Ashworth Alcove

Christmas 2014 was much like Christmas 2013 in that we were preparing for some big changes. Ben had just arrived in Tennessee while mine and Violet's time there was winding down.  Violet wanted the Christmas tree and the lights on the stair banister turned on immediately in the morning when she got up. Breakfast can wait, turn those bloody lights on. She said, "Wooooow!" every time. It was in everyone's best interest to wait until Violet went to bed at night before turning any of the lights off. We resurrected our customized songs from last year.  "I want a Violetpotamus for Christmas, only a Violetpotamus will do..." "Violet night, it's a long night, all is calm, not for long..." "Jingle bells, Violet smells, she laid a brown egg..." We spent a total of four days, including Christmas Eve and day, at a cabin at David Crockett State Park. Second year now, cheers to traditions Santa brought a dollhouse and a stockin...

I've been wanting to make one of these interview videos with Violet for a while now and I finally got around to it. I was excited to capture her chatter, but I should have known she would keep fairly quiet when I wanted her to pull out the stops. We call this doing tricks - when I ask her to do stuff for people. If you're a bettin' person you should always put your money on Violet not doing tricks.

Redeployment. Confusing, huh? Or maybe it's just me, but the first time I heard it I was confused. Redeployment - as in, deploy again? What? But now this isn't my first rodeo. Now I know that when you start hearing reports of redeployment (now I've typed that word enough that it's starting to look like it's not even word) it only means one thing. They're coming home. And come home he did. Ben returned stateside at the very end of November and then came to Tennessee on December 10. At the ripe age of 19 months, Violet wasn't old enough to experience the anticipation of the reunion as we were driving to the airport. I, however, had enough anticipation for the both of us. We made a welcome home sign. We practiced holding it at home and Violet did awesome. We got to the airport and she threw it down and even stomped on it a couple of times. Keep in mind that to Violet her Daddy is someone who exists on a computer or phone screen. For the last 10 m...

Ben left for Afghanistan in March. Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months. After countless phone calls and skype conversations he finally returned stateside. As much as I hate deployments there is one thing that they give me that is rare to have as an adult. It's the feeling I get when I'm about to see him again after being separated for months. It's like the feeling you have on Christmas Eve as a child. Pure and authentic excitement. Elation. Joy. It causes a commotion in my stomach and stirs my soul. It's intoxicating. He arrived back at Fort Lewis, Washington and I flew out to see him. After much discussion and thinking, we decided not to bring Violet out this time. It was asking a lot of her to fly eight hours there and eight hours back. Asking her to sit still and do nothing for that long is laughable. The other reason is because Ben and I needed time together, just the two of us. It was what was best for our whole family. It was what was best for Vio...

Growth & Appearance: You appear taller and slimmer. Any and all traces of baby are pretty much gone. Swept away by the winds of time. You look most baby-like when you're asleep. Other than that you look very much like a big girl. Your hair is long and a little wild at times. It hangs in your face a lot. You've recently started pushing it out of your eyes. It's long in the back and flips out sometimes. Your cowlick is very noticeable these days. Your skin is still very fair and recently someone commented that you look like a living doll. You weigh 30 lbs and stand 32.5 inches tall. Holding steady in 2T clothing, though sometimes I buy 3T so you can wear things longer. Size 5 diaper. Size 5-6 shoe. Teeth: Sixteen. I had to triple check that in my head to make sure I was right. SIXTEEN. We should be done for a while. Two-year molars will be next. Talking: You know many words. I'm guessing somewhere in the neighborhood of 100. You've only recentl...