Torregrossa Family

A random assortment of things - in no real order

2012-02-02T21:55:00.009-06:00

At the zoo.

My new hair.

Nick's bike "helmet".

Gianna waiting at gymnastics class.

The haircut.

Gianna and Evan dressing up in Wisconsin.

Gianna and her cousin, Gabrielle.

Gianna and Gabrielle put on a show for us. There was mostly jumping and dancing although there was supposed to be some "play on words". Nick jumped into the mix as well.

Mitch, Gianna and Nick's cousin, had to wear Gianna's pajamas one night. They say, "I need my beauty sleep" on them.

Sisters (and Nick).

We had a Chuck. E. Cheese outing. My mother won a zillion tickets due to her ultra-competitive ski-ball playing. The tickets bought 2 cheap plastic toys for each child.

At Crystal and Anand's house with all the kids lined up. This was the best picture by far of them all.

There was a fun game of tackle Tom outside. Notice the lack of snow.

The sisters and the kids. Evan is a little hidden...

Nick on Christmas with his new baby.

I had big plans that the kids would help me make sugar cookies. I did most of the work and it took literally 3 hours to frost them. But they turned out pretty good.

At breakfast with Santa at Nick's daycare.

Why we enrolled Gianna in gymnastics. She is like a little monkey!

No pics, but I promise soon!

2012-01-22T21:56:00.002-06:00

Ok - I am planning to be better this year about posting. Some recent news: Gianna has learned to ride her bike without training wheels. One of her friends made a comment about her still needing them, and that was all it took. The next day Daddy taught her in one hour. Since then, we have been to the ER for a bicycle-related face smash. She was wearing a helmet, but she has to go super fast and this led to skidding on pine needles and a bloody, swollen face (I am sure some of you saw the evidence on facebook). Gianna also started gymnastics class and seems to be doing well. I am hoping it will instill some discipline. Not much is new with Nick. He is not at all interested in using the potty, so we may have a tough time getting him out of diapers. At least this way I can still pretend he is my baby even though he half falls off the changing table when I make him lay up there. I still haven't mastered the standing diaper change. Anyway, I should be putting some pictures up soon. Oh - and I chopped off all my hair to donate it to locks of love. 11 inches! Crazy, but now I want to go even shorter. I will have to post some pics of that, too.

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T22:54:00.001-05:00

We entered the Danny Clark Costume contest again. Go to facebook and "like" one of the photos to vote for us. I will be posting more soon.

Nick had a great time trick-or-treating, although he couldn't walk very well in his costume. I had to carry him the whole way. Gianna literally ran through the neighborhood. She spilled her entire bucket of candy 3 times!

Gianna's first day of Pre-K

2011-08-15T21:29:00.002-05:00

Gianna and her friend, Aubrey and their teacher.

Gianna is now officially in school. And she has to wear a uniform. She is so little we had to buy size 2 pants/skirts for her to wear at the sporting goods store. All the 4-year olds looked so cute at the "big school" in the morning assembly. Luckily a lot of Gianna's friends from the day care are in the same class as she is, so it was not as traumatic as it could have been.

More older pictures to come...

Recent news from The Torregrossas

2011-06-18T22:33:00.003-05:00

I will hopefully be posting my back log of photos soon. Just wanted to give a quick update. Matt and I have been busy renovating our previously hideous backyard. We put in a deck and artificial grass (sounds awful, but trust me - it is magical!) and our dogs are finally getting some play time with us. Today we filled up the kiddie pool and you would have thought we had a full-size pool back there. Gianna and Nick were literally running full speed and diving into this pool. I am hoping they don't have any internal injuries from all this. I did notice a few bruises... And Nick has been starting to use the potty! He actually seems really into it and has gone pretty regularly each night since June 2nd. I am not deluding myself thinking he will be out of diapers soon, but I am hoping it might be easier with him than Gianna. Anyway, that is the Torregrossa news and keep checking for pics soon!

Again, it has been TOO long

2011-03-30T15:19:00.009-05:00

Bluebonnets are all over the place right now. We took these pictures last weekend. Unfortunately, I sat Gianna right on an anthill so the afternoon ended in tears (and ant bites)

Nick on his birthday! He enjoyed his ice cream (boy has a sweet tooth just like his mommy!).

Nick has a big boy haircut now. My baby is not a baby anymore (sigh).

Gianna and Nick participated in a St. Joseph's altar celebration a few weeks ago. Gianna was Saint Lucy and Nick was Baby Jesus. After, they enjoyed the pasta. Nick was not a very cooperative Jesus, but I guess that goes with his age.

The St. Joseph's altar. This is a Sicilian Italian Catholic tradition.

At the Houston zoo you can buy lettuce and feed the giraffes.

Gianna was reading to Nick.

Gianna and her big girl princess bed.

We went to a birthday party for one of Gianna's friends at a petting zoo / farm area. Nick and I were on the train together.

Gianna and her friend Aubrey.

On the plane after Xmas.

Gianna and her cousin, Gabrielle.

Enjoying the Wisconsin snow.

It's been TOO long...

2011-01-23T20:03:00.008-06:00

I have not been able to manage my time lately. For some reason, having 2 children has approximately quadrupled my workload. So, here are some not so recent pics of the kids.

Gianna and I made a cake for Thanksgiving. Matt bought the wrong kind of chocolate chips (milk instead of semi-sweet), so Gianna and I took a trip to the grocery store at ~8:30pm the night before Thanksgiving. Gianna was already in her pajamas.

Here she is drizzling the cake with icing.

And here is the finished product. You can tell she dumped most icing on the middle section of the cake.

Just a small portion of the Thanksgiving food. We hosted it at our house and we had ~ 2o people in attendance. It was actually more fun and less stressful than I anticipated. Probably because everyone brought a dish and Matt's Italian family always makes sure to bring enough to feed about twice the amount of people in attendance.

The kids on Thanksgiving.

Gianna and Ryan's daughter, Vivi. Ryan is one of my best friends from high school who just moved to Houston a few months ago.

Nick's "cheese" face.

Since becoming zoo members we've been spending a lot of time at the zoo. They have a tunnel underneath a fish tank that the kids can crawl through. Always a favorite activity.

Gianna and Nick's school had a breakfast with Santa this year. Gianna asked Santa for a bike, and Nick would not stop clutching me long enough to even sit on his lap. Maybe next year.

Gianna also helped me make Christmas candy. Here she is crushing candy canes.

Gianna and Nick helping with another batch of candy.

Gianna opening presents at Grandma Debbie's house.

I will post more soon. It is one of my NY resolutions to be better about this, so hopefully I will stick to it!

More 'ween pictures

2010-11-02T21:48:00.003-05:00

Our neighbors' pumpkin

Gianna and Hannah

Gianna's horse had to get into the action

Nick was like a goat with this pear. He is holding it like an ice cream cone and he ate 2 pears, core, seeds and all! The only thing left was the stem. He has some super chompers.

Gianna and the skydiver - we went to an airshow last weekend.

Nick the nut

2010-11-02T21:42:00.002-05:00

Nick made quite a cute peanut.

Vote for us in the costume contest - if we win cutest kid costume we could get free photos!

http://dannyclarkphotography.com/blog2010/2010/11/01/halloween-costume-contest/

Pretty princess

2010-10-31T21:25:00.003-05:00

We went to the Danny Clark open house yesterday. Gianna cooperated (Nick did not). She was a pink princess for Halloween. I will be posting more soon!

Halloween time and other stuff

2010-10-24T20:33:00.008-05:00

Gianna and her friend Mia (left) who recently moved to Austin and Aubrey.

Ok-I know I should have done this sooner, but Gianna had her first trip to the dentist recently.

Gianna post-dentist with her super white smile.

Gianna is a pink princess for Halloween. She wore her costume to the Zoo Boo.

The zoo has dinosaurs now.

Gianna and Nick and their painted pumpkins at the zoo.

Gianna and the big candy corn. Yum.

Nick couldn't stay awake any longer.

Today we went to a pumpkin patch/ playground/ petting zoo/ hayloft/ train ride place. The kids had tons of fun.

I liked this slide picture because of how his face looks in the reflections.

Matt, Gianna and Nick went for a train ride. Poor Nick was hot and tired.

Gianna loves to make daddy be the horse.

Water Play with Ellis & Nathan

2010-09-28T20:41:00.005-05:00

Gianna and Nick had water play at the downtown Discovery Green splash park 2 weekends in a row. Last weekend Gianna saw her friend from school, Ellis, there. They had a great time running after each other.

Nick LOVES water, so he had a great time also.

Nick's friend (and our neighbor) Nathan played with us too.

She won't let us wash her hair in the bathtub, but she will stick her head in a fountain. Go figure.

2010-09-28T20:33:00.002-05:00

Nick is trying to be a big boy in the big swing.

Silly Nick - this is typical - laughing and rolling around.

Playhouse completed (minus the finishing touches)

2010-09-27T21:14:00.003-05:00

Matt, Nick, our neighbor Nathan, and Gianna on the front porch of the house. We have a couple more things to add (house numbers, plants for the front porch), but it is already a hit!

Notice the shingled roof, trim, and excellent paint job!

Recent Gianna

2010-09-06T20:47:00.000-05:00

My Spontaneous Husband & The Clubhouse

2010-09-06T20:27:00.003-05:00

It was a beautiful day in Houston on Sunday when we first went outside. Low humidity and probably ~ 80 degrees. So, Matt decided to build the kids a clubhouse. Too bad the nice weather didn't last and the humidity (and heat) came back. Matt put in a lot of work, so stay tuned for the final pics!

Summer time in Houston

2010-08-23T22:51:00.005-05:00

Spaghetti

Gianna is quite the cowgirl nowdays.

This is what it looks like when you put a sprinkler under a trampoline.

The heat got to him.

Some advice: Don't EVER try to frost a flower or cathedral-shaped bundt cake.

Some Recent-ish pictures

2010-08-08T01:40:00.003-05:00

My parents (Grandpa Bob and Grandma Christine [or Grandma "Steen" as Gianna calls her])
came to visit at the beginning of July. We took Gianna to the zoo while Nick was at school. She thoroughly enjoyed herself.

Nick LOVES to swim. It is actually really scary to take him swimming as he tries to get away from anyone holding him. He also takes flying leaps off the side even if no one is right there to catch him. This is at Grandma Debbie's house.

Fourth of July

Gianna and her birthday cake

Gianna posing with one of her birthday presents.

Well, I will hopefully put more pictures on soon. I am having problems multi-tasking lately.

The last 2 weeks

2010-06-03T21:33:00.004-05:00

Gianna's friend had a pony party a couple weeks ago.

Nick and daddy (those are Gianna's sunglasses)

Gianna loved feeding the horse hay.

Ice cream face.

Nick before his first haircut. I don't think I realized until I saw this picture how long his hair actually was!

I don't have a good after picture, unfortunately. But he looks like a little boy now, not a baby anymore. Guess it's time for the next one (ha!).

Gianna is ready to swim at Grandma Debbie's house.

Nick had so much fun in the water. He kept trying to ditch us and swim all alone.

We went to visit Curly on Memorial Day. Here he is in action.

Gianna acting like a damsel in distress (she has a little crush on Travis the cowboy).

Gianna and Hanna playing with the puppies.

Too busy to blog

2010-05-20T21:45:00.005-05:00

Yes, it has been a while. But, I am making a promise to put on photos weekly again. So hopefully it won't be as long next time. Last weekend Gianna and Matt were swinging when she declared, "I want pink nails, daddy." Now, I have not painted my nails since my wedding, so I am not sure where she got this idea, but Matt obliged her (she is just lucky I had nailpolish!).

Fun with hair - Nick's hair is crazy nowdays. We might have to break down and get it cut. Below Gianna and I had matching hairdos. She thought it was great.

Nick had a cute white suit for his baptism, but we couldn't seem to get a good picture of him in it.

Beth is the Godmother.

All the pretty wildflowers in Texas and Gianna had to give a fake smile.

Gianna and Matt's cousin Emily (and the dog).

Gianna and Nick on Easter.

More attempts at wildflower photos.

Nick loves to slide at the park.

Random

2010-04-15T22:17:00.002-05:00

I just looked at how TINY Gianna was and wanted to re-share this picture. Hard to believe they start out so small!

We ordered a large canvas of the above photo--I love the look on his face.

Once again, I've been a slacker.

2010-03-21T21:55:00.004-05:00

Well, much has happened since the last time I blogged, and I think I added the pics in the wrong order, but here they are. Last weekend Nick turned one (yikes)! It was also great weather so we played a lot outside. This weekend Nick was not so happy. One trip to urgent care later and we are treating yet another ear infection.

Gianna claimed she was "reading mommy's book".

Daddy made a wonderful (and yummy) birthday cake for Nick.

He already has a sense of humor like his dad.

I've been getting cute pictures of Nick lately. He loves to smile.

I think in this picture he looks like me when I was a baby.

Super smile.

Gianna finally really got to ride Curly. She thought she was pretty cool and decided she didn't even need to hold on.

In early February, Gianna had some breathing issues. She got a nebulizer machine and here she is using it.

Recent pics of the kids

2010-01-27T21:50:00.004-06:00

Nick is starting to lose his chubby cheeks. Here they are in full glory around Christmas time.

Gianna and Nick enjoying the snow in Wisconsin (I know they look somber, but they had fun).

Gianna and her cousin, Gabrielle.

Gianna helped Grandma Christine make waffles.

Sitting on the potty.

Just like daddy.

For some reason my time management skills have been really bad lately. I just don't seem to have time to blog lately. I will try to be better!

Nick walking

2010-01-27T21:45:00.002-06:00

Not the best video, but it is hard to catch him on camera.

Nick is already a toddler

2010-01-27T21:11:00.003-06:00

Nick started walking about 3 weeks ago and he also likes to fling himself down the slide on his stomach (in this video he is less aggressive than usual). It is like he is not even a baby anymore (sigh).

Stuff

2009-12-15T21:09:00.003-06:00

Gianna's new activity is trying on my shoes and walking around in them.

She likes to help me make the bed by hiding in the sheets.

When I was little, my sisters and I would help my mom make Christmas candy every year. I decided to try and start this tradition with Gianna. Here she is helping us make butterscotch crunch.

Chopping the nuts.

We attempted to take pictures with Santa last weekend. This was the best one of Nick. Gianna wouldn't even get close enough to Santa for a picture. Even though, she had told me earlier, "I wanna touch him".

Decorating the tree.

It's been a while!!

2009-11-22T20:28:00.005-06:00

So - for the last 6 weeks we have had computer problems. Those darn PCs. Apparently I also purchased the cheapest model with Windows Vista - not a good combo. So here are all the cute photos that I've taken recently. Although Nick no longer really likes his bouncer, this was at the beginning of October after a vigorous bouncing session.

Gianna's first carousel ride at Matt's company picnic.

Gianna is saying, "cheese" in this photo. It makes her mouth into a little circle of teeth.

Posing in the pumpkin patch.

More pumpkin pictures on Halloween.

Many people thought Nick was a bunny or lamb, but he was supposed to be a dog. Gianna was a black cat (scary).

I can still manage to get a cute sleeping picture occasionally.

Matt and I went to the Greater Houston Restaurant Association gala a couple of weeks ago. It was kind of fun to dress all fancy-obviously this is a rare thing nowdays!

Weekend without Daddy

2009-10-05T21:26:00.002-05:00

Let us in!!

I bought these pajamas for Nick for Halloween, but it appears he will have grown out of them by that time. I forget how fast they grow during the first year!

Dancing Nick

2009-10-05T21:12:00.003-05:00

He will stand by this toy for 30 minutes at a time! I'm so impressed.

Weekend with the kiddos

2009-09-27T22:18:00.002-05:00

Gianna went to her friend Reese's birthday party on Saturday. They were having a tea party.

Nick was showing off his punk mohawk look.

Gianna was performing for us. She would stand on the end of the slide and then jump off, mostly backwards.

Nick had his 6-month checkup on Friday. Here are the stats:

Height: 29 inches (> 95th percentile)

Weight: 16lbs 13.5 ounces (40th percentile)

His new skills are crawling (although he is still working on perfecting this) and standing while holding onto something. He is definitely on the move!

Nick thinks he's already grown

2009-09-20T20:44:00.002-05:00

Yeah...Nick is already pulling himself up and standing. Scared of how early he could be walking!

Gianna is breastfeeding Tigger in this photo.

Early morning swinging.

Pics from yesterday

2009-09-20T20:39:00.001-05:00

Gianna and her great-grandparents.

In mid-swing.

Nick had his first swing experience yesterday and really seemed to enjoy it!

Problems with Blogger

2009-09-19T22:26:00.003-05:00

I am having issues uploading photos today - keep getting error messages. So, here is Nick looking somewhat somber. I hope to post the rest of the photos tomorrow, so stay tuned!

2009-09-19T21:57:00.000-05:00

Nick is 6 months old today!

2009-09-13T22:04:00.002-05:00

For labor day weekend we spent some time at Grandma Debbie's house. This would have been an amazing photo had I just managed to get a little more in the shot. As you can tell, Gianna has gotten over her fear of water.

Gianna loves watching the cows. Here are Gianna, Nick, Wyatt (Matt's cousin) and Trudi (Matt's Aunt).

More cow watching.

Gianna loves when I wrap her up in her towel after her bath and pretend that I can't find her body.

Nick has just discovered this toy and already has become quite masterful playing. Does this mean we have a musical genius on our hands?

The last 2 weeks

2009-08-31T22:01:00.003-05:00

Last weekend this was Nick struggling to sit up. You can see the effort he was expending by the extra drool.

Aerial shot of Ms. Gianna.

Gianna is getting very good at brushing Curly.

Nick was dead asleep. I loved his arm and foot positions.

Yes, Aunt Beth, I finally made Nick his sign.

Nick is now sitting up on his own! Still a little wobbly, though.

She looks a little devilish in this photo.

For some reason Cleo really likes Gianna now days. I guess she forgot all the early abuse and tail-pulling. Gianna is wearing her fancy socks yet again.

Gianna has started calling Nick by his full name. She pronounces it "Nickonus".

Famous Nick

2009-08-20T23:32:00.001-05:00

For a cute photo of Nick, visit our photographer's blog: http://www.dannyclarkphotography.com/blog/ and then scroll down to the August 8th entry.

Kelly's Wedding (& other stuff)

2009-08-17T21:23:00.005-05:00

Matt, Gianna, Nick and I were all supposed to fly to Michigan for my cousin Kelly's wedding last weekend. Unfortunately, it turns out that Gianna had a double ear infection (for like the 100th time) and Nick had the start of an ear infection. The doctor essentially said it was not a good idea to take Gianna, so Nick and I braved the trip alone. All in all, he did very well on the plane and in the airport even with my delayed flight. I completely forgot to take a picture of him on his first flight, though.

After getting to Michigan I met up with Caron, Tony and the kids for some children's museum fun. Gianna would have loved the bubble section. Evan managed to get a bubble around his face and I managed to get it on camera. I was very impressed with us both.

Inside the prism - kids multiplied!

Gabrielle and the bubbles.

We went to Big Boy for breakfast - Gabrielle thought he was cute.

So, I'm completely clueless as to how to add my photos in the correct chronological order, so here are wedding photos in random order. The four of us have not been together since my wedding (nearly 4 years ago!) so we took a lot of sister pictures. Kelly was nice enough to put all of us in her wedding. It was so much fun!

The beautiful bride.

Fancy shoes and toes.

Our gorgeous flowers.

Kate and Beth (and my cousin Chris) showing off their fancy hair.

We took a trolley around town for photos. The only drawback - no air conditioning. We felt bad for the guys in their tuxes.

Before the ceremony - doesn't Kelly look perfect? She could be a wedding dress model in the future!

The sisters.

Kelly and her mom (my Aunt Laura).

Hair-stylin'.

Kate and Gabrielle. For some reason, I took no good pictures of Nick or Kate's son, Mitch. Trust me - they were there.

The happy couple are in Jamaica now... Congratulations! We had a great time.

Water weekend

2009-07-28T22:12:00.004-05:00

Nick loves taking baths - this was after his bath one night.

The reason swim diapers were invented...

Gianna and Nick had fun playing in the pool together.

Gianna was giving Nick a kiss. She loves to hug and kiss him. It was so sweet the other night she spontaneously said, "I love you Nick". So cute!

Nick showing off his pirate leg-warmer style.

We went to the aquarium on Sunday. Unfortunately we did not think to bring Gianna's suit. She had a great time with the fountains.

Gianna's 2nd birthday and July 4th

2009-07-06T20:43:00.004-05:00

I want more presents!

We went to see Curly on Gianna's birthday. She was very excited - no fear.

She tried sharing her birthday cupcakes with Nick. Daddy baked them especially for her!

On July 4th we went to Columbus. Here is Great-grandma Kollmann and Nick.

Gianna no longer wants to get in the water. Instead she hangs around in her bathing suit on dry land.

Nick is starting his fascination with beer at a young age...

It has been really dry in Texas recently. This is the smoke from a large fire near Columbus - I think it burned about 1500 acres.

Matt in mid-air.

Gianna was reading Nick one of her new stories.

Grandma Christine, Aunt Beth and Aunt Caron sent Gianna this water play table for her birthday. I think it was a hit!

Nick today. So grown up!

2009-06-28T21:58:00.002-05:00

Matt was holding the camera and Gianna was saying "cheese".

Movie star Gianna.

Is it just me, or does he look freakishly large for a 3-month old?

Nick showing off his 6-pack.

Father's Day

2009-06-21T21:37:00.002-05:00

Nick refuses to believe he needs to stay on his back. And now that he can roll over, he tries his best to get to his tummy at all times.

Daddy went golfing this morning for Father's day, so we took some self-portraits. And yes, Gianna does have food in her mouth.

Milestone

2009-06-18T22:38:00.003-05:00

No pics today, but I just had to get this down before I forgot as this blog is serving as my baby book of sorts. On June 15th Nick turned over from back to stomach several times!! He is going to be a stomach sleeper for sure, but we still have him trapped in the bassinet so he can't turn over in there. I did manage to catch it on video and maybe I will add it here later. Anyway, that is the news from Houston. Oh - and it is freakin' hot down here! Like 100 degrees. Gianna is also talking alot more. She says stuff like, "where daddy go?" and "I fall down". Very cute (at least I think so). That's all. TGIF tomorrow.

Summer in Columbus (Texas)

2009-06-14T21:43:00.002-05:00

Today we visited Grandma Debbie's house for some relaxation in the sun. She had a new swingset for the kids and we also went swimming.

Nick seemed to enjoy the water and was lounging in his new swimsuit. If you can't tell, he is a monkey.

Gianna is scared of the water and would not go in the swimming pool. She did throw things in it for other people to catch. The swing set was a hit.

She has a lot on her mind...

Gianna and great-grandma.

Nick at school

2009-06-09T22:00:00.003-05:00

Nick had his first day of school yesterday. This is how Gianna and Nick would look as drawings. (I've been experimenting with photoshop)

Nick and I leaving for his first day.

Nick and Matt at daycare. Doesn't he look so grown up?

Last weekend before returning to work

2009-06-07T21:47:00.004-05:00

Gianna and Matt had some father-daughter time with a trip to McDonald's. This was the first time Gianna had been to a playland. It looks like she thoroughly enjoyed it.

Yesterday we received a package from my Aunt Laura and Uncle Dale. It was mainly a gift for Nick (lots of cute boy clothes strung along a clothesline), but Gianna had her own present. She got the socks she is sporting in these photos. We had to first soak them in water for them to expand (they were shrunken somehow into little teeny socks). Unfortunately, she wanted to wear them when they were soaking wet. After we dried them in the dryer, she insisted on wearing them with this mismatched outfit and actually went to the store wearing this. I guess she did get several compliments on the socks from strangers!

Before her nap

Nick and Gianna today.

Gianna wore this cute dress and sock combo Grandma Christine gave her today. She really liked the dress and socks because 1) they are yellow, 2) they have bugs on them and, 3) they have flowers on them. She is still wearing the socks because she wouldn't take them off when she went to bed.

Funny faces

For those who have been watching the Lakers, Gianna is doing her Kobe Bryant impression.

Post-cake face.

All in all a good weekend but I am sad to be going back to work. At least I have a job is what I keep telling myself.

We love books and daddy

2009-06-04T00:56:00.004-05:00

Gianna has become quite opinionated lately and insists on taking books to bed with her as well has her stuffed horse (which is quite large). She is in a horse-crazy phase and we have watched Spirit (the Disney movie) like 12 times this week. The whole time it is on we hear, "more more horse please?" She says this while the horse is on the screen so we are not sure if she wants him to jump out of the TV or what. Anyway, this is what I saw tonight when I put some clothing back in her room. It is hard to tell, but one book is open as though she was reading it in the dark. I would have moved them, but I didn't want to wake her up. She looks comfy enough, right?

Nick showing Daddy some love...

Nick

2009-05-26T22:05:00.001-05:00

Relaxin

2009-05-26T21:44:00.002-05:00

Nick today.

Nick can talk!?!

2009-05-26T21:27:00.003-05:00

Nick recently had his 2 month doctor's visit. Here are the stats:

Height: 24 inches (90th percentile)

Weight: 11 pounds, 9 ounces (50th percentile)

He has many new skills including drooling and "talking" as seen in the video above. Don't worry, although he sounds extremely congested, he is actually fine and not nearly as congested as his sister.

Gianna LOVES horses!

2009-05-18T21:34:00.004-05:00

Because of my pregnancy and inability to ride, we haven't been to see Curly in a while. Gianna loves seeing horses on TV, so we thought it would be fun for her to go see Curly last weekend. She had so much fun. In this photo she was so excited because she was feeding Paco a treat.

Here she is trying to tell Paco that she had placed part of a treat by his toe. He didn't get it...

Here Gianna is feeding treats to both Paco and Curly.

Gianna also loves dogs. She had fun petting Cricket (Lola's mommy).

Curly got lots of treats this day!

Nick knows some tricks

2009-05-18T21:28:00.003-05:00

Nick was enjoying laying on the floor by Aunt Caron.

All Grown Up

2009-05-10T22:06:00.000-05:00

No longer a baby (sigh).

Mother's Day

2009-05-10T22:00:00.000-05:00

Family Photo

Car sleeping - I thought she looked so cute!

The many faces of Nick

2009-05-08T23:32:00.000-05:00

Chillin'

Looking tough

Ah - the elusive smile. I forget what it looks like when he is groaning for hours straight.

Nick - the thinker

Nick today

2009-05-05T16:29:00.000-05:00

Mmm...we love candy

2009-05-05T16:22:00.000-05:00

Giving his pouty look - future model?

Mischevious half-smile.

Mitch (Kate's son) Gianna and Nick. Mitch is about 9 months old.

Nick's first visit to Dylan's candy bar. He gathered all this candy and thought we would be fooled by his fake sleeping.

Nick with the candy bunny.

Straw love and more

2009-05-05T16:12:00.000-05:00

Mitch is Nick and Gianna's cousin (Kate's son). He was here for a visit (with his parents). Apparently he loves straws!

Kiddos

2009-04-27T22:36:00.000-05:00

Look at the chubby cheeks and chin!

He was saying "ooh" in this photo.

Smiling at daddy

Gianna helping with the laundry.

Houston weather

2009-04-27T22:28:00.000-05:00

This was our street last weekend and it was even worse today. We were trapped!

Nice picture of Nick with Grandma and Grandpa.

This is a close-up of Nick during the photo session. I think he is taking after his daddy with the joking personality.

The children

2009-04-18T08:23:00.000-05:00

Gianna's Easter outfit.

Thanks for the cute onesie, Ali and Leo!

Deep in thought.

This pic was taken April 2. Doesn't he look so young? He is so much more mature now.

Trip to the Zoo

2009-04-17T21:24:00.000-05:00

We went to the zoo recently. Gianna hasn't been there since she turned a year old, so it was quite a different experience.

Gianna was very excited about the aquarium portion of the zoo, especially the turtles.

Nick and Gianna

2009-04-17T21:17:00.000-05:00

My parents were in town for Easter and these pics are compliments of Grandma. Gianna loved her new bubble maker (a big sister gift) and Nick looked dashing in his Easter bunny hat (thanks Murrays!).

Bath time

2009-03-31T20:24:00.000-05:00

Nick had his first real bath today. By the look on his face, it seems that the whole process confused him a little bit.

Sleeping Nicholas

2009-03-31T20:18:00.000-05:00

Like father, like son (note the arm positions)

Sleeping babies are so cute!! The many sleeping faces of Nick.

Bluebonnets

2009-03-22T21:00:00.000-05:00

Bluebonnets are the Texas state flower and every year they grow wild along the country highways. We pulled over and took some photos in a field.

Recent Nick

2009-03-22T20:52:00.000-05:00

Nick relaxing with daddy.

Awake Nick.

Sleeping Nick.

Matt (and Gianna) are on the way to becoming famous models. This photo of Matt and Gianna was taken when Gianna was ~ 3 weeks old. It is one of our photographer's (Danny clark photography) favorites and has been used in advertisements for the photography studio. Now it is hanging in a baby boutique (Nest and Cot) in a Houston shopping center. I had to sneak in and take a photo of it hanging on the wall.

Nick swaddled - it appears he likes the straight-jacket look.

Nick pics

2009-03-17T22:59:00.000-05:00

Almost smiling in rap mode.

Nick - 3 days old

Gianna - 3 days old

New baby and little brother.

2009-03-14T23:36:00.000-05:00

The stats:

Nicholas Arthur Torregrossa

Born 3/13/09 at 10:07 AM

Wt: 8lbs 3oz (> 2lbs heavier than Gianna!)

Length: 21 inches

Friday the 13th - Delivery Day!

2009-03-14T22:54:00.000-05:00

First photo.

In the room waiting.

Arriving at the hospital.

So, apparently this baby (unlike Gianna) was taking his sweet time making an appearance. Due to this, I decided to get induced on my due date. We arrived at the hospital at 5AM, and made it to a room a little before 6. I had been 4cm dilated at my last prenatal visit, so I figured things might move kind of fast. At 6:00 AM they started the pitocin infusion. I felt ok until about 8:25 am when I noticed that contractions really hurt and they were coming every 1 - 2 minutes. The doctor came to break my water around 8:45am and then the anesthesiologist came. I was having horrible contractions by then, and it took all my willpower not to move during the placement of the epidural. They were done putting in the epidural around 9:25am - but I noticed no difference in the contractions. The doctor said it could take 20 minutes to "kick in". Well, at about 9:40 I realized that the baby was about to pop out. So, the nurses checked me and, surprise, I was right. So, they called the doctor back and I pushed for about 15 minutes and out came the baby! I think the epidural kicked in somewhere around the last push. So, nearly a natural childbirth although not by my choice.

Belly today - 39 weeks and 3 days

2009-03-09T21:20:00.000-05:00

I feel huge!! This poor baby has no more space.

More Gianna prior to new brother

2009-03-09T21:12:00.000-05:00

Gianna had to have an esophogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) exam last week. (I think I spelled that correctly). Essentially, they put a camera down her throat to look into her stomach and small intestine. Everything came back normal, but Matt and I thought she looked hilarious in her little hospital gown. She looked like a little prophet!

Two different outfits; two different days of napping with Daddy.

Recent Hairstyles

2009-02-18T20:23:00.000-06:00

So, I don't know if this is the pregnancy talking, or what, but I am freaking out right now because I feel like Gianna's life is passing me by. And, I still haven't learned how to use my video camera so I have no videos of her for the past year and I just know I will forget everything about her childhood. I need to stop working!

I am 2cm dilated...any day now...

Excitement in Houston

2009-01-31T20:49:00.000-06:00

Our never-ending renovations continued today. Apparently one of our old pipes collapsed, or something, so the plumbers had to come and put all new pipes in. Matt and I had no idea they would actually crawl under the house. If you look closely you can see the poor guy's feet who was under the house all day. I think this would qualify as a "Dirty Job"--maybe Mike Rowe should check these guys out. Anyway, they were working from 9:30 am until 7pm. And it is still not completely fixed.

The other photo is poor Lola. Somehow she caught herself on something in the backyard and ripped a chunk of skin out. Matt took her to the vet this morning and they will be stitching her up on Monday. Until then, she has to wear the cone. But, she seems to be doing ok other than that.

Belly - 34 weeks

2009-01-30T21:32:00.000-06:00

Hard to believe I have 6 weeks left still. I am a little tired of everyone telling me how much bigger I am this time and the look of shock on their faces when I say I still have 6 weeks to go. Matt predicted a 9lb 8oz baby today. For my sake (and his) I really hope he's wrong!

Chuck E. Cheese

2009-01-30T21:26:00.001-06:00

We went to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time last weekend with Gianna. She enjoyed herself very much. Her favorite "ride" was called Fetch the Vet. An under-the-weather vet and dog made of plastic are seated on the left side of the car while the right side has a space for a toddler with a steering wheel. Gianna did not want to leave and we had to drag her screaming (literally) away. I guess it is a foreign ride (?) as the steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car.

Posting slacker

2009-01-11T21:35:00.000-06:00

I have been a posting slacker. I am having a lot of trouble juggling working, Gianna, being pregnant and dealing with our never-ending house reorganization/construction. So, that is why the long time in-between posts. Hopefully, I will improve soon! Anyway, the above photo is Gianna today. We had to go to the urgent care clinic this morning because she was having trouble breathing. I hate going there because she always gets so worked up and now that I am pregnant instead of being able to brush this off, I felt like crying. She just seemed so sad. They diagnosed her with bronchiolitis and gave her some steroids. Hopefully by tomorrow she will be back to normal.

Gianna playing with her new stacking cups in the new playroom.

Me and Gianna in Wisconsin after Christmas.

Gianna and her cousin Evan. She looks a little stunned.

Gianna and her cousin Gabrielle. Gabrielle is mastering her photo techniques.

Christmas in Columbus, Texas

2009-01-11T21:28:00.000-06:00

Gianna helped to trim the tree. She really liked putting the ornaments on (and off) the tree!

Matt's Uncle found the perfect tree. All the kids got to help chop it down - even Gianna (with daddy's help). I don't have a picture of that, unfortunately.

Gianna in the oven of her new kitchen.

Belly and snow

2008-12-14T15:57:00.000-06:00

Today - 27 weeks and 2 days.

On Wednesday it snowed in Houston! I was very excited as I have never seen snow here before. Of course, it did not stick and today it is 75 degrees, but exciting all the same.

Recent Gianna

2008-12-14T15:26:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving with cousin Wyatt.

Sometimes she ends up like this while sleeping. It is hard to believe she used to be dwarfed by her bed!

After paint... December 3rd.

2008-12-14T15:22:00.000-06:00

After dry wall

2008-12-14T15:16:00.000-06:00

Back side of laundry room.

The master closet.

Our future family/playroom.

Master bedroom.

I never realized how messy and dusty dry wall was until now. My Type A personality is having a hard time with this. Although my college roommates might not agree that I am kind of a neat-freak, this tendency has grown over time and this constant mess is driving me crazy!!

About a month ago...

2008-12-14T15:10:00.000-06:00

The view from our bathroom into the laundry room (before dry-wall completion)

The bathroom after the plumber came to redo the pipes.

Our future master closet.

The dog/exercise room.

The master bedroom.

Baby Gender

2008-11-16T20:58:00.000-06:00

So, for those of you who haven't yet heard, I am having a boy! I am a little nervous about it since I have 3 sisters and am much more comfortable with girl children, but it is exciting. This time the pregnancy is going really fast. Here is my belly today at 23 weeks and 3 days. It doesn't look so big in this picture, but I feel huge!

Home addition and repairs

2008-11-16T20:49:00.000-06:00

Since Matt and I had some damage due to the tree through our house, we decided to change our renovation plans. We are adding a master bedroom, renovating the small bathroom and adding a exercise/sunroom/dogroom to the back of the house. Once that is done, we will focus on landscaping. Here is the progress so far. You can see the difference in the roof tiles, but we were just happy to have a non-leaking roof finally. There was a week or two where we had some minor flooding.

The outside with siding nearly complete.

Making progress.

2008-11-16T20:42:00.000-06:00

The framing of the house addition

2008-11-16T20:37:00.000-06:00

Our house - Oct 4 - 8

2008-11-16T20:27:00.000-06:00

The outside of the house after the brick was taken off.

The new slab.

Right before concrete pouring.

Another shot of the concrete truck.

Our house - Oct 4th

2008-11-16T20:16:00.000-06:00

The $500,000 concrete-pouring truck.

The concrete pipe (not sure of the official term..) over the top of our carport and house.

Wider view.

The backyard prior to the concrete slab being poured.

Kissing Daddy

2008-11-16T20:03:00.000-06:00

Gianna sure is daddy's girl nowdays. Mommy gets a little jealous...

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T10:59:00.000-05:00

She takes after her mother. She wants ALL the candy!

Bath time

2008-11-01T10:54:00.000-05:00

2008-10-30T21:37:00.000-05:00

Finally, I am back. My computer died on me about a month ago, which is why I have not been blogging. I had to order a new one, which came yesterday. I am not sure I am liking Windows Vista, but we'll see. So far it is incompatible with my work programs so I am not able to do any work from home (not that I really want to, anyway). The good news is I will definitely be posting pictures this weekend, so check back!

Blowing kisses

2008-09-28T21:33:00.000-05:00

Gianna's new talent.

Belly and terrible-ones

2008-09-28T21:30:00.000-05:00

Gianna does not like having her hair washed anymore. She flips around and twists and screams. This was halfway through the process today.

My belly at 16 weeks and 2 days. Don't worry--those are couch-marks on my arm.

Oh, the drama!

2008-09-24T22:24:00.000-05:00

The last 2 weeks have been exhausting and dramatic. Not only is our house in total chaos due to a previous construction project and the damage from the hurricane, our daycare is still closed due to lack of power. Matt and his grandparents have been handling the majority of the childcare duties. Gianna has been extra crabby--I don't think she likes spending too much time with her parents. She misses the other kids. Then, 2 nights ago we discovered our 11-year old cat, Cleo, was missing. We had been borrowing electricity from our neighbors who were nice enough to throw an extension cord over their back fence, so the window and screen were open. Neither Matt nor I thought it would be a problem. All of a sudden on Monday night I realized I hadn't seen Cleo all evening. I freaked out and we tried looking through our house, but with no power and only flashlights, it was pretty difficult. I knew she had escaped and we walked around the house with an open can of tuna hoping to lure her back, but no luck. Tuesday I spent the entire day worried about the possbile fates she could have met. I was basically a basket case. Luckily, I was home with Gianna and didnt' have to act normal at work. Matt came home and tried to comfort me, but it didn't work. While I was reading Gianna bedtime stories, Matt rushed in saying he had seen a flash of white in the yard. He tried following her, but she was too fast (although it seems hard to believe, it was true). A girl walking around the block pointed where Cleo had gone. Matt and I grabbed a flashlight (and Gianna) and I ended up crawling through some bent chicken wire and many shrubs to find poor Cleo. She hissed at first, but once she smelled me, she let me pick her up and drag her back through the bushes to safety. She seemed a little traumatized, and immediately went to the food dish. I think she dropped a couple of pounds. Anyway, that was the dramatic finale to the past 11 days. Hopefully, better times are to come!

The top of our tree.

The roots of the tree.

Our backyard.

A baby cow and mommy at Matt's parents' house.

Scenes from our neighborhood

2008-09-24T22:11:00.000-05:00

When this happens in your yard (electrical wire disconnected from house), apparently the electric company will not repair it. It is the "homeowner's responsibility". We had an electrician come yesterday and for the bargain price of $1995.00, we now have power!!! It is great after living like the Amish for the last 11 days.

This is the tree that fell on our house. It is more dramatic to see the pictures before it was cut down. Hopefully I will be able to post those later.

My cute nephew

2008-09-24T22:04:00.000-05:00

Content in the bathtub.

Excited in his "mini-geiger" outfit. It was from his favorite aunt!

Still No Power!!!

2008-09-21T09:20:00.000-05:00

Well, it is day number 10 without power. We at least got water back last Monday so we are able to take showers. Currently we are in Columbus, TX staying with Matt's parents. However, it is back to work as usual tomorrow. The daycare is still closed (they also have no power), so we are kind of at a loss with what to do with Gianna. Matt's grandparents have been watching her--extremely helpful. We spent all weekend doing laundry. All of us are exhausted and Gianna is finally at the end of her patience. She has been crying a lot today. I am trying to figure out how to post pictures of all of this, but my computer literacy only extends as far as my own personal computer. I will keep trying, so check back later.

Houston - Disaster Zone

2008-09-13T22:39:00.000-05:00

Currently, I am in Portland visiting my sister and her baby. So cute...I will definitely be posting pictures later. Matt and Gianna stayed in Houston to make sure the house and pets were ok with the upcoming storm. Well, I was skeptical, but Matt was correct. Apparently our neighborhood is a mess. One of the trees in our backyard (a very large tree) fell over and crashed through our attic into the garage. Unfortunately, our garage is actually my closet. We are not sure of the total extent of the damage because Matt did not want to poke around in there while Gianna was in the house. All power and water is out, so Matt took Gianna and went to his mom's house about and hour and a half away. They are staying there until Monday. I come back on Monday and I am expected to report back to work as ususal on Tuesday (I got confirmation on this from my boss). So, I am not sure what exactly we'll do without power. Hopefully they will be super quick getting power back to our area. Anyway, I will post soon when I can with photos of the baby and the damage to our house. Thanks Matt for taking care of everything!