Happy Birthday, Darling Girl.

Dear Savannah,

Today is your 3rd birthday! 3 years ago, I was standing in my kitchen making lunch, when my water broke and you surprised us all arriving 7 short hours later, and you've been surprising us ever since!

You are one spicy and fiery little thing, and it's what I love most about you! You are so intelligent and observant. You absorb new information like a sponge and the things that you say are funny, imaginative and heartfelt.

It's been a big year for you! You have reached many milestones, the hardest one being potty training, which took us almost a year to get down. But you finally made it! Congrats baby girl! 

You also became a big sister, a roll that you have loved and have become an expert at. You are such a big helper! You like to help me feed, bathe, diaper and snuggle Deagan. Every morning, the first thing you do when you wake up is go climb into his crib and snuggle him for a while. He adores you and loves to play with you all day long. Thank you for being the best big sister ever!

I am most proud of your incredible imagination. You like to tell stories, and you have a wide array of imaginary friends, and even your own language! You see the world in a very different way than anyone else I have ever met, and I think your ability to think critically and creatively will be what makes you successful in all aspects of your life.

You are very friendly and you make friends easily. You are fearless and adventurous and so you have no difficulty in being comfortable in new situations and are never shy. 

I love that I get to spend every day with you! Thank you for being such an amazing little girl.

Happy birthday princess! (or pirate, or ninja, whichever you decide to be today!)

Party!

It still feels weird to think that my little girl is 2 years old! 

We decided to celebrate her birthday the day before, because it was a Sunday night and it was easier to get family together. I thought about throwing her a big party with friends, but then I decided that it would have been crazy trying to keep a bunch of 2 year olds entertained. So we kept it small with just my family and my grandparents.

We had the party at my parent's house, where my mom went all out and decorated the living room. I bought some balloons the night before and took them over there, because Savannah loves balloons and I wanted them to be a surprise (we even have a few still kickin' a week and a half later, and she loves to carry them around the house.)

She loved all of the decorations and especially all of the attention she was getting from everyone! 

We did a dinner, where my mom cooked some elk and moose roasts, and then I provided the cake and ice cream for dessert.

 I tried to ombre the cake... it didn't really work...

She loved all of her presents! She got a play cupcake set, a Tinkerbell doll and matching outfit, some clothes, a bike helmet, cute minnie mouse bows, some wooden butterfly magnets with paint to paint them, a penny bank, and some markers and a coloring book.

She also received some really wonderful gifts in the mail from family and friends! Her great grandma sent her some money, her aunt Sandy sent her a dress, a hello kitty toy, and a lei, and her grandma and grandpa Stokes sent her some play food, some squeaky BYU shoes, and an outfit.

I really feel like I'm missing someone or something, and I really apologize! I don't sleep much these days and finals are coming up so I basically can't think that well anymore. Let me know if you sent her something and I'm forgetting, because I really appreciate it!!!

Her Grandma and Grandpa Stokes also sent her a toddler bed! We haven't set it up yet because I haven't had time to buy sheets for it, and I don't have her new room ready yet. But I think we will try to set it up this weekend. She is really going to love it!

And Bryant and I ordered her a play kitchen with an apron and chefs hat. Unfortunately, when I started to set up the kitchen, it was missing the fridge, which is a huge part of the set. So It's all packed back up in the box, and when I called wal mart, they said I could return it, but I then have to re-order a new one myself. And no, they wouldn't give me free shipping to my home, or even free express shipping to the store. I'm a little mad about it, but I guess I can deal with it. It could be worse, they could just tell me "tough luck" and I'd have a kitchen with no fridge.

Anyways, Savannah had a wonderful party!

On her actual birthday, Monday, Bryant had to work most of the day and I had school. But that evening, we took her out for some pizza at our favorite little pizza shop, Brick Pizza (not to be confused with Brick Oven, which is also yummy.)

 

 (Savy trying to tickle her daddy with her Tinkerbell. Or as she calls her "pinkerbelle")

Then we came home and watched Wreck-It Ralph. She's kind of obsessed with that movie at the moment.

Thank you again to everyone who sent Savannah a message, called her, sent her a card, or sent her a gift. It really means a lot to me as her Mom to know that so many people in this world love her just as much as I do! I hope she will always know that throughout her life!

To Savannah, A Letter

My sweetest Savannah,

     Today is your 2nd birthday! I just tucked you into bed, where right now, you are snuggled under your blanket, with your Mickey Mouse, and two baby dolls, watching Blues Clues, while drinking a bottle of milk. It was strange tucking you in tonight, because you requested all of those things with words. I still can't believe that you are talking so much! You are just growing up so fast! It's also strange because 20 years ago, your room was my room, where my mom and dad tucked me in every night. Now I have the opportunity to be a mommy! When I shut your door (not all the way because you get a little scared in the complete dark, so I leave it open a crack and keep the hallway bathroom light on for you) I came out into the kitchen and noticed what time it was. It is currently 9:00pm. In 20 minutes, it's officially the moment you were born 2 whole years ago! In 20 minutes will be the first time I looked into your beautiful dark eyes, and you stuck your hand in your mouth and looked right back up me. You were so calm, you didn't even cry for a few minutes! You just coughed a bit, and looked at me. I felt like we were reuniting, rather than meeting for the first time, as if I already knew everything about you.

     I remember that first night, I asked the nurses to keep you in the nursery for the night, thinking that it would be easier for me to sleep after an exhausting day. But I stayed up almost the whole night because I missed you so much. I laid awake waiting for when the nurses would bring you in to eat, and being so excited every time I got to hold you. The next night, I kept you right next to me.

     I remember that first night we brought you home. We placed you in your cradle, and realized that it was broken and sagged to the side. I asked your daddy to set up the portable bassinet instead. By the time we got it figured out, I decided that I wanted you next to me instead. I didn't like that you were all alone in there. So I scooped you up and snuggled you between myself and your dad. You ended up sleeping next to us every night for 6 months! I had a hard time putting you in your own room. I still do! Every night, I still go check on you a few times before I crawl into my own bed. Now, I treasure those very rare times that you fall asleep next to me.

     You have grown so much in these last 2 years. You have really developed the funniest little personality. You just love to be around people. You are fearless, and I love that about you (but sometimes it really worries me!). You are compassionate, you worry about the happiness of others. I hope you keep this quality your whole life, and I have a pretty good feeling you will. You like to tease and play. You will do anything to get a laugh out of people. You are so full of energy. You just radiate this feeling of fun! You melt hearts with your smile and your laugh. We will have to keep an eye on you in the future, because you will be driving the boys crazy with that smile and your rosy cheeks someday!

     You have brought so much happiness and love into your dad and I's life. I can't imagine what my life would be like right now if I didn't have you here. You are definitely a daddy's girl, and you two make me so happy just watching you play together. As soon as he comes home from work, you always run straight into his arms with kisses waiting. That's one of my favorite moments of the day, seeing you get so excited about having your dad home.

     You have so many people in this world who love you, and I hope you never ever forget that! You have a large group of family and friends who would do anything for you. You bring sunshine into all our lives. You have a baby brother who will be here in 2 months. I know that you will be the very best big sister in the world! And trust me, I know how hard it is to be the big sister, but I know you will love him and help him and be his friend throughout life, because you were born with all of that inside of you.

     My sweet, wild, loving Savannah, I love you more than anything, and I am very proud to get to be your mommy. Happy birthday beautiful girl!

                           Love, Mom.

The day you were born

1 Year Old

2 Years old!

                    

One Year

I can't believe it's been a year since I got up to make myself some toast, and turned to Bryant saying "I think we need to go to the hospital". Seven short hours later, Savannah was looking into my eyes and my life was changed forever. It was almost like in the story of the grinch, my heart felt like it grew 3 sizes. I was so in love with her, and I felt as if I already knew her, like we were re-uniting after 23 years of being apart. I can't imagine life without her in it. 

 (When I first found out I was pregnant. I think I was 7 weeks along in this photo. When she was still the size of a grain of rice! Oh how I wish I had that body back!)

(Exactly 39 Weeks along, taken the night before I had her!)

 This last month has brought a lot of new, exciting and funny developments for Savannah. The biggest being that she is walking...well, kind of... She can walk short distances and often likes to walk from the chair to the coffee table, from the coffee table to the couch, from the couch to the nearest person. She's even getting braver and will stand up by herself and attempt 5-10 steps into wide open living room before she topples over. It's been so fun to see her test her boundaries and push them. Within a couple of weeks (or days!) I think I will have a busy walking girl on my hands!

 (Just a few days old! Wearing her biliblanket to help with her jaundice. She slept with her arms like that for months and hated being swaddled!)

(I think she was around 5 months old in this photo)

 She is becoming such a copy-cat these days. I am an avid user of lotion and Chapstick and she loves to put them on all by herself! She can also brush her own teeth (all four of them...) and brush her own hair (all ten of them...)(kidding... She's actually getting enough hair for me to clip a bow or flower in it. Not that she keeps them in long or anything though.) She even likes to pretend to put makeup on like mommy! She's such a smart cookie! 

 (One of my favorite photos! She was around 6 months old and getting ready for her first Disneyland trip!)

 She is still a champion eater and prefers the food you are eating as opposed to her mashed up baby food. For months she has been a self-proclaimed vegetarian and hated anything with meat, but she happily ate some ham slices the other day! Her favorite things to eat are girl scout thin mint cookies, marshmallows, and freeze-dried yogurt. If your have any of those within her sight, you had better give her some before she has a meltdown! We have also finally switched her to cows milk as of last week. I had been kind of putting off the switch for a while because I know so many people who really struggled to get their kids to drink cows milk, but she polished off the entire bottle like it was no big deal. I am so happy that I don't have to buy formula and mix bottles anymore! 

 (Another favorite. Probably around 6 months old here too.)

 She is finally back to sleeping through the night (hallelujah!!!) we found that sticking a big stuffed animal in her crib helps her feel like she is sleeping next to us and she's only gotten up once in over a week and that was while we were on vacation. She's also gotten into a really amazing sleep pattern, where she's been sleeping in until 10am, taking a 2 hour nap (instead of two, 1 hour long naps) around 4pm, then going to bed around 9pm. It's amazing!

 (Around 9 months)

(Her blessing day. July 2011, at 3 months old in Mt. Shasta California)

 It's been an exciting year. Savannah has taught me patience, she has taught me unconditional love, she has taught me to celebrate little achievements, no matter how small they seem. She has brought so much joy into my life that sometimes I feel so overwhelmed with happiness. She opens my eyes to just how amazing our little earth is. Everything is still new to her and it's fun to see life how she sees it. She has all of the personality traits I wished I had. She's not afraid to go after what she wants, she loves EVERYONE, she's tender and caring of people (and stuffed animals), she forgives quickly and acts silly just to see people smile.

 (1 Year! At her birthday party enjoying a cupcake!)

I love her so much it feels as if my heart could burst!

Happy Birthday beautiful girl!

(Sorry for the lack of posts! I've been busy with birthdays, vacation, work schedule changes and school finals. Hopefully I can catch up soon!)