A good lesson

We had a really good Family Home Evening. Sara helped me prepare the lesson. It took two days. Firstly, we used the President's message from the January Friend.

( http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=d5faaf79ec2b5210VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=21bc9fbee98db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD )

It is about being thankful. We created "Gratitude" books for each member of the family. The assignment was for everyone to observe through the day and write (or draw) things they were grateful for in each category (see, hear, smell, taste, and touch). The next day when we all met together I read the story from The Friend to everyone, then we shared our books with eachother. Our challenge to everyone is, when we say our prayers, the first thing we do is to give thanks and not just "We thank thee for this day", but do be more detailed in what we are thankful for. To conciously thinks of things to be thankful for through out the day.

Here is Sara's Gratitude book:

She is thankful to see...

Out the windows, and to see our house.

She is grateful to hear...

Her baby sister.

She is grateful to smell...

flowers.


She is grateful to taste...

pizza (and something she can't remember).

She is grateful to touch...

her toys (this is a train).

Oh my, it's been awhile...

Ok. I am finally getting it together and updating my blog. I am not on my computer so pictures will have to wait. Here's the low down...

Giampiero: Arrived in Afghanistan Dec. 26th. He called me this morning :) but could not give a lot of info. The airwaves are not safe communication. It is expensive to use the internet, so we are not going to do many Skype calls. He is going to have a calling card & snail mail mostly. I don't have his address with me, so I will post it later. I think letters and packages would be appreciated. It will keep his spirits lifted. (Hint: he likes chocolate) He will be there for anywhere from 6 mos. to a year... of course that is subject to change since it is the Army. :)

Noelle: I am doing well. I am looking at the eternal perspective and know that whatever happens, I have made eternal covenants. I have a wonderful support group of family, friends, community, and church. I am quite spoiled, I think. I have been going to physical therapy for a "pinched nerve". The siatic nerve to be more specific. It has been improving a lot. It's still not perfect, but much better. I have been feeling very inspired lately in my artwork... just need to find the time for it! I have a new calling. I am now in charge of the ward bulletin and website.

Sara: She's doing well in school. She was the first in her class to learn to spell both first & last name. She still likes doing homework and often I have to create more work for her. She likes to be a helper and thrives on approval. I am hoping to find some gymnastics classes for her. She is more interested in that than dancing right now. She blossoming in her creativity. One of her favorite things to do is drawing or crafts. She has something wierd going on with her foot. She has a red puffy spot that the doctor said could be a bite or infection. She's on antibiotics and we will have to see if it improves. Sara doesn't like to talk about her daddy being gone. It makes her sad.

Piero: My little Santa, cowboy, pirate, soldier, muskateer. He makes sleighs out of anything he can. He has an extensive collection of Christmas things. He told me he wants to be Santa when he grows up... as well as a missionary and a soldier. He often asks for his daddy and wants to call him. He has asked me if we can go to the airport to pick up daddy. When Giampiero was in Germany waiting for his plane to Afghanistan, Piero asked if he was coming home, G said no, he had to go with the other soldiers, so Piero said, he should get on the other plane to come home.

America: Now 4 months and getting bigger! She loves to smile, laugh, and spit. She has been trying to grab things and pull them to her mouth. She is starting to discover her feet as play things. Although the majority of the time she is good tempered, when she is unhappy she is LOUD. America (aka Ricky) likes to fight sleep already. She likes to listen to her daddy's voice. When he called today she was playing and gibberjabbering until I put him on speakerphone. As soon as she heard his voice she stopped to listen. :)

That is a quick summary of what is going on. I will try to update at least once a month.

Oh.... Chucky: almost out of Fort Knox & going home. Almost ready to conquer the world, right Brain? ;)~

In the news...

In the Iron County newspaper "Today"

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Graduation fom AIT (Advanced Individualized Training) 09/11/09

Giampiero in his Class A uniform. Hoorah!

Now finished with his training for the Humvee/Hummer ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypmxStcWYj8 ) and the Abram/tank (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFGdFve3RM8 )

Giampiero has a couple days leave and then back for some specialized training on the stryker ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41CpIA1Jytk ). He will be returning home either on the 2nd or 3rd of October and staying for leave until he flies off to Vilseck, Germany (Rose Barracks) on the 15th. I am so proud of my husband. He is a wonderful father, friend, and husband.

America Lee is finally here!

*wink wink*

At 2:08 am, September 8th, 2009 America Lee Scattolon flew into this world. I mean it.

The rest of the stoy is more detailed. I don't think I put anything gross, but if you are SUPER sensitive, skip to the end...

She flew. I had been having contractions all through Labor Day (appropriately named, don't you think) and went into Labor & Delivery at 11 pm only to find that I was not dilated enough and the contractions were too far apart that they decided to send me home. At 1:30 am I stated having contractions one on top of the other and most I could not stand during. I was able to get to my mom and wake her. My team got up and out asap. Noellezinha slept with the kiddos while my mom & Sara Cristina took me to the hospital. We called and let them know I was on my way back and this was the real deal. As I walked into L&D this time, I began a contraction that brought me to my hands and knees. I felt the baby pushing out! I yelled "She's coming out." and I think they realized it was too true. The nurses picked me up and carried me to the delivery bed in seconds (they must have super human strength). In a minute or less, bottoms off, some tarp thingy placed under me and the water broke. I was completely dilated and the baby was trying to come out. They encouraged me to breath and not push. I didn't push, but my body was not on the same understanding. This baby was coming no matter what! As the doctor came in and gloved up, she was crowning. He sat down and her head was out. They said, "ok now you can push." So I did, and she flew (seriously!) everybody took a breath because we thought she was going to fly off the table... Thank goodness my doctor is a good catch. " :)

...so both mom and baby are doing well. The siblings are still adoring her. Piero is being a bit over protective though. He has been instructing everyone on how and when to carry the baby. Sara rushes for a chupeta (pacifier) if the baby cries. They are very happy to have their little America.

My favorite Soldiers

Giampiero and his two best soldier buddies, Charles Ackermann, and Erik Tyson.

Don't they look handsome? Especially the one on the left.... hee hee hee hee.

Gardening is good for the soul

Sara & Piero hae a little garden of their own. We have been enjoying lettuce that they pick for us from their garden. There are also carrots (too tiny right now) and broccoli and some other yummy stuff.

My little swimmer

Sara has been taking more swim classes and doing very well. Here are some of the latest videos. Since these were taken, she has also learned to put her hear in the water as she swims and she jumped off the diving board without any help! Well, her teacher was in the water to catch her, but she jumped by herself.

Graduation from Basic Training!

Giampiero graduated from Basic Training! He has 7 more weeks (maybe more) of Advanced Training. Tentatively the next graduation is set for September 11th. This means he is now officially a soldier. With graduation from Basic, he gets "Family Day" which is really Fri., Sat., Sun. (reporting back Sunday afternoon). But unfortunately no family was able to go out there. I am too far along in pregnancy to fly. To celebrate, we got him a motel room for the weekend and he is happy to be able to get rest, watch TV, swim, and walk 5 miles to Walmart. :) It's not what I wanted to give him, but at least he isn't getting barked at by drill sargents!

His friend Pvt. Tyson was able to have photos taken by his wife and she e-mailed them to me. :)

Newest Family Update...

Giampiero is back to training. He's with the Delta Company which is supposed to graduate 9/11 then there is a possibility he will need an additional 2 weeks training for the strycker. They are rumored to be stationed at Fort Bliss, TX. (Next to El Paso) He's much happier being in training again! His friend, Pvt. Ackermann, misses him but at least they get to see eachother at church!

You can write to him at the address below: (Remember, standard sized envelopes only.)

PVT. Scattolon, Giampiero M.
Delta Co. 2-81 AR
2nd PLT (Savages)
3576 Wilson Rd.
Fort Knox, KY 40121-5728

I am still pregnant. *sigh* but the count down has started. I am now on Dr. appts. every 2 weeks & I have to count kicks every day. Everything is looking good. I am just tired alot, I still have wierd pains, but all the tests are showing up normal. I guess that means I will just have to put up with it until I have the baby. Oh well, there are worse things in life. :) I am starting to get a little anxious that I won't have everything ready. I am trying to organize what I have and I wrote a list of what I still need. I thought I was pretty well prepared until I started making that stupid list. I forgot how much stuff newborns need.

Sara Gianelle is still taking her swim classes and she's doing REALLY well. I wasn't going to sign her up again, but her progress is so good and she likes it so much, I can't help myself. She is getting ready to start kindergarten (yes again) here in Enoch. We didn't continue with Kindergarten when we got here since she wouldn't have started here until this year anyway. She's excited. She is even more anxious to have her little sister arrive. She had a dream about her and told me what she looked like in the dream. She was a little light and a little brown like Daddy, she had eyes that were a little chinese like her Daddy and she had brown hair like her Daddy. But she was blonde. :) So she basically doesn''t look a thing like e according to Sara. I think Sara is just Daddy's girl. Ít's ok. He deserves to be her hero.

Piero is not taking swim classes anymore because he kept fighting with me about getting in the water the last 3 days he was signed up. Now he cries that he wants to be in the water. There is no winning. Either way he's complaining. I just think he's not mature enough for the swim class right now. He will do better in a year. He is talking up a storm and quoting movies all the time. He is excited for his baby sister to come. He talks to her via my belly button and asks when she's going to come out to play with him.

My parent's, sister, niece, and brother that live with us are all well. They keep pretty busy. My mom is busier now than before she retired!

Cedar Breaks

Independence Day fun

What could get better than a parade, a mud pit, and fireworks? Well, we also got to talk to Pvt. Daddy on the phone. The kids and adults loved the parade, but for different reasons. The kids got candy, water, and otterpops thrown to them, so they were thrilled. We were amazed at the difference between the parades here and what we would get back in So. Cal. People would never be allowed to throuw candy and stuff or squirt water guns and throw water balloons and the spectators. They would be afraid of law suits. But here, we had some spectators prepared to fight back. They had brought super soakers and buckets of water to reload to attack the would be attackers. (We want to do that next year). It was a blast.

Swim lessons

We started swim lessons this week. Sara is doing really well. She is excited because she found out her teacher used to be a soldier. Piero hasn't quite started as well. I had to go in the water with him the first day, but he's done better every day since. He is learning how to listen & follow instruction.

The new do

It's CoOl...

It's cool...

and it doesn't touch the staple. :)~

My adopted son

This is Private Charles Ackermann. He is in the Vampire unit with Giampiero because of a dislocated shoulder. Giampiero has nothing but good things to say about this kid, and I think he's a pretty good guy. So, now you all know my adopted son ;)

Attack of the cute squirrel

Seriously, it's cute, but not when it chases you down!

Bryce Canyon Pics

For more pictures see the Slide show above.

Bryce Canyon

We took a trip up to Bryce Canyon. This is the Inn just before you enter the national park. We are going to go camping there as a family after Sara gets her cast off. You can rent a Teepee to stay in! It is super cool & the kids loved it.

There was some sort of chipmunk like animal that we saw that scared the heck out of us. It seems that it's used to people feeding it (which is a BIG no no for national parks, by the way) so it started to chase us down expecting a handout.

I haven't downloaded the pictures from my camera yet. This is from my friend's camera, so I will post more pictures soon.

ER pics

Mid-June update

Giampiero is off "profile" so he is now waiting for the paperwork to get processed to send him back into a training unit. We don't know when he'll graduate until he gets placed into training. He could be graduating at the end of August or mid-September. So there's a chance he may be back for the baby's birth or just after.

Sara is getting her cast off in a week, then she will start swim lessons. She is very excited.

Piero took a tumble and cut the back of his head open an inch. We made a trip to the ER and got it cleaned and stapled. Now he's back to reaping havoc wherever he goes.

I made my own trip to the hospital this week. I was having some sharp pains in my belly. They checked things out but didn't find the cause of this pain. They are going to do ultrasounds and tests on Monday. They don't seem to be too concerned because the baby appears very healthy and active.

Life is good. I look forward to seeing my husband again. I am very proud of him. I am very appy with my children and how they are growing.

The usual suspects

From left to right:

Loira, Zorro Blue, Fluffy, and the late Chewy. Chewy expired after the first day.

My sister picked up these ducklings a few days ago. The kids love them! I'm just happy our dog hasn't tried to eat them.

Phone call from my vampire husband

No, he's not Edward, but he's my sweety. Giampiero called last night. He is in the unit called the "vampires" right now. They are the people coming back from recovery, or waiting to be sent home. Luckily most of the guys he's with right now are pretty good peeps. They are not the deviants that are getting kicked out. If they are going home, it's for medical reasons. He's on "profile" which means he can't REALLY train because of medical restrictions. The drill sergeant said he needed to get the doctors to "fix" his profile so he can start training or he will have to wait until the next group. That would mean he would graduate in September instead of August. Well, luckily he's not going to risk his health. We'll see if the threat is real after he is done being on profile.

He's doing well otherwise. Doing light exercises, studying, and keeping busy. We are able to send and receive an e-mail once a week from a member of the church in his ward. Otherwise he said to send snail mail to his old address:

PVT. Scattolon, Giampiero M.

4th PLT

Bco 2-81 AR

3576 Wilson Road

Fort Knox, KY 40121-5728

or send an e-mail to me and I will mail it to him. (noelle@scattolon.com)

Thank you for all your prayers and support. I feel very fortunate and blessed.

My poor baby...

Sara fell down the stairs last night. We are so glad that nothing major happened. She fell from almost the top, so you can imagine the danger that poses. Luckily, all she got was a broken arm. She did really well. Everybody stayed really calm around her, so she was able to stay pretty calm for being in so much pain. Sorry if you are squeamish, but here are the photos.

We were able to see immediately that the arm was broken, so we rushed to the hospital, which is only 10 minutes drive.

My Dad happened to be in the hospital having just given a blessing to a man in our ward, so he and the other brother who was with him for the blessing, headed to Emergency and gave Sara a blessing before she went in.

She was admitted quickly. The wonderful staff of the ER made her very comfortable. She had an ice pack for her arm, TV, a packet of goodies (including play dough, lip gloss, stickers, books, and more) for her to keep. The only time she cried after we got to the hospital was when they put in the IV. The nurse was so good to her. He sang songs with us to help distract her. It was a long wait because we needed to wait for the X-rays, have the MD look at it and call in the Orthopedic Surgeon. She waited patiently and finally fell asleep about 20 minutes before wheeling her out to the bigger room for setting the bone.

She cried again a little when she found out that I wasn't going to be in the room while she they were fixing her bone, but once again Mr. Super Nurse (RN Nate) helped keep her calm by singing songs to her until she fell asleep. They sedated her so she could sleep while they set the bone. They used radiology to see the bone as they are setting it so they don't have to do surgery or "guess" if it is set right. Of course I wasn't allowed in there while setting the bone, but it took less than 15 minutes. All the medical staff was wonderful.

Catching up...

I have been a little behind on my blogging. I have enjoyed almost 4 weeks with Giampiero being home for his recovery so here are some of the pictures from that time. He should be graduating August 29th. We'll see if li'l America waits for her daddy.

Kicking Mommy never looked so cute.

I can't believe they were able to make a CD for me at the hospital with the regular utrasound, 3D ultrasound, and video clips! We got to hear the heart beat when we were watching, but the sound is not recorded on the disk.

"Strawberry"

During the old fasioned ultrasound you see here, I could feel the baby kicking me!

Here she is! America Lee Scattolon. Sara wanted to name the baby strawberry if it's a girl and Pineapple if it's a boy.