Meetcha Day, 3 Years Ago Today........

My little Love. I really can't believe it was 3 years ago today that me and Serena became a family! It does not feel like 3 years have past at all. When I look at these pictures I remember so well how I felt, what my thoughts were and I had no idea what life would be like in the future with this sweet girl I was meeting for the first time. I had no idea what she would be like. She has turned into the most amazing little girl.

I remember the first thing I noticed when I saw her was how she was studying the directors office. She just looked at everything and everyone so intensly and I could see the little wheels in her head turning trying to understand what was happening. Once we started to play together I noticed how interested in everything she was. She wanted to know about everything and was happy to be able to explore her new surroundings in the hallways and playroom. She was so active and into everything too. I liked that then. Not so much now, lots to clean up :)

Serena was looking for fun too. I remember she started to play games with me. She'd crawl away from me and look back to see if I was coming after her. Over and over again and she'd giggle as I chased after her. She was such a happy baby! A happy healthy baby and she was my daughter. I loved visiting her everyday and just watching her. We'd play, laugh, and then I'd just watch her again. I was so anxious to know her, love her, hug her, every single day. She won my heart after the first day. She cried when I put her back in her room. I was attached. I knew that whatever the doctor told me about her health, good or bad she was coming home with me. I couldn't live without her. It's amazing how quickly your love grows for a child.

This is the first picture that was taken of us together. She is the same but different. I love her with all of me and she makes me happy everyday. She fills my heart with so much love I could burst!

About Serena:

Serena can find anything that I'm looking for. I don't know how she does it but all I have to do is ask her where something is and she'll find it.

If Serena sees a crayon, pen or marker she needs paper. She draws pictures all the time. She thinks all paper is hers.

She likes to run the show sometimes. She has definite ideas of what she wants and doesn't want and she won't hesitate to tell you.

She is so affectionate and loving. She puts her arms around my neck and I melt. There's nothing like it! Love that baby love!

She's a shoe lover like me. She likes to wear her shoes and mine too.

She doesn't miss anything!

Make up is her new obsession. My friend Patty introduced her to lipstick and that was it. I have to put my makeup on high shelf now.

Her teacher at school says her scanning skills are really really great. She also told me Serena is very good at drawing and also likes the dress up area at school. She said she is very theatrical, which I do agree with.

She loves to play with barbie size dolls and polly pocket. She makes them have conversations with each other. I play with her too at times but I love to see her play herself. I love the conversations they have together.

She has never liked having her picture taken and still is not a fan. I do my best but she's not a poser so I have lots of snapshots.

Serena loves the water. She wants to jump in without me waiting for her. She said she's a big girl not a baby.

Serena cracks me up sometimes with her one liners. The expressions on her face really add to the comedy too. She is so silly and brings joy to our whole family. I really can't imagine my life without her. It would be so boring!

I am so blessed to be Serenas mom. I really feel honored that I was given the special gift of her. To be able to raise her, love her, and to experience who she is and know that she is my daughter is just the most amazing gift. I have wanted to be a mom since I was a little girl and I played with baby dolls. It felt so natural to me. She has given me so much in these 3 years together. My heart is full because of her.

Serena, Happy Meetcha Day my Love! You are the best and you make me happy everyday. You are such a sweetheart and I love being your mom! Lots of Kisses to you.

Fall 2009 Update In The Spring

Pumpkin picking in October at Casola Farms in Colts Neck, NJ is always fun. Last year Soraya and Max came with us. We missed you two this year!

Serena has been obsessed with The Wizard of Oz since she saw it before Halloween so this year there was only one thing she wanted to be. We pretend to be the characters in the movie, we watch the movie and we have the soundtrack in the car. She loves it! We went around our neighborhood with Grandpa and Aunt Maria and then we spent some time on the front porch since it was a beautiful day.

Serena went inside and I said my goodbyes to family. I walked back in the house to see this. I think she had a busy busy day.

In November we got a new addition to our family. Her name is Roxy, she's 3 years old and she is the sweetest most lovable dog I ever met. I was never a dog person, we always had cats. Serena has always asked for a dog but I never thought I'd end up with one. Roxy was my friends dog. Roxy was always with him when he came to visit and I just loved her and so does Serena. My friend unexpectedly went into the hospital in October so he asked me to take care of her until he came home and I said that I'd love to have her. Unfortunately he did not come home and he is at peace now. It's a great loss for all who knew him and he is terribly missed. I'm glad I have Roxy because I feel like a piece of him is always with me.

This is one of Serenas people that she makes. I remember the first time she came home from school and drew these little people I was so excited!! I was an artist back in the day and always dreamed of sharing my talent with my child. I wasn't sure that was possible since I couldn't pass that gene on to Serena but I'm thinking now maybe it will happen. I think that's pretty good for a 3 1/2 year old!

My friend Patty got tickets for us to go to New York City to see the new Disney movie "The Princess and the Frog". It was a rainy day but Serena had so much fun! The movie was at the Ziegfield Theatre and up a few blocks, at the Roseland they had an event where you could meet and take pictures with all the Disney princesses. There were crafts and a playroom. Serena seemed really shy at first like she couldn't believe she was meeting the real princesses, she almost blushed.

One day in the kitchen Serena was scribbling on a piece of paper and I saw a tornado in her scribble. I said "Serena, what are you drawing?" She said "A tornado like in the Wizard of Oz." I almost fell over!! Never in a million years did I think she was going to say that! Coincidence?? I just love this picture!

This is one of the 4 or 5 snow storms we had this year. I'm not a snow person but with Serena and Roxy it is THE BEST! We were out there for hours in the snow. I'll show more of those pictures in the next post.

Christmas morning was at home with me, Serena, and my sister. It's always so much fun to wake up in the morning with family and open presents. This year Serena really got the whole idea of Christmas, Jesus' birthday, Santa Claus and opening presents. Later in the day when everyone came for dinner I said to everyone "What day is today?" Everyone one said "Christmas, December 25, Sunday......" Serena said "Jesus' birthday!" She is one smart cookie!

Grandpa playing with Serena and her new princess castle that Santa Claus brought her. He's a good grandpa! He just turned 80. I can't believe my dad is 80 years old. You'd never know it!

I just want to eat this child up! I know all kids in this age group love to sing and dance and all that but Serenas teacher tells me she loves playing dress up and she is very "theatrical" in her play. As soon as she turns 4 I'm signing her up for drama classes with the local park system to see if she likes it. I really believe whatever comes naturally to your child is what should be supportive of. If she doesn't like it we'll try something else but I'm interested to see if this comes naturally to her.

New Years Eve was for once a quiet night at home. Every year as long as I could remember we went to my aunts house for dinner and slept over for another dinner on New Years Day. (it's the Italian in us) Over the years other people have taken over that holiday but this year I just wanted to stay home. My sister came over again and we had a quiet celebration for 2010. This is Serena before she passed out. I love the expression on her face.

Her hair is getting so long. I just had it trimmed. We're both growing our hair until September and then we're getting it cut off and giving it to Locks for Love. My hair hasn't been this long since highschool and I'm bored with it so we'll give it a little more time and give it to a good cause.

I always said "I would NEVER get in the habit of sleeping with my child." I was sure I never would. What did I know? You don't know anything about raising a child until you have one. You may think you know but until your in those situations you NEVER know. About a year ago I gave up staying with Serena until she fell asleep. Sometimes it takes her 45 minutes to an hour to get to sleep. I'd end up hanging over the crib until that time came. Finally I said "screw this", she's sleeping with me. I'd put her back in her crib when she fell asleep but finally it was time for her to get her own bed. I talked to her about it for a while and then in January it was time. Aunt Maria wanted to help and she bought Serenas mattress and I bought the bedding. Thanks Aunt Maria! It was tough to make the transition but all is good now. A nice routine and a little bribery with Dorothy, Glinda and the Scarecrow really helped out. Aunt Patty got Serena Dorothy and Glinda Barbies for Christmas. I used a sticker chart and the promise of the Scarecrow doll to get her to get used to her bed. I'm sleeping much better now.

Serena loves to bake and help me in the kitchen, like every other child her age, so we saw a childrens baking set for mini muffins and thought it would be fun for us. She asks to bake almost every weekend now. I don't do it with her as much as I'd like to. Working full time and being single leaves the weekends for all the chores but we squeeze some fun in somewhere! I'll post again soon.