Silly Savannah

 

 

Priceless

Time for (Toddler) Bed

On Sunday, Tal converted Savannah's crib to a toddler bed. He also installed a safety gate at the top of the stairs, so Savannah won't take a tumble in the middle of the night.

Thankfully, the last two nights, Savannah has slept through the night in her new bed (although Tal has found Savannah's head and shoulders hanging over the edge both nights when he's checked on her). :-)  

Take a look at Savannah climbing into, reading, and sleeping in her new bed:

Show and Tell

Savannah will be 2 years old in a couple weeks, and she now has 14 teeth! A few days ago, Savannah's four eye teeth finally poked through. Ever since, Savannah has been showing and telling about her new teeth--just check out Savannah's silly face below!

Hello 2011!

For 2011, I'm keeping my goals simple. The last few months have been pretty stressful as we put our house on the market and moved into a new house.

I know the next 6 months will be challenging as well as I finish my National Boards portfolio, take the assessment, and coordinate tutoring at my school.

However, my most important goals are to remain faithful in my school responsibilities, as well as to maximize my time with Tal and Savannah. My other goals (like repainting the kitchen, learning how to coupon, and replacing the bathroom knobs) will be on the back burner until after I finish my National Boards. :-)

Fanfare

Tal and I pooled our Christmas money and bought six ceiling fans (all the same style to unify our house). Tal and Craig spent five hours installing five of them last week.

Goodbye, exposed wires. Hello, light. Tal and Craig started by adding ceiling fans in our master bedroom and bonus room--which didn't have any overhead lighting. 

The installation was trickier in the three bedrooms upstairs--where the ceilings weren't strong enough to withstand the weight of the ceiling fans. However, Tal and Craig solved the problem by adding support devices in the attic above each bedroom.

Let there be light!

New and Improved

Who knew that painting our formal dining room would be such an ordeal?!  :-)

Before

Tal and I ran out of paint half-way around the room. No problem. However, AFTER we finished painting the room, Tal and I discovered that Home Depot had color-matched the second gallon incorrectly.   

As seen below, some of the room is cream--not the blue gray we'd hoped for!

During

Home Depot gave us a free gallon of paint, and we repainted the dining room a few days later.



I'm in love with the sophisticated blue-gray color, which makes our moldings and hardwoods shine. In the coming years, Tal and I would love to buy a table and chairs for the room!

After

Bath-tastic

Before Christmas, Tal and I primed and painted the wallpaper in our half-bath:

Before

We love the soothing blue-gray, which is the same hue as our formal dining room. Next, we need to install a mirror above the sink!



After

True Colors

Before painting our formal living room, Tal removed the tacky wooden shelves below. Then, he patched and sanded dozens of holes--which took as long as painting the whole room!   

Before

I L-O-V-E the new blue-green color! (It's the same color as the laundry room.) I love how the new color highlights our moldings and hardwoods.

In the coming months, we need to decide how we're going to use the room (bedroom? playroom?) and then go furniture shopping!

After

Out with the Old, In with the New

Small changes can make a big impact. Thanks to Tal's mom who gifted us with 20 silver knobs for Christmas. Tal replaced the 19 gold knobs in our loft office area upstairs with these brushed silver ones. Instant update!

23 Months Old!

I'll be 23 months old next week!

Mommy and Daddy think my talents and interests are leaning towards the arts.

I love dancing, music, and drawing.

Mommy and Daddy are working with me to accomplish three goals this year:

1. Say goodbye to Mr. Paci.

2. Graduate from my crib to a big-girl bed.

3. Get potty-trained.

I have a bedtime routine.

I take a bath, brush my teeth, sit on potty, read stories,

and rock with Mommy and Daddy.

I'm becoming more self-aware.

I inform Mommy and Daddy when I burp, toot, pee, or poo.

As seen below, I like to smile for the camera and say, "Cheese!"

Master Plan

Before Christmas, Tal and I painted our master bedroom and bathroom. Much to our disappointment, both rooms are off white--not the light tan we anticipated from the paint chip. :-) 

Tal and I couldn't justify running to Home Depot and paying $60 for two gallons of a new color. On the bright side, however, Tal and I agree that both rooms look lighter and fresher with a new coat of paint. Perhaps we'll repaint them next summer or Christmas?

Master Bedroom

Before

After

In the master bathroom, Tal and I primed and painted the wallpaper. It's a big improvement!

Before

After

Painting Party

Yippee! On Monday, Tal and I finished painting every wall in our 3,200 square foot house (minus the closets).

It took us 8 days to paint 11 rooms plus the entryway, stairway, and hallways.

Although Tal and I worked really hard, we couldn't have painted our house so quickly without Tal's mom. We owe a big thanks to Grandma Barbara who kept Savannah for two weeks, so Tal and I could paint after work and on the weekends.

For paint colors, Tal and I chose soft shades of blue, green, cream, and tan. To unify the color palette, we repeated the colors throughout the house. We wanted to avoid having our house look like a rainbow--with a different color in every room. The next step is to bring in some color, pattern, and texture through curtains and accessories.

Our new house is starting to feel like home since we've painted over the wallpaper and murals, patched up the countless nail holes, and given everything a fresh coat of paint.

More photos coming soon!

Goodbye 2010!

Looking back on 2010, I discovered that I made a lot (too many?) of resolutions at the beginning of the year.

Keep reading to find out how I did:

1. Give Savannah lots of kisses and squeezes. This is an easy one. One of the best aspects of being a mom is being able to hug and kiss Savannah as much as I want. I love Savannah's sweet cheeks!

2. Read for pleasure every day. After Savannah goes to bed, I sit with Tal on the couch and read for 30-60 minutes most days. It's one of my favorite ways to relax!

3. Minimize the clutter in our house. Having our house on the market helped me get rid of clutter. For three months, I had to make sure every piece of clutter was put away before I left for school each day. Thankfully, our new house has plenty of closets and cabinets, so it's been easier to keep everything hidden and organized. Admittedly, however, it's daily challenge to pick up Savannah's toys and sort through mail.

4. Spend more time with friends. I always look forward to a lunch date with a friend every few weeks. However, I'd love to get together more often!

5. Update our living room. Before we moved, Tal and I added hardwood floors, bought new furniture, added curtains and accessories, and painted the walls. When Tal and I started updating our living room in January 2010, we had no idea we would be moving by the end of the year! However, we realized that if we stayed in our house and continued to make updates, it would take us years to recoup our investments. That's when Tal and I decided to invest our time and money into a new house!

6. Take pictures of Savannah's milestones.  Every month in 2010, I've taken pictures and blogged about what Savannah's been doing, saying, etc. In 2011, my goal should be to take more video of Savannah. I've haven't taken any footage in 6 months.

7. Visit my family in Illinois. For the first time in two years, the three of us visited my family in Illinois. We were thrilled to help celebrate my grandma's 95th birthday.

8. Take 20-30 minutes each morning before I leave for school to complete 1 or 2 small chores. At our other house, Tal and Savannah left at 6:15 each morning. I spent 30 each morning doing chores--like laundry, picking up Savannah's toys, and staging the house. Since we've moved, however, there's no time for housework in the mornings. After Tal leaves for work at 6 A.M., I get ready for school, wake up Savannah, get her dressed. Hopefully, we're out the door before 6:45 A.M.!

9. Take time to snuggle with Tal on the couch each night. Tal and I make this a daily priority. After Savannah goes to bed at 8 P.M., Tal and I cuddle on the couch and watch TV most nights.

10. Save money for our summer vacation. Aside from our trip to Illinois, our family didn't take any vacations in 2010. We bought a house instead! :-)

11. Give away or throw away things we haven't used in awhile. Before we put our house on the market, Tal and I purged all of our closets and cupboards. Ditto for the attic. We made several trips to the dump and Goodwill.

12. Maximize my time with Tal and Savannah. As a working mom, I try not to have mommy guilt. For that reason, I make an effort to give Savannah my time and attention. It can be challenging, though, when I need to make dinner, and Savannah wants me to play with her.

13. Organize our attic. See #11.

14. Blog each week to keep family and friends informed. In 2010, I blogged 99 times. Blogging is the easiest way to keep our family and friends informed. Plus, it's a weekly photo journal that I can turn into a book each year.

15. Dust our house more often. Dusting is always at the bottom of my cleaning list, so don't look too closely at the baseboards or under the beds. :-)

16. Have a professional photographer take photos of our family. Check! In August, a photographer took our family photos at a local arboretum. Perhaps you saw our Christmas card?