Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Exersaucer

Allie picked up an exersaucer for us at the Kids Exchange last week. Savannah has really enjoyed it! It's so fun watching her discover new toys and really stare at them. I just took a video of her sitting in it as a test to see if I can start posting some videos of her. I love how she's playing with the frog and then looks at it like she's never seen it before in her life! Everything is something new. As I'm posting this she's sitting in the exersaucer talking up a storm! It's so cute! If this works, I'll be able to post a lot more of them. Here goes! Let me know if it works for you.

Other Savannah news: Our baby is 4 months old today! I can't believe it! She started sleeping on her stomach yesterday like a big girl. We put her down for her nap on her back as usual and she flipped right over. We flipped her a couple times and finally gave up and she slept great on her stomach! Last night she slept for 12 hours!! And today she has taken two naps that lasted almost 2 hours each! She's usually a 45 minute napper! This is great! I hope it's not just a fluke. We'll see...

Friday, July 25, 2008

Rolling Over!

Our little girl is now rolling over! So exciting and a little sad at the same time. On Sunday Cole was playing with Savannah on a blanket on the floor and got up for a few minutes and while he was out of the room I watched her roll over to her tummy (at 3 1/2 months old). We both got down on the floor with her and she rolled back to her back. She doesn't do it really often, but I have put her down in bed and gone back in there to find her on her stomach. Her laugh is also starting to develop. I can't wait to hear more of that! I also left her with a babysitter for the first time (other than a quick trip to the grocery store- thanks Allie!). We had a cookie swap with the girls from small group and I left Savannah for a few hours with Natalie and Gary Snuffin. Their little boy is 8 days younger than Savannah- a real cutie! Natalie said Savannah did very well, and thankfully, so did her mommy. I wasn't sure how I'd do leaving her, but it went well. It helps to have great friends taking good care of her! Well, that's a breif catch up of what's new with our baby. Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.
A new hair do. We're trying to figure out how to work with her random "bald" spots.Snuggling with her daddy. I love the way these two are together. Daddy and his little girl!I love this picture. Cole was trying to make Savannah smile for the picture. Whatever he was doing, it looks like she sure thinks it's funny!

In the picture below you can really tell how long Savi is. I can't wait to find out her weight and length next week at her 4 month appointment.Savannah loves having her feet up. When she's on her tummy, her feet are up in the air (that's how she figured out how to roll on to her stomach, she would put her feet up and tip over until she figured out how to get all the way over. Her feet are always propped up in her stroller. I had to take some pictures to document it. I love it!She loves to snuggle with her bunny or with her little giraffe blanket from Aunt Julie and Abby when she sleeps. It's so sweet! We don't put it in the crib with her for safety reasons, but when she's in the car seat or somewhere we can see her, I love seeing her all snuggled up!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

First Family Vacation!

Cole took a week off work for us to spend time together for our 3rd anniversary. We decided to head to Myrtle Beach and stay at Cole's parents' condo and just relax! It was such a wonderful week! Our friends Ethan and Allie and their son Baylor joined us for the first two days. When we first arrived we quickly settled in and then headed to the Ripley's Aquarium. It was so much fun watching Baylor stare into the huge tanks. Savannah rode in the Baby Bjorn and was fascinated by the glowing fish tanks and soft music... for the first 15 minutes, then it put her right to sleep! We adults really enjoyed it too!After the aquarium we had seafood (more crab legs then I've ever seen two men eat!) then we went back to the condo, put the babies to bed and played some cards. Sunday morning the guys woke up early and picked up some donuts for us, Savannah showed Baylor some of her toys,and then we took a quick trip to the pool. Savannah really seems to love being in the water, it's so much fun to watch.After the Jennings had to leave, Cole, Savannah, and I had a few days to just hang out. We did some outlet shopping, more swimming in the pool, watch some Deadliest Catch of course(Savannah seemed to enjoy it as much as Cole does), and on Wednesday (our anniversary AND the anniversary of when we found out we were pregnant) we had a nice dinner at Long Horn Steakhouse (which Savannah was sweet enough to sleep through) and then took our girl to the beach for the first time! It was right before her bed time, so she wasn't overly excited about any of it, but she didn't mind any of it either. She was fine sitting in the sand and when we put her feet in the water, so cried for about 2 seconds and then seemed completely fine with it. Hopefully next time we'll be able to stay longer and she'll be old enough to enjoy it.

Having some time with Cole without him having to for work was so great. Thanks Mom and Dad Varner for letting us stay at your beautiful condo! It looks great and is so relaxing! We hope to get back there again soon!!

Friday, July 11, 2008

A Little Catch Up

I have a few more photos of Savannah to share, and I figured I'd do a quick catch-up of what's new with our 3 month old (!!). She's sleeping through the night now! She wakes up between 5 and 6 talking to herself. The first few nights I went in and gave her her pacie a few times to hold her off to eat until 7:30, but the past few nights I've let her just talk until she put herself back to sleep and she's done really well and I haven't had to get out of bed until 7:15!
Tummy time is still a work in progress, but continues to get better. She's rolling over from her back to her side a lot and loves to lie on her back and grab her toes (so cute!) but still no rolling over- but as I said ealier, there's no rush!I went grocery shopping yesterday morning and Cole stayed home with Savannah. When I got home he had dug the Johnny Jumper out of her closet for her to play in. I thought she was still to little for it, but we gave it a try and she loved it! Go Daddy!!She's still talking to us a lot and loves grabbing on to things. We've pulled out her basket of toys and she really enjoys them. She puts everything in her mouth and is drooling like crazy! She's so much fun! We're pretty crazy about our little Sugar Bear!

Our Day Trip to Lexington

Savannah and I got to drive down to Lexington one day while we were in Greenville. We got to visit with Cole's parents, Valerie, Addie, and Yeats. They set up a kiddie pool with nice warm water and Savannah LOVED it! Granddaddy cooked chilly dogs for us (Yummy!!) with cupcakes for dessert! We had a great visit but it was too short! And, of course, I forgot to bring my camera! I was so mad at myself! Yeats looked too cute in his little baseball hat and Addie was as charming as ever and looked so adorable in her bathing suit! I'll definitely have to get better with my picture-taking! Thanks so much for a great visit- next time we'll have to bring Cole with us!

Our Trip to Greenville

Last week, Cole dropped Savannah and me off in Concord where my parents met up with us to bring us back to Greenville for the week. Cole had to work and help out at the church's Runner's Camp, so we decided to head to SC so I could go to Abbey's bridal shower and spend some time with family. We had a great time! The shower was beautiful and it was so great for Savannah to finally meet Abbey! Joelle and the twins came up on Sunday to stay for the week with us, so we had a whole week together. We had babies everywhere! It was wonderful! On Wednesday night, Brent and Katie drove in from Ohio. It is always such a treat to get to see them and this was the first time Brent got to meet Lyla and Pressley! They are so great with their nieces, we wish we could see them more often!Katie's sister Sarah, brother-in-law Garret, and their son Jack also made the trip from Cincinnati. Jack is gorgeous! I wish I was better at taking pictures, because I didn't get any of him with all the girls or of their family all together. We'll just have to get together again soon, I guess! Mom and dad set up a baby pool for the girls and for the most part they seemed to like it, but they all had moments when they seemed to think the pool was meant to make them miserable. They sure were cute in their little bathing suits, though (or birthday suits!).It helped to have the daddies in the pool with them, but it didn't leave much room for Jack.Gramma and Papa got all 4 of the babies matching red, white, and blue outfits, but again, I never got a picture of them all dressed up. These are the only two photos I have of Savannah in her cute little outfit. She loves her Gramma!We went downtown for a walk in the park and to window shop a little bit. It was hot, but fun to get out and a chance for everyone to strap on Baby Bjorns! We love those things!
The night before we all had to leave Greenville, we went out for a nice dinner at City Range (Yum!). We had a back room so at least we didn't ruin EVERYONE's meal. Keeping 4 little one's quiet in a restaurant is no so easy! Here's a shot of Lyla trying to decide what to order. "Do I feel like steak tonight, or lobster?"And since the babies weren't behaving, why should the adults? This is Cole letting the waiter know he's not quite ready for him to take his plate yet. There's a good snarl that goes along with this picture. You can almost hear it, can't you?Savannah was happy to be in Papa's arms. Wish she could be there more often! Thanks for a great meal and a fantastic weekend, Mom and Dad! You all are great hosts!