The Relatives Came (Back)

I can't think of a nicer way to kick off spring break than to have some lovely family come for a little visit.

Mimi and Annie

Storytime with Nicole

Papa

Along with my immediate family, whom I'm always happy to see, this visit was extra special because it included my Aunt Anita and Uncle Jan, all the way from Sweden! They're here to hang out with my mom on her spring break, and I'm so glad they made the detour up to our house to meet Annie.

My Aunt Anita, all the way from Sweden!

Four years ago with my first baby...

Funny story, they were here exactly four years ago and met baby Violet! They are awesome and came bearing my favorite of all gifts, Swedish candy! I immediately hid all of it because this candy is too good to share with Violet and I'm a terribly mean mother. Hee hee! Just the thought of all the deliciousness hiding in the highest cabinet in the kitchen makes me giddy!

Anita also brought this little guy - a homemade sock monkey! Love!

Spring Break

Flowers aren't the only things budding around here at the start of spring break. Yesterday I caught sight of something in Annie's mouth and upon closer inspection, I think I can confidently say that we have teeth, people! Two tiny white somethings, just barely cutting her bottom gums. I have yet to see excessive drool, snot, chewing or fussiness from my friend, here, although the first three were present yesterday, and the introduction of an icy teething ring went over extremely well. But since Violet drooled from the time she was two months old, I guess I figured I would have more of a warning with this one. But nope, she's been as sweet and easy going as ever. Sigh. Getting so big, so fast. We have our well-check on Tuesday - stayed tuned for stats.

Let's Compare

Violet - six months

Annie - six months

Annie at Six Months

Sitting pretty!

You guys. Annie is six months old! I can't believe it! Matt had to remind me of this milestone - it was vaguely on my radar in that "oh yeah she's almost six months" kind of way. But nope, there's no "almost" about it - she is six months, bla-blam!

Annie turned six months with style, too. We had an eventful weekend around here, with the little miss FINALLY rolling over by herself, to the great relief of this mama. Violet didn't roll until six months on the nose. Annie beat her record by one day. We were all just hanging out in the living room, I was watching the Frozen bonus features while Annie played on a blanket in front of me. Then I suddenly looked down and noticed she was on her tummy. Questioning Matt revealed that, no, he hadn't rolled her over. Girlfriend did it all by herself. Whew! Now, she has yet to repeat this feat, but I'm just glad we've crossed this bridge and I can give the doctor an honest answer at our upcoming well check.

In other milestone news, Annie is also sitting up by herself! (Note the above photographic evidence.) She can wobble quite a bit still, so there are always hands or pillows hovering nearby, but she's stable enough that I could capture her showing off this morning. My gosh, I know I'm biased and all, but she is adorable! The belly, the thunder thighs, the happy little grin... gosh I love this girl.

We wobble but we don't fall down!

I celebrated Annie's half birthday by dragging my sorry self to the urgent care for a persistent cough my husband would swear has been around since I went back to work in January. Truthfully, it has been several weeks. This last week was bad - hard to sleep, hard to breath, bailed on small group and church, barely made it through parent-teacher conferences - it's been ugly. I came away with two shots in the butt, prescriptions for a steroid and antibiotic, instructions to use my inhaler religiously, and a dire warning that if I'm not feeling better in two days, I'm being dragged back in for a chest x-ray to rule out walking pneumonia. Those urgent care docs don't mess around! Here's hoping I am on a quick road to recovery. Just one more week and it's spring break!

Chubby Baby Bathtime

Splish splash!

Princess Party!

Such a poser!

Violet went to the most fun birthday party this weekend for her BFF Emma. It was a princess dress-up tea party and let me tell you, had the costumes been big enough, I would have dressed up with her!

Two Queen Elsas!

We walked into a pink girly explosion. There were roses glued to the ceiling, flowers on the carpet, chandeliers everywhere. But best of all was the dress up room. There were probably 50 dresses from every Disney princess imaginable. Of course all the little girls wanted the Frozen dresses. Violet and her pal Taylor each got one and proceeded to sing the entire soundtrack while dancing in front of the mirror.

Checking out the jewels.

Next came the accessories and hair, make-up and manicures for everyone that wanted in. (Violet was having too much fun dancing around to want to sit patiently for hair and nails.) Once everyone was ready, there was a fashion show with a walk down the pink runway onto a stage. Then the lovely little ladies adjourned for tea time. The birthday "queen" got a little bell to ring whenever someone needed a refill. Each girl got her own teapot filled with pink lemonade. They started with appetizers, had assorted tea sandwiches for the main course, and finished with a personal dessert plate. So fancy!

Poured her own tea and didn't spill a drop!

Best pals from school!

 Happy birthday, Miss Emma! Thanks for having an amazing party!

My princess.

Follow the Rainbow

The leprechaun trap!

Violet's homework this weekend was to make a leprechaun trap! Fun, right? Although I had to to a bit of work building her background knowledge as to what a leprechaun even is. Poor thing, I may have overdone it a bit as she is now scared of being pinched and keeps asking me to buy her some green pants to wear on St. Patrick's Day. But trap-building was fun! All credit goes to Matt on this one - he really spearheaded the efforts. Not too shabby! Think we'll catch anything?

A beanbag bed with a glittered blanket for once we catch the little green guy.

Trail of glitter leads to the "gold" at the end of the rainbow.

My little artist with her birthday easel.

Fancy

Violet loves Fridays because not only is it show-and-tell and treasure box day, it's also the day she doesn't have to wear her school uniform and the dreaded khaki pants. (Seriously, who knew my child would have such a fashion opinion.)

This is the outfit she picked out all on her own on Friday. Pretty fancy, huh?

5 Months

For one day this week, I had a four-year-old and a four-month-old. And then this happened:

 

Yep, I'm the proud mom of a five-month-old. Nevermind the fact that this picture was taken a week late and with bed head. Annie still seems pretty pleased with herself. What a sweet girl.

This past week has been a bit of a doozy. Annie broke out in a weird, hivey rash that would show up, earn me a call from daycare, and then disappear before I could find a substitute teacher and pick her up. It came and went so often and mysteriously that when my after-school meeting was cancelled on Tuesday, I took the opportunity to take her to the doctor. Long story short, the rash is still mysterious, but now we're treating it with allergy medicine and switching detergents (that's what I get for trying to be fancy with my free and clear organic detergent - going back to good old Tide). Since she started taking it, Annie hasn't broken out anymore, although daycare reports it is making her fussy and restless. So we are praying that her little body adjusts and the meds will be short-term.

Other than that, Annie is awesome. She loves eating baby food, far more than she even likes her bottles these days. She gets fruit at school and veggies at the dinner table and she loves getting to eat at the adult table with us. She loves kicking her feet in the air and grabbing them. She's reaching and babbling and laughing at her big sister. At her appointment on Tuesday she weighed in at 16 lbs 11 oz. I have no idea where that falls percentage-wise, but my neck and back will tell you that's pretty solid!