Super Star pt 1

Gianna is a super star! She was so excited that Daddy came to her last swimming lesson to see her show off. We went to a friend's pool today, and she barely kept her head above water- she is obsessed with going under!

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!

Birthday Pictures

Sorry if you have seen these on fb too!

Elia's birthday with her birthday pancake stack. She tried to grab the flame on the candle a few times. Such a lovebug!

Dino birthday cake. It was too cute! It went great with the dino cupcakes.

LOVE this picture. Sisters sharing a seat as they eat their bday cupcakes. A true picture of sisterly love!

This was taken after G's birthday pancake party. She is holding her new (play) cell phone and new boots. So grown up looking!

New matching shirts. We went to Gianna's favorite park on her birthday- the hiking park as she calls it. Elia is big enough to do slides and crawl up steps. And now she is SOOOO good at walking!

Another Birthday Girl

Sorry for the length of this post...

Gianna turned 3 today! We did another pancake party this morning, and Cousins Colin and Austin were here to celebrate. Here is a trip down memory lane for all...

May 24, 2007. A day that forever changed Chris' and my life together.

3 months old, personality already taking shape.

6 months old

9 months old

1 year old, and gorgeous.

15 months old. Elia couldn't wear this outfit after 6 months! G was always our little baby.

18 months. On her way to becoming a big sister!

21 months old. Just a little bit of baby-ness left!

May 20, 2009. Just 4 days before her 2nd birthday. This day changed G's life forever!

2 yrs, 3 months. Knows how to pose for the camera!

2 yrs, 6 months. Loves to bake for her mama!

2 yrs, 9 months. We had a freak snow storm in February, and she loved to play in the snow!

Last picture I took before the camera broke. About a month shy of turning 3!

On Saturday we had a big birthday bash for Gianna and Elia. It was dino-themed and SO much fun. The girls were both spoiled senseless. We had so much fun playing in the water and catching up with friends. I took lots of pictures, and as soon as I get my film developed (I know, old school, right?) I will post them!

Birthday Girl

It is so strange to think that this year is over! Elia is 1 year old, and I can't imagine our family without her. I felt like I was pregnant with her FOREVER and then bam, I blinked, and the year is over!

Here she is at a few hours old:

3 months old:

6 months old:

9 months old:

11 months old: (last pic I took before the camera broke)

I was sort of inspired by this blog and so we had a little pancake party on her birthday morning. It might become a birthday tradition in our family! Here is some footage of Elia on her big day:

Happy Birthday sweet Elia!!

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!

A night at the Ballpark

We just got back from the Rangers game, and we had so much fun! Aunt Becky is in town, and we happened to get 4 free tickets, so we up and went out to Arlington. There were 3 Ranger home runs, and along with it fireworks! Elia thought they were SO cool. The whole time we were there E was just chatting up a storm and her hands were dancing around. Gianna had a ton of fun as well eating ballpark food and cheering and clapping. I wish wish wish that our camera wasn't broken because there were so many great pictures I could have taken. I did manage to take this awesome video of Elia feeding Chris. This was taken right before Elia took the whole plate and dumped it on the floor.

Check out her sweet little ponytail on top of her head. I had to hold her down to get the rubber band around the tiny fistful of hair!

Mothers Day

Mothers Day started out on Friday for me! Chris came home from work and took the girls on a 90 minute bike ride. So I got to stay in a quiet, kid-free house and drink a beer while watching TV. It was seriously glorious. If Chris/Gianna hadn't gotten me anything else, I would have been happy with Friday night! Then on Saturday all 4 of us went on a bike ride together, with one of my mother's day gifts- a new pair of sports sunglasses. (Now that I am wearing contacts full time, I can finally wear sunglasses too-yay!) Our bike rides always end up at a park, so the girls have so much fun. Then on Sunday I slept in until 8am. If you don't have kids you might think that 8 is not a big deal, BUT IT IS! And when I finally rolled out of bed, I was treated to strawberry pancakes and eggs, yum yum. Then off to church and home again. We had a little family over for a bbq. The girls played outside on the new playground while the parents got to drink beer and talk about LOST. Anyway, a great day was had by all, but me especially! I am so thankful to have my sweet girls and great husband in my life!

PS Finally we can make comments on the blog! So give me some love guys!

Teething Tantrums

About 2 weeks ago, I was telling anyone and everyone that the 10-13 month age range is my favorite stage of a baby. Elia is babbling nonstop, she thinks everything is soooo amazing, and she can't walk yet so she still has that sweet dependence on mom. Well, then last week happened. She started having the most horrible tantrums I have ever seen! She would throw herself on the floor for no apparent reason, didn't want to nurse, would throw anything I gave her, it was Ridiculous. I really had no idea what was wrong with her. There were a few times when she would have a tantrum first thing in the morning and I would think silently to myself "seriously? we are starting the day with this? this crazy obnoxious baby tantrum? and I have 13 more hours to deal with this?" Even Chris was glad to get out of the house and out to work as soon as possible. And thats saying something folks! After enduring a few days of this I just figured it was a stage she was growing into, or a new personality trait. Last Monday while I was at the park she started having another tantrum. Elia's mouth was open as she was screeching at me and that is when I noticed she had a tooth! How did I not suspect teething? You just never know when they are teething. I was so relieved though, that I can blame these tantrums on her tooth pain, and not a new personality trait! I noticed another tooth coming through 2 days ago, and since then, we have had no tantrums. I have my sweet baby girl back!!