Cute Kids

For Eden, definitely the best part about getting her hair washed is that she then gets to have a super cool towel hat which she loves and thinks is hilarious.


Isn't a sleeping baby one of the most precious things in life? I love it.

Memorial Day Celebrations

Our Memorial Day was pretty low key this year. My family all seemed to be busy doing other things, so we decided to get together with friends. We had a big brunch, which was delicious, and then we played in the backyard for a few hours. I'm so grateful for the days we have to enjoy friendships, and remember those who sacrificed so much for this amazing country we live in. We are so blessed!

While the dads and kids were playing, I was also able to take some pictures of precious new baby Claire Pickett. She is so sweet!

Toes

There's something about baby toes that is just so irresistible.

And then to top it off, he crosses his cute little legs. Precious.

All About Eden Noelle

My sweet little Eden is so much fun. She loves to sing, dance and entertain us (just us though, she gets pretty nervous if anyone else is watching). She has the most contagious laugh and it's one of my favorite things to hear. She is such a determined little thing and very particular about details and things being in their place. She also likes to be very obedient (most the time) and it stresses her out when she sees other kids doing things that they shouldn't.

She is so fun with Bentley and loves to make him laugh. She is a really good helper in the car when I'm trying to hurry home for nap time and I don't want Bentley to fall asleep. She does all kinds of funny, crazy things to keep him watching her and not sleeping. She also loves to find him something to snuggle with whenever he gets fussy or sad. I love to watch these two play and wrestle.



It still completely blows me away to watch her eat these days. It is so amazing that she has come so far so quickly. I'm so grateful for how hard she tries to overcome struggles. She is such a good example to me.


She loves to ride her bike and has gotten so fast. Just a couple months ago, she barely had the strength to get the pedals going, and now she cruises all over the cul-de-sac. Some days I can't even comb her hair or get her out of her PJs before she is heading out to her bike. I love it.


Each day we have to clean around her trach and replace the gauze and trach collar. Today this little horse got "trach care" too.


She is enjoying play dates with friends (this is Makayla May) and loves to pose for pictures with them.


She doesn't take naps anymore, and hasn't for a while, but sometimes if we happen be to in the car in the late afternoon, the sleep just overcomes her. Rather than carrying her in, for some reason we just brought the whole seat in and she woke up to me taking her picture and she was not happy! Sorry Eden, but it is pretty cute.


She has a baby doll she named Dora and she usually plays mommy to her baby, but some days she really wants to be the baby and even puts herself to bed. This reminds me a lot of a picture I have of me as a little girl squished into one of the rooms in my barbie house. :)


Eden is my little buddy. I don't know what I would do without her. She loves to be by my side and doing everything I do, or wants me to do everything she is doing. In fact, right now as I'm doing this blog post, she is sitting in the chair next to me practicing her letters by typing in a Word document on our laptop. :) It's fun to take her shopping with me too because when I try something on she will give me a very honest opinion like , "Oh mom I love that," or "No, don't buy that one, it's not cute." :)

I have a feeling we will always be best buddies. I love her so much.

A little more about Bentley

Bentley James


My sweet Bentley boy is so much fun. He has quite the personality already and is so funny. He loves to be silly and to make us laugh, especially Eden. With all that sweetness and silliness also comes some serious crankiness too! He is definitely at the stage where he is wanting to communicate things but can't and he gets so frustrated and mad! He is also cutting more teeth which is always super dramatic and hard for him. When he is fun, he is so fun and sweet, but when he is cranky, watch out! It's definitely been an eye opener having a baby that's so loud and vocal!

He already loves to watch TV just like his sister, and in fact he will bring me the remote now and point at the TV while muttering non-intelligible things. I hardly have my TV on during the day, but somehow these two both seem to continue to beg despite my consistent response. They usually get one show in the morning while I clean Eden's trach so that at least seems to hold them at bay.


Here are a list of words he says pretty regularly: mom, dad, Eden (kind of), hi, ow, stop, don't (those last three he learned from his big sister because he hears those things very regularly).

Aside from his momentary cuddle if he comes across a stuffed animal or a blanket, he is super busy all the time. He is constantly moving from one room to the next, trailing toys and things behind him. He is so different from Eden in that he is a huge risk taker. He climbs all over everything and is constantly making me nervous. He falls a lot and has bruises and scratches all the time, but it only slows him down for a second! He likes to climb up the slides and then stand up at the time. This boy is already on the verge of giving me a heart attack.

I love that when we take walks, he usually keeps his cute little legs pointing straight out in front. He must be staying ready to jump out and run at any given moment.

He still LOVES bath and playing in water wherever he can get it. Most times now if I'm even holding him by the sink he tries to climb in and turn on the water.

He usually wakes up about 30 minutes to an hour before Eden each morning and I love spending this alone time with him. He drinks his bottle and then we just get to snuggle and play together. It's such a fun way to start my day.


I'm so grateful for this boy. He adds so much spirit and fun to our family. He is such a blessing to us.

The Huge Dog at Costco

No, we didn't buy this otherwise I'd probably be constantly prying my snuggling children off of it in order to ever leave the house or accomplish anything. Seriously.

They loved this huge, soft dog (obviously). Brad and I just stood and laughed for quite a while as our little cuties cuddled. We let it go for a long time actually, partly because it was cute, but mostly because I knew Bentley would scream when we put it back. He followed through on that fear, and we haven't walked near those dogs again! :)

The Cutest Kids Ever!

I know I'm biased, but I'm pretty sure these are two of the most adorable kids ever.

How did I get so lucky?

Eden's Last day of School

What a difference a year makes!! Here is Eden on the first day of preschool....


And here she is on her last day. My little precious girl.


This year she has changed so much! Not just physically and developmentally, but she has come so far in her social anxieties and fears too which was my number one priority for her this year. For the few couple weeks of school I really worried if I had made the right choice by sending her, but now I'm so extremely grateful I did! Don't get me wrong, she still has a lot of fears and anxieties, but she has overcome so much, is more confident in herself, and is so much more social than she used to be.

Her teacher Miss Courtney was the perfect match for Eden this year. She helped her feel comfortable and not scared, but she pushed her to talk loudly and speak up for things she needed and wanted. She also helped her feel more comfortable joining in with the other kids and playing WITH them instead of along side them.

Here's Eden giving Miss Courtney the flower pot she painted as a thank you gift.


And now that school is out for the summer, Eden is totally bummed and already talking about when she can start going again. I'm so grateful we had the opportunity to send her this year and we are looking forward to continuing with our progress!