Camping and Canton

Last weekend was Savannah Kate and cousin Charlie's first camping trip.  Our family loves to go to Canton,TX to the Monday Trade Days.  It's basically a huge craft fair where you can find just about anything you could ever want to buy from furniture to clothes to baby hair bows.  I got most of the decorations in Savannah Kate's nursery there such as her bedding and the rug.  It's an interesting experience to go to the first Monday Trade Days.  There are thousands of people and campers in all the parking lots.  We've learned that it's much more convenient to camp instead of getting a hotel.  That way you can be close enough to take breaks (especially when you take babies) and you can unload all your great purchases without having to go all the way across town to a hotel - which means you can buy more :)  It's so busy that you either have to get there really early or reserve a camping spot in order to get a good place.  And don't worry they have all the hookups that you need, even cable TV.  The vendors are extremely friendly and you can always bargain for good deals, but I'm not very good at that part yet.  I get better each time I go.  If you go to Canton just one time you will be hooked and you will want to bargain for everything you buy.  Too bad you can't do that everywhere.  Luckily, I've moved to Dallas and I'm only about an hour away from Canton now.

Here's a picture of Charlie and Savannah Kate sleeping in the camper.  Most of the time we had them in the strollers while shopping and they would sleep or just look around.  They got lots of compliments.  Several people take their kids, but you see a lot of dogs.  These are of course dogs that seem to be these people's children because they will even have them in dog strollers!

Here's my new favorite necklace I had made at Canton



2 months

Yesterday was Savannah Kate's two month checkup.  She now weighs 9 pounds and 13 ounces and is 21 1/4 inches in length.  She had to get her first round of vaccinations in the form of 3 shots in the leg and one oral vaccination.  I knew this was coming so I tried to prepare myself, but as soon as I saw her scream I immediately started crying.  As soon as it was over the nurse put her back in my arms and we cried together.  Thankfully, it didn't take us too long to settle down. The shots seemed to make her pretty fussy last night. We gave her Tylenol for the first time and she made the funniest face at the taste of it. Oh how I look forward to more shots at the next check up.

Little bandaids on her thighs - poor baby

First Photo Shoot

The first photo shoot took around 3 hours, required 2 feedings and getting peed on 3 times, but we got some beautiful pictures!  I love them and wanted to share our favorites.
 

All Smiles

Savannah Kate has really started focusing on my face when I talk to her.  She loves the baby talk!  And I love it when I get a smile.  I've seen her smile before, but it was always while she was asleep or at times when I wasn't trying to get her to smile. Now she will smile at me while I'm talking to her and tickling her. She really knows how to melt my heart, what a blessing.

Another reason to smile - Savannah Kate slept for a straight 6 hours last night! She woke up to eat then slept for another 3 hours. Maybe she's starting to get her nights and days figured out :)

 Here's the first smile I was able to capture on camera:

For some reason I always get the most smiles from her when she's on the changing table, I guess she enjoys getting a fresh diaper

Happy Fall

Savannah Kate is growing so fast.  Up to 8 pounds 6 ounces now and getting some adorable chubby cheeks.  Here are some of her latest fall pictures. 

My cute little pumpkin

Kissing Cousins

While in Dyersburg a couple weeks ago, Savannah Kate got to meet her cousin Mia for the first time.  I think Mia thought she was her baby doll at first, she kept pointing at her and wanting her to ride on her horse.  It will be fun to see them playing together when they are a little older. 

Here are the girls with Hunter's dad.

Mamoo

On November 3rd, Hunter's grandmother, Harrylyn Hart, known to us as "Mamoo" passed away.  We got a call on Halloween night that she had been admitted to the hospital and then on Monday it seemed that she had taken a turn for the worse.  We decided to leave Tuesday and head to Dyersburg,TN in hopes of making it there in time for Hunter to get to see her again.  It was a long trip (about 11 hours) and it rained the entire time.  Hunter took us to his parents house and then went to the hospital around 2:00 am.  He was able to say goodbye, hold her hand and pray for her.  He got back to the house around 3:30 am.  When we woke up that morning we learned that Mamoo had passed away at 4:15 am.  It was evident to everybody that she had been hanging on for the last several days and nobody was sure why.  Now we know why.  She was waiting for Hunter.  He was very grateful for that time he had with her during the last hours.

It was evident at the visitation and the funeral how many people loved Mamoo and her family.  People stood in line for over an hour just to get to talk to Pappaw (John Hart) and the rest of the family at the visitation.  It really showed me the impact that this family has had on the community and made me realize that I have a lot to live up to.  Mamoo and Pappaw had been married for 64 years and Pappaw still called her his bride.  They had an amazing love for each other.

During the funeral, the preacher read from Ecclesiastes 7:1  "The day of death is better than the day of birth".  I couldn't imagine that dying could ever be better than the joy I experienced when Savannah Kate was born.  This verse really made me think.  It made me think about how joyous and how wonderful it will be to enter the gates of heaven and to come before the Lord of creation and how that is going to be better than the best thing we could ever experience on earth.  Hard to imagine, huh?  We will miss Mamoo, but now she's with Jesus.  She's free from all her pain and she is happier than she's ever been - happier than her best day on earth. 

Here are some precious photos taken of Pappaw with Savannah Kate.  He told her all about Mamoo.

Sisters

Before bringing Savannah Kate home I worried how Belle was going to react because she had been our baby for the past 3 years.  She had been what made us a family and has brought us so much happiness.  I wondered if she was going to be jealous or would she love her likes she loves us?  Those of you that know Belle well will not be surprised how happy she was to meet her sister, given that she's pretty much always happy and has never met a stranger. 

Whenever Savannah Kate is crying Belle always runs over to her and gives her kisses, usually a lick on her feet or her head.  Belle is always sitting pretty close by and watching over her.  She sleeps on my side of the bed and I think it's so that she can be closer to the pack 'n play and she doesn't seem to be bothered by the lack of sleep during the night.  Both girls get plenty of naps in during the day :)  We've also noticed that Savannah Kate likes to watch Belle especially when she's in her bouncy seat.  I can't wait to see them grow up together.

I wanted to post a few pictures of some of their sweet moments together.  

Complete

Savannah Kate's first week home was filled with lots of family time.  She met both sets of grandparents, Uncle Hag, Uncle Justin, Aunt Sally and her cousins Caden and Charlie.  Charlie was born just one month earlier so it was really fun to see them together.  It was amazing to see the difference in size they were.  It really showed me how fast she is going to grow up.  I don't want to miss out on anything.  I find myself just watching her sleep sometimes and can't remember what life was like without her here with us.  It feels so much more complete now.

The huge blessing that I want to mention today is that I'm getting the opportunity to stay at home right now.  Which means that I have the chance to enjoy every minute with Savannah Kate.  I'm not sure if that opportunity would have been made available if we hadn't moved to Dallas.  Moving here was hard, we were leaving everything familiar behind.  I was leaving my job, our first house (that we had done a lot of work to and always imagined having our first child there) friends and a church that we both loved.  I always knew that God wanted us to move here from the moment Hunter told me the news, but I didn't know why.  Maybe there's a big, great plan or maybe it's as simple as getting to stay home for now.  Whatever the reason, we are happy here and can't wait to see what the future holds.

Kissing Charlie

Charlie and Savannah Kate strolling through the park

Trying to show off their matching outfits, but they just wanted to sleep

First bath!



Going Home

October 6th, less than 48 hours after meeting our daughter for the first time we were released to go home.  I was excited to bring Savannah Kate home, but nervous that I was no longer under the constant care of the nurses and doctors.  Was I ready for this?  I think this was truly the first time I felt like a parent.

It was really fun to get her dressed in her going home outfit and getting her in the car seat.  We had to do some adjusting to the straps because she was so tiny.  She was now 5 pounds 14 ounces so her cute outfit looked huge :)  Once she was dressed and we started taking several pictures, we all got a little teary eyed.  She was just so perfect and I think Hunter and I both knew that we didn't deserve her. 

We were given another huge blessing when we found out that Savannah Kate passed her hearing test at 100%.  That had been a big concern for me throughout the entire pregnancy so I was extremely relieved to hear the good news.  Praising God for each of these blessings.

 All ready to go

First car ride

 Belle was excited to meet her little sister and licked her right away

Love At First Sight

I'm in love... Savannah Kate arrived on Monday, October 4th at 10:53pm after 6 hours of labor and 2 hours of pushing. She was 6 pounds 4 ounces and 19 inches in length. I immediately started crying the moment I laid eyes on her. She was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen and I couldn't believe that she was ours.

The delivery was an amazing experience that I'll never forget. Hunter was wonderful. He never left my side and he kept encouraging me through the entire process. Hunter was allowed to cut the umbilical cord, put on her first diaper and he was the first person to hold her. Seeing my husband holding our brand new daughter was truly a beautiful moment. When he brought her to me I was overwhelmed with emotions and I knew that I would forever be in love with this precious little girl that God blessed us with.



 Checked in and ready for induction

 Almost time to push - getting nervous and excited to meet our daughter



Savannah Kate is here!

 Proud Father



Finally getting to hold her

Nursery

Savannah Kate is due to arrive tomorrow! We are very excited and can't wait to meet our precious baby girl. With all that we've had going on this year with finding out about moving to Dallas and the pregnancy, it's such a blessing to know that it was all a part of God's plan. I may not always understand that plan, but I'm learning that it's in my best interest to be patient and not ask questions. I've learned so much over the past 9 months and one of those is to count my blessings which is why I chose it for the name of this blog.

Hunter and I have been doing a lot of work on our rent house in Dallas and just last week we were able to finish the nursery. I love the way it turned out and hope that she will love it too :)