Nine Months

17 months ago I looked at two little pink lines just like this.

And I was so excited.

I grew a baby for nine months, and they were a very long nine months.

Nine months and a few days to be exact.

Big-Little Isaac entered this world and I loved a little deeper,

prayed a little harder, and tried to be a little better.

As I sit here this very moment I can honestly say I have no idea where the past 9 months have gone, they just flew by.  And my baby isn't so much of a baby any more. 

And I'm sort of in mourning over that fact.
He's been out a long as he was in, but I really can't believe it.

8 month highlights
Your top 2 front teeth came in.
You crawl all over the place, and as if that wasn't enough
Now you stand up to everything.
I catch you letting go (of the things you stand up to) and testing out your balance.
You are accident prone.  I think you will be my child that will get to know the ER really well.
There isn't a day that goes by that your curiosity and balance testing doesn't end in screaming and bodily injury.
You still think that sleep isn't really necessary at least not for long periods of time that is.
You love to beat on your daddy's laptop keyboard. The glowing screen seems to attracts you like a moth to a flame. 
You love your daddy especially when he tickles and tosses you around.
If you are feed and have had plenty to drink, you are an absolute angel.
You love to clap and play patta-cake, and you figured out how to click your tongue.
You love to terrorize, tearing papers and emptying everything in sight keeps you (and mom) busy all day.

I love you Isaac.  After nine months of holding and loving you.  I just can't get enough of you.

Little Toy Train

I love listening to children sing it's heavenly music to my ears.  

Mr. Giovannoni and I put Dylan in an after school choir this year.  We thought it would be something fun for him to do.  He has loved it so far.  

We got to hear his first choir performance this past Saturday.  

This little number was my favorite from the choir concert.

Dylan can be found on the second row (from the bottom). 

First person on the (your) left.
 He is wearing a long sleeved white shirt under his choir T-shirt,

First Annual Giovannoni Thanksgiving Thanks 2010

I asked each member of my family to think about three things they were glad (thankful) that they had. These are their answers.

Mr. Giovannoni:
Warm Clothing
Transportation
Employment

Me:
Good Health
Derik being a good provider, husband and father. Dylan for being so sweet and kind. Alivia for being my girl and my work horse. Isaac for the joy he brings to everyone in our family.
The Gospel

Dylan:
Family
House
Protection

Alivia:
A bed
Goggles
A house

Always have to steal my kisses from you

Isaac is 8 months old!

Photo by a4gpa

7 month highlights:
You still only have your 2 bottom teeth.
You are showing more and more of your feisty little personality.
You think you only need a few hours of sleep and that sleeping through the night is for lazy people.
Your eyes can't make up their mind yet, so one day they are gray, one day they are blue, one day they are brown, and one day they are green. I'm excited to see what they finally will be when they stop changing colors.
You still love to eat! Surprisingly one of your favorites is a cauliflower and broccoli mix.
You started to babble "dada" and "nana".
The day before your 8th month birthday you decided you wanted to crawl and off you went.
You can now make huge messes just like your siblings because you get into everything! Throwing the dirt out of my potted plants has become your favorite thing to do.
You also learned that when your siblings want attention they scream in a very high pitch. You quickly learned that the high pitched scream works well for you too!
You officially grew out of anything smaller than 12-18 month sized clothing.

Ms. Alivia Turns 4

Last year we were in DC for Alivia's 3rd Birthday and we didn't do much as far as celebrating is concerned. So we tried to make this year a little more exciting for her.
Mr.Giovannoni took the day off and treated Livie to lunch. After wards we all went as a family to the Murray Recreational Center swimming pool. The water was warm and the kids had a blast!
She requested Noodles and Macaroni for her birthday dinner as well as a "Belle" birthday cake.
She received lots and lots of birthday phone calls. Her Grandma and Grandpa Ward and her Aunt Cozy even came to see her.
I'm pretty sure besides the fact that she didn't get everything in the WalMart toy catalog, that she had a terrific Birthday!

Happy Birthday Princess Alivia! I'm so glad you came to our family!

October Came and Went

Here's just a few of the milestones and memories October 2010 gave us.

Isaac celebrated his seventh month birthday. He is just as chunky and lovable as ever. He's even started to show that he too inherited a stubborn and feisty disposition just like his big sister!
Therapy is going well. We've moved on to monthly visits instead of weekly and biweekly visits and the collar that they fitted him for has worked wonders in helping with his torticollis.

Mr. Giovannoni celebrated his 31st birthday.
We partied it up by going to the Jazz game with only one of our three children. Thanks Cozy for watching the other two and letting them spend the night.

For the first time since the Giovannoni's became a family we all dressed up for Halloween.
We did a Wizard of the Oz theme. It was more fun than I like to admit, I just wish I would have started making the costumes a little sooner.

The Scarecrow

Dorothy

The Lion

The Witch and the Yellow Brick road complete the theme.
Nine years ago on Halloween night Mr. Giovannoni got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. It's hard to believe we've spent 10 years of our lives together. I never imagined our life 9 years out, on that night he asked me to be his wife, but I'm glad we are where we are and I'm thankful for the lessons, the love and the trials along the way. It's been my grandest adventure!

184 Days

Happy 6 month Birthday Isaac!

Seems like someone switched my life into warp speed mode.
I don't know where the last 6 months have gone. Wasn't it just yesterday that I was wishing for this baby to come out of my belly and into this world.

Isaac you are growing up WAY to fast.
Oh how we all love you.

Five Month Highlights
You began Physical Therapy for your Torticollis. You enjoy the attention, but you hate having your neck stretched.
Your second bottom tooth emerged.
You ventured into the realm of "real" foods. We started you with green beans, you weren't super hip on the flavor, but you were so excited to be eating, that you didn't let it bother you too much.
You got to fly out to Albuquerque to visit with your Aunts and your Cousins.
You traveled through 6 different states (Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Colorado and Albuquerque New Mexico). You have been an excellent baby to travel with!
You are a grinning machine.
You fill my heart with joy everyday.

While Mom's Away the Family Plays

Last Week Mr. Giovannoni was kind enough to buy me a plane ticket out to Albuquerque to visit my sister Heidi. I took Isaac with me so the Mr. took a few days off and played Mister-Mom to Dylan and Alivia. These three look like they had a blast together! Way to make me look lame Mr. Giovannoni :)

Hill Aerospace Museum

George Eccles Dinosaur Park

My favorite photo of the bunch!
The Ogden LDS Temple
Dylan and Alivia got to experience life without mom as the cook as well.
They visited more restaurants in three days then what we normally go to in three months!
Mr. Giovannoni also managed to get them up and ready for their primary program on Sunday!
My kids now have a new favorite parent!
Thanks Honey for showing our kids a good time and letting me have a vacation.

Swiss Days 10 K

I wanted to get a 10K race under my belt before winter hit, so the Swiss Days 10K in Midway Utah, was a perfect fit.

Me and Livie Hanging out before the race.

Mr. Giovannoni had the pleasure of hanging out with all three of our children while I tried to accomplish another one of my running goals.
Dylan even got in on the fun this time and ran his own half mile race.
Way to go Dilly!
And after a long, long time of waiting, my kids finally got to see me finish the race...

6.2 miles in 1 hr 25 min and 32 seconds.

Now I can check that off my list!

Marathon Trip

Mr. Giovannoni has a goal of running 4 marathons in a year. This weekend he completed Marathon number three in Ashton Idaho.

We decided since we were already out and about that we were going to try to make this road trip a fun little vacation for our family.
Early Friday morning we loaded up the car and headed up through Idaho and on into West Yellowstone!

Friday August 27, 2010
We only had a few hours to spend in a place that needs at least a weeks worth of time, but we made the most out of what we could. We arrived at the lower basin geysers first so we stopped to check out Fountain Paint Pots.
The picture at the top really did look like a boiling pool of paint! It smelled like rotten eggs too, but I was awed at the vast amounts of color and scenery, what an amazing world we live in!
Next we headed to good Old Faithful.

After Old Faithful erupted we hiked around the area,
taking in all of the other mud pots and geysers in the area.
The colors and sheer variety of nature were awesome, no two places looked felt or smelled alike.
With only a few minutes to spare before we had to head back to Idaho for the pre-race dinner (which we had already paid for) I made Mr. Giovannoni take me to Sapphire Pool and I'm really glad he did, it was absolutely beautiful!
Doesn't it make you think of paradise?
It's so deceptive, who would think it was a boiling pool of water, it looks so inviting!

There were a million other places in Yellowstone we wanted to go and see, but we ran out of time. So we reluctantly headed back to Idaho.
On our way out of Yellowstone we ran into a small traffic jam and here is why,
I never realized just how BIG bison are!
Other than a fox, and a few geese here and there, this bison was all the wildlife we saw on our short trip.
Yellowstone really is a fantastic place! We can't wait to go back and spend a few days there taking our time, instead of rushing around!

Saturday August 28, 2010
Marathon Day
Dylan got to race down the finishing stretch with his Dad!

Way to go Babe, you got number three in the bag!
I think it's really fun to watch marathoners cross the finish line, I'm always surprised to see the variety of people who actually finish a marathon, it's inspiring.

Alivia snuck in on Dad and Dylan's after marathon picture.
After the marathon Mr. Giovannoni drove us up to
lower Mesa Falls, so we could see where he ran.
Right after we got back in our car from the Falls it started to rain something fierce!
Luckily the terrible terrible hail storm didn't hit us until after we were out of the canyon. I don't think I've ever been out in a storm like that. The hail just pounded and pounded our car, I thought for sure we where going to have to send our car to a repair shop after that storm!
After the storm settled down we headed back down to our Hotel in Rexburg, where the kids and I were looking forward to a nice relaxing swim in our hotel pool.
Our plans were cut short though, when we put our toes in the pool and realized the thing wasn't heated! It was FRIGID!
So we did our best to get our swimming fix by hanging out in the hot tub for a few minutes.
We had also planned to visit Bear World later that afternoon, but the weather never cooperated.
I guess we will just have to put that on our agenda too, for the next time we head out that way.

After a little down time at the hotel, we all headed out to Firth Idaho to do dinner with our friends Anna and Jake.
Their place was so cute, I could totally see myself happy as a hen living out in farm country like that. They were so nice to have us over and Anna's ham and wild rice soup was really delicious.
Thanks Anna and Jake for having us, it was fun!

Sunday August 29, 2010
It's amazing how time flies when you're having fun.
We decided to drive our kids past a few of Idaho's temples on our way home.
First up was the Rexburg Temple.
After which we headed to the Idaho Falls Temple.
They were both Beautiful.
I especially loved looking out on the river from behind the Idaho Falls temple.
I also loved that under each tree at the temple grounds they labeled what kind of tree it is.
I'm nerdy like that!

Mr. Giovannoni drove the entire trip without complaint, even thought the reason I came along was so I could drive and he could rest. The kids were pretty good too.
I feel really lucky and quite blessed that we got to go on this marathon trip and that we all stayed safe and happy.