The Morelli Mafia

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-28T13:55:00.014-05:00

Master carver Mario created 3 pumpkins this year. One was a haunted house, one said "trick or treat" and a "McQueen Car" for Nico. It took him approximately 7 hours (on and off) ... the kids interest lasted all of 5 minutes :)

Poor Joey is teething like crazy and has this horrible cough and runny nose he cannot get rid of.
Teething...

Nico had better things to do than to participate in pumpkin carving...

Later that evening... The might pirate Joey got dressed..

Poor kiddo looks miserable :( He hung in there though...

We decided to dress Nico in the same costume as he "wore" last year. I use the term "wore" loosely because last year he screamed the entire 5 minutes we had the costume on him. This year however he really enjoyed it... of course his favorite part was the candy.

Down the hatch!

We had a popcorn and movie day a few weeks ago when it was ugly, rainy weather. Fun!

The neighborhood spoils Nico rotten. Here is Chad who came over to pick Nico up in this contraption.. he was in his glory :)

Sever's Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch!

Not sure what to do w/ the corn pit...

Jump on in!

Nico's face in the background.. haha

If you look closely you can see Nico mid-flight about to land in the corn on his rear end!

We LUV Fall!

2010-10-06T11:21:00.004-05:00

Our little man Joey is getting so big! He had his 9 month check up a couple of weeks ago and came in at 35% for both height and weight. WAY TO GO BIG GUY! We fully anticipate the older he gets the smaller those numbers will be.. again we were told "Genetic Destiny".. haha

Joey is everywhere! I thought it was hard to have an infant and a 21 month old at the same time... WRONGO... the hard part for us is right now. Little man is constantly on the move, trying to keep up with his big bro. We have also discovered that Joey has quite the personality. While he is still "Mr. Chill" for the most part, he will certainly not hold back and let you know when you have made him less than pleased. See below.. this would be Mario fishing something out of his mouth (because everything goes in the mouth right now).

Looky here... now he is crawling around with a leaf in his mouth...

Annnd, him letting me know he was not happy about me taking it away!

We went on a walk to support our friends the O'Connell's and their son Declan. It was at Como Park and an absolutely fabulous day weather wise. Of course Nico threw a monster size tantrum and we had to leave early, but the first couple hours were fun none the less.

Nico sharing his treat!

Family picture attempt #1

and my favorite, attempt #2

Why not fall asleep on the floor in the dining room? Seems logical to me :)

Long Road...

2010-09-01T15:45:00.004-05:00

It's been a very long road with the house project. We are getting close to one year since the roof was ripped off. Needless to say it is not complete. We are making progress.... on our own now. We pretty much have just the stairwell to finish... minor detail :) If you ever want to know which company NOT to hire to assist you with remodeling, please call Mario or me and we would be happy to share. Or of course just take a look in the bottom right hand corner of the picture below.

We have some major landscaping to do! In addition to having to re-seed 1/2 of our front yard because the dumpster was there so long, we also lost 2 trees. Bummer!

Last days of summer!

2010-09-01T15:20:00.010-05:00

I think we have tried for a year to get Nico to wear sunglasses. Today, he just randomly decided it was time.

Joey low ridin'
Park time!

This face cracks me up.. A. because it looks like Uncle Tony and B. because he looks less than thrilled and/or is about to do something diabolical!

That is better!

Warning- Objects in camera may be closer than they appear!

Brother time!

Tree trimming.. (Nico sans pants) or sin pantalones as Grandma would say!

Peek!

So helpful!

Pull ups... and no, not the kind you wear yet unfortunately

Nico helping me water my plants/flowers

Joey, Nico, FLORIDA...

2010-08-20T10:54:00.026-05:00

Little man is into everything!! EVERYTHING~

Joey is starting to eat lots of "snacky" food which is fun, but we are having a hard time with him being interested in his bottle.

We went on a family vacation to Florida ... it was hot, HOT, HOT, but so much fun!

The airplane ride was not as bad as I expected it to be... Nico was a dream traveler. He watched his DVD, ate chips, drank juice, and made friends! It was so fun to see him in the airport, screeching when he saw the airplanes, running with his roller bag carry on, boarding, looking out the window and take off/landing was all so cute to watch!

Joey took a 20 minute nap....thanks bud....haha!

We spent a majority of the time in FL poolside!

The pirate ship in the middle was so much fun!

Once Nico put on his water wings he had NO FEAR!

I don't know who had more fun... Nico, or Mario!

Grandma and Grandpa came for the first two nights... They boys were so excited!

Gatorland!

Look at Nico's face. I wasn't prepared to sit on the alligator myself, thus the white pants (big mistake). He was terrified so I had to sit on it for him, with him in my lap.

Cocoa Beach...

Joey is loving eating "people food" versus drinking bottles!

I LOVE MY PUFFS!

Fun in the backyard...

2010-08-06T08:42:00.006-05:00

Picture #1 is Nico...Picture #2 is Joey. So funny :)

This and That

2010-08-02T15:35:00.013-05:00

Nico got his own personal tour of the Hopkins Fire Station by our neighbor Steve!

I wasn't there, but from what I hear he was in hog heaven!

Poor Joey...always a spectator in the stroller!

A Day Out With Thomas The Train! So fun!

Alll Aboooooard!

Thomas and Percy tattoos

Nico on stage with Bob the Beachcomber. Mind you, he wasn't asked on stage... just made his way up the stairs like he owned the place :)

Nico is saying "Dang it Joey, I am trying to watch Yo Gabba Gabba"

When you fall and put your tooth through your lip you get TWO popsicles!

Big boy Joey at the table!

Mr. Spectator again :)

Finally he gets out of the stroller and has his own park photo shoot!

Summer is flyin' by!

2010-07-27T15:00:00.020-05:00

Wow, so hard to believe it is almost August already! Here are a few (ha) shots of what we have been doing. Enjoy!

On the way to DQ!

Como Town

Finally had new cement stoop and sidewalk poured

Joey is SO close to crawling.

Bella I am going to get your tail in my mouth!

Nico and Bella downloading music..

and working the mouse and eating... multi tasking!

CHEEESE!!!!

Heeeey man! I am playing STAR WARS on daddy's new phone! Oh and yes, we are allowing him to eat in the living room... pick your battles and we don't win with the "food fight". If we can get the kid to eat we don't care where it is :)

New Nico approved food- CORN ON THE COB!

Joey on the other hand will eat your HAND and anything else you put in front of him :)

Well hello there Uncle Tony... man they look alike!

Nico approved- SPAGHETTIO'S

Nico approved- DONUTS!

Nico is goosed by his little brother! For some reason he will only go in the sandbox when he is nekked or naked :)

Watermelon and Lake Harriet!

2010-06-30T15:08:00.004-05:00

Hey, another food we can add to the "Nico approved" list... WATERMELON! I would prefer to be adding things to the list high in nutrients... like cheese, meat, etc... but I will take what I can get!

What's up with the weird weather lately? It seems like it has rained for weeks... oh wait, that is because it has! Looks like the tides have turned and the last 4 days have been outstanding! We went to Lake Harriet, Shady Oak Beach and Joey and I walked Calhoun today. Better enjoy it while we can because the weather forecast says the 4th of July will be stormy. Boo!

Nico saw a few kids with large squirt guns and thought it was pretty cool!

Oooh an airplane!

Joey putting anything he can get his hands on, in his mouth... shovel, bucket, pile of sand, seaweed.

Joey standing so proud!

Ooops, forgot... we vistited Angie again :)

2010-06-23T22:42:00.005-05:00

Our favorite (and only) photographer Angie just took the boys pics last night. It was 90 some degrees out... yikes! Check out the boys "sneak peak" of shots... oh and check out the rest of her blog and website because if you are looking for a photographer, look no further. Angie is fabulous and SO good with the boys. In addition to that she is someone who you could just sit out and have a beer and shoot the breeze with. Love that (not that we have done it...but huh, we should think about that Angie)! Click on the link below...
http://angelaellephotography.blogspot.com/2010/06/my-favorite-mafia-st-michael-minnesota.html

SUMMER!!!

2010-06-23T21:43:00.016-05:00

So it is summer, finally! I for one am not big on the heat.. I think it is quite unnecessary unless you are on vacation at the beach or very near a pool. 65-70 degrees and sunny is just right for me! Thankfully we have a lot of friends with "super cool" water toys to cool off and a groovy (free) splash pad in St. Louis Park! Let's do this summer thing...

Nico is doing SMO (summer morning's out).. same place he did PMO (parent's morning out) during the school year. SMO adds a whole hour (9:30-1:30) and has them bring their lunch along. This would be great with the exception of the fact that as you all know it is very hard for me to get Nico to eat a meal. What the heck do I pack a kid who drinks milk by the truck load and crackers? These care takers are going to think I am an idiot parent. So we got him an awesome new lunch bag and packed it with a peanut butter sandwich (didn't touch it), Chicken N' A Bisquit (ate probably 2), sliced apples (ate 1/2 of them), fruit chews (none left..shocker) and a juice box (note to self get a color other than RED if you want to ever have the child wear those clothes again). He loved it and I can say that I am SO happy that he doesn't cry anymore when I leave him... only took a whole school year, but hey the kid must love me :)

We went to Libby and MeMe's house to play on the GIANT water slide. I left Joey home with Mario and had some Nico/Mommy time... First shot is of him super excited to GOOOOO!

The crew- Lily, Addison, Nico, Lukey and Mallory!

Sissy's

New BFF's Mallory and Lily

We had a Father's Day/Nico 2 1/2 birthday party... I am not a huge promoter of the 1/2 birthday celebration... I mean where do you stop? Today is my 1/4 b-day? Today is my 1/8 birthday... yeah I know it was technically 2 months ago but we need to celebrate right? Nico had to have his actual 2nd birthday party rescheduled because Joe Beans was in the hospital with RSV. I still claim that Joey was pulling rank and letting Nico know who was REALLY in charge.. at any rate we decided to wait until it was nice outside. He will never know, right? :) So happy 1/2 birthday Nico (the only one you will EVER have) and Happy Father's Day!!!

Ok, another awesome friend with a blow up contraption that has the kids entertained for hours! Thanks SUE and your adorable children Vinny, Clara and Lucy... so fun! (don't forget to check out the video of Nico flying down this slide at the end of the post)

The girls (minus Lucy who preferred the boys...smart girl)..

I just love watching my boys sleep. I seriously go in their bedroom like 10 times before I go to bed just to stare at them. So precious.

Gramma and Joey (Joe Joe Beans)

We took the boys to feed the ducks at the pond by our house. SO funny. Nico was mocking them by puffing up his chest and hissing right back. Ask him to "do the goose" and he will show ya :)

Can we go home Mommy, I am hungry!

Chasing a turtle

Here he is HISSSSSING

MOM...ENOUGH PICTURES!!!

Our lame little pool at home.

Reading up on the latest in hockey stats!

The slide clip!

Growing like... well, the weeds in our yard!!

2010-06-13T21:54:00.013-05:00

Look at little "Beans".. he is always so happy!!!

A rare shot of him smiling! Not that he doesn't smile... but he rarely does it on cue, like for a picture. Just ask Angie our awesome photographer :)
Nico got a sand box from Grandma Nee Nee for his birthday. So fun!

Joey playing outside the sand box

Our little man is 6 months old! He is 18.7lbs which is 69%, 26 inches long 36%! WOW!

The next few hundred pictures are of Nico at the park. The reason there are so many is because I am AMAZED at all he can do physically since we were there last fall. He used to want Mommy to go with him everywhere, hold his hand and help him. Not anymore :(

"Higher, Faster"... look at the "beat down" stare he was giving me if I didn't comply!

Really? He needed to hold my hand and have me push him up this contraption last year.

See ya!

Always jumping off things.. .testing, testing, testing himself. I actually really love watching it. He will launch himself off of something like this and land all haphazard or fall upon impact. If he is not satisfied he will hop right back up and do it over and over and over until he masters it.

Joe Beans.... fricking cutie!

GOTCHA BIG BROTHER!!!!

and I am NOT letting go!

Watching Daddy mow the lawn..

It is rare that I can get a good picture of the two of them. As you can tell by the look on Nico's face, he was less than thrilled I made him sit there for the pic.

Mario thinks he is hiding in the background. HA!

Joey, hilarious... Mario we still see you!

Mama and boys!

Mama and boys #2

Night night, Joey...

This and That....

2010-05-25T21:13:00.006-05:00

The following 10 or so shots are pulled from my phone... the quality isn't as good as a regular camera but some of the pics are so cute I couldn't resist :)

This is Nico teaching his brother in the mirror how to give his best "tough guy" look. If you are going to be a part of the Morelli Mafia.. you must learn this!

Brothers- Joey looks larger than Nico!! Joey is 5 months old and now wearing 9 month clothing.

See mom, I DO eat!

Another tough guy pose..

Giving Bella kisses

My happy little Joe Beans...

COOKIEEEEES!

Nico at Pump it Up! So much fun and a cheap way for him to burn off some energy when it is cold or rainy...

Whoooo hoooooo....down the slide

Who is the bigger kid here... hmmmm

No Title :)

2010-05-01T21:00:00.011-05:00

I only wish Nico would actually eat some of the food in this fridge :)

Oh wait.. here he is eating a grilled cheese. Not at the table mind you...
Joey bag o' doughnuts..

Getting so big! He was in 6 month clothes at 4 months which really doesn't fair too well for us with reusing Nico's clothes as the seasons are not matching up even though they were both born in the same season. So much for THAT planning :)

Daddy's hat

You can't really tell from this picture but Nico and Joey are on their belly's on the floor and Nico is showing Joey the night light... saying "Wow..look at THIS"

I am so tired that I think I will just lay my head down..

Below are some shots of the almost completed addition.

Our bath

Boys Bath

Nico's room pre-decorated

Joey's room pre-decorated

Nico helping Daddy put together his big boy bed!

"tools, tools"

Awww, a little tear drop formed as I photographed this. Where does the time go?

Joey FINALLY gets out of the pack and play and into his own crib! YAY JOEY... (wasn't his fault we just simply had no where to put him until the addition was complete...poor kid)

Nico helping to turn on the mobile

So happy!

First bath in his new bathroom

Joey waiting patiently in the hall for his turn- Mario you look a little tired... could it be from moving the furniture all week? :)

Boys, boys and more boys...

2010-04-12T15:45:00.008-05:00

Our lil' man Joey had his 4 month check up and weighed in at 15lbs even! Both his height and his weight came in around the 50th percentile. I can't remember exactly (the sheet is somewhere in this mess of a house), but I want to say 52% for height and 56% for weight. I would have thought for sure lil' chubba lub would have been off the charts :) He had 4 vaccinations and with the first shot just growled at the nurse...the last three brought on a tear and a quick little cry and that was it. Tough guy!

Where's Waldo... I mean Nico?

So here is one of those times that I kinda just let Nico try and figure it out himself. He was standing on our neighbors retaining wall and decided he would try and scale down it. It was a LITTLE bit taller of a wall than he anticipated. Below he is hanging on for dear life yelling "HELP...HEEEELP"

As you can see from this shot he was a little frightened.. I still managed to quick take a pic before assisting him down. Ha!

We tried Joey on some solids... 4 months is a little early, but eh why not! This was applesauce.

It looks like he knows what to do...but we weren't very successful and then he yacked up what we did get down. I guess we will go back and try rice cereal first.

Always happy...

Making pancakes with Dad!

Nico would live outside if he could..

Joey's first time in the excersaucer. He loved it!

Mama and Joey

Self portrait attempt #2

Nico helping Joey with the nukie!

Mario video taped Nico running around... this was Nico's facial expression as he watched himself.

He thought it was hilarious and at the end would laugh and laugh and then say "agaaain" and we would have to play it over and over again.

Then of course he had to get into the excersaucer because his brother did :)

I remember when Nico's feet didn't even touch.

Here and there...this and that

2010-04-05T16:20:00.011-05:00

Lately Nico has become a bit demanding. He will ask for things and end his sentence with "NOW".. this picture is of him saying over and over... "put my oatmeal on the table....NOW"... he says it with a little grin and it is so hard not to laugh!

The unhappy frog :(

I am sure he gets this from Mommy- he will pick up his phone, open it, dial....

Then say "hello? hi"... and walk around muttering..

then say "Bye" and close the phone..

Fat and happy.... look at that belly! You could pop it with a pin..

Wrestling again...

On the counter eating dinner again (shame shame)... believe it or not this is Nico chanting "broccoli, broccoli"...

Tired Joey

Standing in his drawer to turn on the music!

The "Burley Boys".. or in this case the "Nukie Boys"

Nico took my camera during our walk and the next few pics are ones he took ...they crack me up.

Quite artistic

Lately every time we have to get dressed or change a diaper it is an argument. Now he will wrap his hands around his legs and curl up like below so we can't change him. Frustrating!

Joey at Easter

The jumping Morelli's!

This face says it all..

The zooooooooo

Poor Joey in the background in the stroller

Boys will be boys....right?

2010-03-26T13:55:00.008-05:00

Look at my handsome little ham hock! Those great big eyes... oh what color will they be??

WARNING!! ABOUT TO GO OFF ON A TANGENT! I took the boys to Edinburough Park today to let Nico blow off some steam.. We met Grandma Corky there.. Nico is and always has been my little daredevil. He will usually try anything once (unless it is food related).. he loves to jump and climb and bounce and test himself and his limits. Does he get hurt sometimes... YES, but would I ever stop him....NO! Some parents look at me like I am crazy when he is teetering on the edge of a wall with a 5 ft drop off. I know he is only 2 but we always say "be careful, you could fall and get hurt".. then we let him make his own decision. Of course he has gotten hurt and had his share of bumps and bruises but I would have it no other way. I don't want to generalize because I have met some pretty woosie boys and some daredevil girls (I was one)... but Nico is ALL BOY. We were at Children's Museum yesterday and there was this little girl with her mom about to go down a slide. She had to be about 1 1/2 maybe a tinch younger and this slide was no big thang...possibly 7 feet long and not a steep incline. The mother literally held onto her hand at the top of the slide and was reaching down holding onto her about 1/2 way down the slide. My mother in-law Gina was at the bottom ready to catch her and her mother looked TERRIFIED. Both of us just wanted to scream "LET HER GO".. she slid down about a foot and a half and started crying... LORD. Meanwhile Nico and his cousin Geno start wrestling down the slide headfirst laughing and screaming the whole way.

OK so pictures to make my tangent above make sense... There is this wall in the gym area of the indoor park and it has two LARGE steps. When I say large (tall) I mean like over half of his height. It takes him quite a bit to crawl up them. So he is standing at the edge with his little toes hanging over the side and looks at me and raises his eyebrow as to say "Can I jump Mommy?".. I say "Go ahead, be careful".. so as you can see from the first picture, he is jumping down rather timidly..

"Oh ok... I got this. Let me crawl up and try it again"

"I better get a running start"

"Yeeeehaw"

"Weeeeeeeeeee"

"Alrighhhy then"

OK by this time I was practically peeing my pants laughing. Those three mothers in the picture below were looking at me with the most judgemental eyes for letting him catapult himself off the steps like that. They each had little girls, playing nicely, quietly...

2010-03-21T15:07:00.004-05:00

This kid has a rough life!

The boys had to get their Twins gear and be prepared for the season!
Nico was not thrilled to be posing with his brother. I had to bribe him to sit there with PEZ.

Note to self- do not attempt to go to the Children's Museum w/ both boys unassisted :)

Hmmm, maybe this is why we have issues eating. Who in the world (me) would let their child eat sitting on the counter? At least he has veggies on his plate!

Nico loves to lay down in the bath now. It is funny because he changes his tone and voice level...it obviously sounds different when speaking with your ears full of water. I mess with him and whisper to him while he is submerged and he says .."Huh mommy?".. "what?"...haha...I am terrible!

I love my brother...

2010-03-16T11:04:00.005-05:00

The first of many wrestling matches to come!

Welcome Joey GianCarlo, to the Morelli Mafia.. nice shirt!

Nico uses so many stall tactics prior to bedtime these days. He will tell you before he goes to bed he needs to have his cars, his blankie, his nook, his trains (all of them), his woobies, the light on, a dance party, the heat on, Mommy kiss, Daddy kiss, Mommy and Daddy kiss, and to rock rock (cuddle in the rocking chair).. below is how I found them, two hours after Nico said "rock rock"..

Bath time!!

Catching Up!

2010-03-12T20:51:00.006-06:00

A lot has happened since the last post! Nico turned 2, Joey turned 3 months, almost all the snow has melted, etc, etc... I have heard people say that life gets even crazier when you add #2 to the mix. I would always say... "I won't be one of those people who let's the blog sit w/o updates".. HA, I have turned into that person.

The home remodel/addition is not finished. Let's just leave it at that.

Mr. Nico turned the big TWO on 2/27! This kid constantly cracks us up... it is amazing how much he learns and retains and REPEATS. He is as smart as a whip, tests you, negotiates with you, manipulates you ... I love it. I know I have said it before, but I will say it again... this is now my favorite age/stage. Nico is still obsessed with Thomas the Train. It is so cute watching him put them on the tracks and studying the motion of the wheels. He knows every single one of them by name and sleeps with ALL of them every night, along with his Thomas blanket and Thomas pillow. His 2 year stats are 7% for weight and 66& for height. A tall, lanky child? Ha! Let's just talk about the 7% for weight for a moment. Nico won't eat... well won't eat anything but fruit, oatmeal, eggs, hotdogs, chicken nuggets, veggies and hamburger helper. Yep, hamburger helper. I mean he will snack all day long on crackers, pretzels, chips, fruit chews, etc.. if you let him. Please, please tell me this will pass!

Joey is now 3 months. I just washed all of Nico's old 3-6 month clothes for him and put away the 0-3 month stuff...SNIFF! Really? 3 months already? I have to say from what we went through with Nico as a baby we were crossing our fingers to have a calm and happy #2...boy did we hit the jackpot! Joey is the smiliest, chill child. Calm, relaxed, sleeps through anything. Really the only time he cries is if he has a wet diaper or if he is hungry. Sometimes I look at him and wonder if he is ok! :) We are just not used to a quiet baby. I will say this though... he does not sleep through the night yet. Joey doesn't miss a meal... every 3 hours like clock work. Sometimes he will go 5 or 6 if he is in a very deep sleep, but more than not we are up twice throughout the night. Honestly we can't complain. I would take that over colic any day of the week!

Recently both boys were ill! Nico had a double ear infection and a cold. The cold and cough lasted a few weeks for him but he was able to kick it finally. Unfortuntaely Joey caught this virus from Nico. Joey had trouble fighting it himself so we ended up bringing him to the ER (on Mario's b-day) and discovered he had RSV. This ended up being a 3 night stint at Children's Hospital with him being hooked up to and IV and oxygen. Apparently this year was the worst in 5 years of RSV cases with Joey being 1 of over 200 babies checked into Children's at the time of his stay. I have to say that we were surprisingly calm throughout the entire ordeal... the reason is because of Joey :) Joey constantly had a smile on his face, even after major coughing spells that would cause him to gag and vomit. We knew he would be fine! On a big bummer of a note, we ended up having to cancel Nico's 2nd birthday party... 10lbs of Mostaccioli and a Thomas the Train cupcake cake... would have been so much fun :(

These pics start from early Jan and go through today 3/12. Check out how much Joey has changed. Crazy!

Smiles, smiles...

Nico really loves his baby bro!

Bella, always right in the action!

Joey's 2 month check up!

Such a ham!

Mr. Nico loves to blow his nose and tell you that he needs Kleenex.

What a thoughtful big brother helping Joey blow his nose!

Joey is grabbing onto toys now and putting them to his mouth. The color of his eyes is still in question. Some days they look brown and other days they look green. There definitely is a reddish tint to his hair, but you can only see it in certain sunlight! Just like Nico, he has mom's cheeks!

Nico playing with his new trains- Clarabelle, Annie and Fearless Freddie. Those are their names, just ask him, he will tell you!

Joey sitting up in his Boppy chair. Just like Nico as a baby, Joey absoultely despises tummy time. He will not even try to push up on his hands. He will just lay there with his face in the carpet screaming and crying until you pick him up. Sigh!

Because one straw isn't enough!

Joey GianCarlo Morelli

2010-01-19T06:48:00.001-06:00

"Joey G"- born 12/10 at 3:34 pm, 7lbs 1 oz and 20.5 inches long... Welcome to the Mafia!

What a difference a month can make....

2010-01-14T16:50:00.016-06:00

Wow what a difference a month can make! On December 10th, Mario and I had our second baby...you guessed it, another BOY! See I told you, the Morelli's don't produce little girls. It was perfect as I never had my hopes up. When they pulled him out and Mario said "It's another boy" I envisioned Nico and his little brother growing up fairly close in age and causing a LOT of trouble. Look out Hopkins...the Morelli boys are taking over!

Yep, quite large! Check in was 7:30am...

Since we didn't have time to stop on the way, I begged Deb our midwife for COFFEE!!!
Applying some make up quick before the epidural... laugh all you want :)

Baby Boy Morelli born at 3:34

Here we are leaving the hospital. One hour before we were discharged we decided on a name for the little dude. Joey GianCarlo Morelli...

Welcome hugs to the new one from Bella!

Nico's first glance at his new baby brother!

Such a big boy!

Kisses for Joey

Dad and his hockey team... um, I mean boys!

Born with a full head of hair... dang heart burn again!

Ok, so since we brought Joey home Nico has had some adjusting to do (obviously). I wouldn't think it has been anything out of the norm, but the following crack me up. He wants to do everything the baby does.

Sit in the baby swing

Sit in the Boppy

In the bassinet

In the car seat...

In the baby bath...

Ok so now for the Nico collection... this is what he has been up to for the past month! :)

Making sure he doesn't get dry skin in the winter months..

Helping Dad put up the Christmas tree

Eating Oatmeal..

Giving dirty looks..

Raiding the cabinets...

Brushing his teeth 10x a day..

Maxin' and relaxin'... This is why my Gramma calls me short pants!

First time on a sled... LOVED IT!

Eating snow..

Opening Christmas presents...

Playing with his new kitchen set..

Playing with the breast pump...

He knows exactly how to put it together for mommy! Such a great helper :)

As if we didn't have enough going on, we decided it would be great timing to rip the roof off of our house at the end of November and start a major remodel, two short weeks before Joey was born. FUN! NOT! Unfortunately and fortunately, this has been the hardest transition of all...living through this with 2 kids under 2. UGH! We keep telling ourselves to keep the end in sight... this is a short term problem for a long term solution. Also, we did it to ourselves so there is no one to blame but us :) Hopefully it will be done by June... ha ha ha!

Pee Pee on the toilet????

2009-11-12T16:55:00.002-06:00

Grandma Gina called last week and said that Nico tried to go potty on the toilet. Apparently during his bath he started squatting like he had to go and Grandma asked him if he had to go potty. She put him on the pot and he started trying to push... nothing came out but hey, at least he tried. So, the other night while we were giving Nico a bath I asked him if he had to go potty.. he said "Okay, okay" and we put him on the pot... he pushed and pushed and a little pee came out and then a cute (yes I said cute) little turd! We broke out into applause and clapping and laughed and laughed! We said "good job, you did it".. and then he got to do his favorite thing....flush! Right before bed we put him back on the pot and he did a little pee pee again and started screaming "I DID IT... GOOD JOB", oh my god it was hysterical... I have to be honest, I am not prepared for this stage... haven't read up on how to even start potty training, so we haven't done anything since. Is that bad? Is it going to confuse him?

2009-11-09T13:39:00.004-06:00

Doesn't this remind you a little of "The Wizard Of Oz"... hahaha!

Nico loves to go to "Donald's"... Mario is not too fond of Nico getting to go there, but hey... sometimes when you are running around like a chicken with your head cut off it is very convenient!! You have to be a bit smarter than Nico when you go there... you can typically only give him the nuggets first otherwise the only thing he will eat is the fries (see below).. "Fries", "Fries" he will say and you have to lie and tell him that you only got him nuggets and milk. Ugh, how are they so smart at this age??

We have had a bit of trouble with the "NUK" lately. He seems to all of a sudden be more dependent on it than he ever has been. With all the daily battles with raising a toddler, I say PICK YOUR BATTLES. How in the world are we going to enforce a "no nuk" policy in about 4 weeks with a new baby anyway?? :) Ok, that is me just giving excuses!!

Yes he is wearing a bead necklace from a Mardi Gras party!! haha

Nico 20 months!

2009-11-09T13:13:00.002-06:00

We recently had Nico's pictures taken! We wanted to do his 1 1/2 year photos but pushed it back a month so that we could try and get some good fall colors. WELL, October proved to be quite the crappy month, weather wise and I was nervous about getting good pictures, but our new photographer did and AWESOME job.

After asking grandparents to watch him closely the week prior to pictures so that we could minimize the bumps and bruises to his face (this kid jumps off anything, falls daily, etc) the evening prior to his pictures, in his parents care he slipped on the hardwood floor and put his teeth/tooth through his bottom lip. It was the most bloody accident Nico had had since he was born... We decided to keep the appointment and our photographer did a GREAT job of photo shopping it out. Ps- if your kid doesn't like to sit still I would highly recommend outdoor pictures so that they can run... he had a great time.

The photographer we used was Angela Kiefer, of Angela Elle Photography- like I said above, she is great and we will definitely be returning to her. If you are interested in seeing some of her stuff, her web address is-

www.angelaellephotography.com and blog is-

http://www.angelaellephotography.blogspot.com/

Emma Krumbee's

2009-10-26T14:47:00.004-05:00

Friday late afternoon was dark, rainy and cooooold! We were sick of being cooped up in the house this past week with the unfortunate weather so decided to go anyway. It was a quick trip and it looked like there would be so many fun things to do on a warm, fall day... guess we will save it for next year. We were in and out in an hour and that includes the time we spent in the bakery for Mario to buy all of his treats.

2009-10-23T14:51:00.001-05:00

Doesn't everyone read this way, standing on their toy farm?

Kisses from big bro Nico

My own personal Barista!!!

2009-10-23T14:00:00.000-05:00

Just a post!

2009-10-16T17:47:00.003-05:00

It amazes us every day the new things that Nico does and says. Nico's personality is certainly apparent- independent, daring, funny, particular (yes, still) and BUSY! He definitely knows how to push our buttons and tests us on a regular basis. So far we find it humorous... ask us again in 6 months :) We had his pictures taken on Tuesday and of course without fail Monday night he slipped and put his tooth through his bottom lip. I panicked a little bit at first, not at the injury but the thought of getting his picture taken with a busted up lip. After thinking about it we decided to continue with the pictures since really, it will provide accurate documentation of his day to day look- bumps, bruises, cuts, etc... he is ALL BOY! As soon as we get the pics we will post them. This is a really fun age. Mario is constantly stating "It is going too fast. I don't want him to get any bigger than this" but then I remember when he said that when Nico was 6 months old. It seems like every stage and age is new, different and awesome to experience.

Finally a nice fall day!

2009-10-08T12:09:00.003-05:00

Little monkey Nico is obsessed with bananas. He could eat 2 a day if we let him. At this time he will only eat them if you peel it and he gets to hold it like a big boy. No more cutting into chunks!

Nico is 19 months!

2009-10-05T12:48:00.005-05:00

Some random pics of the boy the past week! Nico is now 19months old...so many new words and small phrases it just cracks me up. I really should start writing these down.

All ready for his PMO class! We are running into the issue of his 12 month clothes being too small and drowning in his 18 month clothes :)

My brown eyed boy..
Nico loves trains. He will connect them all and pull them around on the floor.
Nico also likes to climb on stools, chairs, etc.. he can get himself up pretty easily and then gets stuck and cannot get down. If we are in the other room he will yell "HEY".. "HEY".. then we will walk in and he will say "Down" or "Downise" for help to get down.
I told him to smile and this is what I got :)

He climbed up all by himself and pulled out the drawer with the keyboard in it. First thing he typically does is rip the volume control button of the keyboard and hand it to you. "There you go" or "All done" and he puts it in your hand. One of these days I am sure he will bury it somewhere.. the garbage, the litter box or the recycle bin and it will be gone for good making his dad oh so thrilled. I can hear it now- Mario- "DAMN IT... Nico where did you put the volume button? Oh great I am sure it is the exact same place you put my PS3 controller 5 months ago that we STILL have not found"

30 week belly shots!

2009-09-29T15:39:00.001-05:00

Ok I thought I would post one more using the same shirt as when pregnant with Nico. I think I am dead even with size and where I am carrying! Your thoughts??

30 weeks. Yikes!

2009-09-28T14:11:00.002-05:00

Ok, so here I am at 30 weeks (well 30 weeks this coming Friday).. and below this one is the 30 week pic from when I was pregnant with Nico. What is with the hand on the hip?? DORK!

30 week shot with Nico! One thing is for sure... I am PASTY in both!

Random Pics...

2009-09-28T14:04:00.002-05:00

Clearly these two woke up a bit too early this particular morning. They look comfy watching Elmo though. I am sure that Mario will be pleased at me posting a pic of him in pajama pants and a sleeveless shirt. HOT!!

This kid LOVES his ice cream treats!
LOVES!

Hmmm, someone is being naughty!! Nico got the "daredevil" gene from me. This child is not afraid of much (with the exception of strangers). He climbs on ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING. Grandma Gina caught him on the counter at her house.. he had climbed the bar stool to get onto the counter because he knows which cabinet houses the M&M's. Here he has climbed onto one of his toys to open dresser drawers.

Breakfast time at the Morelli's consists of Nico sitting on your lap and eating. For some reason his seat does not suffice.

Our Annual Trip Out West

2009-09-28T10:10:00.021-05:00

At the end of August our family was able to enjoy a 4 night stay out west on Puget Sound in Washington. It is always great to be able to get out there once a year and bum around on the beach, see family and relax. Mario's parents were able to join us this year, so that was an extra special bonus!

Here is the whole crew!

The beach with the fog lifting!

Traci and Nellie

What a devil face...kinda sums it up :)

Sharing with Uncle Tim (as he would like to be called..haha)

It was "humpie" season while we were there. Literally hundreds of salmon jumping out of the water in front of the house while we watched. You would think we that many it would be fairly easy to catch some. It ended up being our quest while we were there. I believe between everyone we caught 3 or 4 total :) Here is Mario proudly displaying his first catch.

kiss kiss...

And Corky with hers!!!

Mario and Jer!

Going out to drop the crab pot!

quite the haul..

Time to get crackin'

And a stop at Pike's Place Market..

Fresh Squid... I believe this is year 3 that we have purchased fresh squid to take home and make our own breaded Calamari. YUM!

Traci and Nellie on the lucky pig.. We were rubbing the Buddha belly saying "Girl, Girl".. but I don't even think the lucky pig can break the Morelli boy streak!!

Mike and Gina

Squid face!! The process of cleaning and cutting our own Calamari is disgusting (no other way to put it), but I believe we paid around $6 for 6lbs of squid. It is worth the pain!

Corky fishing for those humpies!!

Nellie after the great humpie!

Nico running the beach..

Turning over rocks to find little crabs..

Ish.. a big jelly fish that had come up with the tide!

Beautiful sunsets!

Does this necklace make me look fat?

2009-08-20T16:34:00.002-05:00

Pics from 23 weeks! I was comparing to when pregnant with Nico at 24 weeks and wow is there quite the difference. Dr. Stealey are you sure there aren't two in there?

Table for 3!

2009-08-20T16:17:00.005-05:00

Nico has graduated to the big time. He is now in a seat at the table versus in his highchair. This change is slow going as a lot of the times he does not want to sit in his seat but rather in your lap to eat. Hmmm... also meal time in general has become difficult. He is a SNACKER! Then when it is time to eat a meal he isn't hungry enough to care. He will take one bite and say "downsy".. means either he wants to get down from the table or he is done. Looks like Dad and Ma are going to have to get tough and take away snacks. They are such a good bribe though...

The SLP aquatic center has become a fun relief from the 3 days of warm weather we have had this summer.. haha! Nico is definitely a water baby. He has also become quite the dare devil (gets that from mom).. Jumps off of the side of the pool, the arm of the couch, his rocker chair, the bed, etc... NO FEAR~

Nico is pretending to be a cat. Not only does he like to pretend to feed them by fake pouring the crunchies into their dish, he actually likes to get his face down in the food on all fours and make eating noises while pretending to eat it. Can I use the word "pretending" anymore in this paragraph?

Well hello there little one!

2009-08-03T13:41:00.003-05:00

Today we had our ultra sound for Baby #2! Everything is right on track with measurements- number of fingers and toes, chambers of the heart, etc. We are thrilled! Our due date is still 12/18 and we are tossing around the idea of being induced a week early. Since Nico's labor and delivery was without complications our midwife suggested that we induce early so that we can get the little one's birthday as far away from the holiday as possible. I really liked not knowing when I would go into labor. The thought of every little ting and cramp wondering "is this it?", "was that a contraction" is exciting to me. UGH, what to do!!?? I think that we will opt to be induced just for the sake of the little one not having to have birthday's compete with the holiday's.

Oh and ps- every time the ultra sound tech needed baby #2 to do something, like sit still or un-ball the fist, this baby complied. She said "Wow, sooo cooperative".. please oh PLEASE let this child be a relaxed, calm baby :)

Boys are messy!

2009-07-20T08:07:00.004-05:00

We could hear him in the cereal cabinet. Just as Mario said "I am surprised he hasn't dumped them all over the floor", we heard the sound of all of the Pops hitting.

Fun with the cat food. At least he doesn't eat it anymore!

Watering the basil and mint leaves..

and of course playing in the mud.

Grandma said that I could eat the mint leaves....but that they were very strong

Yep, she was right!

I am going to try and fake out my mom so that she thinks I am JUST going to smell the flowers..

tricked her again... I am going to yank them out of the ground. So fun!

Hot Days Ahead....

2009-07-10T21:50:00.003-05:00

Nico was promised an allowance if he remembered to water Grandma Corky's pea pods and tomatoes. So far so good!

Guess he thought it would be a good time to take a little sip himself.
Then he decided it would be funny to drench me as well!

Thirsty boy

Soaked boy..

Time to fill up the pool with a hole in it :) Please disregard the brush in the back ground that needs to be burned.

Clean up time...

Little Helper!

2009-07-10T21:30:00.002-05:00

Anything electronic will have Nico's interest as you can see here with him trying to assist his uncle Tommy figure out his new computer. I am just SURE Nico had some good input.

"Uncle, you push Control/Alt/Delete to start it over... here, let me show you"

Weekends Go So Fast!

2009-07-05T18:05:00.009-05:00

Nico received this awesome wagon from two of Mario's Auntie's for his 1st birthday. It has cup holders, storage in the seats and a door that swings open. The Mac Daddy of wagon's!!

Doesn't Dad look thrilled to be pulling him!

He likes to get in and out himself. NO HELP!

Yep, at the lake again!

Whoa...the sand is hard to walk in!

Slowly learning how to use a spoon and feed himself. When I say SLOOOW, I mean very slow :)

The little turkey knows exactly where the cereal cabinet is and will take the bag out of the box and drag it to you!

Lately this has been his "thing".. he wants to push the stroller and sometimes only pushing it by the big handle (thus making us pick him up so he can reach) will appease him. Looks a little strange on our walks.

The ladies at the tennis court were nice enough to give him a ball when he busted in through the gate as they were practicing.

2009-07-03T10:24:00.006-05:00

Wow, is it July already!? Why does it always seem like the winters drag on and the summers go so quickly? Oh well, we have enjoyed lots of days outside. Every morning we go on our "walk".. We leave the same time Mario leaves for work (8am) and get home just in time for his morning nap (10am).. we walk up and down Mainstreet and then to various parks in the area. Nico has quite the following with the "Mainstreet" crew. The same people drink their coffee at the coffee shop outside almost every day (they call him "Red"), and the ladies at all the shops just love him. Roger at the tanning salon always manages to come out and say "hello" too. The old guy that uses a walker to get to the Tav on Main by 8:30 (it is 5:00 somewhere, right) never misses his chance to ask Nico if he would like to switch places with him. Super cute!

This kid is soaking up things like a sponge- we have been working on flash cards introducing a new one every week. So far he says- dog, car, shoes, turtle, hi, bye, fish, dada, Belba (our cat Bella), makes the sounds of a monkey, dog, firetruck, cat and can also use the word NO in the right context. If we are at the park and I say "ok, let's go home".. he will look right at me and say "NO".. or if he knows that he shouldn't be doing something, like going into the cabinet with the cleaning supplies, he will look at you and say "NO" and then open the door. It is so hard to not laugh! He also understands what you say to him now so if I say "Go get your shoes so we can go on our walk" he will run and get his sandals and bring them to you. "Put your head down", he will lay his head down on the pillow. If you say "It is time for a nap" he will grunt at you because he doesn't want to take one. He knows to go to the fridge if you say "Do you want some milk" or if you ask if he is hungry or wants breakfast/lunch/dinner, he will go over to his highchair. It is quite a fun age!

In other news, we are pregnant again, due in December! I think Nico is in for a rude awakening. He seems to get quite jealous when I hold other babies in front of him. This should be interesting :)

Just like his mom, always bending the rules going up the down slide!

Back at the beach!

Feeding the ducks!

Pointing at the airplane

And the fish!

For some reason he is really into eating rocks right now!!

In his new pool that already has a hole in it.

We're Back!

2009-06-21T11:19:00.006-05:00

Computer is fixed and I have about 10 minutes until Nico wakes up from his nap!! Man are 1 year old children BUSY!

The Burley Boy
Outside in the rain

At the beach!

Literally running to the water...

First ice cream cone..

2009-06-21T10:30:00.000-05:00

Attack of the killer stuffed animals

I knew there had to be a reason it was so quiet...
New big boy chair

Fixed!

2009-06-15T13:15:00.004-05:00

Our computer was on the FRITZ... and because we feared that our motherboard was the issue resulting in the need for a whole new computer, we procrastinated in taking it in to see what the problem was. Well because I prefer a desk top to the lap top I finally cracked and pleaded for Mario to fix it. Come to find out we just needed a new video card...thank GOODNESS! So a new blog update will be posted soon...I promise. Stay tuned!

Weather, weather, please stay!!

2009-04-21T15:26:00.005-05:00

We have been getting a TON of use out of the park by our house. It is about 5 blocks away, which is perfect. He is enjoying meeting all the other kiddies on the block, but needs to work on his manners around the ladies! I will definitely work on that!

Helping dad!

Does the remote go there?

FLASH BACK!!!

2009-04-13T10:25:00.003-05:00

Flash back one year!!!!

Doc said to keep an eye on this guy....he is trouble :)

2009-04-13T10:13:00.007-05:00

Hmmm, I wonder why Nico is being so quiet!?!?!

This was certainly NOT quiet!

BUSTED!

Punishment- sweep up the breezeway!!

Bath time!!

Random- Traci and Mario at the Twins opener

Flyin' high!!

Close up!

Flyin' high #2

Close up!

Hmm, for someone who made fun of my "Snuggie"... looks like you are pretty comfy!

Smart boy knows where the keys go!!

That is what I like to see... my boys doing dishes!!!

Weather!

2009-04-05T11:16:00.004-05:00

When is the yo-yo weather going to end? We need it to be nice outside so that we are not stuck in the house anymore. We did capitalize on a few hours the other day.... I swear it dropped 20 degrees in the two hours we were outside... now I am looking at a yard full of snow again. Yuck!

mom- shouldn't you have taken this straw out of here BEFORE winter hit?

He climbed in here unassisted!

Easter Bunny Already??

2009-03-25T15:23:00.002-05:00

So obviously this went WAY better than I had thought it would. I had visions of about oh, 4 months ago when he met Santa... it was not pretty, although made for a very funny photo :)

We have a walker!!!

2009-03-24T10:31:00.006-05:00

Things are changing around the Morelli household! Nico started walking about a week before his first birthday and has certainly fine tuned his skill since then. Nico is a walkin' fool. It is so funny to watch him stumble around like a drunken sailor. He is so independent but yet sometimes still so very clingy. There are times when he will bat your hand away when you are trying to help him get around and then times where he is suctioned onto your leg like cling wrap. This usually happens of course when I am trying to make dinner, which makes it oh so challenging. Little man is very good with a sippy cup so we have gotten rid of the bottle with the exception of right before bed (I think that is more for us..haha). In the mornings he likes to sit at the breakfast bar with Mario and have his snack. We are so happy the weather is getting nicer and look forward to spending more time outside. Our shoe box of a house is definitely suffocating come February/March :)

The slide was very skinny.. Mario got stuck. Good thing I didn't try and go down as I probably wouldn't have gotten very far :)

After a long day of visiting Bethany, Daniel and their new addition June, playing at the park and going on a walk, all that fresh air took a toll and he was out like a light. He didn't even wake up when I undressed him and put him in his jammies!

Birthday's, Birthday's and more Birthday's...

2009-03-24T10:00:00.000-05:00

This time of year we celebrate a bunch of birthday's!! It just so happens that this year was a BIG DEAL. Tricky Dicky turned 60, my bro Scott turned 30, MARIO TURNED 30 and Nico turned 1.... WOW! We all had a great time (minus Nico) at Fogo De Chao in Minneapolis. The food was good, the drinks were great and the company was the BEST. Happy Birthday Boys!!

Doesn't everyone look thrilled!!! I think stomachs were settling at this point... that is a LOT of meat to eat!

Nico's Birthday Party!

2009-03-08T20:58:00.003-05:00

Mmmm, Mostaccioli and Meatballs....

"I LOVE IT"

"Have some Grandma"

My own special cake that Nonna Baregi made, but as you can see I was done for the evening!

And so was my mom after she finished this 3 liter bottle of Chianti

There was about 20 minutes of grunting and red faced behavior and this is what was produced! I love to brush my teeth!