Our trip to Roma!

Guys, I was so nervous about leaving for this trip. 

We've been planning on it for months, 

but nothing really prepares you for leaving your kids half a world away.

(I totally had to bribe Bence to give me a hug goodbye. He was fine with us leaving.)

For Henry's MBA program they take a global immersion trip to one of three destinations at the end of their first year. 

Henry's class were able to choose from Johannesburg, Shanghai, or Prague. 

They attend classes about global business, tour the city, learn about local companies and the economy of whatever country their visiting, you know...live it up for a week. 

and we figured that if he was already in Europe, I could join him the next week (spring break) and we could travel to a million amazing places. 

And oh, how my heart sang when he suggested Italy. 

We were really tempted to take a train to Ascoli Piceno, where all my Augostini family hails from. 

But since we only had a few days, we decided to stay in Rome and waste the least amount of time traveling. 

Sadly, we missed out on an entire day of our trip because my original flight out was cancelled (boo) and rescheduled to leave a full 24 hours later. But we still saw some awesome sights during the three full days we had in the city. Henry consoled me on the way home by promising me that if I learned to speak Italian we would definitely move there. 

One of the things that amazed me about Rome was amount of visible history. 

We didn't even plan on seeing the ruins in the picture above. 

We just found it on our way to dinner our first night. 

It was a market complex used during the first century. Go figure. 

 There are also museums every 100 feet. And they're all made out of marble. 

Even our hotel (above) which was (by now) 200 years old and a little run down, was totally amazing. It happened to be the home of the first mayor of Rome. 

Basically, ever time I turned a street corner I realized America is really new and we have no culture.   ; )

This is part of those same ruins in the first picture. Each room was used as a market stall. 

The Vatican was unbelievable. Like the little boy on the trike from "the Incredibles," It was "totally wicked," and completely amazing. I could have spent days in the museum alone. (and I wish I could have) Even Henry, who's never taken an art class since he was in elementary school, was floored. we walked through the gallery of maps, Raphael's rooms (which were part of the pope's apartments a few hundred years ago) saw massive sarcophagi carved out of red Egyptian porphyry along with other statues and artifacts dating back to the roman empire, stared as the frescos in the sistine chapel, and toured the apartments used by the famous Borgia family during the renaissance.

....And this is just the museum.

Saint Peter's Basilica was incredible too. We saw three deceased popes encased in clear coffins, Bramante's alter, and climbed over three hundred steps to the top of the dome, where we were able to take a picture of Saint Peter's square. 

On our last night we stayed on the coast about ten minutes away from the airport. It was rainy, but beautiful and almost completely deserted since it's not quite tourist season yet. 

It was a fantastic week and the best part was spending uninterrupted time with the hubs. Between his last job and the almost constant travel, jumping right back into school last summer, and two very busy boys who demand constant attention, we haven't had much time together. We happened to celebrate our 7th anniversary while in Rome, and I can't imagine a better way to spend the day or a better person to spend it with. 

(And I'll be honest, this makes me pretty excited for next year's anniversary, 'cause I can't even imagine a better get away than three days in Rome. Right Henry? ; ) )

Bence-isms

I just want to remember some of the things bence has been saying lately.

so much of what he says is still unintelligible.

but what is coherent  usually has me in stiches.

Lately, bence has limited understanding of clocks and telling time.

pretty much everything happens at "2 o'clock."

so he's taken to telling me what's on his schedule at this most important time of day.

"Mommy, I eatz 2 o'clock."

"Mom, I get owie 2 o'clock."

"Mom, I go Y (the YMCA) 2 o'clock."

"Mommy, I go poop 2 o'clock."

All these comments are accompanied by emphatic head nods and pointing.

Bence has also reached the "No" stage.

Despite the initial laughs we got out it,

we're so done at this point.

(and by WE I mean I.")

even simple things like getting dressed or putting on shoes can take forever.

Because of that one word, "no."

and Finn is following bence's example very quickly.

If bence doesn't want to get dressed, Finn doesn't either.

If bence doesn't like the cereal I gave him, Finn throws his on the floor.

if Bence wants Juice instead of water, finn refuses to drink too.

a few weeks ago bence tripped on a toy and fell on the floor, 

so finn quickly spun in a circle while yelling "woah, woah, woah!" 

and then very theatrically, fell to the floor next to his brother. 

I never thought I'd have a baby that was harder to get dressed than bence. 

But Finn takes the cake. 

Wiping his butt has become an olympian task I feel I should probably get a medal for. 

Keeping the contents of his diaper out of his reach while he grabs himself, me, the carpet/bed, any toys within reach all while he's trying to do headstands and kicking his feet as hard as he can....

it's more complicated than I ever realized. 

Every word bence picks up comes out of Finn's mouth within the next day or so.

so far his favorite words are "no," "mine," and "go."

He usually says them all in the whiniest way possible.

(I say that not as a complaint but as a fact.)

I'm convinced he picks up his sass from his older brother.

But he's also picked up "peas," and "hank ooo," so that helps balance out the toddler teenager attitude.

(And it's just beyond adorable to head him talk at all.)

(In this picture he's saying "no" because I told him to get down and leave my spice jars alone.)

We've also hit the stage where we have to hide all the chairs or keep them on top of the table to discourage Finn from climbing on top of the counter and getting into cabinets.

I've ever considered putting child proof clips on the upper cupboards.

We went to chick fil a yesterday because they have a play place.

about ten minutes after we got there, a few other boys came in to play.

once was 5 and the other was 7.

Their mom saw finn and bence and made sure to tell her older boys to be careful since there were little kids playing too. 

I wasn't too worried and told her bence would be fine.

When her five year old came down the slide, he looked at me and said,

"GEEZE! That guy is rough!"

(In reference to bence.)

but even though he can be a little rough, 

Bence can also be so sweet.

I love listening to him say prayers, because he just kind of mumbles the whole time. 

We try to help him, so Henry or I will say,

"we thank thee for ____"

and instead of repeating after us, he'll just fill in the blank at the end of the sentence with

"day," "mommy," of "ars." (cars)

He is so excited about everything. and I love listening to him explain things or tell me stories.

I can understand most of what he says,

even when other people can't,

and i feel like I get to glimpse the world through his eyes when he tells me things. 

I'm so glad I get to be home with them everyday.

and notice all these little changes as they grow.

these boys are my favorites.

<3 <3 <3

Valentine's Day Photos

We are so lucky to have so many talented friends. 

especially the kind of talented friends that take great pictures. 

(This is no east feat when photographing two wiggly toddlers.)

But McKenna did it. 

If you want to see some of her other projects head over to her website here to see some of her other work. 

She's pretty good. 

We had to break into a bag of Dum Dum lollypops to get some of these smiles,

but I can't get over these pictures. 

And can't wait to give daddy a few of these winners for Valentines day. 

Henry's 30th Birthday

I can't believe it.

I'm officially married to an old man.

or at least, that's what I keep telling henry. 

And as fun as planning it was, I had a hard time keeping everything under wraps.

I am terrible at lying.

and Henry is really hard to surprise. 

But somehow (with the help of many friends)

we were able to surprise this unflappable, un-surprisable  husband of mine.

HIs actual birthday was on a Wednesday, but since it's his lightest day of the week
(both at school and work)
we made a day of it by sleeping in, going shopping and eating out for lunch.
it felt like vacation. 

All week Bence kept telling everyone we saw 

(including the cashier at the grocery store and the gas station attendant)

all about "Daddy's paw-tee!"

He really wanted everyone to know about it.

even now (two weeks later) he still looks at me with so much excitement and asks,

"pawtee mommy? peas?"
I'm pretty sure Henry's birthday has surpassed Christmas and halloween in popularity at the O'Connor household. 

And on Saturday Henry's mom was able to come from over an hour away to surprise him a second time.
We managed to get him 30 gifts for his 30th birthday.
it was pretty awesome.
(Our food storage is now constituted of 70% san pellegrino)

30 never looked so good. We're so glad this old man is ours!

Ushering in the New Year

We're Back!

A few months ago I sold our computer desk and didn't realize what a crimp that would put on my already touch and go blogging habits.

But with the new year has come a resolution to update weekly. (haha, we'll see how this one goes.)

Our first baby is getting so big.

Bence is now three and has turned into the sweetest little gentleman.

He's moved up into the Sunbeams class at church and loves it. 

He is the funniest little guy. 

And He's already started cracking jokes. 

He has such a big heart. 

He's such an affectionate, energetic, excited little guy. 

One of my favorite games is to sit on the floor and let bence give me a 'running hug.'

They almost always knock me over.

and he thinks it's hilarious. 

(He had mixed feelings about ice skating.)

Right now, Bence loves "dies" (guys) and anything with eyes. 

Cars with eyes, trains with eyes, boats with eyes, 

"dies" with eyes...

Henry and I are pretty sick of any show with eyes at this point. 

His favorite guys are his transformers.

He got two for christmas. 

"tase" (chase, who transforms into a cop car.) 

and "bades" (Blades, who transforms into a helicopter.)

He's always telling us about his "Coo dies, mommy!"

He also got my little tykes dollhouse from nana and papa in the mail a few weeks ago, and that's a favorite too. 

He puts his helicopter in the dollhouse bed upstairs,

his transformer in the kitchen,

and makes his other cars slide down the dollhouse roof. 

(But if I try to put anything in the dollhouse that doesn't actually belong with it, he moves it right away.)

One of my favorite things bence does lately is correct things that aren't right.

If I put a toy where it doesn't belong, (Like his tonka truck in the dollhouse,)

He'll look at me and say, "No, no, no...mommy" 

and then move whatever i've put in the wrong place to where it's supposed to be. 

He also loves to give kisses. 

Bence is a big believer in long kisses.

He'll grab both sides of my face and plant big sloppy ones right on my lips. 

A few weeks ago we had friends over for preschool and he decided to give his friend one of those sloppy kisses. 

Rory tried to give bence a very innocent, from the side kind of hug.

Bence grabbed her by both shoulders and planted a good one smack dab on the lips.

It lasted a good ten seconds.

And then he looked at me and wiped his arm on his mouth and said,

"yuck, mommy...yuck."

Finn has realized he has a mind of his own too.

His first words were "momma" and "dadda,"

But "NO" quickly followed. 

and is usually the response to just about everything. 

Since Christmas Finn has had his first few time outs. 

He finally realized that he didn't have to put up with his brother taking his toys all the time. 

Henry and I watched him ball up his little fist and punch bence right in the shoulder while he yelled

"NO!" 

Both of us were laughing while he stood against the wall in time out. 

He's built pretty solid, and is learning to hold his own with his big brother. 

 His all time favorite lately is pushing the kitchen chairs to the counter so he can get into...just about everything. 

For a while it was the microwave. 

He loved to be able to open the door and slam it shut. 

Over and over and over. 

Now he just likes to get into everything he's not allowed to get into. 

 This is most often where I hear him use his favorite word. (no.)

And this is the face that usually accompanies it. 

But Finn is still a momma's boy. 

And really, I still love it. 

I love that he loves to snuggle.

I love when we're out at the library or a friends house 

and he'll come lay his head on my knee for a minute 

or climb onto my lap

before he goes back to playing.

I love that kisses can make any boo boo better.

and I love when both Finn and Bence pile onto me the minute I lay down on the couch or the floor.

It's pretty much the best ever. 

We've also moved Bence and Finn into the same room.

We figured christmas break would be a good time to try it,

since henry could help 

and we had more flexibility sleeping in. 

Both these goobers have done really well.

Before break Finn was up 3-4 times a night and now he's only up once if he's up at all. 

I was just about dead from sleep deprivation, 

and depended on more than one can of diet coke a day.

so it's been heavenly having someone else get up at night.

I'm pretty sure we're going to go through daddy withdrawal this week.

for some reason both boys go to sleep way better for daddy than for me. 

 We have a lot to look forward to this year. 

But mostly, I'm just excited for the three boys I get to share it with.