Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Morning Affirmation

This morning Tony walked by me and said, "Mom, you count."

I thought about this for a moment and felt warm all over. Doesn't everyone need to hear this from time to time? I matter to someone! I count for something in his book!

As I sat there, feeling loved and appreciated, he came back by and repeated it: "Mom, you count, I'll hide."

Oh. I get it. I needed to hear the rest of it to understand exactly what he was getting at.

Ah, well. Playing hide and seek with your 3 year old is just another form of affirmation, is it not? I'll take what I can get.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Winter Wonderland

Holy snowflakes, Batman! We got some serious snow, a total novelty for this native California family. Some photos of the amazing past 24 hours here at the Di Silvestri house...

It snowed all day, from 6:30am to midnight, without letting up even once. All told, we got somewhere between 6 and 10 inches (it took awhile to stick, so it is hard to say exactly) and at times the dry, fluffly snowflakes were the size of 50 cent pieces, like this:

The view from our 2nd story window at about 4pm yesterday:



What we woke up to this morning:





The scene as I drove Natalie to her first doctor's appointment this morning, along with all the other people in town who have no idea how to drive in the snow:




The kids went sledding this afternoon, as the snow quickly melted and turned to slush around them (that is Lindsey sliding down in the blue coat). They had so much fun, as school was canceled again today!



After sledding, they all thawed out in the hot tub, because what could be more fun than hot tubbing in the snow?! A priviledged life? I think so!




The kids all prayed it would snow this year...thank you, God, for answering this prayer in such a thorough and wonderful way! We have had so much fun.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

A December to Remember



A new baby and snow, all in the same month?! What have we done to deserve this?

School was canceled today (it doesn't take much snow for us Californians to throw in the towel) and, as you can see, the kids have been busy since they woke up. They are pulling the snow off the ground faster than it can accumulate...although at the rate it is currently snowing, they won't be able to beat nature much longer.

They have gone off to sled on Quartz Hill. What novel fun for us all!

Friday, December 12, 2008

That's My Boy

Joey finished his amazing football season last weekend by defeating not one, but two previously undefeated teams in the Jr. Rosebowl Tournament in Orange County. The Hawaii State Champions and the Torrance Panthers both fell to the mighty Rebels in intense competition (followed by much deserved revelry at Knotts Berry Farm). Congratulations, Rebels, what a season!

However, this post is not about Joey. It is about Sam.

Jay took both boys to Orange County for this tournament weekend while I stayed close to home with the little ones, also making sure Lindsey got to sing with her choir at the creche festival (which was lovely, by the way).

On Saturday morning, Joey had to be at the field for weigh in at 6:30 am. The game began at 8am. Jay dropped Joey off and took Sam for breakfast, spending the last of his cash. Jay called me about 7:30 frantic because his ATM card wasn't working for some reason and he needed cash to get into the game. We spent the next hour and a half on the phone with Bank of America trying to get it sorted out and then with American Express trying to get emergency cash so Jay wouldn't miss the game. Jay and Sam went from place to place, with instruction from American Express, to find a Western Union that would open before 10am. It was incredibly frustrating for Jay, as various places told American Express they would be open and then when he arrived they were closed.

Finally, at about 8:30 I remembered that grandma had given Sam $20 for his good report card just before he left. I told Jay to ask him if he had it on him.

Jay said, "Sam, do you have $20?"
"Yeah."
"Are you kidding?"
"No. Why?"

All Jay and I could do was laugh, because Sam was totally unaware during all of this that Jay only needed $8 to get in the game and that he had the means to solve the problem in his pants pocket the entire time. Our incredibly bright, straight A student has so little awareness of what is going on around him sometimes that it can be nothing but totally endearing. That's our Sam, and I couldn't love him more.

Thursday, December 04, 2008

No Less Miraculous the 7th Time

Here are some more photos of Natalie. What a joy she is!






I have spent all of my spare time over the last two days staring at her in wonder. Her tiny ears, perfectly formed features, little sighs and grunts are no less amazing to me than Joey's were ten years ago. I could never get tired of looking at this perfect little person, God's creation, who only a few days ago was hidden from sight in my giant belly. I know how fleeting these early days are, so I am trying to be present in every moment.

On another note entirely, take a look at the photo of Lindsey above. Notice the gorgeous, straight teeth? She got her braces off the very day Natalie was born. Congratulations, my dear, you are beautiful!

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

A Name At Last

For those of you wondering...we have finally chosen a name for our daughter.

Natalie Lucia Di Silvestri, welcome to the world!

More photos tomorrow.

Happy Baby!

Baby Girl Di Silvestri arrived safe and sound at 11pm. She weighed 8lbs 7oz and measured 20.5 inches. Mom is doing fine too. Labor was relatively quick once it got started, thank goodness.

Thanks for your prayers, all is well. We will let you know her name as soon as we pick one!

Monday, December 01, 2008

Finally In the Hospital

Well, my water broke early this morning and I have been sitting on a gurney in the hospital triage since about 10am waiting for a room to open up. One just did about a half hour ago and I am now, happily, in a delivery suite waiting to meet our new daughter.

Since I have not, in the 12 hours since my water broke, established any regular contractions on my own, they have just started me on Pitocin. This is definitely to my dismay, but I am actually glad that I had the time to sit and see what could happen rather than them going right away to the assist.

Hopefully, this will not be the marathon that Isabella's delivery was, but whatever comes, at least the time is here. We'll keep you posted. Keep us (and the grandparents who are watching all the kids and probably have a tougher 24 hours ahead of them than I do) in your prayers!

Jay insisted that I include this photo of me blogging at the hospital...for your amusement: