Go Daddy Go!

What fun it was today to cheer on our GG at a local race. We love cheering... and especially for our awesome Daddy!! He did great (and admitted to speeding up when he saw his crew)! We were so impressed.

Rockin' it all the way to the end

With his most faithful fans

The best part about it was getting out early on a Saturday morning with the boys. Afterward, we all played at the local mall--the boys in the children's area, while mom and dad enjoyed Chick-Fil-A. Now I call that a good time! :)

Spotlight on J

I wanted to take a moment to highlight our sweet Baby J, who often shares (even relinquishes) the spotlight with his big bros. When you're #3 in line, its harder for a mama to take note of all the amazing, wonderful things happening in that one little boy's world. I'm trying, I tell you, and he's definitely not stopping to wait up!

First things first, J is sweet. Truly. Nothing can melt this mama like her boy toddling up, turning around, and planting his little bottom on my lap. He always wants to sit in laps, no matter whose lap it is! The other week I picked him up at the gym nursery and learned from a mother who had stayed with her daughter that J had walked up with a book and sat right down on her lap, expecting to read. So cute!! He also gives lots of hugs and seems to have a general lovey, affectionate disposition. We can only hope it will stick around through the terrible two's! He loves his brothers and finds them so silly. Most wonderful lately has been watching the fun friendship develop between J and T. They have similar personalities and should make famous friends someday.

Secondly, J loves music! While both older brothers seem to have an ear for a tune, neither have started singing as early as J. His first ballad was "Twinkle, Twinkle" at 14 months. New tunes include "The Itsy, Bitsy Spider", "Row Your Boat", the Thomas the Train theme song, and "Lullaby" and might I add, very much on pitch! While the words are still a good bit in coming, I think it's so cool that this is J's little way of shining.

Speaking of words, he is slowly adding to his vocabulary, but often with the first part of the word-- "foo" for food, "boo" for book, "bobble" for bottle, "boobbuwy" for blueberry, etc. Can you tell he likes "b" words? :) And let's not forget his two favorite words of all time: "Papa" and "Dada".

GG's dad has affectionately become the center of J's adoration, the topic of many conversations, and the object of our every morning when he arrives to take the boys to preschool. Papa rules without question and I find it so sweet to see J adore his grandfather so! GG comes in a close second, inciting extreme enthusiasm and a plethora of hugs and yells from J when he arrives home in the evenings. No doubt it makes GG's day to be greeted so enthusiastically.

Three additional things I want to mention--J has a stellar pencil grip at 18mos (speaking from the perspective of a teacher--I definitely don't remember this with the other boys), he uses eating utensils with precision, and he loves balls. Loves them. That about sums it up!

J pushed around a baby doll in a pink stroller the other day during church nursery, hopefully a sign that he's ready for a little baby doll sister of his own! We will do our best to make him feel loved and a part of all the goodness the new baby will bring... Love you, sweet J! You help complete our family!

Snug Bugs

Have a blessed Monday!

My Little Fish

I was a big swimmer growing up--U.S.S. meets galore, many, many practices every week, chlorine-infused hair, etc. so it is REALLY important to me that my boys learn to swim and swim well. A family-owned company here in town has taken my little, fearful swimming fledglings and turned them into legitimate swimmers!! Hearing M say, "Mommy, I love to swim" just about made my year. This is a kid who back in August wouldn't put his head under! Love it. They did a stellar job during this last round of swim lessons, which we forced on them twice a week in January!

Here I am with M during the last lesson when Mommy got to "learn" all the swimming techniques. It is so fun to be in the water together.

M, jumping in from the side of the pool. You have no idea what an awesome thing this is. It is a great feat for him!!

He has now added backstroke to his freestyle repertoire. 2 strokes down, 2 strokes to go! ;)

The cutest little fish I ever did see!

T diligently worked on his rollovers this past time, getting him ready to take breaths in freestyle. The teacher said he's a "natural" and "at ease" in the water. That's my boy! :)

So proud of them! One of my main goals in all of this is to have two independent swimmers this summer while I'm trying to manage an infant and a toddler at the pool! We'll see how that goes.

Have a great weekend,

Valentine Re-cap

We had a wonderful Valentine weekend here in Gasperini-Ville...

Friday started with the boys enjoying passing out their valentines at school. Both M and T created their own cards with care. T and I worked on writing his name together. M wrote his classmates' names and then his own on the bottom of each card. I was so proud of both of them for their earnest efforts. After their day at school, they hurried home to open their valentine bags and examine their loot! Hello sugar!

GG and I really don't celebrate the holiday (because every day is Valentine's Day for us!--cough, cough ;) But we did splurge and go out for a yummy dinner Friday night with Mimi and Papa. The boys had a sitter (who they love btw) and the adults had a relaxing time eating and not worrying about boys! :) It made for a great evening. Even better for me would have been to indulge in some of that good red wine over dinner! Oh well, MG is totally worth it...

Saturday I was spoiled with a day trip up to DC to visit with my dear Princeton buddies. What a blessing it was to hang with my old pals and offer each other support and encouragement. I also had a chance to meet Red's new little squeeze, Claire, who is adorable and so social. She is such a dreamboat just like her big sister. Here we are after feasting all day on J's amazing cooking. She seriously needs to create her own cookbook. Either that or come work as Gasperini-Ville's personal chef. I'm leaning toward the latter of the two options...

Sunday then was relatively low-key as we headed to Mass, Krisp.y Kreme donuts (who can deny heart-shaped donuts with sprinkles???), and home for a lazy afternoon.

GG and I capped off the day with a few episodes of our new favorite, Friday Night Lights, that we watch instantly online through Netflix. It is amazing and we are totally hooked. Thanks, Burkes, for the recommendation. We are completely and utterly addicted. It is a fantastic show if you're looking for a new one to follow.

A "movie", some hot tea, and my main squeeze sitting next to me? Now that's a Valentine's Day to celebrate! Hope yours was blessed...

Winter Olympics 2010

Overheard tonight: "Daddy, can we please do more luge? PLEASE?"

The Gasperini-Ville luge event involves a death-defying stairway descent (spotted by Daddy) riding in one of Mommy and Daddy's king pillows down and all the way through the family room into the kitchen.

This was GG's genius-inspired idea. My ulcer thanks you, honey. ;)

We later found T attempting a solo luge... Oh Lord, protect my children!

(I am secretly laughing hysterically at all of this, but mom will never let on!)

M, showing exquisite form as he nears the finish line

MG

Here's another look at our precious sweetheart!

Since the little stinker wasn't in the right position last week, an additional u/s today showed her beautiful 4-chambered heart. Praise God! I also didn't mind getting a chance to see my sweet girl again--twist my arm! :) I could seriously lie on an ultrasound table all day long and gaze at my babies. They are beautiful in utero!

The older boys were sad they didn't get to go this time and knew that I was going to see pics of MG's heart. When I returned with all the new profile shots, they both asked, "Where are the pictures of her heart?" with disappointment. They really loved hearing her heartbeat and were quite expectant on me producing something heart-related. Sorry buddies! :)

Last night around story time both M and T were quite enamored with my growing belly. They both laid an ear on my tummy and exclaimed they could hear the baby. So cute. M was really trying to wrap his mind around HOW the baby got into my tummy. Oh boy! Since I'm not ready for sex talks just yet, I explained that God put the baby there with Mommy and Daddy's help. Then he asked, "So did Jesus come down and really put the baby in there?" Hysterical! We reasoned a bit after that and then trailed off onto a new subject. "When will she talk to me?" T wondered. I explained that she wouldn't be able to talk for awhile, but would probably cry a lot in the beginning. Both boys thought this was funny to think about. M also remembered that babies make other cute sounds too. We laughed and talked about how little she would be... What sweet, sweet times with my boys. They are going to love their little sister and then some!

Last tidbit, as you may have already surmised, our little one has a NAME!! MGG are her initials and she'll be lovingly called by her first and middle name. Welcome little one!

He's Five!!!

In a flash, our oldest little man's birthday has come and gone.

In it's wake we have a bigger, stronger, more mature and responsible 5-year-old!!

We love you, our big boy M!!!!

Birthday celebrations included a moved-ahead preschool party on Friday because the kids had another snow day (and we were attempting to get it in before more snow hit...) My only comment: NEVER reduce the amount of time you have to prepare for a party. Just don't do it. You'll thank me. I'm glad to say that despite its rushed nature, the party went off without a hitch and thankfully was small enough to pull off! Many thanks to Mimi, who helped so much that morning--I wouldn't have been able to do it without her! Also funny to note: by the end of party, M started asking everyone to leave so that he could start playing with his new toys. LOVE the lack of a social filter on 5yos! lol.

Later, we ventured out in the crazy weather to Red Robin for a cozy dinner complete with birthday singing. M loved the singing, but plugged his ears so it wouldn't be overwhelming. Perfecto. He was a happy and loved boy. Now, onto year 6!

Getting Used to the Idea

I can finally look at these. What fun!!!!

Praising God

... for a healthy baby GIRL!!!!!

Overjoyed,

20 weeks!

We've had a very interesting week so far--snow, more snow, and apparently more snow to come this weekend (predictions are for 10-14 more inches!!), school cancellations, GG's car in the shop, a birthday to anticipate (M turns 5 on Friday!), and an ultrasound tomorrow!!!!!!!! All of my usual birthday preparations have been invariably challenged by having extra children to tote around and now the car limitations! Thankfully, the car should be done today and I will hopefully be able to start really getting ready for Friday when a few preschool friends and their moms will be coming over to celebrate!

Yesterday was a very productive day, despite our hang-ups. Here's a low-down of our day:

1. Made an early morning trip to the grocery store to start filling the cupboards again. 2. Took GG to work downtown, whole crew in tow. 3. Traveled to Party City and COSTCO with the boys. 4. Returned groceries home and got a call from GG that he was ready to be picked up. 5. Traveled downtown and back again. 6. Rested for 10 minutes. 7. Took M and T to swim lessons across town. 8. Finally made it home for dinner, bedtime, and LOST (woo hoo!) It is no surprise that I lasted halfway through the show before passing out on the couch next to GG. Poor guy had to fill me in on the plot this morning. lol.

So today marks the halfway point... and tomorrow we find out! I'll let you know.

In true Gasperini tradition, we are planning to have the u/s tech write it on a card. J, GG, and I will then head to breakfast to find out the news. Can't wait!!! We would love your prayers for peace throughout the appointment. We're praying for a wonderful time meeting our new family member. We love him/her so much already.

Have a brilliant Wednesday,