Julian Joseph Hoover 6/21/10

So after much anticipation, JJ Hoover finally made his arrival Monday, June 21, 2010 @ 1:15am!!! Michally had been keeping me updated on her progress and I knew that when they finally broke her water around 10pm and she was 4cm dilated that I might as well head to the hospital. She had asked if I wanted to be in the delivery room and I thought what an amazing thing to witness. I myself had a c-section so I felt that in some weird way this experience would help me overcome what I thought I had been missing. Boy was I right!!!! I am glad I had gotten to the hospital when I did because she has been progressing 1cm just about every 15-30 min!!!! Watching a life come into this world was truly the most amazing thing that I have ever witnessed!!! It was such an honor to be there to share this with someone that I love so much! Michally was so amazing and held in there like a champ! JJ is a beautiful baby boy and I feel so much love for this little man. I think I formed a bond with him because I watched him enter this world. Michally, I am so grateful for this experience. Thank you for letting me be there with you. I love you lots and will always protect and love this lil guy!! And Bella too, I adore her and I know Guiliana does too!

Father's Day 2010

We have started a tradition in the Tortora family where we celebrate father's/mother's day the day before as we like to spend the whole day enjoying ourselves without having to go to work the next day. This year Grandma had a class for work that day so we started later in the day. Earlier that afternoon Guiliana let daddy rest at home and watch the METS and we went to a birthday party at Peter Piper. Then later that afternoon Great Grandma and Grandpa had us over to their house for dinner.
This year Guiliana colored coffee cups for all of the important men in her life. Daddy, Grandpa, and Great-Grandpa. Then we filled them with their favorite candies. Dinner was very yummy and we really enjoyed some good quality family time. I love that Guiliana is blessed with so much family that loves her. She is one lucky girl!!!
Sunday (father's day) was a very up in the air day. Michally was scheduled to be induced and could be called to check into the hospital as early as 12 midnight Sunday. So not only had we been waiting for a call all night but we decided to hold off on any major plans since at any moment I could be leaving for the hospital. Well as of 7am Sunday she hadn't received a call so I decided to make Greg a nice breakfast. He loves to lounge around so that is what we decided to do for the day. Turned out that Michally didn't get called to the hospital till 5pm that evening. I figured since things were going to take a bit that I would make sure Greg had a special father's day dinner. We ended up ordering from his favorite resturant and enjoyed a nice little family dinner. It overall was a very nice day. Greg made out well this year. He got a new high-tech phone that he has been dying for and some very special handmade gifts from his favorite little girl. We are blessed to have him in our lives!!! He is an amazing daddy and husband! We love you and hope you had the best father's day!!! XOXO
P.S....... tried to get some pictures of G and Daddy but she wasn't having it!!!


PETER PIPER:






GIFTS:

Michally's 30th Birthday

June 14, 2010 marked Michally's 30th birthday. Since she was just a week away from delivering her baby boy they decided to keep things low key with a dinner at the Macaroni Grill. It was a fun evening with friends and yummy food. Then after dinner, Guiliana and I decided to wait outside for everyone. I wanted to to take some pictures of her and asked if she could pose by the flowers. She responded with "Mama, how about by the door?" and then continued to pose by it. What a lil sassy pants huh??

Random day of Fun!

Yesterday we spent the day at Grandma and Grandpa Tortora's house swimming in Guiliana's new pool. She wasn't fond of the Giraffe pool that we bought her a few weeks ago so Great-Grandpa Tortora let us pick out a new one, his treat! Well needless to say... the new pool was a hit! So we swam, snacked, and then headed off to Desert Ridge for some dinner, water fountains, and Ice Cream. It was a very nice day. We had some good quality family time.

Guiliana's 1st Movie

Last weekend we took Guiliana to her very first movie. She has recently showed interest in the SHREK movies (we own the first 3 so we let her start watching those). She is very good at sitting through a whole movie or show that she likes at home so we thought we would give a movie at the theater a try. Well she did great! She sat in her little booster seat with her snacks and didn't move till just about the last 10min. She got a bit antsy, then lost her shoe, which caused a bit of upset... But all in all, it turned out great!

A sweet bond

Here are some sweet moments that I captured between Brooklyn and Guiliana. They really share quite the little bond.

Bella's 2nd Birthday

May 28th marked our best friend Bella's 2nd birthday. The Hoover Family celebrated with a party for friends and family. Even Grandma and Grandpa Tortora and cousin Michele joined us for the celebration. The party was tons of fun!!! There was a 30ft water slide that Guiliana and I had a lot of fun on. Her favorite part was the big pool attached at the bottom. HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY BELLA!