Happy 3rd Birthday Giovanna!

Happy 3rd Birthday Giovanna! Mommy & Daddy love you!

This year, I decided to make cupcakes for Giovanna's birthday. Originally, I was just going to make Funfetti cupcakes, but eventually decided to try something new and make homemade cupcakes from scratch. Batter from scratch, frosting from scratch.

I am so happy I took a chance because these Tinker Bell cupcakes came out perfect for her big day! They are vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting, decorated with Tinker Bell figurines and "Pixie Dust." I'm proud to say they came quite delish too!

Now They Play Wii!

Wow. The day has come where the girls understand how to play Wii! Giovanna now asks to play her video games. Kids are so smart these days! I'm a bit partial, but think it's too cute watching them shake their tushies! They're playing Just Dance Kids in the video.

Our New Pool!

We are soooooooooooooo excited about our new pool. It's just a kiddie pool, but it is AWESOME for our girls. This weekiend, the girls and I went to Wisconsin to visit some friends we haven't seen in a long time. They had this pool and the girls had so much fun jumping into and swimming in the pool. I knew we had to get one. Only problem, there are no pools like this ANYWHERE! Luckily, Joe recognized this pool at our babysitter's house, so he asked her where she bought it. She told him, but knew there aren't any left. She just so happened to have an extra one still in the box in her garage and Joe told her, SOLD!

In the video, Giuliana does not fall in the beginning. She was going to "swim" but mid-motion decided not to because the water was too cold to put her shoulders under. (I know because it was chilly last night, and she did this a few times before I grabbed the camera)! Also, Giovanna is yelling "CANNONBALL!" when she is doing her version of a cannonball.

SUMMER!

We really are having a fantastic summer! This weekend alone, we had our last swim class and on Sunday I took the girls to the beach for the first time! What a blast! Thankfully Jack and Brenda were with me to help with the girls and all of our gear.

When we arrived at the beach, we were exhausted from lugging all of our stuff, so Jack and I decided to just plop down right there where we were having our discussion about how hot and tired we were of lugging the crap! Brenda even volunteered to leave her chair behind next time! Then, as luck would have it, walking down the beach are my cousins! Frank, Rosemary, Nina, Natalie, and Frankie! We ended up spending the afternoon with them. It felt like vacation, and the girls loved the water and the sand. I definitely want to go again before the summer ends.

This is Giovanna's idea of helping Daddy wash the car!

We bought this float for "Flick & Float" at the pool, but there
was lightening that night, so we couldn't go in the water. So,
one evening I set up our bitty pool in the back yard and the
girls "floated" in the grass!

You can see the girls have very different
approaches to getting the basketball in the basket!


This summer we discovered our family LOVES
DRUMSTICKS!

Weren't those the days? When this was ok and cute!

Auntie Loda arranged a surprise delivery for the girls.
It came today so now we're ready for DA BEARS!

Giuliana's 1st Haircut

We took Giuliana for her first haircut today. All the girls went to the salon for haircuts. Giovanna cried. Giuliana cried harder. Memories! Thank you Auntie Lo for the beautiful haircuts!

Giuliana's 1st Haircut

Giuliana & Giuliana with their haircuts

7 Kevin!

What a BLAST! Last night a local band called 7th Heaven (Giovanna calls them 7 Kevin) played at Norridge's Island in the City Festival. It's walking distance from our house, and we really enjoy their music, so we took the family for an evening of fun. Joe also had a friend in the band who did a special dedication for Giovanna. He dedicated her favorite song to her, "Hey Soul Sister." It was awesome! Below is a video of her dedication and some pictures from the evening.

Giuliana waiting for 7th Heaven to play.

Mommy & Giovanna at the concert.

Daddy & the girls at the concert.

I love this picture of Gunnar & Giovanna!

Frankie & Terra feeding Giuliana funnel cake.

Giovanna going through 7th Heaven's Newsletter with daddy.

Nick Cox, 7th Heaven, dedicating
"Hey Soul Sister" to Giovanna!

Happy Belated 4th of July From The Lees!

July 1 & 2 2011

What a great start to the 4th of July weekend! On Friday, Joe and I were both off of work, and we took the kids downtown. The weather was supposed to be a scorcher, but luckily it stayed in the mid 70's for our day. Then on Saturday the girls had their friend Isabella over to play and we had a blast. Tomorrow is our BBQ, then Monday a relaxing 4th.

This picture was actually from Thursday night.
This is the first night Giuliana gave us a hard time
going to bed. She kept coming in our room, on Joe's
side of the bed saying, "Da da." We would take turns
putting her back to bed. This is the last time. We heard
her come in our room, we heard a thunk, then silence.
Both of us peeked over the edge of the bed to see this!
We knew we had to capture a picture. It was so funny!
The girls and I waited "upstairs" while Joe and Gunnar went
"downstairs" to get info about tickets for a boat ride.

Daddy & the kids in Millenium Park.




Gunnar & Giovanna sitting on a ledge in Millenium Park.

Giuliana & Giovanna sitting on a lower ledge in Millenium Park.

Mommy & Giovanna on the boat.

Dad & Gunnar on the boat.

Mommy & Giuliana on the boat.

The kids "going under water" in our pool.

Giuliana splashing away!

Giovanna & Isabella dumping buckets of water on
their heads!

Giovanna's big splash down the "waterslide."

Giuliana's big splash down the "waterslide."

15 Months!

Last week Giuliana turned 15 months, so we had her 15 month well visit with Dr. Vassmer. Giuliana is 31 inches tall, weighs 23.5 lbs, and her AFP level is 3. That's a good number, anything under 8 is good. Dr. Vassmer is happy with how she's growing and how social she is. Unfortunately, she had to get 2 shots, but took 'em like a champ!

Giuliana's first time eating corn on the cob!

Giovanna's first corn on the cob of the summer!


Gunnar's first corn on the cob of the summer in Chicago!

BIG Beds!

I know, I know, I've been neglecting the blog. I'm sorry. Since we got back from our trip to Georgia, things have been pretty hectic. A quick up to speed: Gunnar spent spring break with us, Giuliana turned 1 and we had a wonderful party with friends and family, we had a bunch of doctor's appointments with Giuliana turning 1, Easter, Mother's Day, other family birthdays, Memorial Day, Gunnar returned and is now with us for 6 weeks, bringing us to today!

For a few months now, Giuliana has been crawling into Giovanna's toddler bed and basically claiming it as her own. The other day I found her with her chubby little leg over the rail of the crib, she was trying to climb out! That's when I said, "it's time" to which Joe responded, "oh she's been doing that for weeks!" WHAT?!?! I wish I knew that!

So we spent a family day and went shopping to get the girls all the necessary bedding for the big transition night. Giovanna moved to the bottom bunk of the bunk beds, and Giuliana moved into the toddler bed. Night 1 went VERY well. Giuliana only came out of bed one time and slept til 8:15 am. I knew Giovanna would be fine because she naps in our bed all the time. Joe's test was nap time today, and it was a success! He said he put Giuliana in her bed for a nap and she fell right asleep. He even had to wake her up 2 hours later! Let's hope this luck continues!

The bunk beds

Giuliana in her big girl bed.

Giovanna in her BIG big girl bed.


3 kids up on top!

I love this picture of Giuliana peeking through the slats

of the top bunk!

Another picture I think is cute, Giovanna on the top bunk.