Routine Returns

Ahhh . . . the feel of a nice routine is upon me. I am so thankful for such precious time spent with family and friends, but there's just something sweet about our normal everyday routine around the house. Now that Savannah is feeling SO much better, she is back to sleeping longer at night, taking a great 2 hour nap during the day, and being a fun baby to play with after dinner time. I have really enjoyed being able to get the Christmas things packed away, the gifts put up, and being back into our ordinary schedule with our organized house. With the baby going to bed later at night, she's getting up a little later which has helped me with getting back into a workout routine as well. (After getting on the scale this morning and seeing a 5.5 pound gain, I should probably be making more time for a workout routine, but this will do for now.) Anyway, we have enjoyed a morning filled with laundry, kitchen playtime, and even a playdate with Savannah's buddy. Although it sometimes gets boring, there's just something comfortable about our everyday life around the Bachmann house.

We'll be toasting the New Year in tonight with our PJs on and some sparkling cider in hand. Oh how life has changed, but all for the better!

Happy New Year to all of our family and friends!

The Kitchen

After dinner tonight Dave and I gave Savannah her long awaited kitchen from Pawpaw and Deborah. I have to say that I was worried at first because she was SO tired and fussy, but it didn't take long for her to realize that the kitchen was hers! She played and played and played with it until we finally made her stop and go to bed. We've conveniently placed it in our office so hopefully I can use the computer in peace now as she plays at her own kitchen. It's adorable and may actually keep me occupied too.

Family time at Christmas

I cannot believe that Christmas has already come and gone. Words cannot express how thankful I am for our precious family that we were able to celebrate the season with. Last year I was determined to be in my own house for Christmas morning and it just wasn't the same without having family all around. So, despite Savannah's continued sickness, we made the trip to Burlington on Monday. What treasured memories we will always have from just seeing the kids go crazy when Santa arrived and then again later when they opened their gifts.

We spent Christmas Eve with my Grandmaw, Dad and Deborah, Uncle Mark and Carol, Denny, Kristin and their kids. Santa and Mrs. Clause even made an appearance to which the kids had quite the reaction. Savannah was up really late and I could tell she was feeling worse and worse as time went on. We finally made it back to mom's house by 7:30 and attempted to put her to bed. She ended up being held ALL NIGHT by mom and I taking turns. This was the only way we could keep her from coughing and crying. Christmas morning we went to my brother's house to do our annual big breakfast. After opening even more gifts, we realized that Savannah's antibiotic was still in the refrigerator at mom's house. So, we went back to mom's and then hit the road to head back to Charlotte so we could open Santa presents, stockings, and our own gifts to each other. We were blessed with a Christmas miracle in having a sleeping child the entire trip back to Charlotte! It's a first and we were thankful for the peace and quiet.

After opening a few gifts here at home, and getting the very exhausted baby in bed, Dave decided that he wanted to tackle putting together Savannah's new kitchen. We had heard horror stories about the amount of time and patience it would take, but we had that thing together in 2 hours flat, decals and all. We put it in the guest room and plan to surprise her tonight after Dave gets home. So, I'll post more pictures tomorrow of her playing in her new kitchen.

Merry Christmas to all of our family and friends. We love and treasure each of you!!

Merry Christmas . . . Sick Baby

Aren't they cute? A view from the back of Alyssa's kitchen.

Our newest (unwelcome) tradition is to have a sick baby at Christmas . . . and this year has been no exception. Just when I was being thankful that we had escaped the stomach bug that all of Savannah's friends had, we discovered that we had something lasting much longer and much more painful. After three straight nights of not getting any sleep the nurse on call suggested that we bring Savannah in to be seen this morning. Dave's parents were wonderful and pitched right in with the meal preparations as Dave and I headed to the doctor's office for the third time this week. After over an hour at the office and a breathing treatment we discovered that Savannah not only has her first ever ear infection, but also was wheezing. Yikes. We left with several prescriptions including an inhaler that scares the poor child to death, but it does seem to help her a little. Hopefully we'll be well in time to travel to Burlington for Christmas Eve and Day as we've already had to cancel one celebration tomorrow night. I do have to send out huge thanks to my precious friend Jessica. After calling her to thank her for a gift I just broke down on the phone with being worried about Savannah. She knew just what to do and immediately stopped to pray with me. In just a little time God sent an unexplainable sense of peace over me. Words cannot express how thankful I am to have such precious, treasured friends.

Anyway, we did have a fun time opening gifts and enjoying a big meal with the Bachmanns and Weningers. Alyssa got a play kitchen and the girls immediately dropped everything and rushed over to play. They spent quite some time with the new kitchen and kept us laughing for awhile. Savannah already has way too many toys thanks to grammy and papa, but she loves everything!!

The Holiday Spirit a Little Early . . .

Today as I was trying to take care of an issue for Dave on the computer I heard a funny sound coming from the living room. This is what I found when I arrived on the scene. These packages came in the mail yesterday from Aunt Dee and after Savannah opened hers she thought she'd help her cousin, Alyssa, open hers too only a little early. AAHH!! At least she didn't get into the presents that mommy wrapped.

The Stats

Today Savannah had her 18 month check up with Dr. Baker. I have to say that her doctor appointments are bitter sweet for me. I spend weeks before counting down the days until we can go and get all of my questions answered. However, it's also SO hard holding her down to get shots. Thankfully, we were one day early today and that kept her from having to get an additional shot . . . we only got two instead of three today. I have to tell you how thankful I am for Dave, a dad who takes off from work and drives all the way across town just to be there for Savannah's appointment. It means SO much to me for him to be there!!

The appointment went well, excluding a minor scare that we might have to get a CT scan because her head was measuring too big. The nurse came in and remeasured and said that it was fine. Whew. She's up to 35 inches tall (I can't believe she's almost 3 feet tall!), 33 pounds, and 50 cm head circumference . .. all still well above the 97th percentile. At least we're consistent with being off the charts. Dr. Baker was very patient and assured me that she would eventually start eating things other than chicken nuggets and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. What a relief to know that I'm not doing permanent damage by feeding her the same two things for over four months!! He also said that we needed to let her cry it out at night, even if she does throw up. So, sorry Savannah, no more books at 3am!!

Here are just two cute pictures of her helping clean before leaving for our appointment. I had to laugh when one of the questions on the checklist at the doctor's office was "Does your child mimic what you do?" Oh yeah, we've got that one down!

She's 18 Months Old Already?!

This past week we have experienced being parents to what seems like a completely different child. Now that the rash is cleared up, she is truly starting to settle into a good schedule. It seems as if she's getting enough sleep too as our nights no longer consist of a screaming baby, but a dancing toddler. That's right, a dancing toddler. She seems to have moves (or lack of them) like her daddy, but that doesn't stop her from spinning in circles anytime we play some music around the house. After much time spent trying to get the video uploaded onto the blog, I've finally given up . .. so sorry you can't see our little dancer perform her newest moves.

Seriously though, what a relief to know that it does get better. I can hardly believe she turned 18 months old yesterday. Though hard at times, Savannah truly has blessed our little family more than I ever imagined possible.

Another Day . . .

I just couldn't resist sharing this cute picture of Savannah standing on the base of our kitchen table. After so much tutoring and lots of little hands, we sent our white table top out to be refinished. So, this is what we have in our kitchen for a few days . . . a base just calling for a toddler to climb all over it.

As for health news, we were ALL almost well and now Savannah has some nasty diaper rash going on. Thankfully, the doctor called in some speciality diaper rash cream that the pharmacy has to compound so hopefully this will do the trick! She is SO much happier now, even with less sleep so that makes me one happy mama!! We had Dave's Christmas party last night and were a little skeptical about leaving her with someone that would have to put her to bed, but Miss. Chelle had the magic touch and Savannah went to bed without even a cry!!

A Table for Two

Dave and I decided a couple of weeks ago that Savannah needed her own little kid table. That way she could sit and color, play, eat, or do whatever at her own little table without any worries of making a mess on our white kitchen table. So, yesterday I found one advertised for only $20 at Aldi foods. We purchased it and were going to wait to Christmas to give it to her. However, she was so intrigued by the box and I was so afraid she was going to pull it over on herself that I opened it and let her try it out this morning. I have to say that she LOVES it. Here is a picture of her with a bunch of my spices that she pulled out of the pantry and some pineapple. Notice the security bib that she put on herself, backwards. I'm not sure if she was pretending to cook, have a tea party, or just making her usual mess. Either way, it kept her entertained until it was time for aerobics! What a great purchase!!

Weekend Recap

Although the weekend didn't exactly start well with Savannah up from 1am - 3am Saturday morning (TEETHING AGAIN), it has turned out to be a great few days!! With the Christmas shopping and wrapping done and the cards on order, we have enjoyed a few days where we could relax, catch up on some tasks around the house, and spend some quality time with each other. Once we all woke up Saturday Dave volunteered to take Savannah to Charlotte at Play. Oh how I treasured a few hours all to myself! They had a blast and so did I. Today has been great too as we enjoyed church and Sunday school this morning without being paged to pick up Savannah early. What a relief to find her playing happily when we picked her up. I guess this is all part of her new "schedule".

We are still trying to figure out what works best for her little body in terms of a schedule. I no longer have my 7-7 baby as of a few weeks ago and the past week has been a nightmare with trying to get her to take a nap and go to bed at a decent hour. However, for some reason, this weekend she seems to have settled into a routine of getting up around 6:30am, taking a longer nap later in the afternoon, and going to bed much later at 8:30pm. Although I am going to miss my time with Dave from 7pm on, we're willing to sacrifice this time if it helps Savannah to be less fussy at night. It's a struggle to keep her up until 1 or 2 in the afternoon before retiring for a nap, but boy has it made a difference in her overall attitude this weekend. We'll see how things go this week . . .

Is TV Really That Bad for Kids?

For the past few days since Savannah has been so gassy and ill I've allowed her to watch an enormous amount of television as it is the ONLY thing that has seemed to settle her. Well, now she's waking up and demanding in her own little way to watch the "T" as she calls it. So now she's becoming spoiled to watching it when she wants. I know that if I could keep her entertained more, then we wouldn't have the need for television, but on cold days when she's sick, what else am I to do?

Take today for example. I still haven't worked out or had a shower and the to do list is growing. I've cleaned up crushed cheerios twice and also resorted my coupons as she dumped my organizer onto the floor. (For those of you that know me well, this was crossing the line . . . no one touches the coupons, even a cute chubby cheeked baby!) The bottom line is that if she isn't sitting quietly in front of the TV how am I to get anything done?? So, I'm looking for some comments on your opinions of TV. After all, we all watched it and turned out okay, right?!

Loving the Cuddling

Just when I thought Savannah was all well from the runny nose, cough, and pink eye, she came down with yet another bug this weekend. On Sunday we were paged out of Sunday school to be told that Savannah had thrown up in the nursery. Yuck! That was the last time that she threw up, but she definitely hasn't been feeling well. No appetite and being extremely fussy have characterized most of her waking hours since Sunday. Her stomach must be in some serious pain as she is very, very gassy too!! Plus, she is refusing to take naps and go to bed without a struggle now.

This has been an adjustment for me as our routine up until now has been one of drop and run, where she just settles on her own and goes to sleep without help. The only thing that seems to work to get her to sleep now is rocking her and lightly rubbing her forehead until she's asleep in my arms. Although it takes much more time and patience to get her to go to sleep, I must say that I am LOVING the snugly time spent rocking her to sleep. She just nestles right in under my chin with her bib up to her face and after about 2 songs on the Praise Baby CD she's sound asleep. Last night I even fell asleep with her and woke when my kid knocked on the front door for tutoring! I'm so thankful for this precious time with Savannah as one day I know she will be much too big to rock to sleep.