Sunday, October 31, 2010

C-A-N-D-Y!!!

Trick or Treating

Last year at Halloween Violet was only 8 months old, so this year was really her first official Halloween complete with costume(s), pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating and candy eating. It was perfect.

At first she wasn't sure she wanted to get in her costume, but after to some trickery, I was able to distract her long enough to get her dressed as the cutest little belly dancer you've ever seen. She then realized it wasn't so bad. The next hurdle was getting her to agree to wear the sparkly silver shoes. This is normally not a problem, but today she was obsessed with a pair of hand-me-down shoes. (More about shoes in another post...she loves 'em!)

We figured that we would make it to about 4 houses and call it a night. As it turned out we caught up with some neighbors and their little girl, and Violet was having so much fun that we kept going. She walked the whole street and cried when it was time to go home.

At home we gave her 1 piece of candy, but she really wasn't interested in eating it, she wanted to play with it. In fact the worst part was prying her trick or treat bucket out of her hand at bed time. I have a feeling she has visions of candy corn dancing in her head tonight. Here are some pictures of the highlights:

Heading out
Violet and "Flamingo" Allison who lives across the street

Our Belly Dancers Belly

Back home and happy with a full bucket of candy. By the way, this is what you get now when you ask for Violet's "biggest smile".

Basking in it. She was obsessed with her haul. She didn't want to eat it, just empty bucket, reload bucket, empty bucket, reload bucket, repeat....

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Pebbles

"Nooo, I'm not ready for my close up!"
Violet (aka Pebbles) and Nana (aka the one who made the Pebbles costume)
Playing at the library

Pumpkin Carving

Violet and her "pun-kink"




Eerily similar



Picking the Perfect Pumpkin



Embarrassing Confession

So I went to the store the other day to get Halloween candy for the trick-or-treaters before the store is out of everything except Skittles and Runts. Yeah, that's right, no filler here. The Raudabaugh house only serves chocolate, caramel, nugget deliciousness. Anyway, I had two bags ripped open before I even left the parking lot.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Raudababy Too, 36 weeks and Violet, 19 Months

I had my 36 week appointment today and wanted to report that all is perfect with the Raudababy. Baby is head down, facing the right direction, and already almost 6 lbs (expected to be about 7.5 lbs at birth, 'bout the same as Violet). I have Dr. check-ups every week from here on out, which should be another 4 weeks since they expect this baby to go to term.

In other news, Violet made the transition to her new room and big girl bed this weekend. She is doing great with it - goes to bed easily (haven't had to put her back in yet), and gets herself up when she wakes up in the morning. Sunday morning was pretty cute actually because we were sleeping, the whole house was dark, and then we heard a sweet little voice at the foot of our bed. It was 7am.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Attitude Adjustment

I have been so focused on getting everything ready for the new baby's arrival, and making sure that Violet is settled in her new room with plenty of time to adjust before the baby comes, that I may have missed the signs that her "adjustment" is already beginning.

She is so clingy! And wants "up up" constantly to be carried around the house, which is getting harder and harder the more she grows and the more pregnant I get. If I'm not holding her then she's hanging on my leg and following me tighter than a shadow. She's also quick to 'object' (nice way to say "throw a fit") when she doesn't get her way.

Seems all this behavior is saved especially for me. She's still the same dream child for her nanny and doesn't give Jeff as much of a hard time either. Lucky me.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Milestone: Big Girl Bed

Tonight was the night we decided to see how Violet would do sleeping in her big girl bed. All during the process -- painting and installing floors and assembling furniture and picking out bedding and hanging curtains -- Violet has been involved. So for three weeks we have been talking about her new room and her big girl bed.

She loves to climb on her bed, playing with stuffed animals and reading books. Still, I wasn't sure how it would go when we kissed her good night and walked out tonight. As it turns out, it was a non-event. She rolled over with her thumb in her mouth, like every other night and went to sleep. I'm sure she'll sleep great tonight, and I'm sure I won't as I'm glued to the baby monitor watching her every breath.

Here we are, reading books before lights out.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Violet's Big Girl Room: Bed

A real friend isn't one who's there for you when the chips are down. A real friend is one who gives up their Friday night to come over and help you put together and Ikea bed that come in over 348 separate pieces. Here is a picture of Noelle, with "help" from Violet and Jagger. We are just getting started.

Finally it's starting to look like something. Our confidence is building...and we are getting sillier and sillier.

Complete. 3 hours flat and we only woke Violet, who was sleeping in the next room, twice with our laughing.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Milestone: First Sleepover

Last night was my birthday, but who cares. The real story here is that Violet had her first sleep over with her Great Aunt Nancy and "God Sister" Katie. After delivering her to the exchange point (aka Central Market playground), and staying just long enough to make sure she wasn't going to freak out (meaning me), I took off for my birthday festivities. Knowing I didn't need to, I checked in anyway to get answers to all those nagging questions: was she ok when I walked away? did she cry? if she did, for how long? did she eat her dinner?, etc... Of course she was fine. Thanks Nancy for the best birthday gift...a morning to sleep in...All the way to 8 o'clock!