Ellia is 8 Months Old

What is Ellia doing now?

*Starting to resist baby fruits and veggies...she wants the good stuff (aka table food) already!
*Pulling herself up on anything she can find including coffee tables, refrigerators, me, etc.
*She has two teeth that have come through and more on their way
*Still very much a Momma's girl and does NOT like it when Mommy puts her down. She would be content for me to just hold her all day.
*She is still quite the little chunk, especially when I compare her to Bianca's 8 month pictures
*She loves to hang out in our pool in her baby float
*Ellia lights up when she sees her Daddy come home from school every day and she reaches out for him to pick her up...so sweet to watch!
*She seems to like music already and bounces to the beat of most songs I sing to her

Just hangin with big sis right before nap time...

Cinderella

As most of you know, Bianca is not the girliest of girls. Her favorite colors are blue and green and she'll take dinosaurs over dolls any day of the week. But, we have had some princess dress-up clothes that were given to Bianca as gifts for a while now and I figured there was no time like to present to see how my girl took to them.

She wasn't sure what to make of them at first...


But, she soon got the hang of it and totally rocked the Cinderella* costume out!

*Please Note* She really will only wear the Cinderella costume to this day b/c of course, it is blue. Also, take note of the nightgown that she is wearing that is completely falling apart. It is indeed a Disney Princess nightgown but, she couldn't care less about that. She wears it 24/7 b/c it has a horse on it.

Strike a pose!


She lives up to the name Cinderella in that outfit as well. She follows me around the house cooking and cleaning in it...

Now we just need to work on finding a costume for the little princess!

Proud Momma and Wife

I need to take some time on this site to talk about Bianca for a little bit and just how proud of am of the little lady she is becoming. I know it is not polite to brag, and I usually try my best not to but, she is just really turning out to be such a special little girl.

She is now fully potty-trained and is wearing her big girl underwear at night and during naps with no problems whatsoever. I knew that she was ready for her big girl underwear for a while now but, I held off since we had so much going on at home with Ellia arriving and moving into two different homes (not to mention the pit stops we made on the way!). Really it was Mommy who needed the extra push to make the change, Bianca had been ready for while. She is also doing so many other things by herself now that it amazes me to watch her. Like, she is using her toothpaste with fluoride now after Daddy showed her how to spit her toothpaste out and rinse her mouth out with water afterwards. She wants to do EVERYTHING all by herself including pouring her own drinks, getting her own food out of the fridge, reading her books, wiping herself off after the potty, getting in and out of the car...really, I could go on all day.
However, what I am most proud of is the way that she has become such a beautiful big sister to Ellia. She wants to help me feed her and I let her (even though it takes about an hour to feed the baby that way). She loves to make her sister laugh...she even tries to imitate the things that I do to Ellia like when I grab her thighs and say, "chunk, chunk, chunk" in a silly voice. She gives her kisses and shares with her. She even let Ellia share one of her blankets with her and as most of you know, that is a BIG deal to Bianca.I just look at her in amazement sometimes and I can't believe how fast she is growing and maturing. She is going to start preschool this August and I am so excited for her but, at the same time I am afraid that Kindergarten, then high school and college are all going to come WAY too fast!
Here are some of the funny little sayings that come out of Bianca's mouth these days:

Me: "What did you dream about last night, Bianca?"
Bianca: "Dolphins and whales and sharks and dolpins."
Me: "What were they doing in your dream?"
Bianca: "Swimming!"

"Yah! I love ice cream! It is my most favorite special treat in the whole world!"

"Mommy, I-ee-yah (Ellia) cries a lot."

"Cah-weh-wah (Carrera), you a silly goose!"

And then there is Mark who started school earlier this month. We are all so proud of him for deciding to take the road less traveled and sacrificing so much to go back to school to get his endodontics certificate. His schooling has only been orientation thus far but, he is already enjoying his fellow residents and all of the staff and faculty at NSU. I have a feeling that these two years are just going to fly by!

Here he is leaving for his first day of school. I couldn't help myself but, break out the camera!


And because he hasn't had too much studying to do yet he has been able to relax with us a little after school...

First 4th of July in Florida

We had a blast (no pun intended) on 4th of July this year! We went to spend the day with the Naderpours at the Four Seasons in Palm Beach. Although it rained during the latter part of the day, it will be a fourth we will remember! We went to the beach, played in the pool, walked around the shops at Cityplace, ventured upon the best ice cream store ever (Sloan's), rested in the room and then headed back out for dinner. Thanks to Afshin and Adelmis for the invite!

We made a pit stop in Barnes and Nobles and the girls got their reading on...

Next stop - Sloan's - the world's yummiest and prettiest ice cream store!

Don't let Daddy fool you, he was getting in on the action too...he even snuck off and purchased some of their chocolates as a surprise!

Bianca's flavor choice was called "Circus" - cotton-candy flavored ice cream with gummy bears...of course, she liked it b/c it was blue!

Back to the room for some R and R before dinner...


The girls showing their all-American pride!

Happy 40th Birthday, Mark!

We celebrated all weekend long by starting out in South Beach on Friday night for drinks and dinner. We continued celebrating with the girls on Saturday morning by decorating the house and making a special birthday breakfast for Daddy. We wrapped up the weekend at the Naderpours where we had more cake and champagne to celebrate Mark.

Happy birthday to the best father and husband that I know! The girls are both over the moon about you...you can see it in their eyes every time they look at you or you bend down to pick them up and play with them. Of course, it goes without saying that I am too.
We love you "berry" much (as Bianca would say!)!

Mark's birthday poster painted by Bianca...

Make a wish...

One final birthday kiss for Daddy from Bianca!

Speedy at 7 Months

Time to baby-proof the house - Ellia is on the loose! She has been doing the army crawl for a few weeks now and has even started on her hands and knees. When she sees something that she wants, she can get to it in a jiffy. She is only going to get faster so I was telling Mark this morning that it is time to baby-proof the new house already.

In addition to her mad crawling skills, Ellia has also perfected the art of feeding herself small baby puffs and other little bits of food. She can get herself into a sitting position "alllllll myself" (as big sister, Bianca, would say) and can be found at almost any time with her thumb in her mouth and pink blankie in-hand (as evidenced by most pictures on this blog). She lights up when any of the three of us walks into the room but, she especially loves Bianca and when Mommy sings "Once Upon a Dream" to her (song from Sleeping Beauty). I just noticed that her bottom two teeth have not quite cut through yet but, are gearing up for an appearance any day now. Overall, she is just a sweet baby girl who can melt anyone's heart.

P.S. I tried to upload a video of her crawling but, I am having a problem doing so with blogger :(

Note to self: Blackberries + Baby Feeding Self = Huge Mess

Also, here is a little comparison of Ellia and Bianca in the same dress. Bianca is probably only about 6 months here but, it is still a pretty good comparison.

Ellia at 7 months


Bianca at 6 months

Hmmm...I still think one looks more like Mommy and one looks a LOT more like Daddy.

For Amy...

...who has asked to see the girls' "new" rooms on several occasions. What do you think? We may be on the other side of the country but, our little princesses rooms look quite similar to when we were in Vegas.

And, of course, Cesca and Dante are never far from our thoughts and hearts...

Cesca resides on top of the bookshelf next to Bianca's bed...

...and Dante is nestled between the tissues and "baby Bianca" in the girl's bathroom...

In fact, tonight while Bianca was brushing her teeth she pointed out, "There's Ellia and Dante. But, there's no Cesca." Then she asked who's white arm that was in the picture and I told her it was yours :-) Miss you guys!!!