Monday, December 29, 2014

Cheater Blogging

okay, i admit it. i'm really far behind on blogging. i'll blame it on getting ready to head to DE for Christmas with toby out of town for 3 days the week before, 9 days gone and no desire to blog while with our family. there you go.

however, i was able to get caught up on some of my "scrapbooking" pictures while in the car on the ride home yesterday (thank you 13.5 hour trip!!). so, i'm cheating. this is what you get. hopefully, it will help ease the transition back to when i have internet at the house (a storm while we were gone blew our cable box and internet...boo!)

 

*if you click on the pictures, you can see them bigger*

you got our Christmas card, right? well, this is a repeat of that...

and we tried to fit in all the fun holiday activities in the week leading up to our trip. gingerbread house decorating and cookie baking/decorating. so fun!

 

our neighborhood is so festive and fun!

and both the kids had their Christmas programs the week before we left. i don't have a video of Gianna's to post yet, but you can see Roman's below.

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

We've Got the Moves!

i just can't help myself. I love elf-ing my family every year!

enjoy these spectacular moves!

 

 

 

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Practicing

Gianna has been practicing a lot for her Christmas program on Monday. She has all the hand motions down and I think it's going to be a great show. If she doesn't get stage fright, that is! Cross your fingers!

 

Friday, December 12, 2014

Seeing Santa

It's a good thing I don't have high expectations for a great picture with Santa, huh?

She's just not down with being in close proximity with ole Kris Kringle.

Maybe next year...

And this guy...he saw this on the way to see santa and decided to ask for one....WHAT???

She was much happier after we walked away from santa and she got her ear "muffins"!

 

 

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Getting Jolly

Thanksgiving was a wonderful time spent with family and close friends. we ate too much and the kids cried when it was time to leave. now, it is time to get jolly!

time to get on the roof and string some lights!

oh boy! we are getting a little bit griswold around here...

the lights look great, don't you think?

roman is starting to play reindeer games...

 

 

the kids enjoyed trimming the tree.

and all the Christmas books are making their way to the kids' laps and bedrooms each night.

i LOVE this time of year.

 

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Measuring Up

i took the kids for their annual checkups last friday. it was nice to be able to knock them both out at the same time and lucky us, no one needed any shots! since i love to hear how much they have grown and am always interested in their stats, i thought i would share. but first, here are some pictures from our "adventure".

maybe i have a sick sense of humor, but roman sitting there in his full dress uniform (complete with necktie), looking so seriously glum, getting his blood pressure taken was hilarious to me. he looks like an old man who has been busting his butt at the office, after a long week. maybe his wife made him go because he's been stressed out...i was cracking up!

somebody didn't want their picture taken. i'll give you one guess who.

i think the gown was making him feel really silly, so pig faces happened.

and gianna wanted a piggy nose too!

so here's the stats for roman:

  • 50.2 lbs (25-50% for weight)
  • 49.5" (75% for height)
  • fun fact: roman has grown 3 inches and 4lbs in the past year. growing up and not out, i guess!

here's the stats for gianna:

  • 26.8 lbs (5-10% for weight)
  • 36" (25% for height)

so, i guess you could say that she's a peanut.

 

 

Friday, November 14, 2014

Randomness

these are not at all related, but are too good not to share...

yes, he is wearing a winter hat and a play horse. in a size 2T.

this is her "i'm so happy to have pizza for dinner" face.

One afternoon, roman and I were excited to surprise gianna with some new bedding. her response was underwhelming.

 

 

but, it's super cute, though! she's been sleeping on a flat sheet with a blankie for quite some time now. it was part of her birthday present, but overdue for sure.

i'm not sure that is how it is supposed to fit, but hey, i don't think the minions have rules like that.

toby noticed that they were holding hands while watching a movie, all snuggled up. too cute.

christmas jammies already! and silly faces always!

mom, you are embarassing me!

painting party for emma's birthday!

sweet friends

look at my baby all the way down there all by herself. such a sweet smile.

i'm happiest when my babies pile on me to have some sunday morning snuggles.

our friend, baby Adeline, came to visit. isn't she sweet?

roman LOVED holding her. he kept saying how cute and sweet she is.

 

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Memory Lane

i have always struggled to see any sort of resemblence, to either mom or dad, or to each other in my own kids. i don't know what it is, but i just can't see them as anyone but their very unique selves. but, sometimes, if i look at "same age" pictures, it helps me see it. therefore, i LOVE a good comparison picture. so, for comparison's sake, let's see a 3 year old roman next to a 3 year old gianna!

do you see it? i guess i do, a little...they still look so much like themselves that it is hard for me! to be honest, when i hear gianna say certain words, THAT is when i think about how similar they are.

 

another thing i love to do is see a timeline of ages. here's one of our sweet g.

 

 

 

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Three!

happy birthday to my babaloo!

 

  • you are the most beautiful girl a momma could ask for, inside and out.
  • you have a bit of a sassy side to you. your poppa always says you are sweet and sour. you can be sassy and sour one second and the next you are are sweet and cuddly.
  • you have a fantastic vocabulary and you use it quite often (that means you talk a LOT!)
  • some of my favorite things you say: beserve (deserve), fear head (forehead), "oh, i'm getting old!" (as you struggle to get up, i think you hear momma say that a lot), "you okay, sweetie?" (i think you hear that a lot at school), the bonky jars (the monkey bars)
  • your so tiny and petite, but have the most hair of any 3 year old i've seen. when it's wet, it goes all the way down your back, but those curls spring right back up when it dries.
  • you HATE it when someone raises their voice at you. you just melt into a little puddle. most of the time, momma and poppa are just trying to warn you not to hurt yourself, but that doesn't matter, you get all weepy just the same.
  • you give really good hugs. even your teachers say so. you are loved by so many people.
  • i'm not sure what to do with all of your friends, i just can't keep up. you are super friendly and move from best friend to best friend day to day.
  • your smile is so funny right now, your eyes get all squinty and your mouth moves to the side, it really is super cute!
  • i asked you a few questions last night, so here are your answers...
  1. What is your favorite color? Pink
  2. What is your favorite food? Cake!
  3. What is your favorite movie? The Grinch. And Chipmunks. (we watched them both 2x this weekend)
  4. What is your favorite toy? Sofia
  5. What is your favorite animal? Fish (???)
  6. What is your favorite fruit? Blueberries
  7. Who is your best friend? You (heart melts)

we are so incredibly blessed to have gianna heather colella in our lives. she brightens every day with her smile and beauty. happy birthday g!!!!


 

 

Monday, November 10, 2014

Princess Party

my baby is almost 3! and, as much as i want to deny it, she is growing up. she has her own opinions and thoughts and i love it. she also has some really sweet friends. so, we decided that she should have a princess party. she invited 2 school friends, lucy and emma, and 2 church/SGG friends, gracie and clare. all of these sweet little girls, have very close birthdays. lucy's is actually in october, but emma and clare share a birthday on november 10th and gracie and gianna share a birthday on november 11th. i have a feeling we will be partying with these girls for many years to come!

right now, gianna is into all things girly, glittery and frilly. princesses, fairies, whatever. so, we asked each girl to wear a princess dress if they wanted to.

getting ready for the party....

to be completely honest, we had a tea party first, but the girls were still in the shy/cranky phase, so all the pictures were ridiculous.

this is from a much happier time. cake time!

thank goodness for pinterest, people. it gives me great ideas. and this was a really easy cake to make. love that!

gianna really liked having everyone sing to her. she watched this video no less than 5 times right before bed!

the girls played a little "stick the amulet on sofia" and surprisingly, they ALL put it on the right spot. we think they couldsee below the eyemask, but at one point, gianna did it with my hands over her eyes, and i was NOT letting her see, so i think they did great!

her friends brought her some really sweet gifts!

 

i wish i had gotten a picture of all of them together before they left, but i waited too long. boo!

oh well, a photo op with both sofias will have to do!

gianna was very tired from all the princessing, so right after dinner we went upstairs to get into jammies. and she opened all of her gifts. here she is wearing some princess shoes, playing with a new tea set, with her new elsa wand and sofia toys nearby. i really enjoyed this time with her. so sweet to see her in her room, playing nicely.

so grateful for this girl and every minute of her "almost" 3 years with us!

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Cheering for Maddy

 

last weekend, we went to columbia to see aunt maddy swim at her meet. it was chilly that day, and columbia had actually gotten snow earlier, but it was all melted by the time we got there.

girlfriend was serious about her movie.

they gave us these cool megaphones to use so aunt maddy could here us!

silly boy

sweet boy

digging into the halloween candy already!

go, maddy, go!

well, that was fun! so grateful to have her so close!

 

Roll the Ball

we went bowling with the colella family! it was gianna's first time and she kept saying "i roll the ball!"

he's an old pro

she liked the arcade games better, i think!