Labor Day Weekend 2009

Ahhhhh, the official "end of summer" weekend up here in the midwest. Of course it feels like summer just started since we didn't hit 80's or 90's until mid-August this year. So I guess this summer is just a very short-lived season, and we'll be heading into the chilly 8 month long winters that are typical here. Please people, if you care for us at all, get us outta here! Or at least keep your fingers crossed that our house will at least sell NEXT spring, since we had no luck the past two springs. We finally just took our house off the market, since, who are we kidding...we can't necessary move right now anyways with me due in 2 months! So we are unfortunately bracing for another cold winter here.

On Friday I took a vacation day and took my niece Kelsey (she's such a big help with Savanna!) and Savanna to another county fair. I just absolutely LOVE seeing all the farm animals and love seeing the look on Savanna's face. She just smiles from ear to ear when we go up to the horses and cows! Although trying to capture it on camera is next to impossible. She got to pet the horses, cows, lambs, goats and bunnies, and we also saw some pigs, donkeys, llamas and turkeys. Of course we didn't need to go to the fair to see the turkeys, since we have them running around wild in our back yard! It was such a blast! Most of you don't know this, but I would honestly love to have a small farm one day. Not quite sure Paul is with me on this. But anywhere they have farm animals, I'm there! So I'm hoping one day we could at least have some acreage and a barn and just a few animals, mainly just as pets.

Savanna loved meeting this calve and got to pet him!

Saturday we took Savanna with some friends and their kids to the airshow, where Savanna (aka movie star) was prepared to sign autographs and make her appearances for the papparazzi (see left).

We did a ton of walking around and as much as I begged him, Paul would not let me ride around on his shoulders like Savanna did. Needless to say, after this weekend's festivities, I'm in alot of pain and am trying to take it easy!

Afterwards Savanna hit the street with her new wheels! She loves the new Dora ride-on that mommy bought her!

Pregnancy update and my new wheels!

Update on me and baby Reagan...just like her older sis, she's already started creating havoc from inside the womb. I have a ton of pain in the pelvic region (I won't go into specifics), but basically sitting for extended periods of time (which I do Monday-Friday at my job) leaves me in aweful pain and I'm basically crippled and can't walk alot of the times while at work. I feel ok at home, although still pretty sore and painful, but at least I'm mobile. So pathetically enough, I had to go get myself a walker...yes, a walker...just like my 85 year old grandma uses. I'm trying to at least bling it out...maybe add a horn, rearview mirror, some beads and a feather boa. What I'd really love is a nice Hoverround or a Rascal, but unfortunately I'm only allowed 2 sets of new wheels at this time. So my first set of new wheels is my walker (see left picture)

....my next set of new wheels is my minivan (*gulp*) that we should be getting here in the next week or two. Poor Paul has graciously agreed to give up the Wrangler (after ALOT of arm twisting and teeth pulling). and will drive our SUV and I'll be sporting a hot stylish minivan. I think Paul is having a more difficult time than I am, accepting this life-altering change and taking this enormous leap into a "family-friendly" mom-mobile.

OK, so anyways, that's the latest update on us. As of now, I'm planning on being induced again this time around, mostly because of the pain I'm in. So unless Reagan decides to come earlier on her own, we're looking at November 4th when I'll be exactly 38 weeks. Also, our hospital is 45 minutes away, and both my mom and sister's 2nd kids basically came flying out in about 20 minutes. I'd like to actually be AT the hospital, with the epidural nestled safely in my spine. Now, I'm sure in a bind, Paul would do a great job delivering this baby in the car, but we'd rather not take our chances!

August summer fun!

What do you do when your daughter is pointing to every single thing in her toybox and no matter what you give her to play with, she just keeps pointing? Stick her in there and eventually she'll find what she's looking for (after throwing everything else out of course!).

I'm trying to play catchup here since I failed to post in August. Paul and I took Savanna to one of the surrounding county fairs in August and daddy took her on her first Merry-Go-Round ride! She was pretty unsure about the whole thing and was gripping her daddy's shirt for dear life the whole ride, but we think she enjoyed it. Baby Reagan (a'hem - read "Mommy") enjoyed some fresh lemonade and greasy fair food and we all loved seeing all the animals and the dog-racing monkey-jockeys were the highlight of the day!

July 2009

Hi y'all! Savanna has been such a hoot lately, especially now that she's walking all over and creates chaos and clutter whereever she goes! She tries to run, but still has the waddle going on and usually her legs try to move faster than her body can keep up. But she's really getting the hang of walking and getting pretty fast at it...faster than our dogs would like!

Savanna has her first swim class starting tomorrow. It's a "Mommy and Me" swim class, should it should be fun. She loves the water and swimming, thus far. We just need to work on her getting more comfortable, learning how to hold her breath, and just some standard safety tips. Of course if she learns a reverse triple pike off the 10 meter platform, that would be fine too.

Baby Reagan and mommy are doing great. I'm almost 6 months along, so only about 3 months to go. I haven't done a single thing to prepare for Reagan yet, though there's not much to do, except for doing Savanna's new room and buying some clothes for Reagan. They'll be on total opposite seasons, so that means a whole new wardrobe. But we have everything else we need, which is wonderful!

Oh yeah, and daddy is doing fine too.

Haha, just kidding. Paul is doing great and has been really busy with charters and has been out of town here and there. But when he's home, he's been a great help with Savanna and around the house to help ease the load off me! Although he still hasn't volunteered to scrub toilets yet (I can only hope!). Such a wonderful husband and father, and Savanna absolutely lights up when she sees him!

Dancing With The Star

Savanna absolutely loves music! She's always dancing, and most recently began singing! Let's just hope she doesn't inherit her mama's extreme tone deafness and complete inability to carry a note! Not sure why there are two images, but click on the one with the video Play arrow button.

It's a girl!!!!!

Our big 20 week ultrasound revealed a healthy baby girl and we're so excited for Savanna to have a baby sister! We've decided to name her Reagan Amber. She was moving and kicking all over the place and literally did a 180 in my belly during the u/s. The 3D picture isn't that great because she would not stop moving and her hands were covering her face the whole time...just like her big sister was!

It makes it alot easier shopping for baby, since have basically everything needed for a girl, except that the clothes I have are opposite seasons. Time to start stocking up on winter newborn clothing, since it certainly gets cold enough here, and she'll be living those first 4 months of life in the artic cold! Poor Paul will certainly be in trouble, with 3 girls ruling the house! Good thing we've got another big TV in the house, because NASCAR, golf, and football will soon be replaced by Dora, Diego, and Spongebob. However, I'm quite certain during Alabama games the only way we'll gain control of the TV remote is by prying it out of his cold dead lifeless grip!

We're halfway there to meeting the next up and coming star of our world and things are certainly about to get completely crazy. So I'm just trying to enjoy the summertime with my #1 girl Savanna before the chaos ensues and I won't have as much one-on-one time with her. And to those of you who are thinking we now need to go #3 for a boy...forget it!

Being silly

Sorry, but everyone's gotta take the naked pictures of their kiddos! It's a must in Baby Photos 101. I'm sure she'll thank me later...

...

Look at me!

I'm walking! I'm walking! Savanna took her first steps last Wednesday, June 24! Mommy guessed it would be at 14 months, and Savanna decided to start a little early, at about 13 1/2 months. She's really getting the hang of it, but of course she's pretty unsteady and getting used to her new abilities. She's so proud of herself and loves to show off! She's always on the go, always getting into stuff she shouldn't, and loves exhausting mom's poor pregnant body beyond belief! It's all good though, since I know things will be 1000x crazier when baby #2 shows up! Hope y'all enjoy the videos! Oh and please disregard how messy the house it...how embarrassing.

Our vacation - June 2009

We had a great time in Hilton Head, SC. I haven't been there in such a long time, so it was nice to visit the place I called home 10 years ago. Of course most of my friends all moved away from there. I think we all miss the humid 90 degree weather since Cleveland has been so mild lately! Savanna had such a blast playing in (and eating) the sand, looking at the crabs on the beach, and splashing in the ocean and the pool. We were so lazy the whole trip, just trying to relax and wind down from our normal everyday chaos. It was so nice to just do nothing for once! We mostly just went and hung out at the pool or beach everyday and ventured around the island a bit.

Savanna is getting so big and is 13 months old now! We're still waiting for her to start walking, but she's taking her own sweet time and isn't in any rush. She's developed such a funny personality and loves to dance, make silly faces at us, and give the dogs a hard time. I can only imagine how she'll be with her soon-to-be baby brother or sister!

Speaking of, we have our big ultrasound scheduled for July 1st and we'll find out the gender at that time. I can't wait to see some close-up 3-d pictures of our little one!

I'm 1 years old!

YAY!!!!!! Savanna Belle turned 1 year old on May 9th! We had a great party for her with 20 of our closest friends and family and she got some awesome gifts, which we are so very much appreciate. She's definitely got a huge summer wardrobe...now if it would only get warm out so she can start wearing them! She got some really amazing toys and grandma/grandpa got her a play kitchen, which she loves.

We're leaving for Hilton Head on Saturday for vacation. She can't wait to hit the beach with her new swimsuit and bikini...I'm sure she'll be turning all the little boys heads. We can't wait to see how she likes the beach and ocean, and hopefully she won't eat too much sand.

Today, May 12th, Paul and I are celebrating our 2 year anniversary! 2 years of wonderful wedded bliss (most of the time LOL), a 1 yr old, and a baby on the way! Next year will be completely chaotic for sure.

Here are some pictures of Savanna on her big day, and her professional 1 year pictures. Love to you all!

April 16, 2009

Wow, sorry it's been so long! I've been so incredibly exhausted...if anyone doesn't already know, we're expecting baby #2!!!! My due date is November 18th. I'm a million times more exhausted this time around, but otherwise feel fine.

Savanna is just over 11 months old. I can not believe she's almost a year!!!! Where has the time gone? Her birthday is on Saturday, May 9th, and we'll be having a birthday party for her at our house. I wish Paul's family wasn't so far away!

Savanna is still motoring around on all fours, pulling up really well, but not yet standing up by herself or walking on her own. I'm sure that's right around the corner....look out! She just cracks us up every day and has such a silly personality.

Here are some recent pics. We'll be getting her 1 year professional photos done in the next couple weeks so I'll be sure to post those, as well as pics from her party!

Much love to you all!

Hello everyone! We're happy to report that Savanna just started crawling today! (Finally!) Everybody has warned us what we're in for, so it's time to hurry and start child-proofing! Our poor dogs...they don't know what's coming!

She is 9 1/2 months, and had her 9 mo checkup just a couple weeks ago and everything is great! She is 27 3/4 inches tall (50%), and 16 lb 12 oz (25%). Her percentiles have stayed along the same curve since her 6 month, so that's good news. She's a tiny little thing, and just not a huge eater, even though I feel like I'm constantly trying to force feed her so she'll gain weight. But her pediatrician isn't concerned at all, since she's gaining weight and growing, and is very healthy! So I guess she'll just be petite!

Sorry it's been so long!

Hello all! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been super busy with working two jobs. My main job at Nacco and also for our new company, Gemini Airways. I barely have time to breath!

Savanna is getting so big...17 lbs! She's starting to get into the 12 month clothing! She started clapping 2 weeks ago and last week started to stand by herself while holding on to things. She just gets the biggest grin because she's so proud of herself. We're still working on crawling. I think she'll be walking before she crawls! She's getting up on her hands and knees but just hasn't figured out how to move those legs. She's been extremely vocal lately too. I think her first word will be daddy (go figure!). She'll be 9 months on Feb 9th, and I can't believe how fast time has gone by!

We have a ton of snow here...about a foot. I hate it! Get me outta here! LOL