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!!

You're My Best Friend... sometimes!

Savannah has a best friend and a boyfriend. She'll admit to both. Today's escapade is courtesy of her best friend, who is most often referred to as "Gracie Lou"... even though her middle name isn't Lou. :) Savannah goes to day care with a ton of other kids, but Savannah and Grace bonded immediately - at the ripe old age of 12 weeks. They talk about one another on the weekends, they love to play together, Savannah knows the names of Grace's mom and dad, Grace gives me a hug every afternoon, and Savannah adores Grace's baby brother. When I walked into Savannah's class at day care this afternoon, her teacher just shook her head at me. If you have kids, you know that's never a good sign! Apparently Savannah behaved very poorly today - fighting a lot with Nickel-nick (aka: Nicholas), downright refusing to eat morning snack, napping for only 45 minutes (as opposed to the 3 hours we're used to!), and pulling a chair out from under Grace (and proceeding to laugh while Grace was crying). Rough day!

This is the conversation that occured on the car ride home:
Mommy: Savannah, were you a bad girl today?
Savannah: Yes I was.
Mommy: What did you do?
Savannah: I... I pulled the chair out... out from... from underneath Gracie.
Mommy: You did what?!
Savannah: She hit her head on the *cold* floor.
Mommy: Did it hurt her?
Savannah: Uh huh. She cried. Mrs Erin had to hold her.
Mommy: What did you do?
Savannah: I had to sit in timeout by the white cupboards.
Mommy: Did you tell Grace you're sorry?
Savannah: Nope.

Okay, so my child has no remorse. And, unfortunately Todd and I are both very bad at controlling our laughter. I had Savannah repeat the story to Todd when we got home. Yes, it's bad that she hurt her friend... her best friend. Yes, she had to sit in timeout and was somewhat punished. No, Todd and I couldn't stop laughing. She's so sincere when she tells her little "stories"!

"My boys"

I've been reading lots of mommy blogs recently and realized what a fabulous tool blogs can be. Time seems to escape us, but it's important that Savannah's milestones don't go unmarked and that friends and family across the country can take a peek into Savannah's daily life. We want to share the joy Savannah brings to us with all of you. That being said, here's the inaugural blog:

Todd's dad is in town this weekend to help finish the bathroom in the basement of the condo. His flight arrived very late Friday night, but we'd been prepping Savannah all week for his arrival. When we put Savannah to bed Friday night, we finally convinced her to go to sleep by reminding her that Grandpa would be here to play when she woke up in the morning. Saturday morning rolls around and, lo and behold, she remembers that Grandpa is here! As she's heading downstairs to give Grandpa a hug, Todd meets her halfway and tries to get her to come back up. Not happening! She has a book in her hand and she's on a mission - she wants Grandpa to read to her! Savannah makes a few trips up and down the stairs, gathering the pieces to her book, before Todd breaks the bad news to her... she has to stay home with mommy while Daddy and Grandpa go to Home Depot. Let the tantrum begin! Savannah cried and cried, desperate to tag along. I can usually calm her, but it was a difficult task yesterday morning... after all, Grandpa just got here and Home Depot is one of her favorite stores. She's sitting on our bed, crying her little eyes out, and begins to repeat "I want my boys". Her "boys"? That's a term I'd never heard before. Just for clarification, I asked exactly who her boys are. She responded, so cute and so sincere, with "Daddy and Grandpa are my boys. I want them to come home". But she wouldn't stop crying. I finally calmed her by calling Todd and making plans to meet them at McDonald's for lunch. We got dressed, drove to McDonald's, and waited patiently in the car for Daddy and Grandpa to finish at Home Depot. When Todd pulled up, Savannah cheered "My boys! My boys!" Oh, how she loves her Daddy and Grandpa!