Spring Wine Show, Spring Pics, Giada/Baby Update

Another week...and here are a couple things we were up to!

Spring Wine Show. Our first time doing this event in Lodi and it was a great turnout. 3,000 people over the 2 day event. It was the first time we really had a chance to taste the the flavors for everyone and they seemed to be well received. We also won the Best of Show award which was fun since we were up against local competitors! Mandie made me pose for this photo along with the the girl who ran the event. Dorky I know. :)

Giada has been playing with scarfs a lot lately. And recently she has been playing with Sydney and the scarfs. Poor Sydney. She is SUCH a good sport!!! We think about getting another dog but how can they be as great and patient as her???? She was completely covered with scarfs!

After bath the other night I put Giada in her pajamas and then she wanted to also wear her hat and gloves. It was funny, and she insisted on going to bed with them. I ended up pulling them off when she fell asleep but it made me giggle.

Lately Giada has been spending lots of time with Nana since we have been so busy with the oil. They go on lots of walks and stop to play in the trees along the way.

This is a sneak peek at the pictures we took this weekend with Stephanie Moe Photography. She had baby ducklings for the mini session. Giada pretty gentle with them, but would occasionally squeeze them so tight we had to keep an eye on her - we were worried for the ducks safety! It was a fun morning taking pictures.

Giada has been a busy bee lately. She is talking SO much and says such funny things.

Below are a few things she has been saying & doing!

- "Baby got hungry in the night mommy, feed him"

- When I was writing something she said " What are you drawing g da" That is how she pronounces her own name, and when you are writing anything she thinks its the alphabet or her name.

- She asks if its the ABCs if she sees words written anywhere

- She can do a somersault on her own

-She bites the edges/corners of a piece of cheese and yells out "Octagon"

- She says "Hold you" when she means "Hold me"

- LOVES playing with worms, seeing trash trucks and playing outside...maybe having a boy won't be that much different :)

-Enjoys cooking in her play kitchens at Nana's and Nonni's - she comes up with the funniest things she makes for you

- Some of her shows ask questions. Mickey Mouse asked her is she was ready for a great day at the club house, she answered " yes Mickey I am"

- Giada loves her uncle Scott (Meyer) - the other night he was over and she asked what he was doing. It was mentioned that he was "tooling out" So then out of the blue now she says "Scott tooled out" it's so funny.

- Loves finding shadows outside

- Very into telling you a secret in your ear, but it's always the same secret and it always has to do with popsicles.

- My mom and I have always signed the I Love you sign to each other. As we drive away, we always have sign it to each other. So, we started trying to teach Giada how to do the sign. She doesn't really get it, but she sticks out one finger and yells " I love you sign" It's so funny, we both crack up and she does it every time we drive away now

Baby Update

- 23 weeks

- He is kicking a lot and I can feel it on the outside now

- When you ask Giada what we should name him she says "Baby Brother"

- He is the size of a mango and weighs 1 lb.

- Feeling great and growing quick!

- We are so busy this pregnancy is flying by! Can't believe it's only a few months away.

Pics w/ KR, Nico's bday, Calivirgin Body Butter, Baby Brooklyn & Steph's Shower

All weeks for us are crazy. But this spring is beginning to be the craziest yet!

Happy St Patricks Day from my "thug" daughter. She had on an assortment of new gifts from Aunt Patsy. She loves her new frog hat and wears it everyday!

Kristen and I wanted to take pictures last year in the yellow flowers (which I actually think are weeds) but look pretty this time of year. Last year we missed it, but this year we had a fun afternoon playing around the vineyards. Thanks KR. She had plenty of laughs at all the things KR and I were doing to get her to laugh.

It was windy out her hair was blowing around a mess, but she thought it was funny!

We did some bubble blowing...

And then..Giada found some sticks to play with..... and then the inevitable MUD!

Gina was in town for a few days. We always love having her home...so Jeanne and I had her help us with the Calivirgin Body Butter. So it's back by popular demand. We should have it for sale at the Spring Wine Show this weekend and on the website in the next couple weeks!

We were off to SF this weekend to celebrate Nico's 2nd bday. It was at the SF Aquarium - the kids had a blast! Nico signing himself Happy Birthday was the highlight- too cute!

The girls enjoyed the tide pools!

The boys and their babies!

As if that wasn't enough I hosted Steph(future sis in law's) wedding shower. I was ready to head over to start setting up Sunday morning when I got a phone call...... Woodbridge Country Club called to tell me the shower was cancelled the had no power! This was at 8:30am as I was walking out the door. I made a TON of calls and the Dancing Fox came through for us and did a great job!! Shower started at 11 right on time and went off without a hitch. I was pretty unsure of how things would go until from about 8:30-10....but then all was well. Steph received so many nice gifts and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Giada joined us at the shower and had a fun time helping Auntie Steph open presents, playing with her nana and nonni, and eating a TON of candy!

A few guest pics...

Steph with her future mother in law and mom!

Bridal Party

Present time! She got a few gifts that were traditional..

Some that were fun...

And some that were unique with her new last name! Get used to people spelling it wrong for the rest of your life Steph! :)

I got this wine barrel personalized for the Mr. and Mrs.

RTB barrels(local Lodi company) did a great job and can put anything you want on a barrel. Logos, names etc. Look them up!

Maid of honor- Lynz, great job on the boquet!

Baby Brooklyn has joined the other softball babies.

She was born March 16 - 6lbs. 8oz. Congrats Dub and JJ!

Zoo, Stitch out, 20 weeks, New fish

Every week when I do the blog I have to laugh. Some weeks I think wow- I didn't take many photos this week, and then when I start downloading I always have too many. This week was CRAZY busy but we managed to squeeze in some fun of course.

We headed to the Sacramento Zoo this weekend with Nicole, Dylan, Aubrey and Lindsay. What a fun day we had. I can't remember ever going there before....I know weird since it's so close. It was great. Clean, not very busy, and great variety of animals. When I keep asking Giada what she liked best she says "Ostrich, Flamingo, Giraffe" Weird choices...I know.... and she told someone we didn't see any monkeys....humm.... But the train ride was a highlight, Dylan and Giada would have been happy if we had just kept riding that the entire time. We also hit up the carousel. Good day out in Sac. Thanks for joining Linds!

Aubrey was a perfect angel of course!

Oh they also had free fun activities for the kids to do around the zoo.

This one was a comparison of their hand print to the Orangutans.

Riding the Cricket....AKA Praying Mantis

Walking down the stairs we always tell Giada to put one hand on the wall...there is not a railing. So she was instructing Tinkerbell to do the same as she went down.

She is full of instructions these days.

These daffodils bring a smile to my face each time I come in the kitchen. Something about them just reminds me of spring. I don't mind the rain, they just look cheerful I guess. Actually I haven't minded the time change either. Giada still woke up at her regular 6, but the clock said 7 so to me that looked WAY better and it was light out! I'm all for both of those things!

We had a loss this week. Aubrey fish stopped swimming. I wasn't sure if Giada was old enough to get it. Mike decided she was and we should bury her. So, we had Giada pick a spot out by the flowers, and then got her a new fish. We told her she stopped swimming etc. She keeps wanting to dig her up in the backyard and now tells everyone Aubrey stopped swimming. She hasn't forgotten. But she does like her new blue fish called "Boo" We were careful not to say she was sick because then when we use that word we didn't want her to think everything dies. And it's only a fish so we got her a new one but I realize you can't do that for everything that passes. But this worked for our 2 year old! And so far Boo is doing well!

This week we also got the stitch out. I thought this was a quick removal. WRONG. It was just as bad if not worse than putting the stitch in. I had to hold her down, a nurse holding her head etc. She was NOT happy and he couldn't grab the stitch :( After awhile....they brought out the good ol straight jacket....to which Giada yelled "NO MOMMY!" so obviously she remembered it. Finally they got it out....and when we left all is well, now she says "Dr take out string" The whole thing really wasn't bad at all except the 2 times in the doctor. Otherwise she didn't mess with it. I hope it's the last of these doctor trips....but I realize that is probably not the case. We went to see our friends at House of Coffee and they made her a smoothie with sprinkles....so that made her a happy girl.

Visit from Italy. We had some friends move to Italy about a year ago. They were in town to visit and we had a great dinner with them catching up. Thanks Susie for hosting, the food was delicious. Lucca Bella was so sweet and played with Giada all night, the two had so much fun together.

Baby update-20 weeks

(By the way - why am I always wearing stripes!)

These darn pics don't show it. The belly is growing quick. Everyone I see says "oh its really popping out!" He is moving around a bit more so that's always fun. I have started clearing out his room, so I can do it slowly and not get overwhelmed. There is NO where to put all the stuff in the office/spare room that is about to be his room, so I better get started early. I should probably start looking at bedding too. That always takes me awhile. I never feel more hungry when I'm pregnant, and this time I don't either. But I have been making my favorite salad and then when I go to eat it....I don't have one bite and it doesn't look good...hope that passes!