This post will cover all of February minus Brooklyn’s birthday festivities…I will cover those in a separate post. It was our last full month before COVID-19 turned our lives upside down.
Abigail loves to bring books to Cici at Sunday lunch and sit with her to read after she is done eating.
Savannah is a really good big sister…always doing nice things for Abigail like pulling her around in the wagon :)
Music Together class with Ms. Amie is something we look forward to on Tuesday mornings.
Another day…another craft to work on :)
This one was a sheep!
Savannah also loves to change Ryleigh from her PJs to her play clothes and back each day :)
Brooklyn came home from school on February 5th with a certificate saying she was the Super Star in Spanish class that day :)
Brooklyn brought home a chapter book from Ms. Carter’s classroom library and has been reading it pretty intently. She has come so far with her reading since kindergarten.
This is another common occurrence around our house…seeing Savannah pushing Abigail on this little car.
A tale of two sisters…one happy and one not ;)
On February 7th, we went over to Amanda’s for a playdate/Valentine-making morning. Amanda had the idea to get together and help our toddlers/preschoolers make valentines for some of the single, widowed, or older members of our church. Abigail and Savannah enjoyed decorating the cards with stickers. It was such a neat idea, and I was glad we were able to be part of it.
We were walking home from school on February 7th, and I noticed that Savannah was walking beside the stroller that Hannah was sitting in, and they were holding hands. So sweet :)
On February 7th, Travis and Savannah went on a daddy daughter date to Sam and Greg’s for pizza and gelato. She had been so excited for this night after Brooklyn went on her date with Daddy a week before. Savannah got birthday cake gelato, and they had a supreme pizza. Travis said she talked his ear off the whole time (I think she thrives in 1 on 1 settings like that). There was live music going, and he said they had a great time!
She may be a handful, but she sure is cute!
When Savannah got her Bitty Baby at Christmas, Abigail inherited Savannah’s old baby dolls (Chloe and Hannah). I was cracking up at Abigail wearing this Wild Kratts power suit and talking care of her doll.
The last few years, Cici has enjoyed helping Brooklyn (and now Savannah) make valentines for Valentine’s Day. This is the pile of valentines that Brooklyn made for her classmates. She decorated and wrote a special message on each one :) I tied each valentine to a pack of skittles before she took them to school. I’m proud of how thoughtful and creative Brooklyn is!
I especially loved what she wrote on Brent’s valentine: “You warm my heart” :)
This one was for her BFF, Avery :) (Sidenote: I think it’s funny that kids are still saying “BFF” like we did as kids…)
Sariyah was one of Brooklyn’s other special friends in Ms. Carter’s class.
She wrote “Best ever!” on Kendall’s valentine :)
Cici sent home some extra valentine-making supplies with us, so Brooklyn and Savannah were glad to be able to make even more valentines for friends and family.
Brooklyn also mailed this valentine to Aunt Jenn up in NYC. So sweet! :)
I ordered these knife organizers from Amazon, and it’s so nice to have most of our knives organized in one drawer!
A new way to watch TV :)
Savannah and Abigail went to stay with Paw and Rae Rae from February 12th-14th. This was Abigail’s first time to spend the night away from home (since her NICU stay at least!). They said the girls behaved well and Abigail didn’t throw any fits ;) The weather was cold and rainy most of the time, so they mostly stayed at home and played the whole time. It gave me time to get everything ready for Brooklyn’s birthday party and Valentine’s Day craft at school, so it was a huge help! It was amazing how much I got done over those days since I wasn’t being constantly interrupted ;) Brooklyn was initially disappointed that she wasn’t going too (although she surprised me and didn’t cry or throw a huge fit). It only took a few hours before she decided “I think I like being an only child!” Haha :)
Kaitlin and I came up to the school on the 13th to help the kids decorate boxes for their Valentine exchange. It was a little hectic at first because the kids needed a lot of help wrapping their boxes with the construction paper. In future years, if we try this again, we need to make sure the boxes are wrapped before they are sent to school ;)
I think the kids enjoyed it and had a fun time. They added stickers to their boxes after they were wrapped in paper, and some kids colored with crayons too.
I overheard Brooklyn telling several kids that she liked how they decorated their boxes. So sweet!
The kids also wrote messages on a big valentine for Ms. Carter since she was still out recovering from her surgery at this point.
Ms. Scopes also collected chocolates and little treats for Ms. Carter to go along with the valentine. I always enjoy helping out in Brooklyn’s classroom. It was a fun morning!
Brooklyn loved looking through all her valentines when she got home from school that afternoon. Her box was packed full of candy and cards.
Reading time before Sunday lunch :)
February 17th was President’s Day, which meant a day off from school and work! We decided to use the morning to go up to Reseda and check out their privacy trees and shrubs. We knew we wanted to get started on our backyard renovation soon, but we needed to nail down a plan for exactly what we wanted to change.
The girls enjoyed looking at everything in the different greenhouses. It was helpful to see different plants in person, even though it still took us a few more days of brainstorming to decide for sure what we wanted to do.
Brooklyn got a breadboard circuit kit for her birthday (random, I know–but one of her neighborhood friends got one for Christmas, and Brooklyn really liked it!). She couldn’t wait for Daddy to help her put together her first circuit. Of course, Travis thought it was great too being an electrical engineer! I even caught him tinkering with it once without Brooklyn around…haha.
Playing the piano on the landing…
“I want to hold something too!” – Abigail likes to help hold the groceries at the store.
Love these two :)
“Take a picture of us being silly, Mommy!”
I love to catch Savannah coloring in her room.
Monkeys can ride in doll strollers too!
On February 21st, we walked over to Sarah’s house for a playdate. Chloe and Savannah have gotten to be good little friends, and we enjoyed hanging out with them that morning.
Brooklyn also got a unicorn pillow craft kit for her birthday and loved working on it! This was a big hit. It came with a little plastic tool that you use to poke the different colored fabrics into the pillow.
Sleeping all prim and proper :)
Brooklyn also got a rainbow horse puzzle for her birthday, but I think Savannah enjoyed working on it as much as Brooklyn did.
Abigail was obsessed for a while with these red sparkly shoes. She wanted to wear them all the time even though they were really getting too small!
Another fun gift that Brooklyn got for her birthday was a craft kit where you can paint your own sun catchers.
Basically anything related to arts and crafts is guaranteed to be a hit with this girl…
Finally finished her unicorn pillow!
Brooklyn enjoys racing her monster truck out on the driveway where there’s plenty of room.
Brooklyn and Savannah had a sleepover on February 28th. They still fit together in a twin size bed, but probably not for too much longer!
A big highlight of the month for us was having John and Sylvia stay with us for about a week and a half at the end of February to the first few days of March. We already knew Sylvia from church and having her babysit for us several times over the years, but we didn’t know her husband, John, very well at all. The circumstances worked out to where they needed a place to stay for a bit, and we were happy to have them stay in our upstairs bedroom. We really enjoyed having them and getting to know them both better. John and Travis are very similar in a lot of ways, and we had so many good late night conversations after the girls were in bed. As you can see from the picture, the girls loved having them too! It only took a few days to form a special friendship with them that will hopefully last for years to come.
I took Brooklyn and Savannah to Barnes & Noble on February 29th so that Brooklyn could spend a gift card that she got from her friend, Declan, for her birthday. It was a tough choice, but she finally decided on a few books after debating for quite a while :)
That afternoon, we made and hung our Disney countdown chain since our spring break trip to Disney was coming up in just a few weeks…
Sad that we never got to the top of the chain :(
Brooklyn also made her Disney packing list to get ready for the trip :)
We also listed our storage shed and sold it on Facebook Marketplace. We needed to sell it pretty quickly because our backyard project was starting soon and our fence was coming down. Due to HOA rules, we knew we wouldn’t be able to keep it without the fence hiding it. (I’m not even sure it was ever approved to begin with, but it was here when we bought the house.) It was good to get that taken of!
Notes and Quotes from February:
- 2/3/20 – Brooklyn was explaining to us at the dinner table about the difference between a lollipop and a sucker. When she got done with her explanation, we asked, “Where did you learn that?” She said, “From my background of knowledge.” Haha…I think that means she made it up herself!
- 2/4/20 – We did the parachute at music class today, and this was the first time that Abigail has wanted to go underneath it with the big kids. In the past, she has always wanted me to hold her. Today, she just giggled the whole time under there…it was cute!!
- 2/5/20 – Abigail had a followup appointment at Dr. Castillo’s office today. It’s been a little over a year since she got ear tubes put in. Abigail did great at the appointment! She never cried, sat really still, and let the PA dig a ton of ear wax out of one of her ears. Both tubes are still in there, so we’ll go back in another 6 months. She also weighed 27 pounds today (with rain boots on), but even so, I think she’s definitely gained some weight over the last few months!
- I’m noticing a subtle shift in Brooklyn lately. She still plays with her sisters a good bit, but she is also starting to do more on her own (drawing, reading, “projects”) and leaving Savannah and Abigail to play together. The little girl in her isn’t gone yet, but she is definitely growing up. It’s bittersweet…
- 2/8/20 – Before we pray, Abigail likes to announce, “I close the eyes!” or “I close the eyesies” (if she is trying to entertain)!
- 2/10/20 – Brooklyn was so excited to tell me when I was tucking her tonight in that she had stopped to pray during “indoor recess” at school today. Thankful that she has a tender heart that wants to talk to God even at school.
- 2/12/20 – Brooklyn told me: “Elizabeth (a girl in her class) told me her 8th cousin is Abraham Lincoln. Does that mean she’s a princess?”
- 2/15/20 – Travis and I went to a Valentine’s dinner at the Eison’s house tonight, and Sylvia stayed at our house with the girls. She got them tucked into bed, but forgot to give Abigail her paci. Apparently she went right to sleep without it! Travis said we should seize the momentum and drop the paci for good. It’s been 2 rough days of her crying and asking for it, not sleeping more than an hour at naps, and being in a terrible mood :( Hopefully this will get easier, or I might cave in and give it to her again!
- 2/22/20 – Travis poked Abigail in the belly, and she complained to me, “Daddy’s tickle my button!”
- 2/24/20 – Abigail’s newest thing is finding random handwritten notes/cards around the house (usually written by Brooklyn) and bringing them to me, announcing “Happy birthday!”
- 2/25/20 – Abigail recognizes our neighborhood before we even turn in to either entrance. She exclaims “We’re here!!”
- 2/29/20 – Update on paci – It took several rough days of crying at naptime, but Abigail is now sleeping without her paci and doing well!
Thanks for reading!
