First Taco

I mean, I might as well document this since I know when it was, right? We went to Moe's for some tacos and burritos and got Savannah a little vegetarian taco with rice, black beans, and cheese and the flour tortilla.  She loved it needless to say!

(yes we sanitized the table and high chair before she got in.  Antibacterial wet wipes are my best friend right now)

Snapshot of Savannah Cate at 11 months!

I'm really behind on the blog but want to get Savannah's 11 month post up before she's one! She is just busy busy busy these days and we are having so much fun with her these days!

I'm frankly thankful we only have one more month to do these photo sessions because they are a challenge! She is just so busy and on the move that it seems impossible to catch her not moving and smiling and looking at the camera all at one time!

Savannah has not grown very much at all in the past month.  She's still fitting in all the same clothes, 6-12 month, 9 month, and some 12 month things.  She is gonna be a little girl :) She's wearing size 3 diapers still.  She has 3 bottles a day that are 6 ounces each and is still on only breastmilk.  She always nurses when we are together but takes a bottle at daycare.  She is eating a ton right now and has a newfound love for BANANAS. We have to hide them from her to get her to eat anything else! She knows where the fruit basket is and will go stand in front of the cabinet below the fruit basket and bang on the door and scream B...nana!!  She hasn't quite gotten "Banana" all together but says the B and then Nana.  :) she loves mangoes, apples, pears, all her fruit pouches, multi-grain cheerios, strawberries, blueberries, sweet potatoes, bread, puffs, Mum-Mums, and everything we are eating.  She also starting eating turkey and cheese for lunch this month.  I almost got sad packing her lunch the first day she ate it because I felt like I was packing her a sandwich! I swear she is too young to eat a sandwich! :)

 

Savannah Cate is still NOT sleeping through the night but all I can say is "oh well". Big deal.  Sleep is overrated.  :)  She wakes up anywhere from 1 to 5 times every night.  And every night varies and we can never predict how the nights will go.  I will say that accepting the fact that we have a child who is a bad sleeper makes the night a lot easier.  When I go to bed, I know I will be woken up by her crying.  I don't have to hope and pray and worry that "maybe this will be the night she decides to sleep through the night".  That doesn't happen and I have accepted it :)  One day she will sleep and I will be happy when that day comes but it is ok that she doesn't.

Sweet girl finally got two teeth! She has her bottom two teeth that came in at the exact same time and it was terrible for all of us! She woke up like 6 times the night before they showed through the gums and she was pretty fussy for two days after.  But now she loves to use them to mash up her cheerios and food.  When she does that she makes this kissy face with her lips as she mashes up the food.  :)

 

Savannah starting walking this month and it was on my birthday! She takes a few steps here and there but I wouldn't call her a "walker" yet because she still prefers to crawl as she is faster at that.  We work on it every day though and I know any day she'll just take off.  She stands forever and has great balance, so I think it is just a fear thing that she'll get over any day now.  We walk all around the house with her holding one finger. She's also babbling constantly.  She can say mama, dada, bye bye, ba (for 'boys', what I call the kitties), bow, hi, hey, woo (woo pig sooie! she puts her arms up and everything!), da (what she says when she points to stuff a lot), nana, banana (sort of), anna (similar to nana :)), and probably other stuff I can't think of.

Sweet baby is still a mama's girl but isn't clinging to me as much as she used to.  I can actually pass her around for a second but not too long.  She is understanding so much more these days too. I can ask her a question and she can respond.  She is also a little parrot and loves to repeat sounds Birc and I make.  She can tell me where her belly is too! We are starting to work on identifying her nose and belly and head and she knows her belly! It is so cute, she pats her belly with both hands when I say "Where is your belly?" and she gets so proud of herself!

 

It is hard to believe I am planning her first birthday party! It seems like Savannah has been with us forever, but it seems just yesterday was her birthday all at the same time. 

We love you so much baby girl and I am so happy to have you in our family! You are such a special gift to us. :)

 

Our Weekend

We had a great weekend and it was spent putting in an awesome swing set for Savannah in our backyard! We had Anna and Aaron and my parents over for the morning day and had lots of yummy food, visiting, and the guys had a good time (I think, anyway!) working in the backyard.  The finished product is just wonderful and Savannah loves it! The box said to allot 1 to 2 hours for the project.  I figured if we doubled that we'd be good.  Well. Multiply it times 5.  It took about 10ish hours to complete! The swing set is really for her birthday but we wanted to get it built and in the ground now before it turns really cold and the ground gets frozen.  I am so proud of Birc for building the whole thing with my dad and Aaron! Our friends Ben and Nicole and baby Caroline also came over for a while to lend a helping hand and visit! As for the rest of our weekend, we had lots of church activities going on on Sunday and spent a lot of time with Nana and Gran catching up with them as well. The bonus was we went on a little afternoon date to the movies! We love our weekends. :)

I think it's safe to say she loves it.

 

Anna prepped the whole area and got everything ready for the boys!

YAY!
 

Somehow CC got away without getting her picture taken! Boo!  Anyway, it was an exciting project and something I've been so excited about for weeks now.  Very thankful to my family for helping! Love you guys!

Before I Forget...

I wanted to record that we brushed Savannah's teeth and dried her hair with a hair dryer for the first time last week! This is how she felt about both:

 

Haha! Hope she learns to like both sooner than later!

 

We also put her hair in tiny pigtails on Saturday! Anna got the clips in and she looked PRECIOUS. However she did not enjoy them like her mama did and screamed. :) Oh my...

 

Bloggy Break

Sorry guys, I took an unintentional bloggy break last week and will get this up to date this week.  Hope everyone had a great weekend! Check back Tuesday for lots of updates!

Our weekend...

...dashed away as fast as these two have been going around the house!

 

We spent some time outside, a lot of time at church, and fun times with family and football!

 

 

[yes. Birc and I both wore a pink shirt.  It was unplanned.]

Question, readers...

I am wanting to make some sort of Advent countdown for my family to be able to do each year. I am wanting something that is homemade or able to be homemade, and something that I can incorporate Scripture into.  I have figured out as an adult that the Advent season can come and go without ever feeling that magical childlike feeling you used to get at Christmas...but if I am intentional about it then I can really experience Christmas each year. Which I want to do. Every year.

 I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, when you were little, there was so much excitement about Santa and presents and decorations, Christmas hymns at church, reading the Christmas story on Christmas Eve, family spending time together, driving around looking at lights, and all of everything that just made December a magical month.  Now for me as a Christian and an adult, Christmas is all about celebrating the fact that Jesus my Savior was born by a miracle.  I LOVE Christmas and all that comes with it and I have always immersed myself in the season.  If I make a plan and am intentional, it can happen even when I am busy with work and shopping and decorating and baking and parties (and birthdays!).  I'm hoping an Advent calendar of some sort will help me in this.  All you Pinterest-ers, any thoughts? [I am purposefully not on Pinterest as it would be such a time-sucker in my life I am choosing to avoid it.] Do any of you have something you liked having growing up or like doing now? I want it to be good for kids and adults alike. I would really LOVE to hear any comments with suggestions.

And here's my almost 11 month-old practicing her 1 year old pose:  [I'll tell her about the double-chin and how to fix it, don't worry. haha :)]