the one with the diego toothbrush

each morning after breakfast, luca reminds me that we need to go upstairs so he can brush his teeth and wash his face. its one of those "guca did it" moments. he gets water all over the place and i am not sure if the teeth are getting that clean, but its the enthusiasm i love. today i caught a pic of him in action. i have to tear him away from the sink or else he would stay there all day. it is also the only way i can get him to stay still when i need to tame the mane of hair on his head.

will we be next?

two weeks ago, jesse's brother and his family moved to houston. jason, michelle, sage, and sofia join jesse's parents and sister becky not to mention a large portion of la familia munoz. my girlfriend roxi is known to give out the rockstar award to those deserving of special notice. well, jason and michelle are definite recipients. they drove from tampa to houston with two dogs, two cats, a teenager, and a six month old. michelle dubbed the trip "the griswolds move to texas."

now that all of jesse's immediate family are in houston, the question is "will we be next?" as of this moment, there are no plans for our relocation to that hot and humid place. it is very hard though being so far away from our loved ones. little sofia is only one day younger than our giavanna - how neat would it be for these girls to grow up together? they will have to settle with being each other's favorite cousin. here are some adorable pics of my sweet baby niece - look at those eyelashes folks - what a beauty! we can't wait to meet her.

to homeschool or not to homeschool?

i have spent the evening researching classical christian education (thanks to my friend jamie who sent me a great link to dorothy sayers famous speech the lost tools of learning). yes, i have several years before i need to make the decision to homeschool, but as it is one of the most important decisions i will make in regards to raising my children, i want to prepare myself as best as possible. i am eager to explore what God has envisioned for our family. pray for guidance and direction in this area and feel free to recommend resources for us to investigate and consider (but please understand that i will form my own opinions and make my own decisions in this area).

i have been interested in the idea of homeschooling since my college days. with a degree in human development and family studies specializing in child and adolescent development, it was a topic discussed in my classes. i have friends who homeschool and friends who have chosen the public school system, with positive experiences all around. what will be best for me? my family? my children? i want luca and gia to love learning. i want them to know how to read a book - to enjoy it and to think about it critically. i want them to use the minds God gave them to appreciate His creation and to be able to think rationally about and defend their beliefs.

my current concerns mostly rest on the amount of time and energy i will need to be able to effectively homeschool. with fibromyalgia, i am never guaranteed a quality of life that may be needed for this lifestyle.

so begins the great homeschool debate.

no longer miserable

for almost a week, our little girl suffered though some kind of virus. she had a fever for a couple of days, then vomited for a few more, then she developed a rash all over her body and face. it was hard to see my baby so sick and unable to make her better. but i can finally say she is feeling better. she has kept down everything for the last two days and her rash began to clear yesterday afternoon. the doctor told us monday that that was most likely going to happen - it looks like he knows what he is talking about.

what i like about this picture is that illustrates several things i have previously blogged. one, the beach towel on the ground to protect against vomit. two, my daughter has inherited the crazy hair that reacts to humidity. three, if you look closely you can see gia's rash on her face and chest. and four, if you look even more closely, you can see gia's first tooth (on the bottom, her right).

going to cece's

to finish off the story of our busy weekend, we traveled from oak park to my parents on friday. here are some of the things i learned during the next few days.

• when driving in traffic on a major interstate, you will be willing to put the sesame streeet theme song sung by elmo on repeat for over 20 minutes if it means no crying or yelling.
• during this same traffic, you will also make up a nonsense language to talk to your two year old in order to make him laugh and to keep your sanity.
• do not try to talk to a two year old when he is eating his first ice cream cone ( or try to get him to look at a camera)
• the best position to hold a baby when she is going to projectile vomit is facing out and the best place to hold this same baby is on the back porch where a hose can be used for clean-up
• to be prepared for future episodes of vomiting, place several large beach towels around your baby at all times (it really will keep everything else clean when you are not on the porch)
• three adults may still take two young children to the swedish days festival in geneva on saturday even if it is raining just to get out of the house and at least two of them will have unbelievably curly and wild hair due to this rain (no pictures will be provided - just take my word for it - my grandma found me in a crowd by looking for my hair)
• festival vendors charge way to much for funnel cakes ($5 - really?)
• a grandma will buy a funnel cake for her grandson regardless of this ridiculous price
• two teenage boys can take their nephew to a park by themselves and all of them will return without injury
• when your six month old is sick and cranky and needs to be held constantly, it is best to be at your parents so everyone can help you with your other child and give you an occasional break from comforting the sick one.
• when the sun finally comes out, it will be time to get back in the car and drive home

a visit too short

i felt like an entire week was compressed into one three day weekend. last friday, the kids and i packed up the car and set off to visit with some of my dearest old friends. jamie, an old college roomie, was in town (chicago) from seattle with her husband and sweet lil' girl persis. our other college roomie and a high school friend, roxi, and her little one, annikah, and my clan met up with james at her parents home in oak park. it was so neat to be together with our children - it doesn't seem that long ago we were riding the bus around champaign-urbana our first week of school wondering where the heck we were, reading deep thoughts by jack handy, or going dancing at all hours of the night. now, we have these little people in our hands to raise and shepherd. how life changes. i feel even more connected these women then i have since college - we are once again in similar roles. with age comes wisdom and maturity and i would appreciate their daily presence in my life so much more now. what we take for granted when it is right in front of us (or sharing an apartment). when i was back in champaign at the beginning of the month, i drove past our first apartment and it made me laugh looking up at the balcony and remembering how the three of us all began dating our husbands while living there.

during the visit friday, jamie's old my little ponies and stable came out to play with luca and peris. luca has a lot to learn about being patient with a younger child while playing. he is in for a shock when gia can assert herself more and wants to take turns with toys. we also enjoyed a yummy picnic in the backyard (the weather was gorgeous). luca thought it quite funny imitating anni feeding roxi (he continues to want to feed me his food at every meal). although gia's fever broke on thursday, she continued to act a bit listless and cranky. during luca's nap, her spirits were a bit revived and the three girls (make it six with the mamas) played together on the floor. i couldn't help looking at these three little ladies - who all closely resemble their mamas - and imagining them growing up together. i pray they will see each other enough to be friends. then gia threw up.

we must of started dozens of conversations - wes (jamie's husband) kept shaking his head while listening to us talk. when you go so long between visits, there is so much to say, it is hard to stay on one topic too long. between discussing the use of cloth diapers and reminiscing on my sleeping through a history midterm in college, there just wasn't enough time.

i am so thankful we had the opportunity to see each other. it will be neat to watch each other and our children grow. more to come on our action packed weekend.

89

that is luca's favorite number. a few weeks ago, luca was helping jesse measure for the vegetable garden fence. one of the measurements jesse made was 89 inches. luca loved the sound of it i guess and has been repeating it ever since. (whenever he sees the tape measure now, he exclaims, "89!") this morning, on the car radio, the dj was giving the day's forecast and the high for the day was expected to be 89 degrees. almost immediately after she said this, luca cried, "mama, 89!"

"did she just say 89 on the radio?" i asked.

"uh-huh!" he replied, pointing to the speaker, "right dare!" it was the highlight of his day.

counting is one of his favorite pasttimes of late. he recently has begun to count houses while we are driving, pointing to each with a flourish, "1, 8, 9, 10" (this is his favorite series of numbers and uses it to count everything - stairs, toys, cheerios). when we pull in our driveway, he always shouts (i mean really shouts and wakes up gia every time) the number 9. where do you they get these things? who cares, it is super cute and keeps me amused (fuel for when he throws things - God's plan to help us through?)

white boys can jump

each wednesday, i pack lunches and the kids to meet jesse for lunch in downtown bloomington. the park district and local businesses sponsor free concerts every week with a wide range of music. we have become friends with the other regulars and luca looks foreward to seeing his "friends." it is such a neat way to break up our week and to have some family time. luca loves to dance and run around, but mostly he loves to jump! he and jesse eat their sandwiches (i have my salad), gia eats her veggies, we share fruit and snowman noses (carrots in luca speak), and we listen to the local talent.


gia has had a fever since her vaccines yesterday, so she and i spent the afternoon on the blanket. but once the tylenol kicked in, she was all smiles (at least for a few minutes). i caught some video of luca showing off his jumping skills (and also some of his two-year old craziness - watch him whip a rock at jesse's face!)





stay tuned for more stories of the amazing jumping lucciano!

how fast time flies

today gia turned six months old and i am amazed at how fast it has gone. my little girl is now closer to being one year old than being newly born. i thought i would include some pictures from the beginning of her bright and shiny life.

we took her for a well-visit check-up this morning and the doctor said she looks great. she weighed in at 19 lbs 14oz and she was 27 inches long. that means she has gained 11 lbs 5oz and grown 6 inches. isn't that incredible?

i hope to get some six month pictures taken of her soon and i will share them at that time. here is a video of her talking to me this weekend - she is very vocal right now.



i have had some problems with my videos - sorry the picture is cut off on this one and the last.

happy birthday uncle chris

luca wanted to share his singing talents and wish his uncle chris a happy 15th birthday!

willful disobedience

i think that phrase sums up my day. willful disobedience. luca is so cute and endearing, sweet and beautiful, but on a day like today i want to go in my bedroom, lock the door, and hide under the covers - and put earplugs in so i don't have to hear the yells. yes, i admit, i did not want to be around my child today. over the last year i have spent a lot of time trying to discern when and how to discipline. i have pleaded with my friends with older children for advice (and prayer). my care circle through my mom's group watched dr. dobson's your child video series on discipline. one of the most helpful tips i learned through that was to identify whether your child is being willfully disobedient or just childishness. well, i was easily able to tell that luca was being defiant and just plain naughty. i know that this will pass (or least other moms tell me) but it is really hard to look at the big picture, when your toddler throws something at your face for the tenth time. so i am exhausted and it doesn't help that my whole body is in pain and protesting from the chiropractor this morning. (which reminds me, the rest of my x-rays came back with curves that weren't supposed to be there and my left hip elevated above my right - yeah!) good thing gia took three naps in her crib today that were all an hour long for the first time ever.

good night! tomorrow is another day (that luca will probably throw more things and scream because he is 27 months old)

happy dada day

happy father's day to all of you dads out there. we started out our day with presents for jesse. i was so excited to give him a book i recently found on the internet. it is called the dangerous book for boys. it is a book for the boy in every man - i recommend checking it out. we also gave him a cool "helmy man" t-shirt. in a previous blog, i explained helmy men, but what i did not include is that the ultimate helmy man (in luca's opinion) is spider man. probably something to do with jesse's love of this marvel hero. see this childhood photo of jesse - some boys never grow up. that is why the book was so perfect for him.

do you see the resemblance between jesse and luca? we do!

i tried to get luca to say happy papi's day to jesse when he woke up, but luca kept saying "happy birthday papi dada." by the end of the day he was saying "happy dada day." very sweet if you ask me. gia's present was the arrival of her first tooth and, hopefully, a respite (however brief) of her fussiness.

luca made a "king for the day" crown in children's church and proudly placed it on his papi's head. we then went back home for some rest before playing outside. we attempted to play at a water park in town, but luca was nervous about the spraying water. so we went back home and played in the little pool and elmo sprinkler. this was much more to his liking and comfortability. also, gia and i avoided the heat and rested inside.

at one point i walked outside and luca was drinking from a beer bottle. before you report us, i should tell you it was filled with water. jesse and i weren't quite in agreement about the wisdom of this. my point is that luca might just go pick up a beer bottle and start drinking. you might say that once he tastes the real thing he would stop and put it back down. well, not for our child. luca has already expressed an interest in "dada drink." so we thought, why not, let him taste it so he knows that he won't like it. this backfired when luca took a sip, said, "spicy," and asked for more. we have since explained that he will have to wait 19 years and then can enjoy
dada drink on his 21st birthday (which will also be st. patricks day - fitting, huh?)

i seem to have gotten a bit off track. last year i had matching polos for the boys to wear and this year jesse asked if i could do the same. i found white ones at target that even had the same emblem on the pocket. gia also was theme dressed.

we called our dads, the grandpas, before bedtime and luca was able to say happy dada day to them and his uncle jay - who celebrated his first father's day today. all in all, we had a nice day and were fully exhausted by the end.

she has a tooth

well, our suspicions were confirmed this morning when i felt gia's first tooth. it is the front bottom right one. i am not sure when it popped through, but its there. a whole 6 months earlier than her brother's first tooth. thank goodness the initial fussiness has passed. (who knows how long until the next one!)

in the yard again

jesse and luca were hard at work this afternoon. they dug a trench for our underground gutter downspout. we spend a lot of our weekend working our land. it is oddly satisfying. look at this face smudged with dirt - isn't he beautiful?


and here is a picture update of the horsey fort. the plants have almost grown a foot this week.

the results are in

i went back to the chiropractor this morning for the results of my exam and x-rays. according to the doctor i have phase 1 spinal decay - the spinal cord curves to the left and has reversed curvature between two vertebrae (if you know more about this stuff than i do and i am not explaining it right don't bother to correct me, i understand it as well as i want to for now - thanks anyway!) i am going to need daily adjustments for the next few weeks - and i had my first one today. hello! that was super shocking - one second i am relazed, with my head tilted to the right and resting in the doctor's hand and the next he jerks my head and neck up and to the side. i hear all of these cracking noises and it kind of hurt. so when he says he has to do it i n the other direction, it took a lot of will power to trust him again.

the dad olympics

last week i nominated jesse to participate in the dad olympics that our local radio station was hosting today. i thought i made a pretty good case for why he was so awesome and completely expected jesse to be a competitor. jesse thought it was quite amusing (i only told him after i filled out the on-line application). imagine his shock when he got a call last tuesday that they had chosen him (only nine dads were picked). so this morning, the whole gang went to the mall in town to cheer him on – even though we had no idea what he would be doing. we considered training on fast diaper changes last night but decided he had enough practice. well, it wasn’t as exciting as we had hoped. the first round was driving toy cars on an electric track and jesse sadly did not make it to the second round with only eight laps in 30 seconds. oh well, he still won some cool prizes. not only did we get some gift cards for panera and gloria jeans, but we got free concert tickets to see styx and foreigner next weekend! i know you are all jeolous. actually, we are pretty pumped –(now to find a babysitter).

here is a funny picture of jesse flanked by two much larger dads while waiting to take on the race track.




regardless of the outcome this morning - he is the best dad in the world and we are blessed to have him. i can't expound to much, because i need to save something to blog for tomorrow.


here is a self taken photo of gia and i while at the mall - obviously gia would rather be doing something else.

a pain in the neck and belly laughs

i have been having a rough month due to a major pain in my neck. i am used to pain from my fibromyalgia, but this felt different. so i made an appointment with a chiropractor and went in this afternoon. my hopes for a quick fix were dashed - just an exam and some x-rays. but tomorrow morning i go back and maybe i will have some relief.

it is so hard to be a mom when your body seems to be working against you. there are so many women out there who deal with much more extreme disabilities or conditions. our bodies are falling apart, broken. we live in this fallen world which is merely a shadow of what God intended. that is why my hope is not in this place but in the next - not the brief moment we are here, but the eternity that is to come.

if my children can bring me so much joy in this fallen world, how much more will i enjoy them in the next? watch how funny they are when they play together. that is my favorite thing right now about the two of them. they are truly playing with each other. luca blows rasperry noises at gia (epephant noises as he calls them) and then she blows them back. he also devises new games each day to make her laugh. it cracks him up when she grabs a toy from him - i think he doesn't quite believe she is not going to just lay there anymore.

guca did it!

this is one of the most commonly heard phrases in our home. (or wherever you can find my son.) "guca did it!" it has several meanings. the first being the most obvious - "luca did it." this is usually said in a triumphant and proud tone, possibly with fists up in the air and a look of accomplishment on the boy's face. (like just now when luca successfully manuevered a spoon full of peas to his mouth without spilling.) another meaning - "luca is doing it." you will usually hear this if jesse and i get too close to luca while he is working on something he wants to do on his own or if we aren't close enough to see his impressive skills. a third meaning - "luca wants to do it." possibly pushing himself close to the desired activity or task, you will hear luca interjecting this if something exciting is at hand that he wants to do (usually all by himself).

it amazes me how quickly children learn things at this age. here is a brief list (incomplete but still impressive) of things luca can do or say this week that he didn't last week:

• get into his booster seat (at the dining room table) by himself
• get into his carseat by himself
• take off his sandals by himself
• sing happy birthday

i can't wait to see what this kid learns next - as long as it is not climbing on the kitchen counters or opening his bedroom door yet.

do you think she could be teething?

that was the million dollar question jesse asked me when he got home from work. i hadn't considered it - i know, what was i thinking? luca didn't get his first tooth until he was 11 months old though. thankfully, one of us was thinking. we felt her gums and it seems like the top right front tooth is bothering her. we did a search for the baby orajel to no avail but tylenol and a lot of comforting put the girl to bed. pray we sleep through the night.

last saturday, the four of us went to the blues fest hosted by a local radio station. we brought food to eat, a blanket to lay on, and stayed for almost 5 hours. the music was excellent, but luca got a little crazy at the end so we missed half of the headliner, Jimmy Burns. what we heard was great, but beds were a-calling our little ones. what does this have to do with gia teething you ask? well, here is a super cute picture of her taken at the fest, bundled up in her moby wrap. i can look at this sweet face to remind me that this too will pass.

mama time-out

just need a little time-out - jesse will be home in the next 30 mintues (hopefully) and i am barely going to make it. well, maybe that is a bit of an exageration but it sure feels like it. i put on the backyardigans cowboy episode for luca ("there's an echo in this canyon") and i am trying to ignore gia's fussy cries. i have tried all my tricks and she won't be satisfied right now. luca wants me to be no more than 2 feet from him. so i turned on the video and am sitting next to him. pray for my patience and peace. i don't want to just get through this, i want to find joy in this too.

i was just reading about God's pleasure and living a life that He can smile on - this is one of those times to keep that in mind i guess.

toe hurts and a screaming gia

can we all say i-l-l . . . i-n-i? my little 'uns and i just got back from an overnight trip to champaign-urbana with my parents and younger brother. cameron will be a freshman this fall at the university of illlinois (my alma mater) and we joined him for his summer registration. we stayed at our friends' house - thank you so much wilcoksi family for the use of your home - we felt welcomed and loved.

cameron, luca, gia, and i drove together and our trips to and from champaign were very similar. luca being goofy, singing silly songs, and saying "toe hurt" fairly regularly. gia screaming and inconsolable even when uncle cam was bending over backward to give her the paci every 2 minutes - i think she just wanted attention.

luca's favorite new phrase - "toe hurt." whenever luca bumps his head or falls down, he comes to me saying, "head/hand/belly hurt" and wants a kiss. lately, he has been saying toe hurt about a thousand times a day. now i am not being a bad parent by just ignoring my child's claim to pain, but after luca makes this statement when i am trying to clean his face three mornings in a row, you too would be dubious. i have since learned that he says "toe hurt" when any part of his leg or foot is bumped, bruised, or merely prodded.

while cameron and mwa mwa cashew spent tuesday on campus, cece (my mom), the kids and i took a leisurely walk around the neighborhood admiring gardens. we also went to strawberry fields, a yummy organic grocery store and cafe in urbana, for lunch. before leaving town, i drove cam over to PAR (pennsylvania avenue residence halls) to show him his new home come august. i too lived in PAR (was it really 10 years ago?) and had fun visiting my old haunts.

in the pic above, luca makes his "cheese" face - will we ever get a photo with a real smile again? :)

below, the fam on the porch swing chez wilcoski (luca was napping) and gia sticking her tongue out at her uncle.

strawberry shortcake party in the park

i love strawberry shortcake. she was a favorite as a child and i have never really lost the love of the smell of my childhood doll. that is why i was so excited to attend olivia's birthday party this afternoon. when luca woke up from his nap i asked him if he remembered what we were going to do this afternoon and he cried," happy birthday awdie cake!" (i think we all know what he was looking forward to.) gia dressed up in her cute little strawberry shortcake shirt (thank you scrunchies!) and her strawberry shoes, i donned my favorite strawberry skirt, and we were off to the park.

the pinata was a big hit (pun intended). ethan (olivia's older brother) knocked it down twice but none of the kids were able to open it. this gave megan an opportunity for some bat therapy and she swung hard to let loose the loot inside. (notice luca's cool bead necklace in the last picture - he got it from the pinata)

it took awhile to get the three candles lit in the wind, but after three rounds of happy birthday, olivia was able to blow out her candles (with some help from a gust of wind). luca was excited to finally eat the cake after such a grueling wait.

we watched olivia open many neat presents. luca did not have a problem with jealousy during this time, because sundresses and princess toys are not for him. she was wearing our present (the super adorable strawberry dress) and it came with a matching doll dress.

the party in the park was a great way to end a fun, eventful weekend. when i get more time i will tell you all about our day yesterday (at the blues fest in downtown bloomington).

mmmm, applesauce

over the last few days we have been introducing gia to the wonderful world of applesauce. she started rice cereal at about 4 months old and we were planning on waiting to start fruits and veggies until she was 6 months old. she has been really hungry lately and fussy throughout the end of the day. adding to these factors that she is such a big girl (off the charts for both height and weight) we started a bit early. she is very intrigued with this new taste. today was the first day that she waited with her mouth open between each bite.

it made me a bit sad today when i realized that i can no longer be the only source of nutrition for my little girl. definitely the next step in her continuing independence.

green beans are aggressive

growers, that is. yes, i am now even more of a dork . i am in awe of how a grean bean grows. they break their way out of the ground in just a week of being planted, splitting in half and unveiling two bright yellow-green leaves. in the morning yesterday, only a few had emerged from the soil and in only 24 hours almost three dozen little plants have come up. here is a very cool picture of one of my plants plus a birds-eye view of part of the row (notice the ground broken up around the sprouts).

these will, hopefully, one day grow to cover our horsey fort. i have been reprimanded by my father for not previously including a picture of the green bean teepee. so here it is folks. we'll post updates as the amazing plants do their thing.

oh and here is a picture of our vegetable garden sans orange cones and upside-down garbage cans (see the pevious post the helmy men.)

the helmy men

yesterday morning i was in bad shape. i had a lot of pain and wasn't sure if i could take care of luca and gia by myself, so jesse took a sick day (or a caretaker day as we call it). luca was really excited dada did not have to go to work, but little did he know he was about to have an even better day. what could top his papi staying home? a visit from the helmy men.

who are the helmy men you ask? the tree trimmers from the utility company. they were construction hats and luca calls them helmies. He loves helmies (really anything that goes on your head) and was so excited when they came into our backyard to trim branches off some of our trees. I was less than thrilled when they had to work over our vegetable garden, but they took a lot of time setting up protection.

jesse pulled a dining room chair over to the back door and luca sat and watched them work for over a half hour. he kept trying to talk to the men working, but sadly they could not hear him over the noise of the tree trimmer.

when they were finished with all of the actual cutting, we let luca put on his contruction helmy and go outside. they got a kick out of his hat and joked that he was coming out to supervise. the men also said they wished they could work in their pajamas.

luca pwayed

after dinner tonight, luca started saying, "pway, pway!"

in response, i asked, "you want to play?"

"pway! mama, dada, guca - pway!"

"you want mama, dada, and luca to play now?"

now exasperated with my incompetence in comprehending his obvious intent, luca then said, "no, pway!" and he folded his hands together and closed his eyes.

"oh, pray! you want to pray. did we forget to pray before dinner?"

"uh-huh!"

yes, we did forget to pray and on these occasions luca usually remembers after dinner when we are clearing the table. then my little guy pulled a first. he folded his hands, closed his eyes, and started to pray out loud.

"dear God. pway food, cup, poon, fork, milk, gia bib, cows, pigs, horseys, cowboy hats." he then looked at me to see if i was impressed. which i totally was, plus super emotional too. not only was i thankful to see luca imitating something jesse and i do that i am not embarassed about or frustrated with, but it made him seem so grown up.

it is my prayer that this is just the beginning of luca learning the fundamentals of the Christian life. we can only place our faith in God that his heart will be touched and led to follow God independently as he continues to grow up.

(in a side note, luca always wants to pray for cows, pigs, horseys, and cowboy hats at dinner. just in case you were wondering where that came from. - yes he is a cowboy! and here is the picture to prove it.)

a movie of her own

gia wanted a movie featuring herself. she pulled out all her best material - smiling, rollig over, being adorable. enjoy!

the incredible edible foot

how cute is this girl??? while the rest of us were enjoying a picnic lunch during an outdoor free concert in downtown bloomington, gia decided to have a different kind of snack.