God Bless our little sweet peas!!

Antonella Lisa and Thomas Joseph were baptized Sunday, February 22 at St. Mary's Church. Here are the *stars* of the day!

Happy Birthday - Five months old!!!!

Ella and T.J. turned 5 months old today!! They continue to be two of the best things that have ever happened to us. They are growing and laughing more and more every day. Coming soon - - - pictures from their Christening this weekend.

They made it look easy.

Today, as we celebrate my mom and dad's 35th wedding anniversary, I am so grateful for whatever brought them together as high school sweethearts :) I think about the memories we have shared as a family and the examples they have shown us all throughout the years. And I will tell you - they made it look easy (even when it wasn't).

In the past few months, it has been very busy and at times even stressful!! in our household and it had made me stop and wonder how my parents did it. Four of us separated by 8 years...all involved in sports and activities...all wanting different things and having competing priorities and most recently all getting married and having kids at the same time (their greatest joys). They always made us each feel special, and they always made each other a priority. They made it look easy.

Thankfully, for them we never really got in much trouble and have all gone on to marry great people and and have successful lives of our own. However, that didn't come without their fair share of aches and pains (Dustin!!) along the way. I could see the pride in my dad's eyes and hear it in his voice as he would tell people he had the best kids in the world. It made me proud to be one of them but it also encouraged me to be a better person for him and my mom. I knew everything they did was for their family. They made sacrifices and life changing decisions. They made it look easy.

As I look at Francesca, TJ and Ella, I wonder how is it possible that I even have enough love to provide to these three little miracles. My cup runneth over. More so, how will I have enough patience and guidance to walk that fine line between being both a parent and a friend. I hope when they get older they will appreciate Brian and I and the things we do for them. I hope they'll be strong and independent, yet generous and loving - traits my parents instilled in us from the beginning. They made it look easy.

Mom & Dad, Happy 35th Anniversary and thank you for everything you continue to do for our family :)

Just some pics...

Be my Valentine :)

Happy Valentine's Day! We are sending very special Valentine's wishes to our cousins, the Sheppard family. We ask that you continue to pray that their broken hearts heal quickly. We love you guys!

We also remember a very special birthday today. Great-gramma would have just loved all these little valentines...particularly Miss Ella, who has been quite the little 'poser' the past few days (as you'll see throughout this post), however, this is by far my favorite of our little sweetheart.
This was my attempt at a Valentine's picture last week. Francesca doesn't really care for the camera any more - which is why we mostly only post pictures of the twins - unless we can "trick" her into it!Future prom royalty...
The twins graduated to high chairs this week, which meant Francesca got to pick her own seat at the table for breakfast. She loves to eat and watch me feed the little ones.
Our 'little' Valentine's photo shoot... A few final 'favorites'...

Happy Birthday - Four months old!!!!

Better late than never. I returned to work on January 26th and have been busy getting through emails, reacclimating to being a working mom and adjusting to a new routine for us all. So, while we have passed T.J. and Ella's 4-month birthday, the pictures weren't forgotten. They are getting big, eating lots of cereal, vegetables and fruits but still not sleeping through the night :( We'll get there eventually! They both are fun-loving and easily laugh at their mom! They love their big sister and melt Daddy's heart with their midnight smiles. We are so grateful.

Another big accomplishment...

...sorry it has been so long. I'll get to where we've been and what we've been doing in subsequent posts...but for now, after 4 1/2 months, this is the twins first nap NOT in their swings!!! It is 10:30am and they've been sleeping there for an hour!!