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 ;)

Some Post-Baby Thoughts

I thought for posterity's sake I would write out a few of my most recent post-baby thoughts.  Maybe if for nothing else I can remember it for the future...or just to have it written down to remember how I was feeling during these days.

Whatever it is, here goes...

- Having a baby the second time around somehow feels easier.  I had heard this was true, but I'm realizing that I don't seem to worry about every little thing like I did the first time.  I'm super thankful for this (though admittedly I'm still a worry-wart, I'll call it like it is).

- That whole thing about losing weight gets harder with the more babies you have...yeah, it's true (at least for me).  It's ok, though, it's just ok.

- I still don't love getting up in the middle of the night (really, who does?), but I am trying hard to soak up every moment with the babe as I remember just how quickly it goes...

- I've learned so much about grace.  Serious God-given grace.  I'm reminded daily that I'm a sinner who fails and lo and behold, our children copy, glean, and learn things they see in us (Elise is my little mirror these days!).  That's scary.  Really scary.  But thankfully, there's hope for me and for them.  Gosh, I need that hope.  So do they.

- I can't do it on my own.  I'm thankful for my hubs who is truly a great dad, and for friends and family who are willing to travel cross-country to help, or send an encouraging email to give words of affirmation, or tell you that you look pretty even when they've seen you wear your hair in a braid for the millionth time :)

- Speaking of hair, I'm not kidding, today was the first day I "fixed" my hair in well over a month...and that's because my mama's in town.  Haha!  It's no joke the whole "you don't have time to yourself" thing post-baby...especially no time to worry about stinkin' fixing your hair :)  Oh well.  Braids will just have to do!

- Finally, I've realized I'm selfish.  I want an hour to just go sit and read a book.  Or I want an hour to just take a long shower and shave my legs (yep, I said it).  Or I want an hour to just SLEEP!  I'm selfish.  My girls will be selfish.  But I hope and pray they will see more than my selfishness in me and know that I'll take the sleeplessness and the unread books because they're worth it.

And I don't normally post pics of just me on here (for some reason it feels strange to me)...but it just seems right with this post :)

Photo credit: hubs.  Hair credit:  two totally awesome babes :)

Signing out,
This mama who has SO much more to learn.

How She Does It

I don't know how it's done at your house, but around here this is how we eat our croissants...

And by "we" I really mean "E" :)

Nora: One Month

Has it seriously already been a month since little bitty was born?!

I guess I'm trying to be in denial, but it's true...Nora is a month old today.

Somehow taking her picture today wasn't among her ideas of fun...thus the pouty face ;)

A few fun facts:

At her last check-up she weighed in at 9 pounds 2 ounces (4150 grams).

This girl reaaaaally likes to eat, or maybe just be near Mama.  Particularly in the evenings (her fussy time).

She's the cuddliest little thing to nap with.  Love it.

Generally speaking she's been going down around 10 pm and sleeping until somewhere around 3 am.  Then she's ready for a diaper change and some milk which is followed by more sleep until around 8 am.  She stays awake a large part of the morning and naps again from early afternoon to early evening. Repeat (each day varies, of course, but this is kind of what her little body's rhythm seems to be doing as of now, and I'm ok with that)

She's mostly wearing size 3 month clothing already...goodness.

And she's a little doll (Elise literally thinks she is a doll, tee hee :)

She's quite loved around here.

And while Nora wasn't really up for an individual shot, she did decide it was ok to have her pic taken with her Big Sis...

I do believe that one will be one of my favorites for some time to come.  How do they already have the same facial expression?  Love those little messes.  Happy one month, sweet N!

Easy Toddler Fun

We've had a large storage container hanging out in our room for some time now (we originally bought it thinking it would fit under our bed...buuuuttt we were wrong).  So I got to thinking that it would be fun to fill up with water and lots of toys and let our big girl splash around in it.

So we waited for a warm day and yesterday was it!  Our balcony gets plenty of sun, so post-nap we got everything together and let her go at it.

She LOVED it!  Summer is going to be so fun because this girl really digs water.  Excited.

Foam letters, plastic eggs and random containers are what we chose to put in our tub...but you could really add anything to this, even perhaps add food coloring to the water and/or bubbles to make it more fun.  We will definitely do this again this summer...and hopefully next time in a bathing suit!

E played in it for a good hour and was still playing with it when Daddy got home.  Of course, we had to snap some pics.

Doesn't she look so grown up in that one above?  Slow. Down. Time.

Cuties.  (Minutes later she plopped down in the water, ha)

We did eventually bring it inside at one point (and put it on an extra shower curtain liner) because we have wasp issues outside currently and the heat was intense (note to self: invest in children's sunscreen and SOON)

So there ya go...this water play fun was definitely a keeper of an activity :)

The Randoms of Lately

Life around here lately has been lots of diaper changing, making sure little mouths get fed, and trying to get little eyes to sleep...admittedly there's been whining (mama included), crying, and sleeplessness, but we've also had some fun/cute/happy moments happening too...Here's a "catch-up" post of some of that sweet randomness :)

Slovak Labor day was the perfect day for us to pack up a picnic (along with the rest of Bratislava) and head to a local park.  It was an absolutely glorious day (minus allergens, but hey, I'll take the sun anytime even if it comes with crazy pollen).  Daddy and E played ball and N napped on the blanket with Mama...

We also snapped these cute pics which I really love because it shows just how difficult it is to get a pic with this chick these days...

This little cutie seems to be coming out of her all day/every day slumber stage and joining us with more open eyes and awake time...

(that's her favorite way to sleep...hands up, getting her praise on ;)

Then there was this moment the other day that had me cracking up.

Homegirl likes to hang out with Mama when I'm doing makeup, but I didn't realize I had left that pink lipstick within her reach.  As you can tell, she thoroughly enjoyed painting up her face, but didn't enjoy me trying to capture it.  Haha!

Last, but not least, some friends were over the other day and we asked them to snap a new family pic for us since the only one we have is from the hospital.

That's the best we got...E was completely not in the photo taking mood and just wanted to go out and play. Ha!  Love, love them...whiny moments, sleeplessness and all :)

Before Nora Joined Us...

I think I am finally finishing up going through the folders of photos on my desktop.  Aren't you glad? ;)

These were taken just a few days before Nora joined us...when she was still happy chillin' out in 'da belly.

First up, our "model pose."  Jas taught E this and she does it whenever asked to show us her model pose.  I love it.

This girl is a true character, I tell ya...

And then one with Daddy and Mommy...

Sure do love these pictures, but I also sure am glad Nora's here now! :)