Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Poppi and his crew


Nonni and the grandkids

Cousins! (the boys are double trouble!)

Santa came!

Opening Presents!

Very excited about his train table!

Stocking time!

First off, we wish everyone reading our blog a very Happy Holiday!- and hope everyone's Christmas was joyous and filled with family and loved ones!

We had a great Christmas...as always a very hectic one with lots of running around, but it was a lot of fun! Aiden is at a great age to really enjoy the holiday through his eyes. We spent Christmas Eve with the Giosa's. Since it was a Saturday, we were able to get together early and spend the day together before heading to church. It was nice not to be rushed and enjoy each other. Christmas at Nonni and Poppi's are getting a bit crazy with an almsot 10 yr old, a 6 yr old and a 3 yr old running around and getting excited about presents and Santas. I remember how quite it was when it was just Natalie. And to think next year we'll have a 10 month old and a 7 month old too. As the great Italian Family that we Giosas are, we had pizza and hoagies for Christmas Eve lunch/dinner....not the 7 fishes. LOL! After time together, presents opening, and eating, we went to church to celebrate Jesus' birthday. After church we went to Keith's Aunt Sandie's house were we got to spend some nice time with his cousins and their families who we don't see often. Aiden was caught up in all the fun and of course present opening.

After getting home Christmas Eve, we left Milk and Cookies out for Santa (first time we did it since Aiden was born), which Aiden was so excited to do. On Christmas morning, he woke up like it was any other morning, not grasping what might have happened overnight. So after us probing him a little to look down the steps to see if Santa came, he got very excited to see, not the presents, but that Santa ate all the Cookies and Milk. We then moved over to presents, last year it took him 4 and half hours to just make it through the presents under the tree (which trust me weren't a ton), but this year was like rapid fire. I think it was 20 mins and it was the craziest thing I ever seen a kid do, he opened presents that had the same wrapping paper before moving on to the next set of gifts. Santa was very good this year (apparently he forgot we have been battling with terrible 2s into 3s- LOL)! Aiden got a Buzz Light Year and Jesse the Cowgirl Doll from Toy Story to go with the Woody Doll Mommy & Daddy bought for his birthday. He also got a Cars race track, as well as a few trains from Thomas the Tank Engine, some games, and practical gifts like sheets for his very big boy bed that he'll be getting soon.

Our Christmas afternoon/night was spent with the Donnellys & Grattons. My parents stopped by for a bit to exchange gifts with Keith and I and to give Aiden his big gift, a tool work bench and then we headed over to my aunts to share with them, my cousins and their families, and my sister. Aiden enjoyed playing with his cousins....espeically Will (Sammie's middle son who's about 16 months old). Of course when present time came, with 3 Toddler boys it was mass hysteria. Rob, Aiden and Will, were just tearing into gifts whether they were theres or not. I can't imagine next year when Luke will be old enough to join in on the fun and then our little Jonathan will be here as well. My aunt's house will be a complete and crazy mess. Aiden was luck that our families were nice and generous to give little Jonathan presents even though he isn't here yet...so Aiden got to open them too.

All in all, it was a great Christmas and Aiden enjoyed it very much, and we're now having fun watching him love his new toys. His favorites are the train table (from Nonnie and Poppi that Santa put together for them), his cash register, his buzz light year, his geotrack Train, and his tool bench.

On a side note, Jonathan is doing well too. I had an appointment two weeks ago and his heartrate was 155. My blood pressure and weight were good and he's a very active (sometimes violent- LOL) little boy. Of course the doctors love to remind me I want a fighter...I have a feeling he will be. I go back for my 32 week check up this week and it looks like I'll get one more ultrasound before he arrives between 34-36 weeks to see if he's breech or not. Whatever the outcome will all depend on if I'm induced or will need a C-section. So we'll keep you posted.

We want to wish everyone a very Happy, Safe, and Wonderful New Year and may 2012 bring many blessings to you and your family. We're lucky to get 2 little babies in ours!

Getting ready for Christmas...

Aiden and I have taken on to a new tradition, building a gingerbread house. Although I will never make it as a pastry chef, we had a lot of fun. I constructed the house and let Aiden decorate it and he was so proud!

We also got to meet Santa a few times so far. Aiden seems to love him this year, but still not grasping the whole concept. Our first meeting was at the Exton Mall, where Aiden was happy to say hi, but got very shy when sitting on his lap. The second meeting was at a health fair event we attended. That time he wasn't shy and he told Santa what he wanted.

Birthday Celebration and giving Thanks!

November is a crazy month for anyone as the Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday approaches and then we have to throw in a birthday celebration as well.

Hard to believe, but on November 20th, Aiden turned 3. It still shocks me how quickly he's growing and each year I find it going by faster and I wish I had a magic stop watch. As always, Aiden's birthday celebration is a few days long due to family/thanksgiving/Keith typically working a college musical the weekend of his birthday. This year his birthday celebration started on the 19th, when my Mom invited us over to celebrate with my Aunt and cousins and their families. She threw a McQueen theme celebration and got him a cake. He loved his presents from his great Aunt & Uncle and cousins.

Then on his actual birthday, the 20th, we had a small kiddie party for him at Oasis Family Fun Center in Glen Mills. We invited his cousins (Natalie, Marc Jr., Rob, & Will) and then our close friends kids that are around his age. There was 12 kids all together. Oasis is an indoor jungle gym- it has soft blocks to build, ball pit, rock climbing wall, and games. I think everyone had a great time and the kids sure did get their exercise that day and a good night sleep that night.

Aiden's last celebration was on Thanksgiving, when we always celebrate his birthday with his grandparents, Aunts & Uncles and cousins. We host thanksgiving every year for both our parents & siblings. Our tradition is a pot luck dinner, we do the Turkey, the veggies, and then a dessert or side dish and then everyone else brings a side dish, rolls or dessert. We love the time together and always have fun. This year the Giosa/Donnelly Family is very thankful this year for support family, not one, but two babies coming in 2012 (for those that don't know Keith's brother & wife are expecting #3 in April) and the fact that medicine is so advance and can "help" our little Jonathan.

After dinner, we change from Thanksgiving to Aiden's birthday, have whatever he wants for dessert, this year it was his Aunt June's "cookie cake" aka cookie pie. He also gets to open his presents from his family.

Below are a few pics of Aiden's celebrations. We hope everyone had a wonderful and safe thanksgiving.

No Fibula, No Problem....

It's been a while since I "checked in", but things have been going well and been busy. I had a check up at 24 weeks and had gain 12lbs. Jonathan's heartbeat was 153 beats per minute and measuring well. I go for my 28 week check up this week...and then hard to believe I start going every 2 weeks. This pregnancy has been flying by and I'm still shocked that I will most likely be meeting my little one in 12 weeks. Tomorrow I'm going to go for my glucose test...always a fun time.

We also had our consultation with the doctor at DuPont and it was just a wonderful meeting and uplifting. Her name is Dr. L. Reid Nichols and she was trained by the best. She did her residency and fellowship at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, which is top notch (at least on the east coast) for limb length and Fibula Hemimelia, which is Jonathan's condition. She really put us at easy and talked us through the steps he'd undergo. She was all about one step at a time, focusing on what will be first in caring for him at the early part of life and not worrying about the surgeries and procedures in years to come. Dr. Nichols encouraged me to stay in touch through the rest of my pregnancy with her and provided me her email. She also said she would visit me after I deliver, just to meet Jonathan.

He will start his treatment about a week after birth, the first part would be a cast for 5-8 weeks depending on how bad is club foot is and then he'll be in a brace. He'll need to wear the brace for 3 months straight for 23 hours and then just need to wear it at nap and bedtime. The brace trains the foot (molds the foot since it's so malleable at birth) to be position right.

Again, we thank everyone for their continued thoughts and prayers.

Trick or Treat and Halloween Fun.

Aiden really took to trick or treating this year, especially when he caught on to the whole getting candy. He dressed up as Wall-e (a beloved Robot from a Disney/Pixar movie from a few years ago that Aiden is obsessed with).

On Sunday, we took him to the Exton Mall and met up with his cousins Natalie and Marc (as well as Aunt June) for the Halloween Festivities. Unfortunately it wasn't that great- within the 20 mins the stores were out of candy and the whole things was a bust, but Aiden very much enjoyed the freedom of walking around the mall and hanging out with his cousins.

Monday night, Keith and I decided we were going to take Aiden to a few houses in our neighborhood and see how it goes, especially since it was cold. By the 4th house, Aiden was super excited looking for people who had their lights on (we told them that's the people given out candy), couldn't wait to see all the kids that were dressed up, and of course get candy. He didn't even think about the concept of eating candy, he just liked putting his hand in the bowl and putting a bunch of goodies in his pumpkin. He managed to fill the pumpkin and we were out for a little over an hour.

Keith and I couldn't believe how much fun it was this year and how much he loved it. Sadly, most of the candy he got, he isn't going to be able to enjoy as they contain nuts or are made on a nut plant, but luckily we got some back ups. We hope everyone enjoyed their kids as much as we did!

Why, why why??...A Parent's Heartbreak

This is a common question my almost 3 yr old poses to me everyday, but "why Mommy", "why are we doing that Mommy"...etc. Recently Keith and I found ourselves reverting back to our 3 year old ways, asking Why, Why, Why God?

On October 10th we got our 20 week ultrasound....and to our delight we found out we're having yet another little boy. Then about 5 mins later, 3 little words change our life, our demeanor that day, and rocked our world. Those words were...."there's a complication". This sentence was followed by "everything else looks good, appears to be healthy and on track, but..."with that my heart sunk. You never imagine those words will be presented to you and your not sure what to do with them when they are.

We were told that the baby was missing a bone in his right lower leg and the other one was underdeveloped. After hearing this, tears ensued and all other information that was given to us was lost and not processed. The day I had looked forward to for the last few months turned into a day I wanted to forget. The next day I was sent for an amniocentesis (which test for chromosomes deficiencies, which after 10 days of waiting for the full results, they came back normal) and I wondered if it's just a leg defect, then why do I need this? Is there something more?

I was also sent a week and half later for a 2nd ultrasound to check the leg out more. As I sat through the 2nd ultrasound, it was so painful, no joyful feeling. There was a little cute face, a heart beat, and this leg that just looked like a blob and not "normal". They continued to focus on the leg and all I could do was cry. I thought about how I had wished for more ultrasounds to see my baby and now I didn't want one.

Those two weeks were an emotional roller coaster full of joy, sadness, anger, grief.......and then like a light went off, acceptance. My OB says I was going through the stages of grieving....and I thought -What? She said, I had lost the baby that I thought I was going to have, a "normal" child. As I finally brought myself to look at the 3D ultrasound pics of his face...I fell in love with the baby boy I was meant to have and who was a true gift from God, a miracle.

The condition the Baby has is called Fibula Hemamila. It's a condition that happens in 1 out of 40,000. He has a underdeveloped and bowed tibia and no fibula (the two bones that make up your bottom portion of your leg) on his right side. .We learned that this was probably due to some type of blood flow blockage or restriction when he was developing.

We have consultant with CHOP, DuPont, and Sinai Hospital in Baltimore. The out come is that the flow of blood in his leg looked good now and they believe he'll be ambulatory. He would need a few surgeries (prob 3) throughout childhood- a reconstruction of his ankle and straightening of his tibia and then two limb lengthening surgeries. Luckily, it's better to have a missing fibula then tibia as the tibia is your weight baring leg. The echocardiogram and the ultrasound showed all else appears healthy and right on target.

The procedures/surgeries wouldn't start till he was a yr to 18 months old most likely. He'll have a long road ahead of him with PT and all, but the outlook is good. We're feeling very fortunate that this is the only complication as we saw other very sick kids during our hospital visits.

The funny thing about this experience was that it brought Keith and I even closer, which we didn't think was possible. We also named him, which is a shock to begin with since Aiden's name came to us very last minute, but we felt we needed to come up with something to bond due to his circumstances. We also changed our mind and are sharing due to his situation. It will be....... Jonathan Paul. Few meanings behind it- Keith’s two favorite Beatles, even though Lennon spelled it JOHN. Also a little tribute to his cousin that passed in August that was a drummer living in CA (He was also John, but Paul was his middle name) and Jonathan means gift from God, which we feel he is. Our parents and Keith have already nicknamed him JP and Aiden apparently doesn't like the name Jonathan, he prefers we name it Baby.

A Pumpkin Picking we'll go....

A couple weeks ago, we met up with our friends the Grahams and took the kids to a local farm near us called Milky Way Farms. There we went in a corn maze, took a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch, picked out some pumpkins, and then went over to the creamery next store and got fresh homemade ice cream. It was a great time together, the boys loved the tractor and the ability to run through the fields. Here are some pics to enjoy and wishing everyone a Happy Halloween!!

A Rainy Day Out with Thomas

Last Friday, we went back to Strasbourg Railroad and took Aiden to see Thomas again. We went with our good friends the Grahams, who have a 2 1/2 yr old son Colin and a 6 year old daughter Ava. Unfortunately it was a miserable day and it poured the whole time we were there, but that didn't slow the kids down, they enjoyed it all the same and had the bonus of jumping in puddles. Here are some pics from our rainy day out!

The Gang with Thomas

Ava and Aiden with Thomas

Aiden and Ava hanging out with Sir Topham Hatt

Happy (and wet) little boy

Looking at the window...at all the rain

The three kids playing with the train table (little does Aiden know he's getting one soon)

Potty Training, Baby update, and Mini Vaca

Sept has been an interest month to say the least. When Hurricane Irene hit, we decided to start potty training....I mean we weren't going anywhere anyway. Potty training has been my least favorite part of parenting. Aiden has transition so well throughout the years from giving up the bottle, to giving up the pacifier, and going into a bed. Potty training has come with struggles, but I'm sure there are other horror stories out there that are worse.

By the second day he was doing great and by the end of the first week, he regressed. I would say that after the first two weeks, he did master #1. Aiden loved the idea of wearing new underwear a few times a day that after going on the potty he would say he needs a new one, even though they were dry. I guess that's what I get for buying him cool underwear- LOL. He also started sitting all the time (whether he had to go or not) to get a treat. Aiden did pick up quickly enough that now if he's wearing a diaper (typically at night time or long trips) he still tell us when he has to go. Not to be to graphic, but after 4 weeks we're still struggling with #2 on the potty, so there's lost of "cleaning" going on in our house and I pray he catches on soon. I don't why I waited till I was pregnant to do this. He also won't go on anything, but his little potty, so being out is a bit of a pain and we now travel with a potty (I actually got a travel potty, but he's not a fan of that yet).

This week, Aiden mastered taking off his own diaper, which might seem wonderful to people, but it's at 6:30am and sometimes it's not clean or he has to go and his potty isn't in his room, so he just goes in his room. I definitely need more patient with this, but I must say Keith has done a great job encouraging and trying to keep up his enthusiasm. I must say this is very trying!

Our second child, Baby 2.0 was doing well at my 16 week check up on Sept 14th. The heartbeat was 155 beats per min. They said all looked good and my weight gain is just under 5 lbs. I'm still wearing regular pants, but did move into some maternity shirts because some of my regular shirts are getting a bit tight. I'm finally starting to look pregnant, though the women in Motherhood the other day questioned it- LOL. I am also starting to feel pregnant and have become very uncomfortable fast, it's prob because I'm doing so much and not sitting around like last time, but the doc says it's normal stuff for 2nd pregnancies. We're scheduled for our next drs visit and ultrasound, Oct 10th. Can't wait....start thinking about your guesses- boy or girl as we'll (hopefully) know it about two weeks.

Lastly, a couple weeks ago, we got to go away for a mini weekend vacation down to the Jersey Shore courtesy of Keith's friend George's mom. She has a nice house in the Villas (the back bay of Wildwood/Cape May) and said we're invited to use it anytime they're not there. It was suppose to be a nasty weekend, but turned out to be sunny and 80 degrees everyday. We went to a water park, the beach, and the zoo. Aiden loved playing in the bay and enjoyed the rides so much that after 3 hrs on them we had trouble bribing him away with ice cream. His favorite ride was the tram car....or as it called it the train. We rode the whole boardwalk down. The zoo wasn't something Aiden enjoyed much of as he could careless about the animals...guess I'm not raising a nature lover. Well enjoy the pics!