As their gift to each other, G&V decided to do a photo shoot together. Here are the resulting pics:
G & V 1 year old photo shoot
Friday, July 2, 2010
Greg & Valentina turn 1!
As their gift to each other, G&V decided to do a photo shoot together. Here are the resulting pics:
G & V 1 year old photo shoot
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Greg's baptism
We finally had Greg baptized this weekend, a special Mother's Day present of sorts. :)
Check out some pics below.
Greg's Baptism Pictures
Check out some pics below.
Greg's Baptism Pictures
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
new pictures
i have been very bad about posting updates but since i just uploaded a ton of pictures onto facebook, i thought i'd share them with any of you non-facebook friends that happen to pop by here...
random pictures of jan-march 2010
saro & ari's 3rd birthday party
enjoy
random pictures of jan-march 2010
saro & ari's 3rd birthday party
enjoy
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Punta Cana
We had a great trip to Punta Cana. We had great weather, with just one day of on & off showers. Check out some of the pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=385769&id=762065600&l=ff2d807e61
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=385769&id=762065600&l=ff2d807e61
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
finally! sleep!
HE DID IT! Greg now sleeps through the night. YAI! All he needed was one night of very tough love, and it got better from there. Now i can truly say he is the best baby!
This weekend, Saro and Ari got their "big boy beds". They were SOOOOO excited about it. They picked their new quilts on Thursday night and were bragging about it excitedly on Friday at school. They told Sasha and Auntie Aline all about it when they saw them. Saro has a "Blastoff" blanket, (i.e. rocket and stars) and Ari has "choo choo" (i.e. trains). They have done amazingly well, no problems at all. Sure, they get out of bed... but i wouldn't say it is any more than when they were getting out of their crib.
They were so excited that I couldn't get a good pic. As you can see, they were bouncing around all over the place :)
This weekend, Saro and Ari got their "big boy beds". They were SOOOOO excited about it. They picked their new quilts on Thursday night and were bragging about it excitedly on Friday at school. They told Sasha and Auntie Aline all about it when they saw them. Saro has a "Blastoff" blanket, (i.e. rocket and stars) and Ari has "choo choo" (i.e. trains). They have done amazingly well, no problems at all. Sure, they get out of bed... but i wouldn't say it is any more than when they were getting out of their crib.
They were so excited that I couldn't get a good pic. As you can see, they were bouncing around all over the place :)
Thursday, January 7, 2010
new experiences...
After we rang in the new year, Greg started eating solid foods for the first time. Yes, on Jan 1st, he had rice cereal. Then he moved on to apple sauce. And today he had carrots. He never had any issues, knew what to do with the food from the first bite. And he devours it; sucks it right off the spoon. I LOVE THIS KID! I was so traumatized by my adventures with Saro & Ari that anything food-related causes me anxiety until Greg blows me out of the water with how amazing he is. God really heard my prayers about sending me a kid that eats!
Though Greg is old enough to start eating solids, he still has not slept through the night. EVER. Not even once. At his 6-month checkup, the doctor told me that it was pretty ridiculous that he was waking up 3-4 times a night. And it wasn't a fluke... it was like clockwork.
11:30pm - wakes up, cries, i soothe, he goes back to sleep
1am - wakes up, cries, won't be soothed til i feed... so i feed
4am - same as 1am
So Dr. S told me what i needed to hear: I have to let him cry. My problem was that since i put him down awake for naps and at bedtime, I had read in all the books that I could comfort him if he woke up at night, that as long as he was putting himself to sleep at bedtime, he would figure out how to soothe himself at night too... but for some reason, Greg wasn't doing it. So i have to let him cry. It's tough because he is very persistent. But i haven't slept in 6 months!!! So we did it. That very night, when Greg cried, I didn't respond. Greg cried again. And again. Greg cried on and off, angrily, all night long. My poor Greggy wanted me... but i did not go. At one point, i woke up to see Serdal comforting him... but he cried again as soon as he put him down... Greg was so angry i swear he was shaking the rails of his crib. At about 6am, Serdal turned to me and asked me to feed him. I refused. I was not going to reward 6 hours of crying with a feed. Not until he fell asleep first. FINALLY, he fell asleep. When he woke up at 7:45am, i fed him. HE WAS HUNGRY. It was a tough night for us all. (Fyi... the twins were clueless. Gotta love those two... they could sleep through an earthquake just like their mom)
The next night, he did a bit better. He still cried but not nearly as much. Tonight will be night #3. I'm really hoping for a huge improvement... Could he possibly do it? Make it the whole night without crying? We'll see....
As for new experiences for Saro & Ari... I have to say that though this was their third Christmas, this was the first one where they really understood and got into it. They sing Christmas songs, know and love Santa (though they were scared of him in person), they understood and were SOOO excited about their presents. They loved decorating the tree with us. They love Christmas lights on all the houses as we drive home from daycare. All in all, it has been a magical Christmas - exactly as i pictured it would be when i had kids. And i hope that it was magical for them. They keep telling me that they will not be scared of Santa next time. Today Saro told me he will sit on Santa's lap and that I must take a picture. I can't wait until next year!
Another new experience is that the boys climb out of their beds when they wake up in the morning and come into our room, and into our bed. Lately, they wake up before i'm even conscious... The other day, i was woken up by a continuous flow of tiny, sweet, gentle kisses from Saro on one side of me and cuddles from Ari on my other side. I opened my eyes and i looked over at Greg (who is still in our room) and he was awake in his crib looking and smiling at me.
my three kids are amazing - I truly feel blessed. This isn't at all the family that i had planned in my mind, but it is amazing. (I just always assumed i would have two girls, two years apart... not THREE BOYS, two of which are TWINS!) Sometimes I feel like I'm so full of happiness and love that I'm going to burst. It's sad to say that these emotions are new for me... I was so depressed for so long after the twins were born, that i never experienced this kind of depth of love and joy. I regret that very much and feel some guilt for it. But i am happy now and that's what counts. That's MY new experience :)
Though Greg is old enough to start eating solids, he still has not slept through the night. EVER. Not even once. At his 6-month checkup, the doctor told me that it was pretty ridiculous that he was waking up 3-4 times a night. And it wasn't a fluke... it was like clockwork.
11:30pm - wakes up, cries, i soothe, he goes back to sleep
1am - wakes up, cries, won't be soothed til i feed... so i feed
4am - same as 1am
So Dr. S told me what i needed to hear: I have to let him cry. My problem was that since i put him down awake for naps and at bedtime, I had read in all the books that I could comfort him if he woke up at night, that as long as he was putting himself to sleep at bedtime, he would figure out how to soothe himself at night too... but for some reason, Greg wasn't doing it. So i have to let him cry. It's tough because he is very persistent. But i haven't slept in 6 months!!! So we did it. That very night, when Greg cried, I didn't respond. Greg cried again. And again. Greg cried on and off, angrily, all night long. My poor Greggy wanted me... but i did not go. At one point, i woke up to see Serdal comforting him... but he cried again as soon as he put him down... Greg was so angry i swear he was shaking the rails of his crib. At about 6am, Serdal turned to me and asked me to feed him. I refused. I was not going to reward 6 hours of crying with a feed. Not until he fell asleep first. FINALLY, he fell asleep. When he woke up at 7:45am, i fed him. HE WAS HUNGRY. It was a tough night for us all. (Fyi... the twins were clueless. Gotta love those two... they could sleep through an earthquake just like their mom)
The next night, he did a bit better. He still cried but not nearly as much. Tonight will be night #3. I'm really hoping for a huge improvement... Could he possibly do it? Make it the whole night without crying? We'll see....
As for new experiences for Saro & Ari... I have to say that though this was their third Christmas, this was the first one where they really understood and got into it. They sing Christmas songs, know and love Santa (though they were scared of him in person), they understood and were SOOO excited about their presents. They loved decorating the tree with us. They love Christmas lights on all the houses as we drive home from daycare. All in all, it has been a magical Christmas - exactly as i pictured it would be when i had kids. And i hope that it was magical for them. They keep telling me that they will not be scared of Santa next time. Today Saro told me he will sit on Santa's lap and that I must take a picture. I can't wait until next year!
Another new experience is that the boys climb out of their beds when they wake up in the morning and come into our room, and into our bed. Lately, they wake up before i'm even conscious... The other day, i was woken up by a continuous flow of tiny, sweet, gentle kisses from Saro on one side of me and cuddles from Ari on my other side. I opened my eyes and i looked over at Greg (who is still in our room) and he was awake in his crib looking and smiling at me.
my three kids are amazing - I truly feel blessed. This isn't at all the family that i had planned in my mind, but it is amazing. (I just always assumed i would have two girls, two years apart... not THREE BOYS, two of which are TWINS!) Sometimes I feel like I'm so full of happiness and love that I'm going to burst. It's sad to say that these emotions are new for me... I was so depressed for so long after the twins were born, that i never experienced this kind of depth of love and joy. I regret that very much and feel some guilt for it. But i am happy now and that's what counts. That's MY new experience :)
Friday, December 4, 2009
A few pictures
so to update on my last post... Greg DID NOT have an ear infection. He was perfectly heatlhy, just trying to drive his parents crazy. It's ok. He's cute. You can't stay mad at him :)
here are some pics:
new pics of the citak boys
here are some pics:
new pics of the citak boys