4 Months Old Today

The Lord blessed us with Violet 4 months ago. It is still amazing to think she is our child. We are so blessed to have her in our family. She brings such joy.


A rare grin for the camera:


I can't wait until she hams it up for the camera like she does for her Daddy. He sure knows how to get the grins out of her. It is either Daddy or putting her on the changing table. She gets super chatty and smiley on the changing table. I just play with her on there for a while sometimes.

A typical pose for the camera:


She is still too small for the johnny-jump-up. Daniel was eager to get it out and try. You can barely see her little arms. She is supposed to be able to rest her arms on the sides of the pouch. We have a little growing to do first before we pull that thing back out.

Daddy was getting her attention to the side for this picture. She doesn't like her bouncy chair as much anymore. She prefers to sit in her bumbo or be propped up on the couch like this. Every time I sit her in the bouncy chair she tries to sit up and it looks like she will pull the chair over on top of her. We use the bumbo mostly.

She gets a good amount of time out and about. On Tuesdays we go to my Bible study where she sits in on the study. She is so well-behaved. I don't feel like a distraction. I am thankful the ladies in my study don't mind a few gurgles and coos every once in a while. On Wednesdays we go to a friend's house and enjoy time with her and her sons. She has a 2 year old and a newborn. Violet enjoys looking at her newborn and the moms enjoy the time together as well.

We try to take regular walks when it isn't raining and Violet really loves to stare up at the trees. She can seem disinterested if we are walking under blue sky, but then if she sees trees she opens her mouth and gazes up. We enjoy the time walking together and I talk her ears off. I may look like a crazy lady talking to my baby in her stroller but I tell her about everything we are seeing. I enjoy it. It has kind of developed into a thankful prayer to God for His amazing creation.

Daniel is staying busy with classes but we enjoy our evenings cuddling Vi and eating dinner slowly. (That is our new challenge, to eat slowly and savor every bite.) We even try to put our utensils down between bites. It leaves more time for conversation.

We are going out with a classmate of Daniel's tomorrow and his fiance. I have no worries about Violet's behavior when we go out. She really is such a good baby. We are so thankful for her.

These 4 months have flown by and I know the next 4 will as well. They have been so special!

Daddy's Girl

Mommy is in the kitchen fixing dinner. Guess what I am doing?

Waiting for Daddy.

I sit here sometimes and wait nicely.

This is what I was doing earlier today:


I was not waiting here...just sleeping.



Now I am waiting. Hmmm. Is that the door I hear?












Yes it is!! There is Daddy!

I love him so!

Taking a Walk

Last weekend we drove to the Fort Ord Dunes State Park. It is about a 5 minutes drive from our house so we had to check it out. It is very small with only one short walk to the beach and a lookout point. It does join up with the big bike trail that follows along the ocean so you could make it a longer walk.

Vi was traveling incognito...as a large lump on her Daddy's chest.

We checked several times to make sure she was not over-heating. She was napping peacefully next to Daddy's heart. I think she really enjoyed it. It was a blustery day. You can't tell by the pictures.

From the look-out point.

We walked down to the water and watched the giant waves. It was a beautiful sight, wave after wave rushing in to shore. We were reminded that the Lord tells the ocean where to stop. What a blessing He is in control!

This is the ice plant at its best. It turns all kinds of beautiful colors and even shoots off flowers sometimes.

Nice day to explore.

Latest Violet Videos

Using her baby paws...

Next Step for Vi...a trap set.

Before bedtime fussiness...

Gotta Love the Aunties!

Love my aunties, especially Auntie Lolly who gave me this cute onesie.



I even wore it to nap time with my dolly (yet to be named). Mommy and Daddy are still helping me think of a name for her.



Auntie Lolly, I will get a picture of me watching hockey. I promise. I may have to ask Mommy to extend my bedtime unless one comes on early some night. Love You!

12 Things About Us!

My sister recently posted a "12 Things You Don't Know About Me" on her own lovely blog, and tagged her readers to do the same. I thought I would change it around a bit for our family. I will include things about all 3 of us.


12 Things You May Not Know About Us

12) I (Maryn) haven't been really excited about cooking new things lately, but I am hoping to change that soon. I think it has been a combination of baby activity and a smaller kitchen. Neither one are that good of reasons especially the second one. So I am pulling out all the cookbooks and magazine recipes I have ripped out and making a grocery list and possibly even a menu. I have been telling myself a menu would help kindle the flame to cook, so I will aim to try it this year!

11) Daniel and I still have a hard time doing different things in our free time. This weekend we made lists of things to do, we are major list people, and some of them were things we needed to do individually. It was difficult. We like each other's company a lot.

10) We have a little yard gnome in our front entry that greets people when they come in, if they look down to see him. It is an inside joke with my parents and Daniel. He was supposed to take pictures with it when he traveled, but I think the gnome is a little big and Daniel didn't get any photos in Japan, Korea, Thailand or the Philippines. He has traveled quite a bit outside of Iraq and Afghanistan.

9) Violet slept 9 hours straight two nights in a row! Woohoo!! Praise the Lord!

8) Daniel and I really like Costco. We got a membership in November and it is so good we have a well-planned budget because it is easy to go crazy in there!

7) We really like to have people over to our house. I mean really. Not only do we enjoy getting to know other people better and have fun, but we like seeing each other as host and hostess. We work together well when we have people over and it makes the time even more fun!

6) Vi loves to push up on her legs and stand straight up. She is getting stronger everyday and it is amazing to watch her grow and learn. She sits up in her Boppy when she feels like bending at the waist. Ha. You know what I mean if you've been around babies. They want to keep their body straight and just slide out of any chair you want them to sit in...

5) Daniel bikes to school and most of the time actually looks forward to it. I am so thankful for that; that it is enjoyable enough to do everyday and if he happens to not want to one day he gets the bus or uses the car. He bikes about 12 miles a day. We are planning for me to get a bike soon as well so we will be a biking family. We already have the trailer for Vi Pie. It is very bike friendly around here, lots of trails and bike lanes on the roads.

4) When Oscar and Meli, the kitty-cats, wrestle they tend to start with a slow spat where Oscar licks Meli's head for as long as she can tolerate it. Then they begin a full wrestle. It is very bizarre and funny to watch.

3) We may have a strawberry blonde on our hands. In the sunlight, Violet's hair looks to have a red tint to it. We are excited to see what it will look like...Grow hair grow!

2) My great uncle attended NPS, the same school Daniel is at, in the 70s and studied none other than, Computer Science. He is a retired Navy Captain...quite a career.

1) We are planning a trip to see everyone this next summer. So gear up for a Good visit!


Tag, You're IT!!

Before Classes Started...

Daniel and I had a few days to ourselves after our visitors were gone. We loved every minute with family and friends, but we needed some time to get the house in order and Daniel ready for class. Daniel didn't return to school until Wednesday the 6th so we had plenty of time to get some things done. And we did just that!

We took down Christmas on the weekend, fought a cold Daniel had picked up somewhere, got new carpet and vinyl flooring in our family room and kitchen, and Vi attended her first movie in a theatre. It was a great time.

First, I will fill ya'll in on the flooring bit. We moved into our base house and it had nasty carpet. It didn't really mean that much to us in the beginning since we have so many floor rugs we could cover up major spots, but after a while it started to get to us. With Violet learning how to crawl on this floor in the future we weren't looking forward to little hands and mouth on the gross floor, so Daniel requested new carpet in a letter to the housing company that rents out the base housing. We didn't hear from them for some time so Daniel gave them a call. I was pretty skeptical of them replacing this carpet since this is old housing and I figure they will tear it down in a few years, but they sent a person out to the house to look at it. The person agreed and said we should get new vinyl in our kitchen as well. Well, that was an added bonus. I was thrilled! The kitchen floor has several gashes that make it look dirty even when it is freshly swiffered, so I was surprised.

Anyways, they had two men come lay new, soft carpet and updated vinyl on Monday. I really think it looks like a different home. We rearranged everything as well and I really like the new set-up better, so that feels new and different.

Here are a few pics. (Daniel likes to photo-document these kinds of things. I am glad.)

After the nasty carpet was gone.

Half of our family room crammed into the breakfast nook.

Clean carpet in the entry. No nasty unwelcoming spots.

Old kitchen floor.

New kitchen floor.

New arrangement...feels larger.

Decorator Violet Good helped us arrange everything in a better way. I think she approves despite the iffy look. :)

Monday we went out to dinner to celebrate Daniel's grades from last quarter. He finally got all of them in, and he did an excellent job. I am so proud. We invited some friends and went to a yummy seafood restaurant downtown. It was a special evening.

On Tuesday we spent the day running some errands and went to see a movie showing of Blindside. We had heard it was a good movie, and what we heard was true. Vi did great. I fed her as we got in there and then she slept on my lap the whole movie. I think people could barely tell there was a baby in attendance.

Violet's latest things to do are randomly smiling for several seconds, constantly sucking on her hands, cooing for several minutes, and giving blank stares at any electronic device held up to her face. It takes a lot to catch a smile lately. She even gives a blank look at our phones...she has learned...and at such a young age. Here is one to demonstrate.

Daniel got her this loon on sale at REI, our new favorite place to hang out. It makes an eerie loon call. It wigs out the cats, but Violet seems to like it. Yes, the loon bill must go in the mouth.

Love Ya'll!

The Steels Were Here

We had a wonderful visit with our friends from North Carolina. They flew into San Francisco on the Monday after Christmas and left Friday the 1st. It was a sweet time of just enjoying each other's company. Of course, we loved sharing Violet with them and seeing how big their Lily girl is getting. We did get to explore a little of this beautful part of California.

But first the time together...

Jesse snuggling with the Vi Pie.

They were really here!! (Christy held Vi too I just didn't get any snaps of it happening.)

Thanks you two for the extra set of arms to love on our baby.

Violet smiling for Jesse.

Lily, I believe, was singing to Violet as we prepared to head out the door. (Nice capture Christy!)

Tuesday we visited the Monterey Aquarium. It was Christy's birthday so we tried to make it a special day. Here we are in the kelp forest.

Sweet family!

Up close and personal with the fishies!

All of us! (Vi was in the stroller by Daniel.)

On Wednesday Christy Steel and I met up with Christie Reynolds for a ladies lunch at a fabulous cafe in Pacific Grove. The husbands kindly took care of the children all together at the Reynolds home. We had a special time chatting and walking the pretty main street in PG. Later that afternoon we rested and then returned to the Reynolds for pizza and fellowship. It was so good being with these families. We love them all so very much!

Chatting before dinner.

The Ladies!

Group picture at the end of the night.

Jesse and Christy were able to explore some of the Pacific Coast Highway on Thursday and we had a nice New Year's Eve even though we didn't stay up until midnight. The Steels had to get back to San Francisco the next morning to fly out.

All in all it was a dear time with a dear family. We are so thankful you all made it out here. We enjoyed our time with ya'll and we look forward to our next time together!

Christmas with Family

We had Daniel's family here for Christmas. It was a sweet time. Mom and Dad came on the Wednesday before the week of Christmas. It was great to have them arrive early. They were able to see Daniel's school campus, cuddle with Violet, and attend church on Sunday morning with us.



Monday afternoon Everett and Meghan arrived with the boys. We spent Tuesday mostly around the house, but Daniel and Ev went on a few mountain bike trails.

Wednesday we explored the aquarium and Cannery Row. Everett, Meghan and Daniel biked to the aquarium and we joined them with the vehicles. It was a gorgeous day, as you can see.

Thursday evening we attended the Christmas Eve service at church together and came home to finish preparing for Christmas morning.



Christmas morning started with light sabers in the stockings. They were obviously a hit.


Meli loved the aftermath of the stockings. She delights in finding crinkly tissue paper to sit on and rest.

The gift-giving began and Braden and Trevor's big gifts were progressive. Many of their gifts were theme focused on creating the best little Indian outfit and cowboy outfit.

Braden opened a headdress and tomahawk and slowly opened the other accessories. Meghan made his cute outfit and ordered his tomahawk, arrows and quiver. It was a great costume!


Trevor opened his boots first, then the toy pistols, and then the fantastic leather chaps and vest. He looked ready for a round-up.




Daniel and Everett were given a Magnetic Chore Board to use for their kids. It was a board similar to one they had used when they were children.

This picture seems to capture their memory of the board as well as their surprise in seeing one for their own families. Great idea Mom!



Vi received an abundance of adorable gifts. She is dressed in precious clothing well into the new year and my Momma even made her this sweet sleep sac that is extra cozy with a little matching hat. Mom and Dad gave her a great bag filled all kinds of vintage toys. We look forward to playing with Raggedy Ann and Andy.

Christmas evening we decided to have a fire on the beach in Carmel. It turned out to be a perfect night, not too breezy, not too chilly. We all enjoyed leftover turkey, ham and rolls from earlier meals. It was a great time closing out a wonderful day.

The last few days of the visit went quickly and we enjoyed every minute of our time together.

I just wanted to post one quick picture of how Violet spent most of her holiday. She was cuddled, loved on, and squeezed. I am pretty sure she delighted in it.

I will write more later but her evening feeding time has come.


Happy New Year!