November was a good month overall! We went on a couple of fun family outings—something we hadn’t felt up to for the first few months of Abigail’s life. And we stayed pretty busy getting ready to close on our new house. Here’s the recap:
Friday, November 3rd – Cici took Brooklyn and Savannah to the Botanical Gardens and then to spend the night at her house. We heard they had a great time!
They also helped wash cars the next day. They love spending the night at Cici’s!
Abigail enjoyed being an only child for the night :)
The comment we get most often about Abigail is “She has such big eyes!” :) She often has that bug-eyed look. I’m pretty sure Brooklyn did too as a baby though…
Brooklyn never thinks she’s tired enough for a nap, but sometimes it’s just too hard to resist (especially on a busy Sunday)…
November 6th was rainy but not too cold outside, so we did some sidewalk chalking right outside our front door :)
Savannah was very proud of her artwork and pointed it out every time we came home for the next month…haha. We actually had to wash it off when we moved out because it was all still there.
The girls’ version of playing dress-up is to wear as many layers of clothes as possible :)
This is where you could find Brooklyn a lot of the time at our apartment: coloring at the coffee table. She loves to draw and color!
Biggest and littlest sisters :) 
Travis was off on November 10th (a day early for Veteran’s Day), so I took Brooklyn and Savannah to the playground at Dublin Park. It was a little chilly that morning, but it was good to get outside and let the girls run and play. It was hard for them at the apartment because they couldn’t just go outside without me being right there, and we tried to keep them from running/jumping inside since there were people living below us.
I was surprised that Savannah could climb this rope ladder without much help!
We saw my former co-worker’s kids while we were there! She has 3 daughters that are basically the same ages as ours (within a couple of months). Brooklyn had fun playing with her 4 year old, who is named Savannah (another funny coincidence!). Random, but Angela and I also have the same wedding ring. We found out we had a lot of things in common while we worked together.
The girls had fun riding this train and going down the slides. We also played a lot of hide-and-seek while we were there.
And we had to have a snack break before we went home, of course! :) It was a fun morning!
I kept Brooklyn home from church on Sunday, November 12th because she had a pretty bad cough, although she acted like she felt fine. She decided to make her own “church” with a podium and microphone…haha. She even led her stuffed animals in a worship service!
Our home inspection was Monday, November 13th. Aunt Emily came over to stay with Brooklyn and Savannah while we went to the new house. They had a fun morning (obviously!), and the inspection went well, only turning up a few minor things.
These girls love their little sister! Savannah will proudly tell people, “Abigail is my baby sister!”
Brooklyn and Savannah shared a room for the majority of our time at the apartment. When Abigail was born so early, we hadn’t even moved Savannah out of the crib in the nursery yet. So, it was an abrupt transition to a big girl bed and sharing a room with Brooklyn all at the same time. Savannah did great adjusting though, and overall it went pretty well with the girls sharing a room. The main issues we had were with wake-up times (Savannah generally sleeps later than Brooklyn, and so she would usually get woken up earlier than she would have otherwise) and nap time. Brooklyn hasn’t been taking regular naps for several months now, but she couldn’t exactly do “quiet time” in their room while Savannah was trying to take a nap. So, we improvised by having Brooklyn do quiet time/nap time in our room at the apartment :)
Cuddling with her friends before going to sleep :)
November was also the month we turned Savannah’s car seat around to face forward. It was hard to get her in the seat with it rear facing, and this made it easier for her to climb in by herself. We also moved Brooklyn’s seat to the 3rd row and put Abigail in the other 2nd row seat. So far, this arrangement is working out pretty well, although it will be nice for Mommy and Daddy when Brooklyn can buckle and unbuckle without help!
On November 15th, we went to storytime at the Monrovia library with the Lovelesses. Brooklyn and Carter were so sweet sitting next to each other on the rug. Savannah wanted to sit right by me, as usual :)
Craft time at the end is always fun!
On Friday, November 17th, we took a day trip to Chattanooga to go to the Tennessee Aquarium. Tickets to the aquarium were part of Brooklyn and Savannah’s Christmas present in 2016, and the tickets were going to expire in early December if we didn’t use them. We had actually planned to go in late August, and obviously that didn’t work out when Abigail came early. I was a little nervous about how the day would go between having Abigail with us and me being so sleep deprived, so my expectations for success were pretty low. Savannah fell asleep on the way there, and overall the drive went smoothly that morning…
The aquarium is divided into 2 buildings, one for fresh water animals and one for salt water, and we checked out the River Journey first. The timing worked out pretty well because right after we got inside, it was time for an otter show to begin!
The girls enjoyed being so close to the otters and watching them get fed :)
Checking out a lake sturgeon was exciting too! Brooklyn was brave enough to try to touch it, but Savannah was a little more hesitant ;) I love their facial expressions in some of the pictures…
I found this on the aquarium’s website: “The ancient-looking lake sturgeon is making a comeback in the rivers of Tennessee as part of a long-term restoration effort led by the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute.”
We picked a great day to visit because it wasn’t crowded at all!
Next, we got to see a bunch of alligators and turtles :)
I don’t remember what kind of turtle this was, but I’m sure it weighed more than Brooklyn!
Sadly, the turtle didn’t want to pose for a picture with both of the girls ;)
Alligator!
Travis was Super Dad that day; he wore Abigail in the Boba the whole time we were at the aquarium and still picked up the girls to give them a better view of the animals :)
The girls were very interested in looking for Dory and Nemo while we were there…haha. When we finally saw “Dory”, Brooklyn wanted to stand there and watch to see if she found her family :)
We spent about 1.5 hours in the River Journey building before taking a break for lunch. The timing worked out perfectly to where I fed Abigail in the car when we stopped for gas right before we got to the aquarium, and then it was time for her to eat again while we ate lunch. We found a Moe’s BBQ not too far from the aquarium, so it was an easy walk to make, and the weather was perfect! I love Moe’s because they count banana pudding as a side item…haha ;)
Walking back to the aquarium after lunch – Brooklyn walked everywhere all day, and Savannah alternated between walking and riding in the stroller. They both did great!
The first animals we saw in the Ocean Journey building were the lemurs! We made it there just in time for a show called Leapin’ Lemurs :)
The two types of lemurs we saw were ring-tailed (pictured here) and red-ruffed (pictured above) lemurs. They are so fun to watch, and we enjoyed the show.
Check out those long tails!
Next up, we visited Stingray Bay, where we got the opportunity to try to touch the stingrays as they swam by…
As you can see, the girls definitely enjoyed themselves. And, if you watch the video below, you’ll see that Savannah enjoyed herself a little too much:
Next up, we walked through the butterfly garden. Pictures don’t do this area justice…it was so cool! The butterflies were everywhere flying all around us and landing everywhere. It was fun to get such an up close view of them!
Then, we watched the lemurs for a few more minutes before heading to see the…
PENGUINS!
I was a little disappointed that the girls weren’t very interested in the penguins. I really thought they’d like them more. I was impressed that the penguins could swim so fast…I had no idea!
We saw lots of other fish and animals before we finished up…
…but the coolest thing we saw were these fish eating lettuce and broccoli! The worker dropped the tray down right in front of where we were standing, and the fish all immediately swarmed to it. It was fun to actually watch them eating!
It was a fun way to cap off our visit! Overall, we had a great day. I really don’t think it could have gone much more smoothly. The girls did so well, especially since we didn’t finish up until mid-afternoon. We had an easy drive home, stopping once to feed Abigail, and we were home by suppertime. We had a great day!
On Monday, November 20th, we had our second fun family outing of the month – we walked the Galaxy of Lights at the Botanical Gardens. It was “Dog Night” where you could pay $1 extra to bring your dog on a leash. There were SO many dogs of all sizes, and it made the night even more exciting for Brooklyn and Savannah. They even got free stuffed animal puppy dogs that were being handed out along the way. Every time we saw a new display, they would yell, “Look at the ______! Look at the ______!” I don’t think it gets any better than walking the Galaxy of Lights when your kids are little—they are so excited over everything, which makes it so fun and worth it. It was pretty chilly, but we bundled up and weren’t really too cold. When we got home, we all drank hot chocolate before it was time to get ready for bed. We had a great time!
On Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, Aunt Gale and Uncle Bill stopped by for a quick visit on their way to Birmingham. It was their first time meeting Abigail, and we enjoyed seeing them for the first time in quite a while!
Such a sweet thing!
All dressed up for the Iron Bowl :) Sadly, it didn’t have the ending we were hoping for, but the girls still looked cute!
We had some nice weather on Tuesday the 28th, so we walked over to the playground by the pool at the apartment complex.
Whee!!!
Abigail was all wrapped up like a mummy ;) One day, she’ll be big enough to swing and slide too!
We ended the month on a low note with Brooklyn and Savannah not feeling very well. I think they had colds, so nothing too serious. But, it was unusual for Brooklyn to fall asleep in my lap…can’t remember the last time that happened!
Quotes and Notes from November:
- 11/3/17 – Brooklyn: “Can I have some of that?” (pointing to some bubble gum) Mommy: “No, I don’t think you’re old enough for gum yet.” Brooklyn: “Would you have to burp me??” Who knows how her little mind works sometimes :)
- 11/7/17 – Savannah called what we were eating for supper “groast” instead of “roast”…must not have been that yummy ;)
- 11/10/17 – I was telling Travis about the cashier at Michael’s recently who said Brooklyn reminded her of her own daughter because she was so inquisitive. Brooklyn (sitting nearby, listening) – “Who’s ‘quisitive’?” Me: “You are.” Brooklyn: “How am I?” Me: “My point exactly” ;)
- 11/10/17 – Travis: “I should be at work earning the bacon, huh?” when Brooklyn hinted that she didn’t think Daddy should be at home that day. Brooklyn: “Yeah, turning the bacon.”
- Savannah loves to say, “Abby-gail is CUTE!” or “Abby-gail is TINY!”
- Savannah also loves to pick out clothes that are “compy” (comfy) :)
That’s all for now!
One reply on “Notes from November”
lol at Savannah. Fun memories.