Fun stuff with my sweet baby girl

Here lately, it seems as if Savannah has really "blossomed". It seems like we are constantly teaching her and teaching her and wondering, "will she ever get it?" Savannah has always been so observant. I knew one of these days she would just start doing fun stuff and we would just stand back in awe.
Some of the fun stuff she has started doing/saying that is so cute is, "thank you". She says it all the time now! Sometimes the context is not right but it is cute anyway. If she sneezes and you say "bless you" she will say "thank you". She loves to hand her toys off to people and say "thank you". I was doing laundry earlier and as I was folding the clothes from the dryer, she found me and started handing me the clothes from the dryer and saying "thank you." I hope this is just the beginning of good manners. :)
Another fun thing she does now is try to put on her shoes. She hasn't quite got it down yet but she sure does try hard. I can hardly put her shoes on her without her trying to reach for them and put them on herself. One thing she does know how to do pretty good is get undressed. I have caught her several times in her crib with her pants off and, you won't believe this, but her shirt off too! She is so silly!
She loves people. When we get out and about, she will say "hi" and "bye" to everyone! All with a huge grin on her face and her little hand just a waving. She will also let you know when she is ready to go by quickly waving her hand and saying "bye-bye".
One of my favorite things she has done lately is give kisses. She can blow kisses and give real kisses. When she blows kisses, she really gets into it by holding her hand to her mouth going, "mmmmm" and then she moves her hand away and goes, "mah" really loud! (if you can imagine any of that) It is really sweet. When she gives a real kiss, she will seal her lips together, lean in to you and make the same, "mmmmmmah" sound. The cool thing is, sometimes she does it when you ask her for a kiss, but a lot of the times she will just walk/crawl over to you and just give you a kiss. :)
Bath time has been really fun lately. She has figured out how to blow bubbles if she puts her face in the water. (thanks to her daddy!) She is not the least bit afraid and will giggle after she does it.
These are just a few of the fun stuff she has done lately. I'm sure this is more but I really need to finish the laundry. (with Savannah's help too) :)
I hope all of my friends with little ones are having as much fun as we are. Sure there are days that are hard but when they start doing all of this fun stuff, it is SO worth it.

God Bless,
Emily

Pink eye = no fun!

Savannah has pink eye..... poor baby!
It started Thursday morning in the left eye. She had a bunch of "goop" built up. She had a rough night so I thought maybe it was just sleep in her eye. Less than an hour later the "goop" was back and then it started to look irritated. I called the mom's line and of course the phone nurse was at lunch so I had to wait an hour and a half before they would be back. Since it wasn't a real emergency, I figured I could wait. Savannah had no fever or any other alarm causing symptoms. When called the mom's line back and explained Savannah's eye situation, the nurse immediately said, "pink eye". I know pink eye is a common infection but I was really bummed! The nurse was so nonchalant about it and I didn't even have to see the doctor about this. They just called in an antibiotic eye ointment and that was it! By the time I got off the phone with the nurse, Savannah was still napping, so I let her sleep while I got ready so we could get her prescription later and then go to the grocery store. Savannah had perfect timing yesterday because I had just got done getting ready when she woke up from her nap. I went in her room to get her and almost started crying. The pink eye was now in both eyes!! ( I just had to keep telling myself, "common infection, with medicine it will go away") Her poor little eyes both had "goop" in them and they were very swollen.
We left soon after I got her ready and I feel like I couldn't get that medicine fast enough! I have to put one drop in each eye 4X a day. So far, she has been doing very well with the drops. Her eyes no longer have the "goop" but they are still swollen. The silver lining out of all of this, is Savannah is acting just as happy as she can be. That makes me feel so much better.
Today is the first day in a long time the weather has been nice, so, I am going to take Savannah to the park and enjoy this nice weather. (Yes, I will keep Savannah clear of any little children) Maybe the nice weather will do us some good?!!

God bless and enjoy this beautiful day!

Emily

March Prenatal Visit

Today was my monthly prenatal checkup to see how things were going. For all of you mommy's who have been through this before, these visits are very short and sweet in the beginning, assuming everything is allright. Blood pressure was good, 119/60. All my lab work from the previous visit came back fine. We got to listen to the baby's heartbeat! That is always my favorite part of these visits. The heartbeat was 140. I don't know why, but this was surprising. When I was 15/16 weeks with Savannah, her heartrate was 160, so I guess I was expecting it to be higher this go round. The old wives tale is, a slower heartbeat means the baby could be a boy. I am not a believer in the wives tales but, sometimes I can't help but wonder. My weight was good which was a huge relief! I won't post those numbers but I really feel like I have blown up this past week and was sure that I probably gained at least 5 or 6 pounds. I only gained two.
Overall it was a great visit and I can't wait until next month when we find out what the baby will be!

God Bless,
Emily

St. Patrick's Day Quick and Fun Facts

I always find these interesting. Maybe one day Savannah is a little bit older and starts to ask questions about certain holidays, I can share these fun facts with her. :)

• St. Patrick’s Day is observed on March 17 because that is the feast day of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It is believed that he died on March 17 in the year 461 AD. It is also a worldwide celebration of Irish culture and history. St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday in Ireland, and a provincial holiday in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
• In Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day, people traditionally wear a small bunch of shamrocks on their jackets or caps. Children wear orange, white and green badges, and women and girls wear green ribbons in their hair.
• Many cities have a St. Patrick’s Day parade. Dublin, the capital of Ireland, has a huge St. Patrick’s Day festival from March 15-19, that features a parade, family carnivals, treasure hunt, dance, theatre and more. In North American, parades are often held on the Sunday before March 17. Some paint the yellow street lines green for the day! In Chicago, the Chicago River is dyed green with a special dye that only lasts a few hours. There has been a St. Patrick’s Day parade in Boston, Massachusetts since 1737. Montreal is home to Canada’s longest running St. Patrick’s Day parade, which began in 1824.
• St. Patrick was born in 385 AD somewhere along the west coast of Britain, possibly in the Welsh town of Banwen. At age 16, he was captured and sold into slavery to a sheep farmer. He escaped when he was 22 and spent the next 12 years in a monastery. In his 30s he returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary. He died at Saul in 461 AD and is buried at Downpatrick.
• The harp is the symbol of Ireland. The color green is also commonly associated with Ireland, also known as “the Emerald Isle.”
• The name “lephrechaun” has several origins. It could be from the Irish Gaelic word “leipreachan,” which means “a kind of aqueous sprite.” Or, it could be from “leath bhrogan,” which means “shoemaker.”
• Legend says that each leaf of the clover means something: the first is for hope, the second for faith, the third for love and the fourth for luck.

Hello 2nd Trimester!

Last week was the official start of the 2nd trimester for me and I am SO relieved. With Savannah, the first trimester was hard because I felt sick and tired all the time but with this pregnancy, there was just something different about it. Maybe it was the upper respiratory infection, maybe it was the stomach bug, all on top of being pregnant, I don't know. Since last week, though, I have felt ALOT better and feel like a new person. I am going to enjoy every moment of this 2nd trimester and try and get as much done around the house as possible. I am also wanted to work out a lot more. I finished a 5K race this weekend and it felt great. Until I get too big to do anything that is going to be another goal of mine, run or walk as much as I can. I did not do anything in the way of exercise with Savannah. I still made it, but I firmly believe that it would have been a lot easier to get back into working out again, if I had already been working out before hand. I don't want to become some crazed work out person, I just want to be healthier. I am going to have two little munchkings to be looking after and I am going to need all the energy I can get! :)
So, this 2nd trimester is going to be good, fun, and productive. Wish me luck!

Emily

How He Loves

(David Crowder Band sings this song and I love it. It has really been on my heart lately and every time I hear it, I believe it is such a great reminder of God's love for us. It is truly amazing! I will update our media player so you can also listen. The words are really great.)

He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us oh
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us oh,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

And we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If His grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

That He loves us,
Oh how He loves us, Oh how He loves us, Oh how He loves. Yeah, He loves us, Oh how He loves us, Oh how He loves us, Oh how He loves. Yeah, He loves us, Oh how He loves us, Oh how He loves us, Oh how He loves.

Seaside Half-Marathon and 5k Race...

is this weekend! Eek!! At the beginning of the year, Aric set up a training schedule for me so I would be ready for this 5k race in March. I stuck to it for a couple of weeks then we found out we were going to have another baby and well, I slacked off, ALOT. First it was an upper respiratory infection, then morning sickness like you wouldn't believe, then the stomach flu and here we are, only days away from the race and I am NOT ready. I am very much a rookie when it comes to 5k races. I have only been in one other race, in Daphne, AL, when I went to visit my sister a few years ago. I did no training for that at all. I didn't even know I was going to race until the day of! I finished last in my age group of course, but had a good time! I am going to try and make it to the YMCA today and do some run/walking on the treadmill. My doctor said I am fine to race, but to stay comfortable and not push myself. I am not looking forward to finishing last but, I signed up for this race before we got pregnant and I intend to participate and at least finish! :)
Aric on the other hand is going a little bit further than me and doing the half-marathon. He ran the Hyundai half in October and finished better than he thought he would. Seeing as this course is going to be a lot flatter, I think he is going to do just fine.
We will be going to Seaside, FL with some sweet friends of ours, Will and Jennifer Barrett. They are brining their son Caleb and we will be bringing Savannah. Besides the race, I am really excited to be going down to the Gulf and enjoying a little R&R. It is supposed to be beautiful weather and that makes it even better.
Please say a short prayer for us as we travel and on race day. (by the way, race day will be on Sunday at 7AM)

God bless and enjoy this beautiful weather these next few days!!!

Emily