65th birthday party - birthday number five

happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you.
happy birthday dear franco/daddy, happy birthday to you!

today my dad turns the big sixty-five! we will all be heading on over to my parent's house later to celebrate (again!) however i wanted to make a blog post on the party we had for him this past sunday! we celebrated the sixty fifth birthday of my wonderful, loving, caring and one of a kind dad at the italian club. there were close to ninety family and friends there to help celebrate and that was only close family and friends! (such as my dad's aunts, uncles and first cousins) upon arrival, you were greeted by the guest of honour and we had a big poster board set up, with an old picture of my dad in the middle, and markers around the table so that everyone could sign it! it will be a great memento for my dad to keep and put up in his office!

as we were waiting for everyone to arrive, we took some pictures of my dad with his guests, got a family shot of the birthday boy with his children and also got some great shots of my dad with his five grandchildren.

once everyone had arrived and settled in the buffet was all set up and everyone was able to dig in. sandwiches, salad, cheese, veggies, chicken lasagna, veal, potatoes asparagus.. you name it and it was there! you cant go wrong with the food from Roma Catering :) after everyone had a chance to eat, there was a speech made by my dad's closest cousin, ralph.. which definitely brought a tear (or tears) to my dad's eyes, along with i'm sure everyone else in the room (including myself) after that, we set up the slideshow to show off the past sixty five years of my dad's wonderful life (that i made! i love making slideshows and am the slideshow queen/maker in my family for weddings, birthdays, etc) everyone enjoyed it and it also brought many smiles and more tears to my dad's eyes!

after some more mingling between all of the guests and the birthday boy, it was time for the cake to come out! we got some great photo ops, and then lit of the candles and sang happy birthday to my dad, as he then blew out all of the candles and made his wish.

cake, coffee and tea were served (the cake was amazingly delicious by the way!) and the rest of the day/party was spent with everyone having some great conversations and laughs. it was a really special day for everyone that come and the party was a big hit! seeing my dad interact with all of his loved ones who were there for him was so special, and the smile that was permanently plastered to his face all day was the best thing to see all day :) here is to many, many more wonderful years and a very happy birthday to the best man in the whole wide world.. my sweet, loving, caring, wonderful, handsome dad! much love <3 (and here are some more pictures from the party!)

birthday number four

happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you.
happy birthday dear bruno, happy birthday to you!

i feel terrible that i am a day late on this, but happy birthday to my big brother, bruno! yesterday he turned a year less then my sister.. and if you remember from my sister's birthday post, i wasn't revealing her age, for fear of her coming to hurt me! haha. so here is to all of your dreams and wishes coming true for this year! much love <3

my brother bruno, with alessia!

six months old

six months ago today, at this time.. my baby girl was a little over three hours old. and i still had not seen her little itty bitty face, her teeny tiny body or her bald little head. its hard to believe that she has already lived half of her first year of life, and before i know it.. will be celebrating her first birthday. time is going way too fast! i wish i could make it stop. however, this little precious miracle is growing and learning every day and is an amazing little person! i'm not quite sure how much she weighs at the moment, i'll find that out on tuesday at her rsv shot but i am positive she is over twelve pounds as she was eleven pounds, six ounces about a month ago. she sure has grown from the little three pounder that she once was! since her fifth month of life she has hit numerous milestones! some of which include being able to rock herself in her chair, sleeping for a new record of eight and a half hours straight, turning herself on her back in a circle, pulling herself up from a sitting position, talking, laughing and yelling a whole bunch and rolling to her side.. almost on to her back! because she was born premature by eight weeks, we are still uncertain about starting solids at six months or waiting until her adjusted age of six months.. but when the time comes for that, i'll be sure to blog about it! i can't wait to see what new milestones she will achieve, going in to her seventh month of life! i love you baby girl! <3

valentine's day

butterfly bows

i decided to bite the bullet tonight and make my very own, first bow ever! and of course, i went with the easiest one that there is, the butterfly bow. i had three different ribbons kicking around, so i tried my luck out with all three of them. and for a first timer/virgin to the bow world.. they aren't that bad! (at least to me, and hey.. thats all that matters! haha) with a little more practice, i'll be there! i'll be grabbing some alligator clips tomorrow to finish them off, as well as some other ribbon! i'll be at Michael's (the craft store) anyways to pick up a few things for an order of a headband holder that i have, which i am super excited about! here's a few pics of my first three bows.. ever! =)

headband holders

i have been meaning to make a blog post on this for awhile, showing off the headband holders that i make.. only to realize that i either a) didn't take pics of the ones i made or b) i did, and they have been deleted. yea, i know, i'm shaking my head too haha. so anyways, i did have one headband holder here that i made for alessia that i took a picture of, so that i could share it with you all! i make these in different sizes (this is the small version), with different fabrics and different flower toppers! i think they are so cute, and a great way to keep all of her headbands in one spot. and hey, if you are interested, or know anyone who would be interested in one, let me know! much love <3

birthday number three

happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you.
happy birthday dear claudia, happy birthday to you!

and the beginning of the february birthdays start! today was my big sister, claudia's birthday! (if i revealed how old she was turning and she saw this post, my life would be over! haha) so here is a big happy birthday to her and lot's of happiness to come. much love <3

with my big sister and my daughter <3

birthday number two

happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you.
happy birthday dear anna, happy birthday to you!

on friday night we celebrated the second round of birthdays in our family! it was my niece anna's fist birthday celebration (her actual birthday was on january 30th, but my sister-in-law was sick, so they had to postpone it) we started off the night by all heading over to Rea's Ristorante (an authentic italian eatery) for dinner. it was great food and great conversation (i had the pollo sandro, which came with two chicken breasts topped with a white wine sauce, mushrooms, peppers and onions and a side of pasta) after spending a few hours there, we all headed over to my brother's house where we celebrated the rest of anna's birthday with cake and presents! this little girl was lucky enough to get two cakes as well, just like her big brother. and my mom made another one of her famous cakes! this time a chocolate cake, with chocolate chips in the icing! anna made out great, with tons of new clothes, shoes and books! and i really enjoyed getting her a bow board, with a bunch of new bows and clips attached to it! here's to another year of learning and growing little one! much love <3