August - October 2018

Parenting is full of ups and downs. We choose to focus on the ups. Those moments of standstill joys are what we live for. Jon and I adore these girls and all that they bring to our lives! We are so excited to bring another November Baby into this Girl Party. Good thing Daddy is our rock!

They Make Us So Dang Happy

Another random little clip from our private YouTube channel. 

Baby V at 15 Months

My Vivacious Violet Aurora Girl,

Oh my goodness you are too much fun. At 15 months, you certainly can walk you just prefer to crawl because it's the faster option and you've got things to do! Your little hairs are slowly but surely growing enough so that I can at least do tiny little piggy tails in that mullet of yours.
The pig tails just melt your mama's heart my darling baby girl.

 You love love love to talk and can already say the following words:
"HI!!"
"Daw!" (Dog)
"Da da daaaaa!!" (Dadda)
"Mih Mih Mih!" (Milk)
"Bah" (Ball)
"Baaa!" (Bath)
"Ma ma ma" (Mama)
"Pa pa" (Grandma)
"lu la lu la lu la" (Allelujah - learned from Daddy when he gives you food haha)
"Ight" (Light)
"Pitty" (Pretty)
"Baaaeee beee" (Baby)

And this morning when you were taking a bath with your beloved older sister you finally tried saying "Amberly" for the first time! It was so sweet. I can't remember exactly how you said it but I'm sure it will happen again.


                                                     
You love nothing more than the bath and water in general. Your older sister is learning how to be kind and share with you and really play with you and it warms my heart to see your relationship develop. Every girl needs to have a sister as a best friend!

You also love to make your monkey sound "aw oo aw oo"
Speaking of monkey, you are the MESSIEST little eater I have ever seen. Right now of course you are in the throw food all over the floor stage and you know that it's naughty so you actually shake your head WHILE you're throwing your food or right after. It's outrageously cute. I think you know how dang cute you are so you think you can get away with being a stinker. Well, it's working!

Your stats at 15 months:

 Our petite Lady Violet is

21 lbs (20th percentile for weight)

29.4 inches long (20th percentile for height)

17.8 inches head circumference (28th percentile for head size)

Tiny body, HUGE spirit.

Mommy and Daddy can't get enough of that happy bright beautiful smile!

Your eyes just get bigger and brighter every day. They seem to turn more brown and less hazel as time goes by.

Just lots of pics because we kind of adore you.

Yup. Daddy put Christmas socks on her. LOL he probably didn't even think twice about it!

I am the luckiest. Nothing makes me happier than my family. Truly I feel so blessed day in and day out being your mama! I find such purpose to my day, even if it's a sick day where we stay in and spend much of our day cuddling and taking it easy. Thank you, both of you beautiful precious angels for coming into my life and being my daughters! I know I am not a perfect mother and I can do better.

I will try my best to be better for both of you. Your mama loves you to the moon and back.

Love, Mom

Violet Aurora 10-11 months

Her middle name means 'dawn' or 'light' and it is so fitting. Violet turned 11 months which means she is nearly 1 year old already! She loves to wave, crinkle her nose when she smiles, crawl all over the place, bobble her head to music, cuddle when she's tired, raise up her arms whenever we cheer for her, play with cords, say 'mih mih' for milk, and 'mama' as she is very much a mama's girl. She is petite for her age and still has very little hair (slowly but surely I'm watching it grow!) Bananas are still her favorite food although she adores pretty much all fruit. She is so spirited; it's as though that tiny body cannot even come close to holding such a glowing vivacious soul. We love you Violet Girl!

Violet Girl Highlights Video

This sweet babe is nearly 9 and a half months old and such a ray of sunshine in our lives. 

33rd percentile for weight and 16th percentile for height and a little bundle of joy and spirit.

Loves bananas and the sound of her loud babbling.

Says "Da da da da" and we're pretty sure you know what it means

Semi-crawls but mostly rolls around

Loves people and to be social and play

We love you Violet Girl!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIsesWRswRg&feature=youtu.be

Violet Girl at 8 Months

Just like that, my Violet girl is 8 months old!

Violet, you have 4, let me repeat, 4 top teeth that seemed to pop out all at once.

Those were some rough nights :/  but we love you anyways.

You started sitting up on your own around 7 months and you are scooting and rolling all over the place whenever you get the chance. You love to play with your tongue and blow bubbles and make the cutest babble sounds on your wrist with Daddy's help. It's hilarious!

You say "Ba ba ba ba" 

"Dah da da da da"

and "Ma ma ma ma ma"

You love and I mean love to eat solid foods and I don't think you'll be nursing as long as your sister did. You light up any room with your wide-open smiles and bright happy eyes. 

We just adore you Lady Violet Aurora!

We joke about your little personality and how you go from 0 to 60 with that temper of yours.

And you are LOUD when you're angry, my spirited little soul. We tried to capture those upper teeth of yours in these photos. 

You still love your older sister, albeit she is getting rougher and rougher with you which obviously isn't your favorite. You two girls are our entire universe and I will do my best to teach you to be best friends. 

 8 month pictures with Daddy.

Amberly has started copying Daddy and also calls you her "Little Chunky". Needless to say, we're all pretty crazy about those rolls on your little legs and arms. The.best.

We are so happy you came to our family.

Thanks for being a such a Mama's Girl and making me feel like one in a million whenever I walk in the room. You just light up and laugh when you see me and it lights up my soul. I love you, Baby Girl!

7 Months with the Littler Lady

Vivacious Violet,

At 7 months you are all over the floor and I know you will be happy when you can crawl and be on the move. You are starting to sit up on your own and it makes you so proud of yourself. Your two bottom teeth are prominent and darling and it looks like one on top is close to cutting through. This seems to irritate you at night and in the early morning but you have been an angel about going right back to sleep after crying out for a few seconds. You love food. Anything on the spoon making its way towards your mouth puts a gorgeous gummy smile on your face! (I know the feeling, Baby Girl) 

You laugh and smile easily. You search for your Mama when you hear her voice or if you haven't seen her in awhile. You love your Daddy, but you are such a Mama's girl. You suck your thumb almost as much as your pacifier. You smile at me every morning when I come to get you and you love to watch your older sister. 

You are such a ray of sunshine and your family adores you, Violet Aurora!

Violet Aurora at 6 Months

Lady Violet

What a ray of sunshine you are in my life!

And in your daddy's life.

And pretty much anyone who looks at you because chances are you'll give them a full out gummy smile.

Now that you are sleeping 11-12 hours every night you are happy. Furthermore, MAMA is happy and now we are all having so much fun! You started sleeping through the night at 4 and a half months. 

And somewhere between then and now, you even graduated from the laundry room and you sleep soundly in the same room as your sister!

It was a day to celebrate for sure. I am still so so so grateful that you are now sleeping through the night. That was a long road and so much work but we did it, Baby Girl! 

 You actually enjoy tummy time as long as you don't get bored! That little smile...

Your sis is learning how to share with you and how to take care of you. 

She always smiles when she sees you and my goodness do you adore her. You look for her and your eyes always follow the sound of her voice. I love watching you interact, it is so rewarding. (Except for when Amberly steals your toys, etc)

5 months

My little snuggle buddy. I still try to take naps with you a few days a week because I know I will blink and you'll no longer be a baby. :(

 We love love love your cheeks and your chunky legs!

You have stolen my heart.

And you still have a bit of a temper. Mostly if you get bored you want everyone to know about it!

A few Sundays ago, all Mommy and Daddy wanted to do was take a nap but you kept blowing bubbles and grabbing our faces and obviously weren't too keen on the idea. It's cute now but we were pretty tired at the time!

My world.

 You LOVE the water. You just coo and kick and splash the entire time, no matter how tired you are. 

We love our family swim days. :)

And while you are still my spirited little one, you are such a little sweetheart!

So darling. 

I am crazy about my new double stroller, and even more crazy about being a mom to you girls.

At six months...
You weigh 16.7 lbs (50th percentile)
You are 25.75 inches long (48th percentile)
Your head is 16.4 inches (25th percentile)

Your two bottom teeth popped out the day after Mother's Day and it looks like more are coming! SO CUTE although I'm always sad to say goodbye to the completely gummy grins.

Your hair is growing on top albeit it is a painfully slow process! Ha we do love the little tuft of dark hair right at your neck line though, you get lots of comments on that awesome little mullet you've got going on. :)

You love and I mean love eating solid foods. Our first try with the avocado was kind of a bust because I didn't mash it up well enough for you and it all came back up. Second try with the banana mashed up really well was a success. I think currently your favorite food is peanut butter or watermelon though. You get pretty excited about getting those flavors in your mouth! You have also tried broccoli, strawberries, apple sauce, rice, and today you loved trying some of Amberly's green smoothie.

Your eyes are changing. They still look blue sometimes if you're wearing blue but they seem more of a dark green/hazel color these days just like your Grandpa Mecham. :) You are breathtaking.

We adore you and the light you spread every day. You are perfect. And life is good.

Amberly age 2

Just a few short clips put together from my phone because I know I'll blink and she'll already be 8 years old. And that hurts my heart. A lot. Making these short movies seems to be the only way to make time freeze as a mother. I love my girls pretty fiercely! :)

Family of Four - Short Video Clip

Life has been one major adjustment for this tired mama from November until now. I wouldn't trade it for the world though. I sure love my little family to pieces.

Violet at 4 Months/We Got Us a Family Here!

The truth is, I have no idea who is reading this blog, or if anyone is reading this blog for that matter. But I will continue to document and ramble because it is therapeutic in a way, and a great way to keep a journal of our life.

The other truth is, we are still in this weird limbo phase over here. 

And it's all because of this innocent- looking face.

"Who, Me??"

Yes. YOU.

Violet Aurora weighed 14.4 lbs at her 4 month appointment (60th percentile)

She is 25.25 inches tall (80th percentile)

And her head was 15.75 inches (20th percentile)

Our pediatrician almost didn't believe me when I explained how rough our nights can be, mostly because she is so stinkin sweet and smiley 85% of the day. She won him over fast and he just kept exclaiming "She is so sweet!"

It's true.

But my oh my is this little babe spirited. And yes, still giving us a run for our money!

A sufficient lack of sleep for over four months straight can give anyone the Baby Blues, and I have been doing my best to deal with this phase of mommyhood as best as I can. 

I pulled my cello out the other day. Hello happiness. I am still not what I would call a "cellist" but I may be on the road to arriving there one day. I can make it sound beautiful some of the time. ;)

Again that sweet look of innocence. We're pretty good friends during daylight! 

And then per usual during a time of weirdness or crisis, I hacked half of my hair off of my tired, often unkempt head. Who has time for thick long hair when two young girls are so dependable on you?

#Iwouldratherworkout

And I hate hash tags. So I am not even sure why I threw that in there but there it is.

I vowed in college never to go shorter than this length ever again. Some people look darling with pixie cuts. Other people...just wish their hair would grow back in a day or two after making that mistake. 

 Speaking of hair, this little Goose's head of gorgeous fine curls is getting rather long. It is so fun to play with her and convince her that she needs to have "Elsa hair", not that that takes much convincing at all. She loves it. 

And I love her.

Throughout the day I ask Amberly about each of her buddies in her life, but I never fail to remind her who her best buddy is. Pick me, pick me!

And while I am learning and adjusting and going off of very little sleep and still not fitting in my pants or favorite skirt or looking how I would like to look in my fitted shirts

I am happy.

My girls mean everything to me.

And every now and then, we have moments of perfection and pure joy.

For example, this moment after the girls had a bath together.

 

 Or conquering the crowds at the zoo with the two munchkins. (Minus my extremely challenging and awkward trek to the entrance with a baby falling out of the wrap I was wearing and me trying to push the stroller with one hand.)

 And last Saturday which was the perfect day as a family of four. I should have taken pictures but we were just soaking in every moment. We had a family picnic in the sun, the girls both took a long afternoon nap simultaneously, we had time to clean, we went swimming at the South Jordan pool, got Cold Stone and Pizzeria Limone after (Jon and I agree this is the best pizza in the universe), and had a really magical day.

As Jon and I often quote from one of the weirdest, funniest movies ever - Raising Arizona -
"What, are you kiddin? We got us a family here!" - Nicolas Cage

Just trying to remember to soak this all in. 

And that's all I have to say for now.