Abby's 6th Birthday

Abby turned 6 on October 26, 2012!! This year, school was closed on the 26th so we got to do something special for Abby. We went to Schnepf Farm for the Pumpkin festival! We went with our friends Amy and Carl Rider who live near the farm. We felt guilty, but decided to send Savannah to daycare for the day. We wanted to celebrate with Abby without focusing on naps and schedules with Savy. The pumpkin farm was so much fun! Abby rode on all the rides. The roller coaster was her favorite. We ate BBQ and chili and rode on the train. Both Abby and Mommy got their face painted. And of course Abby picked out her pumpkin and a little pumpkin for Savy.

Later that night, Grandma Bev, Grandpa Wayne and Nana came over for pizza and cake. Abby had so much fun that she was asleep on the couch by 6pm. We had to wake her up to do cake!

It was a fun birthday!

Daddy, Mommy, Amy, Carl and Abby in the bus

Sunflower Feild

In the Pumpkin Patch

The next day, October 27th, we had Abby’s birthday party with some of her friends. We had the party at Build-A-Bear Workshop at Scottsdale Fashion Square mall. Abby was allowed to invite 6 friends. Only 5 of them were able to come. The girls that attended were Amanda, Alex P., Lilia, Julie and Devon. Savannah was excited to participate too. This was her first time building her own bear!

Each girl got to pick out a bear and an outfit along with shoes. Abby picked a pink bunny. They got to stuff their animals. Then they made wishes on the hearts that goes in each stuffed animal. Each girl added a heart in Abby’s bunny for birthday wishes and then they put another heart in their own animal. After that they gave them all pretend baths and then got them dressed! They named their animals and created birth certificates. All the girls had so much fun!

After they were done we all went down to the food court where Granny Annie was holding a table. We did cake and drinks and that was the end of the party! Abby had so much fun that she was asleep in the car within 5 minutes of leaving!

It was a big and exciting weekend for everyone!!

The birthday girl!

Savannah and her bunny

Making wishes on their hearts

The birthday group and their animals

(Julie P, Amanda, Abby, Devon, Lilia and Julia)

Abby and her "Brave" cake!

Nick's New Tattoo!!

Nick finally got his tattoo! The tattoo is a parrott skull. He got the idea off of a Jimmy Buffett concert t-shirt. Nick loves Jimmy Buffett and is a Parrot Head! He has been wanting this tattoo for about 5 years and finally found a tattoo artist that he liked. He got his tattoo at Old Town Ink in Scottsdale. His artist was Christine Vallieres and she is awesome! She took Nick's original design and made it 100% better with her own design! It took about 2 1/2 hours and he said it hurt! He is really excited that he finally got it!

 

 The drawing on his leg

Nick waiting to get started

The final tattoo!

Savy - 18 Month Check-Up

Savannah is currently 20 months old, but she just had her "18 Month" Dr. check-up!   She did really good!  She listened to the Dr. and only cried a little when she received her shots!  Here are her current stats:

Weight: 28 lbs - 88%
Height: 35 in  - 97%
Head: 18 1/2 in - 65%

Savannah on her way home from the Dr!

Abby's first day of Kindergarten!

On Wednesday, August 8th, Abby officially started Kindergarten at Quail Run Elementary.  Abby's teacher is Mrs. Marcus and so far Abby really likes her.  The first three days of school were only 1/2 days.  There are 3 other friends of Abby's that are going to the same school, but none of them are in the same class as her.  Abby has adjusted to her class and has enjoyed either taking her lunch or eating in the cafeteria.  At first Abby did not want to go to Kindergarten, but after the first day she said that she had fun and she will go back.  We think as time goes on she will like it more and more.  The first three days have been a learning experience for all of us since we are all so use to the normal daycare routine.  Even Abby is learning how to accept change in her life and so far is adjusting just fine! 

 First day of school outfit - Front

 First day of school outfit - Back

 Hello Kitty school lunch box

Mommy and her big Kindergartner! 

Summer 2012

This summer has flown by!! It has been amazing how busy we have been each weekend. So far this summer we have traveled to Sedona, Munds Park and California. Abby has attended Bible Camp and Golf Camp up in Munds Park, AZ with Granny Annie. Unfortunately the Zoo Camp that we signed Abby up for was cancelled, but she didn’t seem to mind when we enrolled her in Gymnastics Camp instead. We have had a great summer, but I think we are all really glad that summer is over. I can tell that we are all on summer over-load especially with the heat rising each day.

This summer we moved our usual August, California trip up to July since Abby would be starting school. It was a great vacation. The weather was cooler at first, but then the sun was shining and in the mid 70’s every day. We went to LegoLand to use our “Second Day Free” passes. LegoLand was crowded. We attempted to go to the water park there, but the wait for the rides were so long and there were so many people that it was not as fun as we figured.

We spent a day hanging out with Abby and Savannah’s God Mothers, Sara and Ashley. Abby swam in Aunt Sara’s pool for 5 hours straight. Later in the week we also went over to Aunt Pam’s on Balboa Island for a visit. We swam in the bay and rode the ferris wheel over in the Newport Fun Zone.

The rest of the time was spent hanging out at the beach where Abby swam out in the ocean with Mommy and Savannah ate sand. Savannah got use to the sand and water, but there was a lot of time running after her and cleaning sand off of her because she didn’t like it. She was not into the way her feet would squish down in the wet sand near the ocean.

Two weeks after we got back from California we did a quick trip back to Carlsbad for a weekend.  My Dad's side of the family all got together and did a surprise family reunion trip for Papa Maury and Grandma Kathy!  It was a short trip, but the girls did great and it was fun getting to hang out with all of the family at once. 

We are looking forward to a great school year for Abby and Savannah and some cooler weather to come!

 Abby, Aunt Sara, Aunt Ashley, Savannah (and Lottso bear) and Mommy

 Abby and Savy hanging out at the Carlsbad condo

 Abby sunning at the beach

 Savy trying out the water and eating sand.  Yum!!

 family picture

Nana, Abby and Mommy on the ferris wheel



On the way home from California.  They both fell asleep within 20 minutes of getting on the road

Savy trying to put the headphones on

Pre-K Graduation!

Abby has officially graduated from Pre-K and daycare!! While we were on our CA trip, daycare had a graduation ceremony. Abby was sad that she missed it, but once she heard she was going to LegoLand she felt much better!! The mom of Abby’s two best friends asked their daycare to keep out a few of the cap and gowns. After Abby returned from our trip she went to school and took pictures of the three of them in their cap and gowns! We were very excited to get a picture of Abby all dressed up!!

Abby will stay in daycare until mid July. Then she leaves for vacation, golf camp and zoo camp!!

After that we will have a KINDERGARDENER!!!!!......and finally be done with daycare (for one kid at least!). Soooooo exciting!!

Abby and Jordyn

Jaysen, Abby and Jordyn

Carlsbad, CA - May 2012

This month we took our annual May (mini) vacation to Carlsbad, CA. This year Grandpa Dan and Aunt Jaci joined us! Dan and Jaci decided to take Abby over to CA on their own. They stayed a night in Yuma, AZ at the Quechan Casino Resort. Abby loved it! They had a lazy river at the pool and she spent most of her time there. The next day the three of them drove to San Diego where they spent the day at Sea Port Villiage. They also did a harbor cruise before they headed to Carlsbad. Nick, Savannah and I met them in Carlsbad on Wednesday night!

Nick and his Dad played golf the next day, while Jaci, Abby, Savy and I went and picked strawberries! Yum Yum!! Savy ate her way through the strawberry fields and was covered in mud, strawberry juice and a runny nose!

On Friday, the four of us went to LegoLand.  Jaci and Dan went to go visit friends that day.  Abby is now the perfect age for LegoLand.  She was able to go on every ride.  Savy only got to go on about 4 rides.  She will just have to wait until she is a little bigger to really enjoy LegoLand!  The weather was perfect and it wan’t too crowded so the lines were short!! 

The rest of the time was spent at the beach!! Abby played in the water the most of the time. Savannah sat in and dug in the sand. Eventually Savannah discovered the water and she enjoyed playing in the waves too!

It was a great vacation. Not the most relaxing vacation for the parents, but we all had a good time!!

 

Savy asleep on Daddy.  Too much fun at the beach



 Abby relaxing and a good view of our sand castle (that Mommy mostly made!)

Big Walker!!!

So Savannah is finally walking now!!! She will crawl every once in a while, but for the most part she is on her feet, teeder toddering around. Next Monday she will officially be moving from the infant room at daycare over to the toddler room. This is very excited for all of us!

Savannah also had her 15 month check up this week. Here are her current stats:

Weight 24.5 lbs - 95%
Height 32.75 - 97%

She is off the bottle now and is starting to become a toddler. I am going to miss the baby stage, but we are looking forward to everything else that will come!

Savannah's Baptism

Last Sunday, Savannah was baptized. She was baptized at All Saints' Episcopal church, April 15, 2012 at 11am. The baptism takes place during church. Savannah was hard to keep still during church, but Daddy did a great job keeping her entertained. Savannah did great during the actual baptism and didn't cry at all. She wore a baptism gown that has been on my Mother's side of the family for 100 years. Abby, my brother, my Mom and I all wore this gown and many more on my side of the family! It was very special to us to have Savannah also wear this on her baptism. We were a little behind in scheduling the baptism so the gown barley fit!

After the baptism we went back to Nana Barbara's house and had lunch and cake. So much of our family was there to celebrate this day with us. It was great that we could share this with everyone!!

After the baptism in the garden of the church

Mommy and Savannah

Grandpa Dan, Daddy and Savannah

Grandpa Wayne, Grandma Bev and Abby

Cousin Kately and Savy playing at Nana's

Savy's baptism cake!

Easter

We had a busy Easter weekend this year....full of lots of egg hunts! The egg hunts started the weekend before Easter at their daycare. Explorers in Learning put on a big egg hunt and Abby found a few eggs with gift cards as prizes. Then the Friday before Easter each of their classes had another egg hunt. Luckily we got a lot more stickers than candy.

The Saturday before Easter the church in our neighborhood had their big Easter Egg Hunt at Quail Run Elementary school. This was Savannah's first year being able to participate in the hunt. Savannah has taken a few steps at this point, but when she saw the eggs and the other toddlers walking to get them....she got up and started walking. All it took was a little competition of an egg hunt to really get her going. All weekend she was walking more and more. It is really nice to have her off the floor now!

Abby with all her eggs

Abby and Savannah looking to see what is inside each egg

On Saturday night we went over to Eric and Amy's for dinner with Dan, Jaci and Great Grandma Grace who was in town from Springfield, MO. We all sat outside and helped while Abby and Savannah dyed eggs.

Jaci and Savy dying eggs

Abby and her egg

On Easter Sunday we went to church with Nana. After church there was another egg hunt....of course! Then on Sunday night we joined Dan, Jaci, Great Grandma Grace, Eric and Amy at the Mesa Country Club for dinner. It was a great weekend!!

Nana and Abby

After the hunt at church

Family picture at church

Picture of Abby that I got at the MCC. I can't believe she is only 5 years old!

Savannah's 1 year old Check Up

Savannah had her 1 year check up! She is 95% for weight at 24.11 pounds and above 97% for height at 32 ¾ inches. She got 3 shots and was not happy about that. It is also time to start weaning her off the bottle and starting her on milk. Hopefully that will go okay. She has always enjoyed table food more than anything. She is pulling herself up to stand almost every place she goes now, but so far has not ventured out to walk on her own. I am sure that will come sooner than we think!

Savannah's First Birthday

We can’t believe that a year has already gone by. We had Savannah's first birthday party party at our house and it was a big success! We had close friends and family over with pizza and cake. I made Savannah her own cake. Actually I made Savannah a couple of her own cakes. The first cake back fired on me and ended up in the trash, but not before Savannah had a few bites. It still tasted good, but just didn’t look so good. Since she had already tasted the cake and liked it, I thought for sure that she would dig in on her birthday, but she didn’t. She picked at the cake a little and then got scared from everyone staring at her. She started to cry and she put her head down right into the cake. It was hard not to laugh while she was crying, but it was so funny to watch.

Savannah's birthday cake for the guests

Singing happy birthday!

Eating my cake happily

Then not so happy. Poor Savy! :(

Abby joined the messy fun too!