This past week

has been quite eventful. With a gorgeous day in San Antonio last Friday, I took the boys to the Botanical Gardens. I found it to be quite lovely and even in January, there was quite a bit to walk around and see. I'm not sure how lovely Max thought it was, he could have really been bored out of his mind but he never let me know. As always, he was smiling, pointing and exploring his new surroundings. Gio, on the otherhand was quickly bored of walking around the paths. I could sense his boredom and asked if he was having fun. His response: No mommy, when will you take me to the kid toys? I certainly didn't want a bored Gio to turn into a cranky Gio so we continued our adventure at the zoo. Since Bryan had pretty much worked every day since returning to Texas from the holidays, we were able to meet up with him on his lunch break and enjoy San Antonio in January.

Here's a few pics of that beautiful day:

Now, fast forward a week to chillier days. We laughed when people acted as though it was cold out (not in their faces, of course). Hellooo, these boys were born in Pittsburgh in November and December. We can do winter but this is really Fall weather in the midwest. We made it out to the zoo again this week We were pleasantly surprised to wake this morning up to see snow on the ground AND Bryan home on a snow day. When I say 'snow', I mean that the streets and sidewalks were covered but the grass was dusted. However, ,it is a big deal here so everything was shut down and it was a fun time for us. We had great fun playing in the snow and I think Gio made 15 snow angels on the driveway. Both boys enjoyed being able to play in the street-what a treat!

Bryan was home until 2pm but being the responsible employee that he is, went in to work for the remainder of the day as the ice was thawed by that point and the highways re-opened. We had a delightful time playing in the snow as Gio misses it tremendously and his mom does, too! I really enjoyed a quiet snow day, especially when we least expected it! These boys couldn't look any happier!

Some days I struggle to accept our surroundings here in San Antonio. In my defense, we have a home in Pittsburgh that we fell in love with as soon as we saw it....and we're still paying for it. This home welcomed our two little boys into this world and was the place where we became a family of three and now four. I try to focus on the many blessings in our lives but some days are easier than others. Yesterday, however, was not one of those days. It was 80 degrees in San Antonio. It was January 30! We had a beautiful day taking a sunny ride to Boerne, a little town about 40 minutes away. We ate lunch outside and Gio was even able to feed some ducks at the river across the street. Right now, I'm taking the time to remember yesterday and make new memories today.

Here We Go Steelers, Here We Go!

I remember our first winter in Pittsburgh, the Bears went to the Superbowl against the Colts and I made my Blue and Orange cupcakes for work and donned my Orange skirt to the office and no one else really cared. I wasn't quite ready to be a Steelers fan but I knew it would come with time. Come on, our first born was born on a Monday night Steelers game--it was inevitable!!

Today, just a few short years later, my two boys and I wore our Bears apparel, only to be disappointed. NOTE: if we actually HAD Steelers apparel they would wear that, too, but their grandparents do not live in the 'burgh therefore don't buy Steelers jerseys!! Gio did wave his terrible towel before calling it a night! Although I simply respond to Gio's desire to move back to his house in Pittsburgh with an 'I'm sorry, honey'...I would love to be there now to cheer them on!!!!

Gio cannot wait for Max to be old enough to tackle him, but he is pretty tricky and walks up to Max like he will give him a great big bear hug, which undoubtedly turns into a tackle!!

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).