Oh how we love our Luciana!

Oh Luciana....our little love!

We welcomed this sweet baby girl on April 26, 2014. She came a bit early, very excited to meet all of us, I'm sure. She had no idea how excited we were to meet her. I was blessed to be with Amy and Sam through the labor and delivery and watch my little love come into the world. The experience was amazing. Amy was amazing. The fact that we fell absolutely instantly in love with that wet, squishy little ball of wonderful was amazing. And we fell hard!

The whole family was camped out in the waiting room waiting to find out if the baby was a boy or a girl. Yes, they waited until the birth. I know everyone finds out while pregnant (Nicholas and Amanda waited as well), and the "reveal" parties are pretty popular. But wow, there aren't words for the feeling to find out at the birth.

Amy and Sam are such incredible parents. Watching my baby girl become a mom has been such a life changing experience. I am touched just watching her love her baby. She finally knows how much I love her!

And we are so in love with this sweet girl. She has the sweetest personality, the sweetest face...so petite and delicate. Oh, and she is yummy and delicious and smells divine. I just can't get enough!

Oh Luciana Josephine Funari...we love you to the moon. You melt my heart and I love you!!

The Little Things

The further I get in this journey called life, the more I reflect on the roads I've taken. I haven't always taken the easiest of paths and I haven't always made the best decisions. We do the best we can, most of the time, and all any of us really want is to be healthy, happy and live with few regrets. I have some regrets but I also have a long list of things I am proud of, things that I am happy and content with.
Life is so full of change. And I for one want to embrace each new season of life with grace and thankfulness! That sounds amazing and impressive...now if I can ever really get there even I would be impressed. But I am trying.

One of the things that I want so much for my children is contentment. Having grown up with a Dad who was never content or happy where he was in life left me so unsettled but determined to take a different path. I wanted to grow up and just be happy with where I was and with what I had. I credit any success I have had in this area to my great grandmother. She was a country gal who really had very little she could call her own, but she was the richest person I knew. She lived with few regrets (she always told me to be mindful how I treated people so I wouldn't regret it later), and she honestly never complained (other than her back aching).

I have tried to pass some of what she taught me to my children. I want them to love the life they have and be thankful for each day, and be happy with the small things.
It really doesn't take much to make me happy. Richard and I laugh all the time about how silly we are. Sitting on the porch in our rockers watching cars drive by (yup, exactly what old people do), driving into Starbucks for a latte (which we did today), mowing the yard, taking a trip to Dairy Queen...pretty boring to others but highlights of our simple life.
 Of course now we take longer rides to southern Maine to see our kids and our yummy grand babies. It may not cost much, but it is priceless.

 I want to look out over the ocean and remember how big God is and how big his mercy is for me. I want to watch my children with their children and smile as I remember all those years ago when I dreamed of these days. I want to remember the hard times with a thankful heart because we made it through. And I want to enjoy the little things in life...because quite honestly, they are the big things!

My Sweet Gabriella

Just when I thought life couldn't get any better our sweet Gabriella was born ~ October 28, 2013.




Nicholas and Amanda didn't find out what they were having...they wanted to be surprised! But for some reason we thought they were having a boy. I will never forget the look on Nicholas face when he came through the doors from the delivery! He said "its a........girl"  We all just looked at him for a few seconds! But I think he was just as surprised! She had a full head of black hair and the sweetest little face! We fell in love instantly!

                                    
Dear Sweet Gabriella,
You make my heart sing
Your smile melts my heart...every time
 I love you!!!!