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.

Atlanta 2011

We had a FABULOUS vacation to Atlanta/ Lawrenceville, GA last week. It was great to do some site seeing with the girls, as well as spend time with family we don't get to see very often and miss dearly. While the drive was long, 14 long hours, really long hours, it was well worth it and I would definitely do it all over again!

We went to Imagine It Chidren's Museum in Atlanta.
The girls had a blast playing in all the different themed sections.

There was a section dedicated to the little ones where the
girls were able to fish and play with all sorts of toys.

The section for little ones had equipment for them to climb
with slides, and windows to peek out of.

We like to watch the Travel Channel and between Man v Food
and the different Paradise shows, we have our next several
vacations planned out based on food spots we'd like try!
The Varsity was on our list, so we gave it a go. Eh, it was

just ok. More hype on tv than what it actually was.

We also visited the Georgia Aquarium. Giovanna thinks
this fish is Nemo, but his name is actually Deepo!

I just really like this picture!

Throughout the aquarium, there were different tunnels
so you could pop your head in and be part of the exhibit.

World of Coca Cola was in the same area as the aquarium,
so we visited there the same day. At the end of the tour
you finish in a room with soda fountains of all of Coke's
flavors around the world, and you get to taste as much
as you want. Giovanna kept saying, "More Coca Cola Mommy!"

Joe gave up drinking soda back in 2003. He hasn't had
a drop of soda since then. That is until we went to
World of Coca Cola! I mean, how can you be at World
of Coca Cola and not drink a Coke?!?! This was a room
dedicated to Coke flavors. If you ever go to Italy, DO NOT
try a Coca Cola brand soda called Beverly. It tasted like
the worst cough medicine you can imagine. I felt sick for
hours after trying that one. No amount of Cherry Coke
could cover that one up. I regret trying Beverly!

There was a 4d movie at World of Coca Cola. It was

pretty cool except for the fact that Giovanna cried to
go home throughout the entire thing. The lady next
to us tried to give her a Tootsie Roll to shut her up,
but the only thing the lady got was one less Tootsie Roll
in her purse!

We found out Babyland General Hospital was about an
hour away from our hotel, so we decided to make the drive
to see where Abigail, Kaleigh, and Christa were born.

How could we visit Babyland General Hospital and not

let the girls adopt a baby? The newest members of the
Lee Family: Melba and Iola. Where do they come up
with these names?

2011 Blizzard

Oh. . .My. . .Gosh! I cannot believe this blizzard actually happened. It was like being in a movie. I cannot believe how violent and angry this storm was, with no relief. Straight high winds, snow, THUNDER & LIGHTNING for hours. The girls and I were lucky to get home by 5:15ish, but unfortunately Joe was just beginning his shift. Just after we walked in the door, I was making calls to family letting them know we got home ok, and our power went out. Luckily it was short lived, and came back within a half hour.

I was sending Joe's mom text messages about it, and jokingly said, "I'm making dinner right now so the girls can eat before it happens again." Well, at 6:15 we lost power AGAIN. And it stayed out until 2:30 a.m. My concern was keeping the girls warm, but luckily, they fell asleep pretty early, and blankets were enough to keep us warm. The temperature in the house got as low as 57 degrees.

With the power being out, I had no way of keeping tabs on the storm or distracting myself from worrying about Joe being out there in the blizzard. It's not like he was away from home at an office during this blizzard. . .NO. . .he was driving up and down Broadway getting people to their homes. So I heard and saw every whip of the wind, iciness of the snow, thunder crash, and lightning bolt; everytime worrying more and more about my husband out there in the harsh elements.

We were able to keep in touch with eachother through a few text messages, but both of us wanted to conserve our batteries on our phones. Joe was down to one bar, and while I had 3 bars, with the power being out, I wanted to make sure I had a way of calling for help if there were an emergency. Finally at around 2:30 I get a phone call from him that he's in his van and on his way home. (Don't worry, the van has bluetooth so the phone call goes through the speaker system throughout the car) He had so many stories about his hellish night, neither of us could believe he was making it home. About 2 blocks away from home, dun dun dun, the van got stuck! So in those blistering winds, he trudged home through the snow to get shovels to dig the van out. By the time he headed back to the van, his footprints from coming home had completely vanished.

It didn't take Joe long to dig out the car, but it was clear he was not going to be able to make it down the street to get home. It turned out that St. Monica Church (about 2 blocks from home)had its parking lot plowed and he was able to park there and walk home. He was in the house for good at 3:45. By then the house was warming up and we were able to doze off watching the news for the blizzard news we missed all night long. Now that my family was home, I could sleep. Until 8:15 am when the girls woke up that is and our day of shoveling began!

Now that it's over and done with, and everyone is safe, what great memories. We got 20.2"!

At about 11:00 p.m. I opened the front door to try to take

a picture of the storm, and this is all I got.

The snow drifts were up to 4 feet tall, so our little

snowblower couldn't touch it. We had to shovel mostly

everything, then snow blow towards the end.

The snow was waist high on me, but when I stood in the

middle, I only sunk to my knees.

This is our house.

Our street. I don't know how a car made it down to make

these tracks. I think it was one of the city's tanks. Our

neighbor directly across the street works for the city, and

the city came and picked him up at 5 am to go out and

operate a front loader to help remove snow. So it was

probably their tank that made these tracks!

We brought Giovanna out to experience the blizzard

clean up. I took this picture right away, the wind gusted

once, and she was done. She cried and asked to go inside!

Shoveling, there was so much snow, we didn't know where

to put it all! The mounds were over my head (I know that's
hard to imagine) and I had a heck of a time lifting the snow

that high to get it off the driveway.

Later in the afternoon when things drastically calmed

down, we brought the girls out to play in the snow.

Giuliana loved it and I think was upset when I

brought her back in the house.

Giovanna & Giuliana in the snow. Doesn't Giuliana look

like the kid from "A Christmas Story?"

Jack & Gunnar came over too!

What a Great Christmas!

We had such a great Christmas this year. It was fun because it was Giuliana's first Christmas, Giovanna's at the age where she understands and gets super excited, and Gunnar was with us. Giovanna does not like Santa one bit. When we put out the cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve, she cried her little heart out, "I don't like Santa. I love daddy. I no like Santa. I love daddy." She was hysterical. I told her I wouldn't let Santa in her room, and that he was bringing her presents. She said, "I don't want presents." Well, when Christmas morning came around and all the presents were under the tree, she changed her tune about them! It was especially nice because Joe didn't have to leave for work until 9:30 a.m. Christmas morning, so he was able to open presents with us. AND he was home early enough to open presents with my family.

Giovanna on Christmas Eve in front of our tree

Both of the girls on Christmas Eve in front of our tree

Giuliana on Christmas Eve in front of our tree


Gunnar and the girls on top of presents Christmas Day

Giuliana on Christmas Day with all the presents

The girls got snow shovels from my parents for Christmas,

here is Giovanna helping me shovel

Giovanna likes to go under laundry baskets. Giuliana

likes to trap her under the laundry baskets!

Giuliana's Off The Ox!

This is so bittersweet for me. I spoke with Giuliana's ENT yesterday, and he agreed it is time to take Giuliana off the Home Pulse Oximeter. I just wish I felt better about our decision. On Thursday night when I put Giovanna to bed, I checked on Giuliana who had already been sleeping for an hour. One of my biggest fears came true. It had happened once before, but it was as she was falling asleep, and I thought it was a fluke. But it happened again, and it's 2 times too many. The cables from the Pulse Ox were tangled around her torso and tightly wound around her neck! I tried to stay calm and untangle her. Surprisingly she stayed asleep, but then I was put in a bad position. Do I keep her connected to the machine that alerts us if her levels become unsafe and risk her becoming tangled again and choking, OR do I take her off the machine and risk her tongue blocking her airway and not knowing because there is no alarm to tell me?

I sent Joe a text message, and luckily he was on a layover so he could respond. We decided there was a greater risk of harm if we left her connected, so I unplugged her. The next day I called the ENT to discuss this situation and tell him we feel it is no longer safe for Giuliana to be on the Pulse Ox. The doctor wasn't in until Monday, and after discussing it with our moms, we still felt it was best for her to be off the machine. So we tried over the weekend sleeping unplugged. Last night, Dr. Walner returned my call and agreed she has been on the machine long enough, and now that she moves more in her sleep, it is no longer safe for her to be connected.

I've waited 6 months for this moment, but it is more difficult to accept than I am happy about the situation. While Giuliana proves to us daily how well she is doing, I've become dependent on the machine and there is the fear in me that something will happen because she isn't plugged in anymore. Since she was born, the doctors always tell us the worst that "could happen" and the Early Intervention people made me feel like I had something to be afraid of, that I'm scared. In my heart I know she's going to be ok, but in my mind I struggle. I keep telling myself, now she can wear zipper jammies, and I smile a little bit.

Giuliana now drinks with a cup and straw!

And she loves her Banana Gerber Puffs!

Santa Baby

Yesterday we took our annual trip downtown for Chrismas Shopping and to see Santa. We normally see Santa at the German Market in Daley Plaza, but this year we went on a Tuesday and that Santa is only there Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. So we opted for Macy's Santa. I was very impressed with Macy's setup and the friendliness of their elves and Santa (even though he looks mean in the pictures, he was very nice). I can't believe it's already Giuliana's first Christmas. She was a rockstar with Santa. Yes, we let her keep her binks in her mouth because we weren't sure of her reaction to Santa. Giovanna of course, was a drama queen. Enjoy our Santa pictures!

A Tooth Popped Through!

Last Monday, Giuliana had a tooth pop through! Her first tooth! Bottom middle/left. And no, I did not go to school to be a dentist, so I have no idea of the technical name for that specific tooth, but it's coming in! However, Giuliana is being a stinker, and won't let me take a picture of her pearly white. As soon as I have success I'll post a picture.

On Saturday, we had a great day. Giovanna and I had appointments to get our haircut. We decided to go with a short bob for Giovanna, and I'm so glad we did. She looks so adorable, Thank you Auntie Laura! Then later in the evening our friends Sarah and Isabella came over for dinner and to decorate Christmas cookies. Sarah is so great, she baked the sugar cookies and brought over her fancy royal icing and cookie decorating supplies. We had a blast and ended up with some pretty professional looking Christmas cookies!

The kids waking up to their St. Nick presents

We exchanged Christmas presents with Isabella, and

Giovanna received this adorable dress up outfit

from Isabella. She loves it and rarely takes it off!

Notice the boots. Those were a present from Grandma

and Grandpa. She loves those too and would wear

them to bed if she could!

I just thought this was so cute. All sassy and blowing kisses!


And the finale.

On Sunday, Giovanna had a tummy ache so we set her

up on the floor in the living room. What a great big brother. . .

Gunnar got down on the floor with her to keep her

company and make her feel better.