17 months!

Gianna will be 17 months tomorrow (Halloween)!  I haven't done a great job of keeping track of when she's done new things lately, so I'm going to make a list of her all the things she's learned.  Bare with me...

Gianna can say between 25-30 words

She can show you where her: nose, eyes, tongue, mouth, hair, ear, belly, foot/feet are.

She knows where her poo-poo is.  Thanks, Uncle Josh.

She learned to say "no" about a week ago... we battled it for about 4 days, and it seems to have passed for now.  Thank goodness!

4 teeth came in within a month.  She has another one (the big one on the top) trying to come through, and it's almost there.

Her hair has grown a lot

She is still picky about eating.  Sometimes she will eat a good bit, and sometimes I am struggling to get her to eat anything.  She is also not predictable... she will gobble down carrots at dinner, and then refuse them the next day at lunch.

She drinks her milk well.  It's the only thing that keeps her from being skin and bones I think.

Gianna, you love your vitamins!  You always ask for more.

Still isn't into the TV, so Bobby and I are able to watch our programs, like Revolution and Gilmore Girls.  I wonder how long it will last.

She LOVES her shoes and socks!  She used to hate them, so I'm glad she wants to wear them now.

Bubbles are her FAVORITE thing.  She asks for them all the time.  She says, "buh-buhs."

Gianna loves bath time.  She likes to play with the faucet, but she doesn't like to lay back and have her hair washed.  She says, "ah dun,"  which means "all done."  

As long as I don't dry her clothes in the dryer, she still wears 12 months.  But she is growing and it won't be long before she's in 18 month clothes.  

She has discovered the hamper in the past couple days.  We've been finding random dirty socks around the house lately.

She likes to play in the dog's food & water bowls.  Not sure what to do about that one.  I'm just hoping her interest passes eventually.

Gianna's walking is getting really good.  She walks best without shoes.

She started singing while we were are Bobby's parent's house.  And when we sing "Twinkle Twinkle," she says, "up above" in the right place.  She also says, "up above" when she wants me to sing it.

Her kisses used to be opened mouthed & up to our cheeks.  Now she just bonks heads with us.  Thanks for teaching her that, Valerie :o)

Books are still a favorite thing.  She loves to turn the pages.

Her most favorite toy is this soft bear made of Alpaca fur.  Bobby got it for her in Peru.

She weighs 22 lbs now.

You're a blessing, sweet baby!  I love each new stage that comes!

I Won the Bet

When Bobby and I think differently about a fact, we tend to make bets.  It's all in fun, especially when I win.  This time we bet on of one of Gianna's outfits.  I said that it was long sleeves and Bobby said that it was short sleeves.  Of course, I won.  The deal was that if I won, Bobby had to go out and get me ice cream and then watch 2 episodes of whatever show I wanted.  So, on Thursday night he went to Smith's, got me low-fat Death By Chocolate, whipped cream & hot fudge so that I could make a sundae.  Then we watched my favorite episode of Gilmore Girls (Love, War and Snow) & an episode of 19 Kids and Counting (which we both fell asleep during).  It was a really fun night.  And the fact that I won the bet made it even better :o)

For the record and so that Bobby gets some credit, I still owe Bobby a movie for a bet he won a while back :o)

Fall Photos & Uncle Josh

Uncle Josh came to visit us this week.  It's been really great having him here, and Gianna loves having her uncle around to play with!  I'm am totally out-numbered when it comes to the TV, which means that I've been watching football all day today, but he also takes my side on everything because he enjoys messing with Bobby.  So, overall, a good trade-off :o)  Seriously, though, we love having him here so much that we're trying to convince him to move to Utah and help us plant our church.  Gianna is the bait most of the time.

I asked the guys to take Fall pictures, and they kindly agreed.  It's not Bobby's most favorite thing in the world to do, but he never complains and he dresses up and shaves just for me.  He's such a great husband :o)  Josh was also really great about it, and he took a nice picture of our family.

I took pictures as Bobby and Josh had a leaf fight with Gianna.  She had so much fun!  I got some leaves in my hair also, but mostly it all went on Gia.

Here are some that I took of the guys with Gia.  I want to have lots of visual memories of the sweet times Bobby gets to spend with his brother.

Here are some of Bobby & Gia and me & Gia.

Gia wanted my bow... well, it's really her bow, but I wanted us to match :o)

And I can't leave the post without putting up some pictures of Gia in the air.  I never get tired of them!

Fall is probably my favorite time of the year.  I love Christmas, but there's just something about the weather turning colder & the leaves changing that makes me feel cozy and safe.  We're definitely taking advantage of it today... we're going to watch the Gamecocks play LSU at 6pm and have cider & doughnuts.  Yum!  Happy Fall!!

Flyin' High

Gianna's new favorite thing is for Bobby to launch her in the air.  When she was younger and he would lift her really high with one hand, I panicked.  But now, it's so much fun to watch!  Here are some shots from this afternoon.  Note her facial expressions and the beautiful fall leaves in the background.  Fall is here!!

Gianna amazes me with her ability to follow directions and understand what I'm saying.  For example, she learned a couple days ago that when I say, "let's change your diaper," she walks into her room where her changing table is.  Also, last night when I said, "Okay, it's time for night-night.  Let's get a book and your paci," she walked into her room, got a book off her shelf and then reached for where the pacifier always is.  Amazing!!  She also learns new words almost everyday and can obey other "commands" we give her, such as, "go get that_____."  Fill in the blank with toy, milk, cheese, blanket, shoe, etc...  FYI, I know every parent thinks their kid is amazing, but I'm really just writting all this so that I can remember when she learned this stuff and how I felt as she was learning it.

Our friends gave us this stand-up sand box, but they suggested that we could also fill it with water.  So, we did!  And Gia had a blast with Bobby while playing in it and getting wet.  Bobby said she wanted to sit down in the water, so needless to say she was soaked.

Another fun fact:  we have added "cleaning up" to our bed-time routine.  Last night I decided that it was time for her to start picking up toys (actually, I probably should have started about a month ago, but I kept forgetting), so we put her toys away together before reading her bedtime story.  Okay, so it was more me picking toys up and Gia putting them way & taking the back out again, but oh well, it's the habbit I'm trying to focus on and instill.

Also, we got her crayons and coloring books at the dollar store so that I could follow the doctor's directions and get her coloring.  She does more licking the crayons than coloring with them, but that's okay.  She seems to like it for a short while, but it's not as much fun as being tickled or chased, or even playing with the jack-in-the-box (a favorite game!).  I think her gifting might be in music more than art, anyway, but you never know.

Gianna Grace, you're growing so fast!  What will you get into next?

Blankets & Hiding Places

Yesterday we noticed that Gianna was starting to carry things around with her... mostly a blanket or stuffed animal.  She particularly loves the stuffed animal (we think it's supposed to be a bear) that Bobby brought her back from Peru before she was born.  She holds it under her arm and keeps it close as she walks all around the house.  She also has a couple of blankets that she loves to carry.  It's about the cutest thing ever.

Today we were all in the living room hanging out after dinner, and Gianna began opening the doors to the entertainment center and pulling things out.  Then she tried to stick her leg into the shelf, and then the rest of her!  She can't fit in it, but she was so cute trying!

As Gianna keeps getting bigger and doing new things, I want to cling more to her babyhood than ever.  I think that especially since I began working, I feel like the time is flying by too quickly and I don't have the time to really soak it in.  I'm glad I really like my job, otherwise I think I'd cry everyday as I think about missing out on watching Gia grow!  I am so thankful for the 14 months I had with her at home, and I hope that we find ourselves in a place where I can be home again with her at some point.  But we are blessed with a healthy, happy girl, and I'm just enjoying every moment I can with her!

It's "New Things" Day!

Our day has been so fun and eventful!  But first, here's a recap of our 15 month doctor appointment we went to on Monday:

Weight: 21 lbs (25%)

Height: 31 1/4 inches (45%)

Head: 45%

So, looks like she grew a lot, gained weight well, and her body is finally catching up with her head!  She got 3 shots (one was the flu shot), and the lady went fast but made her bleed more than I would have liked.  It was Bobby's first experience with watching Gia get shots, and he was SO sad for her.  He scooped her up once they were over and held her close.  So sweet :o)  And I didn't have to be there all by myself!  The doctor was impressed with the fact that Gia says 10+ words, plus a two-word phrase, but said that we needed to be teaching her how to color.  Really?  I had no clue, I'm new at this stuff.  

Okay, on to today.  This morning we picked up bagels at Einstein's & went to Starbucks (and got our awesome Venti drinks thanks to my dad's free-drink coupons).  At Starbucks, Gia ate some bagel, whipped cream off my drink, and a banana.  When I offered her the banana, I said, "do you want some banana?"  Gia says, "Nana?"  She learned a new word!  Now she's been saying "nana" all day, which my mom was pretty excited about (since Gia will call her Nana).  Side note: later today Gianna learned to say "cheese."  She is just into learning the names of her favorite foods, ha ha.  That's my little bambino.

After coffee, we went to Kid-to-Kid to get her a cheap costume for Halloween.  Bobby wanted her to be a monkey since Gia's favorite thing to do is say "ooo ooo ooo" when you ask her what a monkey says.  We were really excited to find a cute, warm costume of a monkey in her size!  She looks adorable in it... I'm so ready for Halloween!

When we got home, Bobby was talking with his mom on the phone as he lay on the living room floor.  Gianna was carrying a toy & fell, hiting her face on Bobby's leg.  She sat up, cried big time and held her face.  I ran & picked her up, looking her face all over.  Then I saw blood pooling up in her mouth, and I freaked out.  I kept picturing the 19 Kids and Counting episode where Johanna bit through her cheek and had to get stitches.  After Bobby got the flashlight and looked in her mouth, I said, "Check up top."  And there it was, her new tooth!  I guess the fall had broken the skin & let the tooth come through!  Pretty cool (I mean, it was cool after I had given Gianna some ice chips and the pain went away).

Okay, time for some pictures from the day!  These are the clothes that I couldn't resist getting while we were at the consignment store.  I got good deals!

This jacket is my favorite!  I can't wait for colder weather now.

She needed some new shoes because her feet have been growing lately.  I'm way to frugle to spend real money on shoes that she'll only wear for 3 months.  The store had some good used ones, but no tennis shoes.  I did find these cute boots, though!

Bobby showed Gianna how to use the flashlight today.  It was cute watching her walk around shining the light on things and sticking it in her mouth.

Gianna loves my sunglasses, ha ha.

I just loved her outfit today, so we took a picture.  And thanks for my shirt, Mama Faye!  Go Gamecocks!!