Celebrating Christmas

WOW...I just can't believe another year has almost gone by. So much has happened in 2009...of course the most significant being the birth of Savannah. It's so strange to celebrate Sydney's first Christmas in 2008 and then Savannah's first Christmas the very next year! So let's talk about our holiday starting with Christmas Eve. Thursday morning we decided to head up to the mall to get Sydney's picture taken with Santa. I knew there would be a possibility of Sydney being scared of Santa, but I never imagined how TERRIFIED she could be. We stood in line for 40 minutes during which we kept talking to Sydney about Santa and that she could sit on his lap and get her picture taken. She seemed all into the experience. However, when the time came to actually sit on his lap, she absolutely freaked out. Screaming, arm flailing, tears rolling...it was way worse than I ever envisioned. So Santa suggested that Jason and I sit down with him and we get a family picture done. Twenty five dollars later, I have a picture of me holding Savannah, Sydney sitting on Jason's lap with tears rolling down her face and her finger in her mouth, and a very jolly Santa in the middle.

Onto the next Christmas Eve experience....Church. Mass started at 7:00PM. Since neither girl took a nap, I knew we were in for quite a night, especially since Syd's bedtime is typically around 6:30. The service was beautiful with lots of wonderful music. It all started to fall apart during the reading of the gospel. For the second week in a row, Sydney says, "Mom, I poo." I know that she really didn't, but if I don't change her immediately when she tells us this, she just continues to repeat it getting louder and louder each time. So after changing Syd, Savannah decides she's no longer happy. At this point, I'm really hoping to just make it through to the end...and we did. So we get home, put the girls in their new PJ's. Sydney had cute flannel PJ's with little dogs on them. She was thrilled to wear them.

Jason and I spent the next three hours putting together a wagon from Grandma and Grandpa and a play kitchen from Grammy and Great Gram. I'm not even going to get into the fun we had doing that. So onto Christmas morning...I think I was more excited than Sydney. At 7:00 I heard Sydney groan, so I immediately said, Sydney's up...let's go downstairs! So we got the girls up and went downstairs. Sydney was a little overwhelmed to say the least. She opened a couple of presents and then had enough. Sydney got a Mrs. Potato Head from Santa and Savannah got a personalized blanket with hat folded to look like a penguin. Sydney immediately claimed it as her baby.

Both girls were exhausted by noon. Jason and I had our traditional Chinese food for lunch while the girls napped. We then spent the rest of the afternoon pulling Sydney around in her wagon. We must have walked 3 miles of circles through the house pulling her around. At one point she insisted that Savannah join her in the wagon. We laid Savannah in there and did one lap. Sydney is the best big sister. She never leaves Savannah out of any fun she's having. So when we thought we had enough of the wagon, Sydney jumped on the tricycle from Aunt Case and Uncle D. She's too short to reach the peddles, so scooted along. However, she realized it was much more fun to have dad push her in laps around the house. Jason got tired of that real quick (or I should say, his back got tired of it). Pulling the wagon didn't seem so bad anymore.

Christmas was a wonderful family day. We hung out in our PJs all day, just enjoying each other and spending quality time together. Who can ask for more?

Baby Savannah Arrives.....And Life Since

OK...Again, it has been so long since I've updated this. But I have a good excuse. Life has been crazy since Savannah arrived. It was a little crazy before she arrived too. So October 28th was the day we were blessed with another healthy and perfect little girl. Savannah Madison was 8 pounds 4.6 ounces and 20 inches long. She was born at 2:03 PM. Sydney has been the best big sister ever. When she came to the hospital she immediately hugged and kissed her little sis...and she hasn't stopped since.

So let's review the holidays....Halloween was pretty nice. Sydney dressed up as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader and Savannah wore a super cute Halloween outfit. We bought a huge bag of candy and ran out in an hour. That's ok....the little kids come around early. My mom and gram came to visit and stayed for almost 2 weeks...that was a great visit and we were all sad to see them go. Jason's parents came for Vetern's Day weekend. Sydney enjoyed spending time with Grandma and Grandpa and reading Clifford over and over and over again. My dad came to visit for Thanksgiving. I cooked a turkey, but cheated on the rest of the dinner and ordered it from a local restaurant. It was OK. Next year we'll try for a fully homemade dinner. With two little ones running around and us not getting full nights of sleep, I just decided it would be OK to cheat. At least we didn't order Chinese!

Overall we're adjusting to life with two little ones. Sydney shares all of her toys and she hasn't broken Savannah yet, so I think I can consider that a success. Time is flying by...I'll be back to work in 7 weeks...ugh! I don't even want to think about it. Although, there are some days that I wish I was at work...but we haven't had too many of those days yet.

Monday was Sydney's 1 Year Baptism Anniversary so her Godmother joined us for a yummy dinner. For the first time I took both girls to the grocery store to pick up a few items. Good thing I only needed a few things because Savannah sat in her car seat in the cart, Sydney sat in the seat, and I didn't have any room for groceries. The funniest part of the trip was when we got home. Sydney got out of the car with her baby doll. She was playing in the garage with her doll and stroller while I carried Savannah and the groceries in the house. I accidentally his the horn button on my key chain...So my car starts beeping and flashing and scaring the heck out of Sydney. I turned and looked at the door and Sydney came flying through the door screaming "BABY, BABY, BABY" with the most concerned look on her face. I tried not to laugh, but I couldn't help it. She was hysterical. We went out to the garage and saved her baby. Everyone was safe and there were no major injuries.

Sydney is a little mommy to all of her baby dolls. She is doing a great job for real on her little sis too. The other day we were preparing dinner. I was cleaning grapes, Sydney was putting the grapes in the bowl, and Savannah was sleeping in her carseat on the counter. Savannah started to fuss, so Syd immediately stopped picking up grapes, grabbed Van's carseat, rocked it a bit, and then went back to putting grapes in the bowl. It was so cute! She can multitask just like me! I swear all WOMEN were born with that ability.

So just a couple more notes about Savannah. She's doing great. And she's a great sleeper, only getting up one time per night and then going back to sleep. She is just over 5 weeks now, she's getting used to life outside of the tummy. She went to the doctor on Wednesday for a 5 week check up (actually her one month check up a week late)....and she weighed 9 pounds 9 ounces! What a WHOPPER! When Syd was 4 weeks old she weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces. At this rate Savannah may outgrow Syd in a few months!

Time for me to get dinner ready and then watch Monk tonight. It's the series finale of MONK. I'm so sad to see that show go off the air. I love Monk! Friday nights just won't ever be the same.