Where Has The Time Gone?!

Wow! I really don't know where the time has gone ... tomorrow is Rocco's 6 month birthday! It seems like just yesterday Erik and I were sitting on the couch watching the snow pile up outside of our windows as we asked each other the questions ... "so, when do you think he will come? ... "can you believe that we could be sitting here with our baby by this weekend?". Honestly, it seems like just yesterday ... I cannot believe that it was 6 months ago tonight when we walked into labor and delivery, nervous, but definitely ready to begin the amazing journey that would follow. The past 6 months have been the best 6 months of my life! One of my favorite parts of the day is that moment when I go into Rocco's room after he has woke up and he looks at me with his big, sparkling eyes and gives me the biggest smile. It is truly the best!

In the past 6 months, we have all learned alot of new things! We learned that newborns love closeness and that it was unrealistic to think that our new bundle of joy would sleep peacefully in the cradle next to our bed on the first, second, or third night home ... or for weeks! We learned that Rocco's favorite spot was cuddled up on mommy or daddy's chest. We learned that we weren't the only ones who had a baby who screamed from 11:30 pm until 5:30 am that second night home from the hospital ... and that it wasn't colic, just the "newborn way". We learned to nap when he napped and to go to bed when he did ... and to shower whenever you got the chance! We learned that sometimes "mommy's milk" just isn't enough and we ... well, I am still trying to accept that it is okay! We learned to not turn down home cooked meals from family and friends, to merely accept and say "thank you"! ... and we learned that home cooked meals are definitely the best gifts that one can receive after bringing home a baby! We learned that since we both got 6 weeks of maternity/paternity leave, that being home together all day/everyday for 6 weeks is a long time, especially when it is too cold to take a newborn out ... and that being home all day meant that we would watch the news at 6am, noon, 5:00 pm, 5:30pm, 6:00pm and 11pm ... and that we would look forward to Wheel of Fortune! ... we even bought the game for the Play Station! We learned that routines and schedules are vital ... but that infants under 8 weeks really can't follow schedules very well! We learned that traveling now requires much more STUFF! We learned that going to the grocery store, restaurants, or shopping is now much different ... but that it has gotten much easier! We learned that Rocco loves taking evening walks, Sophie the Giraffe, sweet potatoes, silly songs, his big sister, the jumperoo and that he loves to talk! We learned the hard way that little boys will "get you" everytime if you're not quick enough! We have learned that time goes way too fast and that before you know it your hours old infant is 6 months old! We learned to enjoy every moment and have truly learned the meaning of unconditional love.

It still amazes me how much can change in 6 months! Rocco is now rolling from belly to back and from back to belly ... and now rolls from one side of the family room to the other. He is sitting up without support and is even sitting up in the bathtub without his baby tub! He scoots himself on his belly and is starting to pull his knees underneath of him when he is on his belly. Have I mentioned how much this little guy loves to talk! He may be a clone of his daddy, but when it comes to talking, he definitely takes after his mama!

We are all so thankful for the beautiful, healthy baby boy that God has given us. He has changed our lives in so many wonderful ways. "Every good and perfect gift comes from above" ... James 1:17.

FINALLY!

Okay ... so it has been months and months since I last posted! I'm not even sure if anybody looks on here, but I have decided that it is time to resume blogging. Lots has changed here in the Baratie house since I have last posted. Needless to say, life has DEFINITELY changed, but it has changed in such a wonderful way! Jenna has completely embraced her role as a "big sis" and let me just say, she is a FANTASTIC big sister! ... and Rocco is completely in love with her! Seeing the way that his little eyes light up when he sees her is completely amazing! ... and she is such a big help!

Life is once again about to change in our household ... only one more week of summer vacation

:( Jenna will be in the 5th grade this year, so hard to believe! ... and Rocco will be going to the sitter's house everyday while mommy and daddy go to work. I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to manage leaving him! I honestly think that it is going to be harder to leave him now than it was when I went back to work after maternity leave ... only b/c I knew that I only had to go back for 4 weeks and then it would be summer vacation. I'm not sure who it will be more difficult for ... me or Rocco! He has become very attached to me ... he will still go to other people, but he won't take his eyes off of me. I have to be honest, it is kinda cute ... but I worry about how he is going to take this huge adjustment. The part of me that works with preschoolers knows that him going to a sitter and being around other kids will be a great advantage for him ... it is just going to be so hard to leave his sweet little face everyday! It will be nice to get into a routine again ... although I must say that I am lovin' our summer routine! My little man is such a GREAT sleeper ... somedays he lets his mama sleep in until 8:30 or 9:00 ... and he is in bed everynight by 8pm! Summer break has been fantastic! Erik will say ... so, what are your plans for tomorrow ... to which my response is usually "oh, just playing ... maybe we will take a walk or go to the park or zoo, but nothing major!" It is GREAT!

Getting into a routine will be a good thing ... but the start of the school year always brings with it lots to do and lots of busy weekends! Jenna is still doing competition gymnastics, but we still have a few more months until her meet season starts. And of course, Autumn brings with it football ... Buckeye Football and Steelers Football ... and High School Football! Domenic will be a Freshman this year (hard to believe!) and he is playing football, so we are hoping to make it to most of his games. And let's not forget the ever-so-popular Fantasy Football! ... I can already envision what my Sundays are going to look like ... Erik sitting on the couch, remote in one hand while using his other hand to hit the "refresh" button on the laptop ... oh, I can hardly wait! :) Hopefully he'll win big this year!

Stay tuned for more ...

... The Countdown Begins!

Well, it's almost that time ... baby time! We are getting really excited and are "patiently" waiting for our little bundle of joy to arrive! The nursery is all finished and our entire house looks like a Babies "R" Us store! I cannot even tell you how many products Erik has assembled :) We had a doctor's appointment today and the doctor said that everything looks good. I am 1 centimeter dilated, 80% effaced and his head is in the -1 station (which basically means that he is dropping). I am officially 36 weeks and 5 days ... so we have about 3 1/2 weeks until our due date. Our OB said that she would induce at 39 weeks if we choose to ... but we think that we are going to try to wait it out until our little guy is ready to make his big debut! Big sister Jenna is getting really excited too! She keeps telling me "I don't think that you will make it until your due date" and she is very concerned as to whether or not my feet are swelling (which they haven't yet :) We went on our maternity tour of the hospital last week and were very excited to hear that the hospital has lifted the rule that they had in place regarding children under 16 being allowed to visit (because of the H1N1 virus kids weren't allowed to visit anybody at the hospital ... and we were really stressing about that) ... but all is good with that now :)

Not only have we been super busy trying to prepare for the arrival of Baby Baratie, but we have also been busy with Jenna and gymnastics. We traveled to Cleveland 2 weeks ago and then last weekend we were in Wilmington. She is doing really well and we love watching her :) We will try to load some videos up as soon as we figure out how to with our new camcorder :) She has this weekend off and then is in Indianapolis next weekend for another competition. I don't think that I'll be making that trip ... Erik is still debating on whether or not he is going to go ... he really wants to make a day trip, but we are going to wait and see how our appointment goes next week at the OB before he makes any decisions.

We'll keep everybody updated ... it won't be too much longer now :)

Gymnastics Competition Season Has Begun!

Okay, so I have been really bad lately about posting to the blog! Things have been so busy around here ... and I don't really see an end to the all of the craziness in sight! Gymnastics competition season officially started this Saturday! Jenna had her first competion as a level 5 gymnast. Things were definitely a lot different ... no more ribbons given to the girls for each event that they competed in ... and the judging was DEFINITELY a lot harder! The girls all did a GREAT job ... they took 3rd place overall for their team score. Jenna received a medal for 4th place on her beam routine for the 9 year old age level ... and a trophy for 10th place for her all-around score for the 9 year old age level. She was very proud of herself and I think that it was just the confidence boost that she needed. We have one weekend off and then we are off to Cleveland for the next meet.

Onto baby news ... we had an ultrasound last Wednesday to see if a c-section was going to be scheduled ... good news ... no scheduled c-section! We were definitely very happy about that. I am 33 weeks and have 7 weeks to go. At this point the baby weighs about 4 lbs 14 ozs ... which puts him in the 75th percentile for weight! The doctor asked Erik if he was a big baby and if he had a big head when he was a baby ... b/c the baby's head is on the bigger side! So ... we are thinking that we might have a pretty big guy! During the ultrasound, we could see him playing with the umbilical cord! ... it was really neat! We took Jenna with us to the ultrasound and she was really excited. When we asked her what she thought about it, the first thing that she said was that it was neat because "the baby had real human eyes!" :) We are finishing up getting everything ready ... everything is washed and folded and daddy just needs to finish putting all of the fun baby equipment together! The nursery is almost complete ... just need to finish up with some decorations on the walls. We'll keep you all posted on anything new!

It's Been Awhile!

It has been a very long time since I have blogged! We have been sooo busy around here! We have not had a free weekend since the beginning of November ... I asked Erik the other day if he thought that we would have at least one free weekend before Baby Baratie is born ... he said that he wasn't sure! We are getting ready for Christmas ... the trees and the decorations have been up for weeks ... but there still aren't any gifts wrapped ... actually there aren't many gifts bought yet! I have a busy weekend ahead of me! Although we have been really busy lately, we have had the chance to spend lots of time with our family and friends (which has included LOTS of trips back to the Valley) ... which has been wonderful!

This week has been a pretty big week for Erik at work. National Geographic is at the prison filming for a special that they will be airing ... and today and tomorrow they are filming Erik! Unfortunately, he won't make his "HD TV debut" until 2011 or 2012 ~ they said that they won't be finished with the program until then ... so we will keep you all updated on the air date!

Just wanted to write a little update while I had a free second ... I will post more later!

An Eventful Week!

Jenna in her new glasses :)

Erik's scary pumpkin!

Erik's pumpkin is the first one, Jenna's is

in the middle and mine is the "It's A Boy" pumpkin!

22 weeks and 1 day

As most of you already know, we had an eventful week at our house! Probably the biggest thing that happened is that I was in a minor car accident. Somebody hit me while I was stopped at a stop sign. Not very much damage to the car, and I was feeling fine until the next day. The next day my OB sent me to Labor and Delivery at Riverside because I was having cramping and hadn't felt any fetal movement. All turned out to be fine ... and we got to see our little guy flipping around on the ultrasound ... that's right ... we accidentally found out that "IT'S A BOY"! We are very excited ... and Jenna cannot wait for her little brother to arrive. He is moving around a lot ... or should I say, I can finally feel all of the moving around that he is doing! Erik and Jenna have also been able to feel some kicks!

Also, Jenna found out this week that she needed glasses. She was sooooo excited and said that "this was the day she had waited for her whole life"! Her glasses came in on Friday and so far she is loving them ... and she looks super cute wearing them. :)

On Saturday night we listened to Halloween music and carved pumpkins. We each picked out our own design ... and Jenna did a great job! This was the first year that she carved her's almost completely by herself! We are looking forward to Trick-Or-Treat on Thursday evening. Our neighborhood has tons of kids and Trick-Or-Treat is a big event here ... so we are very excited! Jenna is going to be a candy corn witch this year, so we will post pics later in the week.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Monster Mash!

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/6obYKBiY1YcPRFf4

You have to check this out ... it is hilarious!