Back to normal....

The Trifilio's are finally getting back to a normal routine....

Last week ended very well! Bella had another great day at school ! She is the shining star in the class and her teacher just loves her to pieces. We also had a wonderful play date with our playgroup. It was GREAT to see everyone again, especially after the stress of the hurricane. The kids all loved being together and playing their hearts out.

On to the best news...I HAVE A HUSBAND !! He was able to come home on Sunday and his hours should return to normal in another week or so. Needless to say instead of resting he tackled all the honey-dos that Ike created. My parents also came into town to assist with the clean-up effort. Frankie's family also assisted with the clean-up effort in our back yard. It was a whirl wind weekend to say the least. But the babies loved all the extra attention from all the grandparents. Our home is finally getting back together. The fence was replaced this weekend and the yard was cleaned up. We still have some repairs to do to the roof, but we are getting there.

We have an exciting week this week! Filled with lots of play dates, school, and "Donuts w/Dad" this week at school. Bella LOVES school and actually yesterday she ran into the class room into the arms of her teacher and asked for her Playdoh and said bye mom. Sniff Sniff...At least when I pick her up she is excited to see me ;-) She is still talking up a storm and it amazes me the words that come out of her mouth. We are still working on colors and shapes, as of right now everything is either blue or yellow or a circle or square. She is just too precious and funny...we have a been working on saying "I'm sorry". Yesterday she "accidentally" stepped on Baby Frankie's finger, so she said "sorry brother", about 20 minutes later. I "accidentally" scarred Bella when she was walking out of the kitchen, after crying she pointed and me and said "say sorry mommy" Ahhh..out of the mouths of babes... She is so happy the fall season is here and she loves to run around the house and point out the fall decoractions.."ghosts, pumpkins etc.". I am happy to report that she seems to be getting back to her normal self. After a few bumps along the way while Frankie was gone. Her behavior seems to be on the right track and she is going to bed again without any hiccups!! YEAH !! my little princess is coming back !!

I can't believe my little man will be FOUR months old this week. He is growing up so fast. He LOVES attention, and loves to talk and smile. He is absolutely the best baby...except he isn't sleeping through the night anymore. Oh well....He loves to roll over and watch his sister play. He is just one happy baby !!

As for mom..I have a little girl's birthday to plan, Halloween to think about, and Christmas shopping to sort out.

The aftermath of Hurricane Ike....

We are finally back in Houston and settled. We are so blessed that our family and home are safe. Unfortunately we did lose everything in our fridge and deep freezer including all of my breast milk AHHHHH !!!! We also lost a tree, fence, and a small leak in our roof. It could have been so much worse, and again are truly blessed that we were spared any significant damage. The kids and I evacuated to Fort Worth and we stayed for about a week, since we didn't have power at home. The kids loved every second with their grandparents, and were spoiled rotten. A special thanks to my MIL & FIL & SIL Frank, Louise, and Kimmy for taking care of our home while we were away.

As most of you know, Frankie works for the City of Houston Office of Emergency Mgmt. so he was activated a week before the storm hit. That means he was 24/7 lock down and we haven't seen him since. In all honesty we have seen him a handful of times when he has come by the house for more clothes etc., and as of Sunday he can come home to sleep at night YEAH! We are so very proud of him and everything he is doing for our community. But we miss him terribly especially Bella. She doesn't understand why Daddy isn't home....it breaks my heart to hear her crying for him. Hopefully this too shall pass, and everything will be back to normal soon.

After the storm we are all desperately trying to get back into our routine. A bit more difficult since I brought home two sick babies from Fort Worth. Bella is finally doing better, but baby Frankie is still not feeling well. Bella went back to school yesterday, which was wonderful and she was an angel! She returns to ballet on Thursday and hopefully we will be able to make some play dates next week.

Bella is changing literally every day, she went on a spurt last week and had to have learned at least twenty new words. It still amazes me what comes out of her mouth. I love every second with her. I know school is really helping her as well. I work with her on a regular basis regarding colors, shapes, etc., but I never knew if it was really sinking in. Well just this past week she walks right up to me and says "mama you have a blue shirt!" YEAH !! She still loves to dance, play, and be one big ball of fun. She also is getting very attached to her "baby boy", and loves to cuddle him everyday. My little man is a rolling machine and he is hands down the best baby. He only cries if he needs something. Makes my like so much easier!!! He loves to smile and laugh and he continues to melt my heart everyday. If only he would start sleeping through the night again....

Thank you all again for the thoughts and prayers during Hurricane Ike!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

We wrapped up our week celebrating daddy's birthday !!! Frankie's 32nd birthday was on Saturday. The kids and I finished up our shopping on Friday while Frankie was in a training class. Mental note don't turn your back on Isabella when you are in Hallmark. We ended up having to purchase a new stuffed Ballerina Bunny, a pack of Little Mermaid stickers and two Mickey cards for daddy. Did I mention all items were either crumpled or "kissed" !!! Ahhh..the joys !! We came home wrapped presents, hung the birthday sign, and practiced singing Happy Birthday. My parents also came into town this weekend to help celebrate Frankie's birthday. Frankie of course enjoyed to the fullest; whenever my mom is in town that means Frankie doesn't lift a finger. On Saturday Frankie enjoyed home cooked meals, long naps, and having his every need catered too. Frankie's mom and dad came over for dinner as well on Saturday and a great time was had by all. Bella of course enjoyed showing off for all the family as usual. Her new favorite of the week has been to show off her "Tap" moves "march, march, march" and her "Ballet" moves "toe, toe, toe" Baby Frankie loved all the extra cuddles this weekend and he is still doing really well. He woke up a few times at 3am to eat, but aside from that his sleeping/eating patterns are going great !!

Bella had her official second day at school today and NO TEARS !!! She did great today and Mrs. Kama said she really showed her stuff during music class. I have to admit I really enjoy the special time I'm having with Baby Frankie even if it is extra rocking while he is sleeping.

Not a ton going on this week, mostly due to the fact I'm back to being a single parent. Frankie was home for a couple of evenings last week and it was heaven. I was able to workout and get a bit of free time to myself yesterday. Well that is out the window now that Ike is knocking on our door. Pray that he goes elsewhere and that we can continue to enjoy the gorgeous weather we've been having here in Houston.

Have a great week!

Oh~Aunt Nicole we decided on Bella's costume. She is going to be a frog. I'll send you a pic ;-)

It's official....

My little baby girl started school today. I'm happy to report it went very well. She didn't cry immediately when I left, but I went to pay her tuition and as I was walking past her door I could hear her crying. Broke my heart.....I was that parent sitting in the hallway crying AND that parking lot crying :-( and the poor men at Jiffy Lube made the mistake asking me how my day was going. I find comfort in the quality one on one time I had today with Baby Frankie. I just held him, rocked him, and played on the floor with him. It was really nice.... On the positive side when I went to pick her up she was all smiles and couldn't be happier. The teacher said she didn't cry for very long and had a blast at Spanish class and Recess. Hopefully next week will go well !!!

Last week was BUSY!! Frankie and I had parent orientation as Bella's school. That went extremely well, and I "think" Frankie felt better about Bella going to school. He still wants to keep his baby girl locked up tight. Then Bella and I had Meet the Teacher the following day and that went very well. Bella seemed to interact well with the students and the teachers. Both teachers complimented on Bella's independence and verbal skills. The only real concern I have is that she is only 1 of 2 girls in the class. Also she does seem to be on the older side of the class so I hope she doesn't experience any regression especially with her communication skills. Bella had Ballet/Tap on Thursday which she LOVES !! They broke out the trampoline and she was in heaven. THEN........Gustav came into play, and we never saw daddy again ;-) Unfortunately Frankie was activated for work and honestly we really haven't seen him since. He has been able to come home and sleep for a few hours. But he comes in after 10-11pm and leaves before 4am. Needless to say he is exhausted, but I haven't been more proud of him. But I'm still not cut out for being a single parent. I miss him terribly and so do the kids. Hopefully his schedule will be back to normal this week. We did receive a surprise visit from Aunt T on Sunday !! It was wonderful to see her and hear all about her new job adventures. We are so proud of her !!! I do have to add that Bella finally started to say "Kimmy"!! and it has now become her new favorite word !! She loves to go thru the house and point out Kimmy. We are working on saying Kyle and Nicole this week. She already has Carter down ;-)

This week we spent getting ready for school, spending lots of time playing, researching Halloween costumes, and working on Frankie's birthday !!!

As for my little man, he is doing incredible. He is rolling over fairly consistently and smiling nonstop. Just melts my heart! Bella loves to help give him a bottle, so we try and give him one every so often. I haven't mentioned it, because I didn't want to jinx myself but Frankie is finally sleeping thru the night. (My terms are longer than 6 hours) He has officially had four nights in a row of eight hour stints. It is pure heaven, except that Bella has not started coming into our room between 5:30-6am ??? I know..bad parents but she sleeps another 30 minutes if she stays in bed with me. This all started with baby Frankie sucking his thumb, I still don't know how I feel about it. (Bella never has been one to even put her fingers in her mouth) But it seems that all he wanted for that 3-4am nursing session was just the comfort of sucking. So a few nights ago apparently he found his thumb while I was dragging myself into his room and went right back to sleep. I laid down on the couch knowing that he would wake up in a few minutes but...those few minutes turned into a couple of hours !! So we still hear him grunt around 3am, but he shoves that thumb right in and asleep he goes. So......time will tell how this goes. We've also started to slowly let Frankie fall asleep on his own. We made the terrible mistake of rocking Bella to sleep EVERY night, and she still has issue to this day on occasion. So we have started laying him down when he is half asleep and half awake. So far he only grunts for a bit and is able to to sleep on his own. We have had a few nights where we still rock him...but so far so good.

I think that just about wraps it up!!

The Before and After "Meet the Teacher" ! (Aunt Kimmy does the pose look familiar?)


Smile !! & Bella's favorite pic of Kimmy (it is on her collage at school)