The Engstrom Family

Key Lime Cove

2011-09-25T20:35:00.003-05:00

Both Talia and I had the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah off, so we booked an overnight trip to Key Lime Cove in Gurnee. We LOVED it! There are big slides (and one that looks like a toilet bowl), little slides, a giant bucket that pours out water, a lazy river, a wave pool, a regular pool with bball hoops, and a small fountain/small kiddie pool. It also has a few great restaurants and an arcade, which Giana continually called Chuck E Cheese! We were so happy that the Lipani's were there as well and we all had a great time! Here are some fun pics:

playing air hockey...

with Talia

Apple Holler

2011-09-25T20:22:00.005-05:00

We headed back to Apple Holler in Wisconsin for a wonderful day of apple picking and all around good fall fun! We were so happy that the Miller's and the Benko's were able to join us. We had a great time.

Giana, Talia and Taylor

Talia's first bite (her tooth is wiggly, so she has to bite from the side)

Giana's first bite

isn't she so cute?!

The Miller's

The Benko's

me and Giana

Kenny and Talia

Taylor, Talia and Giana

the family by the pumpkins--so cute!

Off to Kindergarten

2011-08-22T22:02:00.010-05:00

Oh my…how did we get to this day?

My (oldest) baby isn’t a baby anymore.

She’s not a toddler anymore.

She’s not even a preschooler anymore.

She’s a Kindergartner.

Talia, you’ve grown up so much! Not just in the obvious physical ways, but you are a girl now. No traces of babyhood or toddlerhood are left in you. You’re a girl now.

So many new adventures await you in school. When you walk out of those doors in June, you will have learned so many things that you had no idea about as you walked in the doors today. And even when you finish Kindergarten, there’ll be even more to learn. There will be so many books to read, so many words to write, so many math problems to solve.

I pray for you this school year, Talia–that you’ll grow smarter in mind and stronger in heart. And through all of this growing that you’ll grow closer to God and that you will feel his love for you in new ways.

Enjoy every day, little one. You were probably more ready for this step of the journey today than I was. I sit here crying and typing while you’re frolicking and chatting. You’ll get me through this somehow.

I can’t wait to hug your little girl body when you leave school every day. I can’t wait to hear all about everything you do each day.

I’m so proud of you, my Kindergartner.

So that my brother doesn't delete my blog...

2011-08-12T15:15:00.002-05:00

SORRY that I have not been blogging. Summer is always very busy and the girls are up later and that means less time for me (if that is possible) and therefore, less time doing things I like to do--like blog about our adventures. So before Eugene deletes my blog from his bookmark bar (like he told me he was going to do...), I am going to try to update you all on important April-August happenings. Have fun!

Wisconsin Dells-2011

2011-08-03T21:47:00.004-05:00

We headed back to the Dells again this year for a couple of days with Grandma Lynne. Auntie Diane was supposed to be with us, but was unfortunately in the hospital. We stayed at the Polynesian and the girls had a great time.

Giana loved the little baby swings

Talia loved the slides and even tried a big tube slides

Going out to dinner

We had a nice few days away...hope to go back to the Dells again next year.

Sweet and Sassy

2011-07-16T21:37:00.003-05:00

A few of my friends from my Tuesday playgroup decided to have a great "girl" day at Sweet and Sassy in Oak Brook. The girls got their hair, nails and make up done, and all had a great time! Here are some pics from the day--so cute!

here's a before shot:
Talia had such beautiful braids in her hair

Giana's turn
mani time

how does she look??

make up time

the glamour girls!!

Happy 4th of July

2011-07-04T21:18:00.000-05:00

Our annual 4th of July party was another success! Thanks to everyone for coming out! Here are some pics of the day...

the weather was great, so we had a slip and slide and a "party pool" out for the kids

The annual hot dog eating contest

the Mollo's

how cute are we?

how cute are they?

the girls stayed up to watch the "scary" fireworks...and neither of them liked the show very much...

Happy 4th! Hope that you all had a great day--even if you were in Canada (hi Eug and David!)

Girls in Stripes

2011-06-24T21:13:00.001-05:00

another very cute matching outfit photo shoot:

Baby Baby Baby--the girls love Justin Bieber

2011-06-14T21:02:00.006-05:00

Just had to share the cutest video of the girls singing along with Bieber.

How cute is Giana as she bobs her little head???!!! And he is now Talia's boyfriend???!!!

I love them so much!

Spray Park Fun

2011-06-07T20:54:00.002-05:00

The girls love going to the spray park. There are 2 pretty close to where we live. We like to go to the one that is next to the softball field where Kenny plays...and we like to go there on Tuesday afternoons and stay until Kenny's game. Here are some cute pics of the girls:

Talia's First Dance Recital

2011-05-22T16:04:00.002-05:00

Talia was so excited to perform her first ballet and tap dance recital on stage. She was so happy to be wearing a red sparkly outfit. She was beyond THRILLED to be wearing make up. She did great and can't wait to do it again. We certainly have a performer on our hands...wonder where she gets it from??? :)

"Master" Fran

2011-05-07T15:55:00.004-05:00

I graduated with my "Type 75" a masters in school leadership and administration on May 7. It was a long awaited day, filled with lot of smiles and even a few tears. Although the program was "only" 2 years, it was not an easy accomplishment. Thank you to everyone (especially to Kenny and the girls) for helping me through it. Thank you also to my family who watched me receive my diploma that day and then helped me to celebrate after with a great dinner at Francesca's. Here are a few pics from that day:

Easter 2011

2011-04-24T15:36:00.005-05:00

We had a great Easter this year. The girls were eager to wake up and find their baskets.

After Church, we headed to Peter and Shari's in Wisconsin for a great brunch with the Engstrom family. The girls love spending time with their cousins. We all had fun decorating cookies and Shari even created an egg hunt filled with coins and chuck e cheese tokens! So cool!

Swim Class

2011-04-23T15:28:00.002-05:00

The girls have been taking swimming class (well Talia has never stopped since last summer, but this was Giana's first class) since the spring and both are doing really well. Talia is a "ray" and was initially scared about going into the big pool, but now she is able to swim all the way down to the deep end! She is so proud of herself.

Giana needed a little coaxing to get into the pool, but is doing well paddling her arms and kicking her legs.

We are trying to get her to put her head in the water, which is not easy for her to do.

Good job Girls!

Talia turns 5

2011-04-20T15:19:00.000-05:00

I actually wrote this post back in April but never posted it. Here is a bit about my "baby" girl as she turns 5! Wow!

-Continues to think of others before herself—great sense of global service and kindness towards others

-Goes into other room to jump up and down when she wins a game, b/c she didn’t want to hurt her dad’s feeling b/c she won a game of Life!

-Wonderful big sister to Giana-pushes her on the swing, shares her treats and snacks, helps her get dressed, sings with her/to her after she goes on the potty, holds her hand in the car

-Major attitude—five going on fifteen!!! She rolls her eyes, and says, “rurh, mom” all the time!

-Still sucks her thumb, although needs to stop, as it is now starting to change the shape of her mouth; when the dentist told her this last Monday, it was so sad to see the tears slowly roll down her cheek; still loves her blankie

-Reading--full on. Picks up new books and reads her little heart out. Although can get discouraged easily, as she feels like other kids can read better, faster, etc…

-Picky eater—likes noodles (but mainly with butter), chicken nuggets, hot dogs, popcorn chicken, jelly sandwiches, fries, pudding, yogurt, many fruits and veggies, provolone cheese, many breakfast foods—muffins, pancakes, waffles, etc. smoothies, milk, and that’s about it…..

-Still loves dresses and getting dressed up

-Is into fairies, barbies, board games (monopoly), still loves to color and do art, activity books, Disney channel

Happy Birthday Talia!

Blankie Ride

2011-03-27T21:35:00.001-05:00

Giana loves going for blankie rides just as much as Talia did. It is so cute to watch her drag the blanket to Kenny and ask for him to give her a ride. She loves it!

St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T21:32:00.001-05:00

I tried to get them both to smile...and this is what I got! Hope that you had a great day!

Still Sweet

2011-03-06T21:29:00.001-06:00

here are some more pics of the girls so sweet and happy--

Sweet Sisters

2011-02-28T21:23:00.002-06:00

sometimes the girls are very sweet to each other...and sometimes they are just sweet!

Giana loves Daddy

2011-02-17T21:38:00.001-06:00

Giana just loves Kenny! She will hug him or kiss him and loves to be held and snuggled by him.

She is really daddy's little girl!

Look at her super cute outfit...I love it!

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T21:16:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to share a few pics of the girls cute outfits for Valentine's day.

Giana was not in a happy picture taking mood,

but Talia was happy to smile for the camera.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Look at Talia's beautiful ruby red shoes...thanks Aunt Shirell!

Tooth #2

2011-02-08T21:11:00.001-06:00

Talia lost her 2nd tooth on the bottom today--but funny enough, the first tooth is already starting to grow back in. Happily, she did not swallow this one and we put it under her pillow with a note asking if we could keep it. The tooth fairy said yes, and gave her $2.

She was late in getting her teeth (about 11 months) and early to lose them!

Snowmageddon 2011

2011-02-02T20:57:00.004-06:00

Giana checks out the snow

Where is our backyard???

The snow hit hard here and it was great to have 2 snow days from it. Although I had to write a paper, the best part was that everyone stayed home on Weds. and we were all "stuck" at home without having to go anywhere as the entire area shut down--it was just so nice to be home during the middle of the week.

Kenny and the girls were eager to get out there to play and shovel.

The drifts were so big (can you see our 8 ft. fence??), but Talia was still able to swing!

Kenny finally at the end of the driveway! Holy snow pile--about 7 feet tall!

Talia looses her first tooth

2011-01-25T20:48:00.000-06:00

Talia was thrilled when she first noticed that one of her bottom teeth was loose. She wiggled and wiggled it until finally it was so loose that it fell out while she was drinking from a sippy cup and accidentally swallowed it. She sadly wrote a note to the tooth fairy which said, "I'm sorry I swallowed my tooth. Here is a picture of what it looked like. Love, Talia" The tooth fairy happily gave her $5 for her first tooth. She happily bought a special wand with it, as the money was burning a hole in her pocket!

How cute is she???

Giana Turns Two!

2011-01-23T20:01:00.006-06:00

It is hard to believe that my baby girl is 2! We are so blessed and lucky to have her in our lives. She makes us laugh everyday! She is so much fun!

Here are a few fun facts about Giana at 2 years old:

**She has lots of words and phrases and repeats everything! Some of the funny things she says are: “I not a baby", "never ever ever" (like never ever ever say that, or tell me no!", "stay over there". She is feisty—has a lot to say—"you not do that…you go time out!" She has a lot of attitude! She is usually so sweet to Talia (and Talia is very sweet to her) and she is a big daddy’s girl—she loves her daddy!

**She loves books—the push button ones, the lift the flap ones, the touchy feely ones, she has a few of them memorized too—Big Red Barn, Dear Zoo, Tumble Bumble, Hug, and many Dora books.

**She loves to watch videos on her “computer” the portable DVD player—recently, she loves to watch Dora, Strawberry Shortcake, and Miss Patticake Easter DVD.

**She counts to 1-13, 15, 16, 17, 19 can id red and yellow, but not consistently, counts 1-10 in Spanish

**She is getting much more picky about foods and likes to sit on you lap to eat. She will eat red meat, sausage, some noodles, bananas, turkey, ham, grapes, and cereal. She is much less willing to try new things now

**She wears underwear most every afternoon and does fairly well—an accident can happen, usually once Kenny gets home! We'll get there...soon!

**She still uses a paci, although we are getting more strict as she can have it in the car an in her crib but not all the time when she is walking around the house; she loves her blankie just as much as she loves her paci—both girls love their blankies!

She is the sweetest, happiest baby girl with a lot of attitude!

We had her 2nd b-day party at the YMCA in the Gym. There was a big bouncy and the kids got to run around the gym playing sports, and jumping til they were exhausted! We all had a great time!

New Years Eve

2010-12-31T22:48:00.003-06:00

We all headed to Ohio to celebrate New Years with Eugene and David. We drove down with my parents, and Mario and Shirell and the boys met us there. We had a great time. We spent an afternoon at the Imagination Station--an awesome children's museum. We all had so much fun.

peek a boo Giana

playing doctor with Zio Gene

clouds

Playing in the sandbox

Then we went back to Eugene and David's place, where they made a great Mexican fiesta!

Look how cute the girls are-

smile

Talia, Ryan and Payton Talia almost made it til midnight...

We stayed over until midnight and then went back to our hotel. We headed to breakfast before heading back to IL. Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T22:10:00.006-06:00

Although we were all still pretty sick, we all headed to Mario and Shirell's to celebrate Christmas with my family. The girls had a great time opening presents in the morning. Giana was just so cute as she gasped every time she opened a present, and then quickly asked, "can you open it?" Talia just loved opening everything and then setting it all out to take it all in!

sitting in their new chairs:

getting ready to go

Shirell made a delicious lunch and then we opened presents!

It is always so much fun to sit around and talk to my family. There is never a dull moment!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T21:55:00.003-06:00

It seems that we can't catch a break around the holidays each year. Poor Giana has the croup, and needed a steroid shot, Talia has a double ear infection and bronchitis and Kenny and I both have sinus infections. UGH!! Because of that, we decided that Giana and I were going to stay home and not venture to Wisconsin to celebrate Christmas Eve with the Engstrom's. Kenny promised to take pics though...

here's a sleepy and sick Giana (and sad Kenny)

Talia and Kenny before they headed north

Talia with her cousins Pierce and Reagan (who hurt her head)

Here's the tree--Santa came!

Hens Holiday Party

2010-12-09T15:23:00.003-06:00

Our Thursday "Hens" playgroup had our annual holiday party on Thurs. Dec 9. The girls got dressed up in their super cute matching Hanna Anderson play dresses (and Giana in her new super cute hat) and off we went to the Lipani house.

The girls brought presents for Santa to bring to other kids who do not have enough presents this year and Talia happily talked to him about what she wanted for Christmas (again). At least Giana didn't cry this time. :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!! We can't wait!

Sweet Sisters

2010-12-06T15:18:00.001-06:00

Look how sweet my girls are!

First Snow!

2010-12-05T15:11:00.004-06:00

The girls had a great time playing in the first snow of the year. We wanted to get out during the day, but the day escaped us and it gets so dark so early these days. It was only about 5 when we went out, but it was already dark! That didn't stop Talia and Giana from having a great time sledding down our front lawn and making snow angels. This was Giana's first time ever playing in the snow and she really seemed to like it.

Back inside--look at their pink cheeks!

Trimming the Tree

2010-11-27T15:08:00.002-06:00

We were all so excited to put the tree up this year. Talia was a great helper and even Giana wanted to help too!

Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T23:02:00.003-06:00

We had a nice Thanksgiving this year at my parents house. The girls had adorable matching dresses. We had a delicious lunch (thanks, Mom) and then relaxed, shared some laughs, played on Aunt Shirell's I Pad, and created our "secret santa" wish lists. The girls had a great time and just love their cousins Ryan and Payton. It is so cute to see them all together. Here are some pics of the day:

Mario and Shirell and Giana:

My parents with Eugene, David and Payton:

Giana recently enjoys putting her fingers in her nose:

Trying to get the grandkids together to take a picture:

and then tickling each other--I love Giana's face here:My sweet family:

The Children's Museum in Madison

2010-11-13T22:19:00.004-06:00

We headed to the Children's Museum in Madison for a day trip to celebrate our friends Alex and Nicholas' birthdays. We picked up Ms. Debbie and Taylor and drove just over 2 hours right to the museum. The museum was great. There are some fun areas:

a baby area:

big riding animals:

paint/spray/clean the windows:

water room:

big slides:

and a big climbing area that Talia was scared to go up at first and then wanted to climb to the top over and over again

After the party was over, we headed to dinner and then drove home. It was a long (but very fun) day!

Playing Together

2010-11-03T22:07:00.002-05:00

The girls are playing together so much more now and are so cute! Talia pulled her stool over to the corner, and Giana quickly followed and they were playing "store". They were so cute!

This is what Giana looks like these days--always wanting her paci in her mouth!

Halloween

2010-10-31T21:43:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful Halloween this year! After a lot of thinking and back and forth-ness, Talia finally decided on being bridal Cinderella. We wanted Giana to be a mouse, but she did not want to have anything to do with the costume, so I bought her a Cinderella dress. They both looked beautiful and enjoyed being outside trick or treating.

Giana loved getting all of the candy and would just try to hold it all in her little hands, or eat it right away. She did not want to put any of it in her pumpkin. Talia tried to used her "princess voice" to say "trick or treat" or "thank you." I was proud of both of them for using their manners. They did a great job.

They both seemed to love giving out the candy too, as they both ran to the door every time the door bell rang. It is better to give than to receive, right?

Fun in the Leaves

2010-10-30T21:33:00.004-05:00

Giana loved playing in the leaves! Kenny would try to rake the "pile" and Giana loved running through them--it was so cute to see her and hear her little giggles.

Didier Farms

2010-10-25T21:24:00.003-05:00

We headed to Didier Farms with our friends this afternoon and had a great time! The girls loved all of the pumpkins and all of the rides. We also enjoyed some apple cider and apple doughnuts--yum!

Country Bumpkin and Carving Pumpkins

2010-10-16T21:01:00.004-05:00

We headed just a few minutes from our house this afternoon to Country Bumpkin--a landscaping store withsome fun kid activities. The girls went through a dark straw maze, jumped on a bounce house with a big slide, searched/panned for "gold", and posed for some pics.

When we got home, Kenny and Talia carved a pumpkin. They had a great time working together and she was so excited to put the pumpkin outside with a candle in it.

We had a great day.

Talia's New Haircut

2010-10-09T23:06:00.002-05:00

The girls and I went into the city so that I could get a hair cut, and the girls wanted to get their hair cut too! Look how cute Talia's short hair is!

Homework

2010-10-06T22:56:00.003-05:00

Talia is enjoying doing some "homework" from my classroom at home. This afternoon, both girls were working on some pages at the same time. Giana is really starting to enjoy coloring, and it is great when we can get her to actually color on paper. Usually, it is the wall, the couch, the table, my computer top, etc...

But look how cute they are!

Apple Holler--Take 2

2010-10-03T22:17:00.005-05:00

We headed back to Apple Holler today and we all had a great time apple picking! There were still so many apples left to choose from, although Kenny did have to climb a few trees to get some apples.

The girls loved picking apples:

and eating apples:

and riding in the wagon:

We also went on a wagon ride, fed some goats, and ran around and played in all of the other fun activities they had.

We had a great family day!

The Kelly Miller Circus

2010-09-25T20:52:00.004-05:00

The Kelly Miller Circus came to Wilmette, right in the back yard of my school. It was great. Giana sat so nicely (most ofthe time) which is an impossible task these days. There were animals, fun acrobatic tricks, music and fire! We had a great time.

Apple Holler--Take 1

2010-09-19T20:41:00.000-05:00

We headed to Apple Holler with the Millers for what was supposed to be a great day...but turned into breakfast and goat feeding b/c of the rain. Oh well. We still had a good time with our good friends.

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-04T19:57:00.007-05:00

We had a great labor day weekend in Ohio! We loved spending time with Zio Gene and Uncle David. We drove in on Saturday and Zio Gene made a wonderful mexican fiesta complete with homegrown tomatoes and other veggies. On Sunday, we headed to the Toledo Zoo and once again had a great time. Giana just loves animals, so it was so great to see the zoo through her eyes. Here are some pics of the day:

On Monday, before taking off, we headed to the Labor Day parade, where VP Biden was out and about shaking hands. While the secret service was a bit scary and over the top (we stood by as the long fast black car brigade sped past us), it was really neat that he came to Toledo and that we were there, just a few feet away from him.

Giana was just waiting for more lollipops. She was really cute!

Here are Giana and I with my brother, Eugene.

We had a great weekend-thanks for having us!

What did we do in August???

2010-08-27T10:32:00.000-05:00

Well, I realize that it is late September and I am have not blogged in a long time. I am sorry! We had a wonderful summer and we were way to busy to blog! I can honestly say that we took every advantage of the summer sun and heat and did not take a single minute for granted. Here is our August (in pictures, of course!):

We spent a couple of days at the beach (both Independence Grove in Libertyville and Gillson in Wilmette). The girls loved it and we even took one of Talia's friends from school with us one day. We all had a great time.

Talia had a vacation bible school for a week. She loved it! She came home singing all of these great songs about God.

Giana wore underwear! While she isn't fully potty trained, she will wear underwear while in the house. She has continued to go #2 on the potty pretty consistently, so I am just waiting for her to tell us that she has to go pee pee instead of us sitting her down every 30 mins or so...but she looks so cute in her undies!

We went to the pool. We took advantage of the "twilight" hours and got in for half price for a couple of hours. The girls love the pool--we'll have to become members next year.

We played outside as much as we could. No heat could stop us!

We spent time with family. Here we are in Wis. celebrating Auntie Diane's birthday. We went to lunch and then in her pool!

And...we went back to school. Here are Talia and Giana on the first day of preschool--Aug 30th.

We had a busy month and I was sad to see it end...

Mad Face vs. Happy Face

2010-07-30T22:30:00.000-05:00

The joy of a four year old...you get some faces like this when asked to smile:And some faces like this too:

I very much prefer the latter!

Wisconsin Dells

2010-07-28T21:16:00.009-05:00

We headed to the Dells for the past few days with Grandma Lynne and Auntie Diane. The girls had a blast playing in the water and we had such great weather for being outside all day! We stayed at the Polynesian. It was great. It had pools and little kid areas both outside and inside. There were some big slides and a lazy river that we had fun on too! Here is day one at the pool:

On Day 2, we went to Storybook Gardens and Timbavati Wildlife Park, where Talia was able to eat with the 3 Little Bears, hang out with Humpty Dumpty, hang out with the many children who lived in a shoe, and go to "school" in a little red school house. We rode a train, fed some animals (including giraffes who have the weirdest feeling tongues), and saw a show with some cool and exotic animals. After lunch, we headed back to the pools to enjoy the rest of the day. At night, we went to a great Italian dinner in downtown Dells, where they make their own pasta...and it was delicious!

On Day 3, we needed to check out at 11, so we headed back out to the pools and enjoyed a few hours together. On the way back home, we stopped at Oscar's (my favorite ice cream place in Waukesha). We had a great get away! Thanks so much to Auntie Diane and Grandma Lynne for joining us!

Professional Pics of the Girls

2010-07-23T21:01:00.004-05:00

While Giana did not really cooperate for many of these pics, we did manage to get some great ones of the 2 of them and individually. I can not tell you how much I LOVE Portrait Innovations and their great work! Enjoy!

Their first dress:

Then they switched to this cute dress:

And finally, their matching bathing suits:

Giana at 18 months

2010-07-23T20:42:00.000-05:00

It seems as though we have another strong willed and sassy little girl on our hands. Giana has become more fun, sweet, lovable and stubborn than ever before. Here are some of my favorite things that she does at 18 months:

-she says “I love you” first (it is so sweet to hear)

-she pats you on the back when you pick her up

-she loves to give hugs and very wet kisses, usually with her tongue

-she loves her sister most of all, and is constantly looking for her and wanting to play with her

-she loves to “dance” by bopping up and down and twisting

-she pinches and throws things when she is angry

-she loves to eat and will eat the meat (chicken, sausages, burgers, etc) before eating anything else on her plate

-she loves purses, babies, cars, coloring and books

-she loves to play in the car and pretend to drive; she also loves to play in the pretend kitchen

-she is talking so much—lots of 3, 4, and more word sentences

-she says “mmm-uhh” for yes a lot and it is so cute to hear

-she can count to 11 and sings her ABC’s

-she knows many body parts and many animal names and sounds

-she loves the park—she especially loves to swing and the slide

-she loves the pool, but not the sprinkler (she does not like the water touching her head)

-she loves to play in the sand and grab water to pour over and over again

-she weighs 27 pounds and is 32.5 inches tall

What a fun, sweet girl she is!

Dinner time

2010-07-22T23:16:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to share some pics of dinner time.

Kenny loves to cook these days. Hooray for me (and us!)

Giana shows us her green goldfish cracker tongue

Talia is posing with her pasta

Giana is getting really good at using a fork

Dinner time is always fun time at our house.

Giana's First Haircut

2010-07-17T22:29:00.004-05:00

We have been talking about getting Giana's haircut for a while now, and we finally did it today--we got some of her curls and mullet chopped off. Talia went first, so that Giana knew what to expect...or so we thought. She ended up sitting in my lap and was doing really well until all of a sudden she needed to turn her head and she began to cry. Poor thing! She did look super cute in the end though!

Trying out which chair she is going to sit in...or so we thought...

getting ready

the clips

the crying

the thumb sucking (even though she does not usually do this!)

after picture--happy with her lollipop

She has become an even more pretty baby girl!

Kenny's Work Picnic

2010-07-16T22:11:00.001-05:00

Abbott puts on a great picnic every year, and this year was just as great. We all had a fun time! The girls wore really cute dresses (of course)

They had good food

ice cream

boat rides by the water

and fun games for the kids

Another fun family day! Hooray!

Talia reads to Giana

2010-07-13T21:47:00.003-05:00

Talia and Giana have been playing so nicely together lately. Talia is the first person that Giana asks for as soon as she wakes up each day. It is so nice to see Giana give Talia hugs. Giana has really been into books lately, and one of their favorite things to do together is read books. It is so cute to see Talia read to her sister.

Here is what it looks like after Giana has been reading for a while--her books are all around her where she was sitting. Cute, right?

Happy 4th of July

2010-07-04T21:10:00.004-05:00

Our annual 4th of July party was another successful event! Talia and I picked out her and Giana's matching dresses in April, and she was counting down the days until she could wear it. I think that it was worth the wait--they were adorable!

The boys enjoying lunch

Cousins

popsicle time (outside!)

After watching the annual hot dog eating contest on TV, the guys thought that it was a good idea to start one here too...Tony actually dipped his hot dog in water (just like they do on TV) and finished his hotdog in just about 40 seconds. He is the "Top Dog" until next year!

We tried to get a family pic...these were the best that we could get:

And with my parents going to Italy soon, they wanted a Mollo family pic--wow there are a lot of us!

The night ended with fireworks--it was a great day to be with family and friends!

Mundelein Days

2010-07-03T20:39:00.003-05:00

We headed to Mundelein days for another carnival and fun times. The girls are becoming pros at riding the rides and going to carnivals. For some reason, they get a lot of attention from others...and they LOVE it!

Talia enjoyed riding the motorcycle

Giana stuck to the purple car

Me and Giana

Talia took a solo ride in the teacups

and then went down the slide all by herself too

Kenny and Giana

After we grabbed some dinner, we walked over the park to run around. Giana loves to swing with her head leaning back. It is so funny!

Talia poses for the camera.

Even though it was hot, it was a fun family time!

Giana at 17 months

2010-06-23T16:55:00.002-05:00

Giana continues to grow and change and talk more each day. She loves to play in the pretend kitchen, play with babies, carry purses, color/scribble, play in the pool (but not the sprinkler), swing and go up and down slides at the park, and hit/pinch her sister! She is definitely starting to become more assertive with Talia, and with us. She will hit and pinch and throw things or knock them over when she does not get her way. She is also starting to throw herself back or lay on the floor when she is having a tantrum. It is pretty funny to see her so assertive with Talia, but not so much to see her with us. Hello Terrible Twos! (Talia always hit those benchmarks at the half year, and it looks like Giana is doing the same thing too!) Talia is a great big sister though and will just yell for us to help her--she will not hit her back.

Giana's language continue to grow: she is becoming so well mannered, saying please and thank you without needing to be prompted, no thank you, help, let's go, I want some, outside/inside, upstairs/downstairs, and randomly saying I love you! It is so sweet to hear.

She is loving books and has a bunch of them memorized. Some of her favorite books are the touchy feely books from Usborne, That's not my...., Eric Carle's Have you seen my cat?, and Oops David. I love that she loves books so much. Talia is even starting to read to her, as they both sit in the rocking chair. It is so cute!

Giana was not so cooperative during this photo sessions, so here's one of her standing.

Father's Day and the Libertyville Days Carnival

2010-06-20T21:38:00.006-05:00

Happy Father's day to all of the wonderful dads out there. We had a wonderful family day, which began with the girls sleeping in until 8:10 am! I bought the girls "Daddy's Little Princess" shirts, and I thought that today was the perfect day to wear them. Look how cute they are:

After Giana's nap, we headed to the Libertyville Carnival and we had so much fun. Giana experienced her first ride (other than a carousel) and just loved it. Her sweet giggle while riding on the cars was such a great sound. Just look at how happy she is:

OK...this car looks cool...

wait..it moves!and I can push buttons and play with the wheel...this is SO MUCH FUN!!!

Waiting to get back on the car ride.

Talia and Kenny went down the big slide and then Talia wanted to do it by herself...twice. I can't believe how independent she is sometimes.

Here we are on the carousel. Poor Giana would cry after she got off every ride. She loved the rides so much.

Libertyville Parade

2010-06-19T21:25:00.004-05:00

We headed to the Libertyville Parade today. It was a great parade, with lots of bands, politicians, and these super huge animal balloons controlled/held on to by 8-10 people. It was pretty incredible.

Talia loved grabbing all of the candy that they were throwing out and Giana sat so nicely in her stroller just taking it all in.

Grandma and Auntie Diane came in this weekend too!

Talia was tired by the end of the very long parade.

They're Dressed in Yellow

2010-06-14T20:35:00.001-05:00

Here are a few shot of Talia and Giana coordinating in yellow. Giana did not want to sit so we kept trying to tickle her and take a photo before she would lay down and try to get off of the couch.

Giana on the phone

2010-06-08T20:50:00.002-05:00

Giana loves the phone. She will put many objects to her ear and say "hello", although it sounds like "heywo". Here she is talking to Kenny on my cell phone. We were waiting in the car for him to get to On the Border (a great Mexican place) for my birthday dinner.

Talia was fast asleep, while Giana was talking away.

Beautiful Girls Wearing Butterflies

2010-06-07T20:15:00.005-05:00

I loved these matching outfits, so I made the girls sit for another photo shoot. They are going to hate dressing alike one day, so I am milking it right now!

this one is like a model pose:

Most of the pics turned out like this--where one of them looks great--

Here is my new favorite picture:

I really have beautiful children. I am so blessed!

Mustang Day

2010-06-04T20:06:00.002-05:00

Today was Mustang Day at school, our field day. And today, Talia and I were the ones who matched! So cute! It is fun that we go to the same school...most of the time.

Talia rides her bicycle

2010-06-01T22:19:00.004-05:00

Talia has just learned to ride her bike (with training wheels). She continually wants to go outside to ride. She is allowed to ride around the cul-de-sac and does a great job. Maybe there is a benefit to living in the suburbs...and doesn't she look so old in these pics?

"See--told you I could do it!"

Giana and I were playing with bubbles on the driveway. She is so curious about everything--she is at such a fun age!

Her smile makes my heart smile!

Look at these cute toes!

Princess Ballet Finale

2010-06-01T21:59:00.003-05:00

Talia finished another session of Priness Ballet and once again, we were allowed in to watch all that she learned this session. Although she was not feeling so good, and was very hyper during the class, she did great! She loved her princess ballet class!

Stretching her toes...

Big stretch

marching across the floor

Giana LOVED watching all the girls dance. She kept trying to run out on the floor!

she picked this pretty dress during dress up time

at the end of her class with Ms. Wendy and other friends

Pool time

2010-05-28T21:53:00.002-05:00

The girls have been having such a great time with the warm weather. We set up the mini pool and they just love to play in the water. Here are some cute pics:

Kenny joined in too!

Giana at 16 months

2010-05-23T21:56:00.003-05:00

The days have flown by since last month, and Giana continues to amaze me with all of the new things that she says and does each day. She is almost poop potty trained. She will tell you when she has to poop and I'd say that she goes on the potty about 50% of the time (or she will tell you just after she has gone...) We'll work on that more this summer. Can't wait!

Giana has the sweetest and softest voice when she talks and sings...but NOT when she is screaming on the way to school everyday! She loves to sing now. She'll join you in singing Happy Birthday or the ABC song, or Old McDonald had a farm. She is constantly chattering. She is counting to 10. She will name many items including paci, bear, shoe, purse, cup, ball, car, bankie (blankie), key, geese, phone, baby, etc. She loves babies and playing in the pretend kitchen. She loves to talk on the phone. She loves to walk around with keys and purses. She loves animals and calls them all "baby." Earlier as we walked to the park, so saw some ants on the ground and she leaned over and said "hi baby" to them. It was pretty cute!

She loves to give hugs and kisses and will say "ahhh" when she hugs you and "mah" and smack her lips together to kiss you. It is SO CUTE!

She continues to eat and sleep well. She loves meat--especially "ha dogs" and "chickie." (hot dogs and chicken) On the weekends now, she will sleep from 7:30 or 8 to 6:30 or 7! Hooray. It has taken a while to get here, but it feels good to sleep in 'til 7, and sometimes later, if Kenny lets me! You can't help but laugh and smile when Giana is around!

Milwaukee Zoo Trip

2010-05-23T21:22:00.001-05:00

We headed to the Milwaukee Zoo today as the weather was a hot and humid 88 degrees. It was actually a great place to be in the heat, since you are in and out of air conditioned buildings most of the time. Peter, Shari, Pierce and Reagan met us there and we had a great time.

First we saw the penguins.

Then we saw the apes/gorillas.

Then we saw the fishes. This big guy passed right in front of Giana, and she hardly flinched.

Talia loves Pierce. They are pretty cute together.

Here's sweet happy Gigi.

Here's sweet happy Reagan.

They had a petting/feeding zoo. Talia did great feeding the goats. Giana...not so much--and she LOVES animals.

Here we are on a train ride around the zoo.

We had a great family day. I am looking forward to many more fun family days this summer.

Giana and her purses

2010-05-18T22:33:00.002-05:00

Giana just loves purses. She is drawn to them. Wherever we go, she will seek out a purse and try to walk away with it. She will put as many of them on her arm and *try* to walk around with them. Here are a few pics of the happy girl with a few purses.

Reagan's Baptism

2010-05-09T22:13:00.005-05:00

Reagan (our niece) was baptized today at St. Joe's Church in Waukesha. We were just a few minutes late to the 9:30 mass, so we ended up sitting in back, which gave Talia and Giana all the space they needed to run around and distract everyone around them.

David and Crystal (Kenny' s brother and wife) are Reagan's godparents.

Peter, Shari, Pierce and Reagan

Crystal made these cakes--amazing!

Kenny and Talia--so cute!

Happy Mother's day to me--I have the best girls in the world.

Here' s one of my presents--the girl's hand prints fall right onto my boobs as I put this shirt on--it is pretty funny!

Bath (and Shower) time

2010-05-06T21:52:00.003-05:00

Giana loves her bath time and Talia has been into taking showers all by herself these days. While neither girl loves to have her hair washed, the both love playing in the water. Here are some pics of sweet Giana after bath time...

Here a "clean" one of Talia in the shower.

Happy Baby Girl

2010-05-04T21:47:00.001-05:00

Can she be any happier??? She is just edible!

Payton's First Communion

2010-05-01T21:27:00.003-05:00

Payton (our nephew) made his First Communion today and it was a great ceremony and celebratory party.

Look how cute Payton is all dressed up

The Mollo Family

Shirell had a great face painter, and we all got our faces painted. It was great to have your "make-up" done by someone else!

Talia's Swim Class

2010-04-24T21:02:00.002-05:00

Here are some pics of Talia's swim class this spring. This was her first class without Kenny

in the water with her. She did a great job as a "sea horse" and has now graduated to a "turtle". We have to decide if she will take the next one this summer or not. Here are a few fun pics of my little sea horse.

Giana wanted to get into the pool to swim with Talia. She was so cute!

Giana at 15 months

2010-04-23T21:49:00.003-05:00

At 15 months, Giana is just so fun! She is talking so much and has such a sweet little voice. She has the best manners. She will say "bless you" after a sneeze, says "peeze" and "tank oo", and says "he-wo" (hello) or "hi" and "ba-bye" when entering or leaving the room. She will also pretty much repeat anything that you say, and her initial response to everything is "NO!" When she does not want something, so will say "mama" and hand it to you--she does this to both Kenny and Annie. She loves to give hugs (and will say "ahhh") and open mouth tongue kisses. Fun! She loves purses, keys, and any kind of musical instruments. She loves to dance and bobs up and down to any kind of music. She is walking with much more confidence, and she is getting very fast! She likes to go up the stairs and has started going down too...although she thinks that she can go down facing forward. She likes to climb onto everything! She also is starting to sing her ABC's and can count from 1-10 (although she skips four sometimes). She loves to read books now, and her favorites are the touchy-feely ones. She especially loves the one called "Little Feet Love" and touches all the touchy-feely things with her little feet. It is so cute! She loves to try new foods and loves all things meat! She is really a carnivore right now...let's hope that this continues. While she may continue to wake up at 5:30 am some days (thank goodness the 4:30 wake up is over!), she will call out to both Kenny (Dada) and me (Mom, Mommeee, Mama), and even call for Talia (Ta-we-ya) when we don't respond. Then as soon as you go in to see her, she will throw herself back down on her mattress and play a little game of "I-am-not-going-to-get-out-of-my-crib-right-now!" It is very cute! She loves drinking out of cups with straws and anything in a glass bottle (like a beer!) What a fun toddler she is!

Talia turns 4

2010-04-20T22:31:00.010-05:00

Talia turned 4 on April 20--it is hard to believe that my baby girl is 4. While I am happy to have the "terrible three's" (3 is MUCH more terrible than 2) behind us, I am finding it hard to believe how much more independent, intelligent and considerate she truly is. Talia is able to do most everything for herself and by herself. She can get dressed, brush her teeth, get herself food and water, play and do many other things all by herself. She enjoys taking her Princess Ballet class, gymnastics and swimming. She is starting to sound out words and really has begun reading. She also loves to write out all of her friends names, the grocery list and just spell random words--and she is a pretty good speller. She is getting really good at addition math facts and can tell you what numbers add up to be...and pretty quickly. She is in tune with her body, as when she draws pics of people, she adds their "privacies"--a line for males and squiggles/curls for girls. It is pretty funny! I'll have to take a pic of her picture next time she does this. She is such a great sister--she is helpful, loving, and so sweet (most of the time) to Gigi. It has been great to watch them really start to play and interact together. She loves computer games, like Pajama Sam, reading books, listening to music, all things princesses (still), and her favorite TV shows these days are Fresh Beat Band, I Carly (which she watches at Annie-our sitter's house) and Olivia or Angelina Ballerina.

We had her 4th b-day party on Sunday, April 18 at Chuck E Cheese. It was really a great place to have a party. Everyone seemed to have a great time. Here are a few pics.

and we here are back at home opening presents...

On Monday, April 19, Annie took Talia and Sarah back to Girlfriends in Winnetka for a mani-pedi. Talia has been to this place once before, and it is great! (it is a beauty salon specializing in kid mani/pedi's). Very fun!

Here is Talia getting her super cute strawberry on her toe nails pedi.

Giana can't wait to get a pedi too! Just a few more years....

Drying off the mani...

so happy back at home...

I also was able to leave my class for about 15 mins to celebrate her actual b-day with her in her classroom on April 20. We picked out very special flower cupcakes from Jewel and all the kids happily sang to her in her classroom. She was very excited!

Happy 4th Birthday, my sweet Talia.

Easter

2010-04-06T21:51:00.002-05:00

We had a great Easter this year. The girls were so excited to find the eggs that the Easter bunny hid, which led to their baskets.

They loved opening their presents! After church, we went up to Wisconsin, where Crystal made a delicious brunch.

I just loved the girls dresses this year and I really loved their bows!!!

Kenny and Giana--so cute!

Giana loved chasing around their 2 doggies, Frank and Seeley, while Talia spent most of her day coloring, or hiding eggs for Pierce (our nephew).

Here is a pic of the 4 kids--Pierce, Reagan, Talia and Giana.

Mundelein Egg Hunt

2010-04-05T21:54:00.002-05:00

The Mundelein Egg hunt was held on Good Friday, April 2. Even though it was cooler and a quite windy, the girls and I had a great time racing to pick up eggs.

Giana was excited to grab a few eggs and shake them, but she was pretty content (and cute) holding her basket too!

Talia on the other hand, ran out to the middle area and picked up the eggs as quickly as she could.

She was so proud of herself after she grabbed all of the eggs.

She wanted to stop for a pic with the Easter Bunny, but Gigi did not want to have anything to do with him.

Here is a pic of the 3 of us--I told you it was windy!

Talia's Princess Ballet Class

2010-04-05T20:49:00.000-05:00

Talia has been taking Princess Ballet class for the past 8 weeks. Here are some shots from her last class on March 23. Seeing 8 little girls in their tutus and tights is so cute!

They first start with stretches.

Then they dance around, gallop, and do some turns. I love when they flexed their foot to gallop and chanted "look how pretty my foot looks!"

Then they listen to a story about a princess.

Then they dress up in different "princess" dresses and dance around some more!

Giana loved watching all of the girls "dancing" around. So cute!!!

Giana at 14 months

2010-04-04T21:38:00.004-05:00

14 months...the days are just going by so fast. Gigi is learning new things every day and is SO MUCH FUN!!! She is smart, funny, happy, and sensitive (she will cry/whine when Talia does).

Her language is just exploding. She will repeat everything and say new words daily--some of her new words/tricks are: wow, cookie (she'll consistently repeat this--cookie!!!), peas (please), yuck, pizza, hot (in a whisper), no, go, wawa (water), boo-yaa, goggie (doggie) and OK; she knows what a duck, cat, dog, cow, horse and sheep say; she blows kisses and gives lots of raspberries on your cheeks and arms. She also needs to know where "Taya" (Talia) is at all times. She is constantly saying her name. She even calls for her in the morning--usually after calling for "Mommeeee" and Dada.

She is also trying to bite to be playful--I think more-so to get a reaction, and there is certainly always a reaction to a bite! When she is done with food, or a toy, she just throws it--fair warning if you are around her while eating or playing. She is walking more--I'd say definitely more walking than crawling now, and is getting better at turning corners and stopping to pick things up without falling over. She likes to play with rubber balls and can kick them too. She kicks with her right foot (unlike T who kicks with her left).

Her sleep has been better since the time change, waking somewhere between 5:30 and 6:30, although she continues to call out some nights around 3 or 4. I do not go in to see her, but it is enough to wake me (and usually Talia) up. Giana is becoming more picky about food--she does not like cheese anymore, nor does she like pizza, quesadillas, strawberries or cantaloupe. She used to love those! She does love meat--chicken, hot dogs, burgers are her favorite meals. She will also eat eggs, waffles and goldfish snacks.

Chocolate Face

2010-04-04T21:33:00.003-05:00

On March 20, Giana had her very first oreo and loved it-a little too much. Here are some great pics. I especially love the last one...

Bring on Spring....

2010-04-04T21:29:00.002-05:00

Back on March 19, it FINALLY hit 60 degrees...so we could not resist an hour or so at the park...here are some fun pics...

Girls shoes

2010-04-01T22:22:00.002-05:00

here is what our house looks like with little girl shoes all over the rug--I wouldn't have it any other way...

Our little artist

2010-04-01T22:17:00.003-05:00

Talia's fine motor abilities are definitely a strength of hers, so I just wanted to share a cute pic that she drew on March 15 on her little magna-doodle. She said that it was a pic of her--I love the details of the curly hair and ears. Too cute!

Riding in Cars

2010-04-01T22:00:00.004-05:00

Giana loves to play in the basement b/c of this riding car that we have down there...so on March 13, we decided to bring it upstairs and Giana could not have been happier! Just look at her face--priceless!

Giana Poops on the Potty

2010-04-01T21:34:00.005-05:00

No, I am not YET potty training, but Giana has pooped on the potty a few times, and this time, I grabbed the camera. For clarification, she is 13 months (these pics are from March 12) and grunts when she is going to go, so I grab her and place her on the potty. Sometimes we make it in time, other times we don't. We are just exploring...

She was so happy to hear the music go off when she actually pooped in the potty.

Talia thought it was stinky...but then was so proud of her little sister!

Cute girls in vests and denim skirts

2010-04-01T21:06:00.004-05:00

Here's another super cute photo shoot. I should mention that Talia picks out both her outfit and Giana's outfit too. On March 8th, Talia wanted to wear a vest with a denim skirt but before her final decision was made she asked if Giana had a vest to wear too. Such a thoughtful sister!

How Cute is Giana?

2010-04-01T20:54:00.003-05:00

Giana is really so cute--she is happy, silly, sweet and is usually in such a good mood (except when we are in the car). Here are so cute pics of her on March 4 while she was eating some goldfish as a snack.

And here's where she realized that she had a bow in her hair. Oh no!

Photo Shoot-March 3

2010-04-01T20:49:00.003-05:00

Cute sisters in matching outfits--

Catch up

2010-03-23T20:24:00.004-05:00

A lot has happened in March and although I haven't posted, I will be on Spring Break from work and school next week, so I will catch you all up on everything soon. I did want to let you know that Giana is walking! She started on March 2nd and really hasn't looked back. She walks for longer periods every day and is so proud of herself! Here are a few pics of the proud girl.

Happy Birthday Kenny!

2010-02-28T22:00:00.006-06:00

We celebrated Kenny's 35th birthday today by going to Talia's friend Taylor's 4th birthday party. It was at the same place that Giana had her b-day party--the Carousel room at the Elk Grove Village Park District. We really love that place. Taylor had a "clown" making really cool items out of balloons (Talia got a ballerina)

They also had a face painter. Look how beautiful Talia's butterfly face is.

The girls had a great time riding the carousel, eating a ton, and playing in the play area.

When we got home, we sang Happy Birthday to Kenny with a cherry cheesecake.

Happy Birthday to Taylor and Debbie too!!!

Giana at 13 months

2010-02-23T21:46:00.001-06:00

Wow—this month has really flown by! Giana is 13 months today and it seems that the past month has been a whirlwind. At 13 months, Giana is still not entirely walking on her own, and now it has become a game to have her walk between us and watch her give up trying and just fall down and crawl away as fast as she can! She is sleeping much more soundly, usually waking up around 6, with an occasional 3 am wakeup call (where I sleepily leave her be until she falls back to sleep, usually within 15 minutes) as well as the occasional 7 am wakeup call on the weekends. (it is those times, however that Talia seems to wake up around 5:30 am—I just can’t catch a break!) She has an amazing mouth of 11 teeth, and 3 of her molars have just come up. She is talking a lot more and especially seems to be saying ends of words more clearly. Some of her new words include: “Nick”, “Sarah”, (2 of Annie, our sitter and friend’s kids), “hi yo”, OK, Ja-na (for Giana), and “nana” for banana. She has learned to shake her head no and swat items away. She also knows some animal sounds: “mmmm” for cow, “oof “for dog, and “mow” for cat. She knows where her eyes, nose, ears and head are. What a smarty pants! She loves music, and is starting to finish the ends of songs, like the Hokey Pokey—that’s what it’s all a—and she’ll finish with “BOUT!” She loves to dance and bobs up and down. It is so cute! She is loving food too—and is trying everything. She loves chicken and hamburger. She has also loved quesadillas, applesauce, olives and of course pasta. She now drinks only from a sippy or straw cup (no more bottles) and the transition has been fairly easy. Hooray!

Chuck E Cheese

2010-02-20T21:51:00.000-06:00

We headed to Chuck E Cheese today, and we had a great time. We have not been there since a b-day party in Sept, and we should really go there more often, as both of the girls love that place and it is pretty cheap. Yes, I said both girls--Gigi loved being there today. She loved seeing Chuckie, dancing up and down, pointing at him, and riding all of the rides. Fun times!Talia and her friend Taylor on a "roller coaster" ride.

riding with the Tellitubbies--are they still on TV?Hi Mommy!

February...

2010-02-19T16:38:00.007-06:00

I am sorry that I have not posted in a while...my new class (I am getting my masters in Administration, if you don't know) is kicking my butt and I have just been so busy! But I do want to share some pics so far in February.

Giana loves purses. She will hook any purse onto her arm and crawl away. It is so funny. She has also started to take some steps on her own, but still toward something, like the couch or one of us. When she falls, she just continues to crawl.

It is very cute!

Giana now sits forward in her car seat. She has never loved being in the car and we thought that since she was 1, now she would be able to sit forward facing and all of our car screaming fits would be over....we were WRONG! I think that she just doesn't like to be tied down....

I went to a Creative Memories Regional Convention with my newest team member Debbie (hooray!) and saw a great little movie clip that included some tips on taking pictures. I tried them out with Giana and I think that I did pretty well. She is a beautiful model, though...

Talia had a 102 fever for 5 days, with really no other symptoms, so that was a hard week for me and Kenny. We were alternating days off, which was not fun. When we took her into the doctor, Talia had developed a cough and continued with an ear infection. She was placed on a nebulizer and an anti-biotic. Talia was a bit scared of the nebulizer, but when I showed her the album from 2008, where she had already been on a nebulizer b/c of pneumonia, she was not scared anymore. Plus, she gets to watch some TV (and wear a princess dress) while she is taking her "breathing medicine." It seems to have helped her cough, thank God!

Gigi likes turning the machine on and off.

Valentine's Day was fun! Talia loved her class party and getting chocolate and cards from all of her friends. The girls wore the cutest Hanna outfits...

I think that you are all now caught up to date! Phew!

Professional Pics

2010-01-24T20:37:00.004-06:00

I just wanted to share some of our favorite professional pics that we had taken at Portrait Innovations. They always do such a great job!

We did a family picture too. These are the super cute color coordinated outfits that we wore to Giana's birthday party.

Talia wanted to take some pics with the bears. Cute, right?Then we thought, oh, let's get Giana in some too...bad idea!Woe to her...I changed Giana into her Birthday girl shirt and she posed like this all by herself.We also did some cake shots--Gigi loved the cake!

Happy First Birthday Giana!

2010-01-23T20:53:00.001-06:00

It is amazing for me to believe that Giana is 1, but she is! Even though I cried (just a little), I am feeling pretty good about having a 1 year old. She is just getting to be so much FUN! She is really starting to pick many new words and is seeming to understand everything—from where is your head, ears, eyes, mouth to where is Talia, Mommy, Daddy, Annie (our sitter and friend), Gunner (the dog), the balloon, the ball, the cark the piano, etc. It is amazing. She is constantly chattering and her favorite question is “is it?” while she points her little pointer finger. She wants to know what everything is—it is very cute! Other words include: Mommeeee (which is cute, but it is usually in the middle of the night when she wants to party at 3 am!), uh-oh (when anything drops on the floor, which is especially nice when we are walking in the mall and something falls), annie, hi, bye-bye, ni night, up, owie (as soon as she falls, or hits her hand, head, or is doing something that she does not want to do, ie-have her diaper changed…etc), and recently NO! And speaking of no, she and Talia have had a few screaming matches now that Giana is getting into everything and and soon as she does, Talia wants whatever it is. But even though Gigi is smaller, she has grabbed Talia by the arm and pulled on her hard enough to knock her over. FUN TIMES! She is also blowing kisses, clicking her tongue, and clapping. She is trying lots of new foods like soft carrots, peas, blueberries, strawberries, breads, cheese, chicken, pizza, and pastas. She loves to try to walk or pushes objects (usually chairs) to help her walk along. She will take a couple of steps on her own, but that is only towards me or Kenny or the couch. She has not taken the full plunge yet. She loves to play with shoes, purses and chairs. She usually crawls along with a purse around her arm, and like to crawl and stand on chairs, and has learned to sit herself back down in the chair so her little legs hang over. She especially loves the rocking chair and will seat herself down and try to rock it, saying “rock, rock” (or more like rot, rot) She is a climber! She will lift herself up onto anything she can. She has even begun to push the chair close to the couch to climb onto the chair and then climb onto the couch, a trick that she has learned from her big sister. She loves to open and close drawers, cabinets, flip phones, etc. She enjoys pushing buttons and seeing what happens—she is really starting to get cause and effect. While she has pooped on the potty a few times now, there really hasn’t been much consistency. I do notice that she will grunt and then we run to the potty with success, but sometimes she goes in the morning when I am at work. I will definitely be working on this spring break and then the summer.

For her birthday, we tried to go to Olive Garden, but the wait was too long, so we ended up at Jason's Deli. Giana loved the noodles, crackers, corn muffins and ice cream at the end. When we got home, we wanted her to have her special cupcake (that I got from our friends Matt and Cassie's baby shower earlier today). She did not want to go in to her high chair...But after we sang to her, she was calmer...Then she realized that eating cupcake was fun!
And...then she was done!Happy, Happy Birthday, my sweet baby girl. I love you!

Walking with a walker toy

2010-01-22T21:15:00.003-06:00

While I would have thought that Giana would be walking by now, she is getting better at pushing her walker toy with a more controlled stride. And while you can't necessarily see that she is walking very nicely in a picture, please just take my word for it, as I think that these pics are so cute!

Giana's First Birthday Party

2010-01-17T20:36:00.002-06:00

Giana had a wonderful first birthday party today. We rented out Jumps and Jiggles/Carousel room at the Elk Grove Village Park District, invited our friends (there were 114 people--55 kids, give or take...) got a crazy huge horse cake, and had a great time! Just wanted to share some pics of the day.

Gigi loved to run around and climb in Jumps and Jiggles

Here's the delicious cake from Deerfield's and Giana's smash cake

Here's a pic for perspective, as I don't think the other pic does it justice...

Riding the carousel

With Annie, our sitter and great friend

with my baby girl

Uncle David, Zio Gene, Aunt Shirell, Zio Mario, me, Kenny and Giana--thanks for driving in and for coming to help celebrate!
Singing Happy Birthday
Smash cake

It was a great day and great party. Thanks for celebrating with us!

Talia in Gymnastics

2010-01-12T22:14:00.003-06:00

Talia started a gymnastics class at the Wilmette Park Ditrict in October to help her become less fearful of heights and hopefully become a bit more coordinated. (She's kind of like a bull in a china shop sometimes...I think that she get that from me!) She loved it! She has had 11 classes and today was the last class--look at all the great things that can do now:

she can walk on a low balance beam

she can walk on a high balance beam

she can swing on the rings

she can flip

I am so proud of her! Next class is Princess Ballet--should be so fun!

Gigi's Front Teeth

2010-01-10T22:07:00.003-06:00

Gigi's front teeth are really starting to come in...and much to our surprise, she also has a gap between them. Hmmm...we've been telling Talia that her gap is from sucking her thumb, and we've gotten her to say that she will stop when she is 4. (don't tell her!) Is it a genetic thing? Kenny thinks that he had a gap between his front teeth. Good thing she is still so cute! Here are a few funny face pics: