Our 2010

What a great year 2010 was!
January - In preparing for Giannas arrival, we knew that finishing the basement for a toy room was a must. I cant seem to find any pictures of the before or after (& I dont dare to take one today - it looks like a storm went through!) But, lets just say its been a great addition of space!

February - Avas first trip to Disney WorldMarch - Daddy got a puppy for his birthday! Jazzy is an adorable Golden Retreiver! We are all very happy with adding her to our family .. even though Im pretty sure shes more work than all the kids put together!

April - At 7 months pregnant, I decided the bathroom MUST be redone! I couldnt take the nasty-ness of it anymore! So, after 3 weeks of my Dad and Rick making me happy (and having to use the basement bathroom multiple times a day and night) I got what I wanted!

Before:After:
of course this is the best after picture I have, but rest assured, the yellow tile is LONG gone!

May - Our 3rd Wedding Anniversary. One of the best 3 days of my life!

June - Our second beautiful baby girl was born! I never knew that my heart could hold so much love...
July - Our sweet little Gianna was baptized on her 1 month birthday and we celebrated!
August - Ben turned 6! We also took the kids rollerskating for the first time.. that was an expierence to remember!

September - Ava and Giannas first time really camping! Ava also had her first day of Tots Preschool.

October - Ava turned 2!

November - First Family Roadtrip and Giannas first time at Disney World December - We had our first doctor appointment and got to see that beautiful little heart pitter pattering away.

I know that 2011 has a whole lot more to offer and we are so excited about it!

Happy 6 months!

On Christmas, my baby turned 6 months old. Thats half a year. Wow.

I cant believe how fast the last 6 months have gone! Its crazy to think in just another 6 months we will be planning her big summer birthday party bash! (And about to welcome another little one to the family!!) Ahhh!

Today she went for her 6 month check up.

17lbs. 12.5oz. & 27.25 inches

Merry Christmas!

Our little bean

Meet our next little blessing due to arrive July 28, 2011

(Don't mind the classic cell phone pic!)

Its beginning to look alot like...

CHRISTMAS!

I must say, ever since having Ava I have looked forward to the holidays much more. Not only is it fun to see it through the eyes of a little girl again, but being able to teach them what the real meaning of these holidays are. We were all fairly healthy this weekend, just extremely tired so we got out the Christmas decorations and went to town. Ava (& even the dog!) have done much better with the whole "no touching, just look" rule with the Christmas tree.

There has only been one ornament broken and it was an accident before it even got on the tree! I caught her one today looking at her reflection in an ornament saying,
"Mama, its pretty". :) Gosh, I love that little girl!

***********************************************************************************

Shes also been very into coloring. Well, mostly I think she just likes getting her little Dora backpack out where her drawing pad and crayons are kept. While Daddy shoveled (yes, shoveled, snowblower is broke) the driveway and sidewalk and Mommy cleaned, Ava drew a very beautiful colorful picture. Gianna was really excited about it, too!

Coming Soon: A picture of Gianna's (almost) 2 bottom pearly whites!

I almost forgot!

Gianna is trying really hard to sit up more. Just dont make her too excited or else she will fly back!

We are a bunch of sickies

Original post date: 12/4/10
It started out with me although I chalked it up to my normal pregnancy symptoms - sneezing, runny/stuffy nose, achy, etc...
Then Ava got it last weekend. Mild fever and just very sick looking in her eyes. We stayed around the house all weekend, didnt leave once (well, Rick had to run up to CVS for some milk) and got a couple of things done around the house. Look at this picture.. she was helping her Daddy put together her new toy organizer:This mess:Turned into this:Anyways, she was all better by Sunday-ish and then Tuesday night it did a 360 that turned into croup. Let me tell you, she is NOT a happy camper. Poor baby. Today she is finally starting to feel back to normal self and just wants to play but yet we are staying home-bound so we dont get anyone else sick!

In fact, Im pretty sure this was 1 of 5 smiles I got from her this week:

Then... Rick got it. We all know how men are when they are sick ;) But, luckily Gianna and I are just fine *knock on wood* so we are holding down the fort around here.

Other news.... Gianna rolled last Monday from back to front for my Dad, even though he missed it because he was getting into our candy stash :) She did it again last Friday for him, too! He missed it then too... darn candy! Rick and I started feeling alittle offended that she wasnt showing us this new trick of hers. But, on Friday night, she was a rolling maniac. She would still much rather scoot everywhere on her back but Im trying very hard to get her used to being on her belly (which by the way, I have found if I have Mickey Mouse on the TV she with happily play and watch TV for a good 15-20 minutes before remembering she doesnt like being on her belly.. maybe one day she will get this crawling thing? Once she goes from back to belly, she sceams and looks like a beached whale and insists on me flipping her back around. Silly girl. She also likes to hang out on her side alot, too! Usually you can find her doing that when her sister just isnt in the right view for her...

Gianna has also reallyyyyy enjoyed eating dinner with us and trying out her sippy cup!ummm... whats this that shes been doing lately?? Teeth or beginning of a thumb sucker?

... & Ava must of been feeling jealous of me taking pictures of her sister so she wanted to show me how she can drink out of her fruit cup and look at me through it :)

Happy 5 months to my baby girl!

On Thanksgiving the little lady of the house turned 5 months old! I can hardly believe that she is going to be a half year old next month! Ive been taking pictures monthly to show how big she is getting, so Ill catch everyone up:

Birth:1 month:

2 months:3 months:
4 months:
5 months:She is such a joy to be around. You rarely find her in a bad mood, unless shes hungry of course. She goes to bed with a smile on her face and wakes up with one, too! We have started solids. She usually has dinner with us. Her favorite is carrots (although, shes only had carrots, green beans, and peas so of course the carrots would win!). She loves to lay on her back and play on her activity mat.. she would rather hit the toys with her feet than her hands most of the time. She recently found her feet! Its one of my favorite milestones at this age! She still isnt a fan of being on her tummy but I make her anyways. Not a surprise me to since big sister didnt like it either. Anyways, she knows how to roll over and has done it many times but she would rather just scream instead. However, she does get around the living room by scooting on her back and its pretty cute to watch! She is and always has been quite the talker. I have been extremely blessed to have such an amazing sleeper and I would like to give myself the credit with how faithful I have been with a routine, the Miracle Blanket, & reading/applying the tips from "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child", but in all reality Im pretty sure she just has her Mamas sleep habits! She has slept through the night every.single.night since she was 3 weeks old! How much more could I possibly ask for?!?

Happy Thanksgiving!

These three are what I am most thankful for:

Oh yeah, & this!

Yup! Thats right, God is blessing us with another little miracle in July! We couldnt be more excited! Eeeeee!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

We made it!

We had our first official road trip with the girls! Besides, Ava wanting to watch Dora at 1 & 4am, the drive was better than we could of ever imagined!

Here is our Dora loving little girl!:

These 2 were beyond excited to play with each other. I see a whole other side to Miss. Ava when she is with her brother....

Ava chased Ben while he was riding his scooter for blocks! For the record.. this walk resulted in a 4.5 hour nap for Ava & Gianna.. oh, & Mom, too!

She wanted nothing more than to get down and be with her brother & sister!:

Pistachio lovin' kids!

Tomorrow we are off to the ocean! It will be the first time Ava has really ever played there and I cant wait for Giannas little baby feet to squish around in the sand!

Jumpin' on the blog wagon... again!

It hit me the other day as I was frantically looking for the word document that I have been keeping for Ava with all the dates of her milestones (which is officially gone) that I dont really have a place to keep track of all these special moments of our life. I started this blog months after Ava was born, but never kept up with it. I swore that I would remember everything and anything she ever did and when but... truth is, I havent! There are many milestones that stick out but I would of really liked to always have the exact date her first tooth came in, her first step, etc.

My goal for this blog is to track "The Story of Us" here and one day share it with the girls.. but for now, all of our friends and family will be able to be apart of this amazing journey we are on raising these beautiful children!

Meet our family:

"Daddy" - a.k.a. Rick: He is the rock of this family. He works hard to give us everything we have. Hes the perfect Daddy... kind, gentle, sweet, loving, patient, FUN, and well.. a push over, but also knows when to be tough. His girls have become sooo very attached to him. The minute Ava hears Daddys car lock after pulling into the driveway.. shes thrilled!!!

"Mama" - a.ka. Amanda: Me.. well.. its kinda hard to write about yourself. Im at stay-at-home mom to our 2 girls. Its hard work I tell you. But, its the most rewarding job Ive ever had and couldnt imgaine it any other way. Our life is not the way we ever imagined it, its 10 times better!

Ben - The most polite, well mannered, adorable 6 year old you will ever meet! Even though we arent able to be with him all the time, he is always in our hearts and is loved and missed by all of us!

Ava - Our independant, smart, strong willed, stubborn angel. She just had a birthday last month and turned the big T-W-O! And for all you Mamas out there, you know exactly what we are going through right now!! Even though most of the time she gives us a run for our money and is constantly testing our patience, she is the biggest lover and can pretty much get anything she wants with that sweet 'please' & 'thank-you'! We never knew we could love the way we do until she came into our lives.

Gianna - The littlest lady of the house is already almost 5 months old. We cant even remember what our family was like before her. She has been the most wonderful baby! She welcomes us every morning with a sweet smile and a huuuuge giggle even after sleeping 12-13 straight and being supperrrr hungry! She rarely ever cries - only when she is hungry, overtired or needs a diaper change. Her new thing lately is playing with her feet and we all know the love a Mom has with baby feet. Talk about melting your heart! She has been such an awesome addition to our family!

Well, thats us in a nut shell. Expect some posts in the next few days catching everyone up on our family! Im excited to be able to share our life with all of our friends and family that arent able to be here with us everyday!