Painting by Lia Weiss
The girls have been keeping super busy creating beautiful artwork. In these uncertain times I have realized a couple of things, one is that I always wanted to homeschool the girls and well, here’s my opportunity! Two, I always wanted to have an art studio for kids, well here is another opportunity and three, I always wanted the family home together for more than just on the weekends, well here’s my opportunity and I’m embracing each and everyone. Praying we all get through this unaffected by the negative and effected by the positive.
Today I turned 41, however for the past 2 years I’ve told my kids to tell everyone that Im 38. They’re so good about doing that. Isabel said to me yesterday ” mom, I told everyone you turned 38 last year, what do I tell them this year”. I told her tell them I’m 37!
I got an awesome mom key chain. I officially feel like a mom. It’s good to be 41!
One of my favorite holiday tradition that our family has, is going into New York City to see the tree at rockefeller center. It’s not seeing the actual tree that’s my favorite part, but the journey of getting there with my family. Every year now for the past several years, we, along with my brother and sisters family and sometimes my father in law, hop on a train from long island and head into the big city.
This year santa had two extra little ones on his lap. Our little Liam and my sweet little nephew Salvatore Matthew. Liam had a little sented package in his diaper and was not happy at all. Lia was missing from Santa’s lap because the wait to see him was so long and hot and overall overwhelming for her so she waited with her dad on the 9th floor.
she got to watch Netflix on daddy’s phone while he took a little winter’s nap. The holidays could be overwhelming for little ones aswell as big ones and although I wished them both with us as we visited santa I understood that their happiness meant more to me than a picture with Mr. Claus. My next favorite stop is Bryant park. You would think I would have taken more pictures. I’m usually in my zone when I’m there. I love the little shops and the people hustling and bustling all around us. The tall buildings surrounding me, all lit up as the early night sky approaches. I just sit and dream about having a tiny spot this little piece of the world. 
The kids always ask if they can ice skate here, but it’s always so crowded when we come that it’s best to just sit and watch everyone else skate. Before we hit our final stop, which is the tree, we always make sure to stop at the American girls doll store! With six girls on this trip it’s a must! I absolutely love this store, it’s such a magical place to be. The kids never care to get anything but they do enjoy walking around and seeing all of the set up dolls and accessories. They go around collecting all of the little papers with the product details which they cut up and use to make barbie things when they get home. Every year we stop in this store, this is the first time I felt that our little girls are growing up. I was kinda hoping they’d ask me for something, buy they didn’t. Its bitter sweat watching them all grow up. 
Finally we hit our final destination. The big New York city tree. By this point everyone is cranky and tired and wants to go home. The crowd is overwhelming not only for the kids but for the adults. We take our famous picture by the tree and call it a night. The walk back to the train station always seems so long. But we all race back and do our best to get the next train home. It’s always exciting and a little nerve wracking waiting to see which track our train will depart from. It’s always funny to watch us all run in a hurry to make sure we get a comfortable seat on the long ride home. This is Lias favorite part of the day. She has the biggest smile once we get on that train back home. 
Holly and the Mench arrived today in our house. They were found mingling around our liquor cart with a note that said…
I never look forward to these guys arriving, but the kids love them. I was hoping they’d come a little later in the season, the kids, on the other hand couldn’t wait to see them, wondering why they hadn’t arrived yet. Can’t wait to see what they do. Let the holiday season begin.
For 9 months I walked around pregnant. I watched my belly grow from looking like I was eating too much cake to looking like I swallowed a basketball. Layers of muscle and fat and skin kept me away from seeing what was between me and the baby growing inside of me. For 9 months all I had was wonder. I wondered, is this baby going to make it? Will I ever meet it? Are we adding another girl to the group or will this one be a boy. Are these boy symptoms I’m feeling or girl symptoms? I wasn’t sure. One thing I did know was that this baby was very active. I remember feeling flutters super early, way before 12 weeks. After three pregancy I knew the familiar feeling of flutters. As the baby continued to grow, the movements continued to increase, reassuring me throughout the day that it was there and it was ok. I loved that feeling. I remember at work, when we had the pre-schoolers rehearsing for graduation, this little one would flip and move with excitement as the kids sang there songs. I noticed the same thing while sitting in the auditorium, listening to my daughters holiday concerts. The response to music continued as we’d sit in our entry room listening to the girls playing their flutes. I’d think to myself “this kid really likes music”. This kid also made me very nauseous! I was nauseous for the whole pregnancy. It was awful. I was hungry but nothing delighted me. Well, except for cake! I had no cravings just hunger and naseau. Towards the end of the 2nd trimester I started experiencing numbness and pain in my right arm. The pain was so bad that I couldnt cut or write anything with my right arm. I couldnt even get thru stirring chopped meat for taco night! The nights were even worse. I had to ice my shoulders and hands to relieve pain in my arms. I’d never experienced such a thing in my other pregnancies. I cried alot, not cause of hormones but because I was in so much pain. I was so worried that it would never go away. How would I function? I couldnt drive or push the cart at the supermarket without my hand going dumb and pain striking my arms. At times I’d think to myself, what have I done. What if I put myself self through all of this and something goes wrong and it was all for nothing. But one little kick and a smile would appear on my face. The pain, the unknown, the naseau, the sleepless nights, they would prove to be worth it! One thing I did notice in this pregnancy was my hormones. I wasnt emotional or sensitive like I had been with the prior pregnancies. No one really got on my nerves and if they did I didnt meow about it like a cat, I roared like a lion. Almost like I had testosterone inside of me. Most of the time it was the kind that caused me to chase my husband morning, noon and night! Otherwise I was as cool as a cucumber or picante like a spicey pepper. Amir believed that the cause of all of this was a little boy. An energetic, high testosterone little boy. And he was right. I dont know how Liam entered the world, did he come out screaming and crying or was he silent. Due to an emergency c- section, that is a question we will never know the answer to. But I do know that Liam loves to cuddle. He doesnt like a soiled diaper, not even a barely soiled diaper. But he hates to be changed, go figure! You feel like your in a battle, the way he moves his legs and arms all over the place, desitin ends up all over the place, sometimes the diaper rips cause I’m trying to go as fast as I can so I dont have to hear the angry, high pitched scream he makes and to top it off he pees and has been known to poop all over me. Thats completely new to me. My little girls never did that to their mama. He frets if hes hungry, like hes been starving for days. Hes delighted by the hugs of his big sisters and absolutely loves to be in his daddy’s strong arms. He does not like to be alone, loves to be ooed and cooed at. He loves being outdoors and looking up at the trees. He loves to sleep. Thank you for those 5 to 6 hour stretches in the early evening! Hes not a big fan of the car seat, luckily the car ride always puts him to sleep. Theres so many things we are learning about him every day and so much hes learning about each and everyone of us. So thankful for him. Two months ago we didnt know if he would be Liam or Natalia and now I cant imagine this life without him. So glad you are here Liam.
Back in April, while playing a hangman game with the girls, we announced that in september of 2019 they would all, god willing become big sisters!
I’m always amazed when I see gods plan unravel. We were so heart broken 4 years ago when our plan to have another child ended at 18 weeks. Not only did we loose the dream of having another child, but when we were told it was a boy, we also lost the dream of having a son. We continued graciously, knowing we were so fortunate to have 3 beautiful, healthy daughters and trusted that god knew what was best for us and our family at the time. After dealing with the loss we were both faced with losing a parent. Amir, lost his mother and 8 months later I lost my father. Life was uncertain and unpredictable. God new that this was not a good time to welcome a new baby.
The experience ends with the kids picking a name for their special friend and printing out a birth certificate. Each friend shares a birthday with lia – June 17th 2019!
A few weeks have now past, we found a day to have a party to celebrate with family but I’m so glad we carved out that day to truly celebrate lia on her real birthday. I totally would recommend giving this experience as a gift to anyone. Not only do you leave with a new special friend but the experience remains with you forever.
Happy Father’s Day to one of the best dads I know. Thank you for your never ending efforts in turning our house into a home and for your unconditional love, support and guidance. We love you.
Today I was talking to a friend and was expressing to her how easy it was when the kids were younger as far as planning activities to do with them. As they are getting older, they know what they want to play and do. They love playing barbies and school together and they have their own ideas of how things are going to go. I dont need to set up and plan activities for them anymore. The foundation has been set and they’ve taken off. It’s nice, but then again I miss planning and prepping crafts/activities for them. If they want to create something, they go and find what they need and they go off and make it. They’re so creative. Always cutting and pasting and making things. Melina loves to play school and is constantly coming up with daily plans and activities for her students to do. She amazes me with how serious she is about her class. She puts in 100%, preparing lessons for the week, searching for dittos and fun activities for whoever is willing to participate in her class. She even gives out the best prizes. I showed her a site called teacherspayteachers.com and she found this cute little spring bingo game. She had my younger daughter and I color and cut out the bingo pieces and then paste it onto a bingo board. We played bingo for over an hour. Each winner got a sticker and we got to pick out of a prize box. I had so much fun. I told her how I used to be the one coming up with fun things to do and now she was the one doing it. It made me realize that they’re growing up and are capable of so much more. It was nice to be on the other end of the activity. I wasn’t the one who planned it and prepped it but I definitely had a blast playing it. You’re going to make an incredible mom and teacher some day! 
A month ago, our sweet Minnie was attacked by what we believe was a racoon. I went out as I did every morning, to let the three girls out of their coop to free range in our yard. But this time something was very different. Usually as I’m walking towards the coop, I can hear them ruffling with excitement as I come to open the coop door. This time though, I didnt hear a sound. I didnt think anything of it, maybe I was just a little earlier than usual. It was about 6am, but maybe they had a late night and were still sleeping. I open the door and no sight of them flying down the ramp. Hmmm, I thought to myself. They usually fly out of the door, with Minnie leading the way. I hope they didnt freeze to death. It had been cold a few nights in a row but they’ve made it through colder nights I thought to myself. Well, I gathered up courage and said let me open their nesting coop and see what happened to them. I walk over and notice the top of the nesting box was thrown on the floor. I knew then something had gotten to them. My heart dropped. I wanted to cry but didnt want to upset my daughters, I calmly made my way through the yard hoping that maybe they couldn’t wait to get out and pushed the nesting box door onto the floor with their little heads. These girls have gone missing before and they’ve always come back to us so I was holding on to that same hope. Suddenly I hear rustling in the woods, I see Nutella coming out of the woods, I think to myself phew, they’re ok but then I notice the other two were not with her and that’s not typical. They’re always together. She came out squawking her chicken talk like she was trying to tell me something. She was all alone. My heart broke as I watched her. She seemed lost and lonely. Now I felt for sure that something happened. I didnt want my daughters to let on that something was wrong so I went upstairs to shower and told God that I was leaving it in his hands as I always do. About 20 minutes later, my older daughter calls out to me and says “mom, the chickens are making a lot of noise, what’s wrong with them?”. “Chickens?” I ask her. Wondering if she actually saw more than one chicken. “Stella and Nutella are near our back door making noise but I dont see Minnie”. I was relieved to hear that another chicken was safe. “Phew” I thought to myself again. Ok, so the other chicken might just need sometime before she reappears. Believing that Minnie would make her way home soon, I tell my inquisitive daughter what happened. But soon turned into hours and still no sign of her. All three of my daughters are now aware of what happened and they start to become hysterical, fearing that something happened to her. Nothing I say comforts them. They didnt want to hear any of it. They just wanted Minnie home and so did I. She was the life of the coop. Big and strong. Beautiful and sweet. She was a fighter. Everytime I went out there with scraps she’d make her way through, running as fast as she could past the other two to make sure the scraps were hers and only hers. It made me laugh everytime. I’d have to throw her scraps first and then quickly throw to the other two. 
We miss her lots. Sometimes I feel like I’m going to see her running out in the yard. I miss the large eggs we used to find in the coop from her. We will definitely get more chickens but no one will ever replace minnie. We gave her a proper burial and we visit her every day. Shes out on the land she loved and shes with us every day. Goodbye Minnie, we love you. 
