The Rest of August

September is here…hooray! I’m so ready for fall, football season, and cooler weather. Here’s what we were up to over the last half of the month of August:

Picnics on the patio! It’s crazy that Savannah is big enough to sit at this table with Brooklyn now. Makes life a lot easier than having to drag her high chair outside :)

Savannah had her 15 month checkup with Dr. Dudley on August 16th. She climbed up in this chair in the waiting room while we were there…hehe. Lookin’ so big—and lookin’ like Daddy (in my opinion!)

After the checkup (and 2 shots!), we had a few minutes to kill before heading to the girls’ first music class of the fall. So, we headed to Dublin Park since it was near the pediatrician’s office. We were only there about 10-15 minutes, but it was SO HOT that I don’t think I would have lasted much longer anyway.

The girls are doing Music Together, which is the same class that Brooklyn did about 1.5 years ago (winter 2015). This session is the “flute collection”, so the songs are all different than the ones we learned last time. So far, we’ve been to 3 classes; they are on Tuesday mornings at 10 AM. It’s going well so far! Brooklyn’s favorite part of the class is when we get up and march in a circle or move around the room (of course!). She also loves the instruments. Savannah is really interested too. She obviously doesn’t sing along or participate too much, but she watches everything and claps and plays with the instruments too. I’m glad they are both enjoying it so far!

Savannah tried eating her Cheerios in a bowl with milk for the first time recently! She liked it that first day, but not after that. I guess she prefers them crunchy :)

Big girl eating from a spoon!

And, of course, Brooklyn wanted to be in a picture too :)

The weekend of the 19th-21st, we headed to Trussville for a few days. It was a solo girls trip because Travis went with Andrew to Cincinnati for the weekend to watch tennis. They had a good trip despite the rain and the matches being delayed multiple times. They got to see Andy Murray (as well as 3 other pretty well known players) in person! We had a good trip also! While we were there, we ate lots of food…

…played outside in the backyard…

…”helped” Rae Rae cook…

…took plenty of selfies…

…watched lots of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse…

…and built a really tall tower out of blocks! It was a thrilling weekend ;)

*We also celebrated Dad’s birthday while we were there with a yummy supper, Derby pie, and presents, although I didn’t get any pictures of that.

Savannah even got her first hair cut while we were in town! Rae Rae opened her “salon” up because Savannah’s hair was getting pretty shaggy in the back :)

She also had to cut a big knot out of her hair because Savannah loves to twirl her hair, and it gets so tangled that I can’t get the knots out sometimes!

It was a quick trim, and Savannah didn’t really mind sitting there for it. She didn’t cry or squirm much at all. Her hair looked much better afterward! Now we just need the rest of her hair to start growing as much as the back! :)

The best time to play outside during the hot summer is definitely after supper when it’s not quite so hot! We tend to do this on the nights that Daddy is out cutting the grass :)

Savannah wanted to sit on Brooklyn’s tricycle too :)

This is what I get when I ask them to stand next to each other and smile…haha

Travis has recently started running again! (He only runs when he is signed up for a race…haha). He is training for the Huntsville Half Marathon in November with Matt. Brooklyn wanted to run with him one day, so she took off down the road with him. I think they made it to the bottom of the hill and back, and she was walking before they even got back to the mailbox…haha!

My breakfast in bed…before 7 AM!

At least I had a cute waitress to serve it to me ;)

It’s the cutest thing when they sit next to each other in the recliner!

Last week on Wednesday, we went over to Alisha’s to play with cousin Carter! We walked from their house to the playground nearby. It seemed like a good idea…before we left the house ;)

It was fun…but SO HOT! All 5 of us were soaked with sweat by the time we got back to her house. I am definitely ready for fall weather to get here; going to the playground will be much more appealing then :)

Snack time is always better in your underwear ;)

We’ve made several trips to Hobby Lobby recently (getting ready for Emily’s baby shower), and Brooklyn is always fascinated with this chair right when you walk in the door. She wanted to sit in it and then asked if we could buy it…haha. It’s definitely interesting, but not really Momma’s style :)

We’ve also been to the library for story time about once a week lately. They have been learning the letters of the alphabet, and I thought the craft last week was so cute!

More fun in the backyard; I’m pretty sure they were having more fun than they let on in this picture!

They have definitely enjoyed playing in the sprinkler this summer–especially Brooklyn!

Last Saturday, we went to a diaper shower for Tyler and Alisha. The diaper cake and wreath were so cute! We had hotdogs and ice cream, and the kids had a blast playing in the backyard.

Tyler and Alisha got several packs of diapers and wipes, so that was great! It’s pretty surreal that the twins will be here in a few more weeks. Can’t wait to meet my newest nephews!

This is what happens when Daddy gets Savannah ready for bed: pants up to the armpits!

Can you tell we eat lots of snacks around here? haha

Brooklyn continues to enjoy helping me in the kitchen. If she sees me cooking something, she always wants to drag out the step stool and pour/mix whatever she can.

One day, I bet Savannah will enjoy helping too! For now, though, she is content to just eat the food :) She has gotten a little pickier in the last month or two, but she is still a great eater overall. Even still eats meat most of the time!

Tuesday night, she enjoyed a solo bath while Brooklyn was at Cici’s. Those don’t happen too often, so I think Savannah enjoyed having all the toys and space to herself. Her favorite thing to do in the tub these days is fill up cups with water from the faucet and pour them out.

Reason #133298704 that I love Publix—free balloons!

I didn’t realize Publix did that until a few weeks ago when an employee asked Brooklyn if she’d like one, and now it has become a weekly tradition. This week, Savannah even got her own balloon too! I think they also give out free cookies from the bakery to kids, but shhhh…don’t tell Brooklyn, or she’ll be asking every week ;)

I think Savannah loved her balloon!

Savannah is in that stage where she loves to empty all of our drawers and pull stuff out just for the fun of it. She also likes to take the dirty dishes out of the dishwasher. One day this week, she was trying to set the table with dirty dishes…haha!

She was trying to be a big helper, at least!

One of Savannah’s favorite books is “Happy Halloween, Daniel Tiger!” If you ask her to go get a book to read, this is the one that she’ll usually pick. She has a few other favorites, but this is probably at the top of the list.

Just a typical morning around our house!

Savannah wore a dress on Sunday that Cici made for her girls. I thought she looked so sweet, and she actually smiled for a picture too!

I bought Brooklyn a new set of paints this week, so she’s enjoyed painting pictures. So far, she has made one for Paw and one for Rae Rae. She kept telling me as she was painting that she was making it “more fabulous”. When I asked her what the word fabulous meant, she looked incredibly annoyed and said, “It means you’re in a tree!”

A fabulous work of art! :)

Other Notables: 

• I tried to use a pink stuffed animal bear from Brooklyn’s room that she doesn’t ever play with as a topper for a diaper cake. She seriously has never played with it I’m pretty sure. Well, she saw me with it, was incredibly offended, ran over and took it from me, and chided me: “It’s not nice to take things from people’s rooms without saying ‘Please’!” Guilty as charged :)
• Ever since we watched the Olympics several weeks ago, Brooklyn has been practicing gymnastics in the living room. She loves to jump and twist and put on shows for us. She’ll say, “I’m doing germ-astics!”
• Savannah gives hugs and kisses now. If you ask her for a hug, she will come up and lean on you and sometimes say “mmmmm”. It’s pretty cute! She even blew Grandma a kiss at her birthday party (first time ever blowing a kiss). I thought that was pretty special, and I’m sure Grandma enjoyed being the recipient!
• We are still occasionally hearing Savannah say things that sound like real words. Yesterday, she pointed to a picture with me in it and said, “Ma! Ma!”. But, she doesn’t ever call me “mama” to my face. Maybe that’s right around the corner, I hope :) She has started saying “yah” fairly regularly when we ask her a yes/no question, so we are pretty sure that’s her word for “yes”. That’s about her only word that she says on a semi-consistent basis, but at least it’s something!
• The week after Savannah got her shots was rough! She got the MMR and Varicella vaccines, and she was pretty irritable and fussy from about day 5-10 after that. She ran a fever for a day or two, didn’t sleep well, and even got a mild rash all over her body. Thankfully, we are past all of that now; it was probably the worst reaction either girl has had to any shots so far.
• Savannah is officially weaned from nursing as of Monday. She was 16 months old on the dot, and I decided it was a good time to call it quits. She was only nursing at bedtime, and it hasn’t seemed to bother her that we have been doing a new routine for the last several nights, so I think she was ready. She now drinks milk from a cup, listens to a short Bible story, brushes teeth, and goes to bed. Yay for a smooth transition! And yay for hopefully going on an overnight trip with no kiddos sometime in the next few months!
• Savannah has learned how to go down the little slide in the backyard by herself! She went down it so many times tonight when we were playing outside after supper. She also tried out the tire swing with Brooklyn and had a big smile on her face the whole time. I didn’t get any pictures, but she sure was having fun!
• Alisha invited me to sell a few things in a consignment sale that she’s selling stuff in, so I am going to try my hand at selling some baby stuff we don’t need anymore. I think I’m selling 5 things—mostly monogrammed outfits with the girls’ names on them, a diaper bag I don’t use anymore, and a door hanger. We will see if anything actually sells…I have my fingers crossed! I’m looking forward to selling more of this stuff in the future and making some real money!
• Life with a 3.5 year old and 16 month old is wonderful—but it can be so exhausting. Most nights, by the time we get the kids in bed, I’m ready to just park myself on the couch and not move until it’s time for bed. Seriously, that’s what happens almost every night. There’s just something about being needed every second of the day (except when I get lucky and they take a nap at the same time!) that wears you down. Add Brooklyn’s non-stop questions on top of that, plus all the whining/crying/fits that I deal with on a daily basis, and whew. Being a mom of two little girls is not easy. There’s no way to comprehend how hard it will be before you do it. The girls are starting to play together nicely *more often than not* now, so that helps at least when they can entertain each other instead of fighting. I’m hoping that their relationship will continue to grow, Brooklyn will get better at sharing, and Savannah will get better at not shrieking and pulling Brooklyn’s hair so much :) I’m thankful for the good times that come with being a mom—all of Brooklyn’s silly ways, Savannah’s belly laughs, the sweet hugs and snuggles, and watching them learn and grow. Those things make the exhausting, trying times so worth it!