Thankful

Every year social media is flooded with the campaign of 30 days of thankfulness. You are supposed to take the 30 days of November and share with the world everything you are thankful for in order to get in the spirit of the holidays. Every year I start out strong, and then life happens and I've shared about 4 photos of Gianni and our family and that's about it. And keeping with tradition, the same thing happened this year. I've decided instead to share here, all at once, the things that am extremely thankful for, this month and always.

1. Gianni. He will always get top spot but this year in particular he deserves a big shout out. He has worked so hard to support us and I don't thank him enough for everything he does. He is pretty humble but most of you know that several years ago he worked for Lego and loved the company but was in the wrong role. He was in a department that didn't fit with his goals and because it is such a small company, it was hard for him to move in the direction he wanted with little experience. He left and took a job at a large insurance company, in the career field he wanted to be in, to get as much experience as possible. He worked his butt off and really grew professionally. His hard work was just rewarded as he was offered an amazing opportunity back at Lego. I am so proud of him for being so focused and driven on his big goal.

2. Gabriella. "Though she be but little, she is fierce". She is only 1, but amazes me daily. I am lucky to be her mom; she makes me laugh, is spunky and can be a little stinker, but gives the sweetest little hugs and bites kisses, and is the best little person I know.

3. Our family. They are our rocks. They have supported us throughout our whole lives. Every crazy thing we have done, they have been there supporting us 100% and are our biggest cheerleaders. They pulled us through our hardest days and we wouldn't trade any of them in :) You can't choose who you are related to, but we would still choose them every day.

4. Our friends. We are so lucky to have a wonderful group of friends who make us laugh, help us be better parents, and are a true joy to be around. Whether it be coffee, a walk, wine, advice, or hand-me-downs, we have an amazing support system.

5. Our coffee pot. Here's my confession... my name is Mary and I am a coffee-aholic. I am grumpy and irritable until I've had a cup every morning. I just love it so much. We had a Keurig for years and honestly it drove us crazy. It stopped working 3 different times, each time we would bring it back and get a replacement. Finally, we had enough and pulled out the $15 Target 12 cup pot and it hasn't failed us yet. And a little holiday tip that my mom taught me... add a little cinnamon to the coffee grinds before you brew it and YUM.

6. This holiday season. This year is our first year with Gabriella home with us. It finally feels like we are a family, creating our own little traditions and memories and I love it. I am making an effort to take in every moment and truly enjoy the season. My goal is to have Christmas shopping done by December 18 so there is no last minute rush. We are creating a little "Christmas Bucket List" so the season doesn't zip past too fast. I'll share once we have it made!

  

 Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving everyone!!
xo,
Mary

Walking and a visit with Santa

It's Monday morning and this post was going to be all about how Gabriella met Santa (aka my Dad/her Grampy) and she loved it, ripped his glasses and beard off, and it was perfect. And how I found a really, really, really good apple crisp recipe on Pinterest. But then last night, about 10 minutes before her bedtime, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Gabriella stood up with her walker, and just pushed it across the room like it was no big deal. And when we laughed, cheered, clapped, and cried just a little, she looked at us like we were crazy and did it again. She woke up this morning and climbed up to it and did it again.

The video isn't great... I tried to catch her doing it a few times but it's like she has a sixth sense for the camera and immediately stops! But I'm sure she'll keep going and going we'll have plenty of opportunities to catch her in action!

Now back to Santa... my dad has a Santa costume which makes us all laugh and finally this year he has two grandkids to wear it for. I am a huge fan of( laughing hysterically at ) looking at photos of kids with Santa... especially when they are terrified (I swear, I'm not a horrible person!!). But honestly, if you have never googled "kids screaming at Santa" or "kids afraid of Santa", do it now. So funny. Sandy and I have laughed for months now, imagining Ben and Gabs taking one look at Santa and losing their minds, and us laughing, snapping photos, and looking back at our gold mine of amazing Santa pics for years to come. But the harder I laughed at our vision, I realized that the Santa they would be screaming at isn't just a creepy mall Santa, but it's Dad and the poor guy would probably be more traumatized than the babies if they lost it. (Side note...Sandy and I would probably still be laughing). So Dad decided to take out the Santa suit and show Gabriella the costume, and slowly put on the outfit so she would see it was him. Much to his delight, she loved it!! She was jumping up and down in my mom's arms and went right to Santa/Grampy. She immediately pulled his glasses off, ripped the beard off (too much peek-a-boo), and it was great.

No pressure on Ben, but he's our last hope of our dream of hilarious Santa photo :)

And finally, apple crisp. I have always been a huge fan of apple crisp and last week I found a recipe on Pinterest claiming to be the best apple crisp ever. I made it for a dinner I had to go to and it was finished! It really was very good so if you are looking for a recipe, find it here!

Have a great Monday!!
xo,
Mary

World Prematurity Day

Today is World Prematurity Day. It is a worldwide campaign led by the March of Dimes to bring awareness to the issue of preterm births. For the first time in the past year, complications of prematurity became the number 1 cause of death for children under 5. Think about all of the problems around the world that put children at risk- war, unsanitary drinking water, starvation, diseases, just to name a few- and prematurity is the number 1 cause of death. This campaign brings awareness to this issue and helps raise money to improve care to preemies and help research ways to reduce this number.

Not only does the March of Dimes raise money for research and education, but they offer emotional support to families that are in the NICU. We received everything from gift cards for food and coffee to a special NICU baby book. When you have a baby in the NICU, little things like a baby book that you can actually fill out (filled with special milestones like when she finally came off a ventilator, and the first time I held her) gives you this little moment where you actually feel like a normal mom. For me, these small gifts from organizations like the March of Dimes helped more than I can ever describe.

I talk and write a lot about having a preemie and I'm sure some people don't understand why we still talk about it so much and why it isn't just something in our past. The reality is that it changed us. Having our daughter in intensive care for so long redefined our relationship with each other, with God, and every area of our lives. We were forced to trust complete strangers with our baby's life, had to keep it together while doctors told us on more than one occasion that she "wasn't out of the woods", and prayed harder than I ever knew I could when they would trial her off of a ventilator.

We bonded with families that on the outside, are completely different from us. But when you are watching your child struggle to breathe, eat, and simply stay alive, all of a sudden race, religion, age, doesn't mean a thing. The other families in the NICU with us helped us through some of our darkest days. We hugged each other on the bad days, cheered our babies on  when they reached new milestones, and even laughed together. 

Each year, 15 million babies are born too early. If you are looking for an organization to donate to this holiday season, please consider the March of Dimes. If you are on social media, you can use the hashtags #worldprematurityday #purpleforpreemies #borntoosoon to show your support!

xo,
Mary

Five on Friday!

Happy, happy Friday everyone! I've been a little lazy when it comes to blogging this week so I'm linking up again for another five on Friday. Enjoy!!

1. Toddler crafts
I love that Gabriella is getting to the age when she and I can do crafty things together. My mom was amazing at thinking of crafts and projects when we were little and I hope that I can do the same with Gabriella. Pinterest is a great resource for toddler arts and crafts and this week we did some "painting".

Finished product... our little Picasso

This was incredibly simple and easy and kept Gabriella entertained for awhile! I put paint on a piece of paper and then slide the paper into a ziploc bag. I taped the bag to her high chair tray and she "finger painted" through the bag. No messy baby and she was really interested in it!

2. Fall organization
We need to have a serious fall clean-up/organize/purge in our house. Gabriella's closet is out of control, we have craft supplies all over, and an overload of toys, books, and just stuff all over. My goal is to have her room done by the end of next week and the rest done by Thanksgiving so we aren't decorating for Christmas over clutter. My new year goals include organizing the kitchen cabinets and the basement so I'll keep writing about my progress (to keep myself on track!).

  

 3. In search of a good read
I love reading. I have loved books for as long as I can remember and am embarrassed to say that I haven't read since Gabriella was born. A year! Way, way too long. I have no idea why, I have no good excuse so now I am looking to find something great to read. I've heard that The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain, Big Little Lies, by Liane Moriarty, and The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins are all must-reads, so they are on my list. If you have read anything good lately, please send me some more recommendations!!

 

4. Standing up

 Now that Gabriella has started pulling herself up, she only wants to stand. She is getting more and more daring, letting go every now and then and took a couple of steps pushing her walker. This has led to a few crashes but she is getting better and better each day. She likes to hold hands and "walk" across the room as well!

Everything ended up on the floor seconds later

That look... we see that a lot when she's annoyed with us :)

5. Christmas countdown!

 6 weeks from today is Christmas morning. What??? Our Halloween decorations are still up, Thanksgiving still seems like it's not just around the corner and yet Christmas music is playing in the stores, Christmas ads are running on TV, and I officially bought one gift. I was at Target (for baby formula and cat litter, neither which ended up in my cart) and came home with a sled for Gabriella. So now that Christmas shopping has officially started, I guess I might as well get rid of the pumpkins :)

 

Have a great weekend!!!

xo,

Mary

 

Veteran's Day

Taking time today to say thank you to our Veterans; especially my personal favorite Vet, Gianni. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do! We are so proud of all of your accomplishments!

Memorial Day 2015

Run to Home Base 2015

xo,
Mary

Wedding in Maine

This past weekend we celebrated my Uncle Bob and now-Aunt Sue's wedding in Maine. It was an absolutely beautiful weekend and we loved being able to celebrate with family. The weather was perfect and we were happy we arrived early in the day on Friday. We were able to walk on the beach and have some seafood. Gianni got a huge lobster roll and I had homemade clam chowder and we were as happy as can be.

On Friday night Bob and Sue hosted a pizza party for family and friends that were in town at a really fun (and delicious!) pizza place called When Pigs Fly Pizzeria. It was the perfect venue to catch up with cousins. Gabriella screamed at the hotel and on our drive to the restaurant so as we pulled into the parking lot, Gianni turned to me and asked, "Can we even go in with her like this?". We laughed (better than crying or pulling our hair out!), and decided that we would go in, say hi to everyone, and just head back to the hotel. We walked into the party room, saw my cousin Caitlin, her partner Lisa, and their two kids (keep in mind Gabriella has never met them...), and Gabriella couldn't get out of my arms fast enough to Lisa! Their son Liam shared his spiderman with her and she was as happy as could be. I am so glad that we decided to go in and give it a try instead of just heading back to the hotel because Gabriella was happy and playful for a few hours. She was passed around to all of her aunts and uncles and then she found another love in my cousin Bill. She immediately grabbed his beard and the two of them bonded while looking at the cars in the parking lot (he knows the way to her heart :)) I forgot my phone and therefore didn't get any pictures from the night. I am bummed that we didn't get any good cousin shots, but to be honest, it was kind of nice to be phone-free and just enjoy everyone's company.

On Saturday morning we went to breakfast at my aunt Marilyn and uncle Tony's home and the babies were able to crawl around with cousins and again, get spoiled rotten by all of their great aunts and uncles. After breakfast, we headed back to the hotel room in hopes that Gabriella would nap before the wedding. Of course she didn't so I decided to head out and walk around town with her. We had stumbled across a playground the day before so we headed there, burned some energy by going down the slide about 45 times and  she took a nice long nap as we walked around Ogunquit. We met up with Mom, Dad, Sandy, Thierry, and Ben and we all enjoyed the fresh sea air.

The wedding was Saturday late afternoon and the ceremony was intimate and perfect. Besides blowing raspberries during a blessing, the babies were on their best behavior. Again, I didn't get all the photos I wanted, but am hopeful that my mom got a few good ones.

We ended up having to leave the reception early because Gabriella had some stomach issues (that is putting it nicely, no need to end this blog post on a disgusting note!). But we were able to dance a little, catch up with family, and enjoy a delicious dinner. We headed back home on Sunday morning after brunch. It truly was a beautiful wedding and wonderful weekend!

One of 2 stops needed to make a mad baby happy :)

xo,
Mary