Gianna and Gabby

Gianna told me the other day that she wants to be a mom when she grows up.  After getting her *blood drawn, she was pretty set on never having babies because that would mean she would have to get her blood drawn a lot.  So when she told me she wanted to be a mommy, I asked her what changed her mind.  And she said one word: Gabby.
I'm not so sure how Gabby felt about Gianna's constant, nagging, sweet attention, but Gianna sure is crazy about Gabby!

Trying to swipe a kiss

Walking

Always walking!

Oh that G and her sweet cuz Gabbers.

*Gianna tested negative for Celiacs!  Yay!

Super Star pt 2

Elia is a super star! The first one is from a week ago and the second is from last night. She is almost running in the second one. Also, the second video has a sweet shot of G's new do.

Rowles Lately

A glimpse into the past few weeks(in no particular order):

Elia is walking, and even tries to run at times. It is amazing how quickly she picked it up and wants to do more more more!

Chris and I lost the Biggest Loser competition to Tom and Shan. But we lost the most combined weight- 72 lbs!

Gianna has been taking swimming lessons. What an emotional roller coaster for her. Some days she loves it and other days, (like 3 out of the 8 classes) she hates it. Cried, howled, through them! However, this morning they made her jump off the diving board and she was not scarred! We have been to the pool since the lessons, and I can tell she is getting braver. She likes to jump off the side and into the pool. She also will hold her nose and go completely under for a few seconds. I am so proud of her!

While out on a walk at the hiking park last week, we saw a real live tarantula. In Dallas, people. It still gives me the shivers when I think about that day. When Gianna talks about it, she says, "it was not a spider, it was an animal." Thats how big it was. Kind of makes me nervous to go back hiking. Eek!

Elia and I have been doing a little Mommy and Me swim class. It is SO cute. She held on sooo tight the first time we got in the pool, but by the end of the session, she was really enjoying herself. We have been practicing blowing bubbles in the bath, and today at the pool without any prompting, she did it all on her own! It is so fun to see her learn things just like G did.

Gianna got her haircut. I mean chopped. I wanted the bob look, where its shorter in the back and longer in the front, but it feels like it is the same length all the way around. Thank goodness her hair grows like a weed, it is a bit too short for my liking. Except that it is so easy and painless to comb/brush though her hair.

We had lots and lots of family stay with us in May. My parents were the last of the group to be here and it was really nice to have them! My dad was very relaxed (don't see that too often) and we got a lot of stuff done. Lots of yard work, and they, with the help of Chris, recovered my dining room chairs! So pretty. Now I have to paint to make everything "go" together. This pic was taken by my dad's iphone:

We have a really busy summer ahead of us! We are going to head to St. Louis and California to catch up with family. Colleen asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding so there might be another trip out to the Lou late summer/early fall? Maybe.

Gianna's imagination and vocabulary is expanding daily, and I want to document a few of her musings. And tomorrow is her "show off" day for swim lessons so I will want to post some of that good stuff. SO stay tuned for that.

And for those of you who were really nervous they would never see a picture again, never fear! Our camera is fixed and back with us as of today.

Nonstop talker

I know my posts have been few and far between lately. Its not that I have nothing to write about, I just like to have pictures on each post to illustrate what I am talking about! SO this one is not going to have any pics, or video, sorry!

Elia is full out walking now, it is soooo freaking adorable. She really thinks she is so cool when she is doing it like, she actually invented walking or something! But another thing she has been doing for quite sometime now, is talking. Nonstop, all day long, during any situation. Last night Chris and I were loudly reprimanding G to just EAT her freaking vegetable already, and while Chris was coaxing G through each bite, Elia just had to tell everyone her take on the matter. Nupanup nomom betameme. She thinks she is speaking english! My favorite is when I put her to bed at night. I usually kinda hold her and sing a song or two to her. Lately she has been resting her head on my shoulder quietly, but about every 3 or 4 seconds, she lifts her head up and looks at me and lets out a string of babble, usually while poking my nose or something. It is so stinking cute, that I have been singing more and more songs to her each night just to prolong this little scenario. I'm just a little black raincloud nepabababnepabnbaba hovering under the honey tree. menomenomeme I'm just a little black raincloud nomomobababalatila pay no attention to me.

Seriously, I would sing to her all night if I had the energy! Sweet sweet Elia. A walking, talking machine!

Walking!

Elia took her first "steps" last night. The night before her birthday! SO cute! We got it on video. There are going to be a lot of videos for a while- it is kind of taking the place of our broken camera. I bought a disposable camera so I will have pics to remember but probably won't get them on the blog. sorry :(

So here is Elia in her cute little pjs working really hard on getting balanced and trying to walk!