So close you can almost touch it...

Day two we awakened fresh and well rested!  It's a silly little joke folks. Remember that little baby in the room with us?  She's still not sleeping through the night and the two hour time difference left for an interesting schedule change.  But we adjusted...

So as I was saying, day two.  That morning we decided to take a tour of Alcatraz.  One of the Nation's most famous prisons just off the coast of San Francisco that held criminals such as Al Capone and the Bird Man. 

 I have always been a lover of history so this trip was right up my alley.

But before getting on the 10 minute boat ride to the island we stopped off at Pier 39 to check out the seals.

Don't worry, I blended in very nicely with the rest of the tourists...

And on to Alcatraz we went...

With babe in tow.

She looks excited doesn't she.

Once we got there I had a quick adjustment of the camera setting of course.  My wonderful model obliged as he first checked out the prison.

We enjoyed the tour with two other residents and their wives. 

The tour is an audio tour which was great with Savannah.  We could start and stop the tour at anytime deemed necessary.  And as you can imagine, it was quite necessary.

In the thirty years of prison operation there was a total of 14 escape attempts.  To escape you obviously have to swim the distance between Alcatraz island and San Francisco.  To prisoners, the city looked so close they could almost touch it.  However, what they didn't know was that the distance can be very deceiving and you could easily get hypothermia, get sucked out with the current, or a number of other things when trying to swim.  I would have to agree...the other side did look pretty darn close.

I recommend everyone going to Alcatraz if visiting the City.  I do wish they had given more detail but all in all a very good tour.

Next, we walked through Fisherman's Warf and continued until we came to Ghirardelli Square.  That's right, the square recieved it's name from the famous Ghirardelli chocolate we all love and happened to be created there.

We took advantage of our beautiful surroundings.  The scenery was gorgeous, we were tired from walking through the prison, and it was nice to not be in the walls of the city for a moment.  We all splurged on some type of chocolatey goodness and relaxed on benches.

Savannah didn't say anything but I'm sure she was quite jealous of our chocolate ice cream...

We attempted a family picture.

And Andrew tried to lick leftover chocolate from Kelly's jacket. 

We tried again but to no avail.

She wasn't having the sun in her face.  Can you blame her really?


And Steven took pictures of beautiful trees....

Once we finished for the afternoon we traveled back to the hotel for some much need R&R. 

Savannah prefered stretching out on the bed and soon took a much needed nap.

I could just eat her up with a spoon I tell ya.

Both Saturday and Sunday night we had a babysitter come to our hotel room and stay with our baby girl while mommy and daddy went to eat without her.  I found this girl by emailing a local church in the city and the nursery director emailed me back with a list of girl's names.  I picked the first one that emailed me back.  Beth.  She was a delight and I felt so comfortable with her there.  On Saturday night we left the room and Steven said to me, "We just left our child with a complete stranger."  Ha.  But we both agreed she passed the normal eyeball test.

And I definitely became the weirdo mom who asked the babysitter to take a picture with me.

Just makin' some memories folks.

And that about sums up day two.    The next day was my favorite.  Napa Valley...

I heart San Francisco

We hopped on a plane Friday afternoon and headed due west to the other side of the States.  Steven had a ACEP (American College of Emergency Physicians) Conference to attend and we decided long ago to make it a vacation trip for he and I.  Of course we knew the date long before Savannah was even in the picture but seeing as she is only four months old and still breastfeeding, the decision to take her along was an easy one.  She pleasantly surprised us both by being the easy, laid back baby that we've grown to love.  On the flight home I asked Steven if he thought it was a breeze traveling with her because one, she's an easy baby, or two, we are so used to kids tagging along... he responded with the latter.   Yes, I suppose we are getting used to this "kid thing" by now.

Thankfully, the flight there was as easy as it could get.  Savannah literally didn't make a peep the entire flight--definitely an answer to prayer.

I was worried about the congestion she's been having with the plane pressure and all but it really didn't seem to bother her.

As easy as she was on the flight, I'll tell you what is not easy.  For all you breastfeeding mommies out there that fly--more props to you!  I stuck to pumping thinking it was easier and let me tell you, it wasn't the most relaxing time I've had on a plane.  But really, is there ever a relaxing moment on a plane with an infant?

When we arrived in San Fran we took a cab to our cute little hotel.  If you ever go to San Francisco I definitely recommend our hotel, Hotel Rex.  It was adorable.  I've been to San Francisco once in college for literally a day so going back to explore for four days was a real treat.  If you've never been it's a must see City.  Truly.  Not only is it gorgeous, but it has so much character and uniqueness that makes you want to see more and more.  And let me tell you, four days was not enough.

But we managed to make the most out of it.

We started off on Saturday by walking around the Palace of Fine Arts recommended by my sister.

We did a lot of exploring with our friends, the Householders.  Andrew is a third year resident with Steven and he and his wife happened to go to the conference.

Savannah slept most of the walk.

We were constantly using our iphones for directions.  Thanks Steve Jobs!  Well, technically not my iphone because Steven says I can't get one until next year.  Boo hoo hoo, sniff, sniff...

And I constantly made Steven stand by himself so I could get my camera setting right.

I told him it wouldn't go on the blog.

oops.

Thankfully, he still loves me anyway.

After the Palace we walked across the street for a breathtaking view of the Golden Gate where Savannah saw the Pacific for the first time and I again practiced my camera setting.

He loves me.  Really.


This next one was again me trying to fix the setting thinking I would delete this picture.  But then it turned out to be one of my favorites.

The only way this next picture could get better is if Isaac were in it.

We definitely missed our little buddy.  The longest we've ever been gone from him.  He was having a blast at Coco and Pop pop's house believe me.

I'm almost positive this little girl missed him too.

San Francisco was as windy as I remembered it to be.  The wind coming off the Pacific is so very cold.  It makes a baby want to do an "Olsen twin pursing lip" thing.

Last but certainty not least I told Steven to stand with Savannah so I could, you guessed it, get my settings right.  And this is what I got.

I should do this more often.

Day two involved Alcatraz and more exploring...

The West

We arrived home late last night after a wonderful trip to the West Coast.

And you better believe I took pictures galore....

Rub-a-Dub-Dub

What girl doesn't like a warm bath once in a while?

That is until you tell her she has to get out...

4 months

This little ball of sunshine is four months old!



Actually four months and one week to be exact but I just waited to post until she had her checkup.

Weight: 13.12 pounds (60%)
Height: 25.5 (90%)
Head: 16

Tall and slender so far.  Steven and I always joke about our bodies because I have a really long torso and short legs and he has a really short torso and long legs.  We always said if one of our children end up getting his legs and my torso they would be a pretty decent size.  Looks like it's happening...

Savannah continues to be a sweetie pie.



She constantly has a smile on her face unless hungry, sleepy or let's face it, just plain bored.

Remember when I said she hated her tummy?  Well three days ago I placed Savannah on her back on the activity mat and she rolled over.  Now she doesn't stay on her back for anything!  It's a little annoying because she loves to roll but doesn't like to be on her stomach for long so I have to constantly go help her out.

I had to be fast but I caught her in the act one day.

And...SURPRISE, you're on your tummy.

She's still not sleeping through the night.  Not surprising to me since her brother was the same way.  She's been a little congested this week so sleep has been a real fun issue to deal with.  But, this too shall pass. 

What is brother up to these days you ask? 
I wish I could show you but he's in this "running from my camera" phase everytime I pull it out.  He's determined not to look at me.








I guess he thinks it's some kind of game. 

"Wait come back here," I say.

Nothing.

I did manage to get a few shots of the siblings outside.  Savannah girl sat in the big kid stroller seat for the first time yesterday while mommy got some running time in.

"Running!" You say.  "I'm super impressed!"
Well, don't be my friends.  Have you ever tried running pushing two babies?  If you say yes and that it's super easy I may just spit in your face or trip you up while you're running or something.
It will get better I keep telling myself.  Oh I really do hope so.
...Or I may have to spit in my own face.

In other recent news my brother Cameron came over for dinner one night. 
Isaac sure loves his "Vannen" as he so affectionately calls him.

If he's not running from the camera he's determined to make a beautiful face for me.

Vannen started med school a few months ago and you could say he's in the thick of things.  Steven is not jealous let's put it that way.

Thankfully he still has time to swing Isaac around.

Well, I better run.
It's looks like someone is surprised to be on her stomach again.

I better go help a girl out.