bampa

that's what chloe calls my dad.
he started trying to teach them how to say grandpa when they were 6 hours old and he is very happy that it has paid off..
colton calls him pahhhhh but it kind of sounds more like bahhhhh sometimes. and yes, he holds it that long.

there is something so special about grandparents.
they always make you happy. they make everything better.

i was blessed to have all four of mine up until two thursdays ago.
i lost my grandpa p.

he was an amazing man.

he lived to be 93.



he always had a comb and his rubber change purse in his pocket.

he always cleaned his nails.

he used to make us pizzelles and have cookouts and grill italian sausage.

he firmly believed that everything was better with tomatoes.

he could always tell if i hadn't washed my face in the morning.....even as a kid. he didn't like when i didn't and he always said "you can't feel awake without washing your face."

he made me feel so loved. i was his first granddaughter.

he made me feel more italian than i really was and wanted me to be a proud italian.

he introduced me to cassata cake (my favorite cake) and always had salami, olives and cheese in the fridge.....and ice cream in the freezer 

he was always wanting us to eat and he loved taking us to vince and joe's in michigan for meats and cheeses. and vito's bakery for cassata cake and cannoli's.

he had a garden in michigan and i loved eating his italian green beans with tomatoes.

i didn't really like tomatoes when i was a kid but i pretended to because grandpa p. believed tomatoes deserved their own food group.

he and my grandma used to tell us stories about my dad when he was a kid and i could have listened to them for hours.

he played bocce ball in a league and i used to love hearing the balls clank together hoping my grandpa's would knock his opponents further away from the little ball.

he taught us to play washers which i believe was a game he played as a kid and i loved winning those pennies. i really loved when we played with his quarters.

when he got excited he would clap his hands, crouch down and stretch his arms out like he was ready for a hug and say "ha ha".

he knew a million riddles and would walk up to complete strangers at restaurants and riddle them this or that.

he was a math teacher and was constantly trying teach us math tricks so when we were out he could put us on display. when we performed he would always say something like "can you believe such a young little girl knows that?" and then he demanded a response.

he had four grandsons, three granddaughters, four great-grandaughters and two great-grandsons, one of which he didn't get the chance to meet.

he told me never to pick up a coin off the ground if it were heads up, the last time he did was the day he found out his son had polio and later died. to this day i don't pick up any coin unless it is heads down.

he taught us the phrase: did you know when articulating artificial sentimentality you should beware of the platitude of its ponderosity. after having reached the ultimate state of degradation consisting of dietetic integrity your gastronomical satiety should compel you to beware of the lebi lebay superiosis alacanosy. i know it probably means nothing but he made me feel like a genius once i finally memorized it. he was able to recite it into his nineties.

he always wore a cardigan, even when it was 92 degrees.

i feel so honored he got to meet my twins.

he loved the babies and would light up when he saw them. he would wiggle his hands in his ears a la "the godfather". it made my heart happy and full.

he instilled in us the importance of family and he is one of the reasons i am so close with some of my third cousins who i see once every two years.....if i'm lucky.

he would always say "this is the girl baby and this is the boy baby". i think he was right every time.

i know he lived a long and full life. i knew his time was short and as much as you think you are at peace with someone going home to be with the lord, it's never easy.

you can prepare your mind but you can't prepare your heart.

i love you grandpa. take care of us up there.

Independent Playtime

I'm writing this from my bed during "Independent Play Time". I thought I was genius by coining this phrase which, to me, is:



putting my twins in their cribs because I am six and a half months pregnant and need to close my eyes for thirty minutes because they are only napping once a day now and straight up exhausting me.

.

How's that for a run-on sentence?

However, I decided before I go on and on about how much of a genius I am

and that you all should to.ta.lly. come to me for all parenting advice that I would google it.

 I then realized I in no way made this term up.

Oops.

I felt really smart.
It is actually a recommended activity from Babywise which I read and followed when the twins were born. Apparently I retained that term and spit it up again a year later claiming it as my own.

  

You should still know I am a genius regardless.

IPT (Independent Playtime) has been a lifesaver. We have had a long and stressful week and I was up way too late Friday and Saturday for one of our good friends wedding (Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Seaton). Monday was the first day of IPT and it was out of necessity. I turned on the radio, threw a few toys in the twins cribs and peaced out for 30 minutes of glorious silence.

Uh.ma.zing.
Needless to say this was definitely going to become a part of our daily regime.

Repeat Tuesday and Wednesday but today......we had a teeny snafu. IPT decided to smack me in the face.
I put the twins in their cribs at 11:30, I went in there 20 minutes after IPT started and they were both
passed out.

Now nap time is ruined.

Joke is on me. Big time.

Oh well.....

What I really came to talk to you about is the name game.

How insane has this thing gotten? Hold on my friends, I'll tell you.

The poll results have been checked 763 times.

I have had over 2,000 views since the poll went up.

People have viewed (repeatedly) and voted from:

Germany

Finland
Moldova

Canada

Singapore

France

United Kingdom

Russia
Australia

Austria

Taiwan

China

and

Italy

How cool is that?
I love that you guys are loving this. I totally thought my parents and in-laws would vote and we would call it a day. Ironically, only one out of  the five of them has voted (my daddy).

I also thought Finn was an adorable name and that this poll would prove that to Matt.

But........

Shows what I know.



they're made of sugar and spice and everything nice.

If you know my husband or me you know we don't fight softly. We don't even discuss softly.
We are both stubborn and when we love, we love hard.
And when we dislike, we dislike harder.
That said, playing the name game hasn't been easy this time around.
And I think girls names are harder.
But with the twins, I thought boys names were harder.
Unfortunately, we had a boys name
but,
we're having a girl.
after
a lot
of discussion we have narrowed it down to seven.
Actually six.
But,
my dad hates all of our names so I have granted him a write in.
One of the names is his choice.

Choose wisely.......and bonus points if you come back and leave a comment telling me your vote.
Actually, I beg you to come back and leave a comment with your vote.
I am printing this blog out in January and I would love to have everyone's votes forever.
Or your own write in.

The poll is on the main page
top right
but,
come back here to leave your comment.

Polls close May 1st, 2011

For some reason I'm really nervous......

xoxo

What should we call this little girl?

Sooooooooo Matty and I have had a really tough time finding a name for this little girl I have in my belly.....we can't agree.

So Matty came up with a plan,
he wants you to decide.
The winner is our little girls name.

I on the other hand am not willing to give you all that much control but, I am definitely down to hear what you all have to say.
AND, I know he doesn't read my blog so maybe I can bribe you guys to swing my way, ya heard?

So,
this weekend we are going to narrow down our list to six names and Monday I will be putting a poll up.

Sound bueno?
Stay tuned.

i can't think of a title that will do this post justice.

My son walked in the family room this morning.
He assumed a stance similar to Hulk Hogan's right before he rips his shirt off.
Instead of putting his hands on his chest he put them on his hips.
With one swipe he ripped the tabs of his diaper and wiggled his booty.
I watched it fall to the floor and I realized it was not clean.
With poop all over I sprung into action.
I got him all wiped off and went to the garbage can to throw away the nastiness.

I walked back into the family room, looked around and he was gone.

I walked on the porch and found this.

I had my phone in my hand so I was able to snap a pic for you all.
Apparently my son can climb up on our patio table now.

Cheers.



hot dogs with mustard and some catch up

so a lot of you know i may go overboard on the healthy eating train but it's important to me.
and one of the best thing about having kids is you get to make the rules.
all of them.
for a mild control freak this is an amazing thing.

however, i have probably lost some credibility.
but really, can you blame me?

we were heading to busch gardens to meet sweet emma for her birthday and it was pouring rain.
we weren't just going to sit in the parking lot and wait for it to let up.
especially when mel's is right down the street.
and it's a rule in my fam, when you go to busch gardens, you go to mel's.

my kids are official tampa kids now.
they've had a hot dog from mel's.

my brother, sister and i love mel's and it was a staple in our childhood.
so being the freak of carrying on traditions that i am, i had no choice but to let them indulge.

and yes, i know how disgusting hot dogs are and it will probably be another year before they have another one. so pipe down fellow health freaks. and news flash........hot dogs from mel's don't count.

so there.

after mel's we made it to busch gardens fat, happy and the rain had stopped.

we met up with the birthday girl and headed for the train.

have i told you guys how much chlo loves animals?

it is so flippin precious.

she loves, loves, loves them.

she starts laughing when she sees them.

she kisses them.

she won't kiss me but pass her a stuffed horse and she is making out within seconds.

she loves books with animals, plastic animals, stuffed animals.

she is just straight up in love.

so obvi we took a train ride to see the animals. i thought she would die.

but.

nahhh so much.

she had more fun playing on the train with her cousin and bubba.



bubba spent the day gator rolling out of whoever's (whomever's? lora, help me out here) arms were holding him and trying to get off the train.

not happenin'.

we did see some pretty animals and made it off the train just in time for the torrential downpour.



we ran through the hurricane to to the exit to meet uncle nick at first aid where he was told he would need staples.

in his head.

ew.

he slashed his head open on elmo's tree house.

so all in all it was an insane day but really, what else would you expect around here.

nap shenanigans part deux

Hi.

Matt got the babes up from their afternoon nap.

He asked me to go in their room.

This is what I found.

 He threw all of his bumpers in her crib.

Then he realized she was having fun.
And he got mad and wanted them back.

Her crib

His crib.