I am so glad we are through with the first half of this month! It was tiring for all of us. The project that Travis has been working on at work for the last couple of years was coming up on a major deadline on January 19th, so the weeks leading up to that were LONG and exhausting. He was working late more often than not during the first half of January. One week in particular, he had to be there at 6 AM and worked 12 hour days almost every day that week and capped off the week by working 6 AM to 8:30 PM that Saturday. Whew. So thankful that’s behind us. I know it was exhausting for Travis, but I told him I felt like I’d been working overtime too ;) I don’t envy moms of young children whose husbands work long hours or travel a lot. It is so nice to have help in the evenings cleaning up after supper, picking up the house, and getting the kids bathed and ready for bed. I appreciate Travis always being willing to pitch in when he gets home on a normal work week. He’s a keeper for sure! January 19th was the “first flight” of the helicopter they’ve been modifying, and the good news is that all went well. It was a day of celebration, and I’m proud of all of the hard work he’s put into it!
Other than lots of work for Travis, here’s what else we’ve been up to this month so far:
“Close your eyes, Savannah. We’re about to pray.” – this is what she does now….haha. It’s so cute! She will usually squeeze them shut for approximately 2 seconds, and then open her eyes and smile like she’s proud of herself :) She also always wants to hold our hands during the prayer and usually says “nuh nuh!” (amen) loudly at the end.
We had a day recently (I think it was at the end of December) where it seemed like everything was breaking/going wrong. I’m sure you’ve had one of those days too. Well, one of the things that happened was Savannah’s closet shelf pulled out of the wall and completely fell down. So, on January 2nd, Travis got it put back up again. I reorganized her closet after that, and it looks so nice and neat now. Check out her boots all lined up in a row :) A girl can’t have too many pairs of boots, right?
The first week of January, I got a special surprise! Savannah started calling me “Mama” for sure! She has been able to say the syllables “ma-ma” for a while now, but it wasn’t clear that she was actually calling me Mama until the last couple of weeks. Now, she will even call for me from her crib sometimes. I love it!
We started Music Together again on January 3rd (another 10 week session), and I thought the girls looked so sweet before we left that I had to snap a quick picture.
This was a first! I’ve never caught Gabby hanging out in the high chair before. Maybe she was hungry? :)
The girls were eating some raw carrots one night before supper. I caught them snacking under the table…
…and sitting in the glider together! They fuss and fight with each other a good bit, but as Brooklyn said recently, “I love Savannah. She’s my best friend.”
Savannah is my little laundry helper. Anytime she hears me open the washer or dryer door, she hurries over to help. She even gets frustrated if I don’t let her help put the clothes in or push the “start” button ;) I’ll let her help me as long as she’s interested! Brooklyn used to be the same way I think, but she’s moved on to other interests :)
Brooklyn does still want to help in the kitchen though! I think I need to get a second step stool though because there’s always a fight over who gets to stand on it ;)
We had breakfast for supper that night, and Savannah even tried the bacon!
January 7th was the Saturday that Travis had to work all day. We took baked Hawaiian sandwiches to the hangar in Meridianville for the guys to eat for lunch, and it was a freezing cold day! We got to go inside for a few minutes to see the helicopter, which was really neat. Brooklyn was excited to see what Daddy had been working so hard on. When we came home, we stayed bundled up inside for the rest of the day, and Brooklyn and I even drank some hot chocolate :) It was a good day even though we missed having Daddy home!
Monday, January 9th, we went over to Matt and Maggie’s house to watch Alabama and Clemson play in the national championship game. It was an exciting game even if it didn’t turn out how we hoped. At one point near the end of the game. Matt was getting frustrated by how it was going, and Brooklyn brought the iPad over and asked, “Here, do you want to watch Mickey Mouse instead?” Haha! It probably would have been a lot less stressful ;) The girls surprised us and stayed up through the entire game. They didn’t fall asleep til we got in the car at probably 11:30 PM. Way past their usual bedtimes!
We had a few freezing cold days this month, but for the most part, it’s been unseasonably warm with many days in the 60s and low 70s. I won’t complain one bit! We’ve been able to get outside and play, and it’s been wonderful.
Savannah has claimed these Melissa and Doug puzzles as her own. She probably enjoys them more than Brooklyn ever did. My favorite is when she takes the cow and yells “MOOOOOO!” She will also show me the crab and pinch her fingers together after I showed her that a few times :)
Brooklyn’s room has been driving me nuts lately (so many small toys!!!), so I recently went on an organizing kick. I bought a bunch of clear plastic tubs, sorted through everything, and labeled them: Mickey Mouse Tools, Paints/Brushes/Art Smock, Play-doh, Pretend Play, Puppets/Small Figurines, Crayons/Colored Pencils, Magnets, Blocks, Play Food, Coloring Books/Stickers, and Workbooks/Flashcards. I got rid of the pink and green fabric bins that were on her bookshelf and actually sold them for $5 on a Facebook yard sale group :)
Snack time :)
Trying out the blocks from the new tub
Another nice, warm day for playing outside. Brooklyn has enjoyed riding her “bicycle” several times this month, and Savannah likes riding the little giraffe tricycle too.
I’ve really noticed this month that whatever Brooklyn does, Savannah wants to do also. She’s obviously watching her big sister and wanting to be just like her!
Enjoying the snuggles (and popcorn!) with Daddy before bed :)
There’s my little laundry helper again!
Luke and Barrett were awake at Cici’s for a few minutes last Sunday (usually they are napping while we eat), so the girls enjoyed getting a peek at them. They are getting so big and just turned 4 months old!
I can’t take a shower and dry my hair without something like this happening lately…haha
Brooklyn’s idea of fun is moving a bunch of stuff into one area, dumping toys out, and tying toys with strings onto other toys. Aaahhhh! ;)
Popsicles in January?? Sure, why not with this weather! :)
Love these two!
We’ve had some rainy days lately too, and Brooklyn asked if she could go out and play in the rain one day last week. This picture to me is the epitome of what it means to be a kid. No worries–just enjoying the moment!
Brooklyn has never really given her baby doll much attention, but Savannah has started to lately. She likes putting the pacifier in the doll’s mouth, and the other day I caught her feeding the baby doll a pretzel and giving her some water. So cute!
“Brooklyn Says” and Other Notes:
- 1/7/17 – Brooklyn packed up some play food in a lunchbox and said she was going to work. She then put the food in a push car, hopped on it, and raced around the house saying “See ya later…I’m going to work!” I asked her what she was going to do at work, and she said she was going to work on helicopters and airplanes. Then when she was “finished at work”, she announced, “Okay, now I’m going to cut the grass!” and started pushing Savannah’s lawnmower around. Sounds like a little daddy to me!
- 1/10/17 – Savannah has started saying “num num num” for yum yum yum.
- 1/11/17 – Brooklyn was inside a big cardboard box with the flaps closed on top, and I asked her what she was doing. Her answer: “I’m hiding from God!” (They’d just learned about Jonah in Bible class, so I assume that’s where that came from.)
- 1/16/17 – Brooklyn was tugging at her panties, and Travis asked, “Do you have a wedgie?” Brooklyn said, “Yes, I pulled it off.” (haha!?) So, I asked her, “What’s a wedgie?” Brooklyn replied, “It’s something sharp that doesn’t feel good. It’s prickly, and it’s a bug!” :)
- 1/18/17 – Savannah is saying “ba” for ball pretty consistently now, and said “ba ba” for Bible once or twice today also.
- 1/18/17 – Travis was sitting in the preschool classroom at church with Brooklyn while they waited on the teachers to arrive. They were looking at pictures around the classroom, and they found one of Saul (who later was known as Paul) on the road to Damascus. Brooklyn asked, “Why doesn’t he doesn’t have a mustache in that picture??” I guess she thought it was actually Paw on the road to Damascus! Said with a southern accent, Paw and Paul do kinda sound the same…hahaha!
- 1/19/17 – The girls got several new Disney movies for Christmas, and we finally convinced Brooklyn to watch one of them this past week. She normally only wants to watch the same ones she seen a million times rather than try something new. So, now she’s on a Mulan kick. Anyway, that night after she watched Mulan for the first time, she told Travis, “Daddy, I like Mulan AND Gooty and the Beast!”
- 1/20/17 – We met Mollie and her baby, Tucker, at the Chick-fil-a in Athens on Friday for lunch. It was so great to see them and catch up for a little while. We got there a few minutes before they did, so we went straight to the play area while we waited. There were several boys playing in there, and Brooklyn introduced herself to one of them: “Hi, I’m Brooklyn. I start with a ‘B’. What’s your name? What are your friends’ names?” The little boy responded, and then Brooklyn pointed at me, “This is my mom, Erin.” :) Meanwhile, Pookie cried when we first got in the play area and was terrified of the mop bucket in the bathroom (literally shaking in fear). Gotta love ’em both! :)
Hope you have a great week!
