Austin Visit

Here is the hot mama outside her new home. Gorgeous, right?

Here we all are inside Kel's house - can you believe we all used to teach together? Good ole fun days! (Not the teaching part - just the hanging out together).

On Tuesday, Anna, Tanya, Laura and myself headed out to visit our friend Kelly that lives outside of Austin. Kelly has recently moved into a house that she and her husband designed together and had built.

The drive to and from Austin was fun - I got to catch up with my old Poe friends - without having to worry about the 3G's - they stayed at home with their Nonna.

Kelly's new house is absolutely gorgeous - what an inspiration for me to see that it can actually be done!

Unfortunately, we could only stay for lunch and then we had to take off - a 3.5 hour drive awaited.

My Angel

My sweet happy baby is now 3 months old.

She has grown so much these past few weeks - there is so much that she can do!

She can now vocalize, or coo, and of course, the first time that I heard her do this I thought that there was something wrong with her - I ran over to her and realized that she was just trying to speak. I also heard a deep belly laugh that very same day while we were playing peek a boo. Just recently, she has discovered her hands - it is the cutest thing watching her look/stare at her hands - she is so fascinated by them. She will be crying and then notice her hands and suddenly just stop crying in order to look at them! The funniest thing.

Georgina loves to smile and laugh. She has really been smiling since birth when I thought that it was just gas - but now I know that it is who she is - a happy smiling baby. Her only vice is that she loves to be held - all the time. My mother says that it is my fault for spoiling her and holding her too much. But how can you hold a baby 'too much'? I don't get it.

Because she loves to be held so much, it is a challenge to put her down in her crib to sleep. I will rock/nurse her to sleep and as soon as I try to put her in her crib she wakes up and the cycle starts all over again until she gets so exhausted that she finally just gives in to it. She fights sleep in order to be held. I need to try to fix this somehow but not sure how -

Once Georgie gets to sleep, she will sleep for about 5 hours straight on most nights. Then there are those nights that she wants to be fed every 3-4 hours - nothing consistent yet!

Grandparents Day

Tuesday before Thanksgiving was Grandparents Day at the girls school. The Gs enjoyed showing off their work and their school to the grandparents.

My girls are so blessed - all four of their grandparents went to their school and are also a huge part of their lives. They have such supportive, loving and caring grandparents that love them so very much. How incredibly fortunate we all are! We are thankful for them.

Picture Perfect

I wanted to take the girls picture for our holiday cards. I thought that it would be such a cute idea to get all three of them together in one photo. I actually had a photographer friend take their photos but she was not able to get them all in one shot. She was able to get cute ones of the three of them individually but not all together.

Of course, I thought that I could do it - I could get all three of them to sit still long enough for me to take their picture. So, yesterday, I got them all dressed up in their CHristmas dresses again, brushed their hair, begged them to keep the bow in their hair, prayed that their dresses did not get too wrinkled, took all three outside, chased them around in the yard, fought off mosquitoes, got them to sit down on the red blanket, and took 3 pictures before I figured it was hopeless.

On the last shot, Giuliana had run off to see how she looked in the camera. She has figured out that once she gets her picture taken, she can see it inside of the camera. So, she always runs over to me to look at her picture once it has been taken. Such a showoff.

Georgie's 2 month Dr. Apt

Although you can't tell in this picture, she loved looking at herself in the mirror.

My happy baby - she is so sweet!

So this time, I made sure that the camera was in my purse before we went to the Dr.

Georgina did as well as can be expected at the Dr. office. We had to wait quite a bit before we saw the Dr. so she was a bit restless. As soon as we were in the room, I was able to nurse her and she was as happy as can be - until she got her vaccines.

Her stats:

Head - 15' - 30%

Height - 21.25 - 10%

Weight - 9lbs 11.5 oz (although we cheated a bit since she was nursed before she was weighed - which is their fault for having us wait forever) 25%

She is definitely growing - and is on the charts - she apparently was not even on the chart on her last visit.

Georgina loves to laugh and smile, she loves being in her stroller and going on a walk, she loves being held and rocked to sleep. She also loves to listen to her sisters scream and yell - in fact, she will not sleep if her sisters are around - prefers to stay up and listen to them.

My sweet little is also sleeping so much better at night. She will sleep up between 5-7 hours - she usually will fall asleep between 9-10:00, wake up at about 2:30 - 3 nurse, and then sleep until almost 7:00. We are all getting so much more sleep!

Halloween

Halloween was such a beautiful and busy day. We started the day by going to our neighbor's birthday party. Then, we went to the air show on Ellington Field. Michael's company had sponsored a tent so we all needed to make an appearance. In the above picture, Giuliana is looking at the Pearl Harbor reenactment. The air show was fun but so loud - signs were posted all over to warn people to wear the earplugs. Of course, my girls would not wear them so Michael and I ended up covering their ears each time a plane flew over us!

My little fairies ready to go trick or treating - we are on our way to my brother's house. I had put Giuliana's wings on upside down!

Later, Nonno and Nonna dropped by to see the girls.

My sweet Georgie - she stayed a home!

Fall is Here!

Just a few things we have been doing these past few weeks . . .


Learning the color orange and the word 'pumpkin'.

If you're happy and you know it clap your hands . . . the girls love the song and the movements.

We are really enjoying the cooler weather and being able to get outside more.

Breakfast over at Tony and Rosie's house - the girls had fun playing with Queenie (the doggie).

Trying on our Halloween costumes - hoping that it won't fall apart before Halloween.

Standing up on the stools to wash their hands and teeth - such big girls!

Riding our cars over at Nonna's house

Happy One Month Georgina

My sweet little Georgie turned one month yesterday. How quickly this month has gone. I can't believe it - growing up so fast already. She received a swing for her one month birthday - and I finally gave in and gave her a pacifier. Although, I am not sure she really likes either one!

Georgina (and Mommy) is doing so much better at nursing - yippee! She is also sleeping a little better during the day and night. She is not sleeping through the night - we are far from that - but some nights are better than others. I am learning (somewhat) to sleep in 2-3 hour spurts.

When placed upon her tummy, Georgie can lift her head and turn it from side to side. She can also, with her eyes, follow an object moving from left to right (object must be pretty close to her head). What a smart girl!

First Dr. Visit

Obviously, the above picture is of the twins at their 2 week appointment with the Dr. I could not take a picture of Georgina on her first Dr. visit because somebody took the camera out of my purse - even though he denies it! Soo, just imagine Georgie in the same room.

At our 2 weeks appointment with Dr. Boardman - all was well. Little Georgie weighed in at 7 pounds 2 oz she gained one pound since her release from the hospital (at birth, she weighed 6lbs 6.1 oz but left the hospital at 6lbs 2 oz).

Other Stats:

Height 19 - 3rd percentile

Weight 7lbs 2 oz - 5th percentile

Head - 14 - 10th percentile

She is so tiny!

Dr. B said that she was doing well - and that she did not have thrust. I feared that she had thrust due to the fact that she had a white covering over her tongue and also because she is such a poor little nurser (lactation consultant called her a 'lazy nurser' BUT I do not believe my child is lazy). According to Dr. B, the white covering over the tongue was milk residue.

I was glad to hear that all was going well with the little one. Gisella and Giuliana, on the other hand, came with Michael and me to the Dr. visit - we wanted them to get checked out since they both have been congested for quite some time. Both of the girls have ear infections - YIKES poor babies.

Home Sweet Home

Going home with our new baby girl -

Here she is - outside our front door - finally home.

What great sisters!

The girls' first meeting with Georgina at the hospital. They kept pointing at Georgina and saying "baby".

Labor Day '09

Here she is - little Georgie!
This is me after the epidural - finally relief - after such a hard day!
Before the epidural - taking deep breaths.

On the afternoon of Saturday, September 5th, we all went to Mimi's house for dinner. We grilled steaks and corn on the cob - the girls ran all over the house and made a huge mess dragging toys everywhere.

When we got home, Michael bathed the girls, we read to them and then bedtime. MG and I were going to watch t.v but Michael decided to go to bed early - claimed he was not feeling well. I stayed up to watch my recording of Project Runway. At about 10ish, I decided to turn in also and went to bed.

At 10:30, I started to feel a little different. Throughout the pregnancy, I had contractions at night. Usually they were not painful and did not last for very long. These seemed to keep coming back and, although they were not painful, they were definitely uncomfortable. At about 11ish, I decided to give up trying to sleep and walk around to see if they would go away. They did not - in fact, they seemed to be getting stronger and they were coming at about every 8 minutes.

My doctor had told me to count contractions and call the hospital if I had more than 6 in one hour. So, I stayed up to count and in the meantime, watched SATC reruns.

At about 2:00 a.m., MG came in the room and asked what I was doing. I told him about the contractions and he told me to call the hospital. Once I called the hospital, the on-call Dr. told me to come in - that I could be in labor and needed to be monitored.

Well, I did not think that I was in labor - I attributed the contractions to "false labor" pains. Besides, who was going to take me to the hospital? I did not want to have to ask someone to come and stay with the girls in the middle of the night, only to be turned away by the hospital. MG and I decided that I would drive myself to the hospital and if it was anything, then we would call someone to stay with the girls.

By this time, my contractions were definitely more painful. So, I drove myself to the hospital and checked myself in. After being monitored and checked, I was told that I was not in labor OR that I could be in the very early stages of labor. I was also given some fluids since I could be dehydrated. Either way, I was being released from the hospital - told to go home and walk around and drink water.

So, I drove home - with contractions - still painful. Once I got home, I called my mother and told her what was going on - I also asked her to come and pick up the girls. I was functioning on no sleep and MG was still not feeling well.

Throughout the day, I was still having the contractions - I called the hospital and again the Dr. told me to lie on my side, drink water and call when the contractions were 5 minutes apart.

My contractions were never 5 minutes apart - at least not when I measured them at home. At 10:00 at night, I could not take the pain anymore and MG and I drove to the hospital. At the hospital, they told me that the contractions were 3-4 minutes apart and that I was 5cm dilated - which meant - baby was coming!

I was given an epidural for the pain - YEAH! and I got to see Mimi, Grandpapi, and Nonna before I got wheeled away into the OR. Baby Georgina arrived at 12:59 a.m. weighing in at 6 lbs 6.1 oz. with a head full of dark black hair.

The Final Countdown!

I can't believe it - only six days before baby G's arrival. My C-Section is scheduled for September 10th. In some ways this pregnancy has gone by rather quickly - and in others - it has been way too long - at least during the summer.

For the past few weeks (months) I have been trying to get ready for the baby's arrival. It has been rather easy - I have just about everything that I need for her - I needed only to wash clothes, reorganize closets, make room inside drawers, replace batteries on bouncies etc., wash and sterilize bottles and assemble a bassinet. There are a couple of things that I still need to get - but nothing that is urgent.

I have also been trying to get the twins ready for school . . . oops, I mean MDO!

The twins are starting the same week that I am due. My poor babies - they will have two lifechanging events happen in the same week. The girls will be going to MDO two times a week from 9-2 (or until Giuliana decides it is time to come home). There is so much to do just with them starting school - for school, they need nap mats, plastic lunch containers, closed toe shoes with rubber soles, blah, blah, blah. I hope that I am done with it all! I needed to get it all done before next week - afer that - who knows when I will be able to do anything at all.

Although a newborn is such a challenge, I am so looking forward to meeting the little one. I can't imagine what she will be like - the twins are so completely opposite one another. She will be her own person - my little G. Can't wait to meet you!

Our Poe Visit

Last Friday, the girls and I went to visit our friends at Poe Elementary School - where I used to work. I really wanted to see everybody before school started and I thought that the girls would have fun running in the hallways. Well, it did not work out that way. In fact, the girls were not as enthusiastic as I was about the visit. They had a real hard time - they were overwhelmed I think - too many people in a new environment.

In the pictures above, we were in Barb McClintock's classroom. Barb is a fifth grade teacher and we used to be on the same team. Barb had given the girls some math manipulatives and the girls enjoyed playing with them - and by playing I mean opening up the bags and throwing the pieces all over the classroom. Which is how they play a lot of games.

Thank You Kimberly

I was having a little bit of trouble with making dinner at night. I needed a little bit of time to complete dinner without the girls hanging onto my leg or making a complete mess in the kitchen.

I read Kimberly's blog and saw how she dealt with the same problem - her solution was to put in a video. At first, I also was a little opposed to them watching t.v. - but seriously - in this heat - is there really an alternative?

On to Borders I went to purchase an educational video for the girls. Kimberly posted that Sesame Street was a hit in her house - so I thought that it would work for my girls also - and it did! The girls love the video - and I get about 30 minutes to make/complete dinner. Okay, so sometimes I cheat and I rewind the DVD back a little bit - but seriously - no more than an hour! My mother reassured me that I learned a lot when I watched Sesame Street as a child.

There is a part in the video where there is a man playing the guitar while singing "La Bamba". Little sheep puppets join in on the chorus "Ba ba bamba" - the girls sing along to this. Of course it's more like "Ba ba ba" when they sing it but still. I also hear them sing this same song in their cribs before falling asleep at night! Pretty cute!

Isabella

Isabella is our fabulous 8 year old neighbor that lives across the street from us. On Wednesday afternoons, she comes over and plays with us - and the Gs absolutely love her. This summer, our other neighbor, Ally, who also lives across the street, came over with her. Ally is a little older than Isabella but just as wonderful.

This Wednesday will be Isabella's last since she will be starting dance class that meets on Weds. afternoons, and with the new baby coming, we will have to figure out how it will all play out.

I am sad that it is her last Wednesday. Isabella has been coming over for quite some time. I believe since before the girls could even crawl and have had so much fun with her.

I am sure that we will have many more opportunities for play - but it will be different than what it was.
Thank you Isabella!

First Haircut

On Friday, Michael and I took the girls to get their first official (much needed) haircut. I have cut a little bit of their hair before Friday, but not too much since Michael was opposed to them getting their hair cut (don't ask me why). I had visions of my poor girls looking like Kate Hudson's son.

I had made a few comments to him recently about their hair and he finally relented and gave us his okay. Since it was their first hair cut, I did not want to do it without Michael. I knew that he would be upset if I had done so behind his back. I would not feel right about taking the girls without him.

The above pictures are 'before' the cut. As you can see, poor Gisella's vision was impaired since her hair fell over her eyes. She was also starting to grow a mullet. Giuliana's hair just needed a little trim - her hair is really curly and looks shorter - she also has a calick that prevents her hair from falling onto her face. I was mostly wanting Gisella to get her hair cut since it did cause a vision impairment.

Here is Gisella getting her hair cut - she was not happy about it - when we first placed her in the hair cutting chair, she started to cry. She soon stopped once her Daddy took her and held her in his lap. I think that the big chair scared her a bit. My husband, of course, told me that we were 'torturing them'. Whatever.

After Gisella had such a difficult time, we were nervous about Giuliana's turn - since she is more sensitive than her sister. Giuliana surprised us all - she did not cry one bit - but she did make things difficult by continuously trying to turn her head in order to look at whatever Alma (the stylist) was doing.

Our first official haircut is over. The entire process took no longer than fifteen minutes. This picture was taken 'after' the haircut. Gisella's hair is no longer covering her little face. Also, when Gisella was finished with her haircut, she continued to look at herself in the mirror and smile. I think that she really likes her new little bob!

After the haircut, we all went out to dinner to celebrate - yeah!!

Lunch with our sweet cousins

Nonno and Nonna just returned from their trip to Italy yesterday. Nonna has been gone for almost two months and Nonno for one. The girls were excited to see them once again.

Today we had lunch with Nonna, Nonno, Tony (my brother), Larissa (my sister in law), and their three kids. Here they all are having so much fun at lunch. What a crazy mess. I felt sorry for the people sitting next to us! Luckily, the restaurant got us in and out very quickly.

Verdict is in???

Well, the Dr. did not have much to say at the appointment for GiuGiu yesterday.

Pretty much what I wrote about in my blog is what he had to say - it could be a number of different things. For sure though, it is not a milk allergy.

I paid 30 bucks for that?!!

Poor Giu - Part 2

Last Saturday, the last time that I updated the blog, little Giu was doing better - and she was - until last Monday morning when she threw up again.

I am not sure that it was the stomach flu that was upsetting her tummy and causing her to vomit. Since she has only thrown up in the morning, I had a feeling that it was the way that she drank her milk in the morning. This child gulps down her milk in a matter of seconds and then steals her sister's milk (while I try to prepare breakfast) and downs that also. I thought that maybe the way that she drank her milk so fast in the morning, was what was causing her to throw it back up.

On the other hand, she has always done this. Anyway, the next morning, I only gave her water. The morning after that, I gave her a little bit of milk only after she ate breakfast and made sure that she did not steal her sister's milk. She did not throw up again all last week -

This morning, I made sure that she ate her breakfast before I gave her milk. I did not think that I gave her very much. Anyway, she stole her sister's milk also and I just assumed that she would be fine - she had eaten breakfast and was okay all of last week.

Well, sure enough, she throws up again - a few times. I am not sure what is going on - I just don't think that she has a virus - she may have a milk allergy or maybe she just drinks too much milk on an empty tummy and her stomach cannot handle it?? I am not a Dr. therefore, we are going to the Dr. this afternoon to see what he has to say.

More on Giugiu later - now, I need to shower!!!

Poor GiuGiu

*Warning - not for those with weak tummies*

This Saturday started off just like any other busy Saturday - we had a birthday party to attend, and then we were going to visit our cousins that live down the street from us.

We had just finished eating breakfast and were playing downstairs. I had recently bought them a new little tea set and I was showing them how to use their tea cups, spoons and teapot. I noticed that Giugiu was coughing quite a bit - since breakfast - it seemed as if she had something caught in her throat. Anyway, all three of us were huddled together playing - and then Giuliana coughed one more time - but this time she did not stop at just coughing - she threw up. On all three of us.

I assessed the situation - I knew that I had few seconds before the girls lost it. I tried to call out for Michael (who had gone to the potty). No answer. I called again a little louder (I did not want to scare the girls) - still no answer. That was when both of them started to cry cry and wanted to be held. "MICHAEL GET OVER HERE NOW".

MG came in, grabbed one of them, while I took off my pants and then grabbed the other. We took the girls upstairs to bathe them - they were both so upset. Giuliana obviously not feeling well - and Gisella scared and worried about her sister.

Right after we bathed Giuliana, she threw up again. And then again. Her sister saw her and cried some more. We were trying to console them both but it did not seem to be working. I ran downstairs and grabbed the phone to call the doctor. Thank goodness that our Dr. has weekend office hours and was able to see Giuliana.

For the obvious reasons, (I was covered in vomit, he was not), I told Michael that he had to take Giuliana to the Dr. while I stayed here to console little Gigi, take a shower, and clean the house.

Poor Giuliana threw up 4 times in the span of 30 minutes. Three out of those four times was partially on me.

While Michael was at the Dr.'s office, I consoled little G, took a shower, called Stanley Steemer, did 2 loads of laundry, cleaned the upstairs with OxyClean, mopped the kitchen floor. All in a little over an hour.

From what the Dr. told us, little Giu had a stomach virus, that apparently has been going around and was quite contagious. I was so worried about Gigi catching it and also, for myself, I would hate to get sick right now - being pregnant and having to take care of one possibly two sick babes. Well, we have not gotten sick and I hope that we all stay well!

Giuliana is doing much better! Back to her troublesome self.

My Child the Contortionist

While I make them their dinner, the girls play in the kitchen and the family room. I let them play with the tupper ware bowls that are located inside of a kitchen cabinet that is not child safety locked. As I was cooking, I turn around and see that Gigi has placed herself inside one of the tupperware containers. When she got tired of that, she carefully places herself inside the lettuce dryer insert. She can get in and out without assistance. Giuliana and i thought that was rather funny!

Lunch with Bella and friends

Yesterday, we had lunch with Bella, Laura, and Anna who is moving back to Houston from London!

Since we were going to have a later lunch, and my girls take an afternoon nap, we all met over at my house. Anna brought us food from the Mission - yum, yum. Just what a pregnant girl needs - lots of queso! The girls and I ate the majority of the queso - poor Laura and Anna were barely able to get any - and of course - Gisella quadruple dipped her chips!

It was so great to see our friends. The girls were excited to meet Bella, although one was friendlier than the other!

Happy 4th!

We went walking around Seaside to celebrate the 4th. Shopping, dinner, and shaved ice in 106 degree weather. Priceless.