First Hair Cut!!

Gabriella just had her first hair cut courtesy of Aunt Jessica. I think she looks lovely but I just cant get over how big she is getting. Here is a before and after picture. (please disregard black eye)

Olympic withdrawals

Ill just come right out and say it "I Love the Olympics". Honestly I have had so much fun watching the last few weeks and I am already quite depressed that it is almost over. I have always been somewhat of an athletic person and there is just something about watching those hard bodies that gets my blood pumping and makes me want to work out and sweat. I will miss you Michael Phelps, Nastia Lukin, May and Walsh, Logan Tom and all those others who have entertained me over the last few weeks.(until 2012)

Black eye and some other memories

Gabriella is officially the recipient of her first black eye. It was quite traumatic and sad but she does indeed have a nice shiner on her. Even though I feel like a horrible parent I felt like I should share this moment and a few others that have happened lately. Mostly there are just some really cute things that she has been doing so I thought I would share. Oh and no I did not give her the black eye. She bent over to pick something up at aunt Jessicas house and smacked her face on the coffee table.
Cute thing #1: Since Gabriella has started walking she likes to challenge herself by walking over large or small rocks and trying out stairs and also walking down steep dirt trails. We have a set of 4 stairs in front of our house that she was determined to learn to walk up and down. The other day she and I were going down the steps and the minute we were down the 4 steps she would turn aroun and try to walk up them. She did this back and forth (with my help) at least a dozen times. I dont know if this means she is just very determined or just really easily entertained. Ill take either.
Cute thing #2: When she wants something she has taken to pointing and twisting her hand back and forth for emphasis. We caught on pretty fast and are pretty good at getting her what she wants. She is a good teacher.
Cute thing #3: Gabriella has this darling little chair that she loves to sit in and in fact her favorite thing is to pile all of her toys or anything that is interesting to her on the chair and then try to sit on top of it all. Its pretty hilarious and in fact at the moment she is sitting on my shoes, a pacifier and a little squeaky dog. Good times!
Cute thing #4: At the sand pit this afternoon Gabriella was playing and throwing dirt around and having a wonderful time on her own. She had wandered to the other side of the sand area and found a little toy car. She immediately turned and looked at me and walked over to me as fast as she could holding the car out in front of her to show me the neat thing she found. She handed it to me and then held her hand out for me to give it back to her so she could play with it. How darling though that she wanted to show me her treasure first. So cute!
Cute thing #5: She loooooves puppy dogs and the minute she sees one or something equally as fuzzy or furry she pants like a dog and points. Its darling and another reminder that she is basically a genius.
Those are just a few of the darling things our little girl has done in the past couple of days that remind me how smart, fun and beautiful she is. Im a lucky mommy! (here are some pics of the black eye.. kinda hard to tell but if you look closely its there)

New Mexico and the Zoo

So we just got back from New Mexico last night for a quick trip to visit Brians family and to go to his sisters baby shower. It was great being there but I gotta tell you the drive was hellish. Virtually the trip from hell. Never ever will I drive farther then two hours away with a small toddler again. If I ever mention that I am taking a road trip please remind me how much it sucks. It was 10 hours of almost constant crying and general fussiness and not just from Gabriella either. I think I contributed a little myself. So while we love to visit family I think from now on we will see if we can fly and if not maybe a motor home so Gabriella can be running laps while we drive. While we are in Albuquerque we took the kids to the zoo which they really enjoyed as did us parents. I havent been to a zoo in ages so it was pretty neat to see all those furry babies. Here are the pics!

Fun with mom in the creek

Megan and I took Gabriella to play in the creek and sand again today and of course she loved it. I think we actually have a couple of pictures of us together thanks so Megan so I will go ahead and post those seeing as they are quite rare. Gabriella is supposedly taking a nap at the moment but I keep hearing her squeal and talk to herself. She keeps up a running dialogue all day long and has become quite impatient and demanding at times but is mostly just darling. Everywhere we go people are just tickled by her and her sweet smile. What a cutie pie! Im just so lucky to have her. Here are the pics.

Beach Volleyballer in the making....

Okay so she didnt actually play any volleyball or do anything besides play in the sand but I could tell that she really wished she could. One day little Gabriella... one day. The sand she is playing in is in this darling little park that I just took her to and all the little kids that you see around her were just playing but they were sweet enough to share with Gabriella and try to coax her into smiling into the camera. It finally worked and I got it on tape so enjoy. They also made some sand piles for her and instead of smashing them as you would assume a small child would she gently poked them with her finger. So funny! Gabriella absolutely loves it outside and squeals and laughs every time she gets to walk around or play in the grass or water in the creek. She cries and is so sad whenever we have to come back inside but since she is usually so tuckered out by the time we get home she does take some mighty good naps. Here are the latest pics and videos.

Gabby's Big Escape!

Our little girl is hilarious and is walking EVERYWHERE! We cant keep up with her already which is a little frightening. Here is a video of her trying to run away down the sidewalk and a little picture of her with mashed potatoes all over her face. Life sure is entertaining with this little one around.

Bath time!

Gabriella has upgraded her bath to a big girl bath and apparently loves it. She cries every time I take her out now and I think she could play in the bathtub for hours if I let her. Here is a little video I shot last night of her enjoying herself. She is so funny! On a side note I finished my Breaking Dawn book on Sunday night and LOVED it!!! Hopefully all you out there will love it too. I am just so sad its over.. I guess I still have the movie to look forward to though. Thank goodness for that!

4th of July and a cute girl

Here are some pics of gabs during 4th of July which we were in Hawaii for and didnt get to see our girl enjoy her first 4th. From the pictures though she looked pretty tired and not that excited so maybe we didnt miss much. A couple of other cute pics of her while at Grandmas and one of us together which rarely happens seeing as I am the one usually taking pictures. Enjoy!

Edward here I come...

So I have just become the proud owner of Stephanie Meyers latest "Breaking Dawn" which I have been waiting for since forever it seems. Finally I get to find out if Bella becomes a vampire and if she picks Edward or Jacob. Exciting stuff.. So if any of you wonder over the next few days why you havent heard from me it is because I will be spending every available second reading my new book. Yea for me!!

She's a walker!!

Okay so Gabriella is officially a walker. It seriously happened just over the last two days but she is really getting the hang of it and seems to prefer walking now to crawling. She is a bit wobbly on those little stems of hers but every day gets better and better. Its so darling! I keep trying to get video of it but as soon as the camera comes out she falls or crawls to me to get the camera. She is just so darn cute if I do say so myself. Im a proud mama!!!