Week in California

Sorry for the delay on this post~ still waiting for a few pics to get emailed to me, but I figured I can just add to it when they arrive!
Gianna and I spent a week in California at Yaya & Papa's house while David traveled to Argentina for work (more on that later!).We had a great time! We saw lots of friends and family-- Granny & Granpa came down for dinner one night and Unc A & Tia spent most of the week with us, too. On Thursday we had a very full day visiting some friends in Orange County which was very fun. We even went the San Diego Zoo on Friday -- Gigi loved all the "amuls" (animals)! Oh, and Gigi fell even more in love with Sydney (aka "Ninney").Gigi Bri did awesome on the plane rides (sleeping most of the time!). The only bummer about this whole week was that we came back to significantly cooler weather. Let's just say I currently have 2 tomato plants and 1 jalapeño plant in my kitchen trying to survive ~ I'm always in denial that winter is coming!

As usual, I have lots of pictures to share from the week away...

My album from the week:
http://flickr.com/photos/bennettars/sets/72157608242781930/
Al-Buddy also has some great shots too:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14000165@N05/sets/72157607946938560/

P.S. I wrote a guest post for Green & Clean Mom last week. You can read it to find out how/why I decided to go green...

Mother's Day

I had a great Mother's Day yesterday! After church we went to the Farmer's Market our town has this time of year, and even though there weren't many farmers there, it was a fun time. We had yummy burritos & lemonade and then walked across the street where I was surprised to be able to get a FREE Coldstone ice cream, just for being a mom! Yum! 

We spent the rest of the day just hanging out (including watching the Dodgers and playing on our new computer!).

 I'm so blessed to be a mom of such an awesome little girl. Each day with her is more fun! And to prove that, here's a new video of Gigi playing around.

P.S. The 1-yr old Nap Poll is still open!

Going outside...

Even though we've had snow the last 2 days, we have had some warmer weather lately and are starting to feel like Spring is creeping toward us. Last weekend we went on a fun hike at a nearby state park with our friends the Matthews. It's really fun getting to know them again as we all went to Cal Poly together, lost touch, and then ended up living just a couple miles from each other here in CO!!

Melody, Kyle, Wyatt & Us

Then this week I spent an afternoon hanging out with my new friend Meredith who is expecting a little girlie of her own to be born any day now. She just happens to be an awesome photographer and she got some great shots of Gigi at the park. I'm happy to report that in her old age, Gigi not only loves to swing, but she's also slowly overcoming her fear of grass!
See all the pictures here: http://flickr.com/photos/bennettars/sets/72157604495128003/


We're off to Santa Fe, NM tomorrow for the weekend to check out a supposedly cool city and hit up the one and only Trader Joe's (5 1/2 hours away is our closest one). We got a surprise sneak peak at what we will be able to stock up on when we got a few yummy things in the mail from David's aunt Jann today!! :)

Help!

Our latest dilemna: Gigi has realized her mad skills of pulling herself up to standing! It's great and real cute when she does it on the couch or the coffee table during playtime, but not so great when we try to get her to take a nap and now all she wants to do is stand up in her crib! She thinks it's really funny at first (as we continually go in, and lay her back down), and then she gets overtired, keeps doing it, but now is simply crying each time she stands up. Yesterday she slept a total of 1 hour during the day! I think she might also be a little stuffy, maybe getting a cold (her first!) too so that could have something to do with it. But I'm pretty much at a loss as to what to do about the standing up. Any ideas from you experienced moms? Please help!!

The Culprit in Action

Shopping!

I haven't done my own post in quite a while, and since I arrived at a milestone today, I thought I'd share about it with you. Today I rode in the cart like a big girl for the first time! Thanks to my Auntie Em for the sweet cart liner! Mommy and I bought some yummy goodies at Whole Foods and I had a great time sucking on all my toys. Here's a picture of me in the produce department (it's not the best quality because Mommy took it with her phone).P.S. If you'd like to, you can read my updated profile here. I'm very technologically-savvy for a 6-month old, you know.

September Recap

September was a big month for all of us! I've posted the rest of this month's pictures in 2 sets: first, our California pictures, up until we left, and second, our first set of pictures in Colorado!
Also, for your entertainment, here's a funny video of Gigi in her new toy. She has joined the ranks with the others her age who love this fun bundle of "over-stimulation," as our friends the Avilas referred to it.


Part 1: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bennettars/sets/72157602220816897/
Part 2: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bennettars/sets/72157602214005808/

Summer's End

This summer has flown by like usual. We had a really fun first summer with Gigi. Here are the rest of our pictures from August and a cute little video of one of Gigi's new tricks (with Auntie Rena).
August photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bennettars/sets/72157601887035811/

I'm 6 Weeks Old!

Hi Everyone. I wanted to personally update you all on ME, now that I am six weeks old! I'm getting bigger every day, working on my double chin and my leg & arm rolls.In the last few days, I started smiling more at my mommy and daddy. It's cool, because it always makes them smile back at me. I also started "talking"-- saying things like "goo" and other cool words that mom likes to try and imitate.

We had a fun Father's Day yesterday. We went to ESPN Zone so Daddy could watch the Dodgers on the really big TV. I pretty much slept the whole time, which is what I usually do at loud restaurants.
Well, that pretty much sums it up for me, it's time for me to take a nap. I do have a new photo album for you to look at. Mommy just loves taking pictures of me, must be because I'm so cute!
Click here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bennettars/sets/72157600392699240/