Singing in the Rain

Its been pretty rainy around here, so Papa decidede it would be the perfect time to break out G's bday present- her golashes. We bundled the girls up in rain gear and headed out in the back alley. Chris and Gianna had boat races with pieces of birch bark in the creek while Elia watched. She wanted to go down to the creek so bad with her sister, and she sure told them all about it! I started taking a video of Elia talking and of course as soon as I started filming she stopped talking. Here are some pics of the rainy day:

Fashion Show

These pics are for Grandma Rowles- we just got her awesome presents in the mail! (and for Aunt Shanny, who is constantly asking for pics!!)

What to do when a baby has a wardrobe malfunction like this?:

Pull the sleeves over her neck to form a cute collared baby!

They seriously can't get enough of their new toys!

(Or their daddy)

This is what happens...

... when you let the baby have free range with a bowl and spoon. Bon apetit!

Smarty Girls

Elia is getting so smart, just like G was around this age. She will bring me her shoes for me to put on and sort of point at her feet. So cute. She also loves to put (clean or dirty) clothes in the dirty clothes basket. I even got it on video(pardon the nakiness).


She also loves to pick up dirty diapers and put them in the trash. And whenever she is walking over to the trash can, she talks to me/the diaper the whole way. Its like she is telling me what she is doing. I can name and point to an item thats on the floor for her to pick up and bring to me. Such a sweety girl.

Gianna is so smart too. Today she cleared her dishes without me asking her AND put her dirty clothes in the dirty clothes basket without asking. I was amazed each time. I thought if I blogged it and read it in 14 years when she is a ridiculous teenager I can remember these sweet, small victories.

Picture Time

Typical looks between these 2:

We played around with hats on fathers day:

$1 toddler scooter from a gargae sale- score!

Daddy reading time:

I just love my little family!

Gianna's Little Quirks pt 2

Oh the things this girl says that keep Chris and I laughing.

Reincarnation

Her current favorite book is the Digging-est Dog. After reading it for the 500th time last weekend, she commented, "when I was a dog, I used to dig a lot." oh really, I asked, so how did you become a little girl? Reincarnation? And then she looked at me with a total DUH look and said, "no, it just happened!"

Clouds

She has started looking at clouds and telling me/Chris what they look like. We were in the car together last week and she said that this cloud looked like a picnic table, another looked like a house, then she started a list of kitchen items: refrigerator, cups, spoons, etc.

N

She wants to know how to spell her name. So Chris or I will spell it out for her. On Saturday, we asked her to repeat it back to us and she said ok, this is how you spell my name: n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. I have 10 ns! it was hilarious, like she was never going to stop saying n!

Baseball Fan

Chris was flipping through the channels the other night and stopped at the Cardinal's game. I told Gianna that the Cardinals are mommy's team, just like the Giants are daddy's team. She then asked who is Gianna's team? I totally tried to bribe her into deciding on the Cardinals, but I think she came to the conclusion that she likes the Rangers. After all, that was the last real baseball game she had been to! Chris made sure to tell her she can like whoever she wants as long as its not the Yankees, Red Sox, or Dodgers. Gianna said yeah, and not the blue sox either.

Thats all for now, I am sure I will think of more later!

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.

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!