February

We began the month of February at a local park's Winter Fest where we enjoyed the only day above freezing in the entire month.  The girls ice skated for the first time, enjoyed their very first magic show, went sledding on a legitimate sledding hill (instead of random hills by our house) and even tried their hand at various snow games.  Emma really loved ice skating and Lucy loved the sledding hill.

The rest of the month was so cold that the girls rarely got to go outside, and when they did, were only able to enjoy their time for brief intervals.  The big picture below shows the giant snow hill in front of our house, compliments of the city snow plow.  I will not miss all of the time and energy needed to bundle up three kids to go outside in subzero weather.

Will had several days off of work due to the extreme cold and snow, as well as a winter break mixed in as well.  We started off our string of vacation and snow days at the library where we stocked up on books and DVDs.  This made for a very cozy stay-cation, where we enjoyed lots of snuggles reading, watching fun movies and even some informational DVDs on bees and beeswax crafts.  In one of the books there was a recipe we tried for popcorn balls that you can make into the shape of snowmen and snow balls.

The girls enjoyed lots of indoor playtime and fighting during the coldest month of the year and I would like to say we have all emerged a little more bruised, both emotionally and physically, but we are all healing nicely, thanks in part to some naps in small spaces, peaceful music therapy, some calming essential oils I have been diffusing throughout the house, therapeutic drawing and, well, the cold snap finally being over.

When the girls were getting along they coordinated silly shows complete with stage curtains in the basement, fashion shows and dance parties in their bedroom, and lots of time spent creating with play doh.  

They both continue to love making rubber band bracelets and rings, and affectionately call the craft "rubber-bandy bracelets".  Will is so used to the girls saying rubber-bandy that I even heard him ask the sales associate at the local craft store which aisle the rubber-bandy bracelet supplies were in.  The associate didn't skip a beat when she answered him, but Will's face was ten shades of red and I was definitely pointing my finger at him while stifling my laughter.

Lucy wants to sell her bracelets when I sell my honey, and even designed packaging for them which impressed Will and I.  The creative bug is definitely contagious at our house, perhaps made evidence by the paint brush I found in the toothbrush holder in the above picture the other day.

We have been in our dream house five years this March, and the master bedroom is the last to be decorated.  We still had the temporary shades up from when we moved in and bare walls.  One of my new year goals was to remedy that, and make our bedroom a beautiful retreat that reflected all of the things that Will and I love.  I ordered some gorgeous custom linen fabric from Europe off of Etsy, and then had another Etsy shop sew them up for me.  I found a third seller on Etsy who specialized in refinishing vintage picture frames and I spent all of my Christmas cash on what I can only describe as a new addiction to vintage frames.  Unfortunately I was limited by my budget and wall space, but what a great time I had working with three very talented women on Etsy!  It was a great experience and I love how our room turned out.  It was definitely worth the wait.  Lucy was inspired by my interior decorating, and even took it upon herself to add some creative flair to her room as well.

Ironically, as Will and I matted picture frames and nailed up the various wall hangings of all of the things that we love, we were having a hard time finding the patience for the real life versions of all of the things that we love.  Our lovely daughters for some reason became hyper active balls of chaos each time we attempted to hang their pictures on our walls.  Thankfully, the room is complete and the stress caused by focusing on a project other than our little angels has faded nicely - aided by the serene atmosphere our bedroom retreat now is.  Although it became quite obvious during our remodel why we had waited five years to attempt that project!

Here our beauties are below playing Tattoo Parlor.  Apparently on snow days the rule of one tattoo per limb goes out the window and gets buried in a snow bank.  Even Will and I joined in on the fun and at one point I was even letting the girls put surprise tattoos on me, which was oddly exhilarating and most definitely hilarious.  Fortunately, the tattoos wash off with a good scrubbing.  

We had fun celebrating Valentine's Day, hibernating inside, enjoying heart-shaped cinnamon rolls and homemade Valentine's cards.

We also had plenty of time for schoolwork and enjoyed our weekly dance and yoga classes as well.

Charlie used up another one of his nine lives this past month, bringing him to only six left which makes me nervous.  We came home one morning from an appointment to find him recovering from some sort of attack.  After texting pictures of Charlie's wound to my brother's fiancé who is a vet in Florida, it became apparent that Charlie needed medical help as soon as possible.  Thankfully one of my best friends nanny's for a vet, so we got him treated in time and in budget, as he had a puncture wound above his tail that had closed over, creating a serious internal infection.  Minor surgery, some pain meds and antibiotics later, he is as good as new.  I am thinking of putting bumper stickers on his cat carrier though, with the names of the women who have saved his life.  Will has taken it upon himself to trap whatever it was that attacked Charlie, but so far he hasn't had any luck.  Charlie is such a sweet cat, and I swear his safety keeps me up more nights than not.  Charlie is very loving and gentle with Violet who gets very excited whenever she sees him.  Charlie may be a little jealous though of Violet's status with Will because every time Charlie sees Will holding Violet, he becomes such a nuisance that he will not stop pestering Will until Will holds Charlie like a baby too.  It goes without saying that Charlie demands to be held like a baby by Lucy whenever Lucy is around.

Charlie's injury and Luke's birthday filled a large part of February with anxiety for me, and it was tough when Will went back to work after having so many days off due to the weather and Winter Break.  One average and stressful morning I went through major hoops to be able to say yes to Emma when she asked me to braid her hair.  After braiding her hair while keeping the toilet lid closed with one foot and singing in an overly upbeat voice to a crying Violet, Emma took one look at her hair and said, "EW!  Daddy braids my hair way better!" and then yanked out the entire thing.  Who knew that one poorly attempted French braid would be enough to push me over the brink of insanity.  That same morning I left my cell phone at the chiropractors office and after retrieving it, realized I had left my coffee mug in the office as well.  I would have left it too, except it still had some caffeine juice in it, and I needed all the help I could get that morning.  After loading the kids up in the car for the third time, I went to pull out of the parking spot for the third time and saw that the coffee mug had STILL not made it into the car where I could drink it.

Will might have had worse luck than me (and maybe Charlie?) this past month when his leg hit a tree on a sled ride with Lucy down an unofficial sledding hill.  The tree couldn't have been any thicker than his leg, but his leg definitely took the brunt of the blow, skinning his shin down to the bone and flipping him and Lucy multiple times over in the sled.  Fortunately Lucy was completely fine, if a bit shaken, but Will definitely was limping for quite some time after that.  Then, a couple of weeks later, the same injured leg smacked into a mini shopping cart loaded with about forty glass baby food jars that Will was efficiently pushing through a pot hole laden parking lot.  Upon impact of the cart wheel to the pot hole, Will went airborne and landed on top of the overturned (did I mention it was a mini) cart while he watched the baby food jars roll all over the ground.  When he got home and told me the story, I couldn't wrap my mind around how he ended up on top of the cart, and how his shin had gotten re-injured so badly.  The girls came up with the idea of Will reenacting the entire mishap with their play shopping cart, some play food, and their Snow White plush doll, because as they told us, she is the tallest doll they have.  We were rolling with laughter at least as much as those baby food jars when they hit the pavement at Will's retelling of his story.  To end his string of bad luck, he was puddle hopping with the girls last week and slipped on a patch of ice, landing him on his back in a giant puddle.  That evening he started feeling some familiar back pain and several days later, on National Kidney Day, he passed a kidney stone that had been stuck for years despite multiple surgeries to get it out.  I'd say his luck has turned for the better thanks to all of his falls!

By the end of the month, the weather began turning for the better as well, and our February hibernation slowly came to an end.  We spent time with friends...

 …and family.  Our newest nephew made his debut the day before Luke's birthday, and we took advantage of one of Will's snow days to go and meet little Theodore for the first time.  There are now six cousins on earth with the seventh watching out for all of them from heaven.

 Lots of fun memories were made, and I am so glad my kids have cousins to grow up with.

I usually breath a sigh of relief when February is over, and this year is no exception.  It wasn't a bad month however, and we were very grateful for our quiet hibernation and family bonding that took place over the coldest days of the year.

We are happy that March is here though, and Spring is right around the corner.  Our chickens are laying eggs after a couple of months off, and that is a sure sign that the weather is turning warmer and the days are getting longer.

A Paper White bulb that I planted in an old honey jar back in December finally bloomed this past month, and I am taking that as a good sign for the spring to come.

We survived February, and some might say that despite our luck we found a way to thrive.

Violet at 10 Months

Violet has grown so much this past month!  The above picture shows how much her foot has grown since we had her footprints painted on a ceramic tile when she was just a couple of days old.   The below picture is an inspired idea I had for feeding and teething pain relief - Violet enjoys gnawing on mango pits. 

Her first two teeth popped through, thankfully at the same time, but oddly they are the top front teeth.  Lucy and Emma popped their bottom two teeth well before their top teeth came in.  Violet needs to assert herself as an individual I suppose, with two older sisters to compare her with.  It's a good thing her older sisters absolutely adore her.  In clockwise from top left, Lucy has taken it upon herself to clean out the toe jam between Violet's toes, Emma is keeping Violet safe while she plays the piano, Emma keeps Violet happy with wagon rides while I make meals, and Lucy has found a solution with tape and felt to quiet the clacking push toy that Violet loves to make noise with.  The middle picture is of both big sisters giving Violet laundry basket rides.

All is not rainbows and smiley faces though between the sisters, as Violet has earned the name The Destroyer.  She has shown her individuality in her height when compared to her sisters as well, and can reach heights that her sisters never could at this age.

 She loves the girls water bottles, and covertly sneaks a sip in whenever we aren't looking.

Lucy has gotten into the habit of dragging Violet under her arms and backwards to a safer place but that really only buys seconds of diversion.

Probably the most nerve wracking abilities she has learned this past month include lifting the toilet lid and climbing the stairs.  It is a full time job keeping Violet safe and the contents of the house from being completely dumped upside down or submerged in toilet water.

Violet now crawls on her hands and knees, as opposed to sliding around on her stomach and has even learned how to walk by pushing movable objects around the floor.

She is unstoppable, unless of course I put her in the crib.  Fortunately she hasn't figured out how to climb out of her bed yet.  Unfortunately, she doesn't sleep in there well at all.  It does provide safety however if I need to run downstairs for something, clean up a mess she needs to stay out of (think poop or puke) or take a shower.  Sometimes I come back to retrieve her and find Emma playing in the crib with her.

This little girl is not shy and has already shown us that she has quite a sense of humor.  The people behind us in church one Sunday kept smiling and laughing at Violet.  I assumed as any proud mom would that they were adoring my beautiful baby.  When I finally turned around to flash them a proud mom smile, I realized that Violet was chain blowing spit bubbles.  Violet also has perfected spit raspberries when eating which her older sisters never did.  I would like to personally thank a friend of our's mother-in-law for teaching Violet that lovely skill.  She takes the raspberry and spit bubbles to yet another level though, and will make a farting sound with her mouth if she hears any of her beloved family members pass gas.  The clowning around doesn't stop there.  She loves to initiate games of peek a boo with a scarf the person holding her may happen to be wearing, or a nearby blanket or even underwear from a basket of laundry.  She loves clapping her hands to encourage you to sing Pat a Cake, and will even clap her hands after one of her big sisters put on a performance.

She definitely has grasped the art of communication this past month and shows us the sign for more, milk, and all done as well as "read a book".  She even will sit still and allow us to read a page or two from her books before she has had enough and decides she wants to eat the book instead.  She will go to her high chair when she wants to eat, and freaks out with excitement when she sees the little red wagon that her big sisters take her for rides in.  She says oooooh and uh-oh at appropriate times and best of all, sings the Oompa Loompa song from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  I can't make this stuff up - she sings "oompa loompa" over and over again in tune and there is no mistaking it.

She finally enjoys her bath, I think sparked by her new found love of how the water splashes in the toilet.  Even when I found her eating used toilet paper, dripping from the toilet or licking the crumbs off the floor from an empty graham cracker sleeve she pulled from the garbage can - I can't help but laugh. Her sense of humor, intelligence and cuteness fuels me enough to be able to have the energy to keep her safe!  Violet, I am a proud and exhausted mama and am grateful for you and all of the laughs!