baby morales

What a whirlwind of a couple of weeks we had had this month! Bryan and Gio enjoyed their visit to Arizona to spend some time with Bryan's parents in beautiful Flagstaff. Although it was rough for me at first, we all survived the seperation...some better than others :) Once they arrived back in Chicago, we packed up to come home to Pittsburgh but had an unexpected stay in Sandusky, Ohio with some car problems. Although we didn't have the opportunity to take in Cedar Point, we made it home in time for our ultrasound with baby #2! With Gio, Bryan wanted to find out the sex but I did not want to so I told him that he could find out for the next baby. So, for the past two years, bryan has had the time to weigh his decision. Bryan said he enjoyed not knowing so much with Gio, that he probably wouldn't want to know, and of course, I did!!! Although I was torn, I felt comfortable with whatever decision Bryan made. Well, the day before our ultrasound, he told me that he did not want to make the decision, that I could. ALthough very nice of him, that was way TOO MUCH PRESSURE!!!!! It would have been one thing if I had been given advance notice, but the night before? What was he thinking. Seriously, we were in the parking garage of the hospital when he told me he was not going to make a decision either way-oh, the stress. While in the waiting room, I suggested we flip a coin. Heads-we find out, Tails-we don't. It was tails. I think I said with some drama for added flair 'oooooh, it's tails' in the same tone that you would expect eyore to say it. I think that if our summer was a little less eventful than it has been, I would have been perfectly happy waiting for December to find out our baby's gender, but I was in the mood for some happy news! Once we walked into the room, we were still unsure and the tech said she could write it down for us if we chose to look at it later. Who are we kidding? If anyone reading this knows me just a little you would know that would be a waste of time, I would open it before we got to the car. So, we (err, I, with bryan's blessing) decided to find out the gender and we're so excited to welcome a baby BOY into our hearts and our home this winter!!!! In addition to being thrilled, there is some nervousness-two boys-yikes!! I thought having a girl might give me a break from the non-stop energy of boys. Maybe they will run around together so much, it might give me a break-yeah, right. I think that a houseful of boys gives me a perfect excuse for more frequent spa trips and girls weekend....I'm going to start convincing bryan of that now!! In all seriousness, we are just overjoyed to have been able to see pictures of our healthy baby boy and know that in about 20 weeks, our lives will be twice as blessed with his arrival.

Happy Birthday, America!

We are so excited to spend the 4th of July holiday with my parents and family in Munster. We arrived on Thursday and have been having fun relaxing, playing with the dogs, and trying to catch Gio before he puts another bruise on his forehead or his knees (i have lost track this week alone). Today brought back a flood of childhood memories as we took the little guy to his very first parade. This is the ideal parade to take a toddler to, it is at the end of the street and lasted about 10 minutes! The parade literally consisted of The Color Guard, 1 Boy Scout troop, 4 firetrucks, and about 60 neighborhood kids riding their decorated bikes. We had a blast when we were kids decorating our bikes with crepe paper and waving to our parents as they proudly watched from the sidewalk. So, today, it was so sweet for me to take my son to the parade that was such a big part of my childhood. It was also nice because all of the children other than Gio were actually IN the parade so he received full attention from the firemen and the kids in the parade. He was not phased by the loud noise and just loved the firetrucks. We have been reading him "Curious George goes to the Fire Station" every day for the past month so I'm sure he was looking for a curious little monkey to be on top of the truck! Some adorable kids even had their own stash of candy they threw him but we split up the tootsie rolls (a parade necessity) between the adults. Since he was not in the parade, he missed out on the juice box and Ho-Ho's at the end but he was worn out and ready for a nap! Although we had hoped the rain would stop for the afternoon parade as the weathermen suggested it would, they were of course wrong and the rain persisted. We braved more rain for the Munster parade and Gio loved watching the firetrucks,the big bands, and most importantly, Grandpa, marching in the parade! The rain didn't bother him, he did not want to leave and so enjoyed every aspect of the day! Bryan did make me cry at the parade (ok, first the Pearl Harbor survivors made me cry) because he commented that it is sad to think this is one of our last holidays with him as an only child. We are elated to welcome a new addition to our family but we are trying to make the most of every minute with our sweet little boy before he becomes a big brother in December. I look forward to many more occassions of celebrating holidays like this as a family of four, making their childhood memories and waving to them proudly from the sidewalk! We are truly blessed to live in this great country and I am so grateful for all the men and women who have fought to maintain our freedoms. I may go have another piece of cheesecake to celebrate just that:)