Happy Birthday Shonda!

I have the greatest Sister. I only have one sister, so I don't have to worry about offending any one else, and I am certain that she is absolutely marvelous! Here are a few reasons why I adore her...

1. She listens to me babble... everyday
2. She's much smarter than I am
3. She is amazingly creative
4. She actually thinks of real solutions to my silly situations
5. Hello, have you seen her photos.....
6. She lifts me up so I can stand on mountains ;-)
7. We can always laugh at the same old memories
8. She is my medical consultant, my therepist and sometimes my punching bag
9. She watched my kid for 17 days straight
10. She has a different style then me so my clothes have always been safe from her.
11. She lived in Grants Pass and liked it.
12. She finds silly things to do like letterboxing and I end up liking it.
13. She is funny and doesn't always know it.
14. She went to BYU so I didn't have to.
15. She is a great mother.
16. She married a man with red hair and thinks he is so hot.
17. She uses the words "kick in the pants and britches"
18. She is very poetic
19. She always ratted me out in high school, probably kept me out of trouble
20. She made me her Brides Maid.
21. She is a great help with my church lessons
22. She helped name our dog, which she hates (not just him, but all dogs)
23. She has a nack for naming kids too
24. She can relate things to an episode of Oprah (she's seen them all for the last 5 years).
25. She can quote any part of The Princess Bride
26. She can be so beautiful
27. She has a little bit of "Banks" still in her like me
28. No one has ever decorated a chicken coop as cool as her
29. She loves me despite that I wasn't always as loving to her
30. Because she is my sister

Happy 30th Birthday Shonda!

Boys....

Boys are SO much fun. I'm so glad I have 2 of them! This was the first time that they sat next to eachother and we were butter. Of course, running off to get the camera and smiling at them sitting on the couch. The funny thing is Simon actually fell asleep a few minutes after this picture and Trenton was so wonderful, he just called us for help.

I think it is the funniest thing when the little guys can't control their eyes yet and go crossed.

There she is! My Grandma. She's pretty hip too. Look at those cool glasses and the trendy jacket. I hope to be that cool when I'm her age. The greatest thing is that my boys will know their Great Grandma. I never had the privilege and I'm glad she's here.

Oregon at its best

Then... after all the fun. We went up to paradise. Mt Hood can be the most beautiful place on earth when the snow is piled up high and we get to play in it.


Just to get into the Valentine spirit of things, I thought I'd share this. I was a little more in love yesterday, because Emile and I had one of our earliest dates up at Govy, we had shakes at the Huckleberry Inn and sat on (yes, on not in) the parking lot for hours and just talked, and there was no better time than yesterday to find a shake at the old inn, see all the skiers and snowboards walking around town, see all the snow (there is so much snow right now) and remember the moment. I LOVE Mt Hood. I LOVE the snow, and most of all... I'm still just as in love with Emile now as I was then.

Have you ever seen the America?? For those of you who have been up to Mt Hood have you ever noticed the America (all 50 states too) that is on the side of Tom Dick and Harry Mountain?? Just as you go through "silent rocks" and head into the "fall to your death if you go off the road" corner, you look to your right.... Here is a peek so you know what you're looking for.
Better yet... does anyone know the story behind it? I've lived here my whole life and don't know the story. Help!

Snow day

I am feeling great after we got out and visited my Grandmother up at Mt Hood. She calls herself GG for Great Grandma, and that's fine... I guess at that age you can call yourself whatever. Trenton had a TON of fun playing in the snow. He went sledding and built a snowman. (Snow bunny actually). I'm not sure what Emile was doing on that one, but there is nothing wrong with switching things up a bit in the snowman arena.

Just the beginning...

So, it's been a week. I had my first really stressful moment today and it made me appreciate all the mothers who have more kids than I do. It was a short moment, but it made me feel like I had just ran a marathon.

Trenton AND Simon need to eat lunch. So, I made sure to have Trenton all set up so he was happy while I fed Simon. This may be TMI, but I needed to pump. While hooking myself up like an animal to "the machine", Simon is getting really hungry and starts into his crying fit. Trenton starts yelling for juice and is so upset that I'm not responding so he starts chucking his food over board. The dog is now barking to go outside. I finally give in... unhook myself and tend to everyone.

After finally finishing, I have a bottle to give to Simon but can't give it to him yet, and Trenton is now ready for a nap. I quickly get him down, and I realize that my house is a mess, I need to feed Simon still... and I have company coming in 15 minutes! Yikes. Why does everything always happen like that?

I actually managed to get Simon fed, the house relatively picked up before anyone came to my door. I have a feeling this is just the beginning.

More and more pictures

Ok.. why in the world would I post all of my snap shots when Shonda keeps taking fabulous pictures of my baby boy?! Really... could I be any more lucky? She does a fabulous job, and I can't get enough. She has several really really great pictures on her blog right now, so you'll have to go check them out.

As for us... we are doing fabulous. We are most thankful for amazing friends and family who have visited us, made us delicious meals, given outfits, flowers, cards, babysat Trenton, and just made a friendly phone call. I am certain that I want to be a better friend after all the kindness that has been shown us.

Thank you all!

Perfect picture!

We're back in business! We are home and doing great. The labor and delivery was a much better experience than before. Simon is sleeping and eating well and Trenton seems to be taking the changes without much of a challenge. I am really really blessed to be able to have two healthy boys, and great friends and family who are taking good care of me.

I am also the luckiest Mom around because I have a family full of photographers. My sister and my Dad took these pictures and I just had to share them with you. I know my brother-in-law took some as well, and I can't wait to share those when I see them myself. (No pressure Lee) :D

I'm sure this will be the beginning of many pictures to post. Thanks for all the fun comments and for those who are in need of a baby fix, come over anytime!

Another picture

Thanks Shonda!!!

World....This is Simon

We are so happy to announce that Simon Nino Bonfiglio was born happy and healthy this afternoon at 2:30pm at Meridian Park Hospital (room #5 for those who want to come by). He is 20 inches long and weighing in at 7lbs 12oz. Raina is doing awesome, she was an absolute star!!

Still waiting...

I can't believe this little guy hasn't made his official appearance yet! I'm still hoping with the full moon.... some walks on this brisk sunny day, and.... a little... ya know, we could still have this thing tonight! If not, I go in first thing tomorrow morning to be induced. I'll keep you all posted. I'm off to go do some jumping jacks.

Europe video

Nesting? Maybe it's nesting, but I'm so glad I could finally finish up a video from the most awesome trip to Europe ever!!! We went in October, and here a synopsis of a memorable and packed 2 1/2 weeks through Tunisia North Africa and Italy.

Warning: This video is 15 minutes long, and all about our trip. It is completely exciting to me and those involved. If you watch it... hope you enjoy.

October 2007

38 weeks prego

Ok.. so I don't love the photo, but it works. Here I am. Ready to have this baby! In fact, we had a bit of a false alarm this weekend. After some back pain starting Friday night, and nasty contractions on Saturday, we packed our bags and put family and friends on alert for Sunday. Sunday rolled around and with absolutely NO sleep and a long difficult night... I still wasn't having CONSISTENT contractions. By late Sunday, I was taking long walks to get this rolling, and the only thing the walks did was give me some fresh air. So, here I am, Monday morning, still no baby, and no more contractions.
I guess I'm glad I didn't end up in the hospital for them to send me home with a nice bill to follow.
Now I'm more anxious than ever! Trenton came 9 days early, so I'm a little on edge.

Weird weather!

So... they say snow... we get none. They say rain, we get sunshine. They say sunshine, we get rain. I imagine it's a tough job, but... who would have thought they could actually predicted the wind?

So, as a result, we got a nice branch on the back of our car. Thank goodness the damage wasn't worse, or that we were hanging out underneath it.


You can see the back wiper hanging out all crumpled on the ground and the edge of the big ol branch just looking innocent. Then... I looked closer... It's definitely at dent.

The "shed"

Ok.... so I can't believe I didn't take a picture of the inside of the house before we did all this "remodeling". So, I dug up some older pictures that kindof show what we used to live like. You can see that our Bedroom was part of the living room, and we were basically in a studio.









Now... Here's all the changes! I think it is a significant difference! Kudos Emile!!! I finally can call this place a home. It feels better already and we're not 100% done. I am so in love with the changes that I am actually settling into the idea of having a family here.

So, we if you can't tell, we moved our living room back to where the bedroom was, and we gave ourselves a real room. We will soon have a door and everything!!!

And... this is my picture from the outside but mostly showing that I am most thankful for a dump! What would we do without a place to put all of our trash? We have managed to come up with a lot to dump in the last few weeks, and I'm just glad it doesn't have to stay here.

A baby name.....

Ok.. most of you know that we are struggling to find a name for our baby. So, out of desperation I found a baby name generator online and it came up with the PERFECT name. Thanks goodness for the internet. (you can click the image to see the name much clearer).

Merry Christmas

Thomas was the hit for Christmas! We had a wonderful time watching Trenton enjoy all of his new toys and really found the holiday to be all about him. We are so thankful this season for how thoroughly blessed we are especially as we look at adding on to our family. It has certainly made the meaning of Christmas a little more special as I am pregnant and reading the beautiful story of our Saviour's birth. I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday's and we look forward to an eventful 2008!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Santa Claus is coming to town!

Santa really stepped it up this year!! We went to his totally sweet crib built by Renaissance Homes down at Bridgeport Village. In fact, it was so cool that they had snow machines blowing snow from the rooftops. You felt like you were in the North Pole... except for all the outdoor heaters.

All by myself!

I am pretty excited about my tree skirt! I have always wanted a nice skirt, and can never justify buying those really cool ones from the store, so I decided to copy Crate and Barrel and make my own. Personally.. I'm much more excited that I made it myself.

Hard work!

We have GREAT friends!!! The best thing happened, two AMAZING friends came over bright and early in the morning and helped us put our ceiling up. We could not have done it without them. Here they are looking like real contractors. Thanks guys!

Emile has been working so hard to get this addition done. We are both sick of living in a construction zone, but with the sacrifice of time, his raw hands, sore arms, and late nights with no sleep, we are almost there.

Here is Emile finally blasting through the wall that used to go outside. It now opens nicely to our future bedroom.

Tagged?

I have never been "tagged" before, and as I was blogging this morning... i noticed... there it was. Plain as day, my name... tagged! So, here's to you Seth!

7 interesting things about myself.

7. I have a public bathroom phobia! I would rather find a nice quite hidden spot than sit on a yucky toilet! AHHH!!

6. I have this heart condition that I use to my advantage at times in my life when I don't feel like over exerting myself. This works well because no one can really question if it is really bothering me or not.

5. I am scared to death to have 2 kids! Why you might ask? Dunno... just freaked!

4. I have broken my nose 3 times, and had it surgically fixed twice. Once while playing baseball, once while rafting, and the final time... i got kneed in the face during a friendly tickling match with a flirtatious fiance! (yes... it was Emile)

3. I was on a high school varsity ski team

2. I am a terrible arguer! I don't like arguing, I can not think fast enough to bring up good points to win a darn thing! I usually loose, and for the next several days I run the argument over and over in my head and think of all the great things i SHOULD have said. I failed my debate class!

1. I'm going to have elective surgery someday to clip this little vein in my neck that makes me stop blushing! I turn beat red in the face even if I'm not completely embarrassed! The worse thing is when someone MENTIONS it too! Don't tell me what I already know... yes... i look like a tomato, my face is pulsing, and no I am NOT hitting on your husband, or that cute guy in the corner. (i can't wait to clip this stupid thing!)