Staying home

We’ve been spending a lot of time at home lately between the snow and rain. This weekend was no exception. Being stuck at home allowed us to get some much needed cleaning done though. Both kids even helped vacuum.

Gianna helped by letting Doug vacuum her.

And Mark helped by holding all of his toys at once so they wouldn’t be on the floor.

After a long day of cleaning, Gianna needed to unwind. (Don't worry, it's empty...because she insisted that Doug chug it!)

So we managed to make a weekend in the house both fun and silly! There’s not much else to say; the evidence speaks for itself.

Fun with Grandma and Grandpa

Last weekGianna got a haircut. I don’t have any good before and after pictures, but it doesn’t really look that different, just slightly more under control. Just yesterday she started letting me give her a ponytail (like her Belle and Ariel dolls) so maybe someday we’ll be able to do that on a regular basis and keep that mop in check!

Last weekend Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit. We celebrated Grandma’s birthday on Saturday (her actual birthday) and otherwise just had a great time playing. We mostly play princesses these days, with a particular emphasis on Sleeping Beauty. So here is Gianna dressed like Sleeping Beauty to “pick berries.”

And here are some more just cute pictures.

And here’s a video of some fun game time!

Conversations with Gianna and some cute pictures

G: Mark is crying.

Me: No. He's happy right now.

G: Yeah, he likes me.

Me: Yes, he loves you.

G: But he doesn't like me too much.

You're probably right, Gianna! :)

Examining a wet spot on the floor, from water, not pee!

Doug: What's that?

G: It's a dry spot.

Doug: No it's a wet spot. How did it get wet?

G: Because it needs new batteries.

Um, what?

G: Mark is crying.

Doug: Yes. Why is he crying?

G: Because he wants to go to the mall.

And now for the pictures.

Mark was propped up and then "chased" his thumb till he was laying down.

The big girl bed, she's behind that lump. I still need to get some better pictures of her in it, but she's not so cooperative when she wakes up.

We tried chocolate milk for the first time the other day...I think she liked it.

I forgot this one from Valentine's day when Gianna requested to hold Mark, a real rarity. She liked playing with his hands, it was so cute!

Valentine's Day

We celebrated Valentine's Day all weekend. On Saturday we celebrated by opening a present from Grandma and Grandpa. She loved all the little treats and surprises in the box!

Later on Saturday Nonna and Pop-pop arrived. She got an awesome princess tea set from them. She had a great time playing with them all weekend and Mark loved having new faces to smile at. Nonna and Pop-pop were kind enough to babysit so we could have an awesome dinner out and then they went out for their own dinner when we got home. Thanks guys! While we were out, Gianna made mint candy hearts with Nonna. She was so proud to share them with us when we returned! Here are a few pictures from the weekend, even if they're a little out of order.

Nonna and Pop-pop ready for their date (it's hard to get G in a picture these days)

Mark and Pop-pop playing

Making snow castles with Daddy

My three sweethearts

Conversations with Gianna

My friend's blog has entries with this title for her son and they always crack me up. So I think I will take her idea to maybe give you all a laugh and to help us remember the funny things our kids say. Thanks EG! So here are some recent conversations/quotes.

Gianna pretends that we are characters. She loves Jungle Book and we all play the roles of Mowgli, Bageira, and Balloo. One morning when I got Gianna out of bed she said, "I'm Mowgli, Mommy's Bageira, and Balloo is at work."

At church while "reading" the hymnal with a picture of Jesus on it: "Jesus is boring."

At church while a brother was playing guitar and singing, "This is kind of strange."

Worst blogger ever

It’s official, I’m the worst blogger ever. Surely I can manage more than once per month! So what have we been up to. Lots of visiting grandparents, playing in the snow, going to doctors, and being cute! Doug and I even managed a night out for his annual work party. Thanks for babysitting Grandma and Grandpa!

Gianna is every bit the two year old these days: charming one minute, in a whining puddle on the floor the next. But, to be fair, we have asked a lot of her lately by giving her a new brother and moving her back across the ocean. So she’s actually done quite well, but after some difficult moments she seems, finally, back to her old self and she’s so much fun! She has an amazing memory and imagination. Every day she is a different princess or cartoon character and Doug and I play other roles and we re-enact her favorite scenes. Too funny! Her most recent accomplishment is sleeping in her big-girl bed. She is proud of her princess sheets and her new kitchen (to replace her crib) and we are SO proud of her for making the transition so easily! Next thing to tackle: potty training! Oh how I dread it. But it is “strongly encouraged” by the preschool she will attend in the fall. She’s growing up so fast!

Mark’s growing fast too. Perhaps that is an understatement. At his 2 month appointment he was 14 lbs, 15 oz and 25 1/8 inches. From what I read this is the 93rd percentile on both counts and is the size Gianna was at 5 months. He is certainly a big boy. And he’s just as cute as can be. He has an easy smile and is starting to laugh a lot. He’ll smile at anyone who smiles at him. Nurses and doctors love him! And we’ve gotten to see quite a few of them in the last month. Mark was circumcised at the end of January as they do not do that in Germany unless there is a medical reason for it. He did great and the healing process was amazingly fast. So, all in all, this was not the traumatic experience that Mom and Dad feared! We’ve seen a couple of doctors for a terrible cough he has had and they’ve both commented on his easy-going nature. He is really a good baby and we couldn’t feel more blessed.

Gianna and Mark seem to enjoy each other as well. It’s so cute to see Gianna interact with him. She likes when we “make him talk” much like we do with her stuffed animals and figures. And Mark is often all smiles when she’s playing with him.

Well, now that the snow is melting and all of our colds are going away, perhaps I can make this a more regular thing!

Happy 2010!

Okay, so clearly keeping up with a blog during the holiday season with 2 kids is not an easy task! (Thanks to Elizabeth for a couple more pictures I needed to complete this entry!) The end of 2009 was full of blessings for us. We are thankful that:

1. We got out of Germany and into the US without any weather or security issues.

2. The kids were unbelievably good on the plane. (Mark slept for 7 1/2 of the 9 hours and Gianna just played and took in all the interesting facets of air travel!)

3. We got to reunite with our ENTIRE family the day we arrived (except for Nick, but Elizabeth did surprise us by being there with the kids).

4. We got to meet our nephew Jack for the first time. (This picture is not from our initial meeting, but isn't he so cute?!)

5. We celebrated Christmas with both our families.

6. Mark and Jack were baptized two days after Christmas and we got to see even more family members.

7. We decided to go back home to NJ a little bit early (we loved spending so much time with our families, but we were anxious to get home and for Gianna to have a consistent and familiar sleeping environment; let's just say jet-lag and strange places did not make for restful nights for any of us!)

8. We took a day trip to visit Doug's family, including 3 grandparents (great-grandparents for Gianna and Mark). It was so great to see everyone again and to introduce them to Mark and he started smiling just in time, see the picture with Great Grandpa Ray.

9. Staying up till midnight is not important to us...we all got a good night's sleep on New Year's Eve. What a great way to ring in 2010!