March Birthdays!

Yesterday was Bella's 5th birthday. While we were in Puerto Rico, Luca celebrated his 3rd birthday with a McQueen cake at Nonna and Pappy's. We then had their birthday party when we returned with a Mickey Mouse theme. Bella's birthday finally arrived and she chose a Care Bear cake. Now that we've exhausted all possible birthday themes, next year should be a challenge!

The video shows Keith bringing Bella her present - a Hello Kitty bike with PINK tires! She really doesn't show much excitement, but she rode at all over the house last night as well as all morning outside today.

We waited until yesterday to give Luca his presents from us, too, since there was so much going on at their party. The video shows him opening a John Deer talking tool belt and hat - these kids (and Keith) are John Deere people! The very sight of a green tractor evokes so much excitement.

Luca also got his very own Leapster so that he doesn't have to fight for Bella's anymore.

Puerto Rico

I realized that I really didn't post any pictures of the Puerto Rico trip after we had finally arrived... so here are a couple. The first one is a view from the balcony of our hotel room and the second is taken of the city wall of Old San Juan.

Keith and I had a great little getaway despite the rain for all but the last day and a half we were there! We managed to still have a great time sightseeing, hitting the spa and relaxing. I have learned, though, that going on vacation during your 1st trimester of pregnancy might not be the greatest idea! Bathing suits are a total drag, there are no fruity drinks to enjoy, and going out to dinner at your peak nausea-time can be a challenge. However, we truly loved San Juan and plan to visit again - whether or not we'll bring the kids is still up in the air!

Big Trucks!

These days, Luca is obsessed with construction vehicles... diggers, fork lifts, cranes, bulldozers and dumptrucks. Anytime he sees them - anywhere, he announces it with great joy!

Keith and I are still in Puerto Rico, but the kids are having a great time with my parents! As you can see in the picture, my dad made Luca's day by taking them to one of the new toll road construction sites in Brownsville. Bella gets almost excited as Luca does - I think she feeds off of his enthusiasm. Christian was there, too, and I was glad to see that the kids are having a good time while we are away!

As for Keith and me, we are enjoying Puerto Rico. The weather is very warm, but has been rainy, so we're missing out on some sun! We have managed to relax and spend some much needed time together, so we're really having a nice time. Tomorrow is our last full day, so we're hoping that the clouds will go away so that we can soak up some rays before we have to go home to the cold!

Nice Sign

We Made It!

This is what tired looks like.
Today was the first time I ever fish-tailed in an airplane. We finally took off from Philadelphia at 6 pm this evening. Despite watching the snow plows work on the runways all day, it was still covered in ice when we took off, causing the plane to swerve all over the runway just before we got into the air! A few palpitations later, we were safely above the clouds and said good-bye to all of the messy snow and hello to a 4 hour flight to San Juan.
We are now finally here - it's 1:30 am (we are 1 hour ahead of east coast time), and I'm ready to hit the sack! I'm also ready to wake up to some sunshine!
We also found out that Verizon Wireless doesn't have service here, so the entire trip will be cell-phone free! Thank goodness for e-mail... I can keep up with the kids that way. There won't be anymore pictures until we get back because I forgot the USB cord for the camera and my cell phone won't work, so I'll post in a few days!

Stuck in Philly

So I think we just may have picked the worst day of the year to try to fly.
We got up this morning at 5 am to get to the airport. When we got there we realized that our flight to Charlotte had been delayed, so we were going to miss our connection. We did, however, manage to get a flight to Philadelphia where we will have a 6 HOUR layover, and then leave for San Juan early this evening. As you can see, the runway was pretty scary when we landed.
We are optimistic, though, that we WILL wake up in sunny Puerto Rico tomorrow morning! Airports are so fun.

Kiss Me!

We're back in Pennsylvania, and Jilli and Bella are having another great reunion! Here is a picture of them at Ruby Tuesdays last night. It's not collagen, the big lips are actually lollipops that they earned by eating a good dinner!

We came into town for a baby shower for my sister-in-law Jen, today. It was a very nice time!

Keith and I actually leave tomorrow for Puerto Rico for some much needed R & R. We are really looking forward to a break, as the kids will be here with my mom and dad for the week! I should have some very tropical pictures to post later!