Happy Birthday Violet!

Violet turned two today! Here are so fun facts about our new two year old...

~Violet is 35 inches tall and 28 pounds. She is slowing down on the growth chart a little bit, I think she is going to be a tall girl!

~Violet loves her Duplos, she'll spend quite a bit of time building her towers. Other favorite toys are books, her little Cinderella doll, and her babies.
~Violet loves her oatmeal! Oatmeal with applesauce is one of her favorite foods. Sometimes she even asks for it for lunch. She also loves rice and beans, cheesy noodles, cookies, and berries. Yum!

~If you ask Violet what her favorite color is, she'll usually say pink, but she almost always chooses the white crayons and pencils. And then sometimes when she's coloring with a white crayon on white paper, she'll tell us it's broken. She loves to color. She knows all the names of the colors, but only puts the right names with the right colors every so often.
~Violet likes her hair done in clippies best. She prefers her styling to mine, even though every time we do her hair in the morning, she tells me the rule for wearing a clippie is to not touch it. Usually within an hour of me putting a clippie in her hair, she's transferred it to another spot on her head, usually in the back or side where it does not help keep her bangs out of her face!

~Violet loves her stool. If someone else uses it, she gets quite upset. She'll tote it around the house to reach things she just can't get to yet on her own.
~Violet is quite a talker at home, she speaks in full sentences and can say just about whatever she wants to. Some of her funny phrases are "Don't cry mommy" if I'm fake crying to tease her or "What about me?!?!?" if Cora gets some thing or attention she's not getting.

~Violet is such a singer! She loves to sing and most car trips involve a medley of Primary songs sung loudly. We learn a new Primary song at FHE once or twice a month, and she picks them up so fast! She also loves the 5 little monkeys song, especially getting 'snapped' by Mr. Alligator.
~ Violet loves doing her car buckles. She'll throw quite a tantrum if you do them before she does. This week she even started doing her bottom buckles too-- a first.

~Violet hates bugs. She also hates anything that could possibly resemble a bug. So, she's pretty terrified of lint left on the floor and feathers (from our down throw pillows) scootching across the floor. She also is fussy about textures. We don't do bubble baths anymore because she shrieks when the bubbles get on her. And she doesn't like those little foam animals that grow from capsules in hot water. And she freaked out the last time I tried to give her a cotton ball to keep her occupied for a minute.

~Violet loves her brother and her sister. She wants to always be around them and play with them. She watches out for Luke and wants to do everything Cora is doing. She is a good girl, and so loving.

A Few More Violet Facts....

~Violet loves celery! Whenever I pull it out, she clamoring for a stick too. She is an eternal chewer though.... the other day she kept a piece of celery in her mouth for about an hour before I caught on and had her spit it out.

~Violet likes to say her prayers... first! In the beginnings of what I suppose will be lengthy sibling rivalry, it's a battle each night who will say their prayers first. And who will say dinner prayer first. Usually we take turns and end up saying dinner prayer twice so Cora and Violet both get a turn.

~Every naptime and nighttime, when I tuck Violet in, she hands me her sippie and wants it refilled... regardless of how much water is already in it. She's very insistent, but has a goofy grin on her face, so we humor her and go add some more water... or turn on the water and pretend to refill it.

~Violet will soon be in a big girl bed! We bought one last week, and hope to start making the transition soon. Luke needs a quieter place to take his naps than my room. I just hope we can preserve naptime, Cora and Violet do ok sharing a room, and Violet stays in her bed better than Cora did (does!).

Sunday Morning

Saturday

Today was a great day! Just about a perfect spring day, if it would have been 10 degrees warmer.

Kevin helped clean the church while the rest of us got ready. Then we were out the door for the neighborhood egg hunt! It was cold and it took the girls a little bit to get the gist of what was going on, but by the end they were gathering candy like pros. I'm so glad our neighbors organized it-- what a great idea!
When we came home we got to talk to Emeline for her birthday on the webcam-- what a cutie! And we picked up our fruit and veggies from the co-op, which always makes me happy.

During Violet's naptime, I hunted for a website that could get her present to us before her birthday (no luck, it'll be a few days late! I think I can blame this on my head cold, but I'm lucky she's little, it shouldn't be too traumatic). Kevin took Cora out for shakes and errands, and saw chicks and ducklings at IFA.

We spent the rest of the afternoon painting growboxes and spreading fertilizer (Kevin) and chalking up the sidewalk, riding bikes, and blowing bubbles (the girls and I). Luke spent most of the day napping-- hopefully that will help him fully recover from his cold. I tried to catch some of those darling sleep smiles, but I was always a second too late or out of focus for the best shots.
Dinner was chocolate chip pumpkin pancakes, sausage, and mango. The girls LOVE sausage, we have to count down bites of pancake they must eat inbetween sausages.

And what could be better than two helpful new dishwashers? Well, at least a dishwasher apprentice and her watcher. Cora has helped wash the dishes a few times now and loves it. Look at that focus!
I topped the evening off with a trip to buy my first wrinkle cream, screwtop openers for my 5 gallon buckets of wheat, oats, and rice, and was super excited to find diapers in stock at the store with the stellar diaper deal. I may be a little obsessive about buying diapers. If there was an emergency, we will likely be able to trade them for food. For a long time. Good thing we live in a neighborhood with lots of kids! At least I've almost never paid full price for them! My diaper excitement was topped only by learning there is a tool made specifically to open those tricky 5 gallon buckets. Ahh, true signs of the 30's setting in!

Nifty Stuff

I've really enjoyed reading about other people's favorite things on their blogs, and wanted to share some of the nifty gadgets I use and love too. I started my list and realized that about half of the items on my list have to do with cleaning. I guess I'm a sucker for things that will make my cleaning time easier and more effective! Here are my favorites, with more non-cleaning nifty favorite items to come later. My Bissell steam mop is especially nice with the large amount of wood floors we have in the house. No more scrubbing dried oatmeal blob off the floor on my hands and knees! It cleans off gunk, is quiet so it can be used after kiddos go to bed, uses water and not some expensive chemical solution, water dries fast, has a washable pads, and it can sanitize the floors too if left in one place long enough.

This pomegranate surface cleaner spray smells delicious and makes my countertops shiny and clean. I got a free one at a craft show drawing, and now I'm hooked!
After buying a lemon-scented other cleaner that really just smelled like urine, I was on the hunt for something more pleasant. This Method pink grapefruit cleaner is just the thing. Now it actually smells like I cleaned those bathrooms too!
I couldn't find the exact picture of mine, but this is the basic idea. It's a hand mitt duster with microfiber shag on it. It's so handy for dusting, you don't need dusting spray and it's easy to get nooks and crannies. I especially like it for cleaning my banister.

Gel gloss is the best for protecting fixtures from hard water. It repels the water and stops hard water spots before the start. I'm a recent convert, my mom has been using it for years.
Ahh, the Dyson. It picks up so much, it runs right along the baseboards, it's easy to empty, there are no rubber bands that break and no bags to replace, the filter is washable instead of replaceable, it's got great attachments for hard surface floors and stairs and cleaning goldfish out of the car. It's a dream. Again, I don't have this exact set, but I've found microfiber clothes are really the best way to go. My mom saw my stash and asked if I went to a closeout sale on them. I bought a pack at Costco, so I do have a large quantity of them. But having a few comes in handy when cleaning multiple bathrooms and lots of kid messes.
This was a big winner in my last house. It kept my solid surface sink nice and white, easily took off the yellow ring around the sink from hard water, and buffed out small scratches on the countertops. Now I use it to keep my stainless steel sink looking good.

This guy is a newbie, but I have a feeling it will be a winner too. We've used it to clean up spilled milk on carpet and the one time (thankfully!) Luke went out of control during a diaper change. I wish I would have had it to clean up potty training messes and throw-up on carpet, mattresses, and upholstery in the past. But, I'm sure I'll have those opportunities the future!

I'm always on the lookout for other nifty cleaning tools. Any suggestions?

Harmony

The girls were singing Luke a song yesterday, and I was amazed that he started making noises and 'singing' along with them. He only did it when they were singing, and he was focused on them the whole time.

Luke's first song...



Longer video for the bored or related...

St. Patrick's Day

Our Stansbury playgroup friends came out for St. Patrick's Day play and festivities. We ate soup and chicken nuggets, played with green balloons, read about a lucky dog, hunted for shamrocks, and played "pin the nose on the leprechaun", besides lots of free play and visiting. Thanks for driving out, ladies!

Horsey, Horsey

The girls sure love their Pata! Pata was great to keep them entertained while Kevin and I finished up getting dinner ready on Monday.

Last Weekend

We had a snowy, low-key weekend... just the thing we needed after two busy weekends! Saturday started off with a church pancake breakfast-- where Kevin impressed us all by winning the pancake eating contest. He ate a paper plate sized pancake faster than anyone else-- and won 6 pounds of gummy bears for his efforts. I guess some good can come from watching international hotdog eating contests on tv! I think he picked up some methodology there.

It snowed all day on Saturday, mostly really wet snow, but it did stick for a while. The rest of the day we did crafts (for kids AND adults, I finally finished 3 projects that have been laying around for a while), played games on the Wii, and had a family movie afternoon--with popcorn and gummy bears. We watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs-- it was pretty cute. By Sunday the snow was gone and it was sunny outside. We had to get the kids outside to burn off some energy, so after church we went for a windy walk-- even Luke! and did some bike-riding. At Cora's insistent requests, we also made pink muffins with pink sprinkles inspired by Pinkalicious.
We're so excited spring is coming! Cora asks if spring is here almost every day.

Luke at Two Months

Luke is now 10 pounds, 14 ounces (30th percentile) and 22.83 inches long (45th percentile). I felt adventurous and took all three kids to the doctor yesterday morning for Luke's two month appointment. Luckily it was successful! The girls were great, and so was Luke, until he got his shots. Poor little guy.

A little about Luke now:

-He gives the BIGGEST smiles and responds to our smiles and cooing with smiles and coos of his own
-His sisters call him Lukey, Lukey-luke, or Lukers, and always want to know if he is awake or asleep and if they can hold him..
-When Luke sneezes he always has at least two people (Cora and Violet) to respond by saying "blessyou", and one person (Violet) to excitedly proclaim "He had a bless you! Luke had a bless you!"
-Luke conks outs about 8 or 9 pm until 6:30 or 8:00am, depending on how long we can fend the girls off. There has only been about 2 or 3 times when he was wide awake in the middle of the night. He regularly sleeps in about 4-5 hour stretches each night... yeah!

-He doesn't seem to mind tummy time too much

-He loves being bounced on the yoga ball (in our arms of course), that's the best way to calm him down. Our ball sprung a leak last week late at night and we had to go out the next day to buy a new one, it's a necessity!

-He likes to snuggle up to me when he lays by me on the bed, if I move an inch over, somehow he scootches his burrito-wrapped self over next to me.

-He loves to be held and often will fall asleep in our arms only to wake up 10 minutes after we set him in his swing or bouncer to nap. Don't ask how many tasks and projects get interrupted because of this little sleeping trait! (The doctor said cat-napping is normal for this age and he'll develop more nap patterns in the next couple of months)

-Luke is a great eater and doesn't seem to mind what I eat too much, with a few gas drops if I'm eating something that doesn't agree with him.
-Luke loves watching his sisters and tracks them with his eyes while they dance around him.

-Luke knows my voice and will calm down when he hears me speak or when I pick him up. Same for Kevin. Luke's probably just relieved it is one of his parents instead of having to gear up for some rough love from one of his sisters! They are pretty good, but Violet especially can be overly loving or thoughtful (Luke is cold! He wants to hear the loud music in his bouncer while he sleeps!)
-Luke is not a very good shopper. He almost always starts screaming if I keep him in his carseat while we go grocery shopping. So I've been doing most of the grocery shopping in the evenings (uggh) or putting him in his sling (fine for one longer shopping trip, a pain for picking up just a couple of things at several stores).
-Violet loves to read to Luke. She'll get out her books that's she's basically memorized and read them to him. A current favorite is More Spaghetti, I Say! It's pretty cute.

Hugs and Kisses

Happy, Sad, and Sneezy