Where's Savannah?

You guessed it! She's in the TENT! Savannah loves tents. Papa builds them for her at his house. Daddy builds them for her at our house. She even invites Camden to join along in the fun! :)


And sometimes even mommy ends up inside the tent. (Sorry, no picture of that one...I mean, really, who would take the picture?????)

Grandma Nancy bought her a lantern that she loves taking inside her tents, that way she won't be scared of the dark. :)

Shall We Dance?

Savannah loves to be-bop. She loves to jump. She loves innocently swaying her little hips to the beat of music. It's pretty cute! She recently had fun dressing up in a little leotard courtesy of Grandma Nancy and enjoyed working on her ballet moves around the house. Move over Angelina Ballerina...you've got competition...Savannah is in town! :)

Halloween fun!

Savannah is in to butterfly things these days. We found a butterfly costume for Halloween this year, and she loved it! Little brother was a cow, and how precious he was! Fun times!

LONG Time No Post

Hello? Hello? Anyone still out there checking my blog? :) I know, I know, it's been awhile. But you have to realize how many times I have attempted to get updates put on here and my efforts are interrupted by a crying baby or a potty training toddler. :) It's what I call the 'story of my blog-life.' So I have decided to catch you all up quickly by posting a few pictures of what has been going on.

Here are my little Husker fans, loving on eachother!!!!

Savannah and cousin Lainy playing at the park in Kearney



Steph and I with the kids at the Farmer's Market. Yep, those are our vans behind us!!!! :)


Cousin Nolan was over for the day and it was time to eat! Sorry about the pink bib Tanner :) but you can see how much the kiddos love eachother! Isn't it precious how they are holding hands!?

Luke, Carter, and Savannah anxiously awaiting the parade for UNL homecoming. Camden, however, was not so excited. I think the music scared him, poor thing.


More Cousin love! My sister Natalie has twin boys exactly one year older than Savannah. Here we are in Omaha celebrating the birthdays. The babes are just 6 weeks apart - Kyra was born June 2, Camden July 16. The trampoline was the boys' birthday gift from Grandpa and Grandma, but I think Savannah and Hannah enjoyed it more than they did!


Starting early!!! She must be learning from her Aunt ReNae! :)
Style Queen! Savannah enjoyed trying on glasses while mommy picked out new ones. She was quite entertaining... We sure hope she gets her daddy's eyes and not mommy's or she'll be wearing those for real in a couple years!


Isn't he cute?


Caught!!!!! Aren't those expressions classic? Carter and Savannah quietly removed all the pop cans from our mini-fridge in the basement and put them on their table while Steph and I were upstairs making Halloween cookies for the kids. Ya, this was a moment that had to be captured on camera but then instantly turned to discipline! :)

Ok, well, that sums up the last month or so. Until later...hopefully sooner than later! :)

Happy 2nd Birthday Savannah!!!!

It's hard to believe, but it was 2 years ago that I rejoiced in the birth of my precious daughter. Here are some pics of her special day!

Here's Savannah with her Mickey for her birthday breakfast!


Birthday supper at Applebee's - they sang to her and brought her a yummy dessert which she of course shared with her wonderful parents! :)


Blowing out 2 candles!!


Ummmm, cupcakes and sprinklers! :)


Friends and cousins!


Grandma and Camden snuggling!


Princess Savannah! She wears more accessories and high heels than mommy! :)

For those of you who haven't seen it, Carter made Savannah a birthday pumpkin and sang to her...it's the most precious thing ever, so check out the video on Steph's blog www.stephandherboys.blogspot.com on her Oct 6th Happy Birthday Savannah post. Unless of course we have worn it out by watching it over and over! :)

A mommy moment

I'm still cracking up...

Last week, Tyler was in Phoenix for work. He was coming home late Friday night, and by Friday afternoon, I was so excited to see him that I decided to take the kids out for some errands to pass the time. Now I must explain something: Savannah is potty training and doing really well at it! She doesn't often tell me when she needs to go, but when I put her on the potty, she usually goes!

Sooooo, we ventured to Party America since Savannah's birthday is coming up. I put the kids in the double stroller and was given assistance by fellow shoppers opening the doors for me on the way in. :)

Maneuvering through the store and the dozens of Halloween decorations scattered throughout was interesting. However, we made it to the back of the store to look at plastic silverware and cups. Within about two minutes of being in the store, the following happened.

Savannah: I have to go bafroom.

Mommy...thinking to herself: Where IS the bathroom in this place? Hmm, ok, well she's wearing a diaper, do I just tell her to go potty in it? Wait, is that responsible of me as I am training her to go potty and to actually TELL me when she has to go?

Savannah: I have to go bafroom.

Mommy...still thinking to herself...Oh, there's a sign that reads "Restrooms through this door" (or something like that)

Savannah: I have to go bafroom.

Ok, so now I've decided to be responsible and take my daughter (and son mind you, in the double stroller!) through the narrow door, around the corner and into the women's bathroom. Struggling to get all the way in the door without it hitting the stroller, I ran over a few rolls of toilet paper that were stocked on the floor and maneuvered (isn't that a great word?) around the sinks to the stall.

I finally get Savannah out of the stroller and into the stall, take down her shorts, remove the diaper, and begin to lift her onto the toilet when she innocently, in the sweet high-pitched girly voice of hers says: I ALL DONE!

Mommy...now not just thinking but saying: WHAT??? :) You've got to be kidding me! You don't have to go potty?

At that exact moment, Tyler calls me from the airport and I tell him the story, through bursts of laughter. It was a great moment, seriously. The best part of the whole thing is that I didn't even lose my patience! I recently asked some good friends to pray for patience for me in handling situations with Savannah, and I am convinced they did so! Praise God for answered prayer and for memorable moments like these!

Another fun tradition

We have a tradition on Saturday mornings at the Engel house - mommy makes Mickeys! What are Mickeys you ask? Well, I got a waffle maker in the shape of a Mickey Mouse face as a child when my family went to Disney World. It became my own when I went to college, and I'm now happy to have a tradition of making breakfast with it. Each Saturday when Savannah gets out of bed, we ask her what she wants for breakfast, and she'll say "Mickeys!" in a high-pitched, excited voice. Mommy is thrilled to honor her request!!!

A few weeks ago, Tyler took a Friday off from work, and we went as a family to LeMars Donuts. Yumm!! At this point, it might be wise to buy stock in LeMars! We have gone back on several different occasions, and Savannah always gets to choose her donut. She loves to pick donuts with sprinkles, or as she would say it "sprinklers." :) I love making traditions. Of course, Saturday mornings are reserved for Mickeys, but any other day of the week, or if there's a Saturday morning that mommy wants a break from making breakfast, I'm up for a trip to LeMars.