Happy 2nd Birthday to My Pixie!!

I meant to get this post up yesterday on Anna's ACTUAL birthday but time got away from me.

But yes it is true my itty bitty baby was 2 yesterday!! 



disclaimer: despite the fact that I have a degree in music age, children, pregnancy, has made my singing voice a most hideous thing to behold!

Anna did a great job opening her gifts.  She has seemed to get the idea of "birthday" and all that involves way earlier than Ben!  

 a little holtiger kitty cat.

 a new Jim Weiss CD of fairy tales (I highly recommend his CDs.  The kids LOVE to listen to the animal stories while playing)

 some new books!!  This pleases me as I am very tired of reading Ping and Blueberries for Sal that they got at Easter!

 I am grateful that my kids are such book lovers!

 A Mellisa and Doug magnetic paper doll set (not actually paper, but best I can describe it)

 We had a special breakfast of chocolate milk and cupcakes banana bread muffins with icing.  Interestingly neither kid would eat their iced muffin, but since had eaten several with no icing.  These are bizarro kids LOL..

 Anna did lick her muffin once LOL

 Ohhh and the gift I forgot to wrap...a much coveted new DVD of Charlie and Lola!!  Those of you with kids...if you have never seen this show check it out.  There are full episodes on youtube!  It is by far a favorite for my kids.
 

 Forget cupcakes...I would rather eat my new DVD!!!

So my dear Anna is another year older.  It has been a wild and crazy ride with her from the beginning, but this year especially she has taught the whole family so much.  She is tough and brave and strong beyond her years.  She is my snuggler.  And she is my mischief maker.  She remembers to stop and smell the flowers. She is hysterically funny and too cute for words.  And we just love her to tiny itty bitty bits!!  God Bless and Happy Birthday my dear Anna!!

Some Garden Projects

I didn't think to take any before or during shots, but here are the outcomes:

Our first and experimental jar of Kosher style pickled green tomatos.  We have no idea how long we need to let them pickle.  So if you know please share!

And Daddy's yummy Mint Tea.  The kids go NUTS for this stuff!  The way we make it is we snip several stems from the mint (Cla likes to use spearmint for the tea).  We put them in a large bowl and cover with water.  Then you squeeze/massage/crush the mint in the water.  Then you strain it into a pitcher and repeat (with the same mint) one or two more times.  Add a little sugar (or I bet honey would be even better) and you have tea.

Ben was the official tea stirrer...

And Anna was the official ice cube "blooper".  (bloop being the sound a heavy object makes when being dropped into water of course)

Then take many refreshing sips.....

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Yesterday Ben and I read the Very Hungry Caterpillar and then painted our own caterpillars out of an old egg carton.

Ben chose to paint his with just red paint and I went for green and red.

This is the look I got when asking for a smile.  Got to love a 3yr old!

The finished product.  I found it interesting that Ben seemed to only paint the parts he could see/that were facing him.

Later in the day Anna ate the google eyes off the caterpillars.  So they will need a little reconstructive surgery tomorrow and they are now safely on the mantle out of reach of her destructive hands!

A Makeshift Birthday Message

Yarn Along

Taking part in Ginny's Yarn Along again this week.  I am just about finished with my BSJ.  Just have to weave in ends and sew on buttons.  I should have gotten a picture of Anna WEARING it, but by the time I thought of it she was already napping.  So, maybe next week.

Yesterday I started the Stella Pixie hat for the new baby.  The yarn color looks way off in the picture.  It is actually a light green with flecks of blue, purple, and pink in it.  So far I have casted on and done one row.  So at my knitting rate I should finish around the baby's 2nd bday  ;)

As for reading I just got from the library (delivered for free to my door) The Story of Charlotte's Web: E. B. White's Eccentric Life in Nature and the Birth of an American Classic. I have so far read just the intro.  I have to be honest and say I have never actually READ Charlotte's Web, but my kids have been loving the old cartoon movie and so it has me interested.  I have put Charlotte's Web next on my bedtime reading list.  I like to read very light, enjoyable things before turning off the lights at bedtime.

So my current bedtime book is Prince Caspian the second book in the Narnia series.

To check out more Yarn Along posts visit Ginny's blog for all the link ups!

I Wonder....

Why I waited so long to break out the Crayola Color Wonder???!!!  Markers that only work on the special Color Wonder paper!!!

This was the scene this morning....many moments of quiet coloring...

Anna is indeed wearing her raincoat...I am guessing these are the early stages of dressup play for her because she often comes to me with jackets and sweaters asking me to please put them on for her.  She wore it all morning.  Definitely made breakfast cleanup easier LOL

And Master Benjamin told me he didn't want to smile because he was sad.  I asked him why he was sad and he said, "Because I am just trying to do something..."  Well, fair enough then.

May the mess free markers reign for many months in the Salvucci household!

Daddy Tries His Own Feeding Therapy

Oy! What a Week!!

Well, since our anniversary never goes as planned....this year was no different.  This may just look like a sweet scene between father and daughter.....but it is actually a picture of an exhausted Annabella getting comfort from daddy while waiting for her Home Healthcare Nurse to return an emergency after hours call *sigh*

The day started off with me getting sick in a public place, so in a disgusting public restroom, with two small children in tow.  The two children thought it was hysterically funny to watch their mommy get sick.  This was followed be an arm thrashing leg kicking temper tantrum by the boy (like full blown throw self on floor sort of tantrum....in public as well). 

We all came home and took a nice long nap.  Ahhh, maybe this day was getting better LOL..

Well, as Anna was getting into her crib somehow her gtube got knocked against the edge and popped out!!  So now there is literally a half inch-ish open hole into her stomach.  Because a stoma closes remarkably fast you have to get something in there quickly to keep it open.  Claudio tried to replace the tube, but was unable to fit it back in already.  We were able to get a smaller foley catheter in instead and we taped it and secured it.

After many back and forth calls to Home Healthcare we were told that we HAD TO take her to the ER immediately.  So I drag her to the ER, my poor sleeping, scared, little doll.  Thankfully they took us pretty quickly.  But guess what the doctor said!!  She said the stoma was stable and secured so there is nothing they could do there...we had done the right thing at home and to call her doc at CHOP in the am to get the tube replaced.  This is of course what I had requested to do when talking to Home Healthcare.  So a trip to the ER (including the bills that will come) was for nothing!! Grrr

I was able to take her into CHOP the next morning thankfully they were able to pop a new tube in with only minor trauma for Anna and they gave me a steroid cream to treat her granulation tissue which has been plaguing her.

So there is my little whine fest for the week.  :)

Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner!!

(and if you don't get the reference you need to brush up on your 80s movie trivia)

Wordless Wednesday

My Favorite Part of the Garden

Pictures aren't clear since I took them from up on the porch through the screen.  But I just love my hydrangea, daisy, and black eyed susan  :)

Yummy!!

 Anna has shown a real improvement in her eating the last few weeks.  Still far from normal for her age, but she "gets" hunger finally it seems.  She has more consistent "go to" foods that we can count on for her to eat when offered.

Right now she is really enjoying some plain oatmeal with brown sugar stirred in for breakfast.  She won't finish a whole bowl, but close to half.  And more importantly she eats it steadily, she doesn't purposefully spill it or throw it (she drips, but just because she is still working on those spoon skills) and she smiles while doing it....no whining or crying.

Thankful Thursday......The We Are Expecting Edition :)

 This lovely picture was taken today.  We are told they are PRETTY sure it is a girl....but Ben insists it is a teddy bear and of no sex.

 We have decided to put Ben and Anna in the same room so the baby can have their own, quiet room.  Once the baby is old enough (a yearish??  Guess we will play it by ear) it will be switched so same sex kids are together (assuming Anna and new baby).

 So Anna's room has needed some rearranging...we took out the window seat and tucked the crib in the nook there and we got Ben a real twin size bed (we are waiting for the box spring still so his mattress is currently on the floor)

And he got alphabet bedding.  Ben is a total creature of habit and resists change (I suspect most 3yr olds do).  So we were worried about how the transition to a different room, with a different bed, with new bedding, etc etc would go.  But it has gone very smoothly and he loves his new bed and bedding. (btw yes Anna's shirt is soaking wet...the results of letting her wash her hands with no assistance)

Prayers for a healthy pregnancy appreciated!!

Yarn Along

Finally catching up with Ginny's Yarn Along again!  I have been working on Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise jacket.  This is the first thing I have knitted that I have really enjoyed working on!  I highly recommend this pattern.  I am making this sweater for Anna, but part of the sweater being a "surprise" is that it doesn't really come with options for sizing.  You kind of guess and adjust needle size and yarn size.  So I am HOPING this will fit Anna when all is said and done!!

As for reading I am going through the Narnia series again.  I read it a number of years ago and I am not sure I even finished the series then.  The kids have been enjoying the old animated version of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe....so that piqued my interest again.

What are you knitting and reading???  And check out Ginny's page to see what others are working on!

btw if any of you lovely knitters out there can share with me how you get such beautiful, clear, vibrant, and detailed images of your knitting please share your tricks.  I am just an awful photographer!

Our New Family Pet!

Check out our adorable new hamster on the right sidebar!!  Isn't he cute!!  Benjamin has named him Mickey Mouse.

If you click on the center of the wheel he will run on the wheel for you and if you click anywhere else a pellet of food will drop for him to eat.  And he will drink from his water and wash his face.

And we never have to clean out his cage or change his water or spend ANY money on him.  Definitely the best pet ever!!!

He's a Growing Boy......