Christmas

Remember when you were a kid and Christmas was this absolutely fantastic, magical time? And then as you got older, you stopped believing in Santa, and Christmas just wasn't as exciting? Well, it gets better when you have your own kids to be excited about Christmas. I remember thinking it was kind of weird that my parents would take pictures of us as we ran down the stairs after Santa left our house. But now I get it- they wanted to capture the sheer joy on our faces! Christmas eve night, after Chris and I had arranged all the presents under the tree, I was so WIRED. It was probably midnight and I couldn't even think about going to bed. I was just so excited for the next day, to see Gianna go gaga over everything. On Christmas morning, I woke up at 6:30 in the morning and laid in bed waiting for G to come and get us like she usually does for what seemed like hours. I finally got her out of bed at 7:30 (she had gone to bed very late the night before AND had not taken a nap the day before) because I just couldn't take it anymore!!! When we came out to the family room, Gianna looked around and said "Where is he?" She thought Santa would be at our house in the morning! She had a great time opening all of her (and Elia's) presents.

This was our first Christmas where Chris and I stayed in Dallas. I loved it! (I actually kind of hope we can do it again next year) It was very relaxed, we didn't have to worry about traveling everywhere, and everything was on our own time. I loved the fact that we ate Christmas dinner with our fine china, in our t-shirts and jeans. (and actually, we decided not to do a big dinner on Christmas night and just moved it to the night after Christmas)

To top it all off, it snowed on Christmas Eve! It was absolutely perfect. I think we got 3 inches or so! We got Gianna all bundled up and headed outside as soon as we could Christmas Day. And thank goodness, it was almost all melted by the end of the day!

Mom and G about to throw some snowballs at dad!

Santa brought Gianna a brand new slide for the playground Chris has been building.

She also got a bike that she is really excited about.

Uncle Matt was here all weekend too and G and E had so much fun spending time with him. We are now looking forward to our trip to Napa this Thursday!

Santa just left our house!

It just doesn't get better than this:

G and E put out cookies and eggnog for santa:

Merry Christmas everyone!

Party Animal

That's right, Elia is a party animal. She discovered how to babble a few days ago, and boy is it cute!!! Ababababa and amamamamama is too cute for words.

EXCEPT when its 4 in the morning. Then it is not cute. It is frustrating and maddening and so, so tiring the next day. That party animal babbled for about an hour and a half until she finally went back to sleep. So mama needs a nap now! Except, there is no time for napping! We have so much to do in so little time! Chris is working long hours now so that he can have a relaxing 3 day weekend and then an even more relaxing week off when we go to Napa in January. That leaves me to do everything to prepare for our Christmas. Which is fine by me, I love wrapping and baking and cooking all things Christmas.
On top of all of this business, I just got hired to tutor part time! I will be tutoring for elementary aged kids just north of where I live. I am really excited about it too! And in January, aunt Shanny and I are going to launch a weight loss blog, called Skinnie Twinnies, so there is much to be done around here!
I'm not sure when my next post will be, considering all of the above! Have a wonderful christmas and a happy new year!

Party Time

Gianna's dance class had a little Christmas party on Friday, which was a lot of fun. Uncle Matt was here, so I left Elia at home so it was just G and me! Here she is in her pretty dress acting like a dolly:

Then I went to my old school during all the kid's holiday parties to show off Elia, all dolled up in her Santa baby outfit:

It was so weird to go back to my old school. I peeked into my old room- the room that I taught in for 5 years- and it brought back a lot of memories! I saw all my teacher friends, which was wonderful. I wandered down to the 4th grade hallway, and was swarmed by my old students. They were all so excited to see me, and to meet Elia too! One of my students, R, grabbed Elia's Santa hat off her head and put it on his head. Um, R used to eat things out of the trash, literally, so I definitely disinfected that when I got home! It was heartwarming to see the kids reactions, but even more to see my teacher friends reactions. Women getting their baby fix is quite entertaining to watch.

Elia is developing right before out eyes! As I write her 4th tooth (on top) is coming through. I hope it is all the way through by tomorrow morning, because she has been ornery lately! Just today she started clapping. At first I just thought it was a coincidence that her hands were just coming together as she flails them around, but she did it on 3 more occasions! Rolling over back to front, front to back, scooting backwards and doing full circles on her belly, crawling is just around the corner!

Hillbilly baby

Elia has 3 teeth- 2 on the bottom, and one on top. The one on top has come through completely, so she looks like a hillbilly baby! I wish I had a better picture to show, but I cannot get her to open her mouth and be at the correct angle at the same time.

On Monday, I went grocery shopping with the girls. As I was checking out, Gianna found a tiny mirror on the side of the checkout and was somehow inspired to break out in song. And it was LOUD. She was singing I'm a little tea pot at the top of her lungs, and everyone, I mean EVERYONE within a 20 foot radius stopped and stared. There was even one woman who pointed at her! I was so embarrassed. Now, I could tell that everyone who had stopped and stared at her thought it was pretty cute, but to have everyone's attention on me/G was a bit unnerving. And Gianna was completely oblivious! I'll have to get that on video and post it!
On Wednesday I took Gianna to get her haircut and she was such a good girl! She wanted to watch in the mirror the whole time. She and Elia were so good, I got my eyebrows done without a problem! I never thought in a million years that I would be able to handle both girls on such an errand, and I did it!

It seems like the time is crawling by until Christmas! It is going to be such a wonderful time!

It's Christmas Time It's Christmas Time!

Don't ever tell a 2 year old that Christmas time is coming soon unless you are ready to deal with everything that comes with it. Since we started talking about opening presents and santa and everything, G has not stopped talking about it! She woke up at 4am this morning, and when Chris went in her room to settle her, all she wanted to do was talk about Christmas. When she wakes up in the middle of the night, it usually takes little coaxing to get her back to sleep. But this morning was not the case! Poor Chris had to answer a million questions and reassure her that no, today is not Christmas. She finally went to sleep after an hour or so. Even tonight before she went to bed she asked me if it was Christmas time tomorrow. She likes to dance/skip around the room singing It's Christmas time it's christmas time over and over. Pretty cute.
This weekend my church's playgroup put on a little Happy Birthday Jesus party. Each family brought their Jesus from their nativity scene and our pastor blessed them. We sang happy birthday to Jesus and had cupcakes- it was such a sweet event. So along with It's Christmas Time It's Christmas Time, Gianna is constantly singing happy birthday to Jesus. I'm glad she sees both aspects of the holiday!

Elia was just darling in her santa baby outfit, so I had to share a few!

Twitter Girl

A few months ago, Uncle Matt nicknamed Gianna Twitter Girl. She is constantly updating her status to anyone who wants (or doesnt) to listen. One that she is constantly tweeting, is when she is on the phone with daddy. If I am ever talking to papa-razzi on the phone, she has to as well. Chris' first question to her, everytime, is hi G, what are you doing?
"I'm just staying at home." If Elia is in the room, she points to her (as if Chris can see) and says "and this is my baby Elia." I am talking EVERY time she is on the phone with Chris. Which is at least twice a day. There have been a few times where she has told Aunt Shanny the same thing on the phone. Pretty freaking cute.
Other tweets I have heard lately:

"I'm just eating my breakfast" (as she eats her breakfast)
"I'm just marching in the TV room" (as she marches in the TV room)
"I'm just touching my sister" (as she pokes Elia in the eye)

Maybe I should open a twitter account to document her life. Nah, I don't have THAT much time on my hands.

Turn off the TV!!!!

I have a love hate realtionship with the television. As a teacher, I would always get so annoyed when kids would tell me they watched TV all weekend or all afternoon. These same kids never wanted to read or be creative in any other way. That is my hate part of the relationship. When I was pregnant with Gianna, I was on bedrest for the last 4 weeks. Thats when I fell in love with the TV. Maybe love isn't the right word. I became infatuated with the TV. Obsessed. Can you blame me? There wasn't anything else to do during the day! And since then I have never truly been able to kick the habit. TV literally got me through those last 4 weeks of pregnancy. ER and Law and Order reruns, how I love you!
But I still go back to the hate part of the relationship. Especially because it effects my own kids. I dont want them to be one of those students who has no imagination and NEEDS the TV. So I am constantly second guessing myself about how much G can watch. Is it ok for her to watch a whole movie in one day? What about 2 in one day? How many shows can she watch too? Are they filling her head with mush, turning her brain into applesauce, as my mom used to say?
If you follow my blog, you probably read this. And it is 100% true. I really do love my SAHM job. But sometimes I get a little crazy when its cold as H outside (or in most cases, hot as H outside), we have done every craft twice, and Gianna is trying to help me cook noodles on the stove and she almost burns her hands off in her eagerness to get on the stool to "help" me. Sometimes, mama needs a break! And what better way to get a break than to plant her in front of the boob tube and let something else entertain her for a change? There are some days (usually preceded by nights with little sleep) that I am totally ok with it. Elia has been teething the past few nights, so I have not been getting my usual beauty sleep. I let G watch a few shows before dinner, so I could get some stuff done. When Dora was over, I said, ok G, time to turn the TV off. She was was so upset I almost turned the tv back on just to make her wailing go away. After threatening time out and otherwise distracting her, she stopped crying. But in the next hour or so at some points she would tell me "I was crying because you turned the TV off." A little later, I was in the kitchen for a while and G was in the TV room. After a while I heard the tv go on. I go into the room and see her with the remote pointed at the tv and her free hand is covering her eyes. When she sees that I am in the room with her, she starts crying soooooo hard! I was confused by this situation because I didnt really know if she was hurt or something. I turned the TV off, got her to calm down and asked her what the problem was. She wailed to me, "I was watching TV and shouldn't have"
Wow, that was quite a rant for such a small story. I thought it was hilarious!

Busy Busy Weekend

The Rowles had a great weekend, very busy! Saturday was spent raking the back yard with the girls watching.




G in her coat and Elia bundled up in 2 coats and lots of blankets/pillows surrounding her to stay warm.


Doesn't her hat say it all?

We put our tree up and got lights on it as well. Then Sunday was the usual starting with church. Then Uncle Tim and his gf Ashley (pronounced by G as Actually) came over and helped entertain G until naptime. She is obsessed with them, can you tell?



Uncle Tim and Ashley reading before her nap.

BTW Tim, if you are reading this, Ashley is awesome, do whatever you can to keep her! So then Uncles Matt and Patrick came over and all 3 boys helped Chris rake the front yard and put up lights. The front looks great! Meanwhile G and I decorated the Christmas tree with our ornaments. This is what it looks like.
Just kidding, I wish. Maybe when my kids are older and I have gobs of money.



Right now I am plenty happy with what we have- multicolored lights with homemade and mismatched ornaments. Its funny the many memories I have of different ornaments from my own childhood. There were certain ones that were the favorites, that we would fight over. One such ornament was one that as kids we sent in 2 proofs of purchase plus S & H from a box of cereal called Sugar Puffs. Anyone out there remember Sugar Bear? The ornament was a stuffed Sugar Bear with a santa hat and if you squeezed it it played Christmas music- I'm sure it drove my mom crazy. The ornament, probably at least 15 years old by now, still makes music and is still a favorite of our family :). I think Gianna already has a favorite of her own- one that Grandma Rowles gave Chris 2 years ago that, of course, makes noise. Chris' mom has a WONDERFUL tradition- she gives each of her children an ornament as a Christmas present each year. She would write the name of each kid and the year she gave it to them on the back of the ornament. So the Christmas after Chris and I were married, we actually had ornaments to put on our first, tiny tree. And its really fun to see the ornaments he has recieved through the years. We continued the tradition here at the Rowles house, so no matter what our decorations will never match! Here are some more of the girls and their boys! Thanks for coming over to play!

PS. Two cute things about the girls- Gianna loves to play with our nativity scene, and today she was showing the Baby Jesus to her uncles. "Isn't he a cute little baby?" and "Baby Jesus is Elia's little brother" were just 2 of the many cute things she has said about Jesus!

Elia cut another tooth sometime today! Her upper right tooth is just below the surface of her gums, and still not wanting to eat baby food!

Teeth

Elia got her second bottom tooth sometime last night! She woke up a couple times last night screaming BLOODY MURDER. Usually when she wakes up she just kinda fusses until we get her, but last night she would wake up with an immediate waiiiillll. Its funny how everytime one of my kids cuts a tooth I am so lost as to what is wrong with them and then bam, there is a tooth the next day. She got her first tooth last week when we were in St. Louis and since then she is obsessed with sticking her tongue out. Its so cute!!



I just wish these new teeth would inspire her to eat baby food! I have been trying to get her to eat food and she just keeps her mouth shut. Won't budge. I think she has a stubborn side!!!

Cousins!

The Rowles are in St. Louis right now, and we have had so much fun with the rest of the family! We left our house at 4am Wednesday morning and got to St. Louis around 2pm. Pretty good time considering we had the girls with us! Gianna and Elia woke up around 7:30 am and we worked pretty hard to keep them entertained. We were the last of the family to show up, so we got quite the welcome! Cousins Colin and Gianna have been running all over the house together, playing, tackling, and imitating!! During dinner tonight Gianna accidentally dropped her spoon under the table and so then Colin had to "accidentally" drop his too. If Colin was eating something, Gianna had to eat it too. Gianna had no problem going to bed or taking a nap as long as she knew that Colin was doing it too. Elia and Austin have hardly touched the groud as there are lots of doting adults who always want to hold them. Its funny to see my childhood home busting at the seams with people! Every bed and couch was filled the past 2 nights and there has not been one dull momnet around here. Wish us luck on the drive home...

Thanks to Aunts Shanny and Meggy for going all over town to find matching jammies!!

10 cents

Next week, our family will be heading up to St. Louis for the Thanksgiving holiday. And say a prayer, because we are driving! So we are getting the car all ready for the big trip. A month or two ago I let Gianna sit in the fron seat of the car (the car was turned off) and I saw her put a coin in the cd slot! So we havent been able to listen to any music. Chris pulled apart the radio and pulled out 10 cents. No, not a dime, but a nickel and 5 pennies! How did I not catch her putting all of those coins in? Well needless to say, I am never letting her sit in the fron seat of our car alone ever again!!!

6 months old!!

I can't believe it. Elia is 6 months old today. 6 MONTHS!!!! She is not my little baby anymore! Of course, she hasn't really ever been a little baby. At 1 month old she was already 10 lbs, and today she weighed in at 21 lbs, 29 inches long. She can sit up and pick things up and puts EVERYTHING within her radius in her mouth. She moves around in a circle when on her belly, and I know crawling is coming soon!
She had 3 shots today. Everytime I go in for shots for my kids, I always tell myself to get a grip. But even after your 2nd kid, it doesn't get better. Elia was laying down, kicking her feet and trying to grab my hair as I held her little arms down. And then the nurse (poor nurse, every kid hates her!!) stuck her three times in the legs. To see her go from happy to screaming and looking at me so scared is sooooo sad and I tear up everytime! She has been sleeping since then. She will probably sleep for a long time, so what am I doing on this computer? I need to go clean my house!!!

Ms. Independent

Gianna is a typical 2 year old, she wants to do everything BY HERSELF!!!! She has to climb into her car seat by herself. She has to wash her hands by herself. She has to drink in a big girl cup, without help. It is quite amazing to watch her take on all of these challenges, by herself. It is also quite annoying! Lately she has wanted to do the dishes by herself, which always becomes a huge mess. I like the fact that she wants to help, its great practice for when she is older and will be cleaning the house for me ;). And I can sometimes use this determination to my advantage. Gianna, you can either walk to the car like a big girl, or I will carry you, which one? She always picks the big girl option. And thank goodness, because then I would have to carry her as well as Elia. And tonight, after saying prayers and reading books in the family room, she decided she was going to put herlelf to bed. Didn't want mom to come in at all! I can get used to this!

Papa-razzi

I'm your biggest fan
I'll follow you until you love me
Papa-paparazzi

Gianna is obsessed with her dad, and Elia is learning to be just as obsessed! Gianna heard this song on the radio a couple weeks ago and started calling Chris paparazzi. Its pretty funny. Sometimes she calls herself Gianna-razzi.
Lots of mornings she tells Chris that she is going to call him on the phone, and if I am ever on the phone with him, she HAS to talk to him.
When G hears the door open when Chris gets home, her little face lights up and she screams "He's home!" This evening Elia was fuss fuss fussy and I was holding her when Chris walked in. She immediately stopped fussing and just stared at him and started kicking her little legs. I mean, it makes sense. Daddy is just so much fun! He is the worlds best tickler and he swings the girls up and over his head. And then there is one of G's favorites: animal doctor. Papa-razzi will go out and find G's stuffed animals and Gianna will get out her doctor kit and they will play for what seems like hours! I would say that Gianna and Elia are his biggest fans!

I love my job

Not many people can say they love their job. But I can safely say that I am happy to be staying at home with the girls. Today I posted a similar remark on facebook, and within 2 hours, I had 16 replies that included lots of "likes" and comments. And I know that I am especially lucky to be staying at home given the economy! Thats not to say that I love every minute of everyday of staying at home. I will admit, when I was working and looking forward to staying at home I had a very "romantic" view of what life would be like. I imagined a spotless house all the time, laundry folded and put away as soon as it came out of the dryer, and 3 course, relaxed meals every night. On the contrary, sometimes the house is messier, the laundry often piles up, and mac n cheese is served at least once a week! Staying at home is like any other job- it is work! But it is unlike any other job in that I get to see my babies grow a little bit everyday. I feel like I know Gianna so much better and I actually NOTICE Elia go through each stage of development. We do so many things now that we couldn't do when I was working. We go to the park, the library, the duck pond, and now one of my favorites- our backyard. I love to sit on the patio, put Elia in the swing, and watch Gianna swing on her new tire swing or play in the leaves. I often join in, and right now am trying to get G to play a little soccer. Another favorite of mine right now is baking with Gianna. It is sooo messy, but Gianna loves to make cookies, and we all love eating them!






Sometimes money is tight, and Chris and I don't get to do everything we used to (eating out, multiple trips to STL and Napa, etc.) but it is worth it a thousand times over. My mom gave me a book last year called You CAN Afford to Stay at Home with Your Kids, and there is a quote I want to share that sums up the way I feel about it all:

Although it's true that the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that washes the diapers, the same hand also touches- and to a large degree, directs - the lives of the entire family, makes the most indelible mark upon the children, lays the groundwork for a future generation, and thereby effects the course of history.

-Mary Snyder and Malia McCawley Wyckoff


Thanks to my amazing husband Chris, who works so hard for our family so that I can be at home, and thanks to my mom for staying at home with us!!!!

Stickers!!!!!!!

Gianna has a million stickers that she has been placing on things all over the house. We are constantly picking stickers off of furniture and the carpet, and then of course our bodies! She thinks it is so great to just stick them all over our cheeks and hands and clothes- including Elia.







The things dads will do for their daughters, no matter how un-masculine. When I was little, I made a bracelet for my dad. (fyi, my dad has 4 girls, then a boy, in that order. Poor man was surrounded by headstrong demanding women for the first 15 years of his marriage before he got a boy. He grew up with noooo girls, just 3 brothers, and on a farm to boot) Anyway, I was very proud of this bracelet that I made him. The beads were varying colors of pink and red, and mostly star and heart shaped. When I gave it to him, he put it on right away and told me how pretty it was. Later, I went with him to the gas station and all the while he proudly wore the bracelet. It broke while he was pumping gas, and he was so upset for me!

Its amazing what dads will put aside just to make their daughters smile. I love watching Chris have tea with G, play in her kitchen with her, and get excited about pretty dresses and bows with her. I am curious to see what kinds of things I will do when we someday have boys in our house!

A Helper and a Fashion Show

Nothing special has been going on lately, but I thought I would show a few things that go on at our house. Gianna is the mommy in the house. She loves to cook "cupcakes" in her kitchen. Everytime we ask her what kind they are, she says they are marshmallow cupcakes. Maybe she will be a golfer someday:

She is also OBSESSED with sweeping. A few months ago one of our broom's handle broke and so Chris taped it off and it is now just her size. She loves to sweep the dirt into the dustpan, and we are lucky if it all gets in there!

And then there is sweet little Elia. Or should I say big Elia? I put her on our scale at home last week, and it read 21 lbs, which is just 4 lbs less than Gianna! I know its so cliche to say, but there is just so much more to love about her! One sad thing though is that she is growing out of clothes at a very rapid pace. I put an outfit away last month that was too small for her and Gianna wore the same outfit walking!!! My favorite are footie pajamas and those are the hardest to stretch them into when they are getting big- their feet have nowhere to go. So I took a few pictures of her in 6 month and 6-9 month footie pjs before I have to sadly put them away. Who knew I would have so much emotional attachment to my kid's clothes? Gianna joined in at the end with her footie pajamas- her size, that are of course too big for her!!

Appropriate Toys

With Christmas coming up, I am trying to decide what to get the girls early so we don't have a lot of last minute, expensive shopping to do. The problem, which can be looked at as a good thing, is that young ones don't really care what toy they get- it is usually forgotten hours or days later. What is really fun is the box it came in or the wrapping it was covered in. Yes, usually the trash is more fun than the actual present. Which is probably why yesterday Elia played with an empty goldfish bag for oh I don't know, 3 hours total? (a capri sun wrapper the day before provided more hours of entertainment) As I type she is playing with the onesie she was wearing yesterday. And then there is G. Last weekend, Chris pulled the ole' exersaucer out of the attic for Elia. Who do you think plays in it more? Yep, that would be Gianna! Here is a pic I took of her last night before I could get her jammie shirt on:

So what should I get the girls for Christmas? Maybe I will just wrap empty boxes and call it a day. There probably won't be many more Christmases where they won't know the difference ;).

We're Back!!!!

And better than ever. I know its been a looooong time since the last post, but you know how life gets crazy. Since the last post, Elia Francesca has joined the party here at the Rowles house. She is already 5 months old! Gianna was our tiny baby and Elia is our fat baby! At 4 months she was off the charts for weight and 99% for height. Its nice because I only have to buy 1 size diaper for both girls:). Elia has been sitting up since 4 1/2 months and loving observing her big sister play and dance around her. Gianna is a good "little mommy." She likes to tell Elia to chillax when she is fussing, and she loves to help change diapers. Gianna is talking more than ever, (as my mom put it, she won't shut up!!!) and so Chris and I have be careful about what we say and what she listens to. We were at the grocery store a few weeks ago and Gianna turned to me and said, "Mommy, thats what you get for waking up in Vegas." Oh dear...



Halloween was so much fun this year! Elia was a tootsie roll, and Gianna was the Wicked Witch of the West. Thanks again to Mary for making the darling witch costume. She was in town the week before Halloween and whipped it out in 3 days!




















We had 2 parties to go to on top of trick or treating, so the costumes were put to good use!
The night before Halloween we carved pumpkins. First, G and Daddy designed the face of the pumpkin:















Then they scooped the guts out while Elia looked on:
































Here are the finished products!




















Gianna had more fun giving out the candy to kids who came by than she did going up to houses and getting candy. Perhaps next year she will want to trick or treat all night!
More posts to come...