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...