Georgina 15 months

Georgina has been growing up so fast that it seems like she learns something brand new every single day.

She wants so badly to be just like her sisters - she truly believes that she is almost three. She climbs on top of just about everything and has so fear!

Georgina is also beginning to speak - her first words besides Mama was YAY!
She can also say Jacket (ca-ca), shoes (ca-ca) - tree (she just learned that one since it is Christmas), no, and yes.

She can also follow directions - if I ask her to go get a diaper she runs over and grabs one out of the diaper drawer and hands it to me -

My only wish is that she does not grow up too fast - after all, she is my baby.

Happy Halloween!

Costumes:

Nonna and Nonno took the girls to pick out their costumes for Halloween. The grandparents came to pick up the girls and took them both to the Disney Store since both G's love princesses.

According to Nonna, Giuliana walked in and knew that she wanted to dress as Tinker Bell. Gisella, on the other hand took a little bit longer to decide. Finally, she decided on Ariel (I think that she picked Ariel because Ariel's dress is kind of blue and has blue accesories - and she loves everything and anything that is blue).

A little bit before Halloween, Gisella decided that she did not want to wear the Ariel dress - apparently it 'hurt' (itched) her. Luckily, I had some extra play dresses for them and she was happy to wear her blue one - which is apparently a lot more comfortable.

Georgina was a little fairy and had no problem wearing the wings that went with her costume. Once all three were dressed, Gisella noticed that Giuliana and Georgie's costume had wings and therefore decided that she wanted wings also. Luckily, I had an extra set from last year.

In the end, Georgina was a fairy, Giuliana was Tinker Bell and Gisella was a princess with a blue dress, Ariel crown, Ariel shoes, and pink fairy wings.

Trick or treating:
This year, since we are living in the condo - and of course no trick or treating here - we decided to go trick or treating in my in-laws neighborhood.

We trick or treated at about four different houses and that was enough for the girls. It is a lot of work walking around as princesses and fairies!

Afterwards, we went back to Mimi and Grandpapi's house where the girls enjoyed giving out candy and looking at all of the different costumes.

This is the house we used to live in . . .

This is the place we once called home.

Today, part of our house was demoed. Tomorrow, the rest will go down.

Michael was there today to take pictures of it for us. The girls and I did not attend - Michael and I felt that it may have been a bit too emotional for the girls to see their house go down.

Good Bye house - thank you for the memories.

Demo Party

This past weekend, we invited the neighborhood kids over to the house and paint on our walls before we demoed our house.

The kids painted on our walls with kid paint, finger paint, crayons, and chalk. By the end, all the paint was gone and the kids were filthy.

But look at how creative everyone was!

Greek Fest

Last weekend, the weather was so gorgeous, we decided to take the girls to the Annual Greek Fest for some Greek food and entertainenment. Unfortunately, half the city of Houston was also there and it was very crowded!

We had gotten there early - right after naps, but there were still long lines for food and drinks. After eating a few kabobs, we took the girls to the kiddie center where there were moonwalks, bouncies, and slides. The girls went up and down on the slides and had so much fun.

We left shortly afterwards since we were still hungry and the lines had only gotten longer - Gisella especially had a hard time leaving -

After we left, Michael and I remembered how just a few years ago, the crowds would not have scared us off, in fact - the more the merrier! Having kids has changed everything -

New Beds . . . again

Last week we had to get the twins new beds.

We had originally converted their cribs into toddler beds but the girls quickly learned that they could climb on top of the headboards and jump off.

Once Giuliana got a huge goose egg on her forehead, we decided that it was time to get them new beds.

No more jumping off headboards - well, at least for now!

and GP too!

The girls like to eat their meals on their plastic picnic table. I think that it works well for them -

Georgie usually eats her meals in her highchair - but she always looks down at her sisters wanting to join them. Well, today little GP (Georgie Pie) sat down on their table and joined her sisters for lunch! She was so happy to be a big girl too!

Catching Up (again)

The last few months have been just a blur - we have had so much going on that I have not even had a chance to sit down and write.

We went to Italy in July for 3 weeks and came back in August. Shortly after our return from Italy, we moved from our house into our temporary condo in the Greenway. We moved from a 2500 sq. ft home into a 1500 sq. foot apartment. Needless to say, a lot of our belongings went into storage while a lot of other things were sold at my garage sale.

MG and I are demolishing the house where we used to live in and rebuilding on our lot.

So, now on top of being a full time Mom - I am now also a full time mover, interior/exterior designer, landscape artist . . .etc., etc.,

Pictures to follow!

Movie Time

On Wednesday mornings, certain theaters across town play previously released kids movies for $1 a ticket. Therefore today, the GGs and I went to the movie theater - it was the first time for the G's. We met my friend Emily and her kids - also twins - .

Emily and I were a bit nervous about taking our twins - we thought that they may be afraid of the loud noises or the darkness inside the theater. We figured we would try it and if the kids hated it, we would just walk out - and at least not lose too much money.

I am proud to report that the Gs were not at all afraid of being in the theater. They actually enjoyed watching Monsters vrs. Aliens. Of course, they both sat on my lap and would not sit in their own seat, but besides that, they remained seated - and were absorbed in the movie. Even made comments to me about the movie.

Next time, we will have to get the popcorn, then for sure they will be hooked!

Little Ballerinas

The GGs started taking dance lessons last week. The very first time that they went, they both cried almost the entire class time and barely participated. Gisella stood and pointed to the door while Giuliana sat in the teacher's lap. There is a camera in the ballet room and Michael, Georgie and I got to watch in the waiting area.

I am happy to report that today's lesson went a lot smoother. The girls still cried at the beginning of class but eventually stopped and even participated. Giuliana was such a good jumper and spinner - while Gisella moved gracefully around the room. They both enjoyed looking at themselves in the mirror.

If you notice in the first picture above, the GGs did not have on ballet slippers. I was not sure if they needed them or not for the class. I got a 'talking to' after class from the teacher who told me that they needed ballet slippers. So, I got it together and found them ballet slippers for their class today. The slippers are not leather - they are from Target - but are obviously a lot cheaper than the real deal. But, I have 2 girls that are only 2 so the real leather can wait. Besides, I wanted to see them actually participate before buying them.

No More Rails

A couple of weekends ago, Michael and I removed the side rail from the girls' cribs to convert them into toddler beds. The G's were pretty excited about this - they love being able to jump up and down on the beds whenever they feel like it.

Michael and I were nervous about them falling out of their beds, so we placed cushions on the floor to catch them in case they should fall. So far, Giuliana has fallen down twice and Gisella has not fallen at all. Giuliana fell once during her nap and once during the night. When she fell during nap time, it woke her up but when she fell during the night, she continued to sleep. Michael and I found her on the floor asleep when we went in to check up on them.

One thing that we have noticed is that they are waking up earlier! They used to sleep until at least 7 sometimes even 7:30. Now, they come running into our room at 6. This morning they even woke up Baby - and she was always the first one to get up in the mornings. I am sure that the excitement will wear off - at least I am hoping so that I can get some more zzzs.

Catching up on GP

These past few months, little GP (Georgie Pie) has grown up so much. I really now see her as more of a little person. She loves hanging out with her sisters so much. Whenever we go to her sisters room, she squeals with delite. The pictures above show her accomplishments this month - she has been learning to feed herself. She loves cheerios and puffs. She is also crawling and sitting up on her own. Such a big girl.

My New Stroller

I have been wanting a stroller for my three girls for so long and I finally found one on ebay. I did not want to spend too much money on it since I knew that I would not use it that often. I wanted a triple stroller so that I could walk/jog with them to the park.

The stroller is so wide that it does not fit through standard doors. I knew this when I bought it - but,I was okay with it because I also knew that I did not want to take all three of them out and about and inside stores by myself. The stroller was only for running outside or to the park.

Well, the stroller finally arrived and I was so excited that I assemlbled it immediately - it was then that I realized just how heavy it really was.

I used it the very next day - I walked/ran the girls to the park - and it was so freaking hard - hard to maneouvar, hard to handle, it kept getting caught on the sidewalk etc., I had quite a workout. I can't imagine doing this during the hot summer months since I was drenched by the time that we got back home.

I guess I should have known better. Pushing the three of them is hard work!

Easter Weekend

What a busy, busy Easter weekend. We were blessed to share it with our family and friends.

On Holy Thursday, MG and I took the girls out to dinner. The picture above shows us before we went out to eat. I don't have too many matching outfits for the three of them, but this is one that I do have and we thought that they looked too cute!

On Good Friday, MG and I went out with Michael's brothers and their wives - we went to our favorite sushi restaurant where we had a lot of different sushi with a lot more wine. Of course, we paid the price for it the next day since lil G wakes up before dawn. It took me the entire weekend to get over that one night. But it was well worth it!

On Saturday, the girls, MG and I colored Easter eggs and then on Easter Sunday we took the girls to both grandparents' house. Needless to say, they went on 2 Easter egg hunts, and have so much leftover chocolate - which of course is being consumed by me.

Coloring Eggs

The Saturday before Easter, Michael and I walked the girls over to Randall's (in our new stroller), to buy white eggs and dye to color them. As soon as we got home, we boiled the eggs and prepared the dyes. This is the picture of the table set up before the girls began to dye their eggs. The entire prep work took about one hour - the girls were so excited - Giuliana especially since she loves to do art work. They knew that something was going on - finally all of the preparations were ready and the girls could begin coloring.

I showed the girls how to color the eggs first so that they could do it themselves after. Gisella is watching and learning.

Giuliana is putting stickers on the eggs. She did an awesome job decorating.

Here she is coloring the eggs all by herself!

It took us so long to get everything ready and it took the girls about 10 minutes to color the eggs, place stickers on them, throw the eggs on the floor, get dye all over their hands, get bored and move on to some other disaster. Sigh.

I'm Still Standing . . .

I have been sick the entire month and therefore, have not been able to blog. I had what the Dr. called a "minor" sinus/viral/respiratory infection. In other words, there was nothing that he could do for me. I can't imagine what a major infection would be like - perhaps then the Dr. would have given me some meds and I would have felt better sooner. Oh well, I am finally better and enjoying the beautiful spring weather.

Georgina is now six months and has started solids. She does not like fruit, and cries when I give it to her. On the other hand, she adores sweet potato, carrots, and squash. Unfortunately for me, this means a lot of orange poop. She is also turning over and rolls around to reach for toys. Is she sleeping through the night? Well . . . sometimes. She is going to bed a lot earlier which is nice - MG and I get some time alone to watch t.v. or read, or just hang out together.

The twins are growing up so fast. They are talking so much more - they can put two words together and are also really trying to use their words as opposed to just pointing and/or grunting. The most amazing thing is that they can understand both English and Italian. I am hoping that they remain bilingual. Each day they become more and more independent - in fact, they fight for their independence and do not want me to help them. I find it so amazing that they learn to do something new almost every single day.

What a difference a year makes!

This picture was taken on the Gs birthday last year. The girls were still sitting in their highchairs, and I remember that I was still nervous about food allergies and was not sure if they would have any reaction to the cupcakes. Last year, they were not walking yet. This year, they are running, jumping, dancing, laughing and getting into all sorts of mischief. They are also making friends, going to school and eating all by themselves.

Michael and I decide to make it tradition to sing to them and have them blow out their birthday candle as soon as they wake up. After we sing them their happy birthdays, we will have them open up one present. Later on that evening, we will take them out to dinner. This year, we took them to Carrabas for dinner. I must admit that I got a bit teary - eyed when the waiters sang 'Tanti Auguri' to them. My one wish is that they don't grow up too fast!

Happy Valentine's Day

We hope that everybody has a happy Valentine's Day!

Ours will be full of love!

Happy 5 Month!

Georgina is now 5 months and I just can't get over how fast she is growing! She can now play in the exersaucer - look at that neck control. It is amazing that in just a few months babies develop so quickly. She has not learned to spin in the exersaucer - I am sure that will be coming soon enough! Her sisters like to get in it also - except that they climb into it and then get stuck and are not able to get back out! They really need to figure that out quick because my back is about to break from all the constant lifting and bending that I am doing.

Georgina can also touch her toes! One day she simply discovered them and ever since then, she enjoys reaching out for them.

Loves, loves, loves to look at her hands. All the time. Her sister, Giuliana, was the same way -was fascinated with her hands.

She has also begun to babble so she no longer sounds like a little kitty cat when she speaks. It is so cute because now she is beginning to sound a bit like her sisters. I find it so amazing that one day she just learns something new - from touching her toes to babbling!

Nightime has been a bit smoother also - she takes her final feeding at 8:00 p.m. and then will fall asleep by 9. She then sleeps until 2ish, will nurse, falls back to sleep - and I have to wake her up in the morning at 8:00 for breakfast with her crazy sisters. She also takes 3 naps a day - totaling about 4 hours of sleep. I am really enjoying her schedule now - my main goal is to get all of their feeding times and their afternoon nap synchronized.

Georgina has also started eating solids - just rice cereal mainly - I have been giving it to her at the same time that her sisters eat their meals. She has definitely gotten a lot easier. Too bad I can't say the same about her sisters - more to follow.

More Rain

Another wet, dreary day here - and of course, the girls do not have school. Why could they not have school on a sunny day? Anyway, I cannot think of anything else to keep them occupied - hopefully there will not be any rain tomorrow . . .

Giuliana painting - Gisella has already gotten tired of it and has taken off and probably into trouble or making a mess elsewhere.

They love their tea parties!

Rainy Day Fun

It has been rainy, wet and cold the past few days and we have not been able to go outside to play. I tried to keep the girls busy with art projects since they are tired of playing with their toys and watching videos. We played with playdo, we painted, colored in coloring books, and had numerous tea parties. Unfortunately we finished all of the above activities in about 30 minutes. It took me longer to clean it all up. Aaagghh! What else is there to do??

We did not actually cook - I put aprons on the girls to keep their clothes, well, close to clean. The hats came with the aprons - they love the entire look.

Future chefs?

Gisella is such a funny girl - she hates the smell of paint! Who taught her to cover her nose? I have no idea . . . the things they pick up at school . . .

Giuliana painting with textured paintbrushes. She is so talented.

Georgina Baptism

January 16th was a very special day for our littlest G - it was the day that she was baptised. Throughout the entire service, she did very well and most importantly, she did not cry when water was poured over her head. Georgina was listening intently to the Deacon. I love the little baptism cap - it is so sweet.

SHe loves to play/look at her hands.

The godparents (my brother, Tony, and my SIL, Larissa) lighting the baptism candle -

My brother holding the candle, he was very serious (probably thinking about all of his godfather duties). Since he was sitting behind me, - I was nervous that he was going to light my hair on fire. Hehe.

Georgina's baptism cake - it was very yummy - strawberries and cream. Too bad she could not have any yet - her sisters really enjoyed it!

Behind the cake are the party favors that Larissa made for us. She did such a great job - they were beautiful. Georgina is blessed to have such loving Godparents.

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