Tons of Photos For You

(oops, not sure what happened here but there seems to be a bit of a glitch happening and I can't get rid of this giant photo in this very strange spot. Sorry guys but I'm not going to spend all day trying to fix it, I'm off to the beach, so just scroll down and pretend this never happened haha! Thanks!)

Today I find myself experiencing something I wasn't sure existed anymore.......FREE TIME!

Eleni is over at her grandparents house, somehow I cleaned the entire house yesterday without realizing what a great job I did until this morning, and there's nothing else that needs my attention.

Except for me!!

And you!

So the first thing on my list of things to do today is to attack you with a ton of pictures. Some old, some new. If we're friends on facebook then you've already seen a lot of these but there are a few extras as well.

First I'll just quickly update you on what's going on around here:

Eleni's great! Talking like crazy in both English and Greek. This week I noticed that she is consciously switching between the two languages depending on who she's talking too. For example, if she's spent some time with Yia yia and Papous (who she can only speak Greek to), then she comes home with mommy (who speaks to her in 98% Englsih), she might start to say something in Greek to me, but then she'll stop herself, think for a second, and then say that same word in English. So she definitely understands that there are two different languages going on and she knows which one to use with which person.

But she also knows that Mommy understands Greek and Baba understands English. Because, for example, if she only knows the word for something in Greek, she'll say the Greek word to me but she waits for me to say the word in English. The she repeats it. I get ridiculously excited about this.....I just think it's beyond amazing!

Anyway, until now I couldn't tell that she understood that there were two languages going on around her because she was always thinking before she was saying anything. Now her language skills are more developed, so her response time is a lot faster, which means a hesitation is more noticeable now when she suddenly has to switch from speaking all Greek to all English or vice versa. But weirdly, when she talks to Antonis and I at the same time she can switch back and forth between languages instantly, without hesitation. My guess is that since she's used to using both languages in our house it's easier for her to transition between the two wheras maybe it's a bit more difficult to go from speaking only Greek for 2 hours (or whatever) then switching over to only English? I don't know, this is just a guess that I'll never get an answer too, but I find it interesting anyway.

This might not seem like a big deal to some but it's pretty exciting for us because we weren't sure how her language development would be affected by teaching her both languages at the same time. A lot of what I read about this method said that it works well but not to expect your child to say anything until about 2 years of age.

Well, Eleni will be 2 in just over 2 weeks....her language skills are way beyond what the books say, so we're relieved and extremely proud of her. From the moment she wakes up to the moment she goes to bed, the girl doesn't stop talking, and I might roll my eyes sometimes or joke that she "takes after both her grandmothers" but really, it's the best sound in the world and I could happily listen to it 24 hours a day.

As for the rest of us, we're great! I'm feeling really good, finally! I'm a lot more energetic and I haven't felt sick in about 2 weeks. I do have a lot of pain in my hips, back and lower stomach, but it's not all the time and it's just normal growing pains. About once a week or every 10 days or so I've been experiencing growth spurts...it's pretty painful and all I can really do is lie down and wait for it to pass. But it isn't anything to worry about....except that every time this happens I can actually see my belly has grown again which is a bit frightening since I'm only 14 weeks but look about 24 weeks. It's insane! Seriously, how big will this belly get??? I had another one of these growth spurts last night, it lasted a few hours, and by midnight last night you could already tell the belly had grown again. It's kind of weird and cool at the same time. But also terrifying because I'm pretty sure I'm going to be as big as bus in just a few short weeks.....

Anyway, I want to get to the beach before I run out of this thing you all call FREE TIME, so here are a bunch of pictures from when Eleni and I were in Canada, and at the end are some recent photos of Eleni. I haven't taken an updated belly shot but I'll do that this week once I get around to recharging my camera.

Have a great weekend!!

Her first time in the snow

First snowman

she wasn't too sure about it at first 

but then who is when you're dressed like a marshmallow and can hardly move!

Building a snow kitty on the balcony

Eating snow for the first time

Before bed snuggles with Papa and watching The Cuddlies on his phone 

Shopping with Gaga in a race car

Fun at the park with Gaga!

Making friends

"Come on Gaga, we're going to play over here now"

Cuddles with cousin Charley

And a big birthday kiss to little Charley Mae who turned 2 yesterday!!

We love you girlie!

More cousins! Heidi and Spencer, both cute as a button

And still more cousins! Kora being awesome, as always! 

We miss you Koko!

And MORE cousin fun! And some auntie and uncle fun too!

Cuddles for Brianna, who Eleni fell in love with immediately

And here's my mom and my auntie Pat side by side so you can see that twins really are genetic in our family

Just goin' for a drive...with a towel on her head...you know, normal everyday stuff...

Cousin Savannah!

Playing with Auntie Bonnie, Uncle Kev and Savannah at our early Easter celebration

Jumping!

Easter baskets

Chocolate time!

Reading a book with Uncle Kev

Having a chat with Sandy

A winter's day at the beach and looking for sea lions with Gaga and Papa

One of her favourite things to do, throwing rocks in the water

Music time with Uncle Dale and Sandra

And now here's some more recent photos from here in Molyvos:

Tubby time outside on a hot June day

I dare you to come a little closer Baba!

Dancing with Christina on the balcony

Cutie pie!

Super cutie pie, on her way to a birthday party

Alexandros turns 4! (He's in the yellow). 

Eleni's very excited to have her own birthday party now because she had so much fun at Alexandros' party

She's decided to have chocolate cake

and she will be inviting Alexandros...or "Ekshandos" as she calls him

Birthday parties are fun!!

And Then There Were......5?

It's been so long since I posted anything on this blog that I almost forgot how to do it!

Or maybe it's just that I've been a bit distracted lately by the fact that our little family of 3 will very soon become 5!!

INTRODUCING

THE MALLIS TWINS!

SURPRISE!

Here they are having a little chat together

We're calling this one Baby Alpha (A) for now...

well the doctor's are...

I still think it's weird but I guess it's easier then saying 

"this is the one that hangs out to the left of my belly button" everytime

This is Baby Alpha again, giving a little wave

This baby was very well behaved and gave us lots of good photos

 And here's Baby Beta (B)....

or in my words, "the one that hangs out to the right of my belly button"

This one's a little naughty and wouldn't sit still for the camera

So here's a nice photo of Baby Beta with his/her back turned to us

And Baby Beta again...

upside down...

What can I say? They seem to have their own little personalities already! 

So here are the details:

• I'm 12 weeks now, or 3 months for those of you who are mathmatically challenged (don't feel bad, I am too, I had to look that one up)

• The twins are FRATERNAL which means they come from 2 eggs not 1, they won't be identical, they're just like regular syblings except they'll be born at the same time, and they each have their own little spaces in there with their own placentas EDIT: Today I found out that just because they are in separate gestational sacs and they have separate placentas, it does NOT mean that they will be fraternal. In this case it's about an 80% chance of fraternal, 20% chance they will be identical because they still may have begun from 1 egg........I will now humbly admit that I still have A LOT to learn!

• We don't know if they are boys or girls yet but I'll let you know as soon as we know....I'm thinking about doing a gender reveal cake this time though...you know, when you get a cake and the inside is either blue or pink, so you cut into it at a party of friends of family and they all find out together what you're having? Actually just writing that made me tired and I think I just want cake so maybe I won't do that......moving on.....

• Everything looks perfect, everyone is healthy and growing exactly how they should be

• While I'm healthy and growing exactly how I should be too, I feel like crap and I'm growing so fast that I literally went from wearing a pair of jean shorts one morning to having to take them off in the afternoon because they didn't fit anymore....if I put those shorts on now, there's about 2 1/2 inches space between the button and the button hole....I was wearing them comfortably 10 days ago. This is shocking to me.

• I shouldn't say I feel like crap really. I'm tired. Very tired. I definitely don't have the energy I used to have, but that's normal. I threw up yesterday for the first time in 3 days. Before that I'd thrown up everyday since the day after I took a pregnancy test, about 8 weeks ago. On good days I threw up 1 - 5 times. Bad days...lets just say I lost count on those days since I can see you all making faces and saying to yourself "waaaay too much information Tara"...moving on....

• They are due February 2nd, so you may all start placing your bets now...

I wanted to put the belly picture right under the part where I told you how fat I'm getting, but it's not working and I have an almost 2 year old jumping all over me, so I'll just keep it here.....

....please ignore the dirty towels, the paint peeling off the wall, the dirty bathroom, the crib over flowing with books...basically ignore everything....in fact maybe I should just take this picture down since it's makes us look like we live in dumpster...

Ok, Eleni is screaming at me because Jake and the Neverland Pirates isn't on yet and there's a leaf on the floor...???....like I said, she's almost 2....I've heard some things about the Terrible 2's....I believe this, all of it, to be true and 1000% accurate. More on that another day. 

I better go. She's hit nuclear meltdown phase. We're in for a good day.....

Canada Here We Come!!!!

I don't have time to write a lot because my laptop is now beginning to take it's final breaths (I think) and it only stays on for 15 minutes at a time before it shuts down. So please excuse all spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and whatever else you'll see here today because I'm about to type at the speed of light and I don't plan on editing a thing......good luck to you!

WE FINALLY HAVE TICKETS!!!!!!!!!

Holy crap, what a relief it is to finally be able to say that! After so many months of thinking "ok, maybe next month it will all work out..." and finally.....it all worked out.

So February 18th Eleni and I take off from sunny Molyvos.......

Ok, I didn't count on Eleni waking up while I was trying to get this posted. So now I have 2 1/2 minutes left before my computer blacks out again....I'll have to do this in point form

• We arrive February 18th 
• leave April 9th
• it's just Eleni and I, Antonis can't make it this time
• I hope it snows
• I'm excited
• see you soon
• she's awake again
• here's some pictures from today
• it was sunny
• we went to the harbour
• ignore my make-up free paleness, I've been sick for 2 weeks
• if anyone in Molyvos is missing a sheep, there's one hanging out in my garden right now
• it's white and fluffy
• I don't know her name
• she looks very intelligent
• ok, I gotta go get my baby
• probably gonna be a long night

Bye!

Christmas, New Year's and Everything in Between....and a little bit before and after....

I realize I'm a little behind on wishing you all a Merry Christmas, but I'm gonna do it anyway........

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Here's to 2014 and that it brings us all good health and happiness!

Here's what we were up too through the holidays!

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, Eleni and I were baking machines! I think we made enough Christmas cookies to feed all Santa's elves! Here's how Eleni likes to help mommy make cookies....

She also enjoys painting while we bake....

She makes some amazing pieces!

And then of course, taste-testing is her favourite part of the baking process!

We had to shower off all the paint before we could try a cookie, and once we were done that it seemed that mommy had left the camera on and the battery died, but I can assure you that my cookies got 2 sticky thumbs up!

Lefteris had his name day on December 15th. We ate and ate and ate, then we drank almost as much as we ate, and then we spent the rest of the night laughing our heads off and dancing until we had blisters on our feet

December 23rd Santa Claus was at Tsalikis (coffee and pastry shop), so we took Eleni to see him.

She didn't like him.

Hated him actually.

But there was music playing so once again, we danced until our feet hurt

Yia yia and Papous bought Eleni her very own Santa suit!

It's very cute, 

but she hates it.....

that's why this pic is blurry, she was trying desperately to rip everything off the second we got it on her

Unfortunately we're skipping ahead to New year's now.....no Christmas day photos (*sniff sniff), we got a tablet for Christmas so I decided to take all the Christmas day photos with it, but it turned out there was a major problem with it (not sure what yet, we're still waiting to hear) and all the photos were lost.

So sad!!!

Anyway, we'll survive of coursed

We gave Eleni a little table and chair set and a bowling set along with a bunch of other little things, she got a bunch of cute little outfits and some warm winter clothes for Canada, aaaaand a pink rocking unicorn!! (pics to follow next time!)

Here's Eleni on New year's eve, ready to go over to her grandparent's house

Finally, a non-blurry, somewhat ok photo of her hair up in pigtails, before she pulled out the elastics

She does NOT like to have her hair done!

Antonis and I were at the restaurant with friends to bring in 2014...

actually I happened to be in the bathroom as the clock hit midnight because my bra broke and I was madly trying to sew it back together....just my luck!

But it was a very fun night, we were out late dancing (of course), and you'll be pleased to know that my bra stayed perfectly intact all night!

Here's the traditional cutting of the New year's cake...I know I've told you about this before but just to refresh your memories, it's a long time Greek tradition to cut the Vasilopita (Santa cake) on New year's day, each piece is designated to someone and the person who gets the piece with the hidden coin will have a very lucky year. And just so it isn't confusing when you watch the video, I'm aware that it is 2014 but we were making a joke that the year on the cake looked like it said 2011 or possibly 1106 if you looked at it upside down.....we were a lot of wines in at this point so don't feel obligated to laugh at that part....

And into the new year now....

Enjoying lunch while watching Baby TV on her very own table and chairs, 

her favourite place to be

My birthday was great too, we celebrated at the restaurant....as usual....and went out dancing after...yet again, as usual. But it also happened to be the last night for the restaurant for a month because the guys are now taking their yearly 1 month off!!!

Now Antonis and Eleni and I will be relaxing at home together and then next month....it's OFF TO CANADA!!!!!