Catching up...San Diego, Marla's Shower..and more!

Well....I think this is the first time in the last 2 years that I've gone this long without a post. Sorry for the delay the last few weeks have been SUPER busy.

So here is post 1 and I'll do post 2 tomorrow with the Thanksgiving update.

Past few weeks events....

Marla's baby shower, turned out to be a beautiful evening. Marla was showered with wonderful things for Jared Jr., who we all can't wait to meet in January.

The Decor

Nat guessed closest belly size in the string gameLet the gift opening begin...
Bre and MarlaSarah was there in spirit with the awesome bib from K Falls!Nicole's cool blocks!

Jeanne and I poured oil and vinegar at Abundance Winery for "The First Sip" tasting event a few weekends ago. Saturday was much busier than Sunday, but overall a success. Looked like everyone was having a good time. Next year maybe I'll enjoy the event and do the wine tasting one day and oil tasting the other!

My good friend Julie Cannon(Hager) was in town for a few days and we had the pleasure of taking her to her first(and probably last) Biroldi feed in Linden with the Avansino's. I can't say I love it either, but once a year - it's a good time had by all. While Julie was in town we also took family photos too. Giada was a champ considering she had her first fever and cold that week....and it was 30 degrees out the morning we did the photos. Ill post some soon. Thanks again Jul for taking them. A couple pics of Giada pretending to drive...she loves it.

Then we were off to San Diego to pour oil and vinegar at the San Diego Food and Wine Festival. It was a beautiful weekend and great time to catch up with family and friends while we were in town. We always try to fit everyone in, the visits were nice, although short! My mom came along with us and spent the weekend with her siblings and took care of Giada while we were at the event. They hit up the famous Merry Go Round too! Giada was great on the plane and slept both directions!

Mike, Scott, Gina and I at the booth

Our beautiful view from the booth

Breakfast with the Dean's and Filice's
A day in San Diego with Nana MacLaggan Crew(some of)Random pics from the week....

Library with Nana

Lazy day in the hammockAnd pouncing on the cat!(He has become very patient with her!)

Evie Bday, Alumni Weekend SLO, Niners Game & Random Pics

Although it has started to get cooler in the evenings we have had some beautiful nights lately. We went fishing one evening last week - got skunked, but enjoyed a beautiful sunset, and Sydney enjoyed swimming in the lake!Another night this week, all the girls got together to celebrate Evie's 30 th bday! Then this weekend we were off to the annual SLO - Cal Poly Softball Alumni reunion. Great to see all the girls and lots of laughs as usual. Carrie - thanks for having us over both nights. From last year to this year there are 7 new kids! So it was a different trip taking Giada to SLO and not going downtown and getting trashed.....but we still managed to have a great time, visit with friends and hit up all our favorite places to eat. (Firestones, Gus's, Tahoe Joe's)

Our friendsOn the fieldCutie Pie Blake SchaferWhile we were in SLO we were also able to visit with Uncle Steve and his fam...thanks again for breakfast - what a beautiful morning in Avila!!New additions to the group - Addy

And Chloe Then as if that wasnt enough for the weekend, we drove Sunday to SF to tailgate and catch the Niners game. Timmer, Bush, Kernal and the crew never dissapoint. Niners could have played better but other than that - great time. Oh and if it wasnt 100 degrees that would have been nice too. We all had warm clothes Uggs, etc and were sweating all day. Had to bust out the sun- screen, buy hats. Unexpected SF weather!! Random Pics from last week....she is getting close to walking, and getting 2 teeth up top. Milestones!!Close- up!

9 Month Photos and Halloween Week Photos - Long Post!

Well, I think I say this every month...so here it is again...where has the time gone???

Giada is over 9 months old. At this appointment, no shots. She seems like a big girl to me now.

-Almost 21 lbs

-29" tall

- Eating "real people" food. This is quite an adjustment, and she is taking to it slowly. One day she likes bananas, one day she does not, but she is getting the hang of picking up the food, so that is a good step. She also is really good at feeding it all to Sydney!! Mike claims it is okay because dogs have the cleanest mouths....humm.... I am also afraid of the choking so I cut the food real small...he also jokes that its so small she can't even pick it up. Guess it's a learning process for us all!

- Crawling around like a mad woman

- Pulling herself up on EVERYTHING

- Walking with assistance, and this week can walk pretty steadily with only holding one of her hands....I think the walking is coming all too soon.
-Clapping and peek a boo are always fun

- Sits on your lap for a bit and seems to enjoy a short book

- Loves playing with her friends, although she is a bit rough with them at times

- Seems to not hate the car as much, maybe she is able to occupy herself a bit more now, but still not her favorite place to be

- Still only 2 bottom teeth

-Still sucks at sleeping, I've just decided she(and I apparently) can function on little to no sleep. Fun Fun.

-Still breast-feeding....but trying to do it less and less over the next month!

-Overall she is just a joy, and we are amazed by what she accomplishes each day. Her smile lights up her face and brings a smile to our face all day long.

So....I tried for the 9 month photos...didn't go well.

She just wanted to play in her rocking chair and had no interest in sitting around my blocks. So here is a little sampling of her playing instead. Happy 9 Months!

Isn't this so funny....mom lays out the blocks and I crawl away from them...ha ha!

What, why don't you want me to sit in my chair....does this look dangerous or something?
She looks terrified as I called her name to look up at the camera for the photo...

Last but not least, she would rather play with the chair than look at me...shoot over :)

Halloween week begins!
We had lots of cute Halloween outfits we received as gifts, so we were quite festive this week.
Tried to set her up for some cute photo ops with pumpkins...but she certainly cared more about eating the pumpkin than smiling for the camera.

One day after work my mom and I took Giada to Phillips Farms. It's a Pumpkin Patch Tradition in our area. She looked at all the animals at the petting zoo and took some photos along the way. Next year will be more fun when she is running around. It was SUPER windy that day, but she didn't seem to mind our afternoon adventure.

We finally found something her size...

Annual pumpkin carving party with the locals. All the pumpkins turned out great. Here are some of the girls in action!

Beautiful finished products!

Mikes Pumpkin always wins!

Before photo and after pumpkin!

Friday night the Busalacchi's were in town. It was a great night spent with them and the Kern's.
We had a Lion, Giraffe and Batman. The kids had so much fun playing together.

Cute Nico!

The lion, batman and giraffe.

After the costumes came off there were cute diaper photos taken, everyone wanted to sit in Dylans chair.

And then it was actual Halloween. Giada the Giraffe was ready to go. Her costume was inspired by her favorite chew toy "Sophie the Giraffe"

Saturday we joined some friends downtown Lodi for the Harvest Festival. All the kids trick or treat at the downtown businesses. Kristen and Wendy have taken Ben for years, and this year we tagged along. It was fun to take see all the kids in costumes, and a nice day spent with our friends and our moms who joined us. (Sorry Jeanne and mom that we didn't take a photo of all of us!!) Kristen is a big fan of everyone dressing up....so.... after she twisted our arm a bit we gave in. So the Coldani Zoo Keeper I was!

Group shot, Humpty Dumpty was a big hit! We took some professional pics that I'll post as soon as we get them.Matt and Steph stopped by Halloween night...or should I say Jon and Kate Plus 8. These photos don't do them justice, but they looked good, Matt even had earrings in, it looked funny.

Very fun and busy week. Almost forgot to mention we had a great lunch with Zac and Jaime on Friday. Thanks for stopping by on your way to Napa!!

Until next week...