two extremes

 Meet child #1.  Little miss neat.  This child has barely decided she is interested in feeding herself because she absolutely hates to be messy in any way, shape, or form.  I don't worry very often about her getting clothes dirty because she would never be the type to get herself into a dirty situation on purpose.  She begs to have her hands washed if she even thinks there is a crumb on them.

Meet child #2.  Little miss messy.  This child is the messiest eater I have ever seen!  When she isn't trying to talk and laugh through her meal, she is grabbing the spoon, stuffing her whole fist in her mouth, or practicing blowing raspberries the second food hits her tongue.  I feel like I need a bib when I feed her to block the flying particles!  And of course this kind of behavior nearly puts child #1 over the edge.

company

Can you tell how much Savanna idolizes Heidi?

Do you ever feel like you are so busy all day long but look around and wonder what in the world was accomplished?  When Jeff gets home I am sure he thinks, "why in the world doesn't she ever sweep this floor?"  Thankfully he is kind enough to keep those thoughts to himself if they cross his mind.  Of course, he hasn't seen me sweep after breakfast, before naps, and after lunch (all one handed, I might add).  I wonder how in the world I just can't keep up with only two little ones and then I realize it's because I always have company.  Sometimes I think about how much I could accomplish if I even just had one full hour to clean the entire house and get all the meals made.  Without "help" I bet I could get it all done in a hurry.  But let's be honest.  On the rare occasion I don't have one or both of my little ones by my side I feel like something is missing.  Sure dinner gets made faster, but then the whole time I long to hear Heidi asking me things like, "Do I even like olives?  Does dad like olives?  Do you think dad is missing me at work today?  'Cause why? Can I dump the sauce in by myself?"  On the days I get overwhelmed that the house doesn't look as perfect as I would like or the dinner isn't in the oven early enough, I try to remember just how much I love my company.  Even though it will be easier to get things done, I absolutely dread the day they don't want to be by my side.  Some days I get overwhelmed with how incredibly quickly they are growing up.  Sometimes I feel like I have waited my whole life for this moment in time...married with little kids running around and it is going way, way, way too fast!!  I can't stand it.  I get teary eyed just thinking about how fast time is going.  I am so grateful I get to stay home with my girls.  I just put a whole bunch of Savanna's clothes away that she has outgrown and am enjoying putting her in clothes I remember Heidi wearing.  I hated putting clothes away for Heidi and I hate it even more for Savanna because this time around I know how fast it is going.  Some days I am overwhelmed.  Some days I am so tired.  Some days I just want 10 minutes to myself.  But most days I just want to freeze time and keep my company little forever.

rice cereal

 I was waiting to see the allergist before giving Savanna anything but breast milk based on conflicting things I had read about food allergies and rice cereal.

 We got the go ahead and decided 5.5 months was as good of time as any to start. As expected it was a mess and not too much ended up actually being consumed.  

As expected Heidi wasn't sure about the mess and kept saying, "should we clean her up now? Are we going to put Savanna in the tub now?"  And, as expected Savanna was her happy little self as the cereal went on just about every part of her cute little body!

allergies

The two love bugs.  

Morning snuggles...so glad they're mine.

 Yesterday we headed to Park City to have an official allergy test done on Heidi.  We knew she had the peanut allergy, but we wanted to see if she had any other allergies, get a prescription for an epi pen, and see if we could see just how severe of an allergy we were facing.  I was so grateful Jeff took a day off to come with us (especially since it was snowing....what the?  I swear winter isn't going to end this year) and I was also grateful to my sweet mother-in-law who came to help with Savanna and join us for lunch.  Heidi, of course, was very distraught over getting tested, but the nurses were great and she did pretty well.

The peanut didn't give her as bad of a reaction on the scratch test as we thought so there is some hope she will outgrow it, although the chances are very slim.  The scratch test also showed an allergy to dogs and sunflower.  They also tested Savanna and while we are thrilled she isn't showing signs of peanut allergy, she is highly allergic to eggs.  Seriously?  I think that one is going to be far more difficult than the peanut, but the great news is that 80-90% of people outgrow egg allergies, so we are crossing our fingers she outgrows it.

Both of my little troopers also had to have blood work done.  The blood work will give us even more information as to how serious the allergies are and the likelihood of outgrowing them.  We will get more information on that in a week or so.

Heidi was showered with little trinkets at the allergist and the hospital and grandma also spoiled her with a pinwheel.  Savanna also liked the toys, especially her pinwheel and Heidi's little purple chicken.  Heidi had her laughing harder than I have ever heard her laugh by talking to her with the chicken.  By the time we got home she thought the allergist had been loads of fun because of all her new toys.  Of course 3 of her 5 toys were broken before we even walked in the door.  I came downstairs to her telling me, "Mom.  My best toys keep breaking because they were made in China, but dad is going to fix them."  I have a feeling Jeff said something about them being made in China and being the parrot that she is, she picked up on it.  It sure made me laugh.  Hopefully our next visit to the allergist will bring toys made in the good old USA!

*Update: So the allergist called me today with blood results.  Savanna's allergy is actually very likely to go away (hooray!!!!) but Heidi's peanut allergy is far worse than the scratch test showed.  She has less than a 10% chance of outgrowing it and I was told to avoid peanuts at all costs (which we obviously already do) and to fill the epi pen prescription as soon as possible.  He will go into more detail when we go again.  At least we know.

my little fashionista

 I am sure I have mentioned that Heidi is a girly girl in every way.

She runs like a girl, she talks with her hands, she always wants her nails painted,

and she absolutely loves clothes.  She loves shopping and will look through every single piece of clothing on a rack while making comments like, "Oh, this is darling!  How cute!"  

Lately, she has wanted to be the one to pick out her clothes and hair bow.  She usually tells me how she wants her hair done and what bow she thinks will match.  She usually does really well and a great majority of the time she insists on wearing her necklaces.  She will also correct you if you say something

wrong. For example, Jeff will say, "Those are cute pants Heidi."  To which she will respond, "I mean leggings."

 Lately Heidi has taken her fashion interest to a whole new level.  She now comments on what everyone else is wearing.  We will be reading a book and she will say, "Oh look at that little girl!  Her skirt is so cute and it matches that little hat!"  It makes me laugh.  She wants to pick my clothes out and she is always asking about what her dad is wearing.  She will say things like, "I bet dad is wearing his shoe shirt today."  "Do you think dad is wearing his brown pants?  I bet."  "Remember dad's bird shirt?  Maybe he is wearing that to work."  The second he comes in the door she says, "What shirt are you wearing dad?"  And seeing that it comes from this little face, her dad is thrilled that she cares about his fashion.

And of course she enjoys picking her sister's clothes and pajamas out every day.  On the rare occasion 

that she is not with me when I am dressing Savanna, the first thing she will say when she sees her is always, "What is Savanna wearing?"  Do you think we are in for it when it comes to the teenage years?

great room

I have been reminded to post another picture of the house.  So here you go.  This is the great room and it was nearly impossible to get a picture that even sort of represents it.  It is a really bright, two story room with floor to ceiling windows.  The lighting is partly why I had a hard time getting any sort of a decent picture.

The room is open to the kitchen and dining area, which we of course love.  I love that the girls can be playing while I get dinner ready and I can keep my eyes on what they are doing.  Most of the toys are in the bonus room, but we keep a few downstairs in the storage under the stairs.  Our furniture seems  a lot smaller in this room than it did in our old house.  Funny story about the couches.  In the apartment we were in while we waited for the house to be built, we only had room for the love seat.  When we pulled the couch out of storage, Heidi was fascinated that we had two.  She started calling the couch the 'fancy couch'.  I have no idea why.  "Put Care Bear on the fancy couch."  "Let's sit on the fancy couch."  When we asked her what the love seat was she said it was the 'plain couch'.  I guess if you sit in storage long enough you become fancy.

This is from the top of the stairs.  I guess you can kind of see the high windows.  The view out the windows is gorgeous.  The fireplace is the one thing I would have done differently.  We were 6 inches short of what we needed to do the alcove, but it was too late by the time we realized it.  Oh well.  It keeps us nice and toasty all the same...sometimes a bit too toasty, but I'm not complaining.  I can't believe how well it heats the whole house and both girls love to sit and watch the flames.  There's nothing quite like heat from a wood burning stove.  I hope Savanna is as cautious as Heidi because I am a little nervous about next winter when she is crawling and walking, but I am sure Heidi will keep her in check.  :)

five months

 I can't believe Savanna is five months old.  I love this age.  I love seeing more of her personality and I love feeling like there is more of a routine. Here is what this little five month old has been up to lately.

*Look up 'happy baby' in the dictionary and I am pretty sure you'll see this little face.  Seriously.  I love her happy little temperament.  She will smile at anyone and everyone.
*Absolutely adores her older sister.  Lights up the second she catches a glimpse of Heidi.
*Sometimes she can't even focus on eating because she too busy smiling.  It is the cutest thing, but slightly annoying at times.  She pulls off about every 2 seconds to smile a huge cheeser.
*Has successfully made it to five months with nothing but breastmilk.  Hooray!!
*Clasps her little hands...love that stage.
*Transfers objects from one hand to the other.

 *So ticklish in the ribs.  Laughs and laughs and laughs.  Usually Jeff, Heidi, and I are all gathered around her taking turns making her laugh.  Best sound in the world.
*Grabby, grabby, grabby.  I'm surprised my dinner hasn't ended up on the floor yet.  We have had a few close calls.
*Getting closer to rolling from back to front.  Hasn't rolled from front to back in a long time.  My kids don't seem to roll very early.  Definitely starting to move herself around more.

 *Still seems to be really laid back.
*Cannot sleep unless she is swaddled and in her own bed.  Doesn't like to be rocked or asleep in arms.  It kind of makes me sad sometimes.
*Goes to bed around 8pm.  She is so inconsistent on night sleep though.  Sometimes she is up at 2am, sometimes later like 4 or 5.  When she is really gassy it is hard to get her to stay asleep when I first put her down. She will be asleep and then wake up 10 minutes later and it can take up to an hour to get her to settle down and get to sleep.

*Naps are pretty predictable.  She usually wakes up around 7am and then takes a nap around 9am for a little over an hour.  Then she takes another nap around 1pm and that usually last for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. If her afternoon nap is shorter she usually needs a short 15 min. snooze in the evening to get her to bedtime.
*Savanna cracks me up.  Sometimes she will manage to get herself out of her swaddle at 3 or so in the morning.  I will hear her in her bed just talking and playing around.  She wakes up so happy no matter what time of the day or night.
*Loves her baths and kicks and splashes like crazy.
*Makes really cute cooing noises and sometimes really, really loud not so pretty coos.  She usually saves those for church or other inappropriate times.
*3 month clothes seems to fit her the best.
*Doesn't really like the car unless it is nap time.

Savanna is an absolute delight.

I can't stop kissing her little cheeks all day long.

I am sure I have said this before, but I

seriously cannot imagine life

without her. 

i think we wore her out

 Heidi was very excited to go on an Easter egg hunt yesterday.  She carried her basket around the house for probably an hour waiting for her dad to get ready.

 She had fun finding all the eggs and she was very excited to go for a walk when we were done.

 She fell asleep in the stroller (definitely not characteristic of this little one who loves her own bed) and stayed asleep on the couch until I rudely woke her a little later.  The last few days must have really worn her out!