happy halloween

 I know I posted earlier today, but I have to get this Halloween post in, because in two short days we have someone very special to celebrate and I want to make sure I am caught up!  

 This year Heidi was a doctor and Savanna was a kitty.  This was Savanna's first Halloween!!  I still can't believe last year I was two days from having her and I had no idea.  Of course, my body was telling me, but I was in complete denial.  I tried to give Heidi other costume ideas since she uses her doctor stuff multiple times a day, but she was adamant that is what she wanted to be.  They both looked pretty adorable!

 We had a Halloween party to go to in the morning and the second they woke up, Heidi wanted them to get in their costumes.  I put Savanna in hers first and Heidi couldn't contain her excitement.  She kept telling me how adorable Savanna looked.  Then her eyes started to sparkle and she ran to collect her doctor stuff.

 Apparently she thought Savanna was her own personal, alive, stuffed kitty and she couldn't wait to give her a check-up.  Our sweet little Savanna is seriously the most delightful, happy, good-natured child.  She patiently endured Heidi chasing her all over the house saying, "Come here, Kitty!!  It's time for your check-up!  Open wide!"  I could not stop laughing.  In all fairness, Savanna really did look like an adorable stuffed kitty.  Savanna was an absolute hoot at the Halloween party at the library.  She is such a social little thing and was going absolute crazy over all the kids in their costumes.  She would crawl over to each of them and start waving in their face.  It's hard not to love Savanna and her funny little personality.  She is my little social butterfly.

 We went to the ward trunk-or-treat and dinner in the evening.  Last year Halloween was absolutely beautiful, this year it was FREEZING.  Freezing.  Savanna didn't seem to mind and was happy as could be hanging out in the swagger wagon trunk passing out candy with her dad.

 Heidi was not thrilled about the freezing temperature, but somehow survived.  Don't ask me what they were looking at here, but it was clearly more interesting than mom behind the camera.

 We went to our neighbor's house when we got home to trick-or-treat, but opted out of going anywhere else because it was seriously freezing.  Have I mentioned that before?  If I haven't, you should know it was freezing...coldest Halloween I can remember in a long, long time.  Savanna was all over Heidi's candy.  Don't ask me how she knows what it is, but she does.  She can spot it a mile away and she will stop at absolutely nothing to get a piece of candy.  She has been known to eat pieces of the wrapper to get at what she wants.

Heidi was very sweet to share a few pieces and let Savanna play and drool all over her treats.  Of course we had to take more than half of her candy away due to peanuts.  I'm not going to lie, this is a really hard holiday with a peanut allergy.  Lots of things are challenging with a peanut allergy and I try not to be "that allergy mom", but it is really hard when it is literally a matter of life or death.  It's hard to think of ways to allow Savanna to experience peanuts and peanut butter without being a basket case.  I'm not complaining, I really am just so grateful to have two beautiful, healthy little girls and I try hard not think of the worst case scenario but days like today it is pretty much all I think about.

We had a great Halloween and the girls can't wait to celebrate again in 365 short days!  

pre-halloween activities

 Since today is Halloween I decided I better hurry and post about everything we have been doing leading up to today!  We had 5 pumpkins to take care of after the pumpkin patch.  We carved two of them in very elaborate designs.  One was a monster and the other a bird.  They turned out very cool.  While Heidi still is not a fan of all the inside goop, Savanna didn't seem to mind a bit.

 On Tuesday we had a huge snowstorm that dumped about 6-8 inches of snow.  Heids was pretty thrilled about it.  A lot of it has melted, but there is still quite a bit left.  I tried to take Heidi out to build a snowman during Savanna's morning nap, but it wasn't the right consistency so we just played in it for awhile. When Jeff got home it was a little better for snowman making so Heidi and Jeff made a cute little snowman.

 Savanna was very excited about the pumpkins.  She climbed on them, slobbered all over them, and banged them like drums.  I love watching this little girl.

 Since it was later in the evening and super cold when Heidi was making her snowman, I kept Savanna inside with me to clean up dinner.  She would go and bang on the door and then Heidi would come over and talk and giggle with her through the glass.  There is absolutely nothing I love more than watching my two girls interact, giggle, and love each other.  Heidi cannot wait until she helps her build the next snowman.

 On our final three pumpkins we decided to just have Heidi draw on them.  I think Jeff was over the whole gutting and carving by that point, since let's be honest--he pretty much did most of it himself.  Heidi was THRILLED about this idea had a blast drawing her own jack-o-lantern faces.

Savanna loved feeling like she was carving the pumpkins.  She was happy and delightful, like always.  It is so fun to watch her discover the world around her.

I love this holiday and I really, really love watching my girls love this holiday.

picking pumpkins

We took the girls to pick their pumpkins on Saturday!  We probably won't go to this particular place again, but the girls seemed to have a blast.  Heidi was pretty excited to be a pumpkin head.

Both of the girls loved crawling through the hay tunnel.  My girls are so lucky to have Jeff as their daddy.

Heidi was excited about the swing, but didn't really want it to move.

Even though Savanna was about 2 hours past her naptime, she was a trooper.  She had a blast going down the slides with Jeff.  She was a little less enthusiastic than usual, but she sure was a good little girl.

Heidi got to test out her musical skills.

So did Savanna and grandma.  Thanks grandma and grandpa for spending the day with us!

Okay, this was just funny.  You've all seen these little things they pull with the tractor.  Well, we were planning on getting in with the girls (me with one, Jeff with the other).  Unfortunately, by the time Jeff got Heidi in one, all the billions of other kids crammed their way into the others.  So, rather than just have one girl go, Heidi decided she would be the brave big sister and hold Savanna next to her.  It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Apparently the ride was a little on the bumpy side and by the time they came back around Savanna was on the floor, happily eating the dirt and hay and Heidi was in tears.  She said it was too bumpy, but I have a feeling she was upset because she didn't know how to get Savanna back up and no one was there to help her.  

Savanna was so tired she couldn't even squeal at the animals like she usually does, but she still enjoyed watching them.  We came home with 5 pumpkins and have carved one so far.

Hooray for fall and all the fun that goes with my favorite season!

family vacation, part 4

 We stopped at the science center in Boise before making the long trek back home.  Heidi was fascinated and thrilled with all of it. It was hard to get her to look at everything because she would get so pre-occupied with something.

 Heidi thought every single thing was the coolest thing she had ever seen.

 Heidi wasn't the only one fascinated by everything....Jeff had fun figuring everything out too.  I sure hope my girls get his smarts and love of science.

 Although it was way past nap time for Savanna, she kept her eyes open the whole time!  She was a little trooper and had fun playing with what she could, and watching her sister play with the things she couldn't.

 Although Heidi says she is going to be a doctor, Jeff still holds out hope she, too, will be a chemical engineer.  

My little weather girl.

We sure had fun playing together on our fun vacation!

We all survived the long drive home and the next day when we loaded back up to go to grocery shopping Heidi said, "I just want to go home.  I'm just a homebody."  Where does she get this?

It's true, she really is a homebody, but she sure had fun on our little trip!

family vacation, part 3

Can you see my two little prairie dogs?

 On Friday morning we headed to the Boise Zoo.  It was really fun and they had a lot of animals.  Sometimes I feel like the Hogle Zoo has a couple of animals and a lot of empty cages.  The Boise Zoo did not disappoint and it was cheaper than the Hogle Zoo so that was also great news.

It was a little chilly when we first got there but it warmed up.  The cold bothered Heidi at first but didn't bother Savanna at all.

Savanna was absolutely hilarious and at the perfect age for this zoo trip.  The second she would spot an animal she would go completely nuts pointing, squealing, and trying to jump out of our arms.  Everyone that saw her couldn't help but laugh at her excitement.  It was so cute and we really wished we had brought our video camera.

 Heidi and Savanna both seemed to like the warthogs and monkeys.  Heidi loved the zebras.  Savanna could not get enough of the fox and squirrel.

We had such a great time together at the zoo and hope to take the girls to the Boise Zoo again sometime.

family vacation, part 2

 After we finished feeding the ducks and geese, we headed to the bowling alley.  The girls had so much fun!  Heidi really wanted a picture of her and her sister in their new outfits from great grandma Heidi, but someone just would not cooperate...too much to look at and explore!

 Heidi loved every part of the bowling experience starting with the shoes.  They were about 2 sizes too big and she couldn't have cared less.  She loved when they fell off because it meant she could put them back on.

 Savanna was in love with the ball retrieval thing.  Heidi would run over there every time a ball would come and say, "Watch your fingers, Savanna!"  Such a good big sister.  Savanna also loved crawling over the slippery floor.

 Before we discovered the ramp you can roll the ball down, Heidi's ball would move SO SLOW!!  It was hilarious.  We didn't even know if it would make it all the way to the pins.  It was like watching the game in slow motion.  It took all of her strength just to lift the ball to the lane so she didn't have much strength left to get the ball moving.  She was clapping and cheering for all of us.

 The floor was so slippery on Savanna's feet with her little socks and while holding the ball thing, she would always end up sliding underneath.  She would have a death grip on the top and would get a panicked look on her face.  It was funny and no matter how many times it happened, she just kept climbing up.

This was the smallest ball and it was quite a load for this little one to haul, but she never complained.  Heidi did not want to go back to the hotel when we were finished and could have bowled three hours more.  On the way to the hotel she was telling us all the ways she was going to re-create bowling at home.  We have set up the jenga blocks and rolled the foose balls quite a few times since coming home!  It was a fun night for our little family!  We can't wait to take the girls bowling again soon.

vacation time, part 1

Jeff took a week off from work (finally!) so we took a much needed vacation.  We went up to Oregon to visit my grandma.   She moved to Oregon a few years ago and we haven't been able to get up to see her.  She is 88 years old--doesn't she look amazing?  It was so nice to see her again.  Heidi met her when she was 10 months old, but of course has no memory of that visit.  The night before we left she could hardly sleep because she was so excited to go see great grandma Heidi.  Great grandma Heidi loved these two little girls and of course they loved her and gave her lots and lots of loves.

 On our way home we stayed the night in Boise and had such a great time together.  We checked into the hotel and gave the girls naps and then headed out to see what we could do.  The zoo was closing in an hour but we found this little river that had TONS of ducks and geese.  We had bread in our car so we fed them and boy oh boy did the girls think this was the best activity ever.

Savanna was hysterical.  She was just shrieking and squealing and trying to grab them the whole time.  Jeff would give her a piece of bread and of course it went straight in her mouth.  Heidi was a little more skittish, of course, but she was had a blast. She liked the ducks a lot more than the geese since they were less aggressive and much smaller.  It was so funny because when she ran out of bread they were still following her all over the place.  She couldn't lose them.  

The weather was a little chilly, but still beautiful the entire time.  All of the trees were in full blown fall and it was absolutely gorgeous.  Funny story about the hotel....Heidi was so excited about the shampoo, conditioner, and lotion bottles and couldn't believe her luck at being able to take them home.  The first night I was explaining to her what the conditioner was for when I was washing her hair.  The next day she kept saying, "Now, where did that air conditioner go?  I need that air conditioner so my hair doesn't have snarls."  She is still carrying her "air conditioner" around.

Family Pictures

 My neighbor and I have been trying to find a day that would work to take our family pictures forever!  It finally happened!  The weather was nice and we were both home so we headed to Fort Bridger.

 Although you wouldn't know it, my two little sweeties were not in the best of spirits.

To get the best light we had to go during dinner time and it was also slightly chilly and Savanna is working on her top teeth.  I am thrilled with what we got and I am SO glad we got some outside shots!

 I love this one of my pretty little Heidi girl.  

 I thought Savanna would be the easy one to get since she loves to be outside.  Getting good pictures of little ones is so hard and I sure wish we had a video of all us doing everything but standing on our heads to get this normally happy little thing to crack a smile.

 I love this little girl.  She really was so patient.

 I wanted to get some more of me with each of the girls and Jeff with each of the girls and possibly another family shot for Christmas cards.  I knew the lighting would be horrible, but we went back to the Fort to try to get a few simple shots.  Clearly these are not "put on your wall" pictures, but I am glad my friend came to help get a few more shots.

 This picture is so typical of the professional pictures and our little photoshoot...if one child looks, the other one inevitably is not looking or pulling a ridiculous face.  

 Jeff was really not happy with me that I wanted to go get a few more pictures.  He was constantly reminding me how bad the lighting was.  Yes, I did know.  But let's be honest, it is very, very difficult to find a time to get any pictures...especially with winter rapidly approaching.

 Yet again, one child is looking, the other is not.

 Heidi really just wanted to throw rocks and sticks in the river.  We were really cramping her style by making her stop to take a few pictures.

Have I ever mentioned how much Jeff adores having little girls?  He tells me all the time how glad he is that we have two little girls.

My absolute favorite, favorite, favorite picture.  Heidi was obsessed with finding little sticks to throw in the river.  She found a huge one and couldn't wait to see what it would do and had to walk right in front of the camera to show her dad.  You should have seen her tiny little body trying to hail that thing around.  Oh and don't forget Savanna's tongue sticking out (her new and favorite trick). And of course I am laughing hysterically.  This picture definitely shows what our very non-professional photoshoot was like.