A Mangiaracina Christmas continued...

So I know it is now 2012 (Happy New Year!), but we are still going to dwell a bit on the end of 2011 ~ specifically the holiday weekend.

Christmas Eve was in New Jersey with the Basile/Petrelis family (aka Mom Q's family). We always look forward to this day not only because we get to see Grandma and all the Aunts, Uncles and Cousins, but because of the food. For as long as I can remember, we have had the traditional Christmas Eve fish dinner and I'm not talking just any old fish. I'm talking lobster, shrimp, scallops and calamari. In addition, there are stuffed shells, chicken parmesan, stuffed mushrooms, veggies and the most delicious Italian bread you can have (slim pickin's down here in VA for real Italian bread).

We cook all day and eat all night and enjoy each other's company in the mean time. And this year, everyone was treated to the Jets/Giants game. Unfortunately things did not go in our favor (major Jets family), but we still had a good time. At the end of the night, we celebrated Grandma's birthday with ice cream cake, home made 3-layer cookies (thank you Aunt Ruth!) and nut cups (thank you Aunt Linda!). Lucy enjoyed herself - especially when Aunt Suzy put the reindeer antlers on!

We spent the night in New Jersey and headed to Long Island first thing Christmas morning. We were spending the day with Mama Mangiaracina, Ed's siblings and my brother-in-law John's family at the Mangiaracina household in Wantagh. In typical style, we got a very warm welcome from Marty, Joe's black lab and spent the day prepping the food and eating the food (seems to be a holiday theme!). I'm happy to say that I cooked my very first turkey and it actually came out really good!! At the end of the night we exchanged gifts (some great loot btw!) and headed over to the Basile house in Levittown to spend the night.

On Monday morning, we once again woke up early to hit the road and headed back to Virginia. Lucy had gone home with Grandma and Grandpa Q. after Christmas Eve and we were anxious to see her...especially since her surgery was looming. We flew home, took quick showers and headed over to the Quartuccio house for dinner and gifts. Grandma B. was in town for a few days so we got to spend more time with her which is always a great thing.

Now, if you know my Mother, you know that she loves to shop so the gift bounty was plentiful. Ed was treated to some great stuff including some new shirts, Apple's Time Capsule, and another Smallville season...among other things. I totally cleaned up with some new maternity gear, Marc Jacobs Daisy perfume and comfy slippers...among other things.

Overall, everyone did great and was happy with all the great gifts. Even James was treated to a huge bounty of books and an adorable outfit from Aunt Suzy. But more importantly, we had a great dinner and got to spend some quality time together before Grandma B. and Sue Q. headed back home.

So there you have it. A Mangiaracina Christmas in a nutshell. It flew by in a snap, but we enjoyed every minute of it. So...now onto 2012 and all that the future holds. Happy New Year everyone!!

A Mangiaracina Christmas

This year, Christmas was extra special for us since it would be the last time that our little family would be a threesome. Don't get me wrong, we can't wait for the little guy to be here, but there was something special about celebrating this last Christmas season with just each other and Lucy.

Our holiday weekend began on Friday night with our traditional Christmas "morning". Since we planned to head up to NJ/NY on Saturday morning, we had to celebrate our family Christmas on Friday night. Ed and I started the evening with a wonderful dinner at Clyde's of Reston and stopped by our neighbors house for a little holiday shin dig (thanks Suzy and Glenn!). After a quick drink (for Ed of course), we headed home, put on our Christmas jamies, pumped up the holiday tunes and started opening gifts.

Lucy started with her BIG gift ~ one that Ed was SOOOO excited for. We wrapped it up with some treats so that she would tear into the paper which she did. She grabbed the treats and ran which wasn't quite the reaction Ed wanted, but she grew to love her new bed later that night. Along with some treats and toys, Lucy was a happy camper. :)

Ed and I didn't do to shabby either. I got some great stuff including new Ugg snow boots, the Cook Like a Rock Star Anne Burrell cookbook (new fav Food Network diva), some goodies for my camera (making the bloggers life easier), an iTunes gift card to upgrade my operating system and lots o' money to get prenatal massages. SCORE!!

Ed's Santa loot included a new pair of Cole Haan shoes, a manly circular saw with extra blades, a Bob Marley onesie for James, sexy message collar stays and Apple TV.

All in all, it was a great Christmas morning for our little threesome. Life is going to be very different next year, and we can't wait...but it was nice to take advantage of our time together this year. Next up...Christmas Eve in New Jersey with the Basile family. Stay tuned!

My Owie

Hi everyone. I wanted to give you all an update on how I am feeling these days. For some reason, Mommmy and Daddy thought it would be a good idea to fix my knee the other day, so here I am, in a cone, with a big boo boo on my leg. It hurts, but I'm strong and the doctor gave me some good medicine to help with the pain.

After a great Christmas weekend, I woke up early on Tuesday morning and thought it was going to be a typical day. I thought it was a little weird that both Mommy and Daddy took me on my morning walk and then played frisbee with me, but I thought, "Hey ~ it's Christmas!". Then Mommy started to cry when we got in the car (she does that a lot because of the big belly). I smelled something fishy and apparently, I was right to be suspicious. This is where Daddy took us:

This is the place where they put me in the little room and poke and prod at me. It's not too terrible because Mommy and Daddy are usually with me. This time was different. Mommy held me on her lap while they spoke to the lady Tasha. There was no poking. There was no prodding. But then Tasha grabbed me and brought me out the back door. Typically this is where they take me to cut my toenails, but not today. Instead, they took me to a little cage and left me there with no Mommy and no Daddy. I was not happy. :(

Things got a little fuzzy for me after this point, but what I can remember is that Tasha took me to a big room where Dr. Taylor was dressed up in a green dress and mask. The next thing I know, I'm back in the cage, there is a needle in my front leg and a huge bandage on my back leg. What the heck! I was pretty sleepy and my leg hurt, but I was happy to see the nice nurse lady. She took good care of me...but where were Mommy and Daddy?!

Well, they finally came to get me yesterday and I was SO happy to see them. All I wanted to do was lick their faces and go home to my bed...which is exactly what we did. I was very sleepy so it is a good thing that I have 2 beds. I made sure to be in both of them. :)

Unfortunately, I have to wear that stupid cone because I keep trying to check out my stitches. I mean, look at them! I want to see them...not rip them out! Well...maybe rip a few out. :)

I'm doing okay. It's hard to eat with this stupid cone on, but Daddy helped me out last night.

Mommy is spending a lot of time with me and giving me great neck massages. She even let me take my cone off for a little bit so I can eat, drink and be more comfy. She keeps a close eye on me though.

My recovery is going to be long, but I know that Mommy and Daddy will be there to help me. The worst part is that I have to sleep in the living room with Daddy (he's on the couch) while Mommy goes upstairs (something about her big belly). I don't really like being away from the Mama. The best part? Lots of kisses and rubs and they carry me up and down the stairs all the time now! Oh, and of course the treats! :)

Merry Christmas!!

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!!

The Nursery: Take Four

So, here we are again with another update on the nursery. Slowly but surely it is coming together and there really only are a few more things that need to be completed. But I did want to share with you 2 new items that have appeared since the last nursery post.

First off, if you remember from the "The Nursery: Take Three" video, were were in need of a little table to put next to the glider. I scoured the Internet, got lots of good advice from other Mommies on what to look for and ended up at Target where I found the perfect little table to hold our new lamp and iPod docking station/clock.

Not only does it fit perfectly, it has shelving where we can pile up the baby's books and it has a chic, contemporary feel adding to the overall style of the room. And if you are wondering about the blue and white blanket on the chair...well that is Ed's childhood blanket that his Grandma made for him. We thought it was a nice addition to the room.

The second new item in the room is something that I am very proud of because I actually made it with my own two hands. You may remember from this post that we were picking out fabrics for the valence. Well, we fell in love with more than one so we decided to use one for the valence and the other for the crib skirt. Check out the finished product:


I learned how to put this no sew crib skirt together from the Young House Love bloggers. All it took was the gorgeous fabric, some new scissors, an iron and ironing board, measuring tape and some ultra hold Heat and Bond. All I had to do was measure each side of the crib, cut the fabric a little longer on each side, make four hems and voila ~ a beautiful crib skirt!


I used velcro to attach it to the crib and I have to say, it looks pretty darn good! I'm majorly proud of myself that I didn't mess it up. This is WAY more Home Economics than anything I've ever done. I know that I didn't actually sew it (haven't been able to swipe sewing kits from any hotels lately!), but this iron-on adhesive is the next best thing.



Not to shabby if I do say so myself. I'm not so sure I want to tackle the valence on my own, but I did order enough fabric to give it a try and when I mess up, bring it to a professional. :)

So there you go...I'm thinking that our next Nursery post will be the final reveal. Only 11 more weeks until this little guy will be here!!

Merry Christmas Eve!!