Introducing

Isaac Joseph Giovannoni

Born March 21, 2010 @ 12:57 pm
9 lbs 1 oz
21 inches long

Super Dad

Mr. Giovannoni thanks for being such a Super Dad lately.
It seems you're always picking up, where I slack off.

For the past year or two every time Dylan would see an advertisement for Monster Trucks he would get a twinkle in his eye and ask if some day he could go see the trucks.
Mr. Giovannoni managed to wrangle up some tickets and finally took Dylan to see Monster Trucks last month.
As if that wasn't enough to brighten Dylan's world as well as mine, Mr. Giovannoni gave me a nice break last night and took both kids to Disney on Ice.
How lucky could two little kids get then to have a daddy who takes them out and does things with them that they enjoy! Thanks Mr. Giovannoni for being such a good Dad and for giving me some much needed breaks!

Dear Mr. Giovannoni

Happy Anniversary Love!

1. Thank you for flipping me in the eye with a rubber band, nine long years ago, and then ignoring me after the first time we hung out.
2. Thanks for making it all better by making me your wife.
3. Thank you for giving me beautiful children.
4. Thank you for always fulfilling your responsibilities and taking such good care of us all.
5. Thank you for weathering my emotional storms.
6. Thank you for being a great example of determination and sheer willpower.
7. Thank you for being my opposite.
8. Thank you for these last eight years.

What on earth do you think the next eight years will bring us?

"Don't Forget It's Cooking Day"...

Those were the last words Dylan said to me this morning as he left for school.
Part of me smiled that he remembered and that he was looking forward to cooking today. Part of me cringed inside because I had no idea what it was we were going to cook.
Miss Alivia has been begging me for weeks to make homemade pudding ( a recipe she knows how to pull up by heart, on my Allrecipe App, on my Touch) and I almost gave into her until I remembered and got a craving for homemade Oreo's.
Sorry Liv's......
We followed this Homemade Oreo Recipe found on smittenkitchen.com

Someone even left a link on the site for Gluten Free Homemade Oreo's if any one in my family gets a craving for these babies.

They tasted pretty good right out of the oven, but I found that a little refrigeration and some resting time made these cookies even better. We'll definitely be making these again!!!
Alivia was so excited that she insisted on calling her daddy at work and telling him all about the cookies she made that she got to dip in milk.

Pretzels

Some how when I was a kid Winter was a magical time, I loved the snow and I loved the cold. Now days Winter feels more like a five month prison sentence. Being in the third trimester of a pregnancy hasn't helped matters either.
I've been pondering just what I could do with my kids that would kill some time and make some memories, without me having to freeze my toes off or over exerting myself, because it doesn't take much to do that these days :)
I like to cook and experiment with recipes, so I thought it might be fun to have my kids join in the fun at least once a week. This week I decided we'd try our luck out on Soft Pretzels.
We used Alton Brown's recipe from the food network website. They turned out okay, but next time I think I'd cook these babies longer on a lower temperature. Now I guess it's on to figuring out what to make next week.

Happy Birth Day

My little sister Cozette gave birth to this little sweetheart yesterday.

Introducing Braxton Vreeland...

I'm tickled to be an aunt again.

Congrats Cozette and Mitch

Life In a Nutshell

It's been well over a month since I updated this thing.
Here in lies the problem... Absolutely nothing has gone on around here.

Each morning I wake to a blaring alarm,
(Mr. Giovannoni has long since been up and out the door for work)

I drag my sorry self out of bed and make my way downstairs to wake Dylan for school.

After Dylan leaves for school, Miss Livie and myself crawl back into bed, where I quietly slip back off to slumber

and Miss Livie gets to watch a movie of her choosing.

We then get up, I stare at the computer, do a little cleaning here and there (and I do mean little), make some kind of nutritionally lacking lunch

after which, Livie and I then wait around for someone or something to entertain us until Dylan gets back home from school.

When Dylan gets home Miss Livie instantly latches on to the chance to amuse and entertain herself by torturing her older brother
and my quiet is shattered by screaming and fighting and a whole lot of "MOM... Alivia's doing this" and "MOM... Dylan's doing that".
It's about here that I observe my ever growing belly and wonder to myself, how on earth I'm going to be a parent to three children, and what my life is going to be like once Baby Giovannoni arrives.
After Alivia loses interest in fighting and I've stopped day dreaming or in most case day nightmaring what my life is about to become, Dylan and I then make our rounds of arguing about getting his homework done.
When that battle is finally over I begin the "what should I make for supper" inquiry.
Once I've smoothed out dinner plans, I realize I haven't got a single clean dish in the house
So I race to get the dishes and dinner done before a hungry and often overwhelmed Mr. Giovannoni walks through the door.
And at last the clock shows the magical and celebrated time of 8:00 pm and I tuck my children into bed.
I wonder to myself how I could be so utterly exhausted and yet find that I've accomplished almost nothing in the last 15 long hours. I sigh, give up and Mr. Giovannoni and I then gather our favorite bedtime accessories and head off to our bed
Were we each have a little uninterrupted quiet time.
Then we break our silence with a click of a few buttons and a whole lot of gigglesafter which I flip flop and toss around until I find my perfect spot in bed, snuggled up next to Mr. Giovannoni, where on occasion I confess my love for him and we both drift off to slumber.