Christmas Tree

The first year that Dave and I were married we got this monsterous Christmas tree that was way too big for our little townhome. This year, we decided on a petite version which we are absolutely loving. It took Dave 30 seconds flat to put the lights on it, but we are absolutely loving the smell and inspiration it brings to our home. Isabella loves putting the ornaments on and off.

Valley Music Center Christmas Party

Dave and his partner, George, through a fantastic holiday party at a local venue to celebrate the work of their staff. Isabella had a wonderful time playing with George's 2 daughters, Elizabeth and Mikayla.

"Dashing through the Snow..."

Isabella went racing down the hills of Panther Valley in her baby sled. Dave was nice (and energetic) enough to pull her up and down the hills over and over again while she chanted "more, more". You would never know he is turning 40 tomorrow. Happy Birthday, D!

Stir Crazy

What does an energetic toddler look like after being snowed in for 3 days? You guessed it - scary stuff :)

First Words

Isabella has been chatting for a while now. I totally have to admit that hearing my daughter utter her first words really does melt my heart. She certainly likes to say her piece. Wherever could she have gotten this from - Grandma, Nana, or Aunt Lindsay? Call in your votes to Tele-Bella.

Anyway, among her words, are: Mama, Dada, Papa (for Grandpa), Nana (for Great Grandma Sacco), Elmo, shoes, me, home, blue, cracker, key, bye-bye, hi, more, car, pee pee, and poo poo.

Thanksgiving 2008

Isabella had a fabulous time hanging out with her cousins, Samantha and Luke this past Thanksgiving day. Thanksgiving is traditionally held at Grandma and Papa's house with Aunt Lindsay, Aunt Barb, Nana, Karen, Sal, Samantha, Luke, and the White family in attendance. We also got to enjoy a surprise visit with Fran and Grace. Everyone did a great job with the food preparation. We got to dig into all of our family favorites: spinach pie, artichoke pie, manicotti, turkey, green beans, stuffing, peas, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and of course Karen's homemade organic chocolate cream pie.

Roller Rink

Every Wednesday morning we excitedly head over to the local Roller Skating rink where they host Toddler Sessions. The kiddies are invited to bring a "ride on" or "push" toy and can enjoy free reign of the roller rink. In addition, the local rink has a great indoor playground. Isabella always has a blast seeing all of her friends there (Taylor, Ryan, and Dasha). The kiddies are great about rotating their toys with each other so that everyone gets a try at something new. The moms rock out to the background music of "High School Musical" and "Beauty and the Beast". See you at the rink next Wednesday :)

Mike and April's Wedding

Our wonderful cousin, Mike, recently married the delightful April Sun in NYC on November 8, 2008. Their wedding was an absolute blast and all of us had such a great time, including Isabella, as this was her first time as a wedding guest. Best wishes to Mike and April as they begin their life together. We couldn't be happier for such a beautiful couple. I have more pictures to post, but I am still trying to upload them - check back soon for the pics of Mikey and April. I am using my Uncle Rich's pics because I wasn't able to get any pics of the bride and groom at the Church. Right now I just have some pics of Isabella partying it up in her first limo ride and some of us from the reception. Check out April's gown - is it tremendously gorgeous or what? It's everything that you could want in a gown - beading, lace, sequin, train. She really does look stunning. Of course Mike looked very handsome too :)

Message of November 25, 2008

"Dear children! Also today I call you, in this time of grace, to prayfor little Jesus to be born in your heart. May He, who is peaceitself, give peace to the entire world through you. Therefore, littlechildren, pray without ceasing for this turbulent world without peace,so that you may become witnesses of peace for all. May hope begin toflow through your hearts as a river of grace. Thank you for havingresponded to my call."

Message of October 25, 2008

"Dear children! In a special way I call you all to pray for my intentions so that, through your prayers, you may stop Satan's plan over this world, which is further from God every day, and which puts itself in the place of God and is destroying everything that is beautiful and good in the souls of each of you. Therefore, little children, arm yourselves with prayer and fasting so that you may be conscious of how much God loves you and may carry out God's will. Thank you for having responded to my call."

Ryan's 1st B-day Party

Isabella's friend, Ryan, had the coolest birthday party ever, featuring a two seater Radio Flyer wagon. The kiddies loved getting carted around Ryan's yard in this stylish unit which was fully equipped with cup holders. Imagine that, having full access to your sippy cup all while enjoying panaromic views of Schooley's Mountain! Isabella enjoyed the party with her friends, Ryan, Taylor, and Katie.

Trick or Treat?

Isabella sported a fantastic little witch outfit this year given to her by Grandma. She is wearing size 2T these days because she is super tall. We got great use out of the outfit wearing it to various functions including a Halloween party that her friend Taylor had. Isabella got to hand out some candy to the massive amount of trick or treaters that attacked our front doorstep on Halloween afternoon. After the mass distribution of candy, we headed down to Valley Music Center for our annual Halloween visit with Dave. Isabella enjoyed full reign of the store as most of the lessons were cancelled so that students could be free to do more important things than play music, like trick or treating, that is! Dave gave Isabella her first piano lesson which she thoroughly enjoyed.

Re-Surfacing

We've been under the weather for the past couple of weeks but we hope to return to health and our daily activities next week! Isabella had a mysterious fever to deal with early last week then the painful emergence of a top tooth or two and most recently a stuffy cold :( Regrettably we've had to cancel on some fun stuff including trips to Nanuet, dinner dates, playgroups and the like. We look forward to catching up with everyone real soon!

In other news, how about that Noreaster that ransacked our area earlier this week. Many local roads were closed and even at the writing of this blog some families continue to be without power. The storm left Isabella and I stuck on Route 517 for 2 hours behind a line of cars who had already spun out. Thank God for our guardian angels who amazingly escorted us through the treacherous weather safely to our home. Long Valley schools were closed for 2 consecutive days due to the road closures and power outages. Snow in October? It's going to be a long winter.

Storytime

Isabella and her daddy spend lots of quality time reading together. Dave is the best at narrating the animal sounds, teaching Isabella how to say, "BAAAAAAAAA" and "MOOOOO". Our children's librarian, Ms. Pat, at our local library would be proud of Isabella's reading time! Afterall, she is the one who introduced Isabella to her first books when she was only a few months old. The Hackettstown Library has a great Baby Storytime. Here is the link in case you are interested. It is truly the place to be on Tuesday mornings! http://www.hackettstownlibrary.org/childrens-programs