Just a small picture of the madness. This picture doesn't really do it justice.

Angelina...playing so sweetly.
Lizzy and Evan working on their rock band.
Matt usually ends up working as a jungle gym at these parties, and last night was no exception. Don't feel badly...he encourages it and usually gets a couple of kids in trouble.

We decided to buy our new house for the room, for us as a family and to have people over. We have been lucky enough to have had several playdates here and to celebrate Mother's Day here. We wanted this to be a family house, so we pushed it to the limit last night when we invited over my work friends and their families. We had 11 kids here at one point, and it was great. Thanks everyone for coming and HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETH! Don't worry...I won't post how old :)

Almost every Saturday starts out with breakfast with my mom. This Sat. Lizzy was joined by "Abba" (Abuelo) and Cousin Bevin. She learned to cross her legs watching my dad, and then we hung out and wait for Gymboree (or "Ball" as Lizzy calls it).

Lizzy has been "talking" for a while now, but this week something happened. She started speaking in sentences that made sense :)

In the past the sentences were just combinations of blabbering and words, but on Sunday (a Mother's Day present to me) Lizzy started saying several new words and then on Monday morning when I got her out of her crib she had a sentence for me.
She preceded to tell me that she had an owwie (sp?) and that it was her lip. I then asked her if she got it from jumping in her bed...she then said "YEAH!!!" It was so funny because it was almost a scream of excitement, and it was funny to finally hear some form of yes. We have had no down for quite a while, but I guess it just takes girls a little longer to learn how to go with the crowd :)

Lizzy at Railcats Stadium.
Lizzy's cool, cool shades. She won't take them off and is constantly asking for "eyes, eyes".
I got to see Hillary Clinton from five rows back when she came to Washington Township in March.
Lizzy in her new chair!
Our first playdate in our new house. We were so excited that Ty and Zoe could both stay for supper.

We're back...after a month with no internet acces (or at least access to our blog) here are some pictures of our month in-between houses.

Okay, I have no pictures for this, but I just had to write it on here if only so I can remember it. We only have two nights left in our house which is so happy and so sad. Tonight when I was putting Lizzy to sleep I was thinking about how for years before she came home, and especially after Abby died, the room was ready for a child but no child lived there. I used to come home from school sometimes, sit in the rocker, and dream about the day that there would be a baby in that room. Like all thoughts I have these days, this one didn't last long because my beautiful, fantastic daughter looked me in the face, said "nigh, nigh" and then put her cheek up to my lips and made the "mmmah" sound. She then pointed to her crib (her new sign that she is ready to just go in).
What a change for one little room.

Ione came over the other day to help us pack and celebrate Spring. I am so excited that the girls are starting to play together and not just in the same space. BBF????

Here is a mixture of all our Easter fun.

Here are some pictures from Lizzy's daycare. She LOVES this family, and her days look like they are more fun than mine!

I got memed. Jenn tagged me. Here are the memeing rules:

For a definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_meme

(1) Link to the person that tagged you.
(2) Post the rules on your blog.
(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
(4) Tag 3 random people by linking to their blogs. **Sorry, taking the liberty to revise the #.
(5) Let them know they're tagged by leaving a comment.

6 non-important things aboug me:

1. Today is my 30th birthday...okay that's very important :) The non-important thing is that I started my 20's by waking up in tears. Now I think I knew my 20's would have some very down moments, but I woke up today very excited. I think the 30's are the new 20's :)
2. I LOVE pink, but secretly also love brown. I wear LOTS of brown, and for some reason it makes me feel cozy.
3. Cozy is very important to me. I describe clothes, movies, events, food...everything in terms of cozy and not cozy. Matt particularly hates this when I describe food this way. UM...maybe I will just try to spend my 30's in cozy situations...what do you think?
4. I listen to classical music everyday. Lizzy and I listen to it while we cook, my students listen to it while they work (research claims it helps them focus), and I listen to it while I grade/plan.
5. I want one of everything in pink.
6. I claim to have a lot of secrets, but I don't really think I have one. I will attempt to secretly be more secretive.

Okay, so again I am stealing pictures from other children's webpages. But, I also wanted to send a big CONGRATS to Keely and Dave. Matt and I went to their wedding in Chicago on 2/23. It was beautiful and a wonderful excuse to see some of my favorite people. Here are Keely and Dave...hope you had a GREAT time in Costa Rica and my sorority sisters all grown up and fancy.

Okay...so we have been extremely busy lately. Tax season is in full swing so Matt works 6 days a week from 8-6/7. He makes it home a couple of nights a week to put Lizzy to bed, but at least with his new job he takes her to daycare, so he sees her everyday...a big change from working in South Bend.

We also have been looking at a lot of houses. Above is the house that we are putting an offer on...I really like it. We are still waiting for our buyers to finalize their pre-approval, so I am not holding my breath yet.

Lizzy has been going to Gymboree on Sat. mornings. She really likes it, and she is climbing there more than at home...which is where we want it to stay. She is talking more, and she now calls me Mommy, not MaMa. This just happened in the last couple of days, and it is a nice and sad thing for me. Where did my baby go?

We had a pretty eventful weekend...we were a normal family with lots of errands, friends over, and time to hang out. It was wonderful. Lizzy has taken to eating right next to Matt, and if he isn't here she will take me as a second choice.

We got an offer on our house this weekend, so after a long drive around the area to see some houses Lizzy and I faked a nap on the floor. And yes...we stayed in our pj's all day Sunday. Gross...I know.

My aunt Heather told me once that when you have children you can never make plans, things are always subject to change. Well, for the most part Lizzy has been pretty predictable, and I thought with our life (the hospital trips, etc.) I was used to not making plans. But yesterday Lizzy taught me otherwise.

I read online about a cute way to send a Valentine. I was going to take her picture with this sign and wish you all a Happy Valentine's...well. Elizabeth had other plans as you can see.

So, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY from the Kwiatkowski's, and I hope it's the thought that counts.

PS...Jacque, this post is for you. I promised to tell the bad too, so here you go:)

Lizzy's new favorite. Every night after her bath she yells, "obe, obe!" We like that she looks like a little person now. She wears this and walks around saying good night to everything in the house.

Our snow day...above happiness...below sadness. Don't we all feel that way about the snow?

Matt doesn't like to put Lizzy down at all. He claims she won't take naps unless he stays in there too!
Lizzy's new toys: Dada's lunch box and tie.

Their reunion. I have never seen Matt so happy. I think he likes his girl.

Sorry for the delay. We have been asdjusting to Matt's health (he is finally over his pneumonia), Lizzy's cold/flu, and the beginning of tax season. Things are good here. Matt is getting home earlier (for tax season) at his new job, and Lizzy is still obsessed with Matt, but it now seems like a normal obsession. When he first came back home, Lizzy had to have both Mama and Dada in the same room, and she didn't want to sleep. It was very sad because she seemed a little traumatized from Matt's absence and my going back to work, but she is back to normal too. She wakes up and yells "go, go". I say do you want to go to Miss Kimmie's house, and she nods violently. I think she likes it there.

Today I have a snow day, so Lizzy and I went and played in the snow for a little while. She refused to wear her gloves and managed to take them off when I was trying to take a picture. As you can see, she doesn't like how cold the snow is. She did like watching the dogs in the snow though. Maggie runs and rolls in it, and Lizzy was encouraging her by yelling "NO, NO"-her way of saying snow. Forgive any words that are not spelled correctly; the computer won't let me check.