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Well school started again and the weather in Chicago quickly turned much cooler so we closed our pool early and are now just enjoying the Fall season. We went to the Scarecrow Festival in a nearby suburb - there is so much to do - we had a ball with went our cousins and spent the day.

We've had so much this summer, visiting with friends and family and going to picnics and BBQ's. We went to see a friend who plays in a band at a block party and they pulled Maria into the show and let her play the keyboard. She had a ball!

The crazy Chicago weather went from cool to 'hot' so we opened the pool quickly and have been swimming everyday. We hosted our nephew Louis' graduation party from High School and all the guy cousins 25+ with their sons went golfing the day before Father's day. We are starting our 2 weeks of summer vacation today - yeah! We'll be going to the Shedd aquarium and having 5 pool parties so we can visit with our friends and cousins and enjoy the warm chicago summertime.

We went to see Sesame Street LIVE with cousin Michelina and Marisa. The girls had so much fun dancing in their seats, they started to dance in the aisles! Elmo came over to shake their hands - they were so excited!!

The weather is getting nicer outside - yeah! Maria is playing in our backyard, she loves to climb and slide.

Mommy and Maria went to visit Nonno and Nonna in Florida for a week. We had so much fun. We played in the pool everyday and went out for ice cream every night! Maria loves to help around the house, before we went to the pool on Wednesday Maria decided to help Nonna mop the kitchen floor!

We are so excited that Spring has arrived! Yeah we can play outside again.

Well we have been so busy the past 4 weeks, 3 birthday parties, 1 baby shower and 1 baptism. Lots of parties with our family. Maria loves to dress-up for the parties and she's great about giving all the aunts/uncles and cousins kisses when we arrive and when we leave! We are on spring break this week from school so we've had several play dates and we are going to see the Easter Bunny on Friday! And we are going to an Easter Egg hunt on Saturday morning.

Today was Maria's 3rd birthday party. We had family and friends over to the house - 35 people. The weather was great for Chicago - it was 50 degrees - that's like 80 degrees in June for us this time of year. We all had a lot of fun. The kids played pin the tail on the donkey and bozo buckets. Zia Silvana made cupcakes in ice cream cones and chocolate chip cookies. Maria's birthday cake was Tinker Bell with strawberry filling!

Well the holidays are over and now we are just starting to relax again, with a big family there are many parties and lots of visiting! Cousin Rocco and of course his Mommy and Daddy and Santino came over for a visit. Maria and Rocco were just 'chillin' watching a movie.

Merry Christmas 2008!

Maria asked Santa for dollhouse for Christmas. It is such a joy to see the holiday through Maria's eyes - the excitement and anticipation of Santa and getting together with so many friends and family. We pray that next Christmas Maria will have a little brother or sister to wake up with on Christmas morning.

We hosted the annual cousin's party for Jenny's dad's side of the family of cousins. This is one of the smaller parties - only 20 of us! Louis and Dominic 2 of our nephews made pizzas for the kids.

A special friend shared this poem with me today and I wanted to share it with you. Three years ago today we received the call that Maria's birthmother wanted to meet us...

Awaiting an Angel..............

I stepped into your room today
Knowing you're not there
This waiting for referral
Is more than one can bear

But taking in the moment
I sit down on the floor
And dream of you here with me
When waiting is no more.

A little giggle fills the air
As I rub your feet
I place my hand upon your heart
To feel its every beat.

A song is sung so very soft
Your eyes begin to close
Your meeting me in dream land
A place where love still grows.

My vision now is very blurred
The tears stream down my cheeks
I've dreamed of you quite often
Throughout these past few weeks.

Suddenly a sound is heard
The phone rings in the hall
Waking up I quickly pray
Please let it be "The Call"

Well the time is flying by... November was a busy month with preparing for Thanksgiving and all the family that comes in from out of town. We've had so much fun decorating for the holidays this year, Maria had a ball helping to put ornaments on the christmas tree. We have had so many parties with our friends and families - can't believe that Christmas is only 15 days away!

Happy Halloween!

Today was the 1st time Maria helped Papa carve a pumpkin. They had so much fun, there were 4 to carve!

We went to the local Fall Festival today, we had so much fun. Maria took her 1st kiddie train ride - she had a ball - she went on it 3 times!

We went to the pumpkin patch today, we had so much fun - we brought home 4 pumpkins, 1 for papa, 1 for mommy, 1 for Maria and 1 for baby to be.

Today is Nonna Fortuna's birthday! Maria is giving her a big hug and posing for picture. Nonna Fortuna has over 30 pictures of Maria in her home - she loves her very much! Nonna Fortuna has kept every picture of Maria up on her walls since the day she was born - Maria loves to see all the pictures when we go to visit.

Maria's cousins Nicholas and Sonia came over for a visit. They have so much fun together, they slept over and had a ball!

Maria loves to watch football with her daddy. She gets all dressed up in her bears dress and plays toss football with him during the breaks of the game.

Today was Maria's 1st day of pre-school at our church. She is going 2 days a week for 2 hours. She had so much fun, she could not stop talking about school when she came home, they painted, sang ring around the rosey, played outside... she took a 3 hour nap that afternoon!

Nonno and Nonna came over for a visit on the Labor Day weekend. Maria was playing ball with Nonna and they stopped for a picture with St. Francis. What a fun day! The weather was beautiful.

Can't believe it is already August! The weather has been great to hang out in our pool. We have been playing with all our friends in the neighborhood and visiting family.

Maria is starting to learn to go peepee on the potty... She gets 2 M&M's everytime she goes... She is wearing pull-ups now - we are very excited!

What a fun day, we had our friends Rose, Nick, Vincenza, Joe and Laura over with their kids Sam, Jillian, Caroline, Nicholas, Natalie and baby Paolo. We went swimming in the pool, played and watched a movie on the big screen in our home theatre! This is annual tradition for us because Laura, Sam, Jillian and Caroline live in Reno, NV and where in for a visit to meet our newest addition to our circle of friends - baby Paolo!

Wow the summer is flying by... It's already July! We've been having so much fun. We had 2 more cousins that came in for a visit from Italy for 2 weeks, we had 6 of our cousins in from Canada and they stayed at our house 7 days - all the kids had so much fun!

We hosted the July 4th party this year - 35 cousins with their kids. It was a ball!!

We have been to the zoo twice and swimming in our pool everyday the weather permits...

Maria is talking up a storm, she loves to sit and have a conversation with you, she has a new doll - baby Tina now along with baby Gigi - she is really into playing with her dolls and kitchenette - what a little girl!!

May has been a busy month. Nonno and Nonna returned home from Florida (their winter home), we planted our flowers and vegetable garden, went to the zoo and several birthday parties. Maria loves to be outside - she loves to find things in the yard and bring them to us. She found a rock for Mommy to play with her - she is so funny!

We've had a busy couple of weeks, we have gone to visit baby Paolo, Joe and Vincenza's son a few times. Vincenza and I have been friends since we were 6 years old! We've been playing outside since the weather has been beautiful and all the trees and rose bushes in the yard are blooming. Maria's newest favorite food are the 'smiley' potatoes we found at Jewel (the local grocery store), she loves them with ranch dip! Maria has been going to gymnastics twice a week now for the past month, she is doing really well, she loves the kids in her class and her teacher.

Maria is watching Sesame Street as she gets ready to go night night. She loves to be a big girl and sit in her chair and relax like Mommy & Papa before we go to bed.

Maria can say the entire alphabet and count to 20 - she is absorbing everything like a sponge right now - it's so much fun to see!

Zio Dom, Zia Angela, Louis and Mary gave Maria her 1st trike for her birthday - she had so many new toys on her birthday that we waited a couple of months to give her this one as we knew she would love it! She even wore the helmet the Easter Bunny gave her so she stays safe...

Our friend Laura shared the following poem with us to describe how she felt what type of sister Maria would be to her new brother or sister "A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life..." BY Isadora Jame

We had Nia over to take some pictures of Maria for Easter, the weather was so cold she didn't wear her Easter dress to church but at least we took a few pictures!

We went to the local park district Easter Bunny luncheon, we had so much fun... face painting, balloon animals and the Easter Bunny! It took Maria a while to warm up to him but eventually she thought he was cool and sat on his lap.

We took our 1st trip to visit Nonno & Nonna in Naples, Florida. They have a second home there that they visit every winter to get away from the cold weather in Chicago. We miss them when they are not here but it gives us a great excuse to take a vacation when it's cold!! This is Nonno, Nonna & Maria on their patio with the Padre Pio statue.

Today is Maria's 2nd birthday. We had her birthday party at the local park district - they have a room that you can rent that has a carousel for the kids to ride! Everyone had a ball. It's amazing how quickly the time goes by... She is such a big girl now. She received 2 more dolls to add to her collection when she plays house and another build-a-bear from cousin Solidea - we call her the Soli Bear.