My Favorite Time of the Year!

It is my FAVORITE time of the year. September has over and October, November and December are HERE. I love these three months. I love decorating for Halloween, putting up harvest decorations for Thanksgiving and CHRISTMAS decorations! This year feels even more special since I get to experience it with Savannah. At the start of the 'season' I always make homemade soup chicken noddle soup with lots of veges. I also made an apple cobbler too!

Savannah and I went to the library today from toddler reading time. I just had to take a picture of her in her car seat because (a) this car seat is amazing and so much easier to put Savannah in, (b) hair bows look so cute on her and (c) that face is precious!

Savannah likes to sit up front near the teacher. Savannah is very conscious about being a good pupil.

Savannah was raising her hand to answer questions.

Ok... maybe more like swinging her arms around trying to clap.

Savannah's crib was lowered and it has totally freaked her out. Now that she can flip over so easily she gets a little crazy in the crib. Today during her nap she somehow ended up like this...

On a side note... I was having a horrible day. I got into the office and had a message from the receptionist that a delivery was waiting for me up front. I was so surprised to find this- FLOWERS! Of course the receptionist ask who they were from. I thought it must be Brian. When I opened the card that first thing I saw was it was from MY BOSS!. I turned bright red, but the receptionist was still looking at me waiting for me to answer her question. I looked back at the card and read the message. "Thanks for making COA happen!". COA was that horrible accreditation project I have been killing myself to complete. It was so nice that he sent me flowers in appreciation, but I have to admit I was a little shell shocked when I saw Jim's name! It definitely made my day (and my office) a little brighter.

Savannah?

While lying in bed last night I was reading articles for my literature review. After a while my eyes started to bug me so I stopped reading to take off my glasses and rub my eyes. I was looking around the room (with blurry vision) and thought I saw my baby's eyes looking at me. I put on my glasses and saw two little eyes starring at me though her crib. Savannah had flipped over and was on her hand and knees just starring and smiling. When Savannah wakes up she usually doesn't make any noise. We typically just hear her legs hitting the mattress. So, I pulled her out of the crib and we had 20 minute play time until she started to rub her eyes. I always thought that rubbing eyes as an indication of sleepiness was from cartoons, but Savannah really does rub her eyes with her two little fists every night.

Here is a series of photos during the 20 minutes before she fell back to sleep.

Savannah Update

Savannah just had her 9 month appointment. I had it scheduled early so that she could get the flu shot as soon as it was available. Erica came with us and she freaked me out a little when she told me the nurse didn't aspirate the needle. I guess when you get a shot the nurse should pull back on the push portion of the needle. This is done to see if they hit a vein. The nurse didn't do this on Savannah. When I asked Erica was happens if a nurse does inject into a vein all she said, "I don't want to tell you." Erica knows me so well.

Savannah weighed in at 22 lbs and is 30.5 inches long! Her weight to height ratio is 48%.

Due to Savannah's height we had to get her a new car seat. Her legs were sticking out about 2 inches from her infant car seat. This new one is a Safety First- Air seat that is convertible. Savannah meet the weight and height requirement for forward facing, but we have to wait until she is 1-year old. The only thing I do not like about the car seat is it sits up so much. When Savannah falls asleep she is slumped over. I tried tightening her straps, but it isn't helping.

Last week Savannah learned how to clap.

She still loves Sesame Street and My Baby Can Read videos and books. She hasn't started crawling yet, but is making some progress by scooting backwards when on her tummy. Her hair is just long enough to put a clip on the side, and it is SO CUTE.We started the another Toddler Time Reading program at the library. There are a couple Mom's from our ward that attend too.

Washington DC

Sunday through Wednesday I was in Washington DC for a conference. It was for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. I gave a presentation on my personal finance education program. It went really-really well. This was a good thing since my boss and Chairman of the Board was there. I stayed at the Omni Shoeham Hotel. It is an amazing hotel with a lot of history. It is actually a historic building and has held all of the inaugural balls since the 1930's. I got an amazing corner room with a view of the park.

Ron (Chairman of the Board), McGruff the Crime Dog (was there to promote ID Protection week), and Jim (CEO- my boss)

I had a really tight schedule with all of the meetings, sessions and dinners. Although I remember touring Washington DC when I was younger I still wanted to go and just see all the most notable DC tourist spots. I only had a 2-3 hour window of time so I hired a driver to take me around. He would pull up to a landmark and I would jump out walk around a little, take pictures and jump back in the car. I was able to go to the Capital building, drive by the Watergate Hotel, the Washington Monument, The White House, see the Treasury building, shop at Union Station, see Jefferson's Memorial, drive past the WWII memorial, walk by the reflection pool and stand in the Lincoln Memorial. All this in 2-hours flat.

Since I was by myself most of my pictures are of me holding the camera.

I thought this was really funny. They have segway tours around the Capital building.

Travel Update

While in Dallas it rained the entire time! We condo-hunted for Peter, saw a movie, did a little shopping, got a manicure and pedicure, and toured the 6th Floor Museum. While we looked at property it difficult getting Savannah in and out of the car seat just to look at a condo for 5 minutes. We started to do a tag-team search. One person would stay in the car and sang songs with Savannah while the others ran in.



After Ted Kennedy passed away there was a 3-hour special documentary on the Kennedy's on PBS. I was really interested to go to the museum to learn more about JFK. The tour really makes you think about what 'really' happened. There is a entire section of the tour designated to conspiracy theories.



This is the window they believe that Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK.



The X marks the spot that JFK was shot.

I toured Peter's work, and played on the Green Screen.

Peter's desk in the newsroom.

We were able to watch Peter on the news from his apartment. It was SO COOL.

The GOOD and BAD of LAX

We flew out of LAX yesterday to come to Dallas. I forgot my lab top which was a bummer. The lines weren't too bad, but the traffic getting there is what is terrible.

When we were in the security line we were allowed to go up the elevator because of the stroller. Somehow it leads directly into the first class passenger line. I looked in front of us and saw... Jack Black. So, being totally bold, I said, "Excuse me, Jack Black. Would you mind if I got a picture with you." He gave me this look of- oh I've been spotted. Then he bent down and made silly faces to Savannah. I thought that was it. I said thank you and turned back in line. It was a little awkward after that. The line wasn't moving at all, and we were all silent for awhile. Then he turned around and said, "Well, (shrugged his shoulders to break the silence) did the picture turn out? Let me see." I turned on the camera and showed him.

Savannah had a perfect flight and even was able to sleep for 30 minutes. Peter and Will met us at the airport and went out to dinner. Peter has an amazing apartment on the 20th floor overlooking the Dallas skyline.

Off to Dallas!

Tomorrow morning Savannah, my mom and I are flying to Dallas, TX to visit my brother. I am SO excited to just hang out with Peter and not think about work. Peter hasn't seen Savannah since Easter. I am sure he will be shocked about how different she is now. We will be celebrating Peters 26th birthday and I found him a gift that is perfect for him. (Since Peter reads my blog I can't say what it yet). I am really excited about seeing where he lives and touring Dallas and the FOX station.

This weekend it was 100 degrees- not referring to the weather

Savannah was sick this weekend. It all started with a runny nose and has been escalating all weekend. Tonight she had a fever, and cried for the past 6 hours. Sometimes the cry is more a series of 'aaaa (suck in air three times) aaaa". Sometimes she just has complete a meltdown as if she had been hurt. We just were able to get her back down. Hopefully she will stay asleep.