Prelude to a Christmas update

We've been so busy and we would like to post a proper update. We will soon, but for now PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had these taken here in our home when Violet was 5 weeks and 5 days old. (She is now 12 weeks and 1 day old.) Tom Bonomo is not only a fantastic photographer, but we are pretty sure he is the Baby Whisperer. Violet loves him! She loved him 7(ish) weeks ago and she loved him when he stopped by last week with more prints! We have to admit, we love him, too. (He works super quick! We had images for our Christmas cards in the blink of an eye! It took us forever to choose which prints we wanted, though. We love all of the images! We also did not want to post these before Christmas bc part of our gifts to our parents = framed 8x10s of Violet...we had to keep it a surprise!)
Without further ado...

Seasons Greetings!

The tree is up. It's trimmed, lit and decorated. Cookies are being baked (gingerbread men and of course I am making fudge bc Michelle's recipe rocks!) and the choo choo is choo choo-ing and wee baby Violet is coo coo-ing. Okay, so she is not so wee anymore, but you get the idea. Violet's first Christmas is nearly here and even though she may not realize what is going on and even though she will definitely not remember this, we still would like to make it special for her (and for us!) Yes, we get giddy about the big red dude, too. We love the sounds, smells and feel of the holiday season and it just tugs at our heart strings that we can now share and experience it all, finally, with a beautiful baby of our own.



(As always, more pictures have been added to our albums, so check them out if you want to see more of Violet and her cuteness!)

Santa and Mrs. Claus came to town in their shiny sleigh, accompanied by ambulances, a fire truck and the kind volunteers from the local hose company. They brought candy and even stopped in to visit little Violet in our home. They really liked our tree and said that it reminded them of "old times." They said that they were amazed how alert and intelligent V seemed for her age (our pediatrician says the same thing) and how well behaved, calm and pleasant she was. I am so proud of her! And if she is anything like her father, she will be quite the little genius. (hee hee!) I sent the Claus couple off with a tin filled with oatmeal chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven to keep them all toasty for the rest of their stops. (We were their first home.) Enough bragging!



(still using the Canon & Flip 'til Mike builds the ultimate super computer...aka one that can handle the Nikon's awesomeness!)

And now for something completely different...

I know that in previous posts, Mike and I have touched (he attempted to be gangsta about it) on cloth diapering. I have some pictures I should have posted before, from my cell phone, of Violet sporting her cute fluffy butt. (Moms who CD tend to call it 'fluffy butt.' Not only do I find this cute and funny, but I am calling it that now, too!) Cloth diapering is coming along quite smoothly. Her onesies even fit over them, for the most part! When they don't, we dress her in a top, her CDs and a pair of BabyLegs. I am becoming addicted to cloth diapers and baby leg warmers. It's adorable and I cannot help myself!



We don't just use Fuzzibunz (we use Swaddlebees-EcoNappis and GoGreenPocketDiapers) but I just so happened to snap a cell pic when I received this fluffy mail :)

Havin' fun with the D3100, 2 Month Styleee!

Well, well, well! Look who is 2 months old! Actually, 2 months, 1 week and 5 days old! Turns out 1 week and 5 days is exactly how much time I needed to set up Adobe Premier and splice this footage. When I was not editing, I was busy being a dad, a husband, a rocket scientist and solving world peace one pizza shop at a time.
Violet's still having fun playing, napping, talking and laughing. It's hard to catch it all on video, especially when I'd rather enjoy the moment with Violet, Lea and myself.





Our diapers are made of cloth. No matter how many times they are defecated on, they keep coming back for more. Your disposable diapers scream at the first fart. Your disposable diapers need therapy.
::drops mic::

The Papoose is loose!

Violet has been quite vocal and active, I am happy to report! She had her 2 month appointment today. (She is 2 months today!)






We have her on a very delayed vaccination schedule and her one shot in her leg did not phase her at all. She didn't even flinch. Not only am I shocked by this, but I am very proud of my tough little lady! The stats: 11 lbs and 23 in long. How about them apples?! We spoke about baby-led weaning, too. That won't start until she is 6 months old anyway. For those not in the know, this has to do with consuming solids and I will still be BFing.

Hanging out with Daddy, happy as can be at her appt.!






I really thought the questions and unsolicited advice would stop once she was born, since it seemed neverending while I was pregnant, but I was dead wrong! Here's the big one - "How is she sleeping?" - that I will now answer: On her back, with her eyes closed. ::blinkblink::
(P.S. on the whole sleeping deal - V laughs, coos, babbles & smiles in her sleep a lot!)

By the way, we have been cloth diapering and it is much easier than I had originally anticipated. Such a relief. So we are saving money and the environment, all while V is sitting pretty in her cute little FuzziBunz, SwaddleBees EcoNappis, etc. Love it!
I guess I am becoming a crunchy granola mama! Breastfeeding, babywearing (yep, we have a sling, an organic Ergo and a Moby!) cloth diapering mama...then hopefully baby-led weaning as I've stated earlier. Maybe I should get her an amber teething necklace and call it a day (or do an at-home water birth for future baby Hursts!) Okay so maybe not? But I have been reading up on infant potty training. Who knows? We may try that, too?


Eek! Don't mind my tired, blemished, non-made up, new mom face! :P

On another note, Santa is visiting our neighborhood on a train tomorrow, so we are going to try to take a few snapshots and we really hope that it snows. There is snow on the ground in our backyard right now. Just a light dusting, but still, it is snow! This weekend or next, we also plan on putting up Violet's first Christmas tree, while watching some claymation holiday specials and sipping on hot cocoa. (Loaded with marshmallows, of course!)


P.S. Still figuring out and breaking in the new camera, so a lot of the photos and all of the videos are still from my oldie (but goodie.) We're getting there, folks! :)




This is what Violet & Daddy look like when they watch The Walking Dead. Mike is somehow immune, but Violet, apparently, was fresh zombie meat!

Eight Weeks and Something to Say

Violet turned 8 weeks old last Sunday (11/28). She's got a lot on her mind, issues she's very passionate about. The other day she said to me, "Hey, I see all these YouTube people talkin', when do I get my shot?" Well here's your shot, kid.



Here's a compilation where we caught Violet talking to Momma / Daddy / the camera / her stripes (really anyone who would listen) in the eighth week of her life.

<4

Black Friday Champion

Without wholly intending to, I joined the masses in this retail mania. Good thing I did because I ended up receiving the 'Most Winning-est Consumer' award for my efforts. There wasn't any super-sale I was chasing, just a few good buys and a well placed acid reflux attack to rip me out of bed in the early morning.

It started in flames.
I have frequent discomfort from acid reflux, but this was a full-on attack. It felt like a dozen lava monsters were trying to climb out of my throat. But like lobsters in a bucket, any time one got close to escaping it was dragged down by other lava monsters, clawing my esophagus the whole way. Once I semi-recovered and cleared my head I hit the bricks.

Onward to Target.
Got a nice $70 deal on a 2 TB hard drive. I figure with our new D-SLR, 14 MP pictures and 1080p video will eat up space fast. I'm always on the lookout for bargain storage and backups, backups backups!

I got my eye on you Gamestop.
I visited the store for some $15 PS3 games. It was obvious they were being paid to hype XBox Kinect. And they did it passively. The employees chattered about how much they wanted one in between register transactions and in a grand show the manager took the floor to announce the going rate on ebay. The funny thing was, they claimed to be sold-out. I know Target and another Gamestop less than 1 mile away had piles of Kinects 6-foot high. So what's your game Store #4913?

And onto Kohl's.
I finished the morning with a trip to Kohl's for a nice winter jacket for Momma. Then without further delay I was headed back home, with deals in hand and only a slight echo of the lava monsters ringing in my throat.

Violet's First Thanksgiving

Ahhh the great bird day, where Lea and I get to live a little like Violet by stuffing our faces, napping, then heading back for leftovers. Violet had a blast. She got a kick out of seeing pilgrims and couldn't get over the 'weediculous' (her words) idea of wearing your belt on your hat.

Violet started off the day lounging and being cute. I walked in on Lea explaining what a turkey was. Quickly, I interrupted the lesson. My kid has to hit the ground running, so I skipped the turkey talk and jumped right into explaining the turducken.

Enough napping in this house, let's go nap at GiGi's house. Violet slept through our Thanksgiving feast (she would have to wait a few hours for it to show up in Momma's milk). Of course there was turkey, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and slaw, in addition to the debut of Lea's GF apple sausage stuffing. All AWESOME. To put a Frable appropriate cap on the dinner, Lea pulled out her 'Fire Marshall Bill' face and didn't stop till Uncle Thom did a spit-take, then vomm'd in his mouth. Time for Violet to continue napping through the day, this time by the auxiliary Christmas tree.

After all this excitement we headed back home for some quality time. Violet tasted some turkey. We watched the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special. Now, on the eve of Black Friday, we can all relax. For the time, Violet's precious mind is invincible to the evil grasp of advertising. On future Black Fridays I'm sure I'll be planning covert ops to retrieve the latest tickle-me-furby or silly-hamsters or cabbage-patch-elmo.

<4

Parents = Automatically Unhip

I was watching Sesame Street with Violet this morning. At this time, I also realized that becoming a parent has automatically made me unhip. In fact, I am so unhip, it's a wonder that my ass doesn't fall off! (I am slapping my knee right now, geezer style. Har har.) This is what I saw on Sesame Street. It has really gotten 'street' since I watched it last.

'Zat you Santa Claus?

'Tis the Christmas season. The boxes are out of storage and the lights are strung on the roof. The holiday has overcome Thanksgiving and begun encroaching on Halloween. As we were unpacking the Christmas decorations and watching some old stand-up comedy, Violet and I had the following conversation (paraphrased below).

V:  haaaaaaaahhmmmm (Hey who's that?)
M:  Who?  Me?
V:  ahh ahhhhzzz (No, the guy in the red suit.)
M:  Honey that is Eddy Murphy. We're watching an old tape of his stand-up.
V:  thig-g-g-g-g G-G-G-Gh (THE ONE IN THE Hat!)
M:  This is Santa Claus.  He brings toys to good children every Christmas Eve.
V:  h-rumph (Toys you say? I must meet this man.)

And so the journey began.  We set out to meet this Santa Claus Saturday (11/20) afternoon, unsure of the mall traffic we'd face. We were also unsure of what Violet would think of her first encounter with Santa Claus or her first shopping trip.

Santa was so happy to see Violet. And Violet was happy to see Santa. Through Santa's magic powers he was able to understand what Violet wanted for Christmas.

Afterwards we went shopping.  Violet showed us when she'd had enough of the mall by dropping a bomb in the seat of her pants. I decided to give changing her in our Honda Element a shot, while Lea stopped into a shop to make an exchange. I was scared to see how a 350 lb. man would fit in the back of this car. There was plenty of space for me without having to hang out of the car; and the way the seats reclined, it made for the perfect changing table. Who knew? Now I do. Now you do. Doo doo.

Su-su-sudio!!!

Okay, so I feel that I have to explain the whole Phil Collins thing. At the end of the video Mike posted in the previous blog entry, there's a clip from the song, "Sussudio." That was not just for your entertainment, people. We say this everytime our child sneezes. Yup. You heard it right. Instead of saying "God Bless You" this is what we say. We are not religious, so we don't want to kid ourselves here. (Or kid our kid.) We sometimes say "gesundheit" which is German for "good health." Mike found this all pretty ridiculous and started saying "sussudio" instead. It is just as ridiculous! So that is what we are going with. I don't care to get into a religious debate here, so I am leaving it at that.

Other random fun things :

*We update Violet's picture album as often as we can. So if you look to the left, you can click on her album and see new pictures fairly often.
New, higher quality pictures and video are on the way! (Last video was taken in the dark and I didn't even fix my camera settings accordingly...she was smiling! I was in a hurry!)
I know that she will be smiling more often and giggling and cooing, but I am a first-timer here and every first moment counts!

*We listen to super cool music. If you want to hear some random picks of ours, go crazy! (Also on side of page) We did not choose the option to have a song automatically start up when you come to our page. We find it slightly startling and forceful. Okay that last line was a bit harsh. We are actually just easily startled by LOUD NOISES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Right now, Violet's two favorite songs are the Hokey Pokey and Winter Wonderland (as sung by the Eurythmics...oh that Annie Lennox!)


*Mike says some pretty weirdo things to her, by the way. This will not come as a surprise to many, but I thought I would share just a few of them here:

-Dear Santa, please give me stripes for Christmas. No, not the Bill Murray movie Stripes, but the actual pattern. Ten feet tall, please.

-Listen Violet, sometimes the "k" at the beginning of a word is silent. DON'T ASK ME WHY! JUST DO IT!!! (The part in caps was totally said in a typical Brooklyn accent, by the way)

-We need to go to Old Country Buffet for the Early Bird special and wear large jackets so we can stuff them with chicken fingers that we can take home to eat later. We need to get a goat whose milk is honey mustard. Did you know that honey mustard is just honey and mustard?

-Watch the head, kid! You'd think you were at an Iron Maiden show!

-I think your diaper needs a therapist.

Again, these are just the few that I can remember (I have to write them down.) It's just weird, funny but cute things I just happen to overhear him talking to her about.

Enough random for now. I shall leave you with the sneeze song.

Enjoying some six week smiles

Violet is six weeks old and the smiles are pouring in. She started smiling almost two weeks ago, but there are two events unique to this week.

Part I:  The First Event
-or-
Excuse me but I couldn't help but notice your impressive facial contortions

Friday (11/12) was a fun and busy day. Lea, Violet, and I started it off by organizing a short road trip, then cancelled it to relax at home and prepare for the photographer. Tom B arrived in the early evening to shoot V's first professional photos. We had a good time hanging out, playing with Violet, and previewing the pictures (which we are in love with). As I held V later that evening, I gave her a big smile and she smiled back. This sent me through the roof. There is a connection. It has existed since before she was born, but never as clearly. It's the first time I felt that she could see me.

Part II:  The Second Event
-or-
This is the first event of the rest of the events

We actually captured some smiles onto video this week. Let me clarify, Lea captured the smiles as I contributed the background snores. If you ask me, the snores bring an exciting realism to the spacial substructure of the piece. They really tie the video together. Allow me to share...



This was shot with our Canon PowerShot and mashed together with Windows Movie Maker. I'm excited to see what I can create with some new toys, a D-SLR and a video editing suite (Pinnacle was the last one I used).

<4

The new Mommy Post

I am not the type to give out unsolicited advice. I don't like to tell others what to do, what to buy. (I do not like when these things are pushed on me, therefore, I am not a pusher.) If asked, I will tell. If I want advice, I will ask. I am no expert - only a newb - at this. With that said, I have been asked about a few things pertaining to baby. Everyone is different, but here are the things that are working for us, so far...


WARNING! TMI! If you do not wish to read intimate details of the womanly variety, please avert your eyeballs, people!

Labor/delivery :
My experience was, for the most part, ideal. My amazing husband has posted a birth story...he was the one who kept a timeline and was not in excruciating pain. (Hey, thanks again, babe!) I thought it was false labor. Everything went by so quickly, even though from the time I arrived at the hospital until the time I delivered was around 12-13 hours. Yes, I had an epidural. I had two of them, actually. They let Mike stay with me for them. The dr. put the first one in wrong and I felt every bit of it, which was not pleasant at all. I sat perfectly still for both of them, too. Because of the first one being screwed up, I am still dealing with muscle spasms and random, awkward numbness in parts of my back and ass and am told this can last for a few more weeks. I can still feel where both needles went in. Yum! The epidural(s) helped with contractions for the most part in the beginning but I still felt everything else. I don't have anything else to compare this to but I also don't mind bc if I felt everything AND contractions on top of that, I'd probably want to scream! (Which I didn't do at all! Don't let movies fool you! I couldn't catch my breath long enough to get a sentence out, barely above a whisper!) Bottom line - yes, it hurt and yes, it's worth it. Would I do it again? Yes. We want three more, if possible. Extra TMI? (Sorry, I am not into puppies, rainbows and glitter to sugarcoat things!) Healing sucks. (6-8 weeks people!) Stitches suck! Peri bottles are awesome. So are mesh underwear and hospital pads that are the size of phonebooks. Bleeding sucks. Baby blues = terrible! Babies rule.

Breastfeeding :
It is not easy for everyone. It does not "come naturally" for everyone, either. I owe so much to the lactation consultants at the hospital. They have been more than helpful and I want to squeeze them! After week 2, we got the hang of things, for the most part. We do not supplement with formula. We do not use pacifiers. Some days are easier than others and very rarely does Violet feed from a bottle (also breast milk) so nope - no babysitters for us. Not for awhile, either. Thanks for the offers, though! (We just can't stay away from her!!! Even if I wasn't breastfeeding her!)

What works for us?
A lot of items we have, we do not even use. We don't have to. (She also has MORE than enough clothes in every size, that I'm afraid she won't even have the chance to wear, unless we do several outfit changes a day which is highly unnecessary.) So here's what we have, that we use and what seems to be working, thus far :


Fisher Price Rock n Play Sleeper


Anything black and white (high contrast stuff stimulates her and she loves it!)
http://www.makingsenseofbaby.com/ is a great site!!!

Fisher-Price Luv U Zoo Deluxe Musical Mobile Gym


Fisher-Price Ocean Wonders Soothe & Glow Seahorse


Playskool Lullaby Gloworm


Summer Infant SwaddleMe organic blanket/wraps


Born Free BPA-free glass bottles (We do not use bottles very often, but when we do, we like these bc they have a slower flow.)


LittleMissMatched Zoe Cuddle Creature


LittleMissMatched Fuzzy Buddy & Blanket - Peace Sign

Okay, so the last two we like a lot more than she does, for now!


When all else fails, breast is best.

Trying out cloth diapering starting this next week. Pretty excited, as we have gone through 400+ diapers since she was born and who knows how many wipes!!! (Yep, we are going to use cloth wipes, too.) Too many chemicals in diapers. So wasteful. They cause rashes. Blah blah blah. They're bad. We are going to try our hardest to make the whole CDing thing work.

I know a lot of moms use gripe water and gas drops. I have them on hand "in case" but I don't have baby Tylenol; go figure. Our pediatrician is two blocks away. He said we don't need it in the house and should use it as a last resort. We have a delayed vaccination schedule and if we don't want her vaccinated at ALL, he is fine with that, too. We plan on listening to our pediatrician and our instincts from here on out to avoid any unnecessary paranoia/confusion. We are her parents and don't feel that we are given enough credit when making these decisions for her. She is our child and we will do what is best for her. What we decide is what we decide. Bottom line. 'Nuff said.

I was discussing with a friend recently the topic of piercing baby girl's ears. I was on the fence. I was thinking maybe we should get them done by the nurse at the pedi office now so that she will not fuss with them, leading to an infection. (I had mine done as a baby, so why not right?) I would never take her to a place in the mall and have them done with a gun. ICK!!! Plus, getting them done with a gun can make them very uneven and as she grows, they may appear even more lop-sided. On the other hand (and I will put it in my friend's words, since she worded it so well) I do not agree with inflicting unnecessary pain on a baby for the pleasure of it looking pretty. It is not for the baby then. It is for the parent. When she is older, if she asks to have them done, then maybe!

Some have inquired about my "labor playlist." My OB urged me to make one. I started one and never finished it. (Meaning, I meant to upload more songs onto iTunes, but this is what I ended up with.) We hooked it up to the television at the hospital, so it played right by my head, on repeat (over and over and over...) and I am SO happy that I had that playlist. It was a quiet, painful night and the music helped a lot! Plus, Violet was born to a beautiful song. We did not watch any TV during our stay, other than the mandatory scary baby DVDs they made us watch (and sign papers, stating we watched them.) Here's my list:

A Fine Frenzy - Come On, Come Out
A Tribe Called Quest - Once Again
Belly - Feed The Tree
Ben Folds Five - Raindrops
Best Coast - When I'm With You
Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You
Black Kids - Hurricane Jane
Bruce Springsteen - I'm on Fire
Built To Spill - Carry the Zero
Coldplay - Yellow
Coldplay - Shiver
Coldplay - The Scientist
Coldplay - Don't Panic
Damien Rice - The Blower's Daughter
Dramarama - Anything, Anything
Duncan Sheik - Barely Breathing (Acoustic)
Elton John - Rocket Man
Everything But The Girl - Missing (Acoustic)
Folk Implosion - Natural One
Garbage - Push it
Genesis - Invisible Touch
Iron and Wine - Naked As We Came
Jack Johnson - Upside Down
Johny Cash & June Carter - Long Legged Guitar Pickin' Man
Le Tigre - Deceptacon
Lisa Loeb - Snow Day
Luscious Jackson - Lady Fingers
Mates Of State - Fluke
MGMT - Electric Feel
My Morning Jacket - Librarian
My Morning Jacket - Thank You Too!
My Morning Jacket - Just One Thing
Natalie Merchant - Thank You
Neil Young - Unknown Legend
Panic At The Disco - Nine In The Afternoon
Peter Frampton - Baby I Love Your Way (Acoustic)
Phil Collins - Sussudio
Q-Tip - Vibrant Thing
Ray LaMontagne - You Are the Best Thing
Relient K - Be My Escape (Acoustic)
Rogue Wave - Eyes
Rufus Wainwright - Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk
Santigold - Shove It (feat. Spank Rock)
Smokie Robinson - You Really Got A Hold On Me
Tears For Fears - Head Over Heels
Thao Nguyen With The Get Down Stay Down - Violet
The Cardigans - You're The Storm
The Cardigans - Erase-Rewind
The Cranberries - Linger (Acoustic)
The Cranberries - I Miss You When You're Gone
The Dismemberment Plan - You Are Invited
The Get Up Kids - Valentine
The Lemonheads - If I Could Talk I'd Tell You
The Platters - Sea Of Love
The Reindeer Section - Cartwheels
Toad The Wet Sprocket - All I Want (acoustic)
Youth Group - Forever Young (Alphaville cover)


Maybe I should have blogged about some of these things sooner? I've been very busy, so please forgive me if some of these are late, misspelled (SO not like me!) or choppy. Typing one-handed and getting used to everything still has its challenges! I am sure I am missing a bunch of things in this blog post...any questions, just leave a comment.

I've been busy doing this <3

A Halloween Visitor

We had a visitor last night while Violet was sleeping. It was the Great Pumpkin! He left as quick as he came, but stayed long enough to drop off a present and a note and tell us how much he loved Violet's Princess Leia costume.

We're going to carve one awesome pumpkin for him next year.

Happy Halloweek!

And what a week it was! Kicked it off by celebrating Violet losing her umbilical cord, finally! (Or her baby jerky, as my friend Monica's husband has deemed it. I like it. I am going with baby jerky.)

So our big girl got her FIRST "real" bath! (No more sponge baths and alcohol swabs!)

She also grew right out of NB sized diapers and is now in 1s. I am devastated by this. Wasn't I just coming home from the hospital with a 7.5 lb. baby yesterday? (Yes, she dropped 10 oz. after birth.) She has had her first doctor's appt. She is up to 8.3lbs. now and looks different everyday. New facial expressions, new movements, new sounds, etc. I know everyone goes nuts over their baby, but wow! I believed them, but experiencing this all first hand is mind blowing! I wouldn't trade it for anything, but I do wish time would go a little slower, at the very least!


We brought her to the cider mill, but did not stay long. It's been chilly here in PA! And yes, I totally wrapped her up in a cashmere pashmina.


Oh yeah, this is Violet in the back seat. I took a picture of her in her little mirror. She waved, of course! :P


Violet's first Halloween was a hit! This little lady was Princess Leia. Daddy was Chewbacca (sort of and I was sort of a cat.) We even found Mike's Ewok, Wicket, from when he was a wee tyke for Violet to hang out with.


Our families came over to celebrate with us, some to meet V for the first time and to enjoy food, fun and each other's company. Halloween is our favorite holiday by far and Mike would like to treat it as if it were Christmas, almost. He wants to teach V about The Great Pumpkin. (We watched this twice in the last two days and Mike read the book to her. The party in it is thrown by a girl named Violet! heehee!)
The Great Pumpkin (Mike) brought her a Glow Worm! It really was such an amazing day. Everyone was so helpful, not to mention generous. We only got three trick-or-treaters - it was so cold out - our two next door neighbor kiddos and another little girl. (Neighbors were Velma and Scooby

and the little girl was a purple crayon...hello Violet's SECOND Halloween costume! How fitting!) Needless to say, these kiddos lucked out and got a boatload of sweets out of us. Hyperactive, sugared up little ones! Sorry parents! We will be in your shoes before you know it. After everyone left and we were winding down, the neighbors came back. They gave us money and a scratch off lottery ticket that was already scratched off and was a $5 winner. (The neighbor said that her uncle gives out winning scratch offs as treats!!!) I can't believe how kind and sweet they are! I love them and their daughters. So good to know we have such warm, caring people around us. (Not bc we like presents - it's too gracious and we do not ever expect these things - but bc of how thoughtful everyone is. Melts my heart!!!) My mother bought her four Dr. Seuss books, along with huge stuffed characters from the books. (Yup, the Grinch and Max are included in this new posse!) See? Her first Halloween has already been like Christmas, right? Our other relatives hooked her up with adorable clothes and goodies. We definitely said no gifts and to just come and party, but wow! We more than appreciate it!

Violet also received her first international package, care of our former roommate Kelly, all the way from Belgium.
She also received a gift from her friend *A* from Florida!!! He is a wee baby, too!

We celebrated Uncle Thom's Golden Birthday (27 on the 27th!)



We also have a new nephew and are extremely excited about this! (No picture, as we would like to respect their privacy, but we assure you he is gorgeous and we are over the moon/on cloud nine!!!)

As you can tell, we've been busy people! October is certainly our month!

***check the albums on the side of this here blog for updates! We will try to add more, more frequently!

<3

'Sup penguin? 'Sup seahorse? 'Sup polka dots?

Violet is 3 weeks old today and she is living the life.  Her schedule is filled with eating and sleeping mostly, although she does find time to turn new bodily fluids into projectiles. My proudest fatherly moment thus far has been catching her first projectile vomit all over my chest. My father, V's Poppa, got to hold her during her first diaper blow-out. Lucky guy. I can't wait ‘til these events turn more...sophisticated. For now, these are the types of milestones I look forward to and I'm loving every second of it. Besides, who says I'm not going to catch another batch of vomit when she's a teenager?

Violet currently enjoys ninja moves, eating, looking at new shapes and sleeping. When she sleeps, her posse rolls 4 deep. She's got her UDP (pronounced 'YouDaPee') watching her back. Her seahorse lays down phat beats (and bubbly sounds!) and her polka dots just hang out, with the sole purpose of being awesome. Imagine seeing polka dots for the first time! You were probably amazed, too. When she wakes up, it's either time to eat or practice ninja moves. Her signature is the deadly double karate chop.  There is little warning before it strikes, and it can slice through human bone.

Happy Hurstober

Happy Hurstober

So, life is great and I am quite a lucky woman! As you have read, Miss Violet Henson Hurst has arrived, safe and sound, and we could not be happier! Here it is, one week and one day later and we are all alive and well. Everyone keeps asking us how we are sleeping. We are sleeping quite soundly, since coming home from the hospital. (The beds there were quite uncomfortable and the healing process is never a walk in the park, but my daughter is here now, so I ought not to complain!) Mike is such an amazing father, as I always knew he would be. In fact, he is in the other room reading Violet a story right now. (Winnie the Pooh, which he just exclaimed, "...is insane!" Maybe he's on the acid trip elephants part???)
Aunt ChiChi (my best friend, Cherie) paid us a visit this evening. It warms my heart, as cheesy as that may sound, knowing I have such loving and caring friends being a part of my daughter's life. It's been a stormy, long day and we are relaxing with some hot tea, some trail mix we just made and anticipating tomorrow's visit to see Great Grandma Archer. Poppa and Nana Hurst are coming over for a visit, too! Uncle Thom will be here for a night of television, baby-staring and nachos. (This boy has seriously done so much for us, including our grocery shopping and cooking - I really could not ask for a better helper! He is always there for us and has kept me company through the last 10 months and always, really, but I would be lost without my brother.) <3
Mike has joined me in living gluten freely. I must follow diet restrictions due to CD and he pretty much was on this diet already, but since Violet's birth, I have been keeping it super strict (which can be difficult) and recording everything in a food diary. The lovely dietitian at the hospital has been such an amazing help. (She even sent me a chart to convert wheat to potato/rice flour!) I know not everyone may be familiar with CD or its complications and side effects, but just know this - making a big deal over different flours can be a life saver! Truly! Also, since he has made the switch, I am finally having less symptoms. (Even walking into a regular, non-GF bakery can set me off into a whirlwind of sickness...weird, huh?) I wouldn't be walking into one of those anyway, but just sayin'! Uncle Thom even made us homemade GF macaroni and cheese last night! Mmmm comfort foods minus all of that "bad" (kinda!)





This month seems to be flying already. With Violet's arrival, Mike's birthday, our 5th wedding anniversary, my upcoming birthday and Halloween...phew! We are already quite the busy trio!
Again, I am not as creative as my sweetheart/better half and only have a few moments to pop in and update, but I thought people might like to know how we're doing. (Or at least I hope they would!) :P I would get more into the whole feeding, changing and drooling of it all but will spare you the adorable "poopy story" details...for now!
Back to listening to this monster of a storm, tales of Pooh and baby coos. <3