Birthday girl

So what do you do exactly for a one year old's birthday. It's more for the parents than anyone, because seriously, the baby's not going to remember. So, we decided to make it a fun, layed back day! We did portraits in the morning at Portrait Innovations. Lily did great and we got some really nice poses. Then, we Zoo-ed it! It was fun to watch Matteo run around and Lily is actually able to see a lot of the animals now!

After a quick trip home for a nap, we packed the kids up and did dinner then went to Build a Bear so that Lily could pick something out... ok, so mom could pick something out for her. I think we did a good job adding a bunny to our family. She even has cute flower ear bows and a Happy Birthday shirt so we can remember when we got it! Saturday was our big party. It was just close friends and family and we did pizza and cake. Lily did classic with her cake, getting it all over her face and in her hair. Too cute!

Then it was onto presents, which she got a ton of cute clothes and toys. It was a great way to spend our little girl's birthday!

Happy Birthday Lily

It's been one year in the making. Our little sweet pea is turning one in a few day. I look back on the year, and it seems to go by so fast, yet living it there were times where things were standing still.

Lily is now her own little person. A drama queen, a momma's girl, a laugher, a cryer, an ok sleeper, a great eater and a little sister who loves playing with her big brother.

She's crawling up on all fours everywhere now, after months of "army" crawling. She's got 5 teeth with one more on the way. She says mama, dada, kinda dogie and will even sign "all done" while she says something that could be taken as the right words.

She's able to walk while holding onto things. She absolutely LOVES to take off everything she can get her hands on when shes in the car, no shoes or hat is safe.

She's a big laugher and the sound is contagious. She loves to laugh at dad and Matteo. She's actually getting to the point that she's "playing" with Matteo, and he does a good job playing with her.

She fulfills all of the cliches, we wouldn't know what we would do without her and I can barely remember a time where she wasn't with us!!

Happy FIRST Birthday Lily!

Matteo Yr. 3

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Matteo turns the big 0-3!

Ok, I know it's cliche to say this, but my little boy is growing up. He's no longer a baby anymore, he's a little man with a real personality. He's able to not only form real sentences, but put some tone into them. Not always the tone I want to hear, but there's tone none the less. He not only notices things, but he's able to remember them. He knows, for the most part, what' he's allowed to do and not do, although he chooses to not always remember.

We're still fighting the potty training battle, but I feel we're close. He goes on the potty, just not all the time. It's a slow process that was interupted my Miss Lillian's arrival, but I feel we're back on track, so hopefully soon we'll be ditching those diapers for real big boy pants.

He's has fallen into the roll of big brother perfectly. He loves to play with Lily on her playmat, and brings her her pacifier when she cries. He's not too rough with her and will ask to hold her and talk to her when he does.

Matteo is also his own set of challenges. Terrible two's have been replaced with terrible threes. I now understand moms who said they would take the two's over the three's anytime. Somedays he's fine, and other days the tiniest little thing will send him into a meltdown. He's really big on not doing what he doesn't want to do, and good luck talking him into doing it. There have been several a night where mom or matteo or both are in tears because of a "book, no book" fight.

His "slight" spiderman obcession has given way to a Toy Story obsession, which timed out perfectly because Toy Story 3 came out just before his birthday, although we still have to find time to go see it.

Overall, our little Booga is quite the little man! I think we'll keep him!

First trip to the beach!

Our first trip to Schnipke's is in the bag, thanks to the heat spell we had this week!

Milestones

Milestones... it's a word you never used very often until you became a parent. Then, you live by them. Each time your child surpasses a milestone, you're proud and immediately compare them to other children (Even your own). Some milestones are so major, you remember when and where you were when they happened, like the first step or the first word.

I remember where I was for both with Matteo. Heck, for Matteo's first step, I even remember the date off the top of my head, July 22nd, 2008... don't ask me why. (BTW, I was at work and Sean was at home in the living room when Matteo took his first step. I got a phone call from a very proud papa, and witnessed the feat for myself the very next day).

Little Miss Lily is starting her own set of milestones. It's one of the first ones a baby can do, but it's also one of the most special because it means that your newborn (aka bump on a log) is becoming a real person with a personality... it's the first time they SMILE at you. Lily has been giving smiles that were questionable to both Sean and I for the last couple weeks or so, but now, she's really blossoming. Full out smiles while looking straight at you. It's sooo cute!

I remember where I was when Matteo first started doing that (sitting on the couch while Sean and I were making faces at him... I even got a picture of one of his first ones). And now I won't forget where I was when Lily had her first smile. Yesterday, while I was holding Lily, Sean started talking to her and suddenly she cracked a full on grin, complete with a dimple on her right cheek.

Then, just to prove it wasn't a fluke, this morning, while sitting in her swing she made "friends' with her animals on her mobile and kept smiling at them. Unfortunely, no video because they were so random, but it is documented for postarity in this blog :-)

This is just the first of many milestones Lily will accomplish, but it's one of my favorites. Can't wait to see what she does next!

#32 - Spring 2010 #2

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Welcome Garin!

Well, Lily and Matteo are all set! Thanks to Erin and Brent Parker for having kids in the opposite order we did so that our kids can get married!

Welcome Garin!

May 14th, 2010

7lbs 15 oz 21 inches

6 weeks and counting...

I've heard that the first 6 weeks of being a new mom are the hardest. If that's the case then we've all survived. Lily is officially 6 weeks old. She's sleeping about 5 hours at a time at night, and sometimes more (sometimes less too). She is sleeps most of the afternoon away, but is awak for larger stretches of time in the morning and at night. She can really concentrate on faces and objects that aren't too far away. She's starting to like her bouncy seat and will hang out in her swing, at least for a little while. Overall, she's a pretty good baby.



Matteo is being a very good big brother. She loves to kiss her and loves when she's awake. He always gets so excited when he looks to see if she's awake and she is. He's really talking up a storm now and has quite a personality on him. He LOVES to wrestle with dad, although I think Sean might be regretting the fact that he taught him how to do that. He loves looking for worms with grandpa (Hickey) and finding the frogs in their pond. He'll be able to do that a lot more now that Grandpa has officially retired!

Only two more weeks and "real" life officially begins when I go back to work. I'm looking forward to it and not. I love the idea of getting back to something that I am good at and conversing with adults, but will miss being with my kids and knowing what they are doing at all times.

3 weeks old

Today, my little girl turned 3 weeks old. Not a usual milestone, but you blog about what you can, when you can. With my last blog, I was dedicated to blogging about Matteo's every little milestone, but I'm quickly finding that 2 kids makes that quite a challenge.

Our little Lily is quickly fitting into our little family. The past three weeks have been a blur, but now we're all getting into the groove of things. I get the "how you doing..." question quite a bit, and my standard answer to that is "Week 3 is better than week 2, which was better than week 1". The first week, is always rough. Week 2 Sean went back to work and now week 3 we are finding our way thru all of it.

Lily's routine is one that is actually very nice for all of us. She usually gets up in the morning and is up for about 2 hours. She then naps most of the afternoon away, waking up to eat usually every 3 hours. Then, she gets up for a few more hours in the evening. She usually goes to bed about 1030 ish and is only up twice throughout the night to eat. As my dad says, 2 runs after midnight is pretty good.

Lily has already been to the park, zoo, Walmart and even next door for a playdate with Jordan and Taylor. She's quite a mover and a shaker for only being 3 weeks :-).

We're seeing some smiles too, but most of that is not "real" smiles, but we'll take whatever we can get. She's lost some of her hair, but still has quite a bit. We also think it's getting a little lighter. If she has Sean's hair, which we think she does, it will probably be dark brown instead of the black she was born with. I'm still hesitant to put any bows in her hair though just because I'm afraid of hurting her. I have put in a few hairbands in her and boy is she cute!

Her eyes are still a dark blue/grey. I thought I saw some brown peeking thru, but we're still hoping that was a trick of the light and she will keep her dark blue!

Well, that's about it. I'm sure there is more to this little girl sleeping on my shoulder as I write this, and we can't wait to find out the secrets she has in store for us!

Here she is!

Which is better, knowing exactly when and where your life is going to change forever, or having it be a surprise. I never got the complete surprise of labor, since Matteo wasn't coming on his own, and I had to get a little push to get things moving. But none, the less, it all happened without too much notice.

With Miss Lillian's arrival, I knew about 7 months ahead of time, when and where my life was going to change, and never be the same. I'm not sure which method I prefer, being thrown into a whirlwind of semi-chaos, or having days, weeks even to anticipate what is to come. But either way, she has arrived and we have our little family of four now... and the dog.

Our little peanut's arrival could almost be what you call textbook, I guess. We knew it was going to be a c-section, since her brother was one too. So sometime last November, we picked a date on the calendar and said this was going to be our little girl's birthday. It just happened to be April 1st, April Fool's Day. She may hate us later in life for picking a day traditionaly used to play tricks, but I'm sure that may just be one more thing she will add to her list.

Lily's arrival really began on Wednesday (March 31st). Both Sean and I had the day off to "prepare" and enjoy our last day as a family of three. After some running around to get last minute things, we went out and enjoyed a nice dinner. Matteo then went off to Grandma and Grandpa Hickey's to stay the night, armed with his "Big Brother" PJ's and Tshirt for the next day.

After a semi-restful night sleep (I think I got about 4 hours), the alarm went off and after a quick shower and last minute packing, off to the hospital we went. I got hooked up to a monitor and of course, no contractions or anything on my own (not that I was expecting that). It took 3 nurses 5 tries to get an IV started, but once that happened, everything seemed to move seemlessly. Sean got "prepped" and after a little delay for an emergency c-section to sneek in before us, I was being wheeled into the operating room.

It was really surreal. For the nurses and doctors in there, it's just another routine procedure, but for me, it's the beginning of a completely different chapter in my life. You got in there alone and come out with a brand new baby! I got situated on the table, and had a wonderful nurse anestisis give me a spinal. After 5 attempts at an IV, the spinal was nothing. I barely felt it, which was nice. Next thing I knew there were putting the drape up and before I even knew it, they had begun. Sean was brought in pretty quickly and we sat (well, I layed) there waiting to hear our baby. About 10 minutes later, and some major pressure to my belly, she was here, our little girl!

Another 45 minutes or so, and we were in recovery, waiting to introduce Matteo to his little sister. A short delay later, and Matteo was giving Lily kisses and even holding her. He took to being a big brother like a duck to water. Very loving and very sweet. Lily got to meet both sets of her grandparents right away too.

It's amazing to think that just a few days ago, Little Lillian was a mystery to us. She fits right into our family. We can't wait to get to know her better and watch her turn into a lovely little lady!

Nevermind...

So, while the Shutterfly site is great for pics, not so great for blogs and followers, so it looks like I will be double posting! If anyone has any experience with either site and has suggestions, let me know!

Switching Sites

Well, it's been over a year since i"ve updated this site, and since we're not 3 anymore, i've decided to take the opportunty to switch over to Shutterfly's share site. There's just too many pictures to keep up with and that site lets me both blog and upload pics and video easier.

I'm not sure if you can "follow" over there like you can here, so that's a downside, but I can add you to the member section so that you can get e-mails when I update the site. utchio@yahoo.com .

Here's our new family of 4 site! Enjoy, and remember, I love comments!

Here's a little preview of what is over there ;-)

Having a Ball

Tonight we took full advantage of having Daddy home and went to a Boy Scout's spaghetti dinner at a local church. Matteo didn't eat much but had a blast running around with the older kids!!

He's part Fish!

This past week, Sean took his annual birthday vacation, so Friday I took off work and we packed up Matteo and went to a waterpark in Sandusky. No, it wasn't Great Wolf or Kalahari; I have a hard time paying $200 bucks a night for something Matteo wasn't going to remember. Instead, we went to the Quality Inn where they have a smaller indoor water park, bowling alley and laser tag. It really was a one stop shop!!

What I thought was funny from the moment we pulled up was that I had ALWAYS wanted to go here!! It's that fun place you see right before you turn onto the Cedar Point causeway! Slides coming out of the building and bright colors everywhere. It always LOOKED fun, and now we can say it was a blast!!

Matteo seemed to have a blast. It was perfect for his size. The water was only a foot almost everywhere. There were waterfalls and buckets and tunnels. He had an absolute blast.
And while I'm pretty sure we went there with our son, I think we may have come home with a fish. We'll have to double check once he dries out!!

Picture Post

So since the last post didn't have any pictures, I thought I would dedicate this entire post to pics!! Enjoy! (BTW, blogger decided to upload these backwards, and I don't feel like changing it.)

St. Patty's Day

(who would have thought that with a name like Matteo Francisco Sifuentes, he'd be Irish... but he is!!)

Sorry, buddy. I know you'll hate me in 10 years, but it's just too cute!

The gang at daycare!


My grandpa has a fire engine!!

The white stuff!

Welcome to Ohio. You'd better get used to it!

Ok, so just realizing HOW long it's been. When I saw this post after publishing, I noticed... still a christmas background... nice Erin!

Ok, so long time no blog, I get it. Seriously, where does the time go? Christmas was a blur with Dawn, John and Nikolas here, and already it's March... wait, it is March right? Not April? No, definetly March.

Matteo is almost 21 months old and talking up a storm. I'm not sure anybody other than Sean and I know what he's saying, but boy does he think you do. I'm amazed at how much he understands though. You can ask him to get your shoes and he goes to fetch them (No, I don't believe in slave labor, but the boy's got to earn his keep, right?!) That also brings about the wonderful parental roll of disiplinarian. Sean and I are both feeling our way through that. We're quickly learning that Matteo understands most things, just doesn't want to always do them. We're figuring out the trick and tips to make all our lives a little less stressful.

I also think he's cutting his 2 year molars, or at least beginning to. He's showing the signs, sucking on fingers, drooling a little, and not always eating the best. I hope they come in quickly.

The weather is just beginning to turn and we're hoping to venture outside more and more. In just the one day of semi-warmer weather, I've already realized that the sans sand sandbox and ball from last year, aren't going to cut it. Thanks to Craigslist, we're hoping to add to our collection of backyard activities. We should be picking up a pretty substantial and pretty fun playgym this weekend, and, perfect timing, it's supposed to be beautiful out too!!

And last, but hopefully not least, no blog is complete without pictures, because really, aren't those the best part of it? Well, i'm writing this blog downstair, on our newly purchased laptop, and can't muster up the energy to search for the card reader, so pictures will have to wait. Hopefully not for months. Fingers crossed!

The Holidays!

Christmas has come and gone, and boy was it a blur! Matteo finally "got" the opening presents thing, which was a blast to watch. He got to spend some time with his cousin, Nickolas, who was up from North Carolina and stayed with us for about 10 days! It's a kick seeing the two of them together. Everyone was so generous this year, Sean and I are truely thankful for everything! Here's some pics from all the Christmas festivities!

Christmas Eve with Grandma and Grandpa and the entire Sifuentes Clan!

Breakfast with the Big Guy!

We were lucky enough to be able to have some breakfast with Santa today! Grandma and Erin & Brennah (Matteo's future wife) came too!! We had a great time!

Eating Breakfast

Like my ears?!

Erin, Brennah, Matteo and I

Who IS this guy?!

What a cute picture this will make at their wedding!