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!!

Welcome to the World, Max Peter

We are truly in love with our new son, Max Peter Morales. He entered the world two days before my due date. We left the house at 2:45 am and he was born at 4:27 am!!! Our lives are so blessed by this new addition to our family! We are all doing well and enjoying this very special time together. We are most grateful for the love and support of family and friends (especially our kind and generous moms who are taking great care of all of us) right now and thought we would share a few pictures of us as a family of four. Gio was sick and was unable to meet 'baby Max' in the hospital but he has welcomed him with open arms and plenty of kisses since we arrived home..... more to come soon!!

This might just be the cutest thing ever! He loves this silly dog!!

so very thankful

Thanksgiving-what a wonderful reason to stop from the hustle and bustle of this extra busy time of year and truly appreciate all of life's blessings. (I say extra busy time of year because I cannot believe how busy this fall/football/birthday/anniversary/Thanksgiving/baby season has been for this family).

Although different from any other, we had a truly wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday. We are used to-and certainly missed-extended family gatherings with too much food and non-stop fun and activities. However, due to my being 38 weeks pregnant, travel to visit either family was not possible and we enjoyed a very quiet holiday at home in Pittsburgh.

I said from very early on that I was not going to make a full Thanksgiving dinner for just the three of us but as one could guess-of course, I did! I did take a shortcut on making only a turkey breast and some purchased stuffing but the rest was from scratch and I'm somewhat pleased knowing that this far along into my pregnancy, I can still do a lot! Thankfully, I made the food and the mess and Bryan did the cleaning up afterward because if it were left up to me, the dishes would probably still be in the sink! I think the biggest hit was the homemade apple pie. Today at dinner Gio, who was eating his leftover turkey, gave me his plate and said 'apple pie'-he is just like his mother!! We ate early so that we were literally able to do nothing the rest of the day-a rare treat for Bryan and I. Gio truly loved having our undivided attention and a special treat of watching 'dogs' aka 101 Dalmations!

We cherished the day as a family of three, knowing that things are about to change very, very soon!! This is such a special time in our lives with Gio. It is so much fun to share in his world and we cannot wait to experience all of this joy again with another baby! We are so thankful for the blessings in our lives and yesterday was a great day to sit back, relax, and focus on just that.

Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all!!

Happy Birthday, Gio!

It is so hard to believe that two years ago today, we brought our little guy home from the hospital and our lives changed forever..for the better, of course!!

We had a great day celebrating our little boy this year and although it was a very low key celebration--it was still plenty busy. I find myself becoming much more tired much more quickly these days and Thursday was no exception but it was totally worth it to just see the joy in his face throughout the day.

Bryan and I have plenty of different family traditions from our upbringing. In regards to birthdays, he grew up opening presents first thing in the morning and I grew up opening presents after dinner and before cake. So, as we so often find ourselves doing, we compromised. Gio woke up to open a few gifts from his daddy's family and the rest were saved for the evening. He also received his kitchen from Aunt Carrie in the morning since daddy was so nice to put it together for him the night before. He loved all of his gifts and is so lucky to be loved by so many generous people!

I took Gio to a mommy and son breakfast at Panera and although Panera isn't that original, he really loved being able to take his bagel and sit at the fountain at a small indoor mall we have near our house. He threw in his obligatory pennies and had fun 'dip, dip' dipping his bagel in the cream cheese. He loves fountains and I wonder what he wished for on his special day! I know that I wished that special moment would not end. I truly love seeing his sweet personality emerge.

We also took Gio's two year old pictures on his birthday before we met daddy for lunch! What a treat that was for all of us! We love spending time as a family and have not been able to do that very often lately as Bryan has been very busy at work. It was nice to have lunch at a restaurant (Gasp) where one of us wasn't running around, someone brought us extra silverware to replace that which was dropped on the floor, refilled our drinks, and even did the dishes. It was glorious to sit down with my guys...I didn't want to leave but Redbeards probably wouldn't have waited on me all day. Oh, the name of the restaurant was Redbeard's, not the server.

The rest of the day was picture perfect-naptime, dinner as a family (this time at home), and cake time!! Gio waited patiently all day for his cake even though he wanted it as soon as he woke up because the previous day we told him 'tomorrow you can have cake'! Well, he is pretty smart and expected it immediately!!

At two years old, Gio has certainly reshaped our lives and I'm sure his baby brother will do the exact same all over again! We never imagined that we would find more happiness in staying home raking leaves or kicking a ball around the track then going out and spending money. He has certainly helped us become better people, enjoy the little things, and smile much more often. I have always been a relatively happy person but he brings so much more happiness into our lives-it is amazing. Every time he runs to give us a hug, says our name or just smiles at us melts our hearts. We are truly blessed parents of one amazing little two year old! Happy Birthday, Gio!!

The perfect Day

What a wonderful Halloween we had yesterday. Gio's Halloween fun started a little early with Aunt Carrie arriving on Friday night. He was adorable at the airport waiting for her, crying "Kah-eee" and was very disappointed when she was not included in the large groups of travellers coming down the escalator. When i told him he had to look for Aunt Carrie, he would put his arm over his eyes as though he was searching for her. Of course, when he did finally see her, he was shy as could be and only wanted mommy!! Although Friday was a beautiful fall day, Saturday was not so great!! We had plans to meet several friends for the Mt. Lebanon Halloween parade but that quickly turned into an impromptu Halloween party at our house because of the wind and rain. Although the kids probably would have had fun, their ages ranged between 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 and we knew that they would probably never remind us that we ruined their lives by not taking them to the parade!!! We all had a great time in the warm house with good friends and a sweet peacock, cheetah, lion, and dragon!! The kids all did amazingly well and played so nicely together. It was great to see Gio just have an all out fun day! There aren't many days when he is able to have a cupcake and cookie for lunch but he loved it and was totally in his element running around the house, energized by his little friends (and the sugar). Of course, the sugar and excitement meant that he did not nap but he was quite funny trying to wake daddy up from his!! Bryan was very sweet, leaving for work on a Saturday @ 5:45am so that he could be home to enjoy the festivities!! He enjoyed a great walk with Aunt Carrie, exploring every square inch of the street, every leaf, and every acorn he came across. I'm not sure who had more fun, though! It is so fun to see him explore his surroundings and soak in all that is around him. Our little lion loved his costume and when Carrie showed him his whiskers in the mirror, he thought he was a cat! He was excited to go 'tih-tea' and after the obligatory pictures, he set out with mom and dad to hit the neighborhood. Trick or treating started at 6 and he was home by 6:30!!! He was adorable and could have cared less about receiving candy from the neighbors, he just wanted to follow the big kids. As we walked in the street, he just said 'kids', 'kids' and would run after the other kids!! By the time he came home, we watched a little bit of the the Charlie Brown Halloween special (obligatory, we think) and he looked like the most tired little lion we have ever seen. I was just so impressed by what a great little boy he was yesterday and was so proud to be his mom. He had such a blast with his friends, playing with his Aunt and just enjoying the joys of being a little boy on Halloween. He has his big day on Thursday and we find so much joy in seeing Gio laugh at ring around the rosie, enjoy this simple things like a new pumpkin flashlight, and being an all around happy little boy that has steals our heart a little more every day!