Little Mermaid

"You've got your own style, now let it come through.

And remember no matter what, you've got to be you!"

 - Sebastian (Disney's The Little Mermaid)

 

 

 



Both Dominic and Angelo have January birthdays and this year we decided to celebrate with a trip to Great Wolf Lodge with family.  I was a little worried that GiGi wouldn't like all the chaos of an indoor water park, but she absolutely loved it!  There was a perfect wading area for the little kids as well as plenty of wild slides to entertain her older brothers and cousins! 

 

Kisses from Daddy

Our room had an area like a "wolf den" for the boys -
Gianna's favorite part was discovering this little mouse

Aunt Adria taught GiGi to pose with her hands on her hips -
 this is her new stance for every picture!

GiGi's silly "scrunchy face" :)

Waiting anxiously for the cake!

 

Diva

When Gianna adds a new word to her vocabulary, she doesn't just say it...she yells it.  Maybe it's because speaking is so hard for her and it feels so good to her to finally get a real word out!  Some of her favorite words to shout are "BOW!" and "TUTU!"  It is just completely different dressing a girl after having two little boys.  I have fun accessorizing her, but after demanding her bow and tutu and shoes and purse and glasses, of course, she usually has them all off and in the floor (including her glasses) before we reach any destination!  Here she is with some of her latest creations. 


Checking herself out in Mommy's mirror

Pushing a chair all around Mimi and Granddaddy's house

G will only cook in her play kitchen with her owl apron and matching bow from Aunt Wendy

Gianna was so happy with this outfit - it included everything she loves,

plus a little "fur" jacket and purple to match her glasses!

Holidays

One of my New Year's resolutions was to do a better job of keeping Gianna's blog updated.  It's now Jan 21st and this is my first post of the year so I've got some serious catching up to do!  Gianna had a fantastic holiday - we traveled to Tennessee to see my side of the family, and Matt's family came in from West Virgina after Christmas.  Gianna was surrounded with family and she loved every minute of the excitement.....except for her visit to Santa Claus.  Afterwards, she kept asking to see the pictures, but as you can see she was not at all happy to be there!  She learned the sign language signs for "Santa" and "Reindeer" and is now saying Nana and PapPap and MiMi and is working on learning "Granddaddy", but that one may take a while.  She loved the Elf on the Shelf and would look for it every day and yell "Elf!!!" every time she saw it.  Here's some pictures from the Christmas holidays that I love! 
 

Visiting Santa's Reindeer

Candy cane......yes, please!  Santa.....no thanks!

 

With brothers and cousins in TN - I think Gianna and Aspen are sharing secrets!

Under the mistletoe with Dominic :) 

In the sleigh at Hillenmeyer's

 

Gianna is telling us "shhh" - she saw the baby Jesus
sleeping in the live nativity scene

 

All dressed up for Christmas Day. 
GiGi was so happy with her sparkly tree!



Showing love for Daisy and Minnie



One of her favorite gifts...a helmet with a tiara attached!

And finally....New Year's Eve!  We spent a fun evening with our friend Tara and her boys playing Just Dance on the Wii and watching the Times Square festivities.  GiGi was a trooper and ALMOST made it until midnight.....here she was passed out by 11:10 on Matt's lap.


This pose looks SO uncomfortable!! 

 

Thankful

Of all the things we're thankful for this holiday season, one of the biggest is the absolute explosion of Gianna's vocabulary both spoken and sign language.  After her breakthrough with saying "wa wa" (for water), In just a few short months, she's gone from saying about 5 words that she's known for quite a while (DaDa, MaMa, Bye Bye, This, That), to now having a list of over 50!!  Here she is on Thanksgiving Day showing off her brand new word "Thank you" (which sounds exactly like she's saying "tattoo"!)

No Tricks, Just Treats

Prince Charming and Cinderella

Prince Charming, Cinderella....and Zombie Hunter

Prince Charming, Cinderella, Zombie Hunter and "Nerd"
I think GiGi is wondering what happened to her cousin Haley!

Spooky Night

Loving this hat!

GiGi was a fairy princess for her school party

Gianna had a ball dressing up this year!  Angelo was so sweet and agreed to dress up as Prince Charming to match her Cinderella outfit.  I think his strategy was to be as charming as possible to get as much candy as he could!  Gianna didn't go out Trick-or-Treating, but loved the excitement of seeing all the kids dressed up and coming to the door.  

Saturdays are for Soccer

GiGi is getting used to spending her Saturdays at the soccer field with her brothers.  Not satisfied to sit on the sidelines and just watch, she's been trying out the sport for herself!  I swear she seems to have better balance kicking the ball than just walking on her own!  I'm pretty sure she would have had a goal in the first video if that chair hadn't gotten in the way......

And she got more practice this weekend...

Pumpkin Patch

I love this time of year!  We took the kids out to our friend Brigette's family's farm to pick out pumpkins today.  The boys picked pumpkins big enough to carve a large design, and we even found a pink one for Gianna. 

Yes, I'm already starting with the Halloween outfits!