Savannah Claire @ 3 years 10 months

This little girl is a pistol ball! She is smart, sweet and a little bit sour at times. She can not wait to be a big sister and a big helper to mommy and Ryleigh!

Savannah is really enjoying her 3K preschool class right now. I'm so glad she's happy, having fun and learning lots of fun things. She will be attending the 4K program next year at the same school. Savannah has just started showing a lot of interest in writing her name and other names/words this past week and is doing VERY well. I'm super proud of her!

Savannah loves to play with baby dolls, watch Daniel Tiger, play ABCmouse, and cut and glue paper. She's also VERY GOOD at making big messes but not so good at cleaning them up yet. She all of a sudden is too tired or her back hurts. haha (I don't like cleaning up either sweet girl but you just gotta do it!) However, if you give her a bottle of Thieves cleaner and a rag she will gladly scrub the floor and the steps. Silly girl!

Savannah Claire is beautiful, full of personality and we love her so much! I look forward to seeing her become a BIG SISTER soon and see how she transitions into that roll. I truly think she will be a wonderful help.

We love you SO SO much Doodlebug!!

I miss blogging!

I miss blogging SO much! I really hate that I've had to let it go for so many months. I wish I had time to go back and catch up but I really just don't. But for tonight, I'm going to do a family update, just to jot down what's been going on with us.

Brantley and I got dressed up in 80s attire last week to go to JiJi's birthday party at Roller Motion. Brantley LOVED it and is looking forward to going back sometime soon.

Brantley:
She will be in 3K preschool again this year 3 days a week. I know she is going to learn so much and make more new friends this year. School starts on Tuesday and we are all ready! Brantley is also taking ballet and tap this year. She LOVES it! My wonderful mother-in-law has taken on this activity for us each week while I'm in class and Chase is at home with Savannah or working. Thank you, Bebe!
Brantley loves to color, paint, draw...pretty much create something with whatever she can find. She is working on her hand writing and has improved quite a lot since the beginning of the summer. She is a very smart little girl!

We (Chase and I) gave BR her first haircut last week at home. She did great and the cut turned out straight. ha!

Savannah:
Well, my Doodlebug is 15 month old now and I can hardly believe it! Life is flying by and I can't keep up. She is walking and getting into EVERYTHING! Savannah is a climber, so the kitchen chairs and the stool in the bathroom are two places that I can usually find her. She doesn't want to miss out on anything! Girlfriend only naps once a day usually for about 1.5hrs, 2 if I'm lucky. She doesn't require a whole lot of sleep, much like her Momma!
Savannah is a very animated little girl! She doesn't have many words yet but she gets her point across just fine without them. We're working on this each day of course but I'm not really worried. So far she says, "Momma" and she says "da" all the time for just about everything else. I guess she says "Dada" for Chase sometimes but not much. She just gets super excited when she hears him come home. It's so cute! When she is saying bye to someone, she will wave her little hand and say "da, da" just like "bye, bye". She has perfect intonation and all, just the wrong word/sound.

Still not much going on in the hair department. We think the fuzz has gotten a LITTLE bit longer but that may just be wishful thinking. I'm not sure. She also only has 4 teeth still.
Savannah will also be starting preschool this Fall in the 18 month class. She is a little young but we're going to see how she does.

Me:
Oh gosh, me, I'm busy all the time, everyday! Between cooking, cleaning, parenting, working part-time, Thirty-One, and most recently, graduate school...I have NO free time! Everyday has to be planned out to the minute in order for me to get everything done and for me to stay on task. This is crazy for me and really overwhelming right now and today was my first grad class. Yike! Prayers for peace would be greatly appreciated right now. I know I can't do everything on my own, so I've asked Chase to help out more than he has been lately, because I simply just can't do it all if I'm going to be a good student. I absolutely LOVE my Thirty-One business and team so I'm going to be working super hard to keep my business strong. I was able to go to Thirty-One National conference back at the beginning of this month and I had a wonderful time. I met many of the great ladies on my team and learned a ton from training and conversations with other consultants while I was there.

 This is my awesome Director, Tammy Harper. She is a great time leader and wonderful friend. I am so thankful for her kind words of encouragement over the past few months. Thank you, Tammy! You are beautiful, inside and out!!

Grainy picture but this is me at conference with my team members. It was so fun to meet every one and I look forward to see you all again next year!!

So, back to school.... I'm taking 4 classes this semester. I'm already stressing out but I'm taking it day by day. I know that this is where I'm suppose to be because I've felt God leading me during this whole process, so I know He will help me. I can do this if I stay focused every day on the things I need to accomplish.

Chase:

He is such a hard-working man and I love him for that! He hardly ever stops doing stuff whether it's at work or at home. I am so thankful for all he does and that he is going to be doing for our family while I'm in school. The next two years are going to be interesting, but in the end it will be worth it.

So there you have it, the latest on the Williamson's. My hope is that I can blog at least once a month from here on out but we will see. 

Savannah Claire's First Birthday Party

Today we celebrated Savannah's First Birthday here at our house. We had a wonderful time! The weather was perfect and lots of sweet friends and family came over to celebrate with us.

(Invitation is from Lemonade Design Studio on Etsy)

 We had a wonderful time outside playing in the bouncy house, ball pit, with sidewalk chalk and so much more!

 We had hotdogs, chips, goldfish, watermelon, strawberry-lemon cookies, sweet tea and of course strawberry lemonade for lunch. 

 Big Sis had a great time playing with her friends and her big cousin, Alyssa!

 Savannah LOVED her birthday cake!

 Pam Franklin delivered this beautiful cake to our house this morning along with Savannah's smash cake. Pam is SO good to us and I am so thankful to know her. Pam, you are wonderful! Thank you for making our cakes!

 Savannah managed to get icing all over herself as well as the highchair. She took a bath immediately following these pictures. 

 

 Sweet friends played and had so much fun playing in our front yard. It was so great to have everyone here!

 Brantley was given an awesome belated birthday present at the end of the party. This bubble machine puts out a lot of bubbles. This one puts the one that Santa Claus brought Brantley to shame. ha! She loves it! Thank you, Aunt Mary Ellen and Alyssa!

We'd like to thank everyone that was able to come to the party today! We loved having you all here and thank you for the sweet gifts. Savannah is lucky to be loved and cared for so much by all of you.

Thanks again!

Happy 1st Birthday, Savannah Claire!

We love you!

Savannah's Dedication

Savannah's Baby Dedication was last Sunday. It was an absolutely perfect day! The weather was beautiful and so many of our friends and family were able to join us for the service and lunch. Savannah is loved by so many people! We are truly thankful for all the loving family and friends that the Lord surrounded us with that day. It could not have been more perfect!

There was a photographer at church that took pictures of the whole group for us but I haven't been able to get those back yet. Once I do, I will for sure post them.

We chose Psalms 37: 4-7a as Savannah's Life Verse.

"Delight yourself in the Lord,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;

Trust in him, and he will act.

He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

and your justice as the noonday.

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him."

Savannah at 11 Months Old

Weight: 16lbs 12.5oz (04/08/13) I was WAY off on my guess last month.
She was 17lbs on April 23rd when I took her to the doctor. Found out she had a double ear infection. Bless her heart! She was pitiful!

Height: Not sure

Diapers: Still in Size 3

Clothes: Mostly 9 months but she is starting to 

wear some 12 month outfits already.

Sleeping: Savannah had been sleeping through the night for a couple of months until last week when she got sick with the fever virus. That lasted for 6 days! Those nights she woke up 1-2 times because she just didn't feel well. Now that she is over the virus, she is having to relearn how to sleep through the night again. She wants me to come in there and comfort her and most of the time I do. I don't feed her usually but I do hold her for a minute or so and then put her back down. Last night (04/17/13) she slept through the night again. Yay! So we are making progress and I'm sure she'll be back to sleeping through in another couple of days.

Naps: Her naps at school are still pitiful and taken in a bouncy seat. She only sleeps about 30 minutes on school days. When we're at home in the mornings, she will take at least an hour long nap and sometimes a little longer. Every afternoon she sleeps from about 1:30 to 3:30-4:00. That is so great because Brantley takes her nap from 2-4 as well, so I get a good break each day. Some days don't work out just like that, but most of them do.

Eating: Savannah is doing really well with eating table foods that she is almost totally off of baby foods. We have gone out for dinner the past few days (shame on me for not cooking) and she has eaten little pieces of whatever we were eating. Last night, a grilled cheese and tonight she had chicken and rice from Iguana grill. She loves fruits, veggies, turkey, ham, chicken, cheese, greek yogurt, crackers, toast, cereal, etc. I am introducing new things to her just about every day. She surprises me with how well she can mash foods up without having more teeth! I haven't found much that she doesn't like.

Bottles/Sippy Cup: I am starting the transition to a sippy cup but so far it is going very slowly. Savannah is still taking 6oz bottles when she wakes in the morning, before her afternoon nap and at bed time. In between those feedings, I give her formula in a sippy cup with breakfast, lunch and snacks but most days, I still decide to offer her a 4oz bottle before her morning nap and when she wakes from her afternoon nap. She will drink the formula from the sippy cup. She just doesn't drink enough to replace a bottle yet. 

Savannah is using a Playtex straw sippy cup because until today, it was the only kind she would drink formula out of. We have a few other kinds that she has been drinking water out of for months but she will not drink her formula out of those. So she is using a straw cup and so far is doing pretty well and getting better/drinking more from it everyday.

Note: Her bottles are warm and her sippy cups are cold.

Teeth: Savannah has not cut any more teeth since last month. I keep thinking that her top teeth will start to come in, but so far, I don't see any signs.

Hair: I really can't classify it as "hair" yet because it's still just fuzz. I think the fuzz MAY be starting to grow so maybe I'll have good news for this section by her first birthday. haha

Words: She has started saying "momma" more often, usually when she is hungry or upset.

Savannah's other Abilities at 11 Months, 2 days:

-Still shakes her head "yes" and "no" when we ask her questions. I think it is super cute!

-I hate to admit this but I just started including book reading in her bedtime routine this week. Up until this week, I was just trying to survive and get myself in the bed at a decent time. I realized after reading posts from when Brantley was this age, I am slacking and behind on what I need to be teaching Savannah. So that being said, we have been reading books after her bottle and she is loving it! She smiles, touches the pages, points to the pictures, and makes all kinds of cute noises! We are loving our new routine! I have reminded myself how important reading to children is so no more excuses, I'm going to read to her every night and much more during the day as well. Brantley LOVES books and I want Savannah to love them also.

-Savannah is pulling up on pretty much everything but when I try to get her to stand on her own she WILL NOT do it! She bends her knees immediately and tries to crawl away. I'm not sure she'll be walking by her first birthday, but that really is okay with me! Once she walks then I really won't ever sit down! 

Playing in the kitchen at school.

-She is cruising the furniture much more confidently now. She has even been using her push walker here at the house and there is one at school she walked behind the other day. She is so proud of herself! 

 -Has clapped her hands a few times but not on her own yet. I have to show her, then clap her hands together for her and then she will do it on her own once or twice.
-This is not an ability but she LOVES to take a bath. When I take her in the bathroom and stand her at the tub she starts to squeal and dancing. It's super cute! She splashes a lot once she is in the tub and usually gets me pretty wet before it's all over and I get her out. It's fun watching her have so much fun!
-Savannah is intrigued by hair. Since she doesn't have any of her own she will pull on Brantley's any chance she gets. She also pulls the hair of the other babies at school. Most of the time I can stop her before she actually pulls it, but she is definitely fascinated and trying to figure out what that stuff is. haha

Savannah's baby dedication is this Sunday. I am so excited! We have chosen a life verse for her and have been praying for her all week very hard. I know the dedication will be super special and I'm greatly looking forward to seeing God move, as we dedicate our baby girl back to him and declare that we will raise her in a Christian home and teach her all about the great love to Jesus Christ. I will at some point, post pictures from Sunday and details about the service. 

Another note is that, I have not started planning her birthday party yet! WHAT?! I know, right! It's less than a month away. I actually have decided that it will be June 1st and I've contacted our cake lady, Mrs. Pam. (Come to think of it, I was suppose to call her this week. I'll have to do that tomorrow! Add it to the list!)

The party is going to be at our house, I think, or maybe a park and I can't decide if I want to do a big party or a medium/small party. Brantley's 1st birthday was HUGE/lots of people, so I kinda feel like I should have a big party for Savannah, but then again she won't remember it. She'll only see pictures. Is she really going to care?! Anyways, I have a lot of decisions to make and planning to do over the next few weeks, including first birthday pictures. So much to do, so little time! Oh and I need to study and run my Thirty-One business, right behind taking care of my hubby and the girls. Wow! Life is so busy and crazy right now, but God continues to bless me/us with so much and I am truly grateful for it all and trusting Him to help me make this all work. To God be the glory!

Savannah Claire, you are 11 months old and loving it! You are a little firecracker at times and then a sweet cuddle bug at other times. I love every side of you, inside and out! You are my Doodlebug and I don't know what I'd do without you. I love you, baby girl!! Happy 11 months!!

Savannah at 10 Months Old

I've gotten so bad about doing these posts late. Late is better than never, right?! Oh and this one is going to be brief since I'll be doing another one in 2 weeks. (Hopefully I can do her 11 Month post on time!)

 Weight: I'm not sure but I'm guessing around 17.5 lbs.      Height: I'm not sure about this one either.

Diapers: Size 3        Clothes: 9-12 months        Foot/shoe: She measures a 2.5 but I haven't bought her any shoes yet. We have size 3.5 Stride Rites from when BR started walking so I'm hoping she will be able to wear those when she decides to start walking.

Sleep: Thankfully, she is still sleeping through the night. I actually don't remember the last time she woke in the middle of the night. That is so nice! Her naps are kinda hit or miss right now. At work/in the nursery she only takes 30-45 minute naps while we are there from 8:15-1:15. It's rough but she does okay. Usually by the time we get home and a give her a bottle she is out for a couple of hours but then again some days she mysteriously wakes up after just one hour. She is a bear when that happens!

Foods/Eating: She is still drinking Similac formula and eating lots of solids. She is getting anywhere from 24-28 ounces of formula a day. I think she has hit a growth spirt here over the past week or so because she is always hungry. It's crazy! She will still eat baby foods when I offer them but she LOVES to eat finger foods. Some of her newest foods are yogurt covered raisins, sliced turkey, cheese and blueberries. She loves bananas a lot and Ritz crackers.

Teeth: Savannah now has 2 teeth. They are the front 2 on the bottom. The first one broke through just before she turned 10 months and the second broke through last weekend. They still aren't all the way in but I can definitely feel them.

Hair: It looks like the fuzz might have grown just a touch but it's not enough to actually get excited about. the fuzz is still very blonde but that's about all I can tell as of now.

New Abilities at 10 months, 2 weeks:

- Savannah learned how to shake her head 'Yes' last weekend. It is adorable! Bebe taught her at Kohl's last weekend while feeding her Cheerios. When Bebe would ask her if she wanted more, she started out shaking her head 'No', aka back and forth. But then after Bebe corrected her and showed her how to shake her head up and down for 'yes', she has been doing it ever since. So cute!

- She pulls up on everything! She still isn't all that interested in walking yet if you ask me. She is still a little unsure of cruising along furniture and such so I'm not sure when she will take off walking. I'm not rushing her though because once she starts walking I'll never sit down. It will be on!

- She has become very gassy and poops at least 3-4 sometimes 5 times a day. It's ridiculous! I'm considering calling the doctor about it because it's outfit ruining poop. TMI! Sorry! LUVs diapers have been letting me down. But I switched back to Pampers Swaddlers to give them a try and they didn't hold up much better. Bummer!

Her laugh is contagious, her smile is adorable and her eyes are still a beautiful blue! I think it's safe to say that she is going to stay my blue-eyed girl and I couldn't be more happy about it. Savannah is smart and loves to play but also slows down for a cuddle every now and again. She is perfect in every way and I am truly thankful that God chose Chase and I to be her parents. She is such a joy and definitely completes our family!

Below is a video I took of her at the park on her 10  month birthday. She was swinging in a park swing for the very first time and she loved it!

Savannah at 9 Months Old

 Weight: 15lb 15oz       Height: 28 inches     Head Circ: 17 1/4 inches

Diapers: Size 3 in Luvs      Clothes: Size 9 Months 

(I've packed up almost all of her 6 month clothes at this point. There are a few stragglers, but not many.) 

Eating: Unfortunately, I am finished nursing Savannah. Shortly after she turned 8 months old, I came down with a terrible case of bronchitis. The antibiotic I had to take kept me from being able to nurse for a whole 7 days. In order to nurse after, I would have had to pump 5-6 times a day. That was totally out of the question, because I just don't have that kind of free time. So by the end of the week I was only pumping twice a day (morning and bedtime). Savannah switched to bottles beautifully and didn't seem to miss nursing at all (which made me a little sad), but she is happy so that's all that matters.

- She is now on Similac formula. She drinks 5oz bottles upon waking in the morning, middle of the day and at bedtime. She has 4oz bottles for her morning and afternoon snack. That is all the formula I can get her to drink. I have tried and tried to get her to take at least 5oz every time, but she just won't do it. Petite!!

Savannah really likes to feed herself so foods she can pick up and feed herself are a must these days. She still eats baby food but I don't think it will be long before she is refusing to eat from a spoon (like her big sister did).

Solids: Finger foods she is eating now: sweet peas, lima beans, green beans, carrots, cut up chicken, puffs and lil' munchies, bananas, kiwi, eggs, cheese cubes cut up into small pieces, yogurt puffs and crackers (ritz and saltines).

Teeth: Still no teeth! I keep thinking one is going to pop out but so far, nothing. 

(Update: Since I'm posting this so late I'll just add that on Feb. 28th we noticed that she is cutting her first tooth. It's not of the front bottom teeth. Bless her heart! We didn't get much sleep last night.)

Sleep: She is consistently sleeping through the night now!! YAY!! This is way before Brantley started sleeping through the night so I am super pumped. Her morning naps at school are really crappy. They are only about 30 minutes, on a good day. When we're at home and she's in her bed, she'll sleep for an hour or so. Her afternoon naps have been 2-2.5 hours lately, which is wonderful! 

Words: "dada" all the time. She is starting to say "momma" more and more but she still doesn't say it when she is referring to me. She also says her /b/ sounds every now and then.

Abilities at 9 months, 13 days: (Wow, I'm really behind on this one! Oops!)
-Crawling EVERYWHERE! She has the full crawl down to a science now and she is super fast.
-Pulling up on lots of stuff. She has been pulling up to her knees for a few weeks now, but she is getting braver each day and is now pulling up to her feet. Yesterday, 02/28, was the first time she pulled up to standing in her crib. She does it all the time now. Last night while protesting bedtime, she busted her lip/tongue on the edge of her crib. :( I felt so bad for her. Of course, that didn't stop her from doing it again though. Her favorite place to crawl to is the bathroom and then she pulls up on the tub. I can find her there most times I go looking!
-Still needs her pacifier to go to sleep and likes it in the car as well. I've been consciously trying to make sure she only has it at these times so maybe she won't become as attached as BR did.
-Loves bath time! She is no longer using the Bumbo seat in the bathtub. I have a mat in the bottom of the tub and she can sit on it just fine and doesn't scoot or fall over. Now she splashes like crazy and gets me totally soaked. haha!
-Savannah loves her walker. She has gotten really good at it! She will walk in circles around the island in our kitchen. It's pretty cute!
-Her interest in Brantley's toys is growing more and more every day. She enjoys playing in BR's kitchen and doll house.

Savannah is such a happy baby! We love her so so much! I can't believe she will be a year old in less that 3 months. Wow! Slow down time!!

And She's Off....

Last night Savannah figured out how to really crawl. She now crawls by coordinating her arms and legs to alternate. She is going to be all over the place in a few days, once she gets up to speed. Chase and I are working hard tonight and over the weekend to baby-proof the house so that baby girl will be free to roam the house. First on Chase's to-do list...install the baby gate at the top of the steps. I'm wanting to have in it place before BR's birthday party Saturday because there are going to be some little friends that could fall down the stairs here so I want them to be safe as well. 

I made 2 videos today at work of SC crawling around. Check out her moves....

Savannah at 8 Months Old

Weight:  15 pounds     Height: 26.5 inches

Diapers: Size 3 Luvs      Clothes: 6 months, 6-9 months

Nursing: 

I'm nursing at approximately 7am, 10am, 1pm, and 7pm. I have started the weaning process, but I'm going to do it very slowly. I have about 8 weeks until I go the the beach for my friend, Jami's bachelorette weekend. I'll be gone for 4 days so Savannah is going to need to take bottles while I'm gone. This week we've dropped the 4pm feeding and replaced it with a bottle/sippy cup and snack. She is doing okay with it, but so far she has only taken 2oz of formula each day and eaten the snack. I'm attempting to switch her straight to a sippy cup during these snack feedings and only use a bottle when I wean her breakfast, lunch and bedtime feedings.

Solids:

Savannah is eating breakfast after nursing in the morning, a small snack with her 10am feeding, lunch around 12pm-1pm, snack (puffs or wagon wheels) around 4pm and then dinner at 5:30pm, and nursing again at bedtime. She is eating solids very well. We've started some meats but only with them mixed with other vegetables. I haven't attempted to make her meats yet. I've been slacking and buying most of her food lately. It's just easier to buy it. I'm buying all organic baby foods so I'm confident that she is still getting the best nutrition. She of course loves fruits and veggies. She is eating yogurt and oatmeal also.

Teeth: 

No teeth yet. Although, I do think she is teething because she's started drooling A LOT and chewing on everything she can get to her mouth. I've been trying to keep a bib on her so her clothes don't get soaked from all the drool.

Sleep:

While we're at school/work, Savannah only takes short 30 minute naps in a bouncy seat or the swing, or I can hold her but I try not to do that. She will not sleep in a bed in the nursery at all. When we're at home I put her down for a nap after she's been away for 2-2.5 hours and she usually sleeps for at least an hour, sometimes more. Nighttime sleep still isn't great because she is still waking some. About every 3rd or 4th night she'll sleep through the night, but then the next night she is back to waking at weird hours.

Words:

"dada" is really her only one right now. Chase claims that she said "momma" yesterday afternoon a few times but I haven't heard it yet. I've heard her say her /b/ sounds a few times. 

Abilities at 8 months, 8 days: 

- sitting up from being on all fours

- Crawling! Well, sort of. She has a very strange crawl. I don't have a good video of it yet but as soon as I do, I'll post it. She isn't going anywhere fast just yet but she did "crawl" towards some puffs yesterday afternoon and some toys last night at my parents house. Chase has instructions to put up the baby gate at the top of the stairs this weekend. 

- She pushes up on her feet into a plank position. Silly girl!

- Savannah loves her walker, Johnny Jump Up, and exersaucer. 

- She can roll from tummy to back and back to tummy with no trouble at all anymore.

- Her most annoying discovery is that she can now turns over during diaper changes. It's almost impossible to change her diaper without her trying to turn over to her tummy now. This drives me crazy!

- When she wakes from her naps upset, she crawls over to the crib rail and rocks, banging her head on the side of her crib. Bless her! She noggin is usually red when I go in to get her.

 She has realized that I put headbands on her head and she tries to take them off. haha

Savannah is sweet, bubbly, silly and absolutely a joy to be around. We love her very very much and we're so blessed to spend each day with her watching her grow.