My girls

For anyone that knows me, I have wanted a sister my ENTIRE life. I often tease my Mother that my first word was "sister" but she never listened. As fate would have it, the cards did not fall in my favor. I have 2 brothers, one that I am amazingly close to and one that I sometimes wish things were different, but have always longed for that sister bond.

I recall Mom giving me the news that she was marrying Tom and, aside from her happiness, I was hoping that he had girls and I would have a step-sister. Fate again did not work in my favor as he has 2 boys.

Years later, I was blessed with my own 2 girls. How was I to foster a "sisterly" bond between the two that I had always longed for?? Well, for the last few years, I have concentrated on just the brother-sister-sibling-all-getting-along bond. Little did I know that the bond between them would have nothing to do with me but everything to do with them and it would work on their own timeframe.

Don't get me wrong. All three of them have their moments when they need to be separated and they need a break from each other, moments where they all are getting along perfectly and I just sit back and watch it happen, moments where Gabby is the odd man out because she is the youngest, and moments where Nicholas is the odd man out because he's a boy.

I am extremely lucky when I get to witness some of the sweetest moments between my kids. Helping each other, reading another one a book, just playing nicely, whatever it may be. Last weekend was one of those moments. At Papa'sbirthday party, Nicholas was surrounded by a ton of boy cousins and my girls , when they weren't playing with the girl cousins, spent a lot of time together. I was able to snap a few pictures of Gabby sitting on Isabella's lap while Isabella fed her. They were pretending that Bella was the Mommy and Gabby was the baby.

Precious....the moment and my girls!!!

Sisterly love...

Happy New Year 2010

Happy New Year to everyone!

Our year has been busy and family filled so far. We started off New Years Eve with a big family dinner of fried fish, potatoes, salad, and veggies complete with Grandma Rose, Grandma and Papa, Aunt Jana, Aunt Jenni, Uncle Randy, and Baby Lucas...and the 5 of us, of course. We watched the ball drop in Times Square at 9:00 (midnight East Coast time), celebrated with the kids, then proceeded to put them in bed. Nothing like ringing in the New Year 3 hours early!! :-)

New Years Day was spent at Steve and Carol's where we had a big party for Steve's 60th birthday. Extended cousins, great food, lots of family, champagne toast, TONS of pictures, and a boatload of fun! The kids came home exhausted and filthy dirty from playing outside the entire day.

Jan 3 marked another Anniversary for me and Jeffrey. Thirteen years and still counting :-)

Now it's time to settle back into our routines and get back to a schedule. After two weeks off, maybe now, we'll get some rest!
Happy New Year to all of you! May 2010 bring you happiness!

The Butticci Clan at Steve's birthday....

Happy Anniversary Jeffrey!! Love you!