The Big, Fabulous 3-0???

Okay, so some of you may have noticed...well, no you probably didn't, but sandwiched in between Lucas' 11 month pics and Christmas should have been an AMAZING blog post on my birthday and turning the big 3-0 this year. Well, if you know me much at all, you probably know I'm not a "let's have a big party" kind of person. I love being with my family on my birthday.

So, we had planned to take the boys to ICE! 2010--at the Gaylord Resort. We got all dressed up and headed out the door and made the longish drive out there. Literally as we were about to turn into the parking lot, we hear a gurgling noise coming from the back seat. Mario and I looked at each other, both thinking, "well, that didn't sound good." I turned around and leaned over the seat to take a peak at Lucas, and lo and behold, the child is covered in throw-up...with a projectile-style design sprayed across the back seat for garnish! Needless to say, we pulled a u-turn and went home. Not exactly how I saw the birthday celebration going in my mind!

Lucas obviously needed a major clean-up when we got home. I tackled that while Mario tackled cleaning his car. And then the entire car seat cover needed to be removed and washed (after being sprayed down first!). While I finished up all these things, my sweet husband who couldn't bear to let my birthday end like this said, "I've gotta go get something...I'll be right back." I got Lucas in bed and changed my clothes. A few minutes later, Mario walked in the door with a fabulous dinner from Uncle Julio's (one of my favorites for Mexican). And to top it off, he had picked up some seriously delicious cheesecake (also one of my favs) from Bailey's. So, we had our own little private celebration at home. I guess this is where having parents nearby would've come in handy!

Anyway, my loving Mario still managed to make my birthday special. And I wouldn't trade these kids (throw-up or otherwise) for anything else in the world! I just don't have any pictures to show for my special day!!!

So, anyone else out there clean up throw-up on your birthday???

Oh, and by the way, we DID still manage to make it to ICE! 2010 a couple weeks later...just without Lucas this time! Blog post on that to follow!!!

Christmas in Kansas!

We ventured out to Kansas for Christmas this year! It's where Mario's grandparents live, as well as his aunt and cousins. Our little get-together somehow snowballed into a humongous family reunion! I had the opportunity to meet some of Mario's family that I had only heard rumors stories about!!! It ended up being so much fun. As always, there was good food, lots of laughter, lots going on, and lots of love. I must confess I was a little worried about how the boys would do with so many crazy, loud adults around, but they did outstanding! Aunt Kathy made us a little "home" in her basement--the perfect place for our little guys to nap their cares away. Anthony loved being the center of attention during our Christmas Eve worship time, making up his own words to the hynms and singing at the top of his lungs! Lucas warmed up to everyone quickly and had fun being held by all.

the gang

me and ma (mario's mom)--

if you look above, you'll notice we're the only two blondes in the picture!

(well, maybe lucas counts!)

to the left of Mario is his brother Ben

to the right are his cousins Chris, Elliot, and Michael


our Mammina family photo--
it was sooo good to see mario's parents and brother

this should've been our family photo, but Anthony didn't want to have his picture taken!

ok, take two!

Lucas is sporting his "my first Christmas" bib that Nonna got for him

Merry (belated) Christmas from our crazy family to yours!

Lucas' 11 Month Pics

Here's my sweet little munchkin in his Chicago Bears pjs at 11 months old--right before Christmas. I just can't get over how fast he is growing up!

He's too distracted by Anthony, so he won't look at the camera!

still watching Anthony

all smiles

his trademark "mouth open" pose

(well, so are the 3 pics above and the 3 pics below, I suppose!)

Anthony providing some entertainment

little monkey

just want to squeeze this sweet thing!

look at that precious baby body!!!

I wish they could stay this little forever!

You can't tell from the picture, but Lucas is busy watching Anthony jump on Mommy's bed in the other room! He wants to keep up with big brother so badly!!!

I'm about a month behind on blogging here, so I'll give the long version update on how he's doing in his 12 month pic!!!

Giggles at Lunch

I just had to include this video clip of my boys cracking each other up while having lunch. Well, mostly it is Anthony cracking Lucas up--he can get the best belly laughs out of Lucas! Lucas loves his big brother soooo much!

Thanksgiving/Christmas in Memphis

We drove up to Memphis this year for Thanksgiving, and we also had an early Christmas celebration while we were there since we wouldn't be seeing the Bellican Family again until after the start of the new year. It was an action-packed weekend, but we sure had fun! It was so nice just to get out of our daily routine. We drove in late Wednesday night, and we got busy with all the Thanksgiving festivities (food!), so we didn't take too many pictures! (oops!)

The kiddos had fun playing with their cousin James.

Anthony thoroughly enjoyed pushing the (pink!) doll stroller, and James thoroughly enjoyed chasing Anthony around!


little buddies peeking out the window



Saturday morning had our early Christmas celebration--the kids LOVED it!

Honoring the Bellican tradition of pausing on the stairway for a picture before going down to see the gifts.

sweet boys

Lucas enjoys one of his presents--a set of keys with sound effects

The two bigger boys received shopping carts from Santa--aren't they adorable?!?

Lucas and Daddy

Mandy and I took a twin picture--we're getting better about remembering...Now we just gotta remember to get a sister pic with all 3 of us!

Papa took the boys out for a wagon ride--it was a beautiful day!

Look at those handsome boys!

Later the bigger boys had fun spinning around in the desk chair.

Yep, Papa is the instigator!

Meanwhile Meme loves on (feeds) Lucas! Man, this kid can eat!



And the really big boys had fun playing video games!

Anthony loved the keyboard that Meme brought out of storage for him to play.

Lucas loved it too--He just didn't get too many opportunities to play without Anthony shouting, "Lucas! No!"

our "Christmas" dinner--always delicious

Anthony was so excited to receive his "big" gift from Meme and Papa! Look at his face--he already knows what it is!

cannot resist that smile!

This was the look on his face the entire rest of the evening!






Anthony was thrilled to receive his own guitar--now he can play just like Daddy! They didn't have a pick on hand, so they had to improvise!





Here's Anthony's rendition of "The Wheels on the Bus" for your listening pleasure.

And I just had to throw in this short video clip of Lucas jamming out to a little play guitar because I think it is hilarious! I love how he gets his whole body going, just flailing those arms! And then as soon as the music stops, he's crawling away like, "okay, what's next?" So cute!

Thanks for making it a really special time for us, Mom. You always put so much thought into it, and I know these boys just have a ball at your house! Wish we could come over more often--if only it weren't a 7 hour drive..... :(