Walk, Max, Walk

Run, Bryan, Run

Congratulations to Bryan on accomplishing a longtime goal and running the San Antonio Rock n Roll Marathon on November 14. Bryan has wanted to run a marathon for quite sometime but life always seemed to get in the way. I think it was much more exciting for him to do it now and have his biggest fan waiting for him at the end. I

like to think I am his biggest fan but Gio certainly wins that title. After months of training in the Texas summer heat and 6:00 a.m. darkness, Bryan smashed his 4 hour goal and finished the marathon in 3:35!!!

I am so grateful that Bryan did this as we had a wonderful weekend supporting him. Since there was rain predicted, Max made the executive decision to stay back with Bry's parents. He

probably knew that sitting in the stroller for hours was not going to be terribly exciting! Gio was a superstar and had a great time, cheering at all the runners on and telling me "I made a runner smile"..it was great. Since I am not very familiar with downtown San Antonio (OK, not familiar with it at all) we parked downtown and picked a few places to view but since those spots were while Bryan was running with the marathoners and half marathoners, we didn't get to see him at all. Although Gio was disappointed, I think I was disappointed even more. Hello, we made signs AND had a whistle. While the weather was chilly for San Antonio (in the 5o's) Gio and I passed the time and really enjoyed cheering everyone else and holding out hope to see Bryan.

We took a little break for coffee and rushed to the finish line. Actually we ran because I thought Bryan was going to just kill his goal so we didn't want to miss him. We were able to get to the Alamodome with plenty of time to see him at mile 26 of 26.2 and we cheered and cheered "go daddy, go Bryan, you're almost there". He gave us the thumbs up and he ran right past us. We found out later he didn't even see us! Oh well, we were glad to have seen him and maybe subconsciously gave him that extra push to make it up hill. Honestly, I'm pretty confident Bryan was mentally prepared to make it all on his own but we're glad to have been able to support him and witness him meeting that goal.

Even immediately after the race, Bryan was is much better shape than I ever would have imagined! He rested and then was able to get his well-deserved free beer! Congrats, Bry, on your determination to run a marathon even though every day there are obstacles standing in your way! I would like to say that I'll be doing that next, but I'm pretty confident in one thing: that's not going to happen!

Go Irish!

I haven't seen too many Irish fans in San Antonio, but I'm sure they are here.

Here's a clip of their biggest fans!!

A Balancing Act

I often find myself yearning for something new, a new book to read or new hobby to begin. I fall into the large population of ladies who while loving (almost) every minute of mommy-hood, still struggles to be their own person. Although my kids go to bed at 8pm, I am too tired from cleaning up spit-up, playing hide and go seek, laundry, dinner, snacks...you get it...to even think about reading a book or working on Max's Christmas stocking (yes, from last year..it was almost finished).

In my free time, I also find myself doing things for those darn kiddos, although I try to stop myself, I just can't avoid it! I have enjoyed every minute of Max's babyhood. I love seeing him growtime with and a huge blessing in my life. Although I don't want him to grow up too fast and watching his personality develop..he is truly a joy to spend , I am oddly excited that he has reached the baby food stage! Why would I be so excited to clean up bibs and clothes covered in sweet potatoes and cereal, one would ask? I do find so much joy in making all of his food on my own. Although it is a bit more challenging to find the time to do it with two kids in tow, I would rather do that at 9pm than sew the rest of Max's Christmas stocking...poor kid.

Although intimidating, the steaming, pureeing, and freezing of vegetables and fruits are so easy that even I can do it without screwing up. When in the kitchen, I screw up A LOT and I will readily admit it. Just yesterday I uglified a grape salad because the cream cheese was not at room temperature. a salad. that you don't have to cook. only me. oye.

Max was not a fan of plain cereal but perked right up and opened that toothy mouth quickly once bananas or sweet potatoes were added. He also loves the avocado and carrots we just started giving him. I'm looking forward to trying some of the famous Fredericksburg peaches this week, too! I almost guarantee that this stage of loving almost everything that goes in his mouth will switch to not wanting to eat anything ( a la Gio at times).

funny kids

Howdy Ya'll

We have been on quite a roller coaster lately but I wanted to give Max his appropriate boasting since he has been such a very busy 6 month old these last few days!!! After a wonderul visit in Indiana celebrating his baptism... ... Max just decided to grow up in a matter of weeks. He did not consult me in this decision and although Iwould have encouraged him to take a break from all of his growing, I am thrilled that this happy little boy is meeting such big milestones and I am so very proud of him! It brings me such joy to see the joy in his eyes when he does something new. I can't wait to be a part of all of these special moments in his life! May 30: First time in the swimming pool. He just loved it!! May 31: Scooted just a bit for the very first time. He looked like a little inchworm pushing himself with his legs. June 8: Started to crawl!! I can't believe at 6 months old he is full on moving all over the place. I thought I had a little bit more time to prepare before this happened , Max is on the move. Another item added to my job description is Referree because now Max immediately wants Gio's toys and Gio immediately wants Max's!! June 9: Max is 6 months old today!! Yaye! I can't believe how quickly this time has gone by and I'm so proud of this little boy. We have put him through quite a bit these past 6 months and he has adjusted beautifully. Although his sleeping patterns are not stellar, he is, by far, the happiest baby I have ever seen who always greets me with a smile. June 11: Tooth Watch comes to an end and Max gets his first tooth! We knew it was on the horizon but considering I thought he was going to get his tooth "any day now" for about two months, I'm glad it finally came! (from the time I started writing this to the time I actually posted it, about a 4 day span, Max got his second tooth :)) I hope to send more updates about both of our 'two boys' but this was certainly Max's moment to shine!

New Adventures

I had to laugh as I logged on and saw the title of my previous post "Our New Year Begins Today" and that was on January 20!! After a tumultuous (yet joyous with the arrival of our new little boy) 2009, we were looking forward to a calmer 2010 but that is not the case anymore. It is with mixed emotions that we have made the decision to leave Pittsburgh and move to San Antonio!!! Mostly, we are excited for Bryan's newest career opportunity and the ability to be closer to his parents and Texas friends. We can't wait to see Gio run around and play, play, play all day long. There are ranches and swimming pools just calling his name and we can't wait to witness all of these adventures perfectly suited for a little boy! However, there is some sadness in my heart to leave Pittsburgh, a city that has been very good to us the past 4 years. We arrived here just the three of us (lucca, of course) to a city where the only people we knew were each other. We learned our way around this hilly city, made some great friends along the way, experienced the excitement of buying our first home and then the pure joy of becoming parents for the first time. We experienced heartbreak - and I'm not talking about watching the Pirates :)-and learned that it is truly just as exciting to become parents for the second time. I will not only leave Pittsburgh with the wonderful man I arrived here with but with two beautiful boys and for that, Pittsburgh will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Moving day will be next week and I'm already sad about leaving our house where we welcomed our boys into our families, Gio took his first steps, said his first words, had his first sled ride with Grandpa, frequent visits with Aunt Betsy, etc. etc. As Bryan gently reminds me, we will take those memories along with us wherever home may be. Home, for me, is wherever life takes me with these three fabulous guys.

Our new year begins today!

Yes, I know that most everyone else celebrates new year on January 1st and usually so do we, but I think this year is going to be just a little different in this house. I have decided to make January 20, 2010 the beginning of our new year. We have had quite the year so far with Max ringing in 2010 with getting sick. It broke our hearts to wake up on New Years Day to hear our baby with a horrible cough. We called the doctor (of course it was a 3 day weekend) and we were doing everything right..humidifier-check, sleeping propped up-check, steaming him with the shower running-check, saline drops-check. Unfortunately, all of our preparedness didn't make the sweet pea feel any better and after both mom and dad 'slept' (no one really slept) on the couches next to him in the pack-n-play on Sunday night, we took him into the doctor first thing on a snowy Monday morning. His oxygen levels were borderline and the doctor admitted him to the hospital for observation. Of course, this sleep deprived/emotional momma cried but I knew it was for the best. Max had what is called RSV, a virus which causes bronchiolitis. Max's oxygen was low so he was put on immediately. His Oxygen levels were what kept us in the hospital for 5 day/4 nights. They would try every evening to take him off but he just continued to dip below acceptable numbers. When I say 'us' I mean Max and I. We were 2 peas in a pod in that hospital room all week. I never left that litle boy's side unless daddy was there to hold him. The nurses told me to take that opportunity to walk around but let's be honest-walking around a hospital isn't that much fun especially when that quiet time made me think of my little boy I was missing at home!! Although the week went slowly at times, Max showed improvement every day and that was the most important thing. It is funny because I am such an emotional person but I was ok with him being there and I knew it was the best thing for him. I am just so glad that we caught the virus early enough where it didn't turn into pneumonia or something equally as dangerous for such a little boy. This virus is very common and is the cause for most infant hospitalizations. It is ultimately a cold virus that his little body couldn't fight. We are pretty sure either Bryan or I brought it home on our hands or clothing, passed it on to John-Paul who was sick with it before giving it to Max who kindly gave it to me. John-Paul, just being two years older could handle it but Max couldn't fight it on his own. Although the week was stressful, we are so blessed to be home with our two healthy boys right now. We are so grateful for our family and friends who have kept us in their thoughts and prayers. We couldn't have made it through the week without Bryan's mom who came to take care of John-Paul while Bry returned to work. It has taken us (ok just me really) a bit longer to adjust to having two children and I am blaming the holidays and the hospitalization. As Max turns 6 weeks today, I'm ready to start anew. I'm ready to make sure we are all out of our pajamas when bryan comes home. I'm ready to enjoy every possible minute with these precious boys instead of wishing time to move forward to a day when they will both sleep at night. I'm ready...and I think everyone else in this house is, too. From Pittsburgh to you, Happy 2010!!