Natalie, the b-day girl, turns 7!

This past monday, Memorial Day, our baby girl turned SEVEN!

The celebrating was big, long and super fun. I thought I had uploaded these pictures in the other order, but no luck... so we won't be going in chronological order. For the past 7 years, Natalie has given us a wonderful reason to celebrate Memorial Day weekend in a big way and we have gotten into the tradition of doing a big BBQ with family and friends in honor of her and the start of summer (a season that her teacher parents have become very fond of :) It has become one of my very favorite celebrations as the company is always so great and the yummy BBQ foods are back in action. Unfortunately, this year with the huge digging project (another story...) in our side yard, I just didn't think it was possible to do this party to the same degree.... but we could not go un-celebrated. Family braved the landscaped mess and with perfect weather, we had a delightful afternoon. It is priceless to watch Natalie in awe of her big cousin Jenise, much like I remember being in awe of my older cousins. Sadie just brings such pizazz to every function that I laugh just thinking about her and Colin blessed us with a 3 hour nap during most of the party! A bit more low key than usual, but very nice and fun to give attention to our not-so-little-anymore little girl! Below is a pic from the party - all of Nick's ladies!

For my b-day, the whole world celebrates with trick or treating. For Nick's big day, the whole world gives chocolate and roses and for Natalie's... a PARADE!

This was the first year that we went to (or participated in) the local Memorial Day parade. It was super cute to watch Natalie feel like a superstar as she marched with her Daisy's troop. On top of that, I really felt the nice sense of community that Queensbury/ Glens Falls offers. So many families were out to see the parade and support the community activities. I felt like we finally belonged, as I looked out along the parade route and saw many families we knew and friends we love!
Natalie and her 2 friends and Daisy mates (Claudia and Grace) in the Parade

As our b-day gift to Natalie, she got her own room. She and Sadie have been sharing for the past 3 years... not because we didn't have the space, but because I thought sisters should share and that they would love it. I had hoped it would teach lessons of sharing and cooperation, as well as help create that special sister bond (staying up late giggling and telling stories about things mom shouldn't know!!) However, it turned out that much of that "perfect sister relationsip" might have been in my imagination. I do still dream that they will want to have "sleepovers" in each others rooms and that they will have secrets that I will never know, but Natalie wanted her own space and it seemed silly to keep an empty bedroom. So here it is...

Below is a picture of Natalie and her friends at "Creative Sparks" for a painting party. It was right up Natalie's ally and so fun to watch how serious 1st grade girls can be when it comes to Arts and Craft projects. They were so into their painting, that they barley talked to one another. I keep thinking about how different it would have been if I had 7 1st grade boys together in one room! Natalie has attracted such great girls to be her friends. I am sure that has something pretty awesome to say about the person she is becoming!

To Natalie: We love you!

Your talents and kindness are so genuine. We are proud of your accomplishments in school and in Girl Scouts. You are a good friend, a special sister and one incedible daughter.

Love, Mommy and Daddy

Mother's Day!

Just ONE year ago...

As a kid, I always remember when this time of year came around, that I wondered why there wasn't a Kids Day. I would ask my mom, "When is Kids Day?" Of course, I was probably looking for a reason to get a present or have extra attention given to me. My mom would answer this question the same every time... "Everyday is Kids Day!" In a full circle moment, Natalie recently asked me the very same question! Thanks to my mom, I knew exactly what to say!!

This past year has been such a wonderful blur. Becoming a mom of three has been the HARDEST adjustment of my adult life. Finding enough hours in the day to be a good wife, housekeeper, household manager, full time social worker, and mom x3 has not always been easy. There have been many a day, when one of these things has fallen short... but I can say (FOR SURE) that life has never been better. I feel truly blessed to have such great kids and a really awesome man. I am learning that I don't have to have the living room clean or dishes done in order to go to bed at night (although I do still want to do that!), I have learned that I won't be able to exercise everyday or maybe not even once a week (and that's ok), and I have learned that there will be days when I lose my cool and I am not Mom of the Year (but the kids will love me anyway).

Look at my reasons to celebrate my Mother's Day...

And ... this is us today!

We celebrated Mother's Day by just spending the day together. It was relaxing and a fun reminder that we truly enjoy each other's company! We ended the day by watching our years worth of family videos. We don't use the camcorder much and never seem to actually watch what we tape, so it was pretty fun to have us all curled up on the couch watching the highlights of "the Giumarra Family." The girls were dying with laughter watching themselves on TV. Colin wondered who the baby was on the TV and we all were amazed at how much they have grown over the year. It was really fun.

To my mom and all my mom friends out there... I could not (and am not) be the mother I am without you! Whether you listen to me complain, offer advice or just laugh at my craziness with me... THANK YOU! Happy Mother's Day.

and because I would not be a mother without you... Thank you Nick!

Report Card Ice Cream!

So proud!

Yesterday afternoon, Natalie's 3rd quarter report card came home. We have been so proud of each of her report cards and have tried to do something special with each one to show her just how proud we are of her efforts. We had told her about a week ago that if she had a good report card, that we would all go out for ice cream on the day her report card came home. We do not go out for ice cream that often, so this was definitely a special treat for her to look forward to. For sure, Natalie shared this potential treat with her teacher and this is what her report card said from her teacher...

"Dear Mom and Dad, Natalie told me that she gets to go for ice cream if she gets a good report card. Well, get the car ready because that is where you are heading! Natalie earned herself another absolutely fantastic report card and I could not be any more proud of her."

She earned excellent grades and showed great effort and pride in her work.

We had a great time sharing in her special treat!

We love you Natalie!

Cake Time!

Ok, I wish that these pics had posted in the other order, but you'll get the idea.

Cake time for Colin was on Sunday. It started off with a shaky start as Sadie was still not feeling great, but with a beautiful day... we decided to go ahead with the fun.

Colin seemed pretty oblivious to most of the party and really had no idea what the fuss was all about until Cake Time! As soon as he was in his high chair, he was full of smiles and had a "check me out" attitude. He was a bit confused when the cake was put in front of him with the candle on it. Good thing that he had a couple of sisters to help him out! Then when it came time to eat the cake, again he was confused. He really enjoyed playing with it and getting his fingers all sticky with the icing, but didn't put it in his mouth. I even tried to put some icing on my finger and have him taste it, but he wouldn't open his lips. In time, he figured it out and enjoyed every bit!

My frog cake masterpiece!

Birthday Boy!

Getting turned around in his carseat! Now he can see all of us! However, when he was rear facing, because we have the van and Natalie always sat in the 3rd row, he would love to watch Natalie and she'd do a great job keeping him entertained. I think he'll miss that!

These are the smiles that we are greated to every morning.

BTW - I think he looks a lot like I did when I was a baby in this picture.

O-N-E

Today, our sweet baby boy turned 1.

What a bittersweet day for me... as I don't want to let go of the idea of my baby being a baby and the constant reminder that time goes by all too fast. Today, Nick and I reminisced (well actually I did and forced Nick to be nostalgic with me) about what it was like for us a year ago today. I clearly remember the sweet good-byes from our girls as we left the house, the funny walk into the hospital for our "appointment" to get the baby, the amazing 1st cry that brought tears to my eyes, then the fear that something was wrong and then the surreal afternoon of not seeing my baby and not being able to share him with the loved ones that had come to meet him.

One year later... he is our laid back and fun loving little boy. He has had a great month as he has learned to scoot and explore more on his own. He gets a smile full of pride when he does something new, like pull himself up or get into "trouble." He knows when he is doing something new and is excited by his own progress. The warmer weather has brought us all outside more and he just loves it. He scoots down our dirty driveway, tries to eat the grass and stones and watches in amazement at the girls riding their bikes and scooters. We have also learned that he LOVES dogs. As soon as he sees one, his legs and arms get moving like crazy as if he is trying to take off. Also high on his list are ceiling fans and light fixtures.

Unfortunately, celebrating his big birthday did not go at all as I had planned (maybe that is going to be a trend for his birthday!). This year, instead of Colin getting sick... Sadie was!! Sadie spent the day on the couch as was sick with the stomach bug! So much for a family bike ride or out for Colin's first ice cream, when one of our clan is under the weather.

Oh well... another day!

Happy Birthday dear Colin. We love you.

Worst Mom Ever... at least I am not alone!

Today was just one of those days when I felt like the "Worst Mom Ever!" Even though I was at work and didn't get home till close to 4 (so I was only with my kids for 3 hours), it seemed like every thing they did it just drived me crazy. I found myself snapping at them for every little thing they did. Particularly Natalie... for some reason, she just was under my skin! I was feeling so frustrated at her and what seemed like her complete inability to play and her constant need to be one of my appendage. On top of her driving me crazy, in the midst of only hours... Sadie got clay stuck in our carpet, Nick was sick and escaped to the quite of our bedroom and Colin had horrible diarreah muliple times ... the kind that required me to bath him and change his clothes.

Tonight, I was just mean. Because Natalie was driving me crazy, I found myself just being mean back to her. Oh me, oh my... I am just horrible!! I even remember thinking to myself throughout the evening about how I am being the worst mom EVER and that Stay-at-home Mom's of the world deserve an incredible award for doing this all day long. So after I forced them into bed (and I didn't have patienece for Natalie wanting to read the book by herself ... yet another reason I deserve the worst mom ever award!)... I got a BIG bowl of ice cream and turned on my recorded Oprah from this afternooon.

Guess what... the eposide was about the unrealistic expecations of motherhood! Here are some quotes that really hit home to me:

• "Motherhood is the toughest job int he world, if you are doing it right." Does that mean I am doing it right?!!


• "Motherhood today has overblown expectations."


• "Mom's today really need a wife." I sure do...


• "Woman in today's society have been taught that that they should and could do it all." The only moments of sanity that I have are when I remind myself that I can't, won't and don't need to do it all.
• "A Good Marriage is the backbone of a healthy family." Thank goodness, we have something going right!

Thank God for Oprah!! At least I can go to bed tonight, knowing that I am truly NOT alone in this and these feelings are normal to some extent. I am probably not the worst mom ever, but I owe Natalie an apology... and she'll get one. But tomorrow is another day...

My baby is almost ONE... 11 months!

It is even hard for me to say... my baby is almost one!

Time just goes by too quickly, and as fun as it is to see him grow and change - I am already missing my little baby and want to cherish every moment of him. Before I know it, he'll be an acne filled teen who thinks I am a dork!

It's been a big month of changes and development. My lazy boy has finally started to move... and he loves it! He spent most of the past month in a cranky mood, either sick with a cold or a fever, mad about emerging teeth, or just frustrated that he wasn't moving! I think he was just bored with staying in one place, but then again, he wasn't making any effort to start crawling.

But then... just this weekend, he realized he could scoot... and really scoot! It is an odd thing to watch. He sits on his bum and uses he legs to scoot himself along. He's even learned to rotate himself around. He can get himself going. So, for the 1st time ever - my 11 month old son finally got himself in trouble. He is scooting towards electrical outlets, Nick's working things, and into the toilets. I didn't think that I would be excited about this, but after the past month of crankiness and baby laziness, I'm thrilled!

It's funny to see the differences between my kids and to think back to what it was like when Sadie and Natalie were just 11 months old. Colin is a true 3rd child. I was just talking about this with my best friend (another mom of 3) and we giggled at the fact that we don't do with our 3rd, what we did with our 2nd or was able to do with our 1st. Of course, most obvious with Colin is his inability to crawl... he wasn't really ever put on his belly. I didn't make it a point to have tummy time... there just wasn't time! He still does not know how to hold a bottle and he has no idea what a cup is, let alone how to use it. I know with the girls, that all bottles were put away and we were using only cups shortly after the 1st birthday. Colin will still only drink his milk warmed up! I have only read him books on a couple of occasions and it doesn't usually go well (he ends up eating them!). I know that I don't have the time for him, like I did for the girls, but on the other hand... the love he feels and smiles and attention he gets from his sisters is not something that they had - so I am guessing he'll be alright!

This isn't a great picture of it... but with the arrival of spring - we got out the push car that Natalie, then Sadie and now Colin is loving. It was the best garage sale toy ever purchased! He looks like such a big boy when riding it and the smile he has on his toy is so very cute.

Food and eating has been lots of fun this month as well. Here is a picture of Colin after his 1st spaghetti dinner! It went very well! We have transitioned him from his hypo-allergenic formula to milk based formula and it has been a success. He is eating almost all table food and is starting to oppose anything that comes on a spoon. For the most part, he is just eating whatever we are having and he loves it! I think it is such a hoot to watch him concentrate as he uses his little fingers to pick up his food. So cute...
I think he might be a lefty.

So, with that... here is to the final month of my baby's 1st year. We'll be thinking about birthday cake and celebration.