Life With Our Little Ladies

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

When Winter Won't Go Away...

...pretend it's summer.

That's where we've been for the last two days....pretending it's summer at the Six Flags Great Escape Lodge and Indoor Water Park. As I was brainstorming something fun and special to do for Joe's birthday this year, I decided to do a overnight mini family vacation. After the winter we've had, the trip was timely and refreshing. It's almost spring, but still feels like the middle of winter here. It may have been "pretend" warm weather, but two days spent in bathing suits and playing in water was just what we needed to hold us over until spring breaks through in a few weeks.

Our girls were squealing with excitement as we packed up our car and got ready to go.

After an afternoon of swimming, they took a quick rest before we headed to dinner.

To top it all off, without any coordinating, we ended up taking our trip at the same time as some of our good friends. It was an added joy to be able to hang out with them and celebrate their daughter's 8th birthday with them at a beach themed cupcake party!

Matthew, Mason, Maddy, Ella and Abby

The Uhl Family

Ella rocking the shades

my loves.

Ella and Mason

The trip wouldn't be complete without a handheld family photo shoot.

funny faces

Hard to believe we've already been together for more than seven years (celebrating seven years married in May)

smoosh

The party animal ready to call it a night...

Day 2: Ready for round 2 waiting for the park to open. Ella loved the slides and wanted to do them over and over again. Abby loved the big raft slide through a dark tunnel and took turns riding it with Mommy and Daddy. Both girls LOVED the lazy river. At one point, I think we went around five times before taking a break. If only I could have taken a picture of Ella's face while she was floating along on her back in the river. Her face was priceless. Her joyful smile and squealing were contagious.

hanging out with Miss Angela

Yay for a fun family vacation! Now, these water bugs are ready for warm weather and summer swimming!

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

An Afternoon at the Ballet

After a great morning at church on Sunday, we all settled in for afternoon naps. Are these two the perfect pair or what?

After we all rested up, Nagymama, Abby and I got ready for an afternoon at the ballet. We went to see the Cinderella ballet downtown at The Egg . It was exciting for Abby, not only because she loves dance and knows the story of Cinderella, but because this spring she will dance in her very first ballet recital at The Egg.

Ella didn't come with us, but she couldn't resist a photo op.

scarf twins

Abby enjoyed the show, but wished there was dialogue. It was cute to watch her absorb and process the abstract parts of the story portrayed through dance. She just couldn't understand why the clock had legs! There is also a big difference between the Cinderella fairy tale and the Disney version, so I was glad to expose Abby to another version in real life. When the prince appeared, I pointed him out to her.
M: There's the prince.
A: Mommy, that's not the prince. That's the CHARMING prince!

And just in case you were wondering what this little lady did while we were away....

an afternoon date with Daddy complete with a cookie and hot chocolate. Total happiness!

Snapshots and Quotables

morning at the library

waiting for Daddy to come home

at the mall doing some shopping

Buffy is the most gentle dog (even while eating), which is why Ella sits right down next to her and encourages Buffy while she eats. "Mum (come) Buff. Eat. More! More! Yay! *claps*"

Ella's new thing is having tea with Nagymama every day. Not apple juice in a tea cup, but real tea. She drinks the whole cup. For the last few mornings, she has refused her breakfast and planted herself on the steps until Nagymama came up for the morning. Then, when her Raspberry Zinger tea was ready, she ate. She could teach her momma a thing or two about enjoying hot tea!

These girls are wild after bath time!

loving their days with Joseph

having lots of fun before dinner

I couldn't create these moments if I tried. They always want to be snuggling Nagymama. Ella woke up from her nap and crawled into Mama's arms. We sat to take a break at the mall and Abby wanted to be in Mama's lap. Priceless moments that fill my heart to the brim!

game night

Abby: Mommy, look there is an Olympkicks car!

M: Oh, cool. Do you see a bumper sticker on a car?

A: Yeah. Yeah.

A week later, we pull up to a red light behind an Audi.

Abby: Mommy, look! It's the Olympkicks car I was telling you about. I can't figure it out though. Why is it missing a ring and why aren't they different colors?

(Can I just note how much I love how Abby pronounces Olympics...Olympkicks?)

Monday, March 10, 2014

Ella: 20 months

Our baby is 20 months old today!

Bells- You are talking so clearly and with lots of new words. You're making us laugh more than ever and throwing tantrums as a side job. You are the biggest love, hugging and kissing everyone you can. Snuggling is your love language. When you nuzzle in, you search for skin to skin contact right away. If I'm wearing a scarf, you lift it up to find my neck and tuck your hands into my shirt. It is precious!

You love having a four legged best friend following you around everywhere. It could be because she loves you or because you are Buffy's most faithful "snack" provider. I reminded you once again today NOT to give Buffy another piece of your lunch. Your response (complete with extended figure) was, "No! One more! One more!"

We turned your car seat around, which seems to elevate you to big girl status in a new way!

You still love to go "BYE" and insist someone takes you somewhere at least once a day.

We looked in on you while you slept the other night. You are growing so fast.

Your eye teeth are starting to poke through which means we've had some rough nights of sleep. In the moment, those nights are painful (literally for you and generally for me), but it's so sweet to wake up next to this face.

Love you Belly B. Can't believe there is only four more months until you turn 2!

Unexpected Blessings

At the beginning of February, we lost someone very special to our family. Laci Bacsi was like an adopted great grandfather to our girls. We will miss seeing him on our trips to Florida. In the wake of the events, Nagymama decided to come to New York for a month to spend time with all of us as she works through the loss. Despite the sad circumstances that led to Mama's early visit, having her here has been the greatest blessing to all of us. So much so that it's hard to imagine her heading back to Florida in just a couple of weeks. We are all enjoying having her and Buffy (her sweet Miniature Schnauzer), as a part of our normal everyday life.

She's here! She's here!

It took Buffy a little while, but she is slowly adjusting to this brutally long winter in NY. Sweet Florida pup needs to be warmed up after her walks, but I'm pretty sure she secretly loves the snow.

Can you stand the cuteness?

Mama finally did it. She became the owner of an iPad. We have been telling her for a couple of years that she would enjoy it and be able to use it much more than her computer. This was her face when we walked out of the Apple store. One week later, she is checking Facebook, writing emails (complete with her installed Hungarian keyboard), Facetiming and watching movies her iPad like it is no big deal!

watching Wheel of Fortune before bed

story time

Nagymama introduced the girls to Shirley Temple!

best buds

This was just the beginning...more pictures to come soon! In the meantime, We're soaking up every minute of these blessings!

Footie PJs and Grandma

Two weeks ago, Joe had to take a trip to Arkansas for ministry training. Five days without daddy was a long time for us, but we loved having Grandma here for the week while he was away. We embraced our girlie time together! We played, painted nails, had lunch at the mall and watched movies. I loved staying up late and chatting with my mom. It was a total blessing to be able to go out and run errands mid week while the girls spent time with grandma. To top it all off, my mom helped me start spring cleaning my whole house! Thanks Mom! We love you!