Summer Time

We have been enjoying some warm mornings and afternoons here in lovely coastal California. I think it is about time for our late summer. The months of September and October seem to be the sunniest and warmest around here. There have been several mornings were I have put on capris and a short-sleeve top! I know it is hot here! Vi has been sporting onesies and leg warmers like its her job. :)

We are thankful for the warm weather and have been trying to soak up as much as we can. A few weeks ago we went to a friend's neighborhood pool and Vi loved the water. She was not clinging to me one bit. She wanted to face out and dip her head as close to the water as she could. We even went under a few times and no objection to that made me so proud. She was quite the water baby. If we lived in a warmer place I would be in the water with her a lot more.

This week we have a beach get-together with church. Vi won't be going in the cold Pacific but she may like to get close. We will see. She will enjoy the sand I know. :)

I am starting to show a little and clothing is becoming more constricting. I am thankful it is getting warmer too because my skirts are much more comfy on the baby belly then jeans. I'll see my doctor next Monday for the first official visit. Pretty excited to hear the baby's heart beat. Such a wonderful sound!

Here are a few snapshots from the recent days.

Getting curly!

Daily snuggles

All grins

Something sure was funny here. I had just changed her diaper and was getting her ready for bed. No need to fasten 12 buttons just to undo them again... She thought something was hilarious.

Playing on the cool grass at a friend's home.

A random picture Meghan, my sister-in-law took when her family came through here in July. I thought it was pretty funny Uncle Everett posing with a ridiculous hat and Violet only interested in eating his dog tags. She enjoyed being held by him. If only everyone wore dog tags to munch on...:)

The Latest Good's News

Well, Violet is growing. That's for sure. Her size is still petite, but we know she is healthy and growing. She keeps us entertained with her sweet babbling and silly faces. She is quite a baby pterodactyl as of late, letting out several screeches a day of dinosaur volume.

She has finally learned to hold her own bottle. We sometimes get her to hold her own cup, but I think she gets lazy. Why do it when Momma and Daddy can?

Chilling out on our bed.

Here is one of her favorite toys to scoot around the house with it in her mouth. It is a stuffed little girl. For some reason she finds the head tasty.

Here she is the other day.

My little doll face!

Who me?

She woke up Monday with a bad bug so we stayed home for the day. She was on the mend by the afternoon but we laid low Tuesday just to get her energy back.

Morning sickness has definitely got its grip on me most days. Sometimes it is more tolerable than others, so if I feel relatively good I rush to get things done. I have let it get the best of me the past couple weeks. I have been in the house too much, not taking walks with Vi like I should. It doesn't help that it is overcast and chilly here...but there I go making excuses.

It is still sinking in that the Lord may bless us with another little one. Violet has been such a blessing. Only God knows this second child right now. We are looking forward to meeting the baby as well! We haven't really talked names yet, but that will be a fun game when we find out the gender, which we both want to know this time as well. No surprises yet for me. I love knowing the little one inside as a girl or boy. I loved picking out a name early for Violet and calling her that in the womb. It was already a connection with her and the name.

Anyways, things are plugging along here. Daniel stays busy with school and homework, as usual. He has been getting up everyday to work out with our neighbor. They play basketball, run, bike, play racquetball, quite a variety in the workouts. It has been an encouragement to him. Our neighbors are such a blessing. We keep thinking they are going to get tired of us. Ha!  We are definitely not tired of them and we see each other almost everyday. The crunch of the gravel in our front yard is always nice to hear if it is their children's feet or their own. What a joy to have such sweet neighbors!

We are becoming members of our church this Sunday. We have completed the member training classes and last week we met with the elders to affirm our faith. We look forward to coming alongside this church body in a more formal way. It has been a blessing to us since we started attending in February. Again, we are thankful for God's blessing to us in finding a church body that worships the God of the Bible whole-heartedly in spirit and doctrine.

Well, today we are bike riding with some friends. It is always nice to get out and pull Vi along in the trailer. She seems to like it as long as her sun hat doesn't fall into her face.

Thanks for reading our update! Much love!

Friend's Birthday and Beach Bash

Our friend's daughter's birthday was last week. We all got together and celebrated her first year at Asilomar beach.

It was a gloomy day but it didn't dampen our fellowship time. We had a few patches of sunlight that would break through and the menfolk kept us warm with a cozy fire.

It was a beautiful beach. The kids stayed busy finding small treasures in the water; the hermit crabs were a favorite.

Here is Violet's first encounter with sand. We have walked on the beach and sat on the beach but I haven't really spent time with her in the sand. She seemed to enjoy it, and of course a fist full of sand reached her mouth more than once.

 

She is hiding under the sunhat.

The birthday girl. Ellen is number one! She is an absolute doll!

The menfolk.

Sweet time at the beach with sweet friends. We are very thankful for the fellowship God has provided here in California.

Park Time with Neighbors

We have a wonderful park across the street from our house and we finally got together with our neighbors to play outside. There is a big baseball field with a playground behind it.

Here is Daniel kicking the soccer ball around.

 

Here is Vi and our neighbor's smallest child.

Soccer

Baseball time!

Wendy and their middle child.

Violet's little playmate.