I made Gia this scrappy fabric tutu skirt for Christmas... another Pinterest inspiration! It was really pretty easy and fun... and looked adorable!! It was hard to get a good picture, but here are a few so you can get the idea. :)


We all went to Christmas Eve service together, and it was a beautiful service. Then we came home and opened our PJ presents. Gia really was just interested in eating the bow.

I got this awesome cupcake carrier/stand... and I got Sean this hiking backpack for him & Gia. She loves it! I can't wait for Spring to hit some hiking trails!

As you can see, Gia put everything she got in her mouth!
Aren't these reindeer butt jammies so cute!?


Yesterday, we went to Cincinnati to have Christmas with Sean's family. It was a great time, and we are so very blessed. We've waited so very long to have Gia with us at Christmas... there were days I thought it would never be reality. I am overwhelmed with so much joy for having her in our life, but even more so for having the hope of eternity with God, made possible through the birth and death of his son on this earth!

This is our first Christmas as a "real" family of three... as in three people actually in pictures, three people actually opening presents, three people actually celebrating the birth of our Saviour. The past two Christmases have been wonderful, but they were TWO people with one in my belly. There were days when I never thought I'd have a baby to celebrate with at Christmas. But I am so thankful that God has seen fit to bless us and entrust Gia to us to bring her up in Him. Merry Christmas!

Sean and I had a fantastic date last night... in fact, it was the first time we've left her with anyone other than my mom! And we were gone for 7 whole hours! A friend gave us tickets to last night's Colts game and it was a blast! We took Sean's brother and sister-in-law, and it made for a great time! The seats were UH-mazing, to say the least. We were in the club seating area, meaning we had an entire club/restaurant/bar area that was just for our section! We also had a sweet parking pass,... I felt very VIP the whole way! And the seats... 3rd row from the field! Doesn't get much better than that. After a less than stellar season, I was not holding my breath for a win, so when we actually got one, it was even better!! It was fun to watch all the hubbub on the sidelines and see the interactions between the players. VERY interesting! I am so thankful for my friend Heather who watched Gia and made me feel so at peace the whole time she was in her capable hands! For our first date in almost 8 months, it was perfect. And hard to top. :) And now for the photo bomb:



Peyton stalking....


Collie

Michael Irving... he totally "good gamed" this reporter. She didn't seem to mind.
Vinatieri before a kick

Peyton heading out to the field for a talk before the winning drive!

What a week! Gia gave us an early Christmas gift in the form of 3 nights of sleeping 5 or 6 hours straight! Yay! That streak was short-lived, though, as her bottom tooth has started to come through. So we were up several times again the past couple of nights. The darn thing still hasn't poked through. We got Gia a highchair for Christmas, but are already letting her use it (she's a baby- she won't know the difference!) and she loves it! I think she likes sitting up at the table with us when we eat dinner now. Tonight, we are leaving Gia with a baby sitter (my friend, Heather) for the first time! Sean and I are going to a Colts game!! I'm excited but nervous. She still won't take milk from anything but me, so I'm hoping she'll be ok with just some baby food before bed until I get home late. Gia is still babbling, but no discernible words yet. She is a pro at standing now, too.. she thinks she doesn't need to hold on to anything but she does. She's bumped her little head quite a lot this week! We went to Cincinnati for Sean's Grandpa's memorial mass this weekend, and she did pretty good with all the people. I think her stranger anxiety is getting a little better... she let different people hold her and didn't always cry when I left her sight. We also had to lower the mattress on her crib to the lowest setting! Our girl is growing up fast!

ETA: Gia did great without us on Thursday night! We had a blast at the game, Gia had a great time with her friend while we were gone. :)

PS- Do you notice the MUCH better quality of this photo!?? Thanks to my hubby for an AWESOME new Canon DSLR camera!!! Sure, the shadows are still a bit much, but I waited until after 5 pm to take the pic. But the clarity, color and overall picture is SO much better. I have a lot to learn, but am up for the challenge!!

I forgot to post last week's picture on the blog... I added it to our FB album, but didn't put it here! This week, Gia has finally mastered drinking out of the straw! Although that is the only type of sippy cup she prefers now. Gia is crawling like crazy and pulling up on everything! She loves to pull all of the toys out of her toy basket, and she's still trying to eat the Christmas tree. She's still waking up twice each night, though I don't think its because she is hungry. So we're playing around with different things to help her stay asleep. No luck yet, but I'm hopeful. I think her second bottom tooth is trying to come in, but so far it doesn't seem like its bothering her too bad... just lots of drool. Gia has been so much fun this week... happy, smiling, blowing raspberries and giggles. Her weekly photos are getting more and more challenging, though... most of the pictures look like this:

or this:

But here is this week's runner-up photo:

I got some tips on new settings to try for my camera that will hopefully make next week's picture better. We'll see... its hard with no natural light in our house already, along with mostly cloudy days!

31 weeks! I am still so frustrated with my camera... so I apologize for the over-processing of this photo! It took two sessions to get a decent shot with mobile Miss Gia (and finally had to bribe her with this ornament to stay on her back (its plastic)), so I had to do a lot to this pic to make it look decent. Anyone want to gift me a DSLR for Christmas? :) This week has kind of been a blur. Still no new teeth, but Gia is starting to "talk" a bit more. We're working on using a sippy cup, but she doesn't quite get it. I'm hoping that once she gets that down, she'll take some milk in it. That way I could get a break if I ever need one! She's been up a lot at night, too... still every 3 hours or so. I think we did get one night of 5 hours this week. I introduced bananas, and she LOVES them. We still have a few more days before the reflux medicine will be at its full potential, so I am hoping that once that has had time to really work, her sleep will start getting better. I can't believe Christmas is so close!! Here's a few outtakes:

Length: 25.5 inches
Weight: 14 pounds 1.6 ounces.... we did a weight check on Thursday and she gained 9 oz in 3 weeks. Pretty good. Hoping she keeps it up!
Clothing Size: She is in 3-6 month clothing right now, but getting close to outgrowing those. Time to bring in the next tub of clothes and make a trip to Once Upon A Child!
Fave Toy: She love eating things... books, blocks, kleenex boxes... anything! She also really likes the mirror still.
Fave Outfit: My mom got us all matching T-shirts for our family reunion, and my sister made Gia a special onesie to match. Mom got Gia some adorable brown fleece-lined pants to match... so cute!!!
New Moves: SHE IS MOBILE! Only this time, its for real like crawling! She learned how to really crawl at Thanksgiving and there is no going back now! She is sitting up like a pro and can even pull herself to a sitting position from crawling sometimes. Just this morning she pulled up to her feet using her toy basket. That was right after she made a bee-line across the floor for my cinnamon roll. The craziness has begun!!
Teething: She got one bottom tooth the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Another one is close, I think.
Eating: She's eating solids pretty well. Her reflux has acted up again, so that makes nursing difficult sometimes (lots of choking) but for the most part, its good. She loves apples and sweet potatoes and pears. And still loves prunes. Though I don't love what those do to her diapers, so I only give her those when... necessary. If you know what I mean.
Sleeping: Still not sleeping great, though we've had two nights in the past week where she gave us 5 or 6 hours at a time. So that's good! Hoping that trend continues as her reflux improves.
Talking: She still doesn't babble a whole lot... mostly when we're in the car or when I'm changing her diaper. I think she is too busy playing the other times to talk. She loves to blow raspberries all the time, though!
Fave Pic: I love all the ones from Thanksgiving that I posted previously, but here are a few more faves from this past month.

PS- Is it too early to start planning her 1st Birthday?!?!