Ah, Motherhood...

I love this little girl...

And I love this little girl...

But this is really more like it...

That's better.

Ah, motherhood :)

Road Trippin'

This past weekend we took a road trip out east to visit our dear friends, the Holloway's.

A road trip in which we passed castles the likes of this one...

Which just so happens to be (so I hear) the third largest castle ruins in Central Europe.  Pretty cool, huh?

And what should've been a five hour trip definitely took six hours plus some with a nursing baby and an active toddler.  So we made a stop at one of the only kid-friendly, quick stops on Slovakian roads, McD's, baby.

(phone photo...we still haven't joined the ranks of the iphone holders, thus the lesser quality pic :)

However, we did finally make it and enjoyed a lovely three days in Presov.  We went to DEPO (local youth community hangout), ate some delicious food (I think I gained at least a pound!), visited a local market where Elise fell into a fountain (or perhaps was pushed...it's still up for debate ;), and went to their local church.  Of course we also hit up the park...

...and while we were there we made sure to get a group shot.  First, a serious one, then a funny one :)

Elise and Nora didn't really get the funny face memo, though.  And I think I'm the only one who really bought into the whole funny face thing ha (crazy eyes, much?).  Let me just add, I'm surprised I was even able to smile in between all the sneezing I was doing...allergies were RIDICULOUS for me that day.  Whew.

And I'm adding this picture of these two hanging out at their house because I just love it.

All in all, it was big fun and we were so glad to be able to spend some time with these two!

But all big fun has to come to an end sometime (or does it?), and we made our way back to the Blava (aka Bratislava).  Only this time instead of having sleeping babies we had major blow outs and even a massive throw up episode...poor lil E! :(

But we made it home.  See you next time, Presov (and Holloways)!

Nora: Two Months!

Our little tiny turns two months old today!

I was telling someone today how it feels like a millennium when they're in your body, but it feels like time FLIES when they're out.  Crazy.

A few quick facts on our Nora girl...

1)  No idea how much this lil lady weighs, but she is in mostly all 3 month clothes (and how cute is that onesie she's wearing!?)

2)  The biggest changes we've noticed this month is that she's holding her head up a lot better and she's giving out the smiles!  Love it when they start smiling :)

3)  She's still eating well and I'm pretty sure she just went through a growth spurt.

4)  As far as sleeping goes, she's doing wonderfully at night (for which I'm incredibly thankful or I probably wouldn't have near enough energy to get up with a toddler and a baby).  Usually she sleeps from about 10:30 pm until around 4 or 5 am.  I'll take it.

5)  She's cute, she's cute, she's cute.  And that's just a matter of fact ;)

Of course her big sis wanted in on the photo shoot (read:  wanted to be the center of attention...she's having to learn to share now).

(side note: I'm in love with a pony tail, or pig tails, on a baby girl...it's too much cute)

Love love those two.  They stretch me and they make my heart want to jump with joy all at the same time.  Such a journey.

Happy two months, sweet N!

These Little Messes

This morning started out with a bang.  And by that I mean by 6:30 am I had encountered four different types of bodily fluids.  And yes, that is possible (and I don't mean my own).  Ok, ew, gross.  Just saying, this morning was, well, challenging.

Two little girls with very stuffy noses.  One couldn't sleep at night because of it and also had trouble nursing due to it being hard to breath.  The other little one is just learning to blow her own nose and use the potty...yep, that should explain some of it ;)

So, all in all, Jas and I were up early and faced with lots of fun.  ha!

But then things settled down and we got into the routine of the morning and I had a brief moment to upload some recent pictures.

And as I was looking back through them I realized that crazy moments will come and go, but these little chillin's of ours won't be young forever.  Time just does its thing, ya know?

And I had a renewed sense of thankfulness in my heart.  Even though I had been covered in spit-up, snot, and the like.  Nothing deep or profound, just simple thankfulness in realizing that this mom thing isn't glamorous, but it's worth it.

Babies have the most perfect lips, wouldn't you agree?

This little one really likes perching there :)

Big smile.  Love it.

Alright, I'm totally jealous of her amazing lashes (but OH so glad she got 'em from her dad!)

Girls' Room Redo

This is the post of a long overdue update on the girls' room.

When we first moved in, I really was bummed that the walls were all white.  And now, slowly, I've grown to love the fact that everything is white and I can add pops of color wherever I want.  I'm a white convert! (though I still prefer a good colored wall :)

Elise's big girl bed (which she is not yet in and still won't be for a little bit longer) also doubles as our guest bed.  So far that is working out great!  Nora will be moved in to the crib and E will eventually be in her bed and this will be their shared room.

I'm in love with that map that was gifted to me (thanks, Steph!) and obviously I went a little crazy with the washi tape :)  It probably doesn't look like it, but there is enough room to open the drawers on Nora's dresser.  This room is spacious enough, though awkwardly shaped, so we had to get creative with the room layout.

Speaking of washi tape, I made this (super easy) little banner to hang above their handprints and footprints from when they were both a week old.  Nora's are on the left and Elise's on the right.

I also found these prints at IKEA and I'm in love with them.  Colorful, fun, and cute...nothing better.

These shelves are filled up with various baby items, books, toys, etc.  (Can you tell that this room is about 95% IKEA...if only there were good thrift stores around here...there are practically none!)

Next up, Nora's crib, which once was Elise's (still currently is)...

Obviously we have a few stuffed animals :)

Then there's Elise's future big girl bed/guest bed.  I was quite excited to find a colorful polka dotted duvet for her bed.  The pillows were made by my talented mama.

So, there you have it...our colorful big girl/little girl/guest room.  I kinda love it :)

Catching Up With Some Videos

Lately I've been thinking there are two things I'd like to do more of with the girls...
1) Take more video.  We've really slacked off on this (or rather, never been great at it in the first place)
and
2) Get in more pictures with the girls.  A lot of times we just take pics OF them, but we need to be IN them too!  So Operation Get In The Picture has commenced :)

Below is some fun, random footage of Elise being her little cute self (and a clip of Nora too!).  Nothing special, per say, just plain and simple toddler cuteness.



A few fun notes on the video above:
- The girl LOVES Mother Goose Club videos these days and can sing along with many of them.
- At the end of this one she says a few words/phrases we love to hear her say (Geraldine is from the book 'Geraldine's Blanket', "awfus"/awesome is my most favorite thing she says, and "dobry den" means good day in Slovak)



A few notes on the video above:
- She was totally NOT in to saying any words for me...haha
- Notice the hair.  Just notice the hair.
- There's a lot of tiny tushie footage at the beginning of this one ;)



A few notes on the video above:
- She's a little obsessed with the WASH (the spider out) part...hahaha.
- I have a ridiculously crazy cackle when I laugh.  Oh gee.

And with that we'll be taking more video because she makes us laugh and all too soon her baby sister will be making us laugh too!

Just Missing My Grandma

My mama has been in town now for the past week or so and today we snapped a few three generation pics.

(Please note Nora's face...the hilariousness!  And having E eat a snack is probably the best way to keep her toddler self semi focused for a mini photo shoot...)

There's a chance I may be a little biased (I mean, I am their mama ;) but those are two seriously cute little girls.  Tee hee.

We're just missing my grandmother...if she were here it'd be a four generation pic!  But I'm hoping and praying we can make that happen in the future...love and miss her.

(In other news, isn't that a fun and colorful bedspread!?  Thank you, IKEA.  Girls' room update coming soon...I know the suspense is killer ;)