The Adventures of Violet and Willa

Photo Session & Fall Festival

2011-10-12T21:30:00.000-07:00

I bribed the girls to go take some photos - they did pretty good considering Willa decided a few minutes earlier that she did NOT want to have her picture taken! Grr!

I love this pic! I have no idea why! :)

On the way home we stopped and visited Grey. Violet took this picture! I don't think she's ever taken a picture before where everything she wanted in the picture, she got! Grey's ears are even up!

I love this pic of Willa and a random horse - they were pretty fascinated with eachother!

We also went to a local Cider Festival - it was really fun! I am glad we gave it a try, I think it's going to be a new family tradition!

They got to go on a tractor ride together.

You will never guess what happened. Violet actually PET AN ANIMAL in an actual PETTING ZOO! I was pretty proud of her, because usually it's just ME petting all the baby goats!

They also took a burro ride. You can see how incredibly thrilled Willa's tiny burro was about his job! Apparently this little burro is the mascot for the School of Mines!

Violet rode on this bigger burrow who was a little happier about his job. I was so proud of my girls to get up there and ride by themselves! And (don't tell Jon) Violet did ask today if she could have a pony. Ha!!

Michigan Trip 2011

2011-10-12T21:02:00.000-07:00


We went back to Michigan in August - Violet and Willa were SO SO excited to hang out with the COUSINS!! Here are Claire, Violet and Anna right after they first got to see each other at a family reunion. Violet was SO happy!

Anna, Willa, Claire, Violet and Ethan (aw!) all snuggled up watching a movie together.

The girls were SO excited to see Oma! They got to stay at her house for a few nights and she had so many fun things for them to do!

Violet LOVES baking! Check out this yummy chocolate-covered cake she made with Oma!

We also got to go up to Glen Arbor and visit my Grandma - I miss her a ton! We took her on a whirlwind tour of Glen Lake - we only had one day and we had to fit it all in!

First the girls looked at the Crystal River and waved at all the canoers and kyakers.

They even got their suits on and went in the river. Aren't they cute in their matching pink ballerina suits?

We climbed up Sleeping Bear Dunes - and ran down, of course! Violet went up TWICE by herself!

We also stopped out at our cottage on Glen Lake and Violet got to pilot the pontoon on a quick trip across the lake. It was pretty funny because she really was steering, and she just kept going in veeeery tiny circles.

We can't go up North without visiting Max! He looks great (and fat) as usual, and Willa was happy to brush his leg.

Violet & Willa each got a ride around the pasture too!

Back in Grand Rapids, we did tons of fun things with "the cousins" including visiting this nifty new zoo...

And visiting MORE horses! They are both brushing Roy, my friend Sue's horse.

Denver County Fair!

2011-08-18T05:58:00.000-07:00

The 1st ever (can you believe it?) Denver County Fair was a few weeks ago and we had SO much fun! I had my Hip Violet bibs there in both the Denver Handmade Alliance booth and the Tomte Craft booth so that was fun. Here is Violet in front of my little display at the DHA booth:
The girls got to do all sorts of fun activities. Here they are decorating their own chickens!
Violet and a pirate
I entered some artwork into the Children's Wear competition at the fair - here is my triptych of baby bibs!
Later we came back to find a 1st place ribbon pinned to it! Yay!

We also went to the petting zoo where *I* was the only one who pet anything, including these sweet newborn baby goats.
We lucked out because next door was a reining show! I took the girls over and they loved watching the horses spin and slide. I LOVED it!

The girls snuggled up together in a single stroller :)

4th of July in Montana!

2011-07-09T20:08:00.000-07:00

Warning - there are a TON of pictures here! :) We went to Montana last weekend to visit my new baby niece Fern! She is SO SO cute!! I could NOT stop taking pictures of her! She is 2 months old in these pictures.
Violet and Willa LOVED her! They are in the midst of a big "baby phase" where they play babies ALL.THE.TIME so it was great timing! Violet was so excited to get to hold and snuggle with her a lot!

Baby Fern gets a Thumbs Up!
And lots of kisses!
So sweet!
Violet is holding her hand

Willa pretending to sleepJon got his newborn snuggle time in two. It made us both miss those days a little bit!
The picture above reminded me SO much of this picture of Jon with Willa and Violet when Willa was just a few days old!
We went to a great 4th of July parade in Ennis, Montana. It was so cool and very "out west"... although I really enjoyed the fact that everyone was drinking Bloody Mary's! New 4th of July tradition around here I think!

Kelly, Brett and Fern snuggled up in her carrier.
The happy family :)We went to Kelly's sisters house in Ennis for lunch. They have a FANTASTIC view of the mountains!
Uncle Brett, Willa and DaddyBack in Bozeman at night, we went to Brett's old house to watch the fireworks. He lived for years in these converted grain silos!
Violet tried out a sparkler (she was pretty scared of it - boo hoo!)Jon and Brett went up the hill behind the silos - you could see for MILES and MILES and Jon said he saw hundreds of fireworks! It was a little too steep for us to try with the girls - maybe next time!
My brother works at the local hot springs, so we got to go test it out with the girls! Willa LOVED it. It was too hot for Violet but she did try it near the end!

Violet thinking about taking a dip. Nice tan-line Jon!
Violet wearing Daddy's hat and sunglasses while we were out for lunch.
Saying good-bye to Fern (and Brett & Kelly) was HARD! I am going to miss that little lady! Luckily we have Skype and more road-trips coming up!

Lakeside!

2011-07-07T14:11:00.000-07:00

We finally visited Lakeside Amusement Park! It's pretty old school and we LOVED it!

The girls on the ladybugs:
Violet and her best buddy Ella on the kiddie roller coaster (I still can't believe Violet actually went on it!)
Willa with a silly grin on the horse carriage ride:
Willa, Violet and Ella on a boat:
Daddy, Violet and Ella try out The Whip (which is now Violet's favorite)

Spring Catch-up!

2011-06-12T07:57:00.000-07:00

First, HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY WILLA!!
She had a fabulous day and a very fun party with her cousins and neighbors.
Having a yummy birthday lunch with her Princess Birthday hat on.
Opening her gifts - she loved them!

Willa and Violet patiently waiting for the cupcakesThis is how Willa ate her cupcake - she never picked it up!
A little birthday half-pipe ride with Daddy!

We stopped for a special cupcake treat on Friday too!
Cute, serious Willa

Last weekend we went down to the Chalk Art Festival. It was so fun to see such talented artists and watch them work! We brought our own sidewalk chalk and Violet and Willa did their own version.
Finished product!
We took some photos with the camera timer the other day to see how it work work. It worked pretty good!
On Mother's Day we took a mini road trip through the mountains from Denver to Estes Park. It was so beautiful! We got out here to take a look around and let the girls stretch their legs. This was the first little road trip we did where everyone was very happy the entire time. Let's hope it stays that way - we have two BIG road trips coming up this summer! We're headed to Bozeman in July and Michigan in August!
Silly gooses! I love how different they are. They were playing dressup with their Princess castle and each picked their own shoes. Violet had her ballet flats. Willa had her Chuck Taylors :)
These two are SO cute together! They get along SO well and I know I'm very lucky!
Here they are playing "House." Mostly it involves Violet or Willa calling the other one "Mom" or "Honey" and putting each other down for naps.

Violet took a really fun tap/ballet class this spring. Willa had to get dressed up too and watched from the sidelines.Trying out their dance moves!
We got to visit our "cousin chickens" again the other day - they sure aren't baby chicks anymore! They both loved it and Willa couldn't get enough of them pecking food out of her hand, even though it kind of hurt!
One thing I love about Denver is that a lot of people fly through! My mom and step-dad had a few hours layover so we got to meet up. The girls LOVED showing off for them!

Easter! (just a little late!)

2011-04-25T06:50:00.000-07:00

Here are some much anticipated Easter pictures!
Little photo shoot that turned out WAY sillier than we could have imagined!

Violet drew her first flower!
My two little princesses.
Our neighborhood Mangy Fox. Poor guy!

Spring has Sprung!!

2011-04-07T21:08:00.001-07:00

We had such a fun Spring Break this year! Usually the girls have daycare and preschool, but both were off last week so we spent the whole time together and had a blast! First, WILLA IS POTTY TRAINED!! We did the 3-day Potty Training again and it turned out perfectly. Of course Violet was a huge help since she got treats if Willa went on the potty too.

After we could leave the house again, we had "Farm Week". First we went and visited Grey.

Violet got to help walk him out of the barn. Grey's owner Roland is holding the lead rope. They also both brushed him and gave him lots of treats. So fun!
Next we went and saw the baby chicks at a local store. They were SO CUTE and the girls were totally fascinated! We are going to get chickens for ourselves next year, so for now we're researching and trying to learn all we can!

The adorable ducklings
They wanted to play in the dog house at the store!

This week we went to the zoo. Here is Violet showing off her "I want to dress myself" skills:
And being her cute self!

A Budding Artist and a Silly Willa

2011-03-08T07:56:00.000-08:00

Violet has been drawing up a storm lately! Here is her first alligator:

And below are two girls (check out their cute flipped-out hair and HANDS!) and above them in a baby camel in a mommy camels tummy:

She also asked to help me sew the other day (YAY!). She helped me take the pins out of my bibs after the fleece back was sewn on. She did such a good job and even folded each one very neatly after she was done!I am definitely finding that these two play GREAT together for the most part. BUT we're running into the "scary silences" stage. If they are too quiet, you may very well find them in Willa's room with an entire box of oyster crackers smushed into the floor :) At least they're cute! And it was pretty funny because while Violet helped pick them up, Willa just kept grabbing handfuls and throwing them in the air shouting "YAY!"
She is a Silly Willa. I laugh out loud at her antics about 10x a day.

She also LOVES to eat! She'll eat pretty much anything, but her favorites are black olives, sour cream and black beans. What do you call it if you like salty stuff instead of sweet? A "salt tooth"? Whatever it is, her and I have it! We keep joking that when we potty train her we're going to use a spoonful of sour cream and a black olive as her treat! We literally have to hide the sour cream container if we have it out for dinner or that's ALL she wants to eat.

This picture was taken after her dinner of black beans the other night. She is NOT a neat eater, which is fine and rather funny. Her and Violet both polished off a whole can of beans together.
Here is Violet trying on my glasses. Doesn't she look OLD?
Last weekend I was SUPER excited to visit my brother and sister-in-law in Montana (kid free!) for the weekend. We had so much fun and it was really great to be able to celebrate their new baby girl (due at the end of April) with them! We also got to see my brothers band play AND soak in the hot springs where he works (my mom and sister and I were pretty proud of ourselves - it was FREEZING with super high winds, but we put on our suits and jumped in the pool with everyone else. My sisters suit froze while she was wearing it and my mom's hair froze!)
In "house news" we FINALLY got a room finished in the basement so I was able to move all of my Hip Violet sewing stuff down there! I now have an actual sewing room! Check out my blog post here for pictures.

The best part about it is that we were able to move a lot of toys around and now we have a playroom in the dining room. Yippie! Pictures of that to come!

Happy (Late) 4th Birthday Violet!

2011-02-18T19:52:00.000-08:00

Violet celebrated her 4th birthday at the end of January!
She got an "American Doll Girl" who she named Sweetie Pie. Of course she is a ballerina!
And we had a little party during our regular playgroup time. Violet helped decorate her cupcakes.
They turned out pretty cute!All dressed up and ready for her party!
Happy Birthday!
Willa was a ballerina too :)
Sweet sisters!We've been doing a whole lot of arts and crafts this winter - here are Violet and Willa painting:
Willa loved the finger paints! She even got some on her forehead. Good thing it washes out really well!
Painting with a brush.
The weather has been really nice so we went to the park one day and got some cute pictures!

The girls' favorite dinner - rice and beans at Wahoo's! I love Willa's face! She ate the WHOLE BOWL!
We celebrated Valentines Day by having pink heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast and (drum roll please) pink mashed potatoes and pink gravy for dinner! Ha! I love my pink-loving girls! Now I have to think of something fun to dye green for St. Patrick's Day!

Just a typical January week...

2011-01-21T20:17:00.001-08:00

Whoa! Looking back on these pictures, we had a BUSY and FUN week! Last weekend we ventured out to the zoo with our favorite neighbors. The weather was pretty warm (in the 50's) and all the animals were out having a great time. Here are Violet, Willa and their friend Ella.
The girls watching the giraffes.
Our little ray o' sunshine!
Pretending to take a nap. Aw.
Violet also got to celebrate her birthday at preschool today, and I got to volunteer. It really is so fun to hang out with all these amazing little kiddos! Here is Violet making play-doh cookies with her friend:
For how much she wants to paint at home, I'm surprised she doesn't spend all morning at the painting easels at school!
Song time! I think this was during the "If you're sad and you know it..." part of the song :)
She got to wear her special birthday crown for snack time. Later we had pink cupcakes with pink frosting and *gasp* pink sprinkles. She decorated them herself.
After school we headed down to the Stock Show with Uncle Trent. She got to take a ride on Dolly the paint pony:
And use dry-erase markers on a van (hopefully she doesn't decide to do this again on our cars with a Sharpie) - among other things like watching lots of cool animals!
No wonder she fell fast asleep on the ride home!
In other news, she wrote her NAME today!!! I am so proud of her! Funny: for the last 3 days when she says "I'm going to write my name!" she writes T O E. Those three letters are in her name, but just so funny that she really did think she was writing it! Luckily she also seemed excited that TOE spelled out a word too :)
And some more artwork. I showed her how easy it was to make a skateboard, so now all her people are skateboarding. Here she is skateboarding with her Grandpa Rich. If you knew her Grandpa Rich and how much he "loves" that all his boys skateboard, you would know just how funny this is! We're sending it to him soon!

Winter Fun!

2011-01-15T18:52:00.000-08:00

Snowman time! I built this thing in 2 minutes flat... it was perfect snowman snow! Here you can see Willa grabbing for the carrot nose - she couldn't figure out why we had to stick it in the giant snowballs!
Trying to make a snow angel!
All bundled up!
Winter also means it's STOCK SHOW SEASON! We made our annual trip downtown to watch the Stock Show Parade.
Willa really loved it! Of course my kids are required to love parades :)Long horns!
In other news, Violet has been doing such a great job drawing lately and it has been SO fun to watch! She is now drawing little scenes instead of floating people - this is one of my favorites. Please note that what might look like EARS on the side of this person's head are actually SLEEVES.
And here, obviously, is a camel.
Speaking of Violet, she is going through a band-aid phase. She had an owie on her lip and insisted on this one:
I have been taking the month off from sewing for my business so I can get some projects done around the house AND sew some new things that I haven't tried before. I got a great skirt pattern and made this for Willa - you can also see an outfit I made for Violet in the first snowman picture. I'm really loving making them!I'm also attempting to repaint the kitchen... of course that SOUNDS easy but it has included scraping wallpaper, scraping wallpaper GLUE, removing a built-in desk, and chiseling out tiles and parts of the wall. Crazy! Hopefully I will actually get it done by the end of the month - we'll see! It would be great to at least have ONE room that wasn't beige!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-01T06:42:00.000-08:00

We headed to Florida this year for Christmas (a tradition of my families for years!). It was chilly but so fun to hang out with my family!

Willa has never been to the beach before so she LOVED investigating the sand and water. It really is the hugest sand box!
Christmas Eve we went to church with everyone - Violet even dressed up as an Angel for the Unrehearsed Christmas Pagent. Here she is with cousin Claire and Willa.

Christmas Eve dinner!

Violet and Claire were GREAT playmates. Here is Claire as a reindeer and Violet as Santa driving her sleigh!Christmas morning!

Violet and her new ballet slippers and fairy princess dress.

The annual Christmas Day walk on the beach. Willa was super sandy and you can see how much Jon enjoyed having her little hands on his face! :)
Willa and Violet both LOVED the pool! We have got to get them some swimming lessons. They both spent many hours in their rings floating in the water and spinning around. Willa also loved getting dunked under water. Who knew?
Both the girls like to pretend to go on a trip in the sea kayak.
Willa's favorite part of the beach was rolling around in the sand.

Both girls in their matching Tutu Swim Suits.
Playing on the beach with cousins Anna and Ethan.

Violet's new monster face that we get the pleasure of seeing ALL THE TIME.

Out for dinner at a Japanese Steak House. Violet wasn't too sure about the fire at our table!
We had such a fun and tiring trip that Violet decided to take a little nap at the Atlanta airport on the way home.

Violet showing off her Christmas Tree she decorated at preschool.The girls freezing at the Christmas Parade in Golden.

One of their favorite games - NAPTIME!!!
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas 2010! I can't wait to see what 2011 brings!

Grandpa Bruce

2010-12-15T20:32:00.001-08:00

Dear Dad,
It's been ten years ago today that you've been gone. I think about you every day and I MISS you every day.

I make sure to talk to Violet and Willa all about their Grandpa Bruce as much as I can. They know that you loved Tootsie Pops, being silly, and that you're up in heaven now.

I'm trying to teach them in a way that would make you proud: They both eat pancakes, waffles and french toast the proper way: with butter and sugar. I told Violet to "shape up" the other day. And I have been known to do the "this-floor-is-sticky" Foot-Tap on the kitchen floor while glaring at them in the exact same way you used to. We sing loudly and often. Violet made up her own song tonight which was so sweet it made my heart hurt. And every single time these things happen I would give a mizillion dollars to call you up and tell you about what your granddaughters are up to. You would have loved them.

I love you and I miss you SOOOOOOO much (as Violet says!)
jesi

Here are a few pics of my dad. Here he is in at his favorite place - working at our cottage in Northern Michigan.

My mom and dad and I not too long before he got sick.Being silly together :)
My favorite picture of my super hip parents back in the 70's. Sorry mom, I had to post it!
Thanks for reading this!

Hurray for Christmas!

2010-12-11T07:43:00.000-08:00

Last week we drove up to the mountains, walked around in the woods for a while and finally found our tree! Here are the girls in front of it. It's a little Charley Brownish but we love it!
Violet and Willa being silly mid-hike
Jon and Willa with the saw to cut down the tree
Willa in the woods
Violet and her best pals Jordyn and Piper after getting our trees
We stopped for lunch on the way home and Violet insisted she have her picture taken with this Christmas Dog out front!
Later we got out all our decorations - the girls were SO excited! Here they are with our tiny pink tree that is now out in the front yard.
Violet and daddy putting up Christmas lights
Oma came over Thanksgiving and we had a mini-Christmas celebration. They were SO excited to open presents!
Willa opening up her favorite thing - a Bee Pillow Pet (why do kids love those so much? She SCREAMS when the commercial comes on!)

Giving it a hug :)Violet and her new gingerbread man apron
Silly ladies
Willa dressed up like this all by herself (well, she picked everything out , I had to help put on a few things)
Willa's new favorite place to play. This is in the shelves under our TV.

Fall!

2010-11-14T15:26:00.000-08:00

First, here are some pictures from Halloween! Violet's preschool class all dressed up in their costumes and did a "parade" to the other classrooms. It was so cute! You can see Violet who is about 3rd in line. She was one of about 10 other witches in her class :)

With her friend Isak listening to stories.
We also carved pumpkins - Violet got really into drawing out the face and getting all ooey-gooey!

Halloween! Our little witch and purple bug. Willa looks very annoyed here, which was pretty much true for the whole idea of trick-or-treating. She didn't want to walk so she spent most of the night being held by me going house to house.
This is how we roll! (notice the 6-pack in the back of the wagon!)
Trick-or-treating with our most awesome neighbors and friends. This is their daughter dressed as Fufa from Yo Gabba Gabba.
The loot!

Silly girls!Violet and Willa spend many minutes (I wish I could say hours!) playing a game I call "Naps." It involves Violet putting Willa down for a nap in various places with various forms of a pillow and blanket. Willa actually really loves to play along. This is how I found them the other day. Violet even had on her apron. A regular June Cleaver, that girl!
Here is Willa "napping" on the doll bed.
The first snowfall! Willa loved it!
So did Violet!
Willa has been learning new things all the time lately. In one day she did a somersault, learned to stack blocks (see picture below) and picked up about 10 more words.
Today Jon raked the leaves and the girls had a blast throwing them and jumping in them.

Speaking of words, we are so amazed by how many words Willa knows and learns! Her favorite one is "stuck". In the morning when she gets up at 0-dark-thirty (usually 6am), I stumble out to the living room with her, snuggle her up on my lap, cover us both with a blanket, and turn on some cartoons for her to watch. That usually keeps her happy for about 1/2 hour and then she is kicking off the blanket saying "Stuck! Stuck!" She then walks into the kitchen and gets a sippy cup from the drawer and brings it to me, which means she wants her morning milk. So silly!

She still doesn't really say Violet yet, although if you ask her to say it she says SOMETHING, but it's funny that she hasn't figured out a word to call her yet. She has picked up the lovely habit of yelling "NO!" to Porter (poor guy!), but on the other hand if she wants something she says "Pease? Pease?" for please.

Pumpkin Patch!

2010-10-23T18:55:00.000-07:00

Violet found her perfect pumpkin!

Too bad Willa slept through the actual pumpkin picking part!But woke up for the fun stuff like the straw bale maze!
Apparently not everyone loves their picture taken all the time...

End of Summer

2010-10-17T19:22:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast this summer has flown by! Here is Willa trying out some watermelon:

I don't know if it's because they have both had a camera in their faces from day 1, but they are so good about having their picture taken! Okay, I admit I sometimes have to bribe Violet with a pick from her "Special Treat Box", but if that's what it takes to get these sweet pictures then I'm all for it!(this next one was not done with bribery. They did this all on their own. Aw.)

Violet has been really interested in skateboarding lately (uh-oh!). Jon got her her own board and she was very VERY excited to paint and decorate it.
Luckily she is also still into dressing up as a princess.

Oh, and Willa's hair finally fits in PIGTAILS!!!!
Good night :)

Funny Things our Kids Say

2010-09-18T21:38:00.000-07:00

I haven't done this in a while, but I do keep a little notebook in the kitchen and try to write down funny things Violet (and now Willa) say. Here are some good ones!

VIOLET
• oatmeal = eeoh-meew
• "Can I have some little bit of _____?"
• After she eats something healthy for her or drinks a lot of water she'll say proudly "I'm gonna be a really REALLY big girl soon!"
• "Leave. Me. 'LONE!" (great)
• Whenever she makes pretend food for us, it is always "Peach-Apple Pie"
• Our favorite: "Have you ever seen that tee-four?" (before).
• "What's that nose?" (noise)

WILLA
She is talking up a STORM! We can only understand about 2% of what she says, so it's pretty hysterical. She does all the proper facial expressions and everything. She's so silly!
• She can say Mama, Mommy & Daddy. The last few days she has said "Ahhhhh-meeee!" for mommy and "Ahhhh-deeee!" for Daddy. It is pretty cute.
• She can also say Hi, Uh-oh, Shoes, Doggie and Thank-you (daaa-dooo!)
• Tonight she started saying No. But here is how the conversation goes:
Me: Willa, do you want more banana?
Willa: Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn-OW!
• Shaking her head yes or no is also new and actually really helpful. Sometimes we actually know what she wants!
• Even though this isn't talking-related, she has been really wanting to use a spoon and fork by herself. She fed herself some yogurt the other morning, and some chili tonight. Big girl!
• AND the best part is that when I say "Hey Willa! Let's go change your diaper (or take a nap or go to bed)!" she toddles her little self to her room. If we're changing a diaper, she walks up to her changing table with her arms up for me to pick her up. If she's taking a nap or going to bed, she climbs up onto the futon in her room and waits to read her books. She is WAY too easy to put to bed. I just wish she would stay there longer! She's up at 5:30 or 6:00am every. stinking. morning.

Michigan Part II and MUCH more!

2010-09-12T13:35:00.000-07:00

Eeks! I can't believe I haven't updated this blog in so long!

Here are some pictures from the second half of our trip back to Michigan. The girl cousins:
Being silly!
Willa with my friend Kara's twins Brynn and Nate. They are all wearing their Hip Violet bibs. Awww!We also visited my friend Sue and her girls Megan and Madison at a horse show. Violet got to help lead Black Jack back to the trailer.
One of the big reasons we were in Michigan was the annual Pig Roast! Violet got to swim in the lake on a nice hot and humid pig roast day.
Back home again!
After all the horses we got to see back in Michigan, Violet decided she was ready to give riding a try (FINALLY!). She did SO good!
Willa even got the chance to sit up on his back. She LOVED it! And screamed and cried when we took her down.
Willa is our little adventurous daredevil. She doesn't know she's only 1 and shouldn't be doing all these crazy things! She can climb up the ladder of our playset alllll by herself. Usually we are there to help her but sometimes if we aren't watching she will zip up there all by herself. I finally had to barricade it so she couldn't go up - mostly because our slide is FAST and HIGH and I don't want her going down by herself!
Sweet Violet
Who took a leap off the swing on our swingset, landed on her shoulder, and broke her collarbone.
Of course the orangey-red sling with lime green turtles didn't last long...
We took a family trip to the zoo on Labor Day. It was a little chilly day so all the animals were out and VERY active. It was so cool! Here is Violet feeding the lorakeets.

Later we watched the polar bear jump and play. He walked RIGHT by Violet, then stood up on his hind le
... and leapt into his pool!

Michigan!

2010-08-11T18:50:00.000-07:00

We did it! We made it 20 hours (almost exactly) in the car from Colorado to Michigan. Overall I guess the drive went okay, except for the fact that my normally good car-sleepers did not sleep well. At all. Live and learn!

We did run into a very odd thing - there were looooong strands of white plastic stuff all over the highway for miles and miles. For some reason we were the ONLY car that got it caught all over. We were trailing these things for awhile. We finally stopped at a rest area to take them off and they were sooo long that they wrapped around a tree on the other side of the parking lot! :)

Finally Violet gets to play with "mine cousins" - they have more than lived up to her expectations. There have been many Princess Dance Parties, crafts, swimming, and playing and playing and playing. We even got to go swimming!
Everybody! Ethan, Anna, Leah, Jon, Claire, Violet and Willa and me!
Grandma and Willa

We lucked out and ended up in town during the old 4H fair. I spent MANY MANY years down here showing my horse and it was so fun to take my own girls! I saw a few old 4H friends and they got to pet tons of animals. Here they are checking out the horses:
Willa and some sheep:
And with a very nice cow:
Both cow and Willa looking at me
And some baby pigs
Violet and Anna!

I also got to take my annual trip up to see my horse Max. It was SO good to see him as usual and I feel like I got my "Max Tank" filled back up again for another year! He has the absolute BEST canter! Despite being incredibly overweight and out of shape :)
Happy girl and happy horse

How much can you pack into one week?

2010-07-31T21:06:00.000-07:00

Apparently - a LOT! In just seven days we did this:

1) Went to the Buffalo Bill Days Parade:
2) Rode the kiddie ferris wheel

3) Went to the Children's Festival and rode a giant rocking horse4) and a real pony
5) Went to the Dragon Boat Races and made a Panda Fan

6) And got to get up close and personal with a dragon head
7) Got a SUPER COOL new play set - THANKS DADDY for putting it together!

8) Had a tea party
9) Got into trouble while mommy made lunch
10) And played "Show Pony" with our very favorite dog!

Hot, hot, hot!

2010-07-18T08:17:00.000-07:00

Heat wave! It's been in the 90's (and 100's) here lately and with no air conditioning it's been HOT!! We've been trying to get out of the house as much as possible - last week when it was a little cooler we went up for a hike in Golden - it was so pretty and Violet is getting so good at doing all of it by herself!

My favorite picture of Violet and I taken by our visitor "Uncle Jon" - our friend from high school!
We also tried out a local pool - it was GREAT! Violet had a great time playing in her floatie Shamu and splashing around with her friends.

Here is a very sweet video of Miss Willa giving me kisses and playing Peek-a-boo. She is just the cutest thing and LOVES giving kisses!

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-05T06:32:00.000-07:00

We celebrated the 4th by driving up to a little mountain town that *gasp* actually has a 4th of July parade. Why doesn't Denver want to have a parade anyway? I don't get it! But I do have to say this is a great little parade. We got there just as it was starting and still found a spot on the curb down the parade route.
The girls had a GREAT time! Violet got tons and tons of candy. Here is Willa demonstrating how she eats it (with the wrappers on).

Willa showing off our stash of candy...Daddy liked it too. Mostly because of the cool old cars and trucks that were in the parade!
Violet thought this guy was Santa Claus.

And she fell fast asleep in the car on the way home with a sucker stick in her mouth. Aww.

Earlier that morning Daddy and Violet snuggled on the couch.So sweet!
Here are our two little princesses. Violet has really been wanting to dress up with Willa lately, and we have a tiny sized Tinkerbell dress. Violet is Barbie, Willa is Tinkerbell. Too cute!!
Here is a little video of Willa (in her Tinkerbell dress) petting and kissing Porter. Such a good dog!

Willa is ONE!!

2010-06-26T07:05:00.000-07:00

Happy (belated) Birthday to Sweet Willa Mae! She turned one a few weeks ago and we've had visitors and parties and craft shows galore so I haven't had a chance to update with new pictures!

I have been making a TON of 1st Birthday Sets through Hip Violet lately, so it was pretty fun to make one for my own Willa! I picked out some super special "retro mushrooms" fabric and made her a shirt and bib to match.

We had so much fun on her birthday! Oma was visiting for her big day so we went to the Botanic Gardens where we got this picture:

Later we had a super fun party where she ate her mushroom cupcakes and very much loved her first real sweets!
Out for dinner on her birthday. Cheese Nips! YUM!
All the Denver Cousins at her birthday party! They are all wearing my shirts! LOVE it!We have been really loving being outside and of course I love taking PICTURES outside! Here are some we've gotten over the last few weeks of both girls and of Willa's 1-year pictures:

Whoa! Look at that face! She makes that every time she is crawling with a mission. So funny!A girl and her dog...
Oma and Violet at the Botanic Gardens
Aunt Heather and Violet at the Gardens

Happy Belated Father's Day too! We took a nice walk in the morning on Father's Day. Here is the best daddy we know!
And here is Violet's first Family Portrait. Now people are getting noses, and sometimes arms, legs and hair too! I could watch her draw all day!

We love summer!

2010-06-06T19:48:00.000-07:00

Summer is finally here! We are SO glad to spend more time outside enjoying all the fun that Colorado has to offer. This weekend we went downtown to the Chalk Art Festival. It was SO COOL! There were dozens and dozens of artists working on amazing drawings on the streets. I can't imagine spending that much time on something only to have it wash away...

We took some sidewalk chalk with us and Violet was really excited to be part of the action!Drew her first sunshine!Willa is finally figuring out how to drink from a sippy cup (and HAS figured out how to eat snacks from a snack-trap. HURRAY!), but still needs some help. Luckily she has a pretty fantastic big sister who helps her out when she's thirsty.
Getting some snuggles with daddy in the shade.
Sweet little Willa.
Pool time! We got a new pool for the girls this year - here are some pictures of their first swim!
(yes, they have matching mermaid bathing suits)
On Memorial Day we took another hike around Red Rocks, this time with Jon and our friends Carolyn and Hannah. We have found that peer pressure works perfectly to get 3 year olds to actually HIKE and not want to be CARRIED! In fact, it worked so well that Violet even did the steep steps in and out!

Violet and her pal Hannah.
Hiking girls! Violet also brought along her doll, Larry.
Random pictures of the two girls in pink!

Here is a funny video of the life that Porter lives. Violet had just spent about 45 minutes before this walking him around and around and around the back yard with his leash on. He was NOT HAPPY that she wasn't taking him for a real walk. When she finally brought him back inside he was exhausted and she took good care of him and put him to sleep. She cracks me up!

And Willa playing Peek-a-boo

Hurray for Horses!

2010-05-26T08:01:00.000-07:00

Meet Grey! This is a horse that I am lucky enough to get to ride a few times a month while his owner is traveling. We took the girls out last weekend (I was secretly hoping they will both catch the "horse bug"!) and they had so much fun! Here they are helping me let Grey have a snack.

Violet has quickly gotten over her fear of real-live horses and sat up on Grey's back with me! Next time we'll bring her helmet and she can walk around. He's a pretty big dude (16.3") so she has a good reason to be a little scared of him, but he truly is a gentle giant!
Willa LOOOOVED him! If she had her way, she would have laid her head right down on his nose and snuggled with him. He was not quite up for that yet, but he did let her pet him quite a bit. Reminds me a bit of the picture below of Violet with my old horse Max (yes, I can't get away form grey horses if I try! This is the 4th one in a row!).

Back home the girls have really been liking taking rides in the wagon together.
And showing off their great smiles!

Help! Willa is trapped under her high chair!
And last, a very sweet video of Willa playing peek-a-boo. She WHIPS around things now to peek at is. It's so funny and you can here her GREAT laugh! I love it!

My Beautiful Girls

2010-05-15T20:25:00.000-07:00

Ah, my girlies. They make me laugh every day and just seem to get more and more fun. Violet says the funniest things (see the bottom for a whole list), like this morning, before even saying "Good morning" she popped out of bed and declared "We're going to grow blueberries in our garden!" Great!
With her best buddy Porter on his new dog bed. He deserves it - he puts up with a LOT. Today when I was leaving Violet was lining up all her princesses on his back.
Freshly washedThis one too

Showing off her sweet smile and 3 bottom teeth. She now has 3 on the top to match. We call her Snaggle Tooth.Her patented Smushy Face Smile
Admiring her reflection in her high chair tray

My friend Brandi got what we call the Mini Unicorn Raver hat for Violet a few years ago. We tried it on Willa. We think it fits her personality to a T.
I know this picture is blurry, but this is what Willa (better known as "Wilsey Pants") and I get to do every time she wakes up from a nap. She is such a great snuggler - I just love it!
And now for another installment of "Funny Things Violet Says"

• If she is wondering who got her something or did something she says "Who somebody give me that?"

• She has been sick a lot lately but if she's starting to feel better she'll say "Feel me better" - for instance "That med-cine feel me better!"

• She calls Willa Willie. But she can't really say her "W's" and subsitutes an L. Thus Willie is Lily.

• If I ask Violet "Are you going to brush your teeth?" she may answer back with "I GUUN!" (aka "I'm going to ").

• Violet told me she also wants to plant cheese, palm trees and cheerios in her garden.

• She has trouble with the "s" sound if it is next to a "p" - so Special Treat turns into Feshal Treat. She will often ask "Can I have a feshal treat from my feshal treat box?" Because of this same problem she calls Smarties Farties.

• Along with that, she is also quite insistent on needing her "space" lately from Willa. She will shout out "No Willa! I need my FACE!"

• When we watch a video and there is a scary part, she wants me to "Past Forward" it instead of Fast-Forward. Make sense to me!

And not to be outdone, Willa, we swear, is starting to talk. She has said Hi a few times and definitely says Dada when Jon is around (the stinker!!) She also says

AhhhhhAH!
Ging! Ging! Ging!

And screams and cries hysterically if Violet takes a toy away from her. Playing her role as a little sister just perfectly! :)

Videos! And Art Class!

2010-05-03T05:42:00.000-07:00

My good friend Megan had a GREAT idea to offer art classes to toddlers. We were lucky enough to get to test it out and Violet had a blast! Here she is getting ready to blow some bubbles of paint (which she never did figure out - instead she accidentally drank it)
Showing off her "Gak"

The girls hanging out between classes (Willa got to do some finger painting later. It was a messy affair).If you're in the Denver area, check out Bluebird Arts!

Violet took this cute picture of Willa and I
I scored a $5 picnic table at Goodwill last week. Because the weather hasn't been that great we brought it inside. Willa can crawl right up on it and she and Violet have been having so much fun playing and eating on it!

VIDEOS!

Here are the girls having fun at the aforementioned picnic table. Aw.

Violet has become QUITE the storyteller. She often tells us very long stories at lunch or dinner. Most of them involve a "scary wolf!" somewhere, although this one does not. We just love her facial expressions and how she changes her tone. My favorite part of this one is at the end... CHICK-MUNKS! And for the record, I only SORT OF know what she is talking about the whole time. She also demonstrates her tiptoeing, which appears to be more about the HANDS than the FEET. Silly!

And check out Willa! Saturday she was standing up by a chair and pushed it across the room! So we brought out this push-toy and off she went! Eeeks!

A Visit from Uncle Brett & Aunt Kelly!

2010-04-18T20:04:00.000-07:00

*** You thought I forgot about this blog, didn't you? Nope, just BUSY! But to make up for it there are actually THREE new posts below. Knock yourselves out!***

We had some of our favorite house guests this week - my brother Brett and his girlfriend Kelly! We LOVE having them here! Violet especially does - every time she asks "Do you want to play?" they say "YES!" :)
Willa LOVES Brett. Must be the beard!
We took an easy hike at Red Rocks - it is SO beautiful and I can't believe it's so close to our house! It was the first of many trips there, I'm sure!Violet surveying the cacti
Nice smile, little lady!

Brett, Kelly, the dogs and Violet under an amazing overhang
Brett manned the backpack with Willa on the way out. She really seemed to like it!

I had the honor on the way back.
Although the above pictures make it look like Violet really did the hike, there was actually very little walking on her part. Luckily Uncle Brett carried her, baby style, part of the way back.
Ah yes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Note: never fall asleep while cuddling your dog on the floor with a 3 year old playing with her princesses.
Speaking of cuddling your dog... isn't this about the sweetest thing?
Some of Willa's 10 month pictures

I had to take a picture of this - she LOVES rice! And gets it everywhere, including up her nose.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail...

2010-04-18T19:42:00.000-07:00

We had a hoppin' good Easter with our Denver cousins! Here is Violet & Willa (who is, as usual, eating grass) with Nash & Tobin.
These two are only a few months apart. So cute!Easter Egg Hunt!
Willa gets a little throwing-in-the-air action!Willa and her daddyWe also had a little Easter Egg Hunt at our house. Violet thought it was SO FUN! She couldn't figure out why we couldn't do an Easter Egg Hunt every day!
Sisters!
Surveying the goodies
What happens when you take a chocolate egg away from Willa! She's a tiny bit of a Drama Queen.

Michigan Trip, Part 3

2010-04-18T19:35:00.001-07:00

Our trip to Michigan ended with a bunch of fun outings for the girls. First we went to the Children's Museum with Oma - it was great! Violet loved the bubble table...
Oma helps her make a HUGE bubble!She and Willa loved the mirrors too!
Willa in the mirrored tunnel
Doing a puzzle with Oma
And we went to the Meijer Gardens to see the butterflies! Here are Viole and Claire being very sweet and holding hands.
It took kind of a lot of convincing to get Violet to NOT pet the butterflies!
Overall we had a GREAT trip! We got to see so many people and had so much fun! We'll be back in August!

Michigan Trip, Part 2

2010-03-28T17:38:00.000-07:00

First, one of my high school friends is now an amazing photographer. She came over one morning and set up her studio in my mom's basement - and took these pics! I LOVE THEM!

You can check out her website here.

We got to visit a LOT of horses this trip! First we visited my friend Sue's house and Willa got to pet Roy. Violet, sadly, wanted nothing to do with him!

Willa even got her first ride! The next day we headed over to my friends Shannon & Adam's new place to see their 3 week old filly. She was SO sweet and is super cute! Violet decided she was more her size and got to pet her for a bit. Is there anything softer than a foals nose? Nope!
We also went out to visit Grandpa Rich. We can't wait for this summer when they can go swimming in the lake!
Since it's almost Easter and we LOVE dyeing Easter eggs, we got out the dye and let the kids make pretty eggs.

Finished product!
And Willa being cute!

Michigan Trip, Part 1

2010-03-24T19:17:00.000-07:00

We made it! I flew with both girls by myself from Denver to Michigan late last week and SURVIVED! Two planes, a few My Little Pony DVD's and a lot of suckers later we made it safe and sound! Violet and Willa were really great and did wonderfully on the trip. Here they are on the plane:
And our favorite reason to visit - COUSINS!!!We also got to meet the newest member of the family - this is Willa with my mom's new airedale puppy "Klu"
Willa was SOOOO tired and off her regular schedule (thanks to the time change!). She fell asleep on her Aunt Leah's lap at dinner.
Violet and Claire have SO much fun! Here they are being silly at lunch.
We went to a special "Dora the Explorer" storytime at a local library. My sister and I sat with approximately 19,300 other moms and their kids anxiously awaiting the arrival of DORA! I think we all had thought it would be an actual character with the HUGE plastic head. Apparently the only criteria for being Dora is having black hair cut in a Dora-like way. The lady who walked in was approximately 42 years old, wearing a cropped orange shirt, jean shorts and a purple backpack. It was actually pretty hilarious! Despite that, the girls did have fun making some crafts together (Violet's FAVORITE THING!). Here they made telescopes out of paper towel rolls.
Here they are making various kinds of sand-cookies in the sand box.Miss Willa's very sweet profile
Me and my lady!

Willa (and her ginormous thighs) with Claire and her Uncle Joel

There is something so very strange about watching your kids play with all the toys YOU spent hours and hours playing with as a kid. Here is Violet dressing the Barbie & The Rockers Ken doll (remember the Rockers??), while Willa plays with a doll bed that apparently started WWIII - my sister got it for Christmas one year when I was little, and when I climbed in to lay down she threw the world's hugest fit!

I took this before we left for our trip - Violet is really into walking Porter, and bless his canine heart, he goes right along with it. Despite barking neighborhood dogs and a very indecisive Violet (she wants to RUN one second and the next is squatting down examining a bug for a VERY long time). He's such a good boy!

St. Patrick's Day Parade!

2010-03-15T06:55:00.000-07:00

Denver has a HUGE St. Patrick's Day Parade and it was so fun! We headed downtown on Saturday with the girls... Can you just SEE the excitement on Willa and Violet's faces? No? Oh.
Willa and Uncle TrentViolet's favorite place to perch. It was good she was up there because it got to be about 5 people deep on the sidewalks - she could actually see!Our view of Union StationAnd the PARADE! It was huge and long. It included many interesting things like lots and LOTS of Irish Dancers, Bag Pipers and... Storm Troopers with Kilts

They also drove some long horns down the street. They ended up stopping right in front of us for a few minutes causing people and kids to SCRAMBLE to get back up on the sidewalk!We got some great advice to park on the other side of the highway and walk to the parade route. It was PERFECT! We got to walk across the highway:
And the pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks:
Here is Willa in the sunshine (it has been nice and warm here most days! Right now it's cloudy and snowy!).

And here she is chewing on a felt pea pod. Fitting, since she is wearing one on her shirt too!
She has discovered how to move things from one place to the other - she puts them in her mouth. It is so cute!
We also went to the zoo and Violet got her picture taken with the gorilla statue.
Jon and Violet snuggled up on the couch. So sweet until you realize Violet has a baby bottle stuck up her nose. Aw.
Here is a video showing Willa's newest trick - pulling up! On EVERYTHING! And Violet playing peek-a-boo with her. I love how Violet says "Here I! Here me!" I can't correct it, it's too cute! I'm sure she'll figure it out eventually!

And more from the "What Violet Says" files...

• On the ride home from daycare (both girls go for a few hours once a week), we were discussing brothers and sisters. Violet said "I don't want a brother OR a sister. I just want Willa." Yes, I'm writing that down to show to her in about 10 years ;)

• She wants to do everything "Alllllll by myself!" (which is usually quickly followed by "Come WIF me!"). If she wants all of us to do whatever it is by ourselves, she says "All by your self-is"

• Whenever she is being a good girl, she proudly states "I being a GOOOOOD fairy!"

• She has now added to her menagerie of imaginary animals. She now has 2 cats, 1 horse, 1 puppy, 1 turtle and 1 frog. Most of them are named "Hammy"

A day in the life...

2010-03-04T05:45:00.000-08:00

It was super duper warm (60) and spring-like yesterday. HURRAY! I am SO excited to be outside again! Here is Violet playing in her sand & water table. THAT was about the best purchase I've ever made (thanks Craigslist!). She plays with it ALL THE TIME! I think she was out there for more than an hour quietly making mud cakes, pea soup and pea milk. :)
Willa in the sunshine! I cannot WAIT for the ground to dry up a little so we can really take some fun pictures!
Violet & Willa have been playing really well together - especially now that Willa can crawl! Violet now has another person to order around and you can often hear "Come here Vilva! Come here!" while Violet tries to lure her into her room to play.
They also play pretty good with some of Violets toys, especially this doll house Violet got for Christmas. Here is how Jon does dishes :)We had a visitor to our back yard this week - our neighborhood fox! We've seen him before on the street but he showed up in our own yard while we were eating lunch. It was pretty exciting! However now Violet spends a lot of time looking out the windows wondering "Fooooox? 'Are you?" and yesterday while we were playing outside she asked if foxes eat people. Great. Unfortunately she witnessed the "circle of life" when we were watching Animal Planet the other night (a wolf took down a baby caribou before I could change it!) and now we have to talk a lot about what animals eat, including, apparently, people.
Annnnnd a reminder not to let Willa play with Violet's markers. She found one without the cap and apparently was trying to test out the "non-toxic" and "washable" claims. Luckily it did wipe off her face and teeth pretty easily.

Squishy Kid!

2010-02-21T18:57:00.000-08:00

It's been a pretty big week around here - Willa learned how to CRAWL! She's still brand new at it but every time she tries she gets just a little further and a little more comfortable with her new mobility. She was doing so good scooting so I'm a LITTLE used to leaving her in once place and finding her in another, but she sure can go much FASTER if she crawls.

This has all been so much FUN. See, we didn't really get to do this with Violet. She was in a body cast at this point and even though she did learn how to army-crawl pretty good, she wasn't really able to do what Willa is doing. We didn't KNOW so we didn't know to miss it! But we are absolutely LOVING having a "squishy kid" (which is the opposite of one with a "hard candy shell" as Jon used to put it). I love how she can now go from crawling to sitting up. How if I'm sitting on the floor with her she loves to come over and climb all over me, or play with one hand on me just in case. And the clapping... oh the clapping. Violet did clap, but she didn't do it nearly as much mostly because she had to use her hand/arms so much to get around. Willa claps at oh-so-many things and we just love watching her get excited about things like Violet dancing around, or Daddy coming home from work. It's GREAT!

Here is a video of Willa demonstrating her latest tricks. Crawl. Sit up. Shake maraca.

And for comparison, here is how Violet crawled at this age:

And here is a picture of Violet in her cast at this age:
Another reason we're happy Willa is not in a body cast - you can't get pictures like the ones below! Here she is showing off her tutu.

And finally, a little video of Violet. I just realized that I don't have a lot of her TALKING and she sure does talk a LOT lately! Here she is counting how many puppies she wants.

Sisters!

2010-02-15T07:43:00.000-08:00

We put up the Princess Tent and the girls had fun crawling around...
Willa clapping in the tent
Bathtime!

And a video of Willa clapping!

Late last week Violet was playing with her play-doh (homemade - and it was pink and purple but is now this lovely greyish brownish color) and made her own little birthday cake complete with candles. Willa also got to taste her first play-doh. She was making a VERY funny face but kept on eating it!

Zoo Trip!

2010-02-07T18:38:00.000-08:00

We braved the "balmy" weather this week and took a trip to the zoo. It was in the 40's and it wasn't that bad (the sun always helps!). Willa is getting so big - now I can put her in the stroller sitting up and not in her carseat anymore. She loves to look around and see what's going on. I got this adorable picture of her while we were eating lunch (Willa had some Puffs).
Violet and her two best buddies Jordyn and Piper rode the baby hippo.
And Willa fell FAST asleep holding tightly to her toy on the way home.Willa in the back yard. I can't WAIT for the weather to really warm up - I think this summer is going to be a blast with the girls in the big back yard! Violet has already asked if we can get her pool out (on a day it was FREEZING!). Judging by how much fun the girls have taking a bath together, I think we'll be spending a LOT of time in the kiddie pool in the warm weather!
Violet has a new best friend. As she says, he's her "Best Porter Friend". Aw. He really is worth his weight in gold... he puts up with a LOT and actually seems to enjoy the attention. It helps that I taught Violet how to scratch his tummy. Today she made him a bed in the living room complete with blankets (Willa's burp cloths) and her pillow.

Violet wanted Willa to join her in her bed today (I am not sure what her obsession is with making a bed for herself on the living room floor... maybe because she's not napping anymore?). We got this cute picture...
And this adorable video:

And last, I have been keeping a little book of all the funny and cute things that Violet says. I'm going to try to post them here when I remember because some of them are just too cute. Here are the most recent ones:
• "Me RIGHT be back, guys!" (instead of "be right back")
• She calls Jon "Jon" instead of daddy. If she does call him "dad" she pronounces it "dat"
• restaurant = wrest-wraughnt
• Cowboys say "Knee-Haw!"
• She has an imaginary pink kitty named Purple-Purple and an imaginary pink horse named Neigh-Neigh. They both like to eat pink garlic bread.
• spoon = foon
• ice cream = aash-ream
• "Tank you guys!" or "I wuv you guys!"
• Almost all sentences start with "because".
me: "Hey Violet, do you want some breakfast?"
Violet: "Because I WANT to eat breakfast!"
me: "Let's get your shoes on and go"
Violet: "Because I don't WANT to put my shoes on!"
• When Jon and I are having a conversation, she often interrupts with "Hey guys! Let's talk 'bout PRINCESSES!!!!"

Happy Birthday, Princess Violet!

2010-01-30T19:42:00.000-08:00

Violet is 3! Unfortunately both girls were sick last weekend on Violet's actual birtday so we had to reschedule her birthday party for this weekend. Behold, the Princess Party!
Her Princess-like hairdo.
Checking out her goodiesPar-tay!
"No Willa! You no play my toys!!"The stars must have aligned today... I baked these "rainbow" cupcakes. Way easier than they look (luckily!)And last, the weather was great (about 50 degrees) so we Released the Beasts and let them go run on the skate ramp. They had SOOOO much fun! It cracks me up!

Ah Willa. It's hard NOT to take pictures of her all day. She is so goofy and sweet and wonderful. I took some pictures of her in her "hip" birdie shirt I made for her.
She has been making this pouty face a lot lately. That and she sucks in her lower lip and she look so funny! I have yet to catch a good one of those on camera.
Closeup

Lookin' like her daddy!!
I had a friend make me some new diapers - Willa has grown out of all her small diapers and is on to the mediums already (I think Violet was in smalls until she was almost 1 - she was such a peanut!). I LOVE being able to pick out my own fabric and viola! A few weeks later they are wonderful cloth diapers.

Violet got a great package of gifts from her Oma back in Michigan. One of them was a sleeping bag of her very own AND a little doll-sized sleeping bag too! She LOVED them and immediately set up everything on the floor to take a nap.
Then she asked if Willa could come in with her so they both snuggled up together.
I just had to take a picture of this - talk about the multi-tasking, baby-wearing daddy! He watched the girls today while I got the cupcakes frosted and the house ready for the big party. He's such a good dad!

Dear Willa...

2010-01-23T14:10:00.000-08:00

Please stop growing up. Thank you.
p.s. no, she did not get up here herself, but she LOOOVES to stand up on things and can do pretty well by herself.

Stock Show! Mountains! And a budding photographer...

2010-01-21T20:32:00.000-08:00

Geesh!! I don't post for a week and suddenly I have dozens of pictures to share! First, it was the STOCK SHOW!! Yay!!! We went to the parade again downtown and watched the longhorns go down the streets, and then went to the actual stock show during the week. The best part? Violet rode the ponies BY HERSELF!! She did such a great job and I was so proud of her! We also saw some sheep...
Cows...
And more horses!
We also got the chance to go up to Breckenridge to a house owned by a friend of ours - it was GREAT to get away for a few days! Here is a picture of Willa and I that Violet took (more on that later!)

The view from the living room:
Violet and Jon went in the hot tub. I always saw pictures of people going hot-tubbing when there was snow on the ground and I thought they were CRAZY! Until we did it! It really is fun and nice and warm!

The girls and I went to the Children's Museum in Breckenridge where Doctor Violet made sure all of us were in perfect health.
Some quick pictures of Willa in the bathtub. You can see her two little bottom teeth here!
Biiiig blue eyes!
So, Violet has decided to take up photography. My regular (newer) camera died so I dug through the drawer and found my old one (that still works, luckily! What would I DO without a camera?). I had forgotten that a while back I told Violet it was her's and she took pictures with it. She REALLY loves taking pictures with her "cram-a" and we love the way she documents what is important to her. She took these pictures, although I did crop some of them!

Her Tinkerbell Dress

And last, here are Violet & Willa pretending that the couch is a pony!

Blah Blah Blah Blah

2010-01-11T13:04:00.001-08:00

She speaks!

Here is Violet in all her glory. It is important to note that she picked out this outfit herself. And the reason I ask her how she is feeling is because lately when she dances she says "Mommy! I gettin' busy!" when she means getting DIZZY. It is quite hysterical.

Look-a-likes?

2010-01-04T20:05:00.000-08:00

I posted this photo on Facebook and a bunch of people though it was Violet. Nope! It's Miss Willa all the way! She really doesn't look like Violet to us, but every once in a while she'll strike a pose that looks like her sister...
Violet at around 1 year...This week we moved Willa from the baby bathtub to the "big girl" bathtub (a bigger tub, but not quite our entire bathtub. Violet STILL likes taking a bath in the little tub!). She can sit up by herself and she learned to SPLASH! I forgot how funny that is the first time they figure that out. We even caught it on video!

Crazy girl! Or in Violet's words "She SO SO CRAZY!" (everything is "SO SO" to Violet. SO SO cute. SO SO bee-ful. SO SO silly.)
Post splashingShe has also turned into a roller. She can't crawl yet, but can get pretty much wherever she wants by rolling. Yesterday she rolled around Porter. He continued with his nap despite little tiny hands picking at his paws and whacking him on the back. Such a good dog!

Violet got REALLY sick this last week. She was out of commission for 6 days where she couldn't keep anything down. She was borderline dehydrated (we ended up at Urgent Care) and lost a few pounds :( It was horrible! But she is FINALLY starting to feel better and this mommy HAD to get out of the house today! So we bundled up and headed to the zoo. Even though it was in the mid-40's today, there is still quite a bit of snow out. It was really cool to see all the animals out in the snow - the zebras and giraffe looked especially funny! Some animals were really active too - especially the seals. For how much we've been to the zoo over the past 2 years, we have never seen them playing like this! Violet thought it was great!
And one more Willa video. This is quintessential Willa. She is just so happy and sweet. We showed her how to shake her rattle and she gently shakes it with so much concentration.

And one note about our house...
I really really hate our kitchen floor. I know I've said it before, but when they sold the house the sellers quite obviously did NOT think anyone was going to KEEP the kitchen. It is very very outdated, but it's RETRO outdated so we like it. Except the floor. It's really crappy, dirty looking (no matter how much I mop it!), paint splattered linoleum. I have been scheming to figure out how to get it replaced before we start refinishing the basement, and I wondered if maybe, just maybe, there might be wood floors underneath. So Jon agreed to peel back a little and see what was underneath. Up came the linoleum. Up came the plywood. And underneath we found... this:
IT'S GOT GOLD FLECKS!!!

Seriously - it is pretty cool. Unfortunately there is no way to know what kind of shape it is througout the rest of the kitchen without doing what Jon did (which took forever to peel away this little 5" x 5" square). And it would be full of staple holes. And I'm pretty sure this flooring is full of chemicals or something that is horrible to have babies crawling around on. But it's SO SO pretty.

Willa's Food Adventures

2009-12-28T21:25:00.000-08:00

Willa doesn't seem to like to eat anything but bananas and sweet potatoes. Here is her reaction to trying applesauce:

Christmas 2009

2009-12-27T14:58:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of our Colorado Christmas Adventure!

Violet & Willa in their Christmas shirts

Willa opening her presents. Which really just meant eating the wrapping paper. Yum!
She had such a looong day that she fell fast asleep on her Daddy's chest. Aw.And Violet dancing with her ribbon wand. I've heard of this phenomenon before but didn't witness it until this year: Violet was most excited about the stuff I found for her at the Dollar Tree and not with the more expensive Tinkerbell and Princess playsets we got for her "big" gifts. Funny! Sorta.

We hope you all had a fabulous holiday!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-23T15:25:00.000-08:00

Above, quite possibly the cutest Santa picture ever. :) Below, quite possibly the cutest little people faces drawn by Miss Violet.
AND her first person with legs! I asked her if it was an octopus. She said no.
And here is a self-portrait of me and Willa. I don't know how she figured out to smile at the camera even when there is no one behind it, but she sure does!
Merry Merry Christmas!

On the 5th Day of Christmas....

2009-12-21T08:21:00.001-08:00

Violet got one of her Christmas presents a little early - she FINALLY got Willa into a princess dress so she could properly play Princess with her!
She then proceeded to read Snow White to her. Cute!

Those of you who know me know how much I HATE taking pictures with a flash, but Violet ASKED to take pictures with Willa the other morning and I couldn't say no! Unfortunately the sun wasn't quite right in Willa's room (aka "The Photo Studio") and I'm so bummed because I got some super cute ones! Here is one of my favorites!
We went to Zoo Lights at the Denver Zoo with Violet's good friend Hannah and her parents. It was chilly but not too bad and the lights were really cool! Here are Violet and Hannah in front of the mountain lion display:
And by the dragon:
Here are some pictures from Willa's 6 month photos!

Violet, dressed as Cinderella, inspecting the Christmas Tree.
What do you do the weekend before Christmas? Rake leaves of course! We LOOOVE the fact that we have two huge evergreens in our backyard this time of year (during the summer it would be nice if they offered more shade!), we only have to rake this tiny bit of leaves. And since it was almost 60 degrees, Violet took full advantage by jumping into the pile!
In her "birds nest" - which kept her occupied for quite a while!

We also baked and decorated some Christmas cookies. Here is Violet patiently waiting for them to be done. Good news for everyone who knows what a terrible baker I am - they actually TURNED OUT OKAY!! They WERE NOT BURNED! It was, dare I say, a Baby Jesus Christmas Miracle. Carefully putting on the frosting
And sprinkles
And tasting her handywork!

We also went to a really neat Christmas parade in Golden this weekend. There were TONS of horses and animals and Santa and all that good stuff. Plus the sun was out and it wasn't very cold. Here are Jon and Violet in front of the "Welcome to Golden" sign before the parade started:

Violet watching Santa, who arrived on a motorcycle.

If we don't post before then, have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Mini Christmas

2009-12-16T06:07:00.000-08:00

My mom and sister came to visit us for a Mini Christmas! This is the first year in a looooong time that we have not all been together in Florida for Christmas and I'm SO glad they could come for a long weekend! Here are all us girls together... and yes, I am super duper thankful for my genes - doesn't my mom look like she is our sister?
Grandma and her Denver granddaughters. I LOVE this picture!
Grandma snuggling with a sleeping Willa. We get Willa up around 10pm to feed her one last bottle before the night (it helps her sleep through the night) and she is usually OUT after eating so we passed her around and everyone got a good sleeping-baby-snuggle in. I love it!

And then. My mom and sister and I had wrapped all the presents for eachother and the girls and lovingly placed them under the tree. Dear, sweet Violet figured out how to open her bedroom door on the EXACT same day that we were going to have our little family Christmas party. Jon was next door picking up his tools for just a SECOND (he was working on a project for our neighbors) and when he got back, the little stinker had opened up EVERY PRESENT under the tree!!! We were pretty disappointed that we didn't get to see her initial reaction to all the great toys she got (and what she thought of some of the more boring adult stuff!) - but we decided to throw everything in gift bags that I had laying around and call it good. Thus our Christmas tree looked like this:Wedding bags, new baby bags, birthday bags... but NO Christmas bags! And some gifts we just didn't wrap up. Luckily Violet was pretty excited about opening the BOXES for her gifts and playing with them, so it wasn't all lost. Needless to say, there are NO gifts under the tree now until Christmas morning! And I'm getting a child-proof lock for her door! :)

Here is Willa with her loot:
Violet and Leah enjoying a traditional dish of peppermint stick ice cream with chocolate sauce. Violet doesn't get ice cream very often and she thought it was GREAT!

In fact, Violet decided that she better lick up all the remnants of ice cream that was humanly possible. So, by using her super-long-lizard-like-tongue, she set the bowl on the floor (of course) and licked it out. Ironically, Porter decided that was the perfect time to come over and lick off the table for us! Too funny!Speaking of food, Willa got to try some of HER first food last weekend too! Here she is trying out some bananas.
Not so sure about it...
Okay, I like it!
And Violet trying on her Grandma's furry hood. Silly goose!
If you remember back a few months, Violet used a "bandbaid" to cover her nose when it got sore after a cold. This time she bit her lip and insisted on a bandbaid for THAT. Needless to say, it didn't last long either.

It's Christmastime in the Suburbs

2009-12-07T14:05:00.000-08:00

We put up our Christmas tree last night - Violet is SO FUN at this age - she ooohs and ahhs at all sorts of things and it's so sweet and cute! She thought the lights were especially impressive even before we got them on the tree.
Helping to put the angel on.
And Daddy's response to her refusal to smile for the camera in front of the finished tree!Our dear, sweet, tiny little Willa Mae will be a shocking SIX MONTHS OLD later this week! It is so hard to wrap my brain around that one! But she is getting super good at sitting up and as usual, at smiling.

I don't know if you remember the last time Violet tried riding the carousel at the mall, but it was not a pretty sight. This time was oh-so-much better! She LOVED it! And now I have new incentive to get her to be good while I shop :)

We've got a lot to be thankful for...

2009-11-30T21:45:00.000-08:00

Cute.
Cuter.
Then, without warning, SUPER NINJA BABY STRIKES AGAIN! (note the eyebrow. I cannot do that. Jon and both girls already can.)

Petting Porter. Earlier, she was chewing on his ear. Violet is REALLY into painting. She mostly enjoys ordering me to paint certain things (horses and snowmen are her favorites) but will paint by herself if she has to. She just recently started drawing actual FACES (circle with eyes, nose and mouth) which thrilled her artsy mommy QUITE a bit!
These too are just too sweet together!
We babysat for Jon's cousin Tim's two little boys (the older two are about 6 months apart, younger two are 4 months apart). And yes, Willa is now a PROFESSIONAL SITTER! I can even leave her alone for a few minutes and she rarely topples over. If she does, she has mastered the roll-from-sit-to-tummy move instead of going straight back. Yay!

Violet and Tobin did a little monkey puppet craft and thought they were pretty funny. Yes, Violet is wearing her princess dress. Then they were mesmerized watching the Curious George movie together.
This is the only semi-good picture I got of the girls on Thanksgiving.
We also had Christmas with Violet's Oma while she was here over Thanksgiving. Here is Violet being very excited about her new Christmas PJ's. I can already tell that Christmas this year is going to be REALLY fun with her - she gets SO excited about opening presents!
Trying to do her new ballerina puzzle while also making sure Willa didn't touch it.

Video Time!

2009-11-19T19:23:00.001-08:00

First, here is a video of Violet. I hope you find it as funny as Jon and I did! She has this little beanbag game where you throw the beanbags into the basket. Her aim is, shall we say, bad. What cracks me up is how much she doesn't seem to care one bit. (p.s. she starts off by yelling at Porter, then trying to hide the beanbags from him)

AND Willa officially LOVES her sister and thinks she is THE most hilarious thing! This is a little dark, but here is Willa laughing hysterically at Violet as she throws a bracelet, then goes and gets it. Oh the hilarity!

Bathtime!

2009-11-09T20:08:00.000-08:00

We tried out giving the girls a bath together this week - although it was a good idea in theory, I kind of forgot that Willa can't really sit up very well by herself and how slippery tubs are. So it mostly consisted of me holding up Willa and Violet splish-splashing around and pouring cupfulls of water over Willa's head (who, miraculously, didn't seem to mind). Violet did agree to hold Willa so we could snap a photo of this momentous occasion (Leah - some of my best memories are playing with Sea Wees for HOURS in the tub!). Soon after this picture was taken, Willa spit up all over the place and we had to vacate the tub rather quickly.

Those of you who have been around our blog for a while may remember this little gem taken of Violet when she was about 4 months old:No, I did not Photoshop her into a teacup! It's actually a planter. I brought it out again for Willa who is apparently HUGE and doesn't really fit into it as nicely as Pipsqueek Violet did!
Contemplating Tea
Willa's sweet little serious face.
We took advantage of the nice warm fall weather last week and went to the zoo with our pals. Here is Violet with her buddy Piper jumping.
This Mommy Giraffe was very interested in Violet. She was so sweet and stayed looking at us for quite a while.
This is a game I call "Where's Violet?" - she has gotten back in the habit of crawling out of bed during her nap and taking all her toys up in bed with her, forcing her to sleep in rather odd positions. Se's wearing a blue sleeper, in case you can't spot her! She also sometimes does this at night in the PITCH BLACK! I went in to check on her the other night and she was curled up laying on her Princess Coach as a pillow. It's plastic. And hard. Yeowch!A couple of funny things she's been saying lately:
1) She can't say her "s" sounds very well, so she substitutes an "F" for fun. Thus anything that is "spicy" is "ficey". We hear "This too ficey!" a lot.
2) Yesterday she came up to me while I was feeding Willa, wrapped her arms (gently) around Willa's head and said "Willa is beautiful! Why she have crumbs on her head?" - Willa has a case of cradle cap. Sweet.

What does Violet REALLY think?

2009-11-05T07:47:00.000-08:00

I borrowed this quiz from another blog and thought it would be fun to see what Violet thinks! It turned out pretty funny. Her answers are in bold, taken down exactly as she said them. My notes are in italics.

When do you feel happy?
Some people like Leah and Anna and Ethan and Claire.
(she asks all the time "What is that" and if there are people, I say "Some people" which apparently she has picked up on!)

When do you feel sad?
Some people like Mommy people.
(great!)

What do you like to do?
Play mine toys.

What does dad like to do?
Eat some apples

What does mama like to do?
Sew
(this was funny because I don't think I've ever heard her say "sew" before and I didn't really think she got what I did!)

What does Willa like to do?
Play her toys

What do your Friends like to do?
Play their tv's - throw them in my room

What is your favorite color?
Pink

What do you like to eat?
Banana

What do you like to drink?
Water and juice and milk!

What do you like to play?
Mine princesses

What is your favorite toy?
Little babies

What makes you happy?
Willa
(awwwwww)

What makes you sad?
Mom and happy too
(good thing she added that last bit, I was starting to feel bad!)

What is the best thing you do?
No, it happens
(whenever she spills or anything, we say "It happens!" so she doesn't get all worked up about it. She has now adopted that phrase as her own for many, many scenarios)

What are you excited about?
Piper

Where do you like to go?
People friends do

Where do you not like to go?
Some people houses

What is your favorite song?
ABC’s

What is your favorite art activity (cutting, gluing, painting, sewing, drawing)?
Not mine craft, mommy's craft
(Wow. Deep.)

What’s the best part of being 2 1/2?
I me princess

Do you love taking naps?
No, I can’t *sigh*

What are you going to do with your sister when she is older?
Two have play her some toys - I want to. It happens.

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T06:52:00.001-08:00

Happy Halloween from the girls! (Violet lost her Minnie Mouse ears... until we got BACK from Trick-or-Treating and she found them!)

Violet and her two best buddies, Jordyn and PiperWe went Trick-or-Treating down a street near us that has lots of cute shops that all give out candy. It's easy, fun, and in the morning which works well for naps/dinner. They had so much fun!
I love Violet's smile!Willa zonked out in the Ergo carrier.
Later woke up and was a happy little flower!

Whoops. Violet asked me what this "eyeball" was and I told her it was candy. I forgot that I also needed to tell her to UNWRAP it before she tried to eat it!And more snow pics! We ended up with almost 21" of snow over 2 days. It was crazy but so fun! I love snow if 1) I know it isn't sticking around for long, and 2) it's still pretty warm outside. Violet got all ready to go outside, complete with pink goggles.

Which is good because the snow was so deep that she walked out and promptly face- planted in the snow!Buried deep!

I sent Jon and Violet outside to play... of COURSE Jon had to try to send Violet down the ramp on a sled! It was so deep that she didn't go fast or far, and seemed to love it!A few photos from a little photo session I took the other day:

Willa can finally fit into some of my fitted diapers that I had for Violet, AND this awesome one that I had made just for Willa by a friend of mine. Love it!
AND Willa can sit! Just for a second, but it has been done! She's so funny - she's usually so happy so I tried to get her to smile while she was sitting but she got so excited that she kept flailing backwards and falling over! So just serious sitting pictures for now!
Hope you also like the new look to the blog! I've been meaning to change it forever now and finally got around to it!

Blizzard!

2009-10-28T14:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, so technically it's just a tiny little "fall storm". Yeah, with 12+ inches of snow! Violet & I went out and played in it earlier today.

A video of her getting stuck in the snow:

And how else do you end a romp in the snow? Hot chocolate of course!
We also carved pumpkins last night
Willa helped!
Sneak peek at Violet's Halloween costume - she got to dress up for her friend Hannahs birthday party.

Willa playing on the floor...

Aaaaaaand I discovered how Willa was mysteriously moving across the room... notice how happy Willa is, which is why it has been so funny because Willa wouldn't make a PEEP but would suddenly be in a totally different place!

Pumpkin Patch!

2009-10-27T21:16:00.000-07:00

We found a super fun pumpkin patch with a great view of the mountains. Violet had a great time picking out her pumpkin and showing Willa the ropes.

Acres and acres of pumpkins... there were THOUSANDS of them!

This weekend Jon had to work so Violet, Willa and I went to a nearby open space park and went for a walk. While we were walking to the lake, a runner ran by and Violet ran after him:Showing off her "wand" that she found:And later used to sweep (and sweep and sweep) the pathway.

Willa has been spending a lot of time in the Ergo carrier (thanks Beth!!) - it fits a lot like a back pack but is nice and soft. Willa usually falls fast asleep but today she was very interested to look around and see the sights.Violet is really into taking pretend naps with Willa. She insists that she has her own pillow and pulls the covers up over her. Aww.
Hangin' out on the couch
Either she looks like Thing from the Addams Family, or a wee little Captain Violet Sparrow. Brett got this wig when he was here visiting and left it in my car. We had to try it out before we sent it to him in Montana!

Our Silly Girls

2009-10-17T19:47:00.000-07:00

Willa is 4 months old! She has very much discovered her hands and GRABBING things, including my hair, our faces, food, drinks, etc. I forgot about that! She is also rolling around a lot and getting "stuck" on her back in her crib and I have to constantly go back and flip her back to her tummy. Silly!
Such a sweet little girl!

She spends a lot of her waking hours with all four fingers in her mouth like so:
And dear, sweet, silly Violet. She had a pretty bad cold this week and her poor little nose got all red from constantly wiping it. She insisted on a band-aid (or "band-bayed") for it. She soon discovered that it made BREATHING a little tricky so it didn't last long.She is also a funny eater. She love love LOVES watermelon, but heaven forbid I include any bit of light pink/white rind on her pieces. If I do, they end up in a neat little line outside her bowl.
And a cute video of Violet dancing with Willa while singing the ABC's. Excuse the pacifier!

Jon and his brothers and friends have been getting a lot of of use out of the skateboard ramp, especially now that the weather isn't so hot. Tonight we had a belated birthday "ramp jam" for Jon for his birthday last weekend. This is what it looks like when the hot dogs are served! :)

Lots o' Videos

2009-10-05T15:35:00.000-07:00

Today was Video Day in our house - and it was a good thing! I captured Willa laughing out loud (the little stinker can also now roll from front to back AND back to front!), Violet playing "babydolls" with her real live baby sister, and Violet singing a song I like to call "Ode to the Swine Flu" - Enjoy!

Willa laughing

Violet playing with her "Baby Alive" - she gives her a shot (in her mouth!) then feeds her bananas and milk. Sweet! Apparently they are now self sufficient and I can leave them home alone together... who's up for a margarita-filled lunch tomorrow?

And Violet singing her H1N1 Song... the lyrics are "I no siiiiick, I no siiiiick. I am siiiiick. Something-something doctor."

And here are some cute new pics of Willa. She's going to be FOUR MONTHS OLD this weekend! On the same day Jon turns 32. Fun!
When I put Violet down for her nap, the three of us snuggle up in bed to read some books. Violet INSISTS on holding Willa's hand. So cute! However now that Willa knows her hands are attached to her body, she doesn't WANT to hold hands - she wants to grab at Violet. NOW it should start getting interesting!
And a funny thing Violet did today. She has this little play cell phone that you can record something on and she can play it back. She wanted me to put a new message on it so I asked her "What do I always say to you?" thinking she'd answer something like "I love you, Violet!" but no, it was "Do you have to go potty?" ;) SOOO that's what I recorded on her phone. For the next half hour she would push the play button, hear me say "Hey Violet! Do you have to go potty?" and she would shout back "NO!!!!"

O' Brother, Where Art Thou?

2009-10-01T19:00:00.000-07:00

Sadly, the answer is "Back in Montana already" but we had a BLAST while he was here! My brother Brett and his girlfriend Kelly came and stayed with us last week - they are so fun to hang out with and very easy houseguests to have around. It helps that they spend a lot of time with Kelly's niece and nephews back in Montana - kids screaming at 7 am doesn't phase them a bit!

Here we are at the zoo:
Luckily Jon has gotten Willa used to "Beard Kisses" so Willa thinks they are quite nice. Aw.
We went to the Bass Pro Shops one morning - here is Violet and Brett looking at the HUGE catfish in the aquarium.Everyone hanging out on the couch.

Willa and Violet both smiling. So sweet! We also now read to Violet before her naps all together on her bed - Violet, Willa and me. Violet INSISTS on holding Willa's hand while we read.
Brett and Kelly also brought their two sweet dogs, Marley and Kingsley. Three dogs! The kids didn't seem to notice.
Willa is getting SO BIG and loves to bat at her toys on her playmat. Just this week she discovered that her hands and arms are attached to her body! Wheeeee!Sportin' her shades with her Uncle Trent on Game Night.

AND I got the excersaucer out from the basement - she LOVES it!! I think she really likes to be able to watch Violet and see what the rest of us are doing. She also loves to push the buttons and play the (now very annoying) songs.