Vita Bella

my babies...

2010-02-11T16:25:00.001-08:00

It's too bad they don't like each other....

2010-01-22T08:42:00.001-08:00

my boys 12/09

2010-01-02T13:17:00.000-08:00

2009 year in review at OneTrueMedia.com

2010-01-02T13:13:00.001-08:00

what i've been up to professionally this year...

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

new house and moving pics!

2009-10-13T11:44:00.001-07:00

morning joe with my boys...

2009-09-23T08:07:00.000-07:00

oliver...

2009-09-10T18:35:00.000-07:00

my little men...

2009-08-28T21:08:00.000-07:00

we have a brand new jacky...

2009-08-20T22:08:00.000-07:00

future surfer...

2009-07-18T20:43:00.000-07:00

waiting for the wave...

there it is...

here i go...

and i'm up!

brothers.

2009-07-03T19:20:00.000-07:00

oliver.

2009-07-03T19:19:00.000-07:00

jack.

2009-06-20T19:33:00.000-07:00

the boy formerly known as "the fat man"

2009-05-07T20:16:00.000-07:00

happy easter!

2009-04-12T11:02:00.001-07:00

playing with cousin ian

2009-03-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

a couple new ones of the boys....

2009-03-20T06:21:00.000-07:00

happy valentines day!

2009-02-11T12:25:00.000-08:00

cheese!!!!!!!

2009-01-21T13:43:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Oliver!

2008-12-20T13:26:00.000-08:00

the begining of messy winter activities...

2008-12-15T10:50:00.000-08:00

getting coal this year...

2008-12-09T11:03:00.000-08:00

i don't care how cute he is, stinkin' ol is only getting coal under the tree this year. beating his brother 2-0, oliver landed us in the ER again sunday night. we were at a friend's birthday party sunday afternoon, la-di-da, eating cookies, playing... when suddenly i notice oliver's lips looking a bit more angelina jolie than normal. i thought maybe he got bonked at first but little by little they started getting more and more puffy and it seems to me that he's having an allergic reaction. i check out the cookie he's been eating- NUTS! DAMN! i totally didn't notice and thought it was just chocolate chip. ack. we call the hospital to see if they think we should bring him in- he isn't breathing weird but he now has puffy lips and a rash on his face from where he touched it (with his hands that probably had nut oils on them). they say because he's so young, yadda yadda, i should bring him in. swing by to pick up mimi- he looks a lot like a puffer fish at this point- and head to condell ER. his lips already look a little better by the time we get there. they check us out almost immediately to make sure he's breathing fine (he is) so then they proceed to make us wait for an eternity. i tried to get them to let us leave after having about all we could take (it was a bit hellish at this point with jack running around like a wild banchee and oliver is obviously fine) but they insist the doctor really wants to see him. so... we hang out, they check him out, he is indeed fine. they say although it was a fairly mild reaction it could definitely be worse next time. hopefully there won't be a "next time" though as i will be paying MUCH closer attention!

please keep all nuts away from the vdm household! thanks for your cooperation. :)

The big boy.

2008-12-01T13:52:00.000-08:00

jack has once again showed me the importance of waiting until a kid is ready to do something, rather than following some arbitrary time line. following the success of the binky cessation and potty training, i put the ball in jack's court and told him to let me know when he was ready to sleep in a big boy bed. i thought it would be a while because jack was quite content with his crib but he told me yesterday that he was ready. seeing as it was about an hour before nap time and i wasn't ready for a struggle, i suggested we wait until later on to set it up. no go. he was adamant, he wanted to nap in a big boy bed. ok, well, daddy happened to be home and didn't mind setting it up, so up it went. i thought for sure nap time would be a hellish nightmare. nope, he stayed put and even napped for a little while (something he doesn't do with much regularity any more). i thought for sure bed time would be when the struggle would begin... nope. climbed in, stayed in, went to sleep. hmmm.... i thought FOR SURE jack would be at my bedside at 5 AM, even though i told him that big boys have to stay in their beds until their moms come to get them in the morning. nope. at 7:30 (regular time) i woke to jack talking in his bed, where he stayed until i got him at 8.

my boy amazes me yet again...

now, if he could just wrap his mind around being ready to share and be nice to his little brother, THEN we would be in business!

My child is strange....

2008-11-10T11:41:00.001-08:00

Since the very beginning Jack has been on his own schedule. At 8 months he decided that he no longer cared for breastfeeding and he stopped doing it (for those who say babies don't wean themselves this young, meet my son Jack). At one year he decided he no longer will drink from a bottle or drink the formula that he had been drinking contentedly for months. At 2.5 I started asking him if he was ready to be a big boy and get rid of his binky (which he LOVED and used at nap/bedtimes since he started teething!). After only about a week he decided that my idea would be an okay one and that trains seemed like a good trade.

Well, 3 days ago, the biggest loop yet was thrown at me. A good loop, but a loop nonetheless. Jack told me he was ready to start wearing his Thomas the tank engine underwear that have just been sitting in his closet gathering dust the last few months. Ummm, really, Jack? So, you're going to pee AND poo in the potty. "YEP." And that was that. 3 days and ONE accident later, Jack is potty trained. He's just the kind of guy who decides when he's ready to do something and then he does it.

Halloween!

2008-11-01T20:14:00.000-07:00

surprise, surprise, jack went as thomas the tank engine... oliver re-used jack's halloween costume from when he was one which is a bat? liberaci? batman? we're not sure... it was $5 at kmart the day of halloween 10/31/06.

october is nuts...

2008-10-31T08:18:00.001-07:00

i'm so behind in my reporting, i just don't even know where to start... october has consisted of my birthday, jack's THIRD birthday (and the 2 parties that went with it), oliver walking, trip to Oma and Opa's, trip to Prescott, photo shoots, playdates and today, HALLOWEEN. is it any wonder that i'm behind? well, perhaps november will bring some calm and i can actually catch up, until then, a pic of jack to hold you over...

mini- scott

2008-09-25T21:39:00.000-07:00

jack has been imitating/repeating a lot lately (dangerous territory... i really need to watch what i say these days! "no jacky, i didn't say that i HATE the dog, please don't use that word"... oops).
he likes to imitate daddy most of all. like tonight after dinner he sighed heavily and said,
"i GOTTA go for a run tomorrow morning."
it's the best when he gets it just slightly off, like today...
"i gotta go to the dentist, my back is hurting". :)

love this kid...

can you believe this is the same guy??

2008-09-25T21:31:00.000-07:00

Oliver, 9 month old heart breaker...

2008-09-25T13:20:00.001-07:00

uh-oh, somebody is VERY interested in walking...

2008-09-24T19:32:00.001-07:00

my jacky is so handsome...

2008-09-24T19:29:00.001-07:00

too bad he doesn't want his photo taken anymore...

congratulations giselle and ed!

2008-09-04T14:37:00.000-07:00

my best friend from high school was married on august 22nd. she looked stunning, as usual... and ed didn't look so bad himself. everyone made it through the catholic ceremony in one piece (it was quite hot in the chapel) and the reception was beautifully done and so much fun. here are some photos...

jack and BFF aiden throughout the years...

2008-09-04T14:10:00.000-07:00

july 2006...

oct 2006...

july 2007...
oct 2007...august 2008...

oli's eating adventures...

2008-09-04T13:19:00.000-07:00

6/2008...

avocado:
toes:

7/2008...

biter bisquits:

unidentifiable delicious mush...

big brother jack...

8/2008...

baked beans, cheerios, crackers:
snack time with jack (puffs):
practicing drinking out of his own cup:

binky fairy

2008-09-04T12:01:00.001-07:00

i can't believe i forgot to post pictures from this little adventure! i've been a blogging slacker this summer. at the end of july, jack said goodbye to his binkies. ALL of them. jack has had a binky since around 6 mos so i thought this would be a huge and painful ordeal. i'm happy to report that i was pleasntly surprised and it went as smooth as can be.

i put the idea of the binky fairy into jacky's head a while back. i told him that when he was ready to be a big boy and not go to sleep with a binky anymore, that the special binky fairy could come to his house and pick up all of his binkies. in return, he could receive some special prizes from said binky fairy. i asked him every once in a while if he was ready to be a big boy and have the binky fairy come and he'd tell me "no, not ready". one day, he told me he was ready to be a big boy. this took me by surprise and i told him that i would have to call up the binky fairy to make sure that she could find the time to get jack his special prizes and make it to his house. she has a very busy schedule, so it took a couple of days for her to come. i think this was ok, because it gave us ample time to make sure that he was ready and understood what was happening.

the night before the binky fairy was due to arrive, we went around the house and collected all of jack's binkies. we have acquired LOTS of them over the years. :) we put them all in a basket on our front porch where the binky fairy would be sure to see them. when i put jack in bed and reality set in, there were some tears, i won't lie. i asked him if he would like some "friends" to sleep with in his bed that night and of course he chose some of his prized thomas the train "choo choos". i told him that he could talk to them and tell him why he was sad. he cried a little bit that night, but nothing unreasonable and i kept reminding him about his prizes that would arrive while he was sleeping. it took him a bit longer to fall asleep but he finally fell asleep without any major problems.

the next morning he woke up and was so excited to see what the binky fairy brought him. here are some pics...

it took him a couple days to go to sleep without issues. he still wanted to bring some extra friends into his bed for nap and bedtime for a few weeks but we're totally back to normal at this point. the next step is potty training... i'm sure THAT will be quite a story to tell with this stubborn little boy!

i love sweatshirt weather...

2008-09-04T11:44:00.000-07:00

Oli is 8 months old...

2008-08-27T19:17:00.000-07:00

... and STILL keeping me up all night... but gosh he's cute. :)

I'm an artist!

2008-08-26T19:04:00.001-07:00

Check out the print in the last photo...

Sonya's blog

That's my photo! Someone actually has a photo taken by me on their wall and it's not even of them or one of their kids!

Thanks Sonya, for the confidence booster.

PS- You are totally coming to my house to decorate when we own a house again!

Oli has new tricks!

2008-08-11T19:22:00.000-07:00

namely, crawling and standing....

happy 4th from oli... and a couple random ones of jack!

2008-07-03T20:06:00.000-07:00

Oliver is 6 months old!

2008-06-24T19:16:00.000-07:00

19 pounds
25 3/4"

Between the hours of 8 am and 8 pm, fatty is the most enjoyable baby i have ever had the pleasure of being around. he's so happy and squishy and cuddly. he's still not getting the hang of this night time sleeping stuff or i would crown him "best baby ever". i can't even imagine how much i'm going to enjoy this boy once i can sleep more than a few hours at a time. :)

spider man, spider man, does the things a spider can...

2008-06-24T12:15:00.000-07:00

my latest brag...

2008-06-04T20:35:00.000-07:00

i'm so excited to finally be able to share these! i made them a while ago but it was for my friend's daughter's birthday (and a bonus one for older sis because i knew she would be sad if she didn't get one since butterflies are her favorite) so i couldn't post about it! i've been DYING to show them off!! i think they turned out soooo cute. it's an adaptation of the "pillowcase dress"... i didn't use pillowcases though, i used fabric. depending on the height of the child it can either be worn as a dress or a shirt. these lovely ladies are on the taller side so it's kind of a longer shirt on them. CUUUUUUTE!

i'm crafty AND organized... do you hate me, yet??

2008-05-29T21:45:00.000-07:00

say HELLO to my new sewing cabinet (thanks ali for the hand-me-down)...

my best friend is 2 and a 1/2

2008-05-29T21:42:00.000-07:00

one, two and two.five

Fatty McGee is 5 months old

2008-05-27T12:05:00.000-07:00

i love my auntie annie

2008-05-17T07:56:00.000-07:00

ian is TEN! holy cow, where does the time go??

2008-05-15T10:39:00.000-07:00

Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad. ~Author Unknown

2008-05-07T19:54:00.001-07:00

can you believe the Gap passed on THIS guy??

2008-05-07T19:48:00.000-07:00

Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero. ~Marc Brown

2008-05-07T18:42:00.001-07:00

re-purposing...

2008-05-02T11:18:00.001-07:00

i thought i talked about my love of re-purposing here but i guess i haven't yet! if you're unfamiliar with the term, it's basically taking something you already have and don't use and giving it new life. check out some of my projects...

dada's old grey t-shirt + a monkey from one of mama's old shirts = jack pants...

jack's old receiving blankets = cloth wipes for oliver...

mama's old wool sweater that doesn't fit anymore = cloth diaper cover/pants for oliver...

mama's old tie dye shirt, lovingly worn for many years = pants for oli...

sumo wrestling weigh in results...

2008-04-26T12:34:00.001-07:00

i mean, 4 month dr. appointment update... oliver weighs 16 pounds 13 oz (aka 90th% and 10 ozs more than what jack weighed at 6 months) and is 24 1/2 in long (50th%).

he also had another visit with the ENT who thinks he is doing well and is going to continue to "allow" him to grow out of it and isn't pushing for the surgery anymore. he will continue to be monitored but doesn't need to go back for 2 months.

of course with the good, there is always a bit of bad... or in this case, confusing? we went out to eat with the boys for the first time on tuesday night. all was going well for about a 1/2 hour. jack was eating. oliver nursed discreetly. scott and i were enjoying appetizers. then all hell broke loose. oliver started SCREAMING. this isn't a baby that cries, at all. he fusses from time to time... he might cry a tiny bit during diaper changes or if i don't respond to him fast enough. but this was SCREAMING. like somebody was sticking him with a knife. sooo... i took him outside, he calmed down a bit but was still crying. i came back into the restaurant and we paid, packed up, etc. he's still crying at this point. took him to the car, starts screaming again. tried to nurse him, still screaming. took off all of his clothes searching for SOMETHING that must be hurting him. nothing. he's screaming so hard at this point that he's sweating and his eyes are just wild like i've never seen before. the restaurant is right off of route 60 so either we take a left and try to get home and see what happens or we take a right and start going towards the hospital. i know option B sounds rash but if you know this baby, you know that it's incredibly strange to see him cry, let alone scream. so, i choose the route of the ER. i'm hoping in my mind that by the time we get there he will be sleeping in his car seat and we'll just go home. NOPE. 10 minutes later, still screaming in the hospital parking lot. i rush him into the ER and everyone is staring at me like i'm beating my baby (i don't blame them, that's what his cries sound like). i check him in, they keep asking me what's wrong with him, etc. i keep saying i don't know, he doesn't ever cry like this, yadda yadda. the nurse is mentioning that colic can just come out of left field sometime (bullshit, i've never heard of this) we're in the waiting room about 5 minutes and mr. oliver snaps out of it, lets out a bit of a chuckle and completely turns back into his old self. ummmm... yep, that's how the story is ending. pretty anti-climatic, right? well, in the case of babies, anti-climatic IS a good thing. BUT it was also the most scary and confusing situation i've dealt with as a mother. he got checked out by the nurse, temperature, looked him over... he's back to his old oli self smiling, etc. so she's kind of looking at me like i'm nuts we hung out about another 1/2 hour or so and he's just getting tired... and mama is getting tired of holding his hugeness. we decide to head home. he's been fine ever since. soooo... gas?? over stimulation from the restaurant? your guess is as good as mine!

here are some pics of my little drama king, stinker....

MPM

2008-04-16T21:19:00.000-07:00

cousins, take II

2008-04-16T20:26:00.001-07:00

cousins!

2008-03-30T15:15:00.000-07:00

no more monkeys jumping on the bed!!

2008-03-30T14:43:00.001-07:00

cloth diapers aren't what they used to be...

2008-03-25T20:58:00.000-07:00

A brother is a friend given by Nature. ~Jean Baptiste Legouve

2008-03-23T13:15:00.001-07:00

some current faves...

2008-03-12T13:51:00.000-07:00

just jack...

2008-03-05T19:20:00.000-08:00

Oliver is 2 months old!!

2008-02-27T12:56:00.000-08:00

Mama and Jacky... boredom makes us silly...

2008-02-23T19:50:00.000-08:00

Oli and Mimi

2008-02-23T16:33:00.000-08:00

oli update...

2008-02-21T12:04:00.000-08:00

he ended up having a chest x-ray this morning to rule out all of the major stuff (pulmonary problem, fluid in the lungs, etc) or see if it's maybe an infection causing bronchiolitis and it came back totally normal. YAY! the doctor thinks he perhaps has a "floppy airway" and that it's something that just needs to mature over time. i'm going to continue to see the doctor i saw today since she has a good feel for what's going on. it's something we'll just keep an eye on and make sure it doesn't seem to worsen. now i have to make him an appointment in a week so that he can have his "real" check up since we didn't do any of his shots or any of the regular stuff! :) fun, fun....

the good and the bad...

2008-02-20T19:56:00.000-08:00

as you can see from the photos, poor little oli has to have breathing treatments tonight to see if that will help him breathe a bit easier. i took him for his 2 month appointment today and that was obviously the BAD news. i knew he had a bit of a cold but didn't think it was much more than that- the doctor was a bit concerned about his breathing though (faster than "normal" and labored). he was tested for RSV (negative) and given a breathing treatment in the office. he felt that it was ok for us to go home and do the treatments there... thankfully we're not in the hospital tonight, which would have been the case had the RSV test come back positive. blah...

the good news you ask?? oliver is already 13 pounds 1 oz! LOL! he was born just 2 months ago at 6 pounds 7 ounces. he has doubled his birth weight, the little chunk! just for a comparison... big brother jack was born 7 pounds 9 ounces and at HIS 2 month appt weighed 11 lbs 6 oz. little ol wants to show his big brother up!

please send us some positive thoughts that my littlest man gets better FAST!

happy valentines day!

2008-02-14T11:03:00.000-08:00

my sweet fat man...

2008-02-05T15:41:00.000-08:00

mr. personality...

2008-01-25T20:38:00.000-08:00

mama's clone?

2008-01-21T19:28:00.000-08:00

exhibit 1:
exhibit 2:

daydream believer

2008-01-20T12:39:00.000-08:00

i'm huge...

2008-01-18T10:11:00.001-08:00

oliver has decided that he's sick of being called little and wants to get huge, fast. he has put on 2 pounds in the last 2 weeks bringing him to 9 pounds 2 oz. no wonder he's so sleepy all the time, that's a lot of growing for a little guy. oops, there i go again calling him little...

love my boys...

2008-01-15T17:30:00.000-08:00

feel the love...

2008-01-11T16:07:00.000-08:00

my very beautiful friend, giselle, came over so that i could take some photos of her and her handsome fiance, ed, for their save the date card. here are some of the results...

oliver's first bath...

2008-01-09T18:51:00.001-08:00

oliver had his first bath tonight and he LOVED it. he was so relaxed, happily kicking and trying to roll around. he was very upset when i took him out, poor guy.

big brother watching from the sidelines...

Oliver, the model...

2008-01-08T10:17:00.000-08:00

some photos from oli's newborn photo shoot... more to come...

morning with my boys...

2008-01-06T12:26:00.000-08:00

new sweet baby feet...

2008-01-06T12:24:00.000-08:00

cinnamon toast = dee-lish!

2008-01-06T12:09:00.000-08:00

jack doing the motions to itsy bitsy spider...

2007-12-28T13:59:00.000-08:00

the arrival of oliver george...

2007-12-27T16:42:00.000-08:00

warning, contains a couple photos from the c-section, they aren't especially gory or anything but just a warning for those who may be sensitive to that sorta thing you may want to skip this post or pass quickly over the 6th and 7th photos! :)

arriving at the hospital...

getting prepped...

10 minutes or so til baby...
it's a boy!!

oliver george meets mama...
6 pounds 7 ounces (tiny guy compared to brother jack who was 7 pounds 9 ounces!)...
getting ready for his first bath...
the brothers meet...
family of four...
mimi with grandson #3!
proud uncle "chuck"...
gramps with his new grandson...
daddy and his boy...

our celebratory dinner of lobster and filet mignon...
mama and oliver head home...

37 weeks...

2007-12-06T13:17:00.000-08:00

can you guess baby vdm's name??

2007-11-18T18:31:00.000-08:00

i was out to lunch with some friends today and they mentioned that it would be a fun/funny game to see if anyone could guess what we're going to name baby vdm. i totally agreed and thought i'd set something up here. if someone guesses correctly, they will win a $5 gift card to starbucks. in the case of multiple winners (doubtful but who knows), it will be the first person to have posted correctly. so... under this post, hit "comment" with up to 2 girls names and 2 boys names. make sure to put YOUR name too so i know who the heck you are! :) anyone feeling lucky?!?!

some photos of the vdm's by lisa evans...

2007-11-17T20:03:00.000-08:00

a good friend... and burgeoning photog, lisa evans, was kind enough to ditch her own family for a morning and come take photos of mine! here are some of my favorites (check back for more, i'm still going through the CD!)...

baby doesn't have to come home nude...

2007-11-08T13:04:00.000-08:00

i finally settled on a "bring home baby outfit" today. sooo cute. i was going to bring one "girl" outfit and one "boy" outfit like i did when jack was born but saw this and thought it was perfect for either. how cozy! :)

my little helper...

2007-11-06T11:28:00.000-08:00

The cutest monkey... Halloween 2007

2007-11-01T08:38:00.000-07:00

Jack's 2nd Birthday Party

2007-11-01T08:03:00.000-07:00

a great day for jack: ian, chuck and football...

2007-10-13T19:07:00.001-07:00

new house...

2007-10-09T11:39:00.000-07:00

27 weeks...

2007-09-30T21:51:00.000-07:00

What a difference a year makes...

2007-09-24T13:28:00.000-07:00

Denver/ Nick & Liz's Wedding

2007-09-21T12:48:00.000-07:00

Belly pics...

2007-08-15T13:59:00.000-07:00

Week 15:
Week 16:
Week 17:
Week 18:
Week 20:
Week 21:

Brother from another mother

2007-07-31T08:49:00.000-07:00

Michigan

2007-07-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

just playing...

2007-07-18T11:48:00.000-07:00

Minocqua trip

2007-07-02T12:53:00.000-07:00

We went up to Minocqua, WI for a couple of days where Scott's grandpa has a house. The car ride was surprisingly NOT horrific- a little yelling but nothing we couldn't handle. We even bribed him with an icecream cone at one point, giving us about 10 minutes of peace. Jack and I were both sick (as you can tell by the snot in some of Jack's pics) but it didn't stand in the way of our fun too much. We went to Peck's- a "wildlife" park- kind of a zoo with a big petting zoo portion and went to the beach a couple times. All in all, lots of fun.

Best pal

2007-06-29T19:29:00.000-07:00

Jack and I got to spend 2 days with cousin Ian. Jack just thinks he's the best guy in the whole world and had so much fun following him around and playing. A couple pics...

Big Bro

2007-06-29T19:08:00.001-07:00