Violet at 8 Months

I am really enjoying this age with Violet.  Don't get me wrong, making meals one handed and her lack of good naps are frustrating, however her personality is unfolding before our eyes, and it is so much fun to watch.  This past month she has really expanded verbally and will call for Will and I by name - Dadadada when she wants to play with Will and Mamamama when she is tired, hurt or hungry. She makes a clicking sound with her tongue, and if we mimic it she will play a game with us where we go back and forth clicking our tongues at each other while laughing.  She will also do this same game with her sisters - except instead of clicking their tongues, they making spitting sounds with each other.  It is amazing to see Violet making verbal connections and interacting with us on this whole new level of fun.  She also will say nigh nigh nigh nigh when she is tired and baa baa baa is a part of babble talk for her too.

Violet still doesn't have any teeth at 8 months, making her my latest baby to get teeth.  She sure loves chewing on anything and everything though, so I'm guessing her teeth will pop through all in good time!  Here she is below, gnawing on one of her favorite teethers, the metal rung on the folding chair in our kitchen.

 Violet has discovered our cat Charlie.  It will be very interesting to watch their relationship develop, but for now, Charlie seems cautiously laid back as Violet grabs fistfuls of his fur between her fingers while pumping her legs excitedly.  Below are my two cuties in their favorite spots, sizing each other up with the safety of glass between them.

 Violet still loves her jumper, and loves the freedom it gives her to jump to her hearts content while chewing on toys and watching her sisters play.

Violet isn't a fan of her bath, but will tolerate it long enough for me to get the job done.  She's about to outgrow her little bathtub but I'm hoping to prolong the tiny tub's use, as I don't want to feel obligated to clean the real bathtub.  There's nothing like a sweet baby's bottom to magnify the prolific mold and soap scum on your tub.

Violet has become quite attached to a little baby doll that Santa put in her stocking.  She carries the baby doll with her wherever she goes and will give you the biggest smile if she loses the dolly and you hand it back to her.  I've decided to name the baby Rosie, but I think for now Violet knows the doll by the name Baby.  If you say, "Where's your baby Violet?"  She will look for it until she finds it.

 Violet loves to play with her sisters, Will and I.  She's up for anything and especially loves a good laundry basket ride.

 Here Violet is below with her God Mother and her Grandpa T.

I feel like Violet's babyhood is just flying by.  She is now wearing 12 month clothes, which her sisters wore when they were almost two years old and being potty trained.  Because of that, we don't really have any footed pajamas in the hand me down bin that fit Violet.  As I am not ready to give up on one of my favorite baby clothes for Violet yet, I went to the store the other day and stocked up on footed pajamas.  Will can attest that I was a complete emotional wreck making comments like, "How did my baby get this big?!" while getting looks from other shoppers (who were probably thinking heck, my baby is in college, get some perspective lady!).  Either way, it was nice to have a reason to buy baby clothes again, since I really haven't had to with three girls in a row, all born in the spring time and the generosity of our family and friends.  At the rate Violet is growing though, Emma may be wearing Violet's hand me downs soon!

Violet, all you know and give is love, which keeps the rest of your family from getting too far away from what matters most.  We have reached the point now where we can't imagine our family without you!

November

While compiling this past months photos, it seemed our November was filled with lots of food, fun, friends and memories.  My perspective of our day to day life seems sharply contrasted to the overall month's snapshot however, as more often than not I am living in the moment which is filled with individuals moods, sibling rivalry, burned food, late arrivals, practicing patience and struggling to let go of self-inflicted pressures and perfection.  I would say that this particular chapter of my life right now is incredibly full, to the point where there just isn't enough time to do everything that I want or need to do.  Fortunately, there are moments of beauty, peace and joy sprinkled throughout my day that keeps me going and reminds me why I am motivated to give my little family all that I have to give.  Sitting down to compile and write these monthly blog posts is very beneficial to me and helps give me the fuel I need to keep on keeping on by offering me both reflection and direction.

Despite my levels of exhaustion, I feel incredibly lucky to be with my three girls each and every day.  

In the top right hand picture below, Lucy is showing me the tooth she yanked out on her own while I was putting Violet down for a nap.  It is the second tooth that she has lost and she seems to be a seasoned pro.  I on the other hand still have issues with loose teeth and you can imagine my horror when I came downstairs from putting Violet down for her nap to find a bathroom sink full of blood.  Lucy's response, "the blood just kept squirting out mom so I spit it in the sink."  Lucy is practically a grown up now, as revealed by the statements she has been making as of late when I try to tell her something: "I already know everything mom" and "Let's talk about something else."

Emma is a very active girl and her view of the world is greatly influenced by her older sister.  I overheard her tell Will the other day, "Daddy, I just heard something crunch in Lucy's mouth and I want something to crunch in my mouth too."  Emma is usually very laid back and loves wearing accessories and picking out unique and twirly outfits each morning.  She has discovered the word "super" and loves to use it as she dances on the fine line between talking and whining with her head thrown back while saying things like: "I'm super hungry."  "I'm super cold."  "I'm super hot." "I'm super thirsty."  You get the idea.

In the above pictures the girls received a box of sea treasures and books about the ocean from their new pen pal who lives in Washington, my cousin who happens to be exactly Lucy's age.  We had fun looking at all of the amazing treasures that Ella has found at the ocean, and it made for a very nice home school unit.  We also had fun sending our first package to them - featuring our very own honey.  In the top right hand picture above, Emma is showing me a yoga pose that she learned in their yoga class.  

I have been enjoying my time doing school with the girls.  I wish I had more time to devote to school with them, as there are so many great projects, books and ideas out there.  Will is good at reminding me that as long as our kids know we love them, we are doing great.  He is right of course, and when he is home I am able to do more with the older girls.  Here the girls are below, finding their own fun.

I have been trying to get a walk in with the girls whenever the thermometer is above freezing and the wind isn't too bad.  We've had some very nice walks and have seen some amazing sunsets too, since it gets dark before dinner now.

We had quite the party scene this past month as it seems lots of our favorite people have birthdays in November.  In the top left hand picture below, all of the cousins are waiting to find out the gender of their newest cousin/sibling at my brother and sister-in-laws gender reveal party.  We are all excited to meet our newest nephew in February, although his big sister still has some reservations.  In the bottom left hand picture below, my nephew Sam is comforting his big sister Ellen as she comes to terms with having another brother.  As someone who has four brothers, I told Ellen that brothers make great friends.  I mean look how sweet Sam is giving his sister a hug!  We also attended two different friend birthday parties - both of who turned four years old!

We spent Thanksgiving this year at my parents house and enjoyed taking silly selfies and making our own butter.  Ah, the holidays.  After we mastered plain butter, my sister's boyfriend had the brilliant idea to try making honey butter, so that occupied us for a while and I must say, it turned out really good.  Perhaps it will be an up sell for my honey business!

Thanksgiving weekend we enjoyed the lights downtown as well as a carriage ride with friends.

We put up our Christmas decorations over the Thanksgiving weekend too, and marveled at having Violet with us this year.  I also found a note I left last year on the top of the box of ornaments in which I warned, "Even if you give the kids everything they want, they will still be grumpy on Christmas."  It's so easy to forget the reality of the holidays with kids, and I am grateful to have my expectations reigned in so that maybe this year normal kid behaviors won't come as such a shock.

Violet discovered the Christmas tree in 10 seconds flat.  She has yet to pull it over, but has figured out how to get ornaments off of the tree and has tried to suck the paint off of them with her baby drool.  She also enjoys swatting the ornaments back and forth and laughing hysterically.

The girls convinced me to buy gingerbread house kits at Trader Joe's this year because they were food-dye free (Lucy knows exactly how to convince me!) and we had a fun afternoon building and decorating and eating them.  A note to put in the bin for next year - spherical sprinkles are a bad idea.  Stick to ones that don't roll everywhere.

Every year we order a year's worth of beef from a local farm.  This year we made it out to the farm for a cattle drive and had a great time.  It was freezing cold that day on the hayride as we watched the farmers drive the cattle across a mile or two to the barn for the winter (and unfortunately for some, for processing).  The timing actually worked out really well for us though, as the farm was an hour north, but only fifteen minutes away from where we needed to take our meat chickens to be processed that very same week.  I seemed to have been the only family member who was having emotional difficulties with taking our meat birds that we had raised from day old chicks on their final ride.  We stopped at a gas station on the way up to the farm and when I got out of the car I could still hear them peeping exactly the same way they did on the day we got them as fluffy little chicks.  When I got back in the car the girls were loudly hounding me to turn on the Christmas music and then sang happily along to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  I personally felt like we needed to at least observe a moment of silence - if not the entire drive - for the somber occasion about to take place.  

The chickens were a lot of work and Will and I will have to seriously rethink if we were to ever raise meat birds again.  They ate nonstop, cost a fortune in feed, and were quite smelly as well.  Will has no problem interrupting my sad story about processing them with the fact that I was greeting him each day after work with the line, "I am done with those **** chickens!"  Again, hindsight gives great perspective and helps to remove my tunnel vision of the day to day trenches.  I will now say that I am glad we raised the meat birds.  It was very eye opening to see how much it actually costs to feed chickens healthy food, the work involved in taking care of their needs, and the process involved in butchering them.  I hope that my new appreciation for small, natural farmers and ultimately for the life that is sacrificed so that we may live will not fade as time goes on.  For now, I have made a solemn promise to not let our chickens sacrifice go to waste.  I will do my very best to be thankful for the food they have given me.  I also found it interesting that Lucy and Emma seemed to have no problem with the life cycle of our chickens, and besides Lucy commenting that the chicken feet "were ugly" when I put them in our stock pot, they have eaten the meat and broth with no qualms whatsoever.  I can only guess that because they see this process as natural that it isn't a big deal to them.  For me, born and raised in suburbia, it has definitely been an adjustment.  It would be ideal for all people who make the choice to eat meat to have this type of experience at least once in their life so as not to take the animals' life so easily for granted.  I think that the distance between the chicken's life and the drive thru window or the meat case at the grocery store is just too far apart for most people to grasp the serious reality of eating meat.  At least that was the case for me.

The day after Halloween we found an abandoned farm stand with bins and bins of pumpkins with giant FREE signs taped onto them.  We hurried home, hooked up our trailer, and brought it back to the farm stand where we loaded up!  We gave most of them to our neighbor who will feed them to his sheep throughout the winter, but I did keep about a dozen pie pumpkins and we have been enjoying pumpkin pie, pumpkin waffles, pumpkin muffins and pumpkin bread.  Our same neighbor with the sheep has a pair of heritage turkeys that have survived several Thanksgivings now.  We found it humorous that a couple days before Thanksgiving they had gotten out of their pen and came over to eat the birdseed on our driveway and scare our cat.

Will and I feel strongly about feeding our family organic, home-cooked foods.  It is perhaps the most time consuming priority we have however, and it is all I can do some weeks to get to the grocery store let alone cook food that is both healthy and kid-appealing.  This past month I discovered Door to Door Organics and let me just say, it is like Christmas in a box every week that it arrives on my doorstep!  I am loving this new assistant to feeding my family healthy foods while being pressed for time.  At this point, after a month of using it, I haven't had to step foot in a grocery store.  It isn't the cure all to end all grocery shopping, but it will allow me to hopefully shop in bulk once a month at a traditional grocery store, which frees up my time to spend with the girls.  The top right hand pictures below are of Lucy and I attempting to make our own candy - homemade marshmallows which turned out great and homemade "honeycomb" candy which turned out horribly burnt and almost cost me the pan and cookie  sheet.  You win some you lose some, but Lucy and I did have fun.  Lucy has been interested in the science of candy making and spends her screen time watching YouTube videos of candy making.  A girl after my own sweet tooth!

We scored these huge orange beauties below at the abandoned farm stand and attempted to take a family picture for our Christmas card this year.

The above picture was the best one out of probably twenty different shots and I still didn't get the lighting and general composition to my likening.  We decided to splurge on a professional photo shoot and I think it was some of the best money I spent all year.

I love my little family.  I have never worked so hard, practiced such perseverance or patience, or been so darn tired in my life.  God knows just when to throw a bone my way though, and I have to say that the moments of beauty with my babies and the love of my life make every other challenging moment completely worth it.  Raising a family is hard work, but its rewards are great and there is no place I'd rather be.

Violet at 7 Months

Violet is my newest Mama's Girl and is supremely happy if I am holding her.  This is both wonderful and challenging.  Wonderful when I pick her up and she gives me hugs now and even open-mouthed, wet kisses.  She lights up whenever she sees me and whatever was holding her attention prior to seeing me becomes meaningless as her number one goal is to be in my arms.  The morning sickness while pregnant with her, the countless other pregnancy pains, labor and recovery and even the sleepless nights all become worth it when I scoop her up and we share a snuggle in my arms.  Pure and devoted baby love is one of the best things in my world.  It becomes a challenge however, when I have to take a shower, eat soup, cut up an apple for the girls, or take something hot out of the oven.  I have learned to do many things one handed while I hold Violet in my other arm but there are some things where two hands are necessary.  When those instances happen, you can be sure I am moving as fast as I possibly can to get back to the screaming baby who is acting like her heart has been broken into a million pieces.  And as soon as I am done with the quick shower, the soup has been gulped down, that apple is cut and the food is safely out of the oven, I scoop up my screaming baby, wipe the snot off of her face, give her a hug and she is all better.  She doesn't hold a grudge, she is just happy again in the moment with her beloved mama.  There are times during the day where I see myself, as if from a distance, and am in awe of my ability to multitask.  Who knew ten years ago that I would be toting gallons of water to a flock of chickens in the freezing cold with a baby strapped to me, trying not to trip on the cat following close to my feet?

Violet took a while to adjust to the winter temperatures and would arch her back and scream the first couple of days we had to put her in the pink snow suit that both of her sisters wore when they were babies.  She has since come to terms with the confinements of staying warm and is actually able to move pretty good in it now.  Here she is in her hand me down snow suit below with her God Mama.

Violet has adjusted to eating her first bites of solid food quite well.  She has a great appetite and most days eats several jars of baby food.  I've tried making her some homemade baby food but she gags on the texture.  For now we will continue to buy the jars and I have to admit that I am a little excited about the potential craft projects that I want to attempt with all of the cute little glass jars we are accumulating.  Her favorite foods seem to be vegetables including sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach, and green beans.  She doesn't seem to care for applesauce or bananas but will reluctantly eat the prunes I pureed for her when I mix them with a little bit of finely ground oatmeal.

With her first bites of solid food came her first toothbrush.  Violet loves gnawing on her toothbrush while the rest of the family brushes their teeth.  Violet still doesn't have any teeth but she definitely has all of the teethings symptoms.  I constantly feel as though I just ran inside from an unexpected rainstorm as she drools so very much.  Again, who knew ten years ago that I wouldn't even mind being drenched in baby drool.  Will and I joke that baby drool is like the fountain of youth.  If you get it on your skin or clothes, it will reduce wrinkles.

Violet loves playing with us.  So far she doesn't seem to be content playing on her own for very long, but to see her face light up when her sisters, Will or I play with her is truly priceless.  Violet is loved by each one of her family members ever so much.  She shows her excitement by opening her mouth super wide when she spots one of us.

 Violet scoots across the floor on her belly very efficiently now.  She hasn't figured out how to crawl on her knees yet, but has finessed the art of moving forward, backward and turning.  She can sit for short periods of time on her own, and usually topples over when she reaches for something and loses her balance.

 You would think with all of this activity she would be exhausted.  Violet may win the award for the worst sleeper yet at our house, which is saying a lot since her older sisters were sleep challenged as well.  At this point I have resigned myself to getting Violet to sleep in whatever way works, regardless of whether it may be bad habit forming.  She takes three twenty minute naps a day and if we are lucky, she'll take a 45 minute nap every once in a while.  I am frustrated that after three kids I still haven't figured out why sleep is so difficult.  The difference this time around is that I've given up trying to fix it and now believe that there is some genetic mutation that keeps our children from sleeping until about age two.

Violet, we love you despite the dark circles under our eyes and the drool spots on our clothes.  We can't imagine our family without you and your ability to light up a room with your smiles keeps us smiling too!  Who knew ten years ago that a little girl named Violet would bring so much love to our family!

Carpe Diem in October

There is something about Fall that makes me want to seize each moment spent outside.  The vibrancy of red, orange, yellow, brown and green leaves contrasted against the rich blue of the sky, the sound of leaves crunching beneath my feet and the crisp feel of autumn air on my face make it easy to stay present in the moment.  It is impossible to be distracted when the wind picks up and the maple tree in my yard lets go a shower of yellow leaves that rain down on me like snowflakes.  I want to spin around with my head thrown back and my arms outstretched to catch the leaves as they gently float to the ground.  Except my arms are full, holding Violet, coats, bags... life.  And so I watch my children who are experts at living in the moment, enjoy fall to it's fullest with me.

Lucy is oblivious of the impending winter hibernation as she discovers milkweed seed pods and blows them free into the wind.  Emma is blissfully unaware of the long dark days of winter as she begs me to hold her coat while she runs like a wild child through a sunny meadow on an afternoon hike.

Even a fall rain can't keep us inside, as I count on my fingers the number of potential days left before the cold hits.  Here we are below on a hayride through a pumpkin patch and enjoying a giant jumping pillow and petting farm at a local apple orchard.

At the beginning of October I experienced an emergency that magnified my appreciation of living in the present moment even more.  We had just finished eating dinner and I was cleaning up in the kitchen when severe stomach pain hit me like a kick to my gut.  Not long after I was in the bathroom, purging my system with such violent force that I started sweating like someone had poured a bucket of water over me.  After about an hour of severe pain, I found myself on the bathroom floor, itching like crazy.  My scalp felt like it was an inch thicker than normal and the palms of my hands and feet were on fire they were so itchy.  The next thing I remember, I woke up on the couch with an EMS worker telling me that I was having an allergic reaction and she had just given me a shot of Benadryl.  As my eyes focused, I saw Lucy and Emma on the couch next to me crying, and several other EMS workers gathered around me.  Everything began to make sense then, as the Benadryl provided almost instant relief.  I had honestly thought that I was dying and had no idea what was happening to me in between dinner and finding myself on the couch.  The stomach pain I had experienced was more intense than childbirth and I realize that this sounds overly dramatic, but the truth is I had made my peace with God. I felt such relief and gratitude when I realized I was going to be okay.  I took a ride in the ambulance and the ER staff gave me more Benadryl in my IV.  About two hours later I was back home with Will and my babies.  I had a blissful night's sleep, thanks in large part to the massive amounts of Benadryl in my system and also thanks to the amazing levels of gratitude I felt at feeling perfectly healthy and cozy in my own bed, in my own house, with my husband and babies sleeping nearby.

It's amazing how long days taking care of three little people and a bunch of animals can go from exhausting tediousness to incomprehensible joy and gratitude.  Countless doctor appointments and lab work later, the medical community is still unsure of what caused my allergic reaction.  I unfortunately have experienced several more "episodes" but they seem to be subsiding now and I half joke when I say that I've been sipping a Costco sized bottle of Benadryl during each episode to avoid another ER visit.  Lucy and Emma have handled my emergency situation differently.  Will told me later that Lucy was sobbing uncontrollably as the ambulance drove away with me inside while Emma kept calmly telling Lucy, "Mom said she was going to be okay Lucy.  She's going to be okay."  Since then, I have overheard them talking about ambulance rides and hospital visits while playing Legos, Barbies and with their baby dolls.  We have also worked out the experience with a journal entry and picture drawing.  Neither of them want to talk about it directly with me, however Lucy did verbalize for her journal entry that she was afraid because she didn't know what was going to happen.  

I am so thankful for the chance to raise my beautiful babies and be there with them through the happy and the tough times of every day life.  I also am thankful for Will in more ways than one.  When I was discharged from the ER, I went to get up out of the hospital bed and realized that I didn't have any shoes with me.  When I commented to Will that I didn't have shoes he responded, "You should be glad that you have pants on."  After a stunned look from me, I inquired as to what he meant.  He then told me in no uncertain terms that putting a pair of pants on me while he was talking to the 911 operator was no easy feat but he managed before the EMS workers arrived on the scene.  I have no recollection of this, however my gratitude is more than I could ever thank him for!  Needless to say, I happily left the hospital in brown hospital grade socks with rubber grippers on the bottoms.  Will takes such good care of all of his girls and I really do think he enjoys most of it.  Here he is below with his three littlest girls.  In the right hand top picture he is hanging out at Lucy and Emma's dance studio while holding a sleeping Violet.  Will takes the girls to dance by himself sometimes too and passes the time by texting me inspirational quotes from the dance posters hanging up around the studio.  In the bottom right hand picture I found Will building one of Lucy's Lego sets after the girls had gone to bed one night.  Fortunately for Will, he loved playing Legos as a kid too (as did I) and so isn't completely immersed in new territory when it comes to spending time with his girls.

Will's birthday was this past month and we celebrated a day early since he was out of town on his actual birthday.  We spent the day eating his favorite foods, opening presents and going on a gorgeous fall hike.  Before our hike we sang happy birthday over a tray of peanut butter rice crispy treats.  It was too windy for the candle flames, but the rice crispy treats were still delicious. 

We had fun with family and friends this past month from playing at the park after our kids yoga class, to play dates at home, time spent at a restaurant and a cider mill, visits with my sisters and a trip to visit my aunt in Lansing.

We plugged away at school work despite Violet's best laid plans to never nap and be constantly held.  We went to a play based on the children's book Harry the Dirty Dog and had a great time.

The girls put on a science show about air from our science unit and performed it for Will when he got home from work.  We also enjoyed a unit on medieval times complete with castles and dragons.

We also watched as our meat birds grew big enough to move them out of our garage and onto the lawn in the movable coop that Will made for them.  Lucy was disappointed that the chickens were only cute and cuddly for about two weeks but doesn't seem concerned about their eventual fate.

We enjoyed several fall events around town including an event our downtown put on with live mannequins in shop windows, modeling popular TV shows from the 60's and 70's.  Some of our favorites included I Love Lucy and The Hulk.  The Hulk was played by a real life body builder who was painted green and really made an impression on both me AND my daughters.  Will got a huge kick out of this, and imagine my amusement when I texted him a picture that Emma drew of The Hulk the following day.  We also attended a Oktoberfest at our church, complete with lots of games for the kids and plenty of prizes.

We enjoyed trick or treating at our Farmer's Market which is always a good time as we say goodbye to our favorite vendors for the season and our girls collect high quality treats like locally grown apples, pumpkins and handmade soap.  We had fun this year meeting friends there and watching our Mary Poppins, Cinderella and Cabbage Patch kid make their debuts.

The actual night of Halloween was snowy with a frigidly cold wind.  We visited nine houses total - only the neighbors we know closest to our house - before we called it a night.  I thought I would have to beg Lucy and Emma to come home an hour earlier than past years however they were as relieved as Will and I were when we left the porch of our last neighbor and headed home.

I have been thinking a lot about how human nature can take for granted all of life's blessings without experiencing hardship and even heart break.  Perhaps hardships are actually blessings in and of themselves as it may be impossible to experience true gratitude without going through tough times.  I believe losing Luke has caused a deeper level of appreciation for my subsequent babies, but even still, as time goes on, my heart continues to heal and it becomes easier to take my blessings for granted.  And although my emergency this past month thankfully turned out to be non-life threatening, it gave me a renewed appreciation of my simple little life and all of the treasures I have hidden in regular, every day moments with my babies and Will.

Violet at 6 Months

Our littlest lady is a half of a year old now!  To celebrate her half birthday, we took her picture with a pumpkin, just like we took her sisters' pictures on their half birthdays.

I actually tried taking her picture a day prior to her half birthday, but she was too curious to be smiley.  Below are the photos from the dress rehearsal half birthday photo shoot.

I love the fact that her little pumpkin hat was worn by her big sisters too, and that we still get so many compliments on how cute it is.  My Aunt Theresa gave it to Lucy over five years ago now!  Here Violet is below with her God Mother.

Violet is starting to recognize people outside of her family, and also has become aware of stranger danger.  She will now cry hysterically if she loses sight of me when someone outside of her immediate family is holding her.  Fortunately, her occupational therapist has been around for more than half of her life, so she is considered safe by Violet.  Here Violet is below at OT, enjoying some smiles with her therapist.  Violet's mouth continues to improve and we are hoping to graduate from the weekly appointments soon.

Violet loves her daddy, and opens her mouth in a wide smile whenever she spots Will.  Here Violet is below, giggling like crazy while Will spins her belly on top of his head.

 Violet has discovered Lucy's life-sized baby doll and enjoys giving it kisses and slobbering it's face.

Violet is at that awkward stage where she wants to get down on the ground to play, but once she is there becomes quickly frustrated because she still isn't as mobile as she would like.  Here she is below, scooting around in her big sisters' bedroom.  For some reason, she always ends up stuck half way under the beds.

Violet hasn't taken a good nap in weeks, and reminds me of her older sisters so much.  I've noticed that I have developed the standard phrase, "She should be sleeping" when people inquire as to how Violet is.  Her personality tends to lean towards the more serious side like her older sisters too, but Will and I do think she smiles a little faster than Lucy and Emma did.  It's taken her months however to decide if she likes taking a bath.

I now need a distraction each time I change her diaper as she twists and turns so much I can't get her diaper on.

Violet is starting to show more affection, and will take my face between her hands while planting a wet, open-mouthed kiss on my face.  She also likes to gently touch my face with her little hands, like she is trying to blindly memorize my features.  This melts my heart and makes all of the sleep deprivation totally worth it.

Finally, here is Violet's First Halloween costume, a real-life cabbage patch girl!  I had three cabbage patch dolls when I was a kid and I can hardly believe that I have three girls now.  Samantha, Nicole and Laura have nothing on the cuteness of my Lucy, Emma and Violet.

It's hard to believe that Violet is 6 months old now.  She had her 6 month check up this past week and is officially the same height that her sisters were on their first birthdays.  It seems that Violet will be much taller than her older sisters and I am curious to learn more about who our little Violet is and will be.