Once Upon A Dream

Today was Gillian and Isabella's first day of Gymboree. Gabby went to Gymboree for two years, and now it is Gillian's turn to start. She had a great time, and it was wonderful to see the FAMOUS Ms. Fran....that we love so dearly. Here are our little cuties having fun!

Last night...around the stroke of midnight...Daddy had a disaster. He fell down the steps and caught the top of his knee on the end of the railing. Our entry way looked like a crime scene. He got around 20 stitches. He needed a lot of TLC.....Get Well Soon!!!!

We have been trying to get over these colds by staying in and using our artistic abilities. Gabby mixed the color for this painting and then proclaimed it to be called "night time". Usually she draws rainbows or princesses, but this one was simple and interesting. Gillian had her first biter biscuit today. She snatched it out of my hand before I could get it out of the wrapper. She has been dubbed our baby cookie monster.

Uncle Kevin stopped by today, and he said that he picked up Santa while he was driving his city bus. Santa gave Kevin a gift to give to Gabby. It was a little miniature bus. Thanks a lot, Uncle Kevin! Later we started to bake some sugar cookies. Gabby made these all on her own. She wanted to spell her name and make Santa and Rudolph. No...she didn't eat all the cookies.

Here are a few shots of the girls having fun today!

We took the three girls, Gabby, Gillian, and Isabella to have breakfast with Santa this morning. They had a great time. Santa was so fun. They all had pictures with him in the mall when the breakfast was over.

There was a little trip into the city this afternoon after church. The girls had their first look at the new tree. It was Gillian's first Rockefeller tree. We had so much fun. Here is the tree...it was much more beautiful in person. You can't see the strobe lights on the tree in these pictures. The skaters were taking a break because there was a musical production being cleaned away from the ice.

We had a guest reader for Gillian's bedtime stories tonight. Gabby also wanted in on the action....Mom was so happy to get some extra work done! Thanks Aunt Mandy! XOXO

We were shopping in New Jersey yesterday, and we stopped at Chucky Cheese for lunch. Later, Gillian and Gabby were playing dress up, and I caught this shot of them pretending to be brides.

Here are some shots that Aunt Mandy took for Gillian's 7 month birthday.

Merry Christmas to all of our friends and family. This site was created for those who live far away and want updates on the children, but everyone is welcome. We started the site in August. You can see what we have been doing by clicking on the months listed on the right hand side of the page. Have a great Christmas and New Year. We hope that all of your Christmas wishes come true. XOXO

Gabby has been really interested in the Nutcracker Ballet for about a year. We decided to take her to see the ballet for part of her Christmas present. This was her first time seeing the Nutcracker on Broadway. The New York Theatre Ballet has a family series that presents the ballets in short program. This viewing was just under an hour and perfect for tiny ballerinas. After the ballet, she went backstage with one of the little ballerinas (Eleanor). Eleanor showed us where all the ballerinas get ready, and how she enters the stage. We met a good portion of the cast, including Clara. After the ballet, we ate at Mars 2112. Gabby thought it was great to eat on Mars with all the Martians. It was truly a memorable day.

Gabby had a mid-year program at school today. The children sang songs and recited poems for their parents. There was also a special guest....Santa! He watched the whole show and gave out presents to all the students afterwards. The teachers at Tiny Tots and the owner, Ms. Rosemary, gave all the students and their parents free tickets to the Christmas Spectacular tomorrow night! What a surprise!

Gabby went to the Christmas Spectacular at the St. George Theatre on Staten Island. She invited her friend, Gianna, to come along. They had a great time.

Dave's company held a party for all the children of employees. The party was held in the Reuters building in Time Square. We stopped at the Toys R Us in Time Square to take Gillian on her first Ferris Wheel Ride. She loved it, but she didn't really know what was happening. We visited many parts of the store, but the Lego displays were phenomonal this time. They had a life size replica of a famouse pirate that you may recognize. The actual party was packed. There were children everywhere. Frosty and Santa made their appearances. Gabby loved the view and the gigantic tree that was in the lobby of the building. It was so big that we couldn't fit the whole thing into the picture.

We recently received three packages....Thank you so much to Nick, the Varrati family, and Grandpa Mike, Grandma Cathy, and Aunt Lauren. We love you all so much. Here are some pictures of us opening the packages....XOXOXO

From Nick:

From the Varrati Family:

From Grandpa Mike, Grandma Cathy, and Aunt Lauren:

Here are the Christmas pictures that were taken at JCPenney. Gabby looks exactly like Dave at this age. It was shocking to see the resemblance.....If she was a boy, she would be his little clone.

Hello to everyone.....It has been only a few days since we have posted, but it feels like years. So much has happened in the past few days. We have been celebrating and having fun with friends and family. The girls opened presents at Aunt Mandy and Uncle Steve's house on the 23rd, and that really kicked off the gift opening portion of Christmas. There is a picture of Gillian beside her stack of gifts from their house. Gabby got a really cool/fun digital camera which is pink. When we got home from Amanda and Steve's house, Dave explained to Gabby that she was going to be getting so many more presents over the next week. Gabby said, "I don't need any more presents....I already have everything I ever wanted". On Christmas Eve, we went to church in the morning. Gabby had a small part in the older children's Christmas presentation. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, but Aunt Lena saved the day. We will post pictures of that some other time. After church, everyone came over to our house and we had a huge meal. Everyone left in the evening and we got ready for Santa. We poured our reindeer dust outside and tried to get into bed ASAP. Gabby didn't fall asleep until 9:30. She was in her bed for so long trying to fall asleep, but she was too excited. Gillian had no problem. She was out by 7pm. Christmas morning came, and Gillian was up first around 6:30. We had to eventually wake Gabby. They both had a great time playing with all their new toys. Gabby recieved a lot of games, puzzles, and Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princess toys. Gillian got a bunch of baby toys and a learning table which she loves to stand beside. She has become extremely mobile over this holiday vacation. The rest of Christmas Day was celebrated at Grammy and Grampy's house. We hope you enjoy the pictures.

Here are some pictures that Milena took of Gabby in the Christmas program at church on New Years Eve. Thank you so much, Aunt Lena.....XOXOXOX
But first, here are two pictures from her first two Christmas pageants at church. She was 20 months in the first picture, and she was 2 1/2 in the second.

Here is a video that we made to recap the year for our family. The song is "Goodnight My Angel" by Billy Joel. Just click on the picture to start the video (until it says loading) and turn on your speakers. If you are using a high speed modem, this will only take a few seconds to load. If you are using a dial up connection, it might take a minute or two. Please be patient. It is worth the wait!

This will be our last post for the year. We are going to visit Meme and Papa. Happy New Year!