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Happy first birthday, Miss Violet!

Has it really been a year? In so many ways it feels like the year has gone by so s-l-o-w-l-y! I have definitely been blessed in being able to stay home with Violet. Doing so has come with its own set of challenges, but I am very grateful! Ever since Violet was born she has done things with a very dramatic flair, letting you know loudly that she is in need of your attention. If her personality continues to blossom and grow as it has in the past year, the term "shrinking violet" will never be used in reference to our Violet Jane!

Everywhere we go, people ask, "Is she always this happy?". She thrives on the attention of others and has a very dramatic set of faces to go along with her very big personality. She and I could not be more different in that respect. I hate being the center of attention and having strangers look my way... there is no getting around that when Violet is with me! She literally commands the attention of those around her. If you ignore her, she'll just keep making faces and laughing at herself until you do look at her.

Aside from the hilarious faces and quirky smile, she has quite the bag of tricks with which to amaze. She can clap on command, raise both hands in the air and say "ahhhhhhhh", make growling lion sounds, say "dada, baba, mama" and just today "diddy" (kitty). She can wave hello and goodbye and often does it to anyone who will look without being asked. She gives wonderful kisses and hugs and sometimes will come up to me if I am on the floor with her and wrap her arms around my neck and lay her face next to mine and say "ahhhhhhh".

She isn't walking yet but sometimes we will catch her standing by herself until she notices and then grabs for the closest sturdy object or sits down. Cruising and crawling are the preferred means of transportation. As of this week, she will only accept one handed assistance in walking, instead of both hands, so that's a step! Everyone tells me I won't be so excited when she actually is walking, but truthfully, I am exhausted from carrying her everywhere. She's a big girl!

She LOVES beans. It's just not natural for someone to love beans this much. Maybe it was all of the Mexican food I ate while pregnant? She also loves anything Italian and carbs of any kind. She is definitely her Mother's daughter!

Whether it's nap time or bed time, there is no time for cuddling. She pushes away to get into her crib and finds her blanket and pink stuffed elephant, snuggles up and closes her eyes. We are truly blessed that she is such a passionate sleeper and still taking two naps a day and sleeping through the night on her own.

The girl loves animals! She gets so excited when she sees a dog or cat in person or on TV. We don't have any pets and I definitely give myself a huge guilt trip over it! I know she would go bonkers over having a dog. "It's too much work, Kristin, it's too much work!", I say to myself. She is obsessed with books! Violet loves having Mama and Dada read to her, but the best is when she is sitting by herself and jabbering her own little language as she turns the pages, "reading" to herself. Truly heartwarming! Oh yeah, she is still extremely averse to bubbles. We are talking tears, people.

Violet has been a life changing experience for Adam and I. While we definitely feel 100% more confident now than we did a year ago, we still rely heavily on God to give us direction in her life. We feel incredibly humbled to be responsible for her little life and pray every day that God would call her to Himself at a young age and she will be a woman of great character.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to be Violet's mother. She is constantly a challenge to me and I am continually being broken and changed because of her. As a good friend once told me, "children make you become the person you always should have been." As this first year of her life passes by and we continue on this journey of growing together, I am so excited about what is to come.

Sweet Violet, Mama and Dada and all of your family love you so much. You are incredible.

...

(side note: we are expecting again! looks like it's time to rename the blog... little baby Salvia is due March 8 of 2012. hello, adventure!)

Another three months flies by!

Oooooh, really? January was the last post, huh? Ok, fine! I give up all aspirations of being a regular blogger. It's hard for me to blog when I just put up all of the photos on Facebook anyway. I feel like I can't justify doing it twice.

Anyway, Violet will be EIGHT months old on Saturday. As my sisters would say, "that's cray-cray!" (translated: crazy for those of you not in my family).

Here are some of my favorite photos taken of her since I last posted:

isn't this gorgeous? this is violet at about six months wearing the christening gown made by my great grandmother Ruth. photo courtesy of Adam Barnes Fine Art Photography.

Miss V in the heirloom dress from my Mom.

Her Easter dress that I just knew would be too small by Easter. Somehow we managed to wrangle her back into it this past weekend!

One of my favorites from her 7 month photo shoot.

We had Violet baptized this month at church and my parents were able to fly in from Texas for the occasion. side note to my baptist friends who may be concerned: we attend a reformed presbyterian church which baptizes infants. this is not to say we believe it "magically" gets our baby into heaven. it is simply a sign of God's covenant with our family and an affirmation that we agree to raise her in a Godly manner, trusting the Lord for her salvation one day. in my eyes, it is very similar to a "baby dedication"... i didn't post this to get into a debate over theology, but to celebrate a special day in our life. since adam and i both grew up baptist, i felt the need to explain!

Lauren and I hosted a brunch at her home after church to celebrate our little girls. Love this shot of my litle family (thanks, Mr. Barnes!).

Lauren and I with the babes.

Love these shots of Vi with Adam's Mom and my parents.

Violet as the easter bunny...

she and that chicken did not get along...

Some of my favorite things about Violet:

She has finally started "army" crawling! She lunges forward on her belly while dragging her body along by using her arms and toes. She can push up into full plank position, but only for a second.

She is terrified of BUBBLES. Hah. When she even sees me getting ready to blow bubbles, she turns her head away and squinches her eyes closed. Heaven forbid one lands on her and pops, GAME OVER.

Actually, lately she seems skittish about everything! From lawnmowers to the wind blowing, the most random things make her bury her face in my chest and close her eyes (that just started this week and I am secretly loving it!).

She says "baba" and "dada" and many combinations thereof, like most babies, but has recently started saying "BOO!". She knows it will get a reaction from us and loves when we pretend to be scared, although one time she got a little carried away and kept doing it over and over. Eventually she started shaking and screaming like a crazy person and then crying because she had scared herself. Hey, that's real charisma for you.

Up until recently, she didn't care much about eating solids, but now if you mix plain yogurt into anything, she will eat it heartily! Who would have thought that green beans and yogurt tasted so good??

She loves her daddy and gives him open-mouthed kisses on command. Sometimes with tongue as added bonus. It's a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e. EVERY time she does it, Adam gushes, "OhhhhHHHhh thank you Violet, that's SO sweet!!". Every time. She gives me kisses sometimes, but hardly ever on command like with her daddy.

my all time favorite shot of Vi with Adam... a few days shy of 8 months old.

She weighed 21 lbs at her 6 month checkup... not sure what she weighs now but she's still going strong, I am sure!

i love this squishy bundle!

The girl hates having her face cleaned. I am sure it's that way with most babies, but she makes a gurgly noise in the back of her throat and squinches her eyes when she sees me coming at her with a wipe. Every time.

I am sure every mother says this, but I love coming into her room after she wakes up from a nap and seeing her gasp in delight that I am there to pick her up. Lately, she has started lunging forward as fast as she can to get closer to me when she sees me walk into her room. I keep looking with anticipation to her next big "milestone", but then remind myself that she is already growing so fast and I need to cherish these little moments with her now! She won't be a baby forever!

So there's the update! See ya again in another three months, I'm sure!

Four and a half months... look how far we've come!

As promised, a full Violet post! Two days blogging in a row?? Watch out, internet!

Violet is now four and a half months old and truly a little bundle of joy. Or... an enormous bundle... she weighed 18lbs, 4 oz and was 26 inches long at her check up this week. I am out of breath after carrying her for an extended period of time... time to start using the stroller more often! I have been really lazy about taking quality photos of her lately, but I

did snap this gem a few days ago during her morning nap...

She is such a good sleeper! Her schedule is almost always like clockwork during the day and she sleeps from 9pm-7am without fail. The newborn days were filled with evenings of bouncing and rocking and shushing, trying to get Violet to stop crying! Thankfully, those days have passed and Violet is such a happy baby.

I did a little 4.5 month photo shoot with her yesterday and here are some of my favorites.

Showing off her new skirt/legging combo from aunt mary beth!

My little doll baby.

The best feeling ever is when I walk into her room in the mornings and start talking to her but she can't see me. I see this huge smile break across her face and she starts kicking her legs, waving her arms up and down like a penguin and panting! It's hilarious. Babies truly make you feel like you are the most important person in the world.

Another funny development with Violet is her "o" face.

She first did it when Adam was just talking to her and making faces, trying to get her to copy him. She started doing it over and over and eventually figured out that she got a great reaction out of people when she did it. It is so funny because she'll be making eyes at someone and start smiling at them. Out of nowhere comes the "o" face and she loooooves all of the attention it causes. No sound actually accompanies it, she just stares you down waiting for you to laugh. :-)

One of the milestones doctors look for at this point is rolling over. Violet can do it (she has 4 times in the past 2 months) but she just never wants to! Her doctor said she finds that chubbier babies have a harder time getting over. That makes sense... Vi has a lot going on!

Violet loves baby dolls and anything with a face. She especially loves seeing herself in the full length mirror. She is enamored with herself! She talks and raises her eyebrows and stomps from side to side like a sumo wrestler. She is constantly making us laugh!

Bath time is still not something Violet enjoys very much. I have yet to see a smile in the bath tub! She will splash a little and stare intently as the water is poured over her, but that's about it! I can't wait for her to actually start having fun in the water!

One more thing Vi is famous for is her "pouty face". She usually whips this out around Adam to get attention or strangers that make her uncomfortable. This morning Adam was playing with her and using her stuffed animal to make barking noises, pretending to give her little bites. She did NOT like that game and here is her reaction.

...and the look she gave Adam after...

DRAMA! Hahaha I hear girls are amazing that way. Can't wait! :-)

That's all for now... not a lot going on considering it is an arctic tundra outside! So ready for spring!

Hello again!

Last time I wrote was somewhere along the lines of when this photo was taken...

Violet- 3 months old

Wow, it's been awhile! I am a major procrastinator with blogging and can't make any promises that it will get better! In true Kristin fashion, here follows a long post trying to play catch up where we last left off.

Violet almost 4 months old showing off her Christmas dress!

Violet enjoyed her first Christmas with her Texas family. We were so blessed to be able to spend two weeks there with my family and V loved every minute. I am not sure I held my baby other than to feed her the whole time!

Of course, Vi looked jollier than Santa himself.

Christmas was wonderful and I was able to spend it with the people I love most! Violet was more than spoiled with presents and showered with love the entire time... I think she already has a special place in her heart for Texas!

Christmas morning in her Christmas hats! It was so cute watching her grab and pull the wrapping paper as if she really knew what she was doing.

Yes, all of the girls did wear matching onesies... don't hate!

Violet loved spending time with her Great Grandmother Ruth!

My birthday is a few days after Christmas and we celebrated the big 3-0 with a shopping trip to Anthroplogie and an amazing dinner at Smith and Wollensky in Houston. AHmazing!!!

My Mom's favorite thing to say was "do you want me to hold her???" :-)

My parents threw a huge party for New Years and Violet was rocking her little black dress. We ate and danced and could barely stay up until midnight.... Miss Violet doesn't sleep in so I knew I'd be up at 7am like clockwork no matter what!

Happy 2011! I have the greatest family!

It was so sad leaving everyone. We love Virginia but miss our Texas family terribly. Can't wait to go back!

Adam celebrated his 29th birthday (yeah so, I'm a cradle robber!) this month and we are finally taking a break from all of the partying and gift giving.... until Valentine's Day of course! :-)

Violet is 4 and a half months old now and another post full of photos will follow all about her!!

Violet at 10 weeks old.

Hello, again!

Well, I believe we last left off with a 4 week old Violet and the insanity of life with a newborn. Oh, how far we've come!

Violet began sleeping through the night at 5 weeks, and that has made all the difference in the world. It's amazing what a full night's rest really does for the psyche!

Weeks 6 and 7 were still challenging and V began her "cranky time" in the evenings. At first I freaked out because I didn't know why we couldn't make her happy! Once I heard that almost all babies go through this, I decided to calm down and just take it one day at a time. I was expecting too much out of my baby... why couldn't I just be happy with her sleeping through the night?! Thank goodness for Adam. He was here to bounce her and rock her and do such a great job of calming her as well as give me a much appreciated break!

Vi came down with her first cold at 8 weeks and it broke my heard to hear her breathing like a little pig with her congested nose. I got the cold too, just in time for our visit to Texas. Cold or no cold, we weren't missing out on Violet finally getting to meet her aunts and Grandpa and other Texas friends. The flights were nerve wracking because I just knew she was a ticking time bomb! Luckily she slept through all of the flights and the only hard part was lugging Violet and all of our stuff through the airports and finding places to feed her. We had SUCH a fantastic time visiting family and Violet loved all of the attention!!

Violet with her aunts and Grammy!

Four generations

Violet looks like my baby picture!

Violet sharing a laugh with Grandpa.

We also got to visit with my good friend Michelle and her family.... loooove this shot!

I was so sad to leave Texas but can't wait until we are back at Christmas!

In other news, Violet took her first bath with no tears on Sunday! Up until then, she HAAAATED baths.... nothing soothing about them! Here's a shot post-bath in her robe... ready to call it quits for the night. She's still rocking a bit of the attitude... but hey, no tears!

Side note: She still abhors having her clothes changed and riding in the car for any amount of time!

Another wonderful development was when I tried putting her in the Exersaucer for the first time last week. I was amazed at how she could "stand" propped up in it and loved figuring out all of the toys! She LOVES anything with a face on it. She'll stare and smile and talk to it! She has started reaching for toys and touching them. It's so funny because before I had a baby, all of these little achievements would have sounded so lame to me if it was someone else telling me about their baby. Now I see how every smile and coo is life altering!

She has been "fake" laughing now for a few weeks and I can't wait until it develops into real baby laughter! She had her first 2 shots today at the Dr. and only cried for a few seconds! I had prepared myself for a full on meltdown. Violet has become so much happier of a baby and I love how she interacts with us now and is able to entertain herself already! Here are a few shots I took of her today at 10 weeks old. I just love her. :-)

A few stats: Today at her check up (10 weeks old) she weighed 14lbs, 5 oz (almost exactly double her birth weight) and was 24 inches long. That's 95th percentile on both counts! She is a "little porker" according to the doctor, but hey, you gotta love those baby thunder thighs! I love that the doctor said, "don't worry, it's no indication of what her thighs will be like as a young lady." Hah!