The LaGreca Family

Sometimes, Joe and I feel like our house is a zoo.  NCL will get a MILLION toys out and scatter them ALL over the place — then take one of the toy bins, put it on his head as a “hat” – and run ALL over the house, screaming.   OR – he will get his big firetruck (given to us by my boss) and turn the buttons on and drive that all over the place. The noise of that firetruck would drive anyone crazy – but it especially drives Joe crazy. I am really surprised that thing hasn’t “disappeared” yet..he he.  Oh – and then..the dog will start his routine of running crazy all over the place and barking.  I tell ya – a zoo.

Since I had President’s Day off this year – we decided to get outside, in the 80+ degree weather, and visit the zoo.

Note to self: never visit the zoo on a holiday.  The parking lot was INSANE and I have never seen so many people at our zoo (probably because we go when no one else is there – since we have annual passes).

Joe dropped us off and parked the car. So, we decided to have a snack and watch the flamingos and ducks.

Nicholas wanted to visit the elephants. I wish I could type out the word he uses for elephants…but I can’t. It’s more like a sound and it’s long.  It’s almost the sound a rooster makes – we laugh everytime.

On the way to the Elephant Odyssey – we had to stop to play with the coin machine. We didn’t have to put any money in – NCL was perfectly happy to turn the crank a few times.

(These two pictures will have to serve as my Week 29.5 pictures. It’s all I have during the time I was sick)

After 400 miles of travel (did I mention it was 80+ degrees?), we finally made it to the *New* Elephant Odyssey exhibit (it’s probably the newest addition to the zoo, but it was finished awhile back. I hadn’t been before).

(Yes, Nicholas needs another haircut…oh Gina…I wish you lived closer. I am actually thinking of trying to re-create your haircut on NCL…what a joke that will be – I was not meant to cut hair!)

Although NCL enjoyed watching the real elephants – he thoroughly enjoyed playing with this giant, fake elephant:

Being that it was almost lunch time, AND I was starting to run out of energy, (the day before this was the day I was in the urgent care for the sinus infection — we went on this little adventure, after I battled a 2 hour pounding-headache in the morning) it was time to make the 400 mile journey to the Zoo’s Exit (mostly uphill) and then the 56 mile journey to the car once outside the gates.

The rest of the afternoon went like this:

(1) Turn A/C on FULL BLAST in the car – all the way home

(2) Eat lunch – Mexican food we picked up on the way home

(3) Mommy and NCL – Take a looong nap

..and back to reality!

It feels like forever since my last blog post (yes, 12 days in-between posts is a LONG time for me).  I have a good excuse though – after the last post and my week long cold – I got my very first sinus infection….and nearly fell off the face of the Earth for over a week.

I will spare the gory details since most of you have been keeping up with me the last week on facebook.  I will leave this sinus infection behind me..as soon as I say — WOW! That was a PAINFUL week and I hope NEVER to get another sinus infection again — especially while pregnant!

Now – onto life at the LaGreca house.

We live with a “little monster”

NCL’s Aunt Angie got him that cute bath towel while we were back in Buffalo for Christmas. He was actually scared of it in December — he kept saying “Uh oh – Bite!”  (he thought the “monster” was going to bite him).  Now he is ok with the towel and it just looks so darn cute when he gets out of the bath.

The bedding arrived for NCL’s Big Boy Bed — he likes it.

I wish I could say the transition to the new room/bed had been done..but it hasn’t.  It’s totally our fault.  We still don’t have a dresser for his clothes (which isn’t the MOST important thing in the transition, but it adds to the list), the closet hasn’t been completely cleaned out with our stuff, and Joe is working through some electrical work in that room.  I had said before that we would probably paint in there, but I don’t think it’s going to happen (Joe says it’s definitely not happening).  We are running out of time and it’s just not necessary at this point. More important to get him in the new room/bed before Baby LG #2 arrives!

NCL’s grandparent’s took him to Balboa Park for the morning.  They had a BLAST!

(Our poor boy has scrapes/bruises ALL over his body — it’s a really good day if there isn’t a new one added to the mix…those days are far and few between).

(I absolutely LOVE the above picture..thinking about framing it for our bedroom).

Grandpa & Grandpa took NCL to the Model Railway Museum in Balboa Park.  I probably don’t have to tell you how much NCL loves that place..it’s all about GEE GEEs!

NCL kept himself entertained while Mommy wasn’t feeling well last week (at home).

—And, no, we don’t let him sit on the coffee table to watch his Chip & Dale shows.  But, I walked in the livingroom and caught him up there – I had to grab the camera and snap a picture before telling him to get down and sit on the couch instead.

Joe and I are continually amazed at HOW MUCH this kid LOVES Donald Duck/Chip & Dale cartoons.  It’s so awesome because there are tons on youtube – and they are only 6-8 minutes long.  I have found that it’s the easiest way for me to take a shower in the morning.  I take him in the bathroom with me — I start a Donald Duck cartoon on my iPhone (youtube) – I am always careful to pick the longer episodes, at least 7 1/2 minutes or so, and then I take a shower. He watches the “Duck” the whole time..and behaves. It’s wonderful.

And finally, time to wrap up this post — but first, I HAVE to post pictures of NCL’s 1st Day of Preschool (Thursday, Feb. 11th)

I snapped a quick picture of Daddy and son in the parking lot, on the way into NCL’s first day of “school” – (yup, I am one of “those” Mom’s – the camera goes everywhere with me — but that is no surprise to anyone, right?)

NCL was a little skeptical at first. He didn’t want us to leave….then he saw the box of cars/trucks/trains and he went right over to them. We tried to sneak past him, but he caught us. THEN – he saw the playdough on the table – and that was it…our get-away was flawless. (I won’t lie – I was a little sad….our baby is growing up – BUT, mostly, I was SO excited for him. The sadness didn’t last long for me).

An hour after we dropped NCL off at preschool – we got an email update from the preschool director (Thank YOU, Robin!)  She said NCL was doing great & snapped this picture of Amos and Nicholas playing dress-up. (These 2 boys are 3 weeks apart and have been together at church since they were teeny babies. When we tell NCL we are going to church, the first thing he says is “I wanna see Amy” — that’s what he calls Amos).

And a few hours later..we got ANOTHER email update…with the sweetest picture EVER.

(NCL took his first nap at preschool..on a little person cot. I just LOVE this picture — HUGE thanks to Robin for making us feel so special on NCL’s first day at FHPP. We are so happy to have Nicholas there!)

And, as if 2 emails with attached pictures wasn’t enough – we got the cutest little personalized “report card” (NCL is “eating” plastic corn on the cob from the play kitchen)

Time for bed (it’s almost 11pm!)  More pictures/updates to come….

If you are looking for some updated pictures of me or anyone else in the LaGreca family – sorry, I got nothin’.

What I do have..is a nasty cold.  And, you know how I have been saying that sleep has been a big issue for me throughout this pregnancy?  Well, so far – that was nothing. I went 2 straight nights with NO sleep…sitting up in bed, eyes watering, scratchy throat, itchy ears, stuffy nose…just plain, uncomfortable!

So, on Monday night, I took NCL and my “Dr’s list of ok’ed medicines to take while you are pregnant” to our local CVS and decided on Sudafed nighttime cold and some Ricola for my throat. Sudafed and I have been friends for 2 nights now – and I have to say…I can feel the difference. I still wake up 5-6 times in the night, but at least I am getting some sleep. That means all will be right in the world soon, right?

If only it were that easy.  See — we have this little boy that lives in our house. He is 2 years old.  He has decided that his main focus in life (for the time being) is to get into as much trouble as he possibly can…by NOT listening to anything his parents say to him.  Poor Joe. After 3 days with him (one of which, I was home but felt like garbage and stayed in bed until noon, then worked from home in the afternoon), Joe was about to burst (that is a nice description).

At 4pm, NCL was in his 432nd timeout of the day and Joe was trying to figure out what to do for dinner. I told him to forget about dinner – we would order a pizza.  It’s just one of those nights, ya know?  So, we ate our pizza and I told Joe to call a few friends and go for a beer — he needed to get out of the house and away from the boy.

This has GOT to make a few people laugh….because, as you remember…we ONLY have 1 kid.  ONE KID!  Yes, we have #2 on the way…but that one is still 100% contained.  The only thing I could think about today was the fact that I know 4 people in my circle of friends that have 4 kids, 4 kids, almost 5 kids, and 6 kids!  I honestly don’t know how they do it.  I am convinced that the only way that could possibly work is if you started having kids young. And even then, I just don’t know how it’s done.

Yup,  we are in a rough spot with NCL.  I am getting more nervous about Baby #2 as we get closer to the arrival.  We are 11 weeks away.  I keep telling myself that MILLIONS of people have done this before — and survived. So, it will be fine,right?  It will be hard — I know I have NO idea how hard it will be — but I am trying to prepare myself for the difficulty ahead.  Our current plan of attack is to get as many “date nights” in as we possibly can.  So far – we have had 2 Saturday night’s out in a ROW (Thanks to the grandparents and church friends).  And, we are planning another Saturday night out this weekend (as long as we are all healthy).

**Side note: it’s REALLY expensive to go out these days.  Man! Just going out to dinner gets pricey! We used to do it all the time before NCL came along…and I think we forgot how expensive it can get. And if you add in a movie…holy cow!

Anyway, that is enough from me.  I will try to take a picture tomorrow and post something soon, if I remember and feel like it (I should take a picture in the morning when I am not looking so tired).  Oh – and NCL starts pre-school tomorrow so I will definitely have pictures from that.  Super exciting day for the little dude (and Dad gets the “day off” — a much needed break).

Usually, I am blogging about “a first” that Nicholas has had — and of course, there are always LOTS of firsts for a little person.  This time, I have a first that Joe and I experienced together.

We made an APPLE PIE.  From scratch. Together.  And it was a first for BOTH of us.

Joe had the idea last week – he just decided he wanted to make an apple pie.  I must admit, I wasn’t fond of the idea.  I have NEVER made a pastry from scratch – and I was convinced it was going to be hard and it would turn out bad. (Yes, it’s true – I like to do things that I KNOW will turn out well — I have a problem with failure.  Cooking/Baking does not come naturally to me – I have only learned how to cook, sort of, over the last 5-10 years).

I started with making the dough, and once I got them into these two balls – I was convinced something was wrong with them. I was petrified of having to roll them out.

So, I set the dough aside (hoping that Joe would do the hard part) – and got to work on the apples.  Wow! It takes a long time to skin and core apples (no, I don’t have an apple corer).  But, I will admit – the best part about the task was the fact that I could sit at the kitchen table and do it (much easier on the back).

I got lucky – Joe agreed to do the hard part!  He put the bottom crust in the pie plate and then got to work on the top.

Joe was a professional.  What would have been a disaster (if I had done it) turned out to be absolutely perfect! And, he even added some creativity (he gets a perfect 10 for display).

I didn’t take a picture of us actually eating the pie (oops), but we brought it to a friend’s house for dessert.  I must say (and I am not trying to “toot my own horn”) that our 1st apple pie was REALLY good. The crust was flaky (just how Joe likes it) and the apples were delicious.  I am still shocked!  I guess, now that I have done it, it really isn’t that hard (the crust is the most important thing). We have a few modifications to the recipe (at least 3-4 more apples) and maybe a little more cinnamon, but we were both SO happy with the outcome (and when you add vanilla ice cream……YUM!)

Miller – we are going to give you a run for your money.  When you get home from London – the apple pie competition is ON!

The title might sound a little….negative….but it’s not meant to be.  I actually entered into the 3rd and Final Trimester today — so, it really is the “Beginning of the End”…of this pregnancy.  I am not even sure I believe it. For some reason, I was thinking the 3rd trimester was still 2-3 weeks away.  I was wrong.

I was also wrong about something else.  Just yesterday (Wednesday), I told one of my co-workers that I felt like my belly had gotten a little smaller in the past few days.  Yeah…no….not really.  Joe took this picture of me tonight and there is NO mistaken that belly – it’s getting bigger!  One of my friends sent me a message the other day and said “it looks like you swallowed a basketball!” — and, it kind of feels that way.

Just this week, I have run into a few things with my belly.  I don’t think I realized just how far it sticks out.

I am feeling good.  Energy level is good (thank goodness – because I have been so busy at work AND the rain has added 20-30 minutes to my commute home, so I need to be AWAKE and ALERT!) The baby has been kicking a ton. I am loving that.  I just sit back and enjoy the little dance Baby LaGreca is doing inside my belly — what a miracle!

This baby continues to be shy around Daddy.  The other night I was sitting at my desk in the office, and the baby had the hiccups (and he/she was kicking) — so after awhile, I finally nudged Joe and had him put his hand on my belly….wouldn’t you know it…that baby stopped EVERY bit of movement.  Poor Joe.

Now that we have started the Baby Guessing Game — I am even more excited to find out the baby’s sex. Of course, I can totally wait 3 months, but how exciting that we will find out soon!  As of right now, my guess is “boy” — but, I think it will change at least 20 times before the baby arrives.  At this point, I can’t see myself with anything but boys (since my house is full of them right now!)  Obviously, we don’t care either way – and it really doesn’t matter, because it’s already been decided