Our little Sweetie...

                                                     Big Brother!

                                                     Oh look, he has eyes!

                                                     Smiles

                                                     Best.hat.ever!

                                                     Yankee baby

                                                     My sweet boy

                                                     Santa baby!

                                                     Trying to hold that head up!

                                           Rocco sharing his Gatordade.

                                                     Happy little chunk!

                                                     First Christmas

One more...

I can't believe I forgot to add this confession to my list...
16.  I will laugh at you if you fall down or trip or even stumble a little.  I will feel bad if you hurt yourself but I will still laugh and then I will talk about you to others who think it's funny to fall and I will think about your fall at times and I will laugh all over again.

These are my confessions...

1. I judge, I hate that I do it, but I do.  Just know, I judge me harder than anyone.
2. I'm a walking contradiction.  I want peace, freedom, love, fulfillment, redemption, justice, a world free from hunger and discrimination, then I go buy Mountain Dews and chocolate and an abundance of things for my children and I throw fits and I complain that I don't have a treadmill and I comment that certain types of people shouldn't be driving...what is that?  Contradiction!
3. I loathe religion.  I can't recover from the restrictions placed on my spirit as a child and young adult.  If I have learned anything in life it is this...A soul needs the freedom to learn, grow and develop Truth on its own terms.
4. Sometimes, I think my family is a little WT.  (White-trashy).  I'm sorry if anyone in my family is offended by this confession but come on...think about it...  :)
5. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I pretend I am fast asleep and don't hear Roman crying, so Matt will go get him.
6. Sometimes, I long for my party days...God, those days were so freakin' fun!  I was hot and skinny and I had cute, sexy clothes and high heels and I actually accessorized and wore makeup and I danced so good I would sometimes end up with an audience.
7. Sometimes, I want to go get a hotel room with yummy room service and a HUGE marble bathtub and go there...all alone.
8. Music makes me cry.
9. I hate to cry.
10. I think the only truly selfless being on the earth is a bonded, nurturing mommy.  Everyone else is innately selfish.  If you can denounce this, please do.
11.  I want to be a writer.  I have NEVER said that out loud (except to Matt).  What stops me?  FEAR..of no one wanting to read what I have to say.  I could not handle the rejection!
12.  I am full of secrets so scandalous that I will NEVER let them slip past my lips.
13. I think dark-skinned babies are cuter than white babies.  Ok, I let that one slip!
14.  I am honest to a fault...I have no filter with the people I love.  I will tell them EXACTLY what I am thinking with no thought of their feelings (bad) but I don't want them to ever live in question of where they stand in my eyes and heart.
15. I pull out my gray...with tweezers so I don't accidentally get a treasured brown one.  That is just weird and I can't believe that I admitted it.

My favorite.

My favorite thing that happened today was Rocco said, "Cuddle Momma."  Then I asked, "Cuddle Daddy?"
Rocco- "No no cuddle daddy."

Me- "Cuddle Sissy?"

Rocco- "No no cuddle sissy."

Me- "Cuddle DeAndre?"

Rocco- "No no cuddle Duwandwe."

Me- "Cuddle Momma?"

Rocco- "Cuddle Momma, YEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!!!!"

That is my favorite.

 

Bambaluchadores....

Matt has succeeded in giving the kids sooo many nicknames that I can't even remember them all...I am going to compile a list of them here...it begins with the term "bambaluchadores."  This term refers to Rocco and Roman together and is a replacement for the term, "the kids" or "the boys" used by normal parents.  Ex. "Have the Bambaluchadores pooped today?"  (This is always the first question I am asked upon Matt's arrival home from work by the way)
And then we have:
Tuna
Tuna Junior (Roman is lucky enough to be a junior)
Cheese
Young Guid
Young scholar
Romanooch
Bushy Top
Sasquatch
Fro magnum
Reenie or Reenis or Reen (must be said in a high pitched voice)
Scrotum head Harris
Hairball
Black Jerry
Fatz
Chubz
Dirty mouth dirty
Tiny dancer
Gorilla (this term refers to Rocco when he is throwing a fit)
Beast (See Gorilla)
Christmas Mouse
Poo
Gugutz
Arthur Fonzarellie or "Fonz"
Squiggy
Guido
Louie
Rooch
Roach
Chubby Checker
Screech
Sgweeg (the spelling on this one is difficult as there is no such word)
Fireman Sam
Which nickname is your favorite?

 Thanks for always making us laugh Matt, even if the kids will never know their own names!  

1 down...3 to go!

Olivia graduated from Marcos De Niza High School in May of this year.  We had fun visiting AZ and watching her walk with her class!  How proud we are of a beautiful, confident, funny, smart and kind girl... or should I say woman!  She has a bright future!  Olivia has a nickname, Irene Rosencrans.  This came about because she gargles very loudly and yells, "MMMOOOOOOMMMMMM" from upstairs in a very annoying voice.  Olivia would never do these things, but Irene would.  "Reenis" or "Reenie" is now what we call her.  Reenie has made me a very proud momma!  Love my first and only daughter.   She is now one of my very best friends...

                                           Reenie with her proud dad and Grandma Myrna

                                           With friends, Alex, Bella and Erica

                                          Cousins!

                                           Olivia and Keelie

                                           Reen, Ashley and Keelie

                                           Stunning!

                                           Olivia, Dominique, Davion and Reenie

                                           Jenny made Olivia this cute cake!  It was delicious too!

DeAndre's first dance

 DeAndre went to his first High School dance this year.  I insisted on being part of picture taking even though he would have preferred I didn't.  Apparently, I have officially entered the phase of "embarrassing parent."  :(  We had to go shopping for a suit coat...um...who knew those things are over $100!!!  I am hoping that he will be able to wear it again before he outgrows it.  His group of friends all went together and had dinner first at The International Country Club.  Very Fancy!  I think it was fancier than any place I've ever been too!  It was so fun to see him all dressed up and with his date, which was his girlfriend at the time.  They have since broken up (I think I was more upset than he was, in fact I know I was)  but are still friends.  There was even an after party!  After confirming that parents would be in home for the party, I agreed to let him stay out until 1 am.  Olivia wasn't happy.  I heard her mumble that being the oldest child "sucks."  :)

                                                            DeAndre and Jaclyn

The corsage.

                                                                  What a cutie!

Welcome Roman Kai

On September 20th we welcomed Roman to the family.  What a little doll he is!  He loves to cuddle and to eat! He is now 2 months old and weighs 13.1 pounds.  He is a little chunk that I love to squeeze...Rocco loves him and gives him kisses freely.  We have to beg Rocco for kisses and call ourselves lucky if we get one.  Sometimes, our little feisty 2 year old gets jealous and screams as loud as he can until all eyes are on him.  Still, he loves little Roman and so do we!  

More Orchard Pictures

Apple Orchard

Virginia is beautiful in the fall.  We took Rocco to an apple orchard with his friend Hartley to pick apples and pumpkins.  He decided he wanted to eat them along the way...dad was pretty useful in getting him tall enough to reach the apples.  Rocco thought it was funny to pick the apples and throw them at his Grandma.  She laughed and laughed and so the apples kept flying at her head!

Where have we been?

It has been way too long since I have updated our blog...so  much has happened and life seemed to spin out of control for awhile.  It all started when Matt was offered a dream job in Washington DC.  Moving a family of five across the country is a HUGE undertaking and we had a ton of things to consider.  In the end, we made the decision to move and had three weeks to do it.  Much was left behind...family, friends, education and OLIVIA!  She was in her senior year of high school and we didn't feel right pulling her out and having her switch schools.  She stayed behind with our great friends, The Schmokers, who took excellent care of her.  She visited at every break and we talked every day.  Still, it was a challenge to have our family split up for almost 9 months.  I dropped out of my final year of grad school at ASU and planned to continue my education at a DC school instead.  Hopefully, that will still happen at some point.  Matt was able to continue his teaching position at ASU by offering his class on-line, but he did say goodbye to the Tempe Police Department.  They were good to him but exciting things were on the horizon.  His job is with a software company that has a contract with the Department of Defense...and that is all I know and so all I can reveal!

Matt flew out to DC early to find us a house.  Scary...but he did a great job and found us the perfect house!

DeAndre missed the first few weeks of 8th grade but we arrived just in time for him to try out for the travel basketball teams.  He made one of the teams and made many new friends right away.  The lifestyle here is  much faster paced but it is also somewhat traditional.  There is a strong sense of community and family in Chantilly.  Chantilly is a suburb of DC...it is beautiful here, especially in the fall.  Still, home is Arizona and I struggled being so far away from my friends and the comfort of knowing what is around the next corner...