{Sensory play}

Our sweet little Giuliana is now 13months old

Where has time gone?!

She is no longer a baby & no longer enjoys baby things. 

A baby jumper no longer does the trick ;) 

We actually have to get creative now, trying to find activities that she can manage & learn from. 

Its been a blast watching her learn & develop! 

I have been doing a lot of sensory play with her the past couple of months, & she absolutely LOVES it!! 

It's her favorite activity during the day

She knows where i keep all of the supplies, & sometimes i catch her digging around trying to get the supplies out! 

Sensory play, i feel, is very important! It helps your babe learn about their surroundings, how different things feel, how they taste, how they smell.. 

I like to use items that are not harmful, such as millet, water, rice & home made playdoh.

also, i ALWAYS stay right by her or close by as she participates in these activities, 

Here are some of the activities we do: 

1. Millet

Always lay a mat down, things WILL get messy, & it makes clean up afterwards so much easier 

Fill your choice container with your millet {I use a casserole dish}

Put random items in, shapes,  toys, bowls, scoops

Let baby play & explore! 

2. Water

i like to fill a casserole dish half way with water

put in some random toys 

i give her a spatula too! 

she loves to splash around & poor the water on the toys

3. Rice

again, mat, casserole dish

Fill dish with rice & toys & scoops.

Some times i put a mini muffin tin off to the side & she scoops the rice into the little holes :) 

Giuiana loves the way the millet & rice feel on her skin, she likes to put her foot in the casserole dish & sprinkle a little millet or rice on her foot. Its so cute! 

4. Play doh

We just recently started to use play doh in sensory play. 

I like ot make my own playdoh because then i know exactly what is in it

I flatten it out & let her press her shapes into it {1st image}

or tear it up & let her figure out how to squish it together {2nd image} 

She Looooves to squish & play with play doh! 

It has been a lot of fun watching her learn about all of these different things. 

She has figured out that dry rice & millet don't taste very good. 

She has figured out that if you splash the water, you WILL get wet.

She has figured out that Play doh is NASTY tasting

It's funny watching her battle her natural instinct to put things in her mouth

she'll hold it up to her mouth, & its like she suddenly remembers "oh wait, this is gross" & she puts it down haha 

She's growing & learning so fast, I can barely keep up! 

Happy Friday!

{12 months of G}

I have received multiple emails over the past few months & a couple comments from other new mommies asking about how we manage time in our home, having a 1 year old. 

I meant to write this post about a month ago, but life got a little busy, ..

So, I figured it was about time i finally got on it!

Our sweet little Giuliana isn't a baby anymore..

 She turned 1 on December 19th 

Yay!

It has been a wonderful year. 

We have learned so much about our sweet little g, about being parents & we've learned lots about ourselves as well!

I guess i will start by walking you through a day in our lives as Parents of a 1 year old..

7/730am: Willy & I wake up {or try to!}
730/8am: Giuliana wakes up
I get her out of bed & change her diaper
She says Bye bye to daddy & gives him a big kiss as he heads to work,
Then we head downstairs & I prepare her breakfast
breakfast usually consists of some fruit & maybe a slice of toast & some soy milk
{After breakfast}
Its free play time. This means she just kind of does whatever she wants!
We open the toy chest in the living room & she pulls toys out & plays to her hearts content.
Also during this time i usually turn on a show like yo gabba gabba or peppa pig.
While she plays, i straighten up & clean the kitchen while i drink a big cup of coffee or tea.
10am: G takes her first nap, usually 1 1/2 hours.
{During nap #1}
This is when i take a shower, put my make up on, get dressed & maybe start a load of laundry, Straighten up our room & make the bed. I also like to enjoy a cup of coffee or hot tea while she naps :)
1130am: G wakes up.
after her first nap, we usually start our day.
this is the time when i run any errands that need to be done, or go to Drs Appointments, or spend time with friends.
1/130: G eats lunch
Usually some fresh/organic lunch meat & fruit & crackers or left overs & a big sippy cup of water
{After lunch}
We've started doing sensory activities
I keep a bin full of rice & little toys, & sensory bags downstairs for her to play with.
It keeps her interested for quite some time.
{Will write more about these soon!}
3pm: G goes down for nap #2
{During nap #2}
I vacuum, clean up downstairs/ rice from sensory play & Finish other random house chores
430/5pm: G wakes up & has free play time
Also during this time, i finish up any errands that may not have been finished earlier.
6/630pm: G eats dinner!
7/730: We usually go on a family walk at this time & visit My inlaws
8/830: Bath, Book, Bed!
Miss G takes a bubble bath, Daddy or i Read her a book, & we sing a song, then put her in her bed.
She started sleeping through the night about 6 weeks ago
& Last night, William put her to bed for the first time!
Since i was nursing her right before bed, it has always been me putting her to bed, but now, either of us can do it, & giuliana doesnt mind at all, which makes william happy :)
~~~~~

What's new @ 12 months? 

*I have started the weaning process with our sweet G.
I have just observed her, & when it seems she is ready to cut out a nursing session, I start giving her less  & less milk @ a certain nursing session over a few days, & then I simply cut that one out & replace it with a snack or a cup of soymilk & lots of cuddling :) .
I started the weaning process about 8 weeks ago, since she now eats 3 full meals a day, & as of right now, we are down to 2 nursing sessions a day {She nurses right before each nap}. 
{Although, if she acts as though she wants a little breast milk some time through out the day, i dont refuse her. So sometimes we have 1 extra feeding, but not always. I really like the theory of "Don't offer, don't refuse" }
The most recent nursing session we cut out was the one right before bed. I though it was going to be hard to cut that one out, but it was actually really easy, she barely noticed!
It feels so strange to know that i will be done nursing our little girl very soon, i will miss it!!

*G stands on her own, & will take a couple steps before she gives up & takes a dive.
*She points to things & says "Uts dis?" all day long. She wasnts to know what everything is! Smart girl.
*She tries to snap her fingers
*She dances
*She says bye bye & waves & blows a kiss
*if you ask her for a kiss, she will give you a big open mouth smooch on your mouth
*She has 5 teeth
*She will sit & "read" her books now
*She says "oof oof" when she sees a puppy
*She signs "All done" , "Milk" , "More" & shakes her head "no"
*She has "just" enough hair to make 2 sweet little pig tails
& oh so much more!


Us
* I've learned just how sweet & loving William can be, watching him with our sweet little girl is just so heartwarming
* We've learned that we don't mind watching the same episode of Yo gabba gabba over & over.
*We have gotten to watch each other work harder than we ever have in our lives.
Me, as a full time stay at home mom, trying to figure out how to manage everything, & My husband, working extra hard outside the home 45-55 hours a week.
We really don't see all that much of each other through out the week
But watching him work so hard to support our family has given me even more admiration & respect for him. I know that he is working so hard because he loves Me & Giuliana & wants me to be able to stay home with her.
I love him for that.
I know it is really hard on him to not be here, i think he feels like he misses out on a lot with our sweet girl. But she is crazy about him! You should see her face when she sees him walk in that door at the end of the day :)

*We have had to learn to live off of a smaller income, which can be difficult at times, but we manage.
We have learned to budget a lot better than we used to!

*We have had to figure out how to "date" again. I know that sounds crazy, but if you are a parent, you know exactly what i am talking about.
It's very hard to find that time together, or just to talk about something other than work & baby.
Its so funny, when we do get to go out on a date together, or when we have time just for us, we talk about Giuliana the whole time!
We just love her so much!
Just goes to show how much our lives have changed :)
We really love eachother & we love being parents.
We are getting to know eachothter in a whole new light
We have grown up a lot this year, & its really cool to see how much we have changed.
We love our sweet little miss G with all our hearts, & I wouldn't change the life we have now for anything in the world!

Ok i feel like this whole post was just a big random mess! I just wrote things as i thought of them.. so sorry if none of it makes sense.. haha

If anyone has a question they would like to ask, please feel free to comment on this post. 
I will gladly answer you back :) 

{happy holidays}

We hope everyone is enjoying this holiday season, making memories with your sweet families :) 

I know we are!

Merry Christmas & a happy new year! 

We will be back after the holidays are over & life calms down a bit

Until we return, here is something to make you smile

Giuliana met Santa for the first time last week...

as you can see, she did NOT like him all that much

I'm pretty sure she was tramatized

Is it awful that i think it is hilarious?

Merry Christmas :) 

{here we go..}

So, this happened yesterday

We could not believe it!! 

We were at my in-laws house & Giuliana was playing with different ornaments from their tree, passing them back & forth to her Jojo {grandpa}.  

We were all just talking as she played & talked, then we all looked over & there she was, standing! All by herself!!! We were all just in total shock! She stayed standing long enough for us all to fumble & grab our phones to get a picture. 

After she sat back down, we couldnt get her to do it again. Of course!

But, this is proof that it DID happen, & I think that she will be walking & standing on a regular basis very very soon!

& so it begins :) 

Happy saturday, hope everyone has a great weekend!

{A special birthday}

Yesterday was Giulianas 1st birthday

I cannot believe she is already one! 

I know i speak for both my husband & I when i say that this year has gone by faster than any year of our lives!

Our sweet girl seems so grown up now. She crawls around super fast, stands & holds onto things as she walks around, she tries to sing, she dances, she points at things all day long saying "uts dis?" she is so curious & smart! 

To celebrate her birthday, we invited all of our friends & family over to our house. All the kids played while the adults just spent time talking. It was nice to see everyone all together.

The theme for her birthday party was a winter wonderland, which was perfect since we have our christmas tree & other decorations up for the holidays. 

I made a giant snowflake out of popsicle sticks & stuck it on our door to greet our guests, My sister & I hung cotton balls on thread from the ceiling to look like snow, & we had a hot chocolate bar with all kinds of toppings & snacks. It looked awesome & was a lot of fun! 

{Made this banner from doilies & sticky gold letters}

{The Birthday Girl!!!}

{She loves her daddy}

{Playing with her silly friends}

{Eating her cupcake, her first sugar!! Needless to say, she LOVED it}

{4 generations. William, G, WIlliams Grandma & mommy}

Yesterday was also WIlliams Grandma Virginias birthday! Its so sweet that G shares a birthday with her great grandma :) Happy Birthday Grandma Virginia! We love you!

& Happy birthday our sweet, happy, lovable, cuddly, talkative, curious, smart little munchkin!

We cannot wait to see the fun things you will do in the years to come. 

We love you so very much

Love mum & dad