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 =)

Ode to St. Patty

In honor of St. Patty's day and my being half Irish, I thought it would be the perfect time to write about my Grandpa Frain. He passed away when I was in high school but I have a lot of memories and funny stories about him.

My Grandpa Frances Frain was one of thirteen siblings born in Ireland. He came over on a ship to the US in his early twenties...making him a first generation immigrant. This has always been so interesting to me.....not many people can say one of their grandparents was "right off the ship." I think I may have one or two great aunts/uncles left on his side in Ireland, along with cousins etc. Someday I want to go there and visit. A few years back they had a family reunion in Ireland, but the Fredericksburg Frains could not make it what with how many of us there are and how expensive flying is.

The thing I remember most about my Grandpa was his THICK Irish brogue. My dad can immitate him perfectly.

My dad told me growing up my Grandma had to cook him some form of potatoes every single night for dinner.

When I was little and we would visit family in New York, my Grandpa used to bounce me on his knee and play this lion game. I don't remember exactly what it was but there was some sort of lion character and bouncing on the knee. He used to make me a poached egg for breakfast before anyone else was awake.

I remember when he got older and my dad had to move him out of his house in Brooklyn. When my dad brought him home to our place in Stafford, my Grandpa had a bag of fresh New York bagels. My sisters and I saw him throwing WHOLE bagels in the front yard "for the birds." We of course got a kick out of this.

Another story I remember hearing was when my dad was about to take his test to get his driver's license. My Grandpa went behind his back and told his driving instructor to fail him on purpose. My dad thought FOR YEARS that he actually had failed his driving test...come to find out it was only because my Grandpa told the driving instructor to fail him. When my dad asked him why he did that he said "I didn't want you to be too confident."

My Grandpa was such an Irishman...even down to the drinking. I'm pretty sure scotch was his favorite. Or was it brandy. Sadly, his alcoholism is what eventually killed him. He was as strong as an ox though and lived to 76 years old despite having smoked and drank so much like he did.

I'm glad I knew my Grandpa. It makes me sad some of my siblings never got to meet him but I know I can always share the memories I have of him.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Colorado 2009

I haven't been on here in about a week because we were visiting family in Colorado. I really do not even know where to begin documenting the adventures we had with the Frains. There is so much I could write about. I may have to do this in sections. We left Thursday morning. My dad was having some major travel anxiety reminiscent of my late Grandpa Frain....he was a funny guy and I could write a whole blog about him. Anyways, we left the house and three minutes into our drive my sister asked my dad if he had the boarding passes. Good thing she asked. He had left them at home. Thus begins our trip. Needless to say we turned around, went back to the house and re-did our exit.

After we parked the car it was a big-to-do walking to the place where the bus picks you up to take you to the terminal. The bus ride was interesting. We're sitting on the bus and my dad says to this random guy standing there "your zipper's down" so of course he looks down at his crotch. Funny thing was, my dear concerned father was talking about the zipper on the guy's luggage not his pants. Haha. Poor guy. The plane ride went really well. Olivia was an angel. The only small issue we had was when she had a diaper explosion and we had to figure out changing her without a surface to do so. That was interesting.

The trip was a really great time. I was so happy everyone finally got to meet Olivia. When my Grandma met her she started to get emotional. It was a really special moment. The rest of the trip was spent doing what we do best: eating and chatting and eating and chatting. We took Olivia to my Grandma's old folks home. All the elderly got a kick out of Olivia. My Grandma said that the old people just go nuts when a baby or a little dog come to visit. My Grandma cracks me up. She is 83 years old but has the mind of a 30 year old. Her memory is excellent and she has the funniest sense of humor.

We went to the red rocks one day which was really fun. Matthew, Jessica and my Dad also got to go skiing/snowboarding with my Aunt Debbie. They had a BALL. One day while we were there we went to a real Italian Bakery. There aren't any good Italian bakeries around here so we took full advantage. Our favorites were the cannolis and the rainbow cookies. So much for my point counting.

On Sunday my Aunt Debbie hosted her annual St. Patty's party. She taught me her corn beef and cabbage recipe. All the cousins and aunts and uncles came...we had a really great time. Jessica and I made a chocolate cake. It turned out kind of funny because we forgot about what the altitude does when baking. Also, when we took the cake out and set it on top of the stove to cool it started bubbling in the middle. My Aunt was like "um, is it supposed to bubble like that?" For several minutes I couldn't figure out what the problem was but then we realized the dang burner on the stove top was left on causing our cake to boil. So much for my master baking skills.

The trip went by so fast. I couldn't believe when it was time to leave already. Here are just a few pictures from the trip. My sister posted the rest on facebook.



Our visit to the Red Rocks.


Grandma and Aunt Debbie with Baby Olivia.


Cousins: Monica, Annalise, Allison, Jessica, Me and Baby Olivia.


Grandma and Olivia wearing their green at the St. Patty's party.


"OHHH Mama I am so sleepy from all the traveling!"

Due to Inclement Weather. . .

Of course it would only be appropriate for me to blog about the snow Virginia finally saw today. Let me tell you, it was a big-to-do. All of Fredericksburg was up in arms. Lines at the local wally world were redonk. People were stocking up on the essentials, including but not limited to milk, bread, eggs and my own personal fave betty-crocker-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies-in-a-pouch (which really is a whole 'nother blog). Seriously though, people go nuts around here with the snow.

I have so many "snow memories". When I was like 11 or 12, I used to walk and meet Meggan half way between our houses. There was a HUGE hill in her backyard -side bar/sad story=now the hill is gone...trees got torn down and they built houses back there =( SO, we would get on all our "snow crap" and waddle out to the hill to go sledding. We would continue to sled until we got hungry or one of us had to pee. Then we waddled back into her house and unloaded all our "snow crap". One time we got in big trouble for putting all our wet "snow crap" on top of her mom's freshly clean and folded DRY laundry.....yeah we got in quite a bit of trouble for that one...not one of our better days. We always ate oodles of noodles in a cup and Meggan taught me to cut the noodles with scissors so they were easy to eat. Ah. The good old days.

Another snow memory I have is from when I was little and my Dad would come outside to play with us. He always took us sledding on the really big hills back by the power lines behind our housing development. This stopped once my mom witnessed my little sister having some weird buzzing experience back there which must have been caused by the "electrons floating around from the powerlines." Who knows. I used to build a "snow apartment" complete with a "snow couch" and "snow TV" and even a "snow toilet." Don't worry I didn't really use the "snow toilet", it was just for show. Although that brings me to another snow memory.

When my brother was younger he went out to play in the snow. To make a long story short he was outside having a grand old time and well, he needed to go to the bathroom. In his little five year old mind he had a big choice to make. After debating long and hard he came to the conclusion that "peeing himself" would be much easier then making the long 15 foot hike back into the house to go to the bathroom. So he did just that. While fully dressed in the "snow crap" he just stood there and peed himself. We didn't discover this until a while later when he came in and had a big wet spot on his actual clothes UNDER the "snow crap" where there should NOT have been a wet spot.

Fast forward to the 21st century. As a teacher I am OBSESSED with snow days. I check the weather non-stop. I say long prayers asking God to please bless me with extra snow so school will be out. I wear my pj's inside out, backwards etc. One of the most dissapointing things ever is when you are totally expecting a snow day and you wake up and either A. the "snow" was not good enough and school does not get cancelled or B. There was no snow at all. BOOO. The thing that especially sucks is that when you get up to check to see if school is cancelled, it negates the whole deal of sleeping in because you had to wake up in the first place to check cancellations. In an elementary school, usually you get a good idea of whether or not bad weather is on the way. I swear, my students with Autism are super sensitive to the barometric pressure. You just would not believe the craziness. Seriously, talk about autism-gone-a-rye. The noise. The movement. It just doesn't stop when a snow day is on the way.

Today was Olivia's first snow day. She really was as oblivious as to be expected for a 2 month old which, by the way, today is her two month birthday. Time is FLYING. The pictures below were pretty much the extent of our "snow day". We spent the evening at Mimi and Grandpa's watching The Bachelor and eating betty-crocker-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies. It was a very nice evening. Especially comical when Grandpa started to flip out because he found out that Uncle Chase took a spray bottle of some sort of cleaning chemical and and sprayed random spots all over the family room walls and also the brand new 42 inch LCD flat screen TV. HAHAHA yeah, Grandpa didn't think it was so funny.








PS. I must say I am pretty darn proud of myself for figuring out how to put pictures on this thing =) YAYY!!!