Violet - 6 Weeks Old

Today Violet is 6 weeks old. Melissa had me make a side by side comparison of her newborn picture compared with her 6 week old picture. What a difference!

So what does baby Violet do for her 6 week birthday?

She goes to Coach and shops for new purses and sunglasses! We were at the mall for about 4 hours. Violet catnapped a bit, but most of the time she was awake and enjoyed the shopping trip. The purses and one pair of glasses are for me - I decided I needed to buy myself a Mother's Day gift plus I told Michele I was going shopping for me for her birthday. The other pair of sunglasses is for Melissa for her first Mother's Day.

Rock Crawling in Moab, Utah

What does a new Dad with a 6 week old baby do?

He goes rock crawling! Jamie has been going to Moab, Utah with some of his friends for the past several years. Rock crawling is driving a jeep over rocks. I'm not sure how much walking he did to reach this point. I believe he drove. Sounds dangerous to me but Jamie really enjoys it. Plus it's 80 degrees in Moab right now. Melissa is doing well on her own with baby Violet although she was over here today and we're going shopping tomorrow. Jamie will be back Friday. Yeah!

My Day with Violet

Melissa went to a seminar today and Jamie is out of town so I volunteered to babysit Violet. Now I remember why I went back to work and hired someone to watch my kids when they were young. Babysitting has to be the hardest job ever. After only 5 hours of watching her, I am totally exhausted.

As you can see from the picture, Violet is sound asleep. I sat with her like that for about an hour and a half. I was afraid if I moved her I would disturb her nap. She's very focused now - staring at the ceiling fan and watching TV. She's also beginning to laugh. I kept her occupied when she was awake and she only cried once while I was heating up her bottle - she's a bit impatient.

Happy Birthday Sweet Sixty!

Now I could beat around the bush and allude to the fact that Michele is "getting older", but let's be serious. Anyone who reads this blog knows exactly how old Michele is. Today Michele is 60. It's funny how it's okay for men to age. We even have different terms to use in describing the aging process. Men get grey hair and we call it "distinguished". Women get grey hair and we call it "grey hair". Then we rush to the beauty salon to get it colored before anyone notices. Men get chunky around the waist and we laugh and say he has a "beer gut". Women get chunky around the waist and we call it what it is - fat. But no matter how much fiber we eat or weights we lift, we'll never be 40 again. But age is just a number and we're only as old as we feel. That's another thing that old people say. Even Baby Violet suffers from comments about her age. Instead of saying you're baby looks "old" for her age, we say she looks "alert".

But in Michele's case, she looks and acts very young. This is a picture of her with Courtney when we were in New York this past December. (Michele is the one on the left just in case you couldn't tell!) Melissa and I had a terrible time keeping up with Michele and Courtney. They're always on the run. Michele is such an adventurous person and loves to travel. She's not only spending her birthday in Paris, but has been there for the past three weeks. Bruce will be joining her on Monday then it's off to some other exciting city.

So taking a line from the old Neil Sedaka song and taking a little bit of liberty with the lyrics...

"...you're the prettiest girl I've ever seen,

Happy Birthday Sweet Sixty!"

Melissa 1983 / Violet 2013

I'm still playing with the app Pic Stitch that Michael loaded to my iPad. Either it's because the app is free and not very technical or just my not knowing how to use it very well but it took me an hour to put together this picture. I told Michael I needed another lesson.

I can't remember exactly when this picture of Melissa was taken but I'm sure she's a little older than Violet at this time. But I see a big resemblance even though most of Melissa's friends say she looks like Jamie. My friends and family say she looks like Melissa.

Then I had the idea to add myself to this collage.

 

 I see a resemblance but I could be a bit partial. I need a little help with adding text to the pictures.

New iPad and Photo App

OMG! I bought a new iPad tonight and Michael downloaded an app called Pic Stitch. You select templates to display your pictures. You can also added captions, frames, stickers. Of course we used a picture of Violet for our first practice picture.

 

This is the cutest thing I've ever seen. I can't wait to practice on other pictures.

Dinner with Dad, Michael, Melissa, Jamie & Violet

Michael and I were taking Dad to dinner every Thursday night before he broke his shoulder and wrist. That weekly arrangement was delayed while Dad's arm healed.

Tonight we went to Salty Iguana. Melissa, Jamie and Violet were there and Violet was the best baby. She spent the entire dinner watching TV.

Happy Birthday Sarah

After several weeks of rescheduling, Debbie, Lori, Krista, Sarah and I finally got together for lunch. We also celebrated Sarah's birthday.

We had lunch at Anthony's - an old Italian restaurant on Grand in downtown Kansas City. I won't tell her age (52) but she's the same age as Teresa. Happy Birthday Sarah!

Daddy Jamie spent part of his day off going shopping with Melissa and Violet. Violet makes this expression at lot. Here she looks more like her Daddy.

Babysitting

Melissa had a doctor appointment today so she asked me to help her with Violet. Instead of getting Violet out in the cold, we decided I would just stay home with her. Much to my surprise, she slept the whole time.

Violet is only 35 days old but I can definitely tell she's getting bigger. She also has an attitude just like her Mommy. It drives Melissa crazy but we wouldn' trade her for anything.

Seven Star Brunch

Several times during the year, Harrah's has a special event to recognize their Seven Star members. Today was a brunch. They had a large variety on the buffet line from salads, cheeses and prime rib, to waffles, bacon, sausage and an omelet bar. They also had a table devoted to pastries and fruit and a fountain with flowing champagne. The hose was threaded through an ice sculpture. When I went to check out the fruit and pastries, a man was standing there asking me to find a waiter. The ice sculpture was beginning to melt and the hose had broke loose. I'm glad it didn't happen while I was passing by.

I took Karen with me. She's always ready to get out and spend a few hours at Harrah's and get a free meal. We didn't win at the slot machines but I did get a new Sony docking station for my iPod as a free gift from Harrah's.

Another Etsy Find

Melissa loves to shop on Etsy. She found a series of stickers that she could put on Violet's shirt to commerate her monthly birthdays.

It's hard to tell but Jamie is behind the chair helping Violet pose. The background is the afghan I made. It's just a coincidence that the sticker matches the afghan.

Later Melissa tried to get Violet to take a nap in her own bed.

 

Violet lasted 3 minutes before she woke up. Looks like naps will stay in the bouncer or pack 'n play for awhile.

Violet - 1 Month Old

Today Violet is 1 month old. 

It's hard to believe all the changes I've seen in just one short month. Of course she's slightly bigger but she's also so alert and happy. Although Melissa will tell you she's rather moody. Hmmmm...I wonder where she gets that trait.

I went with Melissa today so she could get her hair done. We thought Violet would take her morning nap but I spent the entire time walking around the salon bouncing Violet. She loves to move around.

Michael came over after helping Grandpa with his clogged plumbing. He also put together a bouncer for Violet to use when she visits.

Someone made a fortune when they created this little number. It's like a little hammock for babies. This model not only vibrates but plays music and rocks. The duck is a separate insert that feels like a mattress pad. And of course there's the safety enclosure (seat belt) that keeps the baby from falling out. I sent a picture of this to Melissa and told her now all I needed was a baby to use it.

Major Assist from Daddy

Although we'd like to feel as though Mother's can do it all, moms sometimes need a break. Melissa has been working day AND NIGHT taking care of sweet baby Violet. Jamie does everything he can to help. But the one thing he hasn't been able to do is feed her.

Now that has changed. Daddy looks very comfortable giving Violet her first bottle. It also looks like Violet has on one of her new outfits from yesterday's shopping trip.

Shopping

Melissa and I took Violet shopping today. Violet got a few more outfits to get her through these first few cool days of spring, I got a jacket and Melissa got groceries. Her shopping habits have definitely changed since she became a mother.

After shopping we went back to my house where Violet was entertained by the ceiling fan.

 

But shopping can really wear you out.

Hello! My Name is Violet

Melissa has a co-worker who does a lot of Etsy work.

 

So today Mommy and Daddy played dress up and posed Violet in her "Hello My Name is Violet" shirt.

Melissa then wanted to pay tribute Dr. Gehlbach for his extraordinary help in giving us baby Violet.

Lunch with Cinda

I had lunch today with my good friend, Cinda. Now Cinda is sometimes a tad bit late, so after waiting for about 10 minutes, I sent Cinda a text..."Coming?" After 20 minutes, I called her. She was sitting in another part of the restaurant. She had received my text but had sent me a text a few minutes earlier letting me know where she was sitting so she thought I was responding to her text. She had sent the text to the wrong phone number.

We had lunch at 54th Street Bar & Grill.

Lola's In the Doghouse Again!

Well Lola is just about to be shipped off to boarding school. Earlier today I was changing Violet and I wasn't very quick about putting on a new diaper. Before I could get the diaper changed, Violet had a little accident and dampened her sleeper and changing pad. No problem for Violet, she has several sleepers. But later Melissa was looking for the changing pad and couldn't find it.

She finally found it in the middle of the yard - destroyed. The most likely culprit is Lola. I tried to suggest Khloe as an accomplice, but Melissa wasn't buying that. Poor Lola :(

Manicure

I went to Melissa's this morning. It's been 4 days since I've seen Violet. Although she looks about the same to me, her personality is changing so much. I talk to her and she smils. She's moving her arms and legs quite a bit.

I'm giving Violet a manicure so she doesn't scratch herself with those little sharp nails of hers. If you look real close you can see the nail file in my hand. Violet loves to play beauty shop.

Violet - 3 Weeks Old

Today Violet is 3 weeks old so she put on her best outfit, had Daddy hold her up and Mommy took a picture. She's gained 1 pound and grown 1 inch.

Lola is still wondering when someone is going to come pick that kid up!

Weekend Getaway

Sonia and I took advantage of David's volleyball tournament in Kansas City and spent the weekend at Harrah's. Although it wasn't a very profitable weekend, we had a wonderful time catching up and Sonia got to meet Violet.

Self Soothing

Violet looks so exhausted. Her mouth is so tiny for this big old binky!

Bouncing Away

After coming by to visit me this morning, Violet just needed to relax in her bouncer.

First Time Babysitting

I wonder if you can count this as babysitting, but it's going in my book of firsts. Melissa had an eye doctor appointment this afternoon. I went with her to watch Violet. Several of the doctor's staff came over to look at her and at times it got a little loud in the office. I was nervous that Violet would wake up so I kept rocking her car seat. At one point I thought I was rocking her a bit too fast. But she stayed asleep the whole time. That's babysitting, isn't it?

After the doctor we spent the rest of the day resting and learning to play pattycake.

First Family Picture

While Melissa was here, I took the opportunity to go through the pictures Jamie has taken.

This is the one and only picture of I have of Jamie, Melissa and Violet. It seems as though I can never catch them all together.

First Bath

Melissa said this was the best picture of Violet having her first bath. She didn't enjoy lounging in her tub.

Hospital Newborn Pics Finally Here

Melissa finally remembered to bring me the disc the hospital sent her of the newborn pictures of Violet. I remember when Melissa was a baby, you didn't even know pictures were being taken. Now new mothers bring outfit changes and the photographer poses mom, baby and dad.

Melissa got this outfit from Etsy. It's hard to see but the grey stitching is a monogram.

Jamie couldn't be prouder of his new baby daughter.

I just love this picture. Years from now some may wonder who this is. But I'll always know it's my baby and hers.

Junior Afghan - Thrifty Scraps - Diagonal Pattern

I’m still trying to use up all the scrap yarn I have in my closet from previous projects. This afghan is part of my Junior series projects. My Junior series afghans are bigger than baby afghans but smaller than afghans sized for adults – more the 8-12 year old.

I’ve used almost every color from the Caron Simply Soft collection creating a diagonal pattern with varying widths of stripes.

Traveling

I can’t help but post each and every picture I get of Violet but this is my brag book and that’s what it’s for.

Violet is waiting for Daddy to pump gas. She's one her way to see Great Grandma Taylor.