Wonderful-ness

Did you know that "Wonderful-ness" was a word? It is. I've decided. Do you know what it means, or what I means to me anyway? It's the way I feel inside when Giuliana says " I love you Mom" when I haven't even said it to her. It's great. It's a new thing she started doing a few weeks back and it still catches me off guard when she says it. I've been waiting MONTHS, okay maybe 2 yrs and 10 months to be exact, for the day when she would finally say it to ME for no reason other than she wanted me to know :) I tell her all the time, sometimes she doesn't even acknowledge that I've said it, but I'm sure she's been hearing me all along and has finally figured out that she too can say is just as sporadically as I do!

Holiday Season!

I love the Holidays. Doesn't everyone?? Sure, there is a lot of work to be done and a lot of money gets spent. But they are also so rich in the things that really matter. I share laughs, good times, and great food with some of the best and greatful people. This Holiday Season is no different!

Halloween was a lot of fun, and Giuliana was a Florida State Cheerleader :) I loveeddd it! It was hard to get some pictures of her in her costume because the child doesn't like to sit still, but hey, some is better than none!





Stacey put on this costume and I thought Giuliana was going to scream. I figured she would have been okay with is, she saw her put the mask on.. but it didnt matter. It took her about 30 minutes of trick-or-treating with her before she finally decided that it was okay to hold hands with her even though she didnt look like "Aunt Stacey"





For Thanksgiving we went back to Tallahassee to see Giuliana's family ( on her Dad's side) and then of course my Father's side of the family too. It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed seeing everyone. As usual, Giuliana was sick, but thats usually how it is when we travel. She managed to get all stuffy, and then of course, she also got a stomach bug (which she then passed on to me and I was layed up allll last weekend sicker than a dog, go figure!). I did get a few pictures here and there, not near as many as I usually take, but I was busy trying to take care of her and keep her sitting still so she didnt upset her stomach all the time.

Ashley GreatGrandma Marna Jillian & Dave

Ashley Jillian Stephanie & ME!

Jillian & Cody

Aunt Jillian & Giuliana

"Cheeeeese MOM!"

Playing games with Lori and Julie

My Sister Parisa & I

I wanted to take a nice picture of Giuliana, and this was what she gave me.. she's a comedian!

Stacey Julie & Giuliana at the FSU vs UF (game) party we went to...Stacey is a little confused which of the 2 teams she roots for.. she was half Nole and half Gator!

Giuliana & Jacob with Aunt Lisa, Aunt Sharon & Aunt Stephanie


Just imagine if I would have taken a BUNCH of pictures.. haha!!

Now that we have Thanksgiving done, It's been CHIRSTMAS all month long. All Giuliana wants to do is go look for xmas lights, trees, or sing xmas songs. It's really sweet. I love that she is as into the Holidays as I was as a kid. I suppose that the Holidays really *ARE* more for the kids than the adults. Today we are going to finally put the tree up and get some lights and decorations going. She's been asking for her "own tree" for about a week or so now... I figure it prob about time I get her one :) I'll try to take some pictures to post.

Holding Hands

Tonight as we walked back to our car from the Jazz Festival here in town, I walked holding Giuliana's hand. Her hand is so tiny inside of mine, and I have small hands to begin with. It was sweet. I wish I had a picture of it. I wonder how soon the time will come where she won't let me hold her hand any more :( Every day that goes by she gets older and more independent than the day before. She thinks shes so grown. Im proud of her, but I am sad too. My little baby is growing up and one day, not to far off into the future, she won't hold my hand, and for me that's a sad thing. She may always be "my little baby" but the reality of the situation is that she won't actually be. I'm going to hold her hand more often, cuddle her closer, and hug her even more than I already do, because one day she's going to say with a disgusted tone of voice "Mooomm! we're in public!" and that will be the end of that.



I love this picture. It was taken at Jillian's wedding a few weeks ago. It's not perfect or even that great of a photo, but it's one of the few times she actually held still in my arms long enough for someone to snap a picture of us together.

Oh, Hello!

Hi :) Sorry, Its been about 6 weeks since the last time I posted on my blog. I do think thats the longest I have ever gone without a post :/ oops! Where have I been you may be wondering? Well, I have actually been OUT and living my life, as oppossed to staying home all the time. I have also been spending a lot of time at the gym trying to get my pre-baby body back. Its been a slow process, and I am not having any fun with it, but the results are amazing and have done WONDERS for me and my self esteem. Which is important. I have a picture I can post, but its not a full body shot. But you can even see the difference in my face, and finally, my eyes look like they have some "life" in them again. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed the past few years with Giuliana and all the one-on-one time I have spent with her, but it was way past time for me to start doing some things for myself too. So, I have been. Sometime around the end of October I am going to ask Allison take some new pictures of Giuliana and I, all dressed up, and I'll be sure to post those as well.



Giuliana has been doing well, and has been in swim classes for about a month now. Its crazy the kind of transition that shes has made from staring up at me underneath the water blinking at me for help, to now swimming like a little fish. She's got to be the best little floater I have ever seen. Its also the ONLY time in her LIFE where she lays perfectly still ;) I'll have to get some pictures of that so I can post them here as well. I'll take some at her lessons this week. I didnt want to take any when we first started because all she did was whine and moan the whole time she was in the water.

I've also been taking Giuliana to see her dad a lot the past few weeks. We've been able to work our time out so that she's been able to spend time with him. Either out and about and just at his work. It's something. Plus, she doesnt care where she gets to see him, aslong as she does.




We were in Tallahassee last weekend for Dave's birthday party. That was a lot of fun,and it's always great to get together with the Guthrie's and all of their diverse-ness ;) Jillian is getting married in less than a month, so I will be seeing them all again soon!! I can not *WAIT* to go to the wedding, its a beach ceremony, and the prettiest courtyard for the reception.

My Hero

Do you know who My Hero is? Don't laugh, and don't roll your eyes.. Hear me out...

Giuliana is My Hero & I couldn't pick a better person to admire.

See this picture below... It's a perfect example of why.... Really LOOK at this picture...


Care Free, Fun, Happy, TASTING life & Living It!

Not only is she happy to be alive but she is also happy with her life. That's more than I can say for a lot of people (myself included at times). She is loved, and she loves. She see the good in people and is happy to just be near you. Giuliana doesn't notice your faults. She doesn't judge you. If you are nice to her she likes you. She's simple & enjoys it that way. I call Giuliana "The Mayor" because everywhere we go she is always greeting the people passing by her. She is so outgoing & will befriend anyone regardless of age, color or gender.

Like I said, she's my hero. I want to be more like her every day in every way.

Oy Vey!

Nope, I am not Jewish. But, after the day I have had with Miss Thing, I have earned the right to say " Oy Vey!". I swear, she must not like me to much, despite the fact that I love her to pieces. She gave me SUCH a hard time all day. Poor Darlene, she
agreed to go to lunch with us- and after lunch- we both decided we wouldn't be going to lunch with Giuliana anymore. It was pretty stressful.

(Cute huh? I just found this. It was taken back in April)

I'm excited to say, I have some vacation time coming up in a few days. Next weekend we are all meeting at Anna Maria Island for another week-long adventure at the beach. It's sure to be fun, and I am excited at the promise of having the sand and ocean be our back yard. Not to mention, that with this new camera I have, I should get some pretty awesome pictures of our vacation this year. Stay tuned!

Weekends

How great are they? I love them. I have had weekends off for about 8 months now, and I see why every one was always so shocked when I told them I always worked on the weekends, and I never had a saturday off. Now, I get it. I don't think I'll ever work weekends again. Ever.

This weekend we went to Darlene and Chucks since they finally decided to come home! It was nice to be able to spend some time with them on Friday night- and tonight too, we are going back over for dinner. On Saturday morning I took Giuliana outside to take some pictures of her.. I hadn't had my camera in almost a month. It was nice to be able to catch her funny faces again.




Also this weekend Mark, Stephen's dad, came for a short visit. He was here Saturday afternoon and stayed through this afternoon. Giuliana had a good time, they played and played and played. I was able to take a few pictures of them in the pool and then 1 of them before dinner last night. Its 4:45pm and she has been asleep since 1:20 this afternoon. Do you think she's tired?

Popcorn & Movies on TBS

I love popcorn lately. So does Giuliana. I am sitting here on the couch, eating a bag of it, and I have some saved for her on the counter. She is napping. Its nice and quiet except the movie Sabrina playing on the TV. I like this movie too, some of it is set in Paris- and Paris I love!

Anyway, it's been a nice quiet weekend, not a whole lot was done, except resting and relaxing. I didn't even get around to getting a shower yesterday- although, I have had one now. Don't worry, I didn't smell.

I took this picture here at Darlene's yesterday- with her digital. I really have to talk her and Lori into getting DSLRs.

Tell the ones you love..

Tell the ones you love how you feel. Don't hold back. You never know what life has in store for you, or for them. Don't leave things unsaid, and don't leave things poorly between you and your loved ones. You have to remember that it very well could be the last time you see their face, or hear their voice.

That is the best advice I have ever been given, and could give to anyone.

Yesterday I was once again reminded of how fragile life is, and will always be. It is so sad that I so often let life get me down, and let others affect my mood in a negative way. It is even sadder (bad English I know) that it takes the untimely death of a 24 year old woman, who I went to high school with, to remind me of this.

Melissa, God Rest Your Soul. You may be gone from Earth too soon, but you will never be forgotten -- so you will never really be gone. Heaven is a more beautiful site with your smiling face at the Gate.

Happy Birthday, America!

Well, its been a week or so, and It finally looks like I have a few minutes to come back and blog about the 4th of July weekend.



Let me tell ya, sick babies are no fun! Giuliana was sick starting the Friday before the 4th till yesterday (7-11) with some sort of bacteria infection in her intestines or GI tract. Fun huh? Needless to say, Saturday night we had a slight revival in her spirits so we took her to a party at her Aunt Sharon's house. It was a nice afternoon, filled with good food and good company. I had a good time, and so did Giuliana.

I managed to take a few pictures, down below, with Lori's point-n-shoot.

The black and white ones are of Giuliana and Alex watching fire works! I was worried she would be scared of the noises, but she did pretty well. Towards the end she was pretty done with it, and had no problem telling you- or anyone who was listening- that she wanted to go home.



Here is Nana and PopPop sitting on a cooler :D


Here I am! Yep. I am ACTUALLY in a picture with my child! I had Lori take one so there would be one of us from the Holiday. Then of course, look at the one below of her and Alex. WAY better. I am beginning to think she doesn't like to have her photo taken with me...hrrm..



Here I am in MORE pictures.. Gosh, what WAS I thinking... Giuliana and I layed down on the hot tum cover to talk about the colors in the trees and moon etc and she asked Ashley (more like TOLD her) to lay down with us. Then Ashley asked Giuliana what she was looking at and she said " Vance up there ". I think it kind of caught Ashley off guard, but I quickly explained what Giuliana meant so Ashely understood what Giuliana knew. Stephanie took this picture of us all laying there after that conversation took place. Then right after that Giuliana rolled over and hugged and kissed me- As Stephanie stood up above us and took this sweet picture.


At the end of the night, before the fireworks, I followed the girls out into the yard and took this sweet photo. I think Giuliana was happy to be sitting there with them. Look at where her hands are- sweetly placed on each girls' leg.

"See My Big Muscles, Momma!!"

Yep! You heard (Read) it here first folks! Giuliana says to me " See my big muscles, momma!" as she puts money into her piggy bank here at Nana & Pop-Pos house. It doesn't actually require big muscles, but you do have to force the money into the bank because it's one of those automatic counter type things. Anyway, she was adorable.


The headband was made by a girlfriend of mine in Jacksonville who does a lot of them for people on the boards. Her name is Lisa, and I am sure she has an etsy site or a website, I'll ask her and come back and post it if she does have one. Not only is the headband cute, I am SO thrilled she left it on, and has hair long enough to wear it :D


Last night Giuliana, Dave and I went to Chilis where Alex and Lori were going to come meet us. It gave me an excuse to try this new set on Giuliana. She had worn the top to school before, but not with the pants. I must say, I was excited to see it on her. It was cuter (in my opinion) than what I even thought it would be. Giuliana isn't feeling well, and really wasn't into haviing her picture taken, so I only got a few.. ..



Plus, I have discovered something. I am spoiled now.Don't laugh yet, this really is a new thing for me :) Ever since I got the Nikon D80, I don't want to take pictures with anything else. I am used to the speed of that camera and I dont have the patience that the point-n-shoots require ;) I'll be happy when my camera comes back from it's month long trip across the united states and Alaska.

Time Away...

This past weekend, I went away. For the first time since Giuliana was born, I left her behind. Now that it's all over, and everything was fine while I was gone, I am glad I did it. But I'll admit, I was nervous. I am always worried something will happen to her if I leave her behind, or send her away for the weekend. It's normal, and it's also a little bit paranoid. But, that's me. A little corky. What can I say....

Look at what happens when I leave Giuliana with her Nana and PopPop.. They picked her up from school, and brought her home. M&Ms were on the agenda, a Wal-Mart tee and a Dora hat... Man oh Man.. Nana also sent me this picture when I was gone, with a caption.."Look Mommy, I am a fashion statement"


Wondering where I went? Well, I went to Fort Wayne, Indiana. What could POSSIBLY make me go to Ft Wayne? Matilda Jane, of course. What else?? Denise, the owner/designer at MJC had a big party on Friday night at a local Art Gallery around the corner from the main office. There were a lot of us girls that flew and drove in for the party. What a great time I had. It was WONDERFUL to finally meet Denise and her husband David. They have 2 really cute boys who were fun to play with. Specially that boy Gabe, hes a little older than Giuliana, and SOOO full of fire. I also got to meet some of the Trunk Keepers (Sales Reps) and some of the girls I chat with on the clothing boards. I am waiting on Tami, one of my girlfriends, to send me the pictures she took. Once I get them, I'll post them. For now I only have a few..

This is Amy.. She is from Tampa and her and I have hung out before.. Lucky for us, she was in Michigan already on vacation and Ft Wayne was only a few hours away ;)


This is Tami.. Gosh, she was just GREAT! Her and I spilt a hotel room and rental car. It was a BLAST. She lives too far away.. Colorado :( Good thing her and her family like to come to FL on vacation :D


Last.. and certainly not least.. This is a picture of Tina, Lisa, Sam & I. I am not sure, exactly, what I was laughing at. But whatever it was, obviously it was funny. If I had to guess.. Sam was making jokes about something as the photographer was getting ready to snap the picture.


I'll have more pictures to post once they get emailed to me.. I'll elaborate on my weekend away once I have them.. Blogging isn't as much fun with out photos ;)