Seriously!

Look at that face!!And this one!

Willa is getting SO strong - she can really push herself up and look around when she's on her tummy. It's so funny how different they look when they aren't laying flat! And yes, her little cheeks are extremely kissable. I just love it!

Every morning Violet wants to hold Willa for a little bit. I finally caught them both smiling:
I like Willa's ear sticking out here.
Generally about 21 seconds after these pictures are taken, Violet pokes Willa in the eye or hits her. Tonight she hit her, got a time out, threw a fit, said she was sorry, then immediately poked her in the eye and put HERSELF in time out.
Me: "What are you doing, Violet?"
Violet: "Time out. Poked Baby Willa."
Niiiice.

Last weekend we went to the Dragon Boat Festival where they race semi-authentic boats on one of the local lakes (yes, there IS water in Colorado. Just not a whole lot of it!). Here are Jon & Jim with Hannah & Violet.
Watching the flags and "dragon" go by.
Violet and Hannah watching the boats go by.
Violet isn't the only one who gets to have friends at playgroup. Here is Willa's best buddy Morgan who is just two weeks younger than her. We see her every week at playgroup. This is about the extent of their playing. Wheeee-whooo!

Cousins!

Whoa! Long time, no post, but we've been busy! My sister and her family were in town for a super fun week and we had a blast! Violet LOVES her cousins and it was so much fun to have them meet Willa too. We miss them already!

Here they are! From left to right: Willa, Anna, Claire, Ethan (or Eee-tan as Violet says) and Violet.
My sister Leah and her favorite nieces!
Ethan holding Willa
And Claire holding Willa. No pictures of Anna holding Willa - she and Violet were always off playing together!
Aunt Leah snuggled up with Willa. Willa LOVES to sleep like this - it's the best! Well, maybe not at 3am, but still...
We all went for a easy hike in Golden. It was hot but fun and the view was amazing! It was a little over a mile and Violet walked almost the entire way!CraCrazy kids!
I tried my hand at babywearing - here is Willa all wrapped up in her Moby Wrap. I LOVED it and so did she! I now have her wrapped up at least once a day. It's an awesome way to be hands-free, especially while shopping (I wrap her and put Violet in the cart as usual). Plus she sleeps the entire time since she's so cozy!
Violet insisted on holding her cousins hands while we were headed out. So cute!
We also went to a birthday party for Anna and a few of her family members on Joel's side of the family. Here are Violet and I .And now for what might be the funniest thing that Violet has done yet - CAUGHT ON VIDEO!! So we're all hanging out at the party when we see this... you may first think that Violet has to go potty...

But no, see her COUSINS were riding THEIR "horses" (a big stuffed dog and big stuffed horse) and Violet of COURSE had to ride too, right? But see, the only "horse" she could find was this:
A teeny tiny plastic My Little Pony. It was seriously so funny I almost wet myself. :)

Later on in the week she tested out her riding skills again on her own stuffed horse. At least the proportions of the horse were a little better but, uh, she was missing her clothes.
We also visited the zoo (of COURSE!). Violet refused to be in this picture.
All the cousins looking at the mountain goats.
And the flamingos.
AND we visited a Denver "must do" - Casa Bonita!! It's a combination Mexican Restaurant/Carnival/Cliff Diving Show. It was really funny and Leah's kids LOVED it!
Now that the cousins are gone, I get asked by Violet at least 3x a day what the cousins are doing, where they are, and/or when she gets to see them again :(

Here are some new pictures of Willa. She is doing so great and is just a really happy and easy baby. She is really looking like Jon to me! Especially this sweet little smile picture. Although it doesn't REALLY look like her, it's still so cute!
Biiiig smile!
And getting a bath.

Here is Violet blowing bubbles. I just think she looks so old here!
Willa and I sacked out on the couch. She's so snuggly!
Sisters!
AND a great picture of Willa with my midwife Amy who did such a great job helping me through Willa's pregnancy and especially her birth! Thanks Amy!
I also have to tell you all a few of the cute/funny things Violet has been saying lately. Her speech has really taken off lately but she still calls a lot of things a funny name. For instance:

Butterfly = butter-ah-fly
Blueberries = blue-burr-dees
Strawberries = straw-burr-dees

Summertime!

Ah Summertime. The kiddie pool is out. The slide is in it, and Violet and her friends had a BLAST going down the slide and splish-splashing into the pool!
Video of the event:


Willa has also gotten into the outdoor fun. But for her, fun is sleeping.She is ONE MONTH OLD as of tomorrow!! Holy cow. I can't believe a month has gone by already! She is really doing great (besides some reflux issues we're working on) and is starting to really put on the smiles when we're changing her diapers. Aww!






If she isn't smiling, at least Violet is! Violet still wants to hold her a LOT which is really cute.
And here is Willa sweetly sleeping in her favorite place - on her daddy's chest. This is their nightly ritual - she and Jon hang out and watch a little TV together.
Here is Willa all bundled up like a small enchilada, ready for her nap.
Green Subaru, anyone? We couldn't resist this picture. Me, my step-sister and brother-in-law and Trent (my BIL) each have a green Subaru. They all got together for a Green Subaru convention in the front of the house.

Happy 4th of July!

We hope everyone had a GREAT 4th of July! This was my first Colorado 4th of July - last year I was home visiting over the 4th. Surprisingly, there are almost no parades today here in Denver so we ventured up to Georgetown, a little mining town in the mountains where they DO have a parade. It was such a cool place to watch a parade and had a fun small town atmosphere.Here is Violet's reaction to the start of the parade.

Notice the people watching the parade from the windows across the way. Good seats, but no candy for them!
Willa's first parade and first 4th of July. She slept through the whole thing - even the sirens!The view of the mountains from the parade routeHere is a little video of the parade:

We got to Georgetown a little early so we walked down to the park and let Violet play on some of the fun toys.


We were also lucky enough to have Jon's mom stay with us and help last week. We took a trip to the zoo on her last day. Here we are in front of our favorites, the giraffes.Willa's first trip to the zoo. She slept through most of it too.
Violet and her Oma at the elephants.
Oma and Willa
Oma, Violet and the bear.
Violet got lots of special treats this week - here she is with her ice cream from Oma. Perfect for a hot day!
We also have had one more set of visitors - my step-sister Sarah and her husband Rich are in town for a few days too! Here is Sarah with a very snuggly Willa.
And a couple of cute pictures of Willa in the sunshine on her changing table. She has been smiling a lot which is sooo sweet!

A video of Willa smiling:

Violet is loving having all the baby gear out and around. Here she tries out the swing.
We now have a little skate ramp in our backyard and Violet LOVES to run back and forth (and back and forth) on it. Plus she's finding out how fun and funny her daddy and Uncle Trent can be. She says one of my favorite things in here - "Look at me!" except she says it like "Yook-it. ME!":