12/24/20 – Giovanna Is Nestled All Snug In Her Bed

You came to my room at 3:30a crying hard. You laid with me and calmed down, but then asked me to come to your room because my room is scary. We went to your room and both went right back to sleep. We both slept until 830a! We read some books and then had breakfast outside because it was gorgeous. Daddy found Santa on Flight Aware so we could see where he was!

We came inside to make sugar cookies for Santa. You did a great job measuring, mixing and making sure we had all the ingredients just right. You rolled out the dough and chose the cookie cutters you wanted to use. You even scooted the cookies to the cooling rack with relatively few casualties! You were so proud of your work!

When we finished, you wanted to take a bath so you could play with the new Paw Patrol merpups that Grandma Noot gave you yesterday! You had a blast and I could barely get you out of the tub! I think you played in there for almost an hour!

After lunch, we made frosting and you decorated the cookies. We chose the perfect one to save for Santa! Grandma Weezie came for dinner and was so impressed with your cookies!

When we sat down for dinner you sang your blessing. You ate great and Daddy was of course being silly with you. He showed you how to say “what’s that?” pointing to your shirt and then saying made you look! You immediately went and pulled that on Grandma Weezie lol! After dessert, we all watch Polar Express together. You snuggled with Daddy on the couch. When it was over, we cut up our carrots for the reindeer, spread reindeer food on the grass, put out our magic Santa key and our cookies and milk for Santa. We climbed in my bed together and tracked Santa one last time. He was in South America. You were convinced he was headed to Cuba, then Benji’s house, then to our house. We closed the Santa tracker, snuggled, you said “mama, I love you so much” and you were snoozing in just a few minutes!!! I can’t wait to see your beautiful face in the morning as you are filled with wonder! THIS is absolutely what Christmas is about. YOU have brought the magic to our lives. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t thank my lucky stars for having you in my life.

I love you so much!!!

12/23/20 – I’ve Been Waiting For This!

We finally got to enjoy a day at home. Even though you have been off of school and my last day of work was last Friday, we had lots to do this week so we were on the road all day! You slept in again until almost 9a! When you got up you immediately wanted to play with your new happy napper and wear your new twirly dress! You took it outside and laid down in it because it’s freezing! Then I found you outside playing with your trucks in it. When you were finally ready for breakfast, you asked me to bring you your breakfast so you could eat in it!!! I sent the pictures to Ms. Sandy to show her how much you love both!

Once you came inside, you wanted to work on your Puzzle Buzz books and you asked me to work with you. We had fun and you have got those books down!! Marcela came over and brought vegetables from her garden so we had salad and soup for lunch while visiting with her. She brought you some gifts but we decided to wait until Christmas to open them. There were so many and you were soooo excited. When it was time for her to go, you literally clung to her leg and begged her not to leave. Her heart was melting and she even mentioned cancelling the hair appointment she was leaving for. You are quite convincing lol! We got her on her way and then we had to go run one errand.

We had to go to my office to sign a few more papers. While I was doing that, you were chatting with Bianca & showing her your new dress. Her hair was in two french braids, so you asked her to do yours as well. She braided your hair and then Yulia, our mail lady arrived and your ran outside to chat her up. She even had a gift or you, but also provided specific instructions no to open until Christmas! Throughout the day I think you asked me a hundred times to open it lol. Once you were finished at my office, we dropped off a gift at my hair salon. You chatted up everyone in there, including the other customers! You showed them your braids, your fancy princess shoes and told them all about your happy napper. One lady asked what you asked Santa for and you rattled off the whole list! It was absolutely perfect!

We stopped at the rainbow car wash and then went home to get ready for Grandma Noot to come over and got ready to go to Selby Gardens Lights in Bloom. When she arrived, she had gifts for you and she didn’t make you wait to open them! You were so excited to see when you opened it and found a Skye Paw Patrol merpup. You said “I’ve been waiting for this!” then you said “I think a Rocky one would be cooler!” We were all dying. You also got a chase merpup and thought he was pretty great too. The only problem is then you wanted to take a bath instead of getting ready to go lol.

We headed to Selby Gardens to Lights in Bloom. There were over 2 million lights and it was gorgeous. They had a balloon guy making balloons and you chose a giraffe balloon. You were so excited about it. We went to dinner at Geckos and you were fantastic, especially considering it was late and you were starving. We went home and straight to bed so we can make cookies in the morning for Santa!

I love you so much!

12/22/20 – First Mani/Pedi

You came to my room around 6:30am, climbed in bed and we both drifted back to sleep. You slept in until almost 8:30a & woke up super happy. I heard the garage door going up before you were up. You weren’t even upset that Daddy was already gone, which surprised me. You asked to watch Mickey Mouse while I took a shower. You wanted to bring your couch up on my bed and you wanted me to lay next to you, but I needed to shower and get ready. So you ate your breakfast in my bed since Daddy wasn’t here lol.

You were excited to choose your fancy red dress and sparkly Ugg boots to wear for your big day! You got to have your first mani/pedi this morning at Paint Nail Bar, where get my nails done. Christine, my nail tech, helped you get settled in your chair, patiently explained each step and what she needed you to do and ask for your color choices. You advised her you really wanted a Rudolph and a Clarice on your thumbs. You were so excited…to see the colors, to use the drying lamp, just to be there doing such a big girl thing! When your nails were finished, we headed up front to wait for your pedicure chair to be ready. You showed your nails to all the ladies working up front and everyone waiting to check in and out. You were sooooo proud! However, you told everyone that you asked for Clarice, but she put the hairbow on the side and not the middle of her head lol. Orlando came to get us to do your pedicure. Christine had laid out all the rainbow glitter polishes that you asked for. You enjoyed it and chatted with both techs during your services. Everyone was dying at how much and how well you carried on a conversation. You were explaining what Kids Lingos are to him and describing how it makes you make capital letters to lowercase letters. You really enjoyed yourself and I was happy to watch you have so much fun and feel so special.

We stopped at Starbucks for a hot chocolate (and you snagged a snowman cake pop) before heading to lunch at Marina Jacks. You colored and did your Pre-K workbook while patiently waiting for lunch.

We met Lisa & Rafe Sessa for an hour at Arlington Park to play and exchange gifts. You had fun on the swings and climbing on the structures. You & Rafe struck up a game of tag with some other kids there. When we left, we had to run to my office to sign a few papers and deliver some documents to Old Republic. When I was getting ready to go, you were sitting at the reception desk hamming it up and chatting with a client dropping an escrow deposit. She was an American who also spoke Italian and we had a love chat. You told her Arrivederci as we left!

We picked up a gift card for Aunt Deb at her salon & you were so happy that the salon dog was excited to jump on you and let you pet her. Then we headed to Old Republic to drop of my policies. You held court there, played shy at first, then raided the promotional products closet with Cathy, my examiner lol.

We headed home to meet Daddy and Ms. Sandy came over to do Christmas presents with us. You were so excited when she walked in that you threw your pizza down and ran over to try to open the presents immediately! You loved everything she got you and got especially excited to see the Happy Napper sleeping bag, which you had forgotten about. You had seen commercials for it and were asking for it before she got hurt. You couldn’t believe it when you opened it! You also loved your twirly dress and magnets too! You are off to a great start for this Christmas week for sure!

I love you so much!

12/21/20 – It’s Complicated…

You were in my bed when I got home from dinner snoozing and snuggled up with Daddy. Of course by the morning, you were glued to my side, so I just laid in bed until you were ready to get up. When you finally got up, Daddy was getting ready to leave for work. You noticed he had on a Steelers shirt instead of his Coast shirt. When you asked about it he told you they have a game today. You stopped and darted immediately to your room to put your jersey on!

We went to the garage to wave goodbye to Daddy. Then you grabbed your bike & were riding in circles in the driveway singing Frosty the Snowman & Up On The Housetop. When the garbage truck came you went down to check out how they were operating the truck and you chatted with the guy. He showed you how the levers worked and you were telling him about the garbage truck in Toy Story. He was so nice & of course couldn’t get over you.

We left to run to my office to do closing for Lisa for her own house. You were excited that Grandma Noot would be there & you were looking for her as soon as we walked in. In the car on the way we were talking about where to go for lunch. I asked if you wanted to go to St. Armand’s or Siesta. You told me you wanted to go to the beach to swim. I told you it’s too cold to swim. You told me “it’s complicated because I like my bath water hot and my ocean water cool. I can swim because I like it cool, but grown ups can just sit and stay dry.”

By the time we finished, you decided instead that you you wanted pancakes for lunch. We went to First Watch & sat outside. It was a little chilly in the shade, so I grabbed a blanket and you sat in my lap snuggling & playing with your Rudolph toys the whole time. You had a cinnamon pancake & donut holes for lunch! You were so excited you sent pictures to Ms. Sandy! An older lady came up to chat with you about your Steelers shirt and asked what you asked Santa for. She was cracking up at how adorable you are. We stopped at Target to see if they had the donut socks I just got you (that you cut a hole in trying to take the tag off with scissors, unsupervised) but they didn’t. You wanted everything you could find, but we settled for a magnet Ironman and left.

We headed home to play and you put your Ironman in the window in your room right away. Then you saw the neighbor boys out walking their dog, so you walked out the front door to play with them. But, you saw Lauren walking Captain and she was too far down the street to get her attention, so you went up to the porch, grabbed a chair brought it to the end of the driveway. I asked what you were doing and you said “I’m going to sit here and wait for Captain to come back. That’s exactly what you did. When she got home, she took him inside to get a drink and said he would be out in a little bit to play. The whole time, you were lurking on their porch waiting for him and then you finally got to pet him & play with him. We came back inside and played with cars in your toy room, then had to change and get ready.

Daddy got home early, and we went to pick up Ms. Sandy & Mr. Dean so we could go to a drive through Christmas lights exhibit at a church in Lakewood Ranch. When we got in the car, Daddy suprised you with decorating your seat with Christmas lights INSIDE the car! It was sooooo cool!

You were excited to be allowed to stand out of the sunroof to check out the lights. The car line moved slowly, but there weren’t tons of lights, so when it was over you cried a little and said I wouldn’t have gone to those lights if I knew they were so small!” I was like, hey, I wouldn’t have either lol but I didn’t know!

We went to a Mexican restaurant for a quick late dinner, dropped them off and headed home.

  • Lights INSIDE the car too!

We went to bed as soon as we got home even though you told me in the car you wanted to play when we got home. You asked me to read you Horton Hears a Who. Half way through, you said “Mama, my eyes are getting tired can you please stop reading and snuggle with me.” I said of course and did. You were snoring 1 minute later.

I love you so much!

12/20/20 – Screw It In Using This Machine!

I fell asleep with you last night and woke up at 2am. I went to my room to lay down but Daddy was snoring loud, so I grabbed my pillow and headed back to your room. I got up early and just laid next to you while you were still sleeping really hard. You finally woke up around 9a. I wanted to let Daddy sleep in so we stayed in your room and read about a thousand books. You curled up in my arms as I read. I could have stayed there for a year!

You started to get hungry, so we went out to cook breakfast. By that time, Daddy was up so he ate with us and you guys played Rudolph. After breakfast, you were working on your workbooks with Daddy and then playing outside. I wanted to run and drop off some soup to Grandma Weezie & you decided to come with me. You played with all of her Kaleidoscopes and hit her up for snacks! You “washed” her dishes in the sink even though they were clean because you were helping! Of course, you were all over Cowboy as well.

We went home to have lunch because you were STARVING. But when you went upstairs to say hi to Daddy, you found him assembling a desk and decided you would rather help him than eat. You picked up his drill and suggested that he “screw it in using this machine!” I ran to work for a little bit while you guys worked on the furniture. When I got home, I changed and got ready for our FUPPA girls Christmas dinner. You asked to go because you are a FUPPA too, but you stayed and had a home date with Daddy. I got home too late and you were already sleeping!

I love you so much!

12/19/20 – First Day of 5 Year Old Class

This morning was your first day in the 5-8 year old class at gymnastics. Coach Nickie kept checking on you and said you did really great! Coach Tammy welcomed you into class and you fit right in like you had always been there. You listened and stayed with the group great!

  • You & Veda before class

We were planning to go to fancy breakfast to celebrate, but you asked to go home for breakfast. While I was cooking, you and Daddy started putting together your growing Christmas tree that Ms. Sandy got you. You put it together with Daddy and then put the water on it. After just a few minutes it was already sprouting. It takes 24 hours to be finished.

After that, you started working on the Paw Patrol gingerbread house. I’m fairly certain you ate more candy than you decorated with but you had a fantastic time. You and Daddy made a great team! You took a quick break to eat breakfast and came back to decorating several times throughout the day.

We cleaned up, changed & headed to a park to meet Katrina & Chrissy to take pictures with the Hot Cocoa Vignette Katrina put together. She had a jug of chocolate drink she put in the pitcher and it’s ALLLLLLL you wanted lol! As we were getting close to wrapping up, you wanted a cup of the drink to go. I told you no, that we would get some chocolate milk at the grocery store when we left. You weren’t having that so you went over to the spout, put your mouth under it and tried to drink right from it! Needless to say, I put a stop to that and we got in the car and left. At first you were upset, but we talked about it and you recovered nicely. We went to the grocery store and to Jo Ann Fabrics to get gift bags for Daddy’s work Christmas party tonight.

When we got home, some of his co-workers were already at the house. Katie, one of his employees, brought you a necklace with an Italian Lira coin on it because you just got your passport. It was such a nice gesture. You showed everyone there your growing Christmas tree and we sent some pictures to Ms. Sandy to say thank you!

Emily Brophy came to stay with you while we went to the party. You asked me to send you pictures from the party so you could see what it looked like. As expected you were still up, but very tired, when we got home. The report was excellent and you were a great listener! We went to potty then headed to your room straight away as it was almost 10:30p! You snuggled up with me and I fell asleep with you! I woke up at 2am to and went to my room but Daddy was snoring so loud that I grabbed my pillow and went back to your room and slept with you!

I love you so much!

12/17/20

Today was your last Spanish class. Ms. Ida said you did so great.

FT w Deb & Fed in the car and the met Aunt Deb for dinner at Andrea’s

Shopping after at HomeGoods. Really wanted a giant giraffe. You carried him all over the store. I tied to tell you we couldn’t buy him but you weren’t hearing it. Aunt Deb went up to tell the cashier to tell you that it belongs to the manager and it’s not for sale.

On the way home, you had to pee so bad. I was racing to the neighborhood and as soon as we turned the corner, we saw Ms. Moe, Jack Daniels, Franklin & the gang walking. You jumped out of your car seat and put the window down to talk to Ms. Moe. You got out of the car and raced her home. Then, forgetting completely about needed to pee so badly, we walked the block with her. When we got back, you went inside and brought out the Santa mailbox full of Polar Express bells.

We went in & you wanted Harry to sleep with you. Squirmed a little and then drifted off to sleep. I love you so much.

12/15/20

Slept until 730 came out of your room crying while I was making your lunch. You came up to me, grabbed my hands and walked me to the couch to sit and hold you. You stopped crying and started chatting quickly. I was able to get you moving quickly bc we agreed if we are on time to school every day this week you can get your nails done. As soon as I would remind you you would get back to work.
good day at school. When I picked you up from Spanish Daddy called on FaceTime. You stole a chocolate covered pretzel from my Whole Foods bag. You asked for chicken wings for breakfast and he promised you he would make them for dinner.

you ate 5 wings & they were huge!
we FaceTimed ms Sandy then watched frosty

took forever to settle down even after we read books. I finally left tour room at 930. By 10 you were in my

room. And I told you to go back to your room. But I want to sleep w you mon. I said I know me too. But the time has passed. You were supposed to go to your room but you went outside. Daddy was mad and went to get you.