Random moments in life....

It's always good to get a little nap. Shortly after this picture was taken, Eden began piling things on top of his chest and he slept through it all.

There's always something so appealing about baskets....

Despite the somewhat morose face she is making, Eden loves getting a towel hat after she gets her hair washed.

These two cuties are almost exactly a year apart. I think they are going to be good buddies growing up.

Eden and Erin

Eden sure loves having Erin around. These two have become good buddies and they always provide laughs for the rest of us.

The downside is that since Erin has been around I can't seem to get their names straight! I call Eden Erin, and Erin Eden. Ugh... :)

Zoo time!

A couple weeks ago all the kids were off of school because it was election day so we decided it would be a great day to visit the zoo. Eden's nurse Becca was still scheduled to work that day so we just took her along with us and she was a great addition to the group.

In this picture we also had another addition to the group. The little girl in the purple is a total stranger but really wanted in the picture so hello new friend, the more the merrier!

Jaxon is always so sweet with babies and likes to hold Bentley whenever he gets the chance.

Thanks Grandma, Harding family, and Becca for a fun day at the Zoo!

Thanksgiving Advent Calendar

This year we got a new advent calendar for Thanksgiving which has been so much fun. Each day we take the paper out from under the leaf, Eden tells us what she is thankful for and then we tape it on the wall. Some of the things she comes up with have been really funny. I'm definitely planning on saving all these little papers to remember just how funny and sweet she is at this age.

These pictures were taken a couple weeks ago, but I thought it was cute that during her craft time, Eden got some of the papers out, colored on them, taped sea shells to them, and then hung them on the wall. It's so fun to randomly come across some of her works of art.

This girl and her personality....

It is quite difficult to get cooperation for pictures these days. A simple smile is all I ask for, but I get all kinds of strange variations. Here's a perfect example of our typical "photo shoot". She is so funny...

Blind Man's Bluff

We played Blind Man's Bluff for our FHE the other night and Eden loved it! She had a hard time not peeking under her blindfold though!

Do you love the TinkerBell pants we used for a blindfold?! Brad gets creative when he has a spur of the moment idea, like teaching Eden to play Blind Man's bluff. She thought is was funny. :)

Bentley is 7 months old!

Bentley is such a joy! I love this boy so much! Here's some fun things about Bentley at this age....

He is so hard to hold! He is constantly moving and pushing off me and squirming to get anywhere other than where I'm trying to hold him. It gets quite exhausting juggling him around for any significant period of time.

Every morning between 5 and 6 am, Bentley wakes up to eat. This is my absolute favorite time! He is still sleepy so he loves to cuddle and snuggle up against my neck. I LOVE it! As stated above, he usually wants nothing to do with cuddling or holding still, so I cherish this time. Once he has finished eating, we always snuggle for a bit, and then he goes back in his bed and sleeps for a couple more hours. By far, the best way to start off my day.

One tooth on the bottom has come all the way through. The other one is working to get out of the gums. The poor guy is a little more moody than normal, but he is handling it well.

He is so quick to laugh. His laughter is an instant happiness booster for me. I love it. When he is really tired, it's especially easy to get him giggling. It's adorable.

Now that he is sitting so good, it's pretty handy to throw him in the sink for his bath so I can multitask. He loves it.

Most of the time he takes his baths with Eden and is very patient as she washes his hair and face over and over again. Such a good brother, and very lucky to have such a loving sister.

Poor guy probably had a sore neck after this... but he sure looks cute!

He loves a blankie and his thumb when he is going to sleep, but otherwise he is way too busy for those things!

He is a major momma's boy! If anyone else is holding him, I have to stay out of sight because otherwise he will whine until I get him back.

He loves to eat! It's such a blessing that he wants food and will eat anything I put in front of him. It's so nice too that while I'm cooking dinner, or trying to get something done, I can just put him in the highchair with some cheerios and he is entertained for a long time! It's so awesome to have a child motivated by food.

When I put him down on the floor, he is never in the same place when I come back. He isn't crawling yet, or even getting up onto his knees, but he pushes up on his hands and scoots backwards. He also loves rolling all over the room and usually ends up wedged under the couch.

He has definitely outgrown the hat that he got in the hospital when he was born. Ha ha

We love our baby boy so much and cherish each new phase that he begins. Happy 7 months baby boy!

Drawing on her face

In our office I have a little craft table set up for Eden, fully stocked with markers, paint, glue, tape and all kids of supplies to make projects. Most of the time I'm doing stuff with her, but she has access to everything and occasionally works on projects while I'm making dinner or something. She is really good at following the rules and using the supplies correctly so I've never had any problem with leaving these things out for her.

On this particular day though, from the other room she said, "mom, look what I did." When she came around the corner, this is what I saw...

She had a big smile and seemed pretty proud, and I just said, "ah oh Eden, we aren't supposed to draw on our bodies. I think daddy might be sad about that and he is on his way home right now." She immediately got a sad and nervous look on her face and kept saying, "mom, wash it off. Hurry, wash it off!" She ran for the baby wipes and began frantically wiping her face. We had a good talk about making mistakes while I helped her get it off. When Brad got home a short time later she was so happy to show him her beautiful, clean face. She hasn't drawn on herself again since..... :)

We love Grandma

If Eden had to list her top five favorite people, Grandma would definitely be one of them! She asks at least once a day if grandma is coming over, or if we are going to grandma's house. I'm so grateful that my parents cherish their role as grandparents, and I'm so grateful to live near them so that my children can have such a great relationship with them.

Peace and Quiet!

I love to watch my precious kids sleep. Eden still loves to put her blankie string in her nose. For some strange reason that's really comforting to her. :)

And Bentley has outgrown the bassinet so he now sleeps in a pack-n-play. Technically he still fits in there, but it bugged him that he couldn't roll around. The kid is so versatile though when it comes to where he sleeps which makes life easy!

Eden also got a new bed recently. We got rid of her toddler bed and now she sleeps in a twin bed that she calls her "princess castle bed."

I love to be a stay-at-home mom because I get so much quality time with these precious kids. I have to be honest though when I say that some days nap time just doesn't come soon enough. :) Love you kids!

My kids are so cute!

Veteran's Day

My perspective of holidays like Veteran's Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July, etc. has really changed over the last few years because of this man...

This picture stirs up so many emotions in me. Sadness and loss, but such an overwhelming feeling of pride and gratitude as well. What an inspiration Michael is to me and to so many others.

I used to take so much for granted, until the costs of war and fighting for freedom so greatly impacted my brother and our family. Michael's life has forever been altered, and his sacrifice for our country has been great. Yet, so many countless other brave men and women have paid the ultimate sacrifice and given their lives for what so many of us Americans take for granted. Sure we may not have the President that we voted for (poor Romney!) but we are still blessed to live in such a great nation and people like my brother, and Jesse's late husband, will continue to put it all on the line for us. I hope Americans across the country today will pause and truly feel gratitude and appreciation for all the veterans of our great nation.

Halloween!

We had extra pumpkins left over from Brad's pumpkin patch, so we started our festivities with a long carving party. Eden won the prize for the most beautiful pumpkin... hers had a face carved and then she wanted to paint it too. Erin and her giraffe pumpkins definitely won the prize for most creative. She did this all free hand I must add, no patterns for this artist!

For work, Brad needed to still wear a suit and look somewhat professional, so he dressed up as Michael Scott from the TV show "The Office".

And for the official Halloween celebration, we let Eden pick out everyone's costumes. She decided on Cinderella for herself, baby Jack Jack (from the Incredibles) for Bentley, I was a fishtank, and Brad was a silly man. :)

The kids looked so adorable in their costumes!

We went trick or treating with Lydia and Grace. They were a pretty cute group of princesses.

This was Eden's first year trick-or-treating and she wasn't really sure what to think about it. I guess because she doesn't eat candy, it doesn't make it as exciting to her as it is to typical kids. After doing about 10 houses she was ready to head home. She absolutely LOVED handing out the candy to the kids that came to our door though, and they loved it too because she was giving out hand fulls! Overall, it was such a fun holiday and we look forward to having two little trick-or-treaters next year!