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Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Little Pumpkins!






We made it to the pumpkin patch on what may have been the last dry, mild day. Elli tried to picked up every pumpkin, but some were just "too heavy!" She made it home with a pumpkin, two gourds (one for Elli, one for "Raffy") and an ear of purple Indian corn (thanks, Gram!).

We have our very own "pumpkin patch" (as Elli calls it) on the front porch, complete with gourds, pumpkins and several ears of corn that Elli and Daddy "borrowed" from the field by the river near our house.

Bring on the ghosts and witches!

more pics




Friday, October 13, 2006

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Life Is Good!

Nearly a month has gone by since Ralphy joined our family and we are all adjusting. Ralph and I are adjusting to less sleep, Elli is adjusting to sharing our attention and Ralphy is adjusting to life in general.

Elli still loves to hold the baby, push him in his swing and lie down next to him on the floor. She reads Ralphy books and shows him all of her toys. ("See this, Baby Raffy?" she says.) She is so good with him! Elli is getting ready for Halloween. Gram made her a costume so she can be a "Baby Indian" (her favorite movies are Spirit and Brother Bear, both of which feature Native Americans as characters). She still loves her horses and her barn and recently she got a Little Tikes kitchen, so she has been cooking all sorts of things like ketchup and corn and coffee and pizza - all the good stuff, you know?! We spend a lot of time at the kitchen table making things with Play-Doh, too.

Ralphy has still been sleeping away most of the days and is sleeping a little more at night, too. He has slept through most of the eventful things in his life so far, like trips to Wal-Mart, visits to the park and walks around the neighborhood. When he is awake he just takes it all in, probably wondering what he ahs gotten himslef into! He is filling out very bit of the 0-3 month clothes already! He seems really strong and he tries to lift his head up to look around when ever he is held. He loves it when Daddy sings to him. Baby Ralphy is a sweet little guy!

Most of our days so far have been spent at home playing, reading books and going out to the backyard. At this point, I'm lucky to remember to feed Max-dog, brush Elli's hair and plan something for dinner. Taking a shower, doing a load of laundry and running the vacuum in one room are all major accomplishments! So, needless to say, our house is a wreck, but we don't care - life is good and we are happy!

Sunday, September 24, 2006

It's A Boy!


On Saturday, September 16, 2006 at 11:27 am, Ralph Walter Gianino V was born! We arrived at the hospital at 7:30 am for a planned induction. The doctor broke my water around 9:30 am and I received an epidural around 10:30 am. At 10:50 am, our little guy's heart rate dropped and the staff realized that he was ready and needed to be delivered quickly. Within what seemed like the blink of an eye, the staff assembled, I was pushing, Ralph was grabbing the camera and our baby was born! He weighed in at 8 pounds, 13 ounces and was 21.5 inches long.

Baby Ralphy is healthy and handsome with a wild head of hair. He has been sleeping away most of the days and parts of the nights. He seems pretty comfortable in the arms of his big sister, who wants to hold him all of the time!


Elli has been great - she is patient and gentle with her little brother (just wait until he is big enough to "wrestle"). She is the best big sister ever! She says she will share all of her toys with Baby Ralphy when he gets bigger...all of them except her horses!



We are blessed to have our two perfect kiddos! It has been a great first week of Ralphy's life. We know that things will be hectic around here, but we are just glad we have so much to be thankful for!

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Elli Turns 2!



Elliana turned 2 on September 2nd! We had a big birthday party at the park (a few weeks early). She had a great time playing with her cousins, eating her octopus cake, opening presents and "reading" her birthday cards.

On her "real" birthday, we took Elli to Grant's Farm to see some of her favorite animals. She especially liked seeing the wild mustangs, waving to the zebras (two of which were very close as we passed by on the train) and feeding the baby goats (who tried to eat Daddy's shorts)! She gets so excited and makes every experience fun! We are so blessed to have our little girl!


The Waiting Game

Here at the Gianino home we are anxiously awaiting the new baby. Elli doesn't realize that something is about to rock her world, but we are confident that she will be the best big sister ever. The due date is September 16th, but really things could start happening anytime. The infant clothes are washed and folded, the cradle is ready and the hospital bag is in the car....