Can you believe it? Today our sweet boy is four years old. When I look at him
I just melt. He is such a joy and a blessing to our family.
As a baby he was always smiling and now that he is a big boy he continues to
delight everyone around him with his charming personality and overall happiness.
He has really grown this past year and has learned a lot of responsibility. He
makes his bed in the morning, puts his toys away in the right containers after
he plays and his favorite thing is getting dressed all by himself. He actually folds
his pj’s when he puts them back in his dresser and knows that dirty clothes go
to the laundry basket. Andrew is a bright little boy who can delight you with
questions and stories all day long. Yes, he probably got that from his daddy or
maybe from his mommy.
We love seeing how excited he is about everything around him. He notices things
that I think have became monotone to us as adults and he reminds me how
wonderful is all that Heavenly Father has created for us. (Ex. Mornings-he is so
happy when the light outside indicates that it’s morning.)
Andrew is also extremely funny. Just like his daddy he can make you laugh without
any problem. Just the other night I was telling him that soon after his birthday, we
will have the baby’s birthday. Andrew replied, “Mom our baby will come out with
no clothes at his birthday party?” Funny, funny boy!
I could write for hours about his creativeness and rich imagination that never ceases
to amaze me. We love Andrew with all our heart and we thank Heavenly Father for
sending us one of his sweet children to raise and love. Happy Birthday Andrew!!
You are our life!!

My little sister celebrated her birthday today! I just wanted to wish her
a great birthday with tons of love. We love you!!!
La Multi ani Paula! Te iubim mult!!!

Even though we have no more snow left outside I had to post these cute
pictures of my kids playing in the snow several weeks ago. They had so
much fun! I just love some of the faces Andrew and Jasmine are making
while throwing snow at each other. I am so grateful for my children and for
the chance I have to enjoy these moments with them. I have no words to
describe how much I love them!!!

I believe that every new baby should be received with a celebration no
matter what the gender is or how many children the mom has had previously.
Each one of Heavenly Fathers children’s is special, therefore we should celebrate!
On Saturday the 16th of this month I had a wonderful shower thrown by my good
friends. I have always been blessed to be surrounded by amazing friends who have
made sure that all my sweet angels have been received with love. I would like
to thank Kathleen for making the baby shower invitation, Gaia for decorating and
planning the shower, Mitzi for helping with the shower and making the coolest
diaper cake, Janice for planning the games and food, Leah for taking so many beautiful
pictures and everyone else for coming to celebrate with me. I do not want to forget
a very special helper who helped me make the most amazing baby cake ever and that
is my sweet girl Jasmine. She sure has the creative genes in her like her mommy.
All the guests were very impressed by it and it not only looked good it also tasted delicious.
It was such a great celebration and again thank you all for your friendship, wonderful
gifts and support. Hugs, Livia

We are getting closer to see our sweet baby boy. Now, I am only five weeks
away from my due date. I feel really good for being 35 pounds heavier and
expecting several more to be added soon. My cute belly is huge and continues
to grow. Good thing I have my mom's elastic skin when it comes to stretch
marks because so far I haven't acquired any. I love, love, love the movement
of the baby! All the kicks, the strong spins and the occasional hiccups are just
amazing. What a magnificent gift to be able to have another life growing within
you. But, it doesn't come easy. I have a harder time bending down and reaching
anything that is on the carpet and also I can not eat very large meals as the space
inside my belly has became very crowded. The last doctor check up showed the baby
being right on target for growth after all the measurements were taken. The heart
sounded just right which means my little man is also getting ready to see us soon.
I can't wait to hold him but I am ready to wait as long as it takes.

My wonderful friend Leah took some great pregnancy shots of me last week which I
just love. To all my sweet Romanian friends who have asked so persistently to see
more pics of me here is your request fulfilled. Let me know if you have a favorite.

2009 is gone. It has been a year full of activities, hard work, fun, and most
of all love. As we waited for the 2010 to arrive all I could think on New Years
Eve was bring on the New Year a year full of new joys for our growing family.
I am happy to say that I have accomplished my 2009 resolutions therefore I
had to make some new ones. I feel great about my goals! Very excited to see
them all achieved by the end of 2010.
For New Years Eve we had a full Romanian feast with the most delicious sarmale
I have ever made. Yes, I finally think that they were as good as my mom makes
them at home.
We partied with our good friends the Schellmans until we entered 2010. We sure
have been blessed with amazing friends that have become our second family here.
Jasmine and Andrew were allowed to stay up with us and enjoy the party, as it
always was a tradition in my family. It was a night that I would look forward to
the whole year. I loved seeing my children’s excitement since they didn’t have
to be in bed by 8 o’clock.
I already love 2010 as it has brought many hours of playtime with my loved ones.
Battleship, Chess, Connect Four, Tsuro, more Chess, Operation, Sorry and many
more each day. This was all possible due to the extremely cold weather and large
amounts of snow.
I am very grateful for a healthy and happy family!

The day after Christmas we took the kids sledding. I believe it’s a must
when there is so much snow. Andrew loved going down the hill with his
daddy and Jasmine. By the end of the day his cheeks were red and he was
covered in snow but he was still not ready to come home. It was only when
I mentioned hot chocolate that he decided it was time to go home. Jasmine
had a blast also and loved sledding by herself. She is such a big girl! I was
not able to sled due to the pregnancy but I enjoyed watching all my kids
having fun. When I said kids I was referring to my honey also because I know
he enjoyed sledding just as much as our little ones. Since then the kids have
played more in the snow so, more pics to come and also our New Years, which
was wonderful.

I really should start with Christmas Eve because as in the previous years we
enjoyed a delicious feast together as a family after which, Jeremy read the
birth of Christ from the Bible. It always brings such a wonderful feeling in
the house. For my Christmas Eve surprise I received an early present from
Jeremy delivered at my door. It was a yummy box filled with the most delicious
chocolate strawberries ever. It also started to snow that night and we got
to enjoy a winter wonderland on Christmas morning. Another one of our
traditions is allowing the children to open one present from us on Christmas Eve.
They loved it!
When Christmas morning actually arrived Andrew was ecstatic, as his favorite day
was here. For almost a month he has asked every morning if it was Christmas yet
so to finally wake up on Christmas day was truly special. Jasmine also was extremely
happy to see all the presents under the tree. We had to record it on our camcorder
so we can remember their giggles, happiness and their overall glow. It was an
amazing Christmas! Can’t wait to see what it will be like next year with three little ones.
We are grateful for all the presents sent by the grandparents and the wonderful cards
sent by so many of you. We love you and we hope your Christmas was just as wonderful.

Happy Holidays! We love you and miss you all!

Growing up we always went caroling at Christmas time and received carolers
at our home. I recall Christmas with fondness as a child. Even though we
never had many presents there was always a wonderful feeling of excitement
and happiness while we celebrated together as a family. I enjoyed having to
get all dressed up and sit at the beautiful arranged table with all my siblings.
My mother cooked some wonderful dishes that I try to imitate for my own
family every Christmas.
It's almost Christmas here and I am glad that this year we've had a chance to carol
together with friends in Romanian. It was a beautiful event . To hear Jasmine
caroling in Romanian was quite the treat.
We have also enjoyed our ward Christmas party with the Polar Express theme.
The children got to decorate sugar cookies and make their own bell ornament.
There was also face painting and Jasmine decided on a polar bear for her face
and Andrew picked Rudolf the rain deer.
What else did we do? Well, the prego mamas in the ward joined in for a group picture
as there are several of us do in 2010. There will be many little boys born this upcoming
year.
Another party Andrew and I were involved in was Jasmine's school winter party. My
little baker and I made 36 banana chocolate chip muffins for the class early in the
morning plus some chocolate wafers with crushed candy canes. Jasmine was so happy
that we were able to participate and from the class reply I think the treats were a success.

We are all just ecstatic at how well Jasmine competes in chess tournaments
especially since she just started playing this year. She has medalled in both
tournaments in which she has competed this month. She was the only one from
her entire school team that received a medal in the last tournament. Go Jasmine!
I also have to mention how happy Andrew was to see his sister win. He gave her a
big hug and of course he asked if he could wear the medal for a little while. He is
a wonderful brother who never complains about the games being to long. I can’t
wait for him to start soccer this spring.

I love how festive our house looks at Christmas! The tree is magical and the
rest of the decorations and treats just add to the splendor of the holidays. Enjoy!

Our Beautiful Christmas Tree


Our cute gingerbread train

I am so anxious to post pictures with my beautiful Christmas tree but
I don't want to skip on some of the fun stuff we have enjoyed in November.
I am referring at making homemade pizzas with the kids for family home
evening and also enjoying some physical activity at Jasmine's school for
PE night. The kids played tag, had fun with hula hoops, jumped rope etc...
I even jumped rope with the little ones but not for very long because of my
little pumpkin which is not that little anymore. I can't believe that we are
getting ready for Christmas and soon we will enter 2010. I am super excited
for the new year as it will bring us another sweet bundle of joy.

Hooray for crafts, especially when you can enjoy making new ones with
friends. In November some of the sisters from church put together some
wonderful project classes. There were so many I liked that I signed up for
more than the time allowed. I made a picture puzzle, a temple plaque,
two glass-tile pendants (one for Jazzy and one for me) and some cute hair
barrettes/clips. I was able to complete everything during the activity except
the hair barrettes which I have finished at home. I might be addicted into
making new hair accessory for Jasmine. It seems that every piece of fabric/
ribbon I find around home I envision into a a beautiful hair clip. I have made
some cute ones on my own and Jasmine loves to wear them. Just take a look
at how cute they are!

We have enjoyed another Thanksgiving with Jeremy's cousins in Burlington.
There is always such a great spirit of gratitude in their home and the food
was delicious. We feasted, chatted, played board games and later that
evening we returned home. Jeremy and I only got about 4 hours of sleep that
night because he went shopping for Black Friday deals and I started cooking
early in the morning for our own feast for that evening. We had the elders
over for dinner and also our good friends the Outcalts. I have to give a big
thanks to the Clarks for smoking a delicious turkey for us. The meal turned
out just perfect and everyone seemed to enjoy the abundance of food and
deserts. We sent the elders home with a hot out of the oven apple pie and the
Outcalts with a delicious home made pumpkin pie.