Crayons

I have so many many projects in my head for Saffryn and I to do. I decided to start small though and introduce crayons to her. I did this a week or so ago. I got a big tin of crayons from a garage sale for next to nothing (not that they are that expensive to begin with...but whatever). I was so excited to see her play with the crayons and had this grand idea in my head that I would get to see her color. I couldn't wait to talk about what colors she was using and help her practice her fine motor skills.....WELL Saffryn had other ideas for our crayon project :) She decided she would work on other important skills instead...filling and dumping!

Now don't be fooled, I am not being sarcastic. This really is an important skill. By filling the tin she is working on her eye hand coordination. She is working on her fine motor control by picking up the crayons. She is working on her spatial reasoning (which will someday lead into math) by filling the tin and experimenting with quantities. She is also working on a great self help skill which is cleaning up after one's self, too!!! This will slowly translate into helping clean up all of her toys...(wooooohooooo)! :)

All this to say even though we have not had any "work of arts" with the crayons yet, I am confident that she is learning and growing. I am very glad that she is learning so many important skills...and who knows maybe with markers (which we will try soon) she will be more interested in the art process :) Enjoy our pictures of our new activity!

 Saffryn surrounded by the crayons she dumped on the floor...so colorful!

 Seeing what crayons she picked up and will put in her tin

 Using her eye hand coordnation and fine motor skills to pick up the crayons :)

 Dumping all the crayons on the floor again

She put the tin on the table and then decided to fill it with crayons!

Stay tuned for our next project...MARKERS! :)

24 weeks

Well I think its about time I update about the little Mr. who is growing and growing :)

I am 24 weeks this week. I have been feeling and seeing him move around!!! Dan has gotten to feel him and see him, too. It is so fun. I think besides the massive weight gain and body hurting the third trimester is my favorite. I love feeling the baby move so much and getting things ready for them. It finally feels real :) I am only 3 weeks away from my third trimester and am SO ready for it. Lots of people have told me that their 2nd (and 3rd) pregnancies go by so fast....ugh not MINE! I honestly feel like this has felt much longer than the first one...yes I have a major problem with patience :)

I had a Dr. apt last week and found out a few things. Thing 1: I have gained 10 lbs in 5 weeks...YIKES! I feel so huge already and I still have 16 weeks left. UH OH. The nurse was so sweet and acted like it wasn't a big deal...she even complimented me (do you see why I love this place)! Thing 2: On our sonogram we had in December they say his right foot and leg was (or looked to be) inverted, which could mean a clubfoot. We are going to have another sono in a few weeks to see how it is doing. The Dr. said sometimes it can work itself out. If it doesn't we wait until after delivery to see what we want to do. My dad is an orthopedic technician (works with an orthopedic surgeon and sees club foot patients often) and he said that 95% of club foot patients can be fixed with casting and does not need surgery. So we will learn more in a few weeks. A little side not: Dan actually was born with the same thing on both feet...hmmm maybe genetic????

Of course we don't want our sweet little boy to have to go through anything, but I am thankful that it is something that is fairly common and somewhat easily treatable.

Here are some pictures of me at 24 weeks! Enjoy :)

I know the last one is a bit blurry...sorry!

Snow baby

Saffryn's 10 steps for enjoying a snow day!

1: Make sure you bundle up!

2: Don't forget your gloves!

3: Investigate as long as necessary!

4: Pick up the snow to continue your investigation


5: Eat the snow!!!

6: Watch Crash (or other pets) play in the snow

7: Throw snow!!!

8: Walk in the snow!

9: Don't fret if you fall in the snow!

10: Lastly, if walking around doesn't get you where you need to go...crawl!!!!!


Happy Winter!!!

Sensory Time

I have been so excited to use Saffryn's new table and chair set....so once we got some plastic to cover the floor underneath it (a shower curtain...thanks for the idea mom) we got started!!!!

After some stipulation we decided to have a whipped cream sensory time. I know there are some debates about whether food should be used as a sensory/art item. I completely get that side of the argument: The child will think its always ok to eat the sensory/art item. It confuses the child regarding food and play. But after thinking and talking about it I came to the conclusion: Saffryn is so young everything goes in her mouth regardless of the item. Also I introduced it as a food and made it very clear that it was ok to eat it. There are lots of things we introduce that is a no mouth item so she has practice with that and will with other sensory/art items. And lastly...its fun and delicious so why not?!?! :)

So after letting the cool whip thaw out a little and getting her naked we set it out! I gave her a little taste and the spoon...here are the results!!!!

YUM!!! This stuff is so good :)

I love the look on her face...hahah!

Using the spoon to get whipped cream, good for fine motor development!

How can you tell if it's a good project...if it's everywhere...LOL.

Using hands and spoon to explore the texture!

It's safe to say she needed a bath...and got one promptly! Thanks for helping Daddy!!!!

I will leave you with just one picture to show how advanced Saffryn is....

OHHH alright...she might have had a LITTLE help from me....hehe!!!!

What a fun project!

Coming together

So yesterday Dan and I did some serious baby name talking. We sat down and wrote out any name we liked or was considering. That came to about 15 names between the two of us. We then decided to score the names using different categories. We got this idea from a baby name book. We used 10 categories. They include: goes with last name, namesake, nicknames, initials, spelling, pronounciation...and a few more. You score each name in each category, using the scale 0-3. Zero if you think it scores low in that category, 3 if you think its great. After you are done you add up the total scores, with 60 being the highest any name could get. (Side note...I know this sounds like a lot of work and it was. Maybe it even sounds a little crazy. LOL. Oh well). So we did that and had 4 names score 50 or higher. We evaluated those 4 names and.....PICKED ONE!


I am SO SO SO excited! I think the name is perfect! It was just what I was looking for. A strong masculine name that isn't too common! YAY :) Now I just need to keep it to myself for a few months...LOL...we'll see how that goes!

Anyway we have slowly been trying to get ready for this baby. I know we still have time, but it feels good to get started! Here are a few things we have done this week:

We have moved the rocking chair out of Saffryn's room. She really doesn't use it that much anymore, so we decided to start changing her room to a toddler room! I can't wait to do so many crafts, projects, puzzles, reading and other fun things on this table! She loves this table and chair set!
Another view of Saffryn's room. I know the wood doesn't match, but honestly Saffryn does not care, so I guess I don't either :)

This book shelf used to be full of blankets and baby toys...now look at it! It is full of big girl toys and lots and lots of books! She is growing up!

We moved the rocking chair into Jr's room. Here is a view of his room. We moved out the two twin beds that were in there. We still need to buy a crib, bedding and decorations...but hey its a start right?!?! LOL
Another view of Jr's room.
Here are a few of the goodies we have gotten him so far. The elephant was a gift from Papa and Gigi!!! The two dog statues are from Me and Dan. We got them after we found out we were having a boy. The train was mine when I was a baby! Can't wait to fill this room up with more :)


YAY! Its a boy :)

21 1/2 weeks along! I am showing much faster this time around! Dan and I also notice I am carrying differently with this one...what do you think...if you can tell in pictures???

21 1/2 weeks!

Well as you can see things are slowly coming together!!!! :)

Christmas Vacation

We just got back from our Christmas vacation yesterday evening! We went to South Carolina to visit Dan's family!!! We spent Thanksgiving with my family this year, so Christmas was with Dan's! It was so fun! This was the first time in a while that all of his sibiling and their significant others were able to come. We also got to spend time with his Aunt, Uncle, Cousins and Grandparents! Doesn't get much more fun that that :)

Here are a few of the highlights!!!!

Saffryn got a red wagon this Christmas!!! She loved riding in it, pushing it and putting her stuffed animals and other goodies in it! The best part....there's a seat for Jr. Jr. too :)

A little glimpse of our Christmas Brunch..YUMMY!

Saffryn helping open presents! She actually got the hang of it by the end!

Getting our stocking stuffers out!!!



We went to the beach on Christmas morning! It was super sunny and around 50! Saffryn LOVED it! She really wanted to play in the water..hehe. Maybe next time!

Walking on the beach with her Papa!



Pointing to the water! "Mom, I want to go there"

Saffryn on our trip to the petting zoo! She has a serious a love for animals!

As you can see from the pictures we had so much fun!!! Christmas day was full of love, laughter, the beach, and lots and lots of food!!! We spent a lot of time just relaxing and having fun with everyone!

Saffryn did great the whole trip! Sleep was a little irregular at first, but she ended up getting the hang of sleeping there (THANK GOODNESS)! She was such a wonderful sport on the plane rides to and from Savannah. She was attached to the hip with Papa and Gigi and loved loved loved spending so much time with them!

It was such a fun trip for Dan and I. All the siblings and Papa and Gigi were SO helpful with Saffryn! They were also so thoughtful and got gifts for Crash and Jr. Jr.!!!! The only downside to the trip was Dan had to go back to work for several days, then come back for New Years Eve. We all missed him, but especially Me and Saffryn! :)

I hope everyone had as great of a Christmas break as we did! Happy 2011!!!!!!!!!