I LOVE my Girls!

I love having two girls! Although I do like to dress them in the same outfit or dress (when I can find both of their sizes...rare!), I mostly try to dress them in complimentary or like colors/outfits. Today, we went to our friend Caila's first birthday party and Talia wore a brown and pink polka dot corduroy dress with leggings and Giana wore a pink and creme polka dot corduroy dress. Super cute!

She likes it!

Giana has proved to really enjoy her cereal. She is getting rice cereal in the morning and oatmeal cereal for dinner time. We have learned that she likes it warmed up, and these days she is even opening her mouth to get more. She sits either in her bouncer or in the Bumbo on the table, so she is sitting a little more propped up--we are not quite ready for the high chair yet...I am sure that will start before you know it. Here are some pics of the first cereal time and one taken last week.

Giana at 4 months

Giana was 4 months on Saturday and we had our 4 month check up with Dr. Chen yesterday. Gigi is doing great--she is perfect and healthy. She is long and lean--weighing in at 12 pounds, 12 ounces (which is the 25th percentile) and is 25 inches long (which is the 75th percentile). She is now starting to be on a schedule, both with napping and with eating, and we are looking forward to starting to give her cereal this weekend. She is really starting to "react" when you talk to her--she will imitate some sounds and copy your facial expressions (sticking out your tongue, opening and closing your eyes, and repeating oohhs and ahhhhs--I've even heard a "mamama" or two in there in the midst of a cry!) She will also turn her head very quickly when she hears one of our voices--it is very funny to see her whipping her head around to see where Talia is. She is consistently rolling over from her belly to her back and is almost there to roll from her back to her tummy. She is grabbing objects in front of her on her mobile, her bouncer, and is starting to grab my necklace, earrings, hair, etc! She is giving the best belly laughs and loves to "sing along" with us. What a fun, sweet baby girl we have. We are so lucky!

Giana gets her ears pierced

Big girl Giana had a major milestone today as we went to David's Jewelry shop in Glenview and pierced her ears. She cried for about 20 seconds for the first one (the left one) and then calmed down and only whimpered for the right one. I think that she looks super cute!

Big Sister and Little Sister

I just wanted to share some pics of what the girls wore to a b-day party this afternoon. Talia's shirt says "Big Sister" and Giana's says "Little Sister". So cute!

Doctor, Doctor

Talia and Giana are really starting to interact with each other. Giana is starting to make lots of sounds and is smiling and laughing at everything that Talia does. Talia pulled out her doctor kit today and Giana was her sick patient.

Giana thought it was great!

Talia's First Pet

We had a great time at our friend Xavier's camping themed b-day party today. His mom was very creative with tents set up, a big sand box with worms, bug juice and the kids even got to go "fishing" and then we got to keep the goldfish! Lucky us! (please note the sarcasm) Talia first decided to name it Xavier but then she kept hearing the others call thier fish "Dorothy" (as in Elmo's goldfish). But since T doesn't watch Sesame Street, she has no clue who Dorothy actually is. She has been calling it "Dorkey". Ha ha! We did end up going out and buying an actual bowl and another goldfish too. So now we officially have a "Dorkey" and "Xavier" added to our family...hopefully not for long.

The Wilderness in Wisconsin Dells

Just wanted to share a few pics of the girls as bathing beauties having a great time at the Wilderness water parks. In one park, there was a huge bucket that would fill up with water and tip over every few minutes that initially Talia was scared of, but by the end, she would lay in the water underneath it and let it splash all over her.

She and Kenny are actually laying in the water here! That's Russell, Rachael, Eugene, Ryan and Payton too!

So fun! We also went to another water park there that had a huge green house like roof, so it was warm and sunny (84 degrees, it said) and they advise you to put on sun block, as you can get tan! Giana and I took a little nap, while Kenny and Talia were riding the waves in the big wave pool. It was a nice and relaxing way to spend Mother's day. Happy Mother's Day to all!

Russell's Graduation

Congratulations to my brother Russell who graduated from St. Mary's University in Minnesota. My whole family drove up to Wisconsin Dellls and stayed at The Wilderness (which I definitely recommend!) and then commuted to Winona for his graduation on Saturday. Here are a few pics of the family.

Swim class

Talia and Kenny have been taking a swim class this spring and Talia is getting really good at jumping in the water. She is still a little leery about the water touching her face, but hopefully Kenny will break her of that....as he likes to pull her underwater! She doesn't make too much of a fuss, though.

Professional Pics

The girls had their professional pictures last Tuesday. I am a big fan of Portrait Innovations at The Glen and have been taking Talia there for her professional pics since she was 6 months old. I need to keep up with the tradition of going every 3 months for Giana too! I am determined to take as many pictures with her as I have with Talia. They did some pics together and some separately. Here are some of my favorites! Enjoy!