The Big D

G and I are off this week to Dallas to see my brother and his family. I wanted you to know so if you didn't see a new post you wouldn't be worried (harass me).

We had a Baby Shower here for a dear friend and this is the cake I made for it:

Don't you just love the toes?

After the shower we decided to wash my car and Gianna helped.

She loves that "fresh" water. Right from the tap!

Hat

Southern Belle in training

All is go for round two. We'll keep you posted.

The Funk is Gone!

Almost. Well, I've been in a blah, housecleaning, general blah funk since we got back from Alaska in May. Nothing serious- just a case of the Mondays (movie???) for a few weeks. Some of it was vacation syndrome, and some of it was Gianna dropping her morning nap. It was just another change that we had to get used to.
I am passive aggressive. There I said it and I know it and knowing it is half the battle. And when things get too big for me I choose to shut down and not do anything. For example- when Roomba broke that gave me an excuse to not clean my bathrooms for a few weeks. Cause you need a vacuum to clean the bathrooms right?!? But I did choose to do the housework I like. I did grocery shop and I did laundry, but I didn't fold it!!!!
OK so that's a lot of personal sharing ( I did clean my bathrooms yesterday- I PROMISE). But the major reason I know I was in a Funk is because we: John, Gianna, and I are about to go through in vitro for a second time. We are so blessed to have John's insurance cover most of the cost, and since John's company will be sold in a matter of months- July was the right time for us to go through the process of it again. And that my dear friends would put anybody into a funk- even active aggressive folks.



By the way: Funk = Fear



So keep us in your thoughts dear readers. We go for another appointment in Houston today at 10:30. Not the full blown thing, but just to remind us how to give shots 6 times a day to your wife, and to make sure everything is ok.

Helpful things to do/say:
We're praying for you.
I can watch Gianna now, if you need a few hours.
I love you. I'm praying for you.
Things like that would be great.

Goodbye Dear Friend

Good bye dear faithful friend. You vacuumed while we were at church, shopping, walking the dog, blow drying our hair and much much more. You faithfully cleaned messes and tormented Scooter while we were not there to witness it. You amazed our friends and showed them how cool we are (or wished we were). You made John happy as he was the one who's job it was to vacuum so he convinced me to get you.
You died. We cleaned you out and cleaned every thing we could, but it was no use. You led a good life. Faithfully cleaning everyday when Gianna was a preemie and we were new parents who had too much time on our hands to read that we needed to vacuum. You never once complained about the mini chihuahua we seemed to empty out of your dust bin after cleaning up all of Scooter's hair. You faithfully showed so many people all your cool tricks as we proselytized your Roomba message.
You will be missed.
Sadly, we have chosen to go back to the old fashioned upright vacuum. One that you actually have to be operating it for it to work. We think it might be best for the carpet. I already miss you. But if we move- WE WILL GET ANOTHER ROOMBA!
Goodbye dear friend.

My day at the GYM

It started as I watched Regis and Kelly. She emerged from the child care area. I was smirking at something they said. I then flipped to Rachel Ray and I enjoyed her segment on extreme fall fashions. I dismissed her as going some where else.I decided I wasn't going to try the high heel saddle shoes, but high waisted pants NOT tucked in I might. Then she climbed the stairs. I flipped again to TLC. Then she showed up beside me. As I turned to her she said, " Your daughter has a dirty diaper." "Thanks," I said.
Thanks?!?!?!? Really what was I thanking her for? My 30 minute time on the elliptical machine and of course my Regis and Kelly time was now OVER. I had no choice but to follow her down the long walk of Mommy shame and go claim my stinky daughter.
Oh well, I didn't want to do weights today anyway!
Thanks Gianna.

SIDE!!!!

Gianna has a new word- SIDE. This is her word for outside. She will go to the back door and bang on it and say "Side? Side? SIDE!!!!" She loves being outside and trying to get Scooter to chase or notice she has a stick for him. She also enjoys bubble and the pool. Mostly with the pool she enjoys drinking the water more than getting in, but hey who doesn't love FRESH water?

Piggy Tail Cute

Gianna now has hair long enough for some cute piggy tails. It's John's favorite way that I fix her hair so of course I do it a lot!

Sushi cakes

First off let me start by saying: NO one commented on how cool it was that I made cake look like sushi.
So I will comment myself: "Wow Charissa those sushi cakes are really cool. How did you do it?"
I'm glad you asked. I just cut them with a biscuit cutter from a sheet cake I made . Then I iced the top with white icing. I didn't have any coconut, but if I did I would have put it on top for the "rice." Then I wrapped each one in berry Fruit by the foot. I then decorated each mini cake with different things. One was Swedish fish. I got Sour Starburst and rolled a green one for the wasabi and smashed a pink and orange one for the pickled ginger.
It was really easy. I didn't come up with idea I copied it from my magazine Family Fun. I ejoyed making it and John loved it too!

Father's Day

We here at the Ludlow Bungalow enjoyed a day of celebrating John/Dad. It started for us yesterday when Gianna and I took John to pick out a NEW GRILL! He was so excited. He was hoping for one, but didn't want to hold his breath. We'll he didn't and I really wanted him to so that I could watch him turn colors, but oh well, maybe for the next big present.
So he looked and inspected each grill. Home Depot had like 50 grills out in the front of the store. We (JOHN) was so excited about picking out a new grill that we got there before 9! We (JOHN) looked at each and every grill. Then we went inside to compare the display models. Then we went outside to look at the reduced grills. Then we went back inside to look at the models again. Then we decided to go back outside and get a grill outside. That was a lot of typing to say- John was so excited and he really had a good time looking at all the grills trying to make the "Perfect" choice. I know this about my husband and how he likes to look- so this did not surprise me or cause me to get upset. Before we had Gianna it would. One time he needed a new watch. We went to Wal-Mart and looked at the 10 watches they had for men. Just 10 choices. He took over an hour to decide- I kid you not!!!!! Over an hour.
Now we have Gianna he can no longer look until he has the serial numbers memorized, and all the codes for the rebates. He has just enough time to look as long as she is willing to sit. And these days it's not that much! :)
But he got the "Perfect" grill and one that he is so excited about. We grilled hamburgers yesterday and steak today. We had special breakfast today and I also made this:

Sushi cakes for John.

We ended the day by going to the pool where John got in FREE!
Fathers Day is celebrated in our house. We love a holiday that makes us remember how blessed we are to have Dad's in our lives that we love and who love us. And that John actually gets to be a dad after many tears and years. It doesn't get old- a Miracle lives with us and we are blessed.

Right of Way?

As most of you know, I go for a daily stroll with Gianna, Scooter, My friend Jenny, and her daughter. We've been walking the path for a while- more than a year. The same path. And it's not along busy streets or anything. It's just in our neighborhood. As busy and the streets get is a two way street with a turn lane in the middle.
We rarely see any traffic at all. But when we do it's always a gamble if they are going to stop or not. We, being two moms with strollers don't wish to end up on the evening news always ere on the side of caution when coming vehicles approach. They (the two ton vehicles or absurdly large monster trucks) ere on the side of speeding up to avoid having to wait for us. Now it's been a LONG time since I was in drivers ed, but don't you have to treat pedestrians like they have the right away? It's not like baseball and the tie goes to the runner (or the one with the larger car). You are supposed to let them cross. One time I was actually in the middle of the intersection before a car stopped as I almost ran Gianna in her stroller into the side door. I'm not sure they saw us even as they sped away.
Now, I understand being in a hurry. And I understand that actually waiting at the stop sign you are at while letting me pass on a street that does NOT have a stop sign may very well ruin your whole day. So that's why we slow down and decide if you are actually going to obey the laws of traffic before I decide to push my daughter out into the path of your killing machine. That's why I give dirty looks to you.
And sometimes after you've gone away that's why I laugh at myself and remember what it was like when I was the center of the universe, and stopping for two moms a dog and a two babies really would have made me roll my eyes, flip my hair over my shoulder and wonder why "they" felt like they owned the road!

What's in a Grocery Store?

A local grocery store down the street from us is closing. They have everything some percent off. The deli things are 5% and greeting cards are 60% off. It sounds good, but really when I went to look I was surprised by what was there, and how expensive things were. Now some of you Price is Right junkies might now how much a Colgate medium firm toothbrush is. I did not, and I was surprised by how much it was- $2.96! Johnson and Johnson baby lotion- $5. 46! For a small!!!! So two things ran through my head-
1. I try really hard not to buy things at full price. So it makes sense that when I see the full price it amazes me.
2. There might be a reason that this store is going out of business!
Gianna was a great helper the whole time. I kept asking if she thought it was a good deal of not. She told me. She helped me unorganize my coupons- twice. She kept finding all the kiddie food that I was not looking for. And she voiced her opinion when she found something she would like to hold and keep safe in her part of the grocery cart. But she really enjoyed it the whole trip- because she was chowing down on the Honey Nut Cheerios that I had to open for her!

A Weekend Away

This weekend was a first. First time away from Baby G since she was born. That's 17 months of mommy, daddy and Gianna time together. Sure we've had baby sitters. But she goes to bed at 7 and we usually just need: watch-the-house-and-the-dog-while-the-baby-sleeps-sitters.
So we did it- we took the plunge and took Gianna to her Grandparents for a weekend of fun in Temple. Fun for her, and fun for us. I didn't fully cry. Just teared up when we put her to be Friday night. I thought I would be a big bag of emotions. But I survived and so did she.
Back home I had big plans for us. I wrote out a list of "fun" projects that we needed to get done, but sometimes have a hard time getting done while we have a baby in the house. What we did is: not do anything on the list! Instead we slept in. Both of us. The first time in 17 months! We really loved that part. We also chose to go to the movies instead. We saw Indiana Jones and Prince Caspian. We might have watched more, but there was only so much time in the day! It was fun to have long extended time to not have to worry about time to get home.
Gianna had a blast with her grandparents. She played with the dogs (poked and chased them), watched birds with Grandpa, and got a swim suit and a new pool with Grandma. She also had Cousin Julie to play bubbles with, and Grandma and Great Aunt Lisa got to love on her.
We all survived and everyone one enjoyed themselves with the promise to do it again soon.
And we will. Soon. I promise. Like next year.

Just Life

Sorry dear readers (Alaska Grandparents and Great Aunt), for the delay in new posts and pictures this week. We've been just living life. So that means no funny antidotes to write about. Here is a picture of Gianna taken this very afternoon eating snack. Banana's and yogurt.
We've been trying to adjust to a new schedule that does not involve morning naps. We seem to have left those behind in Alaska. Just another sign of our "baby" turning into a toddler.

Run but not stop

That's right, our Gianna has learned how to run. In fact her favorite game right now is chase. That's all fine except when I really do want her to come to me or go where I ask her. For example, when she has a dirty diaper we say, "Gianna let's go change you." She smiles and goes to the direction of her changing table, but then decides on the way there that she is having so much fun with Mommy or Daddy behind her that she keeps going, and going and going. She loves to laugh when we finally catch her and of course we give some tickles too while we're at it. But that's the trick- we have to catch her. She has learned how to run but not how to stop. We have had some serious goose eggs in the last week from run ins with the door frame, the door, some cabinets and other such immovable objects. Some times she bounces off the wall and sometimes she "thuds." I read that depth perception is not fully developed at this time.
Yup, I would agree to that. It is amazing to think that she wasn't even walking a few short months ago THREE in fact. Now she has it down and she has moved on to running. Let's just hope that stopping develops really soon!
Here is Gianna's verse for the week:

Isaiah 40:31

31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

I'm glad it applies to Mommies who chase toddlers too!