First Half of December – Trav and Erin + 3

Whew, December! You were fun but tiring. I think I say this every year–having kids makes the holidays so much more meaningful but WAY more exhausting. I think back to the first 5 years of our marriage when we had “Christmas break”. It was actually a nice, relaxing break. We were either out of school or took time off work. There was time to get things done around the house or just do whatever we felt like doing. I’m not complaining…it’s just ironic how you can’t really appreciate those times until you don’t have them anymore. I’m sure I’ll say the same thing when our kids are grown and the holidays are quieter without all the hustle and bustle. Here’s to living in the moment and enjoying each stage of our marriage/parenting!

Now, a recap of the first half of our month of December:

On the morning of December 1st, we parked at Alisha’s house, picked up Carter, and walked to the library for storytime. Savannah and Carter rode in the stroller, and Brooklyn walked with me. It was a successful trip!

I loved how Savannah sat on the rug for part of the time! 3 little cousins all in a row :)

They all participated in the songs that day too!

Cuties! Thankfully, the craft that day wasn’t too involved since I was trying to help Brooklyn and Carter at the same time :) They all did great! We even hit up the playground for a few minutes after we left the library. We’ll have to do that again sometime when the weather is warm enough.

That evening, we did our Angel Tree shopping! We went to Target and got everything. I’d signed us up for 2 little girls…a 4 year old and 2 year old (not related). We got toys and clothes for both of them, and Brooklyn got to help pick out some of the stuff. It was fun although we were pretty rushed. It was really the only time we could go before the donations needed to be turned in, and we were trying to get finished and get to the mall by 8 PM. So, we couldn’t really take our time like I would have liked. Next year, hopefully we can shop earlier and not be in such a hurry. We got to the mall at 7:50…just in time! We even saw Santa Claus while we were there…from a distance. Brooklyn wanted nothing to do with him, so that was as close as we got to Santa this year. We didn’t even attempt pictures later in the month. Maybe next year…

On Friday, December 3rd, Brooklyn and I went to a Christmas party at the McKees’ house. All of the girls at church from age 3-13 were invited, so Brooklyn was the youngest :) They all came dressed in their PJs, did an ornament swap, and played games. There was hot chocolate and plenty of cookies. And the moms got the chat with each other while the girls played and had fun. It was a great evening! Brooklyn wasn’t her most cooperative self that evening because she hadn’t had a nap and the party didn’t even start until 7 PM, but we made it :) She smiled for the group picture, so we’ll call it a successful evening!

Saturday, December 4th was a big day for Savannah! It was her first REAL hair cut :) Sydney Boyd cut it, and it was really just a quick trim across the back. It had gotten pretty shaggy in the back, but still not very long on top or in front. It took just a few minutes! Savannah cooperated pretty well. I had to hold her head still because she kept wanting to turn around, and she definitely needed her paci to help her relax. But at least she didn’t cry! It looked much better when Sydney was finished. Since that haircut, Savannah’s hair has really gotten thicker on top! She may need another cut before too much longer.

After Brooklyn got her hair cut too, Travis took the girls home, and then I got my hair cut (in peace and quiet!). Then, I headed to my work Christmas party at Rosie’s for lunch. I was a few minutes late, but luckily they hadn’t ordered yet. It was a nice kid-free lunch, and I’m thankful to have some really great co-workers who are more like friends.

That night, after the SEC Championship game (Roll tide!), we decided to put up our Christmas decorations…at least the tree and other inside stuff. The girls “helped” decorate it! This equaled most of the ornaments hanging only on the lowest few branches ;) At least Brooklyn could hang them by the hooks…Savannah was just setting them on top of the branches…ha!

After we finished the big tree, they helped decorate the little tree to go on Brooklyn’s dresser :)

By the time we were finished with everything, it was past the girls’ bedtime. This was the best picture I could get of them in front of the tree.

At least it was better than this one! Haha! Someone had had ENOUGH by this point :)

Brooklyn got some Floof as a gift from Michael, who goes to church with us. He is college-age and one of the most thoughtful people I’ve ever met. He is always doing nice things for others…it’s really encouraging. Anyway, he gave her some Floof, which is kind of like Play-doh but a slightly different consistency. She has had a lot of fun playing with it this month!

Savannah continues to love wearing my shoes! She has even tried to walk around in my high heels, but hasn’t quite gotten the hang of it yet ;)

I took a picture of Savannah eating supper one night to document the fact that she ate beef stir-fry and liked it! She didn’t really eat the pieces of steak, but she loved the rice and veggies. She has gotten a little more picky over the last few months, but she is still a great eater!

Gabby is still so cuddly and wants to sit with us all the time. Brooklyn loves it when Gabby jumps up on the couch when we’re sitting there. Gabby is technically not supposed to be on the couches, but we have gotten a little lax with that rule lately :)

On Thursday, December 8th we met some friends at the Chick-fil-a in Athens because they were giving away free breakfast entrees that day. Can’t pass up free food! I’m sure we looked hilarious with all the babies/toddlers we had with us. There were 6 moms (Alisha, Britni, Emily, Rebekah, Chelsea, and me) and 11 kids under the age of 4…haha! We all sat at one big table, and it went surprisingly well! Then, most of us went to Britni’s house for the babies to nurse and the kids to play for a few minutes.

After we left Britni’s we hit up Hobby Lobby to look for ornaments for the Christmas party at the Davis’s that weekend. It was a fun morning! I’m not usually brave enough to drag the kids to more than one or two places in a row, but it went really well overall. I need to be adventurous more often!

Brooklyn got on a Frozen “kick” this month! She has decided that the “bobible snowman” isn’t really that scary after all, so watching the movie is acceptable again. (She hadn’t watched it in at least a year prior to this latest obsession because she was scared of it.)

Tried to get some more pictures in front of the tree :)

Can you tell Brooklyn was feeling super cooperative that night? :)

Love her!

Savannah loves her pink cowboy boots! She frequently goes to her closet, gets them out, and puts them on all by herself. PJs and cowboy boots…a perfect combination!

Those boots go with any outfit! :)

Movie time and matching pajamas…doesn’t get much sweeter than this!

I loved this dress when Brooklyn wore it 2 years ago, and I was so glad Savannah could wear it this year too. The red sparkly shoes from the Hesters completed the look. It may be hard to get that Pookie girl to smile for the camera, but she’s a cutie regardless!

More fun with Floof!

We’ve gotten some free and cheap meals from HelloFresh lately, and the girls have had fun playing with the boxes that the food comes in. The meals were usually pretty good, and it was a nice change from eating the same stuff I normally make. I woudn’t pay full price for HelloFresh (it’s expensive!), but it’s a cool concept when you can get the meals free or cheap with a discount code.

Lunch time!

I love getting Christmas cards, but it’s a little embarrassing that we continue to receive cards addressed to the former owners of our house. I mean…we’ve lived here for almost 6 years now! The Stephens family has sent us a Christmas card every year I’m pretty sure, so this year I decided to write them back and let them know that their cards aren’t going to the right people. How good can your friendship be if you don’t even know your “friends” moved to a different state 6 years ago??

This one was even worse! It was addressed to the original owners of our house!! We are the third owners I think, so who knows how long the original owners have been gone??? :) I wrote them a note too, so hopefully they’ll send their card to the right house next year too.

Brooklyn and Nathan are such sweet friends!

Sometimes, you just have to laugh. Brooklyn is going through a phase where she loves tying things up, so I wasn’t surprised when I found poor Buzz LIghtyear had been hung off her bedrail one afternoon. Apparently, you don’t want to get on Brooklyn’s bad side! :)

“Brooklyn Says” and Other News and Notes:

12/5/16 – Words that Savannah can say: “uh oh, up up up, boom, roar (ahhhh), moo. woof woof, bye bye”
12/7/16 – first time going to Bible class that Savannah didn’t cry (since her first time going at least)!
Savannah does some hand motions to the David and Goliath song (swings her arms back and forth) and says “uh uh uh” for ‘up up up’ at the end of the song. She lets us know by swinging her arms that she wants to sing it every night before bed :)
12/8/16 – Me: “Brooklyn, are you ready to eat lunch when we get home?”
- Brooklyn: “Well, no……I’ve got some work to do.”
- Me: “What work do you have to do?”
- Brooklyn: (Loud sigh) “You know we go over this every time. (Another loud sigh). I’m going to play with the play-doh that Michael gave me!”
Brooklyn only goes to the potty a few times per day (usually 5 or less I would say). She must have a gigantic bladder! Most of the time she is too busy to stop and go potty, but at least she is rarely having accidents these days.
Travis was stretching his neck while Brooklyn was praying one night before bed, and somehow he was shaking the bed doing that. Brooklyn stopped and asked, “Why is the bed shaking?” And then, when she continued her prayer, she said, “Thank you for the shake shake like a rattlesnake. In Jesus name, Amen.” Haha!
Brooklyn has been talking lately about how she and Nathan were married “a long time ago.” When we asked her about it, she said they were 2.5 years old when they got married, and there were 5 guests at the wedding: Natalie, Natalie’s mommy, Natalie’s daddy, Natalie’s cat, and Nathan (I guess he counted as a guest too). When we were at Belk recently, she pointed to a shirt and said it was her “married clothes” and looked at a different shirt in the girls’ section and said it was Nathan’s “married clothes”.
12/14/16 – We were getting ready to leave the church building, and Savannah went over to Gabriel and gave him a big hug!
12/15/16 – This was the first day I can remember that Savannah went all day without using her paci other than for nap and bedtime; she is also starting to say “mama” with meaning (sometimes?) and talking gibberish in her own language. Making lots of progress!
12/15/16 – Brooklyn’s prayer: “Thank you, God, for the broccoli, (other foods I can’t remember), and the goose goose. In Jesus name, Amen.” *We were eating couscous that night…haha!