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!!

A Labor of Love

So the AWESOME playground is finished. And by finished, I mean ladders and siding is up and it is finally safe for G to play on. Chris still has plans to add a steering wheel or two, a roof and maybe even more levels. but for right now Gianna has a little house area to play in, 2 levels to climb on, and a slide to go down. Elia of course loves the slide too. Chris has been working on this playground nonstop for the past week- coming home and going straight outside, and weekends, etc. And Uncle Patrick helped a lot too! This is what my mom would call a "Labor of Love." Here are some pictures! Enjoy ;)

A month ago

Last Week

Up Close

View from the porch

And here is the view of the new picnic table:

The Hiking Park

Chris found Arbor Hills Nature Preserve shortly after we moved to Carrollton. It has tons of paved and unpaved trails. At the end of the major paved trail is an awesome playground, so Gianna has nicknamed it the hiking park. We recently bought another child backpack so now we can get on the unpaved trails and tote both girls around:

On the trail:

After hiking around for an hour or so, we get to the playground exhausted. Then we (Chris) have to run around after Gianna as she climbs all over the place and goes down the slides.

Elia has a new love: going down the slide. But first, take a look at her in her sweet hat doing her first love: swinging!

Now, when you first put her up at the top of the slide, she gets the cutest grin on her face. Some might call it a sh!t-eating grin. She kinda looks around her surroundings as if to say, I am the queen. Here is a pic of it, but even this pic doesn't do it justice!

In case you were curious, her shirt says "Being Cute is a Full Time Job." Seriously, soooo fitting for little E! I love this series:

Sisters together and how cute is Elia?

Chris found another hiking trail up north in Lewisville, which we are excited to try out, but We will always, always LOVE this one!

Projects

A leaky faucet. New toilet covers. Cornhole boxes. A picnic bench. A new playground. These are all projects Chris has finished or is currently working on. And Gianna LOVES to help daddy with all of his projects. I am sure that Chris could finish these projects in half the time without her "help," but it makes her so happy and excited!

They took this outdoor coffee table:

and turned it into a kid sized picnic table:

Gianna helped measure everything else and I think her favorite part was helping "paint" (stain) the wood once he put it all together. It will be perfect for when her friends come over and want to eat outside!

Next up is the playground he is working on, complete with a slide! As soon as he finishes, I will put up pics as well.

Top 10 of Our Atlanta Trip

I kinda liked my last top 15 of our Cali trip, so here we go with Atlanta!

1. Probably the best thing was watching Craig, my bro in law, take his first communion at the Easter Vigil Mass. My sister met him 10ish years ago at a research internship with Oklahoma University chasing tornadoes. He used to say that scientifically it was hard to "prove" God. I think he learned a little bit about faith through Meg and decided to finally take a "leap of faith." So happy for him!

2. Colleen got engaged! I wasn't actually there the night of the proposal, but we all got to celebrate over the weekend with everyone. Colleen's ring is so pretty, and they are so durned happy!!!

3. Shannon and Tom made brunch for everyone and had a little party at their apartment's lounge room. They made Easter Baskets for the kids, and it was just a great way for us to all catch up with each other before the crazy festivities began!

4. Seeing my entire family. My parents were there with Ryan and Colleen. Shannon and Tom already live there and then of course Megan, Craig, and Colin and Austin. It was wonderful to see them all. I also got to see extended family I haven't seen in 2 years- my aunt and uncle and their 4 kids, and subsequently, their kids.

5. Easter Day. It was awesome. We saw all the family, had AMAZING food, an easter egg hunt, oh and did I mention the amazing food? Megan had a huge reception for Craig, and ooo lallala! I need to get the recipe for the rosemary muffin sandwiches. YUMMO!

6. The ATL Aquarium. Enough said, right? Tom got Chris in and took him around and then I brought Colin, Gianna, and Elia inside. Do you know how much it costs to get into the aquarium? $26 for an adult, and $20.50 for a kid 3-12. Ridiculous. But apparently worth it!

When Gianna saw the turtle, she kept saying things like, hi turtle, remember me? Its me, Gianna!

Looks like G is getting attacked by the crab... and how cute is papa with his girls?

7. Hanging out with Megan and Craig and Shannon and Tom. It was a crazy weekend, so I was glad we got to just "chill." Even though poor Shan did get food poisoning from PF CHangs Moday night!

8. Opening up the bar. Every night, Craig would get off work (which entails him exiting his office and walking down the hallway into the kitchen) and make us all a drink, including the kids! He makes a mean margarita, and that was probably the single most reason that I gained weight this past week. I am talking alcohol flowing every night!!! (they did give it up during lent after all)

9. Cousin Love. Pictures say 1000 words:

10. Staying at Home with Megan. All week, we would just wake up and the cousins would hang out all day! We went to the park one day and took a walk another day and had picnics in her backyard everyday. It gave me a little taste of what it would be like to live in the same city!!

Getting back to reality after this vacation was a lot easier than last trip we took. Probably because Chris flew back early Tuesday so I flew with both girls on Thursday night by myself. The flight itself was ok, it was just the 1/2 hour we were on the runway before, and the descent/taxiing when G had gotten tired of being good and it was hard to keep her and Elia occupied at the same time. When I saw Chris coming to get us, a wave of relief just washed over me. That, and Elia has been sleeping through the night since we have been back!

PS. I am having technical difficulties with comments. I have tried fixing it through my settings, but still nothing is working! If anyone has any suggestions/solutions, could you let me know through a comment on Skinnie Twinnies or through facebook? Thanks!!!

Atlanta Tease

I will write in fuller detail about our wonderful trip to Atlanta, so in the meantime, enjoy these pics!

At the ATL Aquarium:

Swinging with Aunt Shanny:

Cute cousins hanging out:

Cousins entertaining each other, for hours on end!

Its Almost Eastertime!

Gianna is just as excited about Easter as she was on Christmas Eve. Every time we talk about Easter, she can hardly contain her excitement and she says I'mgonnaseemycousinsAustinandColinandmyauntsanduncles all in one breath. I, of course, am excited but now we are even more excited to celebrate Aunt Colleen's engagement! Her boyfriend, er I mean, fiancé, flew to Atlanta last night and got in right before Col did, and he popped the question! She had no idea, and was so surprised. When she called, my entire family was in the background, popping champagne and laughing and there was so much excitement in the air. Now I feel just the same as Gianna! I'm sure I will post all about the cuteness of the cousins together and all the family hanging out!

Fee Fi Fo Fum

I smell the blood of an Englishman

Be he alive or be he dead,

I'll grind his bones to make my bread!

This sounds weirdly morbid when it is coming out of the mouth of an almost 3 year old! She is obsessed with fairy tales (well technically these are considered Folk Tales), and will latch on to one at a time and make you read them to her OVER and OVER and OVER until she memorizes them. First it was The 3 Little Pigs with "Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin!" Then it was The 3 Little Bears and Goldilocks with "And Little Bear's was JUST right." Then Little Red Riding Hood with "Grandma, what big teeth you have! All the better to EAT you with my dear!" And now we are on to Jack and the Beanstalk. I think she is going to get in trouble at school for reading instead of paying attention to the teacher like I used to.

Gianna's Little Quirks

Gianna's personality has long been taking shape, but lately she has shown quite a few little quirks I thought worth sharing:

Red Light Green Light

When we are walking around in the stroller, she will say "red ahead, stop!" and so Mom has to stop pushing the stroller. Then she will say "Green ahead! Go!" and I can start pushing again. When we are in the car and she sees a red light, she will say red ahead, stop! and same goes for a green light. But her newest quirk is that if I turn left through a green light, she gets REALLY upset! She will sometimes cry and say you have to go ahead, you can't turn when its green!

Philosopher?

G has started the dreaded why, why WHY???? When I ask her to do anything, she always responds with a why. Why do I have to put my shoes on? Why are we going to the store? Oh why? why? why? why? Last week we were on a hike and she picked up a rock and asked, "why is this a rock?" I think she is all ready for UD!

Nakey

Last week, I hosted my church's playgroup. While all the mamas pray the rosary, the little ones wander around the house and play. At one point, Gianna decided to take her pants off. And when I went in the room to make her put them back on, all she could say was why? why? why?

But now I have her pretty convinced that when friends are over, we need to be er, clothed!

All Aboard!!!!

Her latest thing to play is all aboard the train. She will come up to me and say do you want to all aboard the train with me? And of course I can't refuse, its just so cute! She lines up all her chairs, and the bumbo for Elia and then we sit all in a row.

Dad, get your shotgun!

Gianna is absolutely obsessed with Uncle Tim's girlfriend. When she hears that Actually (Ashley) is coming over, she goes crazy. I started babysitting another little family of 2 little boys last week, one who is Gianna's age. After they were playing for a little bit together, Gianna ran up to me and said "mom, I have a boyfriend just like Ashley!!!" I didnt realize that interest in boys would happen at such a young age!!! ;)

I love my angel girl!

10 Months Old!

Sweet Elia is almost 1! Where has the time gone? She is so curious now and gets into EVERYTHING! She is such a fast crawler and now she is pulling up and trying to walk along furniture. She prefers our food over pureed fruits and veggies that Mom so painstakingly makes for her. Her favorite thing to do right now is swing- she laughs as soon as she gets into a swing! I am not ready for my baby to be so big!

Paradise Pond

Today we took a field trip to Paradise Pond. We went with Soph and Baby MM. Everyone had a blast!

Dressing up:

Elia and Baby MM are quickly becoming BFFs!!