Ah, Christmas in Sunny Florida

As is Vredevoogd Family Tradition, Violet was introduced to a warm and sunny Christmas in Florida! We had a great time defrosting in the warm weather and showing Violet the ropes.

Here is all of us on the way to church on Christmas Eve. Thanks Uncle Brett for the picture! It's actually incredible that Violet isn't crying in this picture. She found her Uncle Brett with his full beard to be rather frightening and it took her a good 4 days to warm up to him. Then it was smooth sailing, but I think this was when she still thought he was terrifying!

And here is what happens when you take out Violet's "nubs" in her hair. Joel thought she looked like a stooge :)
Learning the finer points of present opening. She did love to tear up those packages. And eat the paper. REALLY loved to eat the paper!

Confession Time: I may be the worst Christmas Mother on the planet. We got her this cute toy, and I was opening it up for her while she sat on my lap. While I was trying to dislodge the thing from the package (why do they make them so hard??) , I accidentally hit Violet smack in the face when it came undone. The best part? We have it on video! And yes, she did cry. Poor thing! I am not sure I can get it to post on here but I'll sure try. Might as well share it with the world!

At happier times before her run-in with my hand:Later on Christmas Day we headed to my grandparents country club for quite possibly the Worlds Best Christmas Buffet. It was amazing as usual! We're pretty sure our table got the "Most Escargot Eaten" award. We all were radiating garlic the next day to prove it!


Earlier in the week, Jon's brother Trent and his girlfriend Heather drove from where THEY were spending Christmas in West Palm Beach. It was SO great to see them!Violet lounging poolside.
Hanging out on the beach. She only ate a few handfuls of sand :)

She LOVED the pool! Here she is floating around with her daddy.
So cute!

You don't actually think that's IT for pictures, do you? Of course not!! I had some camera issues so I ended up using my mom and sister's cameras for what I like to call the Great Sunset Photo Extravaganza. We had the entire VanElderen clan helping to get Violet to smile while the sun set over the Gulf. Stay tuned!

Hope you all had as great of a Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate!) as we did!

Merry Christmas!!

We wish you a Merry Christmas, we WISH you a Merry Christmas, we WISH you a Merry Christmas and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Violet's Christmas present to all her faithful blog-readers is a post chock full o' Christmas Cheer. Here are her "official" Christmas 2007 Pictures:


And we celebrated Christmas a little early with my mom since she'll be in Michigan and we'll all be in Sunny Florida for Christmas Day. Here is Violet and her cousins Anna and Claire all dressed up for the day.
Like mother, like daughter. Violet isn't too sure about this dress business.
Princess Claire teaches Violet how to properly rip open the wrapping paper. Yes, the paper was the most fun part, and apparently tasted great too!
The smallest kid got the biggest gift! Here is Violet atop her new Radio Flyer wagon.
Our own little Christmas Angel.
"I found this here lamby..." I love the look on her face and her little belly spilling over top of her diaper. She's finally chunking up!
"Why hello, self!"

Here she is showing off a pair of wool "longies" (in cloth-diaper speak). My friend Brook knitted them for me. Aren't they great? Violet was nice and cozy in them all day today.
We'll be gone all next week, so from our family to yours "Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!" Have a fabulous holiday!

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

But first, it looks like pink pony pajamas :) I've been DYING to get these on her! First she was too small and then we couldn't fit them over her cast. They fit perfect now!


This weekend we officially got into the holiday spirit. First we went down to the Farmer's Market to get our tree.
Then Violet said she'd help put the lights up.

But she had to test them out first to make sure they tasted right. She also tried on her Santa Hat (notice the little left ear stuck out. Aw!)
But that only lasted a minute or two.
And (drum roll please) she also wanted to show off her re-found skill. She can officially sit up unassisted again! Only 5 days post-cast! Go Violet!
We are so incredibly happy to be cast-free. It's amazing how much you just get into the swing of things with the cast, and when it's off you think "We did THAT?" Everything is so much easier... I actually went shopping with Violet the other day and *gasp* could get whatever I wanted, not just what would fit into the stroller basket! Plus she is so much more fun to snuggle with, bathe, dress (the PANTS! I love the PANTS!), feed, nurse, etc. She is very much enjoying her cast-free life and is really scooting around, although she still hasn't figured out how to crawl. We're loving it!

Goodbye Cast, Hello Squishy Baby!!

It's official! We're CAST FREE!!!

After 12 long weeks, we're proud to announce that Violet is free of all contraptions tonight - no cast, no brace - nothin' but her regular-kid PJ's (shirt AND PANTS!!!) and a diaper. We can hardly believe it ourselves!

We went in to our doctor's office at noon today. I admit I was having a hard time - were they going to take it off? Or did we have 2 more weeks to go? The nurse didn't help my fears when she told us that cast removal was not on the paperwork. Luckily they decided to send her to x-ray, and it came out great! Jon went in with her, and the nurse told me before he got back that it was coming off. I was literally dancing around the room! :)

She did really good with the removal - luckily she likes the sound of a vacuume (we had been practicing!) - she only cried when we had to turn her on her sides to get the back pieces off. The cast came off in about 20 little pieces, so we didn't end up with it as a souvenier (it was rather stinky anyway!). When it was off and I got to pick her up - it was the best feeling ever!! And really weird! She lost 2.5 lbs of fiberglass, but she had GROWN so much since the last time we saw her without a cast on that it was hard to get used to. She doesn't look like a little baby anymore - she's a toddler!

We washed her up and the doctor came in to take a look. Her hips looked great (he commented that she'll be great at yoga later on!) and the biggest surprise - no brace! We were originally told she may have a brace for a few months, which was fine with us. But hearing that we got a totally apparatus-free baby out of the deal was just too much! Yay!!

As per usual, Miss Violet has taken everything in stride. She started kicking her legs by the time we got home and hasn't stopped since :)

Here is a video of her about an hour after we got home:


(p.s. it does sound like she answers "yes" at the end of this video. She does this pretty often but I'm still not 100% sure she knows what she is saying. If her first word ends up being "Yes" and not "Obi No!" like I had predicted, that would be pretty funny!)

I put her on her tummy right after this video. She was so funny! She is so used to having to push SO HARD to get going that she kept flipping herself over onto her back! It was pretty graceful and she didn't mind a bit. I think she's figured it out now - she hasn't done it since! She is still army-crawling around but she is starting to get up on her knees already. It won't be long until we're in BIG trouble! Mobile kid!

Here are some pictures of her this afternoon:

Oh yes. Pants. A novel idea.

What I call the "spica splits" - you would not BELIEVE the angles she can get her legs in!
Showing off her post-cast legs. Very white. Very flaky. And still in spica pose. We wouldn't trade them for the world!
And she had a BATH tonight! Geesh - a lot of gunk can accumulate on a baby when you don't bathe them for 3 months. I think we got about a pound of dirt, dry skin, and who-knows-what off of her!
So we're thrilled beyond belief. It's still hard to wrap my mind around the fact that she's OUT of the cast and DONE with it. I'm so incredibly proud of her for being such a trooper throughout this whole thing. I have no idea how people do this with kids who aren't as easygoing and laid back as Violet. She's my hero!

And just for good measure, here is the last spica cast picture you'll ever see me post! :) From yesterday:

Good-bye spica cast. We will not miss you at all. Thanks for our squishy kid back, Dr. Hotchkiss!

If you found this blog searching for info on Spica Casts,
please visit this wonderful and incredibly helpful forum:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hipbaby/
Also, please take a look at my Spica Cast Survival Guide, which you can download here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hipbaby/files/
It's the first thing on the list.
Sending lots of good hip healing vibes your way!!

Four more days!!!

I can hardly believe it myself, but just 4 more days until Violet is CAST FREE!! We are soo excited around here we can hardly stand it!

Just for kicks, here are a few vidoes of her "turtle crawl" - watch as she carries around her purple shell while she crawls. She has amazingly strong arms and abs already. Crazy! And I have a feeling that she is going to TAKE OFF once the cast if off. Look out!





If you can spare some good "cast off" vibes our way on Monday we would appreciate it! It sounds like there is a 95% chance she'll get the cast off, but we are still a little worried about that 5% chance of an extra week or two.

Hopefully the next post will be of her long-awaited chubby little legs (which may or may not be chubby under the cast!)

Happy 10 Months, Violet!

And Happy Thanksgiving, a few days late! Violet had a lovely first Thanksgiving. She ate her Thanksgiving Banana before the rest of us sat down to dinner, so we don't have any pictures of her. Bad mommy!

Here are some pictures from today on her 10 month birthday:

Yesterday we went to her first Family Reunion. It was for the "Thomasma" side (my mom's family). Here she is with my grandparents. She thought the kids hitting the pinata were HILARIOUS!
Early last week I took her into the orthopedist's office. She had been acting funny lately and crying a lot at night which is not like her. I showed them a lump I had found on the inside of her cast right on her rib cage. THAT was why she was having trouble! Poor girl! So they did cut it out for us. I did ask if maybe, pretty please, they could just take the cast OFF since we only have two weeks left... but no, we've just got an "access panel" Oh well!
Jon and I went to Las Vegas last week with my family (Violet stayed home with her Oma Josten). We had a great time! Here are Jon & I having dinner overlooking the canals in the Venetian hotel where we stayed.
Here is me, Leah, Elvis (or a really good impersonator - you decide!) and my two "new" sisters Sarah and Erin. Elvis came to serenade my mom at her 60th birthday party in her suite one night with all her friends. We had a blast!

Hair Experimentation

I don't know why it took me so long to try Violet's hair out in pigtails! It is about my most favorite way for kids to wear their hair (and, uh, for me) and for some reason it never crossed my mind!

Here she is rockin' the pig tails. They looked a little devilish to me, so they didn't last too long...
But I did reather like the "nubs" that we came up with here. Once they were in she was happy as a clam with no hair in her eyes!
Her new pink vest and matching hat on a lovely fall day.
Obi has been especially naughty around the house lately, but he redeems himself with Violet. Here she carefully examines his ear. Later, she paid close attention to his paw while he slept. It was pretty cute!
Since Violet is awake more during the days, she end up spending some time in my office with me while I work. We've been testing out the "Play" part of the Pack n' Play.

Presto Cast Chang-o!

Today was Violet's long-awaited cast change! We arrived at the hospital at 5:30am this morning, and were home by 10. She did great! Here she is in the waiting room. She was awake this time so I got to wear some lovely scrubs and go back into the operating room with her while they gave her the anesthetic. We thought she should try on the hairnet while we waited. She looks smashing, don't you think?


This time it took her a while to calm down after waking up from the anesthetic, but once she ate she felt MUCH better. We got to go home after just a few hours (as opposed to last time where we were there for the majority of the day). The doctor says that her hip looks good and is growing just like it should. However, he did say she'll be in the cast for another 4-6 weeks. Yikes! Say a little prayer that it's closer to 4 weeks than 6! Then she'll probably be in a brace for quite a while after that. Anything is better than the cast so we're okay with that!

The new cast is very similar to the old one - it's still purple, and still goes down to the ankles on both legs. This one has more padding around her chest/back and ankles, which will be nice for her crawling adventures! It makes her legs look like she has purple, rather stiff bell-bottoms on!


This weekend we celebrated having only (hopefully) 4 weeks left of the cast by visiting my grandparents at their place on the Crystal River up north. Violet was on her best behavior and we had so much fun!
Playing Patty-Cake with Papa.

Violet and her Daddy by the Crystal River.No more smooches, Dad!!

Even thought most of the leaves had already changed and fallen, there were quite a few left to go. Driving around Glen Lake was like driving in a postcard!

I had really wanted some nifty pictures of Letty in the Leaves. She thought that was a silly idea. We laid her down and she kept trying to get up and only made this face:

We also got to visit my old horse Max! It was soooo great to see him - he is looking great and is living the LIFE with his new mom Julie! I was really missing him these last few weeks so it was great to get a good sniff of "au de horse" and give him some smooches. Here we are in his extra-large pasture.


He was VERY interested in Violet! It was really cute. She was a little skeptical of this huge "dog" that kept wanting to sniff her!

More Halloween Pictures!

It was a little wet and chilly on Halloween, but our whole crew braved the weather and went Trick-or-Treating anyway!

Here is my mom, my step-sister Erin, and Letty's Uncle Joel (it's a WIG!! He doesn't really have a mullet although I think he would if Leah would let him!) carrying our little Sugar Plum Fairy.

Was Violet ready for bed, or did the idea of her daddy turning into a mullet-wearing redneck terrify her? Who knows?