Apple Party

Happy Thursday!!

We have just finished a full month pre-school and we are tear free at drop off and pick up.. Yay Savannah…

Her class had an apple party today.  This month they have introduced the color red and I guess since apples tend to be red they had an apple party.  Everyone was to wear red.  And being the fashionista of the house she had to have something with apples on it.  Just let me tell you how are it is to find a cute anything with apples on it.  Thank goodness for Etsy.. I found a super cute skirt with apples that was made and delivered by Tuesday.. Thanks www.etsy.com/shop/sassyjanes . Check our her stuff it’s great.

As we walked into pre-school one of the teachers from another class stopped and said Hi Savannah..she explained she was the teacher from next door she just loved Savannah.  I think that is Awesome that a teacher from another class knows who she is hopefully she is noticed by her manners and sweet smile.

After pick up today we headed to the grocery store to pick up dinner. Lasagna night..  Yum. It turned out great! If I may say so myself.  Savannah didn’t really care for it but I don’t think she cares for beef..  She doesn’t like hamburgers or spaghetti with meat sauce sooo maybe not a beef eater time will tell.

Nothing to exciting today..When I asked Miss Mary Ann if Savannah used the potty she said yes they tried and Savannah had to sing Twinkle Twinkle little star to her while she was on the potty..hahaha Gotta love it.

Playing Catch up

Let’s Go Panthers

When I started this blog I had good intentions of updating it everyday and now I have fallen behind so it is time to catch up.

Let’s see we took Savannah to the Panthers game 2 weeks ago and she loved it. Of Course we only made it to half-time but that’s ok..  We still had a great time..

  

 We went to Lily’s 4th birthday party! Savannah was feeling a little under the weather but we made an appearance..  We are so lucky to have such great friends that have children that are around the same age as Savannah.  It comforts me to know that when we are together we will all love each others children as our own. It’s a nice feeling.

Potty training is still clicking right along. I have let go of the stress of “you have to be potty trained” and focused more on “well she won’t be wearing a diaper when she is 15 and if she is that will be her problem”.lol.  The other day Jeff and I were in the kitchen talking with Justice and I noticed that Savannah had disappeared to the other room.  When I went to look for her she was in the bathroom.  She had taken off her pull-up and skirt. Climbed up onto the potty with the seat cover and pooped all by herself.  I was happily shocked.  I thought is this it?? Is she just going to start doing this from now on?? Nope no such luck.  But at least she is telling me more and more when she has to go.  So if I have any suggestions for potty training it would be don’t sweat it.  It’s true when they say it will happen when it happens.

Recently I have also been trying to get rid of the paci.  I know I know I know it should have been gone a long time ago but it’s her thing.  I have cut it back to nap time and bed time which works as long as she is not left alone with her daddy.  He is no help with this situation. One “can i have my paci puleeeeeesssee” and he is sucked in. I see a paci boot camp in her near future.

Pre-School has been going much better.  We walk in on our on and Tuesday was the first time I dropped her off and picked her up and there were no tears!!! Yea Savannah!! We had picture day last week and all I could think was picture day for a 2-year-old?? Really?? But I was excited and dressed her up and off to school for picture day we went.

Pre-School Picture Day 2011

Hopefully they will come out good.

I just love this pre-school she goes to I can already tell in just a short time the lesson’s she is learning are sticking.  She came home singing her prayer the other day.  .

She continues to amaze me at the things she retains.

I noticed the other day when I picked Savannah up at pre-school they were letting them drink out of regular cups instead of the sippy cup.  So I was thinking I might have to try this.  Later on that night at dinner time I thought I would give it a shot.  So I poured her milk in a cup and put it the table.  I told her to please be careful it didn’t have a lid to which she proceeded to put her hand in the milk.  I said Savannah you don’t put your hands in your milk to which she replied “it’s not your problem mom” did I mention she was 2.  Lord help me.  Needless to say the milk got poured back into a sippy cup we’ll try that at another date.  One thing at a time one thing at a time..

hmmmmm… I think that is it..Oh wait As I mentioned before Savannah loves to sing and her new favorite song is Forget You (the glee version) she calls it the “why babe” song. haha.. “can i hear why babe mom”. It’s hilarious.

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And of course we have had to listen to it 50 million times and now we are watching it on you tube.. But I love it.  It makes her happy so I’m happy.

Now today.  Mercy came this morning and we headed to swim class with priss and she continues to progress.  It’s so funny when we first got moved up to baby otter 3 Mr. Stuart told us all the things our children were going to do and I remember Heather and I looking at each other like….ok yeah sure they will go under by themselves, sure they will dive down and get those animals from the second step, sure they will float on their back, sure they will leave independently from the wall and swim to the island.  Guess what she’s doing it.  So proud of her.

Underwater Smiles

Sweet girl. I had someone say to me the other day that she was the happiest baby they had ever been around.  Which I took as a huge compliment.  Don’t get me wrong she has her days but she wakes up with this smile on her face everyday.  I love her so much.

And with that I will end this very long blog and try to be more diligent about keeping it everyday.

Blog ya soon.

Mommy

A Fathers Love….

Growing up this is one thing I really missed out on.  I, unfortunately, grew up in a home where daddy decided to check out instead of in.  I didn’t know until I was in the 5th grade that the man who claimed to be my father was not.  Don’t get me wrong it was a relief to know that the step-monster that I was living with was not my dad and that even though my biological father was not around he was still out there.  It was like renewed hope.

I hoped that one day he would come and rescue me and take me away from the horrible place I was living.  It never happened.  But it’s ok it made me a stronger person and through opportunities in life I got myself out and I have never looked back.

Flash forward 24 years later..  I am sitting in my living room with my beautiful daughter and my wonderful husband watching them dance around in circles to The Fresh Beat Band “Here we go”.  Can I just tell you how much my heart swells to watch my husband love my daughter.  It is unlike any love or happiness that I have ever experienced.  He loves her. Which makes me love him even more.

Every night we have our same routine.  Dinner, Play, Bath, PJ’s, snuggle on daddy’s lap for one last episode of Bubble Guppies (her new favorite show) before  a story and bed.  I treasure these daddy daughter moments just as much as they do.  Not having that father figure in my life I know how important it is to have his presence in her life .

Father’s are supposed to be there.  To protect, teach and love.. To pick you up when your down to say yes when mommy says no.  When you create a child that child doesn’t get an application of where they want to be born they are just born. Then it is up to us as parents to give them all they need.  To all the dad’s out there that are involved who work hard to provide and love their kids you are appreciated..  Just in case you didn’t know and havent heard it lately Thank You from your kids.  It is a gift that will always be treasured.  Nothing can every replace the love of a father.

Although I still have not been able to meet my father I still have the hope that one day he will find me.  I don’t need saving anymore but I still need his love.

Have a great weekend!

Brandi

Great Labor Day Weekend!

What an awesome weekend we had.  The boys came home so we got to spend some time with them.  Jordan brought 2 of his roommates home to spend the night (jake & Alex) so we decided to get a sitter for Savannah and headed to dinner at Del Frisco’s.  We can’t wait for Savannah to get a little older so she can go with us.  We take her a lot (well I take her a lot) and it’s more like a race to get done before she does so not very enjoyable.  But I want her to learn so it has to be done.

Justin played in a golf tournament all weekend so he wasn’t around much.  Then Jordan and the boys were only here for the night and left early afternoon on Saturday.  But not before I fixed a big ole breakfast for them.  I hope they enjoyed their short time here.  It was very nice meeting them.

Justin headed back on Sunday night after dinner.  I am so glad the boys are happy and seem to be starting the year off great!!

We cooked out with the neighbors on Sunday night and it was just a nice evening.

Then today was back to pre-school.. Ugh.. Savannah did pretty well she woke up around 7:30 and had breakfast watched a little tv then we got ready.  I had to get up at 6am this morning and shower out in the pool house because our hot water heater broke on Monday.  I was scared to death I was going to step on a snake before I got out there. yuck.  So at this point I’m exhausted it’s been a long day.  So as I was getting Savannah ready she started tearing up “I wanna stay home mommy” and I tried to console her and she didn’t break down to much.  She was mommies big girl today.  I dropped her off and her eyes started getting red and the tears started filling her eyes.  I hugged her and said “be mommies big girl” and we headed in.  We got to the door and she reached for Miss Mary Ann with tears in her eyes but the crying had stopped by the time I left.  WHEW..

After I dropped Savannah off I headed to brunch with my new lifegroup.  I am very excited about getting back into my bible study.  I have missed it.  The women were really nice.  I felt a little old in the group but that’s ok.  I felt welcomed.

Time to pick up Savannah and no tears!!! Yeah!!..

So my Savannahism for today.. We have been potty training and she has been doing really well.  After her nap today I took her to the potty and of course we always have to do the potty dance.  So after we got her cleaned up I realized I needed to use the potty as well and as I started to go Savannah promptly started clapping and saying yeaaaaa mommy… hahaha.. I LOVE THAT BABY!

Politically incorrect

Let me start by saying I am in no way a political guru. I do not sit and study politics.  I do listen and watch the national news to try to stay informed.  Although I know they are only going to show you their side of the story or what you want to hear.

Now with that said here goes.

The other day I was on my way to pick up my 2-year-old daughter from pre-school.  The radio was set to fox news and they had a story about JC Penny.  The correspondent began to inform us that JC Penny was carrying a line of girls T-shirts that said things like “I’m to pretty to do homework so my brother has to do it for me.” “I’m a beautiful princess”ect..  And how wrong this was and how demeaning it was to our young girls and what kind of message does this send.

Really??? It’s a GIRLS t-shirt people.  It doesn’t send any kind of message other than oh that’s a cute shirt.  Do you honestly think a t-shirt for a child is going to affect their stability?? Isnt it our job as parents to teach our children the difference between right and wrong? Arent we suppose to guide them throughout their lives and help them make the right choices for their life??  When a t-shirt determines the outcome of how your child will be then the parent has done a poor job.

Stories like this drive me crazy.  When are the parents going to be held accountable for raising their children??

Which brings me to my next subject.  It’s crazy how far apart this country is divided.  The republicans want it this way the democrats want it that.  It’s awful.  It scares me to think of what Savannah’s future will be.

I personally do not think that making the rich pay for everyone who is not is the right thing to do.  I mean these people worked hard all their lives the take the daily risk of running a business and being successful or not.  The daily stress that comes with running a business and making sure all employees have a job.  I don’t understand why they owe anybody anything??

I think we are creating a dependent country.  When is the time going to come that people step up and change the future for their children.  I want Savannah to have the best possible future she can. So I will try to give her every learning opportunity that I can.  I will do everything I can to teach her to be a good christian, educated, kind, polite and compassionate.  I will teach her that you have to work hard to get what you want.  I will teach her that life is full of ups and downs and you always try to make the best of any situation.

I will not teach her to sit around and wait for someone else to do it.  Seems simple to me.  If people cared and worked hard and had expectations of themselves and their children the world would start to change.

I’m sure this will make some unhappy and if I have offended anyone I am sorry.

Have a good week!!

Productive day

A day full of new accomplishments!  Even though I had an early wake up call at 4:30am.. Thanks Priss.  Luckily she went back to sleep pretty quickly.  I’m thinking we may need to stay up an extra 30 minutes at night. I don’t know. I’m still working out the kinks in this whole motherhood thing.  Although I have received some excellent advice from some awesome moms it’s still a trial and error kinda process.

So with Mercy coming early and daddy agreeing to hang out until she got here mama hit an 8am yoga class.  Yea.. Start early and get it done.  Waiting till the evening translates to I’ll go tomorrow. Awesome class today I was able to do Parsva Bakasana (side crow) without using my hip and I extended my legs.  Looks Something Like this .

 

So leaving from Yoga I was pretty happy.  Yes.  Something I have been working on I have finally accomplished.  NICE.

Heading back home with a smile on my face time to get priss and mercy for swim class.

Everyone is loaded in the car and we are off we get to swim class on time and leap into the pool.  We sang out little songs.  Ring around the rosies pocket full a posies splashes splashes we all blow bubbles.. With Savannah singing every word to every song.  She loves it.  During swim class we have different stations to work on different things and then we have kinda an individual lesson with Mr. Stuart.  Savannah just wants to do Cannon balls off the side of the pool.  Thanks Dad.

Savannah is up and right now during class they are teaching her to leave independently from the side of the pool, roll over on her back and then roll back over and continue to swim to her target.  Typically Savannah leaves independently on her own then when it’s time to roll over she rolls with assistance and floats with the help of Mr. Stuart.  TODAY she left on her own. Rolled over and floated on her back for about 10 seconds.  It was great.  I was cheering like she had won the gold.  haha.  It’s the little things.

So now after another great day god has blessed me with I am headed to bed looking forward to a great weekend with my family.  The boys are coming home and I can’t wait to see them.  Savannah will be super excited.  She LOVES her brother so much.  The other day we did face time with Justin and they sat and ate dinner together and chit chatted.  How cool is technology.  As we snuggled in for the night I asked Savannah who her best buddy was and she said JORDAN. And I thought I was.  Oh well if I have to share that duty who better to share with than Jordan.  So when I say she will be excited to see them is an understatement.

Peace