Good Times & Big Laughs

I've been having SO MUCH FUN lately! Mommy, Daddy, and I have been traveling, partying, and enjoying our last days of summer before Daddy goes back to work.

My first birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and I had SUCH a GREAT time! Mommy decorated the house with all kinds of "ducky" things... some of my favorites were the balloons and the duck foot prints (which I had a great time pulling up before everyone got here for the party!).




Mommy made me a duck cake (with a little help from Aunt Danielle!). Here are some pictures...

This was MY cake. Pretty cool that I got my own, huh?

I had fun checking out my cake. I have to say, I wasn't all that interested in eating it, but playing in the icing was fun - and I did take some time to share my cake with Mommy.

We also took some time to play. I even let my friend Ally play with the rocking horse my Papa Charlie made for me. Isn't it cool? I really like to pet my horsey...

Mommy, Daddy, and I had invited people to join us in donating to the Ronald McDonald House in honor of my second cousin, Keira. (I wrote a post about this a while back... just scroll down.) Well, guess what! We collected a total of $365.00!!! That's one dollar for each day of my first year. How cool is THAT?!?! There are going to be lots of families who will be blessed by this donation... just like I've been blessed with the best family and friends ever! :)

Since my birthday, we've been to Alabama to celebrate Nana Judy and Papa Rod's 40th anniversary. I even got to hang out with Cousin Ollie, Aunt Melissa, Uncle David, Aunt Karlene, and the whole Patterson Clan! What a great time we all had. Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Ollie and I had a lot of fun together. We played under the kitchen table...

We "cooked" in the kitchen...


We even talked to our "peeps" on our cell phones...


We watched Calliou on Auntie Melissa's I-Phone...


Sometimes, I had to convince Ollie to play with me...


...oh well, if you don't want to play, I'll just tickle your toes...


And, of course, we had a photo shoot...


Doesn't Ollie look cute with "bunny ears"?!?!?!
(Look carefully, my fingers are behind his head...)


I even got to spend time with Auntie Melissa & Aunt Karlene!

Mommy and Daddy have been showing me how to do all kinds of new things. I'm walking now (since July 14th!), saying lots of new words (Momma, Dada, Nana, Papa, Juice, and GG), and last night I learned how to head-butt a beach ball. Mommy and Daddy showed me how to do it. Man, that was funny. Check out this video....

I got lots of good laughs out of that little game. :) Thanks for checking in on the blog. Hopefully once Daddy goes back to work, hopefully I'll be able to keep up with my blogging a little more... We've just been so busy having fun this summer. I'm so glad that Daddy's a teacher! He has to work hard during the school year, but it sure is fun having him home for the summer! :)

Love to all,
Savannah Grace

Special Birthday Request

Mommy's cousin had a baby girl last week, and she needs some special prayers. Her name is Keira Lynn (isn't that pretty?), and she was born with a boo-boo in her heart. Cousin Jimmy & Amber had to go to Atlanta to have their baby so that she could have a special heart surgery a few days after she was born. The folks at the Children's Hospital and the Ronald McDonald House have been WONDERFUL to them. What a blessing it is to have wonderful people around to help you out when you're going through something as trying as this.

Mommy, Daddy, and I have a couple of requests...

• Please pray for Keira. We are so thankful that she came through her surgery well, and that so far there have been no problems. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors.
• Please pray for Keira's family. Her mommy, daddy, brother, grandparents, and aunts and uncles have all been amazingly strong during the past week. Please pray for God to continue to strengthen their ties with each other and with Him.
• Please consider something a little different for my birthday this year. Mommy and Daddy have been talking to each other and to me about realizing just how blessed we are. I have all that I really need - lots of nice clothes, fun toys, loving parents and friends, and most importantly, my health. Of course, I don't expect anyone to give me a present, but since my birthday is coming up in a little over a month, Mommy said that a couple of people have asked what they can get for me. This year, if you would like to give me a gift for my birthday, please consider sending Mommy and Daddy some money that we can put together and give a big donation to the Ronald McDonald House. We're going to start saving our money, and saving any gifts that come in from now until my birthday on July 25, and then send what will hopefully be one big check to this wonderful group.

Here's Mommy with a little more information about how the Ronald McDonald House has helped our family...

Immediately after Keira was born, she was moved to Children's Hospital and placed in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU). During her time in CICU, my cousin and his family are able to stay in the Ronald McDonald House free of charge! This house is very close to the hospital (in walking distance, even!), and gives them a comfortable place to stay with free laundry, kitchen access, and more. What a blessing to have these things that most of us take for granted during a time when they have to be in a city away from home, waiting for their newborn baby to be strong enough to move out of Intensive Care. I am so thankful for all of the wonderful people who have shown our family members such love and care during their time in Atlanta.

We want to start teaching Savannah the importance of giving to those in need, and we decided that what better time to do that than now? Won't you join us in helping the families of these sweet children? To learn more about the Ronald McDonald House, go to http://rmhc.org.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers for our little Keira!

Catching Up

We haven't disappeared from the face of the earth... just been busy trying to keep up with Little Miss who has been crawling EVERYWHERE since April 13th! :) Savannah has been reminding me that she needed to update "her" blog, so without further delay, here she is...

Hi, everyone! Sorry I haven't blogged much lately. I've just been so busy having fun. We celebrated lots of birthdays... Grandma's, Mommy's, Nana's, and Papa's! Here's a picture of me giving Mommy a present for her birthday.

Mommy tells me that my birthday is coming up soon! She's already started planning lots of fun stuff. I keep hearing her talk about ducks. I love my rubber ducky & other bath toys, so if that's any indication of what my birthday will be like, I am E-X-C-I-T-E-D!

Mommy, Nana, Papa, GG, and I went to the beach a couple weeks ago. It was so much fun. I got to go for walks on the beach...

...play on the beach with my sand bucket...


... splash around the pool...

...learn how to play golf...


... and even take time to relax and read the newspaper ...


Once we got back, I was able to find several things to get into. One of my favorite days EVER was when Mommy left a bag of Cheerio's in my diaper bag - and I found them! I couldn't move fast enough...


As you can see, I love to eat! Mommy says I get that from her, whatever that means! I sometimes make a mess... which Mommy says I get from Daddy. :) Eating is FUN!


After I make a mess, I get to take a bath. Now, THAT is a good time. There's nothing like swimming around in my bathtub with my ducky friends!


Well, that's all for now. There's lots of exciting stuff coming up. Daddy's home for the summer now, which is SO EXCITING! We're gonna play, play, play! Can't wait!

Love to all!

Savannah Grace

Savannah's Dedication

Last Sunday (April 11), Savannah was a part of our church's Children's Dedication. This was the slide that they created to go on the screen behind us during Savannah's prayer.

For those of you who have never seen the screen at our church, it is gigantic... The slide above was projected onto the screen, and Savannah's picture on the left looked like this behind us:
Pastor Geoffrey prayed this prayer for Savannah:

Father, We lift up Savannah to You this morning. We come before you as a church and as a family. We commit to raise this child in a Godly way. God, give us wisdom and give us direction as we do that. I pray for Michael and Julie, God, as they interact with Savannah, as they raise her, that You will give them the direction that they need and help them to make the right choices as they raise her in Your way. In Your name we pray, Amen.


We'll work on uploading a video of the prayer.
For now, here are some more pictures from that day.

**Thanks to Amy Solka for taking such awesome pictures of our little angel!**

Spring Break and Special Times

I just had the best week EVER!!! Last Sunday was Easter - and even though I wasn't feeling so great (Pink Eye and a new tooth coming in), I still had lots of fun! Mommy, Daddy, and I went to visit Nana Daune, Papa Charlie, and GG! I got lots of fun gifts... but my favorites were the Easter cups! They sure are fun to bang together!

While we were in Spartanburg, I also got to see "Puppy" - Mommy says that Puppy may not like for me to pull her hair, so I don't get to be very close to her... I got a good look at her in this picture, though. (Personally, I think Mommy wants to be the only one whose hair gets pulled!).

We went outside and took lots of pictures.
Here's one of me with Daddy...

...and one with Mommy...
Once we came back home, we KEPT having fun! One day, Mommy, Daddy, and I went to play with some of our friends. Derek sure is a good sport! I really had a good time checking him out.
His cheeks are fun to squeeze...

...and I sure do like his Paci. Hey, Mommy, maybe I can get one like this, huh?

Ha ha! Got it... Suckah! :)
(Thanks, Derek... I had fun playing with you!)

Ahhh... nothing like triumph!

Later in the week, one of Daddy's old college buddies came by. He brought his family with him. This is me with his daughters. Aren't they pretty? I'm so glad I woke up from my nap in time to meet everyone! :)

Then, on Sunday, Mommy and Daddy had me dedicated at church. I got to go up on the stage, and Pastor Geoffrey prayed for me, Mommy, and Daddy. Mommy and Daddy said that this was a very special day for me. I'll take their word for it... they seem to be right about everything! When Pastor Geoffrey introduced me to everyone, lots of people clapped and cheered. Those must have been all of my friends from Mommy & Daddy's Small Group. They sure do love me!

Grandma Judy & Grandpa Rod came up to visit for a few days this week, so they were here for my dedication.

Papa, Nana, and GG were here, too.
What fun to have all of my grandparents here at the same time!

That's most of the news for now. I'm getting another tooth ... still trying to fill in that big gap on the top! :) Mommy and Daddy say I look like a vampire.
I know, I know... I've got that "scary look," don't I?

It was so much fun to have Daddy home for a WHOLE WEEK!
I can't wait for summer... we're gonna have SO MUCH FUN!

Love to all,
Savannah Grace

Disappearing Baby!

A couple more pictures from when Nana, Papa, & GG came to visit...

We had so much fun! Mommy, Daddy, and I are going to be with Nana, Papa, and GG when we celebrate my first Easter. I'm so excited! Then, Grandma Judy & Grandpa Rod are going to come to stay at our house to visit us for a few days. AND Daddy is going to be home for a WHOLE WEEK because of Spring Break. What FUN!

Speaking of fun, I've been learning lots of fun ways to avoid napping lately! Mommy and Daddy always lay me down in my crib, and until this weekend, I was pretty much "stuck" until they came to get me. Not any more! On Saturday, I figured out how to SIT UP on my own! Then, today, I gave Mommy a bit of a scare... She was watching me on what she calls the "video monitor" and all of a sudden, I disappeared. She ran upstairs and quietly opened the door... No worries, Mommy! I was right there... STANDING UP in the crib! :)

I'm excited to be learning all of these new things. So excited, in fact, that I haven't been napping very well. For some reason, Mommy isn't quite as excited about that. Hmmmm...

Happy Easter, everyone!

Love,

Savannah Grace