sheltered life

I haven't really gotten the hang of leaving my house by myself with baby in tow. We tend to stay pretty much close to home base. We take some walks, and I'll throw us in the car maybe once a week to see a friend, but pretty much haven't gotten the hang of running errands with the kid. Part of it is I don't want to get into the habit of throw the kid in a shopping cart or the stroller at the mall to get out, I don't want her to grow up with the main activity in life being shopping. Part of it also is that healthwise, I am exhausted all the time. (We recently discovered that I have an underactive thyroid, and I guess the process of getting the medication right takes a while, so I pretty much still nap when she naps, and hope for lots of naps.)

All that to say, I really want to make a better effort to get out more with my daughter. I'd really like her to see more of the world, and I think I might need to see more of it as well. What to do with myself once I pack everything up and go is a quandary to me though. What can you go do with a baby? What should I go do with my baby? Can I just invite myself over to friends houses who have lots of children? How much walking can one really do? Sometimes I wish we still lived in Akron or in Columbus. We'd be all over those Metro Parks. Literally.

I suppose I should get over my fear of people seeing my legs and go to the pool or enroll in a Mommy and Me class at the Y. Of course that requires the shopping I am trying to avoid... finding a swimsuit at least. This post-pregnancy body is not looking forward to that.

I hope that regardless of what I do or don't do, that Violet will be fine. She's crawling and cruising, dancing, and ever-so-much into reading... Mainly I think she could get by with just a bit more socialization, and maybe we'd be okay. Oh the guilt-complexes that abound when you have a kid :)

So now for the video of the day. I like to call this one "Video for Aunt Libby" or "Someday We're Going to Buy YOUR Firstborn a Talking Book, Too!" :)







(of course, just so ya know, we really do like the book :))

busy, busy, busy.

So much I need to catch up on... this whole blogging thing hasn't become part of my regular routine... but I am determined!

about a month ago, a week before Violet turned 8 months old, she started crawling.





And life has never been the same since.


With new found movement came new found independence. My parents tell me that as a toddler I would frequently say "my do it myself!" I think I may have given birth to little miss "my-do-it-myself" the Second. She is determined. Determined to cruise across the furniture. Determined to grab whatever thing Mommy and Daddy DON'T want her to have. Determined to crawl in small spaces that she doesn't fit in. Determined to find every single cord in the house. Determined to NOT have her diaper changed. Determined to NOT fall asleep. Most of that sounds really negative, but boy am I glad she is determined! I am hoping that this is just a picture of things to come as a teenager and adult: determined to not give into peer pressure, determined to not let society dictate how she should act/think/look, determined to live pure and holy unto the Lord, determined to wait for the right guy and not to settle, determined to live an adventure-filled life.


Violet finding the one dead leaf on the floor I happened to miss:

Anyways... so with this independence though comes the stranger anxiety. There have been many times lately that I go to hand her to someone else for a moment and she clings onto me for dear life. I have to admit that I love this. Especially since she barely sits still long enough to cuddle anymore, I take my cuddling however and whenever it happens.


Violet has also started dancing. Which is ridiculously cute.

So in the interest of taking a shower while I have a moment's free time, I will summarize the rest: I've been having fun cooking, making food for violet, hanging with my family and all the new additions, trying to re-pickup couponing, and i got to cut my husband's hair. Oh, and there've been lots of thunderstorms. That should do it.

Here is Tom's new look:


Violet enjoying homemade spinach:

I leave you with this final vision of "the Cuteness."