The Reveal

Our bedroom is as done as it is going to get right now. There are still a few things on the list, which I wrote about here. I also want to get a chair to put in the corner and either buy or build a headboard. But right now, it is functional, and it looks pretty good. I cleaned it up today and broke out the camera. Lighting isn't the greatest, but you can still "get the picture."

This is the best "before" I could find:

After:

Goodnight!

Uncle Heaven

Last weekend was pretty durn fun, but this weekend, we had double the uncles at our house. Uncle Danny was in town for UD Odyssey weekend and so Sunday Matt, Patrick, and Timmy joined Danny over at our house for a bbq. The girls had a blast watching them play corn hole and beer pong.

Like Chris' beer pong set? TX vs Giants, all collected at actual games!

And Gianna put on a performance in her bedroom, using her bed as a stage. She danced around and sang a little bit and Elia just jumped around. I wish it was on video, because it was so

hilarious. Matt and Sarah brought over their dog Juju and the girls kept calling her Koda.

Gianna is seriously obsessed with Uncle Danny. She wanted to show him everything and he was very patient and played with her all weekend. Sorry my pictures are so pathetic. But I will be posting a pic of our new room soon!

Second Verse, Same as the First

Saturday morning is filled with shopping, which makes for a tired Boom. Just like last weekend!

Of course it doesn't help that she was up at 3am last night laughing and giggling once I brought her into bed with us! I just thought it was hilarious that she did it 2 weeks in a row!

Gianna's Fabulous Art

My blog posts have been pretty Gianna-heavy lately. She brought home these 9 cards on Tuesday, and she was very proud of them. I am very proud too! She told me what all of them mean.

Top left is Swoopy stally dobby(huh?).

Middle left is mommy, middle is daddy, middle right is Gianna jumping into a mud puddle.

Bottom center is Gianna with a green body and purple hair.

Love how creative she is!

G's New Do

I took advantage of my extra day off today to get Gianna's haircut. It has been quite the struggle these past few months brushing out her hair everyday. There are always tangles, and she screams when I try to brush through them. She also hates it when I put her hair up in a braid or ponytail. So we chopped it off. And it is SO cute!

Before

After

Elia had a great time dancing to the elevator music and flirting with the other customers.

Gianna's Mirror Sister

You know that fish in the movie Finding Nemo that thinks she has a sister but really its just a reflection of herself in the tank? Well Gianna now has one. Chris propped up a mirror on the floor of the playroom so the girls would have something to see how gorgeous they are when they play dress-up. The other day I overheard Gianna saying to herself "my sister is annoying me!" I started to get really huffy about being rude to herr sister when I realized Elia wan't even in the same room with G! I asked her who she was talking to and she said my sister in the mirror.

This morning she was at it again, and she got Elia in on it. She told Elia to tell her sister that she is naughty and to go in time out. Hilarious.

Busted Toe, Baby Shower, and Uncles

This weekend was great!

While I was writing this post Wednesday night, Gianna was playing with some heavy pieces of pottery. She dropped one on her big toe. The skin under her toenail immediately turned purple. Then all the next day she was complaining to my mom that it hurt to walk. Friday it seemed to be getting better.Then, Papa had to work pretty much all day Saturday, so I used that day to run errands. We went to Walmart and Gianna was riding on the outside of the cart. She got off really quickly and before I could stop the cart, I ran over her foot(the one with the busted toe!!). She collapsed into a puddle of tears, screams, and blood. I rushed her to the bathroom where we found that instead of hurting the exact same spot, there was just another part of her toe that is now injured. As soon as I told her she could pick out any kind of box of bandaids that she wanted, she perked WAY up. AND she rode the rest of the trip in the cart, so I got my shopping done quickly. But poor girl. When she runs, you can tell she is favoring the outside of her foot. I hope it heals quickly! Elia fell asleep on the way home from Walmart and I brought her inside and set her on the ground, where she proceeded to walk over to the ottoman and pass out. I just had to snap a picture.

Sunday was more fun. We did breakfast and church and then headed up to Fairview for a baby shower for Aaron. Elia fell asleep on the way there. Gianna on the way home.

The shower was themed Winnie the Pooh, and better yet, Soph and MM were there so the girls had a blast. Its been almost 3 weeks since we have all seen each other since preschool schedules and now work prevent us from getting together as often as we used to. So it was great to see them.

Elia didn't sleep on the way home. She decided to entertain me instead. Look at those sausage legs. Don't you just want to gnaw on them?

Then Uncles Tim and Patrick came over for a little bbq. I made some pretty awesome twice baked potatoes and the girls got to play a lot with them. All in all, a great weekend!

Annoying

So our reno is pretty much done, but there are a few annoying projects left before it is picture in a magazine worthy. We still have to install lights and mirrors, and stain the drawer faces and cabinet doors. Those are the big ones. The other projects are just downright annoying. They include finding and installing thresholds so we don't have this:

Sorry about my toes!

Touching up along the sides of the vanities where some stain dripped on the walls. And when we took the painters tape off, it left this:

The white spots mean it was stripped down to the plaster, so that means I have to go back, prime AND paint. Oh joy.

And one last thing. Remember these lamps? Well, the person who sold them to me must have switched out the lampshades and taken an important connecting piece so it is virtually impossible to make a lampshade stay upright. Grrr. Chris is going to have to basically rewire them so we can put a proper shade on it. Annoying, right?

You would think that we would have been able to knock out quite a few of those projects on this lovely 3 day weekend, but nah. We had too much fun doing other stuff. Weekend wrap-up to follow!

A Visit with Grandma

I almost titled this post Lady GaGa, because Elia started calling my mom GaGa. Soooo cute. She practically wouldn't even look in her general direction back in December, but I think she (and G for that matter) really took to my mom. Its been a long time since Grandma has had lots of solo time with my girls without me being around.

Grandma flew in Monday night, so we painted pictures for her and grandpa that morning.

Tuesday morning, since I had not yet gotten the call to go back to work, we took G to school together. Grandma got to see her classroom and meet her teacher too.

Tuesday afternoon I got the call that Wednesday would be my first day. Grandma took over and well, lets just say that I was very sad to see her go tonight! The girls had so much fun with her. When I asked Gianna if she missed me when I got home, she said no, I had fun today. Grandma spent almost every waking minute with them outside, so how could they not have fun? Thanks mom!

My First Day Back

Ouch. The alarm at 5:30 this morning, telling me that I had to get up and out of bed, was not very fun. I didn't sleep very well, as I was worried that my alarm would betray me and not go off. But, I got to school all in one piece, and on time. The day FLEW by becasue I was so busy and ran around like a chicken with its head cut off. When I called home on my break (did I mention my mom is in town to help me transition back to work? Best.idea.ever.), she told me Gianna was being a complete know it all. No, grandma, thats not how mom does it, let me teach you all the rules, etc. Hilarious.It is crazy that I have to just throw myself back into grading, planning, and actually teaching all in one day. Thank God my mom is here this week. I came home to a sparkling house, happy girls, and a wonderful home cooked meal. When I saw my girls for the first time when I got home, I just cried seeing their lovely faces. As soon as I pulled myself together, we headed off to the park. We even had a little time to get some play-do action.

This weekend is 3 days long for me, so that will help a lot. Then spring break is 3 weeks after that, so it helps that I'm being slowly eased into it. Ok, bye for now! (and say a prayer for me once my mom is gone- that will be the real test!)

A Love Letter to My GIrls

Sooooo Valentines is all about romantic love, but I thought I would write a little note to my girls. Yes, I love Chris, but my love letter to him will remain private. I got him Call of Duty Black Ops because I love him. (because Lord knows I do not love video games.) So here goes, a love letter to the other loves of my life. Grandmas, Aunt Shanny, Aunt Jenny, Aunt Colleen and Uncle Bobby get a hanky! (cuz I mean seriously, who else reads my blog? haha)

Dear Gianna,

I LOVE your imagination. Your stories never cease to amaze me. From taking a train or plane toSerap or California, all the way to worrying about lava and sharks on the ground and we have to be on the couch or chairs to stay out of harm's way. I love how you keep telling me (it seems like daily) that I need to get pregnant so I can have a son for Daddy. I love how entranced you are with babies, and would rather play with one than any cool toy. I love how sweet you are with Elia. Helping her take her coat and shoes off when we get home, giving her hugs when she is sad, and not letting me give you a treat unless Elia can have one too. I love that you are constantly coloring pictures for me, Daddy, Elia, and your friends. I love that you would rather help me make dinner than watch tv. I love you so much G!

Dear Elia,

I love your cute ponytail. Without it, your hair is a constant, hot mess. I love that when you wake up at 5am (or 3am or 4am) and I bring you into bed with us and Daddy tries to snuggle with you, you say "No, Mama!" (as in, get away from me dad, this is mommy and me time) But on the contrary when Chris opens the door every night coming home from work, I love that you stop everything you are doing, usually throwing whatever it is you have in your hands on the ground and yell DADDDDDDDYYYYY and run to go give him a hug. I love that every time I pick you up from the Kids Klub at the gym, you run as hard as you can to come and greet me. I love that whenever the music moves you, the only way you know how to dance is to run around and around (and around and around) in a circle until you fall down, but still keep going by crawling around in a circle on the ground. I love the way you say Gianna and do whatever she asks of you. I love that when I ask you to say please, you won't, but when Gianna asks you to say please, you say it right away. I love you so much Elia!

Without you girls, my life would not be full. I love you girls!

Best V-Day Ever

Well, Chris and I have been together for 10 years (almost 5 married) now so there were some really good Valentines Days, I'm sure, but this one was pretty durn good. He completely surprised me by having Uncle Tim and Ashley come over to babysit this morning so he took me out to brunch. We went to a place that has bottomless mimosas. Uhoh! Just kidding, it was so great. We both got some amazing food to go with the amazing mimosas. Ah, a date alone with the hubs makes all the little things in life melt away. Thanks baby, I love you.

My amazing flat bread breakfast dish

Waiting for another round :)

He even got breakfast(donuts) for the girls this morning so I didn't have to do any of the work. :)

Valentines Day Parties

Love is in the air. Gianna had 2 Valentines parties this week, and I had 2 as well. Thursday was G's preschool party, and she got Princess and the Frog Valentines for all her classmates. She came home with some good loot- including a cookie popsicle that was devoured by both girls after lunch that day. Probably one of the worst ideas ever is to get preschool aged kids Fun Dip. But someone gave a pack to Gianna and she brought it home to make a big mess!

Friday was Pray N Play's Valentine Party, postponed from Wednesday due to ice. The girls had lots of fun decorating their own bags and then passing out treats to all of their friends.

Then Friday afternoon, I went to my future class' V-day party to meet the parents and pass out Valentines. This school is amazing. Half of the parents were there helping, and instead of having a pig out fest, they had kids make Valentines for sick kiddos at Children"s Hospital. So sweet. (oh, and the parents did everything- while L and I just watched!) I used this time to get all of my student's names down, and I think I know most of them. I have a feeling L is going to go into labor this weekend, and with her due date this Wednesday, I am bound to start working this week sometime.

I enjoyed my last week at home!

Too Cold for Me!

Yesterday, there was another ice day. Schools had off, and lots of people had late starts. We had plans to go to our church's playgroup Valentines Party, but it was cancelled. So Gianna and I made some more button cookies (recipe here), but this time we did them Valentine's style with pink m&ms. We gave some to her teacher, and made some for her playgroup friends, which we will see on Friday!

Like her pigtails? She won't let me adjust them, so they are totally uneven. Elia is so creative when she has to entertain herself!

I was determined to get out with the girls after they took a nap, and by 4pm much of the ice had melted and major roads were clear and safe. So we went to the gym and back in one piece, phew! The cold was biting though, especially with it being so windy out. But running errands today was pretty easy, with just a few ice patches to worry about. I hope we are out of all of this wintery weather- this is not what we signed up for when we decided to stay and live in Dallas!

We went to ikea Monday night and the girls, like last time, had a blast!

I would so buy this chair- but its $80!

We want to put this color yellow in our room- the "pop" against all the grey,blue, and white. Literally, this is the only item(a lamp shade) ikea carries in this color. They like their reds and blues and blacks!