The spiders all come out of hiding.
Your daughter goes to bed an hour late and wakes up an hour early.
You wake up to find the dog missing, and you know it's just going to be one of those days.
You suddenly realize that you can't change the water bottle.
You're cleaning the outside of the cabinets at 10:30 at night because you're avoiding going to bed alone.
You keep his pillow beside you in bed because you just have to have his scent there.
You wonder how you ever lived you life without him, and you count the hours until he's home.
I love you, Bobby! Can't wait to have you home!
I told Gia to say cheese for Daddy, so I could send him a picture while he was in Texas. This is what I got.
Since becoming Gianna's mom, I've intentionally concentrated on how to do things for her so that she will feel loved. I based my thoughts on this topic off of Gary Chapman's book, "The 5 Love Languages," which Bobby and I have talked about periodically since we were dating. According to the book, the five love languages are:
Physical touch
Words of Affirmation
Quality time
Acts of service
Gifts
Although we can feel a level of love from all 5 of these, there are particular ones that keep us connected to each other and make us feel appreciated and deeply loved. My love languages are gifts and quality time, and Bobby's are words of affirmation and physical touch.
I've tried to pay attention to what Gianna's love languages are so that she will truly feel special, safe and loved, and this is what I think I've found. For Gia, she feels most loved through quality time and words of affirmation. Out of these two choices, quality time is certainly the top love language. She craves time with me and Bobby, particularly together, playing on the floor or just driving to the store. She wants us to dance with her as we watch Sesame Street, eat cookies and milk along with her, and sit on the floor as she builds with legos or plays with her cash register. She will say, "sit please, mama!" if I sit on the couch instead. She brings us book after book to be read to her, just to sit beside us and spend that time together. Although this can be a very tiring, time consuming way to show love, it's also extremely rewarding. Since we share that love language, I think we both benefit a lot from it.
The second love language, words of affirmation, is probably a common one for toddlers, but for now it is what shows her how proud we are of her and how much we enjoy her. I try to take Michelle Duggars advice and "purpose to smile" at Gia, even when I'm tired or it's been a tough day. This one comes very naturally to Bobby, and he speaks very enthusiastically to her as he encourages her. I make a conscious decision daily to praise her for cleaning up, eating her lunch, being good while having her diaper changed, and playing kindly with others. My favorite thing to do is to tell her to look at me, and then tell her that I love her. She always smiles at this and I think those words become engrained in her heart.
Although her love languages may change as she grows into adult-hood, for now, we concentrate on these two qualities the most so that we can cultivate a caring, close relationship with our daughter.
If and when we ever get to meet the Duggar family, this is what Gia will be wearing.
We had a block party last night in our community to be a blessing and get the word out about Redemption church. We couldn't have done it without the awesome mission team from Wichita Falls, Texas. They were amazing! No complaints, just smiles, and completely willing to talk to everyone who showed up. They were a serious blessing. There were a lot of one-on-one conversations. And everything is completely free to everyone who shows up.
We have a giant slide and two bouncy houses in the block party trailer.
There is a cotton candy maker, snow-cone maker and popcorn maker, along with the hotdogs, chips and drinks.
Gia has made a new friend on the Texas team named Drake. She calls him "Dake," which is an improvement from when she was first calling him "Date." Bobby didn't like it when I joked around by saying that she was going to hang out with her "date," ha ha. He's a great kid, and they've really enjoyed spending time together. When I told her that we were going to go eat with Drake, she didn't sit by me, she went around to the other side of the table and wanted to sit right beside him. Love it!
Gia also met a new friend at the park last night, and ironically, she was the same age and her name was Mia!
They were precious, holding hands as they walked and playing in the wood chips and bouncy house. My sweet Gia helped her friend up when she fell, and Mia shared her drink with Gia. Unfortunately, her BFF lives in California and was just visiting Utah... figures, doesn't it? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, huh Kelly?
We are so thankful for the friends we've met this week and their hearts for our community. Everyone had a great time at the block parties, and we look forward to more of them in the next few weeks! Come back soon, Wichita Falls!
This morning I got Gianna up and put her on the changing table. The first thing she asked me for, of course, was milk. Then she started saying this phrase that I couldn't understand. It sounded like "go-go guhls." She had said it yesterday, and I didn't understand it then, so this morning I was trying to figure it out. When I picked her up to go into the other room, this is how our conversation went:
Gia: Milk?
Me: Yes baby, your milk is ready for you in the kitchen.
Gia: And go-go guhls?
Me: Go-go girls? ::trying to figure this out, then suddenly getting it:: Ooooh, Gilmore Girls! You want to watch Gilmore girls?
Gia: Gi-moe guls.
Me: This is the proudest I've ever been of you, Gia.
I finally realized what she was saying because usually in the morning Gia drinks her milk while watching one of her DVDs (usually it's the Duggars), so when she asked for the Gilmore Girls in that context, I knew what she was asking for.
I was seriously excited. I am so tickled that Gia loves the same show that I love. Of course, it was bound to happen. I watched Gilmore Girls while pregnant, all through my labor, and late at night when I would nurse her. So it's only natural that Gianna would eventually love it, too :o) That's my girl!
I decided to make Trey a baby blanket since I had made Gianna one. I went with "gold" and black for my college alma mater, Appalachian State. I used my grandma's stitch that she had taught me for the inside, but found a new boarder on Youtube because I can never seem to get her's right.
It took me 5 days to finish the blanket, especially after I ripped out the whole boarder in order to start over and try a new one. I'm hoping to find an iron-on Appalachian "A" to put in the center of the blanket, and then it will be complete! I may end up having to make one for Gia, too, because she seems to have a hard time realizing that she can't play with this one, ha ha. That girl loves her blankets! Trey, I hope you like it! We're ready for you!
Okay, I'm trying out a new blog because my old one left me. I've been lazy about trying to figure out a new blog, but here I go, because I'm really missing out on keeping up with things on here!
Gia has gotten so big! She has gotten taller (although not thicker, the little stinker) and has been learning so so much. We've hit major milestones in the past month, such as giving up her pacifier and going poo-poo on the potty.
The Paci:
About a week after turning two, Bobby and I realized that Gianna had chewed through her pacifiers. I went to give her one, noticed that it was chewed through, and had Gianna throw it away in the trash. I told her it was broken, handed it to her and asked her to throw it away. She did this, and then waiting for the second paci. Upon washing that one, I realized that it, too, had been chewed through! But this time, I didn't have another back-up pacifier. So Bobby said that maybe it was time to be done with them (he's been wanting to get rid of the pacifier for a few months). I reluctantly agreed. I had to explain to Gianna that her pacis were broken, and that we weren't going to have the pacifier anymore. I handed her the paci, and she through it away. Then, she realized what was happening, and started crying. It was the worst thing ever. Watching her give up the pacifier killed me. I cried for half an hour on the couch (while Bobby put her down, because I couldn't handle it), and continued to cry after he came to the couch to comfort me. My excessive crying could be due to the fact that I'm pregnant, but it was hard anyway. It still makes me really sad to think of this experience... I guess partly because she's growing up, partly because I had no warning, and partly because I was so concerned that she would feel scared and as if her comfort had been ripped from her. It took her about 4 days to stop asking for the pacifier, and during that time this was our daily conversation before bed:
Gia: Paci?
Me: What happened to the paci?
Gia: (Pause) It broken. In trash.
Me: That's right, it was broken and you threw it in the trash. But you have Baby, your blanket, and Mama here.
But now, 3 weeks later, she is fine and doesn't even think about it. She doesn't even care if other kids have a pacifier, thank goodness! That's my little trooper.
Second milestone: Gia went poo-poo on the potty! I'm pretty relaxed about potty training because Gia seemed to be scared of sitting on the potty a couple months ago, and I don't mind changing diapers. But, when she started telling me that she had to go poo-poo before it would happen, I figured it was time. So 2 days ago, on July 3, I rushed her to the bathroom when she said the magic words, and she did it! This was her initial reaction:
Then I reminded her that she got mini M&Ms for going on the potty, and she relaxed and got excited. I got this success picture:
We are so proud of her! She has overcome her fear of the potty :o) Since then, she's gone on the potty once more successfully, and then accidentally couldn't hold it tonight (but still sat on the potty afterwards). So, we're not there yet, but definitely making progress!
