Adieu

Here's one last shot of our past weekend to bid you adieu until we are in "greener pastures" in VA! The trip commences at 3am when we'll be hauling the grand-amily and 90lb. yellow lab to my parents' house. There we will deposit said pooch and continue on for another 10 hours to Virginia, praying our DVD player continues to work, boys nap, and one particular boy doesn't wet his big-boy underpants! :) Oh the joys of travel.

Oh and did you notice our sweet, little godson is screaming in the above pic, yet his godparents smile on? We do have that effect on children... and will sacrifice anything for the camera! :) lol.

Blessings to you all.
If you haven't checked it out already, head over to our latest blog venture to check out what we're eating in Gasperini-Ville! A rare glimpse into the kitchen and stomachs of the Gasperinis! What a treat.

Thanks for remembering us in your prayers this week as we travel and house hunt!
Lord, deliver us a home for our growing family!!
God bless!

A fresh layer

As the snow continues to fall around us, piling higher and higher...

I admit I'm pretty much done with winter. I thought the last snowfall would be our last--dangerous thinking during a midwestern February. It is a mentality like that which almost jinxes the weather report and encourages the snow to fall well into April. Shux!!

I guess you could say GG and I can't wait to get our behinds to somewhere warmer and more predictable! Virginia, that is! We are so eagerly anticipating our move there! 3 months and counting...

In the meantime, if the wintery blahs have stolen your joy today and you need a little morsel to make it through...

Just remember things could be worse.

You could look like this guy.

He's having a rough day too. lol.

Smiles and God bless!

*Note: this little Ewok creature is actually a member of my immediate family--a brother, if you will. Meet JB, my parents' 15-year-old pug, who's beating the record books and living well past his prime. I still manage to find him cute! :)

A Joyful Weekend

The weekend has come and gone... and we are extremely grateful for such a fun time *squeezed* into a mere 24 hours! What a blessing it was for GG and I to see our dear friends, rejoice in our godson, drink in thoughts and excitement for our next little Gasperini, revel in our friends' children and their growth, enjoy hugs from dear ones we haven't been able to hug for a good while... and just enjoy each other! Such fun. As we journeyed home last night, our hearts were light after a wonderful time in New Jersey (and a little heavy knowing we'd be getting back on the heels of a busy Monday! Oh well, such is life! :)

The little angel before his baptismal debut.

Cutie Gus in his tux at the post-baptism party!

The Princeton gang at the party. What joy to be together!

The trip couldn't have gone any smoother. Thank you for your prayers. One never knows how travels will go! Thank goodness our flights were on-schedule (and even early to arrive Saturday night!) We had no trouble meeting up with Red at the airport and driving back to her new and beautiful home! Seeing her kiddos upon arrival was such a treat--they are the sweetest, most calm kids I know. They were quick to bed after our home tour--LOVED the new place, Red! What a blessing that God has provided them such an amazing home in which to raise and grow their family!! Afterward, Red made us a wonderful dinner, also enjoyed by Red's hubby and two other dear friends, Geoff and Lauren (shown below holding baby Gus!)

We chatted until... oh 11pm or so! before breaking off into the kitchen crew (the ladies) and pontificate-at-the- table club (the gents, who incidentally were very grateful for our service, just to let you know!) How much I enjoyed cleaning up with Lauren and Red, two wonderful Catholic women, who desire to love and serve their families (future ones in Lauren's case--the wedding's in May! :) At some point the whole gang reassembled, talked some more, and then headed to bed after 1am. GG and I were zonked but so happy...

Sunday morning brought with it the joy of bagel feasting, party preparation, baby washing and dressing(!)--too precious, worshiping at aTridentine Mass, and participating in our godson's baptism! Welcome to the Church, dear Augustine! Of the three babies being baptised, baby Gus was hands-down the best-behaved. We were so proud of our little man... :) One of the little ones cried the entire time (poor thing)! lol.

The post-baptism party back at Red's was a ball. The food was wonderful, company excellent, and conversation lively (as usual). How heartwarming it is to be with friends who know us well... and love us exactly how we are. Praise God for the union we have in Christ. There's truly nothing like it. It's as if time has stood still since we were last together. No awkwardness, no small talk... just goodness.

And now here we are, back again in Gasperini-Ville. We awoke this morning to ample hugs from our little M and T-baby. They surely made this mama feel very missed and loved. Unfortunately, M took out his Mommy-and-Daddy-are-gone stress on his pottytraining habits (and my poor parents) while we were away! After a month of very few accidents, he had 4 in one day! Yikes! Thankfully, we seem to be back on track today!! The boys and I had a very quiet morning together followed by a peaceful naptime. Love it.

And don't hold your breath too long... because we're off again in another 4 days! Our VA house-hunting extravaganza trip commences Friday!! Lots of prayers needed there! Dear Lord, help us find a home to bless our growing family...

In the meantime, hope you are well, dear friends, and that your week has gotten off to a brilliant start. I recommend making a list today of all the little, nagging things you need to get done and start CROSSING OFF! Nothing like it. I've been scribbling and crossing all day.

God bless you and be well.

A Precious Event

If you knew someone this cute, you'd want to be there for their baptism too!

Tomorrow GG and I head out to participate in this beautiful little boy's baptism, a glorious event that will unite us as his godparents and send all of us off on the road of his Catholic journey together. Wow! Such a responsibility we have... yet one we take with utmost joy and sincerity!

The baptism will also give us the wonderful excuse of reuniting with many of our Princeton pals, who will be coming in for the festivities! What blessings!! GG and I are pinching ourselves that we'll have two whole airplane flights and one overnight without our beautiful cherubs! While I'd love to parade them around, I think it wise they're staying put. We'll be on the ground there for less than 24 hours!! Too much of a whirlwind for our precious ones. Thanks to Gramz and Pappy for pulling overtime to give us this special time away. We'll be missing those little guys something fierce, though, I tell you!

Can't wait to share precious photos on Monday... We would love your prayers for safe travels.

May God richly bless your Saturday and Sunday! Hugs and baptismal blessings!

Daddy Antics

To delight you on this Thursday morning...

Here's a glimpse of a Gasperini-Ville dinner! lol! What a good daddy, huh?!

God bless you!

Retail Therapy

While I know its not the most responsible... frugal... or possibly ethical thing to do...
A mama's gotta have some new duds!! :) Especially when her belly is beginning to blossom.
Retail therapy, here I come.

And what better a day to shop than on President's Day, to celebrate the manly men of the world, who provided so that women like me could head to the mall! lol. :)

The boys and I actually had a great morning, T-baby strapped to the umbrella stroller and M, trotting alongside while his mama shopped. We headed to Sears, where I found great sales and picked up two maternity items--a baby blue eyelet shirt for $6.99 and a cute denim sundress for $23. Not too shabby! I then fulfilled my promise to the two of them, heading straight for the kids' play area and allowing them ample time to run, crawl, slide, and climb. Afterward, we headed to the maternity shop, where I purchased the beloved "belly band" for keeping non-maternity pants "afloat" and helping to lower waistlines of too-short shirts. It is the perfect item for an in-between prego mama!

Our adventures carried us to Panera and we dined on bagels and soup while enjoying one another's company. Bravo to a wonderful morning out! We came home refreshed and renewed... yet awfully tired! The boys sleep as I type and I'm ready to zonk myself.

Of course not before my personal fashion show. Are you kidding me?!
Retail therapy, gotta love it.
God bless you on this President's Day!

Back to the Drawing Board

Here's what I read today after taking an online "boy or girl?" test:

Congratulations!
You have a 43% chance of having a boy. And you have a 56% chance of having a girl.

Oh Really!?! Talk about inconclusive!!! :)

Here were a few of the predictions according to funny wives' tales:

* Sleeping in a bed with your pillow to the south indicates that you will be having a girl.

* Your feet are not colder than they were before pregnancy. You are having a girl.

* You refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread. You are having a girl.

* Dad-to-be hasn't been gaining weight along with Mom-to-be, so it will be a girl.

* You are looking particularly good during pregnancy (oh yeah!). Therefore, it must be a boy, because girls steal their mother's looks.

* Your nose hasn't changed during pregnancy (!!), which indicates a girl.

* You pick up your coffee cup by the handle, so it's a boy.

Hysterical! I spared you a few due to their more graphic detail!

So there you have it... Not one step closer to an answer after all! :)

Hope you enjoyed a brilliant Friday. God bless.

Happy Feast of St. Valentine to you!




Why don't you head on over for breakfast?
Wouldn't that be the greatest?
Hope you enjoy a wonderful feast day! God bless and LOVE you!

Adventures with Chuck

We ventured out today amidst snowflakes the size of quarters (no joke!) and mosied to the nearest Chuck-E-Cheese's for a little adventure with friends. As I might have anticipated, one of my little guys was less-than-ethusiastic and rather overwhelmed from the start. Poor M! I couldn't get him to move from near the cash registers for the longest time... :(

Meanwhile, T-baby and I found a game that merely involved putting tokens into the machine. He gladly placed one after another until it had gobbled up everything! Oh well--small kicks for small folks, right?

Soon after lunch, our tune changed and M went forth to the kiddie area (why hadn't I thought to go there first?) and warmed up immediately to the slide and the little kids' games. What truly did the little man in, though, was the train game with a zooming Amtrak train to watch and control. Oh Lord, was he in heaven! :)

By the time we left, both boys had enjoyed a wonderful lunch of new experiences with old friends, the best kind to have! Here are a few shots to enjoy... God bless!

T, in deep concentration! Look at that pinky!

Check out his line of tickets!

The boys, getting into ski ball, one of Mom's faves!

Happy to have gotten out of the house!

Droopy

Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary.
What we need is to love without getting tired.
-Mother Teresa

While not loving extraordinarily today, I do admit to being a bit bushed!
Off to nap while the boys will let me--hope you're having a wonderful day! God bless!

Escaping

I escaped the dull and blustery weather yesterday afternoon and snuck away to the beauty salon...

emerging a NEW WOMAN!

Praise God for no more ponytails.

Praise God for hi-lites (I can dream of living in sun-kissed Florida, right?!)

Praise God for change when the world seems dismally the same, day after chilly day.

Welcome to the new B-mama! She's here to stay for awhile! Hallelujah, hallelujah!! And did I mention the excitement of all three of my boys at their mama's new looks? They are beyond cute and have been so complimentary since.
Again, hallelujah!

God bless!

And who said...

yogurt doesn't work as a hair product?

Slimy, happy hugs from Gasperini-Ville on this Saturday! God bless!

Mama Times

I admit to being at my wit's end recently... with a certain toddler, who is repeatedly making his mark on Gasperini-Ville. Boy do I love my T-baby, but *boy* has he pushed my buttons over the past few days!!!

"And what could such a sweet cherub have done to get his mama's goat so badly?" You ask.

*Was it the shaken waterbottle of orange gatorade, splashed all over the living room carpet... twice?

*Was it the umpteenth bowl of food dumped off the highchair and onto the floor?

*Was it the flooded bathroom that resulted from secret, behind-mommy's-back cupfuls of water dashed overboard while in the tub?

*Was it the naked pee-pee job done on mommy's newly-laundered duvet cover?

Yes. Yes. Yes. And that would be a YES!

Yet when I found myself ready to blow my top yesterday after one of T's antics, I was instead completely humbled. There he sat, sweet and smiling, with the ashen cross on his forehead from Ash Wednesday Mass. Here was my precious T-baby, in all his toddler glory, with an outward sign of being absolutely adored by his Heavenly Father. T was loved, coddled, and even forgiven in the worst of his moments, just like the rest of us.

Rather than yell, I brought him to me, talked to him, and loved him, just like our Lord does with us every day.

Good times for a little mama Lenten reflection. Gotta love that humility--thank you, Lord!

Hope your season of Lent has gotten off to a blessed start...

God bless you!

A Day to Party!

While the world might think they're celebrating Fat Tuesday today...

They're really rejoicing in our little M's third birthday!!!!!!

Happy Birthday M! We love you so much!!

Three years ago yesterday, I was teaching away happily, presuming to have another month to go before delivering our first child. I started feeling "funny", sick to my stomach with a headache. After having my blood pressure taken by a colleague (who also happened to be an EMT; what perfect coincidence!), we thought it best to have me go and check in with the doctor.

I met GG at the hospital, where they began monitoring my bp. We planned to head home afterward and go out to dinner with friends later on... OR NOT! My blood pressure continued to skyrocket, yet with no signs of pre-ecclampsia. It had yet to evolve! By the time my bp reached 180's/106, we knew we were done for. "You're not leaving this hospital without a baby..." was what the nurse told us. Oh my goodness! We weren't leaving the hospital without a baby!!! GG and I couldn't believe it. We were going to get to meet our little man a month early!

12 hours of induction later, I was in the throes of labor with pitocin on the way. At 2:38pm on Saturday, February 5th, our little guy arrived in full glory, weighing a nice 5lbs. 5oz. and measuring 18.5inches. He was a little peanut, indeed, and one we adored immediately... How blessed our lives have been because of him.

We had the chance to celebrate his birthday with some friends on Saturday. It was a fun, low-key kind of party (totally my style!), and M had a great time with his best buds. The kids romped around at an indoor playground, while the parents sat and drank coffee--perfect! I added some shots below to capture the event for the memory books...

Today we celebrated with doughnuts and balloons for breakfast. M brought brownies to his preschool class to share with his friends. A day to party, indeed.

Thanks for rejoicing with us! God bless!!

Announcing...

A new little venture for me and some of my Princeton gal pals:

Building Cathedrals--a blog on motherhood, faithfulness, and everything in-between.

Among the seven of us, we boast of over 200 months of pregnancy, 17 children (with 3 on the way!), thousands of changed diapers, 7 Princeton diplomas, and 4 advanced degrees as we humbly walk our daily vocations as wives and mothers.

Please join us on this awesome journey...

(and don't worry, I'll still be regularly reporting from Gasperini-Ville. Can't jump ship now!)
Blessings to you on this Sunday, the Feast of St. Blase.
Hope it's a great one!

Amidst a Snowglobe

I have to admit, sitting here in our living room and peering out the window at the snowy wonder around us is pretty therapeutic on this Friday morning...

The whole family has been cozied up together since awaking this morning to a real-life snowglobe. While forecasts predicted even more of the white stuff than has actually fallen (when are the predictions really correct? when??) we are still 6+ inches under and enjoying it.

The coffee is brewing, my feet are curled up in the bottom of my pant legs (too lazy to find socks), and the living room is strewn with all the toy fascinations of the morning hours. We are bundled with a few more layers (except for the feet--why are my feet always bereft?) And to top it off, GG has lingered with us rather than rush off to his law school duties.

Ahh... I could take more mornings like these.

I meant to write and report yesterday of my second and *wonderful* visit with the midwife. GG, T-baby, and I were able to immediately hear the heartbeat of our little one with the aid of the Doppler. This was such a relief and an answer to prayer. In the past, it's been difficult to track the 13-week heartrates of our little ones. Not this time! She placed the doppler wand on my belly and voila!, a heartbeat in the mid to high 160's!!

Our midwife's prediction--a girl. She has an unscientific theory that little girls are more obedient on these 13-week dopplers. She usually has to go searching for little boys. lol. :) Seems to fit the bill for us so far! The higher heartbeat is also a potential indicator for little girl status... How exciting!! While a healthy baby is our utmost hope, pink booties would be welcomed in Gasperini-Ville.

As always, my coffee is beckoning and the slow-moving morning is calling me into action.
Blessings to you on this Friday from our little snowglobe to your neck of the woods.
Wherever you are, whatever you're up to, I hope you're well. God bless.