Going on a Safari

It was an absolutely GORGEOUS day here in Dallas, so naturally we went outside and went on a safari. We had to wear safari hats, at Gianna's request:

While Elia watched, Gianna searched for dinosaurs and giraffes:

I put a blanket down for Elia to crawl around on, and it was hilarious to watch her try to crawl on the grass. Every time she put her hand on the grass, she would look so confused and then just stay on the blanket.

By the end of our Safari she had ventured out onto the grass and her knees and hands were filthy! I hope the weather stays like this, it was such a fun time to be able to get out and play!!

Milestones

I have taken a small hiatus from blogging due to a broken computer. But I am back, and have a few happy things to report! Gianna is officially, completely potty trained. (YAY) Through the day, through naps, and even through the night! Every time she "goes" she says "I'm a little big kid now." I guess she recognizes that she is small but also grown up.

Elia is full out crawling and now, gasp, she is pulling herself up onto furniture. She is getting into EVERYTHING. Her latest favorite is turning the volume dial on our tv reciever around and around. She is eating more solid food and nursing less frequently and less enthusiastically. Why would she sit with mom quietly when she can get down and explore a whole new world? Her 9 month appointment went well- off the charts for height and 85th percentile for weight. I guess all that crawling and exploring is preventing her from staying off the charts for weight! She had to have a finger prick, which was so sad, and sad for Gianna to watch too.

Chris and I (w the help of Aunt Meg and Uncle Craig, thanks guys) just booked flights to go to Atlanta for Easter! It is an especially exciting time because Craig is converting to Catholicism and we will all be there to witness it. We are going to be there for a long weekend. Chris will go home before me, and I will stay out there for a little bit to have some Aunt and cousin time! I am a little nervous because that means I will be flying back to Dallas by myself with both girls for the first time, eeeek! So thats what is new with us. I will post some pics of the Rowles soon.

Elia is crawling! (w/ G helping)

Busy week!

We have not sat down all week! On Sunday, we did the usual- church and football, and of course the uncles came over. That is always a special treat for Gianna and Elia, because they get so much extra love! Monday I whisked the girls off early morning to Gianna's pta playgroup. We did an activity swap- similar to this idea. Every mom came up with a craft to do with a 2 year old, made 20 of the same sets in a bag, and brought them to play group. Then we all passed ours out and presto- I have 20 different fun activities to do with G! I pulled one out tonight to do with her but everything requires glue and we dont have any-bummer.
On Tuesday we hung out with G's BFF "Lynn". We saw Lynn in December, and she had no interest in potty training. Well, she is potty trained now! So that sort of inspired me to take it back up again- uggg. So far its going ok- I have realized that you have to be ok with the messes or she won't be trained until she is 20! Lynn and Gianna played nicely and we enjoyed lunch together as well.
Wednesday I hosted my church's play group, and that was a ton of fun too! G's other BFF Soph, joined us and it was just a big party! I love getting together with my friends from church- hanging out with mom's that have the same faith as I is VERY refreshing! We are hoping to expand our little playgroup, so if there are any mamas out there that want to pray the rosary while the kiddos play in the North Texas Area (Carrollton Farmers Branch more specifically)- let me know!
Thursday we went to Elia's pta playgroup, which was hosted at the indoor playground at the mall. Gianna loves coming here and climbing all over the plastic structures. This was Elia's first time since she has learned to scoot- so she had a blast too. Then home and straight into the bath- I get nervous that those sort of indoor places are teeming w swine flu and chicken pox, etc. I have started doing baths with the girls during the day- it is something really fun for them to do and perfect when we can't go outside/get out of the house due to weather! Also, I feel like bath time wastes precious daddy time at night, so mornings work for us! Bath time lasted quite a while today! We made it to the mall and back with no accidents- this is awesome for me to report!
Friday we spent the morning with Gianna's friends, "Adam" and "Eve." Adam loves to be the boss and show Gianna what to do, and for the most part, G follows ;). Back home for lunch and nap- this week was full! I made Gianna a potty chart to motivate her for the potty- she puts a sticker up everytime she goes, and when she gets to the star, she gets to go get ice cream with daddy- which is an EXTRA special treat for her. The potty training process is a bit tedious. I have to constantly remind her and actually put her on the potty, and it seems when I get the tiniest bit distracted, thats when we have an accident!




Elia is scooting everywhere, much to Gianna's dismay. Gianna is always "making a gate"- putting a rolled up blanket or a pillow in her way so that she can't get to her toys. And just today she started going from her belly to sitting up on her own, so that means this weekend we have to lower the crib! My baby just won't stop growing up! Its going to be a cold weekend, so we are going to do lots of family time indoors.

New Developments- and no camera!

Elia started crawling last night! My angel baby can move forward! Its a very funny thing to watch. She gets up on all fours and kind of rocks back and forth, and then pushes her knees and feet off the ground to propel her forward. So I guess its more like scooting. Gianna's new favorite game is making her "race." We get a toy that she really likes and put it at one end of the hallway and Elia at the other end and have her scoot towards it. Gianna's encouragement for her little sis is sooo cute! "You can do it baby" and "come on I know you can!" are just a few. And of course, I don't have our awesome new flip camera to document this! Hopefully we will get it back before Elia is full-on crawling.

For Christmas, Gianna got a magnet set where you can match animals and they make their animal sounds. You can also mix the animals, so you can create a pig horse or a duck sheep, etc. Gianna thinks this is way more fun. It has a song that sings to the tune of "A pig horse? You put the pig in front, you put the horse behind. Put them together and what do you find? A pig horse? That's silly!" Every time this little ditty plays (which happens every other minute while she is in the kitchen with me) she waves her arms in the air and sways her hips at the same time. This is why I need a camera- because its way cuter to watch than to read about. I will try my durndest to get that footage up soon!