They made it!

Nanaw and Papa safely touched down in Italia on Wednesday morning. While their flight was running 30 minutes late, myself and B patiently waited and waited and when I finally saw them I don't think I could have been more excited. We immediately went for the van, hopped in and headed back to Post so we could pick up the kids {who I had put in hourly care so they wouldn't be whiny and crazy at the airport}. The kids didn't know we were picking up the grandparents, they just knew we were ''running special errands''. We had Nanaw and Papa come into daycare so we could surprise them.  I think we really caught the kids off guard as it was naptime so we had four very tired, very confused kids who were definitely excited but more or less confused at the whole situation. But no one cried, snuggles were exchanged and shortly there was nothing but laughter!

  

  
We returned home, and let them get settled. Watched a bit of Dispicable Me! and then headed out to dinner...

 

Thursday and Friday were spent around our home. We went out to lunch and dinner, took them to the mall and on Post. Our goal was to let the jet-lag wear off while B had to work Thursday and Friday. Now it's the weekend and we are ready to go!go!go!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Sorry for lack of all posting, but we've been busy! Nanaw and Papa are coming to Italy THIS WEEK so we're cleaning up, setting up the guest room and anxiously awaiting their arrival. We have a lot planned for their visit, so I will be posting soon!

And the winner is....

On Wednesday I posted about a giveaway that Katie was offering: a $30 shop credit to her store Abundant Sonshine. 

Today is Sunday and the day I will announce the winner! So we had 32 comments left and six of those were multi-entries under one comment. I copy & pasted, added a number to each comment {splitting up the multiples} and came up with 38 entries.

Then I used random.org to generate a truly random number. The number selected is: 

Kristy S! who wrote:

Not sure if it counts but I already "liked" Katie's page before! Thanks for letting me know about such a great give-away! :)

  

Congratulations Kristy!! And thank you so much Katie for hosting this giveaway!!  

It's time for a give-away!!

**GIVEAWAY HAS NOW ENDED**

I know I have been bad about blogging. We're just so busy and hectic, especially now that it's summer and we have no structured routine. I have definitely been neglecting the blog, so first I apologize!

Secondly, I know you've all heard me talk about my friend Katie before. Katie and I have been friends since high school, spent some time in college together and then life got in the way, we each moved and I can probably count on one hand how many times I've seen here since :( It's sad but it's life and we're both rocking the stay at home mom thing now! We both are super busy with our families consisting of many littles and the good news is that with Facebook and blogging, we're still able to keep in touch! Now I fully admit Katie has it ''together'' a bit more than me. Not only does she have three little ones under the age of three {man I remember those days!} but she also has an Etsy shop, Abundant Sonshine, where she makes and sells the CUTEST kids clothes! Which is a super big bonus for anyone reading this today because Katie has offered to do a giveaway on Loveable Chaos! A $30 store credit toward anything in the shop, will be given to the winner. Thanks Katie!

First of all, let's look at how cute the storefront is for Abundant Sonshine:

So adorable and happy :)

Secondly, the clothes themselves are beyond adorable! Right now the shop is full of girl clothes, but I did read on her Facebook page that she's working on adding stuff for boys too! (And also, she is 3 "likes" away from 100 fans on her Facebook page...which when she hits 100 fans, she'll also be doing a giveaway on Facebook. Is she generous or what!?)

So onto the clothes...Sissy is fortunate enough to have received several outfits from Katie and I can say first hand, they are just as cute in person as online. Secondly, and more importantly, they are SO well made. Our little Sissy is quite the tomboy, she doesn't sit and play tea but she does push diggers around in the dirt outside. The clothes from Abundant Sonshine are cute but also very practical! She can look adorable and still play, she isn't restricted in these clothes because they're cotton or knit, which is so important when you're dressing a toddler.

One of the recent dresses Sissy got to try out was the "Washi Flutter Dress". I love this dress because it's girly without being over the top. It's simple, it's comfortable and it's easy to match shoes/hairbows with because the pattern is so bright and colorful. Perfect for Dads! Orange bow? Purple bow? Blue Crocs? It all works!

Now the second outfit and probably my favorite of the two is the ''Maggie Reversible Pinafore" 

Firstoff, I am in LOVE with that woodland fabric. Seriously, love! Secondly, it has that classic simple look. The criss cross in the back, the pocket, the length that is screaming to show off a cute diaper cover...just perfect. This one has Sissy excited and is probably her favorite too...she takes it from the drawer and says ''Owls Mama?? Owls??" Totally toddler approved!

I have to say, Katie's attention to detail is phenomenal. The little green flower buttons, the way the owl lines up just so on the reverse side {which I'm kicking myself for not getting a photo of} right down to the tags on each piece. Each piece has a tiny tag with the S from her "Abundant Sonshine'' logo or a full tag, as well as a size tag on the inside {not on the reversible piece, obvs). Not only that but each order is wrapped beautifully as well:

Completely read for gift giving. I even hot glued the fabric rosette from the wrapping, to an alligator clip and turned that into a hair bow!

So...who wants to win $30 of store credit towards an item in the shop? You can each have the chance to enter up to FOUR times by doing the following:

1. Go over to Abundant Sonshine, take a look around and leave a comment telling me what your favorite item in the shop is! As Pooks would say ''That's Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy!" That's ONE entry!
2. "Like" Abundant Sonshine over on Facebook. Tell her you heard about her awesome shop from me and you'll earn yourself a SECOND entry :)
3. Once you like the shop on Facebook, share this giveaway on your wall for a THIRD entry!
4. If you're on the Twitter, tweet about this giveaway and you'll be entered for a FOURTH entry!

Be sure to leave a comment for each method of entry. {ie: I liked Abundant Sonshine on Facebook}

So that's it! The giveaway will start now and you can enter until Sunday, July 15th around 3pm central time. I will announce the winner that evening or Monday {hey, I'm in Italy and can't always stay up to 11pm!} Four ways to enter and four full days to enter. 

Pretty simple and totally worth it! Plus when you like the shop on Facebook, you might be lucky enough to be the 100th person!!

Yep, you guessed it...another Abundant Sonshine outfit. 

**The easiest way to share on Facebook or Twitter is right below this post **

21 Months old!

Sissy, I am late posting this but I didn't forget that on July 4th, you turned 21 months old. There are two reasons I find this hard to believe:

1- I can't believe that time has gone by so quickly!

2- You still fit into the outfit you wore last year on the 4th of July. I didn't buy the same outfit in two sizes...it's a 12 month Osh Kosh outfit that still fits!

It's just so surreal how much you have grown and changed in one year. I mean, look at all that hair! At 21 months you:

-are showing your girly side more an more. You *have* to have a bow in at all times. You use those baby links as bracelets. You love to watch "Tangled". You have four or five dolls that you load up in your stroller and push around the house, stopping every 5 feet to give hugs and kisses.

-weigh 21lbs and still wear 12-18 month clothing. Shoe size 5, and they actually fit now. 

-have so many teeth! All four molars and all your front teeth with the exception of one incisor.

-still breastfeed first thing in the morning and before bed {we finally cut out the naptime feeding}

-can talk, but won't. You'd much rather point and plead, then whine, scream and hit, when you could just simply say ''drink please''. And your brothers will say ''Mom, Sissy wants a drink''. And I remind them that mommy knows what Sissy wants, but that Sissy needs to use her words. The problem is we all know what you want so you don't need to talk. We're trying to slowly change this!

-know all your body parts! 

-are going through a picky phase with your food. Cheese, yogurt, chicken, bread, cereal, pasta, any fruit, tomato, corn, and any junk food you will definitely eat. Meat and veggies...not so much. I'm trying not to push it, hoping its just a phase. 

-will no longer use a sippy cup, anywhere. You've been using ''real'' cups at home for awhile but I could pack a sippy if we went somewhere...now your refuse to drink it. 

-love to brush your teeth and wash your hands all by yourself. I always double check when you're done, but you do an awesome job!

Sissy you are a little spitfire, definitely your own unique person and I can't imagine life without you in it!

Sagra fun

Last weekend we went to our very first Italian Sagra. A Sagra is a local fair. All the tiny towns near us are having them and it seems like each one lasts about 5 days. Starting on a Thursday and going through the following Tuesday, ending with a firework show on Tuesday night. Our little comune had theirs last week and we attended. The kids had a blast!

I will say that it didn't start out the greatest, I thought "hey, we should just walk there it's not to far and then we don't have to worry about parking''. Well, the kids decided to whine the whole way there. And it was farther than I thought...when I got home and googled it, it was actually a mile each way. In 90 degree heat. Whoops!

 Once we got there though, they suddenly had energy!

  

We stayed about an hour. That might not seem like a long time but each ride was €1.50, or almost $2, per kid. That's almost $8 for each ride! Factor in the gelato and Coca-Cola...They were definitely making money off the Americani's that night! And as tired as they were, the walk home was gorgeous!