Video for the Mandel Family

Isabella received a box from her Aunt Kate and Uncle Mike and the kids. I took a video of her opening it so the kids could see her reaction. Here it is.

Happy Birthday Gianna!!

This video is for Gianna. It is her second birthday today!! We can't believe it has been 2 years since she entered the world. We miss you very much and can't wait to see you again!

Jack and Isabella "playing" together

Here is a cute video of Isabella "playing" with baby Jack. I was thrilled that I caught the moment on video. I was about to take a video of her opening a package from the Mandel family so I had the camera handy. Enjoy!

6 weeks old! Stats!

Jack is 6 weeks old today! He had a doctor's appt yesterday and he was 10 lbs 4 oz (50-75%) and 22 1/4 inches (75%) and head circumference was 39.5 cm (75%). I was so happy to find that he is gaining well and our breastfeeding is working this time around. We were however diagnosed with oral thrush for Jack and candida for me...yippee! At least it isn't as painful as what we had with Isabella. Jack seems to already be responding to the medicine well and things seem to be looking up.

Here is an exciting video of Jack doing one of the things he does these days...sleep.

And here is Isabella riding her horse. She loves it!

Yippee for Zantac!

Jack's doctor prescribed him Zantac yesterday as I have come to believe that he is suffering from acid reflux. He was growing increasingly more fussy each day. At first I thought it was a growth spurt and he was unhappy because he was trying to increase my milk supply, but it persisted and then he started screaming after feeding and coughing and would get hiccups when I would burp him. All these things are signs of reflux. After his first dose he was happy and cooing....COOING! He hasn't done that ever! I really hope it continues to offer him relief and he feels better and better over the next few days.

He is wearing another one of his cute shirts from Aunt Kate...It says "miso cute" and has a bowl of miso soup on it. So cute!
Here is a little half of a smile. I was so happy to see this.

Is that a sweet face or what?

Video for Nonna

Here is a video for her Nonna and Pop-pop of her opening their gift.

The Butcher, the Bella and the Candlestick maker!

Isabella loves to bake! Ever since we let her help us make cupcakes the other day she is obsessed. She will grab the kitchen chair and try to drag it to the island to make stuff. So yesterday we told her we would make something when she got up from nap, so last night Isabella and daddy made peanut butter bars with peanut butter icing. They were delicious! Isabella loved making them so much!

Measuring out the flour...
Sampling the brown sugar that fell on the counter...

Jack fell asleep in the bean bag while we cooked, which was quite convenient...

Blending the dough...

Messy peanut butter face...

When we use the mixers, she says "All done" because she wants to do it herself so she wants daddy to be all done.

The finished product, before baking...Isabella was licking the spatula.

Licking the beaters...

Here is a cute picture of Isabella today...I am obsessed with striped pants so you will probably see lots of those on Isabella this fall.

Here is a cute picture of Jack. He fell asleep on the couch, looking too cute!

Football Season is here

Football season has started and Jack and Isabella are psyched. Isabella now says "Go Irish Go" when she watches "The game" as she calls it. And she pumps her arms like an fightin' irishman. She also says "Touchdown." I love being able to teach her things like this. It is so fun! Here are some pictures of Isabella. The first shows just how long her hair is getting. She has the cutest ponytail! Here she is...blurred. She is so hard to get on camera since she is constantly moving.

This is Jack watching the ND v. Michigan State game. This is how he looks when Michigan State is in the red zone. He is a football savant and at 5 weeks old he understands football even better than his mommy! This is how he looks when the ref makes a bad call. That ref should be happy Jack couldn't make the trip to ND for the game.

This is how Jack looks when ND has a big lead and his belly is full of delicious milk--his game day food of choice! Lets hope he looks like this at the end of the game today! Happy Game watching everyone!!

The prince of Wails!

My sister got Jack this shirt...the last two days he has been living up to this name. Not really, nothing like Isabella was, but a bit more fussy than usual. I think he is going through a growth spurt. Enjoy!

Isabella finally shows real interest in Jack

Isabella finally started showing a little interest in her brother today. When I put him down on the floor I saw her go over to him and start giving him her guys and showing him things. She was making a triangle with her fingers and saying "Look Jack a triangle." She was really sweet to him today too. When we were riding in the car and Jack cried she would say "It's okay Jack, don't cry" while holding her fingers in her ears. Showing him her guys and her triangle:

Tickling him:

Here is Isabella riding her new rocking horse that she got today at the consignment sale at her preschool. It was $10 and it was a surprise when she got home from preschool. She was thrilled and absolutely loves it! It makes noise when you push it's ears too.

Here is Jack wearing his "No Hair Day" shirt from his Aunt Kate. It is starting to become true as his hair thins out in front. I hope it grows back! :)

Jack is 1 month old...already!!

Well Jack is one month. I can not believe it has already been a month since he entered our lives. He is doing great. I am sure he is over 9 lbs by now. We have a one month check up next Tuesday so we will know his weight then. Here are a couple pictures I took yesterday of him to remember the day he turned 1 month. It was tough to get many good ones since (1) he is a baby, (2) Isabella was unruly and (3) I am not a photographer.

He is really such a joy! He is sleeping great and I am enjoying having him in his own room now. Last night he went to sleep when Isabella did at 8:30 and he slept until 1:00 am and then again until 4:30 am and then again until 7:30 am. He eats really fast, like 20 minutes and then I am back in bed. I hope he keeps this up. I felt so good at 4:30 that I went downstairs and worked out! :)

Hope everyone enjoyed the pictures!!

Isabella goes to preschool!!

Isabella had her first day of preschool when Jack was 5 days old. I didn't get to go there to take her since I was trying to recover, but I couldn't resist coming to pick her up. She is going on Tuesday and Thursday from 9-12. Here are some pics from her first day of school. She has been going for 3 weeks now and on Thursday of this past week she went with no tears...what an accomplishment!! She wanted to take her mommy and baby giraffe with her and the preschool director said that was fine and she promised me she wouldn't cry if she could bring them and she was true to her word. They told me she is welcome to bring her "guys" anytime she wants. :)
Isabella's class is called the Tiny Turtles!This picture is just adorable so I wanted to post it. I went to Bruster's to get myself and ice cream cone the other day (after having a particularly difficult day trying to take the 2 kids to the aquarium) and Isabella spotted my cone and wanted it. I ate most of it and then gave her the last little bit while we were driving in the car. When we got home this is what she looked like and she handed me a napkin back. She loved it and made a total mess! :)

Catching up on the first couple days of Jack's life

Jack's First Bath (2 Days old in the hospital):Hanging out with my sister Kate. Jack was 3 days old when she had to leave to go home. I was so happy she was able to be here.

Jack's first bath at home at 6 days old:

All Clean!!Trying to camaflouge himself on his blanket....where did Jack go?3 Generations of De Angelo men. Jack is the first grandson on Nick's side of the family and actually the first great grandson on the De Angelo side.Pop-pop came to visit and met Jack for the first time at 9 days old.Almost 2 weeks old (one day shy):Aunt Julia (my sister) came to visit with her 4 month old daughter Josephine. We were so happy to see Josephine again. I hadn't seen her since she was a month old. She was so cute and looks a lot like her daddy in my opinion.Isabella liked taking a bath with Josephine.

So the first couple weeks have been really busy and exhausting. We had Nick's parents here the first week and then my parents and Julia came in the second week. We had our first day alone on Monday August 31st. It went well. I certainly have far less time to myself now, but I figure it will take a few months for things to calm down and Jack to find his schedule. I hope to keep blogging, but I think things might be slow. :) Oh, and as of Monday Jack was 8 lbs 4 oz...so nursing is going better this time around...he is back to birth weight!! Yippee!