Eden's Birthday Party

We started Eden's birthday with a special daddy/daughter trip to the donut shop to pick out a birthday donut. Eden picked out a pink donut and we enjoyed singing "Happy Birthday" to her before she ate it! After breakfast, we started getting ready for Eden's rainbow themed birthday party. The inspiration for her party was the cake. A friend of mine had made it for her little girl's birthday party and I really wanted to try to make it, so I asked Eden if she would like a rainbow party and she agreed. Eden and Parker helped me bake the cakes the day before so all I had to do was assemble it. It was a little lopsided but Eden didn't seem to mind! I also made a rainbow fruit tray, which turned out great and ended up being devoured by our guests in no time.
Eden was in a great mood all day and fully cooperated when we asked her to take some pictures before her party began. I was a little shocked...she usually starts crying the minute she sees the camera being pointed in her direction. While we waited for everyone to arrive, the kids had fun jumping in the bounce house. The weather didn't cooperate so we ended up putting the bounce house in the garage, but the kids didn't seem to mind.After everyone arrived, we started the party with a rainbow activity. The kids searched all around the living room for arcs in the different colors of the rainbow. Once they found all of their colors, they put them together to make a rainbow magnet.

Next we ate cake and ice cream. Eden got a little bit embarrassed as we were singing to her, but not enough to make her cry. She usually doesn't like when people sing to her so that was a big step for Eden- yea!! She also did a great job blowing out her candles!


After Eden blew out her candles, it was time to reveal the big surprise! The cake looked very plain and simple on the outside, but when we cut into it, a rainbow was waiting for us! Eden absolutely loved it and told me as I was putting her to bed that night that her favorite part of her birthday was the rainbow cake!Finally, we let Eden open her presents. She got some very fun things that we have already been enjoying playing with the past few days. We are so grateful to all of our family and friends who took time out of their day to help us celebrate our sweet girl! Happy Birthday Eden! We love you very much!

Three Years Old

To my sweet Eden-

I can not wrap my head around the fact that you are three years old. Up until a few months ago, every time I thought about your birthday, I kept thinking that you were turning two. Imagine my surprise when I finally realized you were actually turning three!

You have changed so much this past year! You've transformed into such a wonderful little girl and I am so proud of all your accomplishments over the past few months! Here are some of the things that I always want to remember about you at this age:

- Your biggest growth this year has been with your speech. This time last year, you were still only saying a few words and you can now say or imitate almost anything. You started speech therapy eight months ago and had your last session with Miss Debbie last week. It still amazes me how far you've come in such a short amount of time and we are so proud of you!

- Unlike Parker and Lily who have loud, hoarse voices, you have a quiet, mouse voice when you talk. We often have to ask you to use your "loud voice" especially when you are talking in the car. Even though your talking voice is quiet, you have one of the loudest screams I've ever heard. You often use this shrill scream when your siblings are aggravating you.

-After three years of waiting, I finally heard you sing your first song. Up until last week, you often became upset when I tried to sing to you and you NEVER attempted to sing on your own. We have been listening to praise songs in the car lately, and one day as you were playing in the playroom, you started singing one of those songs. You have also sung "Jesus Loves Me" this week, which is the song I sing to you every night before you go to sleep. Hearing you sing last week was definitely music to my ears.

-You are completely potty trained although you still wear a diaper overnight. You trained so easily and quickly which was such a blessing!

- You LOVE bath time and are never ready to get out of the tub. You will play until the water is cold and even then will bargain with me for "two more minutes"!

-You still have a laid back personality and your terrible two's were not that terrible. Like all toddlers, you have your meltdown moments, but you recover quickly from them and move on. I am anxious to see what your three's will be like, especially now that you can verbalize your thoughts!

-You know most of your letters and numbers and always point out when you see an 'E'. You think that anything that starts with an 'E', such as Exxon or Exit, is actually your name!

-Although you are a more adventurous eater than Parker, you are still quite picky. If something on your plate doesn't appeal to you, you will tell me, "It's too yucky!". You don't really have a favorite food, but you never turn down any sweet that is offered to you. You always ask to eat at Donals (McDonald's) but you won't eat anything there except french fries.

- You have a great imagination and love to play with toys that allow you to use it. You can spend hours playing with your little figures and taking them on adventures. Some of your favorites are The Little Einsteins and the dollhouse at Granna's.

- You have completely given up your afternoon naps and are still a great sleeper at night. I usually let you watch a video during rest time and your favorite show right now is "Peppa Pig", a cartoon about a little British pig and her family.

-About a month ago, you developed a fear of spiders. You woke up one morning yelling for me to get the spiders out of your bed, and now every time we go into your room, you ask me to get the spiders out. We have spent a lot of time proving to you that there are no spiders in your room/bed and praying that Jesus will take the spiders far, far away.

-You still adore Parker and are forming quite a nice bond with Lily too. I think that you are Lily will become very close once Parker starts kindergarten next year.

-You are going to preschool one day a week and seem to like it. You had a rough start but, after several chats with Miss Debbie about your independent nature, you are now doing well. I pray that you will always love to learn new things and that school will come easy to you.

-You are still tall and thin. You are wearing 3T/4T clothes and size 9 shoes. We go next week to see Dr. Morrow for your three year checkup and get your latest height/weight stats.

You are such a beautiful girl and I can't imagine our family without your sweet spirit. You add so much joy to our lives and I hope the upcoming year is filled with many wonderful things for you. Thank you for letting me be your mommy every day. It's the best job I could ever have! I love you to the moon and back, Mommy

Happy 3rd Birthday, Eden!

Today our sweet, funny, beautiful, curly headed little girl turns 3 years old!

Eden's name means 'delightful' and I can't think of a better word to describe her! She brings so much joy into our lives and she has shown me just how much fun it is to have a daughter.

Eden, we love you so much and hope you feel very special today! You truly are a gift from God and we can't wait to celebrate you today!

And She's Off!

We had an exciting week this week- Lily started walking! She's been standing since Halloween and had even taken a few steps, but this week she officially became a walker. She is still rather unsteady and looks like Frankenstein when she walks, but every day she is getting better and better. She is walking about 5o percent of the time and crawling 50 percent of the time. She can stand up from the point where she falls down instead of having to crawl over to the couch and use it to help her stand up. She is enjoying her new form of mobility and it has been so fun to watch her reach this new milestone. The one thing I've learned this week is that watching one of your children take their first steps never gets old. It's been just as exciting watching Lily as it was watching Parker and Eden learn to walk.

Jumpin' Apes

Parker regressed a little bit with his thumb sucking so we started a new incentive chart that would earn him a trip to Jumpin' Apes. After several long weeks, he finally earned enough stickers to fill up his chart. Saturday after naps we all loaded up and headed out for some bounce house fun. Lily has loved our little bounce house at home so we assumed she would like the bigger bounce houses too. I think her face tells it all:She absolutely loved it! She crawled right in and didn't look back. So different from our other two non-adventurous kiddos!
Her favorite part was when Cory helped her go down the slide. She laughed every time she went down.
As always, Parker and Eden had a great time. We treated the kids to pizza afterwards and it ended up being a fun family afternoon. I love days like this and can't wait for the next one!

Thank You, Miss Debbie!

Today was Eden's last day of speech therapy. Eden ages out of ECI when she turns 3 and because she has made so much progress this year, she did not qualify for speech therapy services through the school.

We are so thankful for Eden's therapist, Miss Debbie, and everything that she has done to help Eden with her speech. She has given Eden such a gift and there are so many days when I just want to cry because I am so happy that Eden can now communicate with us. I know that Eden may not remember Miss Debbie when she gets older, but she will always hold a special place in my heart for all that she did for Eden. Thank you so much, Miss Debbie! We will miss you!

Trick or Treat

Halloween was a very busy night for us this year. We started our evening at our church's Trunk or Treat and ended with traditional trick or treating with some friends. Before we got started I was able to get a picture of the kids in their costumes. Eden and Lily both went as butterflies this year, although Eden's wings were shed very early on in the evening and most people thought she was a ballerina! When I asked Parker a few weeks ago what he wanted to be, he quickly said, "Mom, I already have my Lightning McQueen costume", so he went as a repeat from last Halloween. Easy enough for me!
Lily did not mind her costume as long as the hood was off. Every time I tried to put it on, she cried, so we just let her be a headless butterfly!
The Trunk or Treat was first. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, I realized that I had left Lily's costume at home. (I will definitely not be up for the Mother of the Year award!) Cory was sweet enough to go back and get it while I took the kids to start playing.

Parker wanted to try most of the games including pumpkin bowling, the football toss, and catching a live minnow a net! The only game I could persuade Eden to try was the fishing game. The favorites of the evening were, as always, the bounce house and the cotton candy!



Lily was perfectly content to ride in the wagon and watch. After the Trunk or Treat, we went to meet Jewell for some traditional door-to-door trick or treating. Again, the wagon proved to be an excellent idea! I didn't have to carry anyone or worry about anyone dashing out in front of the cars driving by.
Lily was such a trooper, especially after she got a sucker to enjoy!
Parker started the trick or treating in tears. (We still are not sure why he got upset.) After he finally calmed down, he had a great time with Jewell. They were inseparable the rest of the night. They held hands as they walked and talked in between houses. They even held hands as they went up to get their candy. So sweet!
I was exhausted by the time the night was over but had a great time making more memories with my kids! Now if I can just make myself stay out of the candy bowl!