I’ve been slacking on the blog AGAIN…imagine that :)
Here’s a quick update (mostly pictures) of what we’ve been up to over the past couple of weeks…
Question: What do you do when you get to the grocery store at about 11 AM and both your kids are asleep?
Answer: You sit in the car in the parking lot, and enjoy the peace and quiet for 20 minutes until one of them wakes up!
Brooklyn really enjoys story time at the library; the books were all about SNOWMEN one week!
She even got to make her very own snowman at the end. Anytime she gets an opportunity to use a glue stick, she’s excited!
We recently went to Kidventure with some of the other KSR moms (Caitlyn, Nicole, and Alisha) and their kids. Savannah and Gabriel enjoyed checking each other out while the big kids played…
Brooklyn and Nathan had fun having a “picnic” together in the playhouse! 
Going to Kidventure is always a good way to burn off some energy :)
Even the “2 and under” area is fun for the big kids sometimes ;) We had a fun morning with everyone! Hopefully we can do it again sometime soon!
A couple of Fridays ago, we went to the Hesters’ house to eat supper and watch the Polar Express. We always enjoy getting together with them! That night, the Carvers were also there, and I tried to get a picture of their youngest daugher (Livia) with Savannah since they are so close in age….
However, Savannah never would cooperate :) She was too interested in the train track around the Christmas tree! I’m afraid the age of sitting still and posing for the camera is passing us by.
Brooklyn got to sit with the big kids to eat her supper! She really surprised me and loved the Polar Express too. She watched the whole thing and was very interested. She asked questions the whole time and didn’t get too scared, even though it’s a little intense for her age in parts of the movie.
Brooklyn LOVES Mikayla! And we do too! :)
Brooklyn was so excited about the marshmallow she took home from their house…haha. She held it all the way home and the whole time we were getting her ready for bed. I guess she was planning to save it as a souvenir from our fun night ;) We finally convinced her to eat it…
Savannah is getting better about eating from a spoon. I just need to get better at feeding her “real food” more often! Honestly, it’s easier to just not worry with it, but I am trying to make the effort to feed her “solids” at least once or twice a day.
We have been rotating which Christmas dress Brooklyn wears to church on Sundays this month. Mom found this one at a consignment sale, and I think it’s so cute!
Savannah is *sometimes* happy to play on the floor and entertain herself, but lately she’s wanted to be held a lot of the time. BY MOMMY. I’m trying hard to appreciate this time because I know that soon she’ll be running around and too busy to want me to hold her, but it does present a challenge when I’m trying to get anything done…including play with Brooklyn or take care of her needs.
The kitties don’t make too many appearances on the blog anymore (sadly, most of the attention they get is from Brooklyn roaring at them–literally), but this was too funny not to document. I think they need a bigger bed…what do you think?
Brooklyn likes to dress up occasionally, and one of her favorite things to do is wear “gloves” (a.k.a. socks) on her hands :)
Just chillin…
I finally framed a picture of Savannah to hang in our dining room…yay! Both of these pictures are from their 6 month sessions.
Sundays at Cici’s house are loud and exciting these days with 3 kids under age 3!
Sister takes good selfies, doesn’t she?
Brooklyn loves her little sister…
…and, on this particular night, she wanted to make sure Savannah had plenty of food to eat so she could “grow big and strong”. I think she had plenty, don’t you? :)
Part dog/part baby!
Travis recently took a lot of baby gear up to the attic (the swing, bouncer, bumbo, baby bath tub, etc.), and he brought down the walker for Savannah to check out. She enjoyed standing in it and pressing the buttons for a few minutes. Brooklyn was also pretty enthralled. You’d think she’d never seen it before!
We’ve really enjoyed having Daddy home this week! He took off this whole week and next week, so we’re looking forward to lots of snuggles and play time together :)
The biggest news of the month so far though…
…is what appeared in our backyard last Thursday!!
It wasn’t originally meant to be a “Christmas present” for the girls, but that’s basically how it worked out. We’ve been talking about getting a new playset ever since we got rid of the old one, and we finally got serious about it at the end of the summer. We ended up checking out a place called John’s Jungle Jyms in Huntsville, and he had several playsets assembled that we could look at (as well as a catalog with a lot more options in it). He already sells all of his playsets 20% off the regular price, but he was willing to sell the “models” on his lot for an even bigger discount if we waited to buy one in December (right before he orders new playsets for 2016). So, we waited until the first Saturday in December to head back to his lot and pick one out. Luckily, he had our first choice (from the catalog) on the lot and for a great discount! It was only about 6 months old and still in really good shape, so I feel like we got a good deal. We paid a little extra to have them deliver it and set it up in our yard, and I think that was definitely worth the money. It would have been a lot of work to level it and set it up ourselves.
So, our original plan was for the playset to be delivered either Monday or Tuesday of this week (a few days before Christmas). However, with the forecast calling for rain all week long, we decided to see if they could deliver it a few days earlier. Thankfully, they were able to bring it last week on Thursday and set it up! Brooklyn was eating lunch when they started unloading it in the backyard, and she could hear them drilling and working. Of course, she wanted to know what was going on! She was also peeking in the backyard and saw some “wood” when they started bringing it from the driveway. So, I knew there was no way that we could keep it a surprise for a whole week until Christmas. I ended up telling her that she could go out and see the surprise after her nap, so that’s what we did. It took them a few hours to set it up, and they finished just before she woke up. Perfect timing! And Brooklyn’s reaction was priceless (see the video above). I love how excited she was about it!
We haven’t been able to play on it too much because it’s been so rainy, but we’ve gotten out there a couple of times so far. I’m sure any day that it’s nice and dry, she will be begging to go out and play…even if it’s freezing cold! :)
Trying out the swings! (We are borrowing a bucket swing until we don’t need it anymore, and then we can swap it for another regular swing.)
There are 3 ladders on the back, but she has only been adventurous enough to try one of them so far :)
The slide is her favorite! The ground slopes away from the slide, so it’s a little steeper than they normally aim to make them. But, that’s perfect for an adrenaline junkie like B! It’s fast!
She can’t really use the trapeze bar yet, but she can grow into that :)
She loves using the “telescope”!
I’m sure we will be spending a lot of time in the backyard over the coming months and years. Brooklyn will be thrilled!
Hope you have a merry Christmas! We’re looking forward to being with our families, eating good food, and just enjoying the time together. I’m sure I’ll have lots of pictures to share over the next week or two!
