Some Classic Roman Moments

1. I need to preface this story with a couple of things:

• if you didn't know, my brother-in-law, Tony is living with us while he finishes this semester at DMACC. Roman LOVES him (as do we) and he is really fun to have around.
• One of Roman's favorite books is called Don't Eat the Teacher. It's about a shark, named Sammy, that has the "unfortunate habit" of biting things when he gets excited. It's all about his first day at school - and how he constantly having to be reminded not to eat things.

Anyway, Roman and I were in the kitchen getting breakfast as Tony was leaving for class the other day. Tony is making himself breakfast, getting his things together, and talking with Roman a bit. Tony tells me that he is about ready to leave and so I say, "Roman, say 'bye-bye' to Uncle Tony. He is going to school. I bet he is very very excited...just like Sammy". Without missing a beat, Roman looks at Tony and (in the same sing-song voice he uses in the book) says, "Don't eat teacher!" So funny! :)

2. I go in to get Roman after he wakes up from his nap and he is sitting against the back of his crib holding 2 blankets right next to his face.

Me: "There's my boy! Did you have a good rest?"

Roman: "I wub blankets" (I love blankets). SO precious.

3. On Thursday (one of the saddest days in our country's history, the anniversary of Roe v Wade) we went to a Mass for Life celebrated by Bishop Pates of the Des Moines diocese. It was phenomenal! :) He is really a wonderful man of God. Anyway, it was (of course) standing room only, and so my friend, Monica, Roman, and I were in the back - so the procession of all the priests celebrating the mass walked right in front of us. As Bishop Pates is coming up the stairs, I say "Roman, look...here comes the Bishop".

Roman: "Hi, Bishop!!" Needless to say, it pretty much melted his heart and he stopped to talk to us for a moment. :)

There are always so many good Roman stories - and I know the more he talks, the more I will have. That's all for now. Love to you all.

Brian Regan Live-Part 5

One of the funniest comedians ever. I love all the bits he does about kids. Priceless.

Cutest EVER

I have to share with you a conversation that I had with Roman yesterday. It is, perhaps, one of my favorite in his lifetime.

Joe and Adam had been working in Des Moines the last couple of days and so Adam was just staying at our house because they were driving together...so I knew they would both be home for dinner and decided to invite Ryan, and Kim too. I had told Roman earlier in the day that they were going to be coming over. He gets so excited about having visitors and will remember and talk about that person/those people all day long.

So, about an hour before everyone is scheduled to arrive, I am cooking, and Roman is playing with the oven mitts and I say:

"Roman, do you know who's coming to see you tonight?"

Roman: "MY DADDY!!!"

Awwww. :)

Roman and Carter

I have been watching my nephew, Carter this week (in the frigid, arctic-like Iowa weather) while my brother and sister-in-law (Jim and Chelsey) are basking in the sunny paradise-like Cancun! Despite the heavy sarcasm of the first sentence, it has been such a blessing!!! He is such a good baby and so so happy. It makes me so excited that we are adding another precious boy to our family. :) We are really going to miss him when he goes home tomorrow!

After day 2, I was feeling pretty good about my organizaion/mothering skills. My house was still pretty clean, I got laundry folded and put away, the boys were playing well together, I got to spend one on one time with each of the boys while the other was napping, and I even made dinner. Then Roman got sick. :( Enter the "challenges" of raising two little ones (and this is only the practice round). The last few days Roman has had a cold, loose diapers, and horrible diaper rash - this means he is not sleeping through the night and he is not so happy about life. He is such a sweet kid - he isn't even super cranky until we have to change his diaper - which was approximately every 1/2 hour today. I felt so bad being the one who had to put him through the pain of changing him - it's a helpless feeling knowing there's really nothing you can do to make it go away. To those who have had really sick children or had to watch their kids suffer extreme pain (physical or emotional), you are my heroes. (And I'm sure this post is seeming pretty lame to you right now).

I am so tired and off to bed - that's right - it's 9:30. Pray that Roman feels better tomorrow!!

Monday Announcement!!!

It's a BOY!!!

We are so excited! Boys are so much fun and we can't wait to see our new little one! He was kind of a stinker during the ultrasound though! He was laying on the placenta face down with his hands by his head and his legs "indian style" and pulled up into his body the whole time. He would kick and move his arms occasionally, but he never rolled over. That means the ultrasound tech could only see two chambers of his heart...the heartbeat was normal and everything else looked good, so they are not worried, but we will have to have another ultrasound at my regular appointment in February. (I'm actually kind of glad - I wanted to see more of him anyway!! Also, we didn't get that many great pictures because of the position he was in, so next time I'll load up on chocolate before I go to the doctor. :) )

The best part of the ultrasound was when he got the hiccups! You could see his little body bounce with each one - and when we listened to the heartbeat, the sound would kind of skip each time he hiccuped. He is amazing.

Can't wait to show you photos!

God Bless all of you!!

SO excited for Monday!!

...because we will find out if we are having a boy or a girl!! We can't wait! I have been feeling the baby move more lately which is really the best feeling ever. What a miracle! We are excited to be able to tell Roman if he is having a little brother or a little sister. He is getting really excited too. He announced to a waitress today "big brother" ("big brudder"), so he is definitely understanding more. :)

My friends Kim and Andrew (who have the same due date as we do!) found out last week that they are having a boy and we are so so SO excited for them! It has made me more anxious to know about our baby, too.

So, stay tuned for Monday's announcement!

Other than that, we had a fantastic Christmas spent with family and friends! Joe's family was in town the week after Christmas and it was such a blessing to be able to spend time with them. They are amazing and we miss them so much!

I hope to post some more pictures of Roman soon...he is getting so big! I swear he has gotten a lot taller in the last couple of weeks. We have so much fun with him and he LOVED Christmas this year! If you didn't get a chance to talk to him about Christmas, this is probably what the conversation would have included:

• "Happy Birthday Jesus!" ("Berf-day)
• "Open presents!" (pwesents)
• "Merry Christmas!" (cwismas)
• "Santa...Ho Ho Ho!"
• "Ding dong, ding dong, Christmas bells are ringing!" (Chris bews winging)
• "Fun toy!" - this is an alphabet caterpillar from Mike and Joyce that he is obsessed with
• "Guitar" - One from Uncle Jim and Aunt Chelsey, and one from Adam and Ryan. I will say that Elmo (from Jim and Chelsey) is slightly less annoying than Yo Gabba Gabba (from Adam and Ryan...I think they are proud of this fact :0). He is addicted to both and sings me the songs while playing the guitar and dancing all day long.
• "Jingle Bells" (that's the only part he knows - he just sings it over and over)
• "I love it!" (wub) or "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" (when he opened gifts)
• "Frosty the Snowman" - bits and pieces of the song
• "Puzzles" - that make sounds from Grandma Susan and Grandpa Bob- he LOVES them!
• "Kawasaki" (cow socky) - 4 wheeler that you push along with your feet from Grandpa Tony and Grandma Suellen - he wants to show it to everyone who comes to our house. He is actually really good at riding it already!
• "Angela" (ang-wa) and "Theresa" (Teesa) - he was so so so excited to see his aunts! And they came bearing many gifts...as you can tell the poor child is deprived. ;)
• "Donuts" - because Grandpa Tony purchased him 6 - that's right, people, half a dozen - donut holes at Dutch Oven (twice). :)
• "O Come, Emmanuel" (O come, e-mary-mary) so, we didn't quite conquer Emmanuel, but Mary had him in her womb...so he was on the right track!

There is so much more...he is constantly talking and being hilarous. Check out my facebook profile for lots more pictures and videos - Angela and Mary were so good about capturing all the great moments because I definitely couldn't find my camera. I am so on top of things. :)

Hope you are all enjoying the New Year!!

Bible In a Minute

Theresa showed us this you tube video when she was visiting for Christmas - it's really pretty funny and also very informative. Roman asks to watch "Bible Minute" approximately 37 times a day. Thanks, Sis! :)