The New Mr & Mrs DiMauro

Cassie and Lou exchanged wedding vows on April 11th and it could not have been a more beautiful day...depsite the yucky weather outside, it was bliss on the inside!! We were truly honored to be there as our baby sister walked herself down the aisle to her husband!! It was kinda a tear jerker for Kevin and I as we stood beside her to witness her love for Lou! I am sure it was just as emotional for mom, her baby girl was getting married!

Cassie, you looked beautiful!! It brought tears to my eyes to watch you walk down that aisle as my baby sister and walk back down in 60 minutes as a married women! You have come such a long way in your life, and I am so thankful that I have been able to share the memories with you, both the good and the bad. The memories are what will unite us for forever. I look forward to hearing your stories of being married and listening to you talk about your husband, and someday babies!!

Lou, we welcome you to our family with lots of love! We may not have it altogether all the time, but together we have it all and could not be happier to include you in the fun times!! Our life is nothing short of chaotic, and you always seem to have a smile on your face. My girls enjoy being with you and are anxious that you and Cassie are now married. Addison just thinks it is cool that you will always be at "Bubba's house". We are trying to get through to her that it is yours and Bubba's house now!!! It may take time, bear with us! You have made Cassie one happy person and we are thrilled with God's choice of a husband for her! We wish the 2 of you lots of love and lots of kids (someday)!!!

Addison was so excited to be such an important part of your special day as well. She is still talking about it...almost everyday!! Thank you for your patience with her! I appreciate it.

Thank you for your patience with all the kids. I know at times it was loud and at times, it was probably disruptive. But you both made us feel comfortable and like the children were not disruptive to you! You will never know how much we appreciate that. Well someday you will, when you have your own kids!! Thanks for letting us ALL crash at your house, I know it was worrisome walking in at times, but we got it all cleaned up and hopefully did not break anything. Heck, we only lost the umbrellas! Sorry! We are still trying to locate them.

Hope you are having fun in Mexico, we sure miss you guys and are VERY jealous!! Wish we could be there too!

We got Pee!!!!!!

Someone went pee in the potty the other night!!! Yes, it was Olivia. Addison already does that!! We decided to get out the potty chair and just kind of let her start "exploring" it, she will never go when we put her on the "real" toilet, so we decided to try to potty chair we started Addison with. She will sit on it, grunt a little, then get up and giggle. I think she knows what she is supposed to be doing on it! Well, the other night after her bath, I brought her into the living room to get her ready for bed, and of course she dashed away before I could even lay her down. She went right to that potty, looked at me, giggled and then proceeded t pee!!! We clapped and cheered! Addison intially said, "oh that's gross mommy". We explained to her that peeing in that potty is good for Olivia, so we had to cheer and clap for her. One can ALWAYS count on Addison to cheer for Olivia, so that is what she did!!! She hasn't done it since, but got to start somewhere!! Think before baby gets here we can get her out of diapers? Pray for us!!

NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament

Tony got a press pass to the NCAA basketball games at the Qwest Center last Thursday and Saturday. A dream come true for him! We saw little of him, and he saw much basketball!! He only took the camera one day and only took 2 pictures!! I am sure he can tell you much more about it!



Don't forget to scroll down further, I have added lots of pictures today!!!

Easter Eggstravaganza

The girls got to have LOTS of Easter egg hunts and found too much candy!! Olivia has found a liking to jelly beans...in my prior life (the one with just one kid), Addison NEVER would have been found eating jelly beans at 19 months. More like 2 or 2 1/2. Guess more kids makes you less uptight!! Addison enjoyed helping Liv find the eggs as well.

We had been in Omaha since Holy Thursday fo docotrs appointments, ultrasounds and the NCAA tournament (Tony had a press pass). We had so much fun with our family. We were all pretty tired by the time we got home on Easter Sunday evening, but was glad to have had the time to see everyone.

Addison enjoyed dying Easter Eggs much more this year than last year. She stayed with it until the very end!

Easter morning we went to church with Cassie and Lou. The Easter Bunny visited Cassie's house while we were gone. So the girls had a little hunt as did the big kids!!! We had so many cute pics...bear with me as I try to narrow them down for you!

After Easter at Cassie's house, we trekked to York to Mamo and Bampo's house for Easter dinner an more Easter Egg hunting!!

So you can see we had an eventful Easter and lots to do!!!

Shrine Circus

The lighting was terrible on the pictures, so not to many to show. We did have a great time though, and Addison's favorite thing was the baby elephant pooping and peeing during the show!! She did not like the live alligators. She got to ride a pony! She was extremely giddy in the car leading up to the circus, and then got shy around the clowns and wouldn’t talk to them. We had to buy popcorn, mommy’s snacks that she brought were not about to cut it.

Jumping in an inflatable jumpy thing: $3
Riding a pony who keeps pooping: $5
Buying popcorn and a bottle of water to satisfy your child: $10
Watching the excitement in her face doing it all: PRICELESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Coming....Shrine Circus

Shrine Circus, watch out...here we come! Addison has earned herself a "date" night with just mommy and daddy tonight. She gets to see the Circus. We took her last year, and she absolutly loved it, so when we saw they were in town again, we couldn't pass it up. Check back, hopefully on Wednesday for some pictures. It will depend on what time we get home and how much Bracketology Tony has to do if he gets the pictures downloaded!!!!

Mommy Experiences

Most people who read this blog are family, but for the VERY few who are not, let me tell you something about myself. I am a passionate person, and one of my passions is children. When I was working as an occupational therapist, I loved seeing the children everyday and the delight they got out of accomplishing something so many others take for granted. I still pray for many of those kids that I worked with, and have found many other children who are sick or just need some extra prayers. I am not sure how I stumbled upon this website, but it has captured my attention, my heart and I find myself praying for this fmaily everyday. I will not give you the whole story, as I want you to click on the link and fall in love with this amazing family for yourself. The VERY short version of the story, is that Tricia was preparing for a double lung transplant when she found out she was pregnant. Doctors advised her and her husband that carrying the baby would be very risky, through their faith, they choose life for their little miracle. She was born by emergency c-section at 24 weeks and some days. Both mom and baby are stable, Tricia has been listed on the transplant list, and now they wait. Here is their blog: http://www.cfhusband.blogspot.com/


Nate, Tricia's husband posted on his blog about doing something really neat for Tricia. (This was the original post: http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/2008/03/for-tricia.html )Coming up with a list of things I as a mom can not wait for Tricia to experience with Gwyneth. So here is my list:

Tricia, I can not wait for you to experience:

Slobbery kisses and hugs

the words, "momma" and she knows it means you

when she walks into your room at 5am and "just wants to snuggle with you"

when you have been gone all day, and she runs into your arms the minute she sees you

"Mommy, I love you"

a toothless smile

the way she can communicate a 1000 words with just her eyes and her smile

watching her dancing to the music on the radio

when she starts asking about God and Jesus

explaining the difference between a truth and a lie

when she realizes that male anatomy and female anatomy are different and wants to know what that "wiggly thing is" (you can read further down my blog to see my recent conversation with my 3 year old)

explaining that a bridal shower does not mean "actually taking a shower"

potty training!!!!

learning to sleep through the night

My list could go on and on!

Please peek in on this family and say a prayer for them when you do. I do not personally know them, but they have been placed on my heart and in my prayers.

Future American Idol Winners

We were having a little too much fun last night during dinner, annoying daddy with our singing into the pretend microphone...a lipstick tube!!

FINALLY...PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just a picture post, since it has been FOREVER!

A few from Christmas morning! Addison got the homemade cabbag patch doll that I had when I was little! She takes VERY good care of her, and named her Dorothy.

Mom, Cassie and I took the girls to see Elmo! They both had a great time and ate way too much popcorn and fruit snacks!! The concert was during nap time, so we weren't sure how they would do, but they both did great and no whining!! The baby behind us was less than thrilled with Elmo and the Seasme Street Gang!

Cassie and Lou are getting married on April 11th and have asked Addison to be a flower girl!!

A few weekends ago, we went to Wichita to celebrate Londyn's 2nd birthday and Sydney's Dedication. We had a lot of fun, and the girls enjoyed seeing each other. The time went by WAY to fast! We have NO pictures of the birthday girl, she was not wanting to smile for us when we tried to take pictures!!

So check back in a few minutes, I am making another post!!

Still no pictures...sorry, but a funny Addison story.

I must preface this with, so to all the men in Addison's life if she says anything to you about this. We did NOT teach her this. Follow along in the conversation we had on the way home from gymnastics on Thursday evening:

A: Mom, you know what boys have?

Me: (afraid to take this further) What do boys have Addison?

A: They have pee-pee's.

Me: Okay, but we shouldn't talk about that. It is something that is private.

A: I know. I used to call it a "wiggly thing". But now I will call it a pee-pee.

Me: (trying to contain my laughter - how do I tell her this is really not something we should talk about?) Okay.

A: Daddy has a pee-pee, and so does Kevin and Leo and Lou.

Me: (now laughing, knowing that if she says this to anyone, they are going to die; either of embarrasment or of laughter) Addison you are right, but we should only talk about this at home. We don't talk about this kind of thing with other people.

A: Okay mommy. Are we still going to see Londyn for her birthday?

And with that the conversation was over thank goodness.

Your laughter for the day!!! Sorry if this offended anyone, but I thought it was hilarious!

So I really am convinced that no one looks at our blog, besides Cassie and Jenny. But just in ase someone else who I don't knw about does, I will explain the lack of posts and pictures.

Life around the Chapman house has been nothing short of stressful and chaotic. In early December, Tony and I found out I was pregnant. We were shocked...you all know the history and problems I have had. We had decided that we would begin to start "trying" in hopes that I would be pregnant by late spring or ealry summer. It has always taken at least 8 months in the past, and we expected this to be no different. We also thought perhaps just a little more time for Olivia would be good. She is naughty and we thought we cold work some of that out of her before another one came along. Don't get me wrong, she is just learning that her actions have consequences and she will try to push the envelope and see how far she can take it. When we tell her no, she usually ends up crying; however, that does not seem to stop the behavior that she intially got in trouble for. Oh well. Back to baby news...so after 1 month, I just had this feeling. I was not even late yet, and tried to take a test about 6 days earlt. It was clear to me that I was pregnant at that time, however, Tony was not conivnced. He wanted me to take another one in a couple of days. Waiting those next coupl od fays was torture, but I did and we took another test. He was convinced then.

Of course, I was sick almost immediatly after finding out. Always my luck. No break for the weary. So December was a whirlwind month trying to get ready for Christmas, feeling absolutly terrible and trying to hide it from Addison who we thought would tell everyone. We did finally tell her because I could not handle the conversations she would have with me EVERY day:

A: Mom, are you throwing up again? What's wrong? Are you okay?

Me: Addison, I am okay. Please go to the living room with daddy.

Later that day:

A: Are you going to be sick tonight mommy?

Me: I don't know, maybe.

A: When will you feel better? It scares me.

So with that we told her. She told us it was a baby boy and his name would be Olive. No, I did not forget to write an "R" on the end of that. Olive is the name of the dog of one of her friends. Cool, huh?!!

I promise pictures will soon be posted. Please bear with me, I am still sick and can barely hold my head up some days.

A Mother's Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor and sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground.
I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music, a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals, and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, 'Yes, Mommy' to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting 'Don't eat in the living room' and 'Take your hands off your brother,' because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is calling and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don't catch cold.

Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always,

MOM...

P.S. One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in Santa.

Our Snuggle Bug

Since you got to see lots of pictures of Addison, I thought I would share a few of our little snuggle bug. Olivia is growing like crazy and in total admiration of her big sister.





The weekend before Thanksgiving we spent in York with Tyler and Latisha and their little girls. The girls Mamo took them to the Children's Museum in York. They really enjoyedplaying store and ringing up groceries and taking my money. Olivia was checking out the blocks and train set. Londyn and Olivia really enjoyed driving the truck.




Poor Sydney had to stay home!





Addison enjoyed playing with the farm legos.




Olivia enjoys looking at the Christmas tree and playing with the Polar Express bell! It has been so much fun to watch the girls marvel in the Christmas lights and see how excited Addison is for Christmas and the anticipation of Santa!

The Many Styles of Addison

We decided this weekend, we were staying home and allowing the girls to rest and get all their germs out of their system so we were healthy for Christmas. We didn't do much. Layed around the house, played Legos, had tickle wars, took naps and Addison played dress-up with her own clothes. Addison frequently likes to play dress-up with her own clothes. I think secretly she wants to see how many outfits she put own, get dirty and leave laying on the floor for her mom to pick up and tell her to put her clothes away or in the hamper. So Sunday, I decided I wanted you all to see Addison play dress-up, so we took pictures of EVERY outfit she had on...brace yourself and then feel sorry for me, she laid on the floor pretending to help me put the clothes away.

Her 1st morning outfit (the pj's were different that night!)

Almost got away with this ALL day!

I said to smile

You have got to be kidding, it is 20 degrees outside - put something warm on.

And so she did. Slippers and all

Check out my sweats!

I got hot mom! I wanted to wear my "tappy shoes".

Please stoptaking pictures of me.

This is the last one! Notice the headband on my forehead. Sweats compelete with tap shoes.

Addison is defiently a ball of fire and always brings excitement to our "lazy" days!!