Should I be worried?!

I'm leaving tomorrow morning with Alyssa for the Carson City field trip. Jeff will be home all week to take care of Brandon and Gabriella. I have full 200% faith that they will be fine and have a blast.
A few minutes ago I made my usual call home to see how Brandon's day went. In the back ground I could hear Brandon yelling for daddy to cut the call short...he was ready to play. "what are you playing" I asked..."baseball" Jeff replied. Oh really...in the house non the less!

Mall Madness

I had this game when I was a kid... I LOVED it then and I love it now. Alyssa got the this game in the Hannah Montana edition for her birthday. Even Jeff likes playing it...(shhhhh don't tell him I said that)


The guys plotting the next move...they lost!

Memorial Day

Today we went to Jeff's parents for a BBQ. The food was great (as usual) and it was nice to see his cousins, aunts and uncles that we only typically see on Christmas.
Leave it to me though, I had my camera out before everyone arrived but got so involved in visiting that I forgot to take more pictures. It was a great day!

Today I pulled a Jeff

My husband is a great guy...he is fantastic with the kids and a lot of fun to be with...but it's no secret that he can be a little lazy...so today I pulled a Jeff.
I pretty much consumed the day with mindless TV and mommy things. Alyssa went with a friend to Chucky Cheeses. Brandon, Gabriella and Jeff were all taking naps...and I...well I watched Parenthood for the millionth time and did ONE lousy load of laundry.
I finally took a shower at 5 and even then I skipped makeup and doing my hair. I left the house only to hit the Starbucks drive Thur and promptly returned to watch UFC with the hubby.
At the end of the day I feel guilty...I wasted a day when I could have gotten so much done. The good thing is though, Jeff assured me I would only feel guilty for a minute. Hmmmm, somehow thinking that's not the case.

Random update....

It's the end of a busy week. I'm so glad it's Friday!
As you can see I changed up my template...hope you like it. I found a great "pip pop" one but for some reason it would not work. :(

Jeff starts vacation tomorrow. He took the week off so I could chaperone the Carson City trip with Alyssa's class. We leave EARLY Wednesday morning and come home LATE Friday. Alyssa and I will have a great time...
hmmm, wonder if a tour bus would be willing to stop at Starbucks?!
The good thing is we'll have the long weekend to spend together as a family. That alone is the best part!

Alyssa had field day today at school. They do all sorts of great things. The best has to be the water games they get to play. The bummer part is it rained today so field day was cut short.

Brandon is fighting off a nasty little cold. So far the rest of us have avoided it. (watch, I'll wake up tomorrow with it)

I guess that's about it for now...
I'll take some pictures of the kids this weekend and post them up.

Water baby

Gabriella loved to put the wash cloth in her mouth during bath time...
she also anticipates the flash in EVERY picture lately too...that would explain the "I've had one to many" look.

Silly Brandon...

Brandon is my handful...I'm never sure what to expect from him each day, some of the things he says....well...let's just say he's a silly boy.
I thought I would jot a few down to share.

At Sunday school a while back we were having some of the youth volunteers help out...
one of the kids asked a question about how you feel knowing God is always with you. I was sitting in the back of the room with Sheila...Brandon's hand flies up in the air...he waves it around...when it's his turn he stands up and announces "my daddy sleeps in his underwear!" Now, I know that he's not the only daddy that does this...but still....

Driving to lunch the other day he was bothering Alyssa to floss his toes...
now this is disgusting so I apologize in advance...
I guess when he's wearing flip flops he needs a place to put the "gold" that he has dug from his nose...so it goes in between his toes. Not sure what's more disturbing...Brandon's actions or the fact that Alyssa had "flossed" the toes before and therefor knew what he was trying to do.

The other night I praised him for being such a big helper. He responded "I'm acting like I'm 20" Really, I say...
"when I'm 20 I can say bad words" he says...so my curiosity got the better of me and I said..."what bad word to you want to say". "DAMN ME" he replied....

He's a silly boy...and we love every minute (for the most part) of him!

My calling...

This may be a little deep...but hey...I'm gonna write about it anyways!

The last 6 months or so I have had several "God" moments at work.
I do listen to Christian music...but it's not like it blares from my speakers...I do openly talk about my faith...but I don't preach either. Anyways, over the last two months I have had two co-workers come and ask me to pray with them. Two people who hold jobs much higher than mine...two people who I would have never expected to come to me with this request. Of course I do pray with them and that's that. On Friday one of them asked if they could join me to worship at church too. Sure...
So...I got to thinking God must be working through me...something led my coworkers to me...and I'm happy. Wonder what God wants me to do...I'll just sit and wait he's got big plans for me!

Random update

It's been another long day. Alyssa was invited to a surprise baby shower for the owner of the studio where she dances today...so just like everything else I waited to the last minute. We were at babies r us buying her gift 20 minutes before the shower started!
I drove the stretch of freeway to and from Boulder City 6 times today...yup...that was nuts!
Between the hours of 9am and 10pm I was home a total of...hmmmm...about 15 minutes!

The BEST news is.....drum roll please....I have a babysitter! Nope, it's not my mom or sister either. I finally have found a teenager that I trust to babysit! The true test was how Brandon would react to her. He is strange when it comes to Jeff and I going out, He gets weird and clingy...
when we came home tonight she was playing games with the kids and Brandon has told me several times how much he LOVES Chelsea...in fact he wants Jeff and I to go on a date so she can come again! Needless to say I'm excited to have someone to babysit...now I can shop with my mom WITHOUT kids!

Happy Birthday Alexis!

Today was our sweet nieces 8th birthday! She is such a ham and has the greatest sense of humor. We miss her tons...
She will be here next month for a visit and we can't wait to see her and Ryan...and Jill too. :)
Happy birthday ALexis. We love you tons and miss you more. I hope you had a great slumber party!

7 months old

Gabriella turned 7 months old last Thursday. She is getting so big and I have really enjoyed every second of her. Honestly, she is the easiest baby I have ever come in contact with. She just goes with the flow...she sits back and just watches her world around her.
She is sleeping all night now too! wooohooo...added bonus! She's such a sweet little bug...we all love her a bunch!

Mean people suck!

We found out yesterday that someone somehow gained access to our checking account and drained us dry! NOT fun...
The bank is investigating it now and once they determine it was fraud they will reimburse our account.
It's been a long time since we have been broke..and I can tell you...it sucks!

Good Golly

Jeff is at work, the kids have long been in bed and the house is clean. Clearly I have no life as you will see from the next 5 or so posts!

Gabriella

Random...

Ya know you like the "tool belt" he made out of little people fence pieces!

Can you find Alyssa...

Making Mothers Day crafts with our Sunday School class

Sweet Brandon

Happy Mothers Day!

We celebrated another wonderful Mothers Day today. After staying up until 2am doing laundry...Jeff called me at 6am to tell me not to make breakfast, instead he surprised the kids and I with Dunkin Donuts and coffee (the kids got there favorite hot chocolate)
We continued with our tradition of lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. We have gone here every year since my first Mothers Day when Alyssa was just 3 weeks old. As usual the food was great and everyone behaved...making it even better! After lunch we tortured the kids and walked through FAO Schwartz. It was fun to play with all the cool toys and NO one asked...well...let me rephrase this...no one begged for anything.
Afterwards we went to this really cool park and let the kids play in the water area. We also walked a trail and let the kids play on the playground a bit. It was a great day. My hubby always makes it a special day all about me...so even if I only get one day a year dedicated to mommy...well...I'll take it!

Happy Mothers day to my mom and mother in law too!
Mom..you're a great friend and I'm so glad to share the bond we do. Thanks for everything!
Minda...without you I would not have my hubby so thanks!

Hope you guys like the pictures...

Taking a Break

I have been cleaning since I walked in the door today. This is the norm for me...every Friday I go to work all day and come home and clean all night. Jeff is a wonderful daddy...but lacks in the house cleaning department. I try not to complain too much after all he is home with the kids all day after working all night....soooo we're fair, however I'm still allowed to complain.
I read something today that said stay at home moms are worth $117,000 a year...heck yeah and they deserve every penny of that...BUT...yup, always got a but...what about working moms?! I surely don't make that in my salary AND I do all the things a stay at home mom does too. In fact...I tend to think I may even over do it. I suffer from what working moms call the "super mom syndrome" where to try to make up for the guilt we feel from working... we simply can't say no.
I'm ok with being who I am. I'm ok with staying up until 2am cleaning on a Friday night so I can cram grocery shopping, laundry, play dates, Sunday school, church, yard work, birthday parties and any other must dos into the two days I have "off" a week. Never mind I have to miss bible studies or any other moms time activities cause I'm at work...can't tell you the last time I met a friend for lunch of even coffee.
The truth is being a mom, whether it's a working one or a stay at home one is a tough job and we are paid with smiles and happy children...oh, and happy husbands too. On that note...better get back to cleaning...still have the entire downstairs left!

Random

I'm working now...ok...so maybe I'm not working, but I am at work. I think I have shuffled the same stack of papers 20 times in the last hour. I just can't get it together today...and it's 2pm, as you can imagine it has not been a productive day!

I'm going straight from work today to church. Alyssa and I are taking a class...not sure what to think of it. More to come on that later.

This week is teacher appreciation week so today the kids and I woke up extra early so I could stop and get flowers for their teachers before school. Somehow we still ended up leaving at the same time we do everyday...so it was a quick stop...got flowers for the teachers and the student teacher and balloons...got my Starbucks (thankfully my girls at Starbucks know me so all I have to do is wave when I come in the door and they start my drink...saves me waiting...just gotta pay) and made it to school on time! yeah...I'm good like that!

Guess I better get back to work...better do something before the end of the day!

Gabriella Jane

Our sweet little Gabriella. Her name in Italian means "God is my strength" when I found out we were having her I wanted a name that was fitting. It took us awhile to decide...but I am so glad we stuck to our guns and named her Gabriella even though it was not a popular choice within the family. Her middle name is after both me and my mom.
We don't call her Gabby but we do have several nick names. Brandon calls her do tear, daddy calls her bug and Alyssa and I call her princess (original, huh?!) Sometimes we call her Gabby Jane...and even Ella. Well...you get the point.
She was born with brown hair but it's coming in light like mine and Brandon's (sorry Jeff)
Gabriella LOVES her daddy! She squeals at him from across the room and will literally throw herself into his arms if I'm holding her and standing next to him. That's ok...in the end I posses the powerful tool that makes everything better. :)

She is a piggy and eats a lot...yet she is on the small side like Brandon. She's not crawling yet and hates tummy time...but she does love her rain forest jumper.

What else can I say about her...she is the most laid back baby I have ever come across and makes me think I can do this all over again...who knows...maybe in a few years!

Brandon Lawrence

This is his wrestling stance...I have noticed that in a lot of the recent pictures he is doing this pose. At least he has a better "mean face"

Where do you start with Brandon?! Since the beginning Brandon has been our handful. After two years (11 months of that on fertility) we were blessed with Brandon. His middle name in case anyone is wondering or even cares is also Jeff's middle name. He was our kid that was ALWAYS sick, had colic for what seemed like an eternity and always needed to be held. He's 5 now, almost 6...and keeps us on our toes.

He loves to wrestle and is actually pretty good at it.
He's the kindergarten stud...not kidding all the girls run up and greet him "hi Brandon Corsaro" and ya know what my kid does...he blows them off!
Brandon speaks his mind and rarely lies...he'll just tell us how it is...

Brandon is a picky eater but has gotten a lot better with it the last few months...he loves long spaghetti with his sauce under the pasta.
He is a giant mommys boy and actually spends most nights in bed with me, but at the same time loves playing with daddy.

Brandon is a great brother too. He loves being with Alyssa and is so sweet with "do tear" aka Gabriella.
He loves to dress up and will tie a sword to his waist with anything he can get a hold of.

He is a little stubborn...hmmmm...wonder where in the world he got that from?!
He's a tough kid who yells out "I'm ok" after every fall...his voice travels and could wake the dead. His library voice is what I would refer to as an indoor voice and let's just say...we usually hear his out door voice!

Brandon has a love for Jesus and God too. It is not uncommon for him to bring Jesus up in any random conversation. Right now he is in my Sunday school class so I have the joy of watching his faith blossom.
He is a good boy and just like his sisters I feel like he was brought to us for a reason. We love him...more than he will ever know!

Alyssa Nicole

I thought since this blog is supposed to be about my kids I would take a second and tell you (in my eyes) about each one of them.

I think it's safe to say Alyssa is the biggest and best surprise Jeff and I have ever had! She does things in her own time and in her own way...hence her early birth!
She was the smallest of our babies weighing in at a whopping 5lbs 6oz and ironically is our biggest (well, so far) child.

Alyssa loves to dance and always has. She started taking ballet when she was 4 and has since added 3 more classes. She now takes Irish, Tap and Ballet and in the fall will also start Hip Hop. She dances at a wonderful studio in Boulder City (yes, it is a 30 minute drive and yes, gas is expensive) I love that studio and all the instructors. I never want her to dance anywhere else.

Alyssa is a smarty pants too. She brings home straight A's all the time. Teachers use her work as an example and often call upon her to be a peer mentor.

She is a self proclaimed daddy's girl and will do what ever daddy wants to do. She likes me ok too : ) but let's face it...daddy is and always has been more fun than me!

Hmmm....what else...
she can be a little sassy and when it comes to housework she tends to be lazy. She follows in her dads footsteps when it comes to throwing her clothes in a heap NEXT to the hamper.

She loves animals (better, considering we have a small zoo) she says she wants to be a Vet when she is older.

She is obsessed with Hannah Montana (drives me nuts!) Thankfully she has Aunt Julie to share this obsession with.

Alyssa has a deep faith and can often recite scriptures from the bible. She has recently become a Jr.leader at church and helps out in the nursery. That's crazy to see your kid working in the same nursery where you did looong before she was even born.

She is a great big sister, though her and Brandon have their share of arguments they really do love each other. It's not rare to see them snuggled in the same bed or sitting right next to each other on the couch watching a movie.

I could literally go on and on...both Jeff and I feel so lucky to have been blessed with Alyssa. Her smile could brighten any room and her laugh...well...it could wake you from a coma! We love her!

Random

Alyssa is singing at UNLV tomorrow...I'll take pictures and post those too.

Spring is officially here. I have plans to pack away winter clothes and coats this weekend...that alone will free some space. I swear I need to do one of those "clean sweep" TV shows and let someone come through and get rid of everything we don't need or use.

We had the International Children's Choir singing at church on Sunday. They are a group of 15 kids, some from Uganda some from India and two brothers from the Philippines. None of them have homes with a mom or dad,they had either been abandoned or there parents were killed from war or Aids. Hands down it was the most moving thing I have ever been apart of. It was nice to worship next to Alyssa and watch her experience first hand the power of Christ through people who really have nothing. After they sang they came around and were hugging people...I swear if I could have I would have brought them home with me.

Crazy...

I'm gonna sum up the last week of my life for you...



I can't explain it...
maybe it was the constant running last weekend that resulted in a unclean house...that resulted in a more stressed than usual week. Maybe it's just me dealing with the guilt of working and not being home with my kids...or the terrible sadness that I feel about little Marina and her cancer. What ever it is...this week has been...well, one of those weeks! It's Friday, I am determined to get my cleaning done and out of the way tonight so I can enjoy my family this weekend.
Wish me luck!