I should probably blog about Christmas before New Year's

Christmas wasn't too eventful, but Violet sure enjoyed it. She had no trouble tearing through the wrapped presents, and when she was done with hers, she insisted on unwrapping ours for us. Caught in the aftermath.

Of course, opening presents wasn't the only fun thing she did. She also made soup with her shoes...

and tried on some "jewelry." She doesn't know the difference between a necklace and a bra; if it's long and stringy, she puts it over her neck.

No, I did not teach her to do any of these things.

I'm so glad when daddy is home

Brandon's first semester of graduate school is over. I would say it was a successful one, but I feel like that would be an understatement since his grades were all A's or A+. Earlier in the semester I asked him how he did on a test and he said he did "okay." Later I found out that "okay" meant getting a 98. When I teased him about it, he just said it's still not a 100.



Violet and I have enjoyed having him home. On Christmas eve, everyone helped smash open a pinata. Violet wasn't sure about hitting it; I think she felt sorry for it. But she was very happy about the suckers that came out of it.

Brandon gave Violet her first golf lesson when we went to the driving range. While I was practicing my drive, they went to the putting green and hit some balls around. She was a natural. They have been practicing their soccer moves a bit, too.

On the night of the solstice, Brandon and I stayed up till 3 to get a good view of the lunar eclipse. There were only intermittent periods of good visibility, but it was fun to watch with him.

Violet has been so spoiled having him around.

everything purple

When I picked out the name Violet, I promised myself that I wouldn't make her wear (or have) everything purple. Well, it turns out I lied to myself. But I think I only make her wear so much purple because EVERYONE thinks she's a boy, and I'm really not into pink, so it's our only alternative.

So, here is the stocking I made for her: purple velvet with white fur trim, bells, and a reindeer.
And I made this skirt for her from some leftover fabric. It's a little short and doesn't quite give her legs enough room to move around, but I'll fix it later.

Another eventful weekend

This weekend started off pretty rough for me. I woke up on Friday with a nasty, nasty sickness. Brandon wasn't able to help me out with Violet since he had a paper due that day, and Violet didn't go easy on me. As I was lying on the floor in agony, Violet threw Are you my Mother at my face and gave me a partial black eye. She figured out how to take off her diaper and peed on the floor before texting pictures of her finger to most of the people on my contact list. But later that night I got to have a big bucket of chicken from KFC and sleep for 12 hours, and I felt much better in the morning.

Just as I woke up the next morning, I got a call from Mom and she told me that everyone was at Brazos Bend state park. Of course, I can't miss out on any of the fun so we immediately got in the car and drove out. They were done with the trail by the time we got there, but we were able to have lunch with everyone and Mom and Dad did the trail again with us. Dad took care of Violet the entire time: And we saw 26 alligators, some of which were babies and only a few feet away from us. Also, Brandon and I discovered at least 3 in our pictures that we didn't see while we were there. He is becoming quite the wildlife photographer.

We also made it up our family tree. Brandon never has any problem climbing anything, but I was impressed that I got my sick butt up there. Of course Violet wasn't going to let us be up there without her, and she thought being in a tree was the coolest thing that had ever happened to her.

By the time we got home, I was starting to remember just how sick I had been the previous day and I was pretty worn out. But we toughed it out and managed to make it to our ward Christmas party where Violet met Santa. She wasn't too sure about him, but she did like running around with all the other kids. In fact, she was so excited that her pants fell off a couple of times. Luckily, no peeing on the floor.

Thanksgiving recap and Christmas kickoff

Thanksgiving is great. Is there any other day of the year where you can sit and marvel at how thankful you are for everything you have, and the next day shamelessly rush to the mall and wait for it to open because you need everything inside? I don't think so. This day is not only for giving thanks but for being overindulgent.

We went out to Katy for Thanksgiving and had quite a feast. Violet was quite taken with all the cousins and spent the day chasing them around (only when she wasn't stuffing 3 servings of cranberry salad in her pie hole.) Between the delicous turkey, potatoes, pies, and other commotion, I managed to snap this cute picture of her: She barely had time to pause for the camera. After the festivities, we went to mom and dad's apartment and waited for the sales to start. When it was apparent that Violet wouldn't go to bed there, Mom offered to take us on a drive so that she would fall asleep in the car. It worked, and on the way back, Mom spied a Jack in the Box with a "2 tacos for 99 cents" sign. So obviously we stopped. Brandon was a good sport and let me run to the mall with Mom at midnight to look for deals. It was fruitful, and after that, we headed home.

In the true, non-commercial spirit of Thanksgiving, I feel that this would be a good place to list out what I am thankful for. First there's Brandon, who I have come to realize is very brave. First of all, he married me. He was also brave enough to change his course of study four years into his program and do what he really loved. That resulted in 2 extra years of schooling and a move to a city that has no rocks within 100 miles, which is a pretty big deal for him. But through every change he has remained supportive and hardworking, and I love him very much.

And then there's Violet. She always makes sure that I exercise, because when I get too lazy and don't go outside, she finds her shoes, my shoes, my keys, and my purse and throws them all at me in that order. She is so fun to go on walks with because every time she sees an animal she sits up and points at it. She even hugs me when I ask her to. How could I not love that little girl?

Now for the Christmas kickoff. Two years ago, Brandon and I literally went into a snow-covered forest and chopped down a wild Christmas tree with his family. This year was a little less romantic. We hiked across Kirby all the way to Kroger and bought a tree. Being the lumberjack that he is, Brandon slung it over his shoulder and carried it home. What a man.

Violet thinks it's the coolest thing she's ever seen. We still haven't decorated it; that will be done tomorrow. But I have a really cool idea for it that was inspired by my blue snowflake pillow and sheepskin rug. I know you're all excited to see how that interpretation turns out on a tree.

Later that day, Mom took me, Bethy, and her girls to see the Nutcracker performed by the Houston ballet. It was a truly amazing performance. I was concerned that the little girls wouldn't make it thorough the show, but the only problem they ran into was deciding if they liked the snow queen or the sugar plum fairy more. I can't wait until Violet is old enough to come with us.

Who says you can't buy happiness?

I get it for 99 cents every Wednesday. TCBY has 99 cent Waffle Cone Wednesdays, and it has become one of my favorite things about living in Houston.

But this doesn't cost me anything.

The Christmas shirt

I was on a roll with the turkey shirts so I felt like making Violet a Christmas shirt. I found a really cute red shirt, some red and white fabric, and white ribbon so I made an ornament on it.

For all those angered by not seeing her face, she wouldn't look at the camera to save her life.

Gobble gobble

Tonight I made turkey shirts/onesies and a headband for baby girl Reed and the Peterson girls. They turned out really cute and I only have some stitching to finish on the shirts.

But little did I realize that from far away, the pattern on the blue fabric makes it look like the turkey has big google eyes on top of its head!

Oh well.

Halloween recap

Brandon was on another field trip over Halloween weekend, so we stayed out at Reed and Papa's place. They spoiled Violet with lots of good food, including oreos. Here is what she did with those. I let mom and dad clean up the mess since they had the bright idea of giving her an oreo unsupervised. They also had me draw the famous "la Catrina" on their white pumpkin. It's more Dia de los Muertos than Halloween, but it was still cool.

And here she is as Paul the Octopus. The costume wasn't much but I thought the idea was great. She almost won the costume contest but a ladybug beat her out of 1st place. I think it was because nobody knew who Paul the Octopus was. If we had been in Spain or Gemany, she would have won by default.

I didn't get many good pics of her in her costume on Halloween so maybe I will dress her up again and take some pictures in the daylight.

First words

Violet says "book." Yesterday she came walking up to me with a book in her hand saying, "Bok, bok." She did it for Brandon this morning and is apparently pronouncing it better now.

Traipsing around...

So Jennifer and I have been hanging out a lot lately. Besides the extremely interesting converations and good company, it almost always involves food. Sometimes it's a little difficult because I have to carry around 2 babies... but somehow we manage. One of our first lunch dates was to Barnaby's where I had the best burger of my life. I took Mom a few weeks later and she agreed it was awesome. Just after Brandon's birthday, we went to Tiny Boxwood's. It's a very high-end place where lots of River Oaks trophy wives go to lunch. Well, we're not rich, so we had to fake it. I put on my preppiest J.Crew shirt and Jennifer let me borrow her Coach sunglasses. I think we had them all fooled:

until Violet had a blowout and ruined the atmosphere. But it turns out I lied about the Barnaby's burger, because the buffalo burger I had at Tiny's was definitely the best burger I ever ate. Last week we celebrated Violet's birthday and Jennifer surprised me with some presents from her and her mom-- a cute dress for Violet, and a pretty shirt for me.

I like it because it's something I wouldn't have been brave enough to buy on my own, but it's awesome. And since it's from Saks, maybe I'll wear it to Tiny's next time.

Since she will probably soon be whisked off to some other part of the country with a new job, I am milking every minute I have with her. And I love it.

Rip-offs

I have some complaints against businesses that I have had to deal with lately. First off, we had to get new cell phones. It made me wonder how they decide what to charge for phone plans, and I concluded that they just pull a number out of their butts. Seriously, does it cost them anything to give you more minutes? Who decides how much a minute is worth? We have also noticed that family plans are more expensive than getting two individual plans, and that getting a plan that includes text and web is more expensive than getting a regular plan and adding text and web. But most people don't notice, and they get ripped off.

My second complaint is against Target and its ridiculous return policy. I had to exchange some shoes from Violet's birthday and didn't have a receipt. They scanned them and said, "Well, these shoes cost $10, but you will only get $8 back, and you'll have to pay the difference when you exchange them for the smaller size." Since when is it ok to charge 20% for an exchange? I checked and the shoes were still in stock, and not on sale. I left without exchanging them and wanting to punch the customer service rep in the face.

Finally, I am boycotting Yoplait yogurts and switching to puddings from now on. I bought the Boston Cream Pie flavor which, on the package, had a picture of a chocolate-covered pie with chocolate shavings next to it. When I opened it, not only was there no chocolate, but I'm pretty sure they didn't even add any flavor because it tasted like plain yogurt. It was disgusting.

For those who missed out...

Violet's birthday party was awesome, so here is a picture recap.
Of all the fancy gifts that Violet got, one of her favorites was a set of 3 rubber frogs from the dollar section at Target. Here she is playing with them, with Leah's cute little butt in the background. The cake was good. The pink strawberry middle plus bright blue icing combo made it the brightest cake I had ever seen.

And here it is before getting hacked into peices. Violet loved having us sing to her!

This was on the day of her actual birthday, opening all her presents from Brandon's family. She loved them, especially the purple tie-dye onesie from the previous pictures.

So I finish with Violet's birthday and suddenly Halloween is a week away, we have been extended a Thanksgiving invitation, Christmas exchange names have been drawn, and Brandon and I are pondering our next big vacation. (Speaking of vacations, Brandon finally posted some Belize pics on his blog.) Things are happening fast around here.

Birthday girl

When Violet woke up this morning, we told her that it was her birthday and that we have presents for her. She was so excited that she decided to escape during her diaper change and run around in her birthday suit. She even left mommy a little present on her stepping stool. Hopefully she is better behaved at her party tomorrow.

Funny things from this weekend

In no particular order:
Brandon signed the acceptance letter for his internship and I spilled red popsicle all over it. It didn't look very professional after that, but he was about to leave and had no choice but to mail it as-is. I felt really badly and almost stuck an apology note in the envelope that said, "This is Brandon's wife. Please excuse the popsicle stain on his acceptance letter. It's not his fault that I'm a slob." Unfortunately he sealed the envelope before I got to add my note.

Ashley fed Violet a ton of blueberries and the next day she had a blowout in the car. When I changed her diaper, her poop was blue.

On Friday, Ashley suggested that Violet sleep on the bed with us. Ashley didn't know that Violet plays before she falls asleep, so every 15 seconds, Violet would poke Ashley in the face and I would hear Ashley giggle.

On Saturday night, Violet was asleep in the pack-and-play and Ashley and I started laughing about something. Violet started laughing along with us in her sleep.

We were looking at the jaguar exhibit at the Dallas aquarium when I overheard a guy trying to impress his girlfriend with his knowledge of animals. I walked up to the cage and told Ashley that you can tell jaguar spots from leopard spots because jaguar spots have smaller spots inside, whereas leopard spots don't. A couple of seconds later, I heard the guy repeat exactly what I had just said to his girlfriend. I guess I wasn't the only one eavesdropping.

On Saurday, Ashley kept making fun of me because I never exercise. She laughed at me when I told her that I don't need to because I stay active. Then on Sunday, she complained about how sore she was from carrying Violet around all day. Guess who is laughing now?

Brandon's packing list:

Snorkeling gear
sunscreen
insect repellant
swimsuit
underwater camera

It's hard to believe this is a school-related, educational field trip. Belize. I am jealous.

I'm sure he will have a good time. Last weekend, he was apparently having so much fun on his field trip that he left his wedding ring at the bottom of the river.

Life is happening

Lately my posts have been mostly about how cute Violet is. That is because Brandon takes the computer to school on most days, so when I do have it, I don't have much time to actually write and I just end up posting pictures. But now he is on a field trip to Enchanted Rock and I get the computer for the weekend, so here is what has been happening besides Violet's cuteness:

1. I have a job. Another baby comes over to play with Violet, and for some reason I get paid for it. It's awesome.
2. Brandon got an internship offer for next summer. And it isn't the kind of summer internship where they pay you less than minimum wage and get away with it because it gives you "experience." Geology interns get paid as much as full-time employees.
3. I hang out with Jennifer all the time. She is a good sport and pushes the stroller for me when I need her to. We go out to lunch, go to museums, or do whatever fun thing there is to do that day.
4. I have been sewing a few things-- nursing covers, headbands, shirts, etc.
5. I started painting again. I have one finished and I'm working on a new one. I'm not the best but I think they turn out pretty well and I like doing it, so I see no reason not to.
6. Violet and I are visiting Ashley soon. All she had to say was "I have some old clothes that you can have" and I was sold. I email her all the time to remind her how excited I am.
7. Cooking and cleaning... okay, I really don't do either of those too much. I always get semi-prepared meals at HEB and call it good. As for the apartment, it's only clean when people come over. That's fine with me.
8. On Wednesday Brandon and I had a date for the first time in a long time. We went to Pappadeaux and had cheesecake afterwards. Yum.

So there you have it, I have mostly been working and trying to get other things done during my days off. It's a pretty fun job.

27

Brandon turned 27, so I will take off where I ended last year and say a few more things that I love about him.

His sense of adventure
He is always a good sport

His great smile

Truly an all-American boy.

Happy birthday, again! I look forward to many more. Love you!

Discovery Green with Reed

Today Reed came to visit and we went to Discovery Green park. Since Violet now walks, she had a great time splashing through the fountains. Here are some pics:
All wet with daddy

Being a mommy's girl And one of my favorite pictures of Violet and Reed. Thanks for visiting!

This picture was taken especially for Jennifer, since no one else will really get it. If you ever have a bad day, just remember that I destroyed that ugly print and the frame is going to good use.

This picture is old but hilarious. A few weeks ago I was sitting on the floor and kneading some dough for calzones. I left it for a few minutes and when I got back I found that Violet had pulled it out of the bowl and was chomping into it. Nasty.

Violet walking to Purple

She can't go very far, but she's getting better every day.

Violet and Purple

Violet has a stuffed dinosaur (a T-rex, to be exact) named Purple that was Brandon's when he was a kid. Today Violet was playing with some cardboard chickens when she started feeding them to Purple. She stuck them right in his mouth. I saw this and said, "Good job, Violet! That is exactly the kind of food T-rex would have eaten. He ate the chicken's ancestors."

I see a future as a paleontologist. Or a zookeeper.

Washington 2

I put this picture up just so I could say that I cleaned and chopped every one of these squids here. It was gross.A diver came to our condo and caught some sea creatures for the kids to look at. Violet didn't like the starfish too much.

She tried to step on this one.

On our way out, we stopped at the Space Needle,then camped out at Mt. Rainier. After that, we headed home from 2 crazy, awesome weeks of vacation.

Yet another vacation post: Washington

At BYU I met a ton of people from Washington and they all seemed even more proud of their state than Texans are of Texas. So I've always been curious to know what all the fuss is about. Well, I totally fell in love with Washington when we were there a few weeks ago. The weather was cool, it was very green, and there were enormous blackberries everywhere. I could live there.

We went to Rialto beach and it was very foggy but still beautiful. Violet loved playing with the rocks on the beach. We also stopped at the rain forest, and it was incredibly green and dense. We found some wild raspberries, which made Violet very happy.

Violet was also very happy about all the big trees. I let her crawl under this one and everyone that passed thought it was hilarious.

This last one was taken on Hurricane Ridge at Olympic national park. Who says you have to be in Texas to take bluebonnet picture? (Just kidding; they were a different variety of lupine.)