A New Year, A New Day

I cannot believe that we are, for the most part, well into this new year full of so much potential. We began our new year with a trip to the pediatrician for Max who caught his brother's cough but it was a little bit more rough on him. I'm always worried that the RSV he had last year at this time will make him more prone to respiratory infections--and I was right. Poor little guy has Bronchiolitis, the children's form of bronchitis. He was given a nebulizer and we had to give him treatments for four days and the doc. thought he should have improved at that point. Unfortunately, he didn't really improve so we headed back to see the doctor who also prescribed an oral steroid to help his lungs open up. He began to improve but also began to despise the breathing treatments. He would not let me near him with the little mask and it became quite the struggle and stress for us all. As a mom, there is not much worse than seeing your child in pain and it broke my heart to see him struggle to return to better health. We returned to the pediatrician on Friday and the good news is that his lungs sound much better and we can start to do without the treatments but he has a new ear infection. This is his very first ear infection and I'm just so glad we lasted almost 14 months without one of those. Big brother was a little jealous that he wasn't checked by the doctor because cough, cough he didn't feel well either. Well, wouldn't you know, the perfectly healthy boy woke up Saturday with a horrible cough and coughed so much, he made himself sick. Pobrecito Gio. Today as I type, Max is napping and Gio is enjoying his nickjr marathon. He is a good sport and no matter how much I try to put him through a tv detox session, he is quiet, resting, drinking, and recovering from a really crummy night--something we both need. Unfortunately, this crazy month comes for us on the homestead while Bryan's job is equally, if not moreso, crazy. He is putting in long hours, sometimes not seeing the kids at all in a given day, but working hard to support our family and we all appreciate that very, very much. Every day is a new day and we are working very hard to make the most of it, embrace this special time with our beautiful boys. Even if that special time comes as a quiet moment to stop and watch them sleep, every moment is a special one.

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.