so far... we gave her one of Lucia's first foods, but she didn't devour quite the way Luce did back in the day. And speaking of treats, the girls got a visit from Nonne complete with fairs, face painting and my all time fall favorite. We all had a blast and Nonne, being the super trooper that she is, even came to watch my football game in the pouring rain/snow... I'm sure her feet will thaw sometime in the spring.

We Really, Really Love Fall...

Let's see, where were we... oh right, updating the blog. Ok, so my time out on "baby bonding" leave has been a bit hectic so sue me (I double dog dare you). Well much has happened since last I wrote: Lucia and Carmen have a brand new cousin, Jackson McDevitt Leary [insert link to Jackson's blog here - hint, hint Uncle Sean], Carmen has sprouted 2 bottom teeth and I have officially entered my "late 30s" - blargh. Luckily my birthday blues were mitigated by a lovely weekend up in Maine with my family. Mama Mer continued her exploration of unique recreational activities, Lucia enjoyed sampling the wares at the farmer's market, and Carmen was along for the ride. Lucia and Carmen also enjoyed spending quality time with their cousins. That is until Lucia thew a diva sized fit and the Mothers Goose had to cut their trip short (I think Nonne and Papa are still recovering). Speaking of the diva, she has had *a lot* to say lately. Things like: "I used to be afraid of owls, but now I'm brave of them" (makes sense right?) and "Last day we went to the zoo" (I assume that's a mix of last night and yesterday?) or the name of her latest persona "Princess Semi-Circle" (????). Anyway, when she comes out with zingers like these it's hard to stay mad at her for cutting my weekend short - - but she'd better keep them coming. And as for Carmen, well now that the teeth are through she's back to her smiley, happy self again. She decided to pull herself up to a stand this weekend so now it's only a matter of time before all hell breaks loose...

Staycation All I Ever Wanted...

Staycation no need to get away. So as we mentioned, the Mothers Goose decided to camp it at home during Labor Day weekend - literally. We took advantage of the great weather and embarked on various adventures in this city they call Boston. For one trip, we walked along the water to Castle Island where we enjoyed a picnic by the lovely scenery and partook in other recreational activities. This trip was also noteworthy for the fact that Lucia was asked to be in a music video. No joke. We happened to run into a friend of ours who was there with her work filming a music video. Just so happens they were also scouting the location for a young starlet to play a pivotal role (she handed the singer a love note). Needless to say Lucia adored the spotlight and nailed it take after take. I'll keep you posted if it winds up on MTV anytime soon!
The next day we took the ferry out to Georges Island where we got to do a lot of running around and reenact scenes from Taps (ok, so that was just me).
While we were sad to say goodbye to the last days of summer, the beginning of fall brought some significant firsts - solid foods, football and haircuts.

Hold On To Your Hats...

Despite a slllllow start the Mothers Goose is winding the summer up with a bang. Last weekend our big haired friends from Jersey showed up to cure our summertime blues. Lucia, Luke and Carmen had a blast playing together and apparently so did we. Friends are fun. And speaking of fun - did someone say carousel?! We decided to park it at home for this three day weekend and ventured out into the city for some urban fun. Kennedy carousels, sea dogs and lunch at an Irish bar - sounds like a perfect Friday in Boston to me.

Happy Half Birthday Baby Carmen!

To celebrate her 6 months on the planet, Carmen gave Mothers Goose the bestest present ever - she slept through the night 2 nights in a row! Of course, now I probably just jinxed it but whatever, I'm running on 7 straight hours of sleep... I don't know what to do with myself. Amazing what a full night of sleep can do for you really, we've had the most productive weekend ever. Which is doubly impressive considering the current heat wave. Of course, kids know exactly how to beat the heat where as moms just clean. I have pretty much cleared the master bedroom of the last vestige of babydom - - anyone in the market for a used baby glider?? Oh, speaking of kids I promised cuteness updates. First the half birthday girl: Carmen has been doing the funniest repetitive arm extension/pull toy into mouth thing that I've tried to capture on camera but keep failing. It's like a rapid motion arm curl to the head/mouth move that is occasionally painful depending on the toy she is holding. Head bonks aside, it is adorable and we love it. As for her big sister, her vocabulary continues to amaze us (she used the word "peculiar" to describe a sound the other day) as does her negotiation skills (must be the lawyer in her). For example the other day we drove by a public pool in the Boston College part of Brookline. She asked if she could go swimming there and I said no, that pool is for big kids. Now she knows that Carmen is a baby and we're always calling her a "big sister" so she said, "But I'm a big kid!" and we said, "No, that pool is for kids in college." To which she screamed, "I want to go to college! Please, mom can I go to college pleeeeeeeaaaaase??!?" Yeah, I'll remind her of this very conversation 16 years from now when she tells me she wants to take some time off to explore Europe.

Ayuh, That's a Wicked Good Vacation

Another sandy beach, another naked baby. Life *is* good. So Mothers Goose has taken a chapter out of the European lifestyle manual and decided to take the summer off. Well, not really but a two week vacation plus company mandated furlough is a pretty sweet way to spend August. As usual we packed up the contents of our entire house and headed north "upta camp" as the Mainers say. What was different this year (besides the whole kids thing) was that the weather actually cooperated. Nothing beats spending time with family and friends, by the water, drink in hand and the sound of Yahtzee rattling in the background. After a waterlogged two weeks on the lake we then spent some R&R in Portland with my folks, ate cake for Maria's something or other (don't say birthday) and ventured out to the OOB. I'll post more on that later along with some of the latest kid cuteness - i.e. Carmen's stupid human tricks and Lucia wants to matriculate. Stay tuned.

Hello Summer, Nice of You to Show...

I find it hard to believe that our first trip to the beach didn't happen until the middle of July. Furthermore, I find it REALLY hard to believe that our first trip to the beach was here. No matter, Lucia and Carmen had a great day despite the 90 degree heat. Lucia has (finally) had plenty of chances to break in her new bathing suit - from frolicking at birthday parties to visiting her BFF's summer home, the Mothers Goose summer is in full swing. Oh and in order to live up to her sister's larger than life persona, Carmen has been puuuurfecting her Jellicle cat routine. Broadway here we come!

Let the Sunshine In...

The clouds finally parted in Boston, just in time for a visit from the cousins. It was a real treat since they decided to stay in a hotel (not that we mind housing them AT ALL) but the kids had great fun splashing in the lap pool. Not sure the other patrons doing actual laps appreciated the frolicking, but we certainly did. After peeling the kids out of the pool we managed to fit in visits to the children's museum and the zoo... and not a drop of rain in sight! The past week also ushered in a new milestone for Carmen - solid(ish) food! She has shown interest in whatever we're eating, so we thought she'd like to try some of her own. Turns out, she's definitely one of us - she loves food. First step rice cereal, next step eggrolls and meatballs.

See This? It's Mine Now.

Ok, so technically she's ours now. Yesterday was Carmen's big adoption day and for any readers out there wondering why gay marriage is necessary - this is one big reason why. In order for me to become one of Carmen's "official" parents Meredith had to surrender her parental rights, process an ungodly amount of paperwork, let it work it's way through the system and then boom, 4 months later hooray I'm a mom. Please forgive my lack of elloquence here but, "NO DUH." The whole thing is ludicrous and waste of money and time for all. Seriously people, you're just delaying the inevitable. Get over it already. (Fran steps off of soap box and resumes lighthearted tone).
It was a lovely ceremony and Carmen really appreciated the attendance of her Mimi, Nonne and Papa (who woke up at the crack of dawn to drive down from Maine in the pouring rain). Lucia played a key role in the adoption, expertly wielding the judge's gavel (or hammer as she called it) and signing her name to the decree. Being the high rollers that we are, we then celebrated with breakfast at iHOP proving once again that my family of four females has just as bad taste as a family of four in any given red state.

Several Very Cute Reasons for the Delay...

Carmen of course being one of the major reasons (4 months, still not sleeping through the night - COME ON KID). We keep reminding Carmen that it's a good thing she's so cute - even in the middle of the night when she has a death grip on Mama Mer's shirt. We really do need to find her a better pacifier. Another reason for the lack of blog updates - trying to keep up with this one. And then of course our various activities and engagements not the least of which included the semi-annual Maine lobster and beerfest - a.k.a. family reunion. Despite the deluge that has been June, we have had a very fun filled month. I know I have a lot of catching up to do, but right now my battery is dying - figuratively and literally. Good night kids, good night Mer, good night bloggers everywhere...

Happy Birthday Papa Stu - Luce Went Poo!

That's almost how tonight's phone conversation went... almost. Since the girls came down with their 245th cold of the year, we did not go to Maine for the long weekend and so we missed out on BBQs and birthday cake but we made the most of our quarantine. We decided to kick Luce's diaper habit once and for all! Luce was really interested in the potty about 3 months ago, but the Mothers Goose was slightly distracted at the time. So we missed the window then, but decided to smash it back open this weekend and so far so good! Lucia was so excited about her potty usage tonight she had to call Nonne and Papa right away. In her haste to tell Papa Stu her news, she buried the headline which was supposed to be "Happy Birthday Papa Stu!" instead she just told him about her potty productivity. At least Lucia can be sure no one else wished him a happy birthday in quite the same way. Ok, enough with the scatological humor, it's beneath me (HA!)...
Despite being a little snotty, Luce and Carmen had a full calendar of activities including visits from gift bearing friends, receiving gentleman callers and taking a spin on some new wheels. It was a banner weekend to be sure.

Thank You Enablers, Really...

In case any of you were wondering, the glow of the Emerald City (no Uncle B, not Seattle) is still shining over here in Brookline. Thanks in part to our extended family network who, much like crack dealers, continue to supply her with the goods. Exhibit A: this picture. Uncle B and Auntie Alison provided the authentic Dorothy dress and our dear friends Merrily and Don, grandparents to Hoboken's own Luke the Boy, were kind enough to think of Lucia whilst purging their attic library. They came across a book once owned by their daughter Paige (yes, that Paige) and thought Lucia would appreciate it. Well, needless to say Luce did... big time. Our other dear friends (?) Cathy and Kelby really kicked things off 3 months ago when they thought big sister Lucia would like a "hey your moms have a new baby and you may not see them for 5 days" gift. Not only was this an exact replica of her favorite character, but she sings too. Grrrrreat. And finally, last weekend we went up to Maine so Nonne could take Lucia and the crew to see a middle school production of Oz - or a "retelling" as it was billed. There were no musical numbers, Dorothy didn't wear a blue dress, Glinda was more of a hippie love child with a flowered mumu and the flying monkeys had black wings, but Lucia could not take her eyes off that stage. After the play, Mama Mer took her up to meet Glinda... and then Lucia's head exploded. The look on her face was priceless. It's moments like that, and like this that really makes it all worth it in the end (please excuse my Mama Rose-esque coaching in the background).
And just because I haven't mentioned her at all, Carmen was there too!

Happy Mother's Day Squared...

Just a quick post tonight to say "Happy Mother's Day" to all the mothers out there - you know who you are (I hope). Our day started off a little shaky since Luce was up a bunch during the night. She has developed a fear of bees (don't look at me) and now wakes up thinking there are bees in her bed. We sent her to bed with a special bee banishing wand (a.k.a. flashlight) so we're hoping that works. So with not much sleep under her belt, Lucia was a bit of a crank this morning but after a nice long nap she turned things around this afternoon. Carmen on the other hand had a great day and is getting bigger by the minute. Both girls took a brief moment to send Mother's Day wishes to their Mimi and Nonne. And now, it's time for Mama Mer and I to enjoy our Mother's Day - she just handed me a beer. Ahhhh :-)

Yes, Veronica, There Really Is a Baby Carmen...

Although you wouldn't know it from the dearth of photographic evidence seen here. Carmen, I swear we're trying but somehow your older sister and cousin grabbed most of the spotlight (I suppose by the time you can read this you'll be well used to it). So yes, the Seattle contingent of the Leary Reeves clan braved their way to Brookline to see if in fact this "baby Carmen" was the real deal. Well, it didn't take long for Carmen to christen their clothing before they were believers. In addition to surviving a torrent of baby vomit, our guests were also kind enough to cook and clean and launder for us. It was simply wonderful. Please come back.
While the visit from Auntie Alison, Uncle B and Baby Veronica was certainly the highlight of the past few weeks, we have enjoyed some other fun events as well. Such as co-ed bath time pajama parties, the annual Ellen's House Egg Hunt and of course, a true rite of Spring - - breaking out the sandbox.

First Holiday As Sisters - Success!

One of these days, I'll catch up on all my blogging. Not to mention the giant pile of "thank you" notes we still have to send out. And, oh yeah, Carmen's birth announcements. Ah well, such is parenthood... always behind the 8 ball (shake, shake, - reply hazy, try again). So back to Easter. We were on the fence as to weather or not to head up to Maine due to Carmen's super pukeyness and lack of sleepitude. But as our wise daycare provider once said, "Sometimes the only way out is through" so up we went. As it turns out, Carmen was a rock star and had a great time hanging out with all the Mainers. Not that you'd know it from the pictures, but there were other people at Easter I swear. Next up, I'll tell you about the great visit we just had from Uncle B, Auntie Alison and Baby V. Look for that sometime in June.

I'm Dorothy Gale From Kansas...

Ok, so at long last here is a sneak peak at the Wizard of Oz madness that has consumed our household. We have Ellen to thank (blame?) for all of this. The kids at daycare LOVE to dress up as the different characters and act out scenes from the movie (they've only seen snippets - no flying monkeys thank you very much). Of course, Lucia's favorite character is Glinda (pink! pink! frilly pink!), but here you see her sporting the Dorothy dress and showing off her ruby slippers. We have more photos somewhere, and once I find them I promise to post. Lucia has assigned roles for every member of the family as well - I'm usually the Wicked Witch (trying not to read into that one much), Nonne is always Auntie Em, Mimi is Toto, sometimes Mama Mer gets to be Glinda too, and Carmen of course is a Munchkin. Lucia knows all of the words to all of the songs (Judy G. would be so proud) and she also knows a bunch of the dialog. Our favorites are when she says, "I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas!" (she's never just Dorothy) or when in the Wicked Witch voice she says, "Who killed my sister?!? Was it youuuu?" that one gets me every time.
Speaking of Carmen, we realize she's been getting short shifted so we're trying to make up for it... I just need to be better about blogging it. These days, Carmen seems to be doing better with her reflux (oh yeah, did I mention we got another spitter?? Thanks a lot God.) now if we can just get her sleeping through the night. We have such low expectations since Luce didn't do that until 6 months out, but we're holding out hope that Carmen can get there soon. Our family could use the rest. Luckily, we've been keeping busy with fun activities so maybe sleep is overrated. Well no. No it's not.

That's A Cute Concept

In Carmen's first four weeks of life, she has been blessed with many, many visitors. Auntie Jo Jo paid us a visit all the way from San Francisco and did a great job of caring for all four of us. Since last I blogged, we celebrated Meredith's birthday, had a quick visit from Auntie Mia and even managed to go out to dinner. Sorry for the lapse in posts, but between the newborn, trips to the hospital for various members of the family and doctors visits for every member of the family for various ailments, we have had our hands FULL. Luckily, Lucia is diving headlong into her big sister role, and has started helping us with chores around the house. Jury is still out as to whether this is helping or creating more work. We are sitting for our first family photo shoot tomorrow, so keep your fingers crossed for good moods and good hair for all. P.S., the title is a quote from a sales lady at a children's clothing store today. Upon check-out, she looked at both of us with baby Carmen and said "Oh, you are both the mothers? That's a cute concept."

2 Weeks Down, 1300 To Go...

As I type this, I am holding baby Carmen who is delightfully asleep. I say this not because she is happy to be asleep (although I'm sure she is), but because I AM happy she is asleep. You may recall that Lucia was not a sleeper. Ever. In fact we had a battle royale tonight with her at bedtime - 2 year olds with new siblings... testing limits anyone? (Don't worry, we won). Anyway, so far Carmen seems to be the opposite of Lucia as an infant so Mer and I are having a great time watching our baby sleep. It is amazing. And speaking of baby Carmen, Mama Mer wanted to be sure I capture her birth story before we forget it... so here it is from 2 weeks ago (picture it Sicily, 1942):
Monday, February 23 - 3:00am
Mer gently shakes me awake and says, "I think I'm having some cramping." My first reaction is, well honestly I don't think I had one - I was pretty out of it. So she gets up and waddles off to walk around, drink water, etc. I am half awake, half asleep when Mer suggests I get "the book" (What to Expect of course). Being the helpful wife I am, I retrieve the book and set it at her feet. The cramps are increasing by this point and with a touch of pain/annoyance in her voice Meredith suggests I look up "labor signs." I flip to the page and we check off each sign as it's happening to Mer. Crap. We did not prepare for this. What's the point of a scheduled c-section after all?? sheesh. (FYI, Mer was induced with Lucia so we never went through this before). By this point it's around 4am and Mer tells me to call Mimi and have her come down to be there for Luce. Now Mimi lives about 20 minutes away and the frequency of the winces coming from Mer tell us we can't wait that long. We call for back up. I ring our good friend Cathy (who we can never repay for this) at 4:10am and she is here in a flash. Oh, did I mention we had an ice storm and we all had to spend precious minutes scraping our cars?? Talk about llama drama. So we get to the hospital at 4:30am and away we go...
B&W Hospital - 4:30am
I pull up into the valet parking area and no one is there to do the key hand off. I'm in full on panic mode (helpful I know) so I just grab our bags and leave the car running. The 16 year old security guard at the front desk says he'll watch it. Um, not feeling confident about that but no time to argue with Skippy. We make our way up to labor and delivery where we meet our on call doctor (very nice woman in the practice, but a complete stranger to us). Meredith discusses her need to have the "highest ranking anesthesiologist in the hospital" perform her spinal because last time there was a leak and blood patches and repeat visits and pain and it was BAD. Of course then in walks the unsuspecting anesthesiologist Resident... Mer takes one look at him and says, "Are you a Resident? I'm sorry but you're not doing my spinal. No." It was classic Meredith... in full on labor no less. We finally got a Fellow paged and on the job but by now Mer was at 9cm and time for a c-section was running out.
OR Waiting Area - 6:05am
I'm sitting around in my scrubs trying to process everything that's happened and is about to. I'm failing miserably. Instead I focus my attention on an ant crawling around on the floor. An ant? In the OR? That can't be good can it?
OR - 6:18am
If any of you have witnessed a c-section you know it is a hectic affair. There were a ton of people in there (including the dejected Resident) milling around and then all of a sudden we hear... "you have another girl!" Wait! I wasn't ready! You didn't tell me to get my camera ready! Arrrrrgh! Meredith and I were both stunned. We really thought we were having a boy. Really, really, really.

So there you have it Carmen - there's your birth story. You were so excited to meet us you just had to wake us up (and Mimi and Cathy) and make an early appearance. That's ok, we won't hold it against you (but we will remind you of it every chance we get).

Let the Sibling Rivalry Commence!

In case any of you are wondering where we've been this week, the short answer is in the hospital - all of us. Not content to let Carmen steal the spotlight for even a second, Lucia decided to come down with a nasty case of the croup on Tuesday night (yes, a mere 24 hours after the birth of her sister) that landed her in the hospital (a different one) for an overnight stay. Awesome. So poor Mama Mer and brand spankin new Carmen had to go it alone sans sister and Mama Fran while we enjoyed an all night bender of Thomas the Train hospital videos and sampled their breakfast fare. Lucia was a trooper through the whole ordeal and I was a Thomas the Trainwreck. Luce and I left her hospital around 1ish on Wednesday and luckily Nonne arrived shortly thereafter to cheer her up. Meanwhile back at the other hospital, Mimi was taking care of Mama Mer and Carmen (we were quarantined of course) and holding down the fort until we could all be reunited on Friday. Whew.
Back at home the sisters seemed to get along just fine - of course, the exchanging of presents always helps. I have a million other things to blog about - remind me to tell you about Lucia's Wizard of Oz obsession - but right now, I have to go nab some sleep. We'll all be up very, very soon.

Heeeeeeeeeeeeere's Carmen!

Bowing to popular demand, here are a few shots of our newest little bundle of joy joy joy. Thanks for all the nice notes of love and support - we are very lucky there's WiFi here in the hospital. Meredith and Carmen are doing great and Lucia and I are holding down the fort at home (all night pizza parties!). I promise to continue taking photos, but in the meantime enjoy these.

The answers are: 63, 45, 17

Questions:
How many rings are there on a Mimi tree?
How many years have my folks been hitched?
How many days before we hatch spawn #2?
Another busy weekend here in Mothers Goose land. On Saturday we celebrated Mimi's birthday Lucia style - with cake, food and dancing (in that order). Lucia had a grand old time entertaining everyone and cutting a rug with Mimi's BFF Cheryl. If Luce's enthusiasm for parties now is any indication of years yet to come, we're in trouble with a capital T and that rhymes with B and that stands for bail. Speaking of delinquents - big shout out to my folks for celebrating 45 years of marriage this weekend. Lucia is expecting a piece of your anniversary cake in the mail.
Also, that pesky global warming trend allowed us to build a snowman in warm weather today - a most enjoyable task when you're not frozen.
Finally, since we have done ZERO pregnancy documenting this time around, and since Mer is too exhausted to protest... do you think she is ready to be done with this whole thing or what? I really do owe her one.. or as she says, "No, you owe me TWO."

Big Round of Applause for Nonne!

She was the first to respond with the correct answer to:

"Who was Jesus' grandmother?"

Here is her reply:

Jesus' grandmother was the mother of Mary - Ann was her name. Do I win? Being as how they were Jewish I guess she was the Bubbe.

50 points to Nonne and another 5 for being funny. She must get that from me.

Random Musings of A Two Year Old...

Thanks to Uncle B for the Obama-themed Luce picture. I think she looks quite presidential, don't you? Speaking of nonsensical things... We were just putting Luce down for bed and she turned to me and said, "I want to tell you a question" then proceed to construct an elaborate tale involving a boat, a fish and Dorothy (from the Wizard of Oz). There is so much stuff filling her little brain right now, it's just spilling over into cuteness right and left. What is not so cute are the 4:30 wake up calls, "MOMMMMYYYY I NEED MY BLANKKKKIEEE." Not cute at all. Don't worry, we're getting her back with pictures like this: In case you're wondering, Luce is sporting football covered pajamas that say "Daddy's Team" and an invention called the Turbi Twist (thanks Nonne) and yes, it is as awesome as the Sham-wow, or the Snuggie. We're hoping for those in our stocking next year. One last funny Luce story, then I'm off to the couch: so we have an ashtray with the picture of Jesus on it that says, "Jesus Hates It When You Smoke" (thanks Laura and Erin). Being the classy ladies that we are, it's sitting on our desk and Luce came across it the other day and pointed to Jesus and said, "He's crying. He's sad..." (he does look rather mournful) and she continued, "He's sad because he misses his grandmother." A bonus 50 points for you theologians out there who can name Jesus' grandmother. GO!

Look Kids, A Real President!

Ok so Lucia will most likely NOT remember this day, but her parents sure will. Against her protestations, we did dress her in red, white and blue (she wanted pink... of course). And I am happy to report that Lucia can identify our 44th President on the TV - "Look, it's Baaak Omama!" Besides spending time to savor this moment in history, we've been quite busy with some important events of our own, namely:

Anthony's 4th birthday party where Lucia literally jumped for joy. We had to drag her out of there. Perhaps we should invest some gymnastics equipment?

A fun visit from the Caseys and Rosellas. Lucia bonded with Luke, read with Paul and fell in love with Paige and all her girly accessories. I think the highlight of Luce's weekend was digging through Paige's purse and trying on her lip gloss. She really didn't want them to leave, and cried a bunch saying "it's hard to leave children." So true dear, so true.

Buying Lucia a big girl bed. In fact, she's sleeping in it for the first time tonight. Keep your fingers crossed! Update: she's already fallen out once, but don't worry, the mattress is on the floor so it didn't even wake her up!

Happy *hack* New *sneeze* Year *cough*

So the holidays absolutely knocked us on our collective butts. We all had the plague - - cough, fever, congestion, apathy (ok, maybe that last one was just me). Poor Luce, we spent all of Christmas day debating weather or not to take her to the emergency room. We didn't, but had to cut our trip short and bring her to the doctor just to be sure she didn't have TB (I mean her cough sounded like she had a 2-pack a day habit). Of course, despite her illness, Luce still managed to enjoy herself (adoring family, sugar and gifts will do that to a kid). Now that we're just about 100%, we have to adjust back to our work schedules and the daily grind. This break has been so nice and relaxing (Luce is even sleeping for us!), I'm not looking forward to Monday. Not one bit.