Let's go fly a kite!

What a beeeeee-utiful day we had today! The temps hit above 80 degrees! Kenny was able to come home early and we all went to the park and then played in the backyard for a while. Here are some pics of Kenny and Talia flying a kite...it was pretty windy, so the kite got up there, and unfortunately stuck in the little tree we have back there too. Good thing Kenny is tall!

Giana is 3 months

Giana is 3 months today! Why does it seem that this time has just flown by? What does a 3 month old do, you ask? Well....she is starting to recognize us and our faces and sounds, she will smile often now and make lots of sounds herself--I swear she said "hi" to me one morning at 3:30 am this past week, she puts up her hands to swat Talia away when she comes too close (which happens often), she is getting stronger with her head and is able to hold it up for longer periods of time, she is pushing back away from your chest as you hold her to look at you, she is getting on a sleeping/eating schedule, she is rolling from her tummy to her back more consistently, she is moving backwards while on her back, and she is awake for longer periods of time, which means more fun for all of us, especially me! As with Talia, I am taking pics of her on the 23rd of every month to see how she grows in comparison to the little bunny stuffed animal. She is really a beautiful little girl, although I am a bit biased!

Happy Birthday Talia!

An ABBA song has been playing in my head all day long..."Slipping through my fingers all the time, I try to capture evey minute, the feelings in it..." Each year, Talia's birthday makes me cry. I am so happy that she is getting to be a big girl...I am so sad that she is getting to be a big girl. Within this past month or so leading up to her being 3, we've had some tough times and some not so tough times. I think that it should be the "terrible three's" not "terrible two's!" She has been much more defiant and more independent. She is starting to say "no" and stomp her feet. She is talking back. She is wanting to lose her nap, which makes her really pleasant around dinner time. But then, she wants to help cook. She wants to help change Giana's diaper. She loves to sing and cuddle on the couch. She is "reading" books to Giana. She is saying phrases like "not really", "just a second" and "you're a jokester." She will say "I love you" first. I really work hard to be the best mommy that I can be..to be present and available to her when we are together. To not be distracted with other house things like laundry, cooking, cleaning...just look at my house! I want to play with her every day and never look back and say, I should have... These days go by way too fast...and I hope to enjoy every minute. She is slipping through my fingers every day. Happy Birthday, my big girl! (insert hormonal tears here!)

Anyway...I took the day off from work and we had a great morning with our friends at Jumps and Jiggles in Elk Grove, where we love to ride the Merry-go-round.

Then we headed to Mc Donalds for lunch, play group at our house and then to dinner at Olive Garden--Talia's favorite (next to nuggets and chocolate milk from McDonalds.) Talia loves the pasta, the breadsticks and will even eat salad! We had the waiter and his crew sing "Buona Festa" to her and bring her some ice cream.

She was so excited! It was a busy but fun day!

Almost 3...

If you ask Talia how old she is, she will reply "almost 3". We had Talia's 3rd birthday party this afternoon. It was CRAZY! We had 80+ people (including about 35 kids) and we were all cooped up inside due to the lovey rain that just wouldn't stop. Ugh!

Talia has been so excited for a few weeks for her "Princess Party" and got to open one of her presents this morning--2 princess costumes, one of which she could wear to the party. She chose a pink Aurora costume (no surprise there), but only wanted it on for about 20 mins.

We had a great face painter come and I had bought some crowns that the kids could decorate. The kids did great waiting for their turn and many kids got more than one arm/cheek painted. So fun!

Giana loved being passed around and had the cutest onsie which said "Princess in Training" on it. She even got her leg painted with "I heart Mom". So cute!

I think that everyone had a great time, despite being over crowded. We sure did! Thanks to everyone for coming out and helping to celebrate!

(**Side note--Happy Birthday to Zio Mario and Megan, both who I know have checked out my blog!)

The Big O!

So guess where I went this morning??? I am lucky enough to be friends with Erin, who got 4 tickets to see OPRAH! I have been so excited for weeks! While getting there is not easy--I woke up at 3:45 to get myseslf beautiful and we were in line outside Harpo studios at 6:30 am, and while we didn't get to see Tom Cruise jumping on the couch (or any other celebrity for that matter), it was AWESOME! Don't get me wrong, you do wait forever before going into the small studio--it honetly looks so much bigger on TV--but it was fun to meet new people and people watch all of the different types of gals that come to the Oprah show. Some of the cast members of Mary Poppins were audience members and they did some dancing and even sang "Super Calla Fraga Listic Expi Alla Dotious" for us. Very fun! I wish that it was a better show--we saw Heroes during Hard Times (no air date yet) and it was about average people doing above average things for other people. We had to bring in a new pack of sheets for one of the organizations who gets sheets donated from hotels for families in need. That's right, we had to bring something to Oprah! Oh well...we did get a free years subscription to People magazine, so that was cool. It was great to see Oprah, although she kind of gets pushed around on stage by the producers. She wore a light green top and jeans. She was cute and would share stories during commercials, like one where she told us that her first car was a maroon Chevy Chevette and she saw one of them in the city a few summers back. She got so excited to see her car that she rolled down her window and said to the driver: "I love your car--that was my first car!" and to her surprise, the driver flicked her off. The driver must have thought that she was making fun of him! Ha Ha! I am exhausted, so I think that I am off to bed! Thanks to Erin for a great morning!

Happy Easter!

Talia was super excited to wake up early (when the sun gets up) and get some presents from the Easter bunny, which included Pocahontas on DVD, a princess magnet book, a wooden egg and bunny to paint, and of course, chocolate.

After church, which we celebrated in the foyer area of St. Joe's (along with hundreds of other families) we drove up to Wisconsin to be with Kenny's family. We were so happy to see Grandma Ann one last time, before she passed away earlier today.

The girls did great and looked so cute in their matching dresses.

Where are the eggs?

Tis the season for Egg hunts! On Thursday, my "Hens" playgroup had an egg hunt in Xavier and baby Nate's backyard. Talia and all the other kids couldn't wait to get back there to find all of the eggs.

Super fun!

This morning, we went to the Mundelein Park District, where we joined hundreds (literally) of other families waiting to "find" some eggs that were thrown around the grassy field.

It was so cold out this morning, so I am glad that it was over fast!

Poor Giana was all covered up...this is all that you can see of her!

Talia's First Manicure

Talia was super excited that Annie (our friend and sitter) painted her nails for the first time. And what color do you think she chose? HOT PINK!

When I came to pick her up after work, she ran to the door to show them off. For hours, she was afraid to touch anything, fearing that the polish would come off.

Annie didn't paint her left thumb nail, as she sucks her thumb...maybe it will persuade her to stop.

Giana's Baptism

Giana is officially a member of the Catholic Church. On Sunday, Giana was baptized at St. Joe's in Libertyville. She was such a trooper and did not even cry while the water was being poured over her head. She looked so beautiful in her baptismal gown, which was the same one that I wore (and Talia wore too!) Her godparents are my brother Eugene and Kenny's Auntie Diane, who is also Kenny's godmother.

After taking some pics at the church, we headed to Ristorante Bottaio for a delicious lunch, followed by an even more delicious cake from Deerfield's Bakery.

Even though the weather did not cooperate (we got several inches of snow the night before), we definitely counted our blessings. We are so lucky to have had so many people share in Giana's special day.