Violet doesn't sleep anymore

Remember how once in a while, Violet used to sleep like ten or eleven hours at a time? But most nights she slept about eight hours, and after I fed her would go back to sleep for a few more hours?

Not anymore.

For the past month she has woken up an average of four times a night. It just happened all of the sudden! Two months of wonderful sleeping habits, then one night she woke up a bunch and has been doing it ever since! She wakes up once before midnight, once around two, again around five, then at six thirty, then at seven thirty she wakes up for good.

I know there is nothing any of you can do. I just wanted to tell you so you can feel sorry for me.

(She is still cute. This is the picture she left for her Uncle Chris on his facebook wall this weekend!)

The Italian Baker

I'm working on something today.

It includes this:

and this:

and a lot of this (as usual):

Come back in a few hours, and I'll update this post with my finished product!

Updated:

Fresh from the oven Pane ai Peperoni (Bread with Roasted Red Bell Peppers)!!

It is soooooooooooo good. I wish you could try some.

Happy Halloween

In honor of Halloween, here is are some super creepy pictures:

(I probably want to cut my hair short. So I found one of those websites where you upload your picture and try on different hairstyles. Hence...)

Full disclosure: I actually found one I liked.

Maybe by Christmas I'll have the courage to chop it all off? My hair is ridiculously long right now.

Yum

Two nights ago, I made this sauce:

(roasted red bell pepper, goat cheese, dijon mustard, lemon juice)

and then roasted asparagus, fried two eggs, and toasted two english muffins!

I'm lucky I got a couple of pictures before they were gone! Glenn loved it! So did I, it was delicious.

(I got the recipe here. She used yellow bell peppers, which is why her sauce looks different than mine.)

Violet Laughs

Violet laughs now! It still sounds a little bit like a grunt, but she smiles really big with her mouth open while she does it. See for yourself!

(Today is a rainy day here! Yay!)

Kenny and Annie

Last weekend, my brother Kenny and his wife Anne came to visit us! They were on an amazing journey that just happened to end in Southern California. They road tripped from Pho-town to Salt Lake to Olympia, WA, to Portland, to San Francisco, to LA (us), and then stopped by Rancho Cucamunga on their way back to Pho-town. It sounds like their adventure was super fun!

Anyway, we got to have them with us for a couple of days! Violet loves Annie, so she was in heaven, and Glenn and Kenny got to bond over video games. We all went to the library together (I told you I am taking anyone who visits me there!) and had the best time at the beach. It seemed like Violet enjoyed the beach this time. In the past it has made her kind of nervous.

Pictures!

The Big Reveal

Are you ready to find out what was in this mysterious bag?:

BOOKS!

Here is the story:

When Glenn worked at Bookman's, he could buy me practically any book I wanted as soon as I asked for practically nothing. So basically I was very spoiled obtaining-books-wise. We aren't really close to any Barnes and Nobles here, and books are so expensive there anyway! I have ordered a few books online since we've been here to keep me going, but that was getting old.

So I googled "secondhand bookstores downtown LA" and found the coolest place! It is called

THE LAST BOOKSTORE

and it was awesome! I am so mad at myself for not taking pictures while we were there. There was a giant sculpture hanging from the ceiling made from paperbacks. It didn't have as good of a selection as Bookman's, but it was a little cheaper (which is saying something, because Bookman's is cheap). I picked about ten books, but Glenn made me put some back. I got:

1. Matilda. I already read this one, and a lot of it I read aloud to Violet! She loved it! She really was fascinated by the pictures. I was reminded of how awesome this books is. Seriously, Roald Dahl is such a good writer.

(Glenn sneakily took this picture yesterday morning while I was reading to Violet)

2. Frankenstein. I am joining a bookclub! It is for the Pasadena ward that almost all the LDS dental students are in. I met one of the wives at an institute class and she invited me!

3. Eragon. I started this once and hated it, but lately people have been telling me they loved it, so I'm going to try again.

4. The Pearl. I have wanted to read this forever! And now I am taking a Pearl of Great Price institute class, and we talked about the scripture MATT. 13:46. And this scripture is totally what this book is about. So I finally got it, and I can't wait to read it.

We will definitely be back to THE LAST BOOKSTORE soon!

Violet goes to Disneyland

(We saw Mickey, Jasmine, and the evil step sisters, but this is who I managed to get a picture of Violet with!)

Last week I had the pleasure to hang out at Disneyland with my wonderful cousin Desi and her family! I feel so lucky whenever Desi is around. She makes everything more fun! And her kids are pretty cute too.

When we moved (they live in Arizona) I thought Benjamin was so big. He is two months older than Violet. When I saw him last week, I couldn't believe how small he was! Violet was almost as big as him! I guess when he is not sitting next to a newborn he looks normal sized. Isn't he beautiful?

Sorry, no pictures of Natalie, who is also exceptionally cute. In fact, we weren't great at taking pictures. I didn't take any, and these are the only ones Desi took! I need to start taking my camera places! We took turns watching the kids for a few rides, and I got to ride Indiana Jones and Thunder Mountain, my two favorites! Also, once while Kevin and Desi were on a ride, all three kids were crying at the top of their lungs and a stranger stopped and made me let them hold Benjamin. She was super nice though, and didn't kidnap him.

We were beat by the end of the day. Violet and I actually left by 3:30 because we were so tired. Has anyone ever seen "Captain EO"? Definitely the funniest/weirdest thing I've ever seen at Disneyland.

Ten points if you can guess what is in this bag! We discovered a wonderful place yesterday!

Success!

Well, the ciabatta bread was good!

I made us sandwiches out of it for dinner, but we both agreed we like it plain, so we will probably eat the second loaf just dipped in olive oil.

The only disappointing thing was how little bread it made. Oh well, I guess we just really have to savor it!

My Biga is Fermenting

Afton: I wish you could come home so I could show you my biga.

Glenn: You know I would love to see your biga.

(The first of many obscene sounding conversations Glenn and I had yesterday after realizing "biga" is a funny word.)

A biga is just the starter for the ciabatta that I am working on. I told you it is a two day process! The fermented biga is what gives ciabatta bread and sourdough bread their tanginess. Today is the second day, and soon I will get to put it in the oven!

Maybe tomorrow I will have pictures of golden, perfect ciabatta loaves to show you instead of gooey biga.

And because no post is complete without a picture of cute Violet:

(she looks like a pirate with that earring, right? We tried to get a picture with her flower headband covering her eye like an eyepatch, but she wasn't having it.)

Midterms

(My husband the dentist. These glasses are called "loupes" and they cost like one thousand dollars. And they look super dorky.)

Glenn has midterms this week! He has been studying a lot, and I think he is going to do great. He is going to be extra busy this week, so I'm looking for things to do to keep me busy. This morning I started making ciabatta bread! It is a two day process. I'll let you know how it goes.

(I used active dry yeast instead of instant yeast. Is my bread already doomed? I just can't see how a bread that takes two days to rise needs "instant" yeast.)

Vi is getting into the halloween spirit! See for yourself:

Mexitalian

I am really into reading vegetarian and vegan blogs lately, and my sister Courtney sent me a link to an awesome one! Particularly to this recipe, because she thought it looked really good. It looked so good that I made it last night for dinner!

The ingredients:

(whole wheat spaghetti, lemon, garlic, basil, avocado, olive oil, black pepper)

The avocados were PERFECT! Is there anything better than perfectly ripe avocados?

You just blend all those ingredients into a sauce and mix it with the cooked pasta.

And of course, we unveganized it by adding chicken and parmesan cheese:

It was... good. Really good. But not the most amazing pasta I've ever eaten. Glenn gave it a 7 out of 10. We just couldn't quite get past the fact that it tasted like guacamole and spaghetti mixed together. It was SO easy, and definitely good enough to eat that I'm glad I tried it.

(warning: green spaghetti=green splatters of sauce on everyone's clothes. Even Violet's.)

Another shoe!

I made another shoe for Violet, and this one was much more successful. It totally fits her! (It also was a WAY easier pattern.) I only had blue and white yarn, so I made a flower for the toe so they would look like girl shoes.

Also, Violet has a patch of longer hair on the back of her head:

Today Glenn said, "We should style her patch of hair. Like put a bow in it."

Haha, how funny would that look?

Nightmare

The other night I had a dream that it was Violet's blessing day again:

And Voldemort came over.

It was super scary.

Have you had any scary dreams lately?

(p.s. In other Harry Potter related news, Violet is going to be Hedwig for Halloween. And here is a sneak peek!)

(Thanks Grandma! She made this cute hat!)

3 good things

1. Last night Glenn and I made chocolate chip cookie bars. We accidentally took them out of the oven a little bit early. Maybe a lot early. They were basically chocolate chip cookie pudding, and we ate them with a spoon. I think that is what food in heaven will taste like.

2. I am crocheting with my friend Juanita again today! I love having friends.

3. Kenny and Annie are coming tonight!! Woo woo! I love company, and I REALLY love Kenny and Annie. Fannie. Fangela.

LA Central Public Library

A few days ago I decided I needed to figure out where the library was around here. I learned that we are closest to the "LA Central Public Library" and yesterday I went! (sidenote: I only paid $1 for parking! hallelujah for not making a parking mistake!)

It was the COOLEST LIBRARY EVER! See for yourself:

(This lobby is amazing, but this picture doesn't do it justice. Those are beautiful sculptures hanging from the ceiling.)

(This library has more than just books. In fact, it took me a while to find the books. On each of the four sides of this big hall, there is an art gallery. Like this one:)

(I did finally find the books. I am getting a couple on crocheting, because my second shoe turned out really dumb looking.)

And the best part of the library:

The children's section. It was SO beautiful!

I reserved a few books, but we are going back today because I need to bring a piece of mail in order to get my library card. I was so amazed by this library, I had a big smile on my face the whole time I was walking around. Glenn doesn't have school today, so he is coming with me today! Basically, if you ever come visit us in LA, I am going to take you here. Definitely the coolest thing I've seen in LA so far!

The Dad

Today Glenn left for school a couple of minutes late because he was playing with Violet and he said she was too sweet to leave.

Glenn is such a loving dad, and I love that about him. It amazes me every day how unselfish he is when it comes to spending time with Violet. He works hard at school all day, and when he gets home he takes Violet from me and plays with her until it is her bedtime.

He just left for school. While I am writing this post, I got a text from him:

"I already miss my girls. I wish I could spend this rainy day with you."

Remember that conference talk about dads and how they should raise their daughters? I loved listening to that talk, because I know Glenn is always going to be so loving towards Violet, and such a fun dad. I hope they are always as close as they are now! I hope he still hugs her and holds her hand when she is a teenager. (But Violet is never going to be a teenager. She is going to be a baby forever.)

p.s. Violet and I are going to spend this rainy day at the public library. I can't wait.

The shoe

Violet took a ONE HOUR nap in her crib yesterday! This is a huge improvement that I've been working up to, because for a while she would only sleep in my arms during the day.

Also, at dinner during priesthood session, my friend's daughter who is about 18 months old was wearing some really cute little crocheted shoes that my friend had made.

Yesterday, because of Violet's miraculous nap, I found myself with an hour to do whatever I wanted with both hands. Accordingly, I decided to try to make some shoes like Julia's. It was sort of a success. They look like shoes:

But they are also gigantic:

Also, so you can really see how mediocre they are, here is what they are supposed to look like:

Oh well. I have only made the left shoe so far, so maybe the right shoe will turn out better! I'm going to try to make a smaller pair next. These probably won't fit her until she is five.