24 hour babymoon

Tabitha and Babu agreed to repay Mary, Ryan, Mario, and I for our babysitting favors by working an amazing weekend for us all. I don't know all the details of Mary and Ryan's weekend (we are excited that you have your new place) but I do know that the very Sat-Sun that the Kazas agreed to watch our children turned out to be the day they helped Mary and Ryan move into their new place. So, I believe it was an amazingly self-giving weekend for the Kaza family.

We are very grateful for your gift of a 24 hour babymoon. From 1:30pm Sat to 1:30pm Sun we were quite free and able to relax. Mario and I had a great time! It began with checking into our hotel in downtown DC (thanks to some Hilton points), then bowling in the White House bowling alley, dinner at the Hotel Palomar in Arlington and then drinks and dancing at the rooftop lounge of the W Hotel (very close to the White House with a great view of the Washington Monument). It was fun to enjoy some relaxation in this city we are so close to, yet often rush in and out of for events.

The White House bowling alley may have been the coolest thing we have done. My friend Andrea works in OMB and has access to some fun White House things. This just happens to be one of them. After passing through 2 security check points, wandering the halls of the White House and connecting building to find the Secret Service office in order to get the key to the bowling alley, navigating the basement tunnels beneath the White House, we finally found the Truman Bowling alley. It was a lot of fun just getting there. We have lots of pictures of the bowling alley (modest, but if it's good enough for presidents, it's good enough for us). Mario sat in each chair knowing that at least one president had sat there before him - similar to the stash of the bowling shoes and bowling balls in there. It didn't hurt that I happened to win (115); but I had a lot of fun regardless of that.

Then we had time to change and get ready for the Booz Christmas party at the Hotel Palomar and then the W Hotel in DC. We stayed out until nearly 2am and definitely had a good time (our little baby girl enjoyed dancing with us).

We returned to happy children who seemed to have such a fun time with their cousins! Thank you so much Tabitha and Babu for looking after our 3 crazy kids!

Sheila is 2!

Sheila seemed to really enjoy her second birthday. She had been sick on Friday with a fever and cough, but slept a lot and I think that helped her recover for her big day. The boys were so excited for her birthday, they woke up early (I was afraid they were going to wake up Sheila) but instead they helped me finish decorating before she woke up. We think she enjoyed her special decorations.

Mario and I were both surprised by how well she understood the concept of her birthday. She walked around saying "Happy -day" and that she was "Two!" We'd say from another room, "Where's the birthday girl" and she'd call back "Right here!"

We spent a good deal of time decorating outside and raking leaves today. And just before dinner we went out to check the lights, and she seemed very excited about them. I wonder if she felt it was all for her birthday?

She enjoyed a yummy dinner with Suarez meatballs, spaghetti, and steamed fresh broccoli. Mario did a great job making and decorating Sheila's birthday cake (MJ suggested the sprinkles and Joey said we should use pink frosting).

Thank you for the birthday wishes and thank you Godfather Christian for the great gifts. The outfit is so cute, and the puzzle is so girl and perfect for Sheila. She also received new crayons, markers, fairy wings and tutu, a new baby and mommy backpack, magformers (which she really loved...another engineer?), a bouncy ball bought by MJ and Joey, and a rocking horse (she doesn't really need to know that we got it from a neighbor).

- and the first picture in the slideshow is from our trip to the dentist on Thursday. The boys had been before and this was Sheila's first cleaning. She did a great job and they were impressed with how she cooperated. The kids really love all the prizes they get from the dentist (the dentist goes to our church!) -

2 years of Sheila

You've always acted older than you are, and I still can't believe you are 2!

Happy Birthday to our sweet, adventurous Sheila!

Thanksgiving

Here are a few pictures from our Thanksgiving in St. Louis. Bobby and Suzanne have one of those nice cameras so they have most of the nice group shots.

Happy Halloween!

Our Halloween was not as "exciting" as the Kaza's. Though, I did paint my shirt orange and was using a hair dryer to try to get it to dry in time. I used kids' washable paint so it made my shirt kind of crinkly.

Mario had to work a lot right up until we left to go out and party. But we were able to throw together this costume for him which ranged from a Private Detective, to a Police Officer, to Wyatt Earp.

Sheila was a little sad that she couldn't be a dinosaur like her brothers, but quickly got happy for her princess costume. And while I really wanted to be a matching princess with Sheila, I felt I should maximize my belly opportunity while I have one.

All the kids really enjoyed trick or treating. Joey's enthusiastic "Happy Halloween" that he said to neighbors as he left was later joined by his get to the point, "Can I have some candy?" whenever they'd open the door and then pause to comment on the cute dinosaur costumes.

Our neighborhood Halloween party was fun as usual. Though these neighbors really make the Haunted Woods in their backyard pretty spooky. But none of the kids woke up with nightmares, so I think all went well. I however, woke up without a voice - I guess a combination of my cold and too much Halloween partying will do that to you. It's funny because I can only whisper and Joey and MJ have been whispering back to me this morning.

Happy All Saints Day!

MJ's Mom song

MJ made this song for me a few months ago and I've been wanting to share it for awhile. I seem to be complaining a lot to Tabitha about my deeply emotional first born son. He feels everything so very deeply, and this is just the upside of the coin. I must admit, when I'm upset and he sings this, it does help me out. And after he's asleep, I sometimes get it stuck in my head and it keeps me going when I have to clean the kitchen. I'm not certain what makes him want to sing this to me, but he finds his own time to do it. For this video I asked if I could record him, and I think he was a little shy and quiet.

I should also mention there is another version of this song called "You're my dad". I think you can guess what it sounds like.



After posting this, I searched our other home videos that I just put on the computer and came across this one. I believe this is a more original version of MJ's song for us, but if you ask him to sing it today, it will sound like the first quiet video I posted. This clip is a little longer as it includes both of MJ's songs PLUS a bonus Joey song which. (Joey's song was a one-hit wonder and has not been sung in our house since...but it is funny). If you cannot tell, Joey mentions "a picture of dark blue lightning mcqueen" at the end of his song which is why MJ and I laughed. Also, it is just a coincidence that MJ is wearing the exact same pajama top.

Busy September

I've been wanting to post about all of our activities, but it seems with the end of the slow summer days came busy fall days and I've been too lazy to do anything at night.

So, going back to all the way at the end of August, the kids enjoyed their final days of heat at the pool and MJ enjoyed his first day of Kindergarten! I've forced myself to become more of a morning person, and the little breath of fresh air as we take the short walk to school has helped. I was not 100% sure of our decision, but seeing how things are going well and that St. Theresa was just awarded the Blue Ribbon of excellence (I believe Luke's parish school won that last year) I'm feeling better about things. Joey and Sheila have enjoyed their time together, and it is fun to see Joey being the BIG brother.


We went to ND's first game of the season vs Purdue. We enjoyed the pep rally (where my embarrassing TV clip was filmed) and our traditional trip to LaFortune to buy their bagged bulk candy. The kids had fun at the tailgate.


And on the walk to see the band play.



The weather was gorgeous, my mom watched the kids, and Mario and I enjoyed a very pleasant date at the football game.

It is so hard not to think about my pregnancy with MJ as I go through this one. Exactly 6 years ago, I went to ND's first home game with Mario while carrying a kicking little MJ. His youngest sister also seems to like football!
We stayed Saturday night so we could go to mass at the Basilica on Sunday and have another casual walk around campus before leaving.



The kids were very helpful in the car as usual, though I have now determined it is best to give them all Dramamine just in case. Sheila is the only one who has actually gotten sick (on a short drive to Baltimore) but MJ and Joey have both complained about symptoms. Even the drowsy kind doesn't make our kids sleepy. Fortunately, they are usually pretty happy in the car. Sheila can sometimes get antsy, but she knows how to work Mario's i pad. We have a video of her hitting the home button, scrolling through pages, selecting and playing the app she wants.

Pretty scary... incidentally, this was Sheila's last day in diapers. We got back Sunday night, and on Monday Sept 6th I began the rigorous potty training that worked so well for Joey. She's in big girl underpants, and I wanted to get a cute picture of her with them on, but haven't seemed to get the right shot yet. While I had scheduled this potty training week a month in advance, I did not anticipate her learning to climb out of the crib at the same time. It is not recommended to go through 2 major transitions at once, and I know why... it drives mom crazy! Sheila would get up out of bed saying she had to go to the bathroom, and as we were training, I had to comply. This resulted in some pretty late bedtimes for both of us. The potty training has stuck, and now we are on the right track to getting her to stay in her bed and lay down.

The following weekend, MJ had his first flag football game. Mario is the head coach and he is really enjoying it. He is a really good coach, though at this age the game is a little different. MJ was the quarterback for his first game, and I have a few pictures of that I will share in a slideshow later.

We don't want to leave out our sweet Joey - who while not achieving many "first" milestones is doing quite well. We are making an effort to keep him from getting lost in the shuffle. I wanted to post about his first K4J "Kids for Jesus" class which he attended last year in the shadow of MJ. But his first class this year was on Friday, and Mario also had a special plan for Joey that day and offered to take him in to work. Joey had an awesome time and is still talking about his special day with daddy at the office.

And just last weekend, Mario invited his office to our house for a BBQ. We've known about this for awhile; I had grand plans to have the house in perfect order to put the best foot forward for family life. The plans didn't all work out (there are still fingerprints on the doors and windows) but still, I think the BBQ was a success. I believe it was our best tasting BBQ ever - I'm not sure if I can say it b/c it's sounds like I'm praising myself too much, but it was really a Tabitha style party. I chopped and prepared for HOURS and every item on the menu save one (Sabra Hummus) was home-made. We had an amazing BBQ skirt steak which Mario got the recipe from a restaurant in NJ, Jerked Chicken (not on kabobs which saved us some time), sliders, guacamole, mango salsa, Tabitha's salsa, fresh cut veggie tray, fresh cut fruit salad, chocolate chip cookies and brownies.... gosh, when you list it out like that, it doesn't seem like it should have taken me so long. The other plus to this BBQ on Saturday is that after the kids were asleep and we started the ND game, I just couldn't keep my eyes open. I'm sure this drove Mario crazy, but I literally woke up as the announcer made the last call of the game. I was in a bit of a daze, realized I should be somehow helping Mario emotionally, but quite refreshed for taking such a nice nap.