Sitting up and other fun things...

Natalia was sitting up by herself for the first time last week. I can't even believe it because she is only 4 1/2 months in these pictures. She just loves playing in this position now. It's funny though when she reaches for a toy that is far away she just falls on her side very slowly and gracefully every time.

It was so great to have my mom here last week. She had so much fun playing with Natalia...

As you can see in the pictures below Natalia has a sippy cup in her hands. Here's the thing...since I have been nursing her and she has only had a bottle once or twice since she has been born, she now will not take a bottle. The entire week my mom was here we tried everything, and I mean everything. I even tried the "Child Life" philosophy and put a bottle out with the rest of her toys so that she could just explore it herself, play with it, put it in her mouth on her own and just get used to it during a time that she was not hungry & stressed so that when she was hungry she would already be familiar with it. And I have to say she did take 5 ounces the next day!! Only, she has not taken any more since then. During our bottle adventures, we also tried a sippy cup since this particular one was a "Nuk" and said it was good for 4 month olds (which may be the first of it's kind because all the other sippy cups are for at least 6 months and up). Needless to say she didn't drink from it but I did take some pictures to remember the moment ; )

While my mom was here we also went to Willmington, NC. It was a far drive, we got lost on the way home but I am so glad we went because we had a great time.

It was fun palm trees in November!!

Just walking on the streets downtown we found cute little Christmas decorations set up...the mail box opened and closed and Natalia had fun watching that.

At the end of the night we enjoyed a nice dinner outside over looking the water.

While my mom was here I actually went out for one of the first times by myself without Natalia. I missed her so much but knew she was in good hands. I went to my friends baby shower at an Italian restaurant here and we just enjoyed a great dinner, cake and watched her open cute little gifts. Here is a picture of Julie (in the middle) and also my friend Janice who is pregnant as well. Julie's husband works at the hospital with Frank and she goes to my church. I know Janice from church as well and she used to be in my small group. I am so excited for these ladies and can't wait to meet their little ones very soon. They are both having girls.

Well my mom went back to NJ and Natalia & I miss her very much. Frank and his Dad came back from San Diego, they had a great time together and he of course got to present his medical research at the conference there. I was so proud of him. Natalia was too and she was so happy to see him when he came home as was I. She was also very excited to see her Grandpa as well!! : ) We can't wait to see family again soon. I think Grandma Lodeserto is making plans to come down soon!! : )

Also, I got to babysit Ethan again this week...here are some pictures of Natalia & Ethan playing. Even though they are both so young (he is one month older than her) they really seem to enjoy playing together!!

Natalia's 1st Halloween

Natalia was sweet as candy on her first Halloween! And daddy looked really funny in his Furbie costume. He's had it since college!

The night before Halloween, we took Natalia to our small groups Halloween party. It was her 1st of course and I think she really enjoyed looking around at everyone in their costumes!!

Our friend TJ hosted the party and decorated so well that I was scared to go in the bathroom.

Here is a great shot of the bow my dear friend Laci hand-made for Natalia. It says "Boo" on it!

This picture is special because it has snoopy in it...a halloween toy my mom brought from home that used to be mine. I loved snoopy growing up and even slept with a snoopy doll my entire childhood.

Speaking of my mom, she is here visiting for the entire week!!! Frank is in San Diego presenting his medical research at the American College of Chest Physicians conference and his dad went with him for the trip! Being that I was going to be alone, my mom decided to visit with me while Frank was away. Here are some pictures from the night before the Halloween party when Grandpa Lodeserto and Grandma Santoro first got here. Natalia is so happy to see them!!!

On Halloween, my mom and I decided to take Natalia to New Bern. It was a nice and relaxing day. We got home so late that we missed all the trick-or-treaters though. I think we did have one family come by late but that was it!

Sitting in her carriage without the car seat like a big girl. Only she's still little ; ) New Bern is the birth place of Pepsi...

It is just so nice to have my mom here to spend time with and I know Frank is enjoying his trip to San Deigo with his dad.

Frank signs on!

This is the acceptance letter for Frank's combined Adult & Pediatric Critical Care Fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh to start July 2011. It's kind-of funny because people still tell him, "You can't do both" but he got it and he is. God is at work! ; )

I thought this was so presious with Natalia's little hands.

When Natalia & I play, sometimes I sit her up against me on the floor and I hold her while she plays with toys. But this particular day was the first time she reached forward herself for the floor and was able to stay long enough to get the pictures! So although she can't get in this position herself yet, it's still cute to see her see the world from a different angle all on her own. Even if it's only for a few seconds : )

These pictures are from when we went to watch the Jets game with my cousin Chez. Natalia and I met them there at half-time and left early so we were really only there for a little bit. But it was long enough for daddy to hold her and for her to take a nap : )

Once I realized she tries to reach for the floor and hold herself up in a sitting position, I started to put her down sitting up so she can hold onto something in front of her and has a pillow behind her and on the sides. She sits up supporting herself for a few seconds, it's so cute. She is getting so big.

Here are some pictures from when we were at my friend Jessica's house for a girls bible study. We all get together on Wed. nights and I really enjoy our talks and getting together with the girls. Since it's almost halloween I had Natalia in some festive clothes...a Halloween onesie from Aunt AnnMarie, a bid from Aunt Karen and a hand-made halloween bow that my friend Laci made her!

Here are some pictures of Natalia with her friend Ethan Corbett : )

I love having friends that are photographers!

Lindsay took these pictures this past weekend while we were at the wedding! She is a good friend of ours and was also one of the photographers there as I mentioned in my previous post...

Jennifer just sent me two more photos she took!

She said the flash didn't fire on this one but I still love it since she captured Natalia's (((smile)))

Chris & Elizabeth's Wedding with DJ Dr. Frank

We had a great time at our friends wedding this past weekend! And I must say, the DJ was pretty cute! Here's why...We all know how $$expensive$$ weddings can be so when our good friends Chris and Elizabeth were planning their wedding, they didn't have a DJ yet so Frank volunteered!! He has never done this before but figured he would give it a shot to help them out and he did GREAT but it didn't necessarily go as planned. The wedding was over an hour away right on the beach, which was beautiful by the way!! We got there a couple hours early so Frank could set up and it turned out that the stero system was very old and it did not have a piece to connect his Ipod which had all the songs on it. So, (thanks to a phone call to Claude to figure out what to do) he had to go to Radio Shack to buy the piece. Our GPS sent him to the radio shack that was 25 minutes away so Natalia and I stayed at the Resturant and just waited for him. He was of course in a rush since we still wanted to make it to the ceremony and he got pulled over for speeding but talked his way out of a ticket. He explained the whole story to the cop of how he was trying to DJ a wedding for his friend. So about an hour later when he showed up he could now play the songs BUT couldn't talk on the mike with the music playing at the same time!! (Something a DJ clearly needs to do). So after working on that for a while he finally figured it out and off to the wedding ceremony we went. Only by the time we got there it was over!! : ( We were so sad that we missed it but we quickly headed back to the reception so Frank could get ready to DJ. Only when we got there, the mike wasn't working anymore. Needless to say Frank pulled it off without the mike working 80% of the time!!

DJ Dr. Frank

I bought this dress for Natalia to ware for the holidays but it fits her now. It may still fit then too, we'll see...

Apparently we laugh at the same things! Not sure what it was though...

Okay so here are pictures of the photographers at the wedding...my good friends Jennifer and Lindsay. They are both amazing photographers and Jennifer is the one who took my maternity pictures. If you go to our church and your on facebook (which pretty much our entire church is) you always get to see such cool pictures these girls take of everyone. They take all the maternity pictures, engagement, weddings, family photo's...really natural outdoor shots. They are awesome. Here they are in action...

Jennifer took this picture of Natalia and I and I just thought it was so sweet! I love it!

She also got a shot of Natalia with the Bride, Elizabeth! She said that Natalia is our "baby doll" at bible study on Thursday nights so she had to get a picture of her with the bride. (Both Jennifer and Elizabeth are in our small group/bible study and actually Lindsay used to be too). Here is one of Jennifer's beautiful shots of the Bride and Groom. The colors are so pretty.

Here is another Jennifer took...I thought this was so cool because it looks like a painting!!

Here is one that I took from the balcony and actually this one Jennifer thought was a really great shot. I felt so cool. Haha.

We are just so happy for Chris & Elizabeth. They are in Disney World right now on their honeymoon and it's Chris's first time there. I know they are just having a great time. May their honymoon last forever!!!

We're moving to Pittsburgh, PA!!!! (In July 2011)

As many of you know already (thanks to our post on facebook), we are officially moving to Pittsburgh, PA in July of 2011. Frank was offered the one and ONLY official spot in the country for a combined Adult and Pediatric Critical Care fellowship!! Pittsburgh is where the discipline of critical care first started and it's the first and only to offer this combined training. Although we are so sad to leave Greenville, we are also very excited for this new venture in our lives. Only a handful of people in the entire country have ever been trained for both adult and pediatric critical care but God has put it in his heart to do this so he knows that he will be fully equip. I am so proud of him, he is truly an inspiration to me. I thank God everyday for my him...I see how much he studies, how he prepares for things and how he can organize his time so well that he can still spend so much time with Natalia and I. How we have date nights each week (even if it's just staying in and watching a movie). How he leads a bible study at our house every Thursday night, how he still has time to exercise and play basketball on Sunday nights at church with the guys and he still plays flag football with the residents at ECU. I'm not saying all this because "Frank" is so great but rather to show how great our God is!!! Even some of his own teachers and some friends told him all the reason's he couldn't be a doctor, but God made it happen. God has provided him with amazing parents and family members who always believed in him and who were very supportive. His parents knew from even when he was very little that he would be a doctor. Then there was another obstacle, other doctors told him how during residency it would be so hard and demanding that you can not have a life, yet God has provided him with a great balance to still do everything he wants to do and gives him energy on his days off to take day trips with Natalia and I or to go to dinner, etc. His motto is, "I'll sleep when I get to Heaven". He is someone that prayed and prayed for wisdom to become a doctor long ago and has been given the tools needed to do so. I am also so excited that I may have a chance to work with him at one of the best children's hospitals in the country one day as a Child Life Specialist! Below are some pictures of us when we went out to dinner to celebrate his new job!!

We just want all our friends here in Greenville to know that we will still stay in touch through facebook and our blog and we hope that we made friendships that will last forever. We will miss our church family and we will for sure be back to visit!! We may even come back after his fellowship is over...PCMH is building a brand new children's hospital so we'll see!! : ) But for the 4 years that we will for sure be in Pittsburgh, we want everyone to know that although we will be far away, our hearts will still be next door neighbors.

My first birthday as a mommy

Well I am one year older as of the 29th. Wow, now that I have given birth, birthdays have a whole new meaning! The day started with Frank making me breakfast and then he had to go to work. For my birthday, Natalia wanted to take some cute pictures (this wasn't my idea at all). Then mid day, Frank came home early and surprised me with the afternoon off! We decided to go to Raleigh, walk around and then out to dinner. What a great 1st birthday as a mommy. Natalia even got me a card although the handwriting looked a lot like daddy's.

Good to be back...

Although Natalia and I had a *great* time in NJ with family and friends, it's of course wonderful to be back in Greenville...we missed daddy very much. Frank was thrilled to see his girls (as he calls us) and we came home to a clean house and a dozen roses. So sweet! Here are some recent pictures to enjoy. The first are of Natalia & daddy wathing Michigan football : )

Last weekend we went to get wings and watch the game. We figured we would go for as long as Natalia was okay. It turned out she *loved* watching Michigan football! (Or maybe just the big screen TV). Either way, it was very cute. And her and daddy seem to be making the same faces...

Just last night we went to watch Frank play football! Since his residency is afiliated with East Carolina University~he is actually considered faculty there so he's able to play on one of the intramural teams there with a bunch of his friends from work.

Here is Natalia just hanging out at home with mommy...

But the fun really begins when daddy gets home from work.

Here is a picture of Natalia with my younger brother Michael from when we were in NJ that I had forgotten to post