Happy Birthday, Savannah!

my sweet savannah is one today.  i can. not. believe. it.  

where did the time go??

i am at such a different place now than where i was a year ago... nervous about how ethan would handle having a little sister... nervous about how i would be able to do it alone after faustino went back to work {when she was 5 days old}



i think we managed just fine. 

some trivia on baby sister  {along with some random photos throughout the past year}:  



two of her most used nicknames are sister and savvy.  i also call her missy pickles.



she is a good morning napper... too bad we are on the go many mornings.  in some ways, it has made me feel a little non-social.  i try to be mindful of naps when scheduling things... and so many tuesdays and thursdays we just stay home.  {ethan has school MWF, savvy just on wed., so i try to schedule things like errands on monday or friday}  its better that way.



afternoon naps are hit and miss.  oh well.  but getting better...

she sleeps just fine at night... 7:45pm - 6:45 am

she loves her gumdrop paci.  she will have one in her mouth and carry another one or two around most of the time.  she sleeps with at least 3 pacis in her crib.  i thought she would be a thumb sucker, so i really started pushing the pacifiers back around christmas.  i was horrified to think about trying to get a child to stop sucking their thumb... at least i have control over the paci!



She has 5 teeth...the two on top and bottom she got awhile back... then at the beginning of the month, the third on top started coming in on the left... the one on the right {top tooth #4} looks like it should come in any day now.  that's what i blame any and all of her bad behavior on ;)





she loves babies.  it was her first word.  she likes to give her dolls a bottle or a pacifier.  i think it is super cute.

speaking of words --- this is what she can say:  night night, baby, mama, dada, cat {although you need a trained ear for that one} bye, and waves hi and bye, and will sign for more.  and shake her head no.  and she can point at things...

more and no are definitely related to food.  sister can eat.



i started her on milk once or twice a day, and she really started understanding the concept of a sippy cup. {finally!}  she enjoys milk... {especially milk on-the-go}



we are also still nursing.  she is definitely more of a grazer.  it drives me crazy.  ethan was a "feeding" kind of baby.  we would sit down and have a "feeding."  savannah... not so much.  she wants to nurse 3 or 4 times a day but it is quick.  like a couple of minutes.  and she might want to nurse again 5 minutes later.  and then 5 minutes later again.  and again.  and it might be TMI for you, {but when i have another child i can come back and reference this for myself} but she goes from one side to the next... maybe switching 10 times or so.  nursing an older baby is so very strange.  oh well.

she enjoys all food.  really.  everything.  i feed her off of my plate.  just not shellfish and peanut butter yet.  although, in all likelihood, i would bet that she would be fine...  she loves to feed herself.  and is getting pretty good at it.  she managed to eat all of her oatmeal this morning with minimal mess!





and while we are talking about food, let me put it on record, she eats like a teenage boy.  now, i will say that in the last week, she hasn't been the same wild hungry beast that she has been for the last couple of months... so maybe it was some sort of growth spurt.

she is in the same size {large} cloth diapers, and a size 4 huggies disposable.  18 month clothes... 12 month are getting t i g h t.  and dresses are always a better bet than pants... she has a chubby belly.  :)



she is really starting to want to be affectionate and snuggly... i think that now that she walks, she can focus her energy on other things.  before it was just go, go, go.  and it seemed to make her crazy to sit still.  now she wants to sit in my lap... i melt.



although, i can hardly keep her still for a diaper change. and the bathtub.  oh my.  thank god for this genius invention -- the bath sling.  it has been handy from day one {well, i didn't really have it on day one, but you get the drift} and i primarily use it now to immobilize her so i can scrub her down!



she loves to play with ethan.  loves it.  loves to be "chased" by him.  she giggles and laughs... she loves to play peekabo, and will move my hands over my eyes to tell me she wants to play. 



i can not imagine my life without her.  she is the perfect little girl for our family.  i really look forward to watching her learn new things and grow... she is a wonderful blessing.   having a daughter is a really special thing that i feel honored to experience. 



happy birthday, my little, sweet girl.  i love you so much.

finished flour sack towels

its been a long time since i feel like i have set down with a decent frame of mind and written a blog post.  sometimes i feel like life is moving so quickly that i can sit down and watch an episode of something tivo'd but to make my words make sense in paragraph form... well, just forget it.

my brain just seems mushy at the end of the day.  and not the sentimental kind of mushy.  i'm hoping that all the time i am putting into words with friends is sharpening the ol' noggin.

i think part of it is that as a mom of two young children, i am always multitasking.  so my mind has fallen into a pattern of darting from thing to thing.  it is hard to sit still, because i think of other things that need my attention.  and once i start on them... along comes something that really does need attention.  it is a horrible waste of time to hop from task to task {example:  i need to change the load of laundry to the dryer - wait, i should get a load of clothes together - hmm... where did i see that pair of socks, yes, under the coffee table -- oh my gosh, the cat threw up, i need to clean it, grab a paper towel - but wait, i am tired, i need to put water on to boil to make some sweet tea.  now add the kids in there.  you see what i mean??}

anyway. 

thank you for your sweet words on my baby's photos... i can't wait to see all of them.  sweet savannah.  i could eat her with a spoon.  mmm!

but back to things... i feel like i have tons to post about, but should stick to one topic at a time {stop my multitasking mind!}

so, a finished project.

i don't get to say finished project very often.  i feel like many of my projects stay in my head... or on pinterest.  and the ones that i start take awhile to complete... because truthfully, i mismanage my time.

although, i read a quote somewhere that said something to the effect of if you enjoyed the time you spent it wasn't wasted... and i liked that.  a lot.

anyway, i started this project, oh... forever ago.  and truthfully, finished a long time ago too.  for the most part.

but it was just given to the recipient.  she can save the valentine's one for next year... lets think about how early i am for february 2012...rather than how late i am for this past valentine's...









obviously, the last photo was taken after the first three.  see the little bit of green bean vine in the lower right hand corner?  {that just sent me down a whole rabbit hole of what i need to do for the garden.  argh!  the multitasking mind!!}


do you like them?  i was sad the entire time that i couldn't keep them for myself.  although, i was totally tickled to give them away.  and embroidery has a way of making you think of nice things about the recipient.  stitch after stitch...

my husband looked at me while i was making one of them and said that he hoped i never decided to sell these, because i am too slow to be profitable.

he is right.  and truthfully, my work is so imperfect, i could never charge anyone for it.  i like to think of it as folksy...



xoxo, stephanie

Look at Sister!!

you really must go to this link:  savannah's one year photos

my friend sabrina is one heck of a photographer...  seriously...  she takes some beautiful shots.  and when she told me that she wanted to take savannah's birthday photos...  yes, please!!!

and can i tell you how awesome sabrina is?  savvy business woman, stellar seamstress & pattern maker, and amazing photographer.  all on top of being funny, a godly woman, and a great mom.  and she is a good listener and a fabulous friend.

i hope i am making her blush.   :)

you can see what i mean by following her blogs:  noodles & milk and sabrina gebhardt photography

xoxo, s 

Our Life Lately...

oh my.  i just wrote a long post.  but i must have some sort of attention deficit when the kids are both asleep at the same time.  my mind goes a hundred miles an hour, and i am trying to make sense...

which is a giant fail.

so.  here's the skinny on my life right now.  in a list.  sort of.  {the paragraphs from the above mentioned failed post were gigantic rambles.}

savannah started walking.
last saturday.  because she didn't want to crawl on the deck at a friend's party.

and she is f e a r l e s s.  yikes.

here's a quick video of miss savvy walking... {do notice ethan's shenanigans in the background.  what a silly boy}  let's see if i can actually figure out how to post a video... tips, anyone??

it has been super windy here.  that's not so good for my allergies/poor sensitive nose/energy levels.  the smoke from the fires to the west mixed with the pollen make for a burning throat for me. 

but then i think about all those people in the fires and i kick myself for complaining.  things are so nice for us here.  those people are suffering.  not me.  guilt for feeling sorry for myself with my allergies.

guilt. guilt. guilt.  go away guilt!  {do y'all have never ending guilty thoughts??  ahhh! i do!}

anyway, in my attempt to be productive, my blogging has slacked.  but i have so much to say!  so much to post about!

like finally starting my junior league placement.  finally.

or making a plan to win the war over what i am going to cook for dinner. 

or finished projects.  i finally finished my junior woman's club auction item of customized hand embroidered flour sack towels.  well folks, that could have been an entire jl placement for the time it took.

we have been to the zoo several times.  
to see the... dinosaurs.



and the garden is growing and growing.  we live in the desert we haven't had much rain... so i have been watering twice a day.  and hand pollinating.  geez.  these plants better grow.






and i have had this happen twice.  bliss.  pure bliss.



more posts to come, friends.
xoxo, s

Scissors

these were the only ones nearby when i needed some to wrap a gift.  you have to laugh at the little things, right?



hopefully i can get a real post up soon!

xoxo, stephanie

an iPhone for me!!

image via PCWorld

so... in looking into some discounts we could take, i made a discovery.  i could exchange my bag phonejust kidding for an iPhone and we would pay the same price per month.  {my parents really did have this phone.  i do not lie. }

image via PCWorld

and this, by the way, is the very phone i took with me my freshman year at Baylor.  i seem to have always been behind the times...

so... my sad little nokia freebie {circa oh... ethan's birth!} was retired and i am now up to speed with the rest of the world and their smartphones.

except... i'm not. i need apps!!!

i would LOVE it if you would comment with your favorite app... i need to join the rest of you in 2011!   

Round Top 2011

so, i have seriously been trying to post this all week... but the week has gotten away from me.  every day has been something + the kids afternoon naps are not happening like they should... i had things in the evenings and i really have been chasing my tail all week.  but we are fed, wearing clean clothes.  that counts for something, right??  :)



now, on to this past weekend.

round top, tx. {and no, this isn't round top, but this is how far out in the country we were.  and this was the awesome weather.  overcast, warm but breezy.  perfection!}

what is it?  it is acres upon acres of tents and buildings in the country.  people are selling anything from high end french antiques to rummage sale items.  its sort of like canton, except there is more of a feeling of really inspiring design... this was my first trip.

i had no idea.  it was madness.  so much to see... like, so much that i didn't really feel like we even saw a fraction of it.

about a month ago, i mentioned to my mother in law that it would be fun to go down to round top... and she agreed... and we didn't really put the plan into motion until the 11th hour and wound up staying in bastrop, which is a 45 minute drive away from the antique madness.

but it was a pretty drive, so no biggie.  {well, it was a bit of a pain when savannah was overtired on the way back to the hotel from the long day...}  anyway, mostly no biggie.

we took the kids.  we also took my mother-in-law's car... we were not serious shoppers.  {i mean, people bring trailers... we were not those people}

i mean, really, how much more could i fit in our house???  {but perhaps, down the road, i could be one of those girls with a trailer...}

anyway, we just wanted to mozy around and look.  it was such a blast.

ethan was tickled to get out of town.  he kept telling everyone he was on vacation.  when we talked to the on-star lady in the car, he told her that he wanted to go to the beach.  and when we finished dinner on friday night, he walked up to the hostess and told her that he wanted some money.

lord!

he also sported his dad's {dirty} hat all weekend. 



he managed to weasel a toy airplane, mustang, car and bulldozer out of the trip,  like we needed any more of these things.

and then there was sister.  she was pretty easy, but quite frankly, i think she just really prefers to sleep in her own bed.  she also likes her routine!  early to bed!  {and we weren't exactly savannah-style early to bed...}



really though, i would have never attempted this when ethan was her age.  she is such a good baby.

but on to our day at round top.  there are so many clusters of tents along the way... i don't really know where all we stopped... just that the first place seemed small potatoes compared to blue hills, but they really had some nice stuff for great prices.



i wanted this scale.  sooooo badly.  but it was beyond my budget, oh, and where would it go??  my imaginary work island in my kitchen??  haha!





i wanted this jar.  again.  money and space.  pretty though....


then we went to blue hills...


and pushing a stroller on the pea gravel here might cause insanity.

seriously.

so we did some switching off... the kids didn't mind...






and my, oh, my.  ethan wanted the barn toy box {where would it go???} but the price tag was outrageous.  antique or not, i would not have even considered $350!

there was so much eye candy, i could hardly think straight to snap pictures!









we did get stuck for over an hour in traffic.  but this was our view...out the window and the backseat.  there really were no problems...





and by the time we reached zapp hall -- sister was out!





i did find my fair share of goodies... on the cheap.  {we went on the final day, so everyone wanted to strike up a deal.  yes, please!}









and when we got home on sunday evening, ethan was so tired.  he said to me "mama, snuggle me on the couch, please?"  and i said i would love to.  it was the perfect ending to a great weekend.