A Girl and Her Dog

This is Gunner babysitting Violet while we ate dinner when she was about 11 weeks old.

He was so intent on his job he actually had his back turned to the table full of food.


From the first time I set Violet on the floor, Gunner decided it was his job to keep an eye on her. He also decided it was his job to scold me if he thought I was falling short in my Motherly duties. It was quite some time before he quit whining when I would walk away from her. He really didn't approve of that.
Now, things are very different.

Every morning we come downstairs and force Gunner from the warm confines of his room(kennel) and then force him to go outside in weather below his preferred 75 degrees to go potty.

Violet always watches and waits at the slider.

It looks like all is going well. She hasn't lost sight of him yet.

She watches his ever interesting dance of swirling, sniffing, and indecision with great attentiveness. Just like he used to watch her while we ate dinner.

This face means "He's on his way back!"

Success!!

At this point they both start squeaking a bit.

"Momma!! Let him in! It's only 60 out, he might go hypothermic!"

The love they share.

Look at that tail......not but a blur.

Assorted Cuteness

Violet is crawling.

Look closely at that face.

I feel further explanation is unnecessary.

Brandon came over again.

I need not expound on their adorableness.

We got Violet a little chair of her own.

I think she likes it.

Jumping is very serious business at our house, people.

Very serious.

Big Brother's Belated Birthday

Remember this guy?

It's my older brother John. He's really funny, and I mean that in the true humor way, not funny-strange or funny-looking. He is hilarious.

And then last fall he consented to be pimped out here on my blog.

More on that in a moment.

He loves his niece. He even memorized her "wake times" so he can visit her.


He loves dogs too. I never told you all, but when Violet came home, Pisty(little red there cozied up to John on the couch)got very depressed and wouldn't come out of her kennel. So, John swung in to her rescue and took her to his house for vacation. That was almost 4 months ago. I think she likes it there better. She sent me a postcard and said she wasn't coming back.

The real point is he turned 31 on Tuesday. I called him, but I was hopped up on Percocet still and have no idea what we talked about. I'm just hoping I was able to slur him a Happy Birthday wish. I had big dreams about doing Birthday posts for all my loved ones on the exact day of their passage through time, and I even managed to make it happen on Jeff's Big Special Day.

But, alas, I am a recovering surgical patient.......on narcotics.
So here is belated and well intentioned blog love, for you, Big Brother.



And here he is with Amber. With the help of Tim's cousin, who is also named Amber, we set them up about 5 months ago. This is them at Christmas. They seem to be getting on well.

I feel like this excuses me for doing this late.

Happy Birthday, John!!!!!!

On the Mend

This is what I have been doing for the last 2 weeks.

I went to the hospital(willingly) to have 2 surgical procedures done(neither one elective).

I will spare you the details, but I had to have 2 hernias repaired and another repair related to childbirth.

I am on the mend now, and doing one of my first nearly full days on my own.

I am oddly excited, and that is likely because my good friend Yvonne is coming over to clean my house. She has a gift, I tell you.

Violet, on the other hand, has been having a blast.

My sister, The Auntie Kimmy, spent 3 days with us last week.

We have been Beyond Blessed with lots of help from many other people.

What with meals, errand runners, babysitters, and helpers in the cooking and cleaning department, we have had virtually no stress while I healed up a bit.

So, to those of you who helped out, you are too numerous to list here, but, Thank you so very much. We are so Blessed to know you all and share our lives with you.

Much love to you all.

Watch for upcoming foolishness.

Check This Out

It is no big secret to you, my 15 or so faithful followers, that I love to blog, look at blogs, and generally use them as my link to the outside world.

Ever since the birth of the amazing(and now crawling) Miss Violet, followed by my recent surgeries(more on that later), I've been a little out of touch with 3 dimensional people.

Good thing for my inner social butterfly I have the Internet.

"But, why are you carrying on so, Maryann?" you ask.........I'll tell you.

Because today I found this site, because almost everyday I go to this other site.

I instantly fell in love with every single thing on this site. I put a picture of my most favorite shirt here for you to see, in case you want to be like me.

I was so pleased to find Christian shirts that are cool and in line with current trends.

They even have a tee based on one of my most favorite scriptures.

In case you are curious, I like the one above better because spring is dragging it's feet and that color....oohh! Plus, if my stylist could give me that hair.....oohh!

So go check them out. Just click the links here in my post, or the "shop now" on the sidebar.

And then go outside and tell spring to kick in into gear!

Busy Body

Lunch is a production at our house. Violet loves to eat, sing, babble, toss toys, bowls and spoons around, and nearly drown herself with her sippy cup at every meal.

It can be downright exhausting for her.

Just the other day she was having quite the day in her highchair, and started to get dozy.

Unfortunately for her, she is also a spectacular ham. I'm not really sure if she knows she is having her picture taken, or if the sight of my big black clicking and flashing machine thrills her, but when ever I get it out she is all smiles and squeals of utter glee. Which does in fact, make it very hard for me to get a shot of her falling asleep in her highchair.

She started to nod off, and then she spotted me and the Nikon out of the corner of her eye.

So I set it in my lap, out of sight.

Then she nodded again, and when the flash clicked up she roused herself.


Then I let her get a little more to sleep, and quickly lifted the camera to my face, and got this one.

Then she wanted to play "SuperModelBaby"

I amuse her by saying things like, "Let your natural aura fill the room. Give me your best "Blue Steel" rendition."

And you will only understand that reference if you've seen Zoolander.

I love Ben Stiller.

Then she started to fade again......
But after this shot, it was time to get hammy.

Then she wanted to play with me.....or maybe she just wanted my camera.

It was just the camera.

Ever been up close and personal with dried baby food?

A Visit with Friends

My good friend, Windy, was here visiting from Michigan, where she is a prisoner of snow, wind, ice and all things wintry and unpleasant. I'm sure to some degree, visiting Colorado was like a tropical retreat. She has 2 sons, Ethan, who is 5, and Anderson, who is 19 months.

I intend to go more in depth about the history Windy and I share later.

Right now, I want to point out that I took a photo of 3 children and they are all looking at me and smiling. Even Gunner snuck into the shot, though I think he appears to feel a little sheepish about it. Windy, being the veteran Mom, has mastered the skill all parents learn the first time they have family portraits done. Look at the camera, paste a smile on your face, and let the person behind the camera coax smiles out of the children. Luckily, this herd was very easily amused. Except Gunner, who is seldom amused. Unless there is food. And it's headed towards his mouth.

Violet was quite taken with Ethan.

She watched every move he made with great interest.

We talked him into planting a smooch on Violet for photographic purposes.

He was glad to oblige us, as he was quite taken with the camera.

He was taken with Violet as well.

And Anderson........

He just likes to party.