The Bland's

Gingerbread Day 2009

2009-12-21T16:05:00.000-08:00

Madison's Preschool Christmas Program

2009-12-21T15:50:00.000-08:00

Poor Boswell - Savannah's idea of a horse!

2009-08-25T15:37:00.001-07:00

Scott's 34th birthday

2009-08-20T20:32:00.000-07:00

Madison's summer swim lessons

2009-08-19T22:18:00.000-07:00

Spaghetti Face

2009-08-13T17:14:00.000-07:00

Savannah 1st birthday

2009-07-12T15:20:00.000-07:00

VBS

2009-06-19T21:15:00.000-07:00

Madison went to her first Vacation Bible School this week. A friend from her preschool invited her to be a part of the VBS at her church. She had so much fun! Tonight they had a little show for the parents. The girls (Madison and her friend Emma, on Madison's right)were adorable together. Scott and I just can't believe that she is already singing on stage. It was just yesterday she was our baby!

Gammy's Company Picnic

2009-06-11T16:10:00.000-07:00

My mom started a new job quite a few months back. She loves the company she works for. They had their annual company picnic last weekend. The girls had a blast. They had everything from games, a clown, candy hunt, balloon animals, face painting, the park of course, water balloon toss, and a ton of delicious food.

No swimming pool, but the sprinklers are just as fun!

2009-06-11T15:48:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago when we had nice warm weather, Madison enjoyed running through the sprinklers. Every time she sees them come on now she asks if she can run in them.

Savannah's Dedication

2009-06-06T15:17:00.001-07:00

We dedicated Savannah at church last weekend. She did pretty well while we were praying for her. Although at one point she started eating the microphone while Pastor was praying. We had the family over for lunch following the service.

Las Vegas trip to visit grandparents

2009-05-11T16:19:00.000-07:00

We were blessed to be able to take a trip a couple of weekends ago to visit Scotts grandparents(Victoria's parents) in Vegas. It was such a wonderful trip for us. The girls had such a fun time with their Mamita and Papito. They spoiled us with delicious food and fun. We cherish the time we had them and look forward to future visits.

Mother's Day Tea

2009-05-09T22:19:00.000-07:00

I had my first Mother's Day party at Madison's school this week. Super cute! The kids sang a couple of songs they had prepared for us and then they handed out long stemmed roses to each one of us. After that we squeezed into their adorable little miniature tables and chairs and ate muffins and fruit. They made hand painted jewelry boxes, made pictures of us on the bulletin board and put together a little questionnaire that each child filled out about their mom's. It was hilarious to hear some of the things our kids wrote. (Apparently I am 4 years old, have pink hair and like to make fried chicken and funny potatoes. My favorite thing to do is go to the mall and Vons. lol) A very special time for me to be able to spend with Madison. Being at school with her is just a reminder of how quickly she is growing up. It was just yesterday that we were debating when to have kids and now we are blessed with two!

I am bottom, left row in the center. Looks like me right?

Conejo Valley Days

2009-05-09T08:58:00.000-07:00

Savannah's 1st beach trip

2009-04-28T10:39:00.000-07:00

The week before last we had amazing weather. It was 95 in Thousand Oaks, so we decided to head down to the beach for the afternoon. It was Savannah's first time at the beach. From the moment we got there until the moiment we left she ate sand. Now I recall Madison taking a taste here or there when we first took her as a baby, but she never ate it like it was a meal. Savannah literally shoveled sand in her mouth and ate it. I am not one of those moms that are concerned with sand or even dirt for that matter in the mouth. Afterall that is what babies/kids do. But we finally had to call it a day after two hours of sand shoveling. Enough was enough.
We headed back to Gammy's house for a dip in the pool. It was her first time in the pool too and she loved!!!!!

Easter Sunday

2009-04-17T16:46:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunday was quite a long day. We woke the girls up early to give them their Easter baskets. Off to church we went and stayed for the first two services. Second service they had kids church outside and had a little party for them. Then it was off to Nana and Papa's house. Madison did a little easter egg hunt and then the girls were spoiled with fun gifts from Aunt Becky and of course Nana & Papa. Then off to My dad's we went for dinner. Madison had another little Easter egg hunt and then we just relaxed the rest of the evening. Or as much as you can relax with a 3 year old and 10 mth old. =)

Preschool Easter Party

2009-04-13T08:18:00.000-07:00

Savannah turns 10mths!

2009-04-11T14:51:00.000-07:00

Savannah turned 10mths on Friday this week. I can't believe she is almost a year old already. Aside from the 10mths of sleepless nights, she has been such a blessing to our family. Her smile lights up the room and her personality keeps us on our toes! Here are a few of my favorite pic's from this last week.(PS. the puppy is my dads not ours!=)

Palm Sunday

2009-04-10T21:01:00.000-07:00

On Palm Sunday last week the kids sang two worship songs during service. It was very cute watching them waving their palm leaves around and singing.

The girls first concert

2009-04-03T21:18:00.000-07:00

The girls did a little concert a couple of days ago. Madison was belting out her ABC's and Savannah was on the piano. I look forward to many more fun moments such as these in the coming years. I am so thankful that they have each other!

The girls are growing fast!

2009-03-30T21:39:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how bad I have been about posting on our blog. I will get better at it I promise! Here are some pic's from the last few weeks or so.
This last month Savannah has change so much. She crawls everywhere now at turbo speed. She gets into every drawer or cupboard she can reach and pulls every last item out. Not to mention she occasionally digs around in our house plants. She is definitely keeping us on our toes! Madison has been enrolled in her first preschool for a few months now and is loving it. It is a great program that is through our park and rec's and she is really blossoming and growing up so fast.

Madison and Gammy at the park!

Savannah is clapping for Gammy!

First time eating spaghetti and loved it!!!

Savannah's first trip to the park...she loved the swings!

The girls playing together.

Mama and and Savannah's self portrait.

Savannah's first experience playing in the sand in our backyard. Did I mention she loves to eat more than play in it?!

Enjoying time with my girls, I am so blessed!

Madison has been experimenting with our camera. She loves taking pictures and this is her most recent one she took.

She loves her In-N-Out hat!

Madison takes Savannah for a stroll

2009-03-28T16:19:00.000-07:00

Here is a fun little video of the girls playing together. Or more like Madison playing with Savannah. Although to be honest Savannah seems to be enjoying every minute of it.

Girls playing

2009-03-01T10:51:00.000-08:00

Here are some recent pictures of the girls. Savannah adores her big sister and loves playing with her. Madison is still adjusting to sharing the attention and her toys with her. Overall though she has been a great big sister!

Disneyland with Rump's and Grandma

2009-02-07T08:01:00.000-08:00

We took a trip to Disneyland last week with my dad and Lori. It was Lori's first trip there in years and the first time they have been with us and the girls. We had such a fun day. We walked on to most of the rides and the weather was beautiful.

Papa's 60th birthday

2009-02-07T07:25:00.001-08:00
It was Tom's 60th birthday a couple of weekends ago. We had a wonderful dinner at a Mexican restaurant and then went back to their house for some cake.
Aunt Becky and the girls

Nana, Madison and Papa
Papa and Madison opening gifts
Family portrait of Tom's side of the family(left to right)Brenda, Joe,Becky, Linda, Tom, Nicole, Madison, Victoria, Us, (front)Evelyn

Our Day with Nana

2009-01-18T21:15:00.000-08:00

Madison goes to Nana and Papa's house once a week to visit and play. One of the things that she and Nana love to do is go visit the horses Cody and Casey at the stable down the street. It's a short walk and these people have the most adorable house for their horses. It has been a ritual for Madison and Nana to cut up carrots and apples to feed them. Savannah and I had the pleasure of going along this past week with them.

Canavan's Visit

2009-01-15T16:48:00.000-08:00
The week following Christmas our cousin Christina came down from Santa Cruz to visit. She drove down with her mom, daughter Sarah and son Owen. The girls had a blast playing with eachother! We really enjoyed a relaxing week together just hanging out. Neither Christina or I had thought that we would ever have babies at the same time. We were excited to learn last year that we were both preganant and only 3 months apart. It was so much fun spending time with eachother and our new little ones are such a blessing. =)

Christmas Day

2008-12-28T16:53:00.000-08:00
Christmas Day was spent at our house. My mom and sister came in the morning to open gifts and we had a yummy breakfast. In the evening the rest of the gang came to have a turkey and tri-tip dinner. I think we all ate enough food for the next month!

Christmas Eve

2008-12-27T15:13:00.000-08:00
We had a very busy Christmas Eve this year. Scott's grandparents from Las Vegas came in on Tuesday and stayed with us until today. We really enjoyed having them here with us.
In the early afternoon of Christmas Eve we went to Tom and Victoria's house to have our first dinner. The girls opened gifts and had a great time. We then headed off to church for the candle light service. Once that let out, we went to James and Lori's house for another meal. More presents followed dinner and by the end of the evening we were pooped. Did I mention we still had to go home and put together Madison's toys?! Midnight rolled around and we finally went to bed. =)

Welcome Baby Dutch!

2008-12-22T09:40:00.000-08:00

Scott and Ashley welcomed Dutch Oliver Coleman into the world yesterday at 10:10am. He is a healthy little boy weighing 7lbs 11oz & 21 in. Ashley and baby are doing great and my brother has had a smile from ear to ear since he walked into the nursery with him to show him off to all of us. Praise God for a smooth
c-section delivery! And we are so excited to officially be Uncle Scott and Auntie Kim!!!

Lost in a pile of animals...

2008-12-16T16:33:00.001-08:00

Savannah turns 6 months!

2008-12-16T14:56:00.001-08:00

So I figure while the girls are napping and I have a free minute I should give a little update on our baby girl. She officially turned 6mths last week! Where has the time gone? One minute I am in the hospital, the next minute I am feeding her food in a high chair. They really do grow up in the blink of an eye.

Savannah has been such a joy and blessing to our family. We are still battling sleepless nights, but that huge smile she gives us when she wakes up in the morning more than makes up for it!

We had her ears pierced at her 6mth check up. She is now approaching 20lbs and following in her sisters footsteps as far as her size is concerned. That's right folks, we grow them big! Her first two bottom teeth popped through about two weeks ago and the doctor says she is working on the upper front four. She is rolling around the floor like crazy from one end to the next. We are working on sitting up still, but I know that will happen any day now along with crawling right around the corner. Once they are mobile everything changes! =)

Attempting to sit up for more than 5 seconds...

Working on her pre-crawling skills...

Loves to play with her little feet...

So happy to be in her big girl high chair!

Gingerbread Day

2008-12-13T15:15:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from our annual GIngerbread Day at The Shepherd's House. We stepped it up a little this year with a bounce house, pony rides and petting zoo. Madison must have been on the pony ride about ten times over the course of the morning. They had a great time making gingerbread houses and munching on the candy too.
PS. We truely missed all of you that are usually are there! It just isn't the same without you!

Great Grandpa Bland

2008-12-12T20:02:00.000-08:00

Scott's grandpa was in town about a week ago visiting. We really enjoyed spending time with him! Here is a picture of all of us.

Christmas Tree shopping

2008-12-11T18:58:00.000-08:00

Santa and the girls

2008-12-11T13:48:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving #2

2008-11-29T17:05:00.001-08:00
Our second dinner was on Thursday, my dad and Lori hosted. Another delicious meal that left our stomaches full.

Thanksgiving #1

2008-11-29T16:20:00.001-08:00
This is the first of our two Thanksgiving dinners that we had this week. We cooked a yummy dinner Wednesday night for my mom and the rest of the clan. We had a nice relaxing evening!

Daddy and Savannah

2008-11-20T15:25:00.000-08:00

Our family day at the LA Zoo!

2008-11-15T08:08:00.000-08:00

Our little girl turns 3!!!!

2008-11-05T16:53:00.000-08:00

Our first born turns three....Where did the time go? Madison has been such a huge joy in our lives from the moment we saw her on the first ultrasound. The anticipation grows as you await your first child and before you know it they have become a little person of their own. The Lord has blessed us beyond measure and we look forward to the many years ahead as she blossoms and grows into the girl God has created her to be.

HALLOWEEN

2008-11-03T07:28:00.001-08:00

The girls

2008-10-29T14:46:00.000-07:00

Here are some updated pictures of the girls hanging around the house.

Daddy and Madison goofing around!

Savannah all bundled up for a walk around the block.

Savannah has happily found her feet.

Gardening

2008-10-18T16:30:00.000-07:00

Grandpa Bland bought Madison a wheel barrow this afternoon. She saw it at the hardware store and was so excited about it that he bought it for her. She absolutely loves to garden and help daddy around the backyard.

Helping Grandpa put it together. As you know nothing ever comes pre-assembled for kids!

Taking it for a test drive!
So the test drive didn't go as planned. Grandpa had to show her how to balance the wheel barrow. I can see this might leave a little room for some frustration for her. She is learning though slowly.

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Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-14T16:46:00.001-07:00

The girl's new room

2008-10-12T09:29:00.001-07:00
We have officially put both girls into one room. We moved Scott's office out of the back room and into Madison's old room last week. The transition went smoothly and Madison loves sharing a space with her sister. Savannah on the other is not the best sleeper yet, so she is still in and out of our room so that she doesn't wake up Madison. Now if we could just get Savannah to sleep more than a couple hours at a time we would be in great shape.

Family Disneyland Day

2008-10-04T08:04:00.000-07:00

Scott took a day off of work this week and we went to California Adventure and Disneyland. It was a great day, not too crowded.

Goofy took a picture with the four of us.

Madison was thrilled to see Minnie Mouse next!

The merry-go-round is one of her favorites.

Scott was able to go on one of his favorite rides too! He is at the far bottom right.

Did I happen to mention that it was a little warm out that day. Warm as in the 90's warm! A little hotter than we had anticipated, but we stopped and cooled off in the fountains. It was a welcome relief to be able to cool off from the heat.

Daddy and Savannah taking a break and relaxing next to Minnie's house.

This was at the end of the day while Madison waited for the much anticipated parade. I think its the best part of the experience of Disneyland. All of the kids faces light up when they see the floats and all of the characters. It is such a joy to watch Madison's big eyes stare in amazement at what is taking place. Watching our own little one's excitement is like reliving our childhood all over again.
The best part was when one of the people in the parade came up to Madison to say hello to her. Her face just lit up!!!!! It was a great end to a fun day at the happiest place on earth!

Madison playing with Uncle and Grandpa Bland

2008-09-28T22:32:00.001-07:00

We had a BBQ Sunday night at our house. Madison had so much fun playing with her Uncle and Grandpa Bland while Savannah sat and ate her dress!

Madison goofing around!

2008-09-23T16:31:00.001-07:00

She is always making us smile with the silly things she does!

She loves to dress up in our shoes!

Say cheese!

Gymnastics

2008-09-23T16:22:00.000-07:00

Madison had her first gymnastics class last week. She loved the trampoline and hanging from the bar!

Gammy and Savannah came and watched too!

New Life Church Picnic

2008-09-15T20:45:00.001-07:00

Sunday we went to Jennifer's church to be a part of their annual birthday celebration.

After service we had a great picnic with an amazing spread of food!

Auntie Jennifer and Madison had such a fun time blowing bubbles and chasing them!

LAKE SAN ANTONIO

2008-09-11T11:37:00.000-07:00
We went 0n our annual Lake San Antonio trip last week. We had three families that went, about 19 people and 2 dogs. It was so nice to get away on a little vacation. This was the first time that we have rented a motor home. What a blessing it was to be able to get out of the hot afternoon sun. It made things so much easier with Savannah being
only 3 months old. Madison was a fish the whole time and loved floating in her Mickey Mouse inner tube. I am looking forward to next year when Savannah is old enough to play in the water too. A couple of other firsts for Madison was roasting marshmallows and looking at stars in Gammy's tent!

Scott's birthday

2008-09-07T18:51:00.000-07:00

I am a little behind on our blog. It was Scott's birthday a couple of weeks ago. Madison helped daddy blow the candles out!

We finally made it to the beach this summer!

2008-08-25T08:03:00.000-07:00

Savannah puts her feet in the sand for the first time!

Daddy taught Madison how to fly her Winnie the Pooh kite.
She had so much fun watching her kite high in the sky!

Savannah is 2 months old!

2008-08-15T17:27:00.000-07:00

Well folks it's official, Savannah is in competition with her big sister Madison. She had her 2 month check up this week and the doctor says she is the size of a healthy 4 month old. Yes that's right the size of a four month old. She is now 14lbs. 8oz. and 24in. long! All of which are measurements that are off the charts, just like Madison. We are thrilled to have healthy girls, but boy our arms sure do get tired! Her developement is right on track and she handled her vaccinations like a champ. A short 10 sec. bout of crying and an 'OWWWW! why did you do that' look on her face and then she was out like a light. We are looking forward to watching her develop and grow over the many months to come!

Our church trip to the Santa Barbara Zoo

2008-08-11T09:38:00.001-07:00

Our church put together a day at the Sanata Barbara Zoo. Madison and Savannah's Nana joined the fun and came with us for the day. The weather was beautiful and the kids had a blast running from animal to animal. The train ride was a big hit too!

Girl's day at Disneyland

2008-08-11T08:45:00.000-07:00

We had a girls day at Disneyland last week with Kelly, Aliyah, Anjoli, Avonlea, Lindsey, Gammy and Auntie Kadie. There were 10 of us in all, it was a blast. It was Savannah's first trip to the happiest place on earth. She did quite well considering she was barely 8 weeks old. It was extremely hot so we bought her a cute Mickey Mouse fan to attach to her stroller. She was definitely riding in style. The other girls had a great time too. We spent the first part of the day at California Adventure and the evening at Disneyland. By the end of the long day most of the girls were crashed out in their strollers before we even made it to the cars!

Expressions of a happy baby!

2008-08-05T16:45:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe two months is right around the corner for our baby girl. Savannah is in competition with her big sister Madison as far as weight and height go. Stats from her two month check up coming soon.......

The Canavan's come to visit!

2008-07-31T17:47:00.000-07:00

OUR COUSINS FROM SOQUEL WERE IN TOWN LAST WEEK. WE REALLY ENJOYED SPENDING TIME WITH THEM. THEY ARE EXPECTING THEIR THIRD BABY IN SEPTEMBER! THE KIDS HAD A BLAST AT THE PARK, SWIMMING IN THE POOL AND WE CAN'T FORGET TACO NIGHT!

SISTERLY LOVE

2008-07-30T22:27:00.000-07:00

SAY CHEESE!

Madison has been such a wonderful big sister and has been mommy's little helper! She loves to help bake cookies, make lunch/dinner, she helps put laundry away, entertains Savannah to keep her happy and so much more. She is a little mommy in training! Savannah loves to give Madison big smiles when she plays with her and we are enjoying watching the two girls interact with one another. They are such a joy!

4th of July

2008-07-28T17:19:00.000-07:00

We took the girls to go see the fireworks in Thousand Oaks. Madison couldn't wait to see them this year!!! And of course Savannah slept through the whole thing.

June 9, 2008

2008-07-25T22:46:00.001-07:00

Savannah Grace

7lbs. 12oz.

20 in.

Savannah's birthday!

2008-07-25T22:37:00.001-07:00