The LaGreca Family

For the past few years, we have tried to stick to a little tradition of having people over for dinner and pumpkin carving.  We even had a little gathering of people right before we had Nicholas – two years ago.  That was a special night because our friend, Sishir, had NEVER carved a pumpkin before!!

Since then….(2007 – pictured above)…we had a baby (2 days after this pumpkin carving event), Kristi & Sishir moved to New Jersey, K&S got pregnant and had a little girl…and now…they are back visiting San Diego….and, we are pregnant again

So, we put together another dinner/pumpkin carving.  Joe made pasta, the Sharp’s came over with Sophie and we carved!

I was very anxious to see if NCL would get into the pumpkin carving this year (since he was too little to “get it” last year).  He TOTALLY got into it.  The yucky, slimy feeling of pulling out the seeds didn’t bother him at ALL!

And…the boy figured out how to “gut” the pumpkin…

He was really trying to “help” Daddy with the carving – and Daddy was trying very hard to be “patient” — since it was taking NCL a very long time to get the seeds out of the pumpkin.

Meanwhile, the girls would rather be in the warm house with all the books and toys.  Sophie wasn’t really interested in the pumpkins (I don’t think she wanted to get her hands dirty?)  And, of course, Samantha is way too young to have any idea what is going on (4 mths), but she was perfectly happy just hanging out.

While the BIG boys finished up the carving – Debbie and I figured it was time to get the kids clean and in their jammies (it was getting late!)

Bath Time!  Sophie and NCL played nicely in the bathtub. Splashing was held to a minimum (NCL likes to get water out of the tub – nightly).

Pumpkins are DONE! Time to check out the Dad-Handy Work…

How could I forget!?!  The pumpkin seeds were also cleaned, seasoned and roasted…Thanks Debbie and Kristi!

I was thinking yesterday (on NCL’s real birthday) about all of the things I love about him.  Of course, there are many, but I figured I would jot down a few – to share.

1. I love it in the morning, when I am still in my room – and I can hear a little voice down the hall saying, “Hiiiiii Maaammma!”
2. I love when I walk into his room in the AM and his is so excited to have someone in the room. He grabs all the toys in his bed (usually trains) and drives them around — he is usually trying to tell me something, but I don’t quite understand past the “gee gee”
3. I love hearing him say “Hi” to his Dad in the morning. Joe is usually in the shower when I get NCL out of bed, so I change his diaper and clothes and then put him on the ground.  I say “go find your Daddy” – and he RUNS back to our room – turns the corner into the bathroom and says, loudly “Hiiii Daddda!” and shows Joe his shirt or his toy (whatever he finds most exciting that morning).
4. I love NCL’s “Happy Dance” – some of you have probably seen it before and you can kind of get a glimpse of it at the end of the “Roscoe gets a bite” video.  It always makes me smile to see him get SO excited!
5. I love all of his “boy noises” – I can’t really do them justice on the blog b/c they would be hard to type out, but they are precious.
6. I love to watch him play with cars/trucks/trains/tractors (anything with wheels). He gets on his belly (as you have seen in many pictures) and he just pushes them around. He likes to make them crash into each other, too (that must be a boy thing)
7. I love how he gets possessive of his “Mama” and “Dadda” sometimes. I don’t really know what triggers it, but sometimes,  when we have people over or are around other people – he will run up to us, grab our legs and say “My Dadda!” or “My Mama!” – just to make sure it’s clear that we belong to him…ha ha.
8. I love his kisses. When he is giving them out – I can’t get enough! I don’t even care when they are wet ones or dirty ones (during mealtime).
9. I love that he is a social little kid & he seems to share pretty well for being 2.  He really likes to have other “little people” over to play.  Good thing we have lots of friends that have little people around the same age!
10. I love watching Disney movies with him…especially when he runs over to me and wants to sit in my lap.
11. I love that he loves to drink milk! (Although, I don’t like that he continues to call it “wa wa”! We are working VERY hard on that)
12. Along with #11 – I also love that he eats pretty much anything. When he is hungry….he EATS! A BIG THANKS to Joe for “training” NCL on food. I think it’s definitely helpful that Joe eats everything and gets NCL to try everything.  (And, we are not about to become “short order cooks” – so, what is served on the table..is dinner…that’s it).
13. I love the way he says “thank you” — it sounds like “Donk Yu” — which is also very close to “Doc-cow” (Roscoe).  AND – he has EVEN said ‘thank you’ on his own after receiving something (without one of us reminding him to say it!)
14. I absolutely LOVE that NCL knows what to do when I say “it’s time to say Grace.”  He puts his fork down and makes sure he grabs BOTH of our hands.  Then I say, “bow your head and close your eyes” (he will bow his head, but not keen on closing the eyes just yet…he wants to see what is going on…and make sure his food isn’t touched, ha ha). He is quiet the entire time and then at the end, when I say “..in Jesus name, Amen.” He yells out “AMEN!” It’s the best.
15. And, finally..this never gets old…I just LOVE to watch him sleep at night. (I know, I have said this a million times – but it has to make “My List”)  When he is sleeping – his face looks EXACTLY the same as it did when we first brought him home…it’s his BODY that has grown SO much! Usually, Joe and I will go in there together and just watch him — and usually, one of us will say, “Gosh, he is getting SO big!”

Ok, so I wasn’t successful in keeping “My List” short, sorry about that. (“A few” is more like 5..not 15!)  But, he is our boy, and this is our site – so, I guess that means I can list as many “loves” as I want!

Happy Halloween everyone! Pictures of our little guy dressed as _________ coming soon

Nicholas’ birthday celebration started on Friday night with birthday presents from Grandma & Grandpa LaGreca.

Grandpa LaGreca made an Animal Train – by hand!

In true “NCL fashion” – he got on the floor (on his belly) to push his train around.

After NCL went to bed on Friday night, I decorated his Train Birthday Cake, (HUGE Thanks to Mary, Joe’s cousin in Buffalo, for finding this cake tin online.  It was such a big hit and I am very thankful that I only had to bake the cake once — online reviews are so helpful!)   Here is a picture right out of the oven.

And, after an hour of decorating…the finished product…

NCL is ready to party! (with his trains and his Train Shirt)

Checking out the backyard – we still had a lot of “setting up to do”

“ALL ABOARD” – Grand Central Station in NCL’s room.

Meanwhile, Auntie Dani and Pepere set up the Kiddie Tents in the backyard

Nicholas took a 2 hour nap in preparation for a very busy birthday party (we didn’t think we were going to get a nap out of him on the day of his birthday party, so we were very excited).

And – time to party.  The kids all enjoyed the Rocking Horse.

Julia smiles as she rocks.

Nicholas was definitely ready for his birthday cake. He has been so excited about his “Gee” Cake!

Our family

Yup, he liked his cake…

And, as if cake wasn’t enough – NCL also got a chocolate milk for his birthday.  How fun!

We really had a great day. I can’t thank everyone enough, for all the help.  We really appreciate the help with set-up, food and clean-up.  As they say, “it takes a village to raise a child” – and they are right!

Hard to believe that Nicholas is almost 2 (his real birthday is this Thursday, October 29th). It doesn’t feel like it has been two years since we brought him home. He has changed SO much in 2 years!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Nicholas!

(Can you believe we will bring another little one home in 6 months!?! So exciting! —- And SCARY!)

I couldn’t take it anymore.  I am NOT a hair-stylist. There are people that go to school to learn the art of cutting hair. My poor boy has had to put up with me, the scissors and the garage (but, he always gets popsicles out of the deal – and he loves that).

Enough was enough – he was looking quite “shaggy” – so I took him to our hair cutting place last Sunday.  I brought cookies with me, thinking that would be a good distraction – but it really didn’t work.  I ended up in the chair, with NCL facing me on my lap.  He was a little jerky for the girl and she was a bit nervous – but overall, it really wasn’t too bad. There were no tears, no fits, and no cuts (other than his hair).

Since I was the only one with NCL that day, there are no pictures of the actual “hair cutting” – but here are a few I took the next morning. (The pictures aren’t great because I had to use the flash. It was too dark in the house and the kid moves around TOO much!)

Is it just me, or does NCL look a little older with the new haircut?  I guess that is ok since he is going to be 2 years old next week.  He is VERY excited about his “Gee Gee” Birthday Party.  I will do my best to get pictures up as soon as I can.

So, the question of the week. (I guess there are two questions of the week, but one stands out a little more than the other).

The first question comes from people that live outside of San diego (or don’t see me very often):  “Are you showing?“

I can’t believe the answer to the question, but it’s: YES!  I am almost 13 weeks and I am already showing!  It’s crazy!  I BARELY had a little pooch at 16 weeks last time.  But, as most people say, you show a lot sooner with you second pregnancy.  Hmmm.  That just means I have to pull out all my “bigger” clothes sooner than I though.  I was sad to say good-bye to a pair of PRE-#1-pregnancy jeans that I was FINALLY back in!  It was fun to wear them for a few months.

The second question is asked at least 2 times a day by someone, whether at work, on facebook, or via email:  “How are you feeling?“

I am happy to report that I am feeling MUCH better.  My tummy has definitely complied with the timing of my pregnancy.  Just about to leave the 1st trimester behind – and my tummy will leave (hopefully) all ‘morning sickness’ behind.  I am glad to see it go – it’s definitely hard to feel “icky” with a 2 yr old running around. He didn’t like it when Mama was laying on the couch instead of chasing him around the house, or playing trains.

I don’t have a picture of myself or the tummy – sorry.  I bet there won’t be as many belly pictures as there was the last time. I am not as comfortable in front of the camera these days.

But, since I am almost 13 weeks, I figured I would recap some similarities & differences in the pregnancy thus far:

-Differences-

1. WAY more hungry starting the 7th week. I can’t believe how much and often I have to eat to keep up!
2. Eggs made me feel very sick one morning and had to stop eating them for a few weeks
3. Bathroom Breaks in the middle of the night have been SO bothersome this time.  I have to get up 2-3 hours after I JUST went to bed. I am sorry, but that is unacceptable (I hope the baby moves up soon, so I can have a FULL night of rest in my bed…at least for a few months)
4. Already mentioned this, but I am showing a LOT sooner than last time. It will be nice when I actually look pregnant, instead of “girl who is letting her belly get OUT of CONTROL”
5. The first trimester FLEW by this time. Last time, I felt like it was going to last forever (mostly because I was so nervous the whole time).

+Similarities+

1. “All Day Sickness” started around 6 weeks, really kicked in on the 8th week and started to die down around 11 weeks.  Almost exactly as it happened with NCL (oh – and I never actually threw up either time, and I am VERY thankful for that…close a few times, but I held my cool)
2. Cereal – even though I wasn’t AS hungry with pregnancy #1, I still always have found comfort in a bowl of cereal.  I really do love milk – and there is nothing like a bowl of rice krispies with a banana to calm a growing baby
3. Anxious about getting everything done. I feel like our list of “things to do” is growing every single day.  That’s right..nothing has changed. This is always the case in the LaGreca house (pregnant or not).

Since I don’t have any pictures of me, why not leave you with a few of Nicholas? He is so much cuter!

Swinging at Melissa’s house