9.22.13 - 6 months!

I almost want to cry because our baby is half a year old already.  She's at such a fun stage, but I miss our tiny newborn too.  I wish babies didn't grow so much and so fast their first year.  I guess I can't stop it though, so here's Savannah's 6 month update--

Savannah's 6 month stats:

Weight: 18 lbs 2 oz (82%)

Length: 27.75 inches (98%)

Head: 43 cm (71%)

She honestly went up in everything by 10% from her 4 month measurements.  Seriously?! SO not cool.  I really want her to stay little. (Pout. Pout.)

At SIX months:
-Savannah can sit all by herself for several minutes before she topples over.  She doesn't like the toppling part so we still stay pretty close when she's practicing her sitting skills.
-She eats pureed baby food like a champ--usually 3 times a day, and she really likes MumMums too.  She does NOT like peas.
-Her laugh is like music. You can't help but laugh when you hear Savannah laugh.
-Her smile is also contagious.  Everyone comments on how beautiful her smile is.  That's why we call her Smiles!
-She gives some pretty intense kisses lately.  She loves to grab our faces and pull us in for a big wet one!  She practically eats your face off :) It's pretty much the best thing ever.
-She babbles "ma-ma" "da-da" and "la-la" so far.  She babbles "ma-ma" a lot when she's tired or hungry.
-She loves to kick and splash in the bath tub.
-She is such a GREAT sleeper!  If she doesn't fall asleep while she's eating, I can just put her right in her crib with her bunny, blankey, and binky and she usually falls right to sleep.  She occasionally needs me to reposition her, but she falls asleep on her own REALLY well.
-She definitely prefers to sleep in her crib and she sleeps the best there.
-When she does wake up at night wanting to eat, she eats and goes right back to sleep.
-When she wakes from her nap, she just plays in her crib and babbles to herself until I come get her.
-She's becoming a champ at rolling back and forth and getting herself stuck against whatever furniture she rolls into.
-She can get up onto her knees (uh-oh!  I'm not ready for our munchkin to start crawling yet!)
-She loves for us to help her chase Aurora around the house.  She laughs and laughs and thinks it's the greatest game ever.
-She thinks Aurora is the funniest person on the planet.
-She's starting to roll on the changing table when it's time to change her diaper.
-She's still very mild tempered, except when she's hungry.  She's such a great, easy baby!

Rori likes to take pictures of Savannah :)

 Tucking her bottom lip in--she did it a lot for a couple weeks

 Sitting with some boppy support - and yes, she still drools a ton, but isn't getting any teeth yet

Sept. 5th - First time sitting without any support

Her favorite way to sleep: in her crib with her blanket and bunny.  I love it!

Sitting on her own, playing with the ball popper toy

Savannah Alphabet Soup :)

She's really not a fan of the bottle but we've been trying to give it to her more.  She likes to try to hold it by herself


We love you so much, our Sweet Savannah!
Happy SIX months, baby girl!

A Nastassia Day

A year ago today was our due date for our tiny little angel baby, Nastassia.  I've been thinking about her a ton lately as today has been approaching.  I still think of her every single day--some days more than others--but I always think of her.  My heart smiles, and gets a little sad too, when I see anyone who has Down's Syndrome.  They have a special place in my heart, even though they'll probably never know it.

I love that when someone asks how many kids we have, Darwin always says 3.  It may not physically look like we have 3 girls but we do.  One just gets to live in Heaven.

We love you and miss you, Nastassia Grace!

Just wanted everyone to know we're thinking of you today, and always!

I've posted this song before but wanted to post it again because it always makes me think of our experience with Stassia, and I felt like someone who reads this might need the great message in the song right now too.

Yachats 2013 - Part 4 - The last leg

Day 8

I was really excited to take the girls to Sea Lion Caves.  It was really cool for me the last time we went to Yachats and I was excited to take our girls to experience it too.  While we were getting ready for the day, the girls had some sister/iPad time together

Outside Sea Lion Caves gift shop

Turns out there weren't any sea lions to see this time.  They naturally come and go from the cave and this year they left earlier than usual.  We were all totally bummed.  At least they discounted our admission, I guess.

I think Aurora still had a good time even though we didn't get to see any sea lions (actually, we did see 4 or 5 swimming in the water, but they were so far away it was really hard to see them).  She really loved riding the elevator down deep into the mountain, and we had to do it twice.
Yee-Ha!

 I know she doesn't look happy, but we had a hard time getting her to leave this statue.

Dar got this cool shot of Heceta Head Lighthouse from the Sea Lion Caves parking lot before we headed back to the beach house

After naps and lunch we prepared to go back outside to enjoy the sunshine on the beach.  I love that these two are such great buds!  I've been trying to teach Rori that Savy is her BFF :)

We just hung out and had a good time being goofy :)  We sure love this guy!


Me and Savy :)

Finally a shot of our beach house from the sandy spot we liked to play at.  I didn't zoom in so you could see how close we really were to the ocean.  So cool.

Dar and Rori coming back from one of the many potty-breaks of the trip :)

Dar, Rori, Geo and Grandma watching the waves come in

It was so nice (and warm) that afternoon that Dar couldn't resist the urge to swim in the ocean--even if the water was freezing cold.


My soggy honey after his ocean swim

Saved from the treacherous waves by driftwood :)

The founders of the family--we love you guys!!

Aurora giving "Sally the Sea Lion" she got at Sea Lion Caves a piggy-back ride

Last shot of the driftwood at high tide - it was washed away by the next morning

That night we had a fire on the beach and roasted hot dogs and ate S'mores (but we didn't get any pictures).  That was the last night there for the 4 of us.  We had to leave a day earlier than every one else for Dar to get back to work.

Day 9
Dar and I got everything ready and all packed into our trusty "green car" as Rori so lovingly calls it.  We got a few last family pictures at the beach before heading out to Devil's Churn with everyone

Our sweet Rori and her Sally
(who actually lost her spots when I washed her when we got home)

Rori took this picture of Daddy with Sally :)

Her hair was so curly!  The humidity definitely helps keep the curls looking cute.  Love it!

Devil's Churn

Geo, Rori and Sally

Hiking around on the rocks together.  Geo is always Rori's buddy when she's around.  She loves and misses you so much!!

Daddy and Savy

Beautiful Dre

Our little rock climber

A dew covered spider web I found.  Cool, huh?

Dre and Rori playing hide-and-seek :)

Our next stop was to an Oregon State University visitors center (can't remember the name of it now) in Newport that was really hands-on and great for kids (and adults) to learn about the ocean.
This is a piece of a dock that floated over to our west coast as a result of the Japan tsunami.  Kind of cool, huh?

A great big ocean bouy

Checking out the anemone (aka: squishies) with Dad

Sorry, Andrea--had to post this one.
I loved her reaction when she found out you could actually touch a sea urchin--she was thrilled! :)


Listening to different ocean sounds

Learning about erosion--Uncle Ryan was a huge help!


She was so excited that there were so many "Bubbles" fish (finding Nemo)

This totally cracked me up--There were footprints on the floor encouraging you to go into a certain display room and since they were barefoot prints, Rori had to take her socks and shoes off to walk on them :)

Look at the size of those walrus tusks!  Almost as long as Savy!

The last thing we did on our trip was color pictures.  Georgiana tried to give her awesome picture to Aurora, but Aurora insisted it was Geo's.  Oh well.  At least you tried :)

Last picture of the trip

We said goodbye to everyone, they were all staying one more night at the beach house, and we headed home after that.  It was a LONG drive home.  We decided to drive home through the night.  We left Newport around 6:00pm Utah time and pulled in to my parents house just before 9:00am the next morning.  We really only stopped for a quick dinner at Burger King and then quick fill-ups on gas the whole way home.  It was rough driving through the night--Darwin and I switched off and took turns driving then sleeping--but it was really nice that the girls slept for the vast majority of the drive home.  It made the drive better to not have to make so many stops.

Thanks again, Mom, for watching the girls so we could get a short nap in before heading home.  Sorry we shared colds with you and with everyone else.

Thanks, D family, for such a great vacation!

When do we go again? :)