Oh, the weather outside's delightful...

Hip Hop Groupie

Iain's company hosted their annual Easter party this weekend.  It's the first time we went.

Last year I took Gianna to the mall to take a $30 blurry picture with the Easter Bunny.

Not horrible - just over-priced.

Wasn't quite sure how she'd react this year as she's going through a bit of a shy stage with strangers.

I prepped her as best I could and she called "bunny" incesantly on the drive.

When we got there, she went bananas over the decorated venue and eyes almost popped out of  her head when she saw the awesome playground filled with kids of every age. 

She was a magnet to the big inflated jumpy deals that they'd rented.  Too bad the big kids were really rough....she would have had a ball in those.

So, we go back inside to eat and then they announce the arrival of the Easter Bunny.

She nearly hypervenilated when she saw him - out of shear bunny bliss.

She called him and called him and performed every trick she knows in order to get his attention.

She kept jumping and jumping saying, "Bunny! Hip Hop."

She was quite the groupie! 

She waited her turn and then sat adoringly on his lap...

If you're wondering about all the Mickey Mouse stuff in the pictures, I can't help you.  Apparently it was a theme (the kids even got really nice Mickey ears) and I've yet to discover the connection to Easter.  But if I don't have to plan it - I'm certainly not going to question it! Can I get an Amen?

She watched each one of the 50 or so kids take pictures with the Bunny (jumping and waving at him all the while) and then the sweet Easter Bunny sat on the stage and visited with her.  She was in heaven.

(He kept giving her eggs, but she could care less about them. She only had eyes for the Bunny.)

Thanks Easter Bunny!

You saved this family a trip to the mall.

The Egg Hunt followed outside, but we opted out since it was close to nap time and she was getting a little edgy. As we walked to the car, we noticed that the gate was opened to a little peninsula that jutted out into the lake.  The I-210 bridge was in the background so we opted for a some quickie pictures.

Me-Maw & Pe-Paw

My mom & dad chose to be called "Grandma & Grandpa" when Gianna came into our lives.  Gianna over-rode them and chose the names Me-Maw & Pe-Paw (which I think it adorable.) 

There is certainly a mutual admiration society going on with this group (Max included.)

Gianna is one lucky little girl to have such doting grandparents.

Dancing With the Stars

Okay, well, it's not Buzz Aldrin and Kate Gosselin (although it's quite possible our two tiny dancers might be a little more skill than them.)  John Paul and Gianna are certainly stars of quite a few households around these parts. 

You gotta love this age.  Won't they be so thrilled with me 15 years down the road?

No clue

I have ablsolutely no clue how this 20 month old...

...managed to break another TiVo remote.

Iain opened it up and found...

M I L K.

 Yes, that's right...MILK.

There was no milk to be found in the vacinity.  Heaven only knows how the munchkin managed this one.

Oh, and that "exposed" remote in the above picture was brand new because SOMEONE

deemed it necessary to chew the rubber numbers off the first remote....

Fun times.

She's got the beat...

Our munchkin musician got a fun surpise today....a miniature drum set, in the form of a compact little set of pink toy drum pads.

We've had some foreshadowing of her interest in drums, so we had a fairly good idea that she'd be jazzed by the surprise.

I'd say we were right!
She had a blast and was quite a hoot as she drummed her little heart out.

Check her out...

Do Re Mi

Let's start at the very beginning....

.....like when Gianna was about 4 months old and started eating rice cereal.  I would sing to her and for some reason the one song that ALWAYS popped into my head, was Do Re Mi from the Sound of Music.  There have been so many hundreds of times I've sung it to her when I needed her to eat and not really sing along.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when we ate breakfast and I decided to contain her in her high chair while I mopped the floors  I had the notion to search YouTube in order to find that scene from the Sound of Music where Maria is teaching the children to sing ~ hoping it might entertain her while I got busy cleaning.  As the music started playing and she saw Maria and the children, her eyes widened and she kept glancing at me and then the computer, as if to say, "Mommy, they know your song!"

She asks for it regularly now, summoning, the clip by singing, "Do, Do, Do"  or "Do Mah Mi." She's picking up the words.  I am OVER THE MOON knowing she enjoys The Sound of Music.

I was able to film a quick duet of Gianna and Mommy singing Do Re Mi.  I'm pretty sure we won't be asked to sing at the Saltzburg Music Festival and she wasn't as "into" it as usual, but it's a sweet memory, nonetheless.

And then that video clip from the train station in Belgium started circulating on the web again, so I showed it to her also.  She went nuts.

I'm so excited my sweet girl is showing interest in the musicals I love.  I look forward to many happy musical memories ahead.

Stepping in time...

Twenty months ago, shoes were not even a consideration as we were swaddling our newborn baby. The shoes on the left were HUGE on her itsy bitsy feet.  It took a couple of months for her feet to grow into them.

Yesterday I bought some canvas sneakers for the summer as she's just now

beginning to grow out of her size 5's.

Holy Cannoli - why do the size 6's look like

a first grader's shoes?

She won't fit into them for a little while longer,

but looking at them still got me a little misty.

What happened to these teeny tiny toes?

Time's just marching on.

* sniff *

An Irish Blessing

One of the things about our closed adoption that I wish could change, would be the lack of information we have about Gianna's heritage.  Today, especially, I wonder if she might be Irish.  I'm sure she'll spend many hours in her life wondering too.   Since we don't know, then our little family will just have to celebrate St. Patrick's Day like we've all got green blood.  Just in case.  :)

In honor of St. Patrick and our little Lucky Charm's possible Irish heritage,
I offer this tradtional Irish blessing:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

May the road rise to meet you

May the wind be always at your back

The sun shine warm upon your face

The rains fall soft upon your fields

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.

Amen.


HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Sweetest Blessings

There's no mistaking it....

...she's certainly the sweetest blessing we've ever received. I took the above picture this morning after church.  She had a quiet moment after lunch and I had a heart-melt.

A Different Kind of Blessing

It's a joy to teach Gianna new things, new words, new songs ~ but it is my greatest joy to teach her about Jesus and help her to discover her faith. Oh, don't get me wrong, we're not having pre-school theology classes, but we have started in very small ways...with the blessings before meals and night-time prayers. She's watched us pray from the beginning, but has begun participated the last few months. These prayers are my FAVORITE time of day - everyday!
Here's why:

Sugar & Spice

Little girl friends are few and far between in Lewis Land. We LOVE all our little boy buddies but there seems to be a severe girl shorage in our little social circle.  That's why when 14 month Isabel and her mama, Laurel, came to visit from New Orleans, we cherished our girl time together.

Isabel and Gianna, sweet little long-distance friends...

who met for the first this time last year

during our lovely Jaunt to Jackson.

Back then, the six month age difference seems HUGE.

But now....

that six month span seems to be lessening.

Now they can play Ring Around the Rosie...

...and share sweet, tender moments -

some of which will melt your heart.

So, Isabel Rose.......

...don't you forget that Aunt ReRe loves you and prays for you....

...and so does Gianna.

She's been calling for "Bayull" (Bel- short for Isabel) in her very best southern accent ever since you left. 

And even though we love getting to see you on your Mama's blog, we sure miss seeing you in real life on a regular basis.