Happy Birthday, Gianna Grace!

Our baby girl is one year old today!  I can't believe how this year has flown by, and how much we have loved it.  Gia is a social, happy baby with a llittle bit of drama mixed in (especially if she's hungry or tired).  She loves to babble, but the only words we can make out are "Uh-oh," "Hi," and occassionally "mama" and "daddy."  She sometimes makes the "puh" sound for "puppy," but we haven't heard the actual word yet.  You're cruising, but not walking yet... I think it's right around the corner, though!  You love to eat "chubby bunny" style, and the sippy cup is still more of a toy then a cup.  You love to blow kisses and wave "bye-bye," and we are just dying for you to give hugs! 

Gia, you are deeply loved.  As you grow up, remember that you have love and support from us, your aunt and uncle, your grandparents, great-grandparents, great-uncles and aunts, second cousins (and one day, cousins), church family, many friends, your dog, and most of all, from your Heavenly Father, who created you to be just who you are.  

You will make mistakes in this next year, and I promise to be patient as you learn new things and try out your independence.  I promise to let you grow at your own pace and not compare you to any other baby.  I promise to love you with whatever personality, talents, interests and faults you develop, and (Lord willing) I promise to be here to help you grow in the knowledge of the gospel, so that you can know true love, peace and forgiveness.

We love you so much, Gianna Grace.  You will always be our first little girl, with a special place in your Mama and Daddy's hearts.  I will sadly miss your baby stage, but I am so excited to see you as a toddler!  Thank you for being an amazing daughter.  We wouldn't trade you for the world (not even for an Abbott's)!

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Getting messy isn't always fun

Our friens Laura took pictures of Gia for her first birthday.  Laura has a special eye for photography, and she & her son Blake were excited to come with us to photograph Gia.  They brought all kinds of objects, like a tamborine, so that Blake could get her to smile.  I got the "smash cake" idea from my friend Kelli Esler (she did the same thing with her girls), so I bought a $2.50 oversized cupcake at Smith's so that we could have some fun.

Gia's first reaction was to grab the decoration on top.  She had no initial interest in the actual cupcake.

Then, the disaster happened.  Gianna swipped her foot across the top of the cake, covering the foot with icing.  She felt extremely violated by this icing, and proceeded to tell us so with an angry cry.  

It was cold and Gia wanted milk, not cake.  But in the end, we finally helped her understand that she did want cake, by feeding it to her.

By the end, she got into it and enjoyed eating the cake.  I got the blue icing so that it would show up well in the pictures.  However, this meant that she ened up looking like a smurf.  But a very cute smurf!  I hope that this was good practice for her so that when she eats her real cake on her birthday, she will know what to do with it.  Thank you Laura for capturing these memories for us!  They are priceless!

Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Vacuum?

When we first got Nola, she would pee and poop all over the floor everytime I turned on the vacuum cleaner.  Until about 6 months ago, I always put her outside when I vacuumed.  For some reason, Gia is also afraid of it!  She cries and cries when it's turned on.  It's really hard to find time to vacuum now... I don't want to wake her when she's sleeping, but I can't vacuum when she's awake.  What to do??

So yesterday, since Bobby was home, I thought that I would try to vacuum while he took care of her.  But when I turned on the vacuum, Nola jumped on the couch for saftey, and Gia began to cry.  Bobby took her out of the room, and Nola followed.  After I vacuumed a bit, I looked into the kitchen and found this:

Our poor, scared little girls.  I don't know if Nola will outgrow her fear, but I sure hope Gia does, because I plan on passing this chore off to her!

What's In a Name?

Dear Gianna,

I wanted to blog about why we named you "Gianna Grace," so that when you read this one day, you will know just how special the name is to us.  I found the name Gianna, and I loved it because I thought it sounded sweet and feminine.  I was also drawn to it because it is an Italian name, and I wanted you to remember your Italian heritage.  

I wanted your name to have a special meaning, or at least to know that it wasn't a terrible meaning.  So, I looked your name up on the internet.  

Gianna" means "God is gracious".  Gracious = getting good things that we don't deserve.

When I shared this meaning with your dad, he fell instantly in love with your name.  He said that "God is gracious" has been the theme of his life.  God has given him so many blessings and good things which he didn't deserve (he included you and me in that list of things).  Despite our sin, God continues to give us good things.  God doesn't owe us anything, but out of His over-flowing love, He gives us these things.  Always remember how deeply your Father loves you.

As far as "Grace" goes, it of course continues with our theme of how gracious God has been to us.  But also, I just loved the way it sounded with "Gianna."  So, you're not named after anyone in particular, but your name is there to remind you of the goodness of God, as well as your Italian roots :o)    

Expect the Unexpected

Sometimes things happen, and they take you off guard.  Most of the time, I panic initially, but the situation ends up being fine in the end.  So, first up was that my Corelle Ware plate broke.  I mean, broke into 20 pieces.  I am really good at chipping my "pottery" plates.  I'm not sure how it happens, because I try to be careful with them, but inevitibly I end up chipping them.  I have also broken a number of glasses in my lifetime, so we don't bother having nice china or anything around the house.  But, I have never broken a Corelle ware before, and honestly I thought it was impossible.  This stuff is supposed to be indestructable!  But in Lindsay's kitchen, I guess everything is fair game.

So I was washing the dishes, and I had the plate in the sink.  Above it, I was washing a bowl, and it slipped and fell on the plate.  I mean, we're talking maybe 3 inches above the plate, and it shattered!  Really?  How does that happen?

Then, Gianna broke into a rash on Sunday night.  We got home from church and she was broken out on just one side of her face.  Bobby's mom suggested that it could have been a reaction to someone's perfume or fabric, and after giving her a bath, it got much better.

Despite the look on her face, she wasn't in any pain or itching at all.  It looked worse than what the picture shows... her ear was bright red, and she had the rash from under her eye to under her chin, but only the left side of her face.

Then on Monday, when we got back from the gym, she had broken out all over her body.  There were red areas on her legs, arms, back and face.  It almost looked like mosquito bites because there were raised, white areas within the rash, but I knew it wasn't a bug bite.  

So after talking to my mom, Bobby's mom and our friend Jennie, we decided it must be either a reaction to strawberries or a heat rash.  And then, after further experimenting with being in the car, I think it is heat rash.  I hate that she will break out like this everytime she gets hot, but hopefully when her sweat glads develop, it will stop.  I panicked for a while, calling everyone I could think of to give me advice, but in the end, she was fine and the rash was not a major thing.  Thank you, Lord!

 

Here, Piggy Piggy!

I love to watch Gianna eat.  The faces she makes and the way she shovels food in her mouth just crack me up.  She grabs food in both hands and puts in one fistful after another.  And this kid can pack it away!  She's almost at the point where she needs her own kids meal at restaurants.  If this is any indication of how she'll eat as a teenager, Bobby's going to have to get a second job.  

She does go through moments of not really wanting to eat much and then of being really hungry.  Right now she's eating pasta, carrots & celery, BBQ chicken and pears.  Nola sits patiently at the base of her highchair waiting for Gia to drop food, and I let her because it's less clean-up I have to do.  I usually let Gia eat naked because she makes such a mess, and then I can just wipe her down!  But for this video, we kept her shirt on for good manners :o)

This was her first taste of mashed potatoes (aka: potatoes with spray butter), and she loved it.

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Special Moms

Happy Mother's Day... a little late.  Bobby and I were SO busy yesterday, I didn't have time to blog (we knew we would be, which is why we celebrated Thursday night).  But I still want to write about how awesome it is to be on the other side of Mother's Day.  I am used to celebrating having a mom, but it's crazy that now I am a mom!  What a gift Gianna has been in my life.  I feel fulfilled in being her mom and taking care of her (although my true fulfillment is in Christ... this is just an "overflowing" kind of fulfillment.)  I feel so blessed that God would be gracious to us and give us this baby girl to play with, love on, lose sleep over, and see grow.  I love being her mom!

And I know that I couldn't be a good mom without my mom.  She just seems to know everything, like what to do when Gia is sick or how to cope with not getting enough sleep.  She encourages me to put off doing the dishes so that I can play with Gia, and she never makes me feel guilty for doing "dumb mom" things (like bumping Gia's head).  Mom, I love you as many stars are in the sky.  I couldn't be a mom without you.  You are my example and I thank God for you daily.  You are the best mom in the world!

I also happen to have the greatest mother-in-law a girl could ask for.  She is patient, kind, faithful in prayer and faithful to the Lord.  She can make and fix ANYTHING with a needle and thread, and is always cheerfully willing to sew the clothes that I save for her to fix.  She calls me when she know's I'm having a hard day or when Bobby goes out of town, just to make sure I'm okay.  I know she misses us, so we are just waiting for her to move to Utah.  

We're so grateful to have wonderful moms!  We don't take it for granted... we are reminded all the time of how blessed we are.  We love you!