"I love you too much"

I love being a Mom. Its just that simple.
This year for Mother's Day I just wanted to be with my little family, and thats just what I did. I tried to teach Ela about Mother's Day and Father's Day and she kept saying "No, Ela Day"  :) So it was really Ela's day.

On Saturday we went to spend the day with my Grandmother. She is Mother of 4, Grandmother to 7, and Great Grandmother to 2. We had a BBQ despite the torrential rainfall mid day. It was so nice to just hang out, eat, and have Ela destroy someone else's house. (Just kidding about the last part) We cooked so much food and Ela successfully went the whole day in her "Big Girl Undies"

First Corn on the Cob



The next day we woke up, Ela jumped in our bed and we had some Baran family snuggles before church.  We headed to church, and then off to one of my favorite brunch spots. I am proud to say that Hubs and I both forgot our cell phones(by pure accident) so I have no pictures, but we had such a nice time without technology for a few hours. Brunch started to get challenging without the go-to Elmo videos but Ela survived the way we did as kids and just made a mess of the table.

The rest of the day, I had planned to get my nails done and have some quiet time, however it was so nice outside that I wanted to enjoy the park with Ela and Tomek. There is always next weekend!

We came home, cooked dinner together and then Tomasz and I curled up and watched Safe Haven. I have been wanting to see that move for a while.

 If you follow me on Facebook, then you probably already read the best part of my day. I went to go take a bath and relax for a few minutes while Tomasz entertained Ela. While sitting in the bath, I hear Ela in the other bathroom and Tomasz trying to rationalize with her.(Which never works for the record). He finally gave in and Ela comes running into my bathroom. With the biggest,  proudest grin on her face she says "Mommy I brought you toys" as she plops them in the tub. By this time Tomasz came into the bathroom and she is half undressed with one leg in the tub. How cute is she? What amazes me is her genuine sweetness. She really wanted to make me happy. (And that she did) I cried like a baby. That night when I put her to bed, I told her how sweet she was and that Mommy was happy she thought about me. Her reply " I love you too much Mommy".  Need I say more.

Away we go!- London 2013

So much like everything else in life lately, this post is a little late. A month to be precise. Hubs and I love to travel and when we found out we were pregnant with Ela we decided that our family would learn to love to travel too. We travel any chance we get, but once a year we usually try to take a trip overseas. Typically it is by ourselves around our anniversary.(May 9th) This year I (we ) could not bear the thought of leaving Ela for a few days and decided to take her with us. Flash forward to standing in line in the post office getting Ela's passport.

Doesn't it look like a baby Mug shot?!

And away we go to London! Although Ela has racked up the frequent flyer miles over her two years of life, this was going to be the longest flight. 8 hours is even long for me! I was armed with the Ipad with tons of new apps, coloring books, snacks, stickers, and a new Dora etch a sketch. I figured the way home would be the hard part because it was a morning flight. Quite the contrary;on the way there we left at 8pm and she did not fall asleep until 12am our time.She did great on the way home, and fell asleep as soon as we took off for 4 hours. The even bigger bonus is that she woke up with a dry diaper and did not go in her diaper once the entire flight...Not sure if she just liked going to the plane bathroom but ever since she is almost potty trained!(Sorry for the excited parent segway...Diapers suck) I dont know why she could not sleep,this girl had it made on the flight....

When she finally did fall asleep, we were able to carry her off the plane and she slept the hour wait in Customs and the hour train ride to our hotel....

We had a great trip, however Jet Lag really kicked her cute little behind.

Check out this video of her falling asleep at lunch.

Sleepy LIttle Ela-London

Once we all got showered and slept a little, we went out to see  the town for a few days.

The London Eye...It was HUGE!

Grabbing some lunch at a British Cafe--CHEESE!

She takes after my heart. Ice Cream

First taste of Sprite

Big Ben

Little Girl in a Big World

London Bridge is Falling Down...

A local Zoo...

Dont Worry its Decaf! 

Probably the highlight of her trip...She loved these little cars.

We all had a great time, but boy were we exhausted when we got home. At the end Ela kept saying " Ela go to her house".  Coming home was so much easier as far as the flight and recuperating from jet leg. We just kept Ela up to her normal bed time and she slept for 14 hours straight! Traveling with a toddler overseas is  a different experience. Our trip that normally consisted of first class, sleeping in and bar hopping now consisted of coach, early rising, Zoo's, parks and toy car rides :) I wouldn't have it any other way! <3 I feel so blessed to be able to teach and show her new parts of the world.