Another Winner for the City of Ames!

So after flip flopping nap times all winter long, Savannah and I finally found a new groove. The new groove allows us to participate in morning activities that she had been sleeping through - like the City of Ames PLAY GYM! The city opens it's gym every week day morning from 9 - noon and for only a buck you can take your toddler there to run around and play. They fill the gym with cars, blocks, wagons...just about any thing you can think of.. Usually Sav just runs from toy to toy for an hour or so and I sit back on the bleachers and watch. It's a good release for her energy and a good time to learn about sharing stuff. Also a good time for me to sit back.

Here she is driving a boat....
And right before she fell off the teeter totter...
And when she got back on the teeter totter...alone.... she's a tuff cookie!

Thanks City of Ames!

And, we're back, for now

Who am I kidding? It's way to nice to blog! So here's some quick updates:

- Savannah had an ear infection and bronchitis. I think she's over it now for the most part.

- Travis started "Barton's Beach Body Boot Camp". Every week day at 6am he gets up and works out with a dozen other people looking to look good for summer. It's only 4 weeks long - we'll post results.

- I've been working hard at church stuff. Getting missions teams ready, planning a Girl's dinner for this weekend, and hanging out with girls!

Picture time!

So glad t's finally springy outside! But Sav wont take off her rubber boots. The kids into them!

Here's a book I found in the toddler section at the library today. Just sayin.

A little picture from Toddler time at the library. If you havent taken your toddler there, you're missing out.

Grammy and Poppy were here last weekend. Savannah LOOOOVES both of her Grandpas so much!

Yeah, I make her do chores. It's cool.

Weiner

Lucky us! Only the second time we've ever gone to the Fareway in West Ames and the Weinermobile happened to be there waiting for us!

The mobile itself wasn't too thrilling. They just let us peek in the door and sent us on our way with some hot dog stickers. No whistle or anything.
However, inside Fareway Savannah had her first ride in the car cart! She loved it. I'm considering shopping there every week just because of it. I think she really thought she was driving the entire cart around the store. When we saw people in the isles she said hi and then pounded the "horn" on the wheel yelling "beep beep". It was awesome.
On the way home Sav put the hot dog stickers on her face. She likes hot dogs and stickers so I guess it wasn't so bad that we didn't get a whistle.

Sledding

Oh the joys of having my parents close. Just one benefit is that Grandpa loves to do outside stuff that the rest of us don't totally enjoy. We took Savannah sledding last weekend. It was soo nice outside. I can't wait for all the sick snow to be gone!

And of course dad and Travis couldn't resist the two man luge after all those hours of the Olympics. It went well as you can see.

Eating my words

I was thinking today about some of the things that I said I'd never do as a mom and I thought, heck, why not just get them out there for America to read. So America (cause all of America reads this obviously), here's me, eating my words:

- I said I'd never stick Savannah in front of the TV or a movie just so I could take a shower. I read something while I was pregnant about someone doing that and thought it to be unsafe, and also bad for the kid's development. Sometimes I bring the portable DVD player in the bathroom, set it up on the toilet seat and let Sav watch Elmo while I take a shower.

- I said I wouldn't feed my kid chicken nuggets or Mac and Cheese for lunch. I mean, come on, what kind of mom can't at least make a sandwich for their kid? Yep, we both had both for lunch last week. And I'll add to it that Savannah has a (turkey) hot dog for dinner 5 out of 7 nights a week.

- I said I wouldn't dress my kid in pink all the time, or hardly ever. I thought it was too much. You can take a look at her on any given day to see that I went back on this one pretty quick.

- I said I wouldn't let her have candy until she was 3ish. Not good for her teeth and she'd never know the difference if she never had it. She gets a dum dum every time I need to go into a store. It's kind of become a kind of embarrassing habit. As soon as we get in any store she starts digging in my pockets "suuka? Suuka?".

So there's the short list. What did I know then anyway?

Here's SAvannah playing with my friend Amanda's daughter Bella. A lady at Fareway asked me if we were related to them today because the girls look so much the same.

From your daughter

Dear Daddy,

I know you miss me why you're at work so I thought I'd write a blog for you about all the things you might be missing about me:

- My newest obsession, Nutella. And that I call it poo poo and then eat it.

- That I can EEEE AWE like a donkey now thanks to you.

- I finally can say "Love You" back... if I want to.

- I licked all the peanut butter off my bananas today and didn't eat any of the banana. (sounds like something you would do, huh pops?)

- I can't wait for you to come home!

Here are some pictures I asked mommy to take for you:

I'm gonna get my face through one of these days...

Mommy interrupted me while I was watching Elmo the other morning. Sheesh mom!

We didn't tell you about this yet, but I've been getting stuck on the table sometimes. My feet couldn't reach the chair. I mean, why do you guys make it so hard for me to get up there anyway!

See you tonight!

Terriblew Twos or Sick Sweetheart?

Savannah has been super gumpy the last couple days. I'm not sure what to make of it. She's been fussy all the time and throwing fits over every single little thing. She's been crying, whinning, and pounding her fists on the floor more than I've ever before. I would say she's not feeling well, but there are no signs of sickness that I can see.

So I'm stuck trying to figure out if I should discipline her or love on her more. Ah! Sometimes.....