Baby Giselle Talks...

Maternity leave from work is bittersweet. The first month, you and your family spend your days getting adjusted to the new addition. The lack of sleep and your brain not functioning as best as it should. The second month proves to be a bit better. You become accustomed to the lack of sleep and you slip right in to your new schedule.
Then, the "firsts" happen. Lately, baby G has been smiling and laughing away. Not to mention coooo ing!
By the third month, you are just getting into your groove, and it's time to go back to work. While I have not reached the third month yet, I am enjoying my time at home with baby g. She has been smiling and making all sorts of sounds. And quite frankly, I think it is pretty cute and I just had to catch it on video. Check it out.
I realize now, that I should of captured more of these moments and made more videos when Isabella was a little baby. They are only this little ONCE. And it goes by way too quickly......

The Funny Faces

I forgot about all of the funny faces and sounds a baby makes. The squints, the grunts, the wide eyes and the smiles. Here is a video of baby Giselle and her expressions at 1 month old.

Skeletor.....

All in the same day...she goes from picking out different boots to wear to shirts with bones on them. I understand girls like to play dress up....but don't they like to do it with dresses, hats, purses and beads? What is up with this trend of hats, boots and bones?

Let's just call her......BOOTS

Last weekend, I went to the grocery store and left both kiddos at home. I came home, only to find Isabella on the couch. Naked. With only her furry boots and hat on. Who does that in the middle of a Saturday afternoon? Just takes their clothes off and then sits their bum on the couch with just boots and a hat? Isabella.
This Saturday....I run downstairs to grab the baby and a bottle. I come back upstairs and Isabella has her Paul Frank yellow rubber rain boots on and a bottle of A&D Ointment in her hands. She is rubbing the A&D ointment vigourously all over her face.
This evening, Bob and I were cooking dinner together and Isabella disappeared. I went to find her - only this time - she had taken off her pants, left her shirt on and again - had on the yellow rubber rain boots.
While I don't really like shoes on in the house...I tell myself - it's not like she went outside in the mud or outside with them for that matter. She enjoys wearing them.....
She even went to bed with them on tonight....she just HAD to wear them to bed. At least she didn't wear her hat to bed too. So today, her nickname is BOOTS!

My Daughters

A mother tries to provide her daughters with insight
into the important things in life
in order to make her life
as happy and fulfilling as possible.

A mother tries to teach her daughters
to be good, always helpful to other people
to be fair, always treating others equally
to have a positive attitude at all times
to always make things right when they are wrong
to know herself well
to know what her talents are
to set goals for herself
to not be afraid of working too hard to reach her goals.

A mother tries to teach her daughters
to have many interests to pursue
to laugh and have fun every day
to appreciate the beauty of nature
to enter into friendships with good people
to honor their friendships and always be a good friend
and to particularly respect and love our elder members
to use her intelligence all times
to listen to her emotions
to adhere to her values

A mother tries to teach her daughters
to not be afraid to stick to her beliefs
to not follow the majority when the majority is wrong
to carefully plan a life for herself
to vigorously follow her chosen path
to enter into a relationship with someone worthy of herself
to love this person unconditionally with her body and mind
to share all that she has learned in her life with this person

My mother has taught me all of this and then some. To infinity and beyond!! I hope to share and teach all of this and then some with you Isabella and Giselle!

Blizzard Blitz 2011

In the end, the great Blizzard of 2011 didn’t set a record — but still dumped 20.2 inches on the city of Chicago, shut down schools, closed businesses and even major shopping malls, knocked out power to hundreds of thousands and left hundreds stranded on Lake Shore Drive.
The total snowfall made it the third worst snowstorm on record, behind only blizzards in 1967 — when 23 inches blanketed the city — and 1999 — when 21.6 inches fell.
Bob and I decided to press the "pause" button on the great blizzard and create some special memories of our own with Isabella and Baxter. While I could have taken several photos of the snow piled high outside, I decided to capture Isabella frolicking in the snow and creating snow balls for the first time with daddy. See the short video below:

The Monkey

I have a monkey with bunny ears (Paul Frank) on the back of my cell phone that Izzy likes to talk to. This is a video of her shot in June 2010.

Waiting for Daddy to Come home from Work....

As I was cleaning out my phone today of videos and pictures, I ran across this video of Isabella waiting for daddy to come home from work in August of 2010. She was anxiously awaiting his arrival outside.