A Reunion & A Wedding

We LOVE the annual Davis reunion each year at Zion National park, and this year did not disappoint! The kids were great in the car (Savannah's first road trip!) Somewhere along the road Savannah had a major blowout (which we didn't notice!) She really is an angel baby and I felt so bad when I finally took her out of the carseat and found the mess. Bless her.

There are SO many people on this side of the family (I think there were almost 70 people there this year). And we now take up all but 2 rooms of the motel where we stay. Since this was my third reunion, I think I am finally getting close to knowing everyone's name. This is no easy task. Obviously 70+ names is a lot to learn, but so many people have also the same name. Two or more people share the following names: Rachel, Nathan, Alicia, Jonathan, Laura, Shauna, Daniel, Matthew, Josh, Robert, Andrew, Jenny, and I'm sure there are more that I can't think of. I guess in some ways this should make it easier because there are less names overall to remember, but trying to figure out which Andrew belongs to which family can get confusing.

The happy traveler. This was taken BEFORE the dead-stop on the freeway.
Yes, the freeway was closed. It was bad.

Anyone planning to do a road trip with a baby
NEEDS this contraption. It's the best!

"Yippee I'm Here!!"

Remember how we stayed in a hotel? I figured this would be as good a time as any to help Owen learn how to sleep in a big-boy queen-sized bed (I'm so afraid to make the transition because he sleeps and naps SO well in the crib!) We gave him a good talking to about not getting out of bed, etc and left the room. I checked on him after 10 minutes and all was well. We paid good attention to the monitor and didn't hear anything. When I came back to the room almost 2 hours later, this is what I found. All the lights had been turned on, he had played games on his kindle (he even turned the sound down so I wouldn't hear) and got into EVERYTHING (silently, of course). His eyes were completely glazed over from being so tired and he was desperately trying to open a box of fruit loops. Thank goodness Savannah slept through it all. And don't worry, we found a pack n play for the next night. I think he might just be sleeping in his crib until he's 12. ;)

Hotel rooms are just way too much fun.

He mostly just eats the bubbles. Props to cousin Mahrika for this pic (and the
other good ones).

This kid didn't hold still the entire weekend. And pretty sure he ate all
that ice off the grass. 😬

Have you heard of this game? Apparently if I was still teaching high school
I would use it all the time. It made for some HILARIOUS family trivia.

Savannah's first time swimming.

She did great!

Mama's girl.

Owen doesn't have enough fat to stay warm, even in a heated pool. But he
LOVES the water!

Uncle Matt took Owen down the slide and made quite the splash.

Owen is in there somewhere!

Pools without life guards are the best.

Love!

And now onto the wedding! Apparently it's kind of a thing for Ditto's to get married right after the reunion. It makes for lots of fun family time, and the wedding was awesome and exhausting all at once! There was a reception in Garland the night before the sealing. It was gorgeous but the mosquitos ate me alive.

The ceremony, luncheon, and Centerville reception were all on Saturday. Big thanks to Aunt April who watched the kids during the luncheon so Dan and I could enjoy our food in peace. I was too busy enjoying family time to remember to take pictures, but just know that it was awesome and we LOVE Natalie!

This is what she looked like while I was putting it on. So much poof!
I had to get a picture. :)

Auntie Sara is a favorite!

Bestie cousin Amberly. Too cute!

Dan's great uncle Owen on the left.

I Did It!

"I did it!"
This pic is from last November. He has grown up a lot!

Owen is great to always celebrate his accomplishments. Whether it's throwing away a dirty diaper, hanging up his jacket, or turning off the vacuum (while I'm trying to use it, of course) he will come running to me with his giant toothy-grin and yell "I did it!" This is usually accompanied with some jumping and fist pumping. It's hilarious. And adorable. And a great reminder that adults don't celebrate every-day accomplishments as much as we should.

But this one I am celebrating BIG time, because WE DID IT!!!!!!!! (I don't think there are enough exclamation points to truly portray my excitement.) The doctor gave us the green light to take Savannah out into the world on Easter Sunday. (Yes, I know Easter was a while ago. We've been having too much fun getting OUT OF THE HOUSE for me to sit down and update the blog.) FOUR months we were cooped up, stuck at home to avoid unnecessary germ exposure. Being stuck at home with a 2-year-old is crazy.  I'm also pretty sure I ate A TON of chocolate to survive. This was good for my mental health, but BAD for the hips. Oops.

Her "coming out" dress, compliments of aunt Mel. She's the mom
of soon-to-be 5 boys and she declared that girls should
wear blue. I concur!

Dan calls this her "Mario Punch" picture.

Our first time together at the grocery store. I was too nervous
about germs to take off Savannah's cover. Good thing she slept most of
the time.

She is still not on any growth charts yet. At 4 months she was 9 pounds 9 ounces (that was six weeks ago). But she is STRONG! It's fun to see such a small baby hold herself up so well.  She finally graduated to size 2 diapers (mostly because I ran out of size 1 and I wasn't sure she would make it through another box). She has outgrown almost all of her newborn size clothes but isn't big enough for three months size yet, so we're kind of in that awkward  in-between stage where nothing really fits. She is FINALLY getting faster at nursing,  which also adds to the celebration.

We blessed her at my parent's house a couple of weeks before the big coming out party. It was awesome and we highly recommend blessing babe's with just family around. It's the best.

Grandparents part 1

Grandparents, part 2

Devouring delicious Italian pasta. Yummmm.

More eating.

Lydia is in this picture too, I just know it!

My mom wasn't much of a pack rat, but somehow she managed to hold onto
the dress that I was blessed in (30 something years ago). Doesn't she look
too cute!

She would be mortified if she knew I was posting this. :)
She did keep the bonnet thing, but since it made me look like
I'm wearing a tutu on my head, I opted to go with a headband
for Savannah.
You're welcome, little one.

I so wish my mom could have been here to recreate this picture herself. Le weep.

And the rest of these pictures are random and in no particular order.

Surviving another hour-long nursing session while Dad is off at mutual.
10 points if you can name the movie that's playing behind him
(cuzin, I'm counting on you!)

Tummy time with Savannah

With Megan, the oldest girl cousin. Crazy that they're 12
YEARS apart.

Fat guy in a little chair!

The white was totally unplanned. Love my little munchkins!

  

Owen playing "music" with the vacuum hose. 

Loving life at church. 

 

Pajamas from aunt Laura. "Don't MOOSE with me!"

Sleeping beauty. She folds her arms like this all.the.time.
I love it.

  

She is SUCH a mama's girl! All I have to do is make eye contact and she
smiles for DAYS.

Pondering the meaning of life.

Remember how my brother in law's birthday is on May 4th (aka May the Fourth
be with you). We all got to together for a surprise Star Wars party and it did
not disappoint. And yes, I made that cake. So proud!

Surviving

We are still stuck indoors, but we are surviving! Some days it's no big deal. Other days I have to throw the kids in the car and drive around just to save my sanity. So far Savannah is staying healthy, but  I can't say the same for the rest of us. We all got hit with a cold a couple of weeks ago. Dan's awesome immune system got rid of it in a couple of days but Owen and I were not so lucky. It must have been super contagious to get through all the crazy amounts of hand washing and sanitizing we do around here, which means it was an act of God that Savannah didn't get sick.

In other news, Savannah has been rolling over for a couple of weeks now. I am so NOT ok with my two month old preemie already rolling over. She's growing up way too soon!  Now we just need to get her to figure out how to eat faster. She is still taking a full hour which means I feel like I'm feeding her all day (because I am). Bless her. But mostly bless me and bless Owen for surviving all those hour long feeding sessions.

We escape to the cemetery on good weather days. Owen loves it! Here he is celebrating "Aunt Linz's" birthday with a delicious cookie. She would have been proud!

On bad-weather days I have to get really creative to keep this kid entertained. A bucket, a bowl, and a few other random things filled with water kept him happy for 2 HOURS! People, this is huge. I didn't even mind that he was soaked. A win for us all.

These last few days of good weather have been just what the doctor ordered for both Owen and me. I can tell a huge difference in the happiness level in our home when we are able to get out and enjoy the sun for a bit. And it doesn't hurt that he naps for 3+ hours on days he gets outside to run around.

Love his ketchup grin

I finally cleaned out my purse which produced all sorts of treasures, including a gift card to the movie theater. So I dropped Savannah off at Grandma's and took my little man on a date to Moana. Watching his face as we walked into the theater was priceless. And he ate his popcorn by the fistful, which made his popcorn-loving mama very happy. But even the awesomeness of the "big movie " couldn't entertain this crazy kid for 2 hours. Luckily I came prepared with fruit loops so I could see how it ended (cute movie!)

 We have lots of fun dressing up Savannah in all of her adorable outfits. Sometimes it makes me sad I don't get to show her off in real life, so to make up for it I just take lots of pictures.  This outfit is one of my favorites because she looks like an 80's aerobic instructor- too bad it only lasted a couple of hours before she spit up all over it.

I know, it's not much of a winter outfit, but when you stay
inside your warm house all day, you can wear whatever
you want!

It's always a good time to see how Husband dresses her when I'm out and she needs a change. This one was on backwards.

Tummy time!

Smiling with her eyes.

Thankfully Owen still likes Savannah - a lot! Any time she cries he goes running to help and yells "Savannah sad!" I came out of the shower the other day to find him on the floor right next to her. He was giggling his head off and trying to give her high 5's and knuckles.

Someone found her thumb!

Daddy snuggles.

  

She has her dad wrapped around her finger for sure.

At least 2 of us are happy.

The best chocolate cake ever!

"Hey dude!"