Happy Easter!

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter and celebrate this blessed day with family and friends! It was so wonderful waking up with my daughter this morning in her bunny pajamas and snuggling with her. I love thinking of holidays in the years to come and all of the great fun we will have with her. We are hanging at home today, maybe taking a nice long walk in the sunshine, and then Easter dinner at my in-laws tonight. I have a few cute dresses picked out for Olivia and need to decide which one she will wear for dinner :) Here are a few adorable pictures of her in her Easter onesie that Grandma Carlene made for her and her adorable bunny ears... love it!

Happy Easter!

Olivia's First Photo Shoot

I am still amazed that Olivia is 4 1/2 months old and it took us this long to have professional pictures taken. I received a gift certificate at my baby shower for a newborn photo session and we finally had time to schedule it this past weekend. The photographer came to our house on Saturday morning and took some amazing photos of our sweet little girl. I was hoping to catch more of her smiles, but unfortunately she was a bit shy with the camera. You can view all of the photos from the shoot by visiting http://juliemeansphotography.com/ and clicking on client galleries and entering the password gagliardi. I was able to catch a few photos with my phone of her sleeping during the session... she looks like a little sleeping angel :)

I can't wait to order prints from the photo session and frame them for our home. They turned out just precious and I am so glad we captured this special time when she is still so little!

Olivia's First Easter Basket

I have always dreamed of putting together a sweet Easter basket for my children and this Easter will be extra special since it is Olivia's first! Since she is still too little for fun things like candy, play dough, plastic eggs, and chocolate bunnies... I picked out a few fun things that are perfect for a 4 month old. Here are a few links to the items for Olivia's basket...

this adorable Vulli Sophie the Giraffe teether is a huge hit among little ones

this Peter Rabbit board book will be a perfect Easter addition to her library

I picked up some great Easter goodies at Target in the baby section including the adorable pink pajamas with bunny feet and bunny tail and the plush white Easter bunny that has a rattle inside. The pink and white bunny ears were from the dollar bin... total win!

I pulled out a basket from my gift stash (saving the adorable monogrammed Easter basket for next year) and filled it with the goodies. Here is a picture with it all pulled together...

For more fun Easter inspiration, be sure to check out my Easter Ideas board on Pinterest. Lots of fun stuff!

I can't wait to celebrate Easter this year! We plan on going to an Easter egg hunt on the Saturday before Easter and sporting some pretty cute Easter dresses the entire weekend.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Hope you find yourself extra lucky today and this year! With any holiday, it is a perfect reason to dress up our munchkin in an adorable outfit. This cute St. Patty's day outfit is from Carter's and is just so cute on Olivia. The ruffle butt is my favorite!

We are leaving town today, so I didn't have much time to plan any fun St. Patrick's day festivities... but I have pinned a bunch of ideas for the coming years as we celebrate holidays as Olivia gets older. If you need any St. Patrick's Day ideas or just want to see some green, check out my St. Patrick's Day Board on Pinterest. Hope you can enjoy something green today, whether that be a green beer or a green cupcake... enjoy!

Next Book Club Selection - The Time Keeper

Each month at the end of book club, we choose our next selection and I can't wait to read this one. We chose 'The Time Keeper' by Mitch Albom for this month's book club book.

I loved reading Mitch Albom's most popular book, Tuesdays with Morrie several years ago and can't wait to read another one of his books. Here is a short summary about the book:

• In Mitch Albom's newest work of fiction, the inventor of the world's first clock is punished for trying to measure God's greatest gift. He is banished to a cave for centuries and forced to listen to the voices of all who come after him seeking more days, more years. Eventually, with his soul nearly broken, Father Time is granted his freedom, along with a magical hourglass and a mission: a chance to redeem himself by teaching two earthly people the true meaning of time. He returns to our world—now dominated by the hour-counting he so innocently began—and commences a journey with two unlikely partners: one a teenage girl who is about to give up on life, the other a wealthy old businessman who wants to live forever. To save himself, he must save them both. And stop the world to do so. Told in Albom's signature spare, evocative prose, this remarkably original tale will inspire readers everywhere to reconsider their own notions of time, how they spend it and how precious it truly is.

I look forward to downloading this book this weekend and catching a few moments here and there to have some 'mommy time' and read!

Book Recap - The Birth Order Book

It has been awhile since I have done a book club update and we took off last month, which worked great because I needed extra time to read the book. Finding time to read right now can be tough but I try to find little bits of time when I can and catch up on some reading. I just finished this book this week and our book club gathering was last night. We enjoyed a gorgeous evening on my girlfriend's deck enjoying the sunshine and discussing the book 'The Birth Order Book' by Kevin Leman.

I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot about myself and others by reading this book. Being a first born has always driven me through life and reading this book taught me so much more about why I am the way I am. I loved the part of the book that discussed how your birth order affects your relationships and parenting. It is interesting that I am first born, married to a first born, and raising a first born... what an interesting ride this life will be! I am always interested in various personality profiling and this book fit right into that genre of information and reading. If you are a parent or wondering why your siblings and spouse are wired the way they are, I strongly encourage you to read this book. You will learn so much about yourself and others!

4 Months Old

My oh my, where has the time gone?! My sweet little Olivia is 4 months old today and is the cutest darn thing! Of course I would say that since I am her mother, but I have proof in the pictures :)

This past month has been full of giggles and smiles from Olivia and she is trying to be more mobile and animated each day. She loves playing in her bouncy chair and spends a good amount of time in her swing each morning. She is still eating good and sleeping almost 6-8 hours at a time each night. We have her 4 month checkup this Thursday and I am excited to see where her height and weight are but not looking forward to shots. There is just something awful about watching a nurse poke your baby's sweet chubby thighs with an awful needle.

Here are a few pictures of Olivia in her 4 months onesie, which she spit up on in about 3 seconds after I had it on her. Oh well, we just wiped it up and took the pictures anyways! My favorite is the one of her sticking out her tongue, another one of her favorite things to do right now. 

We are so looking forward to next week when we will be traveling to Salt Lake for the first time to see family and friends. I can't wait for everyone to meet our little munchkin and I can't wait to see my family! Wish us luck on our first road trip with a newborn! :)

Love Note to Olivia

Needless to say life has been busy and crazy and hectic and wonderful all at the same time. Having a little one around zaps every ounce of your time and energy, but it is so worth it. I love having this blog to document our lives and have a place to journal my thoughts to share and look back on in the future. Today I wanted to share an adorable picture of my little girl's smile and write her a short note...

To my sweet Olivia... you have completely changed my world and have become the brightest part of my days. I love it when you wake up in the morning and look up to me and smile and seem to say 'hi mommy, can we cuddle some more today?' Your smiles completely melt my heart and your giggles and coos could last forever if you ask me. In the past few weeks you have definitely found your hands and love grabbing and holding onto things. You love your swing, your bouncy chair, and playing on your tummy. I can't believe that you are almost 4 months old and the time continues to go by way too fast. I love you more than you even know and you will only learn to appreciate my love for you when you have your own little one in the future. I can't wait to make memories with you and have a mother daughter bond that I dream of. I love you sweet one...