Check, Check

This was everything I had to get down the stairs in the morning, plus an infant and a toddler

Danilo's first morning of daycare

Dario's last week of summer camp before he heads to the Pre-school 2 room

Yesterday morning was crazy and full of check lists. I was heading back to work for the first time since May, and luckily I will transition into work as the students don't come back for another week. Danilo also had his first day of daycare, and Dario had his last week of summer camp. I had the task of getting myself, Danilo, and Dario out the door by 7am and the two boys to two separate daycares. I had the following check list before I headed out the door:

My backpack for work and laptop, check

My lunch bag, check

My pump bag, check

Danilo's diaper bag(this had it's own checklist as well), check

Danilo's cooler with five large bottles, check

Dario's lunch box, check

Dario's new clean sheets and blanket for nap time, check

It was rough getting out the door but we did it, and everyone was pleasant!

Growing so Fast

Dario asked if Danilo could watch Curious George with him today. So, the two boys say in our bed watching an episode. Danilo is changing every day and getting so big, and has such great expressions.

Baking

We have not baked in a while but today we decided to make a homemade chocolate cake, http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/fabulous-fudge-chocolate-cake/detail.aspx We really enjoyed baking again but of course the best part was eating the batter!

Hike in the Woods

As summer draws to an end soon and I head back to work on Monday I asked Dario what he wanted to do this last week of summer. Dario said, "Walk in the woods." So, this morning the weather was perfect and we headed out for a hike. We went for a great hike and had some great conversations, and lucky for us the rain held out till we got to the car.

Port Discovery Children's Museum

Trying to catch butterflies with the net

Climbing all around with Daddy

Investigating the water

Danilo hanging out

At a funny restaurant in Inner Harbor

We headed to Baltimore for a Children's Museum and had a ton of fun playing and discovering lots of things. Then we headed out to eat at Dick's Last Resort. It was a very funny place to eat where they made fun of everyone in the restaurant. We were enjoying some shrimp and beers when the floor started to shake, Earthquake happened. We never got to eat because we were all told to leave the building. It was an experience trying to get home, but we finally made it all safe and sound.

Italian Wine Cookies

The boys and I are in North Carolina visiting Monica, Curtis, Katy, and Paul for a few days. A few weeks ago Monica visited us and brought us a tin of homemade Italian Wine cookies, and Dario liked them. When we arrived at Monica's house he saw the same tin and started yelling cookies (not realizing there were none in there). So Dario helped Monica and Gina make Italian Wine cookies. They turned out great!

Off the Charts

We headed to Danilo's two month appointment today. We learned he is off the charts for his height and weight. He is 14lbs 11oz, and 25 1/2 inches long!

Feeling Much Better

Dario and Danilo had a cold the past few days and it was not fun. Today they are both feeling a lot better and are all smiles!

Danilo's First Cold

Danilo got his first cold two days ago and it is hard for him to breath ,making it difficult to feed. Thankfully ,Danilo spent most of his day sleeping like the pictures above and passing feedings without complaining. He is feeling much better today.

Race Day

I have been working hard for the past 6 1/2 weeks trying to get back into shape. Five weeks ago I started running again and it was hard to run even 1/2 a mile. It has been a tough road so far, a ton of hard work, but I have seen the results. This morning I got some alone time from the boys and ran a 10K race in Leesburg, VA. It was a beautiful morning, it was cloudy, and I had no expectations for the race, except to finish. I went into the race nice and relaxed, with a great friend by my side, and was glad to be back into running races, it was a lot of fun! I crossed the finished line 100% exhausted, and 100% proud of myself that I just completed a 10K just 9 1/2 weeks after having Danilo. I am looking forward to races to come!

Bumble Bee

As most of you know Dario is obsessed with Transformers and one character is Bumble Bee that transforms into a VW car. I shared this car with my brother and sister when I was in high school and it is at my parents house. Every time we head to New York Dario gets excited to see the Bumble Bee car. This visit Vince and I took Dario for a ride in it back and forth on my parents drive way. When we were driving Dario kept telling us not to stop. He had so much fun!

Baby Boy is Growing

I am amazed at how much our little boy has grown. He wore his 3 months clothes for entire 2 weeks before out growing them. I spent a large part of yesterday reorganizing all his clothes and pulling out all the 6 months clothes for our quickly growing boy. He amazes me everyday by how much he has changed. Time is going by way too fast!

Fort Fiddlehead

Big thanks to Uncle Jason for building this fort for the 5 boys! Charlie and Dario had a blast climbing the wall, climbing the ladder, flying down the slide, and playing with the doors. There will be many hours of adventures in this fort to come!

Big Boys, Charlie and Dario

Having a ton of fun at Nanny and PaPa's house!

The babies

Danilo having fun with his cousin Thomas, 8 months old to his left and cousin Sam, 15 weeks old to his right

I think Sam and Danilo are tired of me taking pictures