Surprise - I caved!!

I gave up last night and I don't feel that bad about it. Savannah has been a nightmare to get to sleep since I stole her binky, even for naps. I had to take her for a ride in the car to get her to fall asleep for naptime and she usually loves taking a nap, but then she usually has her binky. So last night at 10:45 when she was still running around, I found a binky hiding in the truck and gave it to her. She hadn't asked for it since Sunday, but she was happy to see it. I put her in her bed and didn't hear another peep out of her(until 3:00 of course.) She slept in until 9:00! I am willing to let her keep that stinky binky if it means more sleep for all of us. Maybe I need to go out of town and have someone else break her of the habit. Any volunteers?

I did snap this sweet photo of Savannah on Tuesday night. She had been whining for 30 minutes and then screaming for another 30 because she didn't want to go to sleep. I sat down on the floor by her crib and told her if she would lay down I would tickle her cheek and sing a song. Instead, she said she wanted to sleep on the floor. So I made her a bed, turned on her lamp, gave her a book and walked out. This is how I found her twenty minutes later.

She woke up at 3:00 and I took her to my bed. After demanding her cow pillow and bear, she decided she wanted to go back to her room. Surprisingly she stayed there until 7:00. Of course, that didn't work on Wednesday which is why I gave up. I'll try again someday.

I'll leave you with Savannah's conversation in the car today. There is a windmill on the side of the road which she calls a steering wheel for some reason. Today she said, "Mom I can't reach the steering wheel, it's too high. I know what to do! I need a ladder to climb." Don't tell me that TV doesn't teach kids something!

Where's my binky?

I am trying to break Savannah of the binky and it isn't pretty, just ask Sherie. We spent the weekend in St. George with Nat, Sherie, Luke, Sidney, Isaac and Lily which was lots of fun. I decided it would be a good time to lose the binky since I'd have sisters around who had been through the ordeal before. I'm not sure Sherie appreciated my timing. When it was time for bed Thursday night, Annie asked where her binky was and I told her I left it at home. Of course she wanted me to go get it, but I told her it was too far away. Start the screaming...fifteen minutes later still screaming. She finally falls asleep only to wake up twice in the night screaming. She didn't ask for her binky the rest of the weekend, but then she didn't go to bed until 11:30 or 12:30 the next two nights. Fast forward to Sunday night at 9:00 at our house. I had Savannah kiss Jer goodnight and she immediately asked for her binky. After much crying, rocking and storytelling, she fell asleep about 10:30. Naptime today wasn't much better. She wouldn't have anything to do with her bed, so I held her on the couch until she fell asleep. I keep telling myself "stay strong, this should only last another day or two." Right???

Anyway, we did have a lot of fun with the fam in St. George, thanks in no small part to our luxurious hotel - aka Michelle's house. The pool was heaven and it was so nice to be able to let the kids loose on the yard. I can't wait til we have a fence!

There was no shortage of dress-ups at Michelle's house and everyone was in on the fun, including Sherie. She put on an old man mask and scared the crap out of Luke and Annie!
Just look at those muscles! Too bad he doesn't use them to pick up his own poop!!! Thank you Sherie and Nat for the wonderful weekend! I hope we can do it again soon.

I'll leave you with one little photo of Savannah. (I don't want another scorching e-mail from Dad!!) Annie loves to play in the dirt in the backyard. We have a fireplace shovel just her size and she creates dirt rainshowers with it. Good thing she likes taking baths!

Love and miss you all!

Guess what??

Chicken butt!!! That's a nice little saying Jer taught Savannah and now she says it all the time. Of course she still likes to tell you that "Walmart sucks" and "Costco rocks". She is a little tape recorder and repeats everything she hears. She loves to act out her cartoons, especially Ni Hao Kailan. She is always saying "I know what to do!" I love to hear talk, but she is already sassing me at two years old! I'm in for big trouble as she gets older.

Here is a picture of Savannah making a tambourine. She found a metal tin that had mints in it and told me it was a tambourine (I'm guessing she saw it on a cartoon.) Of course I didn't want mints flying everywhere, so I had her make her own tambourine. She colored it and put a million stickers on it. It looks like she is going to be "crafty" like me. She sits at her spot at my craft desk and says "I'm creating."

Annie loves to listen to daddy tell stories, especially Goldilocks or The Three Little Pigs. I had to take a picture of her one night because she was just fixated on Jer's mouth as he spoke. She has him wrapped around her little finger!

Jeremy went to Walmart last Saturday to "get some screws". When he came home he told me to keep Savannah out of the back garage until he called her in. She didn't like it, but I told her daddy had a surprise for her. When she saw her tool bench she said "It's my birthday!" She was so excited to have her own tools and immediately started drilling everything in sight. What a sweet daddy Jeremy is!

We have been watching the Tinkerbell movie lately and Annie wanted to dress up like her. One of Jer's coworkers gave her this costume for her birthday and she loves it. She has to wear the wings and makes me "fly" her around the house. She is all girl!

Trin, Matt and the boys spent the night with us last night. Savannah was so happy to have some cousins to play with, even though it was a very short visit. Alex loved carrying her around and Brayden got to show off his spinning skills for her. When it was time for bed, Annie crawled right in bed with them. We love having family come to visit and wish it happened more often. Somebody please book a reservation soon!!!

New House

We finally made it into the new house. This is how Savannah spent the first four days until we had the cable installed. I don't know what we would have done without the DVD player or the new Wubbzy movie I bought. I realize I'm raising a TV junkie, but sometimes I need to get things done! Annie really likes the "new house" as she always calls it, though she still reminds me that there's "nuffing in the pantry" at the old house.

I have to share some of Savannah's imagination with you. She found this shelf organizer and I was amazed at everything it tranformed into. First she said, "Mommy, it's a table. Sit down have a snack." Then she laid down under it and said, "It's a blanket for sleep." Over the next five minutes it became a "base helmet", car and bathtub. She makes me so happy, proud, exhausted and frustrated, and I love her to pieces!

We were lucky enough to have Grandma, Fifi, Camry and Lily come visit last weekend. Although they were saddened that we don't have a pool, the kids thought the new hot tub was fun. Annie had a blast playing with her cousins. Now she asks me, "Where are my kids?" Hopefully more cousins will come visit us soon (hint, hint)!

Here is a cute picture of the little guinea pigs. Savannah loves to climb in this "cage" and pretend she really is one. She'll play like she's eating carrots or celery. You need to enlarge the photo to see the sign Camry made. It reads "Giney Pig for sale 10$". She made it up all on her own! Jeremy was so impressed with her creativity, as was I. She definitely takes after her mother.

Sorry these posts are so few and far between. Hopefully once we get more settled in, I'll make a better effort at keeping up. Til then, you'll just have to come see us in person!

More Funny Photos

Savannah has been really good about entertaining herself with books lately. She has a book of blank faces that you can add stickers to for the mouth, nose, etc. Apparently she was tired of her own face and decided to make a few changes. I was impressed that she put the nose on her nose and the mouth so close to hers.

Last night Annie decided she was tired and this shelf looked just her size. This morning she reminded me that she went night-night in there. I am amazed by the things she remembers. Yesterday she saw a picture of Pixos in an ad and said "Sidney's house." How does she remember seeing them at Sherie's over Christmas? She also saw a remove control car that Sue gave Alex and said "Nana Papa!" Her mind is a wonder. I guess she is just gifted like her mother!!

Just thought I'd share a funny story from the other night. Savannah was playing chase with Jer and her pants kept falling down. Jeremy said, "Hey, are you sagging?" Annie promptly replied, "No, I'm cute!" Yes, she is.

The "Too Funny" Twos

Have you ever seen a prettier girl?!? Savannah looked so cute in this dress from Nat with her sparkly red shoes. We went to lunch and she was the center of attention. Of course that might have been because Jer told her to come sit down and she said "Dada serious." It was pretty amusing.

Savannah loves to try on glasses. She knows she isn't allowed to touch mine, but Jer let her try his on and now she thinks they are fair game. The other day she asked me for licorice and I told her no. She said "dada give it." Isn't she a little young to be pitting one parent against the other!!

Here we are posing after church today. Savannah was so good during sacrament meeting. This is the first week that I didn't have to take her out. She didn't even try to crawl under the pew!

Welcome to McDonalds, may I take your order? Savannah loves to play with her new cash register. Don't you love the mess in the background? That is what the house looks like every day. Annie insists on dumping every toy on the floor before she decides which one to play with. I can't wait until we have a dedicated toy room.

Savannah also loves to play with her kitchen. She puts stuff in the microwave and says "dinner ready twenty minutes." I love to listen to the things she says these days. A few days ago in the bath she told her dolly "mommy said no touching things...very angry." See, she does listen to me, she just doesn't care what I say. She also loves to tell us all about her cartoons. She will talk about Wubbzy episodes for days after she watches them. Her favorite thing to watch right now is The Letter Factory. She asks to watch the Tad movie two or three times a day. Now you can say "the A says" and she will tell you. She knows almost every letters' sound!

I'll leave you with Savannah's "happy face." I don't know why she doesn't actually smile when you ask for her happy face, but she looks adorable anyway. Hope it helps you have a great week!