Almost a year

It truly is hard to believe that it has almost been a year since I had Savannah Joy. I can't help but remember since September, everything I was going through a year ago. When I was pregnant with her, it seemed like the time went by so slow. I couldn't wait to have the next step and hold her in my arms. Now she is a very busy almost toddler. Yikes! About a year ago I was put on bedrest at this time. At that time I thought it was the most torturous thing I could go through. Bedrest sounds pretty good right now. I'm exhausted from my cold and from chasing a certain someone around. It doesn't help that I've been up with her in the middle of the night because she's been coughing so much.

Anyways, a year ago, Jeff and I could never have imagined that our life would turn out this great. We never would have imagined looking into someone's eyes and instantly falling in love. Jeff is such a great dad too. He loves to play with Savannah. His best memory he said was when he took the week off after she was born. He loved being able to just cuddle up with her on the couch. It's those memories that you can hold onto forever. Work can wait. Spending time with your family is such a precious gift. I can still remember how it felt to feel her move inside of me. I miss that feeling some days. I loved the anticipation of wondering what she was going to look like. To hear her heartbeat everytime I went to the doctor. And I loved the nesting desire. A year ago, I nursed a baby for the first time. I felt what it was like to come home and feel like a totally different person. You are a mom now and have all these new emotions that you have never felt before. You are so worried that you are going to mess something up. You feel like all the eyes of the world are on you saying you better get this right. Now that its almost been a year, we are slightly more relaxed. Yes, we still worry as all parent do but I don't run in her room every 15 mins anymore to make sure she's still breathing. I guess you could say that I'm becoming more comfortable in my new skin as a "mom."

This certainly won't be the last child we have. Remembering a year ago makes me excited to welcome another child into our family...someday! For right now....Savannah enjoys being the center of our attention. Summer is coming which means lots of new things to discover. And we aren't quite "settled" yet. So for all those people who are asking me if I'm pregnant yet or wondering when we are going to start trying for another one. You will just have to wait in anticipation like a pregnant mom anticipates hearing her baby's first cry.

Spring has sprung in Mass.

The sun is shining today and it feels like spring. One last effort to make us sick is trying to make its way through our house. I really can't complain though because our family for the most part has missed all the sickness this winter. This cold is so far short-lived I see. I can see all the buds on trees and dandelions (yes dandelions) are popping up in the backyard. The Boston area is such a beautiful area in the spring. I've heard that it gets better in the fall. I can hardly wait. Well I actually I can wait because I enjoy the warm weather so much. I am not a person that likes winter. My goal in life is to move away from the snow.

Savannah is very Very active now. Once she figured out the crawling thing, she quickly got bored with that and was more interested in pulling herself up on things. She now furniture walks all over. Our living room is kind of set up like an obstacle course because she gets mad when she can't reach the next object to "walk" to. Every toy needs to come out of the toy bin. Once that happens, then we get bored. She gets the biggest kick out of sticking objects on top of something now. She will pull herself up to a chair to place a toy up there and sit back down to look up at it and laugh. Whatta goof!!! She insists on pulling everything out of drawers and opening all the cabinets. All the chemicals are making their way up and out of reach. I have no idea how to babyproof cabinets in a rental that doesn't have knobs on cabinet doors/drawers. If anyone has a suggestion, I'm open to it. I've been doing lots of looking on Babies R Us and Target. So far, nothing. Until then I pick everything up after she goes to bed and enjoy a clean house until she wakes up the next morning. Somedays I think that my house has a monkey in it!

Now for a summer project. I have decided to strip the painted on stain off of Savannah's changing table and crib to paint it a lovely cream. I can hardly wait for the final result. Why cream? Doesn't show the dust as easily and if it chips, it won't be as noticeable as a dark finish. So happy its finally getting warm out.

The Best Day Ever (through Savannah's eyes)

The day didn't start off that great. I couldn't stand up in my crib because daddy lowered it. Instead I just yelled until mommy got out of bed. I really didn't want juice like normal but instead insisted oatmeal. It was hard at times to decide whether I wanted to take another bite of oatmeal or steal a drink to wash it down. Most of the time I just kept eating worried that if I stopped mom might get up to do something else.

Mom put me in a pretty dress today for church. Church is this huge building with all kinds of people to look at. We sing songs. I'm not really sure of the words yet but I do my best to hold a note. I at least want to be heard. Mom tried to stick me in the nursery today but I refused to miss out on the service. She even tried to convince me to stay by sitting in the nursery with me but I just cried to let her know how much I was against that decision. Haha jokes on her to think that I'm going to ever stay in that room. After church daddy bought me a donut hole that I shoved in my mouth. I couldn't quite mush it all in my mouth so mom broke it up into smaller pieces.

The day just kept getting better and better. I took a much needed nap after that big adventure out. I mean, all that singing and crying wears a person out. I ate spaghetti for lunch. That is by far one of my favorite meals. I got to crawl around in the grass and taste a little bit of it too. I have to say, spaghetti tastes better. I watched mommy and daddy do all kinds of things in the yard. I have no idea what they were doing but it sure did keep my attention. They tried to gate me in at times on the deck so I just tried to eat my way through the gate once standing and shaking it didn't work. It was simply magnificent being outside. I got to see all kinds of things that I normally don't see in the house. How can a person stand to look at the same scenery for that amount of time? I have things to explore and taste. I also got to ride in the shopping cart at Lowe's. What could be better!

I tried to catch a quick snooze when they put me back in the car. I had no idea where I was going but I was wearing a swimming suit. The next thing I know I'm being taken out of my car seat again and my swimming buddy is with me. I get more and more excited when I see my floating device being blown up. I know whats coming next is going to be great. I had the best time in the pool. I got to kick and splash. by the time I got out of the pool, there was not a dry spot on me. I came home to have supper (spaghetti again!!) Then I got a bath afterwards. Aww life is great! Mommy put my pajamas on and read me a book. After a day like today, a girls gotta rest for the next adventure tomorrow.

Childhood memories

Jeff has had a couple days this week that has caused him to have to go to bed early due to waking up extra early to arrive to work earlier than usual. I try to be a very good sport and support him by going to bed early with him. It's a compromise that we have worked out and I don't mind laying down. It forces me to relax and take it easy after a long day of entertaining a screaming baby Savannah.

As I lay awake and Jeff sleeps, I spend that time praying for my cousin Emily. While praying for her it has gotten me to remember once again all the times that she has been there for me in my life. I know that she holds a special part in my life but to honestly remember everything fills my heart with overwhelming joy but at the same time so much guilt for not being able to help her out as much as I should be if I were closer.

So the story goes... Emily and I have known each other since we were crawling age. I bet you can't tell which is which in the picture :) We were only 9 months apart. I always joked with her that her mom had her and my mom thought hey that looks like a good idea and thats when I was made. Our parents tell us that we were pretty good at getting into trouble such as using a clothes basket to slide down the stairs. I viewed her as my sister seeing that my sister didn't come until 4 years later. All three of us were very close. We lived about 4 miles from each other and would frequently ride bikes to each others houses. Usually Hillary and I would ride over to Emily's since she lived closer to town. That way we could ride our bikes in town. After storms we would ride 4-wheeler around to pick up branches. It was never fun picking a yard up by yourself but when you had some great company it went by quickly.  I remember riding the bus together and I would always sit next to her. There was some cruel boys on the bus but when I sat next to her I felt stronger. We went to Colorado together when we were 16.

This picture was taken right before we went white water rafting.

This was taken at our campground. This is absolutely one of my favorite pictures of us. I blame Emily for getting me involved in a lot of my interests that I developed throughout my life. She has given me a love for games, scrapbooking, and swimming. Without her in my life I'm not sure who I would have turned out to be. She is definitely one of the most important people in my life.

As I lay there at night thinking about all these memories plus more, I can't help but wonder when did we grow up? I think when life hits you with something this life changing, it makes you change your whole perspective on life. It matures you more. It wakes you up and makes you realize that your an adult. This is life and you need to rely on God more than ever. This situation has changed Emily and I's relationship forever. I think this tough circumstance will grow our relationship in a way that it might not have grown if life were simpler. Sometimes we just need to sit back and not as why but instead say thank you.