Activity....Always

This is Noodle playing in her room with her Daddy.

When he watches her while I work they always play up there. It is really a smart thing that they do this, since she is now liking to play in there on her own and I can get things done in the upper level without worrying about what she is into.

I also love that my husband thinks of these things for me because I spend nearly the entire day in the lower two levels of our house(where the kitchen, laundry room, and skin care room are)

and I would have likely stuck her up there one day when she was older and wondered why she didn't want to play in her room alone.

She has also blossomed into quite the social butterfly.

Whenever I get the car seat out she "power crawls" to it with excitement. If I leave it on the floor she will just get in it and squeal. She loves her outings so much, but she loves little boys the most. Tim is just sick about it. Every little boy she sees she tries to get their attention. She will use every trick she has in her little bag to achieve their admiration.

I'm sure there a great many of my friends and family who would directly accuse my genes of this behavior in my infant.

I would plead innocence.

But most of all she is Trouble.

My Mom used to sing a song to my younger brother Jeff:

Trouble in the Morning,

Trouble in the Evening,

Trouble all Afternoon.

Yes, I know about this.

That picture is Violet being told "no-no" for the ump-teenth time to not yank on the trash can.

She is so good now that she will get up on the slider, turn to the trash can, bang on it, and then turn back to the slider the second we say her name.

Trouble.

Cuteness.

I love every stinking second of it.

Every second, no joke.

A Few Things

My child is trying with all her might to walk. She is also falling 467 times a day.

This means that I have lost 7 pounds, and have realized "baby-proofing" is actually a constant state, not something you do one weekend.

But it is sure fun watching her determination.

I am also working more now than I have since Violet was born.

This means I have lost 3 more pounds, and have 43 seconds to myself every day, since my clients arrive at nap time.

But it is all worth it because when she is up, I am all hers.

Violet cut her first tooth this week. She was very clingy and cranky, and we are so glad that now we know why. This means I have been carrying an 18 pound baby almost everywhere I go, my arms are totally buff, and I think I lost another 2 pounds.

But I secretly love it when she wants to lay on me all day.

I am 99% back to normal after my surgery and the weather is improving, so every chance we get we go outside and walk with Gunner.
This means that I have lost 4 more pounds and am getting a sweet "tan".
There is nothing more exciting than to see your infant squint at the sun and watch the plant and animal life with such rapt attention.
It makes me see the great Creation God gave us with renewed appreciation.




I also owe all of you, my faithful viewers-followers-friends-family-Violet fans-
a public apology, especially L, who depend on this blog for your "fix".
I had told myself I would post regularly to keep you all up on our endeavors and have a place to spew my nonsense, but life gets in the way. I am trying to re-commit to this site and all of you.
This means I will gain back all that weight and my arms will flab back up, but I do love to blog, for you all, and my own personal reasons.
But it is all worth it when I realize how many people care about us, our lives, and Little Miss BabyCakes and Pies.

I also have some to die for adorable shots of Violet standing by the tub in the buff, but since this blog is public, I am not putting them up here. So leave me a comment, and I will e-mail them to you in a few days.

Thank you all for your time....
Hello?....
Is this thing on?.....

Thursday Afternoon Picture

Lashes LaRue

or

Gerta GrubbyFace

I can't decide.

Thusday Morning Pic

"Don't I get a phone call?!?!"

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!!!!!!