Wednesday, July 30, 2014

9 MONTHS OLD!

There is seriously nothing better than a 9 month old baby.  Violet is just this little, chubby ball of slobbery kisses, giggles, and tickle toes.

Monthly Sticker
Milestones: three teeth, mimicking sounds we make, giving kisses, clapping while simultaneously making an Indian war cry (quite the multi-tasker...she is a true woman), drinking out of a straw, stands unassisted and has even taken a couple of steps!

Likes: throwing her pacifiers out of her crib, turning order into disorder (i.e. making a mess of anything and everything), trying to eat paper, playing peek-a-boo, trying new foods, and Neil (obviously)

Dislikes:  diaper changes (she actually seems to hate them...such a strong word, but so true)...if you saw the things I do to try and entertain her through a diaper change, you would think I was a loon.

Life now-a-days:  Violet has been sleeping a little better (knock on wood).  When she wakes up, she greets me with the sweetest little smile or bounces up and down with excitement.  She enjoys emptying her toy box.  The toy she really wants is always the last one in the box.  When she's super excited, she squeals, which is hands-down the cutest sound ever.  Not only does she like chasing after Neil, but she likes chasing us up and down the halls in her walker.  She loves being outside and going for walks (if it's not 10,000 degrees).  And Jon definitely makes her giggle the most.







I've always told Jon my favorite baby age is 9 months and it's true, Violet's cuteness has really peaked!  I just want to cuddle with her all the time...and she doesn't (sad face).  This little monkey just wants to climb all over and investigate new places and things.  I can't believe our angel baby is only a baby for three more months and then she's a toddler!


Monday, July 28, 2014

Sweet Things

The weekend just flew by, as usual.  Our weekends now consist of just constant playtime with Violet.  And Violet plays hard.  Seriously, we have to nap when she naps.  She loves to stand over us as we semi-scream in high-pitched voices, "Heelllppppp!  This baby is attacking me!!!!"  She giggles as she comes down open-mouthed on our faces and leaves us smothered in baby slobber.  Then, when you think that's the worst of it, she body slams you like she's training for the WWE.  (That's World Wrestling Entertainment for those of you who are unworldly.)




As I was giving Violet a bath Saturday evening, I made a comment to Jon about how I needed to clip Violet's nails before church the next morning.  I didn't want her mauling some poor, innocent child.  I almost died as Jon proceeded to tell me how Violet shoved damn near her whole finger up his nose with the force of ten men and then fish hooked him on her way back out.  

It could be worse.  She could start biting us.  If it gets that bad though, we'll probably just toss her outside to scare the possum that's living in our shed (true story) away.


Sunday the stars aligned.  Actually, let's call it what it was, the divine intervention of God.  Violet slept-in until 9 o'clock in the morning.  This kind of thing probably won't happen again until she's a teenager.


And now it's Monday again, which for us means red beans and rice.


And root beer floats.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Frustrations & Jubilations

I've heard some moms say their babies smiled through the whole teething process.  They are lying.  Violet's top two teeth are coming in which means I've been waking literally every couple of hours to nurse her.  For these past four teeth, Violet has been honing her sleep deprivation torture technique on me and it. is. working.

Here's some throwback pictures to give you an idea of what I've been waking up to...



Despite nights being abusive tormenting agonizing difficult, our days have been pretty sweet.  It's definitely bittersweet realizing how quickly these baby days are just flying by, but it's also so exciting to watch her grow.  Baby Girl has been saying, "oh wow" and giving us (really sloppy, open mouth) kisses!  

Look how big she's getting!

Banana Training Toothbrush //Silicone Teething Necklace 

I'm definitely not looking forward to another sleepless night, so I'll try to think happy thoughts...


http://assets.vancitybuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/ser.jpg?cddefc

Monday, July 21, 2014

Weekend Adventures

Violet went to her first little birthday party on Saturday.  She was passed around from one person to the next and was perfectly content with all the attention.  She was especially fascinated by the bubble machine they had going in the living room.  Those kids know how to party.

I tried introducing her to another cat, totally expecting her to light up like it was Christmas morning and I got nothing.  She apparently only has eyes for Neil.  So, when we got home I unleashed her on our cat, who promptly played dead in order to survive her love crushes.





Dress
Violet has been loving her new walker.  I really should call it a runner though because the girl knows only one speed: haul ass.  We have long, wide halls and zero carpeting, so she has been zooming in every direction.  Anytime she's near our feet, we're scared toes are going to be amputated.  I hear the Jaws theme in my mind when she's near.  The fear is real, y'all.  As expected she chases after Neil non-stop.  Don't feel bad for him though; he comes looking for her.  She also ran to Jon when he came home from work on Friday, which I'm sure just melted his heart.




I know walking isn't a far off notion.  Nothing and no one (particularly Neil) will be safe then.

Thursday, July 17, 2014

THROWBACK THURSDAY: OUR ELOPEMENT

Yesterday, Jon and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary.  If you're married, engaged, or even have a Pinterest wedding board, you know how expensive a wedding can be.  That's why we decided to skip it.  We had a private ceremony with awesome photographers, went on an amazing Hawaiian honeymoon, and a few months later held a pretty great party that we could invite everyone we wanted to.

On the day of our wedding, we got dressed and drove together in the rain to Newman Band Stand in Audubon Park in New Orleans.


Jamie and Heather Schneider, the owners of Dark Roux Photography, not only took fantastic photos, but they were also our witnesses on our marriage license, and even brought their iPod so we could have our first dance!





After our ceremony, we headed over to Sucre on Magazine Street.  Chef Tariq was so gracious and insisted on treating us to wedding cake and champagne on the house.  Our picture is still on their website!


Now flash forward to today...



This year we celebrated our anniversary with Thai take-out and a movie and couldn't be happier.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

NURSERY TOUR!

Before we even got pregnant, Jon and I already decided that we did not want to find out the gender of our baby until birth.  That meant all our baby prepping had to be gender neutral.  We knew we wanted our baby's nursery to be eclectic and bright, but we also wanted to avoid pinks and purples (too girly) and too much blue (too boyish).

After Violet was born, we added a few girly touches, but her nursery hasn't changed much.  This is still a work in progress (like everything else in our life).  Some stuff is there to stay and some will go as we baby proof.

Dresser knobs//Lamp//Curtains (similar)//Pouf (similar)//Rug


Paint Colors: Mint Condition (left wall)//Mega Greige (accent wall) & Snow Bound (crib, dresser, & trees)


That yellow board will eventually be a giant ruler to measure Violet's growth.

Artwork: Top left to right: One//Two//Three (original watercolor by me)
Bottom left to right: One (purchased at local art fair)//Two 
Artwork: Deer Head (similar)//Monkey Head (purchased at local art fair)//Art (bottom left & bottom right- purchased at local art fair)//Art (center)//Art (top right-original watercolor by me)

Changing Table (craigslist)//Changing Pad Cover//Wipes Warmer//Owl Night Light (similar)
Art//Panda//Canvas Toy Box//Plush Rainbow Stacker
It's basically the coolest room in our house.

Here's some of the things I'd still like to add/replace in her room:

1.  Put the doors on her dresser with these knobs from Anthropologie.
2.  I'm on the hunt for this plant, a bromeliad.  It's kid-safe and cat-safe (wahoo!) AND they are resilient indoor plants...so hopefully I won't kill it.  One of our goals is to improve the air quality in our home by adding some indoor plants.
3.  This awesome roll up blind from TwinkleCurtain.  (I've been tacking up dark blankets to hide the sun during nap time and it just looks ridiculous.)

_____________________________________

In other news, Violet has finally discovered her feet can reach her mouth.  While this may seem gross to you non-parents out there, I can honestly say it's undeniably the cutest thing I have yet to witness.  Seriously, put every fluffy little animal wearing a bow in a room and a baby chewing on his/her toes is still gonna win.


Friday, July 11, 2014

Throwback Thursday

Everything is happening so quickly with Violet.  She has two razor sharp piranha teeth and more on the way.  She is spending more time standing and trying to coast from place to place.  There is even some baby dancing going on in her crib while we pick out her clothes for the day.  (She's got more rhythm than me, that's for sure.)  It's been especially fun making her laugh, but it's almost more fun to see her doing things that she knows will make us laugh.    Neil is still the funniest thing on this green earth though.  Every child that has entered our house has scared our cat into hiding, yet he will let our daughter climb all over him and try to give him a mama cat bath.  Not only that, he comes looking for her.  I keep waiting for V to spit up a hairball. 

Because things are moving soo quickly, I wanted to take a step back just a couple of months and remember Violet before she was as wild and rambunctious.   




Now-a-days anytime I try to take pictures (at least on my phone), she's on the move so much, 98% turn out too blurry to even recognize her.  Occasionally though, I'll get one that really captures her sweet little personality.


Friday, July 4, 2014

Fourth Festivities

This 4th of July, we put on our red, white, and blue and took a minivan trip (yikes!) to visit some family and eat up some barbecue.  The only thing that could have made us more American is if we jammed out to Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." while pounding some icy cold ones as fireworks shot off into the distance.  Actually, President Whitmore's speech from Independence Day is about as American as it gets.  That guy really knew how to pump up a crowd.   He was probably reelected unopposed.

Alas, we have a finicky baby who only took a 40 minutes nap today and so we called it a night at 5 p.m. and turned her sound machine up as loud as it goes so I don't develop a passive aggressive attitude towards my neighbors for waking my baby with their fireworks.  (Just kidding--my neighbors are actually really nice.)











Happy Independence Day to everyone, especially to our soldiers and their families whose sacrifice is a continual reminder that the best expression of freedom is to freely serve one's country.