Well just like that, Thanksgiving came and went, and now we’re full swing into Christmas mode around here. We had a great Thanksgiving week. Travis took off the whole week, which was really nice. I worked that Monday, so he was on Daddy daycare duty. Then, on Tuesday he left around lunchtime to head to Memphis with Matt for a Collective Soul concert. He didn’t get home until 4:15 AM Wednesday morning! But, they had a fun time, and apparently they ate some of the best ribs EVER for supper. Yum! Wednesday was spent around the house just playing with the girls and getting ready for Thanksgiving. We got to see several friends at KSR on Wednesday night that we rarely see anymore, so that was really great. Then, Travis stayed up late Wednesday night (two nights in a row!) playing games with some of the Dvorak cousins and spouses. It was a fun few days leading up to Thanksgiving!
Savannah and Cadence (Andrew and Stephanie’s baby girl) met for the first time on the Sunday before Thanksgiving! She is such a cutie! They are about 3.5 months apart in age :)
Tuesday morning, we went on a walk down the street. I pulled Savannah in the wagon, and Brooklyn pushed her baby in the stroller!
She’s getting the hang of these wagon rides :)
Our next door neighbors (the ones who ripped down our shared fence without informing us ahead of time…yeah) have gone crazy with their Christmas decorations this year. They literally have at least 10 blow-up things plus lights and other stuff in their yard. It may look tacky, but Brooklyn LOVES it!
Savannah took a nap in my arms that afternoon. These early afternoon snuggles happen quite often, actually. The only time she can sleep outside of her room is when Big Sister is napping too.
Then, we sat out on the back patio after naps while Brooklyn played for a little while…
That night while Daddy was in Memphis, we ate bug pancakes for supper! They are one of B’s favorites. She likes to pick which bug she will eat next ;)
Wednesday morning, Daddy slept in for a little while, and the girls watched the Lion King! This picture makes it look like Savannah was watching too (not really though). I think she watched maybe a minute or two :)
Then, Brooklyn helped me mix up the batter to make a chocolate cake for Thanksgiving! This picture was taken before my hand mixer went crazy–one of the beaters broke, and chocolate cake mix went everywhere. Travis decided that Brooklyn wasn’t supervising me well enough obviously :)
That afternoon, Daddy and Brooklyn played “soccer” together in the backyard. She just loves to be outside!
On the morning of Thanksgiving, I pulled out our good camera to get some pictures of the girls before we headed over to Uncle Allen and Aunt Debbie’s house for lunch:
Brooklyn wore this same onesie for her first Thanksgiving 2 years ago!
Brooklyn enjoys holding her sister these days!
We watched a little bit of the Thanksgiving Day parade on TV too :)
Over at Allen and Debbie’s house, Brooklyn freaked out when we first got there. I think it was because there were so many people there, and she hasn’t been over to their house many times before. She burst into tears! Thankfully, she warmed up pretty quickly, and soon she was playing and entertaining everyone as usual :)
She and Graham played together pretty well! He just turned 2, so he’s pretty close to her age.
They enjoyed playing in this box..
…and there were plenty of other toys to keep them entertained too!
Quinn (who will be 2 in March) mostly played by himself that day. He may have been intimidated by how loud his older cousins were!
Savannah enjoyed snuggling with lots of family members that day…
Of course, Grandma had to get some time with her!
Her Thanksgiving supper was part of a pumpkin/apricot jar of baby food. She seemed to like it!
Brooklyn enjoyed looking at all of the fish in Allen and Debbie’s fish tank!
Coloring also kept her occupied for a little while :)
…and games kept a lot of the adults entertained. It’s always a fun day when we celebrate Thanksgiving with the Dvorak clan!
On Friday, Paw, Rae Rae, Uncle Bill, and Aunt Gale came up to visit us for the day. Uncle Bill and Aunt Gale were in Birmingham for a few days, and we were so glad to get to see them too since we couldn’t be there on Thanksgiving this year. We were excited to see them and for Savannah to meet them!
Savannah enjoyed snuggling with Aunt Gale that afternoon while Brooklyn was asleep :)
…and of course, she had to have some time with her Paw (when he wasn’t playing with Brooklyn, that is!)
Thanks for coming to see us, y’all…we really enjoyed the day!
Saturday, we watched the Iron Bowl (Roll Tide!) and decorated our Christmas tree and mantle. Brooklyn enjoyed helping me decorate the little tree that sits in her room on her dresser.
While Daddy was setting up the tree in our living room, I pulled out these Christmas window clings for Brooklyn to “decorate” our living room window with. She loved putting them on (and taking them off). She is still playing with them days later! They aren’t going to survive this season (she’s pretty rough on them), but luckily they are pretty cheap to replace ;)
She liked helping us put ornaments on the tree too! Most of the ornaments she “helped” with all went on the same couple of branches…haha. Mommy and Daddy may have rearranged some of them later! ;)
She is definitely a lot more interested in Christmas lights and decorations this year than last!
Savannah, on the other hand, cried almost the whole time we were decorating the tree. It was too close to bedtime! She is generally not much of a happy camper after about 7 PM. Hopefully next year we will start the process earlier in the day and catch everyone in a good mood :)
Sunday morning, Travis snapped a few pictures of the girls in front of the tree before church (at my request). I didn’t figure any of them would turn out good, but I was pleasantly surprised!
My favorite!
Still interested in the window clings several days later!
Posing in front of the tree!
The first part of last week was pretty rainy, so we spent a lot of time inside…like this. Savannah is getting so big! She is starting to scoot a little more on her belly. She isn’t very fast, but she can slowly get across the room if she has her eye on something ;) We’ve already caught her messing with the cat food and water, and trying to knock over the trash can in our room. It begins again!
So sweet!
She is starting to get up on her hands and knees a little bit, but flops back to her belly before actually going anywhere :)
This girl LOVES her paci too!
Brooklyn thinks it’s fun to put all of her stuffed animal friends and “brown” and “blue” (her favorite blankets) into our laundry basket. She has recently started holding the corner of “brown” in her right hand up by her mouth and sucking her left thumb (as usual) while she goes to sleep in her bed. She’s more attached to that blanket than any of her stuffed animals!
Brooklyn thought Savannah would like to play with her kitchen one night after supper, so she pulled it over and handed Savannah the phone…haha!
Daddy’s mini me!
Savannah makes this face a lot these days…so funny!
Saturday was the day of the SEC championship game, so she and Daddy sat on the couch and watched a little football before the Bama game started.
We went over to Matt and Maggie’s to watch the game. It was great to see them and Korah again. These little friends are growing up too fast!
Savannah had a blowout at halftime (of course!), so no more Bama outfit for the 2nd half ;)
Sweet friends!
Brooklyn looks so big next to them!
Here is B’s best attempt at a selfie during the game :)
Yesterday, we went to story time at the library. All of the books were about snowmen, which Brooklyn loved! She was very well behaved while we were there. I was very proud of her! In the past, she has been known to crawl around, take off her shoes, lay down, hide under the easel, etc. But, yesterday she was perfect!
Then, we made a snowman as a craft at the end. She loves anything that involves using a glue stick :)
Savannah was all smiles before her lunch yesterday!
Other Notes:
*I took both girls to my annual GYN appointment last Wednesday, which was probably asking for trouble. However, it went great! They were both very well behaved in the waiting room, and Savannah sat in her car seat the whole time except when she needed to nurse once we got into a room. Brooklyn enjoyed getting a sucker before we left, of course!
* Brooklyn says that “pineapple stings like a jellyfish”!
* One day last week she said, “I’m going to be ‘free’ (three) years old in Februarys!” Haha! I had no clue she knew what month her birthday was in, but I guess she’s heard us tell her that before?
*She has learned the 12 apostles song in the past week or two, and we are now working on the songs for the books of the OT and NT. She is very musical and loves to sing! It doesn’t take many times of me singing a song with her before she’s memorized the words herself!
*On Friday, we went to Target to buy some gifts for the “angel” we adopted for Christmas. Our angel was a 3-year-old little girl who asked for Frozen, mermaids, play kitchen sets, and clothes. I wasn’t sure how Brooklyn would react to buying a bunch of toys (especially the stuff from Frozen!) for someone other than her, but she really impressed us. We told her they were for a little girl who might not be getting any presents for Christmas, and she still remembers the girl’s name even now. I’m hoping that every year we can pick out a child who is close to Brooklyn’s age, and each year she can be more involved with the process.
We have a busy weekend coming up with lots of holiday get-togethers to go to…literally one on Thursday, Friday, AND Saturday. Hopefully, somewhere in there I can start wrapping Christmas presents. The big day will be here soon! Stay tuned for pictures of Brooklyn and Savannah’s big Christmas gift. Hint: it’s being delivered to our backyard a few days before Christmas. Shhhh….don’t tell Brooklyn! I know she’ll love it! :)
Hope you’re having a great week!
