Frankie's school Christmas program

Last Friday, Frankie's day care had their annual school Christmas program.  Frankie had been talking about it for weeks, and we were so excited to see what his class had in store for us!  He had been singing "Jingle Bells" a lot around the house lately, so we figured they were going to sing that song for us.  There were nearly 700 parents and family members in the audience, so I was a little scared that Frankie would be overwhelmed.  But, the kids did so great!  They had each classroom go up on stage and "sing" or "perform" one or two songs.  His class did "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer."  He did so good!  But of course they put him on the very far left-hand side of the stage, and we were on the far right-hand side, so I was not able to get the best pictures.  We were so proud of him for his first "performance," and I can't wait to see many, many more!  I love that this school has programs like this.  Here are a few of the pictures I got of Frankie and his classmates at their Christmas program:

Holes for a Hero

These last few months have been insane.  Not only have I been pregnant and sick, but Frank and my family have been planning a major fundraising event for Monte.  Finally, on December 10, all of our hard work paid off!  We hosted the Holes for a Hero golf tournament at Sweetwater Country Club in Sugar Land, and the turnout was AMAZING!  We raised nearly $33,000 for Monte's recovery fund.  Almost 130 golfers came out to support the event, and we raised nearly $6,000 from the amazing live and silent auction items that were donated.  We are so happy and proud of the way the event turned out.  Most organizations take an entire year to plan a big fundraising event, and we threw this tournament together in just over three months.  I want to thank everyone who helped make this event possible, especially my Dad who really stepped up and helped recruit golfers.  Everyone in my family helped out, and Frank and i truly appreciate all of their efforts!  I also want to thank all of my friends who came out to volunteer on the day of the tournament--I truly do not know what we would have done without you!  We have learned so much about fundraising this year.  It is one of the most rewarding and frustrating things I have ever done.   In the five months since Monte was injured, we have raised almost $90,000 for his recovery fund.  We feel like it is the least we can do after everything he has given to us and our great nation! 

My little guy

Last week, in the wake of the Connecticut shooting tragedy, I left work early on Friday and Frank and I made a special effort all weekend to shower our little guy with as much love, hugs, and kisses as possible.  I am completely heartbroken for all of the families who lost their innocent little boys and girls in such a horrific way.  I am also so thankful that I have my little guy to love. 

In other news, I think Frankie may sense that a new baby is coming.  He has been giving me a really hard time lately, especially when I am trying to put him down to go to sleep.  He wants to be read a million books, sung a million songs, and even after all of that, he does not want to be put down.  He has always been such an easy sleeper, so I am puzzled by why he is suddenly fighting going to bed.  And of course he only does it with me.  With Frank, he goes down right away just like normal.  When I laid him down tonight he stood up and screamed "Mommy come back!!" for five minutes before he finally laid down.  It breaks my heart to hear him call for me like that!  I hope this is just a phase.

In other Frankie news, his new favorite phrase is "that's mine."  He says it about everything.  He also likes to take about "my hose, in my yard, by my house," or "my white car with my radio and my music."  Everything is "mine."  He has also started to negotiate all the time.  I will say, "it is time to go upstairs," and he will say "a few more minutes."  I will say, "ok, two more minutes."  After two minutes, he will say "one more minute."  After that one minute, he will say "last minute please."  Ha, it is so cute and hard to say no!  But I can already tell that everything is going to be a battle with him.  We also negotiate almost every night at meal time.  

As far as my pregnancy goes...I am finally starting to feel normal again!  The nausea is almost completely gone now, which is a HUGE relief.  I am still having that nasty metallic taste off and on, but otherwise I feel pretty much back to normal.  My stomach is getting bigger by the day, and I really need to start wearing maternity clothes, but we have been too lazy to get them out of storage.  I have been craving cheese and spicy food.  Quesadillas, pizza, and mushroom melt sandwiches from Potbelly sound great pretty much all the time.  I am starting to feel the baby move more and more which is really exciting.  I will be 15 weeks tomorrow!  I feel like this pregnancy is flying by much faster than the first one did.

Brunch with Santa

While we were in Houston for Monte's golf tournament, we went to "Brunch with Santa" at my parents' country club.  The place was packed with kids, parents, and grandparents all dressed in their Christmas best to meet Santa and enjoy brunch.  As soon as we turned the corner and caught our first glimpse of Santa, Frankie burst into tears and demanded to be picked up.  He was NOT a fan!  We waited in line to take a picture with Santa for approximately 10 minutes, and during our wait he got progressively more nervous and clingy.  We did not even attempt to put him in Santa's lap.  Instead, I sat on Santa's lap and Frank held Frankie behind us.  Frankie is almost smiling in the picture, which makes it look like he was not as bothered as he really was.  Hopefully he will be a bigger fan of Santa by next Christmas!

14 week doctor's appointment

Today I went in for my 14-week doctor's appointment, and it went great!  I have only gained 2 lbs so far, which is both great and hard to believe.  Frank came with me this time, and we got to hear the baby's heartbeat on the doppler.  It was beating away at 160 beats per minute.  The doctor commented that with such a high heart rate, she predicted we are having a girl, however I reminded Frank that my old doctor said the exact same thing at my 14-week appointment with Frankie (of course his heart rate was lower, 150).  So....who knows!  We go back on January 4th for the BIG ultrasound to find out if we are having a boy or a girl!  I am leaning towards girl this time...but of course we will be happy either way.  

A silver lining on a very bad day

I have had a cold since late last week, and it has seemed to be getting worse instead of better.  It does not help that I cannot take much except Sudafed, which does not help me sleep.  Anyway, this morning I went to work and my secretary asked my why my eyes were so red.  I had noticed them bothering me last night, but I thought it was probably just because I was dehydrated so I did not think anything of it.  However, they progressively got more red, glassy, and icky throughout the day, and now I am pretty sure that I have pink eye.  YAY.  I could not get an appointment with my doctor until tomorrow morning, but I came home from work early to rest.  Frank is making me stay away from Frankie because he doesn't want me to give him pink eye or whatever it is I have.  It is so heartbreaking to hear him in the next room but not be able to go out there and play.  As I was sitting here feeling sorry for myself, I felt the unmistakable feeling of Baby #2 moving in my stomach.  I have been feeling random, fleeting movements for the last couple of days, but this was the first time I was sure I had felt the baby.  It is such an amazing feeling!  It definitely brought a smile to my face on this otherwise awful day.  Hopefully the doctor can provide me some meds to help me feel better!

Sick of sickness...

I feel like I have been "sick" for more than two months now.  I have not worked out (almost at all in 2 months, ugh!!), and doing anything has seemed to take extraordinary effort.  Last Thursday I could not sleep and my throat was absolutely on fire.  I finally took some tylenol and got to sleep by about 3 am, but when I woke up in the morning, I was feeling terrible.  I stayed home on Friday with what I thought was a sinus infection or a really bad cold.  On Saturday I felt a ton better, but Frankie woke up with a fever and I was feeling very exhausted and nauseated.  On Sunday morning, I woke up throwing up and I have felt crappy the rest of today.  Frankie also still has a fever today, so we will need to take him back to the doctor tomorrow.  I am so sick of being sick or taking care of a sick child!  This week is going to be super busy with work and getting all of the last minute stuff done for the golf tournament, and I really do not have time to take any sick days or feel under the weather.  Hopefully Frankie is not too sick and is feeling better tomorrow, and hopefully I am close to the point in pregnancy where morning/all-day sickness starts to fade.  I think I was throwing up until 14-15 weeks last time, and I am almost 13 weeks now, so it should not be too much longer!

2-year appointment

Today I took Frankie in for his 2-year checkup.  These appointments are easier in some ways and much harder in other ways than they used to be.  If we could get in and out in 30 minutes or at least less than an hour, I think the whole thing would be great!  But when we have to wait in the little room for over an hour to see the doctor...this two year old boy gets antsy and starts acting like a wild man.  He also pooped while we were there, and of course I did not have a change of diaper with me.  But, he is 35.5 inches tall and 27.5 pounds, right at 75-80% for height and around 45-50% for weight.  His head is still small, in around the 20%.  He is healthy (yay for no ear infection!), and he is right on track for his development.  I was actually a bit shocked at the questions the doctor asked, because most of the things she asked about he has been able to do for quite some time.  He had to get two shots, and boy did he scream!  He then kept trying to roll up his pants and remove his bandaids on the drive to school.  He was not a happy camper at all when I dropped him off, but hopefully he will feel better after his nap and have a good afternoon!

Frankie is going to be a ...

Big Brother!!!!  Frank and I are thrilled to announce that we are expecting another baby!  I am currently 12 weeks along, and I am due on June 12, 2013.  The babies will be 2 years and 7 months apart.  We found out I was pregnant on October 2.  I had to change doctors due to insurance, and I have already been to the doctor for two appointments and one ultrasound.  We had a super early ultrasound at 6.5 weeks and got to see the baby's heartbeat!  Then I went back at just under 10 weeks and the doctor was able to find the baby's heartbeat with the doppler, so I got to hear that sweet sound!  The heartbeat was fast, 169 beats per minute.  So far, this pregnancy is very different from my first.  I remember being absolutely exhausted last time during my first trimester, but this time my energy level has not really fallen.  I am actually having some insomnia, which stinks.  I have also been extremely nauseated this pregnancy, sometimes with the nausea lasting all day and  night, sometimes accompanied by puking.  It has made it extremely hard to get up and go to work.  I have also had a disgusting taste in my mouth near constantly for the last 6-7 weeks.  It tastes like disgusting metal, and it gets worse every time I eat.  It is gross and it makes me want to eat more to get the taste out of my mouth, but nothing really works.  Most food has been completely unappealing to me until the last couple of weeks.  Now I am mostly craving cheese and meat. 

I told my sister just a few days after I found out I was pregnant, but we did not tell anyone else until just last weekend when we went to Houston for Monte's fundraisers and Frankie's birthday.  It was so hard to keep such a huge secret for so long!! It was especially hard because I was so sick and the pregnancy was all that I could think about.  We had Frankie open up the "Big Brother" t-shirt as a birthday gift on November 17 in front of my parents and brother.  They did not get it at first, but when they did they were shocked!  My mom even cried :)  I can't believe they did not guess before that, because I am already HUGE!  I swear I am as big right now at 12 weeks as I was at 18-20 weeks last time.  I am already wearing my bella band with pants and feeling like I want to get into maternity clothes.  

Although we most definitely planned this pregnancy, we are both feeling a little apprehensive about adding another baby to our family.  I am especially nervous about how we are going to handle getting two little ones ready each morning and putting them to bed at night.  I already feel like I have no extra time...but I suppose everyone just makes it work!  I am planning to take a longer maternity leave with this baby, and I am really excited about that. 

Last pregnancy pretty much every single person we knew thought that we were having a girl, but Frank and I were pretty sure we were having a boy.  This time, Frank had a dream that we are having a girl, but I am not so sure.  I do not have a strong feeling either way, and I think either one would be wonderful.  We are just praying for a healthy baby.  We are so excited about this new edition, and we cannot wait to be a family of four!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have been enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving week with family here in Dallas.  Frank's Dad and Denise arrived in Dallas on Tuesday, and my family all drove up from Houston on Thursday to enjoy Thanksgiving at my house.  Frank and I cooked a turkey and ham feast for 12 people!  We had way too much food as usual, but it turned out wonderful.  We have so much to be thankful for this year.  It has been a tough year for Frank and his family, but we are all so thankful that Monte is alive, in remarkably good spirits, and fighting hard to recover.  We are thankful for the enormous and unexpected generosity of so many friends and strangers who have prayed for Monte and supported his recovery.  I am thankful for my wonderful husband, who has a bigger heart than anyone I know, and who works so hard all the time taking care of everyone else.  I am thankful for my son, who amazes and inspires me every single day.  I am thankful for my job, for finding a place where I feel inspired at work, and for wonderful encouragement from my boss.  I am thankful for our beautiful home and our awesome friends.  Most of all, I am thankful that we got to spend this holiday surrounded by family, love, and laughter.  Frankie cannot get enough of Nana, Granny D, and all of the rest of his extended family.  I am sad that we don't get to see them more often, but I am so thankful that we got to spend so much time together this week. 

Frankie turns 2!

My sweet little boy turned 2 years old on Saturday!  My, how fast this year has flown by.  I feel like just yesterday we were hosting his first birthday party and he was flinging cake all over the place.  This year's party was so much different.  We just had a small brunch at my parents' house in Houston.  Frankie had a blast.  He loved when everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to him, and he loved opening presents.  He clapped and got so excited about each and every gift.  It was so nice to see him so happy and enjoying himself so much. 

At age two, Frankie is....

*Wearing size 2T shirts and size 18 month bottoms, although those are sometimes too big.  He is still tall and skinny.

*Still eating pretty good, but he can be picky sometimes.  His favorite foods are:  salad with ranch dressing, pancakes, chicken nuggets, cereal, cupcakes, and peanut butter and jelly.  He also loves chips and guacamole, and he loves pretty much every single condiment.

*The best sleeper ever.  He goes to sleep at 8:00, and he will sleep as long as we let him on the weekends, typically past 9:00 am, which I really appreciate!  On the weekends he takes 3 hour naps, but he takes 2 hour naps on weekdays at day care.

*Just moved to the "big boy" class at school.  They are working on potty training, and we are hoping to have him trained in the next few months.

*Loves reading. His favorite book is still a nursery rhyme book, and he can recite almost all of the nursery rhymes in the book.  Some nights I read the book to him, and other nights I let him "read" the book to me.  It is so sweet!

*He knows all of his numbers and letters, can spell his name (but about half the time he forgets the "A"), counts to 20, and knows several words and numbers in Spanish.  He is a sponge, and he learns like his Mommy does. 

*Still talking and singing up a storm.  He speaks in sentences and speaks very clearly.  I had a transition meeting with his teachers last week, and they told me "from the first time he opened his mouth, we thought this was not the mouth of a two-year-old."  He has gotten in the habit of saying "yeah" instead of yes, so we are working on that. 

*Can be very shy sometimes, unpredictably, but usually when I am around along with a bunch of other people.  He is the opposite of shy at school, so it always surprises me when he acts like this. 

*Still so, so sweet.  When I tuck him in at night, I say "snug as a bug in a rug," which is something Frank used to say, and he loves it.  And then he says "sweet dreams." 

*But of course, can also have his epic tantrum moments.  Today he screamed the entire way to day care and had a massive tantrum when I dropped him off.  I guess waking him up at 5:00 a.m. to drive home from Houston  did not make him very happy.  

*His favorite toys are his broom, his ipad, and his books. 

Frankie, you are such a smart, curious, energetic, and sweet boy.  You give us a run for our money, but I have absolutely loved watching you grow into such a cute and curious little boy.  I wish you could stay little and innocent forever, but I know that I will enjoy watching you grow and change.  I hope that you had a wonderful birthday!  Love, Mommy

Happy Halloween!

 Frankie had a blast this Halloween.  We let him pick out his costume from a limited selection at Target, and he chose to be a spaceship.  It is a really silly costume.  I was trying to get him to be an army dude, but he wanted none of that.  So, spaceship it is!  In the morning his school had a Fall Festival parade and trunk-or-treat.  All of the kids under 3 went first and they all paraded in a circle around the parking lot three times.  Frank did not want to wait with his teachers and instead sprinted ahead to be with the big kids.  This is pretty typical of his attitude most days!  After the parade they stopped at 5 or 6 cars in the parking lot to get candy.  You could tell that the kids did not really get it at first, but once they figured out they were getting candy, they just wanted to sit down and eat it!  It was so funny.  After the parade was over and they all went inside, the teachers had to take away their pumpkins and candy, and all of the kids were so upset.  I would not have wanted to be a day care teacher on Halloween, that is for sure!

I was scheduled to fly out to Missouri for work on Halloween night at 9:30, so I let Frank take Frankie trick-or-treating around our neighborhood and I stayed home to pack and pass out candy.  Frank said that he had a blast going up to our neighbors' doors and saying "trick or treat."  It is going to be so much more fun having Frankie at the holidays now that he is starting to understand what they all mean.

Here are a few pictures of my little spaceship on Halloween!

Pumpkins!

Frankie is a bit obsessed with pumpkins this season.  A few weekends ago, Frank and I took him to the arboretum pumpkin patch, and he had a blast walking and running and playing in the hay.  Then, last weekend, we carved a Halloween pumpkin.  We let Frankie pick out what kind of pumpkin he wanted us to carve--silly, scary, robot, etc.  He said that he wanted a scary pumpkin, so we found a few different pictures online and let him pick the design we carved.  Once Frank started carving, Frankie was so scared!  He was clinging on to my sister or me for dear life.  He is so silly, he loves being scared!  Now, every morning when we leave for school, he waves and says "bye bye Katy, bye bye Dada, bye bye house, bye bye pumpkin!"  It is just too cute.  Here are some pics from the pumpkin patch and carving a pumpkin:

23 months

I cannot believe that Frankie is 23 months old today, and that in one short month I will have a two-year-old.  This last year has simply flown by.  At 23 months, Frankie is:

• Wearing size 2T tops and size 18 month pants.  He is still tall and skinny.  I have heard that if you double how tall he is at age 2 you will find out how tall he will grow to be, so I am excited to see how tall he is now!  We were so surprised that he was tall enough to ride a lot of the rides at the Texas state fair.
• Talking and singing all the time.  He is talking in sentences (although the words are not always in the perfect order), and he is singing a bunch of songs.  He still busts out random songs that I have never heard before every now and then.  He loves to sing or for us to sing to him.  Some of the funny/sweet things he says these days: "Daggummit," "Be nice to Mackenzie," (his little girlfriend at school who has bitten him a few times), "This way, post office, money!" (every time we drive past the post office); "night night, sweet dreams, love you," "Frank do it or Frank [let Katy in], [put butter on pancakes]," etc, etc...he wants to do everything himself. 
• Speaking of food, he is still a pretty good eater, although we do mostly eat "kid-friendly" meals.  His favorite food these days is macaroni and popsicles.  When his stomach was upset last week, he asked for macaroni for like 8 meals in a row. 
•  He is like his Mama and he loves to learn.  He can count to twenty in English and ten in spanish, knows most of his letters, and knows all of his colors and shapes.  His day care teachers have told me since he switched over there that he is the smartest in his class, but they think he is starting to regress a little bit because he is bored.  They are trying to get him moved into the next class as soon as possible, hopefully in the beginning of November.
• He likes to be scared.  He is scared of a few videos he watches on the iPad, but he loves to watch them over and over even though they scare him. 
• He loves to be outside, on playgrounds, riding his bike, or playing with the hose.  His favorite inside toy is probably his broom. 
• He loves to help, especially with cooking or cleaning.  He always likes to clean everything up (he must get that from his Daddy).
• He has random temper tantrums, which are usually related to him wanting to do something himself and us not letting him.  He wants to put on his clothes, take off his clothes, wipe his own hands and face, cook his food, open any container of anything and pour or squeeze it...the list is endless.
• He likes trains, airplanes, Barney, nursery rhymes, and gigglebellies.  His favorite books are "Brown Bear," and "Black sheep." 

He is a handful, a joy, and a blessing.  He keeps us on our toes and brings us unmeasurable happiness.  Happy 23 months little buddy!

Lately (in pictures)

Catching up...

This has been a really busy month for me, so I have not been posting as much as normal.  One of the other associates left our firm, so work has been crazy busy and I have been pretty consumed by that.  Frankie was also sick this week with a nasty stomach virus.  But, we did maange to sneak some fun in too.  A couple of weeks ago we went to Houston to visit my parents and start planning Monte's golf tournament.  We took Frankie to a couple of cool playgrounds, and I got to meet up with my friends Diana and Lindsey for lunch and champagne. 

Last weekend we took Frankie to the Texas State Fair!  We went on a really rainy day, and we were there right during Frankie's normal nap time, so it was a recipe for disaster.  Somehow we managed to avoid a meltdown and have a great time.  He loved riding rides, eating (a corndog and a fried PB&J), and looking at all of the animals.  We tried a ton of fried food (way too much) and had a great time.

We also traded in my car last weekend and bought a new Cadillac. I am absolutely in love with it.  Not only do I love the way it looks, but I love driving it too.  I have to give a shout out to my sweet husband on this one...it took him two years to convince me that we should buy a new car for him, but he pretty much let me get whatever I wanted on this car, and I am so thankful for that.  I have been working really hard, so we decided I deserve it :) 

This weekend we were all set to go to Llano to a friends' birthday party, but Frankie had this terrible stomach bug and we did not want to risk him throwing up in the car on the drive down there or getting everyone sick.  So, we spent a pretty low-key weekend at home.  It has been getting chilly in Dallas this week, which I am SO excited about.  Hello, Fall! 

Happy Birthday, (big) Frank!

Happy Birthday, Frank!  We finally got to spend a lazy, low-key weekend together as a family.  We got dressed up and went out to a fancy steak dinner with Daniel and Kristi on Friday night to celebrate.  The restaurant gave us a free round of champagne and a free dessert and we closed down the restaurant.  Frank and Daniel had coffee flavored Patron to wind down the night, and it actually tasted pretty good. 

Frank is the most selfless, loving, and hardworking man that I know, and I admire him so much.  He is always working to better himself and pushing everyone around him to be better.  I know that great things are around the corner for him, and I have a feeling this is going to be a(nother) spectacular year.

Cheers to 37, babe!  We love you so much and we hope you had a wonderful birthday.

New bicycle

Frankie has been asking us for a bicycle for awhile now.  He always gets so excited when he sees other kids' bikes, so we finally decided to go pick one up at Toys r us.  It was a rainy day today, so he practiced riding around in our garage.  He doesn't quite get how it works...but he still loves it! 

"Yes" and songs

Frankie mastered "No" several months ago, and he has been saying it consistently and repeatedly for a long time now.  However, he has just recently mastered "Yes."  Before, he would smile and make a grunting sound or repeat whatever the correct answer was whenever he meant to say "yes."  But in the last few weeks, he has really started to understand and say "Yes" whenever we correctly guess whatever it is that he wants.  He has also figured out that saying "yes, please" is a sure-fire way to get Mama to do whatever he is requesting.  I love that it is getting easier and easier to communicate with him, and I hope that this will help with the tantrums.

Frankie also continues to LOVE to sing.  He loves to watch music videos on the Ipad, to hear music on the radio, to sing songs himself, and to hear me sing.  During most of our morning drives to day care, he requests songs and I sing them.  Sometimes I sing the same song over and over.  Sometimes I don't know the words to the song, so I just make them up.  I loooove hearing him sing.  He usually will sing the first verse of a song and then say "Mama, sing it!"  It is so cute, and I love that he loves music so much.  Frank's birthday is next week and I taught Frankie the birthday song so we can sing it to him together. 

Enjoying this wonderful weather!

I spent the majority of the weekend with my little munchkin outside, enjoying this gorgeous weather we have been having!  We went to the park/playground both days, ate breakfast outside, and enjoyed the sunny skies.  I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Visiting Monte in Washington DC

I spent Labor day weekend in Washington, DC visiting Monte and DC for the first time since I left there more than five years ago (I cannot believe it has been that long!!).  Monte is doing really well.  He is so inspired and determined to kick ass on his physical recovery.  While we were there, he put together a 6-foot tall book shelf, got out of his wheelchair, folded it up, and put it in the trunk of a car by himself, cooked 5 people bacon and eggs for breakfast, and walked on his prosthetic legs in the mall for the first time.  He is recovering at an amazing pace.  They say he is 7 weeks ahead of schedule on his legs.  Even though Monte is so positive and determined, you can also tell that he is really struggling.  I can only imagine how hard it is for him to wake up every morning and realize that he has so many challenges ahead of him.  We are continuing to pray for him and his healing every day, and we appreciate everyone who continues to support his recovery!  You can get updates about Monte and donate to his recovery at www.montebernardo.org.

On Friday night we took Monte, his girlfriend, and Frank's sisters out to dinner at Sequoia, which is where Frank and I celebrated our first year of dating anniversary.  It was fabulous, and afterward we strolled around Georgetown for a few hours.  It was surreal to be back in the city.  On Monday we went with Monte and Amanda into DC and toured the law school, Union Station, the Capitol, and the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.  We had a great day showing Monte around some of my old stomping grounds.  It was fun to be back in DC, but I sure don't miss my time there!

We missed Frankie so much while we were gone, but he was in the good hands of Nana and Papa.  He has been a little terror since we have been back, but I think he is just about done punishing us for leaving him.  Next trip, he is coming with us!

Here are some pictures from the trip:

Frank, me, and Monte

Ariela, Stella, Frank, and Monte

Monte and his girlfriend Amanda

Me and my sweetz

Ariela and Stella

Monte walking no his prosthetic legs for the first time!

cooking us all breakfast

brothers at the capitol!

Sweet boy

I post a lot about how active and busy Frankie is, but when he is not running around or climbing on things, he seems to be getting more sweet and cuddly lately.  He loves to give hugs and kisses, and he even likes to cuddle sometimes now.  I hope my little man stays in this sweet phase forever!  He is getting big too fast. 

Monte's first steps!

A mere 47 days after Monte lost both of his legs and his left arm in an IED explosion, he took his first steps on prosthetic legs.  Monte is breaking recovery records left and right, and he inspires everyone around him with his strength, perseverance, and positive attitude.  We are so proud of him!!!  Please continue to share his story with everyone you know www.montebernardo.org.  Additionally, if you would like to donate to his recovery, please go to www.montebernardo.org/donations. 

Frontiers of flight museum

We had a wonderful weekend, spending a lot of time together as a family.  On Saturday we checked out the Frontiers of Flight museum at Love Field, and Frankie LOVED it!  It really was such a neat museum, and he loved looking at all of the airplanes.  He loved it so much that I am thinking about throwing his birthday party there.  They had a really neat kids' area with a bounce house and other structures for kids to climb and play.  Frankie had a blast playing with the big kids.  He loved being able to go on the planes, and he would have stayed there all day if we let him.  This museum is part of a program that allows active military families to go for free, so that was an added bonus.  Here are some pictures from our trip to the museum.