Little Biggs

A friend called Sarah Friday morning to say it was the Grand Opening of Little Bigg's and to get on over there, because it was free! (Thanks Melanie M)! She took the girls and invited other friends to join and they had a great time. Adrianna especially enjoyed the fire fighter area and the pizza. Alicia ate her own full slice of pizza. Definitely a fun way to spend zero dollars.

Cabinet Play

The girls recently discovered the best toy yet, a cabinet that they can both fit into! Some friends of ours gave us this microwave cart that we put in the dining room temporarily until we made room for it in the office as a craft area for the girls. It took the girls no time to discover a better use for the cabinet, a hiding place. Each takes her turn getting into the cabinet and allows the other to close them in. Adrianna has learned that Alicia isn't the most reliable at opening the cabinet back up, she usually wanders off after she closes her in.

4 Year Checkup

Adrianna had her 4 year old checkup recently, it is nice to only see the doctor once a year, lets see if we can keep it that way. Adrianna is in the 97th percentile for her height, and the 75th percentile for her weight for her age group, in other words she is very tall!!! She did have to get several shots which are so hard on mommy because she is perfectly still though she sobs through each one. But it didn't phase her too much as before we left the building she was climbing the walls as if nothing happened. She was quite proud of her "owwies" and bandages (so were we!).

Summer Fun!

Gas prices aren't the only things soaring this summer in our household. This summer has been incredibly fun filled so far, from birthday parties to playgroups, swimming and soccer, we have never been busier. We recently were called to be the Young Single Adult couple representatives in our ward, so we get to help out with some of their activites as well. A few weekends ago they had a water ballon activity/bar-b-q that was a lot of fun for all of us. We are looking forward to much more fun as the summer continues and we find ways to beat the heat. We are sure that with these two girls this summer and many summers to come will be packed with lots and lots of fun.

Good Mornings!

Mornings are very exciting times for Adrianna and Alicia, imagine being apart from your sister for about 12 hours. The first thing you want to do, of course, is to rush into your sister's room and give her a big hug. Adrianna comes into Alicia's room with a very sweet "Hello Baby" greeting. Then she loves to pick her sister up and twirl her around. Alicia's first stop in the morning is her sister's room where she just breaks into laughter. Even though we really aren't morning people we couldn't ask for a better way to start the day!

Adrianna's Birthday

June 14th, 2008

We celebrated Adrianna's 4th Birthday and my 32nd. We had a family lunch and then a few of Adrianna's friends came over to enjoy a soccer themed birthday party. Adrianna had a great time playing in the backyard, breaking the pinata, opening gifts, and eating cake with her family & firends. Sarah made a beautiful soccer cake, and she made me a delicious raspberry cake as well. We are very spoiled by our in home confectioner. We hope everyone had a fun time, we sure did!

1 Year Checkup

May 27th, 2008

Alicia hates going to the doctor, for the most part it means getting vaccines (no fun for parents or child). She is perfectly fine in the office until the doctor or nurse starts touching her, then she lets you know how she feels. It is too bad because our pediatrician is really great!

Stuffies

The other day we went into Adrianna's room to get her in the morning and we found these critters all dressed up and ready for bed. My favorite is the blue bear with just the pajama pant bottoms, but "Cookie" and "Coco" are pretty cute as well. Coco even had on a pair of soccer shorts, all set to play!

Pillow Walk!

Alicia has figured out how to walk around without falling onto the hard floor and bruising her diaper padded behind or her bare knees. She carries or scoots one of the couch pillows around with her. It is very cute; so for all you future walkers, here is a video of her technique.

Preschool Graduate!

I meant to post this some time ago, but I haven't gotten to it. I am way behind on the last several events. We didn't realize this until my older brother pointed it out to me for my birthday: we have three birthdays between Mother's Day and Father's Day. This make for a pretty crazy several weeks right at the beginning of summer.

May 21st, 2008

Here is Adrianna finishing her first year of Preschool. Sarah was part of a co-op of mothers who purchased a curriculum and took turns teaching the children. They finished the year at our house and Sarah did an excellent job teaching. It has been amazing to see Adrianna progress in her learning. She continues to amaze us with the things she picks up on. She is especially aware of personal relationships.

Our Preschool Graduate!

Sarah = Mother

I am very late about posting our fun Mother's day celebration. So here is a tribute to the Mother in our household, Sarah.

Sarah actually means "Princess" in Hebrew, but to us it definitely means Mother. When we got married we never doubted that Sarah would become a Mother. We weren't quite sure exactly how she would become a mother either, but we knew it would happen, and it was something she and I both wanted dearly. It is amazing now to enjoy her as a mother to our two beautiful girls. As all experienced mothers know; she doesn't get a break; she is constantly on the go; she is always learning, though she never gets a second chance; she is always looked up to, and she will always be revered. I am ever grateful for Sarah's efforts as a mom, she has already taught our daughters so much and I know she will teach them some of the most important lessons in life. To Adrianna, Alicia, and myself, we will always treasure Sarah, Mom. Thank you so much!

May 11th, 2008 - Mother's Day

For Mother's Day we enjoyed a very nice dinner, which Adrianna helped me prepare. She was very helpful with the cake decoration. It was cute to see how intent she was on spreading the frosting just right. Alicia did her part, making sure to get plenty of frosting on me. And we all had a wonderful evening.

Big Steps!

Alicia is walking now! I think she was waiting until she was sure she wouldn't fall down before she was confident to do so. She will still make a decision as to whether she can get to what she wants faster by dropping and crawling or by walking. It is very cute to watch her decide and to see her go. Adrianna is always her biggest fan, proudly exclaiming to all when Alicia is walking. Mommy, Daddy, Alicia's walking!!!

Memorial Day Weekend

I took an extra day off over the long weekend to get some projects down around the house. We finished painting the family room, we put up a storm door, got some book-cases, did some yard work, etc. My favorite part was spending some extra time with family and enjoying eating out on the patio and playing on the swings. The girls did what they could to help with the projects, insisting on being held while I was painting, and making sure I did a good job behind the fridge. Overall, it was a very productive yet relaxing weekend.

Alicia's 1st Birthday Party

We celebrated Alicia's 1st Birthday this week. We can't believe she is already a year old. We had a great time and thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate this wonderful event. Sarah put a lot of work into a wonderful dinner and an amazing cake. Alicia was pretty worn out and by the time we sung "Happy Birthday" she was nearly falling asleep. She perked up to enjoy playing with her gifts as her sister opened them. Adrianna was a perfect big sister, she would help her open the presents then she would hand them over saying: "look what you got sister!" Like any 1 year old, her favorite presents were the ballons and the tissue paper.

Arrrgh Pirrate Parrty

April 28th, 2008

Adrianna's friend Harrison invited her to his 4th Birthday Parrty. It was a Pirate themed party and so we dressed Adrianna in her Pirate costume and joined the fray of 3 and 4 year olds running around. Harrison's parents and grandparents went all out with pirate games,a pirate ship cake, and even a treasure hunt. Adrianna had a great time, and even Alicia enjoyed herself. Alicia fell in love with the pink bean bags they had made for a bean bag toss. She grabbed on to them and wouldn't let them go the whole time we were there. She was so attached to those bags that they gave them to her, since Harrison wouldn't play with the pink "girl" bean-bags.

Birrthday Boy!

Stark Raving Mad!

You can perform some increadible feats when you are angry! Alicia has become adept at climbing onto the first step of the stairs. Once there she doesn't know what to do with herself because she hasn't quite figured out how to go down. If you do not come to her rescue soon enough she starts to get upset. This day she was already tired and ready for bed, and on the first step she didn't just get upset, she got angry, and while angry she started to climb. I am sure having mom rush for the camera didn't help much either. So, I don't know whether to be proud that she made it nearly to the top of the stairs. Or, should I feel sorry for her pathetic stairclimbing rage.

Matching

We had a soccer party to finish the season with the team this past Friday at Fargo's Pizza. While getting ready, Adrianna was torn between matching with her sister and wearing her soccer shirt, which she ahd worn since Wednesday. Her "perfect" solution was to get matching red socks to go with Alicia's red dress. Unfortunately, Alicia got a bit messy during lunch and so they changed into matching outfits (no soccer shirt, but very cute) for the party.

Alicia even gave her support to her sister when she got sent to time-out, she hung out against the wall with her. I think the writting is on the wall, we are in trouble as these two get older.

Scootin'

 

Alicia certaintly knows how to enjoy a nice new floor. Get someone to pull you across it on a piece of padding!! We finished the flooring on the main level this past weekend, and it looks great. It is nice to be done, and I want to thank everyone who helped me do it. Your assistance was very much appreciated, and I hope to be able to return the favor when it is needed.

Adrianna's perspective

Adrianna shot some pictures around the house the other day (just over 100 and some). It was cute to get a glimpse of her perspective. Here are a few of the ones that were in pretty good focus.

Soccer with Tios

Saturday, April 19th, 2008

We went up to Littleton for a gathering with my family. Adrianna got all dressed up to show off her soccer talent! She had a blast playing with her uncles, though I think the most fun was going after her uncle rather than the ball.

"Your love is better than ice cream"

The other day I made the mistake of letting Alicia have a few licks of my ice cream cone. She is now addicted to ice cream! Now, when she sees the cones she starts clamoring for them. Eating ice cream for Alicia is a whole body experience. I think we spent more time cleaning her up here than she did eating.

More Soccer

Adrianna does pretty well playing Soccer, she has kicked the ball several times during the games and she is so proud when she does that she usually forgets to keep on going. I have an absolute blast with the kids, they have so much energy and it is just amazing to see how much fun they are having.

Friendship

February

Some good friends of ours recently moved from Colorado Springs to Albuquerque :-(. Though we regret not having them as close we have been able to stay in touch and enjoy a couple visits from Tracey :-). What is most impressive to me is how well Adrianna remembers her good friends Ashy and Ty. She is always asking about them and about when we can go to Albuquerque to visit (and yes she can say "Al-bu-quer-que").  We had her talk to her friend Ashy to wish her a happy birthday, and Sarah took pictures, it was a lot of fun to hear and watch her chatting with her friend.

Hair Cut Incident

March 29th, 2008

Adrianna decided it was time to take a little off the top. During her nap she sneaked into our closet where she found some scissors and started cutting. Luckily she didn't cut it all off but Mommy and I were both devastated that she chopped her beautiful hair. As you can see here she took a good chunk out of her bangs, and she thinned her left side pretty well. She also took a chunk out of the back, but it is mostly hidden. I guess most girls either cut their own hair at some point or their siblings hair, so after the horror stories we have heard we are just glad she didn't give herself a buzz, or worse give her sister one!

Demolition, Woo Hoo!

As part of our re-flooring effort in the new house we decided to remove a half wall that was in between our dining room and family room. Adrianna really wants to help with every project I work on and she was a great spectator for this one. As I knocked out the final piece of drywall Adrianna cheered with a loud woo hoo to see the wall come down. Destruction is so much fun! We are now in the process of laying the floor in the family room and kitchen. I want to thank everyone who has helped me in the project. I couldn't do it without you; and I am always seeking volunteers to help.

Happy Birthday Mommy!!!

March 8th, 2008

Sarah and Her Girls!


Adrianna, Alicia and I making Key Lime Tartlette for mommy.

Cousin Kai

March 30th, 2008

Judtih & Kai came over for dinner the other day. He is about 6 months old, and he is a big boy, he is about the same size as Alicia, and he has 4 big chomper front teeth that he proudly showed off. Adrianna had been asking when she could see her cousin Kai, so we invited them over now that Judith has moved back to the Springs. Thanks for the visit, we love seeing the little ones grow up.

First Soccer Match

We played our first soccer match yesterday, and it was a huge success!! The kids braved the frigid temperatures and had a great time. I was amazed at how everything seemed to click for them once we had a lined field, uniforms, and a referee. I had a great time running around and cheering everyone on. I have to say everyone including Adrianna gave it their best effort and played hard even when it started to get dark. I am looking forward to more games, and everyone is welcome to come watch us play! Give us a call for the details.

Easter Sunday

We had a very nice Easter Sunday. Grandpa Fedele joined us for a ham dinner, Grandma Fedele was visiting her mom for spring break. Adrianna helped me make rolls, Alicia raided the pantry and found some of her food jars, and she loved snuggling up with Grandpa. Sarah prepared an increadible diiner and we all had a very good time visiting. The girls enjoyed their Easter baskets full of goodies. Adrianna got a bunch of soccer things, including soccer ball eggs filled with chocolates. Sarah also made some amazing peanut butter chocolate eggs, yum-yum! Make sure to get a tall glass of milk with those.

New Playroom Floor

Over Easter weekend I started the task of replacing the flooring on the main floor. Grandpa Fedele came over to help and after a day of hard work, most of it figuring out what we were doing, we ended up with a beautiful floor in the girls' play room. It was a good start to several weekends of work. The results once we finish everything else should be amazing!

Alicia loves the new floor!

Start! Heart Walk

As part of a work fundraiser for the American Heart Association I am participating in the Start! Heart Walk in Colorado Springs on June 7th. I have made a personal goal to improve my own health for myself and my family, especially my daughters and I thought this would be a fun way to help build awareness to heart disease. If you would like to help me in my effort to raise funds for the American Heart Association you can click on the link below to donate funds online. All funds I raise will be matched by ingersoll Rand!

Thanks, and here's to everyone's good health!!!

Click Here to Donate

Soccer Girl

Soccer starts next week for Adrianna. I have volunteered to be the coach for her team, so we will see what I am getting into. We went out this weekend to buy some equipment (shoes, shin guards, etc.) We got this ball and Alicia was very interested. She crawled after it throughout the house, it was very cute. We are looking forward to a fun spring soccer season. I will post pictures of Adrianna soon.

Real Snowball Fight!

Friday, March 14th, 2008

I worked from home this past Friday due to the several inches of snow that fell early in the morning. When Adrianna woke up to the beautiful white covering she almost immediately challenged me to a snowball fight. I took her up on it later once it stopped snowing. The snow was perfect for snowballs, as it was very wet. We had a great time throwing snow at each other, and then at mommy! Alicia had to watch from the window, pretty soon they will all be ganging up against me! I can't wait!!!

Abuelos visita

March 1st, 2008

The Abuelos and Aunt Cristina came over to visit with my parents this past weekend. They were in town for Barrett's (my newest nephew) blessing. We had a great time visiting, the girls were especially adorable. We enjoyed a steak dinner, and some brownie bites for dessert. As you can tell from the pictures Alicia put on quite the show in eating the brownie bite. We are so glad that Adrianna and Alicia get to interract with their Great Grandparents. Thank you so much Cristina for driving out here, it was wonderful to see you and we hope to make it out to Utah soon.

We've moved!

A month has gone by since I last posted, it has been a hectic month but we have weathered the storm and we are getting settled in our new home. Moving out was a lot more work than we expected, but we were able to get the old house cleared out, cleaned and the renters moved in. And though we are still unpacking the boxes we love our new house and the space it has given us.

The girls love the extra play area, and Adrianna loves to play in her new fort. I should have pictures of it up soon. Thank you to everyone who helped us clean both houses, and who helped us move. Our home teachers really outdid themselves with all the help they gave us during the move. I look forward to being able to return the favor!