This and That ...

Random photos from a random Mommy ...

Here are my two favorite "booties" at the pool last week. I took the girls BY MYSELF for the first time last Friday, and it was a success! I panicked only once when Evie said she had to poop. Knowing those stupid swim diapers, I worried about grossing out all the other swimmers, but we were in luck when she just had to toot. Don't you love my grown-up vocabulary?!

Now here's a cute one of Evie and her cousin Savanna. Surprisingly, she's actually smiling for the camera ... dare we say she's growing up?! Eeek! We're actually working on her big girl bed this week and should have photos of my very first DIY project - an upholstered headboard! Can you stand the anticipation?!

Funny story while I'm on these random topics - I got a speeding ticket yesterday. Bummer, I know, but why I'm sharing is after I received my ticket, Evie said: "Mommy in trouble. That's funny!" Hello? Whose side is she on?!!

On a happier note, last weekend we helped our good friend Maggie celebrate her graduation from grad school! Here's Nora on Maggie's lap, muching on something gooey and sweet - no surprise there!

Nora pretty much eats anything and everything these days, including dirt, flowers, etc.

Nora is also dancing quite a bit - following her big sister's lead - and chasing Evie around as fast as she can while Evie calls out: "Come on Nora, come on!" Nora is 11 months now - only a few more weeks till the big birthday!

OK, here we go with the most random photo of them all - my shining moment of the week - the playdoh version of Evie! We seriously spent 30 minutes working on this masterpiece so I had to take a picture. Can you see the resemblance?

Here's Evie adding a few accessories to her look. Typical - and not that we don't encourage her! Also part of the big girl bedroom reno is a vanity Mom and I found at a flea market last weekend. It is so perfect, and Evie loves it. I'll post photos as soon as we're finished - did you know foam was so expensive? Don't tell Mark, but my DIY headboard has turned out to be a tad more expensive than planned!


Have a great week! Love from the Cowies!

My Sister the Mrs!!

Hooray! Melina and Matthew said "I do" on Saturday! I have so many pictures from the incredible week of wedding festivities; I don't even know where to start. These may be a little haphazard, but here we go ...

First up - the stunning bride! Seriously, Melina was breathtaking! Here she is on the trolley while we were taking pictures. It was a gorgeous day - bright and sunny, pretty hot but worth every moment!

Here's the happy couple! Can I tell you how cute Matthew was - how nervous, happy and very handsome!

Then there's my adorable daughter - the one and only flower girl - Miss Evelyn Kate! Evie who surprised us all with her lovely walk down the aisle - no tears, no tantrums, just smiles and licks on her lollipop! She even threw a few petals!!

Here Melina and I are with the girls. Poor Nora was cutting teeth and had to leave after the ceremony - thank you Loretta! But she still managed to look beautiful in her dress!

Besides the groom, the most handsome man there had to be my hubby! Look at those dimples! And you should have seen his dance moves toward the end of the night!!!

Once again the happy couple after seeing each other for the first time! Radiant!

OK, so on to the funny parts of the night - Evie not only made her way down the aisle in style - she also dominated the dance floor and even the toasts by stealing my microphone and babbling in front of 150 wedding guests! Seriously, this girl is made for the spotlight ... or, in this case, the stage!

Here, Evie and my Mom are dancing and singing right before the reception. Notice - Evie still has her shoes on - and she's yet to discover the blue and yellow jelly beans at the reception!

Another performance pic - this time, the bride joined in on the action.

Evie also spent lots of time loving on her cousins ...

and her Yiayia and Papou!

Her night finally ended like this ...! All of us danced ourselves silly - including Miss Evie and the bride and groom. It was such a happy, wonderful night (and weekend). Truly, I can't express how amazing it is to be dancing to all my favorite songs (Diddy, Shoop!) with all my favorite people by my side. To look around and know that everyone there loves my sister and her new husband, my girls, Mark (he has some serious groupies from the Bland side of the family!) and even me too. What a perfect wedding! Congratulations Melina and Matthew - we love you!

I may post more pictures later but for now - off to bed! Have a great week!

Week before the wedding ...

Melina's wedding is less than a week away (eek - hurray!), so I wanted to post a few pictures before the blog is taken over by wedding photos, which I'm sure will be gorgeous Miss Melina!

In addition to all the wedding planning, we've also had a May full of graduations (Laura and Connor, Maggie, Jen!) Last weekend, we attended a high school graduation party for our cousins Laura and Connor, who are soon off to college - Laura to KU and Connor to design school in Chicago. Congrats cousins! Here are Evie and Nora at their open house, still relatively clean before their lunch of mini cupcakes! Such sweet sisters! (I didn't post the one right after this which shows a quite different side to their relationship!)

Today the girls and I went to "The Farm" - Deanna Rose - with Ellie and her Mommy Lynn. Here the girls were petting the baby cows. Did you know I love baby cows? Well, I do now! Notice Evie is holding her baby doll - named "Baby Kara." Crazy - and kind of scary - when your 2-year-old calls you by your real name.

And finally, better late than never, a cute picture of Nora and her buddy Reece at his 1st birthday party two weeks ago. Poor Reece had to field open-mouth kisses and lots of intense hugging from our girl Nora, who doesn't seem to grasp the whole "personal space" issue. Notice the bread stuck to her chin - yes, she stole my sandwich and possibly someone else's too? Who knows!

OK, our next photos will undeniably be of Melina and Matthew's big wedding weekend - we can't wait!! Wish us luck - Evie is the flower girl! Oh boy!

Happy Mother's Day

I had such a wonderful Mother's Day - spending time with Mark and the girls, my parents, Yiayia and friends, sleeping in (hooray!) and even doing a little shopping! It was perfect! Here are a few pictures from the weekend ...

This is a favorite - all the mothers with Evie and Nora at church today. This is the famous stained-glass window we always take photos in front of, dating back to my parents' wedding and my baptism. It has history! After church, we came back to our house for a BBQ and then a very long nap! Thank you for sleeping girls - and at the same time no less! What a gift!

OK, this is too funny - me holding both girls after church, them trying to hug/strangle each other. They really do love each other, I promise!!

Saturday night, after our trip to the Plaza, we had dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant Accurso's. I love this one of the two Evelyns - Evie and her Yiayia. These two are joined at the hip!

And to kick off the weekend, we visited our friends Chris, Lynn and Ellie at their new house (welcome to the burbs!) While the guys painted, the little girls shared pizza and even a chair! Aren't they adorable?! Meanwhile, Nora was destroying their kitchen island, spilling coffee, playing with power tools, etc., etc. Sorry guys!

"Evie's Friend Natalie"

In Evie's world, there are "Mommy's friends" and "Evie's friends." Today was an "Evie's friend" day with the visit of Miss Natalie! We had such a fun, sun-filled morning and afternoon, blowing bubbles, playing on the swing set and even swimming/splashing in the baby pool. Lovely how Natalie's hair remained perfectly styled during pool time while Evie's was plastered to her head after repeat self-dousings! Seriously, my girls are little fishies! Thanks for the great play date Natalie and Kristine - looking forward to Friday!
 

Girls Trip to Denver!

I've never run a marathon before, but surely it's similar to the sense of accomplishment I felt after two successful SOLO flights with the girls! OK, runners out there are shaking their heads at me, but seriously, I wanted to channel Evie today and say: "I did it! I did it!" The girls and I (just me, no Mark) flew to Denver this week to visit our good friends Becky and Ella Herb, - without any major meltdowns or diaper drama - on the flights at least! Here are the girls at the KC airport, very excited to see the planes and "Evie's friend Ella."

Fortunately, Evie was feeling gracious and said Ella could be Nora's friend too.

Our trip was so wonderful - plenty of timeouts for Evie and Ella (Evie mostly!), but Becky and I managed to laugh through it all. Lucky me was able to drink a glass of wine at the end of each long day as well. But, all things considered (3 girls 2 and under sharing the same space for 3 nights) - we all survived and had a great time in the process! Evie and Ella now have a love-hate relationship I'm sure will continue all through life, especially if Evie continues to be so loud and naughty and Ella continues to be such a goody-goody! Just kidding, Becks, Ella is the most polite, well-behaved toddler I have ever met! Maybe Evie learned a thing or two??! Wishful thinking!

One of our favorite memories from the weekend was the first night when we thought it would be so fun to have the older girls share a room for the night. We were laughing so hard we were crying listening to them singing and talking - and Ella telling Evie to be quiet, lay down and go night, night. It was hilarious! Until 6:00 a.m. when Evie woke Ella up and they woke the rest of us up.

Here are the two buddies hugging (Evie is such an intense hugger!)

Thank you Becky, Ella and Mark (sorry if Ella learned some new bad habits!) We had such a lovely time - thanks for putting up with the Cowie girls!!

Happy Birthday Ellie!

Today, Evie and Nora helped their good friend Ellie celebrate her 2nd birthday with pizza, Dora and balloons! Here are a few pictures from the big day, including the most adorable of all - Evie and Ellie hugging at the end of the party! So sweet!