Happy Birthday Mom

This picture is one of my favorites

Me and My Gal

Julie's Shower

I don't know how many of you have ever happened to peruse maternity store catalogs. Generally the pages are filled with women who are fit as fiddles and have these cute, protruding bellies. I swear Julie could be in one of these catalogs. She looks so great! I can't wait to meet Baby Castiglione. The shower today was alot of fun. You can tell how loved that baby is already. I'm looking forward to seeing my sister-in-law next weekend. She also could be a model for maternity wear. I'm so excited!

Who Needs Barbells?

This is not an unusual sight at our house. If David is holding Lily, Jack wants to be held too. That's about fifty pounds right there.

Entertaining His Sister

This morning Jack went over to Lily, knelt down, and started singing to her. It was such a sweet moment. I love when he interacts with her and I especially love how Lily watches her big brother. He kept saying to her, "Do you want to sing?"

Catching Up On Some Light Reading

One Shoe Jack...

Today I went on my second outing to Wegmans with the kids. I think I was a little cocky after our first trip. That excursion was relatively uneventful and downright fulfilling upon completion. So, I thought I'd take advantage of the spike in temperature (it's almost 40' here today) and get some groceries. Unfortunately this time it was not a great trip.

When I take both kids grocery shopping I have to find the extra large truck carts to accomodate all our cargo. If you ever feel like testing out your navigational dexterity and your patience levels, I recommend using one of these carts. Steering one of these things around Wegmans is what I can only imagine steering an ocean liner down the Erie Canal would be like. Today the wheels on my cart did not rotate well either. Any time I had to turn the cart I had to pick it up off the ground and then set it in the direction I wanted to go. Anyway, after the inital hurdles of getting both kids squared away in the truck cart (Lily in front, Jack in the bottom)I set out on my grocery path. I made sure to stop and get a bagel first...just to keep Jack happy. Meanwhile, fellow shoppers were commenting on my cart prowess. One lady said, "You need lights for that thing." I still felt pretty confident.

We were doing ok until about halfway through the trip when Jack started grabbing for things at his level. These carts make it really difficult for the parent to see the child in the bottom (they should come equipped with some type of mirror). So, after Jack knocked over a greeting card display, some baby wipes and many boxes of crackers, I had to maneuver the cart with even greater care. Shortly after this Jack and Lily both started getting antsy. Lily started fussing and Jack started craning his body outside the truck. I kept yelling, "Jack, back in the truck." People walking by got a kick out of the production though and kept laughing at him. Then when I was in the cereal aisle (almost done) I looked down and noticed Jack sitting with one leg propped up on the dash of his truck sans sock and shoe. Forget about how gross it is to have your barefoot on a grimy shopping cart...now I had a whiny toddler without footwear. His shoes are expensive too. We have to buy special shoes since he has such a wide foot. The thought of me navigating around the store again with that SUV of a cart was overwhelming. I decided to forego it and hope that someone returned the shoe to customer service. I headed for the checkout and every person I passed informed me my son was missing a sock and shoe. One sweet older gentleman even offered to comb the store for me. The good news is that I did get the shoe back (thank you customer service) but had to forget the sock. Jack was not thrilled about putting a shoe on without a sock.

All I could think of during this time was a song that David sang when he was little. He was in a play and there was this song about a "One Shoe Bear." I've heard Toni sing it a bunch of times and it kept playing in my head. Jack was my One Shoe Bear today. I was so stressed when I left Wegmans. Then on the way home both kids fell asleep. I decided to take advantage of the quiet and drove to Starbucks for a mocha latte (Starbucks drive-thrus are the best invention ever). So, it wasn't an entirely bad trip after all.

Who knew a Wegmans outing could be such an adventure?! I'll keep you posted on my third trip.