Wedding Preparation

I've hit another patch where I feel very behind with my blogging. So many posts I have in mind, so little time!

Part of what has kept us busy lately was the wedding of our friends Casey and Bradley. Cora was their flower girl, so we've had fun running around getting what she needed for her big day. Then there was the bridal shower, a bridal party tea last weekend, the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, and of course the wedding itself!

More on the actual wedding when I get another few free minutes. For now, I give you the preparation.

On Sunday, the wedding day, Cora was calling for me at 5 a.m., asking if it was the day of the wedding, and if she could get up yet. She looked out her window and pointed out that it was getting light already. This, from my girl who normally sleeps until at least 8!

She went back to sleep, and later in the morning, had her bangs cut and her hair done in a braid going up and across the top of her head. She was a very good girl and sat so still - she knew what she needed to do!

The next two photos are from the rehearsal dinner. It was quite a dinner for me - Cora sat across the table and several places away from me, on Casey's lap.

She was loving being part of the action, one of the "girls," and Bradley entertained her by tickling her. I didn't even order Cora her food - when it was time to eat, she ate off the bride's plate!

In addition, after I fed Violet, she was happy in other people's arms, so I had a lovely grownup evening, talking to Uncle Bill and my friend Melanie.

Lastly, we have a shot from the bridal party thank-you tea at SClarita's tea house.
That was a lovely afternoon, with yummy scones, tea and little sandwiches. Casey was so sweet to give Cora a thoughtful gift with markers and a pad of paper, so my little girl could entertain herself.

Swimming lessons

Cora is in the middle of a two-week swimming lesson session, and it's going great!

Stace and I weren't sure what to expect when we started, since before last week Cora only wanted to play in our HOA's baby pool and spa, and not in the regular pool.

At her first lesson, she was reluctant to join her group, then reluctant to get in, and then reluctant to kick and go out into the pool in her teacher's arms. But each time, she would end up following along and doing what she was supposed to.

By the third lesson, she was jumping in, into the teacher's arms, and talking about how much she loved her swimming lessons. She is friendly to her teacher, making sure to say goodbye and thank-you for the lesson each day.

At today's lesson, she was going down to the third step and very excited about it, telling anyone in earshot to look at her. "Excuse me! Excuse me! Watch this! Watch this!"

We're having our annual insane heat wave, with highs over 100 for days in a row, and so we've been going to our pool more often. During our latest trips, she's jumping into our arms in the big pool and sticking her face under to blow bubbles. Hopefully this will advance into swimming as time goes on.

Stace and I are so proud of her!

Random Violet

And some Violet photos that have been accumulating... Ain't she pretty? We're seeing this gorgeous smile a lot more these days. She coos, too. And despite the statement on her onesie, she is not high maintenance.

Here's Violet and our friend Rigo at a friend's daughter's Hawaiian-themed birthday party. If you look close, you can see that Violet is clinging tightly to Rigo's lei. We had exchanged babies, and I was holding onto his 2-month-old, Liana.

Another shot I love of Violet.

We are so blessed; she is another great baby (Cora was an easy, happy infant, too). She is starting to reach for her toys, or, at least, she is randomly and repeatedly hitting them.

At two weeks old...

...and at two months. She is slightly bigger than the doll lengthwise, though it's hard to tell here. These photos remind me of a similar blog post I did with Cora here.

Random Cora

(Corrected now with all the photos - don't know how the one of Cora in bed disappeared, I swear it was there when I published this post!)


I've got a number of random shots from around the house from the last few weeks. Here is Cora when I let her serve herself broccoli at dinner. It's not too often that you have to tell your kid to not take so much of the vegetables, that others want to have some too!
Cora slept really late during her Fourth of July nap, and our friends were over at our house for a while before she woke up. That was handy, as they all got to enjoy the sight of her like this - headband, fleece boot and princess shoe.
In these two shots, Cora is swaddling her doll like we swaddle Violet. We love these Kiddopatamus blankets; they make swaddling very easy.
Of course, sometimes I have to convince Cora to share them with me/Violet! It's great watching her play with her dolls though, since for so long she only seemed to like cars and trains. Some of her dolls are now named Violet, while a few months ago they all were named Duckie.
In this photo, Johnny was at our house and Cora was explaining the meaning of the word "option" to him. "Daddy says I can play trains, or play hold-hand football, or go to the pool. Those things are called 'options.' "
(Hold-hand football is a game Stace, Pop and Cora made up.)
A few days ago, Cora wanted to practice writing her letters. She was doing pretty good! It's exciting to think that in upcoming months she'll actually be learning to read.

Family visit

We've had a great time with Aunt Patty and Uncle Bill, just doing normal-life things.

Bill and Stace took a long bike ride on Monday, when Stace was off for Independence Day. They played tennis and then we girls met them at Auntie Mel's Starbucks for a drink, and then we went next door to Dink's for lunch.

During Cora's nap, Patty and I went curtain shopping for our living room. In the evening, we all went to the pool, and Violet had her first dip. She seemed to like it well enough.

On Tuesday, Bill and I took a long walk and Patty had the girls, and she and Cora made a delicious batch of cupcakes.
In the evening, more grilling and swimming. Ahhhh, the joys of summer. We are loving our barbecue!

On Wednesday Bill went to visit some other family members, and Patty and I took the girls shopping for Cora's shoes for her upcoming flower girl duties. In the evening we all went to dinner at Wolf Creek, one of our local faves. It was nice to get a photo of us all together enjoying a meal (even though the photo was framed really poorly by the waitress).

We've enjoyed a lot of dinners together. Yum. Patty is a great cook and she and Bill just know how to put together a fabulous meal. Not very helpful in my quest to lose weight before Casey and Bradley's wedding, but oh well!

Now, Bill and Patty are with my parents in Sedona, Arizona, for a long weekend trip, and we'll see them again next week before they head back to Washington.

A family Fourth

We had a fantastic Fourth of July!

Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty are in town, and we had a great time together at the parade and later at the city's fireworks show.

Unlike most years, this Fourth was surprisingly temperate in SClarita. It only reached the 80s, instead of the 100s that seem to be normal for the holiday.

That, combined with an earlier parade starting time of 9 a.m., made for a very comfortable viewing environment. Stace and Bill, of course, loved all the classic cars.

After the parade and lunch, Cora napped and Patty and Violet and I did some grocery shopping. Then, in the evening, we had some people over for a barbecue.

Grandpa and Auntie Mel came by, as did Linda, Casey and Bradley. Linda brought some delicious salmon that we all enjoyed very much. Grandma, Steve, Matt and Kelly are all at a camp for young people with special needs in northern Arizona.

After dinner, it was fireworks time. We parked at Granary and walked, just like last year, and both girls loved the show. Violet, even at two months old, was watching intently.

Stace let Cora have a turn with our new, big camera, and she took the last photo here of the rest of her family. Not bad!

We noticed a lot of emergency vehicles flying by during the show right off the road we were sitting on. Tragically, a lady blew a red light and hit another car, which then went into a crowd of people around the corner from us. A mom was killed and several kids injured. So terribly sad; the news certainly put a damper on an otherwise great day.

Sisters!

Here are the sisters, each at two months.

I know they're related, but I sure don't see a lot of facial similarities. Very different hairlines, eyes, face shapes, mouths and coloring. Maybe the same nose, and they do have the same pixie ears, but that's about it. Oh, and they are both beautiful!

Violet now enjoys sitting in the bouncer and is entertained by the musical fish display.

Here are some photos of our two girls.

In the changing table photo, Cora and Violet are playing with a fish-on-a-pole (cat toy). Cora opened Violet's fingers to help her grasp the pole.

Cora continues to be an amazing big sister to her Violet. She still likes to help, likes having Violet in her bed with her, and loves to try to play with her. Cora still gets excited when Violet looks directly at her, and she loves to try to make her smile. It's great to watch them together.

I can relate to Cora's big sisterly excitement, as I well remember going to school with an "It's a Girl!" sticker on my forehead when Melanie was born. (I was nine, give me a break!)

It's fun to think about how Cora and Violet's relationship will develop, and how different they might turn out, and again I'm thinking of me and Mel.

You would hardly guess us to be sisters, based on our looks or our interests, but we love each other dearly and share a bond that can't be broken. I pray that Cora and Violet also will be blessed to share that kind of bond. I know, based on other family relationships, that it's not automatic or a "given."

Violet and Cora do seem to be off to a great start!

Two Months Old!

Our baby girl is two months old!

Violet Mae continues to delight us.

She is now smiling and cooing, and is especially chatty when on her changing table. She loves being on the changing table, clean and dry, and she doesn't like being wet or dirty.

She is still very easy-going, and very, very kissable, with her soft chubby cheeks. She can hold her head up pretty well, doesn't mind "tummy time," and has rolled from her tummy to her back a couple of times already.

She has been sleeping a solid six hours at night since six weeks old, and has been sleeping seven straight for the last couple of weeks. Normally I try to put her down around 8 or 8:30, and then get her back up around 10 when I'm ready for bed. I feed her, change her and put her in the bassinet, and she will either sleep through until 5 or 6, or wake up around 4.

When she wakes at 4, I give her a pacifier, and she goes back to sleep until 5 or 6. At that point I bring her into bed to feed her, since Stace is getting ready for work, and we'll then doze until around 8. (I'm very fortunate to have a preschooler who sleeps till 8! But then again, we choose the downside of a late bedtime...)

Stace and I took Violet to her two-month well-check today, and she is growing very well.

She is now 11 pounds, 1 ounce, putting her in the 55th percentile. Not too bad for a baby who was 6 pounds 10 ounces at birth, and 15th percentile a few days later!

She is 22 1/2 inches long, also the 55th percentile, and her head circumference is 15 inches, which is the 35th percentile. Cora, for what it's worth, weighed less but had a bigger had at her two-month check.

Violet also had two shots today. We'll go back in a month to get a couple more.

Dr. Brockett also gave us a prescription for Violet's case of thrush, a yeast problem in her mouth that is pretty common in breastfed infants.

She said the thrush also might have played a role in the breast infection I've had the last couple of days. It hit me Sunday night with a flu-like fever and achiness; I got antibiotics on Monday and they are helping a lot.

World Cup Rantings

When will this end?
Every four years my country and I put all our hopes and dreams in the hands of a group of individuals who have, in my lifetime, continued to disappoint. With the exception of a handful of memorable moments it has mainly been, how can I put it..........bloody crap!
This year was no exception. Business as usual.

Actually, now I come to think about it, this year was slightly different. The entire team played with less passion and pride than at any time I can remember. For the first time I actually had something in common with the players on the field. We all watched the World Cup. They were just standing closer to the action than I was.

Will this early exit affect my life? No, I still have to go to work tomorrow. But I'm pretty upset at the way we went about booking our tickets for the journey home. I can only hope the players are all made to catch the bus. Do they deserve a private plane back to London? I think not.

From a team of "world class" players, who are paid more in one week than you or I make in a whole year, I expect more.
OK. I'm English. I am no different than any other Englishman in that I, for some strange reason, think we should win every game we play. But, as much as I want to see my country succeed, I want to see them play with heart and passion and show pride to be wearing the shirt with the three lions on the front.

Football, Soccer, whatever you want to call it, is a game played with the feet and the heart. It's about the tension and the desire to win. Where the hell was that desire?
I sat through four games, watching a lackluster team of individually brilliant players, play with no heart, no team spirit, no idea.
I watched teams like New Zealand and the USA, teams that were not expected to do well, play together with pride and enterprise, and although they didn't go very far, they played with a never-say-die attitude. Jealous, yes I was!

In a few weeks when life has returned to normal, I bet the general feeling from the USA lads is that they, although being disappointed, really enjoyed this year's tournament and are proud of how they played. Somehow I doubt the England team will have those feelings.

I think it must come down to pressure. The pressure on the England players is incredible: A whole country of football fans expects the team to win each and every game. Does this pressure lead to players not wanting to make any mistakes and therefore not taking any risks? This seems to produce the lifeless, tired performances we have just witnessed.

Well, in my opinion, after years of disappointment, the pressure is well and truly off.
England, you are no longer expected to qualify for the World Cup. You are no longer expected to get past the group stage. You are no longer expected to get to the final. You are no longer expected to win the bloody World Cup.

So, with that said, in Brazil in 2014, please, please, please play like you want to be there. Remember, there's no pressure, so play like you're enjoying it. Play with heart, pride, flair and passion.
Who knows! We might just win it. Come on England!

In the spirit of unity, the Howard household was split on Saturday and Sunday. Lisa, Cora and Violet in their USA colors for Saturdays game and me and my girls in our England gear for Sundays big match.



































Violet was very disappointed that England were knocked out.

Fun stuff

Check out those baby blues!

A few shots from last week...

Jamba Juice had several offerings for just $1 on Wednesday, so we all had one. Cora enjoyed hers, two-fisted.

Violet thought it was a bit too cold, though.

On Thursday, my mom and I took the girls to the Burbank mall to find Cora a dress for an upcoming wedding. Cora will be the flower girl for Auntie Kelly's sister, Casey.

Here you see Cora running off some steam after she was a good girl during the dress hunt.

Cora, as you know, is not the girliest of girls and I wasn't sure how she'd handle trying on lots of dresses. That morning, I mentioned her being my princess (in jest), and she firmly stated she was not a princess. She is Mowgli.

To prep her, I got out our wedding album to show her our flower girls, Noelle and Mikayla. It was a good idea; Cora understood her role better.
Looking at the big family shot from our wedding, Cora immediately pointed to my grandma and said, "Who's that?"

I told her it was my grandma, and how I wished they could have met each other - through sobs. I really didn't expect the emotions to hit me like that. I hadn't considered the fact that we'd see that photo, and that Cora is mature enough to recognize my dear grandma as someone she didn't know.
Cora wanted to know why I was crying, and then asked where my grandma was. I told her in Heaven, so Cora said, "In Heaven, with God? That's good!"
Leave it to my three-year-old to give me the spiritual comfort I needed at that moment. Yes, Cora, it is good, and we will see her again, thank you Jesus!

On Thursday evening, we went to Scooter's Jungle. You can see our brave little girl in the video here!