The Silverio Girls

HERE COMES THE BRIDE

2012-01-03T17:28:00.000-08:00

The girls have been wanting me to try on my wedding dress for weeks. Finally broke them out tonight - yes, there are 2. One from the first time Junior and I were engaged 12 years ago and then one from our wedding in 2008.

Here are the girls wearing one of them. They looked beautiful. Some day they will be beautiful brides.

CHRISTMAS 2011

2011-12-27T06:22:00.000-08:00

We had another great Christmas. Xmas Eve at Papa and Nana's with a very special appearance from Santa. Xmas morning at home opening all the wonderful gifts left by Santa inside our front door. Later in the day to the Helm farm for fun with the animals and dinner. Though it has been a tough year we are thankful for spending Christmas with our wonderful family.

We look forward to a successful year in 2012!

MOTHERHOOD

2011-10-05T10:15:00.000-07:00

Focus on the years when your children are little, when you feel so necessary and purposeful, a battery all charged up with love. Used up every day, and every night it is miraculously replenished. Nothing is ever as good as that.

HAPPY GOTCHA DAY CAROLINE - 4 WONDERFUL YEARS

2011-10-01T07:01:00.001-07:00

4 years ago today God blessed us with our beautiful Caroline. The trip to Kyrgyzstan/Kazakhstan was an adventure to say the least but the beautiful child that came home with me changed my life. My dreams of becoming a mother came true that day and you have blessed me beyond those dreams.

We are so thankful to be your parents and everyone in this family loves you so very much.

Happy Gotcha Day my Sweet Caroline - so many more years to come my beautiful daughter.

XOXO,

Mommy & Daddy

THE PRINCESS AND HER PRINCE

2011-09-06T13:20:00.000-07:00

All dressed up in one of her Princess costumes last night Gabriella sat down with Daddy (her Prince) on the couch and stayed there for an hour watching Toy Story. It was so cute - she never sits still that long and Daddy rarely gets that much lovin' from her, she is way too busy. He loved every minute of it and in his relaxed state fell fast asleep on the couch with his baby beside him.

Love moments like these. He is a wonderful father!

A Few Updates

2011-08-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

Oops, I'm behind on the blog. I guess with Facebook I forget to update the blog but it is important to me because I want to the girls to be able to read it all some day. Acutally, this blogspot thing is pretty cool - they can create "blog books" for you which include all your posts. I will probably at some point stop the blog and get each of the girls a blog book but not quite yet so keep checking periodically for posts.

We are good - ready for the AZ heat to be gone though unfortunately we still have a couple more months. It is so hard for me to accept the heat once football season starts. Which you can see by the pick has happened - Chiefs first pre-season game was last Friday, unforunately they got killed but we at least were cheering them on all day. The girls were all decked out and ready for some football. I've got to find some cute Chiefs cheerleader costumes for them.

We also got a new puppy over the weekend. With the loss of Kansas we have really missed having two dogs and wanted a little companion for Irie. As she gets older, 12 years this November, I want to keep her feeling yound and fiesty. Lucy Silverio is doing just that. She is a Maltese Yorkis (Morkie) mix, 8 weeks old, about 2.5 pounds (she will get to about 7 pounds). She is absolultely darling and full of puppy energy. The girls are nuts about her. They picked her out. She is really a sweet little thing - sitting under my feet right now while I work at my computer. Poor Junior, another female in the house but neither of us wanted a male dog.

We have Julie and the boys coming in late September and are really looking forward to that - can't wait for the cousins to play. Looks like Junior's sister Grace and her 4 girls are going to come out for Thanksgiving so that will be a blast having a house full of 6 girls. We hope to go to Florida in December to visit Junior's best friend Carl and family - they just recently moved there from Kansas City.

Caroline will start preschool 3 days a week on September 6th and Gabriella starts dance up again on September 7th. Ready to have them in those activities again. Can't believe a year from now Caroline will be in kindergarten. Where has the time gone - these girls are growing up so fast. They are wonderful girls and we are so very proud of them.

Hugs and kisses from The Silverios'.

4th of July

2011-07-05T18:57:00.000-07:00

My little firecrackers
Caroline cooling off

Gabriella & Magnus crash on the slip n slide

Gabby on the Slip n Slide

Caroline having so much fun

We had a nice 4th of July spent with family and friends. The only thing missing was Daddy - he is still in Missouri working for another month or so :( Everyone came to our new house for great food, and fun water time for the kids. Keeping it old school Kelleen and Adam brought a Slip n Slide which my little chunky monkey ended up popping (Oops)!

It is hot in AZ and we do what we can to stay cool. We are already looking forward to cooler weather which is a long ways away.

The girls and I miss Junior so much but are doing well. Abeula also went back to Kansas City last weekend so it is just girl time around the Silverio house.

Happy Summer!

SUMMER 2011

2011-06-27T13:29:00.000-07:00

The heat has arrived in Arizona. The past several days have been 110+ which makes it very hard to do anything fun unless it is inside. We dread this heat each year but love our weather 8 months of the year.

We are settled into our new house and LOVE it. We have so much more room, the girls have their own "playroom" and it is nice to keep all of their junk contained to one area. We have a nice backyard with grass and the girls like to play in the grass.

Junior is away again working out of town. He was in Texas for 6 weeks in April and then home for about 3 weeks and now back working throughout Missouri. We miss him terribly when he is gone but are thankful for the work.

Carmen is moving back to Kansas City on July 2nd and we will miss her. It has been great having her here for the last year and the help that she has provided has been wonderful. The girls really love their Wella and they will miss her very much. She plans to come out for a few months each winter and we will look forward to that.

Nothing big planned this summer. We hope to make a trip to Florida early fall to visit Junior's best friend Carl and his family - they are moving there in a couple of weeks from Kansas City.

The girls continue to grow and amaze us each day. I have to say that I love 4 year olds - Caroline is such a joy and has become my little buddy. I love to take her with me to do things and we have a lot of special one on one time. Gabriella at 2 is of course a nightmare to take anywhere. I'm so tired of chasing her around the mall. She tends to be left at home with Wella while Caroline and I run errands.

Here are some pics from some fun things we have done this summer. Spending time with close friends and family, AZ Puppet Theatre, outdoor concerts, etc. I'll add more pics as the summer progresses.

The Silverios'

DANCING QUEEN - GABRIELLA'S FIRST DANCE RECITAL

2011-06-03T09:34:00.000-07:00

At home before the show
On stage - not too excited

Mommy and her mini me

Daddy and Gabriella

Nose picking - at least it was before the show instead of while she was on stage

Our Dancing Queen

Tiny Dancer

Proud Big Sister Caroline

The Be Our Guest dancers

Gabriella right end

Gabriella has been enjoying her weekly ballet / tap combo dance class at Higher Grounds dance studio in Mesa, AZ. She is the youngest one in her class but boy can she shake it. She loves it! The dance studio recital was held on Friday, May 27th and Gabriella was a star. During dress rehersal that morning she screamed the whole time (probably because mommy was right there backstage). I was very nervous about the actual performance. We dropped her off backstage with her teacher 30 minutes before the show and we then anxiously awaiting the big performance. She did GREAT - no tears, just moving and shaking. We were so proud of her.

Here are some pics from the big night! Hopefully the dancing will continue though I think that it can get pretty costly - trips, costumes, etc. Oh well - she loves it and we love watching her. Maybe someday she will be on the Grammy's or something!

Enjoy.

Caroline's Last Day of Preschool

2011-05-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

A Student
Miss Christie - Caroline's teacher

Today was Caroline's last day of preschool. She has been going on Tuesday's and Thursday's from 8:30am - 11:00am. She has absolutely loved it and has learned many new things. She is showing signs that she is going to be a very good student. She follows directions so well (wish she did this at home) and is very excited about school.

I love her classroom and her teachers. She will go again in the fall for the 4 year old Pre-K class which will be 3 days a week.

So proud of you Caroline!

CAROLINE'S 4TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

2011-04-18T12:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, aim at the head pin Caroline Papa helping Gabby

Good bowl Caroline

Gabby loved carrying around the bowling balls

Yeah, presents

I wish daddy was here!!!!

Birthday morning

Fun in the water

Fun times

Our Sweet Caroline turned 4 yesterday April 17th. A fun time was had by all. We had a party at the neighborhool bowling alley and a lot of her friends and of course family were there. The kids had a blast bowling.

Caroline had a recent fall and has 6 stitches in her right eyelid and a banged up nose and eyes. She is recovering well and after a follow up doctor appointment this morning it was confirmed that nothing is broken - Thank God. As a result of this we had our first visit to the Emergency Room and our first round of stitches (hopefully our last through little miss wild Gabriella scares the life out of me).

Junior is away working in San Antonio, Texas and we are missing him very much. It is really hard for him to be away from his girls especially with all that went on this week with the girls and then missing Caroline's birthday. He is with us in heart.

Caroline, We all love you so very much and you are growing into such a sweet, smart little girl. We are so proud of you and are thankful each day that God chose us to be your parents. We love you!

GABRIELLA'S 2ND BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

2011-03-21T15:34:00.000-07:00

St Patrick's Day Birthday Girl
Happy Birthday Little Sister

Wow, a Sit N Spin

Where's the next present

The Silverios

Gabriella and Nonnie

Gabriella and Abuela

Sister Memories

Our Sweet Girls

Water balloons

Feeding the Ducks (or feeding the kids)

Princess Gabriella and Papa

Mommy & The Birthday Girl

Princess Gabriella

Sweet Caroline

Yeah, swinging my favorite thing

Gabriella had a wonderful 2nd birthday - boy is she spoiled (and she deserves it). Of course I had her dressed in green as she always will be with her birthday falling on St. Patrick's Day. On the actual birthday on the 17th we celebrated at Papa and Nana's with a wonderful Irish dinner and family fun. We've decided to make this a yearly tradition.

Saturday was her birthday party at Freestone Park in Gilbert, AZ. This included family and our wonderful friends. It was very, very fun. Kids enjoyed the playground, feeding the ducks (eating more bread than they gave the ducks), riding the train and rides, and throwing water balloons (until mommy dropped the water balloon bucket and broke most of them).

A note to Gabby:

Mommy and Daddy are so very proud of you and the wonderful little girl you are becomming. You have a personality that we have never witnessed. You are the sweetest, funniest little girl we have ever known. You are always happy as it shows in the pictures, rarely do you have anything but a smile on your face. You are showing some signs of the Terrible Two's but because of your nature they only make us laugh. We love you so very much our sweet little girl.

Enjoy the pictures.

THE GIRLS

2011-03-07T12:21:00.001-08:00

The girls are having a good start to spring. We are anxious for the birthdays right around the corner - Gabriella will be 2 on March 17th and Caroline will be 4 on April 17th. I can't believe how big they are getting. They are so much fun and we love them so, so very much!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY XOXOXO

2011-02-14T12:39:00.001-08:00

Riding the merry go round with Papa
One happy, one not so happy

WEEKEND IN THE SNOW

2011-02-11T08:51:00.001-08:00

Brrr - it's cold but this is so much fun!
Hold on Gabby!!!

Wipe Out!

Mommy & Caroline

Sweet Gabriella

Daddy & Gabriella

Here we come - mommy & her girls

I can do this by myself

Last weekend we rented a house with some great friends up in Flagstaff AZ for a little fun in the snow. There were 6 kids and 6 adults. We had a wonderful time and the kids enjoyed playing together.

There wasn't a lot of snow in Flag but we did manage to find some (and managed to get our truck stuck in the snow but that is another story). This was the first time that the girls had been in the snow and they had so much fun. Caroline was a little scared at first to sled down the hill but after about 2 times she was ready to do it on her own and must have gone down about 20 times. She laughed her amazing laugh and had the time of her life.

Gabriella of course has no fear and will do anything - daddy made sure to stay close to that one as she can't be trusted. She is fearless!

Good memories with good friends!

SHE'S BACK IN HER CRIB

2011-02-03T09:21:00.000-08:00

Well, that didn't last long - actually it only lasted 3 nights but I am just now getting to posting. Couldn't keep her in the bed - she came into our room each night in the middle of the night with that sweet little voice saying "mommy" as she stood by my side of the bed. The first night it took 3 hours 1:30am-4:30am to get her back to sleep (finally in our bed). The 2nd night it took 1 hour (finally asleep in our bed) and the 3rd night 1 hour and finally asleep in her bed with me falling asleep on the floor besides her. None of us are ready for nights like that - she is typically a 11-12 hour a night girl. Daddy put the crib pieces back on and was actually able to lower the bed a little more so that it is difficult for her to get out. Oh yes, she can get out - she has done it but it is harder so she doesn't try as hard or for as long.

Looks like we have a few more months in the crib. She is also going pee-pee in the potty - she has done it about 3 times and is very proud of herself. We are not pushing it on a regular basis but we are putting her on the potty each day.

Where did my baby go?

GABBY'S IN A TODDLER BED - OMG

2011-01-26T08:42:00.000-08:00

Gabby's new bed

Sweet Caroline

Well, we are in the process of transitioning Gabriella into a big girl toddler bed. Don't think we are ready for this but after she climbed out of her bed 5 times the other night I guess it is time. Now the challenge of keeping her in her room throughout the night. She just does not want to go to bed. She loves life too much and does not want to miss a thing.

It is so hard to believe that our baby is almost 2 years old. I can't believe how quickly these girls have grown up. Gabriella is definetely showing signs of terrible two's to come and Caroline is the sweetest almost 4 year old that I have ever known. She has changed so much in the past couple of months and is such a big girl and so sweet. I think I will love her as a 4 year old - my mom tells me that was one of her favorite ages with us girls.

We are looking forward to their upcomig birthdays in March and April and will plan something fun for both of them.

WE HAD A VERY VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

2010-12-28T08:44:00.000-08:00

Oh My Christmas!!!!
Presents left by Santa Claus

Gabriella loved her presents from Santa

Caroline made a neat little pile of her gifts (typical Caroline)

Gabriella and her new Baby from Aunt Amy

Christmas Morning

Christmas Eve - Dad and his girls

Wow, the girls loved Christmas this year. Caroline was totally into it and Gabriella understood a lot more than we thought she would. Santa of course was very good to them and they got a lot of wonderful gifts. Christmas Eve was at Dad and Kathy's then Nonnie and Amy came to our house to spend the night and watch for Santa. Santa snuck in without anyone hearing him and left the girls their presents inside the front door. They were so excited when they woke up and saw the presents and the cookies and milk that Santa had enjoyed.

Here are some pictures of the festivties and lucky Silverio girls.

Happy New Year to All!

CAN'T WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS

2010-12-09T09:06:00.000-08:00

Sister Love

Gabby helping decorate the Christmas tree

Caroline putting the angel on the top of the tree

Sweet Caroline

We are getting ready for Christmas and are very excited. Caroline can't wait! Gabriella doesn't quite get it yet but she does love the decorations around the house. The other night we went out to dinner and all of the sudden Gabby jumped up on her seat, pointed to a man across the restaurant and said "Santa Claus". When I turned and looked she was so right - there was a man with a white hair and a great white beard and he looked just like Santa. It was so cute how she spotted him and pointed him out. Of course, at the mall she will have nothing to do with a picture with Santa - she is scared to death.

We will spend Christmas Eve at my Dad and Kathy's as we always do and then Nonnie and Aunt Amy will come to our house to spend the night so that they can wake up with the girls on Christmas morning. Santa will certainly be making a stop at our house - we have a new plate for his cookies and cup for his milk. Caroline has asked Nonnie and Amy to keep an eye out for him during the night since they will be sleeping in the living room. Christmas Day we will spend at home - we want to make this our family's holiday tradition. Stay in jammies all day and let the kids play with their new stuff. We plan to have crab legs for dinner and will enjoy a nice day at home.

I love the holidays and having the girls make it so much more fun. Here are some pics of our holiday preparation (sorry for the red eye).

TANGLED - CAROLINE'S FIRST MOVIE AT THE THEATER

2010-11-29T09:28:00.000-08:00

Caroline went to her first movie at the theater yesterday. We saw Tangled and it was a very cute movie. She loved it. It was a special date day with Mommy, Daddy and Mel from across the street. We had special snacks, soda, and popcorn. She ate way too much and had a tummy ache but it was worth it. Fun was had by all. She sat through the whole movie (with a few bathroom breaks) and loved it.

Tangeman Visit

2010-11-14T13:45:00.000-08:00

Gabriella and Bo riding the Barbie Jeep
Gabriella and Gunnar

Caorline and Gunnar

Wella with Gabriella and Gunnar

Nonnie and all her grandkids (her pride and joy)

Pictures from when my sister Julie and her two boys came to visit in early October. So much fun was had - 4 kids under the age of 4.

Enjoy.

Halloween Fun

2010-11-11T09:18:00.000-08:00

The girls had a blast this year on Halloween. Caroline was an old pro (and so polite when getting candy) and Gabriella caught on very quickly - especially with candy involved. They were so cute. We had our good friends over with their twin boys (they are 10 days older than Gabby) and the kids had a lot of fun.

Caroline continues to wear her Snow White costume daily and I have to admit she is the most beautiful Snow White I have ever seen. She gets prettier every day.

Gabriella loved her bumblebee costume and won the cutest little kid at a Halloween Party out at the lake with Papa and Nana Kathy.

We are looking forward to the holidays - this time of year gets so busy. We are hosting Thanksgiving at our house which should be interesting. We will have about 20 people here - I need to get on the ball with this.

XOXO

LEGACY OF AN ADOPTED CHILD

2010-10-06T09:51:00.000-07:00

Once there were two women
Who never knew each other
One you do not remember
The other you call mother
Two different lives
Shaped to make yours one
One became your guilding star
The other became your sun
The first gave you life
The second taught you to live in it
The first gave you a need for love
And the second was there to give it
One gave you a nationality
The other gave you a name
One gave you the seed of talent
The other gave you an aim
One gave you emotions
The other calmed your fears
One saw your first smile
The other dried your tears
One gave you up,
The other prayed for a child
And was lead straight to you
And now you ask me the age old question....
Heredity or environment...which are you the product of?
Neither my darling neither
Just two different kinds of love.

HAPPY 3RD ANNIVERSARY - GOTCHA DAY

2010-10-01T09:22:00.000-07:00

My Dear Caroline,

3 years ago today I first held you in my arms and my world changed. You are the beginning of my dreams come true and you have filled my heart with love. We are so proud to be your parents. Each day you bring new joy and new challenges. You keep us on our toes but you have taught us so much about love and patience. You are an amazing child and we thank God every day to be blessed with you as our daughter. I also thank your birthmother for making this such a special day for us - she had the love and strength to know that by giving you for adoption your life would be better than what she could provide. I know in my heart that she loves you and misses you every day but I thank her with all my heart as I know God's plan was for me to be your mother.

We love you so very much.

Mom & Dad

1ST DAY OF PRESCHOOL FOR CAROLINE

2010-09-07T11:16:00.000-07:00

What a big girl she is! Caroline started preschool today - she is a big 3 1/2 year old. Mommy can't believe it. Today was "meet the teacher" day and Caroline was very shy - probably because I was there - hopefully she will loosen up when she goes back on Thursday and I drop her off and leave. The teacher is awesome and her classroom is so cool. She was a kindergarten teacher for many years and now does preschool out of her home - she is right around the corner from our house and I loved it. 3 year olds go 2 days a week for 2 1/2 hours each time and then when she is 4 she can go 3 days a week.

Here is a pic of Caroline this morning on her way to school.

SUMMER FUN

2010-08-09T15:56:00.000-07:00

Wild Child
Abulea and all her grandaughters (except Caroline - she would not get in the picture)

Caroline milking a fake cow

Rock Star

Running to keep up with her cousins

Gabriella and Naomi

Eating Cold Stone - happy girl

Trying to keep Gabby entertained on the airplane

Summer is coming to an end.....Caroline starts pre-school on Sept 9th, Junior and I are both back at work after our trip to KC for my reunion, the last of our company left this morning and Carmen is settling in.

We had a great trip to KC visiting family and friends and showing off our girls. My 20 year high school reunion was a lot of fun and it was great to see some old faces. Carmen has successfully moved here and we are loving having her here. The help is much appreciated with our wild little girls.

Work is going well for both of us and though it is nowhere close with the AZ heat we are looking forward to fall.

Enjoy the pics of our summer events.

xoxo,

The Silverios

4th OF JULY

2010-07-08T14:26:00.000-07:00

Our Little American Girl
Enjoying the Fireworks

Love this pic - she was ready for bed - no fireworks for this one.

Nonnie and Gabriella

Happy 4th of July

We had a nice holiday weekend. One day at Amy and Brian's enjoying pool time and bbq. On Sunday the 4th we had friends over to our house for a cookout and fireworks. Actually, Gabriella and Junior did not make it to the fireworks but me, Caroline and Nonnie made it with some other close friends. Caroline loved them. I thought that she might be scared but she just sat in her little lawn chair and enjoyed the fireworks. She named all the colors as they went into the air - it was a fun day.

We head to KC on the 24th for a week in Kansas City and then to Topeka for a few days for my 20 year high school reunion (I cannot believe it). It seems like Junior and I just went to my 10 year reunion. Junior and his mom will then drive the long drive from KC to Phoenix for her move here while I fly home with the girls. We are ready for Wella to be here. I'm getting the house ready and making room for her stuff and making her room comfortable. The girls will be so excited to have their Wella here every day and the help will be greatly appreciated.

Hope everyone is well. We are great - Junior is loving his new job and it is well deserved.

OH, The Mouth on Her

2010-06-02T08:20:00.001-07:00

Caroline and her comebacks............Memorial Day at Nonnie's house Caroline was sitting on the couch with her TV tray and her dinner. I kept reminding her to have a bite of her hotdog, after the 3rd time that I said it she replied, "Mommy, you say that one more time and I NO have a bite of my hotdog!" I couldn't believe it, well actually I could. Of course Aunt Amy and Nonnie almost peed their pants because they thought it was so funny. They of course are not spoken to like that all day long like I am. It is pretty funny when you think about it but I can only imagine what it will be like when she is a teenager.

I better stock up on some soap because she may need her mouth washed out a few times.

Gabriella has also started saying "NO". She says it so cute but likes to do a little hit along with it.

Oh, children!

2010 Adoption Guide

2010-05-21T09:37:00.000-07:00

Check out page 29 on the below link. This is the 2010 National Adoption Guide and Caroline and I are on page 29. Amy took this wonderful picture one of the first moments Caroline and I were together at the orphanage. It clearly captures our instant love. It brings tears to my eyes. Thanks to Christian World Adoption my dreams all starting coming true at that very moment.

I hope that this guide will lead many to adopt. It is a great resource. CWA is a wonderful agency and I would highly recommend them to anyone thinking about adoption.

Yes, I do believe in love at first sight. My Sweet Caroline, I love you so very much.

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/newhope/adoptionguide2010/#/28

Caroline's 3rd Birthday

2010-04-21T15:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to You.
Where's my cake?

Good Morning Birthday Girl!

Our Sweet Caroline turned 3 on this past Saturday! I can't believe it, she is such a big girl and growing into such a nice little girl. We are so VERY proud of her.

Her Aunt Grace came in from Kansas City for the party so that made it extra special (she is here all week and we are having a great time).

The party was in the park by our house. As you can see from the pictures we rented a Princess Jumper and white tables with pink chairs. The kids had a BLAST with the jumper. All of Caroline's little friends from the neighborhood were there. We have had fun bday parties but this is the first one that was really a "kid" party and they had so much fun. The past two parties have been more about the adults.

I'm afraid we have set the expection for fun parties and of course we spent more $ than we should have for a 3rd birthday party. Oh well, she deserves it!

We love you baby Girl!

EASTER

2010-04-05T13:50:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Easter with multiple egg hunts. We had a neighborhood hunt on Friday which the girls really enjoyed and then a hunt at Papa & Nana's on Sunday. The girls found a total of $19 in their eggs at Papa & Nana's. They had fun putting it in their piggy banks when they got home.

They wore their heart dresses that Abuela bought them and they looked so pretty. They were exhausted on the ride home - barely made it out of Papa's neighborhood before they were both asleep.

The holidays are so much more fun with little ones.

Thank you Easter Bunny!

STILL A PRINCESS

2010-03-30T20:56:00.000-07:00

2 weeks old in her tutu

1 year 2 weeks old - Still a princess

This is my favorite

We took some recent pics of Gabriella in her new princess tutu that are similiar to pictures taken in a tutu and pearls when she was two weeks old. Wow, what a year! She is so big. The pictures are darling and it is crazy to think how quickly she has grown.

Enjoy.

GABRIELLA'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

2010-03-22T19:55:00.000-07:00

Gabriella had a memorable 1st birthday. Of course her Abuela is still here from Kansas Citys so it was very special that she was here. Wednesday, St. Pat's Day which was her actual birthday was celebrated with immediate family. We enjoyed a trike ride outside, a great dinner cooked by her Abuela and special presents and cupcakes. Saturday was the party with close friends and family. We had a house full including some little friends. Everyone had a great time and Gabriella was her charming self.

It has been a wonderful year and she continues to bring us so much love and so many smiles. She is an amazing baby and SO easy. She is pure love and joy! She is walking all over the place and getting into plenty of things that she shouldn't but we take it all in stride since she has been so good this past year.

Gabriella, mommy, daddy and Caroline love you so much - you make our family complete - well, maybe a little brother some day would be nice but for now you complete us!

GABRIELLA'S FIRST BIRTHDAY SO CLOSE

2010-03-15T15:05:00.000-07:00

Nice hair!

It is so hard to believe that Gabriella will be one on the 17th. Not only is is St. Patrick's Day but also my baby's first birthday. What a fun day for a birthday. I so vividly remember 1 year ago. I was HUGE and so ready for her to be born - I was also scared to death. Now a year later I can't imagine one second without her. She is such a wonderful baby, so funny, and so sweet. More pictures will be coming of the birthday events.

On her birthday night immediate family will be over for dinner and cupcakes. We will have a birthday / St. Pat's Day party and let Gabriella go at her own cupcake. This girl LOVES to eat and I can't wait to set her loose with a cupcake.

On Saturday we are having a party with family and close friends. There will be some other kiddos here so I'm sure Gabby and Caroline will have so much fun. I'm sure the new playhouse will get some action.

Check back after the weekend for birthday celebration photos.

Love,

Gretchen

GABRIELLA'S WALKING

2010-02-19T10:03:00.000-08:00

Gabriella has been so close to walkin in the past couple of weeks but has still been too scared. Well, SHE DID IT. Of course I was out of town this week and missed it but Junior sent me a video on my phone so I could see her. She takes about 5 or 6 steps at a time until she reaches her point of destination. She is so proud of herself - she has the biggest smile while she is doing it.

11 months old and walking. I put it in her baby book this morning - she turned 11 months old on Wednesday. I can't believe she will be 1 in a month. And now she is walking, what happened to my little baby?

I'm sure by the end of this weekend she will have it down to a science and will be walking all over the place. I know that we are in trouble with her - she is so determined when she wants something and is in to EVERYTHING. Caroline was not like this. I did not have to put things away and she has always left things along, not Gabriella. We need to do some new babyproofing this weekend.

We are so proud of her, both of them actually.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

2010-02-12T14:39:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day to all our family and friends - those we love so much. We have a nice long weekend ahead of us - I don't work on Monday for the President's Day holiday. Tonight Papa and Nana are coming over for dinner, tomorrow I'm finally trying to get some junk out of the garage so that my car can get back in the garage so we are having a garage sale. Hot dinner date planned with my #1 Valentine (Junior of course) and Sunday we will just have a family day with the kids and their grandma's. Monday we may venture to the zoo or the train park - I'm sure they will both be packed with it being a holiday and the weather is supposed to be low 70's. It is so nice here right now - sorry for those of you getting hit by more winter weather.

We have a new baby in the family. My sister Julie had a baby boy on Wednesday - another nephew for us - mommy and baby are both doing great. Can't wait to meet little Gunnar Gray Tangeman. Thank God for my sister Julie - without here there would only be neices for me and Junior. We have 6 neices on his side of the family, our 2 girls make 8 grandaughters for his mom. No boys to speak of. Maybe we will have to try for a boy some day......I can't believe that I just said that......

Abuela bought the girls matching dresses for Valentine's Day - they looked so cute. You will see the dresses again in our Easter pics.

Enjoy and hugs and kisses to all on Valentine's Day.

WE ARE STARS

2010-01-28T15:52:00.000-08:00

I received a call from our adoption agency today requesting permission to use a picture of me and Caroline from our first meeting for the Adoptive Parents Annual Adoption Guide publication for 2010. This is a national publication. Wow, I feel so honored. Here is a proof of the ad that will go in the publication. And yes, I do believe in love at first sight thanks to my beautiful daughter. She is a dream come true. I remember this moment so vividly and I always will (Aunt Amy was the photographer who captured this precious moment). This picture still brings tears to my eyes and always will - we fell in love immediately. CWA feels that this picture will capture the hearts of many who are considering adoption or in the process. We are so thrilled to promote adoption and what an amazing thing that it is - it has touched our family in multiple ways. I'll let you know when the publication is available.

FLASHFORWARD

2010-01-21T10:08:00.000-08:00

The girls have really been having fun playing together now that Gabriella is getting older. Of course, all we hear is "No Gabby" coming from Caroline's mouth as Gabriella is most interested in anything that her big sister is playing with. Caroline has a lot of patience with her and is so good to her. The other day Gabriella was standing at the coffee table and Caroline touched her back and said "I hold her mommy and keep her safe." So sweet - I know that she will always keep a watchful eye on her baby sister (just as Amy did to me). I love the relationship that they are developing.

Here is a great pic of them the other night - they love to "drive" around the house giggling and crashing into things. It is a scary thought that 13 years from now this will be real, in a real car, and Junior and I will be so worried. For now we will enjoy their innocence and do our best to keep them safe.

Gabriella just got her two top front teeth in the last few weeks - prior to that she got her two top eye teeth but the very front ones were not in yet - she looked like a vampire. She now has 6 teeth and is using them to her advantage. We found an array of bit marks on her crib last night. We think she is such a good girl and she will be away and stay in there playing - little did we know that she was eating her crib - little monster!

Caroline started soccer last Sunday and it was so cute. The won't have "games" but they will learn the rules and skills for soccer and have some play games. She will get her team t-shirt in the next few weeks and I'll post a picture. She is really good with the soccer ball - that is why we put her in it, she stays right on the ball and can dribble it for a long run in the grass. She also is pretty good at kicking.

Nothing else new with us - just working, enjoying the girls, and having a great time with Junior's mom here.

Talk soon!

OUR NEW YEAR'S CELEBRATION

2010-01-04T15:05:00.000-08:00

She loved her "champagne" (don't worry it was sparkling cider)
Cheers Mommy

What a beautiful presentation :)

Happy New Year Gabriella - our best gift in 2009

Daddy and his baby

We had a nice New Year's Eve at home with the Brennan/Gill family. Kelleen, Adam and their twin boys came over, hung out, ate, and spent the night. It was fun to have a slumber party. We enjoyed great Puerto Rican food, cocktails and games. The babies all went to sleep early but my little Caroline was in it for the long haul. She made it until 11pm and when I finally made her go to sleep there was a massive temper tantrum which finally knocked her out - she was so tired. She loved sitting at the table with us so we popped our champagne and sparkling cider a little early so that she could play with the adults. She loved the cider in the champagne glass. She keep clinking my glass and saying "Cheers Mommy"

I couldn't have thought of a better way to bring in the new year than with my wonderful family.

Happy 2010 to everyone.

CHRISTMAS BEHIND US - ON TO 2010

2009-12-29T07:55:00.000-08:00

Beep, Beep
Caroline holding a bunny on Christmas Day

Help me - who is this guy?!

Gabby's new car from Aunt Amy & Uncle Brian

Caroline and her new bike from Santa (Papa)

Caroline and her cousin Kylie - always giggling

Gabriella and Abuela

Nonnie & Gabriella - great picture

The Silverios Christmas Eve

We had a wonderful Christmas - Caroline was really into the Santa thing this year. We put out cookies and milk for Santa before she went to bed on Christmas Eve and she was so excited to see in the morning that he ate almost all of his cookies and drank all but a drop of his milk (just what I needed, more cookies). We all feel very blessed this Christmas and of course the girls got way too many gifts - I swear no more gifts for birthdays or holidays. They don't need anything, I have nowhere to put all this stuff and some of it I haven't even opened yet until they get bored with some of the other new things. It is just so hard to say no when buying for them. SPOILED!

We are having some friends over for New Years Eve - Kelleen, Adam and their twin boys. They will spend the night - hopefully we can get all the kids to bed early and we plan to play some cards / games and enjoy a night with friends. Junior and laugh that we have no desire to go out on New Years Eve - we want to be home with the kiddos and it is fun just to hang out with good friends.

We are having a great time with Carmen here and it is such a big help - especially with the girls out of day care these past two weeks. Wow, I don't know that I could do it all day every day - it is nonstop. Of course I love the time with them but I miss some quiet time and my days working. Work is very slow right now as is typical during the holidays. I'm looking forward to a busy and successful 2010. Junior is out of town for a few days for work and hopefully their business will continue to be busy in 2010. We look to 2010 as the year to get back on track after both of us being laid off for several months.

Caroline is talking nonstop and is so close on the potty training - we have about 5 diapers left and I have told her that I am not buying anymore. She got a new bike for Christmas from Santa (Papa) and we will be spending a lot of time riding that. She starts soccer on Jan 17th. I think she is a natural - she is so good with a soccer ball - I can't wait to see her in action. It is hard to believe that she will be 3 in 4 months. She is such a big girl. She is still having some Terrible Two tendencies but I have been warned that these often last through the 3's - GREAT! We will make it through - I have to remember to be patient - she is a VERY strong willed little girl and wants all things her way - kinda like her mother :).

Gabriella is so close to walking - she walks around furniture, and can walk behind a walker. I would guess in the next month or so. She is still the sweetest baby in the world and is so funny. She makes the funniest faces and she has such an amazing personality. She loves to copy anything that you do - it is so cute. Of course she is most interested in her big sister and they crack eachother up - it is the best sound, hearing them giggle. Gabriella has such a great laugh and she laughs so often - she is such a happy baby.

We look forward to 2010 with our girls and I of course can't wait to spend another year with my wonderful husband.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

2009-12-21T14:09:00.000-08:00

Enjoying a wagon ride on a warm AZ winter day
Gabriella and daddy sharing a candy cane

Oh Gabriella

Caroline helping mommy mash bananas for banana bread

She is so fast on the bike

The girls with Nana & Papa at the train park

Mommy and her girls at the train park

A night out at a holiday party - no kiddos :)

We are gearing up towards Christmas and very excited. Shopping is done and 95% of the wrapping is done. We will spend Christmas Eve at dad's with the whole family, including Junior's mom. Amy and Brian will of course be there too along with Brian's brother Steve, his wife and 2 of their 3 children. It will be a great night with family. Junior's mom has been making some traditional Puerto Rican food that we will all enjoy along with some Italian from Kathy - it will be a good mix of holiday traditions. Christmas day we plan to wake up with the girls and open Santa presents and spend most of the day relaxing at home.

Carmen has almost been here a week and it has been great. It worked out great because we have had several holiday parties to attend (the last of them tonight) and Carmen has been here with the girls. Caroline is warming up to her and Gabriella LOVES her Abuela. I wonder if she remembers her voice and touch from when she was first born - she sure acts like it.

Here are a few pics from the last several weeks. More to come of course after Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all if I don't have time to post before then.

XOXO,

The Silverio's

POST THANKSGIVING

2009-12-02T14:01:00.001-08:00

Caroline and daddy decorating the Christmas Tree
Sweet Gabby after the ear piercing

Our Girls

Mommy, that hurt!

This looks a lot worse than it was. They did both ears at the same time.

Abuela and her grandaughters minus Marceline.

Abuela and her girls minues Caroline & Marceline.

Our Thanksgiving turkeys!

Thanksgiving Eve - out with friends.

Caroline in her big girl bed

We had a great trip to KC for Thanksgiving. It was so great to be with Junior's family and have all the girls together. With our 2 it makes for 8 girls. Poor Abuela - will she ever have a grandson.........

We felt so at home being there - our 5 year goal is to be back in KC. We miss it so much - even Junior felt a little homesick this past trip. I think having daughters makes him miss his family and friends more - he thinks about raising them all together. We will see where life takes us.

We are getting ready for Abuela to come to Arizona. She arrives on Dec 16th and will stay for several months - we can't wait to have her here. We will have a lot more fun this year since last year I was so pregnant that we couldn't do much. This year I am ready to go. I already have some things in mind - maybe a day trip to Mexico (minus the kiddos), a day trip to Flagstaff for some snow and sledding (Caroline would have a blast) and Junior and I plan to take a weekend trip to San Francisco for a much needed mini honeymoom that we never took.

We are gearing up for Christmas - tree is up and presents will soon be under the tree. I am almost done with all of my shopping - what a relief. We are really promoting the Santa thing this year - Caroline is excited to leave cookies and milk out for Santa and we will be sure to have new presents under the tree Christmas morning. I have been reading The Night Before Christmas to her each night before she goes to bed. I'm getting a little sick of it and there are still a lot of days until Christmas but she wants this book every night. The coming Friday I am taking her to Barnes and Noble for a special reading of The Polar Express. The kids are to wear their pj's for storytime. It is a Caroline and mommy date - daddy will stay home with Gabby - I think we will go out for pizza first and then to Barnes and Noble. I'm really looking forward to it - Christmas time will be more exciting each year as they get into it. Caroline loved helping decorate the tree.

Enjoy the pics.

Oh, I almost forgot - Gabriella got her ears pierced when we were home in KC for Thanksgiving. Abuela and daddy held her while mommy covered her eyes. She did great and they look SO cute. Don't worry - the pics look worse than it really was.

xoxo

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2009-11-23T13:59:00.001-08:00

We are heading to KC tomorrow to spend Thanksgiving with Junior's family. We are very excited - the girls can't wait to see their Abuela and play with their cousins. Everyone is excited to meet Gabriella (Abuela can't wait to get her hands on her again).

I'm very happy to be going home to KC for Thanksgiving. I miss it so much. It will really put me in the holiday spirit. We plan to spend Thanksgiving night at the Westin Crown Center hotel with the whole family - it is so festive around there. We will all go down to The Plaza for the annual lighting ceremony. It will be a very special holiday - Junior and I used to do this so long ago and now we can share it with our girls.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. We will miss my family but will love hanging with the Silverio's.

Pictures to be posted upon return.

Gretchen & Junior

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

2009-11-12T13:48:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Daddy!

We love you,
Caroline & Gabriella

CAROLINE SAYS SOME FUNNY STUFF

2009-11-06T09:41:00.000-08:00

Caroline is talking so much and the stuff she says amazes me and cracks me up. Last night when I picked the girls up from Papa's house and we were driving home I took a little different route to avoid some traffic. As we were driving Caroline says "Mommy, where my house go?" I replied, "we are almost home honey". She responds "My house, where are you?".

Daddy has been working late every night this week so dinner has kinda been relaxed - when he got home last night at 8pm he threw in a pizza. I was holding Caroline and she was eyeing the pizza. I asked her if she wanted some pizza. She replied "Hmmm, my tummy not so good mommy!"

The kid cracks me up. I have to write these things down or I will never remember them all.

Scentsy

2009-11-04T10:36:00.000-08:00

I have recently become a consultant for Scentsy wickless wax warmers. These things are GREAT. Check out my website - www.gretchens.scentsy.com (link on the left of the blog page). These are great gifts for the holidays. Anyone would love it.

My main motivation for this was that I have one of these and love it. I've bought them for mom, Amy, Kathy, and a few friends. They are really great. Also, any extra $ I make will go into the girls college fund - you can't start saving for that too soon.

Let me know if you have any questions on the Scentsy stuff.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

2009-11-02T08:05:00.001-08:00

Halloween with Aunt Amy

Little Pumpkin

Daddy & his bumblebee - she was more interested in eating her Halloween candy

Grumpy bumblebee

We had a great Halloween. Caroline was really into it this year - she actually wore her bumblebee costume most of the day. We had a birthday party to go to that afternoon and she wore her costume to the party. I was proud - I was afraid she would not want to put it on.

Nonnie, Aunt Amy & Uncle Brian came over for dinner and trick-or-treating. Our neighborhood has so many kids so it was really fun. We parked our chairs at the bottom of the driveway and just waited for kids. We walked around to about 15 houses and Caroline was very good at the trick-or-treating. She was so cute.

Trying to keep everyone healthy. We all have little colds but doing our best to stay away from the H1N1 virus. A little baby at daycare was diagnosed over the weekend so fingers crossed we are all okay. The grils have one more round of vaccines and then hopefully we will be in the clear. Gabriella's cold is much better today.

Gabriella is pulling herself up to standing on anything she can get ahold of. Yesterday I was folding laundry on the couch and she was on the other side of the living room. She crawled over to me and pulled herself right up to where I was. She is so quick. I bet she will be walking within a few months - Lord help me. Junior was an early walker, she is taking after her daddy - he was 9 months old. I was 14 months old - I know, a little slow. Caroline was also 14 months old.

We are ready for the holidays and enjoying a little cooler weather here in AZ. The Georgeson's are coming from Denver next weekend. We will celebrate Junior's bday and our 1 year wedding anniversary. Wow, what a year!

SICK GABBY

2009-10-29T11:00:00.000-07:00

Sick baby - oh so tired
She was so restless and this is how she finally fell asleep

Yummy blueberries

Love that face

Caroline loves to do "her" makeup while I am doing mine

Oh no, we are in so much trouble with this little beauty queen

Gabriella is home sick today with mommy. She has a nasty cold and is having trouble breathing so I thought she could use some extra kisses and hugs today. Take a look at the picture of her finally falling asleep last night in her crib - she was so tired - poor little thing. She only lasted about an hour in her crib then daddy was booted to the couch and she got in bed with mommy.

We are looking forward to Halloween. Gabriella is a pumpkin and Caroline is a bumble bee. We will take lots of pictures. Nonnie, Aunt Amy and Uncle Brian will come over for trick-or-treating. Should be a fun night.

Not much else new is going on - we are getting so excited for our trip home to KC for Thanksgiving.

Happy Halloween to everyone.

OUR LITTLE PUMPKINS

2009-10-15T15:02:00.000-07:00

OMG, she loved this teething biscuit - this is the first time I gave her one.
Enough with the pumpkins mom

Little Pumpkin - Gabriella's first Halloween

Caroline eating Kettle Korn this year

Caroline & her Kettle Korn last year (she has grown up so much)

Picking her pumpkin this year

Picking her pumpkin last year (she downsized this year because we made her carry her own pumpkin)

Our Sweet Little Pumpkins

The Silverio's

Nonnie and her girls

Mommy and her girls

Gabriella's first pumpkin patch visit - she will be back next year

Last weekend we went to Schnepf Farms in Queen Creek, Arizona. We did this last year with Caroline and it will now be a yearly tradition.

We had so much fun.

Not much else new going on except our little Gabriella pulled herself to standing - yeah, that's right, not quite 7 months old (will be this Saturday) and she wants to stand. Nonnie was babysitting so I did not see it happen though I saw her after she got to her feet. She pulled herself up on her activity cube that my friend Kelley got Caroline for her first birthday. Both the girls love this activity cube and Gabby has found that it is stable enough to pull herself up. We are in so much trouble with her - she wants to do everything.

We are good and looking forward to going home to KC for Thanksgiving and being with Junior's family - can't wait for all the girls to be together. Caroline and Gabriella will have so much fun with their 6 girls neices in KC. Abuela will love having all her granddaughters together - we plan on having family pics taken.

Love to all. BTW, I finally joined Facebook so you can look there for pics too though I will continue to update the blog because I want this for the girls someday.

GOTCHA DAY 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

2009-10-02T14:18:00.000-07:00

Here I go with my new monkey "Boots"
Wow, I'm overwhelmed

Giving Boots her 5th bath

We love you Caroline

Gabriella liked Build A Bear too

Look at me - I can sit up by myself

Love this pic - Caroline always stands there while I am changing and dressing Gabriella.

Yesterday, October 1st was our 2 year Gotcha Day anniversary. What a special day! Two wonderful years with my baby girl. I can't believe it.

Caroline and Gabriella spent the day with Bapa and Nana since they babysit for them on Thursday's but we all went to the mall last night for dinner and Build A Bear. Nonnie, Aunt Amy, Bapa & Nana and The Silverio's all went - we had to make it special. This was Caroline's first time at Build A Bear. She loved it - she picked a monkey and of course named it "Boots" from Dora. They have a pretend bathtub where you can wash your new animals and Caroline kept going back to this bathtub saying "monkey bath". She must have walked back to it 5 times - the monkey was very clean by the time we left.

Here are some pics from our special night.

We love you so much Sweet Caroline!

THE ADVENTURE BEGAN 2 YEARS AGO TODAY

2009-09-28T10:06:00.001-07:00

Chiefs Fans - daddy makes them wear this every Sunday - it's not helping the Chiefs
Love this pic

Daddy and his girls

So sweet

Caroline feeding the ducks

She loves to feed the ducks

Two years ago today Amy and I boarded an early morning flight for our trip to Kyrgyzstan - what an adventure that was. No need to relive the travel part :). I cannot believe it has been 2 years with my Sweet Caroline. Our "Gotcha Day" is October 1st - that is the day I first held her in my arms and we left the orphanage to start our life together. I am so proud of Caroline and the little girl she is becomming - though very challenging at moments she is my sweet baby whom I was meant to mother. This is a special week for us and we will celebrate by taking her to Build a Bear - this will be her first time there and I'm sure she will love it. I will take pictures of her and her new bear and post them later in the week.

A funny Caroline story from the last few weeks. She LOVES the Three Little Pigs story - I myself am so sick of it because I have to read it each and every night. Anyway, she is very worried about the big bad wolf when he falls down the chimney into the pot of boiling water - this really stresses her out. She tells me that she wants to jump in the pigs book and help big bad wolf. She repeats "big bad wolf burn butt". The other day the book was laying on the couch and she opened it to the end where the big bad wolf falls into the hot water and takes her babies (if anyone knows Caroline they know about her little baby blanket dolls - these are her everything) and puts them on that page and says "Here you go big bad wolf." She knows that her babies make everything better so she wanted to share them with the big bad wolf. It was so sweet. She has such a little soft spot in her heart for anyone that is hurt. She is such a little caregiver.

GABRIELLA UPDATE

Gabriella had her 6 month check up last week and weighed in at 16lbs 8oz and is 26.25 inches long. She is 50th percentile for both weight and height. The poor little baby has an ear infection in both ears though you would never know because she NEVER complains. I swear she is the best baby I have ever known - she is the sweetest little thing in the world. She is starting to sit up pretty much on her own and is scooting across the floor. Not quite crawling yet but she can certainly get to something if she wants it. I would suspect she will be crawling in the next couple weeks. As sweet as she is she is going to be a handful once she starts crawling. She wants to get into everything. I'm sure the fighting will start once she starts messing with Caroline's things - this should get interesting.

Hope everyone is happy and healthy.

The Silverio's

OUR SWEET IRIE

2009-09-18T14:02:00.000-07:00

Irie had to have surgery this week on a large mass that literally must have appeared overnight. We noticed it one day last week and it was shocking. After a visit with the vet they pulled some fluid out of it and confirmed that it was not a lipoma (which is typically filled with fat) but instead was someother kind of a mass filled with unknown fluid. They suggested that we have it removed. That was done on Wednesday of this week. She is recovering well and we are waiting on the results of the mass. Prayers are flowing that it is not cancer. I already went through that with Jasper. Irie is not acting sick or like anything hurts her so I am hoping that it is just some sort of growth that has all been removed and she will be fine. She has a very large insision with a lot of stitches and two drains coming out of the insision (GROSS). The drains should be removed on Sunday.

Irie turns 10 years old next month and has been an amazing dog. Junior bought her for me 10 years ago next month. This girl has been with me through a lot of happy and sad times. I love her so much!

Please keep her in your prayers - she has a lot of years ahead of her.

BIG UPDATES ON THE GIRLS

2009-09-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

She loves the swing
Why does my mommy put these hats on me?

Sleeping beauty - she loves to sleep like this on Junior's arm

All dressed up

Building things with daddy

New outfits from Abuela

I'm so good at this potty thing

Pretty new dress from Abuela

CAROLINE IS ALMOST POTTY TRAINED!

Caroline has decided she is ready to be potty trained. We were all sick this past Labor Day weekend so it was the perfect opportunity to spend several days in panties with the potty chair in the living room. WOW was it successful! She can spend several hours at a time with her panties on and will sit on the potty herself when she has to go. She is getting so many stickers on her potty chart. Yesterday she peed in the potty 8 times and actually pooped twice. Right now she is in the living room with only a tank top on with the potty chair ready. She has only had 1 accident in the last 4 days. Of course we have only been doing this at home and have not yet taken her out of the house without a diaper on but that is coming soon. It sure will be nice on the budget to only be buying diapers for one of them :).

GABRIELLA HAS 2 TEETH NOW!

Gabby got her 2nd bottom tooth - they are so cute and sharp! I haven't gotten a good picture of them yet but I will keep trying. We are working on her food choices too but she is still a green bean and sweet potato girl. She doesn't really like anything else. I've tried carrots, fruit and yesterday we tried yogurt - she hated it. She gags and makes the funniest faces. We will keep trying. I have been making my own babyfood which I have enjoyed and then I know exactly what she is getting. I had to make more green beans this week since that is her favorite. She is almost sitting up by herself. She can for a short time but eventually falls over but she is getting stronger and stronger and will be sitting soon. This one is going to be on the move. She is very interested in everything around her and wants to get her hands on everything. She grabs and reaches for anything in front of her. As sweet as she is she is going to be a handful once she starts moving. She continues to be one of the best babies I have ever known - she is so good. Makes me want to have another but I'm sure I would only luck out like this once. She is one of a kind.

Junior's new job in the solar business is going good and he is very excited for the future in this business. My new job at American Tower is great - I really like it and don't miss the sales quota hanging over my head. We are working on some projects around the house now that we are both working. We got a big new leather sectional in the living room and had it painted a really neat green color. We are getting hard wood floors put in the living room next week. This is so necessary with kids and dogs - the carpet is GROSS. I can't wait for the new floors.

Love to all!

The Silverio's

GABRIELLA'S FIRST TOOTH

2009-08-27T13:21:00.000-07:00

Gabriella's first tooth broke through this past weekend on Saturday. WOW - what a big girl. Caroline was 8 months old before she got her first tooth. I have a feeling Gabriella is going to be early on everything.

She showed no signs of teething - she wasn't fussy, no drooling or anything. Those symptoms have now started as the little tooth is trying to push it's way through and I'm sure more are right behind it. Poor little baby.

She also slept through the night 2 nights this week - 10-12 hours of straight sleep. Too bad I woke anyway and was worried so I had to check on her and thankfully she was peacefully asleep.

She loves my homemade green beans but is not a fan of the carrots that I made. This weekend I plan to make peas and sweet potatoes that hopefully she will like.

I can't believe she will be 6 months old in September. She is growing so fast - makes me want another one :). Just kidding for now!

OUR SAN DIEGO TRIP

2009-08-20T11:15:00.000-07:00

Caroline and Daddy in the ocean @ Coronado Island
I can't stop kissing those lips

The Silverio's at Coronado Island

Gabriella's first time in the ocean - daddy was proud to do the honors

Out to dinner in San Diego

Caroline devouring a Heavenly Cupcake - she LOVED it and licked every bit of frosting off the top

The Silverio's at SeaWorld

The Shamu show - Caroline loved it and has been talking about Shamu all week. She says "Shamu jump, people wet"

Pure love

Caroline and Mommy on the Elmo ride at SeaWorld - this was her very first roller coaster ride

Sweet Gabriella

Caroline in her Asian outfit from Bapa and Nana - though they don't wear these in Kyrgyzstan she still looks like a sweet little asian doll

We went to San Diego last weekend - our first family vacation! It was so great. The girls were so good and had so much fun. We loved the time together away from home. Caroline loved sleeping in bed with mommy and daddy at the hotel - in fact when we got home Sunday night and it was time for her to go to bed she asked "Mommy/Daddy's bed?" I quickly replied "Hell no!". I'd been kicked in the head enough for one weekend.

We spent one day at SeaWorld and one day at the beach on Coronado island. Loved every minute of it. Junior and I decided to make this a yearly family vacation. He of course loves the beach and now wants to move to San Diego. That would sure be nice if we could afford it! We may have to live with a vacation there once a year.

The girls are doing great. Gabriella is hilarious - she is getting so big and is so strong. She loves to stand in the corner of the couch and loves her new jumpy activity chair - she goes crazy. They have one of these at daycare and when we picked her up last week she was going nuts in the thing so we went to Babies R Us that night and bought one. I'll get some pics/video of her in it - it is so funny. She has also started to growl - both girls have learned this from their daddy at a very young age - he loves to growl at them. Gabby just started doing it this week. She is also expanding her food choices and loves my homemade green bean baby food. She chows them down every night. This weekend I plan to make sweet potatoes and carrots to introduce next week - I'm sure she will love those too. As you can see from the pics she is not missing any meals. My little chubby girl!

Caroline is talking nonstop, and I mean that literally. If she is awake she is talking and occasionally I hear her in the middle of the night through the monitor. Some of the things she says amazes me. Yesterday morning she came to me and said "Mommy hangnail" and stuck her thumb in my face and sure enough she had a hangnail. Where she learned that I don't know but I was sure impressed. She is so smart. We are still working on the potty training. She loves to wear her big girl panties but usually wets in them. Nonnie had some success yesterday on the potty but she soon had soaked another pair of Dora panties. We will keep trying - she will get it one of these days.

We continue to love our girls more and more each day which I'm not even sure is possible but it continues to happen. They bring so much to our lives - we are so blessed.

SO MUCH FUN WITH COUSIN BO & AUNT JULIE

2009-07-27T16:40:00.000-07:00

Mmmmm, rootbeer floats
Yummy

The air shoot at the Children's Museum

Playing in the kitchen at the Children's Museum

The noodle forest at the Children's Museum

Oh, the diaper dance - they ran up and down the hall for 15 minutes laughing and screaming.

Nonnie and her grandkids - she was in heaven.

We have had a great long weekend with Julie and Bo. The kids have had so much fun, including Gabriella. She just giggles and smiles as Bo and Caroline play. She wishes she could get in on the action - next year!

Here are some great pics from the weekend.

They enjoyed the Children's Museum and Nonnie made them rootbeer floats which were a real treat. As Caroline ate hers it pulled at my heart - my little American girl - I'm sure she would never have tasted a rootbeer float in Kyrgyzstan. What a lucky girl she is.

Enjoy.

GABBY'S 4 MONTH CHECK UP

2009-07-23T08:10:00.001-07:00

Gabriella had her 4 month doctor's appointment on Tuesday which included heartrenching shots. Oh, how I hate that. She goes from looking in my eyes to a huge frown to crying. All the while keeping her eyes locked with mine thinking mom why are you letting them do this. I'm sure every mother feels the exact same way that I do. My poor little baby. Then they put the huge bandaids on her chubby little legs and I am reminded of the event until those fall off.

She checked out great. Weighed 14lbs 8oz and is 24.5 inches long. At birth she was 8lbs 1oz / 19.5 inches long so she is certainly growing. They think she is pretty cute there at the doctor's office. I have to agree.

Aunt Julie and Cousin Bo are getting in town today and staying until Tuesday. We are very excited. It will be so much fun. Caroline has been saying "BoBo my house" for weeks now. She will be so happy that he is finally here. Those two will have a blast. Too bad it is over 100 here so our activities will be limited to inside but we will find plenty to do. I made a trip to Michael's yesterday and bought a bunch of stuff for art projects for Caroline and Bo.

I'll be sure to post pictures from the weekend after they leave on Tuesday.

Love,
Gretch

GABRIELLA'S FIRST NIGHT IN HER BIG CRIB

2009-07-19T07:55:00.000-07:00

Gabriella had her first night in her big crib and slept from 10pm until 6:30am. WOW! She has grown out of her basinette and was not comfortable the last few weeks but we wanted to wait until we got a video monitor for her room. We got that yesterday so last night was her first night in her own bed and obviously she loved it. I can't believe it - maybe that was all she needed - a little more room to move around. Though I had the video monitor right next to me and could see her sleeping peacefully I had to go in twice during the night and check on her. I couldn't belive that she was not waking up to eat or be held.

This is a huge milestone for all of us. Maybe I shouldn't get ahead of myself until we have many successful nights in a row but I am very excited.

On another note - I have a job! American Tower has hired me back for a PM position based out of Phoenix. Most of my work will be in Phoenix though I will travel to CA on occasion. I am SO very excited. This is my 3rd time with the company - it's like a bad relationship, I just can't seem to stay away. I will start on Monday, August 3rd.

The Silverio's are back on track with both Junior and I working full time. We are so blessed.

Love to all!

GABRIELLA IS SUCKING HER THUMB AND HAS MOVED ON TO RICE CEREAL

2009-07-14T10:01:00.000-07:00

Yummy, my first taste of rice cereal
Good stuff

I love this Johnny Jump Up

Hello everyone

Caroline making playdough cookies

Gabriella will be 4 months old on Friday which is hard to believe. She is growing up so fast. She tried some new things in the past few days, weeks. She now sits in her little chair with no extra support, she loves her Johnny Jump Up Swing that we put in the doorway, she has found her left thumb and loves to suck it, and last night she had rice cereal for the first time. Wow, what a big girl she is! She is the sweetest baby I have ever seen, she is so smiley and loves to chatter and coo. She makes me smile even on days when I am so tired. That being said, she is still waking up once or twice a night but I'm hoping with the addition of solid foods that maybe she will start sleeping longer through the night. Though I'm tired I still enjoy our little snuggles during the night.

Caroline is talking nonstop - putting 3-5 word sentences together. It is so cute. She is getting easier to understand every day.

Next week Aunt Julie and Cousin Bo come for several days - we can't wait to see them. Caroline and Bo will have so much fun. Too bad it is so blazing hot here. We will find fun inside things to do but it would be nice if the kids could play outside.

No news on the job front for me. I keep thinking that I have some good leads but nothing is working out. I'm trying to keep my head up and keep the faith that there is a plan and it will all work out. Junior started a new full time job this past week and he is pretty excited for the future. It is with a solar energy company (he has wanted to get into this, it is the way of the future). For now he is doing installations but he will move up quickly and hopefully be running his own crew in several months. It is a small company that is new so he is getting in at a good time. I'm very excited for him.

Enjoy the pictures.

4th OF JULY

2009-07-05T09:19:00.000-07:00

Gabriella sitting in her chair
Caroline climbing the tree and picking fruit

Look at me climb this tree

Happy 4th of July from The Silverio girls

Nonnie & her girls

Tummy time for both of us

Oops, a little spit up from rolling over

I made it over

Hope that everyone had a great 4th of July. We did, we hung out with Nonnie and friends. Junior worked all day Friday and Saturday so we missed spending the holiday with him.

We had a big milestone on the morning of the 4th. Gabriella rolled over for the first time. She has been trying for a few weeks and finally made it over. Rolling from her back to her stomach - she hasn't quite made it back over to her back yet but I'm sure that will come this week. Watch out then - she will be all over the place. This baby pulls at my heart every day - she is such a sweet little thing and I love her so much.

Caroline had fun this weekend - swimming, playing with friends and of course being with her Nonnie. She is talking so much now and putting small sentences together. She says some really cute things. Nonnie was putting her down for a nap on Friday and they were laying together talking. Caroline tooted and that made her laugh and she grabbed her butt and said "my toot butt". Nonnie could not control the laughter. She says funny things every day and I love it. Some things are hard to figure out and of course she will repeat them over and over until I figure out what she is saying.

Gabriella is also a chatter box - the baby babbles non-stop. It is music to my ears. She is such a happy girl.

Enjoy the pics from the weekend.

TUMMY TIME FOR GABRIELLA

2009-06-30T14:31:00.000-07:00

Look at that body!

I hate this mom!

Look at me holding my head up like a big girl.

We have been practicing tummy time with Gabriella every day - she is so strong. She amazes me. She holds her head up so well and is on the move. It is crazy the way she can scoot herself around. When she is waking up she always moves herself up into the corner of her bed and wedges herself up against the sides. A little dangerous so we have to watch her closely. She is very close to rolling over from back to stomach. This one will be on the move way too soon.

It is getting very hot here in Phoenix and like every year I say it is my last summer - I hate the heat. It is 108 today and it makes it very hard to find things to do with the kids. Mom and I took the girls to the mall this morning just to get out of the house. We let Caroline play at the play area at the mall which is so germ infested but what do you do - thanks God for hand sanitizer.

We are looking forward to the 4th of July weekend. Some friends are having a get together on Saturday so we will do that. I'll take some pics of the girls in their red/white and blue.

XOXO

CATCHING UP

2009-06-19T11:12:00.001-07:00

After pulling out her ponytail at the acquarium
She LOVED this turtle - she followed it along the glass for 10 minutes

Caroline & the turtle

Me and my girls at the acquarium

Caroline looking at the fish

Caroline & Cassidy in the bath

Kyndra in the sandbox with the girls

Daddy & Gabriella at the Denver Zoo

The Silverio girls are ready for football seasoon. Nonnie is getting Caroline a Chiefs hat like daddy's and daddy says they will wear their Chiefs gear every Sunday. Hopefully we will bring the Chiefs some good luck this year!

I love this picture. Gabby is getting so big.

Gabby & Nonnie at Nonnie's company picnic.

Like father like daughter.

Caroline fingerpainting pictures for daddy for Father's Day.

At Nonnie's picnic

At Nonnie's picnic - she loves soccer and is pretty good at it. We plan to get her into it when she is 3.

I tried to teach her to hulahoop but she just ran around in circles with it around her waist.

Sorry I haven't posted pics for awhile. I got a new computer and had to figure out how to download pics from my camera onto the new computer. Finally I have a few free moments that may not last long (Gabby is asleep on my bed and Caroline is playing in the living room) - this time could be interrupted at any moments - story of my life.

Pictures posted are from the following events - fun at home, Nonnie's company picnic and our trip to Denver to see the Georgeson's.

Last weekend we had our first trip as a family of four. The girls were GREAT on the airplane though our travel SUCKED. We missed flights both on the way there and on the way home due to bad weather. We were supposed to get home on Sunday but did not make it home until Monday. Never again will I fly nondirect flights with kids - we only did because we had a credit on Delta that we had to use. Not really worth it though the girls were great. I think Junior and I were more stressed with the flight delays and such. Oh well, while we were there we had a GREAT time. It was so great having Caroline and Cassidy play - they really enjoyed eachother. I so wish that we lived closer to Kyndra so that the girls could grow up and be best friends like we have been since we were 12. We went to the Denver Zoo and to the acquarium which Caroline really liked. It showed that if we make it to San Diego this summer and take her to Sea World she will love it.

The job hunt is still ongoing and I'm not having much luck. I've had a few good leads but they have not worked out.....projects cancelled, not enough $ and so forth. I pray that this won't last for too long. I really need to get back to work. I know we are struggling like many others around the country. I'm keeping my faith that it will all work out. I have enjoyed my time at home with the kids but I'm ready to be working and making some money - these kiddos are expensive.

Enjoy the pics.

CAROLINE'S READY FOR POTTY TRAINING

2009-06-07T20:45:00.000-07:00

Well, apparently it is time to start some serious potty training at our house - of course it lands right when we are getting ready to go out of town. Caroline slept a little late this morning and though I thought it was unusual I was so peaceful in bed as Gabriella was still sleeping that I milked it as long as I could. Finally at 8:30am I heard the usual "MOMMY" being screamed at the top of her lungs - she has taken to yelling this until I open her door with my usual "Good morning sunshine" and she then laughs and gathers all her blankets and stuffed animals that she must sleep with and reaches for me to get her out of bed. Well, this morning was another story........

When I went into her room and opened the curtain she was stark naked with her wet diaper in a pile in her bed, her wet pj's on the floor in a wad and her other items strewn throughout her crib. She handed them to me one at a time as said "Wet mommy!" Sure enough everything was "wet" including the bed sheet. Not quite sure how long she had her clothes and diaper off - she was probably up at her normal 7-7:30 but stayed quiet as she undressed and peed in the bed. Of course I couldn't help but smile and cuddle her little naked body (tan lines and all). We immediately got on the big potty but by that time she of course did not have to go.

Later tonight as Junior and I were cooking dinner her she comes again with her wet diaper in her hand bringing it to the kitchen garbage can saying "wet" as she threw it away.

I'm not quite sure how this whole potty training thing works but tomorrow she goes to daycare so we will start on Tuesday. Nonnie is here on Tuesday's so we plan to spend the day in the house with Caroline on the potty most of the day. We have stickers and books all ready to go. I also have Dora panties which may help. She is obsessed (and I mean obsessed) with Dora so maybe if I put the panties on her and tell her not to pee on Dora she will be more interested in the potty chair. We will see. Hopefully it will go smooth and we will have a successful day.

We leave on Thursday for Denver to visit the Georgeson's so the potty training may have to take a little break until we get back. The good thing is that their daughter Cassidy is 3 1/2 and potty trained so maybe she will want to be like Cassidy when we get home and I can use that to entice her.

Wish us luck!

P.S. Gabriella is still my little angel. The last 3 nights she has slept 8 hours straight through which makes mommy very happy. I swear she is the best baby!

GABRIELLA IS 2 MONTHS OLD

2009-05-22T10:42:00.000-07:00

Gabriella with her straight hair
Gabriella with her curly hair

Nonnie and her girls. Caroline has on her Kyrgyzstan t-shirt which is so cute on her.

Gabby was 2 months old last Sunday and had her 2 month checkup on Monday which included 3 shots in the leg OUCH! She weighed 12lbs 3oz and is 21.75" long. She sure is growing. 75% for weight (that's my girl) and 50% for height. She definetly does not miss many meals which you can see from pictures. The doctor again said she is perfect. I got a little lecture from Junior and the doctor for letting Gabriella sleep in bed with us. He said of course I had to stop it someday so better sooner than later. So, I caved on Monday and let her sleep with us since she did not feel well from the shots but since Tuesday night she has been sleeping in her basinette in our bedroom and is doing great. She is waking 1-2 times during the night to eat but other than that sleeping great in her little bed. Though I miss having her close it is nice to get a good night sleep without her beside me in the boppy. We will give her about another month in our room and then between 3-4 months we will start putting her to bed in her crib in her own room. She has taken a few naps in there and does not seem to mind but I'm not ready to have her that far away from me at night.

We have a long holiday weekend and my birthday ahead of us this weekend so plan to do some fun things. Tonight we are going to some friends for pizza - they just had twin boys a few weeks before Gabriella was born. Tomorrow night Nonnie is going to babysit the girls while mommy has a much needed night out to celebrate my birthday on Sunday. Sunday will be family dinner with everyone for my birthday and then Monday we will relax. Not that a long weekend really matters right now since I'm not working but it is still nice to have a holiday weekend. Hopefully the not working will end shortly. I've been doing some job hunting but nothing has transpired. It has to soon! Just when Junior is back working I am now unemployed - well, at least one of us is working.

Here are a few new pics of the girls from the last few weeks. It is crazy how quickly they grow.

Love,

The Silverio's

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

2009-05-10T19:12:00.001-07:00

Today was a very special Mother's Day with both of my girls. I love being a mom. These two has brought so much love to my heart. At moments I feel overwhelmed with responsibility and screaming kids but it is so worth it. To be the mother of Caroline and Gabriella is a blessing from God and one that I cherish.

We spent the day with my mom swimming at her pool, walking around the block for frozen yogurt and then mom and Junior kept the girls upstairs for naps and I had 1 1/2 hours of quiet at mom's pool reading my book and getting some sun. I could have stayed down there longer but I missed my babies and wanted to be upstairs with them.

Today I think of Caroline's birthmother and thank her for the beautiful daughter she gave birth to who was meant to be my first child.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mother's out there. Being a mother is such a wonderful blessing.

XO,
Gretch

WEEKLY UPDATE

2009-05-05T20:41:00.001-07:00

The girls in their matching PJ's

Chef Caroline!

The girls are doing great this week. Caroline had her 2 year wellness doctor appointment today and she is great. She weighs 28lbs and is 35 1/2 inches long - 50-75% for weight and 75-90% for height. She was not happy with the shot they gave her in her arm and kept saying "go" because she wanted to get the heck out of there.

Gabriella's face is getting a little better. I'm washing it daily with Aveno and it seems to be drying up and hopefully she will have her beautiful skin again soon. Here is a pic of the girls the other morning in their matching PJ's and you can see her red face. Poor baby. Caroline points to her face and says "bobo red". She is very concerned about Gabby's red face. We keep kissing it and telling her that Gabby is okay.

While Junior and I were cooking dinner the other night our little chef decided to make dinner too - this is how we found her after too many moments of quiet in the living room. She was very serious about what she was doing but we had to laugh at the get up that she managed to put on. Oh, the fun when they want to dress themselves. She loves playing in her kitchen and loves the chef hat and oven mitts that her cousin Bo gave her for Christmas.

I am looking forward to Mother's Day this weekend and spending the day with my family and my little girls. Mom will hang out with us for the day. I plan to go to church in the morning and then we will all go to the Wildlife Zoo here in town - we haven't been there yet and have been wanting to check it out. It will just be nice to be with my mom and my girls that day. Poor Junior - another day surrounded by females. Actually, he loves it and he puts up with a lot. He is a saint!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mother's out there.

Love,

Gretchen

GABRIELLA UPDATE

2009-05-02T14:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry no new recent pictures of Gabriella. There is a reason - she has HORRIBLE baby acne right now. Her face is so broken out and red. Poor little thing. We have been to the doctor twice and they keep telling me that there is really nothing I can do and that it will go away on it's own in a couple of weeks. New pictures to come once she is camera ready again. She is still precious and beautiful of course but she probably would be mad at me someday if I posted pictures of her right now :).

She weighed in at 11lbs at the doctor on Thursday - that is about 3 pounds gained since birth. She is a growing little girl and has the cheeks, thighs and arms to show for it.

Caroline is doing good - adjusting more and more each day to her new baby sister. She loves to hold Gabriella and helps out as much as I will let her.

All is well at the Silverio house.

XOXO

CAROLINE'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

2009-04-19T15:56:00.001-07:00

Happy 2nd Birthday Caroline!
Gabriella crashed out in her red polka dot bikini

Caroline getting candy from the Dora pinata

Caroline jumping into the pool to Bapa (she did this about 50 times - she was WILD)

Here she comes to jump

Playing in the little pool at Bapa's RV spot

She loves this little plastic pool

Heading to the slide at the train park

Riding the carousel at the train park

We had a GREAT birthday party for Caroline yesterday at Lake Pleasant. We had lots of family and friends there to share in the celebration. Caroline had so much fun in the pool and running around. She loved all of her presents and all in all she had a wonderful 2nd birthday.

Gabriella of course slept through most of the day so I was unable to get a good shot of the girls in their matching bikini's but they sure did look cute. Hopefully we will get more wear out of them - Caroline's for sure but Gabby's is getting snug. That baby is growing like a weed.

In addition to the party yesterday we did some celebrating earlier in the week by taking Caroline to the train park in Scottsdale. This is usually her date place with Bapa but on Wednesday she went with mommy, daddy, Abuela, Nonnie, and Gabriella. It was an unseasonably cold day so we did not stay as long as we would have liked but long enough for a train ride and a few rides on the carousel.

Thanks to all who joined us in celebrating Caroline's birthday and to all those who sent cards and such in the mail. She is one lucky little girl.

Love,

Gretchen

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY SWEET CAROLINE

2009-04-16T20:14:00.001-07:00

Caroline and her daddy
Our wild 2 year old

Family shot

Caroline and daddy

OMG, I love this pic

This one too - she is so sweet (don't let the face fool you)

2 years old but still not giving up her "baby"

Happy Birthday to our dear sweet Caroline. Since it is officially the 17th in Kyrgyzstan right now I thought it would be appropriate to post her birthday wish. I cannot believe that she is 2 years old tomorrow. I so vividly remember having her in my arms for the first time at 5 1/2 months old. Now she is such a grown up little girl and we are so very proud of her. She makes us laugh everyday. She is learning so much every day and you can't get anything past her - she sees something once and she has it down. She is our little Miss Independent which makes us both proud and a little frustrated at some times.

We are ready to celebrate her birthday all weekend with her Dora the Explorer themed party at the Lake on Saturday and a fun day at the Scottsdale Culinary Festival on Sunday. Tomorrow on her actual birthday we will wake up and I will make her pancakes and a special breakfast. We will play at the park and go out for yogurt late afternoon. We have some presents ready for tomorrow with more to come on Saturday. Tomorrow anything she wants she has - she is such a special 2 year old.

On Caroline's birthday my heart goes out to her birthmother. I hope that in her heart she is at peace and knows that the daughter she gave birth to is the daughter of my dreams. She is loved so very much and is such a happy little girl. Junior and I promise to give her every opportunity that we can and to be the best parents that she could wish for. We love her so very much and are so blessed that God has placed her in our arms to parent and love her for the rest of our lives.

Here are some pictures from today that were taken by a photographer friend who came over to do family pics and pictures of the girls. Gabby is 1 month old on Caroline's 2nd birthday. More pictures to follow after the weekend of festivities.

HAPPY EASTER

2009-04-13T15:36:00.000-07:00

I love Easter baskets
Wow, look at all this stuff

Basket from Bapa & Nana

Caroline finding Easter eggs

Mommy, there's money inside these eggs (Caroline found $21 in eggs)

Hot pink - one of my favorite colors

Mommy helping me find eggs

Abuela helping me find eggs

Caroline coloring Easter eggs

Gabriella crashed out with the Easter bunny

Gabby trying to eat mommy's face

My 1st Easter

Get this stupid hat off me & quit taking pictures

We had a very nice Easter Sunday. Gabriella missed most of it - she slept through most of the day but Caroline had so much fun and loved finding the hidden Easter eggs at Grandpa's house.

Here are some pics from Caroline's 2nd Easter and Gabriella's 1st.

We love our little bunnies!

Gretchen & Junior

HOME TWO WEEKS

2009-04-04T08:06:00.000-07:00

Snuggling with mommy
Snuggline with daddy

Peaceful sleeping

Glamour Girl

Glamour Girl - love it when she holds up her head

Glamour Girl

Little ball of love

Our girls! We love them so!

Mommy, Daddy & Gabby out for lunch

We've been home from the hospital 2 weeks today and are all settled in and happy. Gabriella is still an angel of a baby except for when she is hungry - that is the only time this child cries. She still has her days and nights backwards so that makes for a very tired mommy but that comes with a newborn (something I missed with Caroline). God must give new mothers some kind of newfound energy in order to function on very little sleep. It is the love that I feel for Gabby that gets me through the days and nights - I would do anything for this child.

She had her 2 week checkup this week and weighed 8lbs 6oz. Last week they had said she was 8lbs 11oz but the doctor said that must have been wrong - that would have been a very significant weight gain from her birth weight of 8lbs 1oz. Overall she looks great and the doctor gave her an A report card. She will go back at 2 months for the dreaded first round of shots.

Caroline is loving her little sister, wants to hold her and gives her about 100 kisses each day. She is present for as many diaper changes as possible (she is obsessed with diaper changes on her dolls and now her new baby sister). Each time the diaper comes off she goes "Ewwwwh" in this funny little voice. Especially if there is poop in the diaper. "Baby Poopo" is her favorite expression. Caroline is talking more and more each day and is now putting together 2 and 3 word sentences. It is so cute and communicating with her is so much easier. I can only imagine when she really starts talking - she will say some funny stuff.

Caroline's 2nd birthday is fast approaching - the 17th of April. I can't believe she is going to be two but just being in our house for one day reinforces the fact that she is a 2 year old. Oh what fun they are. She can throw some really good temper tantrums - especially each morning when it is time to get dressed. She wants to stay in her pj's all day - can't blame her I guess - I like to stay in mine all day too. We are having her birthday party out at the Lake at Papa's RV spot and the clubhouse. My dad rented the clubhouse for the party so we will cookout and swim at the pool and hopefully get some time on the lake. Dora is the theme for the party - she LOVES Dora. Junior and I went to Party City yeterday and bought all Dora stuff for the party including a pinata which I'm sure will be a big hit. I got the girls matching red and white polka dot bikini's for the party so be looking for pictures of the beauty queens after the 17th of April.

That is our update for the week. Here are some recent pics - we have been having some photo shoots around the house. We have a photographer coming over next week for newborn and family pics.

Love,

The Silverio's

HOME A WEEK

2009-03-29T10:33:00.000-07:00

Abuela & her girls
Sleeping beauty

Abuela makes me laugh

Ready to go to lunch with the girls in my pink bow

Look how strong I am (look at my chubby arms)

Watch, I'm gonna life my head

Look at that body

My first bath - not such a fan

Caroline enjoying a cookie

Caroline & Nonnie in the fountain

Well, we've been home a week as a family of 4 and are doing great. Gabriella still has her nights and days a little mixed up but I'm so in love with her that at this stage I don't mind being up with her a lot during the night - it gives me a chance to hold and snuggle her. Junior is not an advocate of having her in bed with us but it is hard for me - I like having her there for a few hours at least when I'm not in a deep sleep. I try to sneak her in when he is sleeping. He usually catches me!

Caroline is a GREAT big sister. She loves to help and gives Gabby hundreds of kisses each day. She also likes to copy mommy and pretend to breastfeed her babies - pretty cute. She sits next to me and pulls up her shirt. Doesn't take this one long to pick up on something - you can't do anything without her trying it out.

Junior has gotten a job at a swanky hotel here in Scottsdale - The Mondorian doing security at one of the clubs and the pool on weekends. It is a great hotel group so hopefully it will turn into more. For now he just feels good to finally be working. I miss having him around on the weekends but he has Sunday's off so that will be our family day plus he is home during the week which is great while I am on maternity leave. I have a potential job lead - I'm keeping my fingers crossed. This is a company where two of my girlfriends went to work when they left American Tower and I have been talking to them for several months hoping that they would have some positions available. They just posted 3 sales positions and I really hope to get one and start in June. I will feel very fortunate if this works out. I'm saying my prayers and being very hopeful.

Junior's mom is still her and is so much help. Considering that I can't pick up Caroline for at least another 4 weeks it is necessary that she be here. She plans to leave at the end of April sometime after Caroline's 2nd birthday on the 17th.

We are all happy and healthy and loving our new family member.

Hugs and kisses to everyone.

Gretchen, Junior, Caroline and Gabriella

INTRODUCING GABRIELLA CARMEN SILVERIO

2009-03-24T21:58:00.000-07:00

Gabriella and Kansas (Kansas is so protective)
Mommy, daddy and Gabriella (sorry I look so tired)

Daddy & Gabriella snuggling

Sleeping beauty

Wide awake

Going home outfit

Welcomed home by her Grandma's

Mommy & Gabby while she was in the hospital nursery

Daddy feeding a formula supplement

Hugs from Nonnie

Nonnie and her favorite girls

Caroline loves her new baby sister "Babby" she calls her

Proud Papa

Recovering after the birth

Gabby & Abuela

Birthday

First time in mommy's arms

Kiss me I'm Irish (mommy is 1/4 Irish so I decided that St. Pats Day was the perfect day to be born)

Cleaned up after birth

Well, here she is. We are SO in love. She is the best baby - she only fusses when she is hungry and is the most loving little bundle of joy. The love we feel is overwhelming.

Caroline is a very proud big sister and loves Gabriella. She is a big help and loves to have tasks to help with the baby.

Here are the birth details:

Born at 1:58pm on Tuesday, March 17th (St Pat's Day baby) via c-section

8lbs 1oz

19.5 inches long

After 36 hours she was checked for jaundice which is standard for all newborns and her level was pretty high. She had to be put under the lights and supplemented with formula to get rid of the juandice. She was in the nursery at the hospital for 2 days which was very hard for mommy and daddy. We wanted her in our room. We went to be with her and give her her feedings and checked in on her multiple times each day. After 2 days she was clear of the jaundice and came home with us as planned on Saturday.

We had her first doctor's appointment with our peditrician yesterday and she is doing great - no signs of jaundice and she has already gained 10 oz, she is up to 8lbs 11oz. Junior has been so worried that she is not getting enough to eat since it is hard to tell how much she is getting from breastfeeding but the doctor assured us that she is getting enough to eat and there is no need to supplement. 10 oz weight gain the first week is pretty significant. Yes, she is a chunk!

We look at our girls and feel so truly blessed. In tough times like this for so many people, including us in the job market, we are thankful for all that we have and our family is most important. All else will come with patience and faith.

I'm still recovering from the c-section but doing well. I'm probably doing more around the house than I should but that is just me plus with a 2 year old it is hard to take it easy. The hardest part of the c-section is that I cannot life Caroline for a least 6 weeks and it is killing me. We are having lots of snuggle time on our bed and on the couch - I just can't pick her up. She doesn't quite understand but I have shown her the ouchy on my belly and she wants to kiss it and make it better.

Thanks to everyone for your love and support during the pregnancy. We can't wait for everyone to meet our Gabriella.

UPDATE - GABRIELLA'S ARRIVAL

2009-03-13T08:33:00.000-07:00

We have a scheduled c-section for Tuesday, March 17th at 1:30pm (our little lucky charm will be born on St Pat's Day for sure). After my doctor's appointment yesterday we decided a c-section would be best for me with my diabetes and high blood pressure that I have been so blessed with at the end of this pregnancy (right). In addition I have not dialated at all in the last 2 weeks and she feels that I will have difficulty dialating which could cause for a very long and painful labor. No need to put anyone through that.

So think of us at 1:30pm Pacific time on Tuesday as our little Gabriella will enter this world.

More updates soon.

BABY GABRIELLA'S PENDING ARRIVAL

2009-03-12T08:44:00.000-07:00

Well, the date has been moved up to this coming Monday. I was scheduled to be induced on Thursday the 19th but as of last night the date is moved to Monday the 16th. We will check into the hospital Monday night at 9pm and they will induce labor - or possibly have a c-section - still to be determined. Either way it looks like she will be a St Patrick's Day baby - this would make my grandmother very proud. My grandmother's maiden name was O'Malley which is where my 1/2 Irish heritage comes from. Looks like my little Irish/Norwegian/Puerta Rican/Dominican baby has decided that she is a fiesty little Irish girl and will enter this world on St Patrick's Day. Junior and I feel that she is our little lucky charm!

It is bittersweet to think of "what to do" these next 5 days before daughter number 2 arrives. Do we relax, go out and have some fun, spend every second with Caroline and she will no longer be an only child? My guess is that we will do all of the above.

Look for posts late next week once we get back home from the hospital with our new baby girl.

Thanks for all the love and support!

2 WEEKS AND COUNTING THE DAYS

2009-03-05T15:08:00.000-08:00

The countdown is on. I will check into the hospital 2 weeks from today on March 19th for Gabriella's entry into the world. We are so excited to meet our new daughter. We had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday and I am not dialated at all which was a little frustrating. I was hoping that it was starting - it certainly feels like it is. I am having contractions every day and am VERY uncomfortable. We will go in again next Thursday to see if I am dialated and make a plan from there. Either way on the 19th I will either be induced or we will schedule a c-section. I will be 39 weeks at that time.

I have so many feelings right now, fear, excitment, happiness, and of course the feeling of the unknown. Having never given birth before I have to admit that I am very scared. Also, the unknown of a newborn which I did not experience with Caroline. Thank God for my wonderful husband who is so helpful and supportive and such a wonderful father. Of course I will also have the help of Caroline - she already is so motherly to her dolls and I know that she will be with her new baby sister.

We will keep you posted but know that the 19th/20th is the day if she isn't born sooner.

Hugs and kisses to all.
G, J & C

PREGNANCY UPDATE

2009-02-24T08:11:00.000-08:00

We had a doctor's appointment yesterday and we are looking at 3 more weeks - less if I'm lucky. I begged the doctor to let me deliver next week but she said no. With my diabetes Gabriella's lung development could be delayed so we need to keep her in the belly as long as she wants to be there. On March 19th I will be 39 weeks and my doctor will induce me that night if Gabby has not been born sooner. I'm sure everyone who has ever been pregnant understands my "wish" to deliver her TODAY! I'm swollen, uncomfortable and feel HUGE. Though I love being pregnant and it has been a great pregnancy I'm over it. We had some pics taken a few weeks ago - here are some of our favorites.

Caroline is great. She was 22 months last week and is a very good girl. She is talking so much more and tries to repeat any word that you say. She is trying to put multiple words together, most of the time they don't make sense but she has got a few phrases down - "No, mine" (this is her favorite and my least favorite), Uh-oh baby. It is so awesome to see her growing and learning every day. She recognizes colors and loves Dora the Explorer. I can't believe she will be 2 in less than 2 months. She is such a big girl. I can't wait to see her face the first time she meets her new baby sister - she will be so proud!

Love to everyone from The Silverio's.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

2009-02-12T07:36:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day to all our family and friends. Caroline is having a Valentine's party today at daycare so she was all dressed in her Valentine shirt. I made cupcakes and valentines for all the kids last night - I LOVE this stuff. This is what I have dreamed of.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day - we love you all and feel so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends in our lives.

XOXO,

The Silverio's

GABRIELLA - 34 WEEKS

2009-02-11T08:58:00.000-08:00

We had our 34 week ultrasound yesterday and Gabriella looks great. She is 5lbs 5oz and is 56% for weight. She has a lot of hair and as you can see from the pics has some pretty chubby cheeks. She looks beautiful - I can't wait to kiss those little lips. During the ultra sound the tech let us just watch her face for awhile and she kept making little sucking movements with her lips. It was so cute. She looked like a little fish. We think she was blowing kisses to mommy and daddy.

I continue to grow daily - seriously. I've gained 7 pounds in the last 2 weeks. My fluid is a little high but the doctor said that it pretty normal with my diabetes. I can't imagine how huge I will be if we wait until March 19th to induce labor. Hopefully we can pull that in a little. If it were up to me I'd have her in about 3 weeks. We will see. We are ready at home though. My dad bought us our basinette and Junior put it together the other night. Her room is all ready and her clothes have all been washed. Last night I packed her hospital bag (guess I need to do mine too).

We have decided on Carmen as her middle name after Junior's mom so - Gabriella Carmen Silverio it is.

Enjoy the pics.

XOXO,

Gretchen & Junior

DAY IN SEDONA

2009-02-08T07:57:00.000-08:00

Sedona - 8 months pregnant
Sedona with our mother's

Caroline asleep in her swing

So tired - so sweet

Junior and I took our mother's to Sedona yesterday and though we had a great day I will have to say that that is my last outing before Gabriella is born. My feet were so swollen last night and I was very tired. My stomach was as hard as a rock. Caroline spent the day at the lake with Papa so that we did not have to chase her around Sedona all day. We would have loved to have her with us but it would have been very hectic with here there.

Caroline has had a cold this week and has not been sleeping great. Her Abuela was swinging her the other day and she feel asleep in her swing - so sweet.

We are all doing good. Ready for baby #2.

GABRIELLA'S ROOM

2009-01-28T09:15:00.000-08:00

Gabriella's Crib
Gabriella's Crib

Gabriella's room

Gabriella's Room

7 1/2 mths pregnant

Caroline and daddy feeding the ducks

Caroline at the Children's Museum

Gabriella's room is ready for her. It turned out beautiful. Kathy made the curtains and the upholstered border around the room and it is gorgeous. We now feel that it is time to give Caroline's room a makeover - maybe when she transfers to her big girl bed we can make some changes.

We had an ultra sound last week and Gabriella is doing great - she is about 4 pounds. My blood pressure and blood sugars are back to normal so hopefully it will be smooth sailing the next several weeks until she is born. My belly is growing daily so that it pretty uncomfortable but as long as we are both feeling well then it is worth it.

Attached are some pics of Gabriella's new room, a recent picture of my growing belly and a few cute new one's of Caroline.

I'll keep posting over the next several weeks and keep everyone up to date on the pending birth.

XOXO,

The Silverio's

GOOD DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENT

2009-01-15T14:29:00.000-08:00

We just got home from the doctor and much better appointment than last week. My blood pressure is back down and the doctor is very happy with that and my blood sugars. All is good! Gabriella is measuring right where she needs to be. We have an ultrasound next week so will get to see the little one.

Just wanted to pass along the good news. No bed rest for me at this time though I will continue to take it easy to avoid that in the near future.

Junior's mom gets here on Monday so she will be a big help.

CAROLINE AND PREGNANCY UPDATE

2009-01-12T07:06:00.000-08:00

I have a funny Caroline story from the weekend. First of all the child is finally sleeping through the night and it is WONDERFUL. She sleeps until between 7 - 8 am and that makes everyone in the Silverio house very happy. Well, Sunday morning around 7:50am I hear her little "mommy" calls so I get up and head to her room. I open the door and pull open the curtains to let some light in and what do I find - a naked little Caroline. She had taken off her pj's and her wet diaper. It was such a shock. She has never done this before and believe me those pj's are not easy to get off. She kindly handed me her wet diaper and then lifted her arms to be picked up out of her crib. I took her to her dad just as I had found her so that he could see what she had done. It was very sweet and it was so cozy to pick up her warm little naked body and have her cuddled next to me. Thankfully I did not find her the same way this morning - I was a little worried that she has found a new game. Hopefully it won't happen often and hopefully I won't find a crib with pee or poo after her diaper has come off. Surprisingly she has not climed out of her crib yet - I am so surprised that she has not. I'm sure that day is coming.

I had a doctor's appointment last Thursday and the results were not so good. My blood pressure is high and the doctor believes I am in the early stages of preeclampsia. This is not good for me or for Gabriella. The only way to get rid of it is to deliver the baby. I'm in my 30th week this week and the doctor would like to get me to 36 weeks before delivering Gabriella. I'm not there yet but I may be looking at bed rest in the near future. I can't imagine this with a 21 month old running our house. We will make it work, I will do whatever I have to to keep me and Gabby healthy and safe until she is ready to come into this world. I have another appointment on Thursday and am checking my blood pressure daily - it has been better the last couple of days. I'm taking it easy and trying to rest as much as I can. Junior's mom was planning to come out on Feb 5th but is ready to come as soon as we need here. I think the date is changing to next Monday Jan 19th. It will be a huge help to have her here 24/7 and she will make sure that I am resting.

We are almost done with Gabriella's room. Dad and Kathy were here all weekend working on the curtains and other parts of the room. We hope to have it finished by next Wednesday and I will post pictures once it is all together. Her bedding is supposed to be in tomorrow. I'm so excited - I love her room.

Here is a cute pic of Caroline with her cousin Kylie this weekend. Caroline loves her new jeep. She has a huge smile on her face whenever she is in it and she loves to drive people around - she feels like such a big girl. The scary thing is that before I know it she will be 16 and this will be real!

MY GROWING BELLY

2009-01-07T09:10:00.000-08:00

Well, my belly is getting bigger and bigger each day - it is amazing. I am starting to feel pretty uncomfortable and daily activites are getting harder and harder. My due date is March 24th but I expect that I will go a little early. I can't imagine getting any bigger than I am now but I'm sure I will in these last couple of months (scary).

Here are some pictures we took over the holidays. Caroline loves to rub lotion on my belly and give her baby sister kisses.

We start our "breathing and birthing" classes tonight and they will continue the next 2 Wednesdays. Before we know it the real thing will be happening.

Gabriella's room is almost done. Her bedding is expected to be in this week and my dad's girlfriend - Grandma Kathy is working on curtains and some other beautiful stuff for her room which should be done this weekend. Once it is all done I will take pictures and post them. Her room is going to be beautiful - I told Junior the other night that I want to move in. Both the girls have such pretty rooms.

I'll keep everyone update on the pending arrival of Gabriella.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE SILVERIO'S

2008-12-25T15:12:00.001-08:00

Caroline and Santa
In Awh of Santa

She loved Santa

Caroline opening gifts

Caroline & her new Barbie Jeep from Grandpa

We will never get her out of this thing

Caroline & Kansas Christmas morning with her new baby and stroller

Well, it is Christmas day and we finally have the house cleaned up. We had 17 people over last night for dinner and gifts. It was a great time but pretty hectic. We are finally back in one piece.

We had a special appearance from Santa last night and Caroline loved him. Not enough to sit with him but she blew him a ton of kisses and couldn't take her eyes off of him. When he was leaving she kept waving and saying "bye" until he was all the way out the door. She was sad when he left.

Caroline got a Barbie jeep from her grandpa and it was a big hit. The problem is she opened that last around 8pm which is bedtime so getting her back inside away from it was brutal. She screamed and screamed. She calls all cars "go, go's" so she kept going back to the garage door crying "go, go". Her daddy took her out in it today for a little spin but it is cold and rainy so that didn't last long. I have a feeling we will be finding her in the garage sitting in her Jeep!

Though times are tough for so many including us right now we are so thankful for our growing family and the love we have. I was admitted into the hospital last Sunday night for 24 hours but we are back on track. I have been having pretty high blood sugars so they wanted to monitor me and the baby overnight and make sure all was okay. The baby is doing fine and I have made some adjustments to my insulin and since checking out of the hospital on Monday my blood sugars have been great again. Needless to say I didn't get to enjoy all the wonderful holidays goodies but it is well worth the sacrafice.

Junior hopes that with the holidays soon over and the new year approaching that he will have luck in finding a new job that is steady. We continue to pray for that but know that there are so many other people looking too. The right thing will come along.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Love,

The Silverio's

3 WEEK UPDATE

2008-12-19T13:33:00.000-08:00

I can't figure out how to rotate this but I love this picture
She loves the Christmas tree- she is very gentle with it

She loved the carousel

Riding the carousel with Grandpa at Zoo Lights

Sleeping Beauty

Sorry I haven't posted since the wedding. We've been busy getting ready for the holidays so here is a catch up on the last several weeks.

We are all doing great - Junior is job hunting and that is pretty stressful but hopefully after the holidays he will find something. We keep our faith and know that it will happen.

Caroline is growing and becoming funnier every day. She is saying more and more words and is great at copying anything that we are doing.

The baby is growing and we are both healthy. I'm into my 6th month now which is amazing - it has gone so fast. It's hard to imagine that in 3 months we will have another little girl. Junior has been working on the nursery, painted, put together furniture, hung a chandlier and will soon be putting up crown molding. The bedding for Gabriella's crib is on order. Once the room is all put together I will post pictures.

We love married life and are thankful for eachother and our families this time of year. Though times are tough we are very blessed.

Love and kisses to all and Happy Holidays.

I'll post after Christmas - I'm sure Caroline will get into it this year. She has plenty of presents under the tree and more coming from Santa since she is such a good girl.

MR. & MRS. SILVERIO

2008-11-20T13:33:00.000-08:00

Gretchen and her new family (Junior's mom, 2 sisters, and 5 nieces)
Wedding and Reception site - Hotel Phillips

Mosiac Lounge - after party

Signing the marriage license - it's official

Caroline enjoying her fruit snacks at the reception

Caroline & Nana

Caroline & Mommy

Sweet Caroline

My new mother in law (Junior's mom Carmen)

Bride & Mother of the Bride

Best Man and Maid of Honor toast

My bouquet

The sistes and their husbands (this makes my mom so happy - all her girls are married)

Introducing The Silverio's

Junior and his best man Carl

Ceremony

My dad walking me down the aisle

Best Man and Mother of the Bride

The 2 combined families (love this pic)

Junior getting a little help from my dad before the big event

Junior with his mom and sisters Ingrid and Grace

Practice makes perfect

The soon to be Silverio's at the rehersal dinner

Caroline & Aunt Amy

Brian and the sisters

Well, I am a happily married woman. WOW, I can't believe I am saying that. I didn't think it would feel any different considering our history but it does and I love it. I feel very proud to be Mrs. Silverio. I have a wonderful husband and our family is rapidly growing - dreams do come true!

The wedding week was wonderful. We were in KC all week getting things done and spending a lot of time with Junior's family. His birthday fell on Wednesday the 12th so we were able to celebrate that with family and friends that were there for the wedding and ready to celebrate.

The wedding itself is a blur - I think every bride says that but I know that it was perfect. The hotel was lovely and everyone had a great time. Caroline was funny during the ceremony. Grandpa missed most of the ceremony because he was chasing her around and took her out of the room. She managed to squeeze the doors open and peek her little head and and kept yelling "mommy". At one point when Junior and I were holding hands she ran up and pushed our hands apart and said "no, no" which she says to everything. It was funny, sounded like she was objecting but we know that is not the case - she loves her daddy. Then once the pastor announced us as Mr & Mrs Silverio she busted through the doors and ran up to both of us - it was perfect!

After the ceremony we had a 2 hour cocktail / appetizer reception at the hotel - everyone had fun. We then changed clothes and loaded up on a party bus and headed to Mosiac Lounge downtown in the Power & Light District. Junior's good friend is the GM there so had tables reserved for us - it was so much fun.

Here are some pics from the weekend, more to come. I'm waiting on more pics from family and friends. Though I'm a little bigger than normal thanks to the pregnancy I will still say that I was a VERY happy bride. The day is one that I will cherish forever.

Thank you to all for taking part and being there to celebrate. We will be celebrating with many of our Phoenix friends this coming weekend as Amy and Brian are hosting a reception party for us on Saturday night.

Love,

Junior, Gretchen, Caroline & Gabriella Silverio

P.S. It will be special to let both of our daughters know one day that they were there for our wedding.

5 DAYS TO THE BIG DAY

2008-11-09T06:02:00.000-08:00

We leave today for Kansas City for the wedding preparation and festivities this week. 5 days until we get hitched! It's been a very long time coming - a little over 9 years. He is worth the wait, believe me.

Details and pictures to follow once we get back home and settled.

Love,
Gretchen, Junior and Caroline

INTRODUCING GABRIELLA SILVERIO

2008-11-05T08:56:00.000-08:00

Introducing Gabriella Silverio
Sweet Baby

It's A Girl!

Nice Legs!

Spine

Beautiful profile

Little hands - 10 fingers

We had our 20 week (5 month) ultrasound yesterday and confirmed that it is in fact a girl. Introducing Gabriella Silverio - she is perfect. Well, looks a little scary on these pictures but the doctor and ultrasound tech said she looks perfect. She is about 6 1/2 inches long right now - about the size of a small banana. My due date is now March 24, 2009 which is one day after Grandma's birthday. Maybe my mom and Gabby will share a birthday.

I'm still feeling good though really showing the pregnant belly. I'm glad for that - I don't just feel fat now, I actually feel pregnant and I love it.

The countdown to the wedding is 9 days - we are so very happy with all going on right now.

This blog will eventually become the Silverio Girls blog as the baby arrives and I post pictures of both girls. These little girls will bring us so much love and joy. Thank God for miracles!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

2008-11-01T08:32:00.000-07:00

Trick or Treat
The caterpillar, witch and mommy

The caterpillar and the witch

The caterpillar and daddy

Little Miss Caterpillar

Carving pumpkins with daddy

Neighborhood Fall Festival

Caroline wore her caterpillar costume from last year again this year, well kinda, she would not keep the hat on which really makes the costume. Oh well - she was still darling. We sat out in the driveway and handed out candy and made our way to about 10 houses. She loved it. She knew just what to do - she would put out her treat bag and then immediately look to see what was dropped in the bag. Just like her Aunt Amy DOTS are her favorite - she ate about 4 boxes. Loves them. We tried to get some dinner in her too but that didn't work - oh well, it was Halloween, what kid actually eats anything besides candy for dinner on Halloween.

We head to KC one week from tomorrow to start the wedding week festivities. Can't believe it. We are so excited. I found the most beautiful dress for Caroline - it is black velvet on the top and a beautiful purple on the bottom (purple is the main color for the wedding, I am wearing purple shoes and Amy is wearing a purple dress). Pictures to come after the big event!

Baby Silverio is doing great - we have an ultrasound on Tuesday - I will be 20 weeks. Though we are sure it is a girl we will have it confirmed on Tuesday. I can't believe how fast it is going. I'm half way there. I'm feeling good. I have my wedding dress fitting in an hour - hopefully after the alterations are done I can not get any bigger in the week or so so that I can fit in the dress for the big day.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween.

XOXO

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO CAROLINE'S BIRTHMOM

2008-10-23T06:43:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post yesterday but I was traveling. Yesterday was Caroline's birthmother's birthday so I have been thinking about her so much. I hope that she is healthy and happy and knows in her heart that the child she gave birth to is safe and couldn't be loved more. I pray that she is at peace with her discussion to place Caroline for adoption - it is the best thing that she did for Caroline and I will forever be greatful to her - she made my dreams come true.

Caroline likes to color so I had her do a picture that we will save and do one each year for her birthmother and maybe someday if we ever make contact I will have these saved to give to her birthmother. We will always honor her on birthdays and special days. We wouldn't be together if it wasn't for her.

Caroline had her 1 1/2 year checkup on Tuesday. She weighs 24lbs 6 oz and is 33 inches long. She is 50th percentile for weight and 75th for height. If she would eat we could increase the weight but the kid is so picky unless it is junk food. Somedays I give in just to get some calories in her. She is a typical toddler. She is right where she should be on development and the doctor sees no delays considering her time in the orphanage. We are so proud of her.

CAROLINE HAS LEARNED HOW TO DRIVE

2008-10-19T19:02:00.000-07:00

Caroline after spending the weekend with Grandpa and learning to drive.

Caroline spent the weekend with Grandpa because Junior and I had a wedding and wanted to get some things done around the house. Caroline and Grandpa spent most of the weekend at the Lake. Grandpa has a dune buggy/go cart type of thing and Caroline loves to ride in it. That is all she wants to do when they are at the lake. So dad told me that she likes to stear, turn the key and shift for him while they are tooling around. Basically he is telling me that he is teaching my 1 1/2 year old daughter to drive.

I picked her up this morning and meet Amy and Grandma at Destination Maternity because I can't wear any of my pre-pregnancy clothes. While we were getting the car loaded I let her sit in the front seat so that I could get all her stuff in the car. She immediately jumped over to the driver's side (don't worry, Aunt Amy was right there with her), put on my sunglasses and pretended to drive. She kept reaching over to the stereo and turning up the radio almost as load as it would go. We would quickly turn it back down and she would reach those little fingers back over and turn it up (she gets that from her daddy, he loves to listen to music way to loud for my taste). So while she was "driving" she danced to the music and then grabbed my cell phone and put it up to her ear. I tell ya, you can't do anything around this one. Anything she sees she immediatly does. She is a very quick learner - it is a little scary. Aunt Amy caught this picture with her camera so I had to share. It was so much funnier in person - Amy and Grandma were laughing so hard they were about to wet their pants.

We are so in trouble with this one and to think, she will probably teach her baby sister EVERYTHING she knows just like Amy did with me. God help us!

PUMPKIN PATCH AT SCHNEPF FARMS

2008-10-05T14:23:00.000-07:00

Yummy Kettle Korn - my new favorite - daddy and I shared a whole bag

The (soon to be) Silverio family at the pumpkin patch

Caroline and Nana

I want this pumpkin mom

She tried lifting all the pumpkins - she is pretty strong but couldn't quite get them off the ground

Come look at this one daddy

Last year at the pumpkin patch - Caroline's first week home

Last year her hair matched the pumpkins - it has grown in beautifully

We enjoyed our first cool, somewhat fall day yesterday by going to Schnepf Farms in Queen Creek to get in the fall spirit. Grandma went with us and we had a great time. It was a cloudy, rainy day and it really felt like fall. Caroline loved running around the farm and playing in the pumpkin patch. Mostly she loved running from all of us and having us chase her - that is her new favorite game.

Here are some pictures of our day. I'll also include a few from last year at the pumpkin patch the week that she came home so that you can see how much she has changed. She is truly a toddler - 100% - attitude and everything. I think the terrible two's have started a little early for us. She keeps us on our toes. Before we know it we will have another one and things will really be crazy.

We love every second of it.

XOXO

1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY - GOTCHA DAY

2008-10-01T08:43:00.000-07:00

Going into the orphanage - I was so nervous!

Mommy and daughter

Hello, I'm Caroline

So in love!

Today is a very special day for us. One year ago today, October 1st I went to the Baby House to meet my beautiful Caroline and bring her into my loving arms forever. I can't believe it. Some days it is hard to believe it has been a year and then other days I feel like we have been together forever. The trip was such a journey and I can remember how nervous I was entering the orphanage.

We aren't really doing anything special today - maybe frozen yogurt this afternoon with Grandma but on the 11th we are having a little get together at our house to celebrate. Oct 10th is actually the day that we arrived home to Phoenix and Caroline meet her whole family.

She is doing great though we had a rough night last night. She still is not a good sleeper. Rarely does she sleep through the night. She was up for about 3 hours last night which is hard on all of us.

I love her more and more each day and am so blessed to be her mother.

I thank her birthmother today for the wonderful gift that she has given me.

Here are some pictures from our very first meeting - it's been awhile since these were posted on the blog.

XOXO

CAROLINE WEARS MOMMY'S CLOTHES

2008-09-25T11:13:00.001-07:00

The dress that Caroline is wearing in these pictures was mine when I was her age - 17 months old. My mom and dad got this for me on a trip to Hawaii in 1973. It is absolutely adorable and I love having my daughter wear it. It is made so well and has lated 35 years. My cousins daughter Ava also wore this dress when she was little. It has been passed around the family.

Before I know it the new baby will be wearing this dress. If the last ultra sound is correct and it is a girl we are almost positive that we will name her Gabriella Grace Silverio. Grace is Junior's sisters name and I have always loved that name. We will call her Gabby for short. I think it is a beautiful name. Once Junior and I have been married for 1 year than he can legally adopt Caroline so she will then be a Silverio too. Poor thing - once she gets married some day she will have had 4 different names during her lifetime - her birth name, Caroline Nagima Zick, Caroline Nagima Silverio and then her married name.

50 days to the wedding and counting down :)!

CUTE NEW PICS

2008-09-23T12:37:00.001-07:00

I can feed myself!

Caroline the princess.

All she wanted to do was look at the rings on her finger.

Cute pigtails.

So cute - wish she would have left them in. We will keep trying.

Here are some cute new pics from the last week. Caroline is changing so much and is so smart. It is amazing the things she is understanding. She has a few new words in the last week - wawa (water), bubba (bubbles) and of course the old standby's mommy, daddy, doggie, baba bye bye, baby. I cannot wait for her to actually start talking - she will be hilarious.

Here are few cute pics. She got some new dress up stuff, grandma put pigtails in her hair (they didn't stay in there long) and she loves to feed herself. We stand closeby with a wipe to clean her up as quickly as possible.

Everything going good with the pregnancy. I'm into my 14th week. Clothes are getting tighter but I'm feeling good and all is well. Baby and my belly are both growing.

CAROLINE IS GOING TO BE A BIG SISTER!

2008-09-13T07:54:00.000-07:00

We are pregnant and VERY excited. I am just finishing up my 12th week and everything has been great so far. I am feeling great, except for a day here and there and the baby is growing and thriving. I had an ultra sound yesterday and the baby looks perfect. Junior wasn't able to go to the ultra-sound because of work (believe me there will be many, many more) so Amy went with me. The nurse put a note in a sealed envelope with the baby's sex written on it. As soon as Junior walked in the door we opened it. 70% a girl! We will have 2 beautiful girls. The Silverio family was in desperate need of a little boy (this baby will be the 8th girl - no boys) but it is God's plan. Junior's mom about fell over when we told her it was a girl.

I think about the wonderful relationship that I have with both of my sisters and I am so happy that Caroline will have this. Having no brothers I don't know any different. My dad said he was glad, he wouldn't even know what to do with a boy - he loves his little girls. Caroline has been at Grandpa's 2 nights this week - he can't take more than a few days without her. She is so lucky and I know that she will be an amazing big sister. The baby is due March 27th and Caroline's 2nd birthday is April 17th - they will be the best of friends. I'm sure I will be a little stressed with a newborn and a 2 year old wild toddler but we will make it through.

I'm praying that the rest of the pregnancy goes as smooth as the first trimester. I've already been warned that I will be at the doctor once, sometimes twice a week being monitored because of my diabetes and my age - two high risk concerns for me. I'm doing everything I'm supposed to - the baby and my health is most important. We will watch the babies growth and it is likely that she will be born early if she starts to get too big because of my diabetes.

Junior and I feel very blessed and he is very excited about his two girls. He has created such a bond with Caroline - she loves her daddy. He has visions about days out with his girls. He had a dream about 9 months ago that we had a baby girl who had beautiful blond curly hair and his dark skin - I can't wait to see her. We are debating about names right now but I am going to let him name the baby, probably a Spanish name.

I'll try to keep this "Caroline's" blog but I'm sure you will see many new baby updates as the time passes. Then maybe they will have to share a blog when the baby comes.

Caroline has almost been in my arms for 1 year - amazing. Our Gotcha Day is October 1st and our arrival to Phoenix anniversary is October 10th. It is crazy to think how much has changed in 1 year. Makes me believe that hard times will always pass and there is so much happiness to follow - I couldn't be happier. All my dreams are coming true. The love of my life and a beautiful family in the making.

XOXO