Thanks, Joe!

Joe Paterno died earlier today.  He was 85.  Unbelievable.  Never thought I would see this day, and yet here it is.  Thanks for all of the memories.  Penn State football will never be the same.

Happy Eleventh Month Birthday Matthew!

My sweet little boy is now eleven months old.  He has become very cuddly with me.  When I ask for a kiss, he leans in to me so I can kiss his cheek.  When I ask for a hug, he wraps his little arms around me and puts his head on my should for a great big hug.  How precious!  He has 3.5 teeth now--front two on the bottom and one front on the top and the other front one is about to come in.  He is crawling everywhere which makes my day a little more interesting.  He has found the steps by the front door and loves to climb them, giggling the whole way up.  He loves to eat meatballs, chicken, and turkey hotdogs.  Unfortunately he seems to have changed his mind about his fruits and vegetables.  Doing my best to read him some stories at night, but he is still too interested in nursing.  He loves to pull things out of the laundry basket.  Today all of Robert's clothes that I put in the basket were on the floor.  Yes, Matthew got to them.  Matthew and I went to Kindermusik this afteroon.  He is Mr. Social butterfly!  I love taking him because he loves the music and smiles the entire class.  What a happy kid.  Love you Matthew.  Thanks for bring so much joy to our lives!

Happy New Year 2012!

We spent a festive New Year's Eve again at the Rivers Club.  Dinner was great, and the kids had a wonderful time at the Carnival.  Robert was Mr. Athlete; he hit the basketball shots, made the baseball and frisbee throws, and he hit the bell with the hammer several times.  Annalese enjoyed dancing and playing golf.  Even Matthew liked the festivities.  He didn't get tired at all!  It was fun spending time with the family and Aunt Kacki.  It will be a very big year again for our family.  Matthew turns one, Mom turns forty.  Robert enters Kindergarten.  Plus there will be many more memories made.  Happy New Year!

New Year's Day was quiet for us.  Stayed home and had a low key day.  We did go to see the Hartwood lights.  The kids really enjoyed it, and it was a nice family activity.  Welcome 2012.

Christmas Day 2011

Well, what should have been one great day with opening presents from Santa and enjoying Matthew's first Christmas started with mom getting sick at 6:15 AM.  I caught the virus that Annalese had the week before.  Fun.  Matthew was up early so I broght him to our bed to feed him and then he crawled around for a bit on the bed with dad and me.  Boy was he cute and in the best mood.  His little baby coos made me smile!  It took awhile for Annalese and Robert to wake up, but they were excited to see what Santa brought.  I was able to enjoy the excitement for about 10 minutes, but then I had to go to be because I was so sick.  So the family finished opening gifts while I rested.  I opened my presents in bed.  We ended up staying home for the rest of the day.  The kids were able to play with their toys  for the day.  It was not what I thought, but I was glad to have my family around for Christmas day. 

Merry Christmas

What an exciting time of year!  To start our holiday, we joined Uncle Pino and Aunt Linda for a Chrsitmas Eve dinner.  Robert ate two bowls of pasta, Annalese enjoyed her smelts, and Matthew devoured a couple of small meatballs, carrots, and some pasta.  Then we were off to church so Annalese could participate in the Christmas story.  She was an angel in the Children's Choir and wow was she cute.  I enjoyed seeing her smile.  After church, we came home and changed for bed.  We all wanted to Santa to come so we read some stories and crawled into bed for a good nights sleep!  Can't wait to celebrate with Matthew on his first Christmas morning!

Happy Ten Month Birthday, Matthew

Yesterday, Matthew turned ten months.  He has grown so much over the last four weeks.  He has been talking more and more.  His word list consists of "da da," "ba ba," "pap pap," and sort of "ma ma."  He waved last week to himself in the mirror and did the sign for "more." (12/16/11)  His favorite game is peek-a-boo.  Bath time is great fun at this age since Matthew loves to splash in the water.  He loves to throw his toys quite vehemently I might add.  It is so funny to watch.  When he is sitting and now standing, he loves to do this bounce motion.  When we say "ya ya ya," he does it more--so cute!  Matthew is everywhere and into everything.  He has figured out how to open the cabinet doors in the kitchen and has begun to pull items out to the floor.  Fun!  He likes to climb on things so I need to be extra careful.  I think he is going to be another very social child.  In Kindermusick, he is so comfortable that he leaves me and crawls around to see all of the other babies.  He still continues to smile at everyone.  He is such a Happy Baby!

We Have a Talker!

Tonight at dinner, it very much sounded like Matthew said "da da."  Barto was even here to hear it!  It said it a few times so that was how we were pretty sure he got the sounds out.  How adorable!  I can't believe he is starting to "talk!"  (Of course he now needs to say Ma ma.  It is only fair since I spend all day talking with him!)  Way to go Matthew Man.  So proud of you!