New Skills!

Violet has been busy lately:

Working on talking! (sorry it is sideways...)




And learning about cause and effect. (again, sorry with the sideways issue, I haven't figured out how to remedy that in this program yet...)





On the home front...it snowed again today. I put the horses out on the pastures just as it started...



...and then I checked on them a bit later, as the snow started sticking.



I'm sure spring is here, as we've already been up to around 70 degrees F for several days, but this is just how spring works in the mountains. More snow is predicted for tomorrow, too!

Happy Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE VIOLET!!!!!


Today is Violet's 6 month birthday! It's unbelievable how different our lives have become since the Cutest Cowgirl has been in the hizzouse. It's truly shocking how much having her around has crystallized our thoughts on so many things; from organic food to naptimes to household budgeting. It's suddenly very easy to decide whether or not to do chores around the house/yard or to take a walk with the stroller. Gotta' go with the quality time with the kiddo - every time!

Vi @ 10 minutes

Vi @ 1 week (or so)

Vi yesterday

Vi today enjoying her birthday squash and prunes

Just in Case You Were Wondering, Violet's Still Average.

Don't get me wrong, Violet is amazing, wonderful, and basically the smartest baby in the world as far as we're concerned, but according to her six-month pediatrician appointment stats, Violet is still pretty average. Here are the numbers: current weight is 13.69 lbs (11%); length/height is 25.25 inches (34%), and head circumference is 40.7 cm (8%). Ok, so looking at the percentages I suppose Violet is a little less than average, but only on the growth charts. She's amazingly above average in every other way:-)

Oh, and Vi got her age-appropriate set of vaccinations today. Diptheria (the "D" in DTaP, as I recall), tetanus, pertussis, rotavirus, measles, mumps, rubella, polio, and so on. Three shots and one oral suspension. Vi was taken by surprise by the shots, but she took them like a trooper (not like the dog, however) even though she did cry a bit. For a six-month-old, we've got quite a brave little girl!

One very happy note (for me at least) was that I took a half-day trip to SLC on Saturday to meet my friends Phyllis and Leah for some eating and shopping. Yay! for getting away from A) home and B) the Cache Valley. And actually, C) the somewhat self-imposed obligations of both A and B.

While in SLC, I went to Whole Paycheck (ahem, I mean, Whole Foods) and purchased some great food for all three of us, then went to the Sundance outlet store across the street and met up with Phyllis and Leah. While there, I picked up my very first pair of Frye boots. I do understand that you, the reader, may not give a damn about my very first pair of Frye boots, but I hope that you'll understand my need to proclaim my excitement to the world via this blog.

Oh yes, so after the Sundance outlet experience (in which I also got a pair of rockin' fully-lined wool pants for $10, originally marked at $169), we went to Maggie Moos for some ice cream, and then on to the home furnishings and design mecca that is IKEA. I will spare you the description of our 2.5-or-so hour expedition, but rest assured it was well worth the caloric expenditure of walking around! Doubly so because we ate dinner there as well...

Now for the piece d'resistance, Violet pics:

Violet loves to chew on the tail of her carseat elephant.


Violet with the stool her Cioci Jennifer made for her, in March.

Snow, Snow, Snow. And some more snow.

If you haven't guessed by the title, we've had a bit of snow lately. And by a bit of snow, I mean a LOT of snow. Not so much at our house, but the Wasatch Mtns. (against which the city of Logan nestles) is expecting another 20 inches or so tonight. And they've received as much as 60 inches (depending on location) in the past few days. Pretty cool, unless you don't like the snow (Amber).

Anyway, we've had a bit of snow at our house, but mostly rain. The horses are snuggled up in their blankets to keep dry, but are standing around in several inches of mud. The bright side of this is that we are supposed to experience a warming trend starting tomorrow, and by Tuesday are supposed to reach a high of 75 degrees. Whooo Hoooo! Time to break out the t-shirts and sandals! And the sunscreen, of course.

More great news is that our old friends from Moscow (and then from Colorado), Maegan and Ryan, came to visit us this week. Yay for friends! Maegan is starting a PhD program at USU in child development, and Ryan is starting a Master's program in the College of Natural Resources. They'll be moving to the Logan area this summer. We're very excited about this because we'll have more friends who like the outdoors, who like to play board games with us, and who like to hang out with Violet and Trooper. And Ryan is a saxophone player, so I might have someone to talk into playing duets with...yay! Also a bit of cool trivia: Ryan's dad custom-made my wedding ring for me when we still lived in Moscow.

Now for the real meat-and-potatoes, the whole reason you checked the blog in the first place. Violet!

I see you...

It's not that we haven't been taking pictures, it's that we haven't been very faithful about posting our pictures. Maybe this will make up for it?

Violet seems to have discovered her tongue.

With a little supervision, she can also sit up.

We added a pasture in our front yard.

And some sandhill cranes came to visit in the backyard.

Couplanewpix

Here are some quick shots of our week. When Joanna was about 6 months pregnant, we spent the day wandering around Boston. We couldn't find many cool, hippie baby things that would fit into our luggage on the way home. We had more or less resigned ourselves to leaving Boston empty handed until we found a baby sling from The Hempest on Newbury Street. I had thought that the Newbury Street location had closed but their website seems to think it's still open. Anyhoo... Violet used to complain vociferously about being put into the sling, probably because she was too small. Now she is just the right size and seems to really dig it.


Also, we visited Phyllis and Shawn last weekend. We like going up to Idaho. Here is Violet being held by Phyllis. I think Phyllis likes Violet. I mean, really, how could you not like Violet?

babysitting @ Starbucks

Joanna has a lesson to give her students in the middle of the day and our usual childcare person is unavailable so I'm at Starbucks with the girl for two hours. I don't have a camera to upload some of our more recent pics, so what you get is a greatest hits from whatever is on my phone. Some old, some new, some completely unrelated.





You simply must eat here. The Woolgrowers in Los Banos, CA. Here's a hint, the lamb stew is pretty bland until you put the beans in it, then it comes alive. If you take yourself too seriously and are expecting some sort of antisceptic, neutered dining experience (uh, like the Olive Garden) then keep on driving.

Gansta eata

Our daily activities have been somewhat limited this week due to a hectic Mike schedule and a hectic Joanna teaching schedule (end of semester student performances, etc). So here's two quickie pics of our butternut squash lovin' gangsta girlie.