meet your baby brother

Today Eliana and Maia got to meet their brother for the first time.  It was super special and Eliana loved sitting with mom and doting over him while Maia just pointed at him and said "baby" about 500 times during the hour they were there.

 Notice Maia working the hand cleaner in the background.

 This was one of my favorite moments as our little team player Maia put her hand up to Alex's hand and said "hi fi"

Her "work" hat

She came home from church with her latest craft: bunny ears.  

Yeah, not sure what the lesson was about.  

Every time I tried asking for details she would tell me, "We ate candy and played."

Oh well. She had fun.

So, now when she gets serious about coloring or doing "homework,"

she puts on her bunny ears hat.  

This shot was taken last summer on a day we took the kids down to Tivoli Park for a picnic.

Eliana's favorite part - hands down - was getting to longboard with Daddy.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. . .

 I found her like this playing with a package.

And then she squealed with delight,

"Mommy I'm skateboarding!"

Her Daddy was so proud!

Easter outfits

My sister sent us a package a while back - I think it was for Eliana's birthday in February.  

She included a couple of outfits so adorable I knew I had to save them for Easter.

Oh how I love these little girls!

Maia

She loves to pile on the necklaces, and she takes good care of her baby.  I love this photo of Maia!

Funny Faces

First check out this post from our other blog.  In it I describe how Eliana has been going through a phase of trying to figure out what is "funny."  So, Matt taught here a few funny faces that will be sure to get a laugh.  The funniest thing to me is when she will randomly pull out one of these funny faces with someone she doesn't know very well and then watching them try to figure out how they are supposed to respond.  Hehe.   Anyhow, here are a few more of her practicing her "funny faces."

Pig Tails!

This little girl melts my heart!

Can you tell?

Daddy dressed me today!

Learning to walk

Maia has been walking for a while - though she still prefers to crawl or just use a nearby table to steady herself.  But when we give her some special practice time - she loves it!

Time with Daddy

When Matt first comes home from language class his brain is tired . . . and the girls are soooo excited to see him.  So, while I'm finishing lunch prep, the girls get 15 - 30 minutes or so of "Daddy time."  

This video is a little long and uneventful - but it will give you a glimpse into this part of our day.

It's pretty cute.

Sugar High

I gave Eliana a small piece of chocolate after she finished her lunch.

Not long later she decided to go for a jog around our coffee table. She kept going and going. . .  so I decided to capture a clip to share with you.

And in case you are wondering, she is singing "All the Single Ladies."

Handprint

When we get Maia up from a nap we often find her looking like this.

Can you tell she sleeps on her hand? ;-)

Pipsqueak

date night

A couple weeks ago we went for dinner and a walk on our date night.  We headed to Tivoli which is the main city park here in Ljubljana.  We had a great time eating Kebab while watching Eliana run around and Maia laugh at her. On our way back as we walked under the road and train tracks we got this photo of Eliana being cute.

A sunny afternoon in May

In case you're wondering, the two songs she is singing are Jesus Loves the Little Children and This Little Light of Mine.

that's my girl

A few weeks ago, while still in Gresham, we were driving to my (matt's) parents house.  Down the street from them is an Alpaca farm.  As we passed the field of frolicking animals Eliana exclaimed, 

"I EAT THEM!"  

Now I think she meant to say, "They are eating," but I would like to think she was just reaffirming her carnivorous heritage.

Hoppy trails

On Friday Eliana got to hang out and play with her cousins.  We went to Sky High Sports and played on the hundreds of trampolines they have in their warehouse.  Eliana played in the kids under 6 section while I played with her cousins in the dodge ball arena and the foam pit area.

Here's Ellie bouncing around

Then after our time at Sky High we went to Pump it Up to pick up one of her cousins who was at a birthday party there.  Eliana got to jump around more and go down a huge blow up slide.  She loved it!!!
I think she is a little adrenaline junky like her dad.

Like I said, dad liked the foam pit.

I wanna be a cowgirl, and papa can be my cowboy

Eliana got some new boots the other day and so Papa broke out some old Cowboy hats to complete the fun.  Eliana loved it.  I think Papa did too.

An interesting fact for you, the Slovene word for blue jeans is kavbojka (pronounced cowboy-ka).  This is because early on blue jeans were associated with cowboys.

cuckoo for cooing

Maia is 4 months old today and she is getting big.  She loves Attention just like her dad.  Here she is getting a little vitamin A.

Eliana on the phone

Here is Eliana chattin away on her auntie Lynn's old broken cell phone.  She loves inventing conversations with friends and objects like Maia's socks which she mentions at the end of the video.