I just finished putting Eden to sleep. Keep in mind she is three and a half years old. This evening as a special treat, she and I had a “show party” upstairs in the movie room. We watched parts of “Under the Sea” AKA “The Little Mermaid” (excluding the scary parts, of course). We had M&M’s, popcorn, water and ice in a yellow cup, with the door closed, all the lights off, and a blanket.
After rehashing the “and the blowfish BLOW” part of the song of the movie, we brushed her teeth, which involved her swooshing water in her mouth and spitting it out by herself. We prayed—she insisted that she say it by herself. I couldn’t understand much other than being “thankful for this day” and something about Grandma (Malarsie) coming over to play. Sometimes she prays that “I love Erin” (her aunt) or that she will eat all the bites of her food.
When I tucked her in bed, we did our daddy-daughter-only routine where we look at an app on my phone with various glowing things and change out the colors. Most of the time she wants me to confirm that the color change is pretty. That often leads to watching one video recording and going to sleep. Tonight, as we finished watching a video of her eating “O” gummy candies in the hospital about two years ago, she asked, “Will you sleep with me a little bit?”
How could I say no to that?
I tucked her in to her princess blanket and cuddled up with her face to face. She still has a trach collar and is hooked up to her feeding pump so we have to accommodate. She instantly and peacefully closed her eyes. I could tell she was really tired because she let out two big, sudden yawns right in my face while her eyes were closed. We sat that way for a few minutes as I cherished the moment. I know times like this will pass and there will be a time when I will long for them again. She is my sweetheart and is precious to me.
When I began to slip out of the bed, she opened her eyes, gave me a kiss good night, then promptly closed her eyes again. Out like a light.
-Brad
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
The bike at Explora
Brad had a day off last week so he went with us to Explora for the first time. His presence also meant I had to try out the bike (yes, I cave to his peer pressure). It was freaky, I'm not going to lie. Eden was proud though.
Monday, January 28, 2013
She's not sucking her thumb....
Here's a picture I took of our video monitor the other night. No, she doesn't suck her thumb anymore, she just uses it to prop open her mouth at night. :)
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Nice boots!
He's pulling up on stuff!
Unfortunately, the picture is a little blurry because he never holds still! He is so happy about the fact that he is now pulling himself up onto the furniture. Unfortunately though, he isn't that great at it yet so it also means he is crashing and falling a lot too. Poor guy. He falls and cries, and I try to comfort him, but as he is crying he is pushing to get down and try it again. If only we were all as resilient and persistent as kids!
Cute Friends - Hanging out in their jammies!
Eden - 3 1/2 years old
Lydia - 4, almost 5!
More Dance Class
I'm so grateful for the Sego family for letting Eden into their family dance class! All these girls are so adorable, and Eden loves going to this class so much! Annie took these pictures for me at the last class because I was visiting teaching and missed it. I love all the different expressions on each of the girl's faces, and it's so funny to me that Eden kept trying to touch the other girls in the pictures. So cute!
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Cute kids...
For family night last week, we talked a lot about the Book of Mormon and gave Eden one to use for our lessons. She carried it around everywhere with her for the next couple days.
This was a brilliant idea to put out the butcher paper and markers before starting dinner. It was a very peaceful experience for me and they were thoroughly entertained for a long time. Go me! Too bad it only worked once. :)
Eden makes the craziest faces for the camera, so I especially love it when I can surprise her and really capture her precious and real smile.
Being a mommy is hard work, and very tiring, but I sure love these kids and wouldn't want to be anywhere else then home with them each day.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Eden the aspiring artist...
Here is some precious art from my favorite little artist. The first is a picture Eden drew of me. When I asked her about it, she said I had crazy hair (which most days is very accurate) and that I had a bellybutton. She's all about the details. :)
The picture in the red marker is a drawing Eden did of my sister Erin, who also happens to be Eden's favorite person in the whole world. She loves Erin so much and talks about her ALL THE TIME! This morning as I was doing Eden's hair, we were talking about the picture hanging on our wall which is of Jesus and some little children. She asked where Jesus lives and I told her he is in Heaven and that we will be able to live with him there again some day. She said, "Mommy, will you go too?" and I said, "Yes, daddy will go, mommy will go, Bentley and Eden will go." And her response was, "and Erin too." :) Good thing we are all sealed together! :)
These two pictures are the first and only time Eden has ever specifically drawn something. Eden doesn't really like doing something unless she feels she is really good at it. So when I asked her again to draw a picture of something specific, she said she couldn't do it because it was too hard. We have had a lot of little teaching moments since then about learning and practicing and that it's ok if we can't do things as good as other people, as long as we try our best. Despite our little lessons though, she still hasn't drawn another picture of a person yet so I love that I was able to capture these two! She is so precious.
The picture in the red marker is a drawing Eden did of my sister Erin, who also happens to be Eden's favorite person in the whole world. She loves Erin so much and talks about her ALL THE TIME! This morning as I was doing Eden's hair, we were talking about the picture hanging on our wall which is of Jesus and some little children. She asked where Jesus lives and I told her he is in Heaven and that we will be able to live with him there again some day. She said, "Mommy, will you go too?" and I said, "Yes, daddy will go, mommy will go, Bentley and Eden will go." And her response was, "and Erin too." :) Good thing we are all sealed together! :)
These two pictures are the first and only time Eden has ever specifically drawn something. Eden doesn't really like doing something unless she feels she is really good at it. So when I asked her again to draw a picture of something specific, she said she couldn't do it because it was too hard. We have had a lot of little teaching moments since then about learning and practicing and that it's ok if we can't do things as good as other people, as long as we try our best. Despite our little lessons though, she still hasn't drawn another picture of a person yet so I love that I was able to capture these two! She is so precious.
Gravity Park
We went to the new trampoline place here in town and it was so much fun! It was a little too pricey for us to do very often, but Eden absolutely loved it, and we all got a great workout that day! It's amazing how exhausting it is to just simply jump...
Bentley was absolutely precious. When we first got there I sat him out on one of trampolines and Brad went and started jumping. Every time Brad would bounce by him Bentley would laugh out loud so hard. He did this for quite a while. It was precious.
The kid area was empty so Eden and Bentley had a great time wondering around. Eden loved trying new "tricks" and Bentley would sit on his bottom and bounce around as best as he could. They both loved it and Eden asks us A LOT to go back there. Fortunately, we have a trampoline of our own and her interest in it has been reignited which is nice. Fun times!
Bentley was absolutely precious. When we first got there I sat him out on one of trampolines and Brad went and started jumping. Every time Brad would bounce by him Bentley would laugh out loud so hard. He did this for quite a while. It was precious.
The kid area was empty so Eden and Bentley had a great time wondering around. Eden loved trying new "tricks" and Bentley would sit on his bottom and bounce around as best as he could. They both loved it and Eden asks us A LOT to go back there. Fortunately, we have a trampoline of our own and her interest in it has been reignited which is nice. Fun times!
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Bentley is 9 months old!
Weight: 18 lbs - in the 10th percentile
Length: I think it was 27 1/2 inches, but it was for sure in the 25th percentile
I can't even describe how much I love this little guy! He is such a joy in our family! It's crazy how quickly he is growing and changing! He just has the sweetest personality and is so quick to smile and laugh.
Since he started crawling over Christmas, he has really been moving fast! He is starting to pull himself up on things too which is so crazy to me!
The problem with crawling though is that he is already discovering some fun places to make big messes! This was his first time discovering the dog food and he was so happy about it! I grabbed the camera and laughed as he then discovered the water bowl. Eden on the other hand, was so shocked when she saw what he did. She very sweetly kept saying, "No, No Bentley" and quickly started picking it all up. Once he poured the water bowl though she sighed and dumped the food bowl back out. I think she's realizing it's a lost cause ha ha
Bentley has been a thumb sucker for a long time now but he usually only did it when he was falling asleep. About a month ago though he decided he really likes it so now he does it a lot! It's pretty funny to watch him try to suck his thumb and crawl at the same time. It sure is precious right now! Hopefully it will be as easy for him to give up as it was for Eden though.
Ok, these next pictures are a little sad, but so cute too! He was in his crib one morning and I could hear him talking and playing nicely so I was trying to finish helping Eden out of bed and getting her teeth brushed. All of a sudden he got really mad and was crying hard so I went in to see what the problem was. Apparently he was really stuck because he just kept pushing himself backwards, and it was so frustrating to him, especially after he saw me taking pictures instead of helping him. :)
We are so grateful for Bentley and can't imagine life without him! Everybody loves this boy!
Length: I think it was 27 1/2 inches, but it was for sure in the 25th percentile
Since he started crawling over Christmas, he has really been moving fast! He is starting to pull himself up on things too which is so crazy to me!
The problem with crawling though is that he is already discovering some fun places to make big messes! This was his first time discovering the dog food and he was so happy about it! I grabbed the camera and laughed as he then discovered the water bowl. Eden on the other hand, was so shocked when she saw what he did. She very sweetly kept saying, "No, No Bentley" and quickly started picking it all up. Once he poured the water bowl though she sighed and dumped the food bowl back out. I think she's realizing it's a lost cause ha ha
Bentley has been a thumb sucker for a long time now but he usually only did it when he was falling asleep. About a month ago though he decided he really likes it so now he does it a lot! It's pretty funny to watch him try to suck his thumb and crawl at the same time. It sure is precious right now! Hopefully it will be as easy for him to give up as it was for Eden though.
Ok, these next pictures are a little sad, but so cute too! He was in his crib one morning and I could hear him talking and playing nicely so I was trying to finish helping Eden out of bed and getting her teeth brushed. All of a sudden he got really mad and was crying hard so I went in to see what the problem was. Apparently he was really stuck because he just kept pushing himself backwards, and it was so frustrating to him, especially after he saw me taking pictures instead of helping him. :)
We are so grateful for Bentley and can't imagine life without him! Everybody loves this boy!
Monday, January 14, 2013
Cute Pictures of the Kids
Bentley is starting to take after his sister and make faces at the camera. He is anticipating the flash so it makes for some interesting expressions. These next five pictures were taken one right after the other. He is so cute!
Eden got a letter in the mail from Becca (the nurse who used to go to school with her) and she was so excited about it! She promptly took it to her craft table and "decorated" it with stickers and tape.
I sure love my kids and I'm so grateful for Brad's hard work that allows me to stay home with them each day to capture all these fun moments! I'm so blessed!
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