I'm not good at blogging

So...i've been busy? I know I suck at blogging. Partly because I am pretty sure that not one person reads it. Partly because I have a facebook account and I basically update it weekly. And partly because I just dont have time. OK Thats not entirely true. I am sure I waste countless minutes on the web reading cupcake blogs, parenting blogs, CNN, and of course, TMZ. I guess part of me wonders if anyone really cares what I have to say- even as I type this i find myself losing interest in what I have to say. Is that sad? Not to me it isnt. These days, its all about going through the motions- just get through the moment to get to the next moment. Again, not the best outlook overall, but if I am being honest, it is what it is. Its not to say I dont stop and smell the roses every so often. I try to capture little moments in each day, and preserve the memory somewhere deep in my mind. And hope the stupid mundane details of my everyday ongoings dont gobble it up. Its like that scene in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind- where Jim Carrey is trying to hide Kate Winslet in his memories in hopes that the eraser people dont find her and take her away from his memory forever. So here I am...trying to hide my amazing little captured moments from the erases of the world- the bills, grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry, the crayon marks on the wall, and the like. These past 18 months have been much too dense to sum up in a word, a line, a paragraph or even a book. Lots of ups, sadly some pretty low lows...I've lost some, I've gained more, and I am still on the fence as to whether I've learned anything from it all. I am sure I have. I hope. Like I said- i am in the thick of it all...I'll have much to reflect on for years to come. But I wouldnt change one moment for another- even all the worry...it all comes from love

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Leaves are falling

Happy Fall from the Deech Crew!

Aida Ryan and Julian Joseph enjoy the summer

my summer babies...

Meet the babies family picnic

No summer is complete without an italian barbeque- no grill of course- just the usual vareity of pastas, sausage and peppers, eggplant parm, chicken cutlets and salad. This year our family celebrated the arrival of 4 babies all within a month of eachother. So we celebrated at Uncle Carmen's with an elaborate family picnic and passed babies around all day long.

Welcome Aida Ryan DiChiara

On June 27th, 2009 we welcomed Aida Ryan DiChiara to our world at 6 lbs 4 oz, 18 inches long. Julian is the proud big brother and loving his baby sister.

the good and the bad

Well, to say that we have been somewhat busy is an understatement....once you read about the ongoings you'll understand why I haven't posted anything in months. I'm not quite sure where to begin so i'll just dive into it- we have recently become homeowners! We close on our house in Franklin Ma the first week of June. Since its a new construction, we really got to put a lot of thought into the design, layout, and all the little details. Now this entire process has taken a total of 4 months- and while it hasn't been exactly a smooth sailing all the way through, its actually been very enjoyable. We have been having a lot of fun designing and picking out cabinets, granite, faucets, lighting, etc. Fortunatley we have the same exact taste so no real road blocks there.

As for me, I am feeling pretty good! I have 5 weeks left till my scheduled C-section which is planned for July 2nd. It has really only been in the last few days that I have started to really feel like i've slowed down. Joe has been doing all the packing and organizing- I help where I can, but to take any credit for all our progress would just be unfair to my husband who has been a rockstar with the whole moving process. I am also still working and plan to do so for the coming few weeks till we move. Then I'll be home for the last few weeks of my pregnancy- enjoying the time with Julian and getting ready for baby girl Deech's arrival. She's been kicking me like crazy though at all hours of the day- I hope this just means she's staying awake now with plans to sleep a lot later :)

On some sad news, (this is the bad i refer to in my title) our family recently suffered a very sad loss- our dog Piper had been diagonosed with cancer around Easter time- On May 15th, her time with our family came to an end. We are forever grateful for the wonderful memories, the unconditional love, and the motherly acts of affection she displayed to our son. Piper was every bit a part of our family as any of us- we think about her everyday and miss her dearly.

And so not to end on such a sad note, I give you Julian Joseph at 21 months- being as awesome as ever, and making us laugh when we need it most.

Help me reach my goal!Sponsor Me at March for Babies!

ahh...life

life is good these days...Julian isn't the only one growing...

and growing fast. Its all going by so quickly! i'm already half way through the pregnancy, and I have to say, I absolutely adore being pregnant- for now anyway :)

Its been an eventful week- work has been crazy, we found out our gender, and now, we are sooo close to finalizing a deal on a house! We'll keep you posted- cross your fingers for us. Today Julian has his school pictures as well. Here's a preview of some shots daddy took before leaving the house- he's like a little man now!

One of each

Meet the newest addition to our family- Miss Baby DiChiara:





Everything looks very healthy and very normal- we are at the 19 week mark and are extremely excited to have a Deech Girl enter the world. I can already tell Julian is going to be a protective big brother :)

An Italian Christmas

Merry Christmas to all- we had quite the 5 day whirl wind celebration this year- we were fortunate enough to spend the holiday with both our families-Christmas eve with the DiBernardo's and Christmas Night with the DiChiara's. Lets start from the beginning:

We started our trek on the 23rd, with a 5 hr drive from Boston to CT. Needless to say, we were at a snails pace. By the time we got to Nonno and Nonna's, Julian had already slept 3 hrs, so he was wide eyed and excited to see all the beautiful Christmas decor- from the numerous trees, to the christmas village, to the nativity scene, it was visual overload for the dude guy. And a verbal overload too- I think his new favorite words are Nonno and Nonna- it was like a broken record for 2 days straight.

The next morning was a team effort between my mom, dad, Julia and myself. Brace yourself for this menu: Muscles and clams in wine sauce, fried calamari, Italian rice balls, chicken cutlets, spinach and broccoli breads, sausage breads, baked mac and cheese, gabbonatta (traditional Sicilian eggplant dish), salad, baked clam casserole, asparagus, stuffed artichokes, baked stuffed chicken, clam dips, various cheeses, fresh fennel and corn bread. I mean, what a feast. And that doesn't even include the dessert. It was a 12 hour labor of love and hardly a crumb stood a chance once all 40 guests arrived.

The night was filled with catching up with cousins, 12 kids under 12 running around, drinks, the big guys sipping scotch and playing poker, and the 4 pregnant ladies talking about due dates, morning sickness and sheer excitement for the new arrivals (Christina, Gina, Jessica and myself are all due before summer).

The Preggie Crew- Look out!

The evenings festivities led to what never seems to be enough sleep, followed by a Christmas morning to remember. Joined by cousin Stella, Julian opened his presents with bright eyes and excitement. While he didn't quite get the concept of Santa, he did understand that if you rip the paper off a box, a colorful toy awaits. Stella was wild eyed with joy as she tore through her gifts, finally unveiling her coveted fischer price digital camera.

We then said our goodbyes, packed the car ( a 2 hour process for poor daddy p.s.), and made our way to Christmas part 2 with the Deech's. The 5 hr car ride was worth every second as we were welcomed with smooches and hugs from pop pop, grandma, all the Deech brothers as well as Amy. While we missed Erin this holiday, we know she was happy spending her traditions at home in Miami with her family.

Julian wasted no time making his audience laugh and smile as he marveled at the countless Christmas decorations that surrounded him. From snow globes to christmas trees, to Pop Pop's Christmas choo choo train, the world was his oyster and nothing was getting in his way- not even steps! He learned both to climb up and down them on Christmas day!

And so came the second wave of gift giving, with the majority of the presents for Julian- his favorite of all was probably the talking rocking horse from his grandparents, which he rode like a true cowboy. The celebration continued with a marvelous feast with family, including Great Grandpa and Grandma Deech, cousin Mike, Aunt Barbara and Uncle Jim, and of course, uncle Rico (Richie Cardillo). Julie was missed as she celebrated the Holiday in Louisiana with her family.

And of course, in the grand old tradition of good old fashion academia, the Deech kids passed the time playing a real mind bender of a game called Tangram- in it, you replicate the image on the book with various blocks and shapes- some puzzles took over a half hour to solve- I'm proud to say i even won a round. Here is the pic to prove it!!

The festivus continued for 2 more days, with our final stop in Staten Island for a visit with Great Grandpa and Grandma Cretella, who where so happy to see the little man go nuts at their place. We had yet another amazing meal with our family, and then packed the car (again) for the long trip back to bean town. The 5 hour ride got us home late and I think all the excitement caught up with him because the little man seemed a bit run down with a post christmas cold- but it hasn't slowed him down one bit from tearing through all his Christmas gifts all day long. Daddy put together his new toy chest to spare us from the chaos of toys all over the place. Its currently playing a double role as our coffee table as well. Nice job daddy.

So that was it- as quickly as it came, the holiday went, and we have a wealth of memories and photos to show for it. We also have beautiful gifts as well- notably the amazing photo books that Joe made on his mac for mommy and our families, and Tommy D's family cookbook with all the treasured recipes of our family's favorite traditions. All in all it was an unforgettable Christmas - and we already can't wait for next year with 2 little monkeys running around to double our fun.

Happy and healthy new year to all!

baby its cold outside- big doings in the deech world

So it occurred to me that i am a lazy blogger who doesn't do too much blogging but rather posting a picture or 2 with a sentence. That's just plain poor blogging etiquette on my part - so here i go, making an attempt to actually update on the Deech status. We have been very busy this holiday season- I am proud to say though that as of last week my gifts where purchased, wrapped, and delivered to CT. This is quite an accomplishment as usually i am frantically running around buying last minute gifts. So that was exciting. One Friday morning i was breezing through target, and Julian was starting to fall asleep sitting up in the shopping cart. So i laid down my big winter coat and I put him flat down in the cart, and just like that, he was out like a light. Now the only problem was, i had no place to put the items i was buying. So i grabbed another cart and walked around with 2- which might sound a lot easier than it was. It wasnt easy at all. I looked like a weirdo. Good thing it was 9 am so the crowd wasnt crazy.
Anyway, that being said, that trip along with 2 or 3 others ended my shopping holiday spree and I am actually excited that i got some pretty cool gifts this year for the fam.

In other news...we have some exciting news to share with each and every one of you (all 3 that read this blog maybe?) We are proud and thrilled to share with you that Julian will welcome a brother or sister to our family this summer. We are due the 1st week of July and mom has officially redefined what the word "tired" means to her. Seriously, i could pass out standing at any given moment. The sickness started about week 6, and now at week 12, its just just starting to taper off. Whats not tapering off you ask? The munchies. You name it, i want to eat it. Its like i am a dog or something. Hence, the belly showing already:
And while pregnancy has its ups and downs, i must say that i could never ever make it though the downs without Joe, who has basically picked up my slack and stepped it up 10 fold. He's been the fulcrum of our family and we just wouldn't balance without him

So that's it friends. That's our news- our 3 will become 4, and we simply cannot wait.

I'd like to wish you all a very happy and safe holiday- special shout out to The Lang Family who just welcomed 2 beautiful twin girls 2 weeks back- Miss Jillian and Miss Amanda- Julian will be chasing you two around for a kiss in no time.

Cheers!

ah, the holidays

My Holiday Party at School- this is my favorite teacher, Miss Gina

I played the moracca's during the holiday concert

Julian helps decorate the family tree