It's been awhile old friends

Sorry to all of our loyal fans, it has been a little while since we have posted any blogs about our latest events -- so we have a few things to catch you up on.

1. Tomorrow is Mike's 30th birthday! I will officially no longer be a Cougar (which is so sad) but I'm glad to have him in my club. Also, he has worked so hard for the past 4 months and has lost 25 lbs. What a great way to start your 30's! CONGRATULATIONS MIKE!
2. Wednesday is Gianna's first birthday! Last week one of her birthday gifts from Mike and I came -- which was her own personalized chair. As soon as we got it, Mike and I put it together and it has been a hit ever since. We are hoping that it will become her reading chair but right now, she just loves to climb all over it. We are going to be taking the LAST monthly birthday photo -- a tear comes to my eye -- but those of you coming to her party will see the birthday banner that I put together highlighting a monthly photo from the whole year.

3. Last weekend we gave Gianna her first tattoo (don't worry - it was just a flower). We took it off right before she went to bed (did you know you are only supposed to have those on for 6 hours) but it provided entertainment for at least 2 hours.


4. Gianna now has her own little toilet seat that she sits on right before we get into the bath. There were to many nights of us taking off her diaper and then her peeing on the way to the bath tub. Now we just sit her on there (and she reads) for just a minute before putting her in the tub. I figure one of these nights we might get lucky!

5. Can my baby read? One of Gianna's other birthday gifts was the set of "Your Baby Can Read" books, dvd's and flashcards. We just got the packet yesterday and Gianna is loving the DVD so far. I've seen commercials for this program and was extremely interested - now thanks to Grandma Gertz, Gianna has her own program. We are working on some basics: hi, wave, clap, Cat, Dog, Gorilla (not sure how that one got in there) and others. We'll keep you updated on her developments as I'm so curious to see if this works. I figure either way, it is educational!

Can't wait to see many of you over the next few weeks! Get ready to party!