My 4 yr old Violet

Oh my sweet sweet Violet.

My favorite thing about her little self is her humor.  I don't think anyone has a clue how funny she is when its just B and V and I home throughout the day and she flies by the seat of her silly little pants.  She is also so so smart, and although her formal lessons are months apart in frequency, she picks up information from EVERYWHERE and spits it out at the craziest times...shocking us with her knowledge!  She has so very much personality in that little body and she is soo maternal!  It tends to be guided by the desire to control, a little more than the desire to help, but its also because she normally knows how to do things, and wants it done right!  She reminds me lots of cousin Audrey and cough*Aunt Tara*cough.

She loves using silly voices, gets frustrated because when her brother plays legos, his lego men don't talk to her and is tough as nails when she gets hurt and its not convenient to look weak or miss out.  She is shifting from wanting momma ALL the time to crying for Daddy at nap time and running to him after work/school and staying by his side until he removes her.  Violet has a hard time following through with obedience when it seems momma or daddy are distracted, and picking up without supervision is possibly the hardest thing in the world.  I think the biggest difference in Violet from 1 or 2 years ago, is her heart starting to show guilt and regret.  She was a touch cookie who seemed unaffected by discipline consequence or her own wrong doing.  But her heart is softening and she seems to be reacting with repentance lately.  This is opposite of her big brother so it has been tricky to "parent the same" in expectations and rules, but somewhat very differently when it comes to communicating and following through.

Violet has an obsession with cardigans, leggings, hair styling, cheese, singing, independence, pictures and having company...always.  She hates jeans, scratchy textures, solitude, picking up, following directions EXACTLY, and vegetables without ranch.  Songs like, "you are my sunshine" make her cry EVERY time (because of the lyrics - "When I awaken I was mistaken and I held my head and I cried")  She can't figure out why they weren't there and its the most terrifying thought to her tender self.

I Love her so very much and am so thankful for the last 4 years.  She gives us so much Joy and I'm so  thankful God saw fit to have her help shape our little family.  Here are some pictures of our fun weekend!  Thanks to great friends, and a loving Daddy we were able to celebrate Violet with a party, special breakfast, and a new bike!  I want to give an EXTRA shout out to my friend Nikki who is to thank for the cute party decorations and help setting up!  I cut a few things out from my couch, but her crafty self wowed me with a surprise banner and snowflakes that made the house look magical and a little girl feel VERY loved.  Here are some pictures of our BIG little girl and her birthday weekend!

her personality to a "T"

fun with friends! Ready for cup cakes!

my friends adorable banner!

the popcorn got in the way of the candles, and the video didn't take, but she loved her cupcake nonetheless

yum!

a winter wonderland :)

who wants more cupcakes!

:)

pin the tail on the bunny!

pretty impressive for being first in line! :)

Daddy kept moving it around for Benjamin's turn

pretty little Eden

I know we have one better than this, but here is Benjamin with all his women :)

waiting for her gift (before Mommy ran out of storage on her phone!)

Birthday morning Swedish Pancakes

licking the syrup from her plate

"I just want to pose like this momma!"

She partied and then she crashed (with her make up gift adorning her face!)

he got a haircut after the party.  I think he's pretty handsome :)

:)

un-edited.  She got some make up for her birthday (gulp) and while she was playing with it, the light from the window and her sweet little face were just too much!

:)

lovely blue eyeshadow

Daddy switched from straight razors for himself to giving Benjamin a hair cut for the first time.  I was impressed :)

my roles from my resting positions were limited, but I managed to cut a few circles.

love these folks...

today was a bad day.  Bad Bad Day. All day I just wanted to blink and have it over with...and then we decided to have pre bed cuddle time instead of book time, and I got three of my babies on my lap at the same time...and Violets new doll :)  I guess I'll take the whole day for these 20 minutes of laying on the couch listening to Christmas Music... more swooning!

Sickeningly cute?  I don't even feel bad...I don't deserve great moments like these, but I didn't really feel like I deserved the less than fun previous 15 hours either ;)

Violet had an 18ish hour bug this week.  One bad night and lots of extra cuddles! 

TV watching position...she's crazy

do you think I should start a business? If gourds wore hats, I'd be rich! :)

Baby Hercules at 20 weeks 4 days.  14 Oz. 74th Percentile. Daddy's Lips, and I'm switching from guessing previously guessing mommas nose, to now declaring Daddy's nose.  Benjamin's smirk...but youre welcome for not posting the 4D picture that shows his smile...This momma thinks its cute, but I know its really kinda creepy ;)

Yay for today!

Today was our 20 week ultrasound and as usual nothing went as planned ... but yet it went perfectly.

The original plan was to have this be a large family date and gender reveal, but due to babies frequent photo ops we have known gender for a while...our next plan was to still have a family date and let the kids experience an ultrasound and see little brother in action...and then Violet woke up at 3:00 with a fever...Baylee, our friend, came to our rescue and Joel and I took off alone.

This appointment was with Lorri - the ultrasound tech who was previously employed as a tech at a maternal fetal medicine office. We love her and she did not disappoint!

Baby brother shifted from 91% to 74%.  That seemed to be good news to her. (Normal is comforting!) He continued to look perfect and even gave us some smirks...not kidding.  He smiled out of the side of his mouth like his brother.  SWOON.  He was also as wiggly as ever!

Well as great as it is seeing your babe, he has been so wiggly so I knew he was fine...it was the wound/bleed area that I was anxious to see.  And the report is....it's still there, BUT instead of solid black(fluid/blood) it's starting to appear as if someone sprinkled salt over the area.  That means its starting to heal.  Its great news.  It means what we have been doing (making me do nothing) is working, and we will continue with the same plan.  If it continues healing as it has the past few weeks, we are VERY optimistic for my appointment with the specialist on Dec 18th.

My contractions seem to be non labor producing and my cervix is unchanged.  YAY.  Because the contraction feeling seems to stop with hydration and laying down, and my cervix is unchanged, they aren't a point of concern.  Just a pain!  The likely explanation for some of my pain is my irritable uterus being...irritable.  We watched the little man kick and punch the crud out of the wound area, and it HURT.  It was kind of calming to watch the cause and effects.  Calming but painful! Lastly, I am slowly tip toeing out of the "risk for pre-term labor" category.  Right now the irritable uterus is a larger factor than wound (although its just a matter of terminology because the wound is part of the cause of the traumatized uterus).

And thats about it!  I told Joel this appointment couldn't have gone better.  If healing hadn't started, I would have been pretty bummed.  Sitting or laying for the rest of my pregnancy was a pretty discouraging thought.  But thinking of doing it for 4 more weeks with a probable GREAT outcome, seems do-able...and I like goals that I think I can meet :)  On the flip side if it had appeared it was FULLY healed it would have been really hard remain cautions until my specialist appointment, and I would have felt super weird doing nothing when there didn't seem to be an issue.  It would have been an even bigger mind game! My mind is getting weary, and not on the market for any more games!

So tonight we rest, but feel lots of peace!  Thanks for all your prayers for little man.  I have been so encouraged by so many of you! We're continuing to pray I stay true to the plan for 4 more weeks!

More Pictures and updates (edited)

Life is so fun with a 4 and 5 yr old.  They are seriously so funny.  Violet could say nothing with her words and just make my day with her facial expressions, and then she goes and adds the silliest conversation, and its just too much!  Benjamin is also funny, but adds to it his HUGE heart.  

Life can get hohumm when I focus on my "cants" but sometimes taking pictures helps show me all I HAVE to make up for the "can't do's."  I originally wrote this post (this morning) saying that I was quite certain my appointment tomorrow would show a healed wound area and I would be on my way for the "All Clear!" in December...Then as the day went on I began to feel more and more pressure/tightness that left me confused, guzzling water and getting up only for the bathroom (and those trips were quite frequent due to my water intake!)  So I will revisit my confused state for tonight, and hope for some clear communication and answers tomorrow.  I may just have a growing baby that is in a weird position and not being nice to me, or I may have unwanted contractions.  I'm very prepared for either situation!  In the mean time, here are some pictures to help remind me how great it is to be home :) even on the couch!

Here's a peak at our last few days:

daddy taking a silly picture for the photographer Benjamin.
(but really its not so silly, because this guy was super man of the weekend covering all of Daddy AND mommy responsibilities!)

although today will have a high in the 70's, it was a chilly week last week!

"Momma!  lets take pictures!" EVERY day.  ...eye liner and mascara are VERY scarce these days.  They add a whole extra 2 minutes to my face washing regimen...

B needed in on the excitement

I posted Joel being crazy...so here's me playing fair

And...this is my favorite!  I was doing school with Benjamin having him write spelling words, and she felt neglected, so she sounded out her own words...That might be my favorite spelling of "Butin" EVER! (don't be alarmed - there is an "l" after the "F".

I'm sure I will have another post in the next day or two to share either Benjamin and Violets excitement of getting first time going to the dr. with us, or my excitement in finding out the wound is healed!  Either way, it shall surely be an exciting day! (please share in my optimism...its way more fun that way!)