Tis the Season

Can you make out the name on the heart? It says Julia. This is the name we chose for our daughter who was born on Nov 29,1999 and passed that very same night. This is the day in which we begin our Christmas decorating every year in honor of our little angel who was born too soon and changed our lives forever. Yes, it has been 11 years but as many of you out there unfortunately know, a loss such as this doesn't ever just go away, no matter how many subsequent children you may have or how many years pass by. It's always a missing piece of your family...always a hole in your heart.
So once again we dedicate our tree to our little messenger. Without you, our family would never be what it is today. Fly high little one and thank you for choosing me to be your mom. With this our season begins...

Ornaments, some old some new...




We took our gingerbread houses very seriously...







How beautiful is this? My friend Maggie made 2 for us...


An anniversary gift from Mom and Dad. Dec 5 was 12 years for us!


The National Christmas Tree. Not quite Rockefeller Center but when in Rome...



Hope everyone is enjoying the joy of the season so far!!

Holy Crap!

CRAP is what I woke up to find all over the kitchen table today...yes that's mini frozen pizza Lily decided to eat for a before breakfast snack.


CRAP is what we found on the floor when we thought it was ok to keep Lily out of a diaper on Saturday...toilet training is up and down these days. Happy to say it was on the hardwood.



CRAP is a word my 9 yr old just loves to use these days..."Ah crap I forgot my book," or "Ah crap, I don't want to go to bed." I am not loving it.


CRAP is what I find all over if I even turn my head for a second...Lily has learned that the safety cabinet locks come off if they aren't tight enough...Great!

CRAP it's a good thing they are cute!!

Adoption Bill

This may be of interest to many...
International Adoption Simplification Act to be signed into law

Photo Friday

Wow I have been a bad blogger!! With Halloween, field trips, parent teacher conferences, music and Luca having his tonsills removed, the days have been just flying by. Here are just a few pics from the last 2 weeks...

A Laugh Every Time

Go ahead make one....who doesn't love these?

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Home For Christmas

This is the precious face of Baby Anthony. Soon to be home with his parents, my cousins who have been waiting for years to fulfill their dream of becoming parents. After countless roadblocks, health issues and adoption nightmares, the dream is about to become reality. The travel call came today for them, that call that you wait for every single minute when you are nearing the end of the adoption process. It's the call or maybe email that you never forget..the day, the time, the way your heart just pounds out of your chest and you are overcome with relief, excitement and fear all at the same time.
It has been difficult since Laurie and Mike have already met their son on the first trip to Taiwan and have been waiting on final court procedures with fear that something would go wrong. Now they will travel in a few weeks and be reunited with this little bundle of joy for Thanksgiving. The fact that this little boy will be home for Christmas is just icing on the cake...how cool!!! We couldn't be happier!

That Not So Fall Feeling

Fall is my favorite. The reds and yellows, the crisp air, the pumpkin pancakes. The settling in to the back to school routine and let's not forget the apple picking. Last week I took all 3 kids to the apple orchard hoping to get just full of that fall feeling. It was great until the temperature rose to an annoying 89 degrees, Lily was constantly tripping over apples that had fallen already and Luca and Lance basically fighting over the apple picker which can seriously take someones head off. Oh yea and there were bees everywhere. We did manage to come away with a pretty large bag of apples, a big pumpkin and some fresh apple cider. Hope everyone is having a great fall so far!