Vacation Bible School

We decided to send Giana to VBS this year at her preschool and I'm so glad we did! She had a great week! I was worried about the separation from me and her adjusting to "school" but she did well. There were only a few tears on the first day but her friend, Sarah helped me out and was able to console Giana and make her feel comfortable. The theme was "Keeping the Earth" and she took it to heart. She was sweeping the garage a few days ago and told me that she was "doing her part to keep the earth healthy and clean." She now gets very disgusted when she sees litter on the ground. So cute! We are hoping this week made a positive impression on her and that preschool in the fall will go just as smoothly.

Class photo. This is a picture of a picture because I wanted to cut off the school name for security purposes. Giana is on the far left. It apprears the three left kids are being silly. Should we be worried?

Giana and her friend, Sarah

Class project. She brought home so many cute crafts from the week.

Early Birthday Present!

Dominic's sister has been wanting to buy Giana a car for awhile now. Since we lived in the apartment, she just didn't have any place to drive her "vehicle" so she held off...until we moved. Dominic's parents, sister and brother decided to go all out and get Giana a Barbie car for her 4th birthday. They came to town last weekend and gave it to her so she would have time to enjoy it during the summer. It's a hit and she loves it! We had it set on the lowest setting (2.5 MPH) but felt she could handle the higher speed (5 MPH) and she can...but we are on the look out watching our toes and flower beds!

Mommy's Helper

I feel like I've been running a marathon trying to get the new house unpacked, baby's room in order, cleaning, window treatments up and visiting with family...all before the baby arrives. Why is it that I have to have it ALL done? Well, that's just me and it has to be done. I can officially say it's all done...maybe at the expense of my high blood pressure but my to do list is complete. On occasion, I have a little helper and all projects take twice as long but it's been fun watching Giana grow and get excited to meet her brother.


Putting the bouncy seat together.

Unpacking the last box.

The final touches...planting flowers with Aunt Deanna.

Family Reunion Fun

My Aunt and Uncle hosted a family reunion on July 3rd for my side of the family. It was so much fun and so nice to catch up with my family. We were missing several people but so good to catch up with those that were able to come. Giana had a great time with all of her extended cousins and I look forward to getting everyone together again soon.

My sisters and their families were in town for awhile and it was fun spending time with my nieces and nephew this month. Giana loves her cousins and the fun lasted about three weeks. We had fun swimming, shopping, playing sports, play dates and feeding the horses. Maybe this is why my blood pressure is up?!

Baby Lunch Celebration

My friend, Erin and my sisters had a baby lunch for me early in July to celebrate our upcoming arrival. We had a lot of fun and it was nice to have everyone together to celebrate our little guy.

Speaking of baby, Dominic and I went today to the doctor for my 37 week check up. Had an ultra sound done to check his size and it looks like he's growing well. As of today, he is 6 pounds and 13 ounces. (I delivered Giana at 37 weeks and she weighed 5pounds, 3 ounces) so we've decided to go with a c-section so I don't break my tail bone again. My blood pressure is rising so we spent some time in labor and delivery to make sure we were both OK. All is going well but they may induce at any time. I've been instructed to take it easy for the next week in hopes that I can carry him to 38 or 39 weeks. It's day to day at this point but I feel good and I'm certain we'll have a healthy baby. My emotions are up and down. I'm ready to get on with this, yet very afraid of the pain, IV (don't laugh!), spinal and recovery. It's all worth it and we can't wait to meet our baby!

Mid Summer Fun

Here's just a few things that we've been up to the past six weeks. The picture quality isn't great since they were taken with my blackberry but I just had to post my cute little nut!


Giana's first experience with ballet and tap. She doesn't like it at all. I'm giving it one more week and I'll put her back in gymnastics. She's been begging to go "back to the gym."


Weekly playdates with her BFF, Sarah. The girls are exactly the same age and have a ton of fun together. Sometimes, the whining and fighting rear their ugly heads. Girls will be girls..


Amusement park fun in Cleveland! Giana is quite the dare devil and seems to like all kinds of rides. Mommy (and Daddy) were a nervous wreck when she was in the airplane. Dominic has a WEAK stomach so I was shocked to find them on the merry-go-round. I just had to take this rare photo. While I would love to take her to the Ohio State Fair this year, I'm just not sure we'll make it with the baby due during the fair dates. Next year!


And what kind of summer would it be without splashing around in the fountains? We took Giana to Ballantrae Fountains in Dublin and it's so much fun! We'll be going back again soon.