Dance Party USA - Gianna getting ready for NYE

Oh and there's more......

Christmas Time 2009- Pommy and Papa

We had a busy Christmas Time, but lots of fun. We started on the 23rd at my brother's house in Napa for a wonderful family dinner with Kandice's parents and her brother Kevin's family. It was a full house with 4 small kids and 3 dogs, but a wonderful meal. Then we went over to Jarrids Grandma Gloria's house in Petaluma on Christmas Eve for another dinner. This is an annual event where we do a fun gift exchange and eat Polenta and Stew. This year Gianna was able to eat the meal and she absolutely loved the polenta and stew, could not get enough! Christmas morning was spent at Jarrid's parents home where we opened presents and had a nice breakfast. Then by 11:30am we were on the road to Nipomo to see Pommy and Papa. This will probably be the last year we do so much traveling on Christmas, its exhausting, but it was nice to see all of the family. We stayed in Nipomo until yesterday and had a great visit with my parents and grandparents. Thank you to everyone for making this Christmas so special!!

At Oody and Grandad's house in Nipomo

this is my favorite

pommy and papa

visiting Oody and Granddad's house

Pommy has a chair for me too!!!

YAY!! I got a train!!!

opening gifts at pommy and papa's house

Chritsmas Time 2009 - Bordessa's

helping Grammy

Christmas morning at Grammy and Papa's

sat in her new chair all morning

a big girl chair from Grammy and Papa

thanks Santa!!

New shoes from Santa

Her two new best friends cow and piggy...

She is really cruising with her walker now.......

The weekend before Christmas we went down to Turlock to

visit Brett, Camy and Maryn Honore.

Maryn and Gianna

Mendocino County line.....

Jarrid and I had a night away up in Mendocino, to celebrate our 4 years of marriage!! It was so fun! Even though we were only gone for 24 hours, it felt like forever because Mendocino is a great place to let it all go and just relax. There is not much to do (which is great!), the downtown is adorable and there are lots of little shops to explore with breathtaking views of the coast. With the help of our good friend Andi Biaggi who was raised in Mendocino, we stayed at a lovely Bed and Breakfast called the Maccallum House www.maccallumhouse.com and dined and drank with the locals at Patterson's Pub. Her suggestions were perfect as we truly enjoyed ourselves.

walking to the main house for breakfast...

our room in the old barn had its own sauna, fireplace, outdoor hot tub and jetted bathtub, so we weren't really roughing it in the barn!! :)

the entrance to the barn studio, with our private hot tub...

the old barn, where our room was...

And of course I had to add a little Christmas in here as well. We completed the tree this week and the stockings are hung by the chimney with care!!

I love this time of year!!

A Happy Thanksgiving...

We had a very nice Thanksgiving weekend. Each year we drive down to Pt. Reyes Station (about 40min from our house), where Jarrid's Great Aunt and Uncle live, and enjoy a large family gathering. It is a lot of fun to sit around the big table and indulge in all the good food. They always do a traditional Thankgiving meal but on top of that there are all kinds of "italian" extras like homemade ravioli, sausages and cheese!! Everyone is responsible for bringing something, this year we brought Roasted Brussels Sprouts and a Pumpkin Cheesecake. Then, on Sunday we celebrated Nonnie's 80th birthday with everyone, so it was a long weekend full of good food and good company!!

G and I began Thanksgiving with a hike up Taylor Mountain.

Gianna and Cousin Charlie

Gianna and Cassidy

Nonnie's "Ace of Cakes" birthday cake!!

the birthday girl, Nonnie

The Bordessas

Cousin Jackie and Gianna on Thanksgiving

The Feast

Cousin Ryan entertaining the kiddos

Gianna is 14 months today, and a month til X-Mas!!!

A cute new picture of our visit to see Danielle and Grace, it is so fun to get together with them!!

Gianna is 14 months old today and here is an update on our sweet girl ....

weight: 20 pounds 4 ounces (50%)

height: 29.5" (50%)

head: 18.5" (50%)

My average baby!! :) at our last appointment the doctor asked if anyone in the family was not tall?? We may have a petite little girl on my hands!! cute!

Walking: we are so close!! She lets go of things and stands on her own but she has not moved forward yet.

Talking: Gianna is very vocal. She babbles all day long. Julie, her daycare provider, thinks G may be a Director or an Auctioner! She loves to point and "talk at" everyone all day long!! so funny!

Words: She now says bye, daddy, mmm,mmm (i think thats mama!!) hi, and ya!

Food: Gianna loves food, she will eat anything, but her recent favorites are carrots, dried apple rings and chicken sausage.

Activities: Gianna still loves balls and her blocks, she will play catch with herself all around the house. She throws the ball or block out in front of her and then crawls to it, then again and again.... she will do this for an hour!! She also loves her magnet "farmer tad" on the fridge that sings to her. She will push the buttons and then dance to the song. She loves music and dancing. We watch Yo Gabba Gabba (great show by the way) its on the Sprout channel and she laughs and dances like crazy. I really need to video this!!

Sleep: Still a great sleeper. Bedtime at 7:30pm up at 6:30 0r 7am. Naps in the morning 9am-11am and then another nap at around 2pm for an hour or so.

Gianna is just a joy to be around. She has a wonderful personality and really is a great baby, she makes it look so easy!! She loves people and everywhere we go she just seems to charm the room, it is so fun to see her interact with others.

Ok, on another note..... here is my new artificial tree I bought at Costco last night. I have never had a fake tree but, now that we have vaulted cielings, we needed a bigger tree of course. So I went with the 9 ft artificial tree. I think it looks great, I just need to "fluff" and postion all the branches and then I can start decorating!! I have never had a tree up a month before Christmas, but it was just too easy!

The House.....

Some updates on the house have been requested so here are the latest pictures of "our project!"

Our new front porch and entrance, just starting to grade the front yard...

the living room looking into the kitchen...

from the kitchen looking towards the living room...

same view, now with my host Gianna!

our new bedroom...

our new master bath...

the new dining room and front door...

dining room...

just added the window seats and mantel, rock work on the

fireplace is the next project!