Legoland ~Fun in the Sun!

My sister and I took the kids to Legoland today and we had a blast. My parents gave us passes for Christmas and we have gotten a lot of great use out of them already. Since it has been a bit warmer we decided to go to the water play area. Gianna is completely fearless and was soaked within minutes, she is such a water baby. I think I might need to get her some swimming lessons this summer.




Cayden is finally walking and he is loving his new found freedom. He also got his first haircut yesterday and is looking so much like a little boy.




Zachary really wanted to go down the slide at the water park but he was scared to go up the stairs because water was pouring down on them. So Aunt Julie took one for the team and carried him up the stairs. I got really wet but it was worth it because Zachary was so happy.


Gianna loves to sit in Aunt Sara's sit n stand stroller. This is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich smile.

Cayden chillin after a long morning of sun and water.
Gigi loves her cousins so much!

Goodbye 2009

Here are a bunch of pictures from the past month.

There are two things Gianna is most interested in: HATS AND SHOES - the hats only stay on for moment but she loves her shoes.




Nonno Sam got a new hat for Christmas and Gigi just had to try it on




We have discovered that the Gianna is the happiest when she is naked. In this picture she is running around and screaming with delight as Mr. F chases her.




We gave Gianna a bike and a helmet for Christmas. Her cousin Zachary has this same bike and a helmet that she just loves to use.



Taking her new bike for a test ride. We gave this to her on Monday because Mr. F had to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! Huge Bummer for us:(




I am not sure if you noticed that in one of the pictures above Gianna was wearing green crocs over her footed pajamas. Auntie Sara got Gigi these crocs for Christmas and she loves them so much she even wanted to wear them in the bath tub. She has also worn them for naps and with various outfits. If they are taken off of her feet she yells quite loudly until they are put back on. I had to hide them from her because things were getting a bit out of hand. Thanks Aunt Sara:/

Gigi and I spend lots of time with Auntie Sara, Zachary and Cayden. Since the babies are around the same age we are on very similar schedules. A couple times a month the boys and Sara come over for dinner, baths, and playtime. This bath was kind of a tight squeeze. Zachary will be three in January but is the size of a 4 or 5 year old.

Taking the kids to the park is

part of the daily routine Uncle Flack blew bubbles for the kids and they were all captivated for at least 15 minutes straight.

My parents got a trampoline from my brother Eric. The kids have been having the best time playing on it.

Gianna just loves Zachary's helmet.

On Christmas morning Gianna and I packed up and headed over to Grandma and Poppy's house. Since Mr. F had to work we did not want to be home alone. Here Cayden is preaching a sermon to all of us. Cayden loves to ramble on in his baby talk and raise his hands up in the air. He makes us laugh so much.

Zachary got a strider for Christmas and decided to try it out in his diaper.

December has been one heck of a month - Gianna got three front teeth, two molars and two colds. Her sleeping has been confusing and messy. Today is the first normal day we have had in quite a while. Her second molar is almost in so hopefully things are going to stable out (knock on wood). The holidays have been hard because Mr. F has had to work but I am choosing to focus on being thankful for his job and for the overtime pay.

The past couple of weeks have been tough with Gianna (the honeymoon is definitely over) but I am learning and growing as a mom. I love her more every day and love seeing the little person she is becoming.

I am looking forward to a wonderful 2010! Happy New Year:)

5 years and gigi puts a cup on her head:)

Friday was our 5 year anniversary. Mr. F was amazing - he suprised me when he came home from work in the morning with flowers, a card and a subscription to Food and Network magazine (love it). He went to bed around 8:30 am and woke up at 2:00 p.m. I kept asking him why he wasn't sleeping longer and telling him he was going to be so tired at work. Again he suprised me by taking the night off of work, getting a babysitter and taking me out to a wonderful dinner. It's funny because we were both yawning on the way to dinner but I think it's a true sign of how much our lives have changed in 5 years. There is too much to say to express how I feel about my husband. Five years later I am still amazed that God chose me to be his wife.

I took this picture because Gianna had such amazing bed head.

The pictures below are of something Gianna found in Mr. F's closet. She of course things anything that is hollow or looks like a type of cup or bowl belongs on her head.

Keeping up with Gigi

Often times I do not blog because there are so many other pressing things that I need to do. I think I need to start blogging short tid bits versus a long catch up kind of post. So here we go:


Gigi is a full blown walker and has been for the past month and a half. She has started using a bunch of sign language in the past two weeks it's like a light switch went on and suddenly things clicked for her. Her current signs are milk, more, bath, milk, eat, sleep, bird, and plane.

She has two words - Dog and Hot (Da and Ta). She talks a ton of gibberish often lecturing me and her dad.


I feel like each week I am running a marathon when I take care of her by myself while Mr. F works graveyard (Wed, Thurs, Friday and every other Saturday). I really do feel a deep sense of compassion for single parents - it is not easy to do it all yourself. Gigi does not like staying home, she is extremely extraverted and wants to be with people. We are always on the go to a park, a play date or some type of play gym. We are constantly looking for moms who want to meet up and play.


The time change has been painful because G has been waking up at 545 AM! I so miss sleeping in!!!

Time is Up, Good Night!!!

So behind

Since I am so behind in blogging I decided to just put up a bunch of random pictures and tell you about them.

This is from Gigi's first birthday party. This picture cracks me up because this is how she felt about eating her cupcake and about wearing her birthday hat.

Gianna already has a big interest in shoes. The other night she found the brown boots pictured below in a box and had me put them on her. Later she had me put her shoes on over her footed pajamas

Gigi and I went to Washington for a couple of days to see my best friend Hannah and her family. I had never met Hannah's youngest daughter Noelle and Hannah had never met Gianna. It was great to be with them all but it was a hard trip because Gianna was sick. We ended up having to buy a plane ticket to come home early. Gianna has been sick for quite a while now with whooping cough. Tonight is actually the first time she has not woken up with a coughing spasm 2 hours after going to sleep. Knock on wood!!!







I am not sure what it is about the refrigerator but when I open the door Gianna moves as fast as she can to get in there and check things out.




About two months ago my co-worker gave me her bread maker. My mom and I decided to give it a try and here is what we made. It was super easy and very tasty.

Gianna has been walking for the past two weeks and loves her new found freedom. Although she can say dadda and mamma her first official word is dog pronouced "DA." She is really into dogs and birds. She is down to one nap a day and is just a ton of fun and surprises. I am amazed that I could love someone this much:)

Painful and Scary

Ever since I sprained my ankle 11 years ago I have been fearful of doing it again. Often times when I am on a walk I think of how painful it would be if I happened to fall of the sidewalk and roll my ankle. Thursday my fears became a reality but in a much worse senario than I could have imagined.

While at the park of thursday Gianna I and were stepping down from a play structure and my ankle gave way. I fell to the right and Gianna flew out of my arms on to her back. It all happened so fast that I did not even have a second to think. I quickly crawled over to Gianna and held her until she calmed down. I was in so much pain and I had no idea how I was going to get back to my car to get my cell phone. I screamed a couple of times hoping that someone would hear me but no one was in sight. I prayed and just asked God to help me. I finally got Gianna back onto her bike and then somehow mananged to push her and limp back to my car. Thankfully this park had just been redone with the new padding that is suppose to protect a child from a 6 foot fall. I had to stop a couple of times and put my head between my legs because I was getting close to blacking out. I finally got to my car and managed to get my phone. Things were spinning, I felt like I was going to puke and I was completely paniked. I called Mr. F who thankfully was on his way home from having lunch with a buddy. He called the Fire Department and I managed to crawl into my car and get some water. I guess when the pain is so intense your body just shuts down.

Thankfully Gianna's bike is the kind that keeps her locked in so she did not try and crawl away. I did everything I could to keep her calm. I was a wreck when Mr. F finally showed up and felt so awful about dropping Gigi and scaring her so badly. The fire fighters were great- they checked me out, wraped my ankle and got me some ice.

I did have xrays but I think everything is okay and it's just a sprain. So now we just have to figure out what we are going to do as I heal. Thankfully our bedroom is down stairs but Gigi's room is upstair along with our computer. Today I made the trek up the stairs with my crutches but I am not very stable. We really need a laptop. I am trying not to worry and to just take one day at a time. Thankfully we have a family to help us.

Here is a picture of my ankle - I really do not think it looks that bad.

Were still having fun!

Summer may be over for most people but nothing really changes in our lives when school starts back up. It has been so hot the past week and so we have been doing everything we can to stay cool. On Wednesday night we (Mr. F and I) took out Gigi's water table (a craigslist purchase) and let her have some fun. She was in a diaper but took a poop so we thought we would just let her play naki. She looked so cute I knew I needed to takes some pictures. I ran upstairs to grab the camera and during the 30 seconds I was gone she managed to take a large pooper on the towels. My F did not even see if happen. I guess she really just felt free to take care of her business in the open air.














Naki Buns

MMM... I wonder what this one tastes and feels like?

Gigi has learned how to give kisses and we love them!

We took our first trip to the beach yesterday and Grandma came along to play. G was kind of neutral about the whole experience and wanted to be held quite a bit. I will start taking her more often now that school is back in session and the beaches are not as crowded. She loved watching all the kids play and we had some fun playing together in the water. We went for hour and then back to Grandma's for a nap. I can't believe I live so close to such a beautiful place.