A Funny Lesson learned

It was 12am last night and I was a mom on a mission.

GG and I had just finished watching a movie and (of course) I had to swing by the computer to check my email one last time before heading to bed...

That's when I learned about the latest crib recall. Be sure to check it out if you haven't already! Something looked vaguely familiar. It was the simple lines, the curving arches, the "metal frame" causing potential harm...

IT WAS OUR HAND-ME-DOWN CRIB THAT MY VERY SWEET TODDLER BABY WAS SLEEPING IN RIGHT UPSTAIRS!!!! AHHH!!!

Watch out. With precious cub in danger, mama bear was on a mission. I snuck into the older boys' room and snatched a pair of their "night vision" goggles. Then I headed down the hall to our Baby J's room and snuck inside, going immediately to all 4's (mind you, 32 weeks pregnant!), goggles on, crouching down to see the crib label on the underside of the bed. LOL. It appeared to be *identical* to the one I saw online. I had to double check.

Out I went into the hallway, hollering to my GG that, indeed, our crib was one of the recalled ones and could pose a strangulation hazard to our dear Baby J.

I could almost see a smile creep onto his face. You see, he's a papa bear and I'm a mama bear. And mama bears take news of crib recalls a LOT more dramatically than papa bears (or at least they do in our household!)

In no time, I was back from the computer, with printed sheet in hand to verify the crib label. It was an identical match. I don't know if I felt more satisfied at my sleuthing or more crestfallen at our new situation. How was I going to let my precious cub spend one more minute in that crib? Should we let him sleep to morning? Should we set up the pack 'n play and move him mid-sleep? Should we set up some elaborate support structure to make it all right before going to bed ourselves? My mama brain was toiling...

When GG brought up a theme from the movie and began pontificating as to its meaning and symbolism. Heelllloooo Papa Bear!!!!!??? Did he not realize that one of our children was in grave danger (in my hyperbolic mama bear mind!)?????

And then it hit me how different we are as mama and papa bears. His job is not to worry. I've got that part under control to the nth degree. His job is to soothe my crazy mama bear emotions. His job is not to stress, but to assuage my stress. His job is to change the subject and get my mind off my fears.

I redirected our conversation back to our baby bear in danger. "Should I go set up the pack 'n play?" was the first thought out of his mouth. Good Papa Bear. He was humoring me. Eventually as we watched the little cherub sleep, Papa Bear convinced me to let our cub rest and tackle the problem in the morning. Okay, okay--with a few extra prayers sent heavenward!!

Praise God for my GG! That's how our marriage works. We give and take. We push and pull. We're mamas and papas and we're put on earth to help bring up our little baby bears and point them toward heaven the best way we know how.

And in the morning, we might just find out that our crib is not one of the models recalled. lol. Alleluia, alleluia! Lesson learned...

Only in Gasperini-Ville...

Can a mom screw up out-of-the-box pizza!

God help me!! lol.

TGIF!!

Hooray, Hooray!

GG and I are so proud of all of our PU buddies, making waves and promoting good in the world. One of these pals is our good friend, Max, with wife, Jess, and daughter, C. They glorify God with their lives and shower the world with their love and wisdom, us included. They occupy such a special place in our hearts...

We couldn't be more proud today to boast Max as our friend as his first book is being released to the public--

The MBA Oath: Setting a Higher Standard for Business Leaders hits shelves today, providing a strong case for why the MBA Oath (which Max helped develop while at Harvard) is necessary and a good business practice. It has been getting great reviews too!

Check it out!!

Way to go, Max!

Ch-Ch-Changes

We've got insulation!

And drywall on the way today!

Oh yes and some continual belly changes...

I'm a little scared at my belly size with under 8 weeks to go! Can it get any bigger?! I guess this is what life is like being pregnant with the fourth! To God be the Glory and the girth! ;)

It's Good to be Home

GG and I had a GREAT time this weekend as a presenting couple for our diocese's Engaged Encounter. Thank you to our faithful Mimi/Papa support team for their endless efforts keeping our three cherubs while we were down the road...

We had a wonderful reunion with the boys around 4:30pm this afternoon.

Since then, here's the family tally:

1 scraped forehead,

1 skinned knee,

50 scooter laps on the driveway while mom and dad unloaded the car,

1 bitten tongue,

1 busted thumb,

2.5 cupcakes consumed (brought as a treat from the weekend),

2 big boy bunk beds made (thank goodness the sheets were already stripped and cleaned!),

and 1 completely disgusting poopy explosion in the bathroom as a big little boy was running for the toilet. I'll spare you pictures!!! You could say GG and I were officially "baptized" back into parenthood with that one.

Whew! That's life with our boys!!!

Will GG and I make it?!?

One thing's for sure--we will be fast asleep by 9. No question.

(We're guessing Mimi and Papa will be asleep by 8!! Ha! :)

Blessings,

Friday Already?

My goodness, has this week flown or what?! We've been busy G bees!!

There's been a little of this...

Can I quickly comment how blissful boys in a fenced backyard is? Bliss. Heaven.

Mom sits her bellied self in the grass and gets to WATCH boys run, play, and dig. God is good.

A little of this...

Boy fort building with an old mattress box makes for great rainy day fun! "Night vision" goggles make it even better.

A lot of this...

Wednesday began renovations for our third floor! We've had framers, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, inspectors, and framers again over the last two days. What a whirlwind! Insulation and drywall are next... Can't wait!!

And unfortunately, another trip to the mechanic for this guy...

Prognosis: an unhooked negative battery cord led to the battery going dead. One new battery and two new rear wheel cylinders later, we're through state inspection and can hang onto Big Blue for another year! Someday I'll get my Sienna... ;)

Hope you all have a brilliant Friday and weekend!

Many blessings,

What's Sweeter than Sweeter than Sweet?

Walking into the room and being bombarded by squeals of delight, hearing "Mommy!!", and being enveloped by the world's greatest hugs over and over again.

That's life with our Baby J.

I think I could be the luckiest mom on the planet.

(Remind me of this when he's 16 and wants nothing to do with me! :)

Weekend Endeavors

The weather could not be better over here in Gasperini-Ville. I'm serious when I say y'all need to move to Virginia!!

What a gorgeous weekend it was to begin M's spring soccer season and visit a French Food Festival on Saturday and get chores done yesterday. We capped both days with family walks around our neighborhood, ending at two different area playgrounds. Did I say we love where we live?! Couldn't be happier, especially as we look to add one more to our midst.

Getting a few pointers from the coach

T joins the mix--we almost hustled him out on the field because he was wearing team colors! I think he would have done great!! I'm always hearing, "When is my turn to play soccer?" Soon, soon...

We saw great improvement from M's play last season. He was more involved in the game and didn't attach himself to the coach! Way to go, buddy! :)

Later at the festival: Crepes or pom frites, T?!

M enjoying his personal crepe creation--he ate the whole thing, chocolate pudding, gummy worms, and all.

Hope your weekend was brilliant! I'll be checking in with prego pics sometime this week. Stay tuned and God bless,

Medical Logic

Tonight at the dinner table:

M: "Mommy, when someone gets the chicken pox, do they have to do the chicken dance to get rid of it??"

Laughter, as always,

MG's Nursery: Part I

I am being kept honest this week by my dear friend, Catherine, who wrote me mid-week to urge me to post the nursery pics. These days I move at the speed of a tortoise, so had it not been for her, who knows when I would have gotten these up! Thanks Catherine!

I begin by saying, this room is a total work in progress. In fact, the only thing we have yet to complete is the bed! Plenty left to go... It also doesn't help that MG's room is serving as temporary storage for some of the extra attic items while we have work going on. You'll see some extra items in the last shot.

We were given this beautiful plaque with angels and babies now serving as the inspiration for the room colors! Thanks Susie and Skitch! :) It has all pale pastels, which help coordinate the pale yellow wall color (we decided to keep it as is--no need to come and paint pink, Lauren G!) and pale pink and green bedding.

The bedding is a pale pink and green "Shabby Chic" design from Target. The minute I saw it, I loved it and knew it would be my choice over some more expensive options at Pottery Ba.rn Kids.

The rose blossoms are so sweet and feminine...

Not to mention the sweet embroidery detail on the pale green bedskirt! I'm just loving the girly details.

And here's a silly boy, posing with the baby matelasse pink quilt. He's sitting on top of two cream bears who sport yellow and pink ribbons.

And finally, here is a general pic of the very uncoordinated room. We are definitely in search of wall hangings and valences/curtains that will go with the color palette. I originally had pale pink balloon shades that GG thought were too plain and I thought too BIG for the small space. Valences with a simple pattern might do the trick. Any suggestions?

So there's installment #1 on the sweet girl nursery. There will definitely be more to come...

Have a blessed Friday!

New Neighbors

What's almost as cool as another family moving in with 3 boys and a little girl on the way???

New neighbors from England!!!!

The boys and I delivered cookies there yesterday and enjoyed meeting new friends from "across the pond".

As we were chatting, they asked if our homeowners' dues covered the cost of the "bins". I was confused at first until realizing they were referring to the trash cans! Love the Brit terminology. We all had a good chuckle.

And hopefully its the first of many.

Blessings this Tuesday,

Rolling into 30

...weeks and counting!

And feeling good! MG is definitely growing and moving a bunch, but always with sweetness it seems. :) We head back to the doc this Thursday for my 30-week appt. It's only been two weeks since my last visit, but here starts the downhill descent to delivery. Praise God! I haven't heard anything about my recent glucose test, which means good things--they don't call if the results are normal. I am totally relieved because no one told me to avoid carbs that morning, so I started my day with a large bowl of cereal. You think I could get this right the fourth time around, but alas, at each glucose test my brain is so "baby brain" that I have no recollection. I claim complete innocence.

While I'm feeling generally energetic these days, I am definitely beginning to fear the coming two months of exhaustion and huge-ness. Tackling the busyness of three boys is going to be quite a challenge while lugging around the extra... Day by day. I just need to make it through April and then May and then we're in the home stretch. Day by day. Can't wait to meet our sweet girl!

Hope you all enjoyed a brilliant weekend... I think we had the world's most perfect weather: 70's and sunny with blue skies above. You all are welcome out here in Virginia anytime. It is a fantastic place to live!! One quick shout-out to my amazing hubby who was Mr. Honey-Do this weekend, achieving 7 hours worth of yard work on Saturday and just being the best all-around dad and husband anyone could ever ask for! Love you, babe!!

We are already in nesting mode since we are soon embarking on an attic/3rd floor renovation project. I told the builder he has until mid-May to get in and out because I need to have ample time to prepare for this baby! He promised that once they start, they'll be in and out in less than 2 weeks. We'll see... Also, we got the baby bedding/crib up and running this weekend (lots of ironing) and it looks so precious and sweet, just like my girl!! Pics to come.

Hope you all have a blessed start to your week,

Easter Candy Redemption

Someone tell me there's something redeeming to all this candy!

Isn't it milk chocolate? Implying there are trace amounts of calcium within?

MG is enjoying this stuff way too much! :)

Live from the Dinner Table

M: Mom, what animal dies to give us burger?

Mom: Cows.

M: Aww, I don't like to kill cows. Do the soldiers do it, not the farmers?

Mom: No, the farmers raise the cows so that we can eat their meat.

M: I don't like to kill cows. Those farmers are mean.

T (burger lover): I like killing cows.

M: I like killing farmers.

And Mom cracks up from the across the kitchen. OMGoodness--lol!!

Happy Easter!!

Adoramus Te

Adoramus Te, Christe,

et benedicimus Tibi,

Quia per sanctam crucem

Tuam redemisti mundum.

We adore Thee, O Christ,

And we bless Thee,

Who by your Holy Cross

have redeemed the world.