It's official!

Here comes baby #2 everyone! The Lentinis will be adding to our family in the fall of 2008. We (mom and dad) are excited about the arrival. Luke is less than enthused ("Mommy NO HAVE BABY!" is what you can expect hear around our house these days... usually screamed at the top of his little lungs.) While Luke is excited about the prospect of getting a big brother present, he would rather not have the baby who will be giving him the present.

Needless to say, we still have time before the big ultrasound... and yes, we plan to find out this time around. If it is a boy, we already have all of the goods. If it is a girl, then we have some quick studying to do to figure out girl-dom these days.

The doctor visit today gave confirmation that the heartbeat is just fine and all of our tests for the various birth defects and anomalies came back normal. So, now we just sit back and let this little one percolate for a bit until the fall comes.

More details later... and pictures from the big ultrasound when we have it.

back from St. Louis into the den of preschool germs

Well, I made it back from St. Louis. I had a wonderful girls weekend with Emily B., Micholle M. and Cassandra C. You can see by the picture above that we all looked absolutely fabulous and relaxed from the trip.

While in St. Louis, we indulged on cupcakes from the Cupcakery (http://www.thecupcakery.net/) which were absolutely divine. I wish that they had one of those near me!

We also went to get pedicures at Go Spa (http://www.gospagirl.com/). Thank you Derek B. for indulging all of the girls. :) We had a wonderful time and my toes still look smashing!

The most impressive event of the weekend was definitely the trip to the Ritz Carlton for tea. The tea was absolutely amazing as you can see by the picture of the tea sandwiches. We had a fantastic Earl Grey tea, tea sandwiches, a scone with Devonshire cream and strawberry preserves, a couple of other pastries, more sweets and chocolates... it was simply divine.

Then, we jetted off to this fantastic store called Soft Surroundings (http://www.softsurroundings.com/) where I managed to get a new shirt and a new outfit. Fantastic stuff there.

The last evening out, we all met up with St. Louis friends at a Wine and Tapas place called Robust. Fun was had by all.

After St. Louis, it was back to the grind here. Work was never far behind and they had been missing me. ;) So, I had lots of catch up to do. I also had a little boy waiting for some serious mommy time. Al had done a great job with Luke while I was gone- visiting the Lamberts, seeing the Easter Bunny at Kowalski's.... but let's face it... there is nothing quite like mommy hugs and Luke felt like he was missing out in my absence. So, after the weekend, I had to kick my job and being a mom back into high gear to meet the demands.

Of course, a week later, we all seem to have a bit of a cold going. Gotta love daycare, right?

It has now been snowing every day for the last four days and we had a very WHITE Easter! We did manage to take Luke to the Chanhassen Rec Center for the Easter Egg Event. It was a blast. They had singing, dancing, coloring and lots of candy for little kids. Luke even won a prize from Byerly's supermarkets! A free killer brownie which I am sure the entire family will enjoy.

This morning, we have church, a basement Easter egg hunt and Sunday Easter brunch at Campiello in Eden Prairie.

HAPPY EASTER!

this is how we roll it....

So, after intense media interest... I have attached a picture of me in the Chrysler Town and Country. This is how we roll it into work now. The minivan is chock full of family fun during the morning and evening commutes. ;) We actually have decided to limit Luke's viewing of The Incredibles to longer trips... otherwise we end up with a little vegetable boy in the back seat who won't talk or interact with us.

Today started out as a daylight savings Monday should... with a clogged toilet. Not just any clogged toilet, but a master bathroom super clogged toilet. Of course, I had Al run to get the toilet plunger... nothing was going down this damn toilet. So, in his infinite wisdom, Al decided that it was probably best to flush the toilet again to "get things moving" (*now, as a side bar, I have no flipping clue why anyone in their right mind would see a toilet about to overflow and then decide to flush again as if the extra water will help the situation... but I love my husband and am not really questioning the rationale in this situation*) Needless to say, I started screaming that the toilet was going to overflow and I started picking up bath rugs amid a few other choice statements. At one point I think that I yelled something along the lines of "turn off the water at the base or the whole bathroom will be flooded." The toilet began to rapidly spill its contents ALL OVER the bathroom floor... at which Al said "I guess that the toilet is going to overflow." Thank goodness Luke was in the middle of Mickey Mouse Fun House on the Disney channel or I am sure that he would have loved to be playing in the 'puddles.' It only took a few minutes and about 6 full-sized towels to get things under control. Ah.... nothing like starting the week out right!

In other news, Luke continues to ask about NaNa and PopPop. So, I think that we may need to consider a visit to Nevada for him to actually see NaNa and PopPop's house. It would be a long trip and involve at least one plane change (which I am really not looking forward to), but for the good of all, I think that Luke needs to actually see where NaNa and PopPop live most of the time when they aren't visiting Minnesota.

ENJOY THE PICTURES!

the new family truckster...

Well, yesterday was momentus for many reasons, but most importantly, it was our first expedition down to visit our friends in Lakeville with the new minivan. Luke loved it and every time we had the doors open and shut automatically, he screamed "MAGIC" and clapped his hands. He watched The Incredibles on the way down and scarcely made a peep.

Interestingly enough... Luke has now been asking to go to mommy's magic car to watch the Incredibles. :)

Also, we had a fabulous time with Ms. Janet and Mr. Eric down in Lakeville. Luke, Josh and Ryan enjoyed playing with each other and generally engaging in mayhem. We all had Thai food and there were plenty of leftovers which the Lentinis have been enjoying today.

You bought a WHAT?!?!?!

Yes.... the Lentinis finally bought a new vehicle.... and it isn't an SUV, it's a minivan! We ended up going with the Chrysler Town and Country from Walser in Hopkins. It's a 2008 in midnight blue with gray leather interior. It has two DVD players and the second and third row can be watching different movies. There are wireless headphones to boot. Sirius satellite radio is included for the first year. The doors on the sides are power and so is the lift gate in the back. The two back rows are stow n go seating so we could fit large pieces of furniture if necessary. It has a backup camera, it plays MP3s.. it has bluetooth available for the cell... it has a gazillion bells and whistles... and the price couldn't be beat! We got a huge discount to start with, then we got employee pricing, money because it was Auto Show, and $1,000 trade-in on Al's 1997 Chevy Lumina. To top it off... we got 84 month financing with no pre-payment penalty so our current payments are under $400 and we can pay it off once bonuses come in. :)

Of course, the biggest impediment was whether Al could handle the shame of owning a mini-van... after driving it and seeing the difference from the SUVs, he couldn't argue any more. I will be the primary driver, but I think that Al just might survive having to drive it from time to time.

So, we are the proud owners of a minivan... and we are happy.

Nana and PopPop say farewell

Today was a tough day. NaNa and PopPop left for Appleton and the house just isn't the same any more. Luke cried quite a bit when he returned home and kept calling for his NaNa. It was really horrific.

Of course, now we have pictures and lots of leftovers from the visit. ;)

Other than that, my friend Kris had a surprise arrival this evening. Her baby boy, Daniel Robert, was born this evening around 5:30. It sounds like he is a healthy happy little guy and it sounds like she is doing MUCH better now. Congrats to the whole family!

I need to go give Luke extra hugs and kisses. He's having a rough night.

You have got to be kidding me.... one week

One week... one week was all it took for Miss Anne to fold her cards and leave as Luke's Yellow Toddler Room teacher... As you can see from my previous posts, Luke loved his former teacher, Miss Essi and I was concerned that Miss Anne didn't have enough of a backbone to deal with a crew of tenacious toddlers. Apparently, a mom's intuition is something that SHOULD be heeded.

Needless to say, this all happens at a rather unfortunate time. The main site administrator is out this entire week on vacation- perfect, right... So, as the parents begin to embark on a mini-mutiny due to the fact that our children have had 5 teachers in 7 months, we are now given a full week to seethe and coordinate. Nothing like a bunch of really pissed off parents waiting for you after a vacation.

By the way, the picture I just included is of Luke, looking mischievous as he is about to engage in a riveting rendition of "Hot Hot Hot" with his 'microphone' in hand. This preceded the fantastic dancing montage to the 1980's classic "Jump!" in the living room where all parties- including PopPop had to jump in time to the music. Hilarity ensued.

Other than that, Luke's time with NaNa and PopPop is coming to a close. They have been absolute angels this entire week--- getting up with him at 3 am pretty much every day so that Al and I can get extra sleep in. They even handled the 2 am wake up this morning when Luke announced that he was ready for waffles and Dumbo without batting an eyelash. We will miss the fantastic homemade meals, nighttime Luke care and general pampering.

OH... another first for us, my parents brought Norske Nook apple pie with them from Wisconsin. http://www.norskenook.com/ It was amazing. I think that the next time we hit the Dells, we will make a stop (Aunt Barb take note... we come bearing gifts.)

In other news, I booked my trip to St. Louis to hang with a bunch of the girls for a weekend. I'll be heading down in about a week and half to meet up with Micholle, Emily and Cassandra for four days and three nights of pampering. I believe that our plans include lunch at Emily's club, pedicures for all at a great little spa, tea at the Ritz Carlton and a Spanish tapas dinner. Sounds like fun right up my alley. I'm sure it will be super girly... and the first time I have spent more than one night away from Luke. YIKES! Well, this will definitely be an experience feeling footloose and fancy free for a weekend (and getting to sleep in with no kiddie noises for the first time really in the last two years or so.)

March arrives... in like a lion!!!

Hey all you wonderful folks!

Life here is crazy, as usual. The Chessin grandparents are in town (NaNa and PopPop). Of course, Luke is getting spoiled as can be with them in town. He wakes up every morning and runs into their room for snuggle time and spends the whole day playing with NaNa and PopPop- giggling and having fun. NaNa brought tons of coloring books and MagicWonder/washable markers. I have never seen him quite so happy. NaNa also bought Dumbo, Monsters Inc and the Elmo movie.

Today, we went to Jake O'Connors http://www.jakeoconnors.com for their Sunday brunch. It is $14.95 for adults and $6.95 for children under 12. All I can say is 'phenomenal'. The brunch was just amazing. Made to order omelettes, flank steak, salmon, corned beef (the best ever), brussel sprouts with carmelized shallots, scrambled eggs with breakfast potatoes, Guiness beef stew, lasagna, waffles, pastries of all sorts, cheeses, fruits, salads, etc. Then, there was this to die for dessert table. Needless to say, it was worth every penny. We have often gone there for dinners, but the sunday brunch was something that we will definitely repeat again some day.

Mom and I went shopping at the Galleria mall. It was tons of fun to check out the stores and such. We were looking for a childrens table and found one that looked ideal at Gabberts until we looked at the pricing.... $1000 for a table. I think we will be getting a cheaper table and actually investing the remaining money into a college fund for Luke's education... Who in their right mind needs a $1,000 table for a kid?!?!?

Sorry that I haven't been writing much lately... I came down with an awful bronchitis and pulled all of the intracostal muscles in my chest... Uggg... Seriously, if I was a farm animal, I think they would have put me out of my misery.

Today, we are having pretty miserable weather. Rainy and dreary. The perfect day for a long nap... which is exactly what we all did.

Another thing that we did this weekend was continue our search for the next family truckster. Al and I tried out the Saturn Outlook, the Hyundai Veracruz and the Nissan Murano. I LOVED the Nissan Murano, but it seats the same number of people as my Nissan Maxima... so, I'm thinking that we may pass on it just because the extra seating will be vital as Luke gets older and develops friends who may want to come along to soccer games, etc. Plus, it is nice to be able to take one car whenever visitors come into town instead of being forced to have multiple cars to go to the same place. We'll keep you updated.

Alrighty... hope that everyone is well.