The BIG 1!!!

Savannah turned one. A month ago. But still... I can't believe it. She has been such a joy to have in this family. The year went by fast... really fast... probably one of the faster years in my life. It seems like just yesterday she was in the hospital and it was all so stressful and we were shuttling back and forth everyday to see her... and now she's a year and she's babbling and she's walking and she has never been sicker than having a slight ear infection. I was nervous when she was born that it would make her more susceptible to illness, but just like Jack... she's as healthy as a horse. I'm so thankful for her. We tried long and hard to get her and she was worth everything we went through. Jack loves her and the older she gets, the more they play and get along. I can't wait to watch them pretend together and become great friends.

For her birthday, I took Jack to Build-A-Bear and he built her the cutest bear with hearts all over it. He picked out a sparkly red outfit, plus shoes, for her and named her Lily. It is funny that he picked the outfit he did because it looks just like something that Savannah actually has. He was also really excited to stay up late and help us decorate the house for her. We blew up balloons, while watching Free Willy. (as a side note... I don't want to forget... while watching Free Willy... at the very end when the kid is sending Willy back the ocean, Jack teared up and looked at me... not quite understanding what he was feeling and said... "I'm a little bit sad right now...." It was about the sweetest thing I have ever seen). He helped Jason hang the streamers and then scatter the balloons around. When Savannah woke up, she was delighted by the balloons and loved her bear. The rest of the day was fairly normal and that night we had family over for cake and ice cream. She loved her cake... double fisting it for most of the time. She loved all of her presents and seemed to enjoy her day. As much as a 1-year-old can enjoy it, that is.

Some things to know about our girl:
--She started walking about two weeks after she turned one. She walked across her room and then realized that she was doing it and sat down really slow... ever since then she has been a pro.
--She babbles a lot and points and grunts at things she wants. I love to hear her and lately she has been "talking" to me and saying MAMAMAMA, BABABABA, YAYAYAYA. It is so cute. She gets so happy about it.
--She really wants to be where the action is. I have seen second children do this before and it was something I wasn't familiar with because as a first child, Jack was always more timid. Savannah wants to be wherever Jack and his friends are and will plop herself down right next to them to play. We were at McDonalds and she was just walking around the kids area with the biggest smile on her face. She was so happy to be there.
--I love rocking her to sleep. Yep, I still do it... don't know when I will bring myself to stop.
--She weighs 22lbs and is 31in... that is 65% and 90%.
--She loves dancing and talking and clapping and playing.
--She loves the dog and will point to her whenever she sees her.
--She is the biggest mama's girl EVER. And, I love it. She prefers me and is okay if she can't see me, but the minute she sees me, she reaches for me. I hope that is always the case.

I love this girl of mine. I count my blessings everyday to be the mother to such wonderful children.

Update-- January

What, you may be asking (if you are still reading this, that is), have we been up too lately? Well, I can tell you... not much. We had a fun month of January that went by fast and now we are already into February... soon spring and then summer! I am excited for summer. This awful cold we have going on here is not any fun and I am anxious for the days to get the kiddies outside instead of cooped up in the house all the time.

During January, we decided that Jason was going to go back to school. Well, he decided and I decided to be excited about it! Ever since Savannah was born and in the hospital for a week, Jason has wanted to work in a hospital. Obviously, he is not going to be a doctor or nurse, so he got to thinking about what he could do with the skills and experience that he has. He finally settled on Hospital Administration. He is going to go to Weber and has been up to talk to the admittance rep. They gave him good news and made him even more excited to go. Because he will be getting an MHA rather than an MBA, he can take the GRE instead of the GMAT. Got that? :) Everything we have read online says that the GRE is much more friendly to people that are not math whiz geniuses and since Jason is no math person, he was very excited to have this option. He is studying for it now and hopes to take it in March sometime. I am very proud of him for coming to this decision and being so willing to work hard to achieve it. I think he will be great at this job and it is exciting for our family!

We also celebrated our 8th anniversary. Sorry to report that even though our 7th was spent in the hospital with me having just given birth two days before, our 8th again passed without much fanfare. I have to say, though, that those are my favorite days. I spent the day with Jack on a preschool field trip and lunch at McDonalds. After that, since I was wearing my gym clothes in the hopes of getting a workout in, we went to my moms... baby napped, Jack played video games, and I went on a delicious 7 mile run outside for the first time this year. It was beautiful! We came home after helping my mom with a few things with Cafe Rio and me not having showered yet. Romantic eh? I love that my hubby still loves me even when I am stinky and in a foul mood from not being home all day. I came home to roses, cheesecake and a movie from Redbox. The movie was lame, so after the kids were in bed, we fired up the DVR and watched The Bachelor and ate our dessert. In my mind, a perfect night. I don't know about Jason... :/ We are still planning to go out sometime in the next few weeks to celebrate, but it is hard to get away anymore. :) I just love my hubby. I love that we are such good friends and partners. I love that we can talk and advise and support each other in everything we do. Jason is a great father and whenever I get nervous about bringing Jack up, I am reassured because Jason is his father and I know that he will do anything for him and be the best example. I've loved him from the time I met him (at Wells Fargo in 2000!!!) and I love him more today... almost 11 years later.

We also celebrated Savannah's 1st birthday and she deserves her own post... so that will be coming.

I need to be better about taking pictures and updating this so one resolution is to update AT LEAST once a month this year... also, I need to make my blog into a book. So much to do... so little time.