Savannah is ONE

A year ago at this time we were nervous and excited, loading up and driving to the hospital. Again. We had been there and been sent home the night before and this time we didn't want to be sent away. I was having to breathe a little to get through contractions, and I remember every bump in the road caused my belly to have another strong contraction. It was an uncomfortable 30 minute ride, to say the least. You can read a little more about her birth here.

Feels like yesterday. But here we are celebrating our last little gal turning ONE! She just walked over, handed me a domino and said 'da!' (there). Last year at this time she was still a face unknown in my belly, kicking around waiting to greet the world. Ah.....I won't cry, I won't cry, I. Won't. Cry.

My sweet Savannah Rose. Third little daughter of mine. We didn't plan on you, but you worked yourself into our little family in ways we never knew we were lacking. Your sisters adore you. Every morning, nap and night they want to be the first to kiss you, hug you and hold you. So do I...so it's kind of a daily competition ;)

Kinsey and Malaya call you "vanny," your daddy calls you "nah-nah" and I call you just about everything under the sun.

You have a temper. From zero-furious in about 3 seconds is your specialty. It has been from the day you were born. The nurses all commented on your quick temper when you were in the hospital. I suspect you got that from your mama.

Favorite foods include avocados, popcorn, anything sweet, meats (chicken, turkey, ham, steak, ground beef among the top picks) eggs- you LOVE deviled eggs especially.

Crushed ice is a great way to keep you happy in your high chair. You will ask to drink anything that someone else is drinking....especially if it happens to be daddy's giant glass of sweet tea! You say "cup, cup....gummy, gummy" when you want something someone else is eating or drinking.

You love to dance and sing to just about anything, the radio, commercials on tv, mommy or daddy singing silly songs. You will be dancing and trying to sing the words.

Da-da is your favorite....so the count stands at 1 mommy's girl and 2 daddy's girls. If you are upset and I say 'let's go find da-da" you are instantly happier. You get mad and grumpy when he's away for work and you light up when he facetimes to talk to you.

We continuously shake our heads at things you do say, or understand. You are so smart! Probably too smart for your own good. Which usually equals a lots of trouble. Good trouble, but trouble nonetheless.

I know you are growing up fast because you try desperately to keep up with your two big sisters in every way. You want to ride their scooters and bikes already...you walked at exactly 11 months in an effort to keep up.

Please don't' loose your baby-ness too quickly. You are my last baby and if I could I would stop time to soak in every bit of this precious period of my life and yours.

When I'm ragged and worn from a long day I know that when I wake up tomorrow you (and your sisters) will be another day older, bigger, more grown. So each day I need to soak you all in. 

Happy first birthday my Sweet, spunky, silly and smart Savannah!

Free Printable: Summer Schedule

Summer with kids out of school. You either love it or fear it. 

My plan is to love it this year, so I've got some tools up my sleeve to help summer be smooth sailing. 

Plan #1 is simple- a 'daily theme' to give each day something to center around

Don't worry- it's not anything crazy that requires loads of planning, effort or stress. Just a basic theme for each weekday, so that the kids can look forward to a certain activity daily. 

Here's the summer schedule I came up with for our family.

It's filled with pretty low key, cheap and flexible options for each day. 

The best part is- I have 4 different versions available as a FREE download today!

Anchors                                                                                   Arrows

Scalloped Teal                                                                           Scalloped Grey



Just click on the link under the version you like to be taken to the MediaFire download!

I'll keep ya posted on how this works out for my little tribe of gals.....only 3 more days of school!


I'm also working on a daily 'timeline' of events to help our days run smoothly. 
Hopefully I'll be back with a peek into that soon.

Do me a favor and Pin or comment if you download! Thanks!

Life Lately- Spring Edition

Life this Spring has been pretty busy. But isn't it always? 

We've all had countless colds (thanks Kindergarten germs!) 

plenty of sleepless nights (thanks teething!) 

hours of yardwork to tackle

and lots of trips to the park when the wind isn't trying to blow everything away.

Here's a peek at the hightlights 

(I'll spare you all the details of the 2 costco sized

 kleenex packs we've gone through in the last month!)

Savannah's first taste of Krispy Kreme on a Sunday Morning in our jammies-

 she loved the little bit of blueberry cake doughnut she go to try!

After doughnut snuggles- these sweet sisterly moments are the best! 

Baby doesn't want to take her nap....then lets take some selfies! #whynot #shessovain

Someone has been SUPER helpful with chores lately.

(Note: I was loading the wet clothes IN the dryer at the time)

We celebrated the awesome guys big 3-5!

 It seems like yesterday I was just throwing his 30th birthday bash....

I sure am grateful for this man!

I attempted making classic tiramisu for the first time (his favorite), and it was delicious!

Tiramisu on a paper plate #classy

Recipe can be found here 

We had some warm weekend mornings before the wind and thunderstorms rolled in, so we broke out the water table and sprinkler while the girls cousins were visiting.

Savannah LOVED her first water table playtime, 

but that's no surprise since she loves all things with water!

 The kids begged for otter pops, so....another first for Miss Vanni- 

don't worry, she only got a few sips, then mommy took the rest 'away' ;o)

Kinsey had her Kindergarten Musical- it was an Under the Sea theme

(she's in the back row)

Her class was the Jellyfish, and they did a cute little song and dance to the "Jellyfish Jump", and Kinsey even got to say a fact about Jellyfish!

I cannot believe that she will be done with Kindergarten in less than 2 weeks! 

Makayla had her two week Post-Op following her Strabismus Surgery

Her vision is still 20/20, but her Dr recommended she continue to wear her glasses to hopefully correct the last little bit of crossing we are still seeing. 

He's hopeful that in 3-5 years she will outgrow the need for glasses to correct the lingering crossing. Since the RX she wears is very weak there's no real concern for her becoming dependent on the glasses either.

She got to pick some new frames since her last ones were broken and no longer available. She picked these all on her own- so adorable!

We celebrated Mother's Day with a quiet day at home,

 a BBQ lunch and mommy having a cold (boo!)

 But at least I got some pictures with these three beauties that call me mommy. 

I'm forever grateful for the blessings that I have received in these three girls.

 Motherhood is something sorta crazy, but also really beautiful.

On a final, and somber, note.

 My childhood pet, whom I adopted as a kitten in 1995, 

passed away this weekend at my parents home. 

He was just shy of 20!

Cinnamon was a wonderful cat, my first 'baby', and I will forever cherish the memory of him.

 He was so smart, I taught him as a kitten how to open the treat container with his claw

 and get one at a time out.....to his last days he loved his treats!

 Hopefully there's plenty of them to go around in Heaven,

 along with bunnies, birds and lizards to chase all day. 

Top- 1996, bottom L- 2000's, bottom R- 2013

Comparisons: Not always the thief of joy

What do you get when you have three girls, a mama that saved all the baby clothes and loves to take photos? 

Comparisons of three little Herrera girls in the same outfits/ages!

Kinsey- 6 months, Makayla- 7 months, Savannah 8 months
(can you tell I upgraded my camera between Kinsey & Makayla?)



All three girls have hit milestones pretty much at the same pace.
They were all born during my 39th week of pregnancy( K & M 39w1d, S 39w2d)
They all were late rollers- 5ish months
Makayla cut her first teeth at 6 months, but Kinsey and Savannah were both 7 months.
All three started crawling right at 8 months.

Kinsey, Makayla, Savannah- newborns sleeping with daddy


Kinsey walked 6 days before she turned 1, Makayla walked over 2 weeks before her birthday.
Hopefully this last little baby of mine will follow suit.
I don't want to rush a thing this time!
I might also be pushing her down when she tries to stand alone for a while ;)

Kinsey- 6 months, Makayla 6 months, Savannah 7 months


Here's to comparisons bringing joy, not jealousy!
Each of these girls is so unique, both in personality and looks,
I can't wait to see what strong, beautiful and intelligent women they grow up to be!

Do they look alike or totally different? What do you think?

Hands Full. Heart Full.

When you have three girls it's like there's a flashing sign above your head that reads:

***Make a comment about my family***

Because these phrases are said to me on the daily:

"You trying for a boy next?"

"You sure have your hands full"

"Oh, what a beautiful baby....oh, wow....and you have two more kids!"

"You know what causes those right?"

etc.etc.etc.

I'm 100% sure moms of four or more kids get these types of comments, and moms with three boys, and moms with both boys and girls. Heck, I got the "you trying for a boy next" comment all the time when I had two kids.

Basically, people like to point out the obvious.

 Apparently they think I don't know I have my hands full 

and the drama from 3 teenage girls will age me 10 years?

Trust me, I know my hands are full. I feel the fact that I have 2 hands and 3 kids every.single.day.

But I also know that all that makes me crazy also makes me happy beyond measure.

Those three little ladies make my heart burst on the daily.

So join me in celebrating the craziness that is having your hands full with children.

 Because it's also what makes my heart the happiest.

Click here to download this free, hand drawn "Hands Full, Heart Full" 8 x 10 print

Can be printed at any size desired

P.S. This is my 100th post! Only took me 6 years of blogging very irregularly to get there.

Linking Up To:

Strawberry Mommycakes

The Chaos of It All

In the shower today I was soaking up the silence, the heat, the peacefulness of the moment. Don't get me wrong, I had about 5 minutes to get in out and move on with my day while the big girls played playdoh and the baby napped. But it was 5 minutes of relaxation in a typical day full of chaos. I closed my eyes and thought.....

                               "This is the best part of my day"

I quickly opened my eyes as my conscience reprimanded itself. Yes, it's true that this may be the most PEACEFUL part of my day- a day filled with fevers, teething babies, sisters fighting and the inevitable clean up of all that playdoh.- but it was far from the BEST part of my day.

The best part of my day could very well be the snuggles I get from that toddler with a fever, the happy giggles I get when I play peek a boo with the baby, or the sweet whispers of "you're the best mom ever!" by my kindergartner as I tuck her in tonight.

It truthfully is all of those things and so many more. The small moments of beauty, love, and happiness- after all isn't that what we are all doing this game of life for?

When I look back at this time in my life 10 years from now- when I don't have a baby under foot and all my kids are rushed to school every morning. I know I won't remember that 5 minute shower and how good it felt to my body, that shower will still be there as part of my day. It's true that we all need those peaceful moments to be a better mom, wife, friend, etc. But sometimes it's the moments in between the peace, the real life bumps and quirks, that really become the best part of our days.

I will definitely remember those moments of beauty in the chaos that is parenting.

I'll miss helping them tie their shoes and zip their coats a million times a day.

The baby cuddles at midnight will be long in the past, but a tiny part of my heart will pang to cherish them just one more time.

I'll miss cutting their food into little pieces, even the pizza and pancakes. I'll miss the spills and piles of dirty clothes waiting to be washed.

The sisters will still fight, but it will likely be over ipads, clothes or who gets to ride shotgun, not who can run faster or who gets to be which ninja turtle.

So this day, filled with chaos....I'm going to soak it ALL up. The BEST part of my day will always be watching my children grow. No matter how crazy they make me.