Her First Sentence!

So over the weekend we dicovered Guiliana has a new saying!! Daddy and Gules like to play peak-a-boo in the morning before they get out of bed. Daddy puts the blanket over his head and she pulls it off and he says "I see you". Well this weekend Guiliana and I were snuggling on the couch and she was doing her usual and talking a mile a minute to herself. Then I started hearing words that actually sounded like they made some sence. She was putting her hands over her eyes, taking them away, and saying "I see you"!! It was the cutest thing ever!! To know how to use the right words in the proper context, makes us proud! She says it alot now.
She is talking alot these days! With all of her ear infections and the constant antibiotics, I have had to make medicine time somewhat fun for her. So, now I have her help me give it to her and she helps hold the syringe. After she is done I say "good girl" and she will repeat it everytime!! She also knows when to say "HI". When I pick her up after work she says "HI". We have her saying puppy and brooklyn which is the cutest thing - now that she is scooting all around, those 2 have become good friends :)

Matthew's 1st Birthday party

Yesterday started off very early for me in particular. A few of my neighbors were doing a garage sale and had asked if I wanted to join. The last one was the day of Guiliana's party so I wasn't able to participate in that one, so I figured what the heck. We all need a couple extra bucks, right? We set up shop very early but it was well worth it. We made some decent money!! Some crazy guy came buy and bought(what we think was about 100) DVD's that Greg had for sale, and this was left over from the 400 that he once owned that we have since sold over the past few years~ Guiliana hung out with me for most of the morning till it was time for her nap. She was crawling in the grass from yard to yard, it was pretty funny.
Later, it was time for our good friends Joanna and Rudy's son's birthday party. Matthew turned 1 on April 10th (he is one week younger than Guiliana to the day)and with Easter and previous engagements, this was their first available weekend for the party. They had a BBQ at Saguaro Ranch Park. It was awfully windy but that didn't seem to bother the kids! We had a great time and YUMMY food. Amanda and I even found a snowcone shop by the playground.
Also, yesterday was the Guiliana's 1st time on a swing. She thought it was funny to swing! When we got home at 6pm, Guiliana was very tired so I thought I would put her down for a half-hour but she slept till 8am the next morning!!! She has never slept like that ever!! Especially with all of her ear infections. So, that was a nice treat for us :)It was a very nice day!


Matthew and Guiliana playing





She cracked me up on the swing!!



Matthew loving his 1st Birthday Cupcake!

I have to toot my own horn... just for a second.

After having Guiliana a year ago April 3, 2008, I was very determined to not only lose all of the 33 lbs baby weight but the almost 40 additional pounds that I had been carring around for the past 6 - 8 years. As of today I am finally where I want to be and my total weight loss is 70 lbs! I was looking through some old pictures one of which was taken Oct 31, 2006 and I couldn't believe I was that heavy for so long. I know that I feel alot better about myself too. I just wanted to share one of my biggest accomplishments (other than my beautiful daughter!!)

Halloween 2006

2004 (I think)

It is EXACTLY what we thought!

We finally had our appointment today with the Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor to have a consultation on whether or not Guiliana would need tubes. Well, she had some tests to see how her hearing was and it was what they called "flat" ...which just means that her hearing is muffled. We aren't sure how muffled but I don't think its too bad because she responds and mimics us all the time and as you saw in our video she knows when to plug in the "pop" in pop goes the weasel. The doctor said that she had fluid in both of her ears today but that her ears are not infected, which is only because she is on another 10 days of antibiotics! I am super nervous about having this done. I know that after 7 ear infections since the end of November is too much for anyone to handle and this is the right thing but, the thought of putting her under freaks me out!!! Its comforting that the procedure is done outpatient at Phoenix Childrens Hospital which is a great place. I am going to be super anxious until this is done. They are suppose to call us over the next week to get scheduled. Pray that they call us sooner than later!!!

Girl on the GO!!

For the past couple of weeks whenever Guiliana would get on her car that she got for her birthday she would push herself backwards or put her feet up and let us push her. Well yesterday I put her on and just let her sit on it and before we knew it she was flying around going FORWARDS!! We had to get her on video as it made Greg and I smile :)

One year check-up

Today I had the pleasure of taking my daughter to the doctor for a nice round of shots!! Boohooo!! I hate that stinkin part!! Anyways the stats are in: 24.5 pounds and 30.5 inches long. Height, weight, and her (what I thought was a rather large! LOL!) head are all evenly per portioned and she is in the 90-95 percentile. She is healthy and moving along right on track. Here are some of the things that Guiliana is doing at one years old:

Right now her big thing is mimicking us (so we are being very careful about what we say)But she does say a lot on her own as well... She says, uh oh (when she drops something on the floor), mama, daddy, good girl, puppy, teddy bear, turtle, thank you (which she has used in the proper context) bless you, excuse you, hi, bye bye, yellow, more (which sounds like "muh" but she uses it to ask for more food)she is always talking and what we think is telling stories.

One of the cutest things recently is that Gules has her favorite stuffed animal. It is a pink squishy teddy bear that she doesn't go anywhere without. When you give to her, her face lights up and she giggles.

Just in the last week at home (she has been doing this at school for quite sometime and plus we haven't been home the last few weekends) she is crawling or scooting around all over the place. She seems very happy now that she is moving around.
As far as the "walking" thing goes... we are not comfortable yet. She really likes to stand and hold onto the couch and even turn around a bit but, when we try and walk with her she is VERY uncomfortable. We are very happy with "scooting". This will get us ready for when she walks. One step at a time (ha! no pun intended!)

I found out today from Grandma that at school, Guiliana really enjoys her arts and crafts time. Recently they made lady bugs and she was the only one who wanted to do it and sat and paid attention. They have also made tissue paper butterflies and kites that are currently hanging in her class room that I can't wait to take home and hang in her room. Maybe she got mommy's "creative genes".
She is such a love bug too. When we give hugs she pats you on the back! Its super sweet!!

She is still eating everything! She is on whole milk and made it through the transition with no problems.

As far as her constant ear infections (just got over our 6th and may be onto our 7th) we are seeing an Ear, nose, and throat specialist next week to talk about getting tubes. I have been feeling so bad that maybe my baby was picking this up from school but my friend Joanna's son has had just as many and he is always at home with family. I learned today that we all have fluid that drains and not everyones ear canals properly drain on their own and then fluid gets trapped and therefor an infection is caused. She just needs better "drainage". After hearing this i felt better. Not to mention Daddy had a ton as a baby too!! I am super nervous about the tubes but I know it is for the best. I will have more info after our appt this Thursday.

She is growing up so fast and is so much fun. Everyday she does or says something new and I love it. Watching her grow up this past year for me and her daddy has been such a pleasure and a blessing.

"Pop goes the Weasel"

Guiliana likes to fill in the "pop" part of pop goes the weasel. Please excuse the running nose, she was suffering from a bit of a cold but thought this was too funny not to post.

EASTER SUNDAY

Today was Guiliana's 1st Easter. Today also marks her very last "first" holiday. I think now we have been through them all and we have documented them all with a "baby's first bibs".

Her first Easter basket went over very well!! She was very excited when she saw what the Easter Bunny brought her :)












Riding around on her Birthday gift from mommy and daddy



Went out to eat with the family (thank you to Val for the beautiful dress that you gave her for her birthday - it worked out as a great Easter dress)

Guiliana's version of "crawling"!

I had to capture Guiliana's version of crawling after we made Easter Eggs. She reminds me of a version between a monkey and the hunchback of Notre Dame LOL! I love it though!! Super Cute!!

Coloring Easter Eggs

Our Easter weekend started on yesterday. We met Grandma and Grandpa Tortora for breakfast at Mimi's Cafe. Then back to their house for a nap for the baby while Grandma, Grandpa and I took a much needed trip to Costco. Guiliana was well rested upon our return home so I figured that was a great time to start the Egg coloring.

Those stinkin directions were difficult! (note, the "confused" look!)

Guiliana and her 1st Birthday Cake

As promised, more pictures have trickled in...
Guiliana seemed to have a "love/hate" relationship with her birthday cake. I have to say the pictures truly speak for themselves.
Thank you Diane for documenting this for us so that Greg and I could enjoy watching our little girl demolish her cake.

(I know that there are alot of pictures but it was hard to narrow it down to my favorites! and believe me, there are alot more than this!!)




This is the "hate" part of her relationship with her cake!

FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY!!

My In-laws house has been the hub of most of our parties so why would Guiliana's birthday party be any different!! The weather was beautiful so all of the activities that I planned for the kids outside worked out great!! We had "game stations", horse shoes, a sand box, Frisbee, and Velcro catch. Each child got a bubble toy as a party gift to play with at the party as well as take home. With 15 kids in attendance this helped! But the kids did a great job of entertaining themselves and playing together.
Lots of food, cake, and good times were all a must!! Guiliana was a bit overwhelmed with all of the people, It seems Guiliana may not be a fan of the crowd scene yet!! But all in all, I couldn't have asked for a better outcome. It was fantastic seeing my dad and having Guiliana spend time with her Grandpa. I really wish that he lived closer.
I want to thank everyone for all of her gifts, she is a super lucky girl! I have to say, I can't wait for her to be able to open her own gifts, it got a bit overwhelming for mommy at times!!
I want to thank Grandma and Grandpa Tortora, Michele and Brandon, and Grandpa Partanna for your hands in making Guiliana's first birthday a truly magical day. Thanks for loving our baby girl as much as you do!!
I let the pictures do the rest of the talking!


Here was the theme of the party. I wanted to post this because alot of people asked my mother in-law where I got her banner and such. It was at http://www.1stwishes.com







Games:








Cake Time!! (it looks red/white/blue but it really is pink/purple)




So needless to say, she needed a bath after this!!

(Sorry about some of the video, Greg was holding the camera a bit high)

Present time!!





Family and Friends:












Playing with all of her new gifts!



There will be more pictures as some friends took some for me (BIG thanks to Heather and Diane) So, I will post them as they come available (most of them are of the cake eating and gift opening)