A Change of Pace

Mark and I recently had the amazing opportunity to spend a weekend in Florida with some of our closest friends. The goal - to celebrate two 30th birthdays ... and a mini break from the responsibilities of parenting! Sorry to say girls, but it was lovely!! To better illustrate just why the trip was such a pleasant departure from everyday life, here are two pictures:

one of dinner on a normal evening (cleaning up sticky mac and cheese is no fun Nora!!)
and one of Mark and I at a romantic dinner at a restaurant - no clean-up required!!! And we're relaxed, sunkissed (ok, burnt!) and probably a little tipsy from wine! LOVELY!!!

Our Girl is 2!

Happy birthday Evie! I know this post is a tad bit belated, but in your mind, every day is your birthday (yes, we're proud you know the song now!) Your 2nd birthday was so wonderful - morning celebrations with Yiayia and Papou, a party with Yiayia's class, more fun with Daddy's class, a visit from Aunt "Meena" (the cape is perfect!) and then, of course, your party! We were lucky enough to have cousins in from St. Louis for the big event - and family and friends from Kansas City too. We all put on our pajamas and ate pancakes - two of your favorites - and, at your request, sang three rounds of "happy birthday!" You are such an amazing little girl - already a spitfire with so much love, drama and imagination - we love you with all our hearts! A few of the things we love the most:

• When you say "I You" and we know it means you love us.
• Your sometimes crushing hugs. Nora may not appreciate these quite as much - remember how we told you to be gentle?!
• How you watch yourself in the mirror, even turning to the side to see your back, make funny faces, etc. This could be a problem down the road - right now it's adorable!
• All your singing - especially "EIEIO" - but you don't have to sing quite so loud you know!
• The new things you learn and say every day. How did you learn your colors? You get them right all the time - even purple and orange! And it's so cute how you're asking so many questions. "What's that? Who's that? Where did he go?"
• Your imagination! Who new a piece of cheese could be a train AND a baby! One bite makes all the difference!
• How there's always a "sister" in every group - i.e. If we see horses, there's always a daddy, mommy, baby and sister. A group of blocks - same thing. You see every group as a family and even include the sister. It melts our hearts.
• Your overwhelming love for Nora. How excited you get when she wakes up or comes in the room. This love helps especially when you whack her on the head for taking your toy - or most recently - kicked her in the stomach for taking your cheese stick. Not our most enjoyable wagon ride!
• These three words - "Pick up me." Because even though our backs are killing us, we still love that you need us.

Here are a few pictures from your party:

Uh-Oh

Looks like eating breakfast off/on the floor has become a new habit in our house!

Our New Nephew

Introducing Mason William LaBerta, our new nephew! Matt and Mary - you must be so proud! He's just gorgeous!! We all hope to meet the new addition very, very soon. Love you all!

Just another day

Here is Evie hugging her sister.

Here is Evie strangling her sister.

Wanna bet Barnes & Noble doesn't make a book for that one?!

Redemption

After hitting "publish" on the last blog post, I decided I better redeem myself as a mother - or I'd be getting calls of criticism from the Yiayias and grandmas soon! Just so you know my girls are happy AND healthy (noses are still running but we're almost there), here are some cute pictures from the last few weeks.

Seriously, how cute is Miss Nora in her new swimsuit?! Her snort/smile cracks me up!

And her are the girls at story time with Reece and Ellie. No one looks very thrilled in this picture, but I promise they enjoyed themselves and it's so cute to show pictures of them with friends.
Another friend - Mr. Max! Max is my Mom's friend Gari's little boy. Just a few weeks older than Evie, they've shared many memories already - now they can add ice cream in their jammies to the list!

Since a large part of our day does involve eating, here's another of Evie and Nora. Evie recently decided she's Nora's Mommy and should handle the feedings from now on. Once she got the hang of spoon-feeding without gagging, Mommy decided to go with it (remember - whatever works!)

And to close - this post and finally, this terribly long week of runny noses and coughs - here's one of my recent favorites. Evie and Nora all bundled up in their towels after a bath at Yiayia and Papou's. My girls!!

Whatever works

Getting your headstrong 23-month-old to eat breakfast - at the table no less - and when she's got a cold - isn't always easy. Especially when Mommy also has a cold and just realized she can't "call in sick" anymore (bummer!) So, sometimes sick Mommies and toddlers just have to do whatever works to get through the day. On occasion, that may mean Mommy opens a bottle of wine just a tad before 5 (try noon!) or that our lovely little toddler eats her breakfast off the kitchen floor. Yes, Evie decided eating cereal off the floor was a much better alternative to eating at the table with Mommy. And Mommy decided 5 minutes of peace and quiet was worth the potential health hazzard!! Whatever works!