Savannah's solo

Savannah started the spring semester of her Kindermusik class last week and in her new packet she received two harmonicas.  She figured out how they work pretty quickly and has been playing them non-stop for the past several days.  I thought I'd share this little video I made with my phone.

She is such a big fan of music that I hope she didn't inherit Oscar's and my bad singing voices.  I can already picture her performing in her high school musicals :) 

My little chatterbox

Savannah just turned 26 months and it seems that since her speech evaluation last month, she has verbally blossomed.  She is throwing out 2 and 3 word sentences left and right.  Her articulation has only slightly improved so I often have to translate for her to others if they don't know the context in which she's speaking.  But after so long of her simply babbling, this is a huge milestone for her.  I love hearing her sweet little voice even if most of the time she's barking out demands: "Ma, wait!; "Ma, hold me!"; "Ma, come back!"; etc..   Thankfully she follows most demands and questions with "peeeezzzzzze" which makes me very happy.

She is also singing a lot more so much so that I am actually able to figure out which song she is attempting. One of her favorites is the happy birthday song.  She started that one on my birthday and is still singing it to me.  She also sings a few of the songs from the Fresh Beat Band--Rockstar, Let's Go Bananas, etc.  At this rate, she'll be able to fully sing along with the band at their April concert.  

Here is a brief list of the most common things coming out of Savannah's mouth these days:

~all of the above demands

~"Dee, no touch my stuff!"

~"More milk (water, juice) pleeezzze"

~"I be back"

~"I hold Max"(the dog)

~"I go wash" (referring to hand wash)

~"I go get......" (toys, lovey, cup, random objects)

~"I need help!"

~"I potty." or "I poop."

~"My turn" usually followed by "Ma's turn"

Just a couple of other new things....

Every day is a princess day around here.  Savannah is constantly wearing either a Disney princess dress or princess logo attire.  Thankfully Grams and Grandad got her several more Disney shirts for Christmas because I wasn't able to keep up with the laundry.  

Rapunzel in her kitchen

1 of many princess jammies

Belle jammies

Savannah is currently battling her second ear infection.  I thought her 2 year molars were coming in but after a temperature of 104 degrees I took her to the doctor to get checked out.  My poor girl was so sick that she almost slept through the entire exam.  For a child who normally screams bloody murder from the moment she sees a nurse, this was a definite sign that something was terribly wrong.  She's been on an antibiotic since Friday but I'm having a very difficult time administering the medicine.  She's definitely not an easy patient.  Hopefully she's getting enough down and she'll be all better in a couple of days.  While we were there we managed to figure out her current weight.  I say managed because she wouldn't let me put her down so the nurse had to weigh me holding her and then weigh me alone.  I'm not divulging my weight but she is a whopping 30 pounds.  No wonder my back muscles are so strong :)    

Welcome 2012

After 2 years of sleeping through the ball drop, I finally saw it this year; however, I was in my pjs in bed.  Oscar coincidentally woke up for a bathroom break just in time so we can say we rang in the new year at midnight together :)  

I woke up early on Sunday morning and began my most hated task of taking down my Christmas decorations.  For me, January 1 is the most awful day of the year.  I spent the entire day, minus an hour and a half at church, returning my house back to it's normal boring condition.  Oscar took down the outside lights during breaks of football watching.  And Savannah did her normal thing of destroying the parts of the house that I had just cleaned.  Only 326 more days until next holiday season!!!!!

quick family photo session after church (our tripod is broken, hence the closeup)

future Cowboys cheerleader all ready for the game

I have no resolutions this year and even if I did, I tend to forget all about them by March.  Instead I intend to live more in the moment.....Savannah is growing up so incredibly fast so I want to cherish this one-on-one time I have with her because next year she'll be off to preschool and who knows---maybe she'll have a sibling on the way :)  

Christmas at Home

This year for the first time Oscar and I chose to stay home for Christmas.  Because Savannah isn't the easiest traveler, airline tickets are on the rise, lack of a place to stay, amongst other things we just thought it would make more sense to stay home.  I admit that I wasn't thrilled knowing that I was going to spend the first Christmas in 31 years away from my family so I was more than ecstatic when Harlan told me that he wanted to come out and visit us for the holiday.  He and Mark along with Maya and Zoe arrived on Wednesday the 21st (my birthday!)  after driving 20 hours overnight.  Needless to say, they were a little tired.  Savannah was beyond excited about having the two dogs here----Max and Lilly were beyond annoyed---and she was also happy to have Uncle Harlan around, too.

Week Leading up to Christmas

Savannah with Zoe

now with Maya

not Maya's best side but at least Savannah is saying "cheese"

these 3 were so cute---they would all wait patiently outside until Harlan opened his door

me, Savannah and Harlan

playing around with Harlan and Mark

her favorite thing was to play in the dogs kennels

poor little Max---he's not sure what's going on

Christmas Eve

After a filling breakfast of biscuits and gravy, Oscar, Harlan, and Mark battled the crowd at the mall to do a quick exchange and then completed a few other errands.  Meanwhile Savannah and I got in a good run before battling the Target crowd---not our best idea but I had to get another baking dish--as well as the crowd at The Honey Baked Ham.  Yes, I took a shortcut this year for Christmas dinner...don't judge me.  We all then went to the country club for lunch before heading home for nap time.  Oscar, Savannah, and I attended the family Christmas Eve service at church---short and cute---then went home to a steaming hot bowl of soup and cornbread--yummy!  Thankfully Savannah went to bed early in anticipation of Santa's arrival and the boys stayed up late watching very not Christmas-y movies while I spent hours catching up on this blog.  

Harlan and Savannah infront of the country club 

the pink shoes totally compliment the outfit

getting Santa's treats ready

quality control

Don't worry, I left plenty for Santa

putting out reindeer food

looks like somebody was good this year

more presents

Christmas Morning

This morning definitely lived up to all my expectations....Savannah was beyond excited!!  I loved watching her sweet face light up at the sight of all her presents and knowing she could finally open them.  She was over-the-moon with her kitchen.  Other big hits were Pinkalicious, the pink camera, 2 new movies, princess related clothing, and the Beast.  Oscar's favorite gift was the green belt he's been longing for since our summer at Sea Island.  My favorite gift......hmmmmmm, too much lovely Lilly to choose :)  

After all the present opening was done, I made our traditional breakfast of egg casserole and monkey bread.  Then we all went into a monkey bread sugar coma.  The afternoon was spent playing with Savannah and her new toys while Harlan and Mark tried to nap before their long drive home.  For Christmas dinner I prepared and/or finished a honey-baked turkey breast; broccoli and rice casserole; cornbread dressing; mashed potatoes and gravy; cranberry/walnut compote; salad with beats, goat cheese, walnuts and apples; and pumpkin bread pudding for dessert.  After dinner we had to say goodbye to Uncle Harlan and Mark.  I HATE goodbyes!!  If Christmas night didn't already depress me, than this just made it worse :(  Thankfully I can look forward to seeing Caroline and Lauren this Friday to help ease the sadness.   

ohhhhh, that's mine!!

ohhhh, that's mine, too!!

a kitchen!!!

more presents for me!!!

a new princess outfit

helping Uncle Harlan

"Belle and Beast!!!"

Pinkalicious!!!

she now gets the best seat in the house

"Beast!!!"

a new outfit for Lucy

World's Best Mom mug

Santa came to Zoe, too

More Lilly for mom!!!

present opening is exhausting

another Pooh!!!

Uncle Harlan got what he asked for :)

her very own pink camera

taking pictures of Pinkalicious

new Barbour coat for mom

finally, a new pair of Chuck Taylors

trying to put on her Pinkalicious jammies

"Are you for real?!"

Oscar's very own footie jammies!! Notice the new belt, too.

another pink Disney outfit courtesy of Grams

now Uncle Harlan is exhausted

woohoo! pink cowgirl boots thanks to Granny

by now Savannah is exhausted so mom had to open her remaining presents

annual Christmas morning pic on the stairs--we just need to photoshop Michael in 

say "cheese"

sleepy family pic

Savannah with her BFF, Maxwell

the master chef hard at work in the kitchen

even Lilly is depressed now that all the presents are gone

Savannah getting ready for a photoshoot

Savannah loving on Mark

In the words of Fancy Nancy, what a splendiferous Christmas!!!  Thank you to Oscar, Savannah, and Harlan for helping to make this year so special.  If only Grams, Grandad, and Michael had been here---maybe next year :)