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!

The Most Perfect Lunch Ever!

Happy Easter!

For the first time in a long time, Greek Easter was on the same day as American Easter so the girls and I were torn between two families ... We ended up spending the weekend in St. Louis with the Cowies and, although we missed our Greeks, we had a wonderful time with the Cowie cousins - including our newest addition, Mr. Mason, with a headful of dark hair and already a way with the ladies - check out Nora pulling up to get a closer look!

We spent Saturday afternoon hunting for Easter eggs at a beautiful park in Des Peres and enjoying delicious crepes with Grandma Easter morning in Clayton. Seriously, Evie is smiling in this picture! We have to work on proper smiling for pictures before Aunt Melina's wedding!

It was a gorgeous weekend, and we had so much fun! You can tell by Nora's "snort!"

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!