Anonymous has been revealed!

The anonymous commentator has revealed herself...it was my cousin Julie! Thanks Jules for letting me know who you are!! : )

Now on to other things........

We got Savannah a used Feeding Table, I hope this will help me to get her on a more regular feeding schedule-thus taking solids better, anyway, we think she likes it in the table, cuz we put her in and she starts pounding on the table and seems to enjoy it for a bit.

She's also started pulling herself up to standing with whatever is nearby where she's sitting, couch or me. We're trying to get her to crawl more-though I'm not sure our LR is baby-ready yet!!!

I'm not sure I want her to be mobile just yet--that means I'll be chasing her all over the place now! Not that our place is very big....but still....I'm sad because that means she's growing up...she's not my little baby anymore. I have mixed feelings about her being more independent now. It means I have a tiny bit more freedom, yet at the same time, she doesn't need me as much.

Here's a couple of recent photos of her:

The top one was taken on 8.13.08 and the one with her Daddy was on 8.12.08

Comment by "Anonymous" ?

I have a comment on the post, "Sunday with the Cousins" by a person named, "anonymous" and I was wondering who it was. Whoever you are, can you announce yourself to Jason and I, so that we know who you are? I'm assuming it's a family member, because he/she remembers Ella, my great-niece. Here is the comment:
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Anonymous said...
Wow...I can't believe how big they are now. Ella has grown up so much since the last time I saw her, which was about two years ago. She was still in diapers..Hope Rika had fun with you guys. Sounds like your trip was awesome.
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REWARD:

If you or someone you know can help us find this "anonymous", there is a huge reward of Love and Thanks! It will be given immediately upon receipt of information.

Anniversary!!!

We had our 1st date 7 years ago today! On the 9th is when we met, at a friend's (Carrie Hendrix) going-away-to-Graduate school party. After volunteering to tutor him in math for school at MCC, we met a few times during the week and he asked me out for the next night. We went out to eat-though neither of us can remember where- and then to see a movie, Princess Diaries. From then on we started dating and dating and dating and dating..........until finally 3 yrs and about 4 months later, we got engaged!!
I can hardly believe that it's been 7 years that we've known each other. I'm amazed that there are still some things that I'm learning about him now! Every now and then, we wonder, how in the world did we connect, because we seem to be so different on everything-the way we think, our opinions, some of our interests are so different-yet we always have great conversations and enjoy each other's company.
He is really so sweet to me and is always looking out for my-and Savannah's- best interests. He's so calm and reassuring to me and lifts me up when I'm down. I am so glad that I have him in my life, he's been such a strength and is very supportive of me.

I LOVE YOU JASON!!

This is a picture of us at my friends', Lisa and Andrew's Christmas party in 2002.

This one is when we went to Disneyland with Jason's family in Nov of 2003.

This is a picture of us shortly before we got married in 2005. I only know this since he still has his goatee. He stopped having a goatee after we got married. It would make my face all red after...you know...kissing.

First Teeth!!!

Another thing that happened on our trip, I forgot to mention!!!

Okay, so I'm sooo being a "first mom"!! I didn't know when Savannah could sit up on her own, until my niece Roni mentioned her little boy, Jackson-who's 9 days older than Savannah, could sit up. Well, the newest discovery is that Savannah has some teeth, and it was discovered by Rika, while we were in Texas!! That was on Sunday evening, the 3rd. At that time, they were barely budding through, but I'd been feeling for them (on the top-not the bottom) and didn't find any. So by now, it's obvious that she's got 2 bottom teeth coming in. Every day now, I feel for any top teeth coming in-but nothing yet.

I'm behind, I know!!

So, it's been just over a week since we've been back from our Texas vacation and I haven't updated our blog. Well my phone's USB port broke while driving in the Van on Thursday and it made it difficult to connect to the internet or charge it.

While we were at my nephew's (Orrin) house in Safford, I used the internet there and Jason got schoolwork done. We hoped to see his whole family, but Kristie (his wife) and Mariah (his daughter) had already started school, so they were already gone when we woke up. We got to see Wyatt, only because he got sick while at school and Orrine went to pick him up. Jason, Savannah, and I relaxed at Orrin's house while George & Lottie (my sister & bro-in-law) visited his family in Safford. Here's Savannah on their rug in the Living Room.

Savannah cried a little bit once we got on our way back to the valley from Safford, but she went to sleep shortly after that. I think the car ride somehow soothes her, cuz since we've been home, she's fallen asleep in the car when we've gone places!

Savannah apparently enjoyed the car ride so much, she cried when we got home!!!

No actually, I think what it was, she was used to being held so much while in Texas!! Rika did not have carpet in her Living Rm/Dining Rm, plus they had a little tiny dog, that would keep getting into Savannah's face, so we didn't let Savannah down on the floor while at Rika's.

More Antique Shopping on Wednesday

Apparently Lottie and Rika didn't get enough of it on Tuesday! Jason and I weren't gonna go this time, but Lottie was convincing (forcing!!) us to go. This time George and Jason came, so it was more fun. George did the driving, so I was able to visit better with Lottie & Rika this time, and Jason helped out a lot with Savannah. I'm certain Jason didn't get as big of thrill on this little trip, but I was able to enjoy it better. We went to New Bruenfels this time and there was a little Cafe we ate at and it was VERY good. Ella had pancakes that were to die for--everyone had a bite of them! We walked up and down the little street and then headed back home. Rika had some good finds.
Let me explain why Rika and Tim are here in Texas. Tim's family is all here in San Antonio and he had some land given to him. They are currently saving up to build their house on the property, so in the mean time, they bought a single-wide 3 bedroom trailer to live in to save money. Well Rika bought some stuff on Tuesday and Wednesday. Jason made the comment, "Rika must have a hole burning her pocket" and he also commented later, "I feel sorry for Tim." Of course it was in good teasing. When we got back and Rika showed Tim her findings, he was saying something like, "Oh I can see that we really needed that" and something along the lines of, "Remember, the more shopping you do, the longer it delays us building our house!" I thought that was kinda funny.
Here's a picture of Savannah and Ella, Ella's not smiling. I asked her why and she said because she was tired. (of antique shopping I'd guess!)
I actually was doing my posting on the way home yesterday, but something happened to our Sprint internet connection, we couldn't get the laptop to recognize the phone as a modem, so I had to stop. I'm finishing it today.

Girls Day Out on Tuesday

I was hoping to keep up to date on the blog everyday of the trip, but it didn't happen. So now I'm playing catch up. Though not much happened the next 2 days.

All of us girls left the boys at home. Lottie, Rika, Me, Jennifer, Ella & of course Savannah went shopping. Rika and Lottie are really big into Antiqing (Antique shopping) so after we hit the outlet malls, we went to Gruene-I think it's pronounced like Green-and went to a couple of shops. Personally, I'm not into looking at old things, but we were able to visit a little bit in the van while driving.

That evening, some of Tim's family came over to visit, his Uncle and a couple of Aunts. Jeff, Sylvia and Donna. We sat outside while watching the kids play.

It looks like she's winking!

Monday is Funday in Texas

Today, we had a full and busy day, once it got started. We had a lazy morning, trying to figure what we wanted to do. There is a fun place called ZDT's, it's got a rock climbing wall, a roller coaster simulator, and a bungie jumping trampoline thingy (I don't know the official name of it!). Oh, and there was a Go Kart racetrack too. Also, there are a bunch of arcade games to play, oh, and there's this humongous activity gymboree. It had a slide, rope walk, bridge, and a couple of cannons to shoot some soft play balls.

I did the rock climb and the bungie jumping trampoline. Jason was content to watch me while holding Savannah. We both did a round of the Go Kart. Jason took pictures of us the 2nd time around.

Here are some of the pictures:

I know you can't see my face in this one-blame Jason! I almost made it to the top, I was SO close, but my hands/arms just couldn't go any further. I even tried again later, but my arms were giving out before I was even halfway! I am so weak, that's so sad!

On the left side is Ethan and then his dad, Tim. Jayden, my nephew is in the orange car on the right and I am in the way back-you can hardly see me, but I've got my arms up in the air.

Here's a close up pic of me in the Go Kart, having fun! The track was kinda short, but it was still fun!

Ella got to play Air Hockey with her dad!!

After we got done there, we went to Riverwalk, which is where the Alamo is. We got there with only 5 minutes to look around-bummer. We took a boat tour around that area, I was amazed at the history behind a lot of the buildings. The humidity was something that a lot of us were not use to, so it was a little uncomfortable at times. Savannah was such a trooper. She didn't get much of a nap while at ZDT's, and she got a catnap when we drove over to the Riverwalk. She was tired but still would smile at us and also the people in the boat that paid attention to her. Jason and I figured out, that she loves attention. In the following picture, we're in the Riverboat, even though you can't tell!

By the time we walked back to the van, we were all feeling icky from the humidity and ready to take showers once we were back at Rika & Tim's place. Before heading home though, Rika and Tim treated us to dinner at their favorite restaurant, Norma's Family Mexican Restaurant. They all love it. I did really enjoy the chicken enchilada that I had. We got home and Savannah was really tired out.
All in all, this was a very busy and eventful day for us. We visited while in the van going places and enjoyed the green scenery. I am amazed at how green it is here-I was expecting it to be more desert-like. It's beautiful to see acres of green grass and trees.

Sunday with the Cousins

On Sunday, we all got ready and went to church with Tim & Rika, in their small ward. With all of us, it was amazing that we were able to make it to church EARLY! Wow, was impressed. It was great to have the help of my sister, brother in law, and niece to help with Savannah, so that I could get ready. Their ward immediately saw that we were visitors and we had a few people come up and welcome us to the ward. Savannah loved the attention. Savannah surprised me, when she fell asleep during Sacrament meeting and slept all throughout Sunday School and Relief Society!!! My arms were tired-since I didn't bother to bring the carrier in for her-I wasn't expecting her to sleep that long.
After church we just relaxed and visited with each other, some watched movies, some played outside, some went on walks.

Ethan and Ella came over to play with Savannah after I got her bathed. Here are some of those pics.

Ella is 5 years old and Ethan is 9 years old.

Jason and Mandy

We also got some pics of Jason and I, here they are:

Of course, Jason had to "pose"! I hadn't done my hair since we showered last night-oh well!

Driving to Texas

Well here we are on our way. At this time, almost 5 pm (AZ time) we are still not in San Antonio yet. We're still about 1.5 to 2 hrs away. We had a late start last night, we actually didn't leave from our place until close to 9 pm!!! We planned to leave more like 6:30 or 7, oh well. I wanted to feed Savannah right before we left, so that she'd fall asleep in the car seat once we got going, but she was SSOOOO tired, she was falling asleep in my arms, as I was trying to gather the last minute things. Her head kept bobbing up and down, I should've gotten a pic of her, but I was too occupied with other things. I finally ended up just putting her in the car seat while I finished up with the last of the packing, and she didn't even flinch when I put her down, which is very unusual! She was knocked out. She woke up for the beginning of the trip, I fed her a bottle that I pumped earlier that day and hoped that she would go to sleep, which she did after about an hour. After driving for a few hours, we stayed at a cheap motel in Deming NM and slept for about 5 hrs and continued on our way.

Here's a pic of her in the car seat looking happy. We are very surprised at how well she's handling being in the car for so long.

She actually slept quite a bit, I was worried that she'd be too intrigued by the cousins and scenery to fall asleep.

So far, our adventure with Savannah is turning out to be pretty good. We have been very blessed with such a good natured baby. When she was sick last weekend, she didn't cry any more than usual, that is until Sunday evening when we started to clean her eyes from the goopiness.

We are very relieved that she wasn't fussy during this portion of the road trip. We are looking forward to the rest of the trip and we'll keep you updated!

Adorable

I had bought these cute little shorts and added the purple netting as a belt and I think she looks absolutely ADORABLE!! She loves to stand up as much as possible. If she's sitting down on my lap, she pulls on my shirt or arms and pushes with her legs to try to stand up, and once she's up, she thinks she's on top of the world!


Here's a close up of her sweet face.

18 Pounder!!

Over this last weekend, we all got sick, starting with Savannah. Poor thing had a runny nose, then started coughing and sneezing by Saturday, then to top it all off, she got eye goopies in her left eye by Sunday evening!!! Poor thing, we had to keep wiping her nose and eyes and of course, she HATED it! She came to dread being put on the changing table, whereas it use to be one of her favorite spots. Though, she might be dreading it because she doesn't like to lay down much anymore, now that she can sit up and has a whole new perspective of the happenings around her. Plus, once we stand her up on the changing table, she is ALL smiles!!! It's as if the nose and eye cleaning never happened. Anyway, we were able to get in to see the doctor on Monday afternoon, of course by then, her eye goop in the one eye, had gotten better-go figure! The doctor had us get eye drops for her anyway, which we discovered were VERY EXPENSIVE!!! Aiyaiyaiy!!! So the point of my Blog Title, is that they weighed her and she's already 18 pounds!!!!! She'll be 7 month Aug 12th and she's already 18 pounds, WOW. I was surprised, cuz I had been thinking that she was around 16 pounds instead. Okay, back to my story, while we were at Wal-Mart getting the prescription, her right eye started to get goopy. It got way worse than her left eye did. At one point she couldn't even open her eye-poor thing. Her eye also got puffy a bit. I'm sure she hated it when we had to keep wiping at her eye and putting eyedrops in. So this week we've been pretty busy with taking care of Savannah, J and I getting a little sick and getting ready for our Road Trip. Oh Ya, the other thing we got going on is.............. we're taking a road trip to Texas-San Antonio. My sister invited us to ride with her and her gang, so we said, "Sure!" We almost weren't gonna go though when Vannah was sick, but she's over it now. So I've been frantically trying to do laundry, and pack and everything by last night. My sister wanted to pack up the rental van last night, so we had to get our stuff over to her then. Betcha you're wondering, "what is going on in San Antonio Texas?" that would interest us in going on a 14 hour road trip with a 6.5 month old baby. Well, my oldest niece (for those that don't know, or have forgotten-I have a niece that is only 3 yrs younger than me) Rika and her family moved out there,from here in AZ, last year. So we are going to pay a visit to her and her family all next week, starting with tonight.