Sleep...How I Miss You!!

Sleep = Patience

No sleep = No patience

And poor Savana has to suffer the consequences of my sleep (or lack thereof).

My sweet, little, Dexter.
There is nothing sweeter than a baby who's sleeping...and will take a binkie!! Dexter took right to nursing AND to a binkie. It sure makes life quite a bit easier with the binkie in tow!!



These are two of the cutest girls you'll ever meet. They're going to be the best of friends and the biggest drama queens around! Pyper has the best facial expressions around, and Savy is such a drama ham right now...I can't imagine what it's going to be like in ten years from now!! (We didn't plan the matching hair or shirts. It just so happens that we both like to shop incredible deals...and neither could pass up the 99 cent tank!!) It's nice having family members with kids the same age as ours. I only wish we lived closer to them. Maybe someday we'll join them up in Logan (cause I know there's no convincing them to move down here!!)

Dexter

I've been meaning to post pictures about my beautiful baby boy, but our internet has been crazy, and whenever it is actually working, Sammy's also working, so my access to the interweb has been limited. But here's some pictures of Dexter and his family. If you want to read about his journey into this world, check out my husband's witty retelling of how it all went down! And be patient with me on any updates on our lives. Life with two kids is quite a bit different than life with one!!!

Dexter's cousin, Ginger, beat him into the world by 8 days. It's surprising the difference a few days makes in the life of a newborn. Ginger's so much more alert and aware of the world around her, while all Dex can do is scream his manly scream (he missed out on the newborn cry. He simply squawks and squeals...no cute newborn cry for him).

Daddy's little boy

Savy has been so sweet with her baby brother. She always wants to know where the baby is. She was obssessed with his hat at the hospital and always insisted it be on his head. We'll see how long the sweetness lasts.

Nothing more precious than kisses from my little girl.

We're all dressed up and ready to go home.

He looks so teeney in his car seat! Okay, not only does he look teeney...but he is teeney! He dropped down to 5 lb 12 oz by the time we left the hospital. Just a teensey little thing!

Home at last! Dex was introduced to his binkie shortly after our arrival home, and has thoroughly enjoyed it since then.

And Savy giving her baby brother sweet little kisses. She loves to give him his binkie when he's said and stroke his head while saying..."You're okay, you're okay, you're okay."

The Bean Museum

No, it's not a museum dedicated to lima beans, pinto beans, and all other sorts of beans...it's a stuffed animal museum! And they're HUGE life-size real live (at one point in time) stuffed animals. Savy was quite unsure what to think of the large animals...but after her daddy scaring her into tears a few times, she finally warmed up and realized they weren't really real. They were just really dead!!


Check out the look on her face. She certainly didn't like sitting that close to the elephant.


The Hippo was trying to eat us. I tried to feed just Savy to the hippo, but Savana wouldn't have it. Besides, she's probably much too sweet for the hippo's appetite.


Go COUGARS!!! Sam was proud to stand next to the cougar while wearing his BYU shirt. He was even more proud to have Savy do the Cougar Cheer. But what made him the most proud, was when Savy's nursery teacher pulled out a little BYU football, and Savy proceeded to do the cheer for her whole nursery class!


What a lame excuse for scary faces. I think they got scary mixed up with silly. (Although if I was to see Savy running after me with her face contorted like that, I might run the other way!)

Big Girl Bed

The best thing about having Savy in a big girl's bed: She can get up on her own.

The worst thing about having Savy in a big girl's bed: She can get up on her own.

If she can't fall asleep at night, she'll open her door and stand there asking for mommy, milk, cereal, one more book, or a song to be sung to her. Or she'll look out her bedroom door and spy on Walmart or Utah Lake. Or she'll simply get up and play with her toys.

In the middle of the night, she simply walks into our bedroom, stands next to my side of the bed (she refuses to go to her daddy in the night), and wait for me to get out and carry her back to bed. Then she'll simply roll over and go right back to sleep. It's like she needs to be reminded that her mommy is still there...or maybe she just needs to be tucked in...whatever it is, I secretly enjoy tucking her in again. Just don't let her know!

All in all, the big girl bed has been a big success...and she absolutely loves being in something BIG GIRL!! (now if we can only convince her that it's even cooler to be a big girl who pees in the potty!!)

It's the thought that counts...right?

We attempted to visit the temple today.  We even rearranged our schedules to go during Savy's naptime so it'd be easy to leave her.  We drove to the temple and was met with a sign....Temple Closed.  So we decided to go visit the new Draper temple.  And then remembered they don't rent temple clothing (which we needed).  So we turned around, and found our way to the nearest movie theater for an uplifting viewing of Wolverine!!

She's Finally Two!!!

My sweet baby girl had her birthday and turned a whopping two years old! It's crazy to think she's been in my life for two whole years. It's hard to imagine that I've been a mother to this beautiful girl for two years...I can't remember life without her. What did I fill my life with before there was feeding time, nap time, playtime, snack time, diaper changes, and the constant cleaning up? And where did I find joy before when now it's so often found in the precious smile of my daughter? I love being a mom...and can't wait to experience being a mother of two (and of a two-year-old). Here's a few highlights from her birthday party.

Her fabulous Minnie Mouse cake. She'd been talking about it all week, and any time her birthday was mentioned, she had to mention the Minnie Mouse cake she was going to eat. Although it took me much longer to prepare, I was quite impressed with how it turned out!

Swimming in the pool. Jared and his boys were the only ones brave enough to jump into the water, and Savy certainly couldn't be left out of the pool! Jared was sweet enough to entertain her along with his kids!

I was surprised Savy actually knew what to do with the candles!! There was no spit involved, and yet she actually got the candles to blow out!! She was thrilled to have everyone sing "Happy Birthday to Vanna" (which is what she's been singing all week) and was even more excited to take the candles out of the cake and eat them like any child would do!

Enjoying the cake. The frosting turned our mouths very red. And after cake was the long awaited....PRESENT TIME!!

Sam sat next to her to help her open presents and to try to get her to appreciate all the presents and everyone's thoughtfulness. Savy was actually quite overwhelmed and tired by the time presents rolled around, so she just sat there very somber like and opened presents and did whatever her mommy or daddy asked her to (say thank you, pose for a picture, give grandma a hug, etc.).

She got spoiled rotten, but really enjoyed all the presents she got...a baby doll, a kitchen, lots of play food, a Snow White dress-up, and a stylish purse with all sorts of goodies!

Oh, and her bike! She's been eyeing the bike folded up on our garage shelf for the last week (I did a fantabulous job of hiding it from her view), so she was excited to find out she could actually ride it! The next morning, the first thing she said when she got out of bed was "play with my kitchen? ride my bike?" She loved all her presents, all the attention, but mostly, her family for coming out to show their love for her.