A Perfect 10!

We took Violet in for her 4 month check-up yesterday, and was thrilled when they weighed her and announced she has officially made it into the double digits -- our baby girl finally weighs 10 pounds! We're exactly halfway to that magic 20 pound milestone that is required for her to get her palate repair surgery. Everything else with the check-up went well, praise God!

I'm not thinking she is going to make the 20 pound mark by her birthday. . . My guess is next Christmas, we'll be heading back to OR. What do you think??

Sleeping Like a Baby

Violet is an amazing sleeper. The nighttime routine at our house (if you can call it a routine) is that the boys are each up at least once at night while Violet sleeps between 8-10 hours. I'm always checking on her, because I'm just not used to a baby (or toddler or preschooler, for that matter) actually sleeping all night. Unfortunately, I met with a dietician today who said I really should be waking her at night to eat because she's not meeting her daily calorie recommendations. That's just wrong, don't you think?? I guess I'll do what's necessary to make sure she gains weight, even if that means waking my sweet baby girl.

While she was napping today, I couldn't resist taking some peaceful sleepy pictures. I just love this basinette that my friend Chris let me borrow (Yes, Chris, she's still sleeping in the basinette that Drake had outgrown by the time he was, what, a month old? I think it will probably last until she's at least 6 months old).

She's just so sweet. . .

Grandma Brown Would Be So Proud

My Grandma Brown loved violets, and her windowsills were lined with them. Unfortunately, my mom and I did NOT get her green-thumb, and so we usually stick with the kind of plants you dust, not water. If you recall, my mom got our Violet a live plant as well as a silk one when she came home from the hospital, assuming that the live plant would not last long.

This is how they looked that day (the real one is on the right):

I didn't take any pictures of just how pathetic the violet looked in the subsequent weeks; it was rather embarrassing with zero blooms and even the leaves started to look like they were fading fast. . . But I didn't give up and continued to care for my violet plant (as I cared for my Violet girl). I was completely elated last week when I noticed new buds beginning to show!

Each day, I've been so excited to see my blooms starting to open. . .

This morning, there were FOUR flowers with several more in the works! It doesn't look quite as beautiful as the day mom gave it to me, but I'm starting to believe we'll get there!

Here is Grandma Brown with baby Calvin on her last Christmas with us:

Every time I look at my violet plant, I can't help but think about Grandma Brown. She went to be with Jesus 3 years ago, but I'm sure she would have been proud (probably more proud of her Violet great-granddaughter than the fact that I didn't kill the plant, though)!

Did I Seriously Allow This?!?

And did I even provide the means by which this terrific mess was created?

So clearly, I was NOT thinking clearly today. . . The boys (Calvin & Tyler) wanted to play outside in the snow with their dump trucks. Since Oliver & Violet were sleeping, not to mention I didn't really want to bundle Brynn up to take outside, I was trying to be creative to give them something fun to do. I had saved a big box full of styrofoam popcorn from a Christmas package that had been delivered, and decided it could make some pretty fun "inside snow." I told them they had to stay in the kitchen with their dump trucks and their "snow", but they were free to play as much as they wanted on the hardwood floor, thinking it would be a quick sweep-up when they were done. (Are you already figuring out that this wasn't the case??)

It didn't take long for my kitchen to look like this: They certainly were having fun loading up the "snow" in their trucks and dumping it out again, but the more they crunched up the popcorn, I began to wonder just how quick the clean up would be after all. . .

The whole "stay in the kitchen" thing didn't work so well with Miss Brynn, either. . .

Soon I had styrofoam all over my house!

I think Calvin was a little amazed that I let them make such a mess!

When they were done playing, I gave them the brooms and dustpans and put them to work getting the mess cleaned up.

You can imagine how well that worked. . . After about 30 seconds, Calvin said, "Mommy, I think we need a grown-up to do this; it's too hard."

And he was right! I was beginning to think I needed a miracle to get it all cleaned up! A mere 2 hours later (you think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not), my house looked like itself again. So, in hindsight, I think there were a couple things I hadn't accounted for when I had my bright idea:

1) The popcorn, although they start out big, quickly become microscopic little particles after being trampled over and over again by little feet and their dump trucks.

2) If it had merely been the size, it wouldn't have been that big of a deal. The real problem was the amazing static electricity the little things hold! The kids were seriously COVERED in little white specks and they were all over the walls, appliances, etc. As I was trying to clean, it was like I was being attacked by a million white bugs! Each time I filled the dustpan, they would come flying right back out in my face. I wondered if I would ever get it all clean, until I really did have a decent idea and got out my vaccuum. Those little styrofoam specks were no match for my Kirby! (although when it was done, I actually had to use an attachment on the vaccuum to get the styrofoam OFF of the vaccuum bag -- crazy, huh?) I'm pretty sure we'll be finding styrofoam specks in the house for a long, long time. . .

Finally, Some Snowy FUN

After staring at the beautiful snow for nearly 3 weeks, but having to stay in because of the frigid cold temperatures, we FINALLY got a perfect day to go play! The boys were so excited to tromp around in the big drifts in our backyard.

Calvin seeing just how cool making snow angels can be. . .
Not bad!

Calvin and I were having a blast throwing snowballs at each other (the snow was the perfect consistency for making snowballs!), but Oliver was more interested in eating the snowballs. He was cracking me up; he would study the snow for awhile. . .

. . . then take a huge bite out of it. (I'll pretend he was studying it to make sure it was clean, although he was probably just trying to determine if the whole thing could fit in his mouth.) He just kept saying he wanted more 'posicles'.

I attempted to help the boys make a snowman, and decided I was somewhat challenged in the 'snowman-making' department, so I told them they could make one when daddy got home. He got home with just enough daylight left to get the job done.

As you can see, Calvin was a great help.

A couple of Easter eggs and a party blower from Calvin's birthday party completed the face of our impressive snowman (you may not think it's that impressive, but if you had seen how fast Russ got that thing built, trust me, you'd be impressed).

Calvin thought Violet needed to see our Frosty (Calvin is holding her if you couldn't tell).

There she's getting a closer view.

Hopefully our snowman doesn't last too long; I was LOVING the warmer temps today!

Uncle Carl's 80th!

Today, my great-uncle Carl is 80 years young! To celebrate, all of his family joined him for church this morning (where he was also honored for FIFTY years of service as an usher!), and then had a good-old-fashioned Lutheran potluck, complete with birthday cake!

We certainly filled up the church basement!

After the delicious meal was finished, we were all treated to a special presentation. Aunt Velma, who was only 4 when Carl was born, had written down the account of the day as she remembers it. Susan read her story, and I was amazed at Velma's 80-year-old memories!

She recounted how there was a huge snowstorm at the time (not unlike today), and Carl was born before the doctor arrived. My grandma, being 9 years old, was off at school when her baby brother was born. Everyone listened intently to the wonderful memories of my Aunt Velma.

In typical Uncle Carl fashion, rather than receiving gifts on his birthday, he had MADE gifts for his nieces & nephews. George displays the beautiful frames Uncle Carl had made out of the woodwork from he & Grandma & Aunt Velma's childhood home; what a special gift!

We couldn't let a day like today get by without some posed pictures. You are about to witness an amazing magic trick: the people are going to start multiplying right before your eyes! First, the "originals": Grandma Ruth, Uncle Carl, and Aunt Velma.

Then my dad and the others in his generation are added:

Next we added my generation:

And just when you think we couldn't possibly fit one more person in the picture, we add about 20 more! This one includes all of the youngest generation. I promise Uncle Carl is still in the middle of the picture if you look closely; I told you we really multiply!

Uncle Carl, we are so blessed to have you in our family, and I hope you know how much you are loved! Happy birthday to a wonderful man!

Another Comparison. . .

Further proof that my children have ZERO similar characteristics. . . This comparison shot isn't really fair to Oliver, who was only a month old. The other two were exactly 3 months when the pictures were taken. So Oliver looks scary-skinny (he was only 2 weeks out from open-heart surgery), but the funny thing is that Calvin weighed a full 3 pounds more than Violet; you'd never guess it by these pictures, would you? I know I've said it before, but my little nine-pounder certainly carries most of her weight in her cheeks!

I wonder if they'll ever start looking like they belong to the same family. . .