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!

one

 One year ago, this little girl entered the world.
Oh my goodness.  We could not love Savanna more.  What a sweet, hilarious, happy, easy going little girl she has been.  I couldn't believe how calm and content she was from day 1 and that is still true of her today.

One year has literally flown by and while I am so sad for how quickly it is going, I am excited for her and all the fun things she has to experience.

We love you, Savanna.

You are an absolute joy.

We are so grateful you are in our home.

Happy, happy Birthday, pretty girl!