Oh Baby!

Not mine... someone else's! Today was spent preparing for and hosting a baby shower for Chardae, one of Savannah's teachers at school. The shower was from 3:00-6:00, so I was go-go-go from 8:30 until about half an hour ago. I'm pooped! Thank goodness the weather cooperated and we were able to have the shower outside! I think Savannah thought this party was as much for her as it was for Chardae... she certainly garnered enough attention! Savannah was especially excited because one of her favorite friends, Avery, came over with her mom.

It was an all-around good time with some ladies I see on a daily basis but don't ever really spend time outside of the world of day care with. On one hand, it was strange to be the one hosting the shower... I was truly an outsider. On the other hand. Savannah's been at the day care for so long that she knows everyone and everyone knows her... our family feels like a part of their "family". Again, I'm grateful for beautiful weather, a friend that could entertain Savannah, and some yummy food. :)

Oh, and since we were all dressed up for the shower, there was an opportunity for some partial family photos after it was all said and done...

Bob Vila he's not...

Todd tends to be fairly handy around the house. We built a deck, finished the basement, put in hardwood floors, and laid slate tiles in the condo... all without breaking anything. Not so lucky in the new house! This is what my vanity area looks like now that Todd's foot has punctured the ceiling...

It literally took three hours to dry a load of laundry earlier this week, so Todd decided he'd go hunting for the cause today. We figured it was just some lent stuck in the trail somewhere. Nope... Birds! (Which explains why I thought I heard rats running around in the ceiling a few weeks ago...) I'm not sure when they started building a nest in our dryer vent, but there was nearly 10 feet of straw in the vent... and a nest... and some eggs! Todd managed to get the eggs out of the vent and safely on the ground, but he's pretty sure they're hard-boiled by this point! The damage inside the house occured as Todd was in the attic, pushing the junk out of the vent. Oops!

Ouch!

This is what it looks like when you run into a brick pillar...


Yep, that's right, we will now refer to Savannah as "Grace"! We were leaving day care tonight, walking outside with some friends when Savannah stopped to look at something on the ground. She played around for a minute and then started walking again... bam, right into a brick pillar! Of course, she started screaming upon impact. The knot and bruise appeared nearly immediately! We went back inside, got some ice, and sat around as everyone and their brother asked "oh, what happened?"... I think she was more upset about not getting to go to McDonald's to play for dinner than she was about the actual pain of her injury!

In other news, much more pleasant news... I think we're well on our way to being fully potty-trained. Savannah made it through all day yesterday and all day today without any accidents... thus the prized trip to McDonalds!

And puppy makes four...

I told you I wouldn't be very good at keeping this thing updated! Todd and I have both been travelling a lot. Todd had a few trips to Chicago in March and April. My travels have taken me to California, North Carolina, and Virginia. I'll be back in North Carolina next week, Georgia the following week, Texas two weeks later, and Toronto a month after that. I'm taking a whirlwind tour of the US!

Breaking News: We did it. We took the plunge. We have a puppy. Meet Kadee... the newest addition to the Valentine family. She's a 12-week old lab-mix and she's absolutely adorable. She's so sweet and playful and cute. Savannah calls her "Kadee Polka Dot" and tells everyone she's black with a white polka dot on her nose! She's a rescue puppy from a kill shelter down in Ohio. Can you believe that this little doll was scheduled to be gassed three days after she was rescued?! A puppy is a LOT of work... I don't think I ever realized that. We had puppies growing up, but I think it's a different story when mommy and daddy take care of them! She's not house-broken or crate-trained... she's hates being alone... she doesn't like to sleep at night. It's almost like having a baby all over again. As I write this, Kadee is entertaining herself by chasing her tail... :)

Savannah is excited to have a puppy - she loves animals. But, she's not too sure about Kadee's playfulness. One of Kadee's favorite pasttimes involves chewing on Savannah's pigtails! She has also taken rather well to Savannah's stuffed Mr. Potato Head... I believe it's now officially Kadee's toy. Savannah tells everyone about Kadee, so I'm sure they're grow to be the best of friends. In the meantime, we'll keep things off the floor, buy stock in Spot Shot, and continue taking pictures!!