Happy New Year

We still haven't found Charlie but did get a few emails and calls mainly from strangers wishing us luck and offering suggestions on where to look for her. One girl told me about petfinder.com and I really liked that website, check it out if you are looking to adopt a pet.

We had a very busy weekend. Starting on Thursday, I met my friend Lisa and her daughter for a playdate. Here is a cute photo of Dylan and Lizzy. They played so well together and had fun walking through the mall holding hands which was adorable to see.


Saturday, we all got dressed up and attended Joe's Aunt Charlotte's wedding. She is Jewish and married a wonderful Christian gentleman and the ceremony, which was held at her Temple, was very unique. Both are very active in the community and with their church/temple. They were expecting about 200 people and about 400 showed up, so it was quite a celebration. Dylan had a blast dancing the night away, we got home around 10 pm and Joe & I stayed up until about 3 am getting the house ready for the Mishler Christmas party which we hosted on Sunday. The Mishlers are Joe's mom side of the family. Everyone brings an appetizer to the party so it is easy peasy to host.

Before the party started I took a few pictures of the kitchen because I realized that we never had a proper unveiling of our new kitchen. We still need to put up the crown molding and hang some curtains and other odds and ends but here is what Joe managed to accomplish so far.

So you can have some perspective, here some pictures of the old kitchen and dining rooms:



And here is the after:



He did an amazing job, didn't he? We are so proud of it.

Speaking of talent, Dylan is quite the creative himself. Joe is a whiz with Legos and looks like Dylan is too. He made these creations all by himself, and was so proud of himself that he wanted me to take a picture to show to daddy when he got home from work.



Matthew is "beary" cute and getting cuter every day. He can now recognize my face and is gives me big smiles. He still has the crying spells but it has gotten much better. He sleeps pretty well at night, so I am thankful for that.


Doesn't he look like Dylan in this photo?

We wish you all a very happy, healthy New Year! Don't forget to wear your yellow underwear and eat your blackeyed peas on January 1st!

Charlie is missing

Our dog, Charlie-Girl got out of our gated backyard on Wednesday and we haven't been able to find her since. I have an APB to the local vet, animal shelters and the police. I even have a posting on Craigs List.

Driving around looking for her today, I finally gave up because it is so hard to find a white dog with black spots against the white snow!

I have faith that she will be returned to us. Until then, I am hoping that someone has given her a warm place to be.

Merry Christmas!

Usually during the holidays we have several family gatherings and on Christmas day we visit a few family members but this year everyone seemed to be doing their own thing or traveling. Grandpa did come by for a little visit to give Dylan and Matthew some gifts. And for the first time since I have been a Greco, we had a laid back, quiet Christmas with just the four of us. Dylan really got into the spirit and had a ball with all his toys, watching holiday theme movies and eating a lot of cookies. Here are a few photos of our happy little Christmas day.

Dear Dylan on your 3rd birthday.

Dear Dylan,
You recently turned 3. I know, it has taken me awhile to get around to writing this letter. The truth is I really didn't know where to start. First of all, you have changed so much and grown so much in the last year. Also, I have been kinda busy. You see, you now have a baby brother and between the two of you I have been quite busy.
Getting back to you. I can't believe what a difference a year has made in your mental and physical development. You are now 41 inches tall and weigh 37.5 pounds. Your hair finally grew in and is so shiny and beautiful. You still have the most amazing eyes. They are like the ocean, one day blue or green and the next day grey. You just get cuter every day.

Pardon the interruption here, but mom seem to have left the computer on and didn't finish this note — so daddy is taking over.

FIrst of all, I want to echo mommy's note. Dylan, you have grown so much in the last year. You amaze us every day with something you do or something you say.

Right now, it's 10:51 p.m. on Christmas Eve and you're playing with a blue balloon left over from your birthday party. We're just flipping channels right now, but when almost any music comes on, you drop what you're doing and get up to dance your little heart out. It is such a joy to see you dance — it always brings a smile to my face.

You're taking to your role of big brother like a champ, even though you don't care too much for his crying. One day, Matthew was in his crib and you, mommy and I were in the kitchen. When we heard Matthew begin crying on the monitor, you promptly got up, said "Uh oh, baby crying," and simply turned off the monitor and went back to what you were doing. You're so protective, too. Another day, when Matthew spit up after a feeding, you said, "Uh oh, baby leaking."

Hearing these gems come out of your mouth makes mommy and daddy smile from ear to ear. Now, if we can only get these on video ...

We love you, Dylan!

Making cookies for Santa

Dylan made M&M chocolate chip oatmeal cookies for Santa. He did an excellent job!
It was really hard not to eat the M&M's first. I think half of them ended up in his mouth before we could even decorate the cookies!

Christmas at Nana B's house

We celebrated Christmas yesterday with Joe's mom (Nana B) and his siblings and their families. There are 10 grandkids (from her kids) now and she is expecting two more in 2008. The Grecos like to multiply.
Here are several photos from our day at Nana B's.

Dylan turns 3!

Dylan turned 3 years old yesterday.



We had a blowout party for him last weekend, and a small celebration yesterday. Here are some photos of Dylan eating icing and opening a present from my boss and one from us.

It was a bad day yesterday

Yesterday was not a day to buy Lottery tickets. Our bad luck started with Joe's fender bender on the way to work. The good news is that no one was hurt but the bad news is that the other guy didn't have brake lights or insurance. Basically, the guy in front of Joe slowed down to a stop and because he didn't have working brake lights Joe didn't realize that he was stopping ended up rear ending the guy's Oldsmobile. The guy was in his 20's and his car didn't have any damage. Joe wasn't as lucky and our Volvo looks like this:


Our second wave of bad luck came as citation from the city for not having the proper permits for the new windows we had installed. Luckily that was an easy fix, we went right down to the city office and paid $45 for the permit, after the fact. We were trying to figure out how they knew that we gotten new windows, maybe it is the stickers that are still on the windows upstairs that gave us away. We are too dang busy to peel off stickers!

Today was Matthew's 1 month check up. Besides the acid reflux and hourly feedings and general fussiness, the little man is doing quite well. He has gained exactly 3 pounds in one month and grown 1 inch. He is now 10 lbs 13 oz and 22 inches long. I can't believe that he has grown so much already, especially since he spits up half of everything he eats.
Here is are some new photos. As you can see he is still a little yellow.
Waiting to see the doctor.

This is how he is a lot of the time these days! Poor baby!

Look that that Greco chin.

Starting to look a lot like Christmas!

I am slowly putting out our Christmas decorations. Joe was going to help me haul the artificial tree up from the basement yesterday but was in a car accident in the morning and I didn't want him to hurt his back lifting anything. And because I shouldn't be lifting anything with my back issues we probably won't have the tree up until this weekend.
Also, our holiday cards are on hold until Matty's infant acne resolves itself. He is still a little jaundice, actually kinda orange/yellowish in color. He has his one month checkup today so I will post more on him later.

Here are the few decorations that I was able to display.

This is the beautiful nativity scene that my boss gave me last year for my birthday. I love it. It is my first nativity set so I am not sure if I set it up properly. If you have any pointers, let me know!


I also got the stockings up over the chimney. Click on the photos to get a closer look.


I'll post some photos of our banged up Volvo later today. The insurance guy should be here to let us know how much damage ($$) was actually done to the car. I am so thankful that nobody wasn't seriously hurt.

Visiting Santa

Dylan and his 9 cousins got to meet Santa on Sunday at the grandpa's Sportsmans Club. Dylan did much better this year (no crying) but we think that he is still a little scared of Santa, he wouldn't make eye contact with him.


He had a blast though, not sure if you can see this video of him dancing with the elves. Like the ONLY kid that was dancing! Yes, he loves to dance.

Window installation

Not the best day of the year to install a window. It was like 4 degrees outside today.
We replaced the 80 year old window with a more energy efficient one today. I was very sad to see the original window go, original to the house but way too drafty!

First meal from our new kitchen

What did I cook for our first meal with our new kitchen? Turkey lasagna. I figured I could use the new stove AND the new oven together. it only took 30 minutes to pull together and it is a favorite of Dylan and Joe's. It was wonderful to have a hot home cooked meal, finally!
Joe did a FANTASTIC job on the kitchen. I will have photos of the new kitchen by Monday, we are still putting in the finishing touches.

Bed Head

If you think his hair looks bad, you should see mine lately. I have a scrunchy permanently attached to my head.

Repetitive

I've had to repeat about 80 times today...

Charlie! Down! Down!
Charlie! Out of the trash!
Charlie! No barking (at the mailman, delivery trucks, other dogs walking through the neighborhood).

Dylan, quiet please. Don't wake Matthew!
Dylan, shhhh!
Dylan please don't stomp. No stomping.
Dylan no scratching your legs.
Dylan come here so I can wipe your nose. Wipe your nose!
Dylan, stop banging the hammer.
Don't pinch your brother.
Dylan, I am on the phone. Quiet please.
Do you need to go potty?

++++++++

I am laying face down in the chiropractor's table with my face through the hole. Dylan gets under the table and sees my face and says "what you doing here?" I say, mommy has an ouchie on her back. He looks at me takes a moment to think about it and then decides. To poke my eye with his finger. "Pinch" he says. He definitely, isn't the sensitive type.

++++++++

Sleepy Sunday

Here are the boys taking a short nap in the family room. Don't worry, I had pillows to keep Matty from rolling off the couch, even though he is still in the stage where he doesn't move at all when sleeping.

Dylan and I are sick with chest colds. Hopefully Joe and Matty doesn't catch it. We are gearing up for Dylan's 3rd birthday party this Sunday. Still trying to get the kitchen and house together. We are doing a "bulldozer" and "construction" them for the party, which I thought was appropriate considering what we have been going through with the remodeling. There is still a large window to install, trim work to do, painting, install the stove and cook top and electrical to sort out. And that is just the kitchen. I still have to finish the baby's room. The windows upstairs need trim work before I can hang the curtains. Then there is cleaning, shopping etc. the usual stuff that comes with throwing a party. I can't wait until it is done so that we can start enjoying the holidays. I am especially looking forward to decorating the house and finishing the Christmas shopping, cleaning errands etc. so that we can just be together and enjoy each other! We still have to get our holiday cards out. Lots of stuff to do, it is really overwhelming.

I was back at the chiropractor today. I had to bring Dylan and Matthew. What a nightmare. Dylan was especially bad, practically climbing the walls and totally disobeing me, which was a first. Matthew started wailing towards the end when we were checking out. It was the worst. I was not able to handle either child and trying to keep it all together but failing miserably.

Last day at day care

Yesterday was Dylan's last day at daycare (until I go back to work in February). We had to give two weeks notice at his daycare which worked out pretty well for us, as it gave me some transition time with the baby and I was able to rest somewhat.

Here is a photo of him with Ms. Jones and his friends. She pretty much potty trained him. She is very militant with the potty training!


Thursday I was trying to help Joe out with some painting and over did it. I had to go to the chiropractor yesterday and call my OB to beg her for some pain killers. The chiro said that I pulled a muscle in my back in the rib area. I was in excruciating pain Thursday night, could barely breathe let alone sleep. Let me tell you when mommy is sick, everyone is miserable. I could barely pick up Matty to nurse, Joe was running around trying to work on the house and tend to me, Dylan and the baby. It was a very long night. And for a minute I really wished that I didn't go the breast feeding route this time around. Of course Matty was not taking the bottle or formula so I had to work through the pain and nurse him. He is still eating every hourl. UGH!

I am still in pain today and have another appointment with my chiropractor on Monday. It will take several sessions to rehabilitate the injury. My doctor never did call me back so I am on Tylenol, which does nothing to help take the pain away.
It sucks being sick!