Teething and a new job?

Just this week Gianna started to lick and chew everything she can get her hands on - and she doesn't discriminate. She has sucked on Grandma Nator's face, rings that dangle from her play mat, her sheep named Fleece, her bibs, her burp cloths and a few fingers. We don't see any teeth coming through yet but either our daughter is part dog or she is definitely teething. We have some teething rings that are too big for her to hold so Mike and I went to Target yesterday to buy some that she can hold and chew on. She has been loving those and slept with one in the crib last night. We have her 4 month doctor's appointment next Monday so I'm going to check with the Dr to see what he says. Can you believe that she will be 4 months old on Friday? You know what that means - new monthly birthday picture and new stats from the Dr.

Also some of you might already know but Mike has taken a new job with Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) as a finance manager and starts December 8th. This new job is a great move as it is a promotion and will look good on the resume. Unfortunately instead of being 4 miles from home, he will now be down in DC which is an hour commute, each way. That means the great schedule we have for dropping off and picking up Gianna will be changing. It will definitely take some getting used to but is the best thing given this job environment. The great thing is that there is a facility 5 minutes away from our house that his department it looking to move there in the near future.

Oh, by the way, I'm posting this from the car on our way back home to Maryland. Greetings from the middle of no where PA.

Pictures from Thanksgiving coming tomorrow - hopefully.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

It's Turkey Day

Hi Everyone! I bet you thought that we wouldn't post but I thought I would surprise you with some pictures of the week. First to catch you up on everything, the ride home was amazing. Gianna slept 4 1/2 out of the 6 hours which meant that mom was squished in the back seat for no reason. The weather was great traveling home and we made great time. We have been having a wonderful time at Grandma Nator and Poppies house. Gianna has logged a lot of great bonding time on her butterfly mat, sleeping on Grandma Nator, and "dancing" with Poppie. She easily adjusted to the new bed (the antique crib that my husband slept in-- sorry Nator -- had to say it), the new bath tub and all of the great toys. We are so lucky that our daughter has such a great temperament (we're not sure who she got that from) and adjusts to just about anything. She has had a consistent stream of great visitors coming over to say hello and she has loved every minute of it. We already made one quick trip to the mall but tomorrow we are going to experience BLACK FRIDAY!! Gianna will be in her baby bjorn and Mike & I will be armed with a smokin' credit card and some serious coupons. Based on the paper this morning, we should be able to get some great deals.

Here are just a few pictures from the week so far...

oh those baby blue's

laughing with daddy

I love my rocking chair

Gianna & Great Grandpa Joe

Gianna & Great Grandma Anna

I love hanging out with everyone

No - I'm NOT the turkey

We hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Gianna is excited about...

...her first road trip to Rochester NY and spending 6+ hours in the car, bonding with Mommy and Daddy
...staying in her new room at Grandma Nater and Poppie's house
...meeting Great Grandma Anna and Great Grandpa Joe
...her first Thanksgiving Feast
...her first Macy's Day Parade
...BLACK FRIDAY in the Baby Bjorn
...meeting Darwin and Django (cats)
...meeting all of the neighbors
...being able to listen to Christmas music (officially)

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Just to catch you up on a few things...

• Gianna has become increasingly interactive within the past few weeks. Just this morning she had a whole conversation with Aunt Monica on the phone. We've heard a few little giggles within the past few days with the best little smile, it makes your heart melt.
• Gianna had her first shower this past weekend with Daddy. Although she didn't smile during it, she wasn't crying either. We want to her enjoy the water so we made sure to put her face in it twice and she did great. Incidentally, we are signing up for Aquababies through the local indoor pool which starts in January. (We can't wait to buy her a bathing suit).

Again - for you picture fanatics, sorry! There will be a bunch after the Thanksgiving holiday.

We're rolling over!!

It has been a wonderful past few days. Gianna started rolling over last week and we were able to capture it on video. We can't believe it!


Also, Grandma Gertz and Grandpa Ralph were here for the holiday weekend and Gianna had a wonderful time. Grandma Gertz showed Gianna how to file her nails, Grandpa Ralph is an expert in putting Gianna to sleep humming jazz music and both made great babysitters when Mike and I went out for a date night.

Sunday we were able to spend some time with our BFF Luke and meet cousin Suzanne.

Lastly, we're into our second week back to work and only a few tears were shed when I dropped off Gianna at Bina's. She smiled when we walked in the door and seems to be enjoying all of the other kids.

Week in Review (so far)

So my work week is complete and I'm still alive. I knew that I would make it and it wasn't as bad as I had expected. As I mentioned in one of my previous blogs, the anticipation of it was worse then the week itself. I kept myself busy with making and having appointments. To my surprise, people were really open to meeting over the phone to do reviews and initial appointments. I see my self really enjoying my part-time schedule (it also helped that on Tuesday and Thursday I was able to pick up Gianna early)!!

Here are some fun pictures from the week:
This is a hat that I bought Gianna right after she was born. For the longest time her head was too small but it fits now...and isn't it ADORABLE?!

Gianna participated in the Election on Tuesday and VOTED (Yo Vote) so she wanted to show off her sticker. We won't disclose who she voted for.

Gianna's 3 month birthday was on November 5th so we put on the birthday hat and took some great pictures. We can't wait to look at each month to see how she has changed. We love taking these pictures and she's such a good sport.

Quick Update - First day back

Thanks everyone for the phone calls and emails wishing me good luck.

I'm sitting here and have about 3 minutes so I wanted to let everyone know how today went. You might be wondering why I'm using the word 'went' but it's because right after I go VOTE, I'm going to pick up Gianna. She has a short first day at Bina's which is fine by me.

So the morning wasn't the best but it got easier. I got up and had a great spinning workout at the gym to get me mentally prepared for my emotional day, although it didn't work. From the moment I stepped out of the shower, the water works started and pretty much continued on and off throughout the morning. Mike would give me a hug, I would cry. Gianna smiled at me, I cried. Numerous clients and people I spoke to were telling me to drink lots of fluids because they thought I had a cold, hahahaha!

After 3 appointments, 1 hour of setting up meetings for next week, 2 breast pumping sessions, 2 status reports with Bina and now going to VOTE, my work day is over and it's time to play with my peanut! I'm so excited to go get her.

D-Day

Tomorrow is the day I've been dreading since August 5th -- not the election but going back to work.

I think we have everything in order so that we will be a well oiled machine. The supplies have been dropped off at Bina's and Gianna's backpack is packed (yes she has a cute pink baby backpack).

Feelings: Excited to get back to work, nervous that Bina will ruin our well established routine (or not spend enough time with Gianna, or let her watch TV), glad that Gianna will have some friends to play with and learn from (nervous that she will learn all of the wrong things from those kids or share in the group illnesses).

One thing that I have learned is that sometimes the anticipation of something is worse then the actual act.

Also, I love posting to the blog but now with working I'm not sure how much time I'm going to have to devote to it. I will definitely post once a week but I will try to post more to let you know how everything is going.

Pictures! Pictures!

The sun is out and the temp is in the low 70's today, it's a beautiful day to post a blog!! This is Daddy's second blog and he's going to make it short and sweet (since the cry for more pictures and videos is growing stronger and stronger from the Grandparent contingent!!). So here they are, some pics and videos from the past week...

Hanging in my excer-saucer...

All dressed up for Halloween with 9 of my closest BFF's...(I'm the black cat..)

Chillin on the couch with MOMMY!!!

And for the motion picture enthusiasts...a couple videos!