To avoid having legos seep into every corner of our house, we have a rule that Collin has to keep them up in his room. On a day we make “Lego Day” he’s able to bring them downstairs and create with Mom and Dad.  Yesterday, Collin made a bunch of his complicated, master-designed ships.  I made a funky fresh abstract Christmas tree (that funky fresh was for you, Jamie) made from all white Legos.  It was a little….well… weird.  Collin wanted to be sure that his cousins were able to see his cool ship.  So, hey kids!  Come take a look!

Good times, Good times.  Any day with Legos is a good day in our house.

Okay, so you know my food issues, right?  I can’t have corn.  I can’t have wheat.  Now I can’t have dairy because it bothers Violet.

It’s a pain, but it really helps me and her!  My acne has almost cleared up, no more migraines, no more all-consuming fatigue and no more horrible stomach pain.  And no tummy pain/colic at night for her.  Hooray!  Having food restrictions isn’t really too big of a deal at home.  It’s mostly when you go out to eat or when you go to a friends house and you really have to think about it instead of just digging in.

Like most people, my morning starts with my beloved cup of coffee.  Once Violet declared loudly that she didn’t care for dairy, I started using Rice Milk.  Which sucks – At least in coffee.  It’s really thin so it’s more like it makes it 1/32 of a shade lighter and waters it down.  Blah!  Who wants that?  I’m not a fan of black coffee so I had to figure something out.

Why not just use non-dairy creamer? You ask?  Well, I shouldn’t really be having the non-dairy creamer because it always contains corn in some way – like Corn Syrup or Mono- and Diglycerides.  Which always runs the risk of me being in fetal position 1-2 hours later wondering if I should take a trip to the ER because the pain is becoming so intense.

I started looking online for ways to thicken rice milk because people post those kind of tricks all over out there.  And I found something even better!

• Made from a wholesome blend of almonds and cashews
• Dairy free; cholesterol free; gluten free; Vegan
• Rich in vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants for cell protection
• Shelf stable; requires no refrigeration until after opening

No corn!  No wheat!  No dairy!  It’s thick.  It’s creamy!  And it protects my cells!

If I get too bored with just regular creamer I can add a bit of Ghiradelli Double Chocolate Hot Chocolate for a hint of flavor!  Mornings are back to normal.

*sigh!*  I’ll never take you for granted again, perfect cup of coffee!

Guess who’s two years old!?

Our little Drewby Doobie Doo!

We can’t believe how big he has gotten.  Here he is in his first year. (I’m not sure of how many months…?)

And here’s our little guy last week with his beloved blankie.

He just is so adorable and has the sweetest personality to match.  We are so thankful that God brought him into our family!  What an incredible, amazing blessing!

H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y, D R E W !!!!

Here is Violet showing off her newest onesie!  My friend’s family is stationed in Japan and sent it across the ocean with love.

Thanks you, guys!  She looks adorable in it!

We took the boys to the park today to play some soccer.  Collin was loving every second of it… Drew was pretty much done after these pictures were taken.  It was really fun and really cute.

Mommy and Violet spent our time cuddling at the sidelines:

Hope you had a great time with your family today!

You gotta love the classics like Rubber Ducky and C is for Cookie, but I can’t help it… this is my favorite Sesame Street song right now.  :)

This has been one busy week… are you ready for a big update?

Dave and I celebrated our 11th year of marriage!  What a great anniversary present to be home with our brand new baby girl!  My mom watched the boys whilst we went to our local sushi place with little Violet.  What a wonderful gift from my mom!  It was awesome!  Violet gave us the gift of sleeping through the entire thing and allowing Mommy & Daddy to have a conversation.  Thank you, Violet.

More proof that this labor and delivery was totally different from my last two:  I actually felt up to a little trip to a tea room with my mom.  I was so excited to squeeze in some special time with just my mom.  And it wound up being so cute because it turned out to be Violet’s first “tea” with the girls.

Our beautiful little Violet had her first bath this week!  I may post video of this later – or not – you’ll have to wait and see.  :P

It’s amazing how much I just already adore her.

While my mom was in town we thought we’d grab the chance to celebrate Drew’s 2nd birthday since it’s only a couple weeks away!  Halloween afternoon we decorated, opened presents and had yummy cupcakes.  Here he is looking at the Thomas the Tank Engine balloon my mom found.

It’s just not a par-tay without streamers!

Drew loved his new barn and parking garage!  But especially loved his new James Engine.

What’s all this hoopla about?

Baby Violet hanging out with Grandma on Halloween.

Grandma sneaking in more kisses.

Dave and Collin having fun.  Leftover streamers make an awesome mummy!

We also fit in some pumpkin carving that day.

Pumpkin Designer:

Pumpkin Carver:

Drew wound up being too exhausted to do any trick or treating.  I think from the mix of refusing to take a nap that day and being worn out from his little party.  So Daddy just took Jango Fett out.  Or Boba Fett.  I can never remember which is which.

As you can tell the poor kid didn’t have any fun at all.  Sad.  Just sad.

Quick picture of my mom with the grandkids before she took off for Phoenix.  We had so much fun with my mom the last 2 weeks and it was such a blessing to have her here.  Thanks so much, Mom!!!!

She’s here!  Say hello to our newest addition, Violet!

Everything with Violet’s Labor and Delivery went so smooth, it had to be an answer to prayer.  Thank you for your months of committed prayer for our family.  Not only did HELLP not rear it’s ugly head, but the entire process was almost easy.  (I never thought I’d have a delivery like that, so I understand if you completely hate me for saying that.)  It’s just unbelievable how it was so smooth.  We started pitocin at 10:30, got an epideral about an hour in, pushed through 4 contractions and delivered at 1:32.  Short and sweet.

Violet is a little sweetie, of course.  She’s a good eater, a good sleeper and a good pooper.  All of the things you want in a baby.  Oh, and she’s seriously adorable.  She looks SO much like her brothers and has their red hair… especially like Collin’s shade of red.

Here are some pictures from Monday – Saturday of this week.  Hard to believe she arrived less than a week ago!  Thanks again!

Here is one last picture of my massive belly just for you:

We will be heading to the hospital Monday morning to be induced.  Be praying for an uncomplicated birth and healthy baby girl!