Week in review...and it's only Tuesday

Sunday we went to a small local dairy to have some ice cream. Doug proclaimed it his new favorite in the area and Gianna clearly agreed.

On Monday, we found a bunny in the back yard. Gianna loved chasing it and saying "hi bunny" but unfortunately, I couldn't get a picture with both Gianna and the bunny in it.

And, on a home furnishings note, we finally have some. Here are a few pics. Any ideas about what to do with the huge blank wall? I have one picture, but that's clearly not going to do the job! We're so excited to have more and better seating options!

And just so I close with the cutest part of our lives, here are some pigtail pictures. She'll let me put them in, but it never lasts very long. Which is too bad...because look how cute!!

Easter and a friendly visit

I'm a little late, but after a nasty cold I'm finally ready to post about our Easter! Gianna and I visited with my parents (Grandma and Grandpa) during the week and then Doug came down to VA for Easter weekend which we spent mostly at his parents' (Nonna and Pop-pop) with Nick, Elizabeth and Isabella. Nonna and Pop-pop were kind enough to watch the girls while the four of us went out for drinks Friday night and for a nice dinner Saturday. It was a great treat for us and the girls! Easter was not the best day of Gianna's life, but she did enjoy the egg hunt...or at least eating the treats inside the eggs. And we had a lovely brunch that Grandma and Grandpa were invited to, so it was great to see everyone together before we left.

Isabella loved playing with the bubbles...though you can't see them here. She's such a happy smiley girl! We miss her!

Gianna's favorite part of the day (aside from taking her Easter dress off) was eating Fun Dip (remember that stuff?) courtesy of Aunt Elizabeth. (Thanks, Bizabay!)

This week, our friends Meghan and Riley from HBS came to visit us. They live in NYC so we picked them up at the Trenton train station and spent the day together. We really didn't do a whole lot between Riley and Gianna's nap schedules, but it was great to spend time together. And Gianna was sad to see them go the next morning. The girls played pretty well together. Gianna does have a hard time sharing her toys for more than a few hours. Here are a few pictures of their visit.

Friendly Riley was more than happy to climb in my lap for a book and jealous Gianna was appeased by sitting on Riley's lap. So cute!

The girls liked to play "sleep" and "night-night" together on this little blanket.

The girls did puzzles together, but the best pic is this one just of Riley. Love the curls! Visit any time girls!

Farm fun!

We went to a farm/orchard about 25 minutes from our house on Saturday. They grow all kinds of stuff all year long it'll be great to go back and pick fruit. And it's so close, I can take Gianna anytime we're looking for something to do. It was a pretty cold morning, so we didn't quite enjoy it as much as we might have otherwise, but Gianna still loved seeing all the animals. She especially loved the chickens, who seemed to like her too! She kept trying to kiss them, it was so funny! She also had her first donut (a fresh homemade cider donut)...she couldn't get enough! It'll be nice to go on a warmer day so we can be outside and see the animals more.

Gianna and her favorite chicken, this is the one she tried to kiss!

With Daddy by the sheep, this was the most I could get of her attention while she ate her donut.

Today we went to the park to do some sliding. Enjoy the videos!

Fun weekend

Clearly I am a horrible blogger since it is Thursday and I am just now getting to post about our adventures last weekend. On Saturday we took Gianna to the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia. It was really fun and neat! It took Gianna a little while to get into it, but once she did, she had a really great time. She especially loved all the little slides in the toddler play areas. But here are a few pictures of her enjoying the ducks and the kiddie-sized supermarket (her favorite).

She got soaked and she loved it!

Pardon me! (Apparently she really liked the orange juice.)

This store had self-scan. Very convenient for shoppers who like to press buttons!

On Sunday we took Gianna to the nearby Catholic school playground which has some great slides. And since this day, sliding has been her absolute favorite activity. Luckily, the weather has allowed for this new obsession and we found an indoor play place that has one too. Doug would follow her down the slide and she would squeal with glee at seeing him come down face first! Too funny!

Family ties

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. We started two weeks ago by flying to Atlanta. Where Doug joined us a for a long weekend. We had a great time seeing Nick, Elizabeth and, of course, Isabella. The girls were so cute together, giving hugs and kisses and holding hands. We went to the zoo and the park and music class and Chuck E. Cheese's. We definitely kept those girls busy! And the moms and dads got a chance to have fun too. Nick and Elizabeth were kind enough to get a babysitter for an evening so the four of us could go out to dinner. It was one delicious meal! We ended our trip on a little bit of a bad note when we all got sick the night before we were supposed to leave and then that snow storm came through the east coast and our flight was cancelled. So we had an unexpected extra day in Atlanta, but we were so happy and fortunate to have family who welcomed us back with open arms! We were so grateful! We thought our flight on Monday would be cancelled, but we actually made it home and only an hour late.

Two days later, Elizabeth and Isabella came up to NJ to see us before heading to NY for Doug and Nick's grandmother's birthday. We didn't do much during their short visit, but we were so happy to have them and show them our new-ish home.

Then we had a short visit from my parents after Elizabeth and Bella left Friday morning. They left the next morning when we left for NY, but Gianna was thrilled to spend time with Paca and Gaga. She actually rarely says these words, she mostly uses signs she made up for them.

We had a great time with all of Doug's family in NY. Although, I have to say, Gianna was in a pretty bad mood most of the time. I think she'd had enough of all the unpredictability of her life lately! She still seemed to enjoy seeing Bella and her second cousins.

So things have finally returned to normal. Gianna seems to like being home again and we're all happy to settle back into a routine. Here are a few pics. Elizabeth has some from their house of the girls being nice to each other on her blog www.edeangelo.blogspot.com

Playing at the table together

Watching their favorite: "Little Einsteins"

In her "gagas" from Grandma and Grandpa

A Walk in the Park

Yesterday we took Gianna to a narby park. Not a slides and swings kind of park, just lots of land and paths and a bridge that Gianna fell in love with. She's really into going up and down hills, bridge, etc. She loves being outside and tells us often that she wants to go out by saying "go," "side" (outside), "coat," and "hat." Despite the cold yesterday she had a great time running around the park (note the "weeeeee!" video) and picking up grass and twigs and pebbles. We're getting her in shape for our visit to Atlanta on Tuesday to see her cousin Isabella, who is always on the move!

On the bridge with Daddy

Our little nature guide, "Look Mommy, a twig"

And here's a small tree, Daddy.

Peeking with Mommy at Daddy over the stone wall

And below is a picture from Friday after Gianna did some drawing in her favorite place, the bathroom (her studio, I guess). She asks for "paypay" (paper) and "pen, pen, pen, pen, pen..." until I give them to her and then she heads straight for the bathroom to do her work. Anyway, I took her shirt off so she wouldn't accidentally draw all over her shirt. This is what happened. It's hard to see, but those are pen marks all over her belly. We'll stick to pencils in the future.

Ain't no mountain high enough

Okay, so it's more of a hill than a mountain, but Gianna hasn't had much experience with different terrain, so she's just finally getting good at going up and down hills. This is facilitated by no longer being afraid or let's say wary to walk on grass. Despite the cold, she was loving her time outside today.

We had a great time with Nonna and Pop-pop this weekend. She loved playing with them and if she couldn't see them, she immediately asked where they were. "Nonna? Pop-pop?" She especially loved swinging (aka, "weeeee!") in the sheets that Nonna made into curtains for us. So here's a few pics of that. Plus a few more of her fun on the hill with Daddy today.