It's been a minute!

I will again start this blog by apologizing for going so long without posting. The summer kept us busy, with lots of travelling and lots of visitors, so I haven't always felt like we had the time to update the blog. That being said, there are some big changes coming for the Valentine family in the very near future, so we'll try to do a better job!

Let's recap the summer...
(1) My dad came to visit the first week in June for a few days. Savannah loved spending some quality time with her Grampa - they went to the park, the petting zoo, and (of course!) McDonald's. Saturday morning even found dad and I gardening. I have the world's blackest thumb, but I now have a yard I need to maintain. We gardened all day Saturday and Sunday, pulling out old bushes, planting flowers, and filling the vegetable gardens. It's now been nearly four months and most of the things we planted are still alive. Amazing, I know!
(2) The week after my dad was in town, my mom came for a 10-day visit. Her trip was cut short due to a death in the family, but it was good to have Gramma around for a few days. I was out of town one of the nights mom was here, so I know Todd was happy to have an extra set of hands.
(3) Our little princess turned THREE on June 20th... three already!! We decided to forego the big birthday party because we'd had so many houseguests, but Savannah did have three of her friends over for dinner and fun after school on her birthday. I have a picture somewhere... I'll have to find it.
(4) The week after my mom was in town, I spent four days in Toronto.
(5) The week of July 4th, Todd's mom arrived for a two-week visit. Todd was off the week of the 4th... I was not nearly so lucky. Savannah definitely got some quality time with Grandmere and daddy while mommy was busy working.

After six weeks of constant houseguests or travelling, life was finally back to normal! August was a fairly quiet month for us. Though I spent four nights at a local hotel because of a conference I was hosting, I managed to escape the month without any work-related travel. As a birthday present to myself, we traded in the mommy van for a fiesty little red Mazda 3... it's so much fun! I also threw a joint birthday party for myself and Todd, as I was out of town for Todd's actual birthday. He's 30... old man! Labor Day weekend marked a visit from Aleesha's cousin, Kristen, and a much-needed Girls Weekend in Chicago. Kristen, Christie, and I headed to Chicago for a fun-filled weekend. And travel season has once again started. Poor Savannah was passed around between a few people last week as I was in Korea and Todd was in North Carolina. Korea was amazing... busy and tiring, but such an interesting culture. I left on Sept 9th and returned on the 14th... just to leave again on the 16th for a conference in Texas. As I type this post, I'm sitting in a hotel room in Plano, TX, anxiously awaiting my 9:00am flight tomorrow morning... just to sit in the airport for three hours, meet up with Todd and some friends, and fly down to Georgia for the weekend for a wedding. When I return home on Sunday, I'm fairly confident I will have never been so excited to be in my own house and my own bed.

Like I said, big changes are on the way for the Valentine family... Stay tuned!

This is how I know...

This is how I know that my little girl is growing up...

(1) Savannah had a picnic and played in the water table with Mason today for hours on end. They talked and talked and talked. Todd's brother was in town and was absolutely amazed at the conversations they held. They can really and truly talk to each other... really, legitimate, sense-making conversations!

A few of my favorite lines:

Savannah: Mason, if you don't stop crying you can go home.

Mason: I need more juice.
Me: Eat your sandwich.
Mason (1 bite
later): I ate my sandwich
Me: Eat the whole thing
Mason: Oh, I'm sorry.

Savannah: No, that's my cup. Mommy, Mason's not sharing!
Mason: Here Savannah, I'll share with you.

(2) After Round 2 in the water table, this time by herself, it was time for a bath. So I took Savannah upstairs to clean herself off. For starters, she noticed that her fingers and toes were wrinkly... it was cute. Then she asked for her bathtub crayons. She told me she was going to draw a circle. I'll be the first to admit that I didn't believe her... but she did it, a big yellow circle! Then she told me she was going to draw the letter T. Yeah right! Lo and behold, there were T's galore! Finally, she asked me what letter "kangaroo" starts with. I told her to think about it... kkkk-angaroo.... kkkk-angaroo. K! She figured it out. I was amazed. And, of course, I took pictures of her magical Ts!

(3) When I told Savannah that I was proud of her for drawing the letter T, she looked me straight in the eye and said "Mommy, I'm growing up." Yes, I got teary. How could you not?! My almost-3-year-old just recognized that she's growing up and told ME, her mommy. My heart broke a little!

Eureka!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have potty training! It's been a long time coming... a very long time... but something has finally clicked. Savannah's been in "big girl underwear" for almost two weeks with no accidents. Yea! :) She still wears a diaper to bed because we're not brave enough to fight that battle yet (along with the battle of ridding her of pacifiers), but she refuses to wear anything but underwear during the day. Needless to say, our lives just got a little less messy and a lot less expensive!

Of course, before we actually reached the stage of being accident-free, we had to experience this adventure:

Oh Baby!

Not mine... someone else's! Today was spent preparing for and hosting a baby shower for Chardae, one of Savannah's teachers at school. The shower was from 3:00-6:00, so I was go-go-go from 8:30 until about half an hour ago. I'm pooped! Thank goodness the weather cooperated and we were able to have the shower outside! I think Savannah thought this party was as much for her as it was for Chardae... she certainly garnered enough attention! Savannah was especially excited because one of her favorite friends, Avery, came over with her mom.

It was an all-around good time with some ladies I see on a daily basis but don't ever really spend time outside of the world of day care with. On one hand, it was strange to be the one hosting the shower... I was truly an outsider. On the other hand. Savannah's been at the day care for so long that she knows everyone and everyone knows her... our family feels like a part of their "family". Again, I'm grateful for beautiful weather, a friend that could entertain Savannah, and some yummy food. :)

Oh, and since we were all dressed up for the shower, there was an opportunity for some partial family photos after it was all said and done...

Bob Vila he's not...

Todd tends to be fairly handy around the house. We built a deck, finished the basement, put in hardwood floors, and laid slate tiles in the condo... all without breaking anything. Not so lucky in the new house! This is what my vanity area looks like now that Todd's foot has punctured the ceiling...

It literally took three hours to dry a load of laundry earlier this week, so Todd decided he'd go hunting for the cause today. We figured it was just some lent stuck in the trail somewhere. Nope... Birds! (Which explains why I thought I heard rats running around in the ceiling a few weeks ago...) I'm not sure when they started building a nest in our dryer vent, but there was nearly 10 feet of straw in the vent... and a nest... and some eggs! Todd managed to get the eggs out of the vent and safely on the ground, but he's pretty sure they're hard-boiled by this point! The damage inside the house occured as Todd was in the attic, pushing the junk out of the vent. Oops!

Ouch!

This is what it looks like when you run into a brick pillar...


Yep, that's right, we will now refer to Savannah as "Grace"! We were leaving day care tonight, walking outside with some friends when Savannah stopped to look at something on the ground. She played around for a minute and then started walking again... bam, right into a brick pillar! Of course, she started screaming upon impact. The knot and bruise appeared nearly immediately! We went back inside, got some ice, and sat around as everyone and their brother asked "oh, what happened?"... I think she was more upset about not getting to go to McDonald's to play for dinner than she was about the actual pain of her injury!

In other news, much more pleasant news... I think we're well on our way to being fully potty-trained. Savannah made it through all day yesterday and all day today without any accidents... thus the prized trip to McDonalds!

And puppy makes four...

I told you I wouldn't be very good at keeping this thing updated! Todd and I have both been travelling a lot. Todd had a few trips to Chicago in March and April. My travels have taken me to California, North Carolina, and Virginia. I'll be back in North Carolina next week, Georgia the following week, Texas two weeks later, and Toronto a month after that. I'm taking a whirlwind tour of the US!

Breaking News: We did it. We took the plunge. We have a puppy. Meet Kadee... the newest addition to the Valentine family. She's a 12-week old lab-mix and she's absolutely adorable. She's so sweet and playful and cute. Savannah calls her "Kadee Polka Dot" and tells everyone she's black with a white polka dot on her nose! She's a rescue puppy from a kill shelter down in Ohio. Can you believe that this little doll was scheduled to be gassed three days after she was rescued?! A puppy is a LOT of work... I don't think I ever realized that. We had puppies growing up, but I think it's a different story when mommy and daddy take care of them! She's not house-broken or crate-trained... she's hates being alone... she doesn't like to sleep at night. It's almost like having a baby all over again. As I write this, Kadee is entertaining herself by chasing her tail... :)

Savannah is excited to have a puppy - she loves animals. But, she's not too sure about Kadee's playfulness. One of Kadee's favorite pasttimes involves chewing on Savannah's pigtails! She has also taken rather well to Savannah's stuffed Mr. Potato Head... I believe it's now officially Kadee's toy. Savannah tells everyone about Kadee, so I'm sure they're grow to be the best of friends. In the meantime, we'll keep things off the floor, buy stock in Spot Shot, and continue taking pictures!!