special visit with Nonna

Nonna (means Grandmother in Italian) is my dad's mom, so Luke's only living great-grandparent. We got to visit her this weekend and they enjoyed each other quite a bit. Here she is telling him what is in the oven and not to touch it :)



two people that i really don't mind touching my baby belly :)

I think Nonna enjoyed feeling her newest little great-grand baby moving around in my belly :)

PS - we are 37 weeks... let the fun begin!

just cute

just being cute

because two are better than one...

fun in our sacramento hotel room

Greg often takes Luke and me with him on business trips out of town and we really enjoy it! Here we are doing one of our favorite hotel room activities... making a fort (or in this case what turned out to be a train tunnel for his "new" train that we got at a garage sale recently... so much fun and so many memories made - I am definitely trying to enjoy my time having just one little one around :)

a couple weeks ago

we are nearly 36 weeks now... this was a couple weeks ago and I can assure you I am MUCH bigger now :)
I love being pregnant!

"church"

so, at our church the women wear veils (head coverings/mantillas/chapel veils/whatever your word of choice is) during Mass and anytime we are in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament... my usual veil is white. Luke came up to me the other day and said, "Look mama, church!" he thought he was pretty cute and creative with his veil... i have to agree :) (although we did then have a little talk about only the ladies and girls wearing veils!)

happy birthday

my birthday is about a week away, but mom was visiting, so we turned our breakfast coffeecake into "birthday" cake... i look really pregnant in this one, but i think its because it was pretty much first thing in the morning and i was still in my jammies. - yes, Luke helped blow out the candle and open my present :)

cooking together

bummer, it's sideways... anyway, here is Luke "helping" me cook, if you look closely you will see spoons in each of our apron pockets :) he loves being in the kitchen with me (which is good, because I enjoy it too!)

Taco Bell

Luke had his first taste of Taco Bell this weekend! We don't really ever have fast food, but Nana was in town and she loves Taco Bell and we were running around doing lots of errands, so... a bean burrito it was :) He definitely enjoyed it!! Here he is, mid-chewing, while we were having our "picnic" in the Costco parking lot :)

Walk for Life - West Coast

we went to the Walk for Life - West Coast this past Saturday in San Francisco... I have been going since 2005 (the first year) and have only missed one year - I have enjoyed going while pregnant, while nursing, and now with two kiddos :) Mom and Dad surprised us and joined in the walk!! What a treat! There was a major rain down-pour right at the beginning of the walk, but then the skies cleared and it was a gorgeous day in the city. Here we are in the midst of the walk - right after the rain cleared up - I am holding the blanket and poncho that I had rigged up around Luke to keep him warm and dry!

You can sort-of see the amount of people from this picture... upwards of 30,000 +
(Luke was singing)

Mom and Dad treated us to an anniversary dinner of chippino ... awesome!

Three generations getting pizza bread at Liguria bakery :)

Luke being cute

we were on the look-out for a booster seat/big boy seat for Luke (since the baby will be occupying the high chair in the near future) ... we found this awesome (and very clean) seat at a yard sale for $1
(obviously it will usually be used at the table, not quite sure why he was on the floor facing the kitchen cupboards) ... anyway, Luke has been as cute as ever lately - during his time reading stories before bed with daddy tonight he requested his milk cup ... when I asked why (this isn't normal) Greg said that Luke had "Santa envy" because they were reading a Christmas book and in it Santa got milk and cookies... apparently he needed his milk to read through the story as well - cute kid (and hey, at least he wasn't asking for cookies right before bed, too!)

update on baby #2 - we are about 30 weeks along and getting very excited/nervous :) baby moves a lot, which I LOVE!!! and I am getting big, but not too huge yet... I am measuring right on and we are really pleased with our doctor. we are planning on a VBAC, while at the same time putting all of our labor and delivery concerns in the Lord's very capable hands! I have been on a crazy nesting spree lately - organizing nearly every room in the house top to bottom - although I don't believe that means I am going into labor anytime soon... with Luke I wanted to clean (not organize) - and I have definitely put off cleaning the last couple days ...

happy birthday Jesus

our Happy Birthday Jesus party

Christmas Morning

This is the second year in a row we have been blessed with waking up at our house on Christmas morning, just the three of us (well, the four of us - counting baby inside me this year!!) ... what a wonderful morning :)

(the pictures are in reverse order - sorry)

opening presents (thanks uncle Francis and aunt Gail!)

our little tree

he was more excited to see the tree - he didn't even notice the presents

catching up...

here's a picture from when Luke and I were getting out Christmas decorations and it started snowing outside!!

how it all came to be...

The Gospel, according to St. Luke, Chapter 1, verses 26 - 38

And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. Who having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.

Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end. And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man? And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren: Because no word shall be impossible with God. And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.


**Merry Christmas to all! We are so thankful for all that the Lord has blessed us with this year, but especially for the gift of our new baby growing inside me! We are truly grateful to have a happy and healthy little family. We will be home for Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning, just the three (well - technically four!) of us... and we are so excited to spend that time together - anticipating and celebrating the birth of our Savior! Luke has been singing "Happy Birthday to Jesus" and the birthday cake is ready to be frosted.

visit to Pleasanton

we got to visit family this last weekend - it was busy, but so much fun! here we are after Sarah's play - Luke really enjoyed "Cinderella" (it helped that it was nap time and he was pretty tired and just content to sit there watching the show!)
We made it to Luke's (and we think Greg's) first high school basketball game that night to watch cousin Jessica play great (and win!)

yummy dinner afterwards at my Aunt and Uncle's house

Luke's Hat

so, while we were at Disneyland Luke decided that his hat didn't need to be on his head when it was cold - I had a different opinion... so, we went to the Disney store and tried on hats while strolling him around the store, the hat in the picture is the one that he didn't try to take off - it has a strap around the chin and is super-cute, so it works out well for all of us! the funny thing was, I wanted to keep him warm and he didn't want to take it off, so when we were in the check-out line at the store the cashier just scanned it on his head and he even wore it through dinner ... the funnier thing is that the hat comes with matching mittens which were also attached all through dinner ... at a crowded fancy restaurant in downtown disney :) here we are waiting for the monorail right before I finally got the mittens off (of course the hat was still on while i did that!!) oh - and the reason why his sweatshirt is so big is because it was a hand-me-down and says disneyland on it, so he wore it for the trip - it was great for layering though, cause the evenings were pretty chilly...

on a side note - if you ever need tips on how to change a toddler's diaper and pants in a crowded disney store (without using the bathroom or a changing table) i may have some experience :)

Thanksgiving

photos from actual thanksgiving day...
check out the hand position on the guitar - I think he is actually playing a chord :)
Luke with his "favorite" cousin Shaun

Daddy, Mama, Nana, Luke, Aunt Naomi, Nonna, Uncle Dom, and Nonno
(wow, I look huge-pregnant in this one... I think its cause I am leaning at a strange angle)
Luke was definitely ready for bed by the time this picture was taken - he's got his pajamas on and blue elephant in hand

**snow**

we had snow at our house all day yesterday and it even stuck overnight!!
enough for snow-balls but not enough to mess up the roads - i love the sierra foothills!!

...happiest place on earth...

we spent the four days after Thanksgiving at Disneyland!!
here is our little family on Dumbo - Luke had a great time!


here is Luke on my shoulders watching a parade - I love how he points at all the floats!

On the Jungle Cruise with Daddy - clearly watching a somewhat-scary creature I am sure

the boys - notice how Luke needed to hold his sippy-cup too, as his Daddy and Nonno had their cups

Riding on Autopia with Daddy and Nana - holding the steering wheel with one hand and clutching his "driver's licsence" with the other!