11 weeks to go !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT???

I think my pregnancy brain is in full effect. Apparently I've been telling everyone I'm 27 weeks pregnant, well to my surprise when I checked my email Saturday that I'm officially 29 weeks and 2 days pregnant (thanks to those BabyCenter updates). WHAT !?!?!? I completely feel like I lost 2 weeks, and went into complete panic mode. I'm not even CLOSE to being ready.....now remind me of this when I have two weeks to go and I'm complaining it is taking FOREVER !! What happened to the times when I was pregnant with Bella and I was reading all the books, checking all the websites, making my list....I was beyond prepared. I guess I can officially say I'm experiencing what life is like with baby #2!

We had an eventful weekend!!

Friday we went car shopping for Frankie, he has been SO UNHAPPY with his current car. He has been on the hunt for a while now, and was able to get a great deal (and cheaper payments :-))) on a new Ford Truck. It is so nice to have Frankie happy and with a reliable vehicle again.

On Saturday Frankie received the good husband award ! He woke up early and drove all of our junk over to our friends house to participate in their community garage sale. Bella and I followed afterward. For only selling junk...we actually did really well !! Frankie and I both were very pleased with our outcome. Thank you again to Jennifer and Eric for letting us share your driveway. We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon and evening at home as a family. I spent most of the time online, trying to find reviews for bouncy chairs and outside toys for Bella. Darn Craigslist...I never email the seller fast enough :-(

Today we had our traditional morning family breakfast. I'm still amazed at how my child eats..this morning she ate a waffle, half banana, pear, and a half a piece of banana bread. Where does it all go? Frankie and I then went to the Y to workout, Frankie was off to the weight room and I was off to Body Combat class. For those of you who know our dear friend Kathy, I want to clarify YES! she is the DEVIL! and YES! she looks like she does because she is the DEVIL! I think my lungs exploded halfway through class. Seriously she is an AWESOME teacher, and I've never felt better. I can only hope I look as good as she does once this baby pops out. (and just in case mom..she modified the hard stuff for the preggo lady). Frankie is even considering taking the class next week. While mom and dad were off sweating, Bella enjoyed quality time with Grandma Bird. It was no surprise to hear squeals of laughter and to see toys all over when we walked in the door. I can never tell who has more fun grandma or Bella? Bella was very weepy when grandma left...screaming "bird"! Grandma graciously volunteered to make this a Sunday ritual, an offer we weren't about to refuse. Honestly we spent the rest of evening in awe of our daughter, she seems to have just grown-up over night with mimicking sounds and words, pointing, demanding attention, and being just plain adorable. As I type right now she is running around in circles dancing and trying to clip dada's toenails at the same time. AHH!!! just another evening with the Trifilio's !!

Bella practicing being a Big Sister !! (and if you can't tell daddy was the one to put her "matching pj's on ;-)

The Duck has returned home :-)

We've had a pretty calm past few days. Wednesday we are happy to report the Bella's "Quack-Quack" has returned home safely. A quick back story...Bella has a little farm, which she thinks is a purse that carries four animals in it. She absolutely refuses to call the duck a "duck" but a quack-quack. Needless to say we can not leave the house without her purse (if we do MAJOR breakdown)! The duck celebrated Easter with us at Grandpa Freckle's and was left behind !!! As Grandpa would say a casualty of war....I'm including the email exchanges as I had no idea how absolutely hysterical my Father-in-law could be....

Subject: Help we have a Missing Duck !!! (from Amy)

Hi Dad !!! First of all THANK YOU for such an amazing weekend !! We ALL had so much FUN !!!Of course in all the hoopla it seems that we have left a small yellow duck at your house...Do you mind looking around for it? Bella has been walking around asking for her quack quack...
LOVE YOU SO VERY MUCH !!!~Amy

Subject: RE: Help we have a Missing Duck !!! (from Grandpa)
It was a struggle but sending the SWAT team armed to the gills they were successful in retrieving the Duck, with minor ruffled feathers, from the jaws of the gigantic ottoman. Everybody is fine and ducky wants to thank all the people that participated in this historic recovery mission. He is currently resting in Grandpa freckle's attache getting some oxygen since he must have inhaled smoke from the grenades. Ducky says to tell Bella that he will be home tomorrow.

Subject: RE: Help we have a Missing Duck !!! (from Amy)
Grandpa Freckle & SWAT Team OUR HEROES !!! Bella and I have been holding a stead-fast candle light vigil for the safe return of our Missing in Action Ducky. We have just made the announcement to the rest of the playroom, and specifically to the ducky's family of the barn (cow, pig, and rooster). We are so happy to hear there are no permanent injuries, and that he will be making a safe return home. I assure you he will be wearing a monitoring device next time he comes for a visit. BIG HUGS AND KISSES to our RESCUERS !!! I have to advise though we will be staying clear of all enemy ottomans, that is dangerous territory. Love,Bella, Amy and Play room family

Frankie did have a few exchanges in there, but he wasn't funny at all ;-) The duck is home safe and sound, and Bella couldn't be happier !!! The highlight of our Wednesday evening was when dada brought it home.

Thursday we spent the day enjoying the BEAUTIFUL weather. Bella and I played inside in the morning, to let her allergy meds kick in. The pollen here is ridiculous, I need to take a picture of my now yellow Tahoe for the blog. It is CRAZY !! We then went to the grocery store (aren't the sky rocketing prices ridiculous?), and back home to play with her new toy from Aunt Nicole. It is a HIPPO that blows bubbles...SUPER CUTE !! A HUGE HIT !!! We did have to change our location from backyard to front yard as our cat, found it a perfect opportunity to leave us a present at the back door (aka a poor bird). Our neighbors loved watching Bella run and laugh and chase after the bubbles. Unfortunately I have not mastered a one handed picture taking moment yet. So don't be to impressed with the pictures ;-)

Today we went to the park with Bella's Friends (Bryce&Kayla). Actually we went to two parks, we started off at the Y but were kicked out because the daycare kids wanted to come outside. But while we were there Bella had a blast except, she kept trying to slide down the slide that is actually a rock-climbing wall ;-) Park number 2 was tons of fun !!! Slides, swings, rocking animals, and a HUGE sandbox. I think Bella and Bryce both came home with most of the sand box in their shoes and diapers. I'm now on the hunt for a sandbox, as Bella had WAY to much fun with the shovel !!!

My two favorite slide pictures !!


a) we LOVE bark mulch..yum yum... b) another piece of evidence that she is Frankie's child, can't you tell by the expression? and if not her nice golden brown farmer's tan? (Yes! Her mother is still fire engine RED!)

Keep you fingers crossed that we have success at the garage sale tomorrow !!! Bella wants a new pair of shoes ;-)

Ouch !!!

Bella has a HUGE blister on the inside of her leg (I think I pushed the envelope with the 18mth onesie yesterday...way too small), and apparently her diaper rubbing on it is making it worse. So currently at this moment she is running around the house naked and loving it !!!

I'll start off with yesterday....Bella and her cousin Carter must be on the same wave length for story time. We went to story time and in true Bella fashion she HAD to be the center of attention. We hadn't even sat down in the half circle, she turned and said bye-bye to me and took off for the front of the room. Mind you EVERY other child is sitting in their parents laps, not mine....most of the songs/stories are interactive and require a partner ;-). Bella spent her time dancing in front of the teacher, and trying to steal the teacher's partner aka: Little Boy Puppet. I do mean dancing, we had full on booty shaking during the "Monkey goes ooo aaa oo aaa, lion goes roar etc." I finally gave up and just let her be, she did really well until the put the parachute and bubbles were put up at the end of story time, in which caused a major break down. We immediately exited the building !! (Of course I forgot the camera) We spent the rest of the afternoon at home playing and enjoying all of her new Easter goodies.

Today was a relaxing fun day at home !! We spent the morning trying to located all the purple Easter grass from her basket. That was an experience !!!I'm happy to report she is loving her veggies again FINALLY !! She gobbled up a ton of carrots !! I still think Aunt Kimmy and Grandpa Freckle are in shock of Bella's bottomless pit of a stomach ;-)

Our favorite moment of the evening was a special treat from Aunt Nicole!! She sent her favorite niece ;-) a Monk-e-mail !! It is a talking monkey, that literally says the message from the sender. She went BANANAS over it. We must have played it a hundred times !!! A BIG THANK YOU to Aunt Nicole..it was a HUGE HIT !!!

Tomorrow we are off to play with her friends and maybe the park at the Y if the weather is nice !!

Our Easter Weekend !!

WOW !! What a holiday weekend !! We started off Friday with Bella's Easter Party/Egg Hunt with our playgroup. She had a GREAT time !!! All the kiddos played, ran inside and outside, ate, and then the "egg-hunt". The moms were great, and made sure Bella's eggs were allergy-friendly. She came home with some great stickers and bouncy balls. We had to leave a bit early, to make it home in time for the Trifilio Festivities, so we missed out on the confetti eggs but we heard it was a blast.





We arrived at home to daddy cooking up a storm in the kitchen. Aunt Kimmy, Aunt T, Mike, Grandpa Freckle, Guiseppe, and Grandma Bird followed soon after, and the food/mojitos craziness began. A) Aunt Kimmy's Mojitos WERE AMAZING !!! at least that is what I was told. B) Daddy's meat-free Italian dishes were super yummy C) Aunt Kimmy's, Grandpa Freckle's & Grandma Bird's desserts were yummy (again so I was told ;-) D) We gave BIG AWARDS to Grandpa Freckle for eating RICE CAKES !!! YEAH !!! E) Bella LOVES Balloons and Bunnies that are double her size !!! F) Bella is grumpy if she refuses to take a nap G) We are very happy to report that Aunt T looked happy and healthy. H) Great family fun was had by all :-) :-)



Saturday we had a nice relaxing day at home. We had great intentions of parks and picnics, but unfortunately Daddy's allergies were VERY bad. So we stayed inside and played. It was wonderful to just kick back and relax and enjoy quality family time !!


Sunday---Unfortunately our Easter started VERY early at 2am. Bella woke up screaming ???? She finally went back down to bed at about 3:30am. Of course in true Bella fashion she was up and ready to go at 7:30am this morning. Frankie and I never had so much joy watching Bella experience the morning ritual of finding out what the Easter Bunny brought. She went from pile to pile. Her puzzles, Potato Head, and New Baby were big hits !!! She also had fun hunting for more sticker filled eggs around the house with daddy. Her favorite part was finding the egg, running it to daddy so he could open it for her. Daddy then made a wonderful breakfast for us all, and we were off to Grandpa Freckle's. Bella had SO MUCH FUN !!! She DANCED, ran up the stairs, spinned, chased, ate, played etc. (Of course we couldn't leave the house without her new purple bunny courtesy of Grandpa Freckle) Now....Bella did SO MUCH DANCING due to Daddy's and Grandpa's "sonos" addiction. They both will be attending meetings shortly I have no doubt. Did I mention how much Bella LOVED being the center of attention for everyone. The afternoon was perfect we had a super yummy lunch with Aunt Kimmy. A party just isn't a party without a visit from Grandma Bird and a round of dancing baby dolls. Bella also loved seeing Aunt T, Mike, and Tim !!! We had so much fun sharing and swapping stories of holidays past. Of course mom is still a bit concerned about Daddy's paintball schedule (courtesy of Mike)???? hmmmm....We finally all headed home for a quick dinner and BED !! Bella made it all day without a nap, and was very ready for bed.

Bella enjoying all of her goodies from the Easter Bunny !!!

Aunt Kimmy & Grandma Bird .... Grandma Bird and Bella w/quality baby doll time!

A) The two founding members of "Sonos" Addiction Anonymous B) Aunt Kimmy and Grandpa playing with Bella

Aunt T, Mike & Tim

It was a perfect Easter weekend and BIG THANKS TO ALL for making it so very special.

Aunt T is coming HOME !!! :-)

She is coming home from the hospital this morning !!!! Please continue to send warm fuzzy thoughts for a speedy recovery !!!

Get Well Soon Aunt T !!!

Bella, Frankie, and I are sad to report Aunt T still isn't home yet from the hospital, our fingers are crossed for tomorrow.

Bella and I enjoyed a nice visit with Aunt T yesterday, and she looked GREAT!!! Blue is definitely her color ;-) and the beads from Bella were a nice touch. As much as we teased Aunt T, and even brought along a camera we did not take any "blog worthy" photos. ;-) Bella was a little moody when we arrived, but turned into her normal "squirmo" self, and enjoyed running around Aunt T's room . I have no doubt that Aunt Kimmy and Grandma Bird got their workout in for the day. I must add that Aunt Kimmy is a professional that "What does a lion say" "ROAR" !!! (it must be a Trifilio Trait). If only she would have showed her verbal skills, as we had been practicing "Hi T" all day. I have come to find out your children never perform on command.

Today we were busy with running errands picking up supplies for Bella's Easter Party on Friday and playing secretary for dada. He forgot his cell phone at home, and mom had to email him all of his missed calls and voice mails. I swear that phone never STOPPED RINGING !!!

We are off to go stuff several plastic Easter Eggs !!! We are looking forward to our Stroller Walk and Park Picnic tomorrow !!!

Happy Birthday Kyle !!!

What a day !! We started off our Sunday calling and wishing Bella's cousin Kyle a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!! Frankie and I both still can't believe he is 6 years old already, wasn't it just yesterday we both were in the waiting room at the hospital counting down the moment for him to arrive? We love him so much, and can't wait for a nice long visit together.


The Trifilio's were then off to the "1960 St.Patrick's Day Parade". All I can say is WOW !!! It was GREAT, very kid-friendly and lots of floats. Bella, Frankie, and I all had so much fun. We packed a picnic lunch since we had to arrive an hour early. Apparently we were unprepared (to say it lightly) for the parade festivities. To our amazement kids and ADULTS were lining up the streets with their "bags" ready for all the goodies. All Frankie and I had were our hands, and one of mine was occupied with a camera and Frankie's was occupied with Bella. Obviously that was to our advantage. A) ADORABLE little girl B) CUTE dad holding adorable little girl C) Adorable little girl waving her little hand off = A TON OF ATTENTION. We have never seen so much candy and beads thrown specifically at our little girl. One driver actually hopped out and ran up to Bella and gave her a stuff animal. Bella and Frankie both ate it up. Of course Frankie tried to have his PREGNANT wife chase down a frisbee, needless to say that didn't happen. A seven year old beat me to it, Frankie is still upset about that one ;-) We actually had to remove all the necklaces from Bella because they were getting to heavy !!! Wait until you see the pics !! We finally headed home to a cool house and naps for everyone. It was another perfect day, except.....much to all of our surprise we all are sunburned :-( My poor Bella arms and nose are so pink :-( I'm hoping she will be just like Frankie and turn brown tomorrow !!! Frankie and I didn't fair much better we both are very red as well. The good news is...it doesn't phase Bella at all as she spent the evening running and playing with all of her new accessories. Aunt T would be so proud !!!

The beginning...just a few necklaces....

The Middle...she is LOVING it...and already has quite a stash !!

The End...She has SO MANY !! (and there are still several in the bag mom is holding) !!

Happy Almost St. Patrick's Day !!!

and the train goes Choo-Choo !!!

I'm sorry it's been a few days, but we had a super busy end of the week. Unfortunately I failed my Glucose Test again. So off to several doctor's appointments to meet with the nutritionist, Endocrinologist etc. Bella was a trooper with us having to stay close to home for a couple of days and dada has been WONDERFUL helping me adjust to our new routine.


What a GREAT day !! With 88 degree weather, we spent the day OUTSIDE !!! Bella loved every second of it. We met our playgroup at Zube Park, and not only is it a park but also a TRAIN RIDE. We didn't have to wait in line long, and before we know we all were on a wonderful scenic train ride with an excellent conductor that loved pointing out details to us. (Did I mention this was also free, which is always an added bonus for our family). Bella was squealing, laughing, and screaming choo-choo sitting in Dada's lap. We then headed over to the park area where Bella and dada had way to much fun sliding, swinging, and eating mulch (ok that was just Bella, but I was on a roll.) We are going to secretly steal Bella's cousins next month when the train operates again as we know that Carter and Kyle would LOVE IT !! We wrapped up our day with eating our meals outside in the gorgeous weather, Bella taking an excellent nap, and spending quality family time together. Poor dada lost at Candy Land shapes again :-(

Bella waiting in line with our tickets !!

Bella squealing and bouncing !!! She loved the choo-choo !!

We are looking forward to wishing Bella's cousin Kyle a Happy Birthday tomorrow and attending a St. Patrick's Day Parade!!!

PS--and a big SPECIAL THANK YOU to Jennifer for our new "Header" for the Trifilio Blog. She is so amazingly talented !!! Check our her website http://www.appleblossomprints.com/

A Fashionista in the making.....

Yes !! She did this all on her own...I was in the kitchen, walked out and found this !!

Today was a pretty tame day!! Frankie babysat Bella this morning for me, so I could go to my doctor's appointment alone. It's never been easy to have Bella run around the office, while they are trying to take my blood ;-). Bella took an excellent nap as always this afternoon, and when she woke up we hit the road. It was a fun-filled afternoon of shopping for cousin Kyle !! Bella was so good and was excellent using her big-girl word "please" at the store. Mom couldn't resist picking up a little something for her. As some of you may know Bella is OBSESSED with accessories: hats, shoes, glasses, jewelry etc. Needless to say I picked up some necklaces for her and she LOVED playing with them for the rest of the afternoon. We squeezed in some quality learning time: reviewing the shape star and the color white. As of right now...everything is still "blue" :-) and no desire to learn shapes. Do you really need to know what a star is, if you are a fashion designer???? Bella's favorite time of the day is stand by the door and wait for daddy to come home, so when he finally made it home. I enjoyed watching them roll around on the floor, and me reminding Frankie he is way to rough with her.....Please remember this blog when she starts school and she is the bully on the playground.

Bella loves her bath time with daddy !! (Notice how soaked Frankie is!)

We have an exciting day tomorrow !! St. Patrick's Day party/craft day with our playgroup!!! Tons of fun !!

Oh..and just a side note..my new favorite obsession website http://www.etsy.com/ !! I LOVE IT !!

A Rainy Monday.....

Rain..rain go away!! Our playgroup today was suppose to go to the rodeo, but that was cancelled due to the weather. Unfortunately, we wouldn't have been able to attend regardless as Bella's allergies have been out of control because of all this Houston wind. So we enjoyed a nice relaxing day at home. Bella and I cuddled this morning, played in her playroom, read some great "rainy day books" and we tried to learn the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" song. I think she enjoyed mom acting crazy and excited more than actually listening to me. She took a great rainy day nap, while mom worked on picking up the house and playroom again for the tenth time. We were looking forward to dinner with Aunt Kimmy, but Bella and I voted for her to stay safe on her side of town. This weather is to yucky to drive in. We are anxiously awaiting her visit tomorrow evening!! Dada made it home just in time for dinner and bath time. Bella was happy to help dada with his new project after dinner!!! Tomorrow is a busy day...Mom has a Doctor's appointment, we have story time, and Bella and I are off to shop for one very special cousin's birthday this weekend.

Baby Frankie's Room

The opposite corner of his room...

Bella's Big Girl Furniture...just waiting to put her bed together, and buy mattresses.

What a weekend !!

Bella jumping on the air mattress falling belly down !! Watch out for that hair !!

The Trifilio family had a wonderful weekend. We were blessed with a visit from Grandma Mia, Papa, and Uncle Ethan. They arrived late Friday evening, but we hit the weekend running. On Saturday Frankie and Papa painted Baby Frankie's room, assembled Bella's new big girl furniture, and did the best they could in removing the "non-removable rodent smell". Bella, Grandma, and I spent the day cleaning and organizing. I can officially say it was a bittersweet weekend for me, as I look into Bella's room now and the only thing left of her as a baby is her crib. My little girl is growing up way to fast. On the other hand we are officially in Operation Baby Frankie mode. The dresser has moved over, the walls have been painted, and an inventory has been made of what we still need. I'm 27 weeks along, over half way there June will be here before we know it.

Sunday came and went before we knew it, and in true Grandma Mia fashion. She couldn't leave without cooking up a storm and thoroughly cleaning my house. Frankie and I loved every second of it. Not to mention Isabella LOVED all the attention. She had no problem "Showing Off" for her grandparents.

A Big THANK YOU again to my family. Bella loves her new dresser and book case, and Frankie's "Honey-Do" list is drastically smaller because of you both.

(For those of you that are wondering, the smell is improving ;-))))

I will post pics of the "new" rooms soon !!

Reason #987 why Frankie isn't allowed to babysit, Yes!! She is watching Dora THANK GOODNESS !!

What is that smell?

Let me take you back in time a few days...Tuesday night: "Frankie what is that smell?" " I don't smell anything, it's just your pregnancy nose in overdrive!" Repeat conversation for Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Thursday afternoon Bella and I return from our Stroller Walk with our playgroup to the smell. I can now affectionately say that I have become OBSESSED with the smell. Bella and I "play" a game, where we crawl around on all fours sniffing every section of carpet I can find. (Yes ! She had a blast watching mom act like a mad woman) YIPPEE !! I located the area, but it appears to be a foot wide midsection area on the wall??? That can't be...I call Frankie "I think something has died in the wall!" "NO!! Your crazy..I'll take care of it when I get home." Bella and I wait and wait and wait for Frankie to come home to a raving mad-woman who can not get this smell out of her head. Bella is now ready for double the fun as now mom and dad are crawling around on the floor sniffing the carpet/walls. Ahhh HA !! He FINALLY smells it !! "Oh..it's nothing just something spilled on the counter" He proceeds to clean it and we move on with the evening. Mad woman returns "I STILL SMELL IT" !! After much mad woman complaining I sent him up into the attic and.....YES !! You've guessed we have a non-removable dead rat in our wall. YES !! I knew I was right !! Frankie "I'll take care of it this weekend" "WHAT !! I have to continue to smell that smell all day tomorrow????"

Present Time: After multiple calls to pest control companies, family members, and anyone else who would listen to me. We have to "wait it out" or guess the exact location of the rodent (We did receive some helpful tips on how to eliminate the odor) and cut the wall out. At this point that isn't an option, but mad woman may return over the weekend with a sledge hammer and "Trifilio Home Makeover" Edition may arrive !! Stay Tuned !!

Oh--Did I mention my parent's were coming into town this weekend !! This should be great dinner table conversation !!

Now this blog is suppose to be about the kids, so Bella and Little Frankie are doing great !!