house updates

While I'm on a roll with blog posts, I thought I'd do a little house update.

The biggest thing we have done is our backyard!  We got all of the trees removed, took out the flagstone patio and fireplace, built a retaining wall, bulldozed, and lay sod.  It's a complete transformation, and we are loving the space to play!

 Here are some before pictures:

And here it is after!  Can you believe it!?!  It was A LOT of work, and man, are we glad it's done!

As for the inside, the main things we've done are rearrange the living room and worked on Violet's room.

I don't love our cabinet.  I would liketo paint it another color.  Possibly white or gray?

New additions to gallery wall.

I would like to put a new piece of art above these chairs and relocate the ocean scene.

I bought gray curtains for these windows that will hopefully be hung this weekend.  I love having the couch centered under the window!

I made a tassel garland and some art for Violet's room.  We also hung the little shelf.

winter 2015

I kind of giggle writing a post about "winter" this year while I sit in my living room with the 75 degree sun warming my back.  We have had a very mild winter with lots of beach days and tons of time outside.  The girls and I have been having so much fun and life is getting a lot easier.  While I'm a little sad not to have a baby anymore, the girls have been playing so well together, and we have been having so much fun!

We went to Disneyland in December with some friends and had the time of our lives!  I literally cried at the parade.  It is all so magical!

Owen, Doug's brother, and Leana got married, and Kennedy was the flower girl!  I have some adorable professional shots of the whole gang, but I have to dig them up.  Doug's brothers, grandma, and other family were all in town for that, and it was so nice to see everyone.

We celebrated Christmas in LA with the Hulses.  Both of the girls loved opening presents and we had Leana's family over for Christmas brunch.

We also went up to Santa Cruz for a few days and had a great time playing with friends and family!

Both of the girls had doctors appointments this month, so I have to give an update on that:

Violet is tipping the scales at 23 lbs (80th %) and 31 inches (90th %).  She's a beast, and I get so tired carrying her around.  The plus side is that my arms are super toned right now ;)

Kennedy has finally packed on some pounds and is 32 lbs (75th %) and 39 inches (75th %).

We are enjoying lots of outside play in our backyard and have been playing LOTS of dress up lately.  We had a friend come over last week, and we counted 8 times that Kennedy changed her outfit in the two hours that they were over.  It's bonkers.

Violet is pretty good about independent play.  She loves pushing strollers around, the Little People Princess Castle, and I forgot to mention that Grandpa Carl and Grandma Chris got the girls a trampoline for Christmas that they both love!

Now that the girls are sleeping really well, I have been enjoying more nights out.  I went to a Women's Ministry event this month and had a couple of mom's nights out with friends which has been really fun.

Doug has some exciting things going on at work, so we are looking forward to seeing what the future brings there.

Other than that, life is good!  The Lord is faithful to his promises, and I love walking daily with him.  This last year has been a huge year of growth in my faith, and God continues to peel the layers back and refine me.

kennedy three years old

My girl is three!  Wow!  Three is so much fun!  There are definitely some more challenging parts, but I love love the conversations that I get to have with this sweet girl!

We had a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese for Kennedy this year.  Kennedy loves large characters and pizza, so Chuck E Cheese really is her favorite place (although we have yet to go to Disneyland so this could change soon!)

Sleep:

Kennedy sleeps through the night almost every night.  We got rid of the pacifier when she turned three, and it has been surprisingly easy.  She is only napping 2-3 days a week, but she will lay in her crib (yep!  Still in a crib) for about an hour.

Social:

Kennedy really enjoys playing with other children and is very interactive now.  She loves seeing her friends, chasing other kids, dancing, playing games, and make believe.  She has conversations with children her age which is totally cute!

Favorites:

Books: Nursery Rhymes (she knows almost all by heart), Fairy Tale Collection, Corduroy, and she can read most of the board books we have by memory.  I love it when she "reads" to Violet!

Foods: Sausage, meat, oatmeal, crackers, cookies, quesadillas, and carrots with bbq sauce or ketchup (weird!)

Songs: Pirate Code (from Jake and the Neverland Pirates), ABC's, Children of the World, all of the songs from music class.  Kennedy also has some seriously awesome dance moves!

Toys: Kennedy loves playing pretend.  We use the couch as our ship and pretend to be Peter Pan or Jake almost daily.  The baby dolls are also in heavy rotation as various other Peter Pan and Jake characters.  Kennedy also loves chapstick and carrying around her chapstick in her purses.

Skills/Milestones:

Kennedy's comprehension always surprises me.  She asks lots of "why" questions, is very concerned about how people are feeling, and remembers very obscure things.  It's so much fun to watch her grow in this way. 

The pictures that Kennedy draws are pretty great!  She can draw a human figure with almost all of its body parts.  Today she even included boobs :)

Knows almost all of her capital letters and a handful of lowercase.

Still pretty unsure in her climbing and gross motor abilities.  She can do a lot, but she is afraid to unless I'm right with her.

Dresses herself and is fully potty trained.

Has some level of understanding about Jesus and his sacrifice.  Knows that God made everything and about his love for us.  Has many short bible verses memorized via songs.

I am having so much fun with this girl these days!  She is such a daddy's girl which I love and hate.  Daddy is always the one she wants when she is sad, and daddy does her bedtime routine.  She is tender and kind, and loves taking care of babies.  Kennedy tries to do things correctly and does not like to disappoint other people.

Kennedy, you are such a special girl!  We are so thankful that you are part of our family!

violet thirteen months

Happy Birthday to our sweet Violet girl!  Since I missed the twelve month window (as well as her 1 year checkup), I am doing this post at 13 months.

Weight: 21.5 lbs (80th percentile)

Height: can't remember but 95 percentile

Teeth: 14 (just missing the bottom canines)

We had a small birthday party for Violet at a park near our house with some family.  Violet loved the cake that Auntie Leana made for her (purple ombre!) and ate almost the whole thing!

Sleep:
We were doing so well!  I night weaned Violet around 11 months and she began sleeping longer than 2 hour stretches.  Thank God for that!  We still had trouble getting through the night, and she was usually in our bed around 5am for an early morning snack.  A few weeks ago she got an ear infection, then we took a trip to Santa Cruz, then she got a cold, and sleep is terrible again!  Once she's feeling better its back to the sleep training grind.

Social:
Violet is a mix of a social butterfly and a mamas girl.  She will sit in random people's laps at story time and is much more friendly at this age than Kennedy was, but if anything is amiss, she wants mama!  Daddy won't do and she can be very attached when she's not feeling good.

Favorites:
Books: This girl looooves books!  She would be happy if we read books all day.  Some favorites are Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Katz lift-a-flap books, I am a Bunny, and any Bonyton book.

Foods: Cheese, bananas, and grapes.  I'm still nursing her a little bit, mostly before she sleeps and if she has an early morning wake up.

Songs: Knows the hand motions to almost all the songs we sing in music class plus twinkle twinkle little star and the itsy bitsy spider.  Loves to dance too!

Toys:  This girl is a blanket girl!  She loves dragging blankets around the house and is a major snuggler!  She also loves stuffed animals and drawing with our magna doodle.

Skills/Milestones: 
Violet began walking right around a year and now she is off and running.  She is also an excellent climber and can get herself up and down almost anything.  Totally terrifying!

Claps, high fives, puts things into a container, scribbles, gives kisses (the cutest!)

Words: Too many to count!  Knows all animal sounds, ball, book, bear, bunny, Kennedy (deedee), puppy, Mormor, Elmo, mama, dada, arm, toes, nose, all done, yeah, no, hi, bye, hello, hop.  There are more but I'm blanking.

Violet, we love your contagious joy, you energy, and your sweet disposition.  May your light always shine for Jesus!

happy birthday violet!

I just found this post in my drafts... seven months ago now but here we go!

Yesterday our sweet Violet girl turned one!  We met some family at the park by our house and had a little celebration for our sweet girl.  Violet had a little bit of a rough time. Maybe she was depressed about getting a year older or maybe it's the three molars coming in along with a double ear infection being treated with a medication that gives her a terrible stomach ache.

The highlight of her party was consuming the beautiful cake that Auntie Leana made for her.  We had a "violet" party with purple decor, so Leana made her a purple ombre smash cake with violets piped on the top.  It was so cute and Violet LOVED it.  She ate almost all of it and it was at least three cupcakes worth of cake!

Violet, as you grow into a little girl, I pray that you will continue to bring joy to those around you.  I pray that you will be a sister who encourages and forgives.  I pray that you will be eager to learn, brave, and confident of your identity in Christ.  You are so loved.

life lately

I had to do an update because Violet has literally exploded with life in the past two months!  It started with a week where she learned how to clap her hands, stand on her own, and put a ball into a hole.  From there, she has said her first words, taken her first steps, and is so interactive.

The words she says are: Elmo, Mormor, Bunny, "haha" for monkey, and she clicks her tongue for horses and ducks.

She's definitely not using walking as her mode of transportation yet, but she can do it when prompted!

I can't believe she's going to be one in less than two weeks!  My BABY!!!!

And for your entertainment, here are some funny things that Kennedy has said recently:
"Mom, when I get to be a grownup, I can drink wine and cut with a BIG knife."

Sure sweetie, just not at the same time...

While reading Snow White and seeing the witch's magic potion: "Mommy, that's her wine."

Um, I didn't think I had a wine problem, but maybe I do??