20 Weeks

Dear Baby D3,

Somehow, here we are at the 20-week mark. Half way. Wow. Time is flying. In early December, we shared with your big brother and sister that our family is having a baby! Mommy & Daddy had intended to wait until we found out your gender; however, your inquisitive brother and sister both started asking about my growing belly, so we couldn’t hold back the exciting news any longer! At dinner one night, we went around and everyone took turns guessing if you are a boy or a girl – and we all said boy except Daddy. Frankie loves to put his head on my belly and listen for you. He swears he can hear you. I tend to think it’s my stomach making noises, but perhaps you have a way of communicating to your big brother. Julia loves to give you kisses and show everyone my belly. She loves to talk to you and give you hugs. She has her baby, high-pitched voice that she uses to talk for you. We are all so excited for you to join our family.

On December 22, Mommy & Daddy attended your anatomy sonogram – and after confirming one last time that we both wanted to know your sex – the technician quickly told us that you weren’t being the least bit shy – you made it very obvious that you’re a BOY! What a cool feeling to know another son is growing in me. On some level, it does allow me to connect to you in a different way than when your brother and sister were in-utero.

Right after Christmas, I finally felt your little flutters. Around 18 weeks, I started to get worried because I hadn’t yet felt you moving; but at the sonogram, the technician confirmed the placenta is anterior, meaning it’s attached to the front of the stomach, which is hindering me from feeling your early kicks. But with a little Christmas magic, the week after Christmas, I sat down on the couch after a long day, and felt you for the very first time. Feeling your baby move never gets old. It’s truly amazing – and also reassuring. During the anatomy sonogram, the technician told us (and we saw for ourselves) that you’re a mover. You were wiggling all around and now the constant pitter-patters in my belly confirm that even more. All measurements at the anatomy sonogram checked out again. We are thankful that you appear to be a healthy baby boy. 

Love Always, 
Mommy

16 Weeks

I love going back and reading my blog. It's such a great way for me to recall the milestones, fun times and challenges in our lives. It's hard to make time to sit down and write though. But, I intend to try to document as much of my third pregnancy as possible. It's easy to remember the big highlights in life, but to have a way to help reflect on all of the small moments and details - good or bad - is such a gift. So, without further ado, here is my first letter/update to Baby D3...

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Dear Baby D3,

A small part of me finds it hard to believe that I’m writing this letter to my third child. But a much larger part of me thinks this feels oh-so-right. For whatever reason, I’ve always pictured us as a family of 5. It just seemed...well, it seemed right. And I feel so very blessed that God has granted us our third baby.

Here we are at the end of the first trimester (ok – into the 2^nd trimester) and things are progressing smoothly. I had some slight nausea and essentially wanted to eat nothing but carbs – but I honestly cannot complain. I feel pretty darn good. You’ve been good to me so far, sweet baby. Mommy & Daddy got a glimpse of you at the 12-week sonogram where everything looked and measured perfectly. We weren’t yet able to tell your gender yet – and we opted out of the blood tests that would reveal that (among many other chromosomal things) to us early. You are a blessing no matter what. Always know that, Baby D3.

Love Always,

Mommy

Big News

Change is a-coming. 1,2,3...We're all counting our blessings! Baby D3 is coming in May 2017 and we couldn't be happier!

Back to School 2015

Frankie was totally ready to head back to school this year. Although he frequently saw his close school friends over the summer, he was still excited. No tears on the first day this year!

He couldn't wait to dress in his "sniffy" button down shirt from Grammy and head out the door! (I've told him numerous times that it's "you look spiffy" but he insists it's "sniffy".)  

This year he's started to unbuckle his car seat himself while we wait in drop off line and gets so excited to see everyone walk in.  One day he was even yelling out of the open window to the other kids. What a difference a year makes. 

He recently saw Frank using a shoe horn and lately has insisted on bringing it to school every day. (They change into slippers when they arrive.) The other day as I dropped him off, one of his teachers said smiling, "Oh, you've got your shoe horn!"  

Here's to another successful school year!

Labor Day in New York

We didn't want to miss out on celebrating Lea's 20th birthday, so, since Frank had a Labor Day soccer tournament, I decided to take the kids to Long Island for the weekend. We were pulling away from the house a little before 5am on Saturday and made it to Grammy & Grampa's by 10am - just in time for a late breakfast at the Pinky Diner. :)

Frankie actually stayed up THE ENTIRE ride. And Julia finally dozed off in Staten Island. So much for my "early departure and the kids go back to sleep" plan. Despite the lack of shut eye, it was an easy drive and the kids were really well behaved.

We spent Saturday afternoon strolling along the water in Northport. The kids loved watching the boats and got to touch some of the bait fish the fishermen were using. We couldn't leave without stopping in the Sweet Shop that we used to visit as kids with Grammy & Grampa for a scoop (or two) of ice cream!

Julia reminds me SO MUCH of Laura (when she was little) in this picture!

Later that afternoon we squeezed in a fun visit at Grandpa & Papa's and then headed back to Huntington for the night. On Sunday, the kids got to play with Kate & Emma at my grandparents and then at 1pm, we were in Commack for Lea's party. The kids swam, played and had a blast. (And Julia somehow snuck in a 2 hour nap on the couch in the middle of the party since she was so exhausted.) And, per plan, at almost exactly 8pm, we were back in the car on our way home. Not exactly per plan; however, was the stop and go traffic almost the entire way from Commack to the Verrazano Bridge! I figured we would miss Labor Day traffic by leaving late on Sunday. But, boy was I wrong.  Thankfully it was clear sailing the rest of the ride and we were home by 1am - and the kids slept the whole ride home. Frankie was so tired, he was out before we hit the Expressway from Uncle Mike's.  

A great weekend, followed by a relaxing Labor Day with our family at home!

Grammy's Birthday Celebration with the Kiddos

The kids and I went to Winchester one Sunday to spend the day with Grammy.  

We swam, played with the cats, Frankie helped feed the dogs...

Talking to the kitty

Had a nice BBQ...

Poor Julia had enough and fell asleep eating her corn on the cob at dinner

And celebrated mom's birthday...

Proudly showing off Grammy's card that he signed himself!

Julia and I left Frankie behind for his last slumber party of the summer. As we were saying our good-byes, Frankie told me to "take care of Julia" and gave her a big hug and kiss.  He also told her "I know you will miss me".  She did, buddy...and so did Mommy & Daddy.

A Walk in the Park

One beautiful August morning we decided to take the kids to Roosevelt Island for a "nature walk".

Frankie decided pretty immediately that he wanted to be "one with nature"...

And then Julia followed suite...

Julia: "I do pee-pee"

The kids had fun spotting animals (birds, squirrels...nothing crazy), balancing on fallen trees and sharing their goldfish with the ducks!