Rice Lover

New-found food discovery...
Gigi loves rice! Spanish rice, brown rice, fried rice, you name it! Here's the proof.She also likes trying to eat by herself! If we help her scoop up the food, she's getting good at putting the spoon or fork in her mouth!

teething news

Today we were sitting in traffic (accident ahead) and Gigi was totally crying in the back. What could be wrong, we thought, she's not usually this upset in the car. Plus she's been really fussy lately, and even though she's been sick it has seemed a little excessive.

So I got in the back with her while David ran into the bike shop. I finally got her to calm down and even laugh with a few refrains of "This little piggy" (a couple of custom versions too). At one point she was laughing so largely that I could see right into the secret parts of her mouth that she rarely will let me look at... and sure enough, there it was... about halfway through the gumline...

a MOLAR!!!

She still doesn't have all the front bottom ones, but one persistent molar is pushing through on her lower right side!
Okay, Gigi, you're allowed to be extra fussy this week. Because that sucker is big and I'm sure it doesn't feel very nice popping through your gums!

Nor Cal

We're coming to Sac at the end of the month!!



I know this is random, but I found it on neatorama and had to make one!

Happy Father's Day!

David spent Friday and Saturday in LA experiencing his Father's Day gift from Gigi & me! We flew him out to go with his dad to see a benefit with Vin Scully & John Wooden speaking (2 old LA spots icons). They absolutely loved it. And David also got to golf yesterday with his parents before flying home!

Today Gigi is sick :( with a cold/cough/fever, so we didn't get to go to church on Father's Day (we were pondering whether they would hand out manly-colored carnations to the dads), but we still had a pretty nice day.
This morning we walked about 3 miles! We went down to have breakfast at Einstein Bros. Bagels & Starbucks, and the walk really mellowed Gigi out. It was perfect weather too!
After lunch Gigi took a 4-hour nap (one of the "benefits" of her illness, that along with her uncharacteristic cuddliness that I've so enjoyed!), and David got to watch golf & baseball, so I think he enjoyed his day. :)
The highlight may have been when Gigi's new "Calming" bubble bath may have relaxed her a little too much, and she left daddy a few presents in the tub. It was a bit of an ordeal to clean up and take a second bath but hey, when you've got constipation issues like Gigi, I guess I shouldn't complain when she goes!

These are 2 of my favorite pictures of Gianna and her Daddy. And what a great one he is!
P.S. Happy Father's Day to all of our daddy friends & family, especially our dads in California, aka Papa & Granpa who we love & miss very much!

cute g baby

See some cute pics of Gigi sporting the gDiapers on my other blog!!

A few random things...

I just grabbed some pictures off the camera and thought I'd share a few with you...

Gigi got her first "owie" at Unc A's wedding (she skinned her knew on the bricks)-- here she is checking out her Hello Kitty Band-Aid.

My moms' Bible study is more of a play group now for the summer (and we are reading Anne Rice's book Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt too). Here is Gigi with her friend Sophie (oh yeah, baby Jude's hiding in there too) at the Zoo.

We had a BBQ at our neighbors' house a last weekend. They have their own bounce house, and Gigi loved it!

This is what happens after a long morning of walking to the pool, swimming & watching all the other kids, and walking home.

Cloth diaper update: doesn't she look cute in her little BumGenius dipe? I need to get a shot of her in the gDiapers because they aren't quite as bulky (which is why I think I like them better, used with the flushable insert or a cloth insert). She doesn't seem to notice the difference between the different types (cloth or disp.). We've been using cloth at home and disposables when we go out & overnight. I even made a microfiber insert (I still need to make more) that can be used with either type of cloth dipe-- I'm learning it's good to have extra inserts. Clean-up's not too bad, although we did ditch the Diaper Champ because the nice, waterproof, washable bags I got didn't fit with it, but the li'l trash can we got is working fine and it's not even smelly in the bathroom because of it!

Sunscreen

To anyone who uses sunscreen on themselves or their kids:
Please read this post I did after a little research.
Click to go to my "viola verde" blog: nicoleviola.blogspot.com.

Another Video!

It's your lucky day! Something a little less controversial for this blog... a video of Gigi's California birthday party. It's a little longer than usual, but I figured you all would enjoy her cake-eating as much as we do. :)

May Video & May in CA photos

As promised, here is a new video of Gigi!! And I'm also happy to share with y'all the rest of the photos from our California trip (I even did captions this time! So if you view as a slideshow, make sure to click the "i" to see the captions).
Click HERE for the photos, and enjoy the video below!

new blog (yes, again)

Hi readers! I just started a new blog using our old url (for those of you who read my blog pre-gianna)... nicoleviola.blogspot.com

This is where I will post craft-related posts (fun stuff!) and my findings and thoughts on living a "greener" lifestyle.

Click, bookmark/subscribe and visit often: Viola Verde.

P.S. New Gigi Video coming soon!

Thoughts on Birth Control

I'm sorry if I'm about to open up another controversial can of worms, but I had to share this. I started following a blog written by a young pastor's wife (I found her by way of a craft blog and took note primarily because of her name, Stacy Leigh, which is almost exactly my sister-in-law's name!).

She and her husband wrote this research paper about hormonal contraceptives and it completely echoes my sentiments on the subject.
You can read the paper HERE.

I quote a section from the paper, in my efforts not to offend anyone:

"This [paper] is not a condemnation of our brothers and sisters who have used or are now using hormonal contraceptives. We understand from experience that most Christian couples are lacking the information or have been given inaccurate or incomplete information to make a truly informed decision based on the Christian worldview.

Our mission is to inform, not to condemn. We ourselves rest on the grace of God through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who are we to condemn those who have been forgiven and are still obtaining forgiveness just as we?

We simply ask that you read this with an open mind, a humble spirit, and a contrite heart. This is the attitude of all who seek God’s will and find it, and this is the attitude required to obey it." (Page 4)

For further reference, Stacy Leigh's blog is HERE, and her husband's is HERE.

My Brother's Wedding!

Alex & his bride, Angelina, at the awesome ceremony location in Carlsbad.

On Friday, May 30th my brother was married! It was a beautiful day and a beautiful wedding and we were stoked to be a part of it.   The ceremony was at the same place where my friends Sarah & Scott were married-- a grassy area overlooking Tamarack Beach and the reception came together perfectly in my parents backyard in San Marcos. 

Us with the newlyweds!

The new Mr. & Mrs. Pavone are in Hawaii right now (boy are we jealous-- I sit typing this in the Airport as we wait to fly home to Denver).  We had a lot of fun hanging out with them and other family & friends this past week and are sad to go home. I'll be posting more pictures soon, so stay tuned!

Click HERE for the Rehearsal pictures and HERE for the Wedding pictures. (Sorry about the weird photo descriptions that repeat!)