A little family update . . .

So . . . I think my goal for blogging will be every other month because I don’t always seem to have time every month and it’s just about 2 months to the day.

We’ve been pretty busy since I last wrote. At the end of June, Justin and I went to Hawaii (just the two of us) and had a blast. We stayed in Waikaloa on the Big Island and it couldn’t have been a more beautiful place. We swam and snorkeled a lot, visited a botanical garden, swam with a sea turtle, did some night snorkeling with about 12 manta rays (one of the most amazing experiences ever!), visited a volcano and some amazing waterfalls, and just had a great time all around. At the end of July our family went on a cruise with the rest of the Rizzo Clan; thank you Papa Tony! We had so much fun spending time and catching up with the family. Jack ate tons of fruit and French fries and our waiters seemed to become especially fond of him; they always brought him a fruit cup as soon as we were seated and brought an abundant supply of cookies for his dessert. Needless to say, Jack knew who his friends were and also seemed to have fun entertaining our family at meal times.

I had a two day cheer camp with the cheerleaders the day we got back from the cruise. I am so impressed at how well the girls work together, get along, and help their teammates who may be having difficulties. Practices started the following week and we’ve been having practices Monday through Thursday; Jack comes with me and snacks, plays with cars and balls, runs around, and entertains the girls while I coach. He’s such a good boy! So, as of now, cheer and naptime seem to take up most of our days because of the time schedule we’re on right now.

Jack is growing like crazy and is just as cute as ever. He’s gotten so much better at building Lego towers and loves playing with cars and balls. It has become almost an obsession of his. He likes helping with everything even when it not that great of a help and he has now figured out how to work his CD player. I’ll be somewhere in the house, hear his music playing, and then go into his room to find him dancing; it’s so cute! He’s talking more and although he doesn’t usually say “no!” (he just shakes his head) he is definitely gaining an opinion. We love him to death!

Justin’s still working full-time and resumes school in just a couple of weeks. He’s taking 19 units (12 is considered full-time) so it’s sure to be a busy semester. He’s currently working with his uncle on his days off getting a rental property fixed-up and ready for new tenants. Even after his long days he is willing to come home and help me with dinner, Jack, laundry, etc. just to make my life a little easier. I love and appreciate him soooo much and I hope he knows that. He’s just an amazing man and father all around.

Justin and I just celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary on July 31! Can you believe it’s already been four whole years? We went to Ruth’s Chris for dinner and then he surprised me and we went to see The Phantom of the Opera in Downtown San Diego. It was amazing! I loved it and I’m pretty sure he enjoyed it too.

In addition to normal everyday life, we’re currently looking for our first home and we’re praying that we find the right one for our little family before the market starts to rise too quickly. It’s proving slightly difficult to find one that’s in just the right location with the right amount of space, for the right price. However, we have a great realtor and he’s helping us out quite a bit. We’ll let you all know if we find one!

I think that about sums up our lives right now except . . . we’re pregnant! I’m currently about 11 ½ weeks pregnant and we’re so excited! I’m thinking it might be a girl, but who knows—we’ll be happy with either as long as the baby is healthy. I’m totally starving and nauseous all of the time and completely exhausted, as well. But other than that it’s all good; we’ve already been to the doctor and there’s a heartbeat (only one!), the baby’s moving around like crazy and we’re due February 26!

That’s it for now . . . we love you all and hope your families are happy and safe!

Finally . . . An Update!

Okay, so I know it’s been a long time since I last wrote. But it seems like there’s been a lot going on here. In March, we took Jack to Disney’s California Adventure park for the first time. We all had a lot of fun together and with a couple of friends (Justin’s best friend from childhood) and their daughter. Jack liked it, but I’m not sure he even really knew what was going on. We’ll plan on doing Disney again in the future when Jack is a little more into the whole theme park Disney character thing.

On another note, for those of you who don’t already know, we found out we were pregnant in February, but miscarried a month after finding out. I’m so grateful we have each other, great family and friends, and, of course, the Lord. We’re just so grateful to have Jack, and know that he’s happy and healthy.

Jack had a bad case of the stomach flu in April (for about a week) and a cough turned into bronchitis in May. He now has a bit of a runny nose, but I’m hoping its just allergies. Jack is getting so big! He’s much better at running and talks a whole lot more. Although some of his words are only understood by us, he now says: strawberry, cheese, please, doggy, mama, dada, papa, bink, poop, buh-bye, hi, shoes, and I’m sure there’s a few more. He’s mimicking a lot now and thinks it’s funny when you copy what he does. Unfortunately, Jack is hitting and has been in time-out quite a few times for it; we’re working on that and saying please and thank you. Jack likes to pray with us for meals and even tries to say “amen,” he’s so cute! Speaking of cute, Jack is a winner in the Cute Kids Contest here in town and he’ll be in the local paper this week! I’ll make sure we get some copies of the pictures made for some of you.

Right now Jack likes to climb into the bath or shower, wave and say buh-bye; he also likes to climb behind the couch cushion and drive his toy tractors. He helps water my plants, do the laundry and shut the dishwasher. He’s gaining more of a sense of humor and is learning new things each day; we love our son!

Justin has been out of school since mid-May and it has been so great to have him home. We have two whole days to spend time with Justin and on the 17^th I get to spend a whole week with him—just the two of us because we’re going to Hawaii! Justin ran for the San Diego Republican Central Committee, however, he lost the position by about 200 votes. Bummer! He hopes to work on other campaigns (like for County Supervisor) in the future. He has high hopes for the future and I have faith in him.

As for me, I’m pretty much doing the same things I was before: taking care of Jack and trying to be a good wife and mommy. However, there is something new and exciting I’m doing—I’ve signed on with the local high school and I’m now coaching Freshman Cheer. I’m so excited to be doing something that I love! We have a couple of camps this summer and practices start up at the end of July. Plus, I think I may sign up for aerobics and yoga again this summer just for some more fun.

So Justin and I are going to Hawaii on the 17^th for a week and we’re also sooo excited for the Rizzo Family Cruise/Reunion at the end of July! We look forward to spending time with our family this summer :D

I don’t know what else to write, so I’ll plan on writing again and posting lots of pictures after we get home from our trip! We love you all and hope you all are doing well!

Hello 2008!

Hello Everybody and Happy 2008! It’s been a little while since I’ve updated everyone about our family, so I figured now would be a good time because we don’t have anything going on today.

Justin started school in January and is still going full-time. He is gone all day Tuesday (he leaves at 7:00 AM and gets home around 9:30 PM) and most of Thursday (7:00 AM – 5:30 PM). He’s doing very well in school; Justin has already had many presentations and has three big tests today. He studies a lot, sometimes with his good friend Jeremiah (from work and now school), and is up late most nights. He’s still working full-time at the Grand Tradition and he has most Friday and Saturday nights off right now. However, wedding season will soon be upon us and so he’ll be working those nights again. Jack and I try to support Justin in all he does and enjoy the time we all spend together.

Jack is growing like a weed! We had to go to the doctor for him yesterday because he’s sick; it all started with a clear runny nose, then the cough started a week later, and then he became fevered yesterday morning. I’m so glad we went to the doctor! The doc said, “He basically has a mild case of pneumonia,” so Jack’s now on antibiotics and we’ll visit the doc again tomorrow to check up on everything.

On a happier note, his favorite song right now is Little Bunny Foo Foo. He shakes his fingers, claps his hands and says “bop!” Sometimes he’ll just walk around the house clapping and saying “bop!” just for the fun of it. He has learned to climb up on the couch and enjoys walking back and forth across it and has started jumping on the couch. He had his first real “big boy” haircut on Saturday with the buzz clippers and looks like a real toddler now.

Jack’s a little over 22 lbs now and he’s talking a lot more although other people may not understand some of the words: Dada (he screams it when he sees Justin!), mama, bop (of course), quack quack, and buh-bye. Jack is a solid walker now and can find mommy and daddy’s noses, although he hasn’t found his own yet. He loves books and doing everything with them; he reads in the car, pulls our books off the shelves, and carries them around with him. He loves his crocodile xylophone (Thanks Aunt Judy and Trev!) and now pulls it around the house in addition to playing it. He also loves his little ride-on push-car from Uncle Zach and has figured out how to get on by himself! Ahhh, a brand-new skill he has learned: pushing the water dispenser on the refrigerator (darn!). Jack also loves to pull out and play with my spatulas and other (safe) kitchen tools and also our broom. Jack still eats just about everything, but he loves eating frozen peas, cheese (except sharp cheddar), plain yogurt with a bit of honey, blueberries, and strawberries. Oh yeah, Jack loves to march! Our floors are hollow so he can hear himself make big noises and he gets really excited.

As for me, I think I’m pretty much doing the same things as I was before. I love my mommy friends and we still work out, go to playgroup, and hang out together (when the wee ones aren’t sick). I’ve joined a gym and aim to go a couple of times a week; however, with Justin in school, those nights are some of the only time we have to spend together. I was sick for about a week and a half, got better, watched kids for a week, and got kind of sick again. I’m just grateful it’s just my nose this time and nothing else. I’m home with Jack, loving it by-the-way, and tutor two days a week here at home. I still enjoy cooking and trying new recipes all the time and we usually don’t eat the same thing very often, unless its leftovers.

I can’t think of anything else to update you all about except that we’ve sold Justin’s car, so we’re now a one-car family. I’ll try to post another update next month so there won’t be too much to read (and write) every time. We love you all!

Last blog for 2007!

Hello and Happy Holidays to our family and friends! Sorry it has been sooo long since our last blog; a lot has happened with our family since the list time I wrote. We had the fires here in San Diego and we are so grateful that our family and friends are all safe. I’ve had a birthday and am now 23 years-old (woo-hoo) and Jack just celebrated his first birthday! What a year it has been, and a great one at that!

Because I haven’t written since September I’ll just brief you all on just a few things since then. Jack stood on his own for the first time and his third tooth came through in October. For Halloween he was a cute little skunk—we called him “our little stinker.” In November, Jack said his first real word (dog) although we’ve only heard it a couple of times since then. Jack celebrated his first Thanksgiving and he took his first step the day before my birthday (November 26^th).

Jack had his first birthday party on December 8^th and his favorite part was his cake. It was the first time he’d ever had real sugar and he absolutely loved it; Jack had his own birthday cake and ate about half of it (I think most of it made it into his mouth, too). Jack’s now walking a lot more although his preferred method of getting around is still crawling and, oh yeah, he love’s to dance. In addition to the three teeth he already had on the bottom . . . he now has an additional three on the top and I think the fourth tooth is coming through soon. Jack just had his one-year check up and now weighs a whole 20 lbs. 14 ½ oz. and is 28 in. tall and is still growing like crazy. His current favorite foods are: frozen peas, any kind of meat, goldfish, and bananas. Jack has quite the little personality and brings so much joy into our lives.

Justin finished his final exams and has been out of school for about two weeks now. He’s still working very hard at the Grand Tradition and, because wedding season had slowed down, he has even had a few Friday nights off for a night out with me! Justin still loves reading (usual

ly something political) and is actually able to enjoy his favorite pastime now because school’s out! Justin is still an amazing husband and father; he helps out around the house even when he doesn’t really have time and is just as tired as I am. I love him so much.

Both my aerobics and yoga classes have ended, but I’m still working out

with my mommy group most days of the week. We aim to work our five

mornings a week but don’t always make that goal because of sick/ tired babies and an occasional tired mommy. However, I’m really ready to get back into the groove

after the holidays, especially because (da da da daaaaa!) Justin got me a new jogging stroller for Christmas! I’m so excited to break it in! I can’t think of anything else to write about right now

, so I won’t go on any longer. Just know that our little family is happy, healthy, and we truly love each other!

2007 has been a great year; we love you all and we’ll see you in 2008!

A new one--at last!

I know it’s been over a month since the last family update.

Jack’s a whole nine months old as of this past Wednesday! He still has only two teeth and is still as cute as ever (at least we think so). Jack has also had a lot of firsts in this past month-and-a-half . . . he pulled himself up on his own for the first time on August 18^th and hasn’t stopped ever since; we even pulled the cute bumpers out of his crib because we caught him standing on top of them! Jack’s been crawling for about a month already—he started using his arms very slowly and cautiously at first and has since perfected the skill. Jack has already had his first “shiner” and is no longer a vegetarian. He loves feeding himself different foods and has mastered the sippy cup; I’m not going to list all of the foods he’s eaten because the list has grown immensely and some people will tease me about it ;o) Jack has attended his first high school football game, attended his friend Felix’s first birthday party (and had his first cupcake—no sugar added), sat in a shopping cart without a cover on it (BIG step for me . . . ewwww germs), and his brand new car seat just arrived in the mail this afternoon! He hasn’t started walking on his own yet, but I know that will be here before we all know it as he needs very little support now.

Justin has become busier since our last blog entry. School has been in session for him for almost a month now. He is going to school on Monday’s and Wednesday’s from 9 am to 7 pm, and doesn’t return until about 7:30 on those days. He then works the days he’s not attending school. Justin is still politically involved (though not as much as when he was working the campaigns) and is still the 11 year-old scout leader at church. he still finds time to spend with Jack and I in addition to all that he does; he is such a hard worker and never complains about supporting our family, being tired, helping around the house, or even parenting Jack in the evening when he returns home. I know I am truly blessed to have a husband as loving, hard-working, and dedicated as Justin is.

I have resumed my yoga and aerobics classes on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and love them both. Music & Movement class has just resumed this week and we’re looking forward to learning new songs and playing with our friends. Jack and I had a lot of fun this past month with “The Mommies” and their kids; we attended playgroup at least 4-5 times a week at each other’s homes while the music class was not in session and let the kids play together while we visited. I’m grateful to have found this group of mothers who are strong, beautiful, and intelligent women—without them motherhood would be a bit lonely (okay very lonely). I miss my school friends (hey girls!) and those I haven’t seen or talked to in a while, but my life is great. I have a great support system, my amazing husband, and out beautiful son—what more could a girl ask for? I am extremely blessed. Until next time . . .