My Favorite Time with Gianna

my absolute favorite time with gianna is bedtime. i love giving her a bath, watching her play and talk and sing. she loves baths and wants one almost every night, but for the sake of her skin, we only do it about every other day or every three days.

in this video, she was "hiding" behind the soap bottle. hilarious.

 

her favorite book right now is Pajama Time. she knows all the words and here she is "reading" it to me. i love it!

 

 

Sn(ice)? Day

last week, the south was preparing for a very rare ice/snow storm. it was all over the news and they shut down schools ahead of time. laugh at us if you will, but we just aren't prepared for this type of weather. i'm from the "north" if you could call MD the north and we spent 3 years in the snow belt of OH, so i'm used to snow and ice. but, i hate to drive in it. otherwise, i love it. i really wanted my kids to wake up to the white stuff.

we all got our robes on and got cozy on the couch, ready for our snow day.

then, i shared with roman the tradition that the northern kids have of putting on their pajamas inside out and backwards in order to bring on the snow! (facebook teaches me a lot!) we never did this as kids, from what i can remember. and that's not much. haha

roman, quickly took his off and set to getting them on backwards and inside out.

he was so excited!

the kids were practicing with the only sled we have...a laundry basket! they just don't sell sleds down here...haha! and this is all we had in the morning. a coating of ice on the back patio.

and on the steps...slippery!

and this was it. womp womp. we didn't get as much as they called for and it mostly cleared up by noon.

i even tried to go to work around lunchtime, but they closed the bridge to the island because of some accidents and icy conditions, so i went back home and enjoyed my cuddle time with the kids.

oh well, maybe next year...

A Visit from Mommom

guess what? we had a visitor! mommom came to South Carolina to see us!

we didn't do a whole lot and didn't take a lot of pictures, but we had a lot of fun. see?

 

 

she flew in on saturday and was scheduled to leave on tuesday morning. and then storm leon moved in. her flight got cancelled and we had to re-book her on an earlier one. so, she was able to head home a little earlier than planned, but got home safe and sound and i am grateful for that.

 

thanks for coming to see us...we love you mommom!

 

Out with the old...

in order to make room for the new flooring, we have to get rid of the old flooring. in order to get rid of the old flooring, we (and by we, i mean toby) have to get rid of the toilet and sink in the downstairs bath. looky looky!

and here goes the floor. the hardwoods that are in our bathroom and foyer are glued to a concrete slab. we don't have a subfloor. so, it's super stuck and super messy.

 

so he recruited the best little worker we've got around here

 

oh, and since we were ripping everything out, we decided to get a different sink and vanity instead of the pedestal sink. this one is super shallow and came with a matching mirror. AND, toby wants a whole wall of tile. i think it might be a bit overwhelming in such a small space, but i'm willing to give it a try. here's our new fancy stuff...whaddya think?

 

2014, Week 3

last weekend we went to see the movie Frozen. which was actually a musical. i enjoyed the music. so did the kids. toby, notsomuch. but, we downloaded one of the main songs from the movie, "Let It Go" and we've all been singing it all week!

 

our little chunker has been tuckered out at night lately. snoring on the couch. all that sleeping all day long is hard on the little fella, i guess.

 

on saturday, we went to the eyeglass store for toby to pick out some new glasses. this is how i kept gianna occupied. i guess this is considered the hipster look, huh? i think she's the cutest little nerd ever.

 

superhero pose!

 

and on sunday morning, the kids were pretending they were super boy and super girl!

for some reason, gianna was fighting her nap so hard on sunday. but, at least she wasn't crying. she just would not be quiet. here's a sample...

 

on sunday afternoon, chase came over to play and we headed outside.

gianna took her tricycle for a walk. what? that's not how you do it?

 

the boys shot some hoops!

 

and then we broke out the real fun toys. the police car and the motorcyle....

 

at first, toby started roman out on the slow speed since this was his first time riding it without the training wheels. but, that was way too slow. he could hardly keep it upright.

 

next thing i knew, he was whizzing by me!

 

once the boys had warmed up, it was time for a race!

 

and the re-match!

 

chase and gianna burning circles around the garage

 

 

 

and then we all went inside to relax a little after all that fun (and the momma heart attack) to watch a movie and eat some popcorn.

 

today, roman and toby had a little fun going to see our old pal, Romeo at the horse farm on the island!

 

and finally....

 

i'm so excited about this (and apparently so is roman)...we are FINALLY getting new floors downstairs! we had looked into it 2 years ago, but we were about to bring home a new baby and that made me nervous to tear up the whole house with a newborn. and then last year, we bought a new couch and bed in order to help my back. so, we picked out a laminate we liked online and ordered a box. it came tonight and we love it! so, they are coming to measure on friday and hopefully soon after that we can order it and get it installed!

 

A Mirror & A Movie

last week, toby was out of town and roman had a basketball game. so, normally, i might not go so that gianna could get home and eat and be in bed on time, but we all went this time! and gianna LOVED watching them play.

look at that jump shot!

she was so cute cheering for him and then grabbed my phone and said "say cheese", so we took a momma and gianna selfie!

see her finger? that means we are your #1 fans Ro!!!

mom got gianna a full length mirror for Christmas. i mean, every girl needs one, right? well, if you know toby, you know that he all about safety. we call him captain safety. affectionately, of course. so, he really didn't want me to put this on her door, since it would be opening and closing a lot. but, the over the door mirrors aren't an option because they hang too high. and there really wasn't a better place in her room than this, at least i though so. so, i went white girl macgyver on it and it is velcro'd (can i get an amen for that 3M on-command stuff?) to the door and then duct taped around the top and bottom too. i really don't think it is going anywhere!

i didn't get a picture or video, but the first time she saw it was after her bath. she was wrapped up in a towel, whining..."i'm cold, i'm cold"... and then saw her mirror. she screamed...."my mirror!", dropped her towel and ran over to gaze at herself. i guess she wasn't that cold after all. drama queen.

the next morning, i put on a scarf, so of course, she need her "scuff" too. and then proceeded to stare at herself in the mirror.

on friday night, some of the colellas came over and the kids played so good together. roman and chase are like brothers, playing nicely, then fighting and back and forth. gage is so good. quiet as a mouse, he will play by himself for hours. i put gianna to bed and the boys were so loud, but she never made a peep. they had worn her out!

 

gage was peeking in the candy jar, digging for something sweet!

i mean, this face...really? chase is such a little cutie pie!

i could tell roman was tired. he ended up on the couch playing on his iPad.

on saturday, it was rainy all day. so, after the kids naps, we decided to go see the movie Frozen. it was gianna's first time in a movie theatre and i was totally prepared to take her out if need be. but she did great! she was antsy...my lap, her seat, my lap, her seat etc...but she did great, otherwise. she really enjoyed her twizzlers. and of course, roman was perfect. give that boy some popcorn and he is happy happy happy! in fact, just a few days before we went to the movies, he told me that his favorite part of going to the movies is the popcorn!

 

Back to "Normal"

well, the holidays have come and gone. how come when you are a kid, it takes FOREVER for Christmas to finally come and when you are an adult, it is here and gone in an instant!?

i love the hustle and bustle of the season, but i'm always happy to come home and get back to "normal". are we ever really normal? haha

the kids have loved playing with their new things. we try and get something different out each day/night so they don't forget what they got...

the sofia dress has been a hit!

along with all her other accessories....let's wear them all at one time, huh?

 

and, the barbie camper is a fun time. i can't believe it, but she will actually sit for a half hour and play quietly....seriously, anyone who knows her, knows that quietly is not something she does...

 

this was my view on New Year's Eve. and i wasn't the least bit sad about it.

this was the second time i've ever straightened gianna's hair. i wanted to see how long it really is. she looks so different to me like this. older. okay...back to curls now...

santa brought a new coat and we have needed it. it's chilly here. not as cold as our fam up north, but cold for sunny South Carolina

roman's first basketball game was a blast. he plays on a team with his cousin chase (#10) and a few friends from his class at school.

after basketball, it was time to watch some football. and who doesn't watch the game while wearing their helmet?

and looky here...we finally found a piece of furniture that fits that awkward space beside our fireplace! i couldn't be happier....what took us so long?

Sunday was nice, so we headed out to try out roman's new spin bike

 

and gianna is learning to ride a tricycle, but of course, stopped for the papparazzi!

tonight, we were playing with mr. Potato head, but mostly gianna kept calling him mashed potato

 

 

I hope y'all are getting back to "normal" too!

 

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