Chalkboard Fun

A happy little surprise for my girlies.  Made with love by their daddy, after I showed him this:

Eight feet of chalkboard fun just for them.  I hope they love it!

PS - Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Birthday, Gianna!

Dear Gianna,

I can remember the day you were born like it was yesterday.  Being in labor with you was easy - you came out when I was laughing, and the doctor almost didn't make it!  Just like your sister, you didn't cry and had big, beautiful eyes.

You have been such an easy, joyful baby!  You rarely cry and slept through the night pretty early on.

For your first few months of life, we thought you were just the most mellow, easy-going girl. You still are, but once you turned about eight months we saw a little fiery side come out!  If you're not being fed fast enough, or can't get to something quick enough you clench your fists and make an angry face.  It's hilarious!

You adore your big sister, and the feeling is mutual.  No matter how hard she tries to get you to call her "Lulu" you insist that she is "Nana."  When Leila says "No, no, it's Lulu" You shake your head no, put your little hand on Leila's chest and say "Nana."

Just like you gave Leila the nickname "Nana", she gave you the nickname "Coco."  When you were a few days old she was watching "The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" and Coco the Monkey was on.  She thought you looked like Coco the Monkey and the nickname stuck.  "Coco" suits you.  In fact, we rarely call you Gianna.  It's usually "Gebe", "Gebe the Bebe", "Cocomo", "Coconut" or "Gianna Mak."  You respond to all of them.

You are a chatterbox.  You say "Mama", "Dada", "Nana", "Papa", "Boo" (it's what you call Ramon, since Leila calls him Boo-Boo", "Belle" (Bamma and Papa's dog) "hi", "that", and "más" (that and más you tell us a lot when you want something to eat!)  You also say "ooooooh" when something catches your eye.

You crawl so fast (especially if you hear the dogs being fed) and we think you'll be walking soon.  You hold on to furniture to walk where you want, and stand on your own for several seconds.

You are a wonderful, little angel face who has made our family complete.  We love you more than you can ever know, sweet girl!

Happy Birthday, Gianna Makena!

Love,
Mommy, Daddy and Leila

2010 in Review

January:

Leila went to her first football game and loved every second of it (even if it was a stinky Raiders game!)  She made sure to root for the other team!  Yay for Tony's work getting free tickets!

Later in the month Leila turned THREE!  We had a big party for her, and on her actual birthday I took her to get her first pedicure, which she loved.

February:

Valentine's Day was low key.  We walked downtown and had breakfast at a little cafe.  I tried my hardest to walk Gianna out to no avail.

 

March:

Just a few short weeks after Valentine's Gianna Makena was born.

And just like that we became a family of four.

 And Leila became a big sister.  She truly is an amazing big sister!

April:

Leila tested out some of the baby gear.

And we had a happy, little Easter.

May:

I came up with a new design, was featured on an awesome website and my business exploded!

I turned 27 and we went to the zoo for my birthday!

June:

It was HOT so we spent a lot of time playing on the Slip N Slide!

July:

We took a little family vacation to Monterey, where we got to paddleboat:

 play on the chilly beach:

and even meet up with some friends!

Tony once again played in the Firefighter Olympics, this time for their softball team - The Bomberos.

August:

We threw my mom a fun surprise party!

 

And a little later in the month Julie and Erin came up from Southern California!  We missed you, Marta!

September:

Gianna turned six months old.

School started up again for Lulu!

October:

I threw my (now) Sister-in-Law, Dana a wedding shower:

For Halloween, Leila was Fancy Nancy:

And Gianna was the Posh Puppy:

We went trick-or-treating with some of our best friends!

November:

Leila got her first, little haircut:

and then......
My little brother got married!!!!  It was amazing.

Cutest flower girl ever:

December:

Tony turned 30 and we celebrated with a laid back pizza party.

We got a tree at the Home Depot

And Santa came a day early for us! (Did you know he comes early for kids whose parents work on Christmas day?  He does.) ;)

Part of our Christmas Day was spent at the firehouse, which Tony loved!

And now it is New Year's Eve.....2010 was a great year for the Giustino Family, and we can't wait to see what 2011 holds!

Happy New Year!

The Claus Sisters

They love apples:

They love being cheesy:

They love each other.



O Christmas Tree

This has been the craziest December ever.  None of us have had a moment to catch out breath, which means we didn't have time to make our annual trip to Apple Hill for our Christmas tree.  Wah.  We did make it a mile and a half to the Home Depot, though.

Tony and Leila roamed the aisles searching for the perfect tree.  I was told I didn't get a vote this year because of my love for the un-wanted trees.  Not fair.

Gianna played peek-a-boo with her hat and munched on wagon wheels. {Hence the dirty sweater}

But soon it turned into a Christmas tree walk-off.

After the walk-off we finally found a tree.

We came home and decorated.

the dogs.

And then the tree.

I had to stop taking pictures after just a few minutes....it's hard to do much when you have a very active, crawling baby getting into everything!

Pictures of our decorated tree {and house!} coming soon!

Do you have your tree yet?