Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful day we had! The few weeks leading up to Christmas were hectic and full of Christmas activities, but finally the big day has arrived and we had a nice low key day! In the morning Brandon and I went into Violet calling us to come get her, not that she really knew that that morning was any different from any other morning. So, we took her downstairs and ate a great breakfast first since this will probably be the last year our munchkin "lets" us do that and we knew she would need some energy to open all that Santa left her! She really got into opening those gifts that had been "off limits" previously and we had to open each one and play for a few minutes with each one. We also discovered how much more fun Christmas was this year watching our little girl open presents and get excited about each new fun thing inside each of those shiny packages. She even got excited about the gifts that we opened:) I think if she had of realized there was fun toys wrapped in those boxes under the tree it would have been much harder to keep her out of them.
Later in the day we headed over to my parents house for dinner and to exchange presents. It was so nice since Chase was also with us this year! Violet got two babies that go potty and is obsessed with them. And check out her bling:)









Then we had a surprise visit from Santa!! My dad dresses up every year for the kids and when he walked in Violet said "Pop Pop!!". When we told her no, it's Santa she didn't want anything to do with him. My totally fearless, brave girl wanted nothing to do with this jolly old man:) And the final picture is Vi with all her loot!!

Decorating Cookies

We are finally settling down and not rushing everywhere getting all our last minute holiday shopping and parties done and just doing fun stuff! This morning Violet and I went to our friends Laura and Taylor's house to decorate Christmas cookies for Santa (or Daddy) with some of her friends from my moms' group. She had so much fun decorating and eating icing! It was such a blast! Thanks Laura and Taylor for having us all over to make a sticky mess of your house:)

No News:(.....yet

So, we don't know what this little baby is:( The ultrasound doctor even called in another person to give a hand at the wand to no luck! They said our little one was practically spinning on its head, doing cartwheels, and had his/her hands up in a boxing position for most of the time! Since they didn't get any good shots of the heart (or in between those long kicking legs) we are scheduled to go back Dec. 31st at 10am. The doc said if she had to guess since this baby was so active and being so difficult she would say a boy! Although, we told her she's never met Violet:) Everything else looked good though and very healthy! We will update on New Years Eve!

On a more funny note...Violet has been getting packages for Christmas and LOVING it!! While I was wrapping up some packages to send she was going thru and playing with the "snow" and having an absolute blast! Thank you Welty family for all that wonderful snow:) As you can see she was literally rolling around in it.

First Snow & Live Nativity

This past week we had our first snow of the year! Violet mainly wanted to kick it around and wasn't too excited about actually touching it. Look at the picture from last year's first snow and Violet's first snow ever:) Look at how much she has grown!! This weekend our church had a live Nativity at a park right up the street from our house. They had the whole scene and it was like walking back in time. Violet's favorite was baby Jesus (it was a real baby too!) and the baby goat!

We also put up our tree this weekend and here is Vi and Brandon putting up some ornaments!

Lots Going On!

We have been so busy around here the past few weeks! Violet is doing so much all of the sudden too. She is talking....ALOT!! And she repeats everything we say! When someone sneezes she says "bless you" and she will say "I love you"!! It's so cute:)

She has started eating her Cheerios with milk too! And she is starting to refuse to sit in her highchair and wants to sit in a chair like us. She also loves to go to MomMom and PopPop's house and play the piano! MomMom's ready to get her lessons!

100 Days!

I am 100 days pregnant with 180 to go! Got to love those baby websites, they can probably tell you the minutes and seconds too:) By the way, they also told me that Violet is 650 days old or 92 weeks!

These websites also say the baby is the size of a lemon, can squint, frown, pee, and possibly suck his thumb. Here is a picture of what the baby looks like at 14 weeks.

Gobble! Gobble!

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving! I am so happy for so many things, mostly our family! I am so happy for the little girl we have, the baby in my belly, and of course my wonderful husband who is more than I could have ever imagined as a spouse and father.

Here are a few pictures we took at my cousin Pat's house who he and his girlfriend, Darien, hosted Thanksgiving dinner! Violet had a blast playing with all her cousins:) By the way, her favorite thing to say now is Gobble, Gobble. But, it kinda sounds like, gobbagobbagobba, since she tries to say it so fast!

Violet's Photo Shoot

I've been meaning to post Violet's last photo shoot (18mths) by Nina. A few months late, but better then never! It was such a warm day and poor thing was sweating by the end. And boy did poor Nina get a workout chasing this little machine on wheels around:) But she totally caught a bunch of pictures that totally shows our girls character! I'm so blessed to have such a talented friend! Thanks Nina!!

Nash Family

We had a nice visit from the Nash family a few weeks ago. The Nash family sponsored Brandon while he was at the Naval Academy and they also introduced us! We are so grateful for the Nash family because of this!! What is so neat for us is that we have watched this family grow and grow as the years have gone by. When Brandon met them they had 2 children, Hannah and James. And now there are 8 little Nashes ranging from 15 years old to 15 months! And they are such a joy to be around! Violet had such a great time playing with all of them and slept til 9:30 the next morning after they left!

Trick or Treat!!

Wow! Did Violet have a great time trick or treating:) I really didn't think she would get it, but her PopPop showed her how it was done and then she was ready to push those other kids out of her way to get to the candy! While she didn't say trickortreat, she did say "tank ew" to each person who gave her candy:) Her favorite candy seems to be the M&M's as you can see all the chocolate on her face! She had a busy day too! It started off with a party with her playgroup. I think she may have eaten 3 brownies...oops! And then we met some of her friends in front of Eb's coffeehouse for a group photo before the trick or treating began!

Happy Halloween!

Here are a few pictures of Violet in her ladybug costume this weekend at her friend Millie's 1st birthday party! The kids had a blast at the party running around looking at each other. I can just imagine the confusion in their little heads as they are looking at each other and thinking "these kids look familiar, but I'm not so sure..." But, after a little sugar they were all ready to go:)

I will post more pictures this evening after Violet's playgroup Halloween Party and we are going to Hilloween here on the Hill this evening!

Tumbling!

I started Violet in a tumbling class this fall and wow does she love it!! As soon as we get there she is squirming away from me to run around with all the other kids and she is not afraid of any of the things the teacher shows them how to do! She goes with her friend Taylor and they have a blast chasing each other around as opposed to following the rest of the class:) At the end of class and probably Vi's favorite time they get to jump into this big foam pit! All she wants to do is get out and jump back in and oh yeah count to 3 before she jumps!