10 Months.

Savannah baby, how are you already 10 months old? My dearest little girl, time is flying so fast and I'm trying my best to keep up, it goes way.too.fast these days. Wow, have you learned and grown and stretched your sights high this month! There are so many things you have excelled at. It's been a blast watching your cute self do all these things. You are really showing me that you're turning into a big girl, and not so much a little baby. {cue tears...} It's been a very adventurous month, and your momma is trying hard to take it all in... the realization that you'll be turning 1 year old in less than 8 weeks, is kinda freaking me out. Seriously. One already? You may be ready, but I need more time! Let these next couple months go slowly, so mom can call you her little baby girl just a wee bit longer....Mmmk?

Here's what's going on with you sweetie!

1. Anyone who knows anything about you will call you out on your crazy wiggle-ness! You are all over the place. It can get pretty tiring while holding you because you are such the wiggle worm! All you want to do is explore while walking-now-turned-running.
2. You still have those 8 adorable little teeth. The blasted teething has returned along with the slobbering, occasional grumpiness, and the obsessive chomping. Poor baby...
3. One of your favorite things to do is go through the diaper bag and toy box and pull every.single.item out! I find myself cleaning up that mess at least 3 times every day. You especially love to open the lids off your snacks and dump them all over the floor because, let's get real, that's the best way to shove the most into your mouth.
4. I love how your personality shines wherever we go. My favorite is the first few moments of walking outside or getting out of the car. You'll spread a grin from ear to ear while having this irresistible cute scrunchy face {don't know where that came from.} Love all your little quirks!
5. This month you have become so much more cuddly! My heart nearly explodes when you walk up to my knees and nuzzle your head onto them. Those moments have been some of my favorite momma times. It lets me know that I'm doing something right and that you do find comfort in me.
6. Even though you're still loving baby food, we've started to give you some of our food too, which you love! Especially Daddy's naughty little habit of giving you M&Ms and cookies and anything else yummy he's eating...
7. You've started to throw things on the floor and you think it's funny. {not so funny}
8. Your hair is growing! To even out your new baby hairs and the ones you were born with, your Grammie gave you your first hair cut 2 months ago. Now, your bangs are back to reaching the bridge of your nose. To trim or not to trim....I haven't made up my mind whether or not I'll like your bangs swooped to the side or not. What do you think??
9. Books are a big deal and you LOVE to read them. You love to bring us books during play time and wait for us to invite you on our laps to read. Turning the pages is your favorite part. You especially get excited whenever you spot yourself in a mirror in a few of the books! I hope that you will always love to read.
10. I can't believe that I haven't said this before, but you love the details! You will find a teeny string or crumb within a 10 foot radius of where you are sitting.
11. For nap time, you are obsessed with your small Winnie the Poo blankie. It's so cute how much you love it. You wrap your arms around its body and bury your face into it and give it the biggest squeezes. The ears and arms are a little bit harder and you just chew the heck out of them. I was laughing so hard the first time I saw you searching the blanket for them. So funny! And so random.
12. Daddy taught you to play fetch with your new ball. It's insanely cute watching you waddle over to the ball, squat down to pick it up, and come up with the biggest grin ever and run back to hand it to him. You even squatted down to try to play fetch with a pumpkin this weekend. Maybe one day Tiny Girl!
13. I don't know who taught you but you picked up Chinese this month. You talk ALL.THE.TIME. And you know exactly what you are saying, it's hilarious. And yes, it definitely sounds like Chinese. Typical Savannah is chewing on a favorite toy while walking in figure 8's while getting your Chinese on.  You can be such a HAM!

8:00- milk & food
10:00- nap
12:00- milk & food
2:00- nap
4:00- milk & food
6:00- food
7:45- milk & bed.

Always chewing on something. Getting ready for her photo shoot. She ruled out the crazy-large bows.

I'm pretty sure I heard Savannah say, "Get me off of this chair before I throw my body off it!"

Why, yes! I'll pose for the picture if I can chew the head of something delish!

My sweetie-baby, I feel blessed every day to call you mine! Your daddy and I truly do love your spirit and smiles. You have him wrapped around that little finger of yours. He wants nothing more than to keep you happy. Thank you for being such a ray of light in our home. We are constantly on our knees asking to see the way the Lord would have us change so that we can be the best parents you need us to be. I want to be so good for you, hunny. Love you more than words can say.

Yours truly, Me

8 months.

Hunnybuns! You are growing up toooooo quickly. You spend your days walking & walking and I love it!. You are so interested with the world around you. Such a curious little girl. I have evolved into calling you 'Sweetie Baby' and your daddy still loves to call you 'Tiny Angel', 'Little Foot' and 'Fatness Face'. Don't read too much into it. I mean, whats not to love about the chub? Sadly, it's still diminishing. You are so playful and happy. You are easily entertained by your daddy, you love to play games with us and especially love music!

1. Babbling is your thing now. You are definitely expanding your jabber vocabulary. You kept saying Ma-ma-ma for the longest time. I'll stick with that as being your first word ;-)
2. You love playing games! You're anticipating the excitement of pic-a-boo and other tickling sessions. Especially when daddy is holding you and I'll creep up towards you to tickle you. You crack up over that!
3. Bath time is still a favorite of yours. But for the life of me, I cannot get you to sit in the tub. Then again, when do we ever find you sitting anywhere? Why sit when you can slide all over the tub and potentially damage that pretty face of yours? I bet you would stay in there for hours if I let you. Maybe if you start sitting... we could work something out ;)
4. You have become very interested in everything 'girlie'. Like headbands, necklaces, earrings, etc. If someone is holding you and has one of those accessories, you must have it in your mouth! I always feel the need to let them know that it's you ... and not them. 
5. The rest of your teeth came in which makes a total of 8! No more slobbery bibs. Until the next round of teething comes back to haunt us.
6. You are such a happy baby. Flirting with smiley strangers has become your specialty. Unless they touch you. Then you release your stranger danger scowls. I secretly love it. It keeps the nasty fingers off those cheeks of yours.
7. You are walking up a storm! A week before your 8 month birthday is when you took your first few steps. Your wobbli-ness (yes, new word) is improving each new day. Like your Aunt Marlys says, you're the most stable drunk person around. Your pivoting is clean. We're so impressed.
8. You're not a snuggler by nature, but this month you have given me a few moments seconds? of laying on my shoulder. My heart just dies when you do. My favorite is when you moanfully chew on my nose, knee, or shoulder. 
9. You were loving the nursery at the gym. Then suddenly, you up and developed classic separation anxiety. It's been hard on the both of us. You haven't really gotten any better with it. I guess you and I just hang out too much or something ridiculous like that. And so, I turned to the pages of my trusty Babywise book. It recommended that I should've been giving you daily "alone playtime" in your playpen. It looks like we'll have another adventure ahead of us!
10. You have protested your late evening naps long enough for us to know that you have phased them out. This is your new schedule, which varies on the days we go to the gym.

8:00-milk & food

10:00- nap

11:30- milk & food

1:30- nap

3:30- milk & food

6:30-milk and food

8:00-milk 

8:10- bed time

You and your daddy make my life complete, and sometimes I think my heart could burst because of the love I have for the both of you. I love being a mom, but I especially love being your mom. I just love you sooooo much girlie.

Yours truly, Me

7 months.

(she was drooling and lunging for the dangling lens cap)

(look at this cheesy smile?! it was nap time... she was just humoring me)

our beautiful baby girl is 7 months old! how are you closer to a 1 year old than a newborn?!
here are some new things you've learned and things we've learned about you!

1. you have 4 new teeth that just popped in on top. 6 = total. it was such a fun discovery to see so much going on in your gums but it kind of makes me sad. i haven't managed to cope with this growing business quite yet. 
2. you are communicating more and more and i feel like you are understanding what i say to you. we've been working really hard since you were 4 months on signing to 'milk', 'momma', 'da-da', 'up', 'down' and 'more'. You understand the words but i don't think you know that you even have hands.
3. since you have become the moving machine, we've had to create some 'no zones' around the house. top of the stairs, vases, blinds, etc... your obedience is shining through hunnybuns! we are amazed at the way you avoid touching the objects even though you are obvious with about how badly you want to play with them. occasionally your body will be flailing with excitement as you're a foot away from a tall floor vase. your giddy eyes are scanning up and down the zebra colors. slowly, you'll lean closer with your finger stretched out. but pshyc! you'll fall back and crawl away. sometimes, you forget about it being off-limits, and you'll lean closer in to touch it. we'll say, "savaaaaaaaanah?" 99% of the time, you'll fall back and go on with your exciting life. i'm so impressed... please stay that way. k?
4. your favorite book is brown bear, brown bear. but you're still partial to the 3-paged red, yellow, and blue book.
5. you've gotten a little feisty this month and have shown a few moments of frustration. you'll fuss and fuss and then let out a quick, loud scream. you sure do know how to protest! a sign of things to come? i hope not.
6. i have yet to lie you down on your back and for you to stay on your back. you are such a wiggly worm! the moment i put you on your back for a diaper or clothes change, you will swing your entire torso over to quickly crawl away. i've resorted to embarrassing measures to get the job done. you're not happy if you're not crawling or side-scaling the couches with something new in your hands (or mouth!) You've mastered the 'falling' technique. ouch!
7. you're wearing up to size 12 month clothes. you're a long little thing! your rolls of chub are slowly diminishing. as long as you're standing (on the tippy-toes!) then you're a happy as a ham.
8. you're a great little eater. you will basically eat everything we give you. the trick is to keep your attention. you're so enthralled with the world around you that food quickly looses its appeal.
9. you're still rocking the ear infections. poor baby, we'll occasionally (10x/month) hear you awake in the middle of the night with a short bout of crying. we know you're hurting but you've handled the pain so well.
10. sleep is still your friend. you have the same schedule as last month. sleeping about 11 hours a night. you're waking up a little bit earlier but you just play and chat with yourself in your crib until i come to get you at 8am. 

i've said it before and I'll say it again, savannah, having you here the past 7 months have been the happiest 7 months. you have made our lives and hearts so full! you are such a blessing to us. we're so lucky to have you as our daughter. it's the most fun thing ever to see your sweet, bright personality. we couldn't imagine loving you anymore than we already do. xoxo

Yours truly, Me

Half of a Year.

Sweet cheeks is growing up sooooooo fast! Just too fast. We are already celebrating her reaching half a year--it's hard to believe. Each new month brings on additional quirks and tricks that she is exploring and developing. Savannah is becoming FULL of personality and has her daddy and I laughing and smiling all. the. time. We couldn't imagine adoring her anymore than we already do.

6 Month Stats:

weight: 17.3 lbs (60th%)

height: 26.4 inches (60th%)

head: 16 inches (3rd%)

1. You are an official sitter! You're getting better and better each day with suppressing the infant twitch-i-ness that would always cause you to topple right over onto the floor. I love how independent you are becoming.
2. It's not often that you'll stay sitting up now that you are crawling! Emotions in the home are on much happier grounds now that you can go and get whatever your adorable little heart wants! Crawling has been the best thing ever. It is so fun to watch you zip around the rooms to grab a toy or when you spot the shiny tile or marble floors. We can't get over it. We thought you were so funny when you crawled off the carpet and onto the chilly marble floors. You didn't like your knees to touch the cold floors and so you held the plank position the entire time. 
3. You have become the pull-up-to-stand, side-scaling, drawer-opening queen of the house all of while getting your slobbery raspberry-blowing on. Now.... if you can only learn to sit down after realizing you're freaked out from standing up so high. Oh boy.
4. You are very into yourself. Seriously. Mirrors, pictures and video clips (not of everyone... just you.) Quite often will I find you coo-ing and smiling while you're crawling on my bed, only to see that you have found your reflection in the bathroom mirrors 10+ feet away. Perhaps a slice of humility will be coming your way ;-)
5. You're getting awesome with holding your own bottle. You're pretty much a rock star.
6. Your personality has evolved so much this past month. You are so full of love already. You aren't shy to express your likes and dislikes. You have become quite feisty this month! If you like it-you want it. If you don't like it, you let everyone know about it. With all of your new skills and tricks I have to remind myself that you are still a tiny baby! 
7. We took a road trip to visit your Crossley family and you had such a ball. So much love and attention. They couldn't believe what a smiley baby you are. But I think you just get so bored at home that when we go out you're flirting with anyone and everyone interesting. You are very loved baby girl!
8. You've started eating little puffs and yogurt bites. You love them! You've also been inhaling oatmeal and your jars of fruits/veggies. You haven't shown a preference to any flavor quite yet. It all depends on if you're in the mood to focus on eating. 
9. Blasted ear infections! You had one at your 6 month visit and you still are rubbing your ear in an irritating fashion.
10. You're still rocking the sleeping schedule with 11 hours a night. You know how much momma appreciates a good night's sleep. And I love waking up to your songs and growls! You aren't falling asleep for your naps as easily but you eventually give in. Schedules have not been a breeze to establish but you have proved time and time again that it is the best thing (for all of us!) and totally worth it. Your typical schedule has evolved to this:

8:00- milk. play

10:00- nap

11:30- milk. play

1:30- nap

3:00- milk. play

5:30- nap

6:30- milk. play

8:20- milk

8:30- bed.

Oh, I just love this stage! You act like you are excited about life- and it's so fun to be around you! Thank you for being such a good girl, Hunnybuns. I'm so grateful to be your momma. Nearly every time I leave your room after putting you down for a nap, I'll have a mild 'freak out' moment. It's quite humbling to realize that you have utterly stolen my heart. I would feel broken if I ever lost you. You are such a joy in our home! I hope you are always happy, baby girl. Happy doesn't even begin to describe how your daddy and I feel about you. Love you forever and ever.

Yours truly, Me

5 months.

Man oh man! Time is going by so fast and we have seen Savannah transform so much this month. She doesn't seem like a helpless little infant anymore because of how much excitement she contributes to our family. Every few days we catch ourselves saying something like "Wow, she is like another little human hanging out and playing with us!" Her sweet personality is shining through. It never gets old... having our cute baby girl and her luscious, fat cheeks within an arms distance. Cheeks of which I smoother in kisses no less than 1,000 times each day.
 Speaking of those cheeks...

1. You have TWO teeth!!! The second tooth just poked through today! Your first tooth erupted on the day you turned 5 months. There we were, wondering what happened to our happy little child. Almost the entire 4th month was rough for you. fussing. drooling. reflux. refusing to nap. catching daddy's cold. excessive need to be chewing. ETC. Poor girl! I wanted to start checking your gums to see if I could feel your tooth coming in and sure enough I felt the razor sharp edges. Eeeek! I screamed for your daddy to come see! I think I freaked you out, actually. I was so happy to finally understand why you've been so crazy. On the other hand, my womb wanted to cry out "STOOOP growing!" I'm going to miss that gummy smile but your daddy keeps telling me we'll love the mini tooth. Buckle up Hunnybuns. We're teeth people. We'll always be all up in your teethy business ;-)
2. You are the best little jumper in your Rainforest Jumperoo! You've learned how to play with all of the attached toys. Sometimes you'll lean your head back onto the headrest while starring up towards the ceiling while jumping high up and down! It's the funniest thing to watch!
3. You are starting to recognize familiar faces. We love that you will return every smile from us. But you definitely don't like unfamiliar faces. It's been so funny to watch you start to cry and look anxiously at me to assure you about a crazy stranger. Don't you worry, that's okay. You're just learning all about stranger danger at an early age.
4. You discovered your voice a few months ago but something clicked in your head that screaming and growling is just so fun and so you do it all. the. time! And yes, you cannot get enough of the growling. I would've guessed that hearing you growl would be adorable and cute. Nope. It sounds incredibly freaky and possessed. And whose your favorite friend to growl with? The man who taught you. You'll be letting loose of high-pitched scream all day long with me but once daddy walks in the door, you'll furrow your cute eyebrows and start growling with daddy. But only after you have released the most excited hyperventilated breaths, of course.
5. You are so entirely fascinated with drinks and straws. Once you've spotted my hospital water jug with it's long, plastic straw it is all games to get you to forget that it once was.
6. It's still fairly difficult to get you focused on drinking. You're incredibly distractible and the smallest noise will have you whip your head around to see what's going on. As long as you're hungry, you'll drink 4oz without needing it re-heated. Embarrassingly enough, I'm excited about the improvement. A few weeks ago, we had a couple day stand-off over the milk's temperature. You won, my Princess. You'll give me a schedule as long as I continue giving you warm milk. 
7. You're working so hard on scooting. You can push yourself backwards a little bit, and so sometimes you'll inch further and further away from the toy you really want. It's so cute to see your perplexing face!
8. We tried solids this last month and you did quite well. We started on oatmeal with bananas, sweet peas, avocados, steamed carrots, and pears with granola. These days, you aren't too interested in the baby food but rather the foods you can hold onto and feed yourself (see Baby Led Weaning.)
9. Last month, we ditched the pacifier and swaddle and you've been a rock star about it! You love to chomp on the hard edges of your pacifier as a teething toy.
10. We decided to tough it out and get you back onto a consistent schedule. Eat. Play. Sleep. You've been having such an awful time with teething and the endless fussiness that I knew a routine would be better for both of us. Unfortunately, we had given in and allowed you to become used to being rocked, shushed, white-noised, and sung to sleep for all of your naps. I was dreading the cry-it-outs that we went through months ago. But anything could be better than the current feeling of having no idea how to help or anticipate what you need. We started the routine 2 weeks ago and during the first nap of the day, you cried for 1.5 hours S.T.R.A.I.G.H.T. It was awful and painful for the both of us. At the start of the 2nd nap, you cried for 15 minutes. And every nap after that you fussed for 3-4 minutes. Over the next two days, you would would fuss for 0-2 minutes. Hallelujah! We figured out the key to you being able to go down easily for a nap was to always wake you up from the previous nap. I've let you sleep in longer on your own terms and it's always bad news for the rest of the day. Lesson learned? Don't ease up on an already established schedule. 

Hunnybun's typical routine:

7:00: milk. play

8:30: nap

10:00: milk. play

12:00: nap

1:00: milk. play

2:30: nap

4:00: milk. play

6:00 nap

7:00: milk. play

8:30: milk. bedtime

Yours truly, Me

4 Months.

4 month stats:

weight: 14.4 lbs (25%)
height: 26 inches (82%)
head: 16 inches (20%)

1. You rolled over for the first time! Sadly, I was out to lunch with my dear friend and got a phone call from your ecstatic daddy... you made him so proud. He had laid you onto the floor and you suddenly surprised him by quickly flipping over to your tummy! For the next few days, every time we laid you on your back you will twist your body towards the right and flip onto your hands and belly. 
2. Your roly-polyness has toned down since you realized that you hate to be on your tummy. If I'm not on the floor, entertaining you with books and colorful toys then you will fuss and fuss until you're off your tummy. 
3. You love to hold everything! Your little fingers will wrap around my hands or the bottle while I'm feeding you. A few nights ago, you were gripping your daddy's finger while we were all cuddling on our bed getting ready to nap together. He said, "This is all I've ever wanted from our baby ... for her to hold my finger!" He was soooo excited about that before you came to us. You'll hold onto your burp cloth while I'm burping you. You grab onto the toys while sleeping in your car seat. You grab onto my hair while I'm holding you (how I am not bald by now with all the chunks of hair you've managed to yank out is beyond me.)
4. Your arm movements have become much more controlled when you want to grab something. You're eyes will focus on something that you see in front of you while your arms stiffen up and move towards it. It is so fun to watch your learn and develop!
5. You really enjoy having me read books to you. Especially the cloth ones that I let you grab and squeeze and stuff into your mouth! And you even let me re-read the same few pages over and over.
6. I'm calling it right now, you are going to be a singer! You love to sing-scream when you're super excited. It's the cutest thing ever! Last Sunday during sacrament, your sweet little heart just couldn't help itself. You'll stomp one foot and let out an excited scream. And you couldn't stop. We took you outside to let your giddiness calm down and you became a little more calm and reverent. When we sat back down in the meetings, you went off again with excited yelling and stomping. Daddy lucked out had to take you out for the rest of the meeting. We are just so in love with you! We think you are so funny when you get into those screaming fits.
7. You love to chew and slobber on anything you can get your hands and mouth on! If it's in your hands, it will go straight to that mouth of yours!.. My shoulder, blankets, your fists and, as of lately, your single index finger. I sure hope those little teeth take their sweet time to bud! I melt every time you flash that gummy smile!
8. You still have a beautiful double chin. Your daddy likes to joke that it looks like a goiter. I'm not gonna lie, it kinda does! The insults really come out when it's bath time and we have to dig deep within your chubby rolls to dig out the the collected lint. Darling... enjoy it while it's still crazy cute!
9. You have become so flexible! During diaper changes, you love to grab your toesies with your hands and scream-hum until I'm finished.
10. You are fighting your schedule, baby girl. And I haven't been consistent with it either. You'll vary from taking 30 minute - 2 hour naps. It hasn't helped that we've all caught the same terrible cold and it's snot-inducing awfulness has lingered up until today. But you are the best night sleeper a momma could ask for! You usually sleep 10 hours a night; you are doing great with that! Thaaaaaank you, Hunnybuns. 

Your daddy and I love to watch you progress and learn new things! I can hardly believe that you are mine forever. I'm so blessed. And even though I might roll my eyes when you wake up for the 50th time before 4am when you're having an off night, I still think you're the best reason to wake up for. I wouldn't trade you for anything!

Yours truly, Me

3 Months

Oh, my sweet baby girl. Please tell me you're still a baby, right? With the rate you're growing up I'm afraid I am on my way to your high school graduation after packing up all of your newborn clothes.

1. You are such a smiley girl now! And oh my word you have the cutest grins we have ever seen. Especially the wide, closed mouth smirk. Ya know, the one where you purse your lips together perfectly while hearing plenty of "Aww! You are so cute!" from us. You are going to be breaking lots of hearts little lady. (But we're thinking not until you're at least 35, okay?)
2. You know how to say mama! Okay, not really. But sometimes when you cry it sounds like "maaaaa" and when you repeat that it sounds like you're calling for my name.  I love it so much that I get tempted to just let you cry it out over and over. But I haven't. ...yet ;-)
3. You are "cooing" all of the time when you're in love and you let out the funniest screams and laughs when you are excited. 
4. You are so strong. Especially those long legs of yours. You love to stand on your feet. I think you are so entirely proud of yourself that you can't help but stomp your feet while bouncing your legs.
5. You don't scratch your face anymore! Well, the majority of the time. You've learned to use the backs of your hands to rub your eyes when you're tired to save that pretty face of yours.
6. You have become such a diva in regards to the temperature you require of your milk. And you have no problem with letting us know if it has dropped a few degrees. Oh, Miss Savannah Jane...
7. You love to be swaddled and we know that is why you've been sleeping through the night since you were 2 weeks old. But you can be quite the houdini once you wake up from a nap. It's amazing to see arms and legs finding their way out of a securely velcro-ed swaddle. 
8. You are becoming more and more aware of where I am. I love this in-between stage of a newborn and a baby. You recognize when I am near you but you don't get upset if I need to leave the room. 
9. You are grabbing lots of things now. Slobbered fists and momma's hair are your top favorites! Ouch!
10. You love to get your beauty rest! And momma loves that you love to get your sleep. You get about 10 hours of sleep each night. You have become a great Babywise baby and you love your schedule. Everyone is happy when you are on your 3 hour schedule. We are so spoiled!

My sweet little girl. You are such an angel baby and your daddy and I are so happy to have you in our family.

Yours truly, Me

6 Weeks

Hunnybuns 1 month photo! I'm kinda super excited to repeat these photos each month!

Wow. How is it possible that just over a month ago ago, I was in my hospital bed cuddling this little lady in my arms. Those first few days after her birth will forever hold a few of the most tender moments of my life. Time goes by so slowly when you're expecting, but once they're here it doesn't slow down!

1. We have officially moved into size 1 diapers. I've been subconsciously avoiding this step despite amc's persistence. Yes... she may or may not have had a few diaper blow-outs to validate ditching the cute newborns' size. 
2. I L.O.V.E. going shopping and running errands with my little woman. Now, why is that? My Moby wrap! Amc tagged along with us on our last shopping trip and he insisted it would be much easier to leave her in the car seat. I told him that he should have stayed home. But, I reluctantly agreed. I totally pouted all throughout the store. Not in the obnoxious way... but by way of letting him know that clearly I was missing out on a bonding moment with my daughter. Bless his heart, he took her out of the car seat and placed her into my awesome 5 yards of stretching goodness! He loves me.
3. Speaking of that man of mine. You know what melts my heart? Catching this man singing sweet lullabies to his baby girl. The other love his life. And he never lets her forget it.
4. Our favorite things about her little body? Delicious cheeks. Chunky double chin. Awesome 2'' long, dark hair. She gets it all from her mama. Chunk and all. yum!
5. I'm her bodily functions' biggest cheerleader! Passing gas and the most awesome burps definitely extracts high pitch squeals and loads of 'good job Hunnybuns!!'

Playtime with her cousins Parker and Grant. No really, she's having so much fun.

On our way to church. She was a total champ.

Ohmygoodness. I just want to pinch her cheeks off!

Yours truly, Me

Savannah's Birth Story

Good gracious... Can someone freeze this moment? 

...What I would give to soak up this moment again and again.

Hunnybuns' due date was set for January 1st. Buuuuut, time was pressed with the return of the school semester and having family in town for only a few short days. With the help of our awesome OB, we scheduled to get induced a few days earlier. 

Tuesday, Dec. 27

6:00pm- Induction day! Freaked out? Not at all. I was ready for our Savannah Jane to be outside of my belly and snuggled into my arms. 

We grabbed some dinner with my entire family at BJ's. I indulged in more slices of the Chicken Alfreado Pizza than I'd like to admit especially considering I had already scarfed the meal I had ordered and moved on to amc's pizza oozing with deliciousness. Case and point. Don't offer to share with me if you're hungry.

9:00pm- When we arrived at the hospital, I was checked at 1cm (3 weeks goin' strong!) and 0% effaced. I changed into my gown and got hooked up to an IV and an absurd amount of monitors. The monitors around my belly showed contractions of moderate strength coming every 5 minutes. I had a feeling that this would be an exciting waiting game. And so, with full bellies and the unknown of how long this labor might take, both amc and I decided get some rest while we still had the chance. 

10:00pm- My nurse, Amber, placed Cervidil onto my cervix to speed along the softening.

12:00am- Amber checked my cervix and didn't feel any progress. Super. Not a problem, we're just two hours in to this shindig. She then started me on an oral pill called Cytotec to induce stronger contractions.

12:30am-Another dose of Cytotec.

2:30am-Goodie! More Cytotec.

4:30am-Amber checked and found no progress. She did mention that my cervix felt very agitated. Ya think? More Cytotec.

6:30am-By this point, my contractions were coupling on top of each other. A special thankyou shout-out to Cytotec. The contractions were manageable. Amber checked me again and couldn't tell if there was any progress. I saw her hands... she had short and stubby fingers. Boo. She had her supervisor come in to re-check me and but I was still 1 cm. My Dr. needed my contractions to spread further apart before we could begin Pitocin. 

9:00am-Amc pulled out the laptop and we started watching a Netflix favorite called Flashpoint while I snacked on some ice chips. By then, I had made 10+ trips to the ladies room where amc would help me waddle over towards. Throughout the entire night, amc woke up with me and stayed by my side to help untangle and unhook me from all of the monitors. He deserves some sort of ''Rockin' Husby'' medal. Maybe he'll be happy with a baby girl? Otherwise, he can bare the next one.

10:00am-My contractions finally began to spread further apart from one another. Now, they were only coming every 2-3 minutes. Still manageable. The nurse started the Pitocin through the IV.

10:30am-Amc's entire family had driven into town the night prior and spent the night at our house. They made a short visit to the hospital to see us before Savannah was born. It was great to see everyone! I ended up laughing my way through a lot of contractions. Sounds nice. Not actually recommended. I must have had a few attention-grabbing contractions by the end of the visit when Keith shuffled the party out. 

11:50am-At this point, my contractions were coming every minute. One minute of an excruciating shrill of pain that wrapped around my stomach to my back. I couldn't think. I couldn't speak. I could only close my eyes and breathe through each awful contraction. After a contraction I would have a minute of recovery. Sigh... It was a blissful minute. I tried standing and would rock my hips back and forth in an effort relieve the pain in my back during the contractions. It was calming. You know... the type of calming that a few bath salts would do to sooth 2 blown off legs. The pain was deep and consuming. Amc sat on the bed with me and somehow he seemed to know when each contraction came. He'd wrap his arms around my back and press hard into the muscles. I don't recall if it relieved any pain... But hindsight, it was a tender time for us while alone in that hospital room together.

Annie took her sweet time while checking my cervix for the umpteenth time but she still couldn't tell if I had progressed. This was a different nurse than the one I mentioned earlier who also had a difficult time with her short, stubby fingers. She felt awful about it. And so, she had another nurse come in to help check me who had hands as long as an angel. I could have kissed her! Until she had me prop my tailbone up onto a flipped-upside-down bed pan. UGH. Ever since I was 8 weeks pregnant, my lower sacrum has consistently had sharp pains. Combine my tender sacrum that is now shooting an unbearable pain met by another contraction that's wrapping around my core all of which while having a hand inserted into my agitated cervix...  

 I cried. 

Sobbed, actually. 

I was so overcome by pain. I had been laboring for over 14 hours and I had reached my breaking moment. Contractions off the charts. And I was only 2 cm.

12:40pm-The anesthesiologist came in and essentially said, "Okay, bend your ginormous belly over while touching your head to your knees all of which while staying still during those 4 awful contractions while I shove a super long needle through your spine." At one point, I remember the lidocaine being injected, blood pressure cuff squeezing the life out of my arm and a contraction coming on while I was essentially hunched over into the fetal position. All I could do was laugh at myself.
   But that was a blessed, blessed epidural. Not too long afterwards I could feel the contractions lessening so that I wasn't consumed with the pain. I knew that sleeeeep was in my future!

1:00pm- Catheter in. Dilated to 3 cm. Annie had me lay on my side with my leg elevated to help with Savannah's dipping heart rate.

3:00pm- Annie came in to flip my body over because she had noticed another dip in Savannah's heart rate. Hallelujah!!! My water had broken! 4 cm.
4:00pm- My mom arrived at the hospital! Yay!

5:45pm- Progressed to a 7-8 cm.
6:35pm- I started to feel a ton of pressure down low. I allowed for about 45 minutes before I mentioned it to the nurse. I didn't want to begin pushing before my body was very ready (Thank you Brittany T!)
7:20pm- No cervix and fully dilated!

Morning sickness--my 9 month sidekick--decided to creep back into the picture as soon as I flipped onto my back to do a couple rounds of pushing. Vomited a few times. It was great.

The NICU nurse came in and had nurse Amber put internal monitors on Savannah's head. Her heart rate was dropping dangerously low and in distress while in between contractions. It was as is if she was holding her breathe after each contraction. My doctor came in and said we needed to speed the delivery along with the help of using the vacuum suction.

Pushing was incredible. I was suddenly outside myself. I wanted so badly to suppress the nausea while I was feeling my baby moving down. I could feel the sweet love for her that I had been developing for 9 months climaxing to unbearable levels. My mom said that her head was crowning! She was so close and I needed to see her. NOW. Only 2 sets of contractions/pushes. Tears swelled up in my eyes. I could feel her slide out of my body.

I was overwhelmed with the love I felt. I cried in pure bliss. All I could think and say was of how beautiful she was. This was the little girl of my dreams. My answered prayer. Any pain I had felt on our journey to receive her was completely forgotten. She was in my arms now. And she is mine forever.

Yours truly, Me