25 ThiNGs oF RaNdOmNeSs

I usually don't "participate" in the facebook stuff but filling out the "25 things" seemed like the thing to do, so I did. I actually enjoyed reading other people's "25things". It was so enlightening some of the stuff I found out about people I knew pretty well (or so I thought). I thought I would post it on here as a blog again just for the heck of it. I probably could write a whole entire blog about each and every one of these in the list....maybe that will happen, at some point.

25. Simply because of where these items come from, I don't eat eggs, I don't drink milk and I don't eat anything "that used to swim"

24. On a high school trip to Argentina, me, Alison, and Kristen got left on the train...with NO thanks at all to me, we somehow found our way.

23. I have a fear of falling down steps and think about falling everytime I walk up and down stairs.

22. I have rear ended many cars and also been pulled over by the Po-Po at least 8 times and somehow have a clean driving record without any tickets or recorded accidents.

21. I have had the chronic habit of plucking my eyelashes since I was five years old.

20. I love to play scrabble (Thank you KK and David =)

19. I am kind of a germaphobe and obsess over germs and touching bacteria in public places.

18. My first job was at the Cracker Barrel..I was 16 and made a hundred bucks a night.

17. The most childhood memories I have are of times I spent at Meggan's house...playing barbies...mermaids in the pool...."little women" on the swing set...street hockey...etc.

16. I love to spend time with children/people with autism.

15. I really like to bake and feed people my baking.

14. I absolutely have the worse time making a decision about anything....feel free to comment if you've been shopping with me.

13. I am directionally challenged and get lost frequently.

12. My sisters and I love "couch time"...this usually consists of PJ's, laptops, TV and a roll of cookie dough.

11. My little dog Bailey goes by many names including but not limited to,mamas little honey bear pea pod boney bones boney macaroni peanut butter buckeye.

10. I have a terrible sweet tooth and cookies are my favorite.

9. I am the worse dancer EVER.

8. Next year I am going to try and start my own Autism consulting business.

7. I frequently get the lyrics to songs very wrong.

6. I am most proud of giving birth to Olivia...3 hours of pushing...was the hardest thing I've ever done.

5. I claim to make the best boxed mac n cheese ever--darn right Stephanie haha

4. I LOVE the beach but am so scared of sandcrabs and seagulls.

3. I have survived an Alison Bite

2. My family is crazy however spending time with them is my favorite habit.

1. Ironically enough, my shortest dating relationship ended up in a marriage to the best, most patient and unselfish person.

Daddy Day

Today Olivia had her first "Daddy Day"--8 hours of uninterrupted quality time with out the mama. I left around 10 in the morning to go to work on VGLA portfolios with a couple of other teachers. When I left Olivia was in her bed playing and her Daddy was in his bed with the pillow over his head. OH BOY. I laid out her clothes for her. In hindsight, I kind of wish I wouldn't have done that--it would have been cute to see what Matthew found to put on her. I guess he will have many more opportunities to pick out her clothes =)

By 11 I had only gotten one phone call asking if he needed to bring anything else for Olivia when they went out to run errands. He had remembered everything though, including the pink Vera Bradley diaper bag which I know he was thrilled to be carrying around. Daddy and Olivia ran errands all day. Matthew did get a 2 hour break when he dropped Livvy at Mimi's so he could go complete some experiment at his brother's job for $100. Not a bad deal.

When I left to come home around 6:30 I called Matthew to check and see how everything was going. He said Olivia had gotten real cranky when they got home. She was hungry so he fed her. She was cranky still so he fed her some more. And then she was still cranky soooo he fed her again. Lucky Livvy got triple helpings of dinner tonight, friends...thank you Daddy! When I walked in the door he was in the bathroom cleaning poop off her sock in the sink. She was half "nekid" laying in her play pen having a grand old time. The poopy diaper was wide open on the floor with Bailey standing nearby. I couldn't help but laugh at the scenerio.

Matthew is a GREAT father to Olivia. He really does take good care of her and is SO particular about her safety. Before she was born he was all about researching infant safety and making sure everything was assembled correctly. He cracks me up with the stroller. We have one of those "travel systems" with the infant car seat that just clicks right on top of the strolled. Matthew has to make sure every single clip is fastened. I usually just click the seat in without fastening all the little "do-jobies." I joke with Matthew like he is going to take Olivia off-roading in the stroller.

All jokes aside though, Olivia has the best Daddy in the whole world and I love him SO much!!!!



This is a picture of Matthew putting Olivia's first diaper on in the hospital right after she was born.



Like father, like daughter--they LOVE to sleep =)



He loves his little girl.

Easter 2009

Sunday was Olivia's first Easter and let me tell you. I was very concerned for her Easter dress as she had not had a dirty diaper in two days since "The Great Explosion of 2009." I will explain more later. Easter was a good day. Olivia wore the Easter dress her Mimi bought her. She looked so cute in it with her big hair bow. I know I get rediculous with the hair bows, but I just LOVE them. Everyone always asks where I get them. I have bought a couple, some of them (a few with the flowers) I have made, and then her Auntie Bridget started making her some real cute ones too. I just love the big hair bows! We went to Easter service at church and then went to Karen and Brian's house and hung out for a little while. Matthew played wii Mario Cart with our newphew Zachary. He loves the wii and apparently we are the only one of his six siblings who don't have one which is his good enough arguement for us to get one. We shall see.

Later on we went over to my parent's for dinner. I made mac'n cheese and a cake for dessert. The older I get the more I realize a lot of how "we" do things is because of my Italian background. Everything is always a big-to-do. Most people, it seems, don't really do a big Easter dinner similar to a Christmas dinner. But, the Italians do. There are so many traditions. In fact, this may be the first Easter I remember NOT having lamb as part of the meal. This year there was only ham. I never ate the lamb of course. In fact, I think my grandparents and mom may be the only ones who actually ate the lamb. My Grandma and Great Aunt Ata said that growing up they always had either lamb or rabbit on Easter. I thought this was kind of funny. I mean, little lambs and bunny rabbits are so Easter-ish....of course it would only be appropriate for the Italians to eat them on Easter.

After dinner out came the board games and the wii. Matthew was all about playing the wii-fit yoga. It was QUITE histerical. He was really into it. Olivia got cranky for some reason. In fact, she has since been cranky. Her excema has gotten really bad the last couple of days. I called the doctor to see if there was anything else I could do for her because she seems so uncomfortable. She said I needed to go ahead and make an appointment with an allergist. They think she may have a food allergy to something I am eating which would cause severe excema and also vomiting (which she vomits a lot). SO, we shall see what the allergist says. My poor baby girl.

Here are a couple pictures of Olivia in her Easter dress.



My pretty Olivia...


Can't believe those blue eyes

Hope you all had a great Easter! I'll be back again soon!

Just Some Updates....

It's been a few weeks since I have been on here. So much for my keeping up with the good old blog. I go back to work in two weeks and I know that is not going to help as far as giving me extra time to blog. Speaking of work, I am not looking forward to going back. My maternity leave has just FLOWN by. At least when I get back to school I will only have 8 weeks until the summer. I just feel like right now Olivia is changing so fast. Everyday she is developing more and more. It is so fun to watch and I'm sad I might miss one of her "firsts" if I'm not with her everyday. At least I can leave her with her Daddy or Mimi.

So what has been new?

As of two weeks ago, Chase's adoption was finalized. We all went to the courthouse for the ceremony. The night before my mom was trying to explain to Chase that he was going to be adopted and she asked him if he knew what that meant. He very seriously told her "I don't want to die." She then quickly told him that adoption didn't mean he was going to die but that he was going to be with them forever. He looked at her like "well, duh where else would I go?" Have to love a 4 year old's perspective!

Olivia has become so active the last couple of weeks. She interacts with people and her toys so much more. She is also sleeping through the night at least 8 hours ...one night she slept for 10 hours straight!!! I know I am really lucky that she has not been bad at night. I mean don't get me wrong, we've had our moments but overall she has been a very good baby. Matthew is so cute with her. He's already trying to teach her letter sounds which is quite comical. One time we were convinced she said "Matt" (it really was just her making the noise "MAAAAAAAAAA"). Yes, I suposse we are "those parents." Also, despite our original plight to keep her "pacifier free" (I don't know what we were thinking) she has chosen to eat her hands 24/7. She had her first real laugh last night while Aunt Jess was eating her neck, I mean, kissing her neck. Below is a video of sweet Olivia "saying good morning" to her Daddy while he was away for two weeks last month.



That's all for now folks...I'll log on again soon =)