Abby, Zoë and Enzo

Earlier today Elizabeth helped the girls get fitted with some tattoos that she'd brought for them.  Both of the girls chose Little Mermaid tattoos, one on each forearm.  Later on we went to the park with bread, and cereal.  Unfortunately we didn't see too many birds.  Eventually, on the far side of the park, we saw a couple of pigeons and sprinkled some cereal out for them.  Slowly more and more began to show up, although not nearly as much as we normally see.

We received a post card from Celeste today...

We said our good-bye's to Nonna last night after the girls had a good hour in the pool (with relatives - the Stutzman's - who gave them so much attention) and some dinner with Nonno, Aunt Barbara, Uncle Rich, and Auntie Elizabeth.  Nonna was heading back to PA early this morning with Aunt Cyndi, Uncle Marc, and Uncle Dan.  I had put Abby and Zoë in their sleeping bags on the floor to sleep, while Chris and I each hogged a bed to ourselves.  Abby woke up a little after 2:00 a.m. having had a small accident, and while I cleaned that up Abby had crawled into bed with Daddy, which is where she slept the rest of the night.  Zoë crawled into bed with me, but not until about 6:00 this morning.

With the girls up bright and early, we relaxed and watched a little bit of t.v. and then got ready to head out.  We said good-bye to Nonno Ernie, and also to Bill and Sarah whom we saw in the lobby, and then headed out for home.  First we stopped for some breakfast on the road, then dropped Auntie Elizabeth's rental car off and she rode with us back up to the house.  The girls and I took a nice nap around 1:00, and took it easy playing inside for the rest of the day.

We arrived to the barbeque right around 6:00 this evening.  We hung out and said hello for a few minutes before pretty much everyone had arrived and we got some dinner.  Abby and Zoë ate a little of what we served them, but then were off to play with Sarah, Cassie, Dylan, and Erin.  Finally we had to pull them away from their games, which was met with tears from Zoë, to get them back to the hotel for a bath and bed.

The girls love to visit hotels.  It is always a special treat.  Today we left Portsmouth for Hull Beach.  It was super hot in Portsmouth, and the temperature kept rising all the way through Massachusettes.  We were delayed through the tunnel almost an hour.  During the trip the car was reporting the outside temperature over 110, heat index.  Nonna rode with Aunt Elizabeth and we all arrived at the hotel around 4:30.  The girls immediately cooled off in the air conditioned room and watched cartoons before getting ready for the pre-wedding BBQ.

When we got back from our appointment, we saw Auntie Elizabeth's rental car in the driveway.  Apparently she had just pulled in.  It was lunch time, and we'd been told we were going to Sake for lunch so Abby and Zoë stayed in the car while I went in to gather everyone.  We headed over to the restaurant, got a window seat, and chatted.  Both of the girls were so excited to see Elizabeth and they mentioned how long she's been in California.

Auntie had surprises for them at home too.  They got these 'little miss' phones that talk to each other.  It's like the old tin can concept, except instead of cans they are little phones.  The wire connecting the phones is really long so the girls were able to be in separate rooms talking to each other.  They were laughing and laughing, they thought it was so funny.  They just wanted to play with those for the rest of the day.  After nap they got more surprises, some strawberry shortcake hair things, some crazy lip gloss set, and stick on tattoos - Nemo and Little Mermaid.

Abby and Zoë had a re-certification appointment over at the Community Campus, which meant that they got to take their first ride in their new booster seats.  They had been using their convertible car seat in the belt positioning booster mode, but we got the new seats because they are much more narrow and will allow for company in the back seat in a few months.  Being that their old seats were so wide, and the girls so not wide, the seat belt is actually positioned much better in these seats, and the girls really do feel like big girls riding in them.

The girls were so afraid that they were going to get a finger prick to test their iron levels today, even though I assured them that I didn't think they'd be needing one since they had one last time.  Abby and Zoë played while I got checked in, then they each got to choose a book.  Abby chose "Dancing in the Wings" by Debbie Allen and Zoë chose "The Velveteen Rabbit" by Margery Williams.  We read the books and then it was time for the girls to get weighed and measured.  This would also be the 'station' where they'd get finger pricks should they need them, so neither of the girls were in a hurry to get over there.  I questioned the woman immediately about this and she let them know that there would be no finger pricking.  Abby weighed in at 32.4 pounds and her height was 40 inches even.  Zoë was 32.6 pounds and 40 ¹/₄ inches.  That puts them both in the 25th percentile for height and just above the 10th for weight.  After this we had to sit and wait a little bit more, so Abby sat beside me quietly reading her book, and Zoë played with the toys.  When the nutritionist came over to get me, so told Abby that she was the perfect role model sitting there reading her book.  The nutritionist was also very impressed with our green smoothies, and how much the girls drink of them (16oz.) and said that she could see how healthy we were by looking at us.

This afternoon Abby and Zoë had to go in for their second hep A shots.  They have been dreading this day since we went last month to get it done and were told we needed to wait until this month.  They heard me make the call before swimming and did not forget that they had that appointment later on.  We got to the office and waited a bit, then Abby had to go potty.  While Abby and I were in the bathroom, Zoë had been called in so when Abby and I came out of the bathroom we saw Zoë walking out of the room with a bandaid and lollipop... (we'd had them each choose a dum dum lolly before going, that they'd be able to have afterwards) and no tears!  Abby was nervous to go in, but Daddy scooped her up onto his lap and she was done super fast with no tears as well.  She got her bandaid and lolly and we were on our way.

Nonna decided that they should get a little something besides just a lollipop, so we went to Dunkin' Donuts and both of the girls decided that they wanted a strawberry donut.  Back in the car Abby asked Daddy, "Daddy, since we did such a big kid job, can we get our new big kid boosters?"  We've been checking out the high back boosters and been talking about them, so the girls knew that they'd most likely be getting new seats.  Sure enough, we were close enough to Wal-Mart that Daddy said okay and we went over and got the seats.

We got to go to the movie theater yet again, this time with Nonna.  We saw 'Wallace and Grommit in the Were Rabbit', with the same cartoon preview as last time.  No popcorn this time, but Zoë snuggled up with Nonna the whole time, while Abby sat up very interested in the movie, but making sure she was holding Nonna's hand.

After the movie we walked over to Chipotle and got some lunch, which we brought outside to eat.  Abby and Zoë were bummed that we weren't going to Sake for lunch, but they got over it.  They were preoccupied with the Coldstone Creamery next door though.  We passed on the ice cream from the shop and they each got mini cones at home instead.

I saw Dr. Mcglaughlin today for a routine check-up.  I'm 28 weeks and three days along.  Little Enzo was active as usual and didn't want to put up with the Dr. trying to hear his heartbeat.  Everything is looking good, both baby and I are measuring right on track.  Also, I passed my glucose test 'with flying colors' and was well above what was wanted for the iron level.  I now start going every two weeks, so I'll be back there when I'm a little over 30 weeks.

Today was 'safety day' at swim class.  The first thing I noticed was that the life vests were new from last year, which was much needed.  For one part of the class, they went to the deeper end to practice swimming on their fronts and backs with their vests on.  This, Zoë was a bit scared of and begged Brooke to keep a hold of her.  The thing the girls thought was the coolest was that they got to 'save Brooke'.  They went back to their normal area and each got a turn putting on the lifeguard 'noodle' and sliding it out to Brooke in the water and telling her what to do so that they could pull her in to the side.

The girls and I went to church this morning, then we had some home made deep dish pizzas for lunch and after nap we got ready to head to the beach with Tom, Sue, Jack and Anna.  We all piled into the car and a couple of minutes later our friends pulled up. We all drove over to Rye Beach.  It was more full than when we usually go, but it was low tide so that was nice.  It was super, super windy though and we were all kind of chilly.  Abby and Zoë had a fun time helping Daddy fly the kite that Tom and Sue had brought up, and they played in the sand and a little in the waves.  After a while we all decided to go to a playground in town since it was so chilly on the sand.  Once the kids were all tuckered out, we headed over to Friday's to have some dinner before saying good-bye to the Vollaro's.

Nonna and I took the girls to the Midas in North Hampton today, because there was a note from Steve's Auto Body shop that they noticed there was damage to a part we'd just had replaced at Midas.  At Midas they checked it out and sure enough, the part was ripped so they ordered a new one and got to work.  Meanwhile, we all went around the corner to the bookstore.  We looked at a few things, then had a snack.  Abby and Zoë split a cinnamon bun, Nonna had a complex brownie, and I had a slice of pound cake.  Afterwords we read books, looked at 'Gigi' stuff, watched some Veggie Tales... and got antsy.  The car took under two hours, which was good because the girls were getting antsy.  Even better, I didn't have to pay since it was the auto shop's mistake.

We got Melanie for our lab technician, which is who we were hoping to get.  Even though she did measurements and everything last time, she still took a few minutes to check out the baby since Nonna was with us today.  She told us that we're going to have to bring him in to see her after I have him so she can meet the little guy she's been 'seeing' so often.  My cervix measured pretty much the same as last time, 3.5 , so all is looking good still.  My next ultrasound in two weeks will be the last one.

I also had to go to the lab to drink a glucose drink and then come back an hour later to get blood drawn.  One vial along with the glucose drink was to check for gestational diabetes and the other was to check my iron levels.  I should know the results on Monday.

We went out to the Olive Garden tonight for dinner, Nonna had brought gift cards along, much to the delight of Abby and Zoë.  At the end of the meal Zoë wanted to introduce herself to the waitress, so then Abby did as well and then they told her how old they were and guessed her age (luckily she was young and not offended).

After dinner Nonna and Daddy stopped into Shaw's and Nonna picked up special treats.  She got two little single serve containers of store brand 'dippin dots' for the girls and then klondike bars as well.

Zoë and Abby are just making the news left and right lately.  We've had a bunch of people telling us that they saw the girls in the paper, but we hadn't yet seen it.  The picture is from the day we were in Market Square with Grandma Cindy and Papa Norm.  Chris was waiting outside the jewelery store, where I was trying to get my watch back put on, with Abby and Zoë and the photographer - yes the same one from the reading kick off day, who is the same one from the snow picture during winter - stopped and asked Chris if he could photo Abby and Zoë.  Chris agreed and told the man that he's gotten the girls a few times and then proceeded to refresh the man's memory.  Sure enough Abby and Zoë got a big picture in the Portsmouth Herald... both the weekday and weekend editions.  On the weekend edition they were on page three.  A mom from swim class gave us the paper this morning, then at the ultrasound our technician had clipped the picture out for us (yes, we have quite the relationship with her after seeing her so many times) and then our neighbor Barbara gave us the whole weekend paper with the photo.

- photo will be posted soon

Abby and Zoë knew all day long that Chris was going to be going to the airport to pick Nonna up and they were just preoccupied with this fact.  Unfortunately Daddy had to leave for the airport when it was time for Zoë and Abby to be getting ready for bed, which meant not seeing Nonna until tomorrow morning.    To pass the time, we spent a while at the library this afternoon.  The had all sorts of plans, and helped me get ready for Nonna's arrival.  They helped me with re-making the 'guest bed' and sweeping up in the room and other little tasks that had to be done with one set of guests leaving and another arriving.  They were excitedly telling Chris that they were helping me get ready for Nonna.

Knowing that today is the day our company is due to leave, the girls kept asking all morning, whenever either Papa Norm or Grandma Cindy would leave the room, "Are you leaving now?"  We had time to go into town this morning and have a treat at Breaking New grounds, as well as run a couple of errands, and then on to Sake for lunch.  We got back home and spent some time hanging out before nap time.  The girls were pouting as they said good-bye and headed up to sleep.  When Zoë woke up from nap, she was crying and sad from the moment she opened her eyes.  Luckily the promise of having a 'fudgee' and grapes for snack cheered her up.  Thanks for lots of fun Grandma Cindy and Papa Norm.

Before swim class this morning, I made up some salads and drinks and put it all to chill while the girls had their lesson.  As soon as the class was over, we stopped back at the house to pack up our things and headed to the beach with Grandma Cindy, Papa Norm, and Auntie Reanna.  Abby and Zoë had a blast at the beach today.  They helped to build sand castles, had some lunch in the shade of the umbrella, and got to play out in the deeper water with Papa Norm.  Abby also thought she was pretty funny, sneaking up on Zoë and dumping a container of water on her.  Once she saw how fun that was, she continued to do it, then sneaked up on Grandma Cindy too.  Zoë grabbed some seaweed to do some payback sneak attacks.

After an hour and a half or so, Norm took Chris, myself, and the girls back to the house so they could nap and then went back to the beach, where Grandma Cindy and Auntie Reanna were getting in some more sand time.  Later on in the evening, we all went to Shalimar Indian restaurant to meet up with Uncle Tommy and Liz as well as Uncle Corey.  We all had some yummy dinner and then went back to our house for dessert.

Zoë and Abby were really looking forward to the fireworks tonight, but unfortunately they got rained out.  The girls did get to wear their flag dresses and we went to the playground this afternoon.  We kept wondering about the weather, as it was a very warm day, but we could tell that thunderstorms were on the way.

At around 8:00 or so tonight, I set the girls up with a movie and snack, since we still weren't sure if the fireworks were off or on, and then we started getting them ready for bed.  At 9:15, when the fireworks were supposed to begin, they were in their beds but we were all awake listening to see if they would be doing the fireworks, since there had been on and off thunderstorms.  It turned out there weren't any, so hopefully the rain date of Saturday works out.