Hooray for my slow netbook!

I can finally type like a normal person. Its been hard in general to find time to blog, but trying to blog on the ipad, with no photos (how boring, I know) is not fun. Speaking of ipad...dum, dum, dum...

I ruined it.

Yep. I ruined it. Ok, well just imagine having a 16 pound baby in one arm, and toddler running around like a mad man and trying to close up a ginormous double stroller in 100 degree heat. Is it so irresponsible in my frustration that I forgot the ipad in the storage compartment of the stroller? Yes, I would agree it is, especially when the stupid thing wouldnt close and I just persisted to jump on it to make it latch rather than do the smart thing and figure out why it wasn't latching. The problem was the ipad, now it is bent like crazy and there are bad spots on the screen. I dreaded telling Brad, I made my dad do it.

Speaking of Brad, he is here! You can't imagine how awesome it is. I love having my family together again. It has also been a big relief to me now that Elijah just wants daddy to do everything.

Here are some pictures, in random order, of how things are going.

We had some big waves yesterday, the girls had a blast...until they got bumped and bruised a little too much.

Here I am with my awesome babies during my favorite Loutraki sunset.

The 14th was Becky's birthday, so we got her a funny headband to wear at dinner...at Moustakas (a pizza place) that Becky looooves!

And of course a day later the 15th, was Elijah's  birthday! Can you believe he is two already? What...you can't stop looking at how crappy the cake looks? Let me just say we were pressed for time, Greek cakes are nasty as can be, and Brad also came in that morning...so when Elijah turns 3, you better believe he is getting an awesome cake!

My party baby! She loved the crappy-looking-cheese-cake-birthday-cake :)

Happy Birthday Elijah (Elias!)

  

Here is some family! Tasis (my dad's brother) and his wife, Aphroditi, and their kids George and Eleni. Actually, Tasis is my godfather, so he will also be baptizing Elijah! How awesome is that? George and Becky will be godparents to Athena.

So there is a little update. As of now, Becky and Jon will be back from their 'honeymoon' (nearly 4 years later) tonight, and then this week we go outside f Loutraki so Brad can see more of the countryside and ancient stuff. After that, George will be here...then my mom, then the baptism...and then Rome!! Hooray!

Athena's first tooth!

It finally popped through today!

We've been struggling with it a bit the last few days. She actually got fussy - very unusual for her. She fell alseep before I could get a good look at it (and a photo).

Right now life is pretty good. I am sitting on the 5th floor of our summer home with a calm sea to my left and the noisy sounds of vespas and teenagers on the streets below. The kids are sound asleep, and I am relaxed! - too bad it's 1 am....

Life is so different and relaxed here. The kids normally fall asleep around 11:00 at night, heck, we had dinner at 10:30 and it was crowded as can be. I think I am going to have a hard time getting us back on a St. Louis routine, with an 8:00 bed time....I'll think about that later.

I am on my dad's laptop, so I can upload some pictures easier now. I hope these photos somehow capture the moments for you to enjoy too. ----- scratch that....sorry, but I have been sitting here too long and the pictures aren't uploading fast enough. I promise I will soon....if you can't wait look at my facebook page, I put a few there.

Night everyone!

It's been too long!

But I have an app for the iPad so I can now blog! Although, I have been keeping a journal and writing down each day what has been happening. It's kind of more personal, and I guess romantic that way. I have a vision of the kids reading through it when they're older, appreciating my late night efforts to keep the memory of this trip.
I gotta be honest, it is sooooo different being here. I didn't realize the last summer I was here was for the 2004 Olympics. I've been back a few winters in between, but there is no comparison. Greece is awesome in the winter, but the summertime, it may just be the best place on earth. So 7 years have passed. I didn't know it had been that long. So it's been a bit of reality shock being here with two small babies when my last summer memories were of friends, boys, late nights, drinks and awesome beach clubs. But believe it or not, I am enjoying every minute here. I wouldn't go back to those party days - even when I want to pull my hair out with these "terrible two's" reaching an all new kind of terrible. I only wish Brad was here. He will be here soon, less than 10 days. But man, let me tell you, I miss him. Not just him though, but him being the missing piece to our family. I can't wait to be the family of 4, together again, like we've been so blessed to become.

Seriously, we are one stinking cute family and we need our missing piece! :)

Elijah is something else. He is so athletic, poised and confident. He runs and kicks a ball like he's a pro. He has one incredible pitching arm too. Athena has been on the receiving end a few times, with the pitching and kicking of the balls. And he is also talking so much. He isn't afraid to try and say any word, English or Greek. My favorite story concerning his dialect is this: whenever I hold him close, or held him in the past I would whisper in his ear, " Momma loves her guy". Especially when he was tired. Well he will request "Momma, guy!" when he wants to be held and cuddled. I love it...so sweet. It's normally in the water when he doesn't want to swim, which is always. (he's too cold)

Athena, now that's another story. This chick loves to eat. She will try to attack someone from across the room to get a crumb of bread. We struggled a lot with her in the beginning trying to get her to take a bottle. Now that she does (with formula - I'm still breastfeeding her though, we needed to teach her to take a back up method while we are in Rome) she love it. She even holds it on her own. No luck with a formula bottle helping her sleep through the night though...errr....
She also talks non-stop. It is so cute, but she talks loud too, so sometimes I have to move away to have a conversation with Becky. The last few days she has been a little irritable, which is unusual for her ( seriously, this baby I'll go without crying for days and days - and it don't take much to keep her happy). She has been teething pretty bad. Sometimes I think both of those little teeth will pop out at the same time, my poor baby.

Everyone here loves the kids. Even the horribly grumpy, older Greek people. They just love the kids, I hate to say it, but especially Athena. Probably because she will smile at anyone and Elijah will run away. And probably because she is the cutest thing God ever created. :)

That's a quick update, I will post a slide show of pictures soon because we've been here nearly a month and I can't possibly write out the awesome memories we've made so far, so I will just show you.