Violet at 5 Months

Our ViVi is really coming into her own personality this past month.  Violet prefers to briefly contemplate someone new before deciding whether or not to smile.  Violet saves her instantaneous smiles for Will, Lucy, Emma and of course her mama and greets each of us slightly differently.  For Will, she sticks out her tummy when she spots him and starts waving her arms and smiling.  We can now officially say that Will has three daddy's girls.  Or maybe better yet, three little girls have Will!

When Violet sees Lucy, she breaks out into a huge grin and looks so adoringly up at her big sister.  Lucy has gained another faithful little sister, and has proven herself worthy of Violet's adoration.  Lucy loves playing little mommy to Violet and knows exactly what Violet needs at any given time.  Her favorite thing to do lately is carry Violet around, which only happens under adult supervision, but Lucy still beams with pride.

Emma talks so sweet to Violet and never seems bothered by crying or my preoccupation with her.  When Violet sees Emma, she starts wiggling around like she is ready to play.  Here Emma is below, showing Violet the frogs that Lucy collected and talking in her special baby talk voice:  "Oh, Violet, see?  These are frogs!  Say hippity hop!  Oh, Violet!  Aren't they cute?"

Violet has definitely transformed from a baby blob to a wiggly, squirmy, roly poly girl.  She is at that awkward stage where when she is being held she is squirming to get down, but moments after she is set down she starts fussing because she is unable to move how she wants.  Her most frustrating challenge is that she tries her hardest to move forward, but can only scoot backwards.  The first time I discovered that she could scoot at all was a bit scary.  I had set her on the play mat so I could take care of a few emails while I sat on the nearby couch.  After a couple of minutes I heard Violet start fussing.  When I looked down to see if she needed a new toy, she was gone!  I started yelling for Will - not realizing that I could hear her fussing right by me.  After several frantic seconds I calmed down enough to discover that Violet had scooted her way into the corner of the room and was fussing because the basket of blankets next to the couch was blocking her from further movement.

 Violet is doing very well in her Occupational Therapy and has also responded well to Prevacid.  We are hoping in the next month that she will graduate from OT and the stomach doctor even said that we could potentially lessen her dose of Prevacid once Violet can sit up on her own.  Here Lucy and Emma are below, providing moral support at one of Violet's doctor appointments.

 Violet is still very vocal, and "talks" all day long.  This past month she has discovered how to spit, and the loud sound she makes when spitting still startles me every time!  She sounds like a teenage boy, spitting throat clearings out at the bus stop!

Violet's sleeping continues to improve, but she still prefers to sleep in a carrier strapped onto me, or next to me in my bed at nap time.  Some of our best naps are with me sandwiched between Emma and Violet.

We had Violet baptized this past month and it was a beautiful day.  My older brother and cousin are Violet's God parents, making Violet one lucky little lady.

There have been certain instances in my life where I have felt overcome with peace and joy.  Violet's baptism day was one of them.  I felt so close to heaven that day and couldn't stop smiling.  Not only did I feel and see a major connection with my cousin's dad who passed away around the same time Luke did, but I also received a sign from Luke as well.  When we were leaving the church after Violet's baptism I was the last person out and Will had already pulled the car up to the front of the church and loaded the three girls in.  As soon as I sat my bottom in the car, the song "You're the World to Me" by David Gray started playing.  I've had that song playing for years on this blog but have rarely heard it on the radio.  In fact, the first and last time I heard it on the radio was when I decided it was Luke's song.  It was not long after he had died that I was visiting his grave with Will and decided I couldn't leave. Will had to practically drag me up from the ground and back to the car to go home.  Will started the car and I was still bawling about driving away from my baby, when that song came on the radio.  The words, "You don't have to turn the sound up, Babe, I want you from the ground up, Baby, baby, you're the world to me."  The fact that this song came on after Violet's baptism, with Will and the girls all there to hear it too is not a coincidence to me.  I immediately started crying tears of thankfulness, joy and sadness.  To have a sign from Luke, that he was there with us on Violet's special day meant more to me than I could ever say.  I just kept saying, "Thank you Luke, thank you, thank you, thank you" as we made the short trip from the church to our house and our awaiting family to continue celebrating Violet's baptism.  Luke gave me a sign on Emma's baptism too, which I wrote about here.  Yes, I felt many connections that day between heaven and earth and the little yellow tulip booties that my cousin gave Violet to represent Luke on her special day was icing on the cake.

Speaking of cake.  We ordered a special cake from Whole Foods made with all natural food dyes so that Lucy, who seems to have a food dye intolerance, could eat it without getting sick.  It turns out Whole Foods uses natural food dyes but not spell check.  It was still a beautiful and delicious "Bablism" cake, made even more special when Will and I cut the first piece with the cake knife from our wedding.  If you haven't noticed by now, let me be the first to tell you that I love sentimental traditions!

 All in all, we had a great month with Violet!

August Metamorphosis

Our last month of summer went by in the blink of an eye it seems.  Will is back to work and we had fun visiting him before the students returned from vacation.  The biology teacher at Will's work has quite the collection of animals, reptiles and amphibians and seeing them was the highlight of our visit.

We scrambled to finish up our summer bucket list and spent a couple of evenings swimming in our aunt and uncle's pool while soaking up the extra love and attention from them with yummy eats and story time cuddles.

We tried to get in as many play dates as possible before everyone headed back to school...

And we celebrated Grandma Hines', Auntie Cate's and a cousin's birthday as well as enjoyed a weekend visit from my old college roommate.

We enjoyed the finale of our library's summer reading program with friends…

And I even played the part of Cinderella when crossing a newly paved road.  This was not my smartest move, as the asphalt was still hot.  With nap time pressure looming and my kids getting crankier by the minute, I wasn't about to let fresh blacktop between our friends house and my car ruin my schedule.  We marched across and when I realized we were sinking into the road I decided to keep moving at all costs, despite leaving a flip flop stuck in the tar behind me, for fear of my kids getting stuck.  I think the kids were okay because they were light, but I didn't fare as well with Violet in a carrier on my chest.  Thankfully, my friend was lighter on her feet and went back to retrieve my sandal.  My charming hero!  Especially since finding sandals to fit my Flintstone feet is no easy feat.  Thankfully I didn't burn my foot and the tar eventually came off.

We tried taking walks every day, with our favorite destinations being the cemetery and the creek by our house.

We spent many afternoons playing on the porch, eating snacks and reading books.  Here the girls are below with a tea party they set up all on their own.  I thought it was beautiful!

Charlie enjoyed our time on the porch this past month as well.  One evening after Lucy and Emma were in bed, Will and I went out on the porch to enjoy the cool breeze and fading light.  While I was rocking Violet to sleep on the porch swing, Charlie jumped up onto Will's laptop and then nuzzled his way into Will's arms until he was positioned exactly like I had Violet in my arms.  Charlie gazed loving up at Will while Will shut his laptop and wondered aloud whose cat this was anyways.  Will has a hard time admitting the bond he and Charlie have, but I think it is obvious that they love each other.

Lucy has gathered quite the collection of frogs this past month, and they are living in an aquarium on our front porch.  We have tried various methods to keep the frogs safe from Charlie.  He is absolutely fascinated by the frogs and is usually lounging next to them or on top of the aquarium with his tail slowly wagging back and forth.  The girls have converted their water table to a frog pond, and have even let it fill up with rain water since tap water is toxic to frogs.  In the top left hand picture I borrowed one of Lucy's frogs to see if it could help tackle the fruit fly problem in my kitchen.  It barely made a dent and instead was intent upon climbing the kitchen window screen.

Lucy's interest in frogs has played nicely into our first official month of home schooling Lucy for Kindergarten.  After some serious thought, Will and I have decided that we do not agree with the mandatory full day kindergarten in our school district.  I have spent the last year heavily researching our options and have devised a curriculum to keep Lucy on track and hopefully create a seamless entry into first grade next year.  So far we are really enjoying our learning time at home.  Our first science unit is frogs, and Lucy hardly even realizes she is "learning".  We have also enjoyed more Kiwi Crate projects...

And in honor of our year of school at home, I have splurged on a bunch of highly acclaimed learning games and books.  Kindergarten is such a fun age for learning and I feel so privileged to be able to share in it with Lucy.

Emma is learning right alongside Lucy, and instead of doing a separate preschool program with her I am just modifying Lucy's lessons to suit Emma.  In order for me to have time to learn with them, I have involved the girls in more of the chores.  Lucy is very efficient at egg gathering, feeding the chickens, and helping me with Violet.  Emma loves helping and is very enthusiastic about pitching in when it is on her terms.  They both have been helping me fold diapers which is a huge help!

I can't forget to mention how helpful they are in the garden as well.  Dresses make the perfect basket and they both have been great at letting Will and I know when our produce is ready to be harvested.

Emma and Lucy love playing Barbies, Legos and house together and are starting to play more than fight.  

The fighting is still inevitable it seems though, and as soon as I hear a certain crazy giggle come from Emma I know that it is the beginning of the end and schtuff is about to go down.  I have been trying to stay out of their fighting, as hard as it is when it sounds like physical aggression is taking place however I've noticed that when I do pretend I have no idea that they are fighting that they almost always work it out, without ever saying a word about it to me.  I even overheard Emma say the other day, "Lucy I promise not to hit you anymore.  Can I please play with you again?"  A non-forced apology is so refreshing for me to hear!

Lucy lost her first tooth this past month and claims that she has two more loose teeth that are soon to follow.  I will take her at her word.  As much as I am fine petting frogs, handling bees and scraping chicken poop off of shoes I cannot handle loose teeth.  They give me the chills and frankly, gross me out.  I tried hiding my personal issues with teeth from Lucy but when she said, "Look mom, you can see the bottom of my tooth!" when it was still dangling in her mouth I couldn't suppress my feelings any longer.  I then had to reassure her that she doesn't gross me out but her tooth does and to please go show daddy the next time she feels the need to show and tell.  

We finally got Lucy and Emma's Five Year and Three Year pictures taken, rolled into the same portrait session as Violet's Four Month pictures.

I can still hardly believe that I have been blessed with three girls and that I am the mother of four kids!  Lucy wore a purple amethyst pinned to her dress in honor of Luke for the photos.  It is hard for us that we will never have a complete family picture on earth.

After a particularly emotional week this past month with the passing of my cousin, we came home from church and found a large glass fish bowl filled with milkweed on our picnic table - a gift from our neighbor.  Upon closer inspection we saw two newly hatched monarch butterflies as well as three chrysalis still waiting to hatch.  We peeled back the plastic wrap punched with holes and the monarchs climbed onto our fingers.  Time stood still.  After a moment or two of fanning their wings they flew away.  It was a breath taking, beautiful experience for us and exactly what I needed to have my faith in God's Plan restored.  Despite how sad and difficult things are on earth, I was reminded that God is the creator of all things beautiful and someday our earthly pain will be turned into joy.  After the two butterflies flew away, we brought the fish bowl into the house and over the next couple of days watched the remaining three chrysalis hatch.  I was taken aback by the miracle of it all, from the gorgeous gold band on the turquoise cocoon to the way those beautiful, fragile wings emerged from such a tiny space.

I may never understand the painful things that happen on earth, but it is my hope that I will continue to find the beauty despite the pain and help my kids to understand that with faith, we will eventually experience the metamorphosis of sadness and pain into peace and joy.  

Violet at 4 Months

Our little Vi Vi is four months!  This past month has brought lots of changes in Violet's abilities and personality.  My favorite new development is that she babbles almost constantly and laughs now too.  The best giggles are brought on by her sisters, an orange slinky, and Will blowing raspberries on her belly.  In the left hand picture below, Lucy is getting Violet to laugh and squeal while playing in her jumper.

Violet is big enough to play in the jumper with a little board propped underneath so her feet touch the ground and she can now grab the toys hanging above her on her play mat too.  She can also hold on to toys and put them in her mouth which has added a level of fun for her big sisters to interact with her.  She is becoming independently mobile this past month as well by rolling from her tummy to her back, and from her back to her tummy quite easily.  She also enjoys chewing on her dress, her bib and any blanket or burp cloth within her reach.

Violet has found her toes, and grabs them at every diaper change, as seen in the above picture.  Speaking of diaper changes, this little girl continues to shock and awe us with her poopy diapers.  If she is pooping you better take cover.  Literally, you better cover any surface you don't want covered in poop.  A couple of Sundays ago we were sitting in church when Violet let out a loud poop sound.  We stifled our giggles until Will noticed that poop was running between his fingers as he held her.  He did a crouch walk out of church and ended up lining her car seat with reusable shopping bags and wet wipes to get her home to wash her down.  After Will left, I noticed a puddle of brown liquid on the pew the size of a dinner plate.  Imagine my panic when I had to figure out how to clean that up!  Needless to say, Will arrived back to church with about five minutes left in the service.  I wonder if anyone noticed that Will and Violet were freshly bathed and in completely new outfits?  I could barely hide my laughter when Will leaned over and whispered to me that, "the only thing that didn't have poop on it was my socks."

Violet is a daddy's girl, just like her big sisters and will stick out her belly, tuck in her chin and smile like crazy whenever she spots Will.

They've bonded under the ceiling fan on hot days, as well as naps on the couch together.

In the above right hand picture you can still see Violet's bottom lip that we have been working so hard on strengthening.  She revisited the dentist that did her tongue and lip tie procedure and ended up having her tongue tie wound opened back up as it was starting to reattach.  Unfortunately, by the time we made it home, it had reattached again.  At this point we are going to do the wait and see approach as to if we will have the procedure done yet again.  Her symptoms are better than before, but still not ideal.  I just don't want to go through the trauma of the procedure again.  Below are the little glasses she wore when she had the procedure done last month.  

Our month has been filled with appointments for Violet, from the occupational therapy that is strengthening her lips and tongue, to the chiropractor, cranial sacral therapy, the pediatrician and the pediatric gastrologist.  Violet is now on Prevacid like her old sisters were and it seems to be helping her eating challenges a little bit.  She still takes her best naps upright in a carrier on me and has grown enough to graduate to our more structured carrier which has helped to lessen my back pain!

Violet continues to be the star of any social gathering.  Here she is below cuddling with family and friends.

Finally, we had Violet's four month pictures taken in the same dress that her older sisters wore at their four month photo shoots.  It is amazing to me how similar they all look, and how I have to really pause and think to figure out which girl is which!  Here's our cutie below.

Violet no longer seems like a newborn, but a full-fledged baby.  I am really enjoying this age with Violet and am trying to savor all of the perks of her budding personality and cuddles despite my sleep deprivation!

July

Will was on vacation this past month which was wonderful.  We didn't do much relaxing as we are still adjusting to life with three kids on earth, but it was nice to have a teammate as I went through my day caring for our girls.  Here Will is below braiding Emma's hair while holding Violet, as well as helping Lucy with her new-to-her rock tumbler that she is using to polish the rocks she found on our vacation.

As soon as we got back from vacation, we had a fun morning of journaling about our trip.  It was interesting to hear our vacation through Lucy and Emma's perspectives and we all enjoyed documenting our memories.  Since we've been home Lucy and Emma have been playing so well together too.  In the bottom pictures are the girls playing house together.  Lucy has made the realization that it is more fun to play with Emma than it is to fight with her.  They were playing outside one day when Emma decided to go inside.  After a couple of minutes Lucy came over and told me, "Mom, it isn't as fun when Emma isn't here."  What a break through!  Now I remind her of this each time I feel a fight escalating between them and this usually prompts a compromise so that both are still happy.

We spent a lot of time in the kitchen this month, harvesting produce from our garden and cooking in bulk to fill our freezer for when Will goes back to work.  Below are pictures of bowls and bowls of berries for black raspberry jam.  We also made cherry syrup, dozens of zucchini muffins and jars and jars of fermented dill pickles.

Will installed a built in shelf in our office that we designed to fill another void we found in our walls.  We bought the custom built in from the same Amish carpenter who built the dresser Will installed in our bedroom last summer.  Fortunately for us, Will's aunt and uncle were making a trip to the Amish community four hours away and picked up the book shelf for us - getting us out of a guaranteed scream fest from Violet all the way there and back.  Once Violet outgrows her dislike of car rides, we are hoping to make a trip to pick up our next built in because of course we have plenty more ideas and places to put them!  

When we weren't in the kitchen or installing a built in, we could usually be found on our front porch this past month.  This is the first summer since we've bought the house that our kids are old enough to be able to safely enjoy our porch.  Prior to this year, it was too nerve wracking as we worried they would fall down the flight of concrete steps or break an arm on the porch swing.  I know that next summer we will be back to worrying about the hazards of the front porch with Violet, but for this summer, we are definitely enjoying what has turned into an outdoor living and dining room.  

Our porch feels very private and has a great, natural view.  It gets a good breeze and Violet loves to be rocked to sleep on the porch swing.  The girls play house, put on shows and collect and analyze bugs on the porch.  One afternoon while the girls were playing on the porch they heard the familiar tune of the ice cream truck.  The last time it went by Grandma and Grandpa T. were over and felt bad for the girls when we told them it wasn't a good time for ice cream.  Grandpa T. gave the girls cash for the next time it went by and sure enough, within the week the girls were able to have a treat on Grandma and Grandpa T.  The bottom right hand picture is of the girls enjoying another ice cream treat at the local Dairy Queen - this time sponsored by the Summer Reading Program at our library.

The girls are growing up so fast.  Emma had her first dentist appointment this past month and Lucy has her first lose tooth.

Emma also learned how to pump all by herself on the swing.  They have spent the summer so far experiencing the sweet freedom of swinging, the fun of the slip and slide and the joys of frog collecting and splashing in the creek across the street from our house.

Charlie has enjoyed all of the outdoor time with us, and loves relaxing nearby and licking up our crumbs when we are done eating.  He usually only needs to be told no once and he remembers his limits with the exception of when we go for walks.  Charlie walks with us to the point where we usually have to pick him up and carry him back home, lock him in the garage, and restart our walk.  Truly, Charlie acts more like a dog than a cat when it comes to his human companions.

I discovered a new trick on Pinterest for feeding our chickens.  Not only is it healthier for them, but it is also extremely cost effective for us.  We have been sprouting wheat berries on a five day rotation in mason jars.  This has been a great addition to their diet and our pocket book and it is amazing how much 2/3 cups of wheat berries after rinsing twice a day for five days grows into.  Lucy has also assumed the job of egg collecting and is very proud to be old enough to be in charge of this.

Will and I are officially on a diet and have been trying to get exercise in every day.  This is no small feat, as we barely have enough time to feed and clothe our family of five on earth.  Some days it is so difficult to just get shoes on everyone that I feel like throwing the towel in.  It doesn't help that this is the first summer that Lucy no longer fits in the stroller.  We haven't had a cry-free walk yet and I am shaking my fist at the s'mores and Philly cheesesteaks I craved while pregnant with Violet.  Here we are below, exercising as a family despite whining or crying!

We've incorporated daily errands and geo caching into our walks and have even taken breaks to build fairy houses and have picnics.  Speaking of fairy houses, we went to a fairy garden workshop this past month and had so much fun.

Grandma T. even brought over materials to our house to build fairy gardens too.  The girls also enjoyed doing chalk art with Grandma and Grandpa T. as well as playing with Grandma and Grandpa Hines this past month.

We enjoyed our weekly outdoor story time at the library with friends and enjoyed playing and picnicking in the park next to the library afterwards.

We spent time with our friends at playgrounds and each other's houses...

…and attended three different birthday parties as well.

Quotes overheard from my family this past month included:

Lucy: "Stop pushing my buttons Emma!"  Lucy has also picked up a habitual phrase of saying: "Wanna know what?" and "Want me to tell you why?" before telling us anything.

Me to Emma: "Stop spitting."  Emma: "I'm not spitting, my mouth is just farting."  Emma has also developed a habitual saying.  Anytime something interesting happens she says, "Wha-a-ut?!?"  She also has become the fashion consultant of the family and her favorite focus is Will.  "Dad, you are wearing pink and purple - TOGETHER???" Or, "Dad, you are wearing black with BLUE?!?"

And finally, I have been trying to incorporate more enzymes in our diet from raw foods.  Will is a reluctant supporter of this, and out of nowhere one day he asked me: "Do raw eggs have enzymes in them?"  After I responded with a curious yes, he said: "So that means I should eat more cookie dough?"

We celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary this past month on the same day that Violet had her mouth procedure done.  The day definitely played out far different than we had imagined on our honeymoon when we promised to go back to Prince Edward Island for our ten year anniversary.

Who knew on our wedding day the journey we were embarking on, and how we would endure both sickness and health, amazing happiness and unimaginable sadness.  Through it all, we have emerged with a new depth in our perception of life and an appreciation of simple joys.  With an hour left to our anniversary, Violet finally fell asleep.  Will and I were then able to get our photo albums out and reminisce about one of the best days of our life while playing the song from our first dance on my iPhone.  Probably the biggest thought that occurred to us that night is just how much we have learned over the past ten years.  Yes, Will has gotten a master's degree since we got married and is now almost finished with a stressful one year program to obtain an administrators certificate, but the type of learning we have realized had nothing to do with formal education.  From changing our diets to consist mostly of whole, real and organic foods that helped Will recover from severe ulcerative colitis, to gardening, chickens, bees, entrepreneurship and most importantly, parenting, we have learned so many skills not taught in the years of school we have attended.  It is amazing how much we have grown as individuals and as a couple.  We have held hands through the deaths of grandparents and our own son, have watched in awe as our family on earth has grown and have cultivated many of our dreams into reality.  When we look to the next ten years I have to admit that I feel exhausted and nervous.  It is our hope that the next ten years go easy on us.  I feel so grateful to have spent the last ten years with my best friend and I know that together we will be able to handle the inevitable changes of the next ten years with the gained maturity from the grace and faith of the last ten years.