and we shall call it....

THE BUS!!!!!!!

We got the double stroller...it is HUGE! I am super thankful for my Grandma and Papa for purchasing this for us! Although the stroller is quite large when unfolded, it folds up nicely for putting in and out of the car! I am excited to put this sucker to use in just a few weeks! :-)

I am almost 36 weeks pregnant, and eager to have baby Maria make her appearance. We are busy finishing all the small touches on everything. We have the bed, dresser, and all the necessities. Greg is finishing the nursery! It looks AMAZING!! I cannot wait for him to be done with it, so I can post the pictures! It looks soooo good!

In other news...little man is just as busy as can be! I will post pictures of him later this week! Hubby Greg is super busy with work, and we just take advantage of as much family time as we can during this busy time of the year for him! More to come soon!

14 months!

Yet again...another month has FLOWN by so quickly! I can hardly believe Greg is 14 months, and I can hardly believe he will be a big brother in about one more month!! He is just growing so fast and learning and developing new skills each and every day! It is such a joy as we watch him explore and discover his world around him!! Here are some things my sweet baby is up to!

(Greg likes to crawl onto our coffee table and end tables now!)

*Greg is in size 12-18 month clothes.

*He is in size 4 diapers.

*He wears a size 5 shoe (big foot!)

*He has 10 teeth, including his back bottom 2 molars. His top ones are coming in now!

*He eats three good meals per day, and 2 snacks!

*He LOVES chicken nuggets, pizza, all fruit, cooked carrots, anything with cheese, cinnamon toast waffles, toaster strudels, sausage, and eggs...just to name a few favorites!

(hanging out in my toy box!)

*Greg LOVES to be outside! He would rather play outside, just walking around and exploring. He could care less that it has been 30 degrees out at times!

*Greg gives kisses to mommy and daddy...and Grammy...Papa sneaks one every now and then too!

*He loves to smell socks and shoes and make a stinky face!

*He likes to blow out candles. If he sees one up high he goes below it and starts blowing.

*Greg thinks that Christmas tree lights are fire too. He tries to blow out the tree ALL THE TIME!!

(bath time!)

*Greg LOVES the bath!! He would play in there all night if I let him!

*Greg loves whole milk and drinks two glasses a day! He drinks water the rest of the time! Every now and then, he gets some Gerber juice!

*Greg certainly has a sweet tooth, and will gladly take any dessert! He had his first taste of a churro last night at Frontera!

*Greg runs every where!!

*Greg went into the nursery at SJN while Greg and I were at Mass for the first time 2 weeks ago! He did GREAT! We go and get him before Communion so that he can get his blessing, too! *He likes to read on his own, and still loves reading with Mommy!

*He does not watch TV - maybe about 8 minutes in the morning when he first wakes up and is still in the snuggling mood!

(Tupperware fun!)

*Greg needs to learn to be less aggressive with other children! He is very rough when he plays with others! He pats them hard on the head with his hand or toys!

*He still loves to have his blankie with him....every where we go!

*He is very lovey with his stuffed animals and likes to hold them! His favorites are his moose, dog, beaver, and bear! (very manly animals)

*Greg uses his boopie for nap time and bed time. When he is teething, he wants it more often during the day!

*He is testing the limits with behavior. He responds to "no" and is very aware of the things he will get in trouble for doing or touching...but often times will do it, look at you, and just wait for you to respond...little stinker! :-)

(helping Daddy around the house!)

*Greg has GREAT receptive language skills! He is certainly good at letting me know his wants and needs...just not with words yet! He says mama and dada and yes...but he says yea instead. He makes the b sound for belly, baby, and blankie. We're working on it...

*Greg likes to dance to music!

*He is not a fan of getting his diaper changed...or any other activity that requires him to be still!

(little cutie!)

*Greg is non stop and is so curious about everything and how everything works!

*He likes to play with his trucks and his Little People animals! He also loves his ball pit! He likes to push his lawnmower and his ATV around the house!

*His hair is finally coming in and more evenly all the way around! :-)

*He likes to throw things...all sorts of things!

(YUMMM!!)

We have loved watching our sweet boy grow up! He is such a joy to be around! He is a GREAT baby! He eats well, sleeps through the night, and really only cries when he has a reason to be upset! He is learning new things and discovering things all the time! I cannot wait to see what next month has in store for us! :-)

Update!

The past week has been quite busy for us!

We are busy preparing things for Maria's arrival and I am having a blast picking out all of the girly stuff this time around. Greg is busy with getting room painted. I cannot wait to post the pictures when the room is done!! I am currently 33 weeks pregnant, and eagerly waiting the arrival of our sweet baby girl! All has been well this go around...Mommy and baby are healthy and moving along just as we should be. After my doctor's appointment last Wednesday, Greg and I decided to not make the trip up to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving. It was advised by the doctor that we not travel. I have been having some contractions at night, and with this, the doctor was more hesitant with me traveling in the car for so many hours, and being so far away from home, if labor were to happen! We are spending Thanksgiving Day with the Klaus family! We are very excited for this, as preparing my first bird while being 8 months pregnant was not sounding too exciting for me!

The little man is also doing great! He is growing so fast, and has been so great these past few weeks!! He's always great, but has been SUPER awesome as I have gotten bigger and am without the energy I had weeks ago! :-) Here are some pictures from his photo shoot with my Dad for his 1 year pictures! We opted to have my Dad take the pictures as money is better spent elsewhere for Greg and I right now! They turned out great...well once we got Greg to sit still! :-)

Not so sure about sitting during this whole process...

Maybe a close up??

How about we tear down this sheet?

Perhaps I can come to you for this...

Let's move this to the couch! As you can tell...he's not to thrilled with this!

He was not feeling the couch either!

At last!

And another one...

Back to the floor for some silly faces!

And then he started to cry, and wanted his blanket...and we were done!! :-)

Hubby Greg has been super busy with work, as it is the busy season at UPS. I have been busy with Grad school, and cannot wait until this class is over! 2 more weeks!!

More to come soon! May you all have a wonderfully blessed Thanksgiving!! :-)

There's a first time for everything...

...even our first black eye!

When the little guy started walking 3 months ago, I got used to the idea that his little cute head would be covered with bumps and cuts! I don't think I was prepared for the whole black eye thing...at least not until middle school! He was not involved in some massive fist fight defending my honor...no, not this time. Here's how it happened:

Hubby Greg and I had just begun to clean out Maria's room. Over the past three years, this room had become not only a guest room, but our storage space since we were without a basement. My dad had come over and helped Greg move my antique furniture out and to the storage unit. My mom and I had just gotten home from the bookstore, and we were off to give the little man a bath. As the water was running, I let Greg explore Maria's room...there wasn't anything in there that was harmful...really just a bunch of crap we had to go through!

On his exploration, he found a crucifix I had received after high school. This crucifix was a standing one and made of a nicer plastic. Greg picked Jesus up and held him with both hands straight in front of him and began processing our Lord around the upstairs! He was ADORABLE!! Future priest, perhaps??? He would not let Jesus go, and into the bathroom he went with Jesus all ready for bath time. I was in no mood for a fussy baby, so I let him hold on to Jesus as I undressed him. He had Jesus tightly in his hands, and tripped...Jesus hit the tub, Greg hit Jesus...right on his eye!!!! That's right...the only part of Jesus that was remotely sharp was His hand, nailed to the cross...and that hand, that saved all of man kind punched my baby in the face! (Okay, that was a dramatic statement!) Naturally, I ripped Jesus out of Greg's hand, as he SCREAMED!! He screamed and screamed and screamed. At this point, I had not realized the damage that was done, and put Greg in the tub with his toys to try and distract him from his pain.

After being in the tub for a few moments, I noticed something! "OH MY GOSH...HIS EYE is BLEEEEDDDING!!!!!!!!!" I was freaking out!!! Thank goodness my mom was there. In the midst of this discovery, I was ready to take him out of the tub, wrap in a towel, and head to the ER!! I was sick to my stomach and felt like the worse mother in the world. My poor baby was bleeding...from his EYE!!!!!!! Upon further inspection (from my mom because I was a mess) we discovered his eye lid was cut (on top, and a smaller cut below his eye). My mom explained that the ER would offer little help to me...she was right...no need to visit the ER. PS - At this time, Greg was super happy and enjoying bath time!

I bathed him and got him ready for bed...still feeling very guilty about his pathetic looking face that was still oozing blood!! I rocked him to sleep, cleaned up the dried blood...and then took this picture!

The purple thing on the eye lid is the cut from that hand of Jesus. You can also see the smaller cut below his eye!

Now as expected, the next day it began to bruise. I picked him up from his crib that morning and first noticed a small amount of dried blood on his sheet! My poor baby was bleeding in his sleep! :-(

These pictures were taken at breakfast...so pathetic!

These morning pictures really do not do justice to what it looked like. Since the top of the eyelid was what was really bad, most of the damage was hidden when his eyes were open!!

And that's that...our first black eye. Nothing heroic...just some innocent processing with Jesus gone bad!!

God Bless You!!

Greg LOVES it when he sneezes, and we say, "God Bless You!" He thinks this is the funniest things in the world. We have no idea why! He also loves it when other people around him sneeze. It just cracks him! He's weird...I know! :-) After hearing others sneeze, or when he sneezes, he tries to recreate the moment! He has mastered the fake sneeze! It is SO funny, and so dramatic...where does he get that from??? :-) Here is a picture of him recreating that perfect

moment!

This dramatic tilt back is followed by and even more dramatic tilt forward with lots of spit noises! :-)

Halloween 2010

We had a blast one Halloween as we took our little Superman out and about! He was just adorable and had so much fun...and slept so good that night! :-)

Both of our parents came over to watch Greg go out and about for his first time trick-or-treating! Last year, he was all of one month old so we didn't take him out! He LOVES walking outside, and loved walking around our street, although he had no idea what was going on! At one house, they put the candy bowl in front of him, and he picked out one piece and through it in his bucket! It was so cute, and we were so proud!! He will be a pro next year!

All ready to go!!

SUPERMAN!!!

Dressed up with Daddy!

Ready to head out!

Reading with Mommy before we head out!

Family shot by our pumpkins!

Hubby did a GREAT job!

Off we go!

First stop...Michael and Nicole's!

Now to Brian and Pam's!

Sharing my candy with the neighbors!

Greg and his buddy Dominic!

As close as we could get to getting a shot of both of the cuties looking at the camera!

Until next Halloween....

Tempted....

Tis' the season?? Almost!! I LOVE the Christmas season...everything about it!! I was so tempted today to start blasting Christmas music in my car. I withheld this temptation. I am so excited for the season to get in full swing! I LOVE Christmas and winter, and cannot wait to share these joys with my little man, again!

Some things I love about this time of year: Jesus' big bday! Christmas music, decorating, apple cider, fun scented wintery candles, Christmas music, fires in the fireplace, Christmas parties, Christmas baking, did I mention Christmas music?? :-) I love shopping for my family or making gifts for loved ones! I look forward to Christmas Mass every year, and find so much joy in my heart each time I look at my Nativity!

I have already watched ELF once so far...it's true...I caved the other night! It was so good, and I enjoyed every moment of this wonderful holiday classic! :-)

Although this holiday is ridiculously commercialized, I try hard not to fall into the craziness and keep the focus on preparing my heart and soul for the arrival of JESUS!! I cannot wait for Advent to begin, so I can strive to deepen my faith and journey with others in preparing for December 25th!