Happy New Year... Well, Almost

We're welcoming the new year here at home with our friends Karen and Devina. We've got red velvet cupcakes, black eyed peas, corn bread and ham on the menu. One of Denise's co-workers, Pat, sent us the red velvet cupcake mix from Oprah's Favorite Things for this year. It was only after baking them that I realized they sort of resemble ...boobs... what do you think? I suppose it's appropriate for a lesbian New Year's celebration. :)

Anyway, here's some cute pics of Miss Savvy. She's finally got feet big enough to wear her pink Uggs, and we bought her her first pair of sunglasses while we were out and about yesterday. Oh yeah, and she appears to have learned how to play the air guitar. (Denise couldn't be prouder).

Saturday

We spent the day trying to appease the little one. She didn't nap at all today and was fairly inconsolable. We spent the evening at Cindy and Doreen's, eating dinner and hanging out with gentle Ben. I wish I'd brought my camera, since the babies seemed very pleased with eachother.

Here's some pics of Savvy from earlier...

Long day

Savvy and I tagged along with D while she went to Chico for an appointment. She did pretty good in the car and at lunch, but I don't think we'll try doing two big trips again in the same week. She needs her mommy time, and that just doesn't work in the carseat.

She was much happier after she got home... see for yourself. (Video below)

Road trip

We had a good time today. Denise had to go on an appointment in Antioch, so Savvy and I tagged along. She was great-- sleeping for the whole trip in both directions and then hanging out quietly in the Bjorn during lunch. She's really a dream baby. We got a package today from friends of the family, with one of the cutest things Savvy has yet to own: a tiny pink bathrobe. Couldn't resist posting some pictures here of her in it. :) Thank you Jim and Vivian!

I think we're going to try and get to bed early tonight. Savannah just went down for the night and I think Denise's already in our room snuggling the pups. I guess I should join her...

Sweet girl

So today was another good day... I had a bunch of errands to run (the bank, Target, Macy's, grocery store, etc.), so Savvy was out and about. Denise joined us for the last half of the running around, and we all settled back in this evening with a movie we rented (Zodiac... which was pretty good). I rocked Savvy to sleep while she stared at the Christmas tree lights, and realized that my ability to bring this little human comfort is the biggest, best feeling I've ever known. I'm so lucky that I get to be her mommy.

In non-related news, we snapped a few pics of Savs with a faux red wig last night (it was just some fringe from our sewing box) that were pretty funny. Also got one of her today while she slept through our errand running. Enjoy. :)

Tradition

We had a great day. We went to our friend Diana's house for an early dinner, which was fabulous-- who knew Tofurkey was so delicious?! We had planned on catching a movie that afternoon, but Savvy's napping schedule didn't agree with our plans. Instead we ended up heading home and reading some of our new books. This evening we were thoroughly entertained by a bizarre story about two tigers getting lose at the San Francisco Zoo (though not entertained by the fact that they hurt people). We just kept thinking, "Wow. So imagine you live in the Sunset district, and you're walking your dog on the beach Christmas night, and you see something in the distance... and you think that kind of looks like a tiger. And then you keep walking, and you realize, oh, it is." Anyway, it just struck us as odd.

So back to the point, for our new Bailey-Gardner family tradition we stuffed Savvy into the snowsuit her Grandma Tita and Grandpa Bob bought her (might I add she bore a striking resemblance to a pink version of Stay Puft, the marshmallow man?) and drove over to Dovewood Court to see some Christmas lights. Savvy was fascinated by all the different color lights and seemed to enjoy the experience. At any rate, it was definitely better than our last trip to Dovewood, which was slightly Griswald-ish. I was driving my old Honda Accord, and we got to the end of the cul de sac, stuck in a long line of cars with people gawking at the pretty lights, when I realized my car was starting to overheat. Denise started to panic because she'd just had knee surgery and was on crutches, so she couldn't walk home if we needed to. So we're hanging out the windows, waving cars and pedestrians out of the way, screaming "Move kids! The car is over heating! Move!"

Needless to say, this was a far more pleasant trip. :)

Christmas Morning

Well, the presents are opened and our new gifts have been played with-- it was quite a bountiful harvest here for us. Stef got some new cozy lounging pants and some world music cds she'd had her eye on. Denise got a new French press she'd been drooling over and some Stephen Colbert and Everest reading material. Savvy got some new pink Converse high tops and a stuffed dog that looks like Puppet. And the dogs got stuffed squirrels, dingo bones and some pup treats. Most importantly, all of us got to spend time together at Christmas as a family for the first time.

Hope your holidays were as bright as ours.

Merry Christmas, One and All

Here's Savvy rocking the house with her guitar solo.


Don't miss her dancing up a storm.

Christmas Eve

I love this whole having your own family thing... it's all it's cracked up to be. Denise and I did our tradition again this year, opening one of our gifts for each other. We also started a new tradition, each buying the other $20 worth of lottery scratchers, rather than doing stockings this year. It was fun and we ended up winning about $20 back. We gave each of the pups a rawhide (which they've already devoured) and some wet food with their dinner, which they happily consumed. Savvy got to play with Puppet's new toy guitar, as you'll see below. She also gave her first performances, both dance and guitar solo. We're quite proud. Hope to have videos of both uploaded and posted by tomorrow. Consider it our gift to you. :)

Humidity Bliss

We've had what feels like a busy few days here. Yesterday we ran a bunch of errands, made some exchanges and bought the best investment we've ever made: a humidifier. Our whole family's been stuffed up and coughing-- lo and behold, the cure for all our ills was that tiny product shaped like a frog. It really is a godsend.

Anyway, today we went and dropped off our gifts for Lily and Kiara, and Savvy had her first photo session with her cousin Kiara. They were both fascinated by each other. Then we ran over to Ikea for lunch and a few staples... now we're back home breathing in our good air and getting ready for a night of doing absolutely nothing.

Bathing beauty

Just wanted to share a few pics of the baby after her bath this afternoon. She loves the water-- I can't wait till she's old enough for a Mommy and Me swim class. We're off to grab some Vietnamese for dinner at our favorite dive.

Sweet sleep

Yesterday was a great day. As soon as I returned from the vet and Denise got home, she went on baby duty, listening to the monitor while Savvy and I napped for two hours. Let me just say, napping is next to godliness. I believe a good night's sleep could solve all the world's problems. So after a good nap we ran by Starbucks for some caffeine on our way over to Cindy and Doreen's for dinner. We had a great time hanging with them and Benjamin-- who I used to think was so tiny, and now is HUGE compared to little Savvy, but is still the cutest little guy around. It was nice getting out for a night and having a little adult conversation.

Last night Savvy did pretty good, only getting up once at three (when my lovely partner got up, fed her and put her back to bed) and then at seven this morning. I really feel like a whole new person when I'm not tired. I can see why people start wanting another child once their current one is old enough to sleep through the night. With this energy, I feel I could do anything. :) And by anything, I mean the laundry. Gotta run... here's some new pics from this morning. (It was the first time Savvy and Puppet held hands).