Ohio Spring 2009

We just arrive home from our annual Spring trip to Ohio. The weather was beautiful and the time with the family was great. Gabriella had so much fun playing with her cousin Nick, going to the Ice Cream Capitol of Ohio, seeing the animals at the Columbus Zoo, watching her cousin Hallie play softball, and feeding the fish in Grandpa's pond.

Gabriella has always been vocal, but she has recently started pointing her finger and yelling when things do not go her way or when she wants someone to listen to her...

The Hackett's Came to Play

Gabriella and I were so lucky to have Rachel and Elijah come to visit us! As most of you know, Elijah and Gabriella are exactly two weeks apart (he was born on February 11 and Gabriella on February 25), and were a perfect match from the beginning. Both of them had such a fun time playing together. Gabriella kept trying to put Elijah's pacifier in his mouth...Elijah kept stealing Gabriella's sippy cup...and when one would get upset the other would offer comfort. They both are really happy and sweet toddlers and I truly enjoyed having the company. I hope through my not feeling well and lack of sleep that Rachel had an enjoyable visit...the cakes from the Dessert Lady hopefully made up for it!

I will post pictures soon, but I couldn't resist getting these videos of Elijah and Finn posted quickly. If there ever was a boy who deserved a dog...

Everyone Should Stop and Smell the Flowers Sometimes...

Visiting the Folks

Only in the country do you find a baby in the yard, without pants, running through the spray from the water hose and a wheel barrow in the background...but it sure was FUN!

The weather in Georgia was beautiful so we enjoyed spending some time on my parent's patio.

I think this pictures sums up Jim's weekend. He's thinking "Lord, just get me through one more day at this place..."

Mommy's Closet

I guess dressing up in mommy's clothes starts early. You will see towards the end of the video that she is not phased when I catch her in the act...she just continues with her browsing.

Easter Egg Hunt

Jim and I hid some eggs in the front yard today so Gabriella could go on an Easter Day Egg Hunt. I put M&M's in the plastic eggs to encourage her to find the eggs, but she was more interested in hanging out with Finn and running down the driveway. At the end of the last video our neighbors house alarm goes off (they just got it installed and set it off at least once a week).

YMCA Easter Egg Hunt

Gabriella and Daisy met up at the YMCA for an Easter egg hunt. Obviously, this was my first rodeo...or egg hunt because I didn't bring a basket for Gabriella to collect her eggs in. Daisy, being the thoughtful little girl that she is, offered her basket to Gabriella (The reality is that Gabriella took Daisy's basket and Daisy was forced to use the baskets that were put out for decoration).

Spring Break 2009

Gabriella's cousins came down from Ohio from Spring Break. She a good time swimming in the pool, showing off, and playing peek-a-boo with Hallie. I am sure Gabriella will be excited to see them again in May.

Day at the Beach

The best part, for me, about living in Tampa was being able to get up on Saturday and Sunday and go to the beach. I would divide my time between Clearwater and Dunedin. Clearwater was great for the white sandy beach, people watching, and having a beer at Frenchy's. Dunedin was more about relaxing. Dunedin also had a dog area, so I would take Bristol despite her lack of desire to get her paws wet. I would lay out for hours alone. Or, if Devon was in town, we would bring margaritas and floaties and float in the ocean.

All this talk about the beach reminds me of a bird incident (I am sure most of you are aware of my bird phobia). I was sitting on the beach enjoying a yummy double cheeseburger from McDonalds. I noticed a few seagulls scouting the area, but didn't feel threatened by their presence. For me, the best part of a sandwich is the pickle, so I save the pickle bite for last. With that being said, I was about to put the last bite of my double cheeseburger in my mouth when all of a sudden a seagull swoops down to take it from me. This action caused about 20 other seagulls to swarm me in attempt to get the essence of my sandwich. The birds won...again.

Fast forward to 2009, I took some cute pictures of Gabriella while we were enjoying a day at the beach in Melbourne. Luckily, it was a bird free day.

Play date

Monica and Amelia invited us, along with Judy and Jack, over for a play date. We all had such a fun time and Amelia even wore the invitation crown to Gabriella's birthday party. We knew it was going to happen, so we weren't surprised when Gabriella made Jack cry...she's had that effect on him since the beginning of Mommy & Me group.