Oh La La, Picture overload

The picture of Gabriella above explains how we are all feeling! We are loving life in France, but we are so overhwelmed. Life is so different here, let's just say the French do thing their way and when they want to do it. But we are having so much fun. Here are a few pics of what we have been doing.

The picture of above is of a park and castle by our house. It is so nice to visit, the park is huge and the castle is beautiful. Gabriella loves going to feed the swans, they eat right out of your hands!!

This is a fountain downtown Grenoble, it is a beautiful city!

These are pictures of Annecy, France. Which is one of the prettiest citites in the world!

These pics are at our apartment, it is so nice. We lucked out, it is brand new and we love it!

The picture below is in Geneva Switerzland, we didn't stay long, but it was sooo nice. All I have to say about Switerland is that it is expensive. We had to pay 40 euro just to get into the country. They gave us a sticker for our car to use their freeways. Well, we didn't think to keep the sticker since it was a rental car and then we found out that it is good for a year. So now if we want to go back to Switzerland, we'll have to pay 40 euro again. We are learning a lot of things the hard way, but it is a ton of fun!!

I know I am way behind on blogging, we don't have the internet at home yet. They are coming on Monday to install it, and then they said it will take 3 to 21 days before it will work. Who knows with the French, they are crazy. Today we were riding the tram into downtown and the driver came on and said we are done for the morning, you will have to walk the rest of the way. I didn't know that France was on strike today, so my mom, Gabriella and I walked the rest of the 2 miles downtown. You never know what you are going to get when you leave the house here. I guess that's what makes life interesting. I will try to keep updating as best I can, until then a bientot!

Dress Up Sunday

This last Sunday Gabriella wanted to wear her birthday skirt and we thought it was the perfect day to take a couple cute pictures.

She is growing up way too fast, I can hardly keep up with her anymore.

And as if she wasn't cute enough before, she found her great grandpa's hat and had to pose for more pictures.

She LOVES her cousins, as you can see in her smile below.

Mackenzie took great pictures of everyone playing in the grass!

Last but not least, the big news. We are officially moving to Grenoble France.

We fly out in less than 2 weeks. Trevor starts school on September 13th. We are so excited and nervous for this big change. If anyone has some advice on moving internationally, or taking a one year on a 10 hour flight, we would love to hear it!! I will try to keep the blog updated so everyone can see Gabriella growing!!

Updates

Well, it has been awhile. Gabriella has grown like crazy. She is loving the summer!!

At her last doctor's appointment, she hadn't gained very much weight, she has just gotten a lot taller. She is in the 25% for her weight, and the 50% for her height. She is a super healthy little girl and we are so thankful for that!

We sold our house in May, in preparation for Trevor going back to school for his MBA. He has been accepted to 5 different schools in Europe, but we choose Grenoble school of management. We will be moving to Grenoble, France at the beginning of September. As long as we get our French visas next week.

Gabriella loves to eat right now. Her favorite foods are scrambled eggs, pasta with Alfredo sauce, mac and cheese, string cheese, fruit snacks, and Popsicles with daddy! Her favorite thing to do right now is run around. She gets soo mad if you try to make her do anything. Everything has to be her way or no way right now. She says lots of things now such as mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, papa, I got it, no, yes, and lots more!

Gabriella has been having swimming lessons this summer, she is so funny about it. She loves to get in the pool and then she is ready to get back out and run around. She hated it when we dunked her under the water.

Birthdays

About a month ago, we had Gabriella's 1st birthday party.

We had so much fun planning it and it turned out great. Thank you to everyone, Gabriella had a ton of fun. She loves all the toys she got for her birthday, they are the only ones she plays with now!

She was not interested in eating her cake at all. She must have thought we were all crazy staring at her and clapping. As you can see below Gabriella was saying, it's my party and I'll cry if I want to. She is so funny.

I love the picture below of Trevor and Gabriella. Tomorrow is Trevor's birthday. I can't believe another year has gone by. Happy Birthday Trevor, we love you!

Random

Here are a few random pictures from my phone.

Gabriella is changing so quickly right now. At her last well baby visit, she was 19.5 lbs and 29 inches. She is in the 50% for her weight and 75% for her height. The doctor said she looks great. That is the best news of the year!

She is walking like crazy now. She even started kicking the soccer ball last week. That makes her daddy so happy. She loves to play, I can't keep up with her anymore. I can't believe she is a year old already. We had a birthday party for her, which was a ton of fun! You can see her cake below, which Trevor and I made all by ourselves.

All in all, Gabriella is an active toddler now. I never would have dreamed she would be so healthy in just a year. Thank you all for your support and prayers through her rough start this time last year. She wouldn't be here if it weren't for all your prayers!

Forever

I know it has been FOREVER since I have posted anything. Well, needless to say we have had a lot going on the past few months. Gabriella has grown so much!! As you can see below she hates to have her hair in pigtails, but we think she looks SO CUTE, I can't resist every few days! She has 3 teeth now, and Mom has to make sure she brushes them well!!
She loves it when we roll the windows down in the car and the wind blows her hair! She screems weee until we roll the windows back up.

Something amazing happened last month, she fell asleep on my shoulder in PUBLIC! Can you believe it?! I never thought I would see that happen.

Gabriella discovered binkis a few months ago. She never took them when she was a little baby, so I put them in her toy box. One day she took it out and put it in her mouth. Now she is like Maggie from the Simpsons, we can't get her to take it out.

What else has Gabriella been up to?? Well, she is walking now, but she prefers crawling, because it is so much faster. She is talking all the time, her favorite words are "Hi Dad". She loves being outside now that the weather is warmer. She recently developed a fear of water, which is not fun when it's bath time. She loves to EAT!! Her favorite foods are: grilled cheese, macaroni and cheese, and ritz crackers. And last but clearly the most important event of all, her first birthday is this Friday. I can't believe she is a year already, I don't know where the time went.

9 Months

I can't believe Gabriella is nine months old already! She has grown so much in the past few weeks. She is crawling all over the place now. She is even saying mama and she calls dad baba. We are having so much fun with her.

Have you ever seen a cuter naked baby?!

She loves dogs, Copper has recently become her best friend. Since she started sharing all her food, Copper never leaves her side. It is so fun to watch. Usually Gabriella takes a bite, offers me a bite, then gives Copper a bite and she just keeps doing that until the food is all gone. So cute!