Belated Snow Pictures

I forgot to put these up a while back from our "snow day".

Publix

Let me tell you about why I love Publix.

1. The employees are sooo nice. It's not like they are just polite- they seem happy to be working there. One time Giovanni and I were done shopping and about to go out into the rain with our purchases. A Publix employee ran out with an umbrella and said "Hey- let me walk you out! And then he held the umbrella over me while I put Giovanni into his car seat and the groceries into the trunk. Nice.

2. Space ships. They have carts for kids that are a space ship for kids to drive. Giovanni loves it.

3. Really good bread and produce. I guess that's pretty self explanatory.

4. Samples. They have really good samples on a regular basis. If you happen to be there around 5, they are always cooking up an example meal. They have all the ingredients for that meal gathered right there, so if you need to come up with something quick and healthy for dinner, you can just grab it all in one place and go. Which lead me to:

5. Recipe cards for dinner. They have good ideas for whole meals that you can collect and put in their own nifty recipe books. (I don't do this, but I've heard other people that do really appreciate their system).

6. Baby club. They have a free baby club where they send you a how to raise your baby book and coupons every month. Sometimes the coupons are useful, sometimes not, but it's free so it's worth it for the times you need it.

7. Also, they double coupons and take competitors' coupons, so although they are more expensive, you can make it reasonable. And if you're really smart and diligent (which I am not), it can be a cheap as anywhere.

8. Free balloons! They give free balloons to kids, which Giovanni REALLY loves. We brought one home and he wanted to hold it the whole time he was eating lunch. He accidentally let it go, and it flew to the ceiling. I thought he would get upset, but he thought it was funny. For the rest of the day, he wanted to let it go and then for me to lift it up so he could grab the string and pull it down again.

Look at all those teeth!

This is the first picture I feel like you can really see those teeth well. Today we went to the mall to check out the animals at the pet store. I think we've entered a period of excited shrieking. Every new animal we saw was greeted with a shriek. It was so cute. Then, when we got to the play place in the center of the mall- more excited shrieking. I didn't know if he'd be able to do anything, seeing as how he can't even walk. But he loved it- crawling around and laughing and shrieking. I think I'm gonna like this stage.

Bath Time!

Giovanni loves bath time. I've been meaning to take a picture for the bath time section of his baby book forever, so here it is! I was covered in water by the time this photo session was over...

Finally, Bike Rides!

My parents gave Jonathan a bike for Christmas. He's been wanting a good mountain bike for ages- since we left California. I had seen this nifty baby bike seat on a friends blog months ago and thought it would be a good gift from me to go along with the bike. It's called an ibert, and it's supposed to be a safe alternative to the behind the rider seat. It doesn't mess up the rider's balance at all. Giovanni also loves it because he can see (well, at least I assume that's why he loves it, since he can't actually tell me). Jonathan says every time they get done with a ride and he lifts up the bar, Giovanni puts it right back down and doesn't want to get out. Now if it would just warm up we could go on family bike rides! Yay!

In LaGrange for New Years

The babies (as usual) all had a great time with Mama C (and each other) over the holidays.

Here, Giovanni tries to steal Anya's toy.

Julia says "No, Giovanni- that's Anya's toy."

Then, she gives him a talking to and explains that he can get his own toy, but he cannot steal other people's toys. What a hoot! She's gonna be the new "policeman of the world."

The Corn Hole Game

For Christmas, both Nathan and Jonathan Laws gave Papa C a corn hole game. One of the sets was just painted white so that we could all put our hand prints on it. Then we went out and played for a little while in the freezing cold weather. Despite my nose freezing off, we had a blast.

Giovanni and Anya ended up putting their footprints on instead of their handprints. We were just afraid that paint on the hands of a baby might spell disaster.

Baby Anya seemed to enjoy the process.