August 2014 Dancing, swinging and sleeping!

 We started off August with a party like no other. Our good friends, The Bleecker's had their semi annual Bleeckerfest and asked Jake and the boys to play so the band was back together and they sounded good as well! Katie amazed everyone with her...um...pole dancing skills...and dancing skills in general. Violet slept for most of the evening, which was a huge blessing! It was fun to be around our friends and have fun for the evening!

I tried a new sling, I thought it may be an alternative to the Moby, maybe be a bit quicker in and out process, HA wrong! This sling doesn't really work well for us at all. Oh well, back to the Moby. It is really awesome! Violet woke up to eat and then hung out a bit, got fussy and into the Moby she went and was out like a light for the evening! It left me free to chase Katie around. Once it got dark it was kinda scary she would just be a few feet away but disappear, next year she is gonna wear a glow in the dark necklace or something! I was petrified she was gonna fall in the creek!

 My sweet babies sleeping! Love it when they sleep! I have to be way more sneaky with Violet, she hears the crack in the floor and me breathing it seems like! 

 Sam doing what Sam does at naptime! We Love our knucklehead!

 

 Katie is enjoying the ipad these days more and more. She is getting really good at her letters and numbers and puzzles. It is amazing to watch her work that thing!

 Violet like Katie is a very oral baby, maybe it is because they are breastfed, I don't know. Violet has a pacifier that we use when she is fussy and going to sleep, and much like Katie that is the only time she uses it and it seems to be getting less and less important lately, she has found her thumb and that makes her happy! Way more happy than the pacifier ever does. She gets angry if she can't get her thumb in her mouth right when she wants it, but that is only a matter of time. Don't know if it is a blessing or a curse, it would be easier to come off the pacifier down the road, as we can remove a finger, but as long as they are happy and I don't have to keep putting the pacifier in their mouth it works for me.

We love the Moby and all of it's magical powers! If Violet gets fussy it is guaranteed to calm her down and usually put her to sleep. She snuggles in after a few minutes and you have a happy snugglie baby and all the baby smell you can handle literally right under your nose.

We got a SWEET deal on the Bob double stroller and we LOVE it. It was so out of our price range that I didn't even test drive it at any place that had it. REI had a sale and this ended up being about the same price as any other double stroller! YEAH! We'll take it! It handles like a dream! It is super light and I can't wait till Violet is a bit bigger to take it on some trails. Our other Graco jogging stroller was great on trails, so I imagine this one will do even better! I also like that each side has it's individual shade so Violet can sleep and Katie can have hers back to look around as we walk down the road. She likes to look for neighbors to talk to! We usually are out on the road every day, unless we have another Dr.s appointment to go to. I am am really tired of going to the Dr., I want to know what happened, but I have a feeling when it's all said and done, they aren't going to be able to tell me anything. All this times wasted on going to the Dr. and I am just supposed to get behind the wheel again and pray that I don't hurt myself, my kids and family, those driving on the road around me? If they could find something wrong and fix it at least I would have a piece of mind.

Katie loves watching herself in the camera!

The weather is nice in the mornings and the sun doesn't beat down on us so we usually get out and play on the porch and front yard. The fresh air and sunshine does us all some good I think. I look at the girls and I can't believe how big they have gotten in such a short time. Just 2 short years ago our live were so different, but I can not imagine or remember what we did with "free time". Was there really a time we weren't watching Katie sing Let it Go? Or laugh when Violet lets out a giant poot that should only come out of something double her size! I don't know what we used to do, but this is a sweet life we got going. Hopefully we will be able to drive and have a bit of freedom soon and all will be perfect.

The new blog segment entitled: Ways Daddy can eat while holding Baby Violet. 

I ask you have you ever seen a man eat with chopsticks while holding a sleeping baby?! I have not until today! She was not even disturbed a bit and Jake got to finish his meal. The man has skills he keeps pulling out that no one knew he had!

This was a sweet sight to wake up to. When I woke up and walked into the living room, Violet and Daddy were snuggled up sleeping soundly. It was a quiet house, Katie was still sleeping as well, so I snuck back to bed a read a book (WHAT?! who has time to read?!) It was a nice morning!

Just a swinging! After church it is our routine to go and swing and slide for a bit. Violet usually lets Katie play for a little bit before she reminds us that she is ready to eat. Katie really loves to swing and slide and it helps to burn off some of that 2 years old energy!

I was lucky enough to catch this sweet moment...right before Katie gave Violet a wet willie! Ah, sister love starts so early!

I love to see them snuggle. Sam isn't always the best snuggle partner, it is obvious that the previous owners did not snuggle him, he isn't always sure with what to do when we snuggle him. He is getting better and better all the time. This day they both were relaxed and layed there for a long time like this. I love to see our girl and her dog, maybe it is time to find Violet her dog...

Katie likes to have a say in what she wears each day and we try and give her choices so she is a part of the decision. his day she woke up and said she wanted to wear her cam pants like Blane. I am not sure where she picked up Blane wears camo pants but she did. This girl is constantly surprising me!

Violet has been sleeping more than she has been awake so there has been minimal interference with Katie's routine, I am interested as this changes how Katie takes it. So far it has been fine, Katie loves her sister and loves hugging and kissing her. We shall see how long that holds out, once the cute sister wants to play with Katie's toys!

July 2014 brings summer time fun and then craziness

This is how Violet is going to sleep these days, she snugles with her Daddy and sometimes, Daddy goes to sleep first:)

 

We spent the 4th of July with our good friends Catherine and Brett at the pond then watched fireworks! So much fun!

Violet has not been enjoying riding in the care these days, here is a peek into what we drive with. This was on the way to the pond...

Katie is great during the screaming, she usually puts her finger in her mouth and (I am guessing) zones Violet out, wish the rest of us could do the same! 

Man that girl has some lungs!

Much like most babies, Violet is not so much enjoying bath time. She is starting to tolerate it a bit more, but not favorite activity by any means! 

 She starts off being pretty passive and then gets more and more upset 

and then by the end is just angry!

Then finally clean and dry and is once again our happy girl! 

 

 Katie Favorite place to watch Katie's movies. 

Really only Elmo and Frozen these days...I Love you Netflix!

It usually keeps her busy so I can feed Violet without her getting onto trouble...usually!

Jake enjoys letting the Violet latch on his nose, not sure what she thinks about it other than he isn't producing milk...Katie I am sure thought the same thing when he did it to her. I love that man! 

We took a trip to the Athens Splash Pad and Katie had a great time! She ran all over and went from the water area to the playground and back again, she was so excited she couldn't even eat lunch! She tried but just couldn't do it! Violet slept through the whole day except for when it was time to eat:) Once we were in the car Katie could finally eat, she must have been starving! On a positive note we missed the virus that hit the splash pad by a few days! Thank the Lord for that one!

Katie seems to enjoy Violet more and more every day. Some days I feel like she feels nothing has changed and then others she really seems to notice Violet. The more Violet responds the beter it will be. Violet responds some now, but not enough for a 2 year old.

Violet's favorite position for eating these days.

We finally got a good rainy day to play in the rain! Daddy does NOT like to play in the rain, for those of you who may not know, Jake HATES for the rain to get on his neck, HATES! I think I am just finding out how severe is hatred if for this recently. I knew it annoyed him, but I had no idea just how bad. The things you learn about someone, even after all this time married to the man!

 The puddle was the biggest in the back of the truck so she preferred to stay in the truck!

 Thanks much in part to Ninny and all the aunties in Chipley we are not in need of dress up clothes, of any kind! Princesses to super heroes we have it all and just about everything in between! I wish I ha a picture every time she came out of her room in something, but she runs from the camera most days.

 Batgirl has a very important job, keeping baby sister happy in the car! These days is going much better, Ms. Patty Cake told us to crack the windows just a bit in the back and it has worked like a charm! YAY to happy girls in the car!

Cutness is sleeping in her bed for naps these days, as soon as she stops eating in the middle of the night we will make the transition over to her sleeping in here at night too! 

7/21 Coming home from visiting Wes in the afternoon Violet and I were in a wreck. I had no idea the severity of the wreck until much later at the hospital. There is no doubt that it was not our time to go and the Lord was with us that day. I have no doubt God watches over us every day, but there is something different about that day. I blacked out, veered off the road, hit a concrete culvert, flipped, as we flipped we rolled over the tops of 7 cars at a used car dealership, and finally came to a stop on the tires in the ditch in front of the dealership. Violet was screaming and I was out of it not knowing what just happened. Thankful is not a strong enough word to use to describe how I feel that we were able to walk away from the wreck. We learned that Violet had a small brain bleed due to her head hitting the car seat and I had scrapes and bruises and a pretty nasty seat belt rash on my neck, but that is all! Violet needed to be observed overnight just to make sure the bleed was not going to get any worse, and they wanted to transport her to Children's Hospital in ATL for that. The worst part was thinking about my baby girl riding in the helicopter alone after the ordeal she went through. The weather didn't permit flying so they transported by ambulance and Jake rode with her. That was a rough goodbye even knowing that Jake was with her was rough. Jake said she slept the whole way and did great, better than the both of us! I got discharged and ran by the house to get needed items and rushed to the hospital. Jacki and Granny were with me so I was not alone, but it sure seemed the hospital was 500 miles away! They are fantastic at Children's not only for the patients but for the parents as well. Although I hope to never need their services again! EVER!

 One of the cars we flipped over the top of, it got the worst damage.

 The outside took all the damage and the cab barely looks like it was involved in an accident! I LOVE Dodge trucks and Graco car seats! They kept our family safe!

 It may seem silly but I was really excited to retrieve Bubba out of the wreckage, I love my water ice cold and Bubba helps me keep it ice cold! 

I was also excited to get my note from Jake that has been in my truck for about 10 years and doesn't stick anymore, but it stays in there.

I have been in other accidents before, but this one shook me, and I am sure it will be a while before I am able to drive no matter what the Dr.s say. Not sure how I feel about being driven around... I am very thankful for all the prayers and family that helped us right after and in the days and weeks to come I am sure.

7/29 A few days after the wreck Violet had her first smile, not gas related:)

Selfies with sister and Mom she is not so sure about!