August Fun

I can’t believe the month of August is almost over! Football season is just around the corner…along with cooler weather. Yay for that! I’m interested to see how much football we actually get to watch this season. I’m guessing it will not be as much as in previous years.

Along the same lines of how much things have changed in our lives, this month marks TEN YEARS since Travis and I moved to Tuscaloosa for our freshman year of college. I think we officially met right around the end of that first semester, so we’ve almost known each other 10 years too. Pretty crazy! Life was so simple then…even if we didn’t think so at the time. And we weren’t nearly as “grown up” as we thought we were. It’s funny to think back on those memories now that we are married with 2 kids. Makes me feel old!

Back to real life…this month has been full of fun…and a little less sleep than last month. (But I won’t rain on my parade…you can hear more about that in Savannah’s 4 month post coming up soon!). Other than our week at the beach, here’s what we’ve been up to so far in August:

Brooklyn and Daddy washed his car one evening when it wasn’t too hot. Actually, Brooklyn just ran around most of the time and managed to drop the hose nozzle right on Daddy’s finger. Ouch!

While they were washing the car, Sister and I went on a walk around the neighborhood. It was really nice! I just need her to get a little bit bigger so that she can sit up well enough to use the double stroller Mom found (for free!). Then I can push both girls at the same time, and we can walk more often (that’s my goal, at least!).

Brooklyn enjoyed painting in her PJs one morning :)

She has really gotten so much more interested in Savannah this month! Maybe that’s because Savannah has gotten more interesting? Who knows! Think she has enough “food” in her lap to choose from? :)

Brooklyn likes to “help” put the paci in Savannah’s mouth. Even if it’s already in there, she will remove it so that she can put it in herself…haha. Luckily, Savannah doesn’t usually seem to mind too much.

Brooklyn likes to sit with Savannah on the couch…

…and hold her too! Just don’t ask to take her picture at the same time ;)

Big Sis and Little Sis love their thumb/fingers!

Can’t you tell?

They look horrified that I’m wanting to take their picture. Or maybe disgusted? I’m thinking these pictures will be priceless one day ;)

Savannah also likes to snuggle with her daddy, whether it’s watching TV…

…or taking a nap together!

Her name is so long you can’t even read the whole thing at once! Guess she needs a bigger belly…haha ;)

Speaking of that belly, it could stand to grow a little (I love a cute baby belly!)…

Big Sis certainly had a big belly (this was at 2 months old!!) Isn’t that hilarious??

Speaking of Big Sis, doesn’t she look cute in Daddy’s hat?

Another comparison picture – same outfit/about the same age. I feel like they look SO different!!

Hey, I caught a smile on camera! (I’m sure she didn’t mean to!)

Looking cute before Bible class one Wednesday night :)

I guess Savannah is a typical 2nd child…she didn’t get a souvenir shirt at Navarre like Brooklyn did at Fripp her first summer. Whoops :) At least Savannah can fit in Brooklyn’s shirt since she didn’t get her own ;)

Oh, just a dance party in the bathroom while Brooklyn was taking a bath :)

Savannah is a great bottle drinker! This was Thursday when Rae Rae babysat :)

I am AMAZED at how strong she has gotten just in the past couple of weeks. Just a few weeks ago, she could barely lift her head off the ground when she did tummy time. Now, she can hold her head up high AND is starting to roll over…both ways!!

“You mean, I get to go with you and Daddy to go shopping for a new washing machine???”

Yeah, we wouldn’t have invited you if we’d known you’d have a huge blowout in your car seat at Home Depot ;)

I think that set the record for the worst blowout ever. Not exactly a convenient time to not have a working washing machine at home. Thank goodness for Cici living nearby and washing a billion loads of laundry for us last week! We owe you!

Sometimes running around in just a diaper is so much easier! Right, Brooklyn?

Otherwise, those clothes just end up soaking wet!

Brooklyn went to Cici’s house several times last week to play and “help” her in the garden. Cici sent me a few pictures of Brooklyn sitting on this watermelon…haha! What a helper!

So, we’re on the hunt for a new washing machine right now. How ironic that we had just bought a new king size mattress for our room also. We are big spenders these days! We decided to try out the Casper mattress first (since it’s much cheaper than the other brands, ships to you for free, and can be returned for a full refund within 100 days). It came to the door in this box and magically unfolds to be a king size mattress! I even took a video of the unleashing process :)

Right now, we are sleeping with it on the floor (since we used to sleep on a queen size mattress and don’t have a king size box spring or frame yet). We are waiting to buy a box spring until we decide for sure we want to keep the Casper. If we end up going with Sleep Number or Tempur-pedic, we’ll just buy their matching box spring. We’ve slept on the Casper 2 nights so far, and the jury is still out. I haven’t slept that great (and neither has Travis), but it may just take some getting used to it. It’s a little more firm than I prefer, but that may be because it’s on the floor?  We’ll see!

When we moved our old mattress and frame out, we definitely needed to vacuum! After 4 years of cats sleeping/hiding under there, the carpet had accumulated just a little bit of cat hair. Gross!!!!

We checked out a new park on Friday in Huntsville – Hastings Park. It’s close to Parkway Place mall and is a neat little playground!! Perfect for Brooklyn’s age! I think we will definitely go back :)

Brooklyn climbed the rock wall on the other side of the playground (with my help). I was impressed!

She liked this ladybug…

…and the caterpillar too!

The swings are always a hit!

Snack break – the weather was PERFECT Friday morning. It was a great outing!

Savannah took a pretty long nap in her stroller while we were there…

…and woke up just in time to take a picture with Mommy while Brooklyn played!

Other Brooklyn notables:

• Every day, we are amazed by something new she says or understands. She is getting really good at recognizing the places we go. Sunday, we were at the red light right before you get to the church building, and she said “We’re here!” even though she couldn’t see the actual building yet. I thought that was pretty crazy!
• She loves trucks, big cars, and construction vehicles just like a little boy would! She also gets really excited when she sees a “stool bus”. Haha…yes that’s what she calls it!
• “Up air” – means “up there”. This one cracks us up because it sounds so funny. “What’s that _______ up air?”
• Last week her diaper got so wet that it started leaking. TMI? I don’t know, but since she can’t say the “L” sound, she instead shouted, “I’m weekin! I’m weekin!”
• We have noticed a big improvement lately in how well she minds us. She still has her moments, but overall she is doing much better. She has pretty good manners most of the time and will say “thank you” a lot without us reminding her to say it. She even told Cici thank you yesterday after lunch without us asking her to! Proud mommy moment :) And today, I called for her to come to the nursery so I could change her diaper and she showed up a few seconds later saying “Yes, Momma!” Doesn’t always happen (sometimes we have to ask her multiple times and/or spank her before she obeys), but it makes me very happy when she listens and obeys :) Our hard work is starting to pay off a little bit at least!
• I wish I could keep a video camera on her all the time because she is just hilarious. She is SO silly and loves to laugh and make others laugh. She will frequently answer a question with the wrong answer on purpose just to crack us up. She is always on the go and FULL of energy. I have no idea how so much personality can be packed into such a little person!!

I love our girls!