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Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Playdate at the Nick Hotel


In an attempt to get Violet around other children, we joined a Mommy playgroup where most of the moms have kids in the same age range. It's awesome. They have meet-ups every week and we go to them when we can. We've met tons of Moms and kids.

These pictures were taken at the Nickelodeon Hotel.


Violet has recently discovered that if she picks up trash, I'll throw it away. Here she is, cleaning the hotel pool area one leaf at a time.

Learning to Work.


Understanding that she will eventually have to complete volunteer hours to get into college, she's decided to practice pushing wheelchairs in case she decides to volunteer at a hospital.

Violet Loves Dirt.


The Summer Weather Was Extended This Year.


With the multitude of 90+ degree weather, we must find ways to cool off. She loves her splash pad.

Brevard Zoo


On a work teambuilder, we went to the Brevard Zoo and spent the day there. I even got to feed a giraffe.

Man, there are so many days where I can say that I love my job.

Dinner at Chef Mickey's


By far, my favorite dinner with Violet was the dinner we had at the Contemporary Hotel at Chef Mickey's. That night, we had dinner with Chek and his wife Tiya, their daughter Elsa, and Chek's mom, Pa'Saowanee. We had a great time meeting all of the characters. Violet was on cloud nine. She couldn't get enough of all of the characters.


She jumped right out of her high chair and gave hugs and kisses to all of the characters.


My heart melted as she met all of the characters.


Hopefully the characters had a wonderful time meeting little Baby V too.


This is a close-up of Violet giving Minnie Mouse a kiss. Note how she has Minnie's nose in her hand to prevent Minnie from pulling back from her kiss! ha ha. Violet cracks me up.

Teamwork


We've come a long way.


Finally the babies have learned (wait, I must rephrase-- Violet has learned) that working together makes for a happy family.


High-Five!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Dinner with the Ravencrafts


Over Labor Day weekend, my cousin (P'Mam) and her husband (Dale) wanted to treat mom, Violet, and I to YUMMY Chinese food at a restaurant called Yummy House in Tampa. Dinner was amazing. Seriously awesome food.


Not only was the company awesome, but next door to the Yummy House, they had a Boba tea place. SOO GOOD!!


Violet was quite the little flirt that night and took turns playing with P'Beer and Loong Dale. Thanks for dinner guys!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Meeting up with Kelsey and Amanda

We had a mini reunion with Kelsey and Amanda when they came into town for Jennie's Labor Day weekend wedding. We were soo excited to see them. We initially met up at the International Mall in Tampa where we snacked on goodies and sipped some coffee.


Notice that those are my legs in the picture. Who is she holding her arms out for? It's for Kelsey! Chick magnet! Amanda had to kindly remind Violet that he is officially a married man.

Baby V sure does love her men.

Dim Sum is great...


...especially if your toddler falls into such a deep food coma that she falls asleep right at the table.

Awesome. Push toddler away from table. Must take pictures.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Violet is going to be a big sister!!

YEY!! Joe and I are 16 weeks pregnant and are VERY excited. We decided to wait a while before we posted anything because there was a possibility that our pregnancy could have a hiccup. Long story short, Violet contracted the coxsackie virus, who then passed it to me. I talked to my ob/gyn and he recommended more testing and talking to a geneticist. We saw the geneticist last week and he thinks that the baby is doing great and we shouldn't have anything to worry about. But, since "we've already come half way down the road, we're going to finish the journey," and have a follow-up visit with him at the end of November. Baby is developing well and is big...

That's right. Baby is going to be HUGE! Okay, I'm exaggerating a little bit but you may remember that Violet was a bigger sized baby (8lbs, 10 ounces) and I attributed my large baby to my weight gain. I gained 65 lbs with her. This time around, I haven't gained any weight BUT my baby still measured 16 weeks when I was only 14 weeks along. Maybe my ob/gyn will have me deliver the baby sooner?

So when's the due date? The baby is due around April 1st (Joe is REALLY hoping for an April Fool's baby). :) The kids will be almost exactly 2 years apart. Hopefully Violet won't be ringing in her 2nd birthday at Winnie Palmer Hospital. ha ha.

I'll post belly pictures and more updates soon!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Coxsackie Virus


One August morning, Violet sticks out her bottom lip and I see it-- one lone canker sore smack dab in the middle of her bottom lip. It was her first canker sore. I did some research online and found out that baby's first canker sores are accompanied with a low grade fever. The pain should last around 4 days even though the sore will still be visible.

Words I use to cheer her up are, "Suck it up kid, it's one of many that you'll have in your life," or, one of my personal favorites, "Just eat through it, I know you're hungry."

Needless to say, the next few days were miserable!! By the beginning of the second day, she stopped taking her bottle and eating food. She drank only water and would "try" different foods just to spit it out just as fast and cry. The pain was too much for her. She wasn't sleeping through the night and I actually brought her into bed with Joe and I for the first time in her life. She still woke up every hour but was comforted enough that Joe and I were there to hold her.

By the 4th day, I notice that my daughter has turned red. That's right, she has a full body rash. I decide to call the doctor and we bring her in first thing in the next morning.

Violet contracted the coxsackie virus. It was not just ONE canker sore that she had on her lip but SEVERAL in her mouth, on her tongue, AND down her throat. OH NO! The rash was another added side effect.

We had to ride out the wave and just let the virus run it's course. According to our pediatrician. hopefully she'll never get it again. Kinda like the chicken pox-- once you get it, your body develops antibodies to fight it off in the future.

Things I've learned from this experience:

1. Violet is a much tougher girl that I could possibly have ever thought!

2. If your kid stops eating food, it's probably more than just a canker sore.

3. Don't ever take your happy kid for granted.

She Stacks.


She's trying to master her motor skills!


She stacks them up, then knocks them down. It's a fun game.

Indu's Having a Baby!


We are so excited that little Indu is going to have a little baby of her own!! :) Here are pictures from her baby shower. You can see Joe chugging away on a bottle at one of the games.


Indu is thinking to herself, "I'm going to have one of those?! I guess it could look like fun."


Hume Hall Reunion!! Sheenu, Indu, and I all lived on the same floor our freshman year of college. Karen, you should have been there!!

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Violet gets a slide!


She can climb on it!


She can slide off of it!


She can be the monkey, eer, APE that she was always born to be!!


"Is it nighttime Violet?"


"No, no." There is no stopping the unstoppable.

Too much food makes for a drowsy toddler...

Violet has a bad hair day.

'Nuff said.

Pick me up Mommy...


...too bad your mommy needed to take a picture first.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Violet's Evening Routine


Every evening after her bath and a little bit of play time, we pop in a Classical Baby (Thank-you HBO) and give her a bottle of milk. She watches the 30 min animation set to classical music and is ready for bed.

As you can tell, she's quite content in her routine and will give us all goodnight kisses before hitting the hay.

AHHH... the sweet sounds of sleep :).

Cherry Season


Violet doesn't try to mask her love of cherries. She's proud.


Note her mouth-- even though the cherry is no where near her mouth, she leaves it open in anticipation of the yummy-goodness.


YUM.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Rocking Out with Loong Den


Discovering the wonderful noises that pots and pans make, Loong Den assisted Violet in her search for musical talent.


Loong Den decided that Violet needed more pots to bang and maybe even a cymbal.


Now we're just looking for someone to sign them... Anyone? Anyone?

Monday, August 31, 2009

Just another day in the sun...


She wore an...


itsy, bitsy, teeny-weeny...


non-polka dot bikini that she got from her cousins Kate and Maddie. Thanks for growing out of your clothes!

Violet's New Hat



I've told you once, I've told you twice. She's crazy.

She insists on carrying all 3.


With the addition of Violet (the blabla doll, not our child), Violet (our child) will insist that I pick her up from her crib with all 3 dolls... not just Frogina.


It's definitely more than a handful for me to carry her with all 3, and as you can tell, it's more than a handful for her as well :).

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Violet's Free Time


Violet's favorite past time is flipping through books. Since she doesn't have a sofa or couch sized for her to laze on, she sits in her basket that is lined with fluffy stuffed animals and an occasional plastic toy.

Last Day Hanging Out with GGM and Grandpa Russo


GGM thinks that Violet is a spitting image of her when she was a baby. Can you see the resemblance?


The trick to getting three Russos in a picture is having the youngest one sit in the wheelchair of the oldest one.


Sorry if I squished you Grandma.


It's the annual money giveaway.


After an action-packed weekend in Atlanta, Violet was pooped on the way home.

(She LOVES to sleep with her hands behind her head. I think it's adorable. I just want to tickle her underarms. I resist of course... but I still want to.)