Hooray for nice, warmer weather lately! We have been outside as much as possible over the past few weeks unless it’s been raining. Spending time outside = not being inside on the computer updating the blog. I can’t do everything as much as I’d like to be able to, so I’m having to let some things slide around here (a.ka. blogging).
I’m learning that motherhood is all about grace. I’m not perfect, the girls aren’t perfect, and I can’t do everything that I want to do in a given day. There’s just not enough time. So, I’m trying to strike a good balance between “being present” with Brooklyn and Savannah and also getting things done like cleaning, laundry, cooking, blogging, etc. It’s been a learning process over the past 3 years. When Brooklyn was a baby, things were much simpler: As long as she was fed and rested, she was good to go, and I could do what I wanted/needed to do. But, it’s a little more complicated now that she (and Savannah) are getting bigger. They want to play (and play WITH ME) all day, and I feel bad always saying “No, Mommy’s busy right now.” I definitely don’t have that perfect balance all figured out, but I’m doing the best I can. We play a lot and get some things accomplished during the day. Hopefully looking back I will be proud of the way I spent my time each day and not beat myself up over what I could have done differently :)
End of deep thoughts ;)
So, here’s what we’ve been up to over the last month or so. Mostly pictures and captions…because I’m short on time and energy, as usual:
One of my best friends, Mollie, is having her first baby soon! She is due at the beginning of April, and Brooklyn and I went to her baby shower recently in Rogersville. I wanted to make her something since she made the cutest quilt for Brooklyn before she was born. I’m no seamstress though, so I knew I wouldn’t be able to pull off a quilt. These burp cloths were the first thing I’ve sewed since Home Ec in 8th grade, but I thought they turned out cute. I had a lot of help from Cici–thank you! :) It wasn’t as hard as I thought it might be, so I’m planning to make more in the future.
I didn’t take any pictures at the baby shower, but we had a great time. Brooklyn loved entertaining everyone there, and ate a ton of fruit and a cupcake too. She went back for more fruit at least 5 or 6 times. She definitely ate her money’s worth ;) We are so excited for you, Mollie! Can’t wait to meet baby Vinson!
A couple of weeks ago, we had a playdate at our house with some of the kids and moms from KSR. Nathan, Gabriel, Natalie, Alex, and Carter were all able to come. We had a great time, and the weather was beautiful that day. The kids ate lunch on the patio and played in the backyard for a couple of hours.
We really enjoyed having everyone over and are hoping to do it again soon!
At the end of February, we went to see Winnie the Pooh at the Fantasy Playhouse with Cici and Aunt Alisha. The tickets were a Christmas gift from Cici. Brooklyn and I had never been there before, but we really enjoyed it. I wasn’t sure how she’d do sitting still for that long (it was about two 45-minute halves with an intermission, but she did great. She paid attention for most of the play and seemed interested in what was going on. We will have to go back to see other plays there in the future!
Of course, she rarely cooperates for a picture ;)
Overall-wearin’ babies are so cute!
This is a typical sight in our backyard almost every day lately…
We love going over to Cici’s for lunch on Sundays!
There are those overalls again ;)
This girl. She crashes HARD after about 7 PM every night. By the time we get her in the bathtub, she’s usually losing it. Sometimes she even cries through the whole bath and getting dressed afterward. The only thing that makes it better is nursing and, if she’s really tired, she’ll fall asleep even before I put her in the crib. It’s about the only time she sleeps in my arms anymore, so I’m trying to savor the moments ;)
I love those big smiles.
We’ve been on a few walks around the neighborhood lately, and this is my view. Brooklyn loves to look for rocks and pinecones along the way. Oh, and eat suckers ;)
It’s even been warm enough on some days to get out the water table–much to Brooklyn’s delight! This was Savannah’s first time to play at it, and she liked reaching for the balls and getting her hands wet.
Got it!
Brooklyn decided to have a tea party with her animals one day, so she lined up everything in the kitchen. I like how she arranged all the measuring spoons so carefully :)
“Take a picture of me, Mommy!”
(Sidenote: This is her favorite pair of PJs, and she has nicknamed them “Hot Pink”. So, many nights she’ll ask if she can wear “Hot Pink” to sleep in.)
She got lots of new art supplies for her birthday, so we got out the paint one day for her to use. She enjoys doing things like coloring and painting, and her attention span is *slowly* getting better to where she can sit still for longer than a minute or two doing one activity :)
Blowing dandelions is always fun! She hasn’t really learned how to “blow” very well yet; she usually ends up spitting at them instead :)
She also enjoys having picnic lunches in the backyard!
Oh, the messes that the two of them can make :)
“Let me in there, Mom!”
This is usually where Savannah hangs out when we’re in the backyard; she’s pretty content to swing while I’m helping Brooklyn climb the rope ladder or swing on one of the other swings. Once Savannah is walking, I’ll be able to just set her down in the yard. I’m looking forward to that!
Brooklyn just recently got brave enough to climb the rope ladder; she was afraid to do it for the past couple of months, but not anymore! She’s still nervous about climbing down, but going up isn’t a problem…
One indoor activity that will keep Brooklyn occupied for a while is building “roads” with her blocks. This was one of her more elaborate road building efforts…
Part of the latch on our dishwasher handle recently broke (something else that has recently needed fixing!), so Travis took it apart one night to look at it. Glad he had several helpers in case he needed anything :)
Last week, Carter came over to our house for a couple of hours one morning so that Alisha could go to Kids Market by herself. It was my first time keeping 3 kids by myself, and it went really well. Savannah slept for most of the time Carter was here, so that helped. Brooklyn and Carter mostly wanted to play outside since it was a nice, warm day!
Can’t ever get both of them to look at the same time…
See what I mean? :)
Carter was so good the whole time he was here! He was pretty much content to do whatever Brooklyn wanted to do, even if it was pulling him around in the wagon.
He didn’t really know what to do with the chalk (he tried to eat it once or twice…haha), but I’m sure he’ll be drawing with it before too much longer! We had a fun morning. Brooklyn always likes it when her cousin comes over!
She’s figured out how to shake the gate when she wants to get in :)
I’m not sure why babies are always obsessed with the dishwasher, but Brooklyn was the same way…haha
One afternoon, Brooklyn told me she was “going to work”, so she gathered up a bunch of random toys and stuff and put it all on the couch. Then, she told me not to bother her because she was at work. Yes ma’am :)
Happy Free Cone Day! This was the second year that Daddy brought B home an ice cream cone from DQ on his way home from work. We always put it in the freezer and let her eat it after supper. I think she likes the tradition ;)
Last week on Friday, Brooklyn told me that she was building a “timeout chair” for Buzz. I asked her why Buzz needed to go to timeout. Her answer: “Because he did beary beary bad things.” Hahahahaha :) Also, his timeout chair looks more like a throne to me :)
This past weekend, we went to Paw and Rae Rae’s house! Saturday night, we celebrated Jenn’s birthday (a whole month late!), but we also went to a Flashlight Easter Egg Hunt. It was at the soccer field across the street from Mom and Dad’s new neighborhood. So, we all just walked over there after supper…
There were lots of things to do before the egg hunt…like climbing up on a pink fire truck! Brooklyn was excited!
She wasn’t so excited about this weird monkey. I think it’s a monkey? She didn’t really know what to think of him…
But she loved Sparky! She ran up and gave him a big hug!
She also got her face painted for the first time!
She was the cutest little bunny :)
They were giving away all sorts of free food like popcorn, cotton candy, cupcakes, etc….so, of course, that made her happy!
Savannah wasn’t quite as thrilled about the adventure: She didn’t ever really fuss, but it was pretty cold and windy that evening, and I didn’t have a hat for her :( Plus, she couldn’t eat any of the yummy treats. There’s always next year, I guess!
I didn’t get any pictures of the easter egg hunt for a couple of reasons: 1. It was almost dark, so the pictures wouldn’t have turned out anyway. 2. It was the fastest egg hunt ever. I think there were supposedly 6,000 eggs divided up among the age groups. Brooklyn was with the 3 and 4 year olds. When it started, all the kids took off all over the field from one side to the other. I think it was over in less than 2 or 3 minutes…haha. Travis said it was like a bunch of locusts swarming ;) Brooklyn ended up with probably 10 or 12 eggs, so she was excited. She had fun running around and grabbing them. A couple of times she tried to take an egg that another kid was about to get, but we made her it drop it and give it back ;)
When we got back to Paw and Rae Rae’s house, she enjoyed opening them all to see what was inside. Lots of candy and stickers!
Today, we hunted eggs again inside our house, so I’m betting there’s a good chance we’ll hunt eggs all week long leading up to Easter Sunday at Cici’s. She likes hiding them for me to find as much as she likes finding them herself. And, when she’s the hider, she likes to tell me where they are…haha. Hopefully, she’ll leave some eggs for Carter on Sunday! :)
Hope you’re having a great Monday!
