Lil' Pumpkin - 10 months

Spy was 10 months old this week. Here we are at Linvilla Orchards with cousins Sofia and Olivia, Zia Lisa, Nonna Maria and Nonno Mario and our good friend Leandro. Simon was wary at first and then really had fun feeling all the pumpkin stems...what can I say...he is very tactile!

I cannot believe that in a few short months we will be celebrating his first birthday! Crazy!!! He is a super fast crawler and loves to pull himself up and then let go...soon he will be walking and then all the fun will begin. He has 3 teeth and 3 more breaking through...so it has been a rough past couple of nights but we love him to pieces anyway!

With Nonno/a

The awesome Halloween display.

Very tactile my son.

Sofia has fun on the playground.

Book talk

I know I may seem a little biased but my niece really is the smarted baby ever.

Enjoy.

Hats off to Labor Day!

Has it been 2 weeks since my last post already? Sheesh where does the time go? I hope everyone is enjoying Labor Day...I know many are headed back to work/school/life tomorrow so I hope you enjoy this last day off.

I leave you with a new pic of my awesome niece...because she is the cutest.

Ciao!!!

Poaching

I know I keep stealing things from my SIL blog but how freaking cute is this video of Sofia on a swing?



My brother tries to take her out and she has a mini-fit...but then is so adorable as she loses herself in the swinging!!! Anth, what are you going to do when she gets older?

Happy B-day Princess Sofia!

Yesterday was our beautiful Princess Sofia's 1st birthday! I cannot believe that a year has gone by since Sofia burst forth screaming her beautiful little lungs out while the members of our family stood outside the looking glass crying like fools because she was finally here.

The first picture of our little princess.

I'm 1 and I'm fierce y'all.

Sofia had a huge party with lots of kids and adults and yummy food and presents. She had a monkey cake and a zoo themed cake as well.

Get your own cake biatch, this one is all mine.

It was a fun day...to read more about it and see more pics head over to La Famiglia Palumbi.

I must go and rest as I was in DC today in support of my friend Jen and the 2008 Scope it Out Walk for Colon Cancer. I also have a cold which is making me miserable.

Later peeps.

It's all down hill from here

Sofia is crawling!!! Witness the cuteness for yourself!



Words cannot explain how excited I am for this. Tears came to my eyes - I am so proud of her! It seems like just yesterday she was this teeny tiny baby bundled up at the hospital.
Now mommy and daddy will really get a workout!

Monday cuteness

Enough said!!!

Smarty pants

This picture of my super smart and cute niece was just too adorable not to post.

Now I don't want to toot Sofia's horn but...what other 10 month olds do you know that can read!!! Tee hee, my niece is Smartest. Baby. Ever.

So many things to blog about so little time

My hubby and I just went into our basement to find that it had flooded overnight - yikes! So not what we need right now!!! Anyway I apologize for being MIA - I had finals which are now over - yee haw! I think I did well and now I have a break until mid-Jan when I tackle 3 more classes...but then in May I will have my Masters in Ed so it will be worth it!

I had my last Toddler Talk class on Tuesday - the kids were so cute - and I got gifts!!! My first as a teacher - so exciting! Toddler Talk starts up again Jan 22 so I will try to post some of our crafts for your entertainment pleasure - it was something that I wanted to do all along but never got around to photographing the final products we made.

Sofia went to see Santa yesterday - she was enthralled by him and could not tear her eyes away...

She is so cute!!! She is coming over in a little bit so her mommy and I can check out the new Steve and Barry's - aka Best. Store. Ever. which just opened up in my neighborhood. We are talking walking distance people - this could be a problem.

Other than that I am working at La Locanda and trying to get our house in order. We painted the office/den yesterday - finally - so things are coming together a little bit at a time.

I hope everyone is having a happy and healthy holiday season!

Cell phones and shoes

I bought Sofia a pair of Tommy Hilfiger shoes this weekend while out shopping. I also got her a cell phone. It is never too early to start a girl out on her basic necessities.



She is the best and brightest little student - look how intently she is listening to her Zia explain about the importance of good footwear. She is going to be the smartest girl in her class.

I spent the cold and snowy! day writing a paper so I have no news to tell. I did go to the doctor for a physical last week only to find out that I have very high blood pressure and was immediately put on medication...sheesh...another thing to add to my list of aches and pains. Getting old SUCKS!

One last thing - congrats to my friends Roberta and Mark who had a beautiful bouncing baby boy, William Francis, this morning at 11:40am. Liam is 6 lbs, 5 oz and 20 inches long. Both mom and baby are fine and Auntie P cannot wait to see them tomorrow! So many little boys - my friends Dawn and Mike welcomed Jacob Zachary into the world last week as well...sigh...I want one too!!!

Buona Notte ragazzi!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Another Thanksgiving comes and goes. I was not blogging since I had a heinous sinus infection the week of Thanksgiving which kept me from work and unable to even use my computer.

We spent Thanksgiving (and the weekend) in Altoona, PA with the in laws. It was alot of fun and 9 of Dan's 15 siblings were there with their sig others, kids and spouses. Since the in laws do not have a TV (oh the horror!) we spend alot of time eating my MIL's delicious cooking, playing board games, playing Yahtzee on the laptop (which we brought) and reading. We even ventured out to the mall on Black Friday just to stretch our legs a bit.

On the way back from Altoona we stopped in Mechanicsburg, PA to visit with another of Dan's siblings and his 5 kids (one on the way). Then that night we stopped by his oldest sister's house where we enjoyed another turkey dinner and a great visit with the rest of the siblings - only the oldest brother was missing - or else we would have seen them all at some point during the holiday. It gets tricky when you are one of 16 children...

Last night we had dinner at my mom's and I finally got to see Princess Sofia who has HER FIRST TOOTH!!! YAY!!! Her first toof is breaking through and it makes her adorable smile unbearably cute. She has learned to clap hands when we sing her the Italian folk song Batti Batti Le Mannine (clap, clap your little hands). Between the toof and the clapping I almost lost it - she is soooooo cute!

And so I leave you with another adorable pic of the princess! Buona notte!

E A G L E S Eagles!

The Eagles cutest little cheerleader!




Me loves!

INSPI(RED)

I am sure you are having Sofia withdrawl so here you are - more pics of my little activist niece.

Cute as a button and cuter every day!

I was cleaning out some drawers yesterday and I came across some funny pictures of me and my brother from when we were little. I don't have a scanner so these pics of pics will have to do.

Me and my brother on the day of my first Holy Communion. Look at how tiny my brother is! Note the 3 piece suit. It is crazy that he has a little baby himself!

Here is another

This was taken on my way to a baton twirling competition. Yes, I used to twirl batons competitively. Needless to say I was not very good - it's not like I was going to be performing in any pagents any time soon. I think I was yelling at my mom/dad(?) who was taking the picture. My baby brother had just woken up from a nap. I love that my socks are not symetrical and what you can't see is that I have a TON of make up on. Good times.

I leave you with a picture of me and the Mr this Halloween

The beer wench and her beer. Needless to say my hubby won first place in the beer pong tournament. Yes, I said beer pong. Yes, we are too old for that. Please let my husband know.

Ciao!

Never too young to make a difference!

When my beautiful niece, Princess Sofia, was born I bought her a t-shirt from my favorite charity - the African Well Fund. Here she is modelling the shirt...I cannot believe it fits her already - my how time flies. Isn't she the cutest?

You know you want to buy the little baby in your life one just like it. All proceeds go to building clean water projects in Africa so click on the link above and get yourself a shirt!

More Halloween cuteness

I love her more each time I see her...she is the perfect ladybug.

We only had a handful of kids last night - my one gripe - the teenage girl - at least 16 yrs old - who looked at the candy I had in the basket - rolled her eyes and said, only Skittles? And then proceeded to take a bag and roll her eyes again. Seriously, if you are bitching about the choice of candy then you are way too old to be trick or treating. I hope the look of disgust on my face transmitted as much - however I am sure it was lost on the self-absorbed little wanna be 16 yr old hoochie.

Sigh, what ever happened to the days of the Great Pumpkin and being so excited and grateful that it was Halloween night?

Happy Halloween!!!

Our little ladybug's first Halloween!!!! Cute as a bug in a rug if you ask me. More pictures of cuteness...

Sofia reads her Halloween book - Mouse's first Halloween - already a good reader - Zia Paola is so proud!

Happy Halloween everyone!!! Be safe and eat lots of yummy candy!!!

7 month sweetie

Can you believe that little Sofia is 7 months old today!!! It seems like yesterday I was rushing to the hospital to make it on time to be there for her birth!

Here are some photos from our Princess!

Little green riding hood! Sofia went to a fundraiser - how cute was her outfit?!?!?!

Cutest Eagles fan ever!!!

Tummy Time

OK, so I copied this right off my sister-in-law blog but seriously - how freakin' cute is my niece!!! Me loves!

There is no way on earth that there could exist a sweeter more adorable baby. I cannot wait until she starts to talk!!! Sofia, la Zia ti vuole tanto tanto bene!!! Sei bellissima!

St Lucia - Preview

I have finally uploaded the pictures from our honeymoon. There are hundreds so here are just a few to whet your appetite...commentary and additional pictures to follow.

In front of our room

The beach at the Sandals Halcyon in Castries St Lucia

The view from our room - a wedding taking place in the gazebo

The Paradise Pool - one of two pools on the property - this was the quiet relaxing one without the pulsating music.

Ok, that is it for now. I am exhausted and have to still take a shower before I hit the hay. More to come this week.

Buona Notte e Sogni D'oro, amici miei.

Sweet cheeks

Some pictures of Princess Sofia in an adorable terry cloth jumper.

With nonno

So many chins, so little time

It is impossible to explain how much I love this child.

A report on my trip to Raleigh to follow.