Parties, Parades and The Bethlehem Walk

Sebastian has a class field trip to the Bethlehem Walk at a nearby church.  We’ve been the last couple of years and it is AMAZING.  It was nice to go during the day because it was less crowded and we could take our time, but at the same time you loose some of the ambiance of it not being at night, like we have done in the past.  We all went since Paul was off work so it was special.  Sebastian had to sign in to the census.

Sebastian’s VPK class 2011.

On Saturday we went to Paul’s work for the annual family Christmas party.  It was raining on and off all day so it was…interesting.  But the kids had a great time.  On the hayride checking out the Palm Bay campus….ha!

Luca was happy!

Train ride.

Then later that evening was the Melbourne Christmas Parade which is wonderful.  But…it was still raining.  But that didn’t stop us.  No sir.  Or a lot of other people either!  We made it out, parked at Publix and waited under the walkway until it was almost time for the parade to start, and then headed out to the street, each with their own umbrella.

It was just a bit drizzly, but across from where we were standing under our umbrellas I noticed an office building with a  nice, big overhang.  If it started raining harder, that’s where I wanted to be!  So we crossed and found a perfect cozy and semi-dry spot to watch.

Looks like snow, doesn’t it?!  Once it started, even with the drizzle, they still wanted to be out by the road.  No biggie.  This is what makes great memories, right? =)

Matteo LOVED the parade this year.  Every band or float with music had him bopping and dancing around.

Luca didn’t watch the parade.  He must have thought we were crazy.  He stayed nice and dry and warm in the Ergo with Mami under the overhang.

Despite the rain coats, they were wet, very wet.  Kids….

Angelica and Tyler had a ball.

The smart ones…heehee.  =)

We were at the very start of the parade route, so everyone was very generous with the candy.  They brought home a HUGE loot!

After the parade, everyone got baths and jammies, we had chili for dinner and then sang happy birthday to Papa!  What a great and memorable night!

(I am so close to being caught up on the blog I can taste it!!! YIPPIE!!)

Parties, Parties, Parties!!!

We threw a little bridal shower for my sister-in-law to be last weekend. Everything was lovely!

We can't wait for the wedding!

We celebrated Papa's birthday. Sebastian was very concerned on Papa's actual birthday that we were missing his party, so we had one the next time we were over at their house.

Uncle Corey had fun with his nephews.

We hosted a little party/book exchange with Matteo's playgroup.

This was the best group picture we could manage.

This was the next shot I captured. Geesh....getting harder and harder to just get them in the same frame - let along looking and smiling!!

Sebastian had a "Happy Birthday, Jesus" party at his school on the last day before break. As soon as Matteo walked into the classroom, he was thrilled to see Sebastian, walked right over to the circle of kids and sat in his brother's lap. They were both so cute.

Sebastian trying his ice cream cone cup cake.

Apparently Sebastian wants a tricycle - even though we already have two! I think he means a bike. We'll he's not getting one just yet, but soon!

Matteo had a ball playing in his brother's classroom with all the big kids. He jumped right in.

Sebastian was very excited to give us the presents he made us.

His school picture ornament. It's a keeper! Soooooooo adorable! I loved it.

And his candle, which he told us is very fragile so we had to be careful. =)

We had a little party at church with the playgroup there too. As long as there is lots of food, my boys love it!

Sebastian was all about opening his new book.

Matteo just held his and stood there telling me no, no, no - that he did not want to open it! This is his NO NO NO face!

More Firsts!

After his busy first day of school, we drove to Orlando to go to Sebastian's buddy Michael's 3rd birthday at Sliderz. It's one of those big warehouses with inflatables and fun slides to jump on. A kids dream, right? Well, not Sebastian's. He is very frightened of them. But we'd been talking about it and I was so proud of him yesterday. He told me he was scared and I told him it was okay to feel scared. That we didn't have to do anything he didn't want to do yet. So slowly, over a course of about 30 minutes he went from refusing to enter the area, to me carrying him around, to him walking with me holding his hand, then sitting and FINALLY jumping on the inflatables. I was so proud of him. It just reinforces how even though he's little, he is certainly entitled to his own fears and feelings and I'm so glad that we gently got to a good place for him to enjoy it. So, after that discourse, here are the pictures!

Running!

Matteo had a BLAST. Even more than his brother I think. And he was running on a 45 minute nap all day. Needless to say, he fell asleep in the car and slept all night.

We all loved the big slides!

The best shot I could get of Elias, Sebastian and Michael. Emilio and Owen couldn't make it.

And our last "first" was going to the dentist on Wednesday morning! We have been talking it up and everything was going great until they wanted him to lay down. Then he freaked. But, after I laid down and they showed him all the tools and everything, he was okay with it. I could barely believe my eyes. He laid down, opened wide and they cleaned, flossed, scraped, wiped and checked his teeth, no problem. Wow. He is growing up. I still can't believe it.

Flossing.

When the cleaning was finished he got to pick a new toothbrush. He took this very seriously as you can see from his expression... He picked a Cars toothbrush.

Dentist checked him out and it was all good! Looks like he got Mami's good teeth - hopefully!

Reading stories with Papa!

Best picture ever of Papa and Matteo. So adorable.

VIDEO - Matteo says "Cheese"
(If video does not appear below, click here to watch.)

So Matteo is not a huge talker, but since his picture obsessed Mami is always making him smile, he's got the "cheese" part down. =)

Today I also started the boy's room Rocket Project. Yes, with capital letters. You see, I am very ambitious and creative, but not exactly artistically talented. So I took my moms advice and made a giant pattern of the rocket I am going to paint on the boy's room wall.

I taped it to the wall, traced it and started painting it today. I am so excited because it is 95% done and looks amazing! But no peeks at the finished Project until it's completely done, so expect a blog post dedicated to the Rocket Project very soon. It's so cool!!!!

Orlando Weekend

So tomorrow (Tuesday) is Sebastian's first day of preschool! He is so excited and I am so excited too! It's hard to believe that we are already at this point in our parenthood journey. I can't wait to do my next post to let everyone know how it went!

Welcome back to Florida, Nana and Papa!

Papa brought lots of "tic tac cheerios" for the boys. Matteo knew just who to go to for more!

Thursday was Sebastian's "meet the teacher" day. He did great! He was so excited and hung his backpack on his hook with his name on it and walked right in like he owned the place. It was so great to see him so confident and excited.

He started playing with the sorting toys and teasing his teachers Ms. Carolyn and Ms. Kathy by telling them everything that the little fruits were not. He is such a stinker!

Figured I better get this traditional at the door picture early since I'm sure his first day on Tuesday will be pretty busy! His teacher Ms. Carolyn loves frogs. I think that's a good sign since I love frogs too. =)

And here we are being cheesy as we go to our first parent teacher night. I hope this doesn't mean we are getting old. =) It was fun, exciting, overwhelming but overall a happy moment!

This weekend was my future sister-in-law Sarah's wedding shower. It was nice to meet some of her family and friends.

Yay, a cast iron skillet from the Giammarinaro ladies.

Me, Darlene (MIL), Kim (SIL) Sarah's Mom and Sarah

While Mami was at the wedding shower, Paul and Sebastian went to the Home Depot kids workshop and they made this school bus pencil holder. So cute.

We had lunch at Five Guys and Matteo got his first taste of ketchup. He loved it and just kept dipping his french fry in it and licking it off. We are going to have to buy the stuff by the gallon now. Sebastian loves it on everything too. Oh boy!

Cute picture of Sebastian with Lelo and Lita.