Sleepover

The excitement EJ had about the prospect of Elliott
sleeping over in her room was beyond adorable.
What could go wrong?

EJ's favorite show these days is Doc McStuffins (super cute about a little girl who is a doctor for all her toys) and they recently had an episode about Doc going to a sleepover. So of course EJ has been all about having her own sleepover, and at the top of her list for such a momentous event were the Rossi boys.  So last Saturday Amy, James, and their boys came over!

These two are such trouble and just so stinking
cute together. 

Elliott and EJ play so incredibly well together, they are like brother and sister and totally crack us up (and wear each other out).  It was so much fun to have the whole family over, the kids played all afternoon and then after they went to sleep, the adults had game night!  Total success and can't wait to do it again soon!

Nora and Andrew becoming fast friends.

SPRING! We are ready for you!

Give us the slightest reason to be outside and we will take it.

This winter has been brutal. Seriously, Spring.....we are more than ready for you. Any excuse we have we are trying to get outside, but it is so hard with the rain, the snow, the wind, the freezing temps....uhg. 

It was like 55* here, but sunny....so out we went
to ride bikes.

SO ready for these beautiful days to be the norm again....and we are SO CLOSE!

It was overcast here but almost 70*....I'll take it!

Getting out of town

Charleston Food & Wine Festival!

Omar had to go to Germany for a week for work, so I took the opportunity to take the girls over to Charleston for a long weekend.  We spent two nights having a "sleepover" with the Tufts and then three nights with Pop-E and Mama-J.  As a bonus, Omar was able to change his flight to fly home via Charleston, so he joined us for the second half of the trip! As an even bigger bonus, Mama-J and Pop-E offered to watch the girls so we could go out to dinner downtown Saturday night and to the Charleston Food & Wine Festival on Sunday. HUGE thanks to them for that, particularly since the week leading up to it was one of the most stressful in recent memory.

Pop-E with his girls

The weather over the weekend was fantastic so we spent it all outside, visiting several local parks and going on a nice long walk which included a stop at a toy store for EJ - she was thrilled. 

Taking the babies out for a walk!
(Note: EJ's "baby" is her lamby)

Beautiful day at the park!

Daddy's shoulders are the best!

Silliness with Mama-J

Paddle-boat ride!

As usual EJ, Brayden, and Peyton were like three peas in a pod and had an absolute blast together. They are so similar and play really well together, so it was a ton of fun. Plus there isn't much better than catching up with my oldest and dearest friend 

Nora gets to know Aunt Kristen and BFF Peyton

Three tiny troublemakers.

The three of them spent a lot of time filling Peyton's crob with EVERY.SINGLE.STUFFED ANIMAL in the house, then hiding under it all. So cute.

It was a wonderful weekend and a nice end to an otherwise very stressful week!

Nora P's 6 month stats

Clearly she didn't realize she was getting shots.

Finally made it to the doctor for Nora's 6 month checkup!  Here are her official stats:

16lb 8oz

26.75" long

17.87" head circumference

Her growth has evened out a bit, in that when she was born she was in the 99th% for each category, but now she is in the 51st% for weight and 76th% for height. Her head is still off the charts, but that is just to accommodate her huge brains.  =)

Never would have guessed this kid had a double ear infection.
Good thing we had a checkup!

Nora P - 6 months old! (sneak peak)

We have managed to get way behind on our doctor appointments where we get all our measurements, so I wanted to go ahead and do a 6 month "sneak peak" to hold you over until we get her actual stats next week. Because I know you are all on the edge of your seats to see this adorable face again.  =)

I did an unofficial photoshoot with Miss Nora P on her 6 month birthday with my new camera lens which I am LOVING! Check out that bokeh! 

Hope this tides you over until next week when we get her official stats from the doctor. 

Until then, Nora wishes you well!

Snowmageddon 2014

Remember how we live in Atlanta?  And remember how that is the capital of the South? And remember how that means that it ISN'T SUPPOSED TO GET REALLY COLD???? Yeah. Well. Apparently the weather gods decided it would be great fun to throw that one back in our face this winter and actually - GASP - send us a real winter. Not cool, Mother Nature. Not cool. 

Nora was not quite as excite about the snow as EJ

So, I won't regale you with the dramatic tales of how Omar almost didn't make it home or they way the city was completely shut down or how we lost power or how BOTH STORMS CAME THROUGH ADJACENT TO SCHOOL HOLIDAYS or any of that nonsense. I'm sure you've seen the entire Daily Show episode devoted to our plight. 

Instead I will share pictures from my girls (mostly just EJ) loving the special treat of having real, live, actual SNOW in Atlanta. And not just once, but twice in two weeks. I won't lie, even though I was at a bit of a loss as to how to entertain a very active 3 year old for even one more hour after having her out of school for almost 3 weeks prior, it was fun to get to build snowmen, go sledding, and make snow cream with her. 

The making of Snowman #1:

Me and my adorable Snow-baby

Ever heard of snowcream? It's like icecream, made with snow. Pretty basic, not as good as real ice-cream, but still a fun "craft" to do with the Tiny Tornado.  Super easy with only 4 ingredients!

We made Snowcream!

 The making of Snowman #2:

You know who else LOOOOOVES the snow? Miss Beyla.   =)

EJ was happy to stay out playing in the snow much longer than we were.  I guess those $1 bin Target mittens really worked well.  

This is her ROOAAAR face

 

And of course, no snow day in Atlanta would be complete without some redneck sledding.   =)

Overall we had a blast!  Although, I don't know if I would want to make this a yearly occurrence.  ;)