Is It Friday Yet!?

...that's what this face seems to be saying :)

Haha found this photo today and just had to post it.  Hope your Thursday (and Friday!) are smile-worthy!

At 21 Months...

...our Elise is a little stinker.  But the cutest, most joyful and fun little stinker we know.

I just wanted to get some of the random things she's doing out there for memory's sake (I've been known to have a pretty rotten memory and that's one of the reasons I blog so as to hopefully not forget quality life moments :)

*She's a solid sleeper this one...which is a blessing seeing as how she was a lousy nap-taker as a baby.  Glad she's gotten that straightened out ;)  She takes one two-hour (sometimes longer) nap starting right after lunchtime. 

*Girl repeats ever-y-thing.  And I love it.  It's pretty hilarious. She's also learned how to say how old she is, her name, and she can sing most of the ABC's, as well as count (though she needs some help with the counting).

Waiting on the water...she is obsessed with water.

 *Potty training has been an adventure, but I feel like she was pretty ready, so that has made it easier.  I guess we've taken the slower, process-based approach as opposed to the three day approach, but it's working for us.  She knows where to do both 1 and 2 and will usually go straight there to do so now.  However, if she's into an activity or watching a video, etc., she's much more reluctant to stop it and go to the potty.  So, we do still have some accidents.  When we go out I'm getting braver at taking extra pants and just leaving her in undies, and she's been doing well with it.  We're getting there!

*This little lady is becoming a great big sis.  She loves giving her kisses and wants to hold her more now.  She does have moments of jealousy still, but overall she's great at loving on her "Nory."

*There's not much E won't eat.  She's a pretty great eater, usually.  She doesn't love veggies, though she seems to be open to trying them (she downed cucumber today and will gladly eat carrots if there's dip around, haha).  She loves all fruits, of course, and will generally eat most of what we put in front of her...as long as she's not tired or cranky, as a rule of thumb.

*Music is her jam!  She will stop anytime she hears music (generally when we're outside...which she also loves) and break out a jig.  I love love it when she does!

*Two activities that she's in to currently:  jumping on the bed and playing mommy to her babies.  I think she would jump on the bed all day long if we let her.  And she loves nursing her babies (hehe), burping them, kissing them, and putting them to sleep.  Sweet girl.

*She seems to like art a good bit and I'm totally down with that.  She's tried crayons, markers, stickers, finger paints, real paints, water colors, stencils, and play doh.  At this point none of them really hold her attention for too long, but she'll ask to do them rather frequently.  Can't wait to see her creativity develop (whether in art or not!).

Oh, Eebs, we love you :)

A Weekend Away

This past weekend we packed up the car again and headed about two hours away to hang out with our friends the Ban's.  They graciously invited us to spend some time with them at their chata (mountain cabin that many Slovaks have to enjoy during the warm months particularly).

Let me just make a note here that traveling with a baby and a toddler is no easy feat.  We're talking gear upon gear upon gear we need for those two when hitting the roads.  I think we must over-think it...and I still forgot stuff (namely Elise's underwear...inconvenient!).  Oh well.  Ya live, ya learn how to travel with babies.

Over the weekend we chatted, mowed the lawn (well, Jas did...which he loved!), took care of the babies (they have a sweet 6 month old), grilled out, celebrated Father's Day with candy and a card, played games, ate ice cream, took a mini hike, and just enjoyed time together.  It was quite nice...but I'm sure you'd rather just see pictures, huh?

Here ya go...

Meet Debi.  Yeah, she's seriously cute.

 Father's Day pic with the babes.

 Elise picked these and I loved how the sun was shining on them.  Photo op!

A new favorite pic of these two.

You ask the girl to give you a model pose, and this is what she does :)

Buddies!

With our little N.  I think it looks like she's smiling here.

And here it looks like N is a little terrified of Debi ;)  These two are just a few months apart...cuteness (and I'm still laughing about N's face).

Thanks, Ban's, for a fun weekend!  Let's do it again...here's hoping next time we won't forget anything! :)

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!)