Merry Christmas

What a wonderful Christmas! We started off celebrating the holiday on Christmas Eve at Richard and Marisa's house. They had some friends over, made a wonderful dinner and had a gift exchange. On Christmas morning our family was up bright and early and opened gifts. Then we went up to Nonna and Nonno's house, had some breakfast and celebrated some more. We finished our Christmas day with my family. We had dinner at our house and opened the last of the gifts. I'm pretty sure Elio loved every second of the day. He had so much fun taking the wrapping paper off all the gifts and playing with everything.

On another note...Kyle and I had our 36 week check up. We went to meet the doctor that is going to deliver for us. Unfortunately the midwifes don't deliver here, so we have to have a doctor do it. Anyway we were able to get another sonogram. This doctor said he thought we would be having a girl, but he also said he wasn't 100% sure because of the way the baby was positioned. So far we have had 4 sonograms, 2 say boy and 2 say girl. I guess it's going to be a surprise!

Santa

Elio wasn't overly excited to see Santa Clause, but at least he didn't cry!

Nico's Room

Here's a little preview of Nico's room. It's almost done, just a few finishing touches left!

I found these pictures and it turned into our inspiration for the room. (click to enlarge)

I love shoes! My new fav's...Black Juicy Couture Sneakers (Thanks Melissa!)

I still have to hang his name.

Christmas Tree Hunting

This year will be our first Christmas in our new home. Last year we were so close to moving in, but didn't quite make it. We started our own family tradition this year. Kyle, Elio and I went out to the Raisanen's Tree Farm, we searched for the perfect tree and Kyle sawed it down for us. We came home and decorated it, the tree looks wonderful, however Elio is enjoying taking the ornaments off the tree instead of putting them on. Our Christmas shopping is pretty much done and Kyle put lights up outside our house, so I think we officially ready for Christmas!

A Great Thanksgiving

The Nelepovitz Family

All the kids

Elio's first quad

Kyle, Grant, ELio and Daniel

Twins

So cute!

Our little family

Most of the kids and babies

Elio LOVED the quad rides

Lots of fun in the sandbox

A Day of Appointments

Elio and I both had checkups today. Elio's check up went great. Dr. Mahon said he is 25 1/2 pounds, and 33 1/4 inches tall. For his height he is in the 75th percentile and for his weight he is in the 50th. So that means he is above average in height and right down the middle for his weight. The doctor was very pleased.

I had my appointment with the midwifes today. I'm 31 weeks, so almost 8 months along, I can't believe it. Less than 2 months to go! We are all so excited for the baby to be here. My belly measured 32cm, and they said everything looked great and I was doing really well.

Kyle and I finally decided on a name for the baby...Nico. However we haven't decided on a middle name yet, this time it has been much harder for us to pick a name. Nico's room is almost done, Kyle is putting up the shelves in the closet this weekend. Then all we have is a few finishing touches left. I'll try to put up pictures soon.

Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween

Elio went pee in his potty!

We just got the potty for Elio a couple of weeks ago. We know that it's a bit early to be potty training, but we thought we would put it in the bathroom anyway so he would get used to it. He likes to sit on it when we are in the bathroom, with his clothes on of course.
Kyle thought it would be a good idea to start taking him in there to try to go potty before we get him ready for bed. The first night he went standing up, but it ended up on the floor. Last night we sat him down and he went! We don't want to push him if he isn't ready, but it sure would be nice to have him out of diapers when the new baby comes.

Pumpkin Patch

Kyle and I took Elio to Redding for the weekend. We stayed at his cousin Lori's house, which is right on the Sacramento River. It's such a beautiful view. On Saturday we met up with my family and went to the pumpkin patch in Anderson. We all had such a great time. There was a ton of different things to do. Elio had his first pony ride, he loved it and when his turn was over he didn't really want to get off. We also went on the train around the pumpkin patch and watched baby pig races. The pigs names were Ham-A-Montana and Britney-Spare-Ribs. It was really cute. Since Jack and Kyle are a bit older, they were able to shoot pumpkins out of cannons, walk through the corn maze and ride the zip-line.

The pumpkin Patch is something that we have done since we lived in Chico, and we hope to go every year with the kids. It's become quite the tradition.

As you can see from the picture, my belly is growing! I went to the midwifes this last week for my check-up and they said everything is looking great. I'm over 6 months along, and the baby will be here before we know it. I've been working on the room and it's getting closer to being done. We still have yet to make a decision on a name for the little guy. If anyone has any cool names let us know.

Back to BOY!

I ended up going in for another ultrasound yesterday. The machine that she was using was brand new and made it much easier to see the baby. She was very confident that we were going to be having a boy. I hope she's right, I don't know how much more I can take of this. It was a pretty crazy couple of days!

BOY or GIRL?

So Kyle and I went to have our first ultrasound when I was 15 weeks along. I knew it was a bit early however I really wanted to know so I could start planning. It turned out we were going to be having a BOY. I just went in for my second trimester ultrasound yesterday, it was at the hospital by a different doctor. The great news is, so far the baby seems healthy. The other news is, this doctor said we are having a GIRL. Kyle and I are really surprised and confused. We just don't know what to think. I guess since I can't handle waiting any longer, I'm going to be having another ultrasound. Hopefully this one is right! I'll let you all know how it goes.

We just cam back from a wonderful week in Vacaville. We ate, shopped and hung out by the pool. Kyle celebrated his 29th birthday there, it was so nice to get away for a little while and hang out with no worries.



I have been busier and busier since I have started my MOMS Club. I started a chapter for the whole town of Fort Bragg. The MOMS Club is and international and non-profit organization. It has been a little scary jumping into something like this all by myself, but so far it is going great. I wanted to meet other moms in the community and find some friends for Elio to play with. The group has been going for a couple of months. I've met some really nice moms, and I'm always meeting new ones. On Labor Day I planned for us to be in the parade, we were just working on our float this morning. So if your in town make sure you wave as we go by. I'm really looking forward to it. The kids are going to have so much fun, and I think it is going to be a great thing for our community.

Elio seems to be changing everyday. He is starting to say a few words and is still doing some baby sign language. He seems so eager to learn new things. Elio had his 15 month check up last Monday. The doctor said he is doing great. He seems to be developing and growing normally.

Kyle has been working a lot. It seems like he doesn't stop. He goes to work, then comes home and works on the house. When he's not doing that he's working on his jujitsu and brazilian jujitsu. He has done an amazing job on our house every week it is looking better and better. I must say he has done an amazing job on our bathroom, it's so nice to have 2 baths again.

We decide to buy my dads truck, so the kids will be able to ride in it. Kyle's truck was just a little too small, it wouldn't fit a car seat. We thought when the new baby comes it would be nice to have something a little bigger for the family. So if you know anyone looking for a Tacoma, let us know.

It's a BOY!

That's right, Elio is going to have a little brother! We couldn't be more excited. My morning sickness is finally over and my belly is starting to grow. Here's a few pictures from our sonogram (click on the pictures to enlarge).


This is a profile picture.


Here's a picture of him from the side curled into a ball.


Here he is with his hand up by his face.

4th of July Festivities

Elio and I went up to Vacaville with Marisa before 4th of July. We had such a great time, we were there for almost a week. It was so nice to get out of town for a few days, do some shopping and eat at some of my favorite restaurants. The heat was a little shocking at times, it got up to 107 one day.

While Elio and I were gone, Kyle stayed home and worked on our master bathroom. He was able to tile the floor. So that means the bathroom is almost done!

On Wednesday night Kyle and his dad came up, and we all carpooled to Lake Almanor on Thursday. We met up with Mike, Raquel and a couple of their friends. My dad was able to come up for a few days and relax with us. Also one of our Friends Melissa and her son Grant came up for the afternoon. Elio had such a great time being around everyone.

The Lake was beautiful, and the weather was in the 80's the whole weekend. We celebrated Elio's cousin's first birthday, and went to a horseshoe tournament. It was so relaxing, and we can't wait to go back.

Elio's 1st Birthday

We had quite the turnout for Elio's first birthday. Elio had a great time, and we are so lucky our friends and family could be there to share his special day. Thank you all so much!

We're expecting again!

We had our first doctor appointment yesterday. The doctor said I am about 6 weeks along, so that means we are due in the middle of January. We had a sonogram and were able to see the baby! It was still a little early to hear the heartbeat, so we get to go back in a few weeks for another visit.

Costa Rica

Wow, Costa Rica is a beautiful place! We had such a wonderful time. We did a lot of laying by the pool and relaxing at the beach. Elio had so much fun! He also celebrated his first birthday while we were there.


One of the highlights of our trip was a river ride through the jungle. We were able to see monkey's, birds and crocodiles. The crocs were pretty cool. The driver of the boat went right up to a crocodile nest and picked up a baby. Everyone that wanted to was able to touch it or hold it. It was really cool to see one up close.



After the boat ride we had dinner with the locals. They didn't have power and made us dinner over an open fire. The food was great, and the experience was even better. The people in Costa Rica were so friendly and nice.