Came home to a Christmas surprise!

We are finally back home after being homeless for 2 days.  Thank you to the Boddens and Oldhams for letting us stay in your homes while this madness got fixed.  I am glad that, although Gianna kept us up for hours into the night, neither of you heard her cry.  I think that little girl is relieved to be back in her crib!  And Nola is relieved to have us back for good!

When we came home yesterday to put the tree in the house, I found a package from my parents in the door.  My dad had told me it was coming and to not open it until we could all Skype.  So, this morning, after a quick breakfast at Einstein's Bagel shop, we Skyped while opening our package.  I was so surprised by what I found!  They had wrapped up about 10 gifts for us, including Sparkling Cider (my favorite!), a movie "Evelyn," Christmas PJs for Gia, a Christmas dish towel, a tin filled with Kit-Kats, three Christmas CDs, tinsel for our tree, chocolates, a candle, and a Christmas picture of my parents.  My favorite part, though, was the fake Christmas letter my dad wrote about our "amazing accomplishments" from this year... you know, those letters that people send out to brag about how wonderful their children are and the amazing family vacations they took.  By the way, I like getting and reading those letters, but it's just a joke between my family.

 

 

I miss my family all the time, but it's especially hard at Christmas.  My parents and I love to make cookies, decorate, listen to our favorite Christmas music, watch Home Alone, plan our our Christmas Eve menu, and tease each other about how we didn't get anything for the other person.  I am thankful for Skype and cell phones, but it's still not the same.  I am just pretending that Christmas is not the 25th this year, and that it will be Christmas day when we are with our families.  However, Bobby is being so sweet by listening to the music with me, putting up the tree, and teasing me about my gifts.  It is special this year having Gianna for Christmas, although she will be way more interested in the wrapping paper than anything else!  Still, what a joy to have this little baby this year at Christmas!  Last year, Gia, you weren't even showing in my belly, and now you light up the room with your smile.  How blessed I am!

 

 

Crazy Wind Storm!!

So, two nights ago we had a huge wind storm here in Utah.  I woke up (actually, Gianna woke me up) to howling winds and a car alarm going off.  I was thankful that we were safe and toasty in our house, although I was not thankful for having to be awake to feed the baby... her schedule has been off since getting back from South Carolina.

Then, around 9am, I heard this loud popping, cracking noise coming from outside.  I thought the shingles were coming off the roof or something!  I kept checking the front yard for damage, and then the back yard to see if the giant trash cans had been hitting the house.  Nothing seemed wrong.  So then, I went to let Nola in, only to find her cowering by the back door whinning.  I looked up and saw the power lines behind our house zapping the trees like a giant bug zapper!  I let Nola in, and then the power went out.

 I called the power company, who said that they would give me an automated call to tell me when our power was estimated to come back on.  2 1/2 hours later, I hadn't heard anything from them, so I called back.  Turns out I didn't get a call because they had no idea when they would get around to turning our power back on!  They had 28,000 customers wtihout power, and we are apparently at the bottom of the list.  

So, here we are, the next day, sitting at Starbucks because we have no power and no heat.  Poor Nola was by herself again last night (thank you Valerie and Larry for letting us stay over!).  We are hoping to be back in our house tonight, but it doesn't look good.  At least I hadn't had time to go grocery shopping yet, so we won't lose any food in the fridge :o) 

Thankful for our Thanksgiving Vacation!

I dedicate this blog to Rebecca Stephenson, because she inspires me to do this by doing her own blog diligently!  

We were so blessed to go home for the holiday and see BOTH sides of our family!  Thank you to the Woods for collectively helping us make the trip (financially).  It was a well-needed rest time for us to:

Sleep in while Bobby's mom watched Gia

Go on a REAL DATE! while Bobby's parents watched Gia (we played putt-putt)  

For Bobby to play a LOT of X-box with his brother Josh

Fo rme not to cook or do laundry (thanks Mama Faye!!)

Gianna was off her schedule a bit, of course, because of the 2 hour time change.  She thought that 11:30pm was really 9:30pm, which meant that I was up very late every night because Gia doesn't always let anyone else but me put her to sleep for the night.  But, like I said, after feeding her in the morning and hanging out with her for a little bit, someone else in the family gladly took her off my hands so that I could sleep.

Uncle Josh had a blast hanging out with his neice, and Grandmama and Granddaddy had melted hearts all week.  Here's some proof.

We spent Thanksgiving at the river house, eating great food (BBQ, Turkey AND Venison!), and then Bobby, Josh and I braved the crowds on Friday to get some good deals.  Not as good as I had hoped, but my Christmas shopping is pretty much done, so I was happy.  Then on Saturday my parents came up on their way back from Florida and stayed for a couple days.  I'd like to think they came to see me, but as you can see from these pictures, that's probably not the case :o)

I have so much more to say, but I'd rather break it up into multiple blogs so that you don't have to read it all at once.  I hope you all had a special Thanksgiving and were able to spend it with family.  We charished our time in South Carolina and are looking forward to spending more time with our families again at Christmas.

5 months and sitting up!

My baby hit 5 months on Halloween.  I can't believe how fast this past month has gone!  It has been a good month, except Gia has been a bit difficult in her eating habits, and she stopped sleeping through the night.  I don't know why she went from sleeping 9-10 hours to needing to wake up for a feeding, but I am making the best of it.  At least I am blessed enough to not be working at this point so that I can sleep in a little if neccessary.

 

Gianna started sitting up for a few seconds at a time a few weeks ago.  She could sit on soft surfaces, like a bed, but not on the floor.  And then on Sunday I placed her on the floor, and she sat up for a long time!  Now she can sit for long stretches by herself, although I put the boppy pillow around her so that if she topples over, she won't bonk her head.  She is doing so well and she enjoys sitting up.Here are some pictures to prove that she can do it :o)

 

The weather has gotten colder here, so Mom and I put Gia in her snow suite today.  We took a walk with Nola down to the park, and she stayed nice and toasty.  She looked awfully cute, too!  She has outgrown all of her hats, so it's good that the snow suite has a hood!

Rice Cereal, yummy!

Gia has officially started eating rice cereal.  Originally I was told by the doctor to wait until 5 1/2 - 6 months, but she wasn't gaining weight for about a week, so the doctor's office suggested that I go ahead and start her on it.  She only eats it once a day, and it's only about a tablespoon of cereal, but hopefully it will help her gain some weight.  

I know in the pictures it looks like she doesn't like it, but this is what happened:  Gia was crying as we put her in the Bumbo seat, and then Bobby started snapping pictures right away.  As soon as she realized she was getting food, she cheered up and enjoyed it.  So, although it looks like she is miserable, that was not the case.

It was SO much fun to feed her!  She is hilarious to watch!  I love seeing her open her mouth for the spoon, blow bubbles in the liquidy-cereal, and then make faces as she figures out how to swallow it.  We look forward every night to feeding her.

Fall Time!

It's finally Fall, and finally getting cooler here in Utah!  I love the cold weather, although trying to keep socks on Gia is a challenge.  I have already bought Gia's Halloween costume, which is some kind of fairy dress with a pretty head band, for $10 at Kid-to-Kid (a local children's consignment store).  I would love to be a crafty mom who makes her child's costume, but I've never learned how to use a sewing machine, so I had to buy her one.  She will look cute, though :o)

Gia is now rolling from side to side, and from her tummy to her back.  We are trying to give her lots of practice sitting up by using the walker-play station and the Bumbo (a great little seat that supports her back and allows her to sit up) so that she can build up her muscles and sit up soon!  She is starting to drool and chew on things... could we see a tooth soon?

Gia is a very happy baby!  Things started out tough, with the acid reflux and the torticollis (a stiff neck muscle), but her neck is now doing great, the reflux is gone, and she sleeps 9-10 hours at night!  I truly love being a mom and staying home with her.  We have created a sweet bond with each other, and I can't imagine a better feeling.  She sure loves her Daddy and saves special smiles just for him!  Bobby soaks it all up; he is smitten with this little girl!

6 Weeks Old and Learning to be Parents

Well, our little girl is 6 weeks old today!  She is growing so fast, I can't believe it!  She started smiling last Friday, and so now we make funny faces at Gia to try and get her to smile at us.  Bobby is proud that he got the first smile (I got the second).  It was hard after all of our family left.  My mom had been with me for a month since Gia's birth, so I had a small meltdown for a couple days when she left.  But, thanks to the support of friends, neighbors, and Bobby, I am getting the hang of this mommy thing :o)  She now weighs 8 lbs 8 oz, which is a weight gain of over 2 lbs in a month!  Yep, she's definitely Italian... she knows how to eat.

Being parents is an amazing gift.  It's a lot of work, attending to her needs and trying to decide what the cries mean.  We are so blessed to have a healthy baby girl, and we pray that we will be the spiritual examples that she needs.  I pray that God will draw her to Himself and use her gifts/talents to further His kingdom.  

Gia with our Doula and friend, Jennie.  

Forth of July family picture.

Gia smiling at her Daddy!