The Quiet Life of Violet

While We Wait

In 52 days, we will have one more player.

Of course, he won't be allowed to pick up the letter tiles (choking hazard!), but he'll be there to root Mommy on.

We can't wait for our boy!

 (Watch the right-side of my belly. )

  

A Little Collection

While cleaning off the hutch on my desk,
I moved this little collection of mine to dust.

Each piece (minus the skunk!) represents something important to me and I'd like to share with you.

(From top right. Click to enlarge.)

Skunk:
I got thise little ceramic skunk at a thrift store in a bag with a bunch of other littles. She was one of the only that made the cut!

Bottle cap:
I got this cap off of a Mike's Hard Limeade. I got it while we were trying to get pregnant and I took it as a sign.

The squirrels:
Ever since I was a little girl, my Mother has occasionally talked in this chipmunk voice. My brother, sister and I love the secret little voice and I've collected chipmunk and squirrel things ever since as a tribute to the awesomeness.

Fortune:
I collect fortune-cookie fortunes and this was one that I got right before I talked ot Leigh-Ann for the first time. 

It reads, "A chance meeting with a stranger will soon change your life." <3

Button:
"Crafty girls are hot."
Enough said.

Heart rocks:
The middle rock was one that I found. I wrote down the date that Dustin and I first kissed and began our amazing relationship.
The second rock, Dustin picked up for me. He just handed it to me one day when we were out and I've kept it ever since. *swoon*
I love him more than every pebble on every beach.

Mini "yes" chalkboard:
I bought a few of these little wood plaques from Michael's and decided to paint them with chalkboard paint one day. After my miscarriage last year, I decided that I would tell myself "yes".

Yes, you deserve to be happy.
Yes, you deserve to have a baby.
Yes, you will get what you want.

 

I was right.

:)

Sunday Night - Sink Puke

(Hottest picture ever. Reason for red nose down below.)

I had a nice post planned for today. I was going to finish it last night and schedule it to go off in the morning, but alas, somebody put a whole pineapple worth of rind down the drain. Even after throughly running the disposal, we later found out that this clogged not only the kitchen sink, but the dishwasher drain, the washing machine drain AND the utility sink drain, too (it's all connected).

After fiddling with the sink pipes, a gush of gross water and  sink/drain puke gushed all over the floors. Sink puke is gross, but at least it was mostly pineapple. (We had friends over earlier and we set up a mini-pizza bar, complete with chopped onions, bell-peppers, tiny pepperonis, PINEAPPLE and lots of other little bits of toppings. The sink puke was a mixture of toppings, mostly bits of onions and pineapple rind chunks, though. I couldn't imagine if we'd have dumped a huge thing of spaghetti sauce or a gross pot of old chicken soup down the drain not knowing how the night would unfold. I guess pineapple sink puke is pretty un-offensive as far as those things go. Still totally gross.)

After the gush, I rolled around frantically throwing ALL of our clean towels on the kitchen floor and Dustin was able to mop all of the water out the kitchen door and into the garage, which is thankfully connected. He then pushed the water out into the driveway and sweeped up the chunks and threw them in the trash can. after my adrenaline rush wore off, I freaked out and started frantically crying and freaking out because the sink puke violated my clean space.  Is that a pregnancy thing? Maybe it's an anal retentive thing.

After consulting with a friend of ours  (Thanks Charlie!!) who happens to know his way around the pipes (that should be a plumber's formal title... "King of the Pipes"... that's kind of bad-ass), we've called a local plumber (thanks Yelpers!) to come out tomorrow afternoon and fix our problem. 

That also means that no shower (just in-case it's a deep back-up) until the drains are cleared, which translates out to a washcloth bath in the morning and as few midnight pee-flushes as possible. 

Lessons learned (for me):

1. Do all the prep work myself because I know what NOT to put the the drain.
2. NEVER put pineapple down your pipes.
3. Be thankful for helpful friends.
4. The residual pineapple smell is okay for now. Fruit rots fast, though.
5. It's okay to cry when you feel overwhelmed and it's over something that's not THAT important.
6. Pregnant ladies and sink puke don't mesh.
7. This baby in my belly doesn't care about the sink puke.
8. Sometimes a Husband might catch a bit of The Clumsies, and after one huge ordeal, he might spill a glass of water on your side of the bed, right before bedtime on accident.
9. It's important to love your Husband a little extra when he messes up because he feels ten times worse about all of it than you do.

 

Happy Monday my lovely friends. :)

(Spare two clicks to show pity on my sink-puke soul?)

(1 + 1 = 3) A Question About Vintage Baby Curtains

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I bought these handmade, vintage baby curtains at a thrift store before Squid was even created and kicking in my little womb. I loved the pattern and since I'm trying to get my baby registry in order, I took them back of the box of "stuff" they were living in to see what I could do with them. There are two curtains and two valances.

(click picture to enlarge)

They are too small to completely cover the huge window in the baby's room, but I was thinking that if I got a double rod, I could put a second pair of curtains behind them and make it work. I was also thinking that instead of curtains, I could cut them up and make either a baby quilt or some wall canvases for decoration?

My question for you is:

 

Thanks guys!  

p.s. ~ Anyone know how to get that Vintage stink (not mothballs, thank heaven!) out of these beauties?

(Give us a little vote?)--->

Thursday -- Holy Crap!

How is it Thursday already?

I've been lucky enough to have the luxury of just loafing around all week while all of my loved ones are either working at their jobs, working on their new and old businesses, finishing up the school semester (Brother, Sister and cousins!) or healing (my poor Momma broke her arms).

And me?  I've made some phone calls, I went grocery shopping, I napped like a large cat (even though the sun is on vacation), I've almost completed my Christmas shopping and watched movies -- lots and lots of movies. I am so dang lucky. SO lucky. My Sissy never ceases to remind me just how so I am as she's rushing off to one of her two jobs or trying to complete essay after essay. I'm thankful that she serves as a reminder for just how lucky I am and I hope (hope, hope!) that one day, if she'd like, she gets to be a stay at home wife/Mom. (I love you Sissy!)

What's up with this blog? I have two amazing new series that I'm dying to share with you guys, but they're both gunna need a couple more weeks worth of work before I share. I can't WAIT!

Also, I have another  series that I'm thinking of starting and it will have to with diet and healthy eating and will be laced with more practical recipes and tips. I'm still in the brainstorming stages of that one, though.

Oh, also, I now have 24 followers on here! I'm 76 away from achieving my "100 followers goal"  and each time I see that a new person  has joined, I do a little dance, laugh a little laugh and check out their blog.

I've been getting about 350 readers a day which just blows my mind! I know it might not seem like a lot to our more super fantastic bloggers, but I squee like a little girl each time I check and see that I've had a bunch of readers each day!  Teehee!


On the home front, I need to show you guys our Christmas tree, large and in-charge, but we ran out of lights (we've never needed more thant two strings!) and we're having a heck of a time finding another string of yellow mini lights. I think we're gunna try the hardware store  tonight.

I have the mantle all decked out with a garland and pretty beads and bows and twinkle lights that feel like they're gunna give me a seizure at any moment. We've been burning fire-logs and eating peppermint taffy and watching movies at nighttime.  Totally romantic and just what we need!

We also need a new couch, a real couch because this guy is kind of weak-sauce. We're totally scouring Craiglist in hopes of finding a great piece at a good price.

 On the body/mind front, I've decided to just let go and let God. I can only control so many things (even though I'd like to control most everything), so these past few months have been a lesson in just learning to sit back and let go. Let things happen when they're meant to. From cancer to babies to jobs and money, I can only do so much, you know?

I found this awesome quote on a wonderful little blog and though that it was entirely appropriate for what's in my heart.

"I have a lot of faith. But I am also afraid a lot, and have no real certainty about anything. I remembered something Father Tom had told me--that the opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. Certainty is missing the point entirely. Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns."  —
- Anne Lamott (Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith)

May your day be filled with little rays of  light and paw-fuls of peppermint taffy. 

Flashback Fridays -- Donk

 

Dustin and I are laying here on the couch at him Mom's house after celebrating her birthday at a local pasta house. We, Dustin and I, his parents and younger brother, came home and devoured a splendid cheese cake that his Dad made (A-mazing) and I realized that I forgot to blog today!  I was out most of the day helping Lori at The Nova Studio and then I came home, packed for the evening, wrapped a gift and then crashed out until Dustin got home. I have excuses. ;)

So, back to sitting on the couch. We're browsing through my old photos, looking for inspiration and we came across this jem. Dustin promptly it named "Donk." I don't know why. He said that it had some thing to do with the door handle, wide eyes, him hiding behind my head and the massive cold sore on my lip. Well, I brought up the cold sore part.. I like to think he didn't see it. ;)

This photo was taken on New Years Eve of 2005 in a little Bed and Breakfast in Carmel, California. I was still getting chemo because of the whole "tumor filled lung" thing and New Years Eve just happened to fall on the time in my chemo cycle when I was out of the hospital and was feeling really good, the precious 1/2 of a week where I felt almost "normal."  Here, I was putting my makeup on: eyeshadow, liner, mascara on the few eyelashes that hadn't fallen out yet. Puffy face from steroidsI tried to cover up the lip sore that happened to grace my face (my immune system, like almost every person who is going through chemo, was terribly shot). Blue, cozy knit beanie for my baldie-bald head.

We decided to take a few pictures and, after going though the whole batch, this little gem was the one that Dustin chose for this week's post to commemorate that weekend in our life where we almost felt "normal."

Now, every week feels "normal" and that is something that's worth all of the door knobs, cold-sores, eyelashes and "creepy Husbands who lurk in photos"  in the world.

DONK.