I Need a Military-Grade Laptop in this House!

You know that movie "A Christmas Story"? Remember those dogs that lived next door that stole the Christmas turkey? They were The Bumpiss Dogs. The Bumpiss Dogs live at my house. Max and Milo....Big and Bigger...Dumb and Dumber. Horseplay became an all out Battle Royale wrestling match in my living room and the laptop (my life line, my connection to things that are not Yo Gabba Gabba) got tangled in a dog foot or leg or body and hit the ground.

The part I bought today didn't do the trick so I ordered another one off of eBay. God speed it's way to me. Please let it be the part! PLEASE!!!!!!

ROAD TRIP!!! GIRL'S WEEKEND!!!

I am so excited that Devon and I will be attending Guatoberfest in Atlanta from Oct 5-7th!!! O M G!! It is going to be sooo much fun!! We are bunking with Kelly & Kemry and Nikki & Isabelle. Luckily we have a suite with 2 beds and a pull-out couch. Can you guys imagine the # of hairbows per square inch in that room? I'm wondering who will sleep less, the girls because they are in a new place or the mommies because we'll be up all night giggling?? Devon and I are going to fly down with Nikki and Isabelle. Did I mention how excited we are?? I've never been on a "girl's weekend" before. We (Kelly) have the room booked and I've paid the registration. Now all we need are plane tickets, t-shirts and of course some adorable twinkie outfits for the girls. :)

The Summer Birthday Extravaganza!

Yesterday we celebrated the birthdays of Tracey, Ann, Michelle (it was her actual birthday) and Curly at our house. It was so awesome being together my girlfriends! I miss them all so much and don't get to spend nearly as much time with them as we used to or would like to. It was so much fun catching up! We had a blast!!! Here's to another year of being 29 again!


Together again :)


The Birthday Babes!



The Guys Grillin' & Chillin'


The Worlds Ugliest Cake didn't taste too bad


Devon & Auntie Pillows...aka Auntie Snapps...aka Barb :)


My Monkey getting a little lovin' from Aunt Chelles


Tee-Tee Ann has the magic touch :)


The Flowers....Logan's BF Kasey and Sara & Dave




Tracey & Chris all sporting their pre-season pre-game Brown & Orange!


Michelle & Jeff get the Cutest Couple award!


Matt (Curly's Piazano) & Ann



Look what Uncle Sam taught me!!


Baby Sister covered in party decor. Hmmm, wonder how that happened, Logan??



Fishin' for Sisters with our new toy from Aunt Chelles


"Daddy, you have a little BBQ sauce in your 'stache"


I love my family :)

A Bad Day for Teeth at Casa de Santilli

My issues with teeth started a little after midnight, then again at 3am and once more at 6am. Devon is teething...BIG TIME! A right of passage in babyhood and mommyhood. I know that she is hurting because when she cries, real tears are pouring out. Poor thing. Tylenol is a no-no since she is on the INH meds so we've been going the homeopathic route. As Dr. Phil says "so how's that workin' for ya??" Not so much.

This mamma's tooth drama doesn't end there. Today was Logan's 6 month check-up at the dentist. Nope, it ain't a pretty scene. I usually go with help....Grandma or Dad. Not today. I went at it alone and brought Devon along for good measure. How did it go you ask?? I've decided how I could become a millionaire....open a bar next to the pediatric dentist that offers unlimited tequila shots for moms that make it out alive.

It started out sort of OK. Logan wanted to bring his swimming tubes in with us. I'm all for looking weird for the sake of making it through an event. Once we made it in the room, he FREAKED. He hid behind the chair and tried to convince us that Baby Sister should go instead (Come on, dude. She has 1 tooth! LOL). The dentist (who is the nicest woman on earth and probably should wear a hockey mask next time) helped me drag him out. We made it through the cleaning but doubtfully didn't instill confidence in the waiting toddlers that were next in line. No cavities were found today (YEAH!!!) but she did suggest as Logan grows bigger that we put him under, do all x-rays, fillings and apply some super duper cavity defying polymer on his teeth. Sounds like a party.

Tomorrow is a new day :)

Whaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!

Check out my pretty new "pearly white"!

Living for the Weekends

I love the weekends. Especially in the summer. There is always something fun to look forward to and awesome memories to be made. Friends and family to see and neighbors outside enjoying the good weather.

On Saturday we went to a birthday party (Happy 5th Bday Alec!!) and had a great time. Logan got a few good whacks in on the pinata and he also gave fishing a whirl for the 1st time!

Sitting on the dock of the bay....

Devon and Mommy

Thanks Mindy for the awesome pics!!

On Sunday we did our favorite summer activity: Hanging out at Boaters Beach here. We have so much fun getting to spend time with my mom and dad and brother and sister-in-law (who I don't get to see nearly enough these days!!!) What could be more fun than a day at the beach??

My cool dude :)

Someone is trying to break free from their stroller!

Can You Help Me....Pretty Please???

The parent support group that I help facilitate called SPARK will be participating in the Autism Speaks "Walk For Autism Now" walk on Sunday, September 30th. Curly, Logan, Devon and I will be walking with our friends from SPARK. We really hope to be successful and help raise a lot of money. We need your help! Please click on http://www.autismwalk.org/goto/santilli to donate. I've set a reasonable goal that I know with every one's help we can blow out of the park. My friend and teammate has already raised $1,000!!! (Go Lisa!)

Autism Speaks (which has now joined forces with Cure Autism Now) is an awesome organization. I'm sure that many of you have seen their commercials like the one where is says "1 in xxx,xxx kids will grow up to be a professional athlete. 1 in 150 will be diagnosed with autism". They are real eye-openers. Autism Speaks also has a ton of celebrity support and they are helping to promote awareness and research.

Having a child with autism can have its challenges but like with typical children, the rewards are enormous and outweigh it all. Seeing the progress that Logan is making is breathtaking. It's all because of his hard work, the dedication of his teachers and support from our friends like you.

Please consider donating to this awesome cause. Thank you!

If you are a reader, can I add your blog as one of Mi Amigas? Most of my traffic comes through my friends. Even if you can't donate, you will be helping by making the walk more visable :) Please add a comment and tell me it is OK.

2 Reasons I am so Lucky

I might not get to shave my legs everyday, eat a warm meal or have a clean house but I have the world right here with these two. It's not about what I don't have. It's about how blessed I am to call these two special kiddos my children. I am so lucky!

Hair Envy?? No Mo'!

Houston, we have a pony! After lots of elastics and tries, we got it baby!!

Eat your heart out AP and Ava....lol :) Well, pretty much all my Guata-Friends except Sofie :)

Typhoid Mary Ain't Got Nothing On This Cutie!

Wow, what an exciting few days....NOT! Devon's TB skin test came back positive. Pretty scary stuff but I tried to remain calm until we got all of the info. Akron Children's hospital ordered a chest x-ray for her on Wednesday when they read her skin test. Luckily the x-ray came back negative for active TB!

So what does this mean??? Glad you asked! Devon cannot give anyone TB. It means that she was exposed to it in Guatemala and it is dormant in her system. Our International Adoption Ped, regualar Ped and the Infectious Diseases Ped (no, I never wanted THAT kind of dr.!) recommended that she take an antibiotic called INH for 9 months. Yep, daily for 9 months. They gave us a pill so I crush it up and sneak it into her morning cereal. This medicine can cause some "crappy" side effects if you catch my drift. Thanks to a friend's advice (Mindy...thank you!) we are also putting some probiotics in the cereal to help ease the tummy troubles. She just took her 1st does about an hour ago so cross your fingers for us that she tolerates it well!

On an awesome, exciting, fantabulous note: My Summer Sister Ruthanne found out yesterday that her little muffin man Andrew got out of PGN!!!! That is the BEST news ever!!!!!