Sandwiched between his 2 best friends in his class, Luca looked totally thrilled (and a bit tired too, especially if you saw how much he was yawning on stage!) to be performing in his Christmas show at school.
A very attentive bell ringer working very hard at keeping the beat...though it was kind of hard to tell if he was amidst the other 80 or so 2-5 year olds!
Just days before Christmas, we were gifted with the flu bug (not naming names...), and unknowingly we passed it on to many (un)lucky recipients. Luca was hit the hardest (though he and I ran a close race) and he took it upon himself to take a late morning nap. Legs crossed, paci in, this boy looks pretty comfy, despite how he really felt :(
After a recent visit to my old school, Luca took an interest in "shishors", and this teacher let him at it! The result? He's a natural! (Watch out Edward Scissorhands!) The other result?
MILLIONS of little pieces of paper covered the floor. Luca did his best picking them up, but only to cut them smaller. He's a natural!
Upon 1st glance, our Christmas tree may look like yours. But I guarantee yours doesn't have Luca's special touches....Take a closer look....
this season he's taken to hanging his socks on the Christmas tree! 
Yes, that's right. Santa received a visit from Luca today. Instead of your typical child shying away from Santa, Luca pushed his way to the front of the line. And instead of your typical child rattling off a list of things he or she DOES want, Luca made it very clear to Santa of what he DIDN'T want..."I don't want a candy cane (Santa wasn't even offering one yet). It's too minty."
Well, now that that's been cleared up, plenty of time for pictures!
See Nico, that's how a visit to Santa is clearly done.
Much to my dislike, the snow came down last week...and enough to make any child want to play outside. So during Nico's nap, we bundled up (that almost took up his entire nap!) and headed out to our new backyard (yey! we finally have one that's play worthy!)
Snow gear on, tongues out...standard kid attire for any snowy day!
Snow, glorious snow! 
1st official snow angel...ever (i think!) 
While we were unpacking, what was 4 more boxes full of Christmas decorations? We were on a roll! Somehow 50% of our ornaments ended up on the bottom of our tree, but slowly over time we've been balancing them out.
It was worth the extra effort of putting up our tree in the middle of unpacking the rest of the house, because when we were done, Luca stood back and said "Look at our beautiful tree! Now we have a tree just like everyone else!" How could we even think of not decorating our house for Christmas?!?
6 months exactly in this picture, and honestly I can't believe it. We've been a little busy in the past 6 months, but hopefully now that we are settled, life will slow down. I seriously hope so too because this boy is such a joy, I don't want to miss one second of his deliciousness!See for yourself! We could've written the book "The Happiest Baby on the Block"!
The highchair has re-entered our life. There's something about it that says "baby" instead of "infant" :( where does the time go???
Unpacked and settling in, the boys are thoroughly enjoying their new home!
Nico has taken to 2 new skills...sitting independently and watching tv!
There is something irresistable about fleece jammies and snuggly boys!
Our new home is DONE!!! Move in day is upon us (the day after Thanksgiving), and I thought I'd give you a little preview until you can come and see for yourself. Above is our patio and backyard!
Basement bar, wine cellar behind (yet to be complete) and sitting area
Guest room (feel free to stay over anytime...that's why it's here!)
Master bath (this is not an open offer anytime...it's MY sanctuary! No kids allowed either!)
a different view of master bath
built in cubbies in the mudroom
master bedroom
Nico's room
Luca's room
guest bath
dining room
office (on first floor)
family room (off kitchen)
powder room
kitchen (waiting for some finishing touches...like a fridge!!!) 
After 10 days of terrible coughing and wheezing, Nico was put on a nebulizer in hopes of improving his breathing...and it worked. Thank Goodness! He was such an angel during his treatments...happy to be rocking in his carseat or continued to stay asleep if he were already. We don't call him angel baby for nothing!
Funny boy...especially at 6:30am when he crawls into our bed like this.
Eager for trick-or-treating, my fireman and fire dog briefly stop for a picture.
The man with the yellow hat seemed to have lost his monkey...so a fireman will have to do! (Somehow this costume made Mike look about 7 feet tall...and strangely attractive :) )
Luca was absolutely in his glory trick-or-treating. Because of the chilly weather, Luca wore mittens which prohibited the use of his hands to hold his loot bag...his neck took over quite nicely though!
Getting these 3 to all look at the camera is some feat, so about 10 pictures in, we got the best one we could. (Vinny is appropriately in the monkey suit on the right).
Lollipop still in hand and fast asleep, this is the sign that a good time was surely had!
The festivities continued the following day at the 
As long as inspection goes relatively easy, we are scheduled to move in at the end of this month! Let the (dreaded) packing begin...at least it's for good this time!
We made the house officially ours by imprinting our last name and boy's handprints into the driveway. For those of you who know the story of a certain testing 2 year old experimenting with his foot in wet concrete, the 2nd time was a charm (for both us and the concrete smoothers) :)
With initial uncertainty, Luca assisted in carving pumpkins with daddy.
It took a little while for him to get over the slime...
but he did, and scooped out the insides with diligence while Nico watched from the sidelines.
Children, let the grown ups do the carving!
Proud jack-o-lantern parents :)
