violet: an update on the little lovey.

violet has been growing up so fast lately. since she started to walk, she has transformed from a baby to a full-blown toddler. i love it- and i hate it. i love it because it is the most rewarding feeling to see her learn something new and to explore the world. i hate it because i feel like she is moving too fast! she is still my baby (even if i have another baby on deck) and i don't know how to look at her any differently! such a strange mix of emotions- but this truly is a fun time to be a mom. here is a sample of what violet is up to...

she is quite the talker. her vocabulary doubles weekly, i swear. at first it was simple: "no" "dada" and "be soft" were her favorite first words. "be soft" really isn't that simple of a first word, but she sure knows how to say it and is sure to say it repeatedly as she rips the cats' fur out. she says the word, but the meaning is still setting in. now she has amped up: asking for juice, a banana or a baba, telling us where her eyes and nose are as she says them, finally saying "yes" instead of constantly saying "no." i love taking her to the store where she waves and says "hi" to just about everybody. when she's not saying words we understand, she is speaking full blown jibberish into her cell phone or a mirror.
one of my love/hate talking milestones of hers is that she started calling me ash. when i go into her room some mornings, she happily greets me by saying, "hi, ash!" it is so cute- but so strange to hear my little baby call me such a grown up name. i guess it just shows she is picking up on what is going on around her. in fact, just the other day, cade and i were praying over dinner and as i peeked over at violet i saw that she had stopped playing with her toys, folded her arms and bowed her head. we didn't even teach her that! little sponge, that one.

she loves animals. i know i pointed this out in an earlier post but it is something i love about her. violet isn't afraid of big dogs, new cats or any geese. she LOVES reading books about animals and is sure to tell us what all the animals say. my favorite animal noise she does is a butterfly- she'll flap her arms and blow out wind. i just about bawl, it's so dang cute.

she loves being outside. most of her morning is spent staring out the window pointing to everything going on. now that the weather is nicer, it is great to be out more regularly. she especially loves the park... love is an understatement. she climbs on everything, squeals on the swings as she gets higher and higher, and even goes on the slides by herself. she climbs to the top and bravely walks to the edge. she hasn't quite learned how to sit down in order to go, so usually she just walks until she falls down and slides down the rest of the way with a huge grin on her face. i know this makes me sound like a shotty parent- but i swear she wouldn't have it any other way. needless to day, we are excited for summer!

she loves sid the science kid. i don't know what it is about this show, but she is glued to the tv whenever i put it on. it seems to save me whenever i am trying to make dinner and cade isn't home. sid chats with violet until i can come back to entertain.

she loves playing games. hide and seek, can't catch me, high fives, etc. her recent favorites are playing catch and timber. when she plays catch, she will bring you a ball and then run away so you will throw it somewhere in the room. after that, grabs the ball and brings it back. this game sounds a lot like playing "fetch" with a dog- but i refuse to call it that. in timber, violet stands tall like a tree and waits for you to yell, "tiiiiiiiiimber!" at which point she collapses. we have recently learned that she will do this just about anywhere so it is best to only yell timber when she is on the couch or bed- otherwise she is free falling straight to the ground.

now that you know some of her loves, it may be best to give a shout out to all she hates. violet hates baths. she prefers the shower. odd, but i let it happen. she also hates hairbows. no matter what i do with her hair, she really prefers it to be loose and blowing in the wind. she hates feeling like she's missing something, tuna fish, and being treated like a baby. not too many hates, but she'll let you know when she isn't liking something.

she is getting so grown up- and i wonder how it will be with two little ones around the house. we have been trying to get violet used to the idea of a baby by giving her a little baby to play with. she kisses and hugs the baby... but she also throws the baby across the room. we still have some work to do. she does, however, recognize that there is a little baby in mommy's tummy and she is sure to give my tummy a kiss whenever we bring it up. again, enough to make you wanna bawl.

one thing is for sure, she is certainly gearing up to be a big sister!

old friends. good friends.

a few weekends ago, cade and i went to a baby shower for cade's childhood friend, kristine. the gildea family moved in next to cade when he was about 3 and from the beginning, he became friends with all five of the girls. i love hearing stories about cade skipping down the street to buy their donuts or bringing a goose to their house that was twice his size. he has a special place in his heart for the gildeas and i can tell that they love him right back.

i, too, have come to love these beautiful gals. i know they will always be great friends. it was fun to celebrate this exciting time with them at the shower.

vi loved the shower because auntie kate sure knows how to dish out the treats! she also wears pretty earrings...

EASTER: dyeing, divas and deliciousness

we were really excited for easter this year. last year, violet was just a little baby. her dress barely fit and she didn't understand any of the events we went to. this year, however, she was an active participant in everything! it is crazy how quickly she has grown up.

we started the celebrations with some egg dyeing. vi wasted no time cracking her egg open and taking big bites full of shell and egg. yummy!

the rest of us dyed all 8 dozen eggs using fun, new techniques. this has always been an enjoyable tradition to look forward to.

as we were gathering up all our eggs after the dyeing was done, i was searching for the dozen eggs we brought so i could pack them up. they were seemingly missing- until we opened the fridge and found that not a single one of them had been dyed. i forgot to put them out when all the fun started! so, in the end, we came with white eggs and left with white eggs... but somewhere in the middle, there was LOTS of color.

next up was easter morning. i was excited because i remember easter mornings growing up. we would hunt for candy, check out the stash from the easter bunny, snack on egg salad sandwiches for breakfast and then get ALL gussied up for easter pictures outside. i thought that since violet was getting older, this tradition could easily get started this year!

wrong.

violet woke up with this look on her face:

and it NEVER left.

she went to bed the night before an angel- and woke up easter morning a diva. she was mad that she had to get up and see what the easter bunny brought. she was mad that she had to get gussied up. she was especially mad that we wanted to take pictures of it all. diva, diva diva.

at church, whenever someone came to talk to her- even her FAVORITE people- she was quick to put out a hand and say, "no!" later, when we went to cade's sister sadie's house, she kept up the tude by wandering around giving looks and refusing to eat. cade and i didn't let it get us down. we had a great time!

i was hoping a little nap on the way to grammy's would help ease vi's angry spell... but...

no. she wouldn't eat again and was just mad about all the events going on.

my last hope was the egg hunt. violet has been loving playing with all the plastic eggs the season has to offer at home, so i thought she would at least be excited for the egg hunt. turns out- that was the one event she liked! she learned early that if you throw the eggs on the floor, they crack open and are FULL of candy. by this time, we were happy to see her in a better mood so i didn't even flinch when she stuffed her mouth full of jelly beans
and cracked open another egg.


we all love the egg hunt because as we all get older, the eggs become more valuable. this year, there was some cash to be found...

i don't know how cade got grammy to pose for this picture but i have been literally laughing for the past 20 minutes about it. make it rain, grammy!

by the time easter was over, our little diva was done. she was ready for bed! i was really concerned that our easy-going baby had transformed overnight into some new creature. the next morning, however, my worries went away as we found her two top teeth had finally broken through- gleaming white against those swollen gums. our easter diva was simply teething. and she woke up an angel once again.

really though, the day was great. we spent it with our families eating delicious food, chatting and laughing. we really are thankful for such a close and loving family. we are also thankful for the easter season and the chance it gives all of us to reflect on what matters most: the savior.

future besties

sure, right now violet is a little obsessed with showing us where macy's eyes are or with giving giant, overbearing hugs. sure, macy hates all the poking and prodding. that aside, however, these two are already showing such love to one another. it is sweet to see them light up as they interact.

note: this picture was NOT taken at a rave. i don't know why it appears so...

headstart 5k

last month, headstart hosted a 5k for all families and employees to run. since my sister, mandy, works there, we decided to run the race together! since this baby made her way into my belly, i haven't been too keen on running- but i sure love to walk! so.... walk i did! it really was a fun race. headstart is such a great community program and i love being involved with their activities.

here we are at the beginning of the race. i really thought my sweatband looked cooler than it actually does. these pictures sure set the record straight... that mistake has been noted. we were all excited to be there- grammy, nana, gramps, mandy, owen, cade, violet, emo, and pete!


as the race got underway, it was fun to get moving!


grammy was a sport to push violet while i snapped some shots.


emo was FAST she took second place for all the women! here she is pointing to the girl ahead of her that she is vowing to catch...


cade got a great run in as well. he was sure to give everyone he passed a high five. living up to the theme of his outfit, he really was captain america that day.


LOVE these ladies...


post race, violet was ready to get OUT of that stroller. she loved playing on the playground and going down the slides all by herself. this baby truly is addicted to adventure!

duck pond

violet loves animals- just like her daddy. not that i don't love animals, but i have been known to squish a spider and run from a cat when i need to. cade and violet would do neither of those things. they LOVE animals. violet's uncle brad took her to the duck pond with owen the other day and she had a grand old time loving on those ducks.




she also had a great time loving on owen. these two are cute, little besties. owen treats violet like a little sister. he cares for her, helps her and always listens to what she says. i love these two buddies.

HSM- we're all in this together!

you better believe i jump at any chance to sing along with some high school musical. i jump higher and faster when i get the chance to sing along with my nieces! three of sadie's girls were cast in the sandy city production of the musical and we LOVED watching them in acting action!


i just had to get a shot of raegan with her on-stage beau.


we loved coming to see you romney, raegan and sophie! GREAT JOB!


meanwhile, violet was loving her life at her cousin owen's house. here she is truly embodying the idea to "speak softly and carry a big stick."

boy or girl? watch and see!!!

we got to see this new little baby in action yesterday. it was so fun- see for yourself!

ps- those killer dance moves were taken straight from milli vanilli's 1990 performance at the grammy's. we are hardcore.

a day at the farm

violet and owen spent a day at the farm last week. there was plenty to do...

feed the animals...


take a run...


eat some hay...


talk to the animals...


climb on stuff...


and just really enjoy the sun. violet loved all the animals and was insistent on feeding the horses all by herself. i swear she went from being a baby to being a kindergartner in a day.

as of late...

after realizing that i hadn't updated the blog in a while, i looked through our recent photos to recall what we have been up to. what i found are ten, random pictures that highlight some of our recent highs and lows. here are the gems i found:

photo one: cats rule

after despising one another for months, our two kitties have a new love. when they aren't wrestling with each other, they are cuddling and fur-balling up my white chair or cuddling and fur-balling up the sheets on our bed. ahhhh, the joys of being a cat owner. some people would say photos like this make it all worth it...

people like cade say things like that.

photo two: the apple slug



above is a picture of an apple that i was eating. then, i ran across the apple slug. can you see him? snug as a slug in an apple.... if you don't get the willies looking at this photo, you need to reevaluate your life.

photo three: i'm exhausted!



moving right along in our march slide show, you will find a photo of violet and i zonked out on the norton's couch. questions you may be asking about this photo: where did ashley's chin go? what forsaken hour was this taken at? who ate all the ice cream in the bowl?
the truth is, pregnancy kills me. sure, i don't really get sick or throw up... instead, i just fall asleep EVERYWHERE, eat lots of ice cream and collapse into bed at night fearing another sleepless night. pregnancy and sleep have a serious fight with one another until the baby comes. i remember feeling MORE rested with a newborn in our home than when i was hauling the babe in my belly. you should probably plan on many more photos like this during the next 6 months.

photos four and five: skiing

cade loves to ski but with busy schedules and two pregnant winters, he really only ends up getting to the mountain once a year or so. this year, he spent the day with jason. from the photos, it looks like skiing is similar to riding a bike- it just comes right back to you after a long absence.



photos six and seven: smorgasbord at dickey's

ever heard of dickey's? ever heard of ordering meat by the pound at a restaurant? ever heard of the meat sweats?

boy, we sure have!
the cougar crew went out to eat after watching a disappointing cougar game. to cheer the hearts of the men, we went to a place where the meat pours down like rain in march. we literally took over the entire restaurant but in the end, we all got a taste of dickey's. and we loved it.


photo eight: the ledfords left us



our dear neighbors, the ledfords, decided they were going to move. i teared up. i was in denial. in the end, however, it turns out they were pretty serious about it. within two weeks, the entire house was packed, renters were found and they were loading into cars headed to chatanooga. i miss them terribly. not just because i needed honey yesterday and found that i was plumb out, but also because they had become great friends.

photo nine: a head shot



who doesn't love a good head shot? we hope the people casting extras on the new testament movie do!

photo ten: good friends. good family. good life.



i think this picture is a good representation of how blessed we have been feeling lately to have such good friends and close family. we have had a lot of time to spend with them this month and we have loved every second of it. we didn't photograph the joy on our faces in each individual instance, but we loved all of them nonetheless.

there you have it: ten photos of march.
i feel like violet wasn't accurately represented in the photos- so just know that she is doing great. cruising around like a toddler and climbing all sorts of furniture. cute as a button, that one. i'll get some photos of her on here soon to satisfy your craving.

until then!