PSA For All My Procrastinating Readers

I, like many other savvy and smart shoppers, have turned to the internet to do the majority of my holiday shopping the last few years. In fact, I do a lot of my shopping all year on the internet. I can sit in my jammies on the couch (or in my office clothes at work...oops) and browse at my leisure. With just a few mouse clicks and my trusty credit card number (which a lot of sites helpfully remember for me, how nice of them!) I can just sit back and wait for my sh*t to come rolling in! Peachy, I think.

However, inconveniently for me, Christmas has a deadline. It is December 25th. There are very few opportunities for belated gifts and I.O.U.s are just tacky. And as easy as internet shopping is, you do still have to actually do it to get you loot delivered to you. As far as I know, there is no shopping service that just scans your brain waves and orders the stuff for you. That would be cool. Anyway, the point it, we are running out of time, here, and I still have a longish list to complete. So, in perusing the web this morning, I found a lifesaver that I am sharing with all of you.

www.freeshippingday.com

This site lists all the stores that are participating in Free Shipping Day (this should be a national holiday! We can all stay home and SHOP!!) on December 18th. Not only is the shipping free, they are all guaranteeing delivery by Christmas (Christmas 2008, even!) That's a whole week away, people! So, sit back, put your feet up, have a hot chocolate, and enjoy your Christmas tree a little longer (or, in my case, put the damn thing up.) You've got plenty of time. Happy Shopping! You're Welcome.

One

I really can't even begin to tell you what it feels like to be a first-time mom of a one year old. Where the heck did all that time go? Every other year of my life, in varying degrees, has seemed long. But this year? How do 366 days go whizzing by in a lightening fast blur that feels like minutes?

Giuliana went from a cute but helpless little package (7lbs, 4oz, 21 in long) to this little girl (22lbs, 9oz, 29+ inches long) who can crawl, climb, take steps on her own. She can speak, feed herself, pull her socks and shoes off, hold out her feet and arms to help get dressed. She laughs, makes jokes gives kisses and is learning to give hugs. She plays make believe with her baby doll, kissing and hugging it, feeding it. She has favorite books, toys, people, animals, tv shows, foods, blankie. Her smile lights up my days and can instantly change my mood around. She is such a blessing to my life. And to the world.

And she is now 1. She's not a newborn anymore. She's not even an infant. She is not quite a toddler yet, but she is moving closer every day.

If you want to read Giuliana's birth story, I added it to the left side of the page. I know some of you might not be into that sort of thing, or may not be yet...so I put it off to the side just of those who are interested.

Here are some of my favorite snapshots of the (unbelievable!) last 12 months.

15 minutes old
Christmas 2007Daddy's Birthday, January
February
MarchAprilMayJune
JulyPlaying with Monroe, AugustSeptemberHalloween, OctoberEating a purple popsicle, November

ONE!"Opening" her birthday gifts from Mommy and Daddy. (We didn't wrap them...they have kinda been sitting out for about a week.)She loves her new table...why sit on the benches when you can climb on top?Mommy and Daddy got their Christmas presents today...new phones (our "new every two" plan with Verizion was eligble today! Hurray!) They gave Giuliana her very first cell phone because it was her birthday, and because she is just exceedingly cute. It is just like Mommy's phone, only no phone guts. She loves it!

More birthday celebrations tomorrow when we have G's birthday party!

Bittersweet move

Guess what? I have a new job (or I will have shortly.)

I will still be at STIC, but I am moving to a new position in late January, early February. I know, jaws are dropping to the floor...at least they are here at STIC. I am in the dog house with my current, wonderful, MSC lovies. I love my current department. My boss is absolutely wonderful, and my co-workers-they are the best. But here's the thing. My job requires me to be out of the office quite a bit of the time. I have late afternoon/early evening (sometimes even LATE evening) appointments on a regular basis. This can become a hassle. And I envision it becoming an even bigger hassle and time-suck in January when I start to take Giuliana to my parent's house every day instead of bringing her to work with me. I mean...when would I see her when she is not asleep??

So, recently a job opened up in another department here at STIC. It doesn't require me to leave the office nearly as much. I still may have an occasional evening appointment, but we are talking possibly one a month...not 10 a month. I will be working in the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance (CDPA, human service agencies LOVE their acronyms) department. I will be the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Advisor. So, what is CDPA and what does a CDPAA do, you might ask? Well, CDPA is this cool program that allows people (consumers, in our lingo) who need home aids (personal assistants) to hire and train their own aids (that's the directed part) instead of calling up a random nursing/HHA agency and getting stuck with whoever they send out. This gives the consumer much more control and a great sense of empowerment. Where STIC comes in is to write pay checks and provide benefits to the workers, and to make sure that the consumers are eligible for the program and all that jazz. So I will be doing a lot of intakes, evaluations, conflict resolution, helping consumers figure out how to hire and train someone, etc. And a lot of paperwork, filing, envelope stuffing, etc like that, too. It could have actually been a step down for me in terms of career moves and pay, but my Executive Director really likes me, thank God. She wants to "challenge me" so she is giving me some extra assignments and responsibilities in this position that she would not have given someone else. I won't bore you with all the details, but I feel pretty cool and valued. And my pay is staying the same. And my new boss, Joy, is just that, a joy. She is a very sweet person and I am sure I will enjoy (hehe) working with her.

I will miss my old boss, JoAnne terribly. She has been so supportive and wonderful to me and to my family. But, luckily, she will still be just down the hall, and I plan on taking advantage of that often. John is also bummed that we will not be in the same department anymore. But we both know the advantage to our little family in this move. So, it is bittersweet...my co-workers just found out about this today (I just learned that it was a done deal yesterday myself) and they are all giving me hell, but in a loving way. I really hope this is the right thing to do. Luckily, if I change my mind in 6 months, I know JoAnne will take me back in less than a heartbeat. She told me so.

Stay tuned for transitional notes....

Sickie-poo

Giuliana has been feeling sick the last couple of days. She has had a runny nose and teary eyes and hasn't wanted to do much besides cuddle. This morning we were cuddling like this


and watching "Jack's Big Music Show."

Then this video came on, and she sat up and smiled, and danced along. I love that show.

Her 1st Thanksgiving

(* I will post pictures as soon as I get them from my mother-in-law. I forgot my camera!)

I am more thankful than ever for my little family. I grow more and more in love with my husband every single day. He is so wonderful to me and such a natural, amazing father to our daughter. And that daughter? She is the absolute best gift I have ever been given in my life. I am so truly blessed with this family. Thank you. Thank you so much...

Giuliana had a BIG day yesterday! She had such a good time. We took the morning slow and she and I played till she went down for her nap. (Mommy participated in a nap as well.) Then we had to rush to get everyone ready to go to John's mom's. We were the LAST ones there!! John's dad beat us there. Anyway, Giuliana just had so much fun playing with her three cousins and just generally being the center of attention. She didn't eat much, she never does. But she did enjoy the pumpkin pie after I forced her to try it (I literally smeared some on her lips just to get her to lick it off. That's when she realized it wasn't poison and was actually pretty yummy. Why doesn't she just trust me and TRY whatever I am offering her? I don't get it.)

The big news is that she took several steps after dinner. Grandpa and Nana coaxed her to do it and she took 1 or 2 steps between them at least 4/5 times. She really got into it once everyone realized what she was doing and started to cheer her on! She is such a HAM. Her daddy was near tears. He is sooooooo not ready for her to start walking. I am really ok with it by now. She took a step and a half the other day in my office, too. She was standing near me, holding onto my leg and she wanted get into my desk drawer (one of her favorite passtimes at work) which was a few feet away. She let go and took 1 1/2 steps over to it...all without realizing what she was doing. I don't think she did it on purpose, she didn't look at me for approval or praise or anything, she just did it cause she wanted to get over there. She's amazing. I don't care that 6 billion people or whatever have learned to walk before....she is the most talented baby EVER, in my completely unbiased opinion.

What a horrible thing

Did you all hear about this? This just absolutely disgusts me, as I'm sure it does all of you. I HATE the consumerism and capitalism that drives people to act insane. Really, is it that important to get the first playstation or dvd or whatever the hell those people were in such a hurry for? My heart just aches for this poor man's family and friends. How horrible. I just do not get our society sometimes.

Dancing Queen

There is nothing better than a dancing baby. Well, maybe not that creepy dancing baby from Ally McBeal a few years back. That thing was just freaky. But real dancing babies....they rock! As previously blogged about here by Kate, Giuliana loves to get her groove on lately. Trust me, it is just too freakin' cute! I tried to get some good pics, but action shots...not my forte, ya know.

Here is a typical random evening in the Giglio household.


Here is G, in front of the stereo, bouncing up and down, shaking her tushy. She might have turned the stereo on by herself, she is known to do that. She definitely has been turning the volume up and down....mostly UP!!! WAY UP!

Later on, we move into making our own music.


Here she is accompanying Daddy who is on the guitar.

But ultimately, it is back to the stereo.


Another scenario that plays out frequently is combining dancing and climbing. This takes talent, as you can imagine. We like to wind down most evenings by relaxing on the couch watching Jack's Big Music Show. This show seriously rocks. It is all about teaching kids to appreciate music, make their own music, have fun with different types of music...all with cute puppets. It's our fave (I have to give props to Blue's Clues, too...another great show. I know, I know, cliche, but true. G loves Blue's Clues, and they actually teach really great thinking skills...at least the older shows with Steve. Joe, the new guy sucks! And don't get me started on Max and Ruby, which comes on after BC...what a boring show, and Yo Gabba Gabba...that guy has to be eating shrooms before taping. That show just scares me. Come to think of it, Max and Ruby could maybe benefit from some pharmaceuticals. They should hook up. This is what happens to you when you have children; you could ENDLESSLY discuss the merits of children's tv. It's sad. But I digress....) So, John and I sit on either end of the couch and G climbs back and forth between us while we watch Jack's. And she stops and dances when a good song comes on. Seriously? It is the cutest thing you have ever seen in your life.

G just loves to dance. She dances to stuff I didn't even realize was music. Her noisy toys? Danceable. Random commercials? Some have a really good groove. John's cell phone ring tone? You can get down to that, too. It's all perspective, people. Dance on!