doll bed

 Grandpa and Grandma Hunziker got Heidi a Doc McStuffins doll for Christmas.  It is definitely one of her favorite new toys.  The doll goes with her everywhere and is always getting a check up.

 Heidi decided that since the doll talks and sings, it's probably not the best doll to sleep with.  She decided Doc needed a bed next to hers.  Being the great dad Jeff is, he took Heidi to get some wood and built a little bed for Doc.  We painted it and Heidi was thrilled with how it turned out.

Heidi went to brush her teeth and when she came back she found Savanna had claimed the bed!  We were all laughing so hard.  Savanna has the absolute funniest little personality.  Heidi said, "I guess she is ready to share a room with me and she thinks that is her bed!"  I guess they are both thrilled to share a room.  Don't worry, Savanna...we will, in fact, get you a bed your size.

christmas fun

 What a great Christmas we had this year!  Heidi was at the absolute perfect age.  The whole month was so exciting and we enjoyed watching her experience the magic of the season.  On Christmas Eve the girls got to open their Christmas jammies.  Heidi got slippers with hers and she was so excited.  She has been begging for slippers for a long time.

 Savanna wasn't quite sure what to do with the presents, but she let Heidi show her it was done and enjoyed playing with the wrapping paper.  After we opened their pajamas we went and looked at Christmas lights.  We came home and had hot chocolate and donuts and watched a Christmas light show.  Heidi was more than happy to get to bed so Santa could come.

 Christmas morning was so much fun!  The girls were excited to see their stockings and we were excited to watch them empty them out.  If you have never seen Savanna, this is her typical cheeser face.  Really, it's just how she smiles and we are so thankful we get to see that cute little face all the time.  I have yet to meet a happier child than little Savanna.

 My favorite part of the day was watching Heidi explore her stocking.  She got the lambie doll she had been hoping for, but she was really just as excited about every other thing in her stocking.  She would pull out a hershey kiss and squeal, "AHHHHH!!!!  A HERSHEY KISS!!!!  I MUST HAVE BEEN SOOOO GOOD!"

 Savanna was just thrilled Santa didn't forget to leave her sweets.  It didn't take her 2 seconds to have her candy cane open.  I am pretty sure she was on a sugar high all day!  She would go take a piece of candy to someone new and beg until they opened it for her.  This girl loves her sweets.

 Savanna was a little under the weather, but she was still a delight.  She loved having the commotion and extra people to give her attention.

 Heidi got an art easel and it has been so much for her!  It keeps her quite busy and I am excited to help her get more practice writing her letters.

 We were SO glad grandpa and grandma came to spend the holiday with us!  They enjoyed playing Savanna's new game more than Savanna and we enjoyed watching them play.  Seriously, we were so, so, so glad to have them here to help us celebrate.

Grandpa and Heidi playing the fish game.

I love Christmas.

I love it so much more with little kids around.

I love celebrating the birth of our Savior.

I love teaching my kids about the birth of our Savior.

I love the magic of all the traditions.

I love Christmas.

I can't wait for it to come again next year.

yes, it's true

I wasn't going to post this until we knew the gender, but unfortunately, I am growing even more quickly than I was with Savanna and I don't want people to think I am just letting myself go...ha ha.  Plus, I told my family finally, and no offense to my dad, but it won't be a secret for long anymore.  :)

I am almost 13 weeks along now.  The baby is due June 28th.  With a c-section they will schedule the birth around June 20.  If the baby decides to come early like Savanna, I am guessing somewhere between the 10th and 13th.

I had my 12 week appointment Monday.  They couldn't find the heartbeat and that was a little scary at first.  They took an ultrasound and everything is fine and measuring right on.

In case you're trying to do the math, Savanna and the baby will be 20 months apart.  Yes, this baby was planned.  We were going to wait a year but Jeff and I both had an overwhelming feeling we were supposed to have a baby.  Then Heidi started talking about how Savanna came from heaven and the baby is coming from heaven too.  So we decided we better not wait a year, and besides, it might take awhile to get pregnant again.  But, wouldn't you know?  This time it didn't.  So it's going to be super crazy for a few years, but in the long run, I think it will be fun to have them close together.  Jeff is excited about this because he thinks it will make camping easier...ha ha.  Glad that's what Jeff is worried about.

We find out the gender on January 8.  I am so excited to find out what we are having!  Heidi thinks it is a girl and has already named the baby...I think it's just hard for her to imagine anything but a girl.  Jeff also thinks it's a girl, as he has every time, but I also think it's just hard for him to imagine a boy.  Plus, he really wants another girl.  Not that he will be sad if it's a boy, but he seriously loves having little girls and is a bit nervous about a boy.  I am outnumbered because I am convinced more than ever before that the baby is a boy.  I just can't imagine we would have 3 girls in a row and I feel a little different than I did with the girls.

So far the worst part of the pregnancy are the headaches...again.  Sometimes they aren't as bad as they were with the girls, but I get about 3 a week and every other week I get a really, really nasty one that knocks me out.  Now that I am 12 weeks there is a medicine I can take, but unfortunately it doesn't work all of the time.

Anyway, so that is the big news around our house!  We are excited the baby is coming in warm weather and can't wait to meet our newest addition!

What's your gender guess??  Take the poll on the sidebar!  I'm curious as to what everyone thinks!

dance recital

 Heidi had her very first dance recital on Thursday!  I am so proud of her!!  She has absolutely loved taking dance.  She looked so pretty in her performance dress and was excited to wear make up.

 Heidi's friend, Sammy, takes dance also.  They aren't in the same class, but they are in preschool together and get along really well.

 I really wasn't sure if Heidi was going to get up on stage and dance since she has always been so clingy and has a hard time with anything new.  She proved me wrong!!  I was seriously so proud of her.  She looked adorable.  They danced to I' m a little teapot and I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.

The absolute funniest part of the night was when Heidi's dance ended.  All of her class exited the stage, but apparently she didn't see them leave or didn't want to go with them.  She stood up there looking around, smiling, and squinting at the lights.  I haven't laughed that hard for a really long time.  Finally one of the teachers came and helped her off the front of the stage.  After her second dance she didn't want to leave backstage with the other girls and went to the front of the stage again so her teacher could get her down that way.  I guess I didn't need to worry about her getting on the stage.  I should have been talking to her about getting off the stage.  We sure love our little dancer and we are so glad she is enjoying learning to dance!

random pictures

 I found these random pictures on my camera and they made me happy.  I'd like to say Heidi and Savanna get along perfectly 24 hours a day, but they don't.  Thankfully, they get along most of the time.  I love that Heidi loves to read to her little sister.  Melts.my.heart.

I'm not sure what gave Heidi the idea to put Savanna in her doll stroller and push her around the house, but it was funny.  They both had a blast with that little game.  Love, love, love being a mom to these two little girls.

gingerbread train

 Last night for our family night activity we made a gingerbread train.  It was quite a hit with everyone.  It didn't take Savanna long to find the candy and stick her fingers in the frosting.  Love my little sugar baby!

 Heidi, of course, loved everything about the process.  

After breaking the train about 30 times, Savanna helped from her high chair.  As long as she had bags of candy to hold, she was happy as a clam.  It was such a fun night and both of the girls are thrilled with their gingerbread train!

braving the freezing temperatures

 Like a lot of the country, we have been suffering extremely cold temperatures.  As in -25 with windchill -39.  We feel like we live in Alaska or something.  All I have to say is, thank heavens we went with the wood burning stove.

 In spite of the temperature, we promised the girls we would cut down a Christmas tree and there was no way Heidi was going to forget this promise.

 We bundled the girls up like we never had before.  Savanna even got to wear two snowsuits.  Heidi thought this was the best thing ever because her little sister once again turned into the live teddy bear she has been hoping for her whole life.

 We sure love living so close to the mountains.  We hit the dirt road about 15 minutes after we left our house, which meant the girls were allowed out of their car seats while we looked out the window for our perfect tree.  Heidi decided she would much rather just have her teddy bear sister sharing the carseat with her.

 Since both girls have colds again we decided to just let them stay in the truck where it was warm.  They had fun climbing around free.  Wouldn't traveling with children be so much more peaceful if they didn't have to be strapped in?

 We found a tree not too far off the road.  It looked perfect in the forest...don't they always?  It's not so perfect in the house, but I'm not going to lie.  I'm not really a "real tree" kind of gal.  I love the smell, but I hate the mess and they never, ever have the perfect shape.  The trunk is never straight, the lights look a little odd when you string them on....BUT it's not about me or the mess. It's about the experience and creating memories for my girls.

 Heidi and Savanna were thrilled to watch Jeff drag it to the car.  Heidi kept rolling the window down to ask Jeff how it was going and if he needed help.  Savanna clapped and squealed when he made it to the truck.  It was just about the cutest thing to see the two them watching their hero of a daddy bring them their Christmas tree.

Decorating the tree was exciting for both of the girls and Heidi loves her job as the official tree waterer.  Here's to hoping for warmer temperatures next year so we can all tramp around looking for the "perfect" tree!

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas

Last night for family night we pulled out all the Christmas decorations!  Heidi was thrilled to show Savanna everything.  Please excuse Savanna's immodesty...we had just finished dinner and that usually means she has to be stripped down before she leaves the kitchen.  She usually ends up right in the bath, but we were too excited to put Christmas stuff up and decided to wait for the bath.

 Heidi found a Santa hat and she went crazy!  She put it on and started a game where she was Santa and the elves were helping her make presents.  She brings all of us random things and tells us she made it because she is Santa.  Heidi is at the absolute most fun age for the holidays right now and we are loving it.  She is over the top excited about everything.

We put our fake tree up last night and we are planning on cutting down a real one this weekend to go in the great room.  Heidi loves the idea of decorating two trees.  Heidi also found stockings in the Christmas stuff and put them on her feet as part of her Santa costume.  I love her imagination.  Heidi would put the ornaments on the tree and Savanna would promptly take them off.  Jeff and I were laughing pretty hard, especially when Heidi said, "Savanna, you need to give me that ornament immediately!" So funny.  We are putting the presents under this tree because Savanna doesn't wander in there very often.  But let's face it, Heidi is a great monitor.  She makes sure to let me know if a cute little curious one year old starts playing with things she shouldn't!

We are all so excited for all the fun Christmas activities to begin!

thanksgiving

I hate doing posts without pictures, but sadly we remembered to bring everything to Thanksgiving except the camera.  What a shame, because we had a wonderful time.  Heidi kept saying funny things before we left like, "I'm so excited for Firstgiving I am just going to bump off the couch."  Whatever that means.  We were all so excited to go, and it was such a fun trip!  Heidi couldn't have had more fun with her cousins and they were all so sweet to play with her all day long.  In spite of Savanna not sleeping as well as she usually does, she was still pretty happy and had fun exploring a new place.  The food was delicious, like always.  I ate way too much, like always.  I definitely felt the overeating and lack of exercise last week when I was on the treadmill this morning.  Thanks again to Jeff's wonderful parents for hosting a delicious, relaxing, fun holiday for our family!  Next year we'll remember to bring the camera...

happy 'first'giving

 For some reason Heidi calls Thanksgiving, Firstgiving.  I don't have the heart to tell her that's not the right word because it is just so dang cute.  For the longest time she has been telling me, "First we will have Halloween, then Savanna's birthday, then Firstgiving, and then Christmas."  It makes me smile every time she says it.  This month our family nights have been so much fun!  We have been working on our thankful tree and Heidi can't get excited enough about how big it is getting.

Yesterday for family night we made treats and turkey bags (well, they kind of look like turkey indians) and took them to our neighbors and friends.  Heidi was beaming as she handed them to people saying, "HAPPY FIRSTGIVING!"  It was the best night of her life apparently.  Especially since she got to sit in the front of the car while we took the ones that were in our neighborhood around.  She always says, "I just love family night.  I can't wait until it's Monday again!"  I hope she still loves it when she's 13....what are the chances?

our little one year old

 A week later I am still in shock we have a one year old!

We had her one year shots and check up last week.

Length:  27 inches--below 5th percentile

Weight:  15 lbs. 12 oz.--below 5th percentile

Still our tiny, little petite girl!  

Most people ask if she is 7 or 8 months and always seem shocked when they see her walking around.

We love having little girls that are full of personality!

 *Savanna is walking everywhere!!  She loves to walk around and lately her favorite place to walk is in circles around the island.
*Has 4 teeth (2 on top, 2 on bottom) and has 2 more top ones that just barely broke through.
*Sleeps from about 8pm-6:30am.  Takes about an hour nap at 9am and a 2-2.5 hr nap at 1pm.
*Made the transition to bottles to whole milk easily.
*Loves to eat, but definitely prefers to eat what we are eating.
*Has a major, major sweet tooth and can spot treats a mile away.
*Climbs up the stairs and is learning to go down, but can't quite go down on her own yet.
*Laughs every time she sneezes.
*When she is sitting, she loves to randomly throw herself back onto the floor and start kicking her legs.

 *Still just a happy little ray of sunshine.  She tries to do things that will make us laugh and then when she catches our eye she will tip her head back and get a huge grin.
*Loves to wave.
*Loves to growl.
*Says mama, dada, more (mo mo mo), bob (we think this is just a sound she makes but Heidi always says, "Who's Bob, Savanna?  Is he your secret friend?)
*Loves animals and squeals and points like crazy when she sees them.  When we ask her where the cows are she looks out the kitchen windows at the cow pasture.
*We still aren't sure if her hair will be brown, but I haven't given up hope.
*Her eyes are still really blue.
*Not one person has ever told me that she looks like me, and she doesn't.  She is the spitting image of her daddy.

 *Although she prefers me if she is tired or hungry, she is absolutely nothing like Heidi was in terms of clinginess.  She adores Jeff and really other people in general.  She is super social.
*Such a good natured little thing.  Even with a bad ear infection, you would never know.
*My favorite thing is to get her out of her bed because she is always so happy.  She kicks her legs and squeals and tries to hide her binky in her little hands.

 *Savanna is the biggest tease.  She loves to try to hide behind doors, climbs the stairs like crazy while squealing and laughing if she thinks you're coming to get her, grabs our noses, ears, eyes, hair, etc. and laughs like crazy.
*Really starting to enjoy books.  She will bring me books and then put her little body in my lap.  She loves when I point out bumblebees and pretend there is one buzzing around to get her.  When she sees a picture of a bumblebee she starts giggling.

 *The only time we really hear her fuss, besides if she is tired, is if anyone is eating.  She is just sure she is being left out and has to have to whatever you have.
*Loves to put things inside of bottles, boxes, etc.
*Very independent and usually likes to play by herself, but she prefers if someone is in the room with her.
*If she is holding something she doesn't want anymore, she will grab our hand and stick the item in.

Savanna is so easy to love.

She makes us laugh and smile every day.

We seriously cannot imagine life without our little sunshine.

We are so lucky to have her in our family!

party time

 We had the best time celebrating Savanna's first birthday!  She looked so cute in her tutu 

and she had an absolute blast with all of the balloons.

 I made her a butterfly cake out of cupcakes.  It turned out pretty cute in spite of my cake making/decorating abilities.  I made it the day before and I swear she knew what it was and was squealing and begging for it the whole day leading up to her big day.

 We had such a fun party!!  We had quite a few friends and neighbors come and help us celebrate.  

The weather was nice and the kids were even able to play outside for awhile.

Savanna was, of course, an absolute dream at the party.  She is such a social little thing and would crawl over to everyone and wave at them.  While we were eating dinner she would wave at different people and give one of her signature cheesers.  It is seriously impossible not to be smitten with her.  

 Savanna was spoiled rotten with gifts!  She was excited about all of them and Heidi and her friend Kaiden had a blast helping her unwrap each one.  

 I think Savanna's favorite part of the evening was the cake.  

 She was literally shoving the cake in her mouth as fast as she could!  

To say she loved it is a bit of an understatement.  

 She was even sweet enough to try and share some of it with our neighbor.

 I am pretty sure she would live on sweets if I let her.  She was such a mess when the cupcake fun ended, but it was so fun to watch her enjoy her first cake.  After the cake we scrubbed her up and while we were all visiting, she practiced walking to everyone in the room.  She loves to be the center of attention!

 Grandpa and Grandma Hunziker couldn't make it, but as always, they found the perfect gift!

Both of the girls have had fun playing with this rocking giraffe.  

Heidi has had a blast showing Savanna how all of her new stuff works.

Happy, happy Birthday to my blue eyed beauty!

I really can't believe she is already one.

I can't even describe the happiness she has brought to our family.

We love you, Savanna!