Is It Naptime Yet?

We ventured out today, our little threesome. Where did we take our first outing? To the Dr. for little Nick :( He started coughing last night and we wanted to get him checked out. He had some blood work done and he has a cold virus, wonder who gave that to him? It started off great, the road, the only road we know will take us to the Dr. was closed. So we wandered around with our GPS for a while trying to find an alternate route... That conquered we had to figure out how to get Nick, his carseat, Claire and the diaper bag all into mommy's arms so she could carry them to the elevator. (which thankfully was working) Claire, who is sick AND cutting a new tooth, decided her legs didn't work at all today so I had to either carry her (payback?), or walk slowly with her shuffling along crying like I stole her pupppy and put it in a box, then put that box in another box and.. you get the picture. We escaped, 80 min. later with bad news about Nick having the cold virus and Claire having gained 5 extra pounds from the nursing staff trying to appease her with gummy bears. We made up our own way home (road still closed), which did include dropping off 4 bags of clothes for donation (that made me feel accomplished) :) Now home again for lunch and amazingly enough it isn't even nap time yet, as Claire so lovingly pointed out, 'she's awake'. please pray for Nick if you think of us, if his temp gets higher we may be headed back to the hospital :(

And wait... we move starting Monday. look at my bathroom:

it now has grout and a toilet and a sink so they tell me, but these are pics from the last time I saw it. not that long ago.

Things Workmen Say

Do you still have a lake?
response: ABI!

There's gonna be a boom.
response: WHAT!

Both were accent related. I love New York.

Don't Worry GB

My mother left today, it seems like she left yesterday or the day before but it was today. She flew like a champ and even jumped out of my car at the airport. I think it was nerves causing her to be jumpy but the fact that it has been crazy here and she just wants to get out of here as soon as possible crossed my mind too. I thought about her visit as I was feeding Nick and putting Claire to bed at the same time. From the outside our little family looks like it is in a lot of trouble. A husband who is in his own world sometimes, A wife overwhelmed with life and living in denial about what her life really is, A two year old who is just starting to rebel, A newborn who is precious but needs attention. But don't worry GB everything will turn out alright. (sing that last bit).
Things are alright now: There is a man singing in Spanish in my living room (fixing the hole finally!), My husband is at work, working overtime to ensure he is still gainfully employed at the end of this, Both my babies are asleep and I packed the hall closet and the coat closet today :) And I know how much you love me so baby nothing could go wrong with me.

Personal

Things here are even crazier; as my husband 'found out' last night for the 'first time' that we are in fact moving this coming Friday (31st). He had somehow calculated another week into July; wouldnt that be nice? So we are scrambling because the floors are being done Thur. and Fri of this week and then we can't be on them till Mon. and he works every day this week... you get the picture. After that was 'solved' by him taking off Friday (31st) to move we found out the appliances we ordered two weeks ago are discontinued and we can't get them; like ever. So the kitchen that is being installed that was designed around those appliance measurement... well... we ordered new appliances and hopefully they will work. My mom and Ami have been wonderful this last week helping to pack and love on babies while I pack. But there are still things to be packed and moved. It is crazy here! There was talk of shipping off my oldest to one of my Aunts for the week, there was talk of shipping her to WY or PA. She will be staying here for the time being. I have to call in help for the unpacking, maybe she will take a short vacation during that time. anyone want a two year old sweetie? She prefers wide open spaces and warm climates, long walks on the beach are a plus. :)

Crazy Thankful

Life here i crazy... sick husband, sick daughter, sick son, sick self... that's a lot of sick. :( and my mom leaves tomorrow! Don't go Miss Brenda!!
I had a great visit with my sister who was a great help while she was here. holding babies and washing dishes. (plus much more) Thanks Ami!

Nick Takes a Bath

So we have been home for about, what now?, three weeks and I have to admit that my son has only bathed twice. I feel like that isn't enough. My mom thinks so too. She is too tactful to say it out loud but she told me the other day. And Nick will need a bath tonight. So we gave him his first submerged bath.
Photographing boys poses some new problems. Like what angle is best for not capturing his 'man parts'. How to make him look all cute and baby without making him look like a girl. and can you post pictures that include his 'man parts'?
I guess we will learn as we go. Here are some pictures of Nick taking a bath.

In The Bronx

Abi's Mom is guest blogging here.

After spending several days in Queens, Amanda and I have perfected our New York accents (Cawl a cab, and we'll go for cawfee.) enough to venture out, so today we went to the Bronx. The Bronx Zoo to be precise.
For being in New York City, there were quite a few trees. As a New Wyomingite, my first reaction was that it made it hard to see anything. But we did manage to see a few animals.
We saw some lemurs in the Madagascar exhibit, but they were not singing I like to move it, move it...But if you ask Claire what a lemur says she says ,"move it, move it."







Here are just a few pics of my favorite parts of the day.











Before I leave the city I plan to venture all the way to Brooklyn. I think there may be a tree or two growing there as well.

Good Help

My mom has come, to help me out; that means holding the baby and playing in the pool out back.

My sister came to help too; that means playing at the park and holding the baby of course.


They keep saying they will start to help me tomorrow, but they are all the help they need to be just being here to play with my sweetheart and hold my baby.

Crazy

What's Under the Hat?

There was some discussion about the 'ethnicity' of our baby. Some say he is 'More Italian' than the other, some say 'exactly the same' and still some think there may be some alien influence. Decide for yourself.

Taco Babies

Nick has been subject to our crazy life for about a week now. We have not destroyed anything else that wasn't in the plans : (like my new tub?)

Claire likes him ok. She likes to hold him and loves to eat him up when we make him into a 'taco'. He likes her too. Hopefully this like-ing trend will continue.

We went to the Dr. today, Nick has a rash which will bring us back in two weeks... 'nothing to worry about' the dr. says.

Nothing else of note here. So I'll just post some cute baby pictures for those of you who are only reading for the visual stimulation. :)

When it Rains It Pours!

Welcome Nicholas James Iovino home from the hospital.

Born: 7-1-2009
Weight: 8 lb. 1 oz.
Length: 20 in.
Disposition: Pleasant

check him out at: nicholasjamesi.shutterfly.com

Please pray for our little family. Jim has been sick and unable to really help hands-on with Nick because we can't risk Nick catching what Jim has. Claire's pink eye has reemerged in the three days I was in the hospital so we are back on the hated eye drops, and tonight Claire started throwing up. Not sure if it is an isolated incident or not yet but here's hoping and praying. I am thankfully not sick yet, and trying to remain that way to care for this little sick family. Please pray that Nick escapes all the illness floating around our house. For now, Jim is sleeping in the guest room and hand sanitizer is flowing like the river Jordan (is that a lot cause we have a lot of hand sanitizer). Also, the hole in the ceiling lives on, continuing to surprise us as now it leaks into the living room every time you shower. When will it all slow down? I want off.

Is it Wed. Yet?

It is raining in my living room right now. Life just never stops. I need a pause button. If I could I would just go back to bed and it isn't even Tuesday.

Things that Make Me Smile

He 'was in all ways the model of a band director, and by that I mean he could have led an assault on an innocent nation, enslaved its peoples and had them marching in pinwheels, all in the course of one profoundly hot afternoon.'

-She Got Up Off The Couch
by: Haven Kimmel

My Water Broke

Right thru the ceiling.

We overflowed the bathtub (by accident, as if there were any other way to do that). And down came the living room ceiling.
Yes. that's the 'going to the hospital' bag on the table right under the gaping hole in the ceiling. Hopefully my 'real' water doesn't break tonight. Guess he's not coming home in that outfit.

What's Up?

People keep asking me what I have been doing and how I am doing.
If you ask my Dr. he will tell you that I am doing great and still 3 cm. I am still not sure what exactly I am so good at doing that makes me dilate. (I was good at it with my last pregnancy) But my mom taught me to take every compliment with grace.
If you ask my husband he probably wouldn't have an answer for you. When he gets home the house is a wreck and I am exhausted with swollen ankles and a cranky little girl. Where has the day gone?
If you ask Claire she would tell you we have been reading a lot of books, current favorites include the 'pancake pig' and 'gorilla'. We have also been spending as much time in the yard as possible to soak up the memory of having a yard before we move. We also took a trip to Nyack (praying the entire way that we didn't go into labor across two bridges during rush hour) to see Mandi before she moves upstate. Took a walk, ate a burrito and ran thru the best sprinkler/shower things. It took some getting used to but once we got the hang of it, it was a blast! good thing we packed extra clothes. :)

It is currently raining every molecule of water that ever existed on our house. But before it did that, we ran outside to get in some slide-time and take this picture, for those of you who have been asking for something that is recent and not of her butt.
So that's as current as you get, what we have been doing. What about you? Are you living every moment to the full?

About Us

Today we are sick. Claire went to the dr. yesterday and received her first prescription for Moxifloxacin which as it turns out treats pink eye. We contracted said pink eye from Joe who 'absolutely does not have pink eye'. We have been up several times last night and probably logged about 10 hrs of sleep if you add all the hours up that the three of us slept. :( Other side effects of pink eye include eatting all the cereal in the house before 9am (Claire is on her 3rd bowl) and whining. And this morning my eye looks puffy and feels funny. (Not sure yet if it's just psychological or not) I hope it is just in my head because the treatment for pink eye is apparently either a grey area or a no fly zone if you are pregnant.
Please pray we excape this bump in the road so soon to our due date. Speaking of, the update is: we are due on the 5th of July. I am already 3 cm dialated as of Tues. Jimmy is packing 'his' bag this morning and canceling weekend plans, he thinks we are going very soon. The Dr. said probably this week, but that's just a guess. We have everything a baby needs to come home; clothes (including socks this time), a bassinet, diapers (SO tiny!), and mommy.

My Husband Hangs with Famous People

I figure since I blog for Claire already, I might as well blog for my husband too. His life is significantly more interesting than mine. He leaves the house everyday, not just some days, he meets interesting people and does interesting things in interesting places. He needs a blog but has no time or desire to share his life with the world, so I will share it for him.

Yesterday, Jim got to hang out with Jared. Like fat subway Jared. All day. He was not overly excited, but you have to know that Jared is like part of our family. My cousin Jared, was born right around the time subway Jared was getting famous for not being fat. Cousin Jared was not so lucky in the weight department. He was the chunkiest little guy you ever met. There were many different jokes tossed around about cousin Jared and subway Jared. He is like family. And my husband didn't take any pictures to document his interactions with Jared. He even got to tell Jared what to do. Fortunately for all of us (and those who wouldn't believe me without photographic evidence) YouTube exists and documents strange and random things, like your husband hanging out with Jared. Unfortunately there are no shots of them hugging or Jared taking off Fat pants or actually being in a subway (which they were). Jim is in the background, wearing the grey polo and khakis. Look for him and you will see. (he appears first :37 into the film)
Here he is hanging out with Mr. Depp, just having some serious conversation and guy time.

Ok, But he did really hang out with Jared.

With Love

For grandFather's Day

From Claire

When Girl meets Boy

Claire: (brings helicopter with toy inside to show mommy) Lady.
Mommy: Oh the Lady is in the helicopter?
C: 'copter
M: Where is she going?
C: Shopping

Day at the Beach

We took a break from renovation (since Claire and I are integral parts of demolition and remodeling) and went to the beach today. We went with Aunt Rachel and Aunt Jen and Cousin Joe and Rachel's roommate; who looks eerily like her twin separated at birth. It was cold, like 68 degrees cold, but we had a good time anyway, playing in the sand and even sticking our feet in the surf once or twice; but no more than twice, cause it was freezing.
I love how you can capture a moment in time with a picture and it looks so sweet and innocent to everyone who looks at it but if you were there you would know it wasn't really what it looks like. I caught one of those moments with Joe and Claire today. In the midst of Joe's efforts to either throw Claire into the surf or keep her from being anywhere near the fun he was having in the surf I snapped this:

Sweet huh? and the best part is, ten years from now, they will never know that they weren't best buddies playing at the beach with big, brave Joe protecting little Claire from the surf. :) Memories are funny things.

Demolition

We Own It!

We had a bit of trouble getting into it though, it took some trying and some sticking out the tongue, while the neighbors upstairs looked on, we fin-angled it and finally we were in. Now, time for some demolition!

Here are some before and after shots of the demolition, keep in mind that this was all done in one day, by three and a half guys (and no my husband was not the half-a-guy).

It amazes me! Now time to rebuild...

Things I am Glad to Have 3

I am so glad for my sister... who is a wonderful aunt too :)




I'm also thankful for friends that span lifetimes.


I guess I have a lot to be glad about...

Things I am Glad to Have 2

I am glad for My husband!

We lost nothing in the great hard drive crash! YAY! I love him so much!!! (he gets extra exclamation points)

Pictures we did not lose:



Movies we did not lose:



My husband is amazing!

I am finding it difficult to believe that you guys can comment 5 times on my post about crazy weekends and yet have nothing to be glad about... come on we started at skin and underwear... what are you thankful for?

Things I am Glad I Have

My previous post makes me feel as if I need to be expressing my thankfulness in a more tangable way so here is a very partial list of things I am glad I have. Some of them come from songs that my daughter has discovered this week since we lost Steve. Thankfulness has been a theme here lately.

I'm so glad I got skin, that's what holds my insides in.
I'm so glad I got arms, that's what holds my hands on.

Thanks you God for underwear, thank you God for underwear, thank you God for underwear, right where I am.

I'm just so glad. :)

what are you glad that you got?

Advertising

There has been a rash of giveaways lately in the blog world. I guess the recession has people thinking ... well I don't know why you would give things away because you are being laid off, maybe the thought is that we are more thankful for what we have and realizing that we have more than we actually need and we want to share the 'wealth'. Whatever the reason I have seen more giveaways lately than I have ever seen before. It makes me think I should be giving something away. Something exciting and BIG ... I am moving, closing this next Friday actually YAY! And with that in mind, I have some BIG things (lesson the exciting side) that I am not moving.. like a dining set, a loveseatwould that is extra loved, some fireside wingback chairs, a bedroom set and a lovely white crib from the 50's that has NOT meet safety standards since the 60's. I'm thinking that having a giveaway would be a great way to get rid of these things! :) However, most of my readership (that I know of) has no use for these items, nor do they have space, although miss Ami has an entire roof that she is not taking advantage of. So I will simply have a garage sale next weekend. Come on down, if you mention this post you will receive a free prize!