oh, savannah

this was my attempt at finding a little space last week during an hour while the rug-rats were at school.  i could lie, and say i left feeling rejuvenated and ready to conquer life.  but i think i should have napped instead.

savannah hasn't been sleeping well.  i think it has something to do with her majorly junky cough she has going on. 

its been brutal.

she's been ultra clingy.  and brother doesn't really like it.  because he is now ultra clingy to vie with her behavior.

if i had a nickle for every time the words "i want mommy" were said.  holy crap.  nice, new shoes on my feet.

and i want to just say, that i am not complaining.  but gosh, i have become weary.  i am actually feeling a little better after spending a few hours with friends.  this stay at home mom stuff is not for the weak, i tell you.  the day in, day out... no real escape from being wholly needed.  not having a real adult outlet... the overwhelming sameness that can cloud my sight and thoughts.

don't get me wrong-- i do not want to go back to work.  it is just really hard to keep my wits without a good night of sleep and very whiny kids!  at some points last week {and this week} i thought:  mommy is l o s i n g it.  

but, like i said, i am feeling better.

i did see a lizard while i was taking my botanic garden time out.  

and even with the absence of my children i decided to catch it.  i am a total weirdo.  :)

i don't know how much i have talked about little savvy on the blog.  she is quite the verbal child.  an example of her antics:  "please, mommy, i sure do want to eat."  she can pretty much articulate anything she wants.  she does mispronounce milk, omitting the "l" so that it sounds like "mik" and she runs it together with "want" so "wantmik" becomes one word.

we go outside in the evenings... she likes to hold a sprig of mint and rosemary and have me smell them.

other than that, her language is pretty crystal clear to me.  much different than ethan's pointing and grunting, and gibberish and single words mixed with 3 word sentences that he gave me at this age.  it is nice to communicate.  it is frustrating to hear her articulate exactly what she wants and to tell her "no"  {mommy, i want curious george, now.}  but sincerely endearing to hear ethan and savannah talk to one another and actually play.  and heart melting when she turns to me and tells me that she loves me.

trying to teach her that her name starts with "s"

i tried these shoes on her after school to make sure they fit.  she nearly lost it when i took them off for her nap.  

so i let her sleep with them and a dress she wanted to wear... crazy girl.

and infuriating when she throws a gargantuan fit and adds in manipulation tactics.  smart girl.

but at times, you can actually reason with her.  the hurdle isn't the language barrier.  it is her strong will. 

very strong will.

delightfully strong will.

making a joke:  "mommy, i sleep in the tent! hahahaha"

one day while ethan was at school she pulled her shirt up and started running around in circles saying: "i'm ironman!"

i should also mention a few notable moments from last week.  i had a double heart attack at the botanic gardens when she drank out of a puddle when i thought she was just bending down to look at something.  {i found out from her declaration, "look mommy, i'm drinking!!!!}  and eat mulberries {which we quickly googled to see what she had eaten, "i eat the yummy berries, mommy"}  no harm done.  just stress on me! 

she's quite the swinger.  she did jump out of the swing, twist around, and face plant onto the gravel.  

after a few tears and a sip of water, she said, "i want more swing, please."  rascal.

and you think i am not watching her, but seriously, this happens in an instant.  she is a quick one.

crazy sister.

zebra hat at school.  cutie.

zoo fun with sweet friends.  top animal savannah wanted to see:  the hippos.  go figure.

all photos courtesy of the iphone.  i will try to be more intentional with the DSLR.

xoxo, s

sweet day

ethan was pretty interested in valentine's day this year.

he picked out his valentine via my choices i gave him from pinterest {and you can get the free download here}

and he was thrilled when i picked up the magnifying glasses at the party store. 

he wrote his name 17 times.  i'll be honest - they ranged in quality.  some were missing letters.  and i purposefully didn't correct him or control it.

he cut out hearts...  i was impressed with my little non-crafter.

i did the stapling.  he did the glue-sticking.  he twisted hearts with pipe cleaners.  he melted my heart with adorable-ness.

he sang skidamarink a dink a dink while he diligently worked.  my heart melted some more.

and on monday, he received a bag full of valentines from his friends and has carried it around all week.

tuesday, valentine's day came, and the kids were pleased with their heart shaped toast with cherry jelly.  no need to spend money here... my kids were very impressed with my skills.

and then we went to buy my husband some cigars.  or smoke bars, as ethan calls them.  and since i waited until the 11th hour, i had no other options but to take my littles to the cigar shop.  where they really were on their best behavior.  walking in the humidor room... actually not touching anything.  {thank you lord - i didn't want to buy a full box.}  and savannah and ethan even sat in the chairs while i paid.  ethan got a big kick out of trying to mimic the poses of the huge native american carving {first nation's people?  indian?  what exactly is pc here?}  and then the shop owner was so nice he let them pick out a drink.  {sigh.  sprite was our best choice.  its still in my purse.  and i think i did a good job of feigned excitement - "yay!  a sprite!  tooth decay!!" i was fortunate that the shop owner wasn't irritated that little people were all over the 18+ world and wanted to reward them for good behavior}

we bought ingredients for dinner - rosemary pork loin -- parsley, parmesan mashed potatoes -- oven roasted asparagus.  believe or not, that night, both kids enjoyed their food.  ethan even ate asparagus.  so that he could eat candy daddy had brought them.

ethan wanted us to pick flowers for the table - so it could be like a restaurant.  and he found magazines and set them on the table... and just now as i am typing this, i realized he wanted them to be menus.  so sweet.

ethan and i cooked dinner while sister napped.  and we made brownies for dessert... really thin brownies...

so that the kids could cut them into hearts.  not fancy.  but easy.     

i think now that i have kids, i enjoy valentine's day more than i ever have.  ironic, isn't it?  the whole day was so sweet.  both kids telling me i love you and giving me hugs.

but to keep it real, i will say, ethan ran away from me in a parking lot and ate more brownies when i said stop... so he also earned a stinker badge :)

xoxo, s

and for sister...

a hand-smocked dress from nana.  which she loved wearing.  of course, she ate plenty of cake and has played with brother's toys as well.

better dress pictures to follow...

the aftermath of costco

who knew that costco samples could wear her out like that??? 

eighteen months old

my little grub.  she had a half birthday.  and i can not believe how grown up she is.  i know everyone says that, but lately, it has been hitting me that my kids are growing up very quickly.

we go to her check-up next week, where i can get all the stats, so i will come back and update it.  i have no doubt she will be in the top of her age curve... she's in size 24 months/2t.  she breaks my arm when i carry her.  and she wears a size 6 shoe.   we are still in size 4 pampers when we do disposable diapers.

but --- she is showing interest in potty training.  so maybe she won't be in those diapers too much longer.

in fact, we went to eat lunch with ethan and his class on monday, and he told everyone at his table that "sa-nannah toots on the potty"  thanks, buddy.  i'm sure sister would have wanted to share that as well.  :)

my girl loves to eat.  gotta love a girl who eats!  we are still nursing in the mornings, and occasionally in the late afternoon.  i'll nurse her as long as she's interested... there is so much good stuff in my milk.  i could go on and on about her favorite foods... but just know, right now, she has a thing for the mini pepperonis.  i know.  not the best food choice -- don't judge.  perhaps my breastmilk will make up for the carcinogens?  and she really loves yogurt.  it is helpful that she is talking more because she will voice her cravings at the fridge after her nap.  she typically grabs my hand, pulls me to the kitchen, stands in front of the fridge or pantry and yells, EAT.  then, she gets specific :)     

we are still waiting on her last four teeth to break through the gums.  she has her top and bottom front 4.  and her molars.  its the ones between the molars and the front.  geez, they have been giving her trouble.  motrin.  tylenol.  homeopathic teething tablets.   we are down to the paci only at night.  mostly.  but sometimes she really wants to chew on that thing during the day.

savannah asks for "med-cine."  whenever she cries, ethan says, "i think sa-nannah is getting teeth."  except sometimes it's after he's hit her... and then i have to inform him that teeth probably aren't the issue.

she has quite the vocab... i have been keeping it on my phone in the notes section - fun to see what all she says.  she will certainly be a chatter box.  lately, her big word to scream is "buckle!!" when i get her in and out of the car seat.  :)

i also really enjoyed when she grabbed part of ethan's halloween costume and put it on and looked at faustino and me and said, "ironman."  yes, indeed.

she has so much fun copying her brother.  the things he says, noises he makes, what ever he does, she wants to do too.  and they play really well together.  until he decides that he wants to play rough :) or until she takes whatever the toy of the moment is and runs off with it.

she loves to dance, sing, play peekaboo, play with fake food, and love on stuffed animals and babies.  she is very affectionate to her babies, but guards her kisses tightly from anyone else.  so when she does give a kiss to me, it melts my heart.  completely.

and when she is eating, she wants to give bites to others.  i had no idea that this was a sign of her affection until the other night.  she was eating some smarties and giving some to me and faustino.  then ethan waltz's in and totally zones in on them... and she gets them all in her hand and won't share a bit!  it was so funny!!

she has friends!  her face lights up when she's sees certain people in particular...  i remember the first time that she said "Abby!"  i nearly fell over in disbelief {it was at the beginning of the school year} that she knew and could articulate another child's name.  and it wasn't like we saw the friends every day back in the summer, either.  and at her school, the much loved ms. tracie tells me that savannah is quite the playground flirt.  nice.

she loves books.  i mean, LOVES them.  i could read to her for hours.  she loves to pick out books from her shelf... point to pictures... say the words.  i know i am biased, but i think she will be an early reader.  it's definitely her thing to make letter sounds and name letters.  A E and S are some of our favorites right now.  

she also loves shoes.  and clothes.  and stealing my makeup brushes.  she loves bracelets.  and will find my ponytail holders and wear them all day long, calling them bracelets.  my poor husband... he has no idea what is down the road.  i think he will have a hard time saying no to her big blue eyes.

she is my sweet, happy-go-lucky, blessing of a baby girl.  i want to sit and snuggle her and kiss her neck all day long, but she is too busy for that.  she is so smart and has a great sense of humor and i could not imagine our family without her.  she is a blessing beyond my wildest dreams and i can't believe i have the honor of being her mother.

and thanks, sabrina for capturing all these images of savannah.

bullets!

hi y'all.  lot's of randoms today... so i will resort to bullets.

::  thanks for the kind feedback from last week.  makes a girl feel good.  :)  maybe i should add more substance to blog, eh?  i'll try.  sometimes its a little scary to put it all out there.  i try to be open and honest on here, but i do not want to over share.  i'll work on some stuff... 

::  savannah is quite the chatterbox lately.  i've been counting and she knows over 100 words!  incredible.  ethan didn't talk this early at all, so it really blows me away to hear little things come out of her mouth.  ethan thinks it is fun to teach her or get her to say a word on cue "sa-nana.  say, applesauce!"  and she will.  so fun.

::  i will dwell on the loveliness of the above bullet when ethan pushes, pulls, hits and demands that she get out of the way or stop playing with his things.  sibling squabbles are not fun!  and i feel like they are here to stay.

::  saturday.  i made a cassorole that i thought would be awesome.  F A I L.  fail x 100.  i usually whip up really good stuff in the kitchen.  i taught myself to cook from lots of cookbooks that i read, cover to cover, in college {i like a recipe to go off of, but can tweak it.  i definitely have a comfort zone.  i am lacking the whole, i-watched-my-mother-make-it-this-way-a-thousand-times-and-this-is-my-twist.} but for the most part i don't suck at cooking.  if given ample allotments of time and money, i really love cooking. but this was not good.  at all.  it involves mayonnaise {already not my favorite} and artichokes {this is a bad combo}  argh.

::  i lost a bet to faustino and now have to eat the entire disgusting casserole on my own.  i just ate a big plate full and think i am going to die.  oh, people.  mercy.

::  friday night around 11:00 i started thinking, where is chloe?? {my himalayan cat that i have had since my sophomore year at baylor} and i looked EVERYWHERE.  she's gone, y'all.  gone.  i really don't know how she got out, but she is gone.  i am hyper-vigilant about the cats not getting out, and chole never runs for the door when its open.  so sad.  i am absolutely sick.  she's declawed and a little stupid, and i fear for her survival.  last year when we lost hobbes, i held fast to the fact that he is a smart cat... but chloe...  can you add a cat to your prayer list?  is that totally silly?  i just want her furry little self to come home safely.  and i know you must think i am awful - losing a cat last year, and now this year... i promise this is completely strange.  you can read about hobbes' escape and return from last year...

::  because chloe is super laid back and not very interactive with the munchkins, they don't realize she's gone.  so at least i don't have to field 37 billion questions about it.  and endure ethan rolling the window down and calling out her name like he did last year for hobbes.  it killed me.

::  saturday morning.  we did have fun at a bounce house party.  of course, ethan didn't bounce.  he's not a bounce house bouncer.  the couch?  yes.  the bounce house... not so much.  but really, i don't blame him.  i have nightmarish thoughts still about the time as a very young child {ethan's age??} about when i was at the "yamboree" {longview folks, you know what i'm talking about} and was playing in a bounce house in the midway section of the fair and was sucked into the edge of the bounce house while big kids jumped nearby, further wedging me down between the floor and the wall.  i was screaming.  i think someone must have dug me out but i don't remember anything after that.  and don't want to.  it must have been horrid.

::  ethan helped me decide on accessories for an outfit i wore this week, and my husband said that i have hit a low point in my fashion-ability when i seek the council of a three year old.  just wait til' residency is over.... hahahha.  just kidding.  well, kind of...

::  i dressed up another time and ethan told me i looked very pretty.  {think:  blouse and shorts and lipstick verses yoga pants and a tshirt around the house}  perhaps i need to dress up more often?!!

::  i started and finished little savannah's owl costume.  so cute.  yes, i wanted her to be a little lamb.  but this was easier/cheaper.  and money talks.  so thanks to some pinterest inspiration, she's all set.

::  maybe i'll do a little halloween photo shoot tomorrow. 

::  we celebrated sue's birthday...

:: and then went to a halloween trunk or treat carnival at the kids' school.  fun times.  i now have my bribes fully stocked.  :)

::  the lord has blessed me with a napping preschooler.  hallelujah!  almost everyday.  really.  did He know that i was at the brink of my sanity??

::  we are the humbled, thrilled, beyond grateful recipients of hand-me-down clothes for the kids.  last week it was cool enough to need a winter coat, and it was ethan's first time to see it.  he was so excited that he won't separate himself from it and sleeps with it every night!!!  i showed him a sweat shirt and he has been sleeping with that one, too.  lordy!

::  think how happy kids who really need a coat are when they get one.  the kids in the foster system.  or homeless kids.  so sad.  that motivates me to really find ways to give to children in need.  and to involve my children.

::  and one last thing, because it sounds like savannah is beginning to wake up.  do you have an iphone 3gs??  have you done the software update??  i am dying to... but scared.  please, do tell!  my inner nerd is dying for a 4s because i want Siri....


xoxo, stephanie

last week is over! + a link to our family photos!

last week was a long week of half done projects and running around like a chicken with my head cut off.  faustino was at a conference in florida, and i had a week to "accomplish lots of messy projects" like... cleaning out closets.  and cleaning out toys.  and scrubbing the kitchen floor cinderella style.  you know, because if he is gone, i can do those drag-everything-out-to-organize-it projects.

these kind of projects give me heart palpitations.  really.  i text pictures to jenn with all the clothes spread out everywhere... and seriously.  so bad.  it made me feel like a hoarder.

i managed to get it all sorted and picked up by the time he came home.  thank. god.

i really thought i would get everything done.  i did not.

but i fully enjoyed my kids.





i also got some quality time with my mother who came so that i could get my hair cut.  wonderful.  and i used a different salon this time.  why didn't i change stylists a long time ago?  my old stylist was so frightfully negative.  the new stylist was l o v e l y.  i highly recommend ale at esoterica.  

also, ethan played lots of mighty world.  do you know about mighty world?  they are big boy toys with little pieces... he plays with them when savannah naps, and is so cute about cleaning it up.  love.







and i also did the dreaded search to find what we would wear for our family photos....it ended in success.  you can see the previews on sabrina's blog.

i am so so so so so so happy with the previews.  i have a very sweet and talented friend, no doubt.  i feel blessed so far beyond what i deserve.  so, thank you, sabrina, for capturing my family with your camera.  and i will shamelessly plug sabrina.  she has a gift.  you should have seen how ethan was doing everything she asked.  amazing.  so, go.  book your photos with her.  :)

xoxo, s

happy monday, folks

its blurry.  but aren't they cute?  they want to sleep like that every night.  i have to be the bad guy and put savannah into her crib.  soooo cute.

so while they snuggled with their grammy in the beautiful dreary weather this weekend, mama and daddy drove to my friend jenny's wedding in houston {fun!  and fancy soul food was on the menu - YUM!  more shrimp and grits for me!!!!} and i got to visit my friend, jenn.  and yes, i got to hear her adorable son say the too-cute-for-words "hi, y'all."  m e l t. 

jenn and jenny in the same weekend.  i think i confused my mother in law with the same name-ness of it all.  but for clarity, this is jenny.  this is jenn. 

now that's settled.

i talk to jenn like 11 times a week.  i mean, a week were we hardly talk is like, we only talked 4 times.  i'm not exaggerating.  it will be nice when she lives a little closer and maybe we can get together more often.  i mean, the last time i was at her house, she was pregnant, i think.  or maybe not yet pregnant.  with emma.  i mean, it was such a long time ago.  i remember her showing me the crib...but i don't remember the chaos of a baby.  and now her "baby" just turned 5!  maybe we should try a little harder to get together, eh?  :)

and last night, i was catching up on the tivo {and recovering from too much food, champagne, and driving in the rain}... and i made a TO DO list this week.  holy moly.  i almost added read the entire bible and become fluent in italian to it just to make me smile.  there is no humanly way i can cross all that off.  but i am going to try.

there are lots of big projects.  like organize all the kids clothes/drawers/closet.  and that is a major task.  we are short on space... so if you could just appreciate that fact for a moment....  ahh.  scary.

and clean my kitchen floor with shaving cream.  i'll report back on that one.

and i am itching to sew savannah a skirt.  and... we are taking family photos this coming weekend.  what. to. wear.?????????????? hate deciding that!

and i am going to try really hard to not stay up until 3 am every night.  

must run.  i have a lot to do.  and it starts with taking my kids to the park! 

xoxo, s

snug as a bug

sister is all about wriggling into tiny spaces... here she is the the bowl of my salad spinner.

and for the record, at school this year and last year, her favorite thing is to kick the dolls out of the cradle and sit in it.  she does the same at my mother in law's.

you should see her with a diaper box!

i remember doing this too... although, i think it is something a lot of kiddos do...   i know i have that photo... perhaps i should scan it and post it?? 

but, for the record, ethan did not show the same enthusiasm for tight spots!

i'll be back with a real post soon... i just had to document my little grub, even though the photo quality is sadly from an iphone...

xoxo, s

tuesday.

today is tuesday... it took me an entire minute to think of that.  if that tells you how off schedule we are... :)

so... last week.

friday.



meet the teacher day... i was on time.  i had my act together.  i even got a photo.  i had to let you know that.... you know, because sometimes if you want the photo, you won't be on time ;)  

and i am so so so so so so so happy with their teachers.  i really know it will be a great year.



savannah definitely was worn out.  she didn't even make it home before zonking out... sweet sleepy girl.

and to celebrate a successful meet the teacher, i waited in line at the in n out burger and bought myself a cheeseburger.  and ethan a milkshake.

i was also celebrating not getting the god-awful stomach flu that my MIL and my husband had.  i even made him stay with his mother because i did. not. want. sick. kids.



saturday.

and we didn't have sick kids over the weekend.  the weekend by the way, started with a "pop."  as in the popping of a transformer.  in the alley.  from the garbage truck hitting it with the dumpster.  at 7am.
and the {very nice -- i really like him, i swear.} redneck neighbor yelling at the garbage truck driver.

in his underwear.  saying he would tar him.  {as in - tar and feather.}  i'm telling you... we are not in the 'burbs.

and then said neighbor gets in his pickup truck and blocks the garbage man in the alley.  and the garbage man raises the arm of the truck.  they were in a stand off.  and the neighbor was yelling.

i told my husband that it would not be wise to attempt to diffuse the situation.  stay. in. the. house.

the police and firemen diffused the situation.  our power was off all day.  we ate breakfast at the cracker barrel and went to grammy's house.  because, well, it is not exactly leave-the-a/c-off-and-enjoy the-breeze-through-the-windows weather.

strange saturday, no??

well, i also drank some wine on saturday night...  maybe one glass too many. 




sunday.


sunday rolled around, and what i thought was my little wine "hangover" was actually my run with the wretched stomach virus!!!

total. misery.



monday.

but worse?  ethan had it yesterday.  3 baths.  3 moppings of the floor.  true love of a mother -- being puked on.  true pain of a little sister -- being puked on.

i am sure that my husband enjoyed missing yesterday by working a 15 hour day.  though, he mananged to be here for one of the baths... there is no escaping it!



tuesdsay. 

and today?  we are well.  ethan is bouncing around.  and we have had no puking.  and no fever.

praise.

and sister -- i am begging and pleading with god to let it pass her.  so far, she seems perfectly fine.  albeit yesterday she was a little sleepy.

i am hoping that my breast milk and it's amazing antibodies keep her well.  and if those antibodies keep her well, i might consider nursing her forever.  kidding.  i swear.

so far, so good... so i will be sending both my rascals to school in the morning.

sweet, glorious, school.  

little tidbits.

catching up with the randoms... you know how i said we managed to pack a lot into our last week?  well, i feel like i am just giving you the highlights... and leaving out the good stuff.

like how when we were at target around 9:00 am on monday morning, picking up cat food, ethan decided that it would be really cool to stick his fingers in the holes in the buggy.

and they wouldn't come out.

niiiiice.

so, i tried hand lotion from a tester.  nope.  then i decided to ask a target employee... and yes, my child wasn't the first.  it turns out baby oil will do the trick.

this photo doesn't even do the situation justice...

please do tell me you have had a similar experience.  no?  just us.  that's what i was worried about.   thank goodness we asked before they began their start-the-morning-employee-meeting.  i wouldn't have wanted to be the entertainment for that :)

but lets rewind a touch... the day before we celebrated ella and grace {my nieces} birthday... can they really already be 1???  i swear, they were just born.

savannah liked their gifts and certainly tried to kidnap their baby dolls.  oh sister.

and while we are on the subject of savannah... well, missy is at that age where if you take your eyes off of her for a moment, she will be into something.  and i mean, a moment.

sometimes, i feel like i just sit on the couch and watch her.  and then, i think -- i've got to get xyz done... and the problems begin.

stir a pot on the stove = savannah dunking her pacifiers in the cats' water bowl.

go to the bathroom = jumping on the couch/playing with the wireless modem cord/pulling a cat's tail/conflict of violent proportions with brother

change a load of clothes = pull all the shirts out of brother's drawer.

i could go on.  and on.

but it did warm my heart when i was cooking and in a panicked rush realized she was not in the kitchen anymore... and not watching t.v. with brother {i know, bad mommy, but i was trying to pull her attention to the living room!}

my little reader.

i must also tell you how completely adorable it was to see my daughter act like a little mommy... trying to give paci's and bottles to the little babies we played with... so sweet.  and she is quite gentle.  m e l t

and too, i must brag on brother. who had wonderful behavior... even though it wasn't his turn for a playdate.  savannah goes along for all of his, but this time, he went along for her's... and i was secretly beaming with joy.  no whining.  not a smidge of destruction on a non-preschool proofed home.  non-toddler proofed too... he would take the breakables out of savvy's hands ever so gently and hand them to me.  oh so very sweet.  and when he did this, and savvy's copped some sass... he put his hand over her mouth and told her "be quiet" because the babies were sleeping!

when did he get so grown up???

and finally... i leave you with this.  as i was getting ready for the day, ethan decided he would too... he was already dressed and ready to go, but decided to get daddy's deodorant and put it in his "arm pits" which were actually the bends in his arm behind his elbows... he said to me:  "smell me.  i put this on my arm pits and now i smell great!!!"  and was SO PROUD of himself.  ahhh... to be 3.

xoxo, s

miss manners

our little lady uses a fork now.  i love it.  so glad i caught it on camera.

little miss manners was the highlight of my day... and casie, do you read this??  that was the fork you sent us :)  thanks!

xoxo, s

my baby is definitely a toddler

15 months old.

unbelievable.  she is such a little girl now... the "baby" in her disappears more each day.  i will be sad when one day, it is all gone.  yet, the new things she does are so exciting.  like yesterday, while ethan napped we snuggled on the couch and watched cinderella.  she sat there through most of the entire movie.  she has a long attention span for sure!

the "bullets" for right now:

::  one nap a day!!

::  nurses in the morning, after nap, and after dinner {sometimes}  and doesn't nurse for very long at all! 

::  all teeth except canines and 2 year molars!!  wow!

::  loves having her teeth brushed - says "ahhhh"

::  still loves the paci... and still sleeps with 3!

::  eats and eats... likes almost everything.

::  hates having her diaper changed/face wiped/clothing changed.  i think it has something to do with being still

::  loves carrying stuffed animals/babies/blankies around.  will sit on lap and snuggle a little

::  brings me books 8,000 times a day.  loves to sit and read.  wash, rinse, repeat.

::  talks in gibberish, and says words like hi, bye-bye, night-night, mommy, dada, eyes, b-button, nose, shoes, duck, cat, baby and more that i can't even think of right now... and a handful of others that i fully understand but i won't call "words" yet.  she makes animal sounds as well.  "moo" is pretty cute.

::  fearless.  heights, water, jumping, running.  you name it.  will fall, scrape knees, and bleed but keep going.  i love it.

::  laid back - mostly - and easy to redirect.  faustino raised his voice with her a week ago and she completely got her feelings hurt.  it was the cutest thing to see him feel so bad for making her sad.  SO different from ethan {sometimes nothing gets through to him}.  you can tell her once, and she gets it.  most of the time.  or just redirect her.

::  we go to the dr. on wednesday for official stats, but she is still in an 18 month size... though she could wear 24 months if push came to shove.  some of her little dresses are getting shorter, so i know she is growing!

::  still in medium cloth diapers and size 4 disposables.  size 5 shoes. 

::  loves animals and is gentle with them. 

she just dropped the nap courtesy of the little summer school program she went to in july.  i now feel less house bound!  hallelujah!  i think she will really enjoy going to school two mornings a week in the fall because she really likes the social interaction.  you could tell it really wiped her out though... she wouldn't make it 5 minutes into the drive home before passing out.  

life is great right now and i am having a fun time watching her transform into a toddler.  she is a delightful little addition to our family, and i couldn't be more blessed to be her mommy.  i could totally get all sappy right here... start tearing up... but let's move on ;)

these pictures are from the zoo today {because i had a moment of insanity, and thought it would be okay to go for an hour.  it was an enjoyable but ridiculously hot hour.  and thankfully not very crowded.} because i knew savannah would like looking at all the animals we read about.  i think the white tiger stole the show today, by the way.  second place where the birds... she didn't quite understand the whole process of feeding them with the seed sticks.  perhaps next time.

and by the way, these aren't really very special pictures.  at least they weren't with my iphone, right??

check out the hair!!  it has grown SO MUCH.

and you see how excited she is?  she is looking at and saying BEAR

have a good weekend... we will try not to melt, here.
xoxo, s

Bye Bye Baby-Rail

look who climbed into her brother's stokke while he was napping.  no it wasn't the first time... but it was the first time i decided to feed her in his chair.  looks like the baby rail on her chair will go into storage.



oh how quickly time passes!  surely she is doing this much earlier than ethan did.  i will have to search the blog to figure out just how quickly... but gosh.  no baby rail on the tripp trapp.  sad day.

Hive-y Sister

on thursday i noticed that sister was a little on the hive-y side.  i called the pedi... they said to "watch it."

grr... like any mother with a sick kid - i want the instant fix!  not gonna happen....

so friday morning -- she looked like this!



does this even look like my daughter???  at all??  remotely??  here is a normal photo: 



bless her poor little swollen heart.  the pedi suspects a food allergy.  eggs?  corn?  peanut butter??

on saturday morning... she was all better... still off schedule and a bit out of sorts, but the hives were gone.  i let her take a long morning nap and by the evening i really felt like she was back to herself.

fast forward to bed time on sunday evening... i started noticing a few hives cropping up. 

GO AWAY HIVES.  WE DON'T WANT YOU HERE.  and this mama does not want to be dealing with food allergies.  thx.

xoxo, s