Shirts

I guess my flower shirt was popular and I am very flattered. For those who said they wanted one, I will be happy to take orders! All I need is a shirt size (or a shirt, if you already have one in mind) and I can figure something out. The shirt I used was very inexpensive but I'm not sure how good the quality will be, and the sizes at that store run a bit small so I think I'll find different ones. Anyways, email me with whatever you want.

Hey, Poodle

Look what I made! It took a lot of trial and error but I like this outcome the best. Thanks for asking me to make these, I am now addicted.

The chill of December in the rioting of spring

I know it's a cheesy title but it's a line to a song that Brandon has, and it is very appropriate. Yesterday started out beautiful. Violet and I went for a walk and it was in the 50s. Brandon even bought me these:But later Utah had one of its menopausal mood swings and it looked like this:Oh well. I guess we still have awhile until it's officially spring. And we wanted to tell Papa this: because he is the coolest gringo/chilango I know! And he was one of the first people to make Violet smile when she was only a month old, which isn't surprising, because he always makes me smile.

And only 24 days till Poodle comes!

How can I not laugh?

Tonight I put Violet in bed and as usual I heard her talking herself to sleep for awhile. After about 30 minutes she started yelling so I went in to see what was wrong. When I looked in her crib, she looked up, smiled, then stuck her tongue out at me and started blowing bubbles and spitting. I know I shouldn't encourage her to stay up past her bedtime but I couldn't help but laugh when she pulled that one on me. The worst part was that when she heard me laugh, she started laughing too. Now I have a very awake baby who knows how to get my attention and get away with it. Great.

You do what you can with what you have...

I don't have a fancy playmat for Violet but lately she has seemed a little bored. I figured she needed some entertaining so I attatched one of her toys to a chair and this is what it looks like. Cheap, I know, but she loves it.

Taken for granted

I have realized that there are some freedoms that I enjoyed in college that I have taken for granted. One of them is not having to rely on school nurses to send me home when I feel sick. In high school I started bypassing the nurse and driving myself home after one day the nurse refused to send me home because I didn't have a fever. I still don't know what having a fever has to do with having cramps, but she wouldn't do it. So, I threw up right there in front of her. It convinced her to send me home and hopefully it taught her a lesson, too.

But my animosity toward school nurses started long before high school. I think it started in elementary school when any time I would go to the nurse and tell her my stomach hurt, she would tell me to come back after lunch. That always infuriated me. I would always think, "I'm not an idiot. I know what 'hungry' feels like. It doesn't feel like 'nautious.' It doesn't feel like 'I just pooped my pants,' either. In fact, eating doesn't solve any of those problems."

I was so happy when in college, I didn't have to prove my pain to anyone. That is one of those small things I am thankful for. And now that I think about it, I am also thankful that I never pooped my pants in college.

Lunch meat=gross

I have decided that I hate packaged lunch meats and I am seriously considering buying a deli meat slicer. You can buy big hunks of turkey breast and ham for less than $2 per pound, but if you get them sliced at the grocery store deli they are more like $6 per pound. And I don't even want to think about eating another slimy, rubbery slice of Land o' Frost turkey breast. I found a slicer at Home Depot for about $80, and since I am working this Saturday, I think I can splurge a little. And if I do get this, I will happily slice meat for anyone who lives around me.

Am I crazy or does this actually sound like a good idea?

24 inch club

Friday we went out to eat with some friends at a sandwich place. Brandon took the 24" challenge and finished a 24" sandwich in 30 minutes. The sandwich was as long as Violet. He got this free shirt for doing that. No one wants to see a picture of a shirt, so I had Violet hold it. She loves being naked.
Valentine's day was great. I thought Violet might ruin it by staying up late but she went to bed without a fight and we had all night to spend together. We had a delicious dinner of glazed orange roughy and coconut shrimp. Yum.

Yesterday I finally convinced Brandon to buy himself a bike, but the one he picked out had been sold. So instead we went to Target and bought Violet some toys and cute shorts for the summer. It was lots of fun. I can't believe she is already 4 months old.

Laughs

This post was supposed to be a video of Violet laughing, but I again put the wrong clip on blogger. This was afterwards when she got a little overstimulated and started crying.

Learning

My favorite thing these days is to see Violet learn about the world. Last night she finally figured out how to use her rattle. She kept staring at it and banging it against herself and trying to stick it in her mouth. She also learned how to do a hand-to-hand transfer. So she just sat there and passed it back and forth and entertained herself for about 20 minutes. Too bad she hasn't figured out that to pass it to the other hand, she needs to let go of it. She just grabs it with the other hand and literally yanks it out of her own hand. She loves that thing, and whenever she dropped it, she would cry until we put it back in her hand. She also laughs when she sees herself in the mirror. She thinks she's REALLY funny.

I would post pics, but I don't have the camera here at work.

New clothes, and other updates

Yesterday Violet and I got a package of cute clothes from cousin Leah. To my delight, there were some clothes in there for me, too. Today at church I almost got as many compliments on my new shirt as Violet got on her new dress. Here she is in her baseball jammies. She looks like a boy but I don't care; she is still cute. Yesterday was really fun. We went to Brandon's cousin's baptism and afterwards I found Brandon riding around downstairs on tiny toy cars. He really liked them. Violet had her first encounter with a dog (she got sniffed) but she had no clue what was going on.

My job is still really boring, and we are still waiting for Brandon to hear back from schools. A couple of professors said that they should know by the end of February, so it's coming up soon.

Also, I'm not blonde anymore. My highlights have all grown out and this is my natural hair color. I kind of like it.

"Work"

Today is my first day at a two-week job-- I am just filling in for a friend. They are only paying me $8 per hour, but considering what I do, that's a lot of money. I have been here for 3 hours and no one has come in or called. I have been looking up Disney songs on Youtube and dancing to them with Violet. It's a tough job.

Three and a half years

I got my diploma in the mail yesterday. It made me start to think about everything that has happened since I left home, and I realized that it has been a pretty busy three and a half years. In that time, I started college, got engaged, got married, got pregnant, had a baby, and graduated. I have survived several camping trips to Yellowstone, Tetons, Yosemite, Zion, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Rocky Mountain, Mesa Verde, and Grand Canyon National Parks.

When I list all these things out like that, it seems like I've been around the block a few times, but nothing could be further from the truth. Having a baby makes me feel very inexperienced. Today I called Mom to ask her when I can start teaching Violet that she can't be held all the time. Mom said "Whenever you get tired of holding her all the time," and I said, "Well that was about a month ago. Right now I'm hiding from her." In my own defense, I had a good reason for doing that-- she cries less when she can't see me, so I hide from her sometimes.

Luckily, Mom told me not to feel guilty about letting her cry sometimes, and I felt like less of a failure. At least I haven't locked myself in a closet with a bucket of ice cream yet. I'll wait until I have two kids before I start doing that. (Now that I think about it, I forgot to ask Mom when I get to have my own candy stash.) But it's okay-- I have lots of fun with Violet and the best adventures are yet to come.

Miss independent

My baby is growing up way too fast. I know I'm too young to be saying those words, but it's true. We have finally started letting her cry herself to sleep and she really surprised me with how well she can go to sleep on her own--she cries for less than 10 minutes. The first night she went to sleep on her own, I looked at Brandon with a really sad face and said, "She just doesn't need me anymore." It was a big milestone, especially for me, an overbearing mother.

Here she is trying to figure out what to do with her rattle. She has finally discovered that she can control her hands, and she stares at them very intensely for long periods of time. She also loves to grab her burp cloth and stuff it in her mouth. She doesn't like to cuddle anymore. When she is held she insists on facing out so that she can see what's going on.

I am robot

Sometimes Brandon talks in his sleep. I usually either can't understand it or don't remember it, but when I can, it is really funny. Last night when I got back into bed after feeding Violet, Brandon rolled over, put his arms around me, and said, "I'm holding a robot. Hehe." He had no memory of it this morning when I told him about it but he thought it was funny and has been calling me "robot" all day. I think we have been watching too much Futurama.

And of course, one of Violet

A make-up video

So it took 25 minutes for blogger to load the last video, and when it was done I realized that I did the WRONG ONE. So here is one of me getting stuck while I'm skiing.

Sledding

Brandon and I did it too, we were supposed to try to kick each other off our sleds but we never got close enough to do it. But it was fun, and I got lots of snow down my pants.

Some pictures, finally

I found Brandon's old soccer uniform, and being me, I had to try it on. I don't know what weirds me out more-- that it fits me, or that Brandon used to wear short shorts. Violet tried on her new outfit from Reed. Zara must have some messed up sizes, because this dress is a 6-9 month dress and it fits her at 2 months.

McKay spent much of the break crocheting a purple scarf with his painted fingernails. Brandon said about this picture, "Next week he'll be starting estrogen." Don't worry, it was actually for his girlfriend.

And this is everyone about to go skiing! I always forget how short I am compared to them.

Christmas, so far

We have been in Idaho for the past week and it has been pretty fun. Violet has lots of babysitters and Brandon and I have lots of things to do. Here are a few funny moments from the week:
-Jocelyn putting my boppy around her neck and saying, "this is a COOL pillow"
-McKay chipping his tooth while trying to chew through a wire
-Brandon calling him "snaggletooth" all weekend because of it
-Everyone painting their fingernails (Bryson and McKay included)
-Violet having her acting debut as baby Jesus when we did the Christmas story
-Me not getting to play Mary because Mia wanted to be the one to hold Violet
-Running into a snow drift and some trees while I was skiing
-Violet farting in church, scaring Jocelyn and making everyone around us start laughing
-Cameron thinking he has to leave the room every time I change Violet's diaper and refusing to come back in until she is all dressed again
-Brandon starting fights with McKay because he knows that McKay will always get blamed for them

We will have pictures as soon as we can find a cable for our camera.