it's official...

It's official...we are finally in our new house, but more importantly, Heidi is now officially a big girl sleeping in her big girl bed!  I thought the transition would be more difficult, especially since we had a big move on top of the change, but last night was the first night and there was nothing but excitement.  Heidi helped us get the bed all set up and kept saying, "Heidi is so excited 'bout    her white bed!"  I was worried she wouldn't sleep as well, but thankfully she slept fine.  Now if we could just get Savanna to sleep...

prayers

This past weekend a certain little girl kept asking me non-stop for a treat starting at 7 in the morning.  I kept telling her, "no."  Then I happened to catch her kneeling by the stool to the rocking chair where we say family prayers every night.  She was folding her arms and I stood outside her door listening to what she was saying.  I couldn't stop laughing when I heard her say, "and please bless can I please have a cookie?"  I love listening to all the funny things she says...especially when she doesn't know I am listening.

one month

 I can't believe we have had Savanna for a month already.  It seems like yesterday I was going in for my check up that turned out to be her birthday.  We are so happy to have her in our family!  She is still just calm and content.  She is pretty predictable as far as newborns go and that helps.  She is hit or miss on the nights. We had one night where she went almost 4 hours and it was heavenly.  Then the next night she was up almost every hour.  We can't wait to get in our house and have more space to help at least make the nights a little more comfortable!

Savanna loves, loves, loves her bath.  She is so patient with her sister during bath time.  Heidi has the tendency to dump water all over head the whole time and she doesn't make a peep.  We can't wait to get more smiles out of her because she has the cutest smile in the world.  Her hair seems to be thinning more than Heidi's ever did and she has a bit of an old man hairdo and we are anxious to see if she will keep her dark hair or go lighter like Heidi did.  We love you, Savanna and we can't wait to see what the next month brings!

you havin' a good day?

When Heidi sees Savanna on the floor, she usually wants to join her because
"Heidi needs a little rest"...she has a pretty stressful life.

 Heidi says the funniest things and they are so much more entertaining if you hear her say them in person.  Lately I have been getting such a kick out of what she says to Savanna.  The other day Savanna was in her bouncy seat and I was washing dishes.  I told Heidi to talk to Savanna for me.  She obediently went over, got right in her face, and said, "You havin' a good day Vanna?  Yes you are."  Then she came back to "help" me wash dishes.  At least she tried.

 Heidi has really surprised us with how well she has adjusted to having a new sibling.  When she got in the laundry basket for a ride she wanted to make sure Savanna was included.  "Vanna likes this!  Vanna wigglin' around!  Vanna loves Heidi!"

 If we don't understand what Heidi says, she repeats herself and says, "OH!"

Heidi: Member the green soap, mom?  Member that?
Me: The green soap for the dishes?
Heidi:  OH!!  The green soap at the car wash!

She also likes to come up with something and then say, "good idea".  "Heidi's coloring on the diaper box.  Good idea."  Everything is usually good news too.  "Good news!  Heidi's blanket came today.  Heidi's so happy."

 I hope Savanna loves to read as much as Heidi does, but I think Heidi wants her to like books even more than I do.  She reads to her all the time...especially when she gets a new stack from the library.  I love to listen to Heidi read.  She generally reads the story almost word for word, but every page always starts with, "One time..."  Then when she finishes she says, "That was a cute book.  Heidi read that so cute."  Cute is definitely her favorite word.

I can't believe Savanna is already almost four weeks old.  She is just as sweet as they come.  I can't wait until she sleeps longer stretches at night, but what a joy she is to our family.  I am so glad Heidi loves her so much.  When she is moving more Heidi will definitely be a bit more frustrated since she already says, "Vanna don't color with Heidi's crayons.  She won't."  I wonder how much she will love her sister when she actually can pick up, grab, and ruin her stuff!

adjusting

 It's been awhile since I posted and I was thinking I better post so I don't forget life with two little, darling girls.

We have been doing well, but there has definitely been some adjusting.  You know, the hormone changes after having a baby which includes loads of crying for no apparent reason...healing from the c-section (which has been sooo much more difficult this time)....feeling guilty not spending as much time with either girl as I would like to...exhaustion from lack of sleep, etc.

 Of course there have been lots of sweet moments too.  I have been lucky to have help after Savanna's arrival.  Jeff was home the first week, which was nice for Heidi and of course me.  The next week I had my mom here, which was nice because I was able to go get some newborn pictures of Savanna (without having to have Heidi come along and be bored).  Our new neighbor is a photographer and we are looking forward to having a photographer neighbor!  She did a great job and I am sure I will cherish these pictures.  Heidi had a blast with my sister too.

 I am grateful to have a hubby who loves his little girls as much as I do.  We just can't get over the size different between the two girls.

 Savanna is still just about as sweet as they could possibly come, but she still has a bit of trouble sleeping at night.  The hardest part is that the only time she wants to sleep is when she is nursing.  As soon as I lay her down, she is wide awake and wanting to eat.  It makes for long nights, but she is such a sweet, mellow little one I can't complain too much.  It wouldn't be so hard if I didn't have a two year old to chase around during the day.

Heidi is a great big sister and loves to give Savanna kisses whenever she can.  She hates it when I have to feed her little sister, but other than that, she still loves the idea of having a new little one around.  In other news, we are still focused on getting into the house...the sooner the better.  It is definitely getting to the fun stage as we see the cabinets, trim, and flooring going in, but we are still at least two weeks out.  It couldn't get here fast enough!

Savanna's Story

Savanna Marie

11/2/2012

10:42pm

5 lb 15 oz

16.5 in

So happy to see our beautiful little girl for the first time.

Savanna's due date was November 17.  For some reason the entire time Jeff and I both felt she would come early.  We knew with a c-section she would come at least a week before that, but we had this nagging feeling it would be before that.  We have had a lot of stress with the house being built and I tried desperately to tell myself our little one would make it until her scheduled arrival.

I had my doctor appointment scheduled for Friday, November 2. I made it for the last appointment of the day hoping Jeff could make it.  Jeff was on call and told me there was absolutely no way he would make the appointment.  I really didn't want to drive down by myself when we were just going to drive down a week later for the c-section.

I had been having contractions and a lot of really sharp pains (and had been having them for over a week) and my gut told me to just go to the appointment.  I kept the appointment, but I told myself I had until Thursday to cancel it, which is what I was planning on doing.  I had myself convinced I wasn't having contractions and that Heidi didn't come early so we could make it to the next week.

Finally, after not feeling the baby move much, I decided to just be safe and go to the appointment.  I packed for that night thinking that if for some reason I was going to have the baby, Jeff would have to come down and he would have time to grab what we needed.

I was worried about driving with Heidi all by myself since she isn't such a stellar traveler.  She surprised me and was an absolute angel the whole way.  We left early and went to my in-law's house.  My mother-in-law was kind enough to offer to watch Heidi while I went to my appointment.  I left while Heidi was sleeping so she wouldn't see me leave and have a meltdown.

When I got to the doctor he was concerned because I had lost weight.  The time before my measurement had been the same for two weeks so he was concerned about that too.  He checked me and said I was dilated to 3.5 cm.  He asked if I was having contractions.  Then he sent me to the hospital to monitor contractions.  I was sure I wasn't having any and that I would be sent home.  I felt bad because I never told Heidi I was even leaving and I had no idea how long I would be stuck at the hospital.

The nurse came in and said I was dilated to 4 cm.  The contractions started to hit and more frequently.

The doctor came in and said we were probably going to have to do the c-section that night if I continued to get more dilated.  I started to panic and tried to get in touch with Jeff.  He had taken the bus to work and decided to stay late because we weren't home so he was going to try to get ahead of things.  I had no way to reach him and by the time I finally did, his only option was to wait for the bus to arrive at 7pm, ride the bus 45 minutes home, and then hurry to American Fork.

By this point the contractions were getting really strong and I was dilated to 5 cm.  I tried to hold them off checking because the doctor didn't think we should wait any longer.  He said 10 pm was the latest he dared wait.  Needless to say, Jeff drove fast, didn't have time to pack anything we needed, but arrived at 10 pm.

Jeff quickly suited up, they got me all ready and before we knew it, we had a beautiful, tiny little girl.

We knew her name was supposed to be Savanna because of how Heidi reacted to the name when we told her different names.  We didn't know how we wanted to spell it.  We always thought we would spell it the traditional way (Savannah) until we looked at the family history and saw how many women were named Anna on Jeff's side.  Without the 'h' we felt it would highlight that part of her name.    Her middle name comes from my mom, Jeff's mom, and my name.

 So far, Savanna has been an absolute dream of a newborn.  I remember Heidi seemed pretty easy until about 3 weeks, so we will see, but so far, she eats really well and she is just super mellow.  She definitely has her days and nights reversed, but with time I am sure it will get better.  We weren't completely ready for a newborn, but she has made it so incredibly easy.  We love having this little piece of heaven in our home and already feel more complete with her here.  Heidi has been adjusting so incredibly well so far and cannot get enough of her sweet little sister.  We feel so blessed to have another healthy little girl and we are so happy she has luscious locks just like her sister!

just beezin around

 We had a great Halloween.  When we carved pumpkins Heidi insisted on hers being a cute kitty and her soon to be sister's a Frankenstein.  Perhaps there is some hidden meaning to that, but we had fun carving nonetheless and she has thoroughly enjoyed looking at her pumpkins each and every morning.  Do not ask me what is up with her face lately in pictures.  She thinks it's funny to either pull a cheesy smile, no smile, or try to purposely not smile.  Little stink.

 Heidi was a bumblebee this year and loved it.  She kept telling us, "Heidi look darling" and "Heidi just beezin around".  (When she hears flies she tells us she hears them 'beezin' around too...it is so cute).

 Jeff had an unscheduled power outage and almost all the festivities, but thankfully he went in at 3am to make sure he was home in time to take his little bee trick or treating.

Heidi got to wear her costume three different times this year--library party, trunk or treat at the church, and trick or treating.  I thought she would get sick of it, but she just couldn't wait to dress up each and every time.  She couldn't have been more fun.  She made out at all the houses because she was so sweet.  She would quietly knock on the door and while she was knocking she would say, "knock, knock, knock!"  It was so cute.  Then she was really good about saying, "Trick or treat" and "thank you" after each house.  She preferred if women answered the door and talked a little quieter and stood a little closer to mom and dad if it was a man.  Jeff and I had the best time watching her excitement and we were so happy that the weather turned around in time for Halloween.  It was the perfect night!

snow

I have been telling Heidi that her sister isn't coming until the snow comes.  I guess it's time for her sister to come.  I'm not sure I am ready for either...a newborn or the snow, but I guess we can't wait forever.  In reality we have about 2 weeks left and I swear I have popped out at least another 4 inches in the last two days....so uncomfortable.  I have to say though, Heidi was very excited about the snow and keeps me reminding me what the snow means.

Freddy the Firetruck

 Story time has become a huge hit around here.  We love Thursday mornings!  Our new library is adorable and we go at least three times a week...what can I say?  We read a lot.  Last week they told us Freddy the Firetruck would be coming and that is about all we talked about for an entire week.  It did not disappoint.  They read fire stories, had a fireman, and a play firetruck (can see in the background) that danced and talked...aka Freddy.  This is Heidi's happy face--or at least it's the face I get every time I tell her to smile these days.

 While Freddy was very cool, nothing could compare to Heidi's joy when she got to see and touch the two real firetrucks outside.  She kept talking about the two firetrucks and let everyone know what sound they made.

 She of course really, really loved the fire hat they gave her and it often comes with us when we are out and about.  Plus, she even got some fire tattoos and that has made the excitement of the day last even longer.

The only thing I think that would make her happier was if it had been a school bus day...she still loves her buses.  Either way, we sure love our library and are so grateful for the time they put into making fun activities for all the little cuties in town.

pumpkin carving

 The weekend finally arrived and we decided we should carve some pumpkins.  Last year we had so much fun carving Heidi's pumpkin, but this year we were all even more excited because Heidi just gets more and more fun.

 Heidi loved every part of the process but I think she mostly loved that her daddy was home.  She has started to become so attached to him.  When she saw he was home on Saturday when she woke up she just went nuts and didn't even want breakfast for fear she would miss one second of play time with her favorite pal.

 She didn't love when her hands touched the inside of the pumpkin, but as soon as she started watching Jeff trace the pattern she forgot about the gooey inside.  The above picture was taken just a few seconds early--she is leaning in to give her daddy a kiss.  No wonder she has him so wrapped around her finger.

Heidi was thrilled with her kitty pumpkin.  Our little gal sure does love animals.  She really doesn't care for dolls, but show her any animal, stuffed or real, and she goes nuts.  She loves waking up and telling her kitty good morning each day.  We are loving Halloween this year.

the end of fall

 I am not sure if fall is really over, but it kind of feels like it where we live.  The temperatures have dropped drastically, especially at night, and the wind keeps blowing in freezing cold air.  Hopefully it's just teasing and will return for at least a few more weeks.  I haven't been as good as I would like to be with posting and I decided it is time to just sit and post already.  We took Heidi to the mountains a few weeks ago to look at the leaves.  Turns out we were about a week or two late but when we found this little tire swing she forgot about the leaves.  Oh and the river of course.  That girl just can't get enough of throwing rocks in the river!

 At my last appointment we had a million places to go for the house, etc. so we decided to take Heidi to Hee Haws farm so she had at least one fun place to go.  Oh my goodness did she have a blast!  I remember going with my class for field trips, but taking her was soooo much fun!  Everything was the best thing in the world to her and she was just so cute.  We were glad grandpa and grandma came with us too and we are so grateful grandma let us borrow her camera so we could remember the fun day.

 Heidi has become such a little daredevil lately and she loved going down this huge slide with her daddy.  I don't know who was giggling more--Jeff or Heidi.  They went down it probably a thousand times or so.

 Heidi also loved the hayride out to the pumpkin patch.  She wanted to pick a pumpkin for her sister too...warmed my little heart.  She has become so excited for her sister to come.  I know she will be so sweet to the baby--she just isn't going to love having less attention herself.

 Heidi had fun on the little horse swings and liked that they swung her in all different directions. She wasn't quite sure how to sit on it at first, but with some coaxing she finally decided riding side saddle wasn't the way to go.

 Tractor ride with her dad.  Have I ever mentioned what an incredible dad this man is to our little girl?  She has him so wrapped around his finger it's not funny and there is usually a lot of laughter any time they are together.  I love the way he looks at her and plays with her and never says 'no' when she asks him to play...even if it's a game they have played three billion times.

 Ring toss...or in her little world picking up each and every ring and putting it over the milk can.  This little one just can't handle it if anything looks out of place.  Let's hope that is a trait that she keeps forever.  :)

Oh how I love this picture.  I think this was probably her favorite activity and I am surprised we made it home with apparently only one kernal of corn.  I love my happy little girl.  Life is so much more fun with kids.

And as for the doctor, it went fine.  I am 35 1/2 weeks although I feel like I am 42 weeks.  The c-section is still scheduled for Nov. 10 and although the doctor doesn't think I will make it that far, I am quite confident we will.  We can't wait to have two little ones to kiss and love!

october has arrived

I love fall and I am happy October has arrived, although I am nervous for all the new changes that will be taking place shortly.  Like the new little one that is scheduled to come November 10.  That will be here before I can blink.

 The reason I am most nervous for our new little bundle is of course because although the house is looking great (much better than the picture...can't quite seem to get the colors to look quite right in a picture), it will probably be done 2 weeks after the baby...so not looking forward to moving with a newborn in the winter...after a c-section.  We don't know the exact time the house will be ready, but it is looking like maybe Thanksgiving weekend.  Seriously?  Jeff is going to have a great time trying to move everything by himself...he has a hard enough time asking for any help when it's not a holiday.  It will all work out, but I will admit I don't sleep much at night thinking about how in the world we are going to get moved.  Oh, and how in the world my other little munchkin is going to survive the 4 days I am in the hospital without me.  She is going to have a rough, rough adjustment to her new little sister.  I have no rose colored glasses on when it comes to that little issue.  I am expecting the absolute worst and hoping to be surprised.  Maybe I won't be as stressed once I get in the storage unit and find all my newborn things...I just realized at 1:30 am that all of my baby blankets, burp cloths, nursing cover, etc. are buried in some unknown box. Yeah, I never did fall back asleep.  I do know where the newborn clothes are at least and the big things like the carseat.  Don't ask me why I didn't keep more of the stuff out.

 Other than feeling the stress of the move, we are just plugging along.  Heidi has definitely shown us that she is two lately and has some serious mood swings.  I keep hoping it's those swollen gums where the two year molars belong, but it might be an age thing.  We have had a few meltdowns in the last few days, but thankfully there have been plenty of good, happy faces to help us forget some of the tears.  This was one of those days...she woke up and wanted her shoes on so she could go look at her dad's trailer for some reason.  She didn't want to get dressed and when I came back out of the kitchen I saw she had taken matters into her own hands and put her shoes on over her pajamas.  Oh my--she really does make me laugh.

 The mornings have been a bit chilly so we have had to entertain ourselves indoors a little more, which is not always fun.  Heidi goes through phases of loving to color though, and that always helps pass the time.

 Yesterday we decided to take an idea we saw on Pinterest to paint rocks.  I figured it would be a hit since the girl loves her a good rock.  Her favorite part was hunting for the rocks (which wasn't too hard since our parking lot is all gravel).  She happily collected as many as she could put in her bowl exclaiming, "Oh wow! Look at this cool one, mom!"  Her second favorite part was definitely cleaning the rocks. She would have stood at the sink forever making sure all the dirt was gone.

 I thought the painting would be the biggest hit, but after painting the first one, she wanted me to paint the rest while she looked on.  Seeing the rocks all colorful after they had dried made her a very happy two-year-old.  She couldn't wait to show her daddy when he came home.

We also tried playing with pipe cleaners in a colander (or "pipes in the spaghetti bowl" as she called it).  She mostly liked turning them into alien hats and then "scaring" her mom and dad.  

Other than that, we have been hitting the parks like crazy because we will have a long season without them!  She has turned into a monkey and a dare devil at the park.  She loves going down the highest and fastest slides, trying to touch the clouds from the swings, and climbing the scariest equipment available!  Tantrums and all, we love entertaining our funny little Heidi!