Countdown in on!

Things are going smoothly. We currently have less than two weeks to go until we are scheduled for a repeat c-section for baby boy's arrival (2/18/08). If no one else is ready…too bad…I am. On top of being done with pregnancy, I am so excited to meet the new little one. We are pretty much ready to go. Nesting has been in full swing for a few weeks so at some point I need to stop cleaning, shopping, organizing, etc. We will send an email/pictures in the first few days once little man is here.

Nora moved into her big girl room at the end of December and is doing great! She loves her big girl bed and loves having her own girlie room. She has completely abandoned the nursery and is now on board with saying it is for baby. "There's a baby in your belly?", she says. We are so proud of her as she made this transition so easily. It was fun to put her room together and we figure that she will need a girl sanctuary to hide her dolls and precious things from her brothers as time passes. She loves all of her butterflies! Thanks to Gammie, Papa, Jen and Guido (and of course Daddy/Pete) for all of their hard work in putting the room together!

I am also happy to report some calming to the terrible twos effect for Nora. She entered a bad phase around her birthday and it took some time (~late Dec) for her to settle in. "No" of course was a big part of it. She had moved to the older Toddler room at Daycare and this was not a great transition. New teachers, some new rules and she is also surrounded by boys. Loud ones! We had biting, fighting, hitting, screaming, you name it!! She has really settled in now and this is partly due to some positive changes at Daycare too, she is also getting use to using her words instead of something else. She has come a long way is a short time and we are very proud of her.

Gavin turned 4! That was monumental if you ask me. He was so proud to be four too. Many of his school friends have Nov-Jan birthdays so he was excited to return to school today and claim his place amongst the four year olds. Gavin and Daddy went snow tubing yesterday and had a blast. Daddy actually spent the previous Sunday (his birthday) with both kids in the yard and at the park in the snow. That was a good primer for going to a tubing park with the lift and everything. He was wore out yesterday. We literally had to bribe him out of bed at naptime with his birthday presents to get him up. Sweet boy.

Daddy's birthday was the week before Gavin's. We had a great time and the kids loved giving Daddy lots of special attention. Never mind that the ice cream cake was a big hit. Gavin's birthday and the impending birth of our third child lends itself to a lot of reflection on our part. Four years really isn't that long and the changes and flux of our family during those four years is hard to wrap your arms around. Gavin has changed so much in such a short time. We have enjoyed all of it. To think that he was be five next year is nearly too much to digest. The inclusion of Nora into the Vitale Family equation has been great. They are really going head-to-head with toys and playing right now but all and all, they adore one another. Nora wants to be with Gavin and Gavin wants Nora's involvement although on his terms. Despite anything that goes on they insist on goodnight hugs and kisses from each other before we split up for books. It makes my heart melt nightly. They really have solidified their bond and relationship in the past several months.

So, time continues to FLY by and we are just struggling to take it all in. I'm sure that once we are pulled in three directions that will be even more difficult. I personally look forward to!

Here is a collection of the latest pictures…
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=c32umv5.9gyikna5&x=0&y=bl3n2k
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=c32umv5.82ixf4hx&x=0&y=qu69gq

Daddy and Gavin's birthdays:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=c32umv5.bnr6uef9&x=0&y=rfw1b5