A Tattoo at 3?!

I have a tattoo. It's no secret. Kristen and I got them when I was home for a visit / conference last November. As though we weren't forever connected by simply being cousins, we now have a special new bond as we endured great pain together. Since I got my tattoo, Savannah has been fascinated by them... stickers as tattoos, temporary tattoos, whatever. Savannah and I went to a new Borders bookstore this morning. It just opened in the past week or two, so they're still having their Grand Opening celebration. After spending a little over an hour reading books, we noticed that they were giving away free airbrushed tattoos... and Savannah wouldn't let me get out of the store without her getting one. She sat there perfectly still, but incredibly excited about finally getting a tattoo. It was cute.

If you look closely, you'll realize that this isn't all airbrush... only Nemo was airbrushed, and it was a very basic Nemo at that. However, along with the airbrush lady was a man doing body paint. Savannah was so darn irresistable that he decided to embellish Nemo... enter added color, seaweed, facial expression. And Savannah still wasn't satisfied! She wanted a ladybug on her cheek. I am amazed at how still she sat while the man painted her leg and then her face... and she's so proud of her "tattoos"! Borders was followed by a visit to David's Bridal to pick up her flowergirl dress for Kristen's wedding. She was the star of the show in that place, never mind all of the beautiful brides! After David's, we hit up Target... again, all the little old ladies came to ogle her. And she loved it all!

Hockey...

Savannah has decided that she wants to play hockey. No questions asked. We can't sway her. We tried soccer. We tried tennis. We tried any other sport we could think of. No. She wants to play hockey. Good thing we're moving to Canada....



Since Georgia is severely lacking in ice skating opportunities, meaning I've set foot on a skating rink about three times in my entire life, I decided to start Savannah off on a little more solid ground. We went to Target last night and bought Savannah a pair of the old-school roller skates that strap to your shoes. When choosing between Disney princesses and Dora, she picked Dora hands-down. Savannah is now the proud owner of Dora skates, Dora kneepads, and Dora elbowpads... and she's adorable. We spent nearly an hour skating in the basement last night. Wait, maybe "skating" isn't the right word to use. There was a lot of falling down. There was a lot of picking up her feet and walking. There was a lot of being dragged around by me. There was a lot of foot-shuffling. I don't think she actually managed to skate. But she tried. She focused hard. And she had a blast.



Watch out, here's our future Kanuck!!

Pictures!

I almost forgot... I created this website for pictures. I haven't uploaded anything in a bit because I haven't been around to take pictures, but this is where they'll all be. Check it out!

http://aleeshavalentine.shutterfly.com

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...