Nonna Bibi

Surprise! Massy's 82 year old grandma came from Italy to see us over spring break. Massy knew his parents were coming but did not know about Nonna Luciana. His mom called a couple months back and asked what I thought. Of course I said sure and what do you know she came. She had never even been on a plane until a couple years back when she went to Paris w/ some friends. I think that was also her first time even out of the country. After that, she got over her fear and decided to make the trip all the way here to see him and of course meet Daniela. Who would have ever guessed?

Daniela is here!

Annalisa is a big sister! Daniela was born on Jan 26, 2010 and weighed 8lbs and 10oz. She's doing better now than she was at first. The day after we left the hospital we had to go back to the Dr. because she wasn't going to the bathroom and lost a pound in 3 days (even though she seemed to be eating well). The Dr. wasn't sure what to think and thought she may have had some type of blockage in her stomach so he sent us to the ER at TX Children's for a chest x-ray. Praise God it came back normal, but they do think she has acid reflux. She cries a lot especially after eating and it makes us sad to see her in pain. They told us at the hospital there isn't a whole lot they can do (it takes time and hopefully she'll outgrow it as her muscles in the digestive system develop) and just to try and make her as comfortable as possible when she is crying. She's on prevacid and it seems to be helping to some degree. The good thing is that she's going to the bathroom regularly and is gaining weight although she still seems to cry quite a bit. At any rate, it could be worse and we are thankful for our newest little girl.

It's snowing!!

Can you believe it? Unfortunately, Massy's school didn't get out early but he still came home in time to make his snowman w/ the neighbors. I have to admit I stayed inside most of the time and only came out to take some pictures; it was pretty cold and I don't have a jacket that I can close b/c my stomach is too big :) Massy was laughing at the kids because they didn't know how to make a snowman. I have to admit I didn't either and I lived in Alaska!!

Trick or Treat

Annalisa dressed up as a little black cat and was adorable. One of her favorite songs that she loves to sing is "gatto nero" in Italian (black cat in English). She only knows the main chorus but she sings it over and over. She got a lot of use out of the costume (she cried when we took it off of her) and halloween night was the 3rd time she was able to wear it. We went to a little halloween party last week, and then halloween afternoon we went trick or treating at a shopping center close by and then to end the evening we went to a huge festival at church. Annalisa had a great time. She was able to do so many things and just loved all the inflatable slides and obstacle courses. She's usually one of the smallest ones on their but it doesn't stop her. She also loves balloons and in the picture above the "tall man" was making balloon animals. He made her a blue poofy poodle. She just stood there and stared at him for the longest time. She didn't know what to make of his height. It was funny to watch her!

Happy Birthday Annalisa

Annalisa turned 2 years old a couple weeks ago (Sep 23). It's been a little crazy around here as a lot is going on. On a quick sidenote...we are selling our house next week. Closing is on Wednesday which I'm kind of sad about. It all happened so fast and we didn't anticipate this. It's a huge blessing to not own 2 houses plus the first people who looked at our house are buying it so that made things real easy however, we also haven't found a house to move to which makes things a little more difficult. But amazingly enough God has given us a peace about it. There are times when I feel stressed/anxious, but for the most part I'm just taking it in stride.
At any rate, back to Annalisa's birthday...So, we celebrated her birthday w/ a small little group at Memorial City Mall carousel. I think Annalisa enjoyed and she finally actually "got" that it was for her. We kept telling her days before that her birthday was coming, but she was confused because she'd been to 3 friends' birthdays in the last 2 weeks so she was still stuck on singing to them. She loves to sing "Happy Birthday". She's been singing it for a long time (several months). It's funny because as time passes it gets more and more clear. This summer she kept singing it in Italy and you could barely tell that it was Happy Birthday. Now it's very clear that it's "Happy Birthday" although the words are all still jumbled together. Below are pics of the "birthday girl" and her big "2 year old" cupcakes. Happy 2nd Birthday, Annalisa!!