MN State Fair

We made our annual pilgrammage for fried foods on a stick and went to the State Fair tonight. Julie, Timmy, Lu & Joe met up with us and help spread the food around. Violet got her first taste of pronto pups & strawberry malts tonight.

Here's Joe & Lu at the pig barn.

Violet had a little too much to drink at the beer garden.

Here's everyone with the biggest pig in MN (he's the one wearing glasses).

We are both amazed that this picture actually turned out, with both of them smiling. It looks like we photoshopped them in.

I also ripped my pants up the middle bending down for the shot. I blame it on the cheese curds.

Froggy!

This pic was from the day of Luau - I have been wanting to get a little pool for Violet and found this adorable frog pool at Target. It was the perfect size and provided a little shade from the sun. I was half expecting her to be a little scared of this large green thing but she immediately crawled right into it.

I just had to post this series of pics - as you can imagine Violet's new found talent for exploring everything and anything... I went into the kitchen to check on dinner when I came back Violet had made her way into one of the end tables trying to see if she could reach the "Forbidden Cords" - you can tell she knows her name as she looks back at me and then you can see how she attempts to turn around - yes she did get stuck and yes I'm a bad mommy and took the pic before I helped her out ... Enjoy!!!

(*This event did encourage me to move around the living room furniture - she is so quick and sneaky.)

Luau 2008

We had our annual Luau party a few weeks ago could not have asked for better weather Luau - as some of our friends remember from last year the weather was cold and rainy - this year it was hot and sunny!

Here are some pics from that day .....

Mom where did my Cheerio go??

Violet - 8 Month Update

As you can tell -our blog has been neglected - it is partially related to our busy work schedules and the other is the time we spend chasing Violet around. She started crawling about two weeks ago - and has not looked back.

Here is the progression we saw in a matter of weeks ......
It started out with her rolling everywhere, then it transitioned into a funny crab crawl on her belly - next it was getting on all fours rocking back-n-forth only to collapse in frustration into her "superman" pose. She then tried a new approach, "tushy" in the air while being on all fours - soon she took a few steps with her hands and then all of the sudden she was slowly crawling towards us and her favorite objects of affection, Brute and Frank. A couple days later she was like "Flash" hahah and we have been playing "Where is Waldo" ever since.

She has become a big talker these days - she is always telling me something and giggling and I just love it! It does not matter where we are - bath time - in the car - out to eat - she is going to make herself known - not much for volume control. She likes to trick me when it is bed time - while I rock her she will slowly close her eyes - right when I think it is time to lay her down she will open her eyes wide - smile - and start jabbering. I try soo hard not to laugh but it is soo funny.

Another big "trick" she does these days is waving to everyone - anything - sometimes just randomly I'll see her wave to her toys. My friend Ben was the first recipient of her wave - it surprised both me and Ben - he was about to leave and all the sudden her little arm started waving. I know I'm not the only mom out there that thinks their kid is the smartest kid on the planet! ahhaha

Violet is also growing soo fast - our "ittle one" is continuing to grow out of her clothes she is currently wearing 9-12 month clothing (*mainly in the pants) - I think John may get his wish for a Volleyball player if she keeps this up. She is over 21 pounds which means she is catching up with her cousin Lucy(*Lucy is 10 months older).

This has been a very fun stage for both John and I - we always thought Violet was full of personality but she just kills us some days with her bright eyes and terrific smile.

Here are some pics we had done with Olivia Wagner Photography - she does excellent work - very relaxed photo session and the pics turn out amazing.