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!