Here are the most recent pictures of the cousins. Grandma and Great Grandma came to us this time and we were able to take another round of 5 generation pictures with babies 3, 4, and 5 (aka: Jack, Gianna, and Abby)! A little chaotic, and definitely trying on the eardrums at times, but a good and memorable day none the less!
Five for five is not too bad!
Looking just like her daddy
Gaylin and Grandma came all the way from KS
Gianna's a little protective when it comes to kissing...
or even holding hands, for that matter
It's only allowed if given from her!
Yay! Mama's happy we got some decent decent shots
for Christmas cards!
Papa and Grandma: The photog's for the day.
Jackson getting some daddy time.
3 sets of 5 generations and 1 set of four = a crowd
All done and ready to go in!
All smiles for Abby despite the nap-less afternoon!
Our first year... We've learned a lot and will do some things differently next year but all in all I'd say it was a success!
The girls had a blast in the dirt and I loved being able to tell Isabella that I needed some lettuce for a salad, her disappearing for five minutes, and then returning with a skirt full of leaves ready to be washed (which she was all too eager to do as well)! Gianna's favorite was, of course, the juicy, ripe, red: "tomatoes a garden", as she called them.
Below are a few pictures to take you from the very beginning after the girls and I planted seeds in milk jugs, all the way to the harvest. Enjoy!
Ok, so I've been reminded that as of lately, I've not been taking many pictures. I'm not sure what it is. Just the busyness of life, or the bulkiness of having to drag the camera around. Most of the time I just snap shots here and there with my phone. Anyway, someone had asked for a photo of Gianna when I realized I don't have any current ones. Decent, frame-able ones anyway. So a few weeks ago, we were having one of our last summer hurrah's in Flint, the girls were somewhat matching and having fun in Grandma's flower bed after church so I ran for my dads' camera. The sun was going down so many of them were blurry but at least a couple were of Gianna without her scrunched up 'sun face'! LOL. And Bella is now finally cooperating with the camera, at least during a small window of time, to be determined by her of course! So below is the result, and Nana, I'll have one of Gianna on the way shortly! :)
We are all doing pretty good here. Aside from Manuel's sprained ankle and my headaches, which both seem to be improving, we have nothing to complain about. Thank you for your prayers! We are reaping more rewards from our garden now and loving it! The girls especially as, hopefully, you'll be able to see in the short video clip I'm trying to add to this post. We are outside as much as the weather allows, playing in the new sandbox that daddy built, swinging on the new swingset, or riding bikes. I'm enjoying every minute of these last few weeks of summer and we're all looking forward to fall when Bella will go to 4 year old preschool. She's pretty excited about it. Gianna and I even get to go to school together one day just down the hall from her! Enjoy!
About the monthly blogging bit... I lied. I can't believe we are already in the third week of July! And what's sad is that Bunicu's month long visit with us has already come and gone! It was a great visit, for us and for him and we're looking forward to having him back with us again, hopefully, this winter. My Romanian, and the girls', got better throughout the month. Now we just need to convince him to come stay a year and we should all be fluent! haha!
What was even more special than Bunicu's visit was that we all got to celebrate 4 special family days together: Manu's birthday, Bella's birthday, Father's Day, and Bunicu's 60th birthday!!! With those events and Manu traveling 2 weeks for work it was quite a busy and fun time and I am sooo glad that the girls got to spend this time with their Bunicu! For Giulianna, the first time!
A few other firsts from the months: Bella got a pet corn snake she named Moses. I am happy to say that almost a month later he's alive and doing well! We also got to eat the first veggies from our garden! Not sure if it's all in our head, but they tasted delicious!!!
Oh and I almost forgot, Giulianna is sleeping in a big girl bed! Actually it's still her crib, I just took the front rail off after a successful night in the toddler bed at grandma and papa's. You can't see it real well, but at the very end there's a little video of how I found her the first night at home! lol! She was sound alseep, we never heard a peep out of her...pretty cute!
Daddy turns 35!
Bella & Moses
Giving Bunicu his Father's Day gift...
A hand painted picture from Bella
Sweet!
Gianna's "Cheese" face
Licking candles from Bunicu's cake(wearing the dresses he brought)
Well it seems that we're becoming monthly bloggers so here's a little about our month of May. It was busy with the end of Bella's preschool year and a little lonely with daddy gone for half of it but memorable just the same...Happy June everyone! There are some pretty cute video's I hope to have time to edit and get up this month... our busy, busy birthday month... so we'll see!
Both Bella & Gianna are outdoor girls!
Bella would stay all day turning over rock after rock if she could!
We got a glimpse of 'Daddy Bird' bringing more twigs for his nest in our cherry tree
Bella and Mommy on 'Mom's Day' at preschool
Bella going through the car wash on her big wheels at school
...just as fun on foot!
Brushing "teef, teef" as Gianna says
Major bed head! haha
Pushing sissy at Grandma & Papa's
We took a picnic of sushi to the park the day before daddy left for Japan...
and dreamt of all the wonderful food he was having while he was away!
Snuggling with Daddy before his big trip
Gianna after finding a great mud puddle next to Sasha's house in the backyard...
surprisingly the shoes cleaned up well!
My happy "Good morning" girl!
Our garden project
Gianna helping with the cucumbers
"dig, dig, digging"
and Bella having a wonderful time with a piece of string by the fence! haha
Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend! Ours was crazy busy but more special than ever! Definitely one to remember! We had all of my family and all 5 little ones down for the weekend that started with the 'Eggstravaganza' Saturday morning. The kids had a blast making all of the crafts (along with big messes of glue, glitter, and sequins). After that they sat for an Easter story and skit and then it was time for egg hunt #1. Bella kept busy finding, re-hiding and then finding the eggs all over again!
But as great as Saturday was, Sunday was even better! It was our first Easter Sunday spent with our new church family and the first time Manuel spoke as well. The day just couldn't have been more perfect! From our worship time to the scriptures read, God was definitely among us! Probably amplified for me because I was able to share it with my own family as well! If you're interested in hearing Manu's message you can download it from our church website: www.troychurch.net
After the service we all packed up the caravan and headed to Nana and Poppy's for dinner and egg hunt #2. You'll see some precious photos below of the kids loving on their Nana and Poppy....very special times! Thank you God for such an awesome weekend centered around your son!!!
Nana with two of her girls
Bella loving on her Poppy
The Rhoads family, looking good!
hmm... so this is why Gianna's basket was so full!
Just a little help from daddy (look at that determination) haha!
Sorry about posting so many pictures but we have had quite the case of spring fever around here and I just had to share! We've been having lots of fun playing outside and have almost made up for our winter of hibernation. Gianna has 'outSIDE' down pat and if there are shoes or coats lying around, she's got them on and is ready to go! :) Last season seems soooo long ago and the girls have changed so much! They are real playmates now and I can't wait to see them enjoying all of the things this season has in store for them! Enjoy and Happy Spring to everyone!
I'm a stay at home mom doing what I believe to be one of the most important jobs I'll ever have in my life...that of raising a family. God has blessed us tremendously with two precious angels. Isabella 4, and Giulianna 2. Since the day we became parents, our world has never been the same! With this blog we try to capture the moments that make up our life and share them with you...enjoy!
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