Adriana's 3 month photos

Last week Adriana had her 3 month photos taken. Below is a sampling from the session. Adriana did a great job and smiled for the camera nearly every time. Her nickname should be "Smiley" because she loves to smile at everyone, especially her big sister!

In her Christening gown. This gown was first worn by Nonna more than 50 years ago. Samantha and Gabriella wore it at their Baptismal ceremonies, too.

Check out that toothless smile!

Gotta love the hair and cowlick!

Gabriella's bedtime question

Bedtime is a really special time with Gabby. After we read several books, whoever is putting her to bed will lie down with her and they will have conversations. Some of our favorite memories are from bedtime.

Last night, Samantha had one of those moments where you step back as a parents and smile really big and feel so proud inside. After reading several of Gabby's favorite books, Samantha lay down next to Gabby on her bed. As they stared at each other Gabby said, "Mommy has brown eyes like me!" She was so excited! She has said this to us before so Samantha replied with the usual, "Yes, I do Gabby." Then she said, "Adriana has blue eyes like Daddy!" Again she was so excited! (Right now Adriana's eyes look to be blue or hazel.) And Samantha replied again, "Yes, they are." Then Gabby asked her favorite question, "Why?" Samantha replied, "Because that's the way God made them." Gabby then paused for a few seconds and looked at Samantha and asked, "Can Father Mick (our priest) make my eyes blue, too?"

]

Totally surprised by the question, Samantha started to laugh. Gabby felt a little embarrassed but right away Samantha said, "Gabby, your eyes are beautiful just the way they are." Gabby reponded, "Ok, Mommy."

We thought this was a really cute story, but what we are most proud of is that Gabby is starting to undertsand how God, Jesus, going to church and our priest are all interconnected. We talk to her about all of this and pray with her, but she made this connection on her own last night. What a special moment for us as parents!

For your viewing pleasure, here is a picture of Gabriella sleeping in the car. Since this post is about bedtime we thought it was fitting.

Cabin fever!

The cold weather and snow have settled across most of the country and Kansas has been no exception. On Thursday and Friday most schools in our area were closed because of more snow accumulation and the below freezing temperatures. We spent most of the week in the house and we had lots of fun!

Adriana is 3 months old! She has grown so much in the last few weeks. She is more alert and is very much into her hands. She smiles all the time and laughs out loud! She is sleeping fairly well at night and very close to rolling over. She is almost there - probably in the next month she will hit the milestone.

Daddy with his girls.

Adriana in her Bumbo! She is such a big girl!

We tried to do lots of fun activities this week. One was painting Gabriella's toenails and fingernails. Santa brought her a bottle of purple nail polish (her favorite color) so we tried it out.

While we waited for them to dry, we watch a little bit of Wall-E.

Adriana during tummy time with her new catepillar Santa brought her.

New Year and New Beginnings

Happy New Year! It's hard to believe we have completed the first decade of the Twenty-first century! Two thousand and nine was a pretty good year for us overall. We had highs and low just like any family. We hope and pray for a healthy and happy 2010!

Below are some photos from David and Gabby's time playing in the snow the week after Christmas. They had a great time making a tunnel and snow angels.

Trying to make a snowman but the snow didn't pack well.

Building a snow tunnel in the corner of our backyard. Gabby loved it!

Some snow made its way into the house. Gabby brought in a snowball and we put it in the freezer - it's still there!

New Years Eve! We spent the evening and night at Nonna and G-Pa's. Gabby made it to 10:30 p.m. and the rest of us crashed soon after midnight. We had a good time hanging out with family.

The new year also brings some changes. One (big) change is that Mommy is staying home with the girls! Back in November, she decided to not return to work after Adriana's birth. We are all very excited! Gabby will continue to go to pre-school 2 full days each week, but Mommy and the girls will have a lot more time to hang out and have fun together during the week.