Walking Kid!

Okay, so for the last 2 weeks or so, Gianna has been teasing us with taking 2 or 3 steps at a time, but tonight she finally really did it! She went back and forth between Justin and I like this for about half an hour and we kept getting further apart. It was one of the most amazing moments of the last year. Wow, between this and turning one, I guess she's not my little baby anymore! Again, this is on the digital camera, so I'll post more from the regular video camera later! Oh yeah, she has to be holding something to walk (like she has to be distracted), so in this video she's holding her sunglasses.

That Baby Can Sing!

Gianna got a Piano with a microphone on it for her birthday and she has learned how to "sing" into it, just like mommy and daddy taught her. It cracks us up. Sorry for the quality of the video, it's on my digital camera, not the video camera.

And here's a random cute picture from this week too!

Gianna's Big Party

For Gianna's first birthday party we rented a room at the Livermore Community Center (I highly recommend doing this, it was so nice!). We invited her friends and family and we actually had a big crowd show up. It was so nice to see all these people that love Gianna gathered together to celebrate. It felt very reminiscent of her baptism, but with more friends! In the last year Gianna has made lots of friends in playgroup and it was so fun to watch them play together at the party.
end it felt very worth-it to have tied all of those little bows and to have ordered the special animal print balloons and to get the zebra fabric for the tables...whew! We had a Sassy Safari for her party so everything was hot pink, light pink and animal print...It was very cute. Thank you to Justin for tolerating my need to make everything fit the theme so much. It actually all came together very well. I also want to say thank you to My mom and Sarah who helped a ton with the food and decorating, you guys are awesome!
Okay, so here are some of my favorite pictures, Sarah took a ton so it's hard to choose, but I definitely wanted to show Gianna's Lion cake (yep, I made that!); the cute table decorations with animal cracker favors; the kids play area; and the food! I forgot to take a picture of the baby buffet, but we had a little area with kids' food (puffs, cheerios, zwieback, etc.), it was pretty darn cute.
Here are some pictured of Gianna and party guests too:

Gianna and her playgroup friends.

Gianna, Jadyn and Cole.














Gianna and Grammy.














Gianna, Courtney and Portia (Alexia is hiding in the giraffe tent).













Gianna with Mommy, Daddy, and the Cake.

Gianna opening presents with a little bit of help.

Gianna and Godmother Jenna.

Gianna's 1st Birthday

For Gianna's 'official' first birthday we wanted to do what she liked best (while we were still busy prepping for her party the next day). I can't believe that we made it through the first year!! It flew by (in hindsight), but at some points I thought we'd never make it. It is so amazing to think that she changed so much in one year! I hope that she stops to take a break because she's already not a baby anymore! Although, at the same time I love seeing her personality develop and watching her grow into an awesome little kid.
So for her birthday we went to meet Justin for lunch so she could eat french fries, then we went home and both sets of grandparents came over (along with Great Grandpa B, Aunt, Uncle and Rita-the dog) for a pizza dinner and a pumpkin pie . Basically, a day of Gianna's favorite foods. It was really special and she loved the candle on her birthday pie. Here are some memorable moments.

Gianna and Lily play together

Gianna and Lily love to play together, and they do a good job 99% of the time. Lately, Gianna loves to play with our TV cabinet, taking out all of the DVDs and pushing them around. Lily as quite happy because she is always looking for a place to hide. One day I walked in and Gianna would open the door and Lily would get in, then she would open it again and Lily would get out, its pretty funny.

Yuki and Julius come to town!

Just after we got back from our weekend away we got together with our friends, Yuki, Julius, Christie and Matt. It's so nice to see Yuki and Julius since they moved to New Mexico and we don't see them too often (we like Christie and Matt too). We got together for lunch in San Ramon and spent some time catching up. I can't believe that less than 3 years ago we were all still in college and the girls were all cashiers at Big 5. Now we've known each other for over 5 years and we're Married and grown up (sort of).

Wow, old moment.

Happy 2008!

For new years 2008, Justin and I got to get away for 2 nights in San Francisco! Gianna spent the time with Ooda, Oopa, Auntie Sarah and Uncle Johnny. Thank You!

We had a lot of fun but missed Gianna a lot! Apparently she had a lot of fun without us and didn't miss us at all!

At Sushi Rock.

Fireworks on the Embarcadero.

Christmas! (Finally)

Okay, in the interest of finishing updating my blog before naptime ends, I am just going to add some of my favorite photos from Christmas Day.

It was a wonderful day, we got to stay home and enjoy Gianna's first Christmas and our first Christmas in our new home surrounded by family.

Gianna loved her new toys, especially coming out on Christmas morning to see her new Giraffe and train under the tree.

I love these ornaments that Mom got for Johnny, Sarah and Me.Gianna's new Dolly (and some toys from her stocking).
My parents might have gone a little overboard (and no, thats not wine in that box!).
Gianna's new play kitchen from Ooda and Oopa.

The Spread.

Gianna gets ahold of the drumstick.

Mmmmmm. Pumpkin Pie!

Christmas Eve

On Christmas eve, we each pick out one gift to open, here is Gianna picking hers and pushing it around (note: she had been doing this for a while and was getting tired and cries at the end, but I assure you that she had a good time.)

She ended up opening an activity center for her high chair.

Our 2nd ever Christmas Party.

We had our second ever Christmas party on the Sunday before Christmas and it was a lot of fun! And also, so much easier to cook when I'm not about to pop (last year I was 2 weeks to my due date at our party).
It was great to see old friends and new all mixed together and to get to show off Gianna to our friends. Thanks to everyone who came and we'll see you again next year!

The usual suspects (minus Ryan...Sorry, we should have taken this picture earlier!).
Noah looks like he's getting away with something.Mom Toni pops in for a picture.Noah, Gianna and Madison.
"You come here often?"

Happy 6 month Birthday Sean!

Cute babies partying because Sean finally turned the big 0.5! 'nuff said!

From Left: Nicolas, Sophia, Sean, Gianna and Hayden

Christmas with the Buschos

Justin's parents and Grandpa came down for Christmas early this year and we had a wonderful time celebrating with them. Here are a few of my favorite pictures.

Justin helps Gianna open her first present, Peek-a-Blocks!

Gianna helps Mommy open a present.

Gianna is very excited about her new books!

"G" is for Giraffe.

The Holiday Train

I thought it would be really fun to take Gianna on the Train of Lights this year, and as it turned out a lot of our friends wanted to do the same so we coordinated renting the caboose (back in September!) and finally on Dec. 15th we got to take our trip!
It was so much fun! We had 7 infants, a little boy and lots of friends and family! We brought lots of food, hot cocoa, sparking cider and more...it was a great party!
Justin and I gave my mom and his Grandpa tickets as their Christmas presents and both of them had a ton of fun watching and even playing with all of the kids and soaking up the Christmas spirit. At the end of the train ride Santa and Mrs. Claus came on the train to say hello to everyone too! What a wonderful time we had. This was one of the most fun things we have done in a long time! Everyone had a wonderful time and left the train talking about next year's trip already!