Picnic

This weekend we taught Violet what a picnic is.  She thought it was a great idea.  Our fancy dinner consisted of apples, bagels, and barbecue-flavored chicken which Violet would point to and say, "bok bok bok," just like a chicken.

 But being Violet, she only sat on the bench for about 5 minutes before it was time to go play.  That was fine with me.

 Hello, third trimester. Looking booty-licious.

Our classy girl

We bathe Violet almost every day. I buy tons of cute clothes for her to wear. But despite my best efforts, if you saw Violet you would probably think she's the youngest of 15 kids all living in a trailer. It's not because she loves to play in the dirt; after all, what kind of toddler doesn't like getting dirty? It's also not because of the smears all over her face that come from her obsession with dipping ANYTHING she eats in ketchup. No, it's because this child will only wear one thing and that thing is a hand-me-down BYU shirt. She doesn't even know what BYU is. She likes wearing it because it has a "kitty" on it. I try to hide it in the bottom of the laundry pile but she has figured that out, so every day she will fish through the dirty laundry and come out with her filthy "kitty shirt." And it gets better. Not only does she insist on taking off her clean shirt and putting on her kitty shirt, but for some reason she refuses to wear any pants with it. So, if you see a little girl with hair in her face, ketchup smears on her mouth, a dirty BYU tee and no pants or shoes on, then it's probably Violet.

Things that make me laugh

Violet is funny.  That's all.  Like when she does these things:
Putting things in her ear.  It's not like the normal toddler "I think I'll try to fit object X into oriface Y" thing.  It's a real obsession.  If you give her a stuffed animal, she will find its skinniest appendage and put it in her ear.  If you stroke her hair, she will grab your hand and stick your finger in her ear.  Her blanket, corners of pillows, they all go in.  And she will just sit there and hold it in her ear for who knows how long.
Pooping in the sink.  Don't even ask about that one.  Thankfully it was the bathroom sink.
The baby now craves fast food so frequently that when I pull up to a drive through, Violet will start ordering from the back seat. "French fries!  And tay tots!  And nuggets!  And ketchup!"
Violet wads up little balls of toilet paper and sticks them up her nose.  One was so deep that I didn't even notice it until we were in the car a couple of hours later and she sneezed it out and said, "Uh-oh, booger!"  And I swear it was about a centimeter long. 
Violet learns things that I don't teach her and I always wonder where it came from.  This morning I asked her what she wanted for breakfast (around here the choices are cereal or bagels-- I'm not nice enough to make anything) and she pulled out a pancake mix (I NEVER make pancakes and didn't think she even knew what they were) and said, "Pancakes!  Pancakes!" Then she proceeded to pull out a griddle for me.  So not only does she know what pancakes are, but apparently she knows how to make them.
On another note, after years of growing out my hair just so that I could have my natural color back, I am starting to miss being blonde. 

Ugh.  Tough, life-changing decisions.  Which one do you like?

Now that internet is here

Anyone want to see our new place? I guess since we've been living here for 3 weeks now it's not exactly new, but that's what happens when you don't have internet for that long.  I will never forgive AT&T for that. As you can see it's much nicer than our last place and we now have all the furniture I built in high school.  Yay.

 What have we been doing, you ask?  Here's an update.
Brandon:
-Back at school and is now a TA.  He grades a lot of papers, so most of his nights look like the above picture.
-He has been elected as secretary of the GeoUnion, or whatever it is called. He has also been named the unofficial photographer for the geology department.
-He had 3 interviews for internships and a few more to come.  I can't believe that he just finished his last internship and is already applying for one next summer.
-He did not take a job with the company he worked for over the summer.  They loved him but he wants to finish school as quickly as possible, which means not working yet.
-He is going to Australia next summer for a conference.  He may also go on a department field trip next year to Chile or Oman.
-He gets up with Violet every morning so that I can sleep in.  He also takes her away when I have meltdowns. He's awesome.

Violet:
-Calls herself Vyvet.
-Knows most letters in the alphabet and loves to point them out to me in books and signs.
-Knows her colors now.
-Has memorized the way to the zoo (and the park, and everything else) and when I pass the place where I should turn she points out the window and says, "Ammels!  Ammels!" (Animals, animals)
-Loves M&Ms.  Points to them and squeals at the grocery store.
-Is working on her pronunciation.  When you asked her to say orange she used to say orgy.  And when she wants a fork... well, just use your imagination.
-Thinks she is potty trained but just uses it as an excuse to get out of church meetings. "Uh-oh, poop. Stinky.  Potty."  And then I take her to the bathroom where she gets on the toilet and pretends to go, then says, "All done."

Me:
-Getting bigger every day.
-I bought ja cutest maternity dress at Target for $13.
-I have really low blood pressure which results in days where I can only stand for a few minutes at a time, but it's a great excuse to eat a bag of chips and a jar of pickles.  Too bad I never buy those things...
-Baby is due December 20 and the sex will be a surprise.  As will the name (not just for everyone else, but I'm pretty sure we will be coming up with a name as I am pushing this kid out.  And I'm hoping it's born with a name tag.)
-Hmm... turns out the only interesting thing about me right now is in my uterus.

We are in

We are officially out of our old dump, out of my parents' house, and into our new apartment.  Too bad AT&T sucks and won't have our internet running for another 2 weeks.  Don't even ask why we have to wait so long to do a self-installation.  For now I am briefly browsing from Brandon's lab.  That's all.

Potty train... or not.

My mom just bought Violet a toddler potty.  She seems so ready to start training on it. Sure, having only one child in diapers at a time would be great.  But sometimes I wonder if she is really ready for this-- or if I am really ready for it.

Here's an example: This morning she wanted to use her potty.  So I let her sit on it and after 10 minutes when she started playing around I told her she needed to put her diaper back on.  She would NOT let me put it on and kept saying, "No, more pee pee!" I'm beginning to think that she just likes the excuse to be naked.  Later she was playing around it and she took out the inner seat (the pee-catcher, if you will) and put it on her head and said, "Hat!  Hat!"  Luckily there was nothing in it.  Is it selfish to not want to start this ordeal yet? I heard that most babies revert back to diapers once a sibling is born anyways.  And I doubt they make panties small enough to fit her butt. Well, I'm sure she'll be ready soon, but I'll wait until she stops putting it on her head.

DC with the Poodster

Violet and I went to visit my sister in DC this week.  I don't have a ton of pictures because most of what we did was home improvement projects, but don't be fooled-- that's very fun for me. We did a ton of shopping and got three rooms in her new condo painted.  And I was at least as excited as she was about how everything looked when we were almost done.  (I say almost because on the last night when I was going to help her finish painting and unpacking, I fell asleep at 9.  That's what pregnancy does to you.) My favorite part may have been the food, and it never ceased to amuse Brittany that I could finish every meal and still have room for dessert.  On Friday we did get to do some tourist-y things, so here are a few pictures of that.

Violet and me at the zoo.  As you can see my belly is finally getting big, which actually makes me happy, since Ashley told me when she came that I didn't look pregnant; I just looked fat.

   

Here I captured the most disgusting moment on the trip.  I know it just looks like Violet and Poodle are looking at a gorilla, but the gorilla was vomiting and then eating it.  And repeating the process.

Running through the misters may have been Violet's favorite moment on the trip.  Brittany and I had just walked .8 miles to not see a lion, so we were tired and hungry and wanting to get back.  But Violet insisted on stopping at every one of these and screamed when we had to drag her away.  If it weren't for the 7-11 just outside the zoo on the way back and its delicious slurpees and one dollar pizza, I may not have made it.  (Poodle also made it easier by carrying Violet most of the way.  I'm not very athletic to begin with, and having 15 extra lbs on my belly makes it pretty hard to carry her .)

Riding the metro was also a thrill for Violet.  It got to the point where if a bus or train came and left without us, she would start crying because she thought we were supposed to get on it.  It was nice to have her so enthused by the little things on our trip.

The only bad part of our trip was travelling back home yesterday.  Our plane was delayed because it was sprinkling and they told me I would miss my connecting flight in Atlanta.  So they had me wait at the airport for hours to get on the first flight and had me booked for an 11 PM flight from Atlanta to Houston.  After three hours at the gate, Violet started running along a platform by the window.  I figured I would let her since at this point it was all I could do to keep her from having a total meltdown.  Then a lady came up to me and said, "That is REALLY annoying, could you please get her to stop?"  So I took her down and she totally lost it.  She had a full-blown toddler tantrum complete with kicking and screaming right there in the airport. Frustrated, I muttered to Violet, "Go scream by the lady who thought you were annoying.  I'm sure she thinks this is less annoying." A couple of people around me started laughing when they heard that, so at least I got some sympathy.  Violet slept through most of the plane ride, so that part was easy.  In Atlanta I found an earlier flight to Houston and asked if they could get me on it.  They told me that they could, but my checked luggage (car seat) wouldn't get there until midnight when the other flight landed. So I took the later flight, but when I got to Houston, the car seat didn't turn up anywhere.  When I asked about it, they told me, "Oh, your luggage came on the earlier flight."  And I said, "The earlier flight that I asked to get on that they told me my luggage wouldn't be on?"  Yep, that one.  Oh well.  At least I'm home now and the majority of the people I ran into were very understanding and helpful. Violet was a toal trooper, considering that she's a toddler who spent 12 hours in the airport.  I got lucky with that.

Last one for awhile

As I will be travelling later this week, this will be my last post for awhile.  This weekend we went to Natural Bridge Caverns.  I was a little concerned because last time we took Violet in a cave, she screamed the whole time.  Well, this time she loved it.  She kept pointing to things and saying, "Cave!" or "Wow, big rock!"  She walked almost the entire 1.5-mile trail by herself and was enthralled at every stop.  And when we were all done she got to take her picture by a dinosaur, which made her happy.  Brandon even said that the information they told you about the geology was "mostly correct."  Very impressive.

 Since the breakdown of the AC unit we have been staying at the Petersons', which has been heaven for Violet.  I'm pretty sure if Brandon and I left she would never notice.  She thinks she is just one of the sisters and with all that blonde hair, who could argue?  So she spends her days following around her cousins and fighting for a spot on Bethany's lap, because I guess she figures that if she treats the cousins like her sisters, then she may as well treat her aunt like her mom. She is going to be sad when we move out.

One year ago

Right now there is a heat wave going through Houston.  The heat index has been around 110 degrees for the past few days, and the upstairs air conditioning unit is broken.  It's actually not too bad, but when I think about what I was doing exactly one year ago in Canada and Washington, it makes me wonder if Brandon can find any job openings in Calgary when he graduates.  I was:

hiking through a rain forest

walking along cool, foggy Rialto beach

 tossing starfish into Discovery Bay

 swimming in a glacial lake

 hunting for a waterfall in a gorge and looking out for bears

drinking snowmelt off a rock

and seeing the most beautiful lake in the world.

Oh... and it never got above 80 degrees.

This is why I worry about our next child

a big milestone

Violet has been going nuts this week.  My dad has been gone and she has had no one to play with.  Today I broke down and improvised with the sprinkler because the pool was closed, and a miracle happened: she actually played in it.  I know I've posted pictures before where it looks like she's playing in the sprinkers, but she wasn't.  Until today she has danced around it, stared at it, and watched her cousins play in it.  Today she consented to getting wet.  And watching her try to drink the sprinker was magical.  She inspired me so much that I joined her in my swimsuit.

 

She also liked playing in the bucket, which she eloquently calls the "buttchuck."  We had a blast until it started raining on us.

My good news week

Last week was a bit of a roller coaster for me.  You can only get rejected from so many places to live before thinking that you will never, ever find a place to live.  But this morning I put down a desposit and signed a contract for a place we really like.  The realtor made a point of telling me several times what a good deal I was getting.  He kept saying that they should have listed it at a higher price, that a lot of people wanted it, that it had a lot of upgrades, and that it was worth more than what we are paying for it.  Well, too bad for him. We got it.  Here's a list of why it is nicer than our old place:
-Washer and dryer-- in the unit and NOT coin-operated
-ground level (no taking away my stairs and trapping me in the house with toddlers)
-200 sq.ft. bigger
-wood floors (no scrubbing Violet's messes out of the carpet)
-new appliances
-2 concrete patios instead of one rotting wood balcony that I thought I would fall through every time I walked on it
-covered parking so that I don't burn myself when I get into the car
In other good news, I got my ticket to see the Poodster in DC. I know, everyone thought I would be too cheap to fly out and visit.  Turns out I'm full of surprises.
We found a free bed for Violet.
And finally, I'm almost done with Violet's elephant.  I could have finished it last week but on most days I was too frustrated to paint.  Not this week.

Will we be homeless?

This is a real question for me right now. We have been looking for a new place to live for the past couple of weeks with no luck. We have found two places we really liked. After we applied for the first place they raised the price and asked that we pay 3 weeks extra rent. Sorry, not going to happen. Then we found another place. After we applied for that one, we were informed that it was already leased (apparently it was already leased when we looked at it, the listing realtor just didn't bother telling us) and that it actually went for more than asking price. Seriously? Is this some sort of auction that we haven't been invited to? Finally I broke down and gave my realtor a list of places and told him to just start applying until some place accepts us. If you want to know what that's like, try writing down a bunch of addresses, sticking them in a hat, and picking one out. Surprise! That's where we'll be living for the next couple of years. And I am beyond caring.

from the other camera...

All of this stuff happened over the 4th of July weekend, so nothing is really new here.  I've just been too lazy to get the pictures off our underwater camera.  Anyways, Violet is still stinkin' cute, even under water.

 And since Mom and Dad came to the poo with us, she now wants them to come every time.  Fat chance.

 But how could you not want to play with this little face?

 On one night I kept Violet up way past her bedtime to teach her how to hunt toads.  We found 3 or 4 just within a few yards of our house.  She LOVED them.  When I would put them down and they hopped away, she would point at them and whine until I picked them up again for her to pet.  I got peed on many times.  The things I do for this girl.

 But she did FREAK out when we put one on her.  That was really funny.  I've never seen her kick something so fast before in her life.

 Daddy was good at catching them, too.  She got really attatched to him after his long weekend and now goes around the house saying "daddy, daddy" all day.

And if you're wondering what exactly we're doing out here (I know some of you are), we are living with my parents for the summer while Brandon does his internship.  Go ahead, make fun of me-- you're just jealous that you can't live with my parents. The internship is great. Brandon gets fed a couple times a week for free, has half days on Fridays, had two days off for the 4th, and has already been offered a full-time job because he's just that smart and awesome.  But we are set on doing a Ph.D, so instead of going to work he will be going back to school in the fall.

the 4th

This 4th of July was all about the essentials.  Like bomb pops.  I'm pretty sure I could have eaten those and hot dogs the entire day and been happy.  Oh wait, I did.

 Also, what says summer more than playing in the sprinklers?  Even better, playing naked in the sprinklers? 

 Of course no 4th of July would be complete without a parade involving a fire engine. 

Finally... I painted.

This year I made a goal to paint 5 things.  Well it's July and I just finished my first.  I'm lame.  Don't judge it too harshly; it's my first watercolor in years. It looks much better in person (they always do) and Violet is very excited to have it in her room.

Dear Ashley,

 My mommy said that you wanted to see pictures of me with owahs on my fingers, so here is one.  I don't know why you think it's so funny, though, because this is obviously the only appropriate way to eat owahs.

Mommy and Daddy have also been taking me to the poo a lot lately.  They tell me to plug my nose when I go under but I think it's more fun to just look around.  Yesterday Mommy tried to take me to the poo on her bike but she crashed because her legs are too short to reach the ground.  How silly.  We were both wearing our ammets (helmets) so we are fine, even though Mommy keeps complaining about her bruised hip.

Last night Mommy also made caldo.  She really likes not having to cook every day. Reed said it was good but I only liked picking out the carrots and corn.

See, I would much rather eat eggs and watermelon for dinner.  Daddy put feta cheese in with my eggs-- my favorite!

I am getting really good at eating watermelon.  Mommy tells me that I don't have to eat the green part but I think it tastes just fine.  When are you going to come visit me?

Love, Violet

My weird daughter

I know you're all really sad that I haven't been blogging much lately.  I promise, I'm back.  It seems like Violet has changed so much since we moved out here for the summer so I will make this post all about her.  (As if most of my posts aren't all about Violet.)

First, she now LOVES going swimming.  One time she saw me go off the diving board and she thought it was so cool that she tried to go off it herself.  When we didn't let her, we had to take her home because she was screaming so much. I play games like "egg beaters" with her and when I'm done she just says, "Mo, mo, mo!"  (That means more.) Brandon taught her how to hold her nose and go under water, and when she comes up she will grab Brandon's nose because she wants him to go under.

 

 She is a little obsessive about watering the garden.  She tries to do it every day.  Yesterday after dinner when she was playing with her cousins, we came out and she had a pile of green tomatos that she had picked.

 She also likes wearing flowers in her hair now.  Before I took this picture, she was in her regular clothes and I told her that I would go to get her swimsuit and that she needed to take her clothes off to get in it.  When I came back out, I found her butt naked with the pink flower (on the ground in the picture) on top of her head.  Yet another hippie moment.

 This Saturday we went to Mary Jo Peckham park, where I took my first steps as a baby.  Between the playground, the mini golf course, the koi, the lake, and the ducks, she was in heaven.

She has weird food preferences, too.  She loves olives (owah, as she calls them) because Brandon taught her how to put them on her fingers.  So she will sit at her little table with 5 olives on her fingers and eat them off, one by one.  She also loves eggs, because she reads Are you my mother? and there is an egg in that book.  Most of all she LOVES ice cream, but will only eat it from a cone.  She crammed down 2 soft serve cones last week at the restaurant and kept saying "ice cream" the whole time.  She is definitely my daughter.