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!

Bless you

Surrounded by family, friends and her new godparents Melina and Matthew, Nora was baptized at the Annunciation Greek Church this past weekend. Here she is in her baptismal dress - made from my wedding gown and worn first by Miss Evie. A family friend, Helen Litsis, embroidered Evie's name and baptism date on one of the ruffles and will do the same for Nora. So special!

Here's Nora with her proud godparents - Meena and Matchu as Evie calls them - in front of the same stained glass window that's served as a backdrop for my parents' wedding photos, my baptism photos, Mark and my wedding photos, Evie's baptism photos and on and on ... Let's just say it has definite history (and wonderful memories) for our family!

I love this picture of Evie and Nora at the church. You can tell Nora already worships her big sister, who was quite the ham at the baptism and later at our house, where we hosted a luncheon - with more than 40 guests! Evie's new phrase of the weekend - "Bless you."

A few more pictures from the weekend - Nora with her Yiayia at the luncheon (I just love this outfit!!), smiling with her friend Reece at the church and the Cowie family the day after the baptism at church for part 1 of a 3-week blessing where Nora wears her dress, we all take communion, etc.

A typical Tuesday

This is what happens when Mark works late and I'm home with the girls all day - and then in charge of dinner! Everyone is barely dressed and we end up eating mac and cheese! Whatever works, right?!

So let's start with pictures of sweet Nora and move on to Evie and her new "pouty" face!

Isn't Nora just adorable - her eyelashes are so long, her eyes so blue and, boy, is she teething! Chewing on everything and getting so frustrated - we're hoping a tooth cuts through soon!

Until then, guess she'll just keep drooling (spitting up) and smiling too!

OK, so now here's the attitude queen! Miss Evie with her new pout - which she delivers on demand! Amazing how early they learn to manipulate! She was really getting into posing with a pout tonight! What will she do next?! I guess that's the fun of it!

A new niece or nephew!

No, no Melina isn't preggers! Hello, the wedding isn't until May! Mark's sister Mary is though - can't you tell from the picture?! She's due February 18, and we all can't wait to see if she has a boy or a girl! Here we are at her baby shower last weekend in St. Louis. The hostesses! Congratulations Mary and Matt - you're going to be incredible parents!

Kicking off the New Year

With all the cold weather and snow, we've had weeks of lazing around the house, in our pajamas, coloring in our new playroom, watching TV with our babies (yes, they do everything with us now, even eat!), etc. It's been great!

Check out Evie and Nora in our bed, all cuddly under the covers first thing in the morning. OK, it was probably 8:30 but we girls like our sleep!!


And here's Nora and Reece during one of our playdates. Of course, Nora has some kind of liquid all down her dress - will that girl ever stop spitting up and drooling?!


I love this shot of Evie saying "cheese" for the camera and showing off her lovely hairdo. Yes, she is quite the girly girl - "ties" and "gloss" are absolute favorites. A few other new Evie achievements:

- She's now saying a few phrases - "I'm going to get you" - "I'm going to read" - "We did it. Yah!"
- She's learning all her colors and points to everything and identifies the right color - most of the time.
- She learned how to pout - with a full lower lip and whimper.
- And, most importantly, she seems to have stopped hitting her friends!! Hooray! We've had three playdates, two days of school and one music class without any violence. I hope we're on a winning streak!


Obviously, all our lazy days must come to an end - so today we started music class! Evie was right in the middle of everything - showing everyone how to twirl and sing - why does she stick her tongue out when she says "la, la, la?!"


While Evie showed off her singing skills - while smiling at herself in the floor to ceiling mirrors of course - Nora was content to chew/drool on every instrument in sight, and Mommy was sweating all over the place trying to keep up with both girls in addition to galloping around the room. When was the last time anyone galloped? It took me a while to catch on! Anyways, we'll be heading to music class every Friday morning through May now - thank you Yiayia and Papou. We hope to make you proud!

Evie and Nora's Christmas Surprise

For Christmas this year, we decided to get creative - and join forces with our parents - to give the girls a really wonderful gift - a new playroom! My parents bought the girls a play table and chairs. Grandma Loretta gave them an easel, and Mark and I did the manual labor. We painted an entire wall with chalkboard paint, hung their art projects from a red and white polka dot ribbon and even repainted and recovered a child-size rocking chair someone gave us. Isn't it cute?! All the hard work - and generosity of their grandparents - certainly paid off! The girls love their new playroom!

Even Nora can sit at the table, and today - for the first time ever - Evie shared with her little sister! Now Nora didn't actually need or want the marker cap, but still ... baby steps!! Anyways, we're really excited about their new room and have plans for cute curtains next (Great Yiayia, hope you're up for some sewing!) Thank you to everyone who pitched in to give the girls a truly lovely Christmas - and a gift they will use for years to come!