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!

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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 :)