A tiny little bit....

My Sister is probably the funniest person I've ever met. The funniest, strongest, most stubborn woman.



She loves Toby Keith and Glenn Beck and anything “politically incorrect.” She's addicted to Fox news and probably knows more about current affairs then the average American...and she has an opinion about all of it. And she'll tell you, even if you didn't ask. She respects your opinion, but knows that you're wrong. BUT, she doesn't like politically incorrect jokes – this is serious business to her, not something to laugh about. And besides, she doesn't stand for anyone to be made fun of. Ever.


If you are male, there is no point in wondering if she is looking at you........unless you are NOT white or asian – or you ARE in uniform. In either of those cases, yup, she's checking you out.


She can be the most giving person in the world. She's sponsored the same child through Compassion International for 10 years. Her Amazon wish list is full for items that she thinks Violet would like. She often buys massive quantities of something to “try” just to discover that she doesn't care for it and passes it on to someone that she already knows likes whatever item it is. We are constantly getting boxes in the mail with small, thoughtful gifts she's picked up somewhere. A house for my Christmas village. A stroller toy. A LOST game. Random things.


BUT she's cheap! She clips coupons and shops sales and LOVES Ross. She'll buy the bulk-size, bargain bag of candy and then resale it for a quarter a piece to raise money for the Animal Rescue League. She still has clothes from high school! She has bags and bags (and bags and bags) of soda can pop top tabs for some organization... Oh and she doesn't drink soda out of a can – she collects them from the staff at her facility!


She's got a memory like an elephant. REALLY! She can still tell you exactly where to find the home medical supply company in Cedar City... and she didn't drive there when we last went 9 or 10 years ago. She remembers the names of every stuffed animal she's ever had (all of them named after Shakespearean characters), our grade school imaginary friend and the names of random people in the background of camp pictures. And she will NEVER forget if you wrong her. Or her loved ones. Which doesn't mean that she is a hard person. She's learned how to forgive fully, but still will never forget.


She is in love with her niece. She loves her entire family, but is completely enamored with Violet. She would do anything in the world for her. Her whole outlook on life has changed since she opened that little bib that said “I love my Aunt” and learned that she would soon have new little family member to love. And dote on. And spoil. She can't wait for Violet to be able to eat candy so that she can hype her up and send her home. She was Violet's first babysitter, watching her by Skype while I made lunch! She says that this little baby has “given me a reason to live again. I'm going to watch that little girl grow up!” If she gets 3 videos of Violet doing something, she'll notice and comment on the tiny differences in how she did it in the 2nd video versus the 1st and 3rd.


If you see her coming, I can almost guarantee you a few things: She'll have a bottle of Diet Dr Pepper or Diet Pepsi (or more rarely a Diet Coke) in her lap, a “Naughty Bunny” or Tigger on her tee shirt, her cell phone in her hand, and Violet's latest escapade on her mind. There is probably a mystery novel in her purse next to breath mints and an overwhelming number of different lip glosses. If you need a pen or a flashlight, she's likely got them on her person. And chocolate. If you need chocolate just check her closet.










Written last December...just a tiny bit of the whole amazing person...

The things that make me happy...

I'm easy to please. :-)

One Year

Really? Really just how much can one baby change in one year? Well, I guess that I can't deny the truth when displayed for me in living color.

Same gig, same park, same girl. Exactly one year minus one day.

2009

2010

"Playing" 2009

"Playing" 2010

Eating Grass 2009

Eating Popcorn 2010

Oh, and it is much more difficult to get pictures of an almost 17 month old then it is an almost 5 month old!

Violet Speak: Part 2

I think that I find so much joy in writing all of these words down because I know that I have a spot to return to in order to find it all someday! In the last month she's started saying:

Nana
Gramma
Gah (Glasses - not to be confused with Ga-ga (Water)
Plee (Please)
Done
Dou-nn (Down)
Donn (Pastor Donn, and yes there are subtle differences between these 3 words!)
Up
Gir-aa (Giraffe)
Beauhr (Bear)
Bo (Book)
Bubbahl (Bubble)
Huh (Hug)
Haa (Hat - always accompanied by patting her head! :-)
Traa (Trash)
Bye

My favorite thing that she does to communicate is when she blows to mean that something is "hot." Started because Gramma would blow on french fries and say "hot" before she would give them to V. After church yesterday we got in the baking car and Violet immediately went "whhhhh whhhh" telling me that it was hot in there!

Camp Couch

Violet is sick. Well, she is better now, but she got sick. Really sick. The sickest she's been yet.

Last Thursday when I called Robbie from work during lunch he told me that she was running a moderate fever, wasn't interested in eating and had slept on him an extra 4 hours that morning. She wouldn't let him put her down, but hadn't been able to keep her eyes open. Poor baby. Poor Dada, he hated leaving her to go to class that evening when I got home. He reported that she had done ok for a few hours after her long nap, but that she'd gradually begun to fall apart again. And her temp was up a bit more.

After he left for class, a quick assessment of the situation clearly showed that she needed extra TLC. I thought back to all of the things that my Momma had done for me when I was sick and kept in mind Robbie's statements that she didn't want to be put down -- even when sleeping. I remember my Momma setting up a table near Jessica or I while we laid on a couch so that we had what we needed. I figured that the best way for us both to best enjoy the next few hours was if everything was in a central location. I covered the couch with blankets and copious amounts of pillows. Then I collected Infant Tylenol, the thermometer, a sippy of juice, another sippy with water, teething tablets, cheerios, raisins, berries (favorite foods to try to tempt her with), TV remotes, my laptop and, of course, my camera. Thus was born "Camp Couch."
Even as I was setting things up and asking Violet to be patient while I set up "Camp Couch" I knew that we were starting something new that will probably last a long time. I can imagine Violet even as one of those dreaded teen things I hear so much about telling me "Mom, I feel crummy. I think I need a Camp Couch day." It's a good feeling to know that even something as silly as this will possibly have a long-term positive effect on our relationship!
Violet slept on me for a little over two hours. I've never seen her like that. I was a little scary, but it was also nice to know how much she is still comforted by the arms of a parent... (I wish I could learn from that to seek my comfort in the arms of my 'Parent.' Ah... but that's another blog.)

When she finally woke up a bit, I really wanted to encourage Violet to drink to keep her from getting dehydrated. She was having none of that until I thought of using the old straw trick! Sucked some Apple Juice right down then!

Oh and we never did figure out what illness was effecting our girl. The fever has gradually gone down and although she is still pookie, we're seeing more and more of our sweet girl in her "normal" state of mind. I'm hoping that it doesn't come for a long time, but when it does I know that "Camp Couch" is going to be a good day!

Fun on the Fourth

Welcome to summer! In the Gillam family, we are enjoying this mildest of summers SoCal has seen in quite a long time. The weather made our July Fourth festivities even more relaxing as there was no stifling heat to compete with! Our evening was spent with family at the stadium at the University of Redlands for their annual fireworks display.....well and the pre-show, which sadly included a Rod Stewart impersonator! Happily, dinner included red, white and blue cupcakes!


Violet was absolutely hilarious all evening... She loved the music and learned how to 'twist,' ate lots and lots of chicken, screamed if anyone but Momma tried to touch her, and climbed in and out of her stroller about a million times. (And don't try to help me!) Favorite of all though were the skydivers!


The fireworks were not her favorite part of the evening. She became sticky velcro baby the minute that the crowd got excited about them starting; she watched for a while,but then buried her head facing away from the display. She was fine unless I tried to turn my body so that she could see, at which point I would get "nuh,nuh,nuh,nuh." Silliest off all, after the official display was over any stray or neighborhood firework that would go off, she would point and clap and yell "pri-EEEEE!!!" The people sitting in front of us were so surprised that she stayed awake that whole time -- HA, this girl was running around Gramma and Grampa's like a mad woman and midnight when we finally got back to the house!


Robbie and I are so enjoying this stage with our girl! We're learning to take time for ourselves and each other (although we still have a long way to go!) and working together to presented united decisions in parenting is teaching us new ways to communicate with each other. I even got a rare pic of just us!