I forgot to mention.....

I don't know how I did it but I totally forgot to mention that I finally got my wedding rings back last Saturday. While I was pregnant with Avery my hands swelled real bad and I had to get them cut off my fingers. I waited months, just over five after Avery was born to have them fixed but I picked them up on Saturday morning from the jewlers and they look brand new and amazing, so glad to have them back!!!!

Back up and running.....

So after all my picture posts on Monday I must have posted so much that it broke our Internet and it has been broken all week so this is my first chance to write anything all week. Although the bad part is I really don't have that much to write about. This week although a short work week due to the holiday has felt like one of the longest weeks ever! It was the end of the month on Tuesday so that was crazy busy, I have a lot going on at work that I won't even go into as it is just really a mess that no one wants to hear about, I have a ton of events and functions going on and it is crazy. Not to mention this was the week that Rich had to take two out of his three final exams so that made life a wild ride with him working all day then running to make his exams. The good news is he passed both of the ones he took and just has one left to take on Monday. Plus he is really happy to be down to a week left of school for the year, he is for sure ready for the year to end!!!!

Today it is just Avery and I at home and we have a full on to do list of things to doubt I am tired and really don't feel like getting anything done, is that bad of me?

Avery at 5 months....

Again, this post is totally overdue as well but what can I say it has been a CRAZY month.

Avery is 5 months old, I am amazed at how fast time has gone and how it just feels as though we have always been a family of four.  Avery is growing like a weed and wears a few 9 month clothes but mostly wears all 12 month clothes.  Thank goodness I have a ton of clothes left from Jolie and my really good friend Jenn gives me all of her daughter's hand me downs because Avery is flying through clothes.  She barely even wore 6 months and other than little dresses and stuff she skipped over 9 months too.  She is so cute and chunky, I love it!!!

Avery has finally started sleeping through the night just before she turned 5 months old, that has been so nice.  She goes to bed about 8:30pm with a last bottle feeding in her room, I sit in her rocking chair that is in her room and after she finishes her bottle I rock her a little and then put her in her crib with her pacifier.  So far it is working great!  The only bad part is she doesn't want Rich to put her to bed, just me, she pitches a fit when Rich tries to feed her at night and put her to bed.  Avery is eating well as well, she eats squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, and peas so far and pretty soon we will start giving her some fruits.

Avery has found her feet and loves to play with them.  She also likes to play on the floor with her toys.  She is able to roll from back to front and front to back.  She grabs at everything including Mommy's hair, glasses, anything.

Jolie and Avery are the best of friends and super sweet on each other.  I love having my two girls and hope that they are the best of friends all their lives.



Jolie's Birthday Parties

I have been meaning to post the pictures from all of Jolie's Birthday Parties but have just now gotten the chance to finally do so, amazing what one day off will do for you!

Here are the pictures from her school Birthday Party, it was the morning of her actual Birthday on Monday, May 9th.

This is a picture of the Birthday Poster that Rich and I made for Jolie to take to school, they put it up in the classroom for all the children to look at the week of a Birthday and it shows Jolie at birth, at one, at two, at three, and of course some recent pictures of her at almost four.

This is Jolie and three of her friends from school.  Alex, Jolie, Laura, and Gabby.

This is Jolie with the globe getting ready to do her birthday walk.

Jolie going around the sun for her birthday walk.

This was Jolie after she ate cupcakes with her friends at school.  She had such a good time!!

Here is the Birthday girl at a small pizza party we had for her at my Mom and Dad's the night of her birthday.

 Mommy, Daddy, and Jolie with her Birthday cake.

 Jolie and Avery.

On Saturday, May 14th we had a big Birthday Party for Jolie at Chuck E. Cheese.  Here are all the pictures from that party.

Laura and Jolie

Lily, Jolie, Gracie, and Laura

Avery

All the kids eating pizza!

Daddy and Jolie

Mommy, Daddy, Jolie and Avery.

Jen and my friend Jenn.

Memorial Day Weekend

Let me first start off by saying how grateful Rich and I as well as our girls are for all the men and women who have given their lives in defense of the freedom we enjoy. I think sometimes I go about living my life and the hustle and bussle of everyday life that I forget about all the families who have sacrificed so much for me to enjoy my everyday life. I am truly grateful for all that has been done around the world and here on our own soil to ensure I have the right to speak and live freely. Just wanted to be sure that we remember what this weekend is truly about.

Now on to how we are celebrating this weekend....yesterday I did the normal Saturday stuff, some errands, some grocery shopping, some cleaning, and some cooking. After all that was done I took Jolie over to my friend Lori's house for a cookout Birthday Party for Lori. We had a great time as Lori had 17 kids there and hired a babysitter to watch all of them as they played in the pool and in the backyard and then even went over to the neighborhood park. It was nice as I got to visit with Lori, her husband Scott and a whole crew of their friends. Jolie had a blast playing with all the kids, especially Lori's daughter Jodi. Rich stayed home with Avery as the crowd was probably too much for both of them.

Today it is more of the same weekend stuff of cleaning and what not and then we are having my parents and mother-in-law over for a little family cookout. We are going to be doing the traditional grill out of BBQ ribs and corn, I am making a little salad and it should be a great time with family. I have the girls dressed up super cute red/white/blue so that is always fun, I promise to take pictures.....

Tomorrow is going to be about family time and relaxation and I am totally okay with that!!! I think we will do some swimming in the pool and that will be as exciting as it gets, which sounds GREAT!!!! I wish every week included a three day weekend!

Hope you and your family have a very happy Memorial Day Weekend and that no matter what you are doing to celebrate that you take a minute to remember what this weekend is really about!

As I check on sleeping children....

Tonight I think I have a case of the over tired's....I know it is like my kids but I am so tired I can't sleep but I had a few random thoughts I figured I would just go ahead and blog them now. So here is my list of thoughts I had right after I checked on my beautiful, quiet, sleeping girls.

- as I just checked on both my girls peacefully sleeping safely in their rooms it dawned on me how all the hundreds of thousands of people in Middle America must feel tonight because they aren't check on their kids in their houses in their own beds. So many of them have lost everything they own and some have even lost their children or other members of their family. I just can't even imagine what they are going through. My heart breaks for these families and I pray for their safety as more storms come through the area and all the water settles. I told Rich the other night I couldn't imagine what these families are going through as we watched the Evening News.

- then probably equally as sad as I checked on my children this evening I thought of the Casey Anthony trial that is currently going on in Orlando. If you don't know about this trial you must be living under a rock as it took them weeks just to find a jury because everyone knew about it, not to mention they are televising every last detail on Tru TV and HLN. Anyways I digress, the reason I thought of it was I just can't buy into the craziness that is that trial. Supposedly Casey Anthony murdered her then 2, almost 3 year old daughter and then partied like a rockstar but now according to the Defense the little girl accidentally drowned and because the Mom (Casey Anthony) was sexually abused by her father and brother she got scared and covered everything up. I just can't buy how a mother that truly, loved and cared for her child can behave this way. It really makes me sad just thinking about it, as a Mother I just can't imagine all that anyone of them is selling. I think crazy stuff like that might be part of why I check on my kids 4-5 times a night while they are sleeping, just to know they are okay, it makes me feel better.

Good news, everyone in The Perillo House is sound asleep, that includes my wonderful husband, 2 beautiful daughters, 2 cats, and the dog, the only other person that should be sleeping but isn't is me although I am feeling tired now, so I think this is the end of this post so I can get some rest, night, night!!!!

My poor little muffin....

My poor little 5 month old muffin officially has her first illness. After my Mom called me mid-morning yesterday saying Avery'seye looked really bad, she was fussy and my Mom really thought she had pink eye I decided a call to the pediatrian's office was in order. Avery has had tear duct issues in that eye since she was born so I really thought that was the problem but I made an afternoon appointment for her. My Mom and Dad took her to the doctor and it turns out she does have pink eye, poor muffin. It turns out because of her tear duct issues it makes her more prone to catching pink eye, so she is on eye drops four times a day for a week, that isn't too much fun but we are managing and she is already a little better this morning. My biggest fear is pink eye running wild through my house!!!! Will keep you posted on the adventures of a 5 month old with pink eye.