All in a days work... wait, what?

Happy Birthday Melissa!

Couldn't imagine my life without my sister! Thanks for everything you do for my family!

No charge for...

Isabella has been on a Kung-fu Panda kick lately and on Thursday she told us:

"There is no charge for offsomeness... or atraptiveness. SKIDOOSH!"

Meanwhile, Braden is just as turtley cute! He's like a little tank- chunking up quite nicely haha.

Isabella-isms III

Okay a few more funny Isabella-isms to share:

The other night she told me:

"Daddy! NO hugging me, I fraaaagile!"

Another good one, Ash and I were laughing at something in the car the other day, and Isabella in the back must've felt she'd had enough, because she said:

"Stop that guys, I don't have time for this."

Just yesterday Isabella was "making cookie dough" on the porch, playing with her kitchenette set, and she tells Ashley:

"They're goin' to be SO good- but don't worry mommy, there won't be ANY calories in them."

Isabella's first theater experience!

I'm so excited, today we're taking Isabella to the early show of Pixar's new movie "Up". It'll be her first time in a theater and it'll be so fun! Just have to remember to load up on popcorn.

It'll be so neat to see her reaction to the big screen!

Snow gas

This weekend was beautiful, the sun was out, the snow was melting, the birds chirping. So we had to take a few hours to play with the kids outside, right? I took Isabella out yesterday and she drove around in her car for about an hour and a half.

After about 10 minutes she told me she had to fill it with gas. The look on her face was so sad- for where would she find a gas station for her car!!? Thats when we found out that Snow gas works quite well. In fact it worked so well that for the next hour she went up and down the block with us filling up her car with, thats right, Snow gas!

In other news...

Our oldest furry buddy Taylor has been acting strange lately. Ashley's found him staring off into the corner a few times, and when she calls to him he doesn't snap out of it. I've seen the same thing happen myself when I ask the dogs if they want to go outside. Usually just saying it gets both riled up, but recently, Taylor just kinda looks around and doesn't get excited like he used to.

We don't know his exact age, but know that he's somewhere in the neighborhood of 11-14. When we first brought him home he was extremely malnourished and as he was a rescue, the vets could only guess at his age.

Anyways, its sad to see him change so suddenly, I think this winter has really taken its toll on him. He's not in his most fit shape either, but thats partly my fault. I don't take them out for walks as often as I should. We call him our "Twinkie on stilts" for good reason.

He is the first real pet I've ever owned, and the thought of having to put him down if the time comes to it really disturbs me. I mean, he'll let me know when its time I guess. I have many friends who've lost pets, and I'm starting to prepare myself for the inevitable with him. My heart goes out to anyone who've lost a beloved pet, I can really imagine how hard it is.

Just gotta keep giving him lots of love and attention I guess, and hope that the warmer weather helps to improve his condition. We lov ya Taylor buddy!

Mishtur Grumpy

So recently my daughter has come up with this fun little game. She calls me "Mishtur Grumpy" and then runs away at top speed, egging me on to chase her. In fact, when "Mishtur Grumpy" doesn't follow suit, she yells out- "CHASE ME MISHTUR GRUMPY!"

Oh man I never want to forget these memories!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Dad we love you so much, thanks for everything you do for us!!

Happy Birthday!

Ever wonder what lack of sleep looks like?

I'm pretty sure this is one sign...

Yeah thats right. Thats baby formula in the coffee filter. Ashley just about had it in the pot before she realized what she had done.

Our Pups

So when I was a kid, my sister and I never had the pleasure of owning a pet. Well okay, thats not entirely true, I did keep a turtle for about 3 weeks before I had to give him to the zoo. It turns out that Michaelangelo was actually Michaelangelette and had babies while there. So it turned out better in the end. Haha. Now, looking back, I know why my parents didn't like the idea of pets, but as I grew up I couldn't help but feel like it would have been really nice to own one.

So when Ashley came home with a little rescue from the Petco in Orlando, I was really excited. Back then his name was Truman, and we could tell he had up until that point, had a very hard life. When we took him in he suffered from Heart Worm, his hair was falling out, and he was extremely malnourished. They were going to euthanize him only a week after Ashley saw him.

Instead she convinced the caretakers at Petco to take on the treatment costs, and in exchange we would nurse him back to health and provide a good home. Now, nearly six years later, he's our twinkie on stilts, and one of my best buddies.

Meet Taylor.

Madison's story is somewhat similar, though she was much more healthy when I took her in. Like Ashley did for me a year earlier, I decided that I would get a dog for Ashley. Besides, Taylor needed a playmate at home. Back then we were going through school and it was apparent that we were both away from the house for much of the day.

So I headed to Petco, the same one she found Taylor at, and I started looking about. They sure had a bunch of dogs there, and most were well groomed and had playful temperaments. I chanced a look to my right, away from all the commotion and saw a few cages near the back. There were three dogs that were penned up, and no one was paying attention to them. I happened to stop in front of Madison's cage and decided to see if she'd warm up to me.

Now they didn't have her name printed anywhere, so I had no idea what she was called. She crawled up into my lap, and I could tell she hadn't been washed in several weeks. She was uncomfortable in her own skin, but I knew she was happy to recieve some affection.

I decided then that she'd be coming home with me. Now the funny thing was, Ashley and I had planned several weeks earlier, that we were going to move to Madison when we were finished with school. We had even begun to pack boxes up in the apartment.

So I recieved the paperwork and began to sign it, then asked: by the way, what is her name? I was stunned- her name was Madison.

Congratulations Andy & Beth!

Congratulations on your wonderful little bundle of joy Andy and Beth!!

Welcome to the world baby Eleanor!

Happy Birthday Isabella!

Happy birthday Isabella!!!

We love you so much and are SO PROUD of you!!

Family Resemblance

Wow this is just uncanny... The top most picture is me as a baby, while the one under it is Braden. The second set is me and Isabella. I mean I know that's how its supposed to work, but wow!

New Hair Do

And we didn't even use any gel. I'm so proud of him!!

(I usually drool like this when I'm sleeping)

Braden's Birth Announcement

Braden lil video.

Welcome into the world ma'boy!!

Braden was born early this afternoon!

He was born at 3:55 pm and is 7 lbs 13 ounces, 20 inches long. He has been up looking around and been very awake, taking everything in. Ashley is feeling great, and we had one of our personal friends as our nurse throughout the delivery. Thanks so much for all you've done Nicole!!

We were admitted early this morning at 8 am and Ashley was given a round of Petosin (sp?) to help speed up her contractions. By mid morning there was an obvious change, and by early afternoon (1-ish) the doctor came in and broke her water.

From there on out, it went pretty fast, and not before long she was ready to have start pushing. From the time she started to the time he was here was about 20 minutes. Oh did I mention we only made it through Lord of the Rings 1 and 2 extended versions before he arrived! We figured we'd have plenty of time to get through all three! WEEEHU!

WAY TO GO ASHLEY!!!!

Here are a few pictures, I'll post more tomorrow!! Thanks for all the love and support-

~The Mariucci's

Feeding the ducks

The other day after work Ashley and I had to run some errands, and I remembered we had some bread that was getting old. So instead of throwing it away, we decided to take Isabella to the park to feed it to the ducks.

Needless to say she had a good time, even despite the cold weather. I hadn't even gotten out of the car before the whole flock had surrounded us. It was pretty apparent that this wasn't the first time they've been fed by humans. Toward the end, little fights where breaking out in the flock, I noticed it was mostly the females fighting other females. That made me a little sad :(

Anyways, we gave them nearly the whole loaf and Isabella was quack quack quacking all the way home.

Announcement: Baby News

Okay I thought I'd give a quick update on Braden and Ashley.

We're scheduled to be induced next Monday, January 12th. He'll only be 1 week early at that point and the doctor is confident his lungs will have developed fully by then. We were hoping that she could be induced this week because of all the complications she's had with this pregnancy, but its better that he's kept in a little longer. As the doc stated, we wouldn't be working against mother nature at this point, but we sure wouldn't be working with her either. So its better that way.

Ashley is in high spirits and is looking forward to next Monday to be sure.

It sure has been a long road to this point, and my only regret is that we haven't enjoyed the pregnancy more, I wish we could have. The main thing to look forward to of course, is that tiny little guy who will be taking his first breath very soon. Mommy is doing as well as possible and can't wait to hold our little boy.

So yeah, many people have been asking, and I thought I'd post a little update. I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays!