Around the house

We're getting on the plane today, but I thought we should do one more "house" post before we go.

One night, at about 1:45 a.m., we were wakened by a big crashing sound outside. A huge limb of our neighbor's tree cracked and fell into the wall separating our yards.

Thankfully, no one was outside so no one got hurt, and the wall wasn't damaged. I had the clothesline out, unfortunately, and the line and its housing were ripped off the wall.

The neighbor had a tree trimmer out to handle it, and that guy came over to our house to clean up the mess in our yard, too. We later had our friend Rigo come out with his guys to further trim the part of the tree that overhangs our yard.

The worst part about the limb coming down is that we now get a lot of (HOT) morning sun in our playroom. We will need curtains for that room for sure now!

Speaking of curtains, we put up some thermal energy-saving drapes in our living room.

And, we printed and put up some gorgeous photos in our dining room. These were taken by two friends (Jen and Jaimie) in recent months, plus one of Cora at three months taken by my dad and the one taken by a hospital photographer.

Lastly, Stace and Cora are proud to present their onion and parsnip harvest! Not bad for a first year! Stace spent a long evening chopping onions, and we made a lovely curried parsnip soup with half the parsnips. Next year, I think we'll be more careful to space out the planting so the harvesting takes place over a longer period of time.

Three months!

I took Violet to the doctor yesterday for two vaccinations, and put her on the official scale. She's 13 pounds, a two-pound gain since her appointment a month ago. That keeps her in the 50th percentile. She's about 24 3/4 inches long, putting her between the 75th and 90th percentile. (Cora at three months was 11 pounds 13 ounces, and 23 inches long.)

This is how I found Violet today when I woke her up from her nap. She turned over on her own again. She's done this maybe three or four times now, but this was the first time she's chosen to sleep on her stomach.
Violet seems to like sitting in her Bumbo chair. We didn't have one of these with Cora, but I can see how fun they are now.


Violet is starting to notice toys now, like the "Duckie" toy from Grandma and Grandpa. She also has been experimenting with her voice more, and her squealing entertained some people behind me in line at Kohl's last night.

At dinner the other night Cora was helping her baby sister dance to the music, and Violet loved it!

Stories at the park

We spent Wednesday morning at the big park near our house, for Miss Carol's storytime. Carol is a MOPS "mentor mom" who started a preschool storytime at a nearby Starbucks in the spring.

Now, she holds it at the park and offers crafts and games, too.

Juliana and Maya came Wednesday, too, so we all got to play together.

In the photo of Cora running, Carol set up a game where the kids ran back and forth filling up one bucket with water from another, using cups with holes in the bottom. It was a lot of fun, and gave Cora water to later dump on her legs.

Cora and Maya played really well together, as always.

Maya and Juliana were very sympathetic when Cora showed them her skinned elbow and knee.

She was running down the driveway the other night and fell. It was bad enough that she needed the blood washed off, the wounds cleaned and bandaids. It was the first time in a long time that Cora had that type of injury, and it was a Big Deal.

We've discussed her boo boos, or baddies, a lot. She wanted to tell her friends about them, and needed dishtowels in her bed to protect her blankie from the blood. (No, she was not bleeding profusely, and nothing seeped out of the bandaid. But, you never know.)

SClarita Aquatic Center

On Tuesday, we made our first trip to the Aquatic Center of the summer - hopefully it won't be our last, but who knows?

My MOPS friend planned it, so it's been on our calendar. Sometimes to do the fun things that are right in your own backyard, you just need someone to organize it.

Harvey and Elissa joined us, and it was great to see them, as it had been at least a month - maybe two - since our last meeting.

Cora loved her time playing in the water, and especially loved going down the slide. She was much more confident this year than last, but not in an overconfident, dangerous way.

Violet was very well-behaved, and even took a nap in her stroller. Earlier in the day, she celebrated her three-month birthday by sleeping 9 hours for the first time, from 10:30 until 7:45. She normally sleeps eight hours straight.

A few more photos

Here are a few shots from recent events from my dad's camera.

Our little family at Casey and Bradley's wedding, followed by us and the Wahlas...

Then Cora with a smile, without her tongue out at the Dodger game, and Violet taking part in her first "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

Return to Blue Heaven on Earth

Ahhhhh, the sights, sounds and smells of baseball, America's pasttime and my favorite sport.

Dodger Stadium, I'm sorry I didn't make it out to visit you in 2009. Game times just didn't work well for us with Cora's nap and bed times, plus we had that little house fire and bathroom remodel to deal with.

We remedied that mistake this year, and got tickets for us and my family as a Father's Day gift for my dad and Stace.

It was, obviously, Violet's first trip to Blue Heaven on Earth, and Cora's first in her memory, though she had been a few times previously. You can see her very first trip here, when she was two months old and wearing the Dodger top that Violet wore Sunday.

Our day out went really smoothly, and great fun was had by all.

First off, the game was perfect for us. It was a pitchers' duel, meaning it went by fast. With two little ones, that is a good thing.

And, with it remaining scoreless until the bottom of the eighth, when the Boys in Blue went up 1-0, there was that needed tension that made the lone run that much more exciting.

It wasn't a terribly well-attended game, but that meant no hourlong line to leave the parking lot.

And, it was warm but not too hot, and our seats were in the shade. We love our new camera's awesome 20x zoom lens - that shot of Martin at bat is from our top deck seats!

Violet was excellent during the game, happy to look around. She only took one short nap, on Grandma's lap.

Actually, all day she only took very short naps. She stayed awake during church - that was a first - and only napped for about a half-hour on the way to the stadium, then the short nap during the game, and another very short nap in the evening.

Cora also did really well, working on writing letters with Grandma when she got bored of the baseball. She walked all the way to and from our car, except for the l-o-n-g staircases, and fell asleep in the car before we reached the freeway.

A good week

The other night, Cora stayed up in her room for close to two hours after we put her to bed. I could hear bits and pieces, but wasn't quite sure what she was doing until the morning, when she showed me that she had packed her bag for England.

So cute! She is very excited about going to England next week, and wants to know why we can't go sooner. She also is very excited about having packed her bag, full of toys and things she'll need, things she needs to show Nan and Pop. The bag is so heavy she can hardly carry it herself, and keeps asking for help with it.

She has her money, so she can buy ice cream, sweeties and popcorn with Nan and Pop. She also has her jewelry box from Aunt Patty and Uncle Bill, so she can show Nan and Pop the Seattle charm bracelet Patty brought her.

Next, I give you a random photo of Cora with her best friend.

This week Cora has attended Vacation Bible School at Valencia United Methodist Church, where she does Pioneer Club and we have MOPS.

I have fond memories of VBS from my childhood, so I was excited when I learned that this particular VBS offers a three-year-old class.

Cora had a great time. She wasn't eager for me to leave each morning, so I'd stay through an opening song or two. Then her class would take part in games, crafts, snack time, and a Bible story. She had a great time! The photos here are from the closing time, when the children sing and dance together.

You can also see Cora hugging her friend Madison's little sister, Kendal.

The classes ran from 9 a.m. till 12:15 p.m., leaving me and Violet with a few hours together each day. I got some shopping done, some cleaning, and, most importantly, some photo work.

I have a number of little memory books and a couple of scrapbooks that call for actual, printed photographs. On some of these books, I was quite a bit behind. In the world of digital photography, printing photos takes some effort!

I have to search through lots of folders on the computer and figure out what I'm doing, then go to the drugstore to get them printed, and then pick them up. (OK, before you comment, I know there are ways to send your photos by email to places to print them, but that is a new method for me that would require additional time figuring out...)
I was pleased to get so much accomplished - it's so much easier with just one little baby to take in and out of the car during errands. We also had lunch with two sets of friends this week as well.

It was a good week!

Violet at 12 weeks

Our little Violet is over 12 pounds now! At a friend's baby shower over the weekend, a number of ladies asked how big she was - I guess she is looking very solid to people meeting her for the first time.

Violet has found her hands in recent days, and likes to suck on them.

At 11 weeks old, she turned over from her back onto her tummy! That's a milestone normally hit at five months or older; Cora was six months.
Now, it was a one-time thing, when Violet was on the floor wiggling around a lot, and she hasn't repeated it. Still, it shows me that this one will probably be a lot more physically inclined than her sister. Violet also likes to stand up when you hold her upright.

She is sleeping about eight hours at night, from 10 to 6 or thereabouts, depending on when she goes down and how much she ate at her late feeding. Sometimes she'll sleep until 7 and then not go back to sleep after eating, which isn't a bad thing, but does throw off the routine we've been doing. I know that as she sleeps longer over the next few weeks we'll start a new routine... which will last a matter of weeks or months.

The last photo made me laugh. Violet seems to be easily able to undo her swaddling, so I'm experimenting with not swaddling her. She seems to do fine without it at night, but often still needs it during naps. By that, I mean she often will not settle down and fall asleep for her naps unless she is swaddled and given her pacifier.
Since it's so hot, I've been swaddling her in just a diaper and putting her ceiling fan on. She loves looking at fans in motion.
Also, speaking of naps, Violet is now past the age of sleeping whenever we are out and about. She will stay awake when I figured she would have fallen asleep, or she'll fall asleep but only for 20 minutes. Thankfully when we are home she takes better naps.

Casey and Bradley's Wedding!

It was a beautiful wedding! A hot day, to be sure, about as hot as the day Stace and I got married nearly seven years ago.

(How did we become the old married couple???)

The gorgeous Lindley Scott House, circa 1911, didn't have air conditioning, so it was a little toasty inside when the bride and her girls were getting ready.

But it was very picturesque.

Cora did a great job following the ring bearer down the aisle, remembering to pause to toss out the rose petals.

When she got to the front, she seemed to forget her next move, stopping to put her finger in her mouth and look around. Auntie Kelly, the maid of honor, motioned Cora forward to stand next to her.

Casey was a gorgeous bride, of course! And Bradley looked very handsome as well; they are an adorable couple. Bradley's oldest brother is a pastor, and he did a great job on the ceremony.

Cora spent the ceremony over on the boys' side, next to the ring bearer. Nate kept her in line, and they entertained themselves with their pillow and basket, and by picking up acorns.

At the end of the wedding, they got a lot of oohs and ahhhs as they walked down the aisle together!

We spent the reception with good friends - Melanie and David and John and Linda - and my parents and Mel and her guy, Nick.
There was an open bar for the first hour or two, so we all enjoyed some glasses of wine.

The food was yummy, the dancing fun, and the slide show cute. Cora sat on Casey's lap for the slide show, so she had the best view in the house.

The only downside to the wedding was that since it was in the late afternoon, owing to the heat, it all stretched bit late into the evening. That meant for two tired little girls, who weren't up to staying till the very end. We would have loved to dance some more and enjoy the cake, and Cora was very, very sad to be leaving early (though it wasn't early, it was after 9).

Hopefully she can dance with the happy couple the next time we see them. For now, they are dancing together in Maui! Lucky kids!