4 months

Happy 4 months, baby girl!

















Thanks to Theresa for helping me with the photo shoot!

Growling to Squeaking

Baby Violet is really experimenting with her voice. She's gone from growling to squealing!

Busy Weekend

Last weekend was busy and exciting. On Saturday Violet met her great-grandparents on the Tenholder side for the first time. She also met many other family members and helped her great-grandpa Tenholder celebrate his 80th birthday.



Violet with her great grandparents, grandpa, and dad


Admiring the little cutie!


Flying baby!


Hangin' with her daddy



On Sunday we went to celebrate our friend Rod's wedding to Sabina. It was a traditional Muslim ceremony and everything was so beautiful! Even though she was awake for a super long time, we had fun and she was very interested in all of the music and people. The Indian food was some of the best we've ever had!

Jumping girl

It's time to upgrade to some more big girl play things, sigh, and I think she loves our first attempt!

Yo mom, check me out! I'm such a big girl.


I can hardly stop moving so the rest of the pictures you take will be blurry. You're welcome.



P.S. The unmade bed in the background is a clear sign that I am doing much better at enjoying the moment and letting the little things slide. Beds can wait, cute baby girls jumping in the glow of the morning light cannot. Love it!

One year ago

One year ago today, I woke up, took a test I was sure would be negative, and saw this:


Nate was the most excited I had ever seen him


And I was so surprised and shocked and happy all at once!




One year ago today we found out that this precious baby would be joining our family:




Today we woke up to a sweet baby face. This little poppy seed has come a long way in one year :-)

Hard day

Yesterday was a hard day. I think it all started with a certain baby taking a much shorter morning nap than usual. As the day went on, the naps got shorter, she got more tired and a little cranky, and just wasn't acting like herself. She had 2 little meltdowns and just needed a little extra attention all day. We are pretty lucky to parent a pretty easy going baby so I'm not used to her being a little more demanding. (Side note: can a 3 month old sass her mama? I was attempting to put her down for a nap and she just gave me the sassiest look and little yelps. We had to add "we don't sass our mamas" to our short list of rules.)

After a tough day, we got the biggest reward possible. It's like she just knew that we (me, especially) needed something to remind us how blessed we are to spend every day, even the rough ones, with our precious baby girl. It's also amazing to watch her making connections and learning right before our eyes. She really is figuring out cause and effect and while she was splashing around in the bathtub I could just see her little wheels turning as she figured out that every time she made a big splash, I would say "what are you doing?", then she would crack up!

And I present to you: the tail end of her first true giggle fit! These are the biggest giggles we have EVER heard! It went on for a couple of minutes, but we were cracking up and only thought to grab the video camera for the last couple of seconds.

Growling

Baby Violet has found her voice in a new and interesting way this week. She is, um, growling.

What time is it??

Crazy outfit time!!!



And just for good measure, here's a perfectly normal and super cute outfit!

Carrier

Nate has been looking forward to taking his baby girl for a walk in the carrier for many many months, even when she was still in my belly. Until now, she hasn't really enjoyed being in the "dad carrier" but this weekend he tried again and she really liked it! They had their first daddy-daughter date and went for a walk and mom was not invited. I wonder what they talked about...

Hey everybody...I found my feet!

4th of July

Don't worry, fireworks aren't scary!
(I could just eat those baby thigh rolls, seriously)



Playing with Grammy and Grampy - she is so loved!

Giggling!

3 months

I count myself very blessed to be able to spend so much time with this little lady. She has changed our lives in unimaginable ways and I am more in love with her every day.

Happy 3 months, Violet Olivia!






(Her entire handmade outfit: top, bloomers, headband, and bow are courtesy of Ashley Graber! How could she ever have known that a purple flowered outfit would fit so perfectly on our little darling Violet?)