Summer Catch-Up

Hi!

So it's 1am and it's been a super long day...Eleni had a doctor's appointment today in Kalloni, her 1 year check-up, and lucky us we get all the way there only to find out the doctor's not in. 

Why? 

Because it's Greece.

But not all was lost, we got some errands done and we bought a memory card reader so I can FINALLY upload pictures again YAY!!!!! So thanks to the incredibly low price of 12 euros and 94 cents, in combination with the fact that we're now near the end of September and things seem to be slowing down a bit around here, I think it may be safe to say that we can now begin to have fairly regular blog updates again.

Did I just hear a WOOP WOOP?? I think I did. It was somewhere far off in the distance but I swear I heard it....

Anyway, here's what's been hiding on my camera since April. Enjoy!

I can't remember what she's eating here but I think the point was more that she was having a better time playing with it than eating it.

This was in April so she was 8 months.

5 month later....we're still playing with our food more often than eating it

 Blurry but the cuteness still comes through

This is the morning of her baptism, May 9th. 

This was her first 'look' of the day...bright polka dot dress with matching headband from Grandma and Papa McClure

This was the first and last time we've managed to get her to wear a headband for more than 10 seconds

Glad I got more than one photo of it

How do you get Eleni to sit still so you can get photographic proof of how adorable she is in a flowery headband? 

Put her in a cage and give her a lip gloss

Ok so it's not actually a cage, it's her crib, but she is a huge fan of lip gloss

...yeah that trick had a pretty quick shelf life

This is in June, so she's 10 months now.

Spinach mashed potatoes, a surprisingly huge hit

"Mom seriously, are you kidding me right now...."

"THAT WAS NO AIRPLANE, THAT WAS A SPOON! I AIN'T NO FOOL!!"

Bath time in the garden

This is sometime in July, so now she's 11 months here

This about the time her hair started to grow like crazy

After the garden bath

Look at my teeth!

Later on that month...we have our first piggy tails!

Did you know that biscuits taste even better when you have pigtails?

Eleni and Daddy Cool

This is August 16th, Apostolis and Michaela's birthday party

There were a lot of big kids there and Eleni wasn't really sure what to make of that whole situation

So we had ourselves a little private tea party under the table. 

She makes a great cup of tea

We had a marvelous time down there

Another blurry one but this was the end of the party. 

Eleni was too pooped to stay for cake so we went home to sleep

August 27th, ELENI'S 1ST BIRTHDAY!!!

Unfortunately I don't have many pictures of this because I was running around doing a million things the whole time. Lesson learned for next year. Anyway, this is the end of the party when Eleni got to have her very first piece of cake!! This is of course after she had to be changed out of her pretty party dress because she pooped on her chair while we all sang happy birthday to her....

"How interesting. This is fun AND delicious!"

"Actually this might be the best thing I've ever tasted in my life!!"

"Oh my god this is amazing"

"Mommy you gotta get over here and try somma this"

"Anyone else want to try some? Seriously, you have to try this"

"Ok well this plate is just a waste of space really"

"Lets just get this plate out of here and make room for some more cake!"

So that's a bit of everything that's been stuck on my camera since April. There are a few videos too but I'll have a look through those later and see if there's anything interesting. But even if there isn't I'll be taking some more videos of her soon because she's walking like a pro, running...not really like a pro but running anyway...she's talking more. Anyway, there's been big changes in her development over the last few months which has been really exciting so it's definitely time to dust off the camera and use it a little more often.

I'm off to bed.

Kalinikta!!

Technical Difficulties...again....

How is it that I'm completely unable to own any kind of electronics that work properly? Or is it just asking too much to have them do exactly what they are meant to do exactly when you want them to do it? Nevermind, the next time I even consider spending hundreds of dollars on some stupid gadget I'll be sure to just take that money and stuff it into a paper shredder to save myself the frustration later on.....but then of course we all know I probably won't be able to get the bleeping shredder to work either.........

Hi, by the way.

You may not have noticed, but I'm feeling slightly annoyed today. The reason is that for 2 weeks now I have had a ton of photos on my camera that I would love to show you BUT, every time I plug the memory card into my laptop, the laptop doesn't recognize the memory card. I thought maybe if I left it for a few days and then tried again, it would probably work since that's how all of these stupid things seem to sort themselves out around here. But sadly, that hasn't happened. I do have a USB thingy for the memory card which should work perfectly....but of course I can't find the damn thing anywhere.

Excuse me for a minute while I shove my head into my pillow and scream at the top of my lungs......

Anyway, while I rip my house apart looking for the USB...all the while trying the memory card in the laptop every now and then just to see if they've decided to get a long finally....check this out:

http://torstenimprints.blogspot.gr/2013/08/noon-party-mingling.html

Eleni turned 1 on August 27th!! We had a party!!! So go to Torsten's blog once again so you can get a peak at what happened that day. And after that, cross your fingers or say a little prayer or something to help me get my technological shizz together so I can finally show you our photos from that day, as well as a bunch of other random fun stuff that we've been doing lately.

Actually Torsten's most recent blog posts have been a 3 part dedication to my brother in law Lefteris. Last time I checked part 3 wasn't up yet but anyway, the first two are really nice and there's also another photo of Eleni in one of them. Anyway, he's at torstenimprints.blogspot.gr so you can have a scroll through and see what he has going on over there.

Now I'm off to look at Pinterest to figure out what I'm making us for lunch tomorrow. Yep. Wild night in the Mallis house!

Good night!!

Aaaaaaand We're Back!

I know I've been a bit lazy in the past about updating this blog on a regular basis, but wow....I seriously dropped the ball this time! 3 months??? Has it really been 3 months since the last time I wrote anything?

I hang my head in shame.

....actually, I better stay upright because there's a very good chance I'll fall into a deep and drooling sleep if I put my head down, and then we'll experience yet another day of bloglessness (yes, I did just make that word up).

Where do I even start?!

Well first of all, in order to redeem myself somewhat (or maybe just ease my own conscience?) I'll tell you the boring details as to why I've neglected the blog for so long. Actually, it's not all boring. The non-boring reasons: we've had LOTS of visitors keeping us company! My lovely and amazing cousin Kora was here for a month. My bestie and our koumbara (maid of honour) Jen came for 2 weeks (so not long enough Jenny-poo...next year I'm requesting your presence for at least a week more). Miltos and Valerie, the other Greek/Canadian couple and very good friends of ours, were here for a few crazy weeks for their Big Fat Greek Wedding which was so much fun. And my gorgeous blond bombshells are here as we speak, Melina (Holland) and Johanna (Sweden). Actually Johanna was also here in May for Eleni's baptism, and she is the person to thank for all the stunning photos from that day that I'll share with you later. I can't believe we were so lucky to have her as our photographer. I won't go on about her talent because it embarrasses her, but you'll see for yourself anyway so there's really no need for words.

Other than that I've been taking care of Eleni of course, who is growing up into a little toddler right before my eyes. And I've been working in our restaurant 2 nights a week when we have live Greek music. It might not sound like much but WHEW! MOMMA IS POOPED YALL!....did I just say that??? Yeah I did, and I'm not even going to erase it because it's a good example as to how tired I am. Weird things are coming out of my mouth and I have absolutely no control over it. Is there such a thing as insomnia induced Turrets? 

Anyway.....

As for an update on Eleni.............are you ready for this?????

SHE'S WALKING!!!!

Actually here's where I do hang my head in shame (although ever so slightly so as not to fall asleep) because she turned 11 months 3 days ago, but she started walking at 9 1/2 months. Yes I do feel bad for not telling you all right away but I have to admit, my sense of Mommy-Pride might be helping me ignore that guilt a little because MY BABY STARTED WALKING AT 9 1/2 MONTHS! That's so crazy! She must be a genius! 

She's talking a lot more now too which is very cool. She now says Mama and Baba very clearly. She says Cat, Go, Ti (Greek for 'What') and Poo.

Yes. She says Poo. And until this morning she was using it 2 ways and neither of them had to do with what we say in English as poo. Pou in Greek means 'Where', so if she's looking for something she says this. But also grandpa in Greek is Papous, which is a little difficult for her because it's a two syllable word where each syllable has a different sound.........does that make sense? Anyway, she drops the Pa and just calls Yorgos Pou. It's very cute. But as I said, this is what's been going on UNTIL this morning when I asked her if she was pooping and she excitedly screamed "POOP!" So there's really no denying it now. She knows what it means, she can say it and I'm sure she'll be using it all the time from now on. Lovely.

Anyway, I'm going to leave it at that for now because I really can't wait to show you these amazing photos from the baptism. Next time I write....which I promise will be much sooner than 3 months from now....I'll tell you what happened at the baptism and I'll also share a really good white cake recipe I just tried today. Why a cake recipe? Because I've never made a cake from scratch so I thought I better practice a bit since our little monkey will be turning 1 year old in a month, and good mommy's bake birthday cakes from scratch. Right? 

On our way to the church

Olympia

Proud papous Yorgos

He appears to be patiently waiting, but we were REALLY late.... 

Looking slightly bored...like I said, we were so late

These are the clothes Eleni was put in after her 'bath'

Nonos (God father) Lefteris asking his niece/God daughter if she's ready for her bath

And much to relief of all our guests, we finally begin...about an hour late...Greek style!

Thea Stratoula. One of my favourites!

Peek-a-boo Johanna! I see you over there with the camera!

Greeting the guests inside the church. 

The priest greeting Papou

And now, we get ready for the bath

She's in...

And she's out....crying and wondering what the heck just happened

The priest cuts the hair...I don't know why but anyway...

Papous, and cousins Katerina and Donna behind

Still crying. 

She wasn't all that impressed with the 'bath' everyone kept telling her about, but it was also nap time so it's a little hard to enjoy anything when you're late for nap time

She calmed down quickly though

She doesn't seem too angry with him

Getting the fancy clothes ready to put on her now that she's been baptized

Proud Baba

My handsome father in law

Some family pictures. 

This is Antonis' aunt. She lived in Australia for a long time with her husband and children

They're so much fun...and they speak English!

And we're done! Let's eat!

We came back to the restaurant with just a few close family members and friends for lunch

Olympia in all her glory.

"EAT!"

And after we eat, it's play time

Now these pictures are a little out of order but I can't be bothered to move things around, so...

This is after the ceremony is over and a very proud Papou has some snuggles

The beautiful Katrine. She's one of our favourites as well

This is the uncle that lived in Australia. 

I told you they're fun!

Baba stealing some kisses but I think Eleni might have her eye on someone else.....

Maybe it's little Dimitris???

First kisses!

Ummmmm.......

Whew! What a day!

But it was fun!