OUR NEW FAMILY ADDITION

Our first family photo!

We have pretty much spent the past 4 days doing just this. We can't get enough of her.

Proud grandparents! 3 generations in this photo.

Grandma and Grandpa meeting Sula for the first time. They are so proud.

Mama and her sweet Sula!

Daddy and his little Sula.

SULA RAIN MANCUSO

Sula is here! Our beautiful daughter Sula Rain Mancuso was born at home in the water on December 2, 2009 at 10:38AM. She weighs 7lbs 5.5oz and is 21 inches long. All ten finger and ten toes are accounted for. She has dark brown hair and a sweet smile.

40 WEEK BELLY

Who is pregnant? I don't see a pregnant girl here!

Oh wait, there she is :)

Now that is a belly! 40 weeks and 4 days and mama is so ready!

So 40 weeks along and have gained 23lbs so far. Doing very well, still heartburn most every night and mild cramping in my front and lower back and lots of braxton hicks contractions! She is preparing to leave her mama and meet the world! Everyday I feel just a little closer to meeting my daughter.

THANKSGIVING

Hands down the best dinner I have ever made! It was delicious, vegan, and 100% organic! Damien and Sunny's thanksgiving feast consisted of seitan/soy turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, kale, gravy, and for desert pumpkin pie. I did a lot of research to find just the right recipes for our holiday meal and I am glad I did. The "turkey" I made was so much better than a store bought one like tofurkey. It was moist and had so much flavor infused in it as I baked it in a broth for almost 4 hours. Yummy! Even a non vegan would appreciate the flavors and textures of it.

Damien and I have so much to be thankful for this year as we been so incredibly blessed. We spent the majority of the year being pregnant and I have to say I am so thankful for how healthy and smooth the pregnancy has been. Damien and I continue to learn and grow from each other each day and fall more in love with each new experience and day we share. To be able to be with your best friend and to be so happy each day for the life you live is amazing. I have a job that I wake up everyday and am happy to go to. I have incredible support and love from my wonderful family and friends. Live is great!

Today is not only Thanksgiving but our due date (however no baby as of yet). That means that anyday she will be here and we will so lovingly welcome her into this world. Damien and I are looking forward to the moment when we get to meet our daughter more than anything. She will be greated in a warm, friendly, safe environment- her home! Her mama and daddy and our wonderful midwives will be in the room. I hope that her grandparents, aunts, uncle, and cousin will be the first to meet her. There is so much aniticipation for her arrival from her parents, friends, family, coworkers, and more. She is a lucky girl already.

Happy Thanksgiving!

39 WEEK BELLY

WOW now that's a baby belly! Slow start and then overnight she turned up the growth dial to max. Amazing how much she has grown over the past couple weeks. You can see how much larger she is between just weeks 37 and 39! With only 4 days left until her due date the anticipation is high and excitement is growing. Damien and I can't wait to meet her and be able to hold her in our arms.

39 week update-I have gained 22 lbs now and am feeling very tired and definitely ready to not be pregnant anymore as she is so large and very uncomfortable. He pelvic bones hurt as she has dropped down and is pushing my hips apart. I feel her kicking up under my ribs now. She has been doing gymnastics in my belly lately. I think she wants to come out as her nice home has quickly become too small. She needs more room to grow and play and that is clearly not going to happen inside of me. Come out baby!

Heartburn is one of those inevitable things that go with pregnancy and as you know I have endured my share that wonderful side effect. Damien was talking with his co-worker about it last week and she said that in India women drink a tea made from boiled caraway seeds to prevent heartburn. I tried it and it was amazing! Before I would wake up in the middle of the night with horrible heartburn and for the past two nights I haven't had any symptoms. yay!

Mama and daddy love you baby!

MAMA, DADDY & BELLY

Daddy loves his little girl

My belly is so big we can hardly kiss anymore! :)

War of the bellys...whose is bigger? I definitely win!

Mama and daddy holding baby Zucchini!

We are so excited to meet our daughter! Only 4 days left until our due date.

BAKING FUN!

Last night I wanted a cookie but didn't have any so I decided to make some of Damien's favorites. After I was done with that I thought, oh I should make more pumpkin bread! Then when that was just about done I realized I had a bunch of blueberries we picked this summer in the freezer so just "had" to make bluberry muffins. Lastly, my family brought me up a ton of fresh picked apples during my baby shower that there is no way I was going to eat all of them before they went bad so I made a fresh batch of homemade applesauce. Damien said he is going to have to get his bum to the gym since I keep baking and cooking so many yummy treats! And of course all of the yummy treats I made are organic!

No bake super yummy peanut butter oatmeal cookies!

This most moist and delicious pumpking coconut milk bread!

Lightly golden blueberry muffins

Fresh, homemade sugar-free applesauce!

COMMISSION FAMILY

This group (except the new interns this year) has been my work family for over the last 4 years. What an incredible group of people. I have grown with and learned so much from them. Having so many professional women (and Bill) in my life has helped me grow into the woman I am today. When I started with the Washington County Commission on Children and Families I was only 21 and an intern from Pacific University. Today I am a full member of the team working primarily on Positive Youth Development programs in the county. I am so blessed to have a job that I truly wake up each day looking forward to. I have so much more confidence and have developed my speaking, leadership, organizational, facilitation, listening, and professional skills. Thank you to all my co-workers for such a wondeful experience. I look forward to many more years working with and learning from you. Thank you!

BELLY CAST

On Sunday Damien and I created a belly cast. It was extremely messy but a lot of fun. Photos only show so much and it's hard to truly capture how large the belly is during pregnancy so we decided to create a 3-D piece of art to remember this time of our life.

I purchased Rigid Wrap at Michaels and it was such an easy project to do. We simply cut strips out of the roll and Damien one at a time dipped each strip in a bowl of warm water and placed it on my belly and breasts. After many layers we stopped and waited for it to dry. It's still in the

drying phase right now. After it's completely dry we will trim the edges, drill holes to hang it by, and paint it. I am thinking about painting it in the same theme as her room- pink with green polka-dots and then painting her name across the belly with her birth date. When it's all done it will be proudly displayed in our bedroom.

DIAPER BAG

I love my new baby diaper bag! It is brown and green (just like the car seat, stroller, and pack n' play) and very modern. It's JJ Cole and I love the modern looking tree patern on it. The material is totally waterproof so it's great for kids and the rain that is pretty much a constant around here.

I totally scored on this bag! It normally retails for $60 but I found it on sale at Target.com for $53 and I had a $25 gift card and a code for 10% off. I only paid $23 dollars...yay! Just call me Gillianne :)

I cannot wait to use it, only a couple days left until she is here.

WIND STORM

Yesterday there was a wind advisory for our area and I didn't think anything of it until Damien and I arrived at our house to find our tree laying in the yard! I couldn't even believe that it fell but someone somewhere was surely looking our for us. As the tree stood there were basically 4 full trees in one planted almost on top of each other. One that stood directly over our yard and 3 that are leaning over our neighbors. Had any of the other 3 fallen they would have taken out our neighbors fences, sheds, etc. Thankfully the one that fell landed perfectly in our yard. The only damage was to pull one single fence board out but once the tree branches were pulled out from behind it the board was pushed back into place. We were so lucky. Needless to say we will be calling an arborist to remove the tree since the entire structure is now compromised. Sad day for the tree.

BABY QUILT MADE WITH LOVE

I have always loved handmade blankets and the thought of putting so much love into making a blanket that my daughter could keep forever had me wanting to make one.

I picked out 17 different fabrics for her baby blanket. I wanted to make her blanket colorful and fun and something that she could use even as she grew (not baby themed printed fabrics). I washed and ironed each fabric piece and cut each piece into 6" squares. Next I sewed each square into rows of 8. After all rows were completed I sewed all 10 rows together. Not only did I straight stitch each seam but zig-zaged each seam to double enforce (I don't want the blanket to fall apart on her). I picked an adorable white with scribbly colorful polka-dots. For the batting I selected a 50% bamboo and 50% organic cotton material. Its a low loft but very warm and soft. After doing a lot of research and speaking with the women from Joanns I learned how to cut on bias and create my own binding. The binding turned out so well and actually worked.

Using the sewing machine my mom and dad got me for my birthday a few years back for the first time (oops!) I was able to created such a beautiful blanket. It took me awhile to figure it out as there were many settings (much fancier than the machine I learned on) and I had the wrong thread. I was so frustrated and with pregnancy hormones being as they are it didn't take much for me to become upset. Each row was more frustrating than the last when the machine continually jammed and the stitching was inconsistant. Damien noticed and helped me to figure out what was wrong by bringing me back to Joanns. The woman who works in the sewing department told me I was using hand-quilting thread instead of machine-quilting thread. We got the brand and type she recommended and it made a world of difference. Smooth sewing, no jamming, great finished piece. I am one happy mama-to-be :)

I just know baby Zucchini will love the blanket. She has a lot already but the ones made my hand and with love are always so much more special. I took my time and put so much love into it in order to make it "perfect" for her. I can't wait to wrap her in for the first time. It's in her crib right now just waiting for her.

Sewing the square together

Her blanket in her crib just waiting for her!

An upclose photo of the squares

38 WEEK BELLY

Bigger and bigger each day...especially lately. Now that she is fully developed she is just putting on weight in preparation for her big day. At 38 weeks I have put on 19 lbs (went down one pound in the last week for some reason). Funny how my belly grew so slowly and then in the last month I think Damien put the oven on max because I've practically doubled in size. Starting a few days ago I started having constant lower back pain and terrible pain in my hip bones front and back and around the sides. I think it's my body preparing for her big arrival.

BABY SHOWERS

I had to guess the baby items while being blind folded. I totally rocked that game!

Thanks Lindsey, it was the exact one I wanted! It's brown and green and has trees and animals on it...so cute!

EVERYONE guessed bigger than I really am. It was a fun game to play!

Just my colors. Betty knows me so well.

I love the beautiful wrapping paper decorated by Keegan and grandpa Bear

Vegan coconut cake for my baby shower! I made it myself and it was so yummy!

Baby blanket from grandma Jennifer...she had it made in my favorite colors!

Thank you everyone who gave me two very special days and helped me get ready for baby Zucchini. I appreciate all the wonderful advise and lovely gifts. I can't wait to use them with her.

HALLOWEEN FUN

Our favorite trick or treater! She was so adorable that Damien couldn't help but give her lots of candy.

Sunny is hopped up on carrots not candy :) That's right we gave out organic baby carrots to all trick-or-treaters!

Damien trying to sneak the Mike & Ikes...busted mister!

Our first Halloween in the house was so much fun! Damien and I got the best candy of all- Swedish Fish, Sour Patch Kids, and Mike & Ikes to give out to all the trick-or-treaters. To be healthy we also gave each trick-or-treater a small bag of baby organic carrots. Damien played scary music and opened the front window so trick-or-treaters could hear it as they approached the house. Damien and I both answered the door for each little one so it was fun. I was hoping that we would get kiddos and we did! Only had 5 pieces of candy left at the end and started out with about 75. After the trick-or-treaters ended Damien, Hayley, and I watched Amityville Horror. OMG all I have to say is that movie was freaking scary! Really good and really scary!

SURPRISE FLOWERS

Damien brought me home flower Friday after work just because! I was so surprised and also very happy. He was so sweet to think of me. He said they are color of fall and when he saw them he thought I would enjoy the flowers. I love Damien so much!

36 WEEK BELLY

Only 25 days left until as Damien calls it "Go live date". Baby and mama are doing very well this week after a rough 35th week.

I went to Segal's Children's Store today and got the carseat installed. I had to make sure it was installed properly as I am not taking any chances with her safety.

This weekend Damien and I also picked up some more items for our home birth. I need to order the birth kit Monday but there are several items not included including all items for the water birth tub.

Saturday I washed and dried the cloth diapers 3 times as instructed. When you first purchase cloth diapers you have to "prepare" them in order to obtain the correct absorbancy. They will soften and thicken with each wash since they are made from micro fleece and hemp.

YOUTH SUMMIT TO EMPOWER KIDS

Small group discussions.

A presentation on physical health by a youth. I could only get in 1/4 of the room...it was packed!

Last Thursday the Washington County Commission on Children and Families Youth Advisory Council hosted the 5th annual youth summit open to all middle and high schools in Washington County. I have organized this event each year and it's an amazing program that reaches thousands of young people in our community. I do all the planning and organizing and the youth advisory council hosts the event by welcoming students, introducing speakers, explaining sessions, etc. Having students on stage empowers other students to step up and be involved. There were about 350 students and adult advisors present at the event. This years project focus areas are Mental Wellness, Physical Wellness, and Social Wellness. During the day students hear from speakers on each of the focus areas. This year we invited 2 mental health specialists working with schools, an ex-pro football player Alex Molden (8 years in the NFL), a youth activist for healthy lifestyles, and a relationships specialist with a domestic violence resource center. After each presentation students along with adult mentors from the community discussed how each focus area looks in their school and ways they can get involved in addressing them. After lunch student teams started to develop an action plan for a project. So many meaningful and powerful conversations came from that session. Each team can apply for up to $800 to fund their project. All projects are developed and implemented by students. This programs gives students the opportunity to develop leadership skills and empowers them to become involved. Projects will take place from January until the end of May and then all students along with community members will be invited back to a culmination event where students take the center stage and share the work they did in their school to create positive change.