Eden - Twelve Months

Eden woke up last week Tuesday with a fever that got worse as the day went on, reaching 104 that night at bedtime.  Not only was I extremely worried about her as this was my first time dealing with a fever that high, but all I could think was, "No, no, no, this has to go away ASAP!  She cannot be sick on her first birthday!"  It didn't matter that she wouldn't know it was her birthday, no one should be sick on their birthday - especially not the very first one!  So on Wednesday I called on my prayer warriors - my former students, the ones who prayed for me and Eden all throughout my pregnancy and, according to their Bible teacher, still pray for us.  I contacted one of my teacher friends with instructions for those kids - "Eden has a fever, and I need them to pray, pray, pray that she will be okay and that she will NOT be sick on her birthday!"  She told me they prayed real good for Baby Girl for two days, and on Friday she woke up completely fever free for her first little birthday.

But for me, the celebrating began Thursday night.  Eden's little birthday actually lasted from Thursday night until Monday for me.  On Thursday night, I laid in bed, in the exact same spot that I had laid exactly one year earlier, and I remembered... how I felt that night knowing that in just a few short hours, I would be getting up to go to the hospital to give birth to my little girl... how I laid there that night just feeling her move and kick, just the two of us for the last time.  One year later and I was curled up in that same spot holding my feverish little baby.  Oh, how far we had come.

I woke up so excited and happy on Friday.  I put her little crown on her head and sang "Happy Birthday" to her, and I admit I cried at 10:01 - the time she was born.  There were some sad tears, yes - tears that her first year was over.  But mainly they were happy tears - tears of joy at how amazing this past year was, thankful tears that I have such a beautiful, healthy little girl, tears for just how perfect she is and how happy I am to have her.

Growing up, every single year on my birthday at 3:07 pm, my mom would tell me all about the day I was born.  Even now, I still call her at 3:07 just so I can hear the story.  So when I noticed that it was 10:01, I held Eden close, and I told her all about January 18, 2012.  I thanked her for a magical year.  I hope it becomes a tradition for me and her, the same as it is for me and my mom, and I hope even after she grows up, moves out, and gets married, she will call me at 10:01, just to hear the story.  

And Dustin wore the same pink shirt he wore last January 18th.  =)

Friday afternoon, Eden, Dustin and I set out to pick up her birthday present in Houston.  We bought her a little play set for outside, and it was SUPPOSED to be delivered in time for her party, but it WASN'T, so we went to go get it instead.  This gave us an opportunity to drive by the hospital though, which of course sent me to crying again.  I cried off and on all day.  I watched the clock all day, and I would think back to what I was doing at that exact time a year earlier.  Then I would look at Eden and just be amazed at what she has turned into in just one short year.  

There are sooo many things about that time that I never want to forget, and as that day gets farther and farther away, I'm so scared that I'm going to.  I don't ever want to forget the way she looked, staring at me when I held her for the first time - she kept sticking her tongue out at me.  I don't want to forget how I felt when I saw Dustin hold her for the first time.  I don't want to forget how on her second day in the world, when I went to take a shower that morning, Dustin dressed her in one of the little outfits I had packed to surprise me.  He was so sweet.  I don't want to forget how ridiculous she looked in her going home outfit since I was completely unprepared for just how little she was going to be, and her "newborn" hat swallowed her little head.  Like seriously - ridiculous.  I look at the pictures now and laugh.

On Saturday, we had Eden's birthday party.  I considered briefly having it Friday evening, but decided that I wanted to be completely selfish and have our baby all to ourselves on her birthday, so Saturday it was!  I'll write more about her party in a later post.

On Sunday, I was still remembering and celebrating.  Sunday was the anniversary of the day we got to bring our itsy-bitsy baby home from the hospital.  Oh my goodness, I remember how absolutely little and pathetic she looked in her car seat and how nervous I was on the drive home.  We stopped first at my Granny and Pops' house so that Eden could meet her Granny, Pops and Uncle Harold for the first time.  I took Eden and a cupcake over to their house this past Sunday and informed my grandpa that it was the anniversary of the first time he and Eden met.  I remember how little she was in her bassinet that night and how blissfully happy I was going to sleep that night with my little girl right next to my bed.

Monday was the anniversary of our first full day at home.  I was so freaking proud last year for everybody to come to our house and meet Eden.  And I took this picture:

And today, I'm pretty sure those dogs are Eden's best friends.

Eden had to go to the doctor on Monday where she weighed in at 18 lbs. 3 oz., placing her in the 5th percentile.  My tiny little girl.  That afternoon I took her and a dozen cupcakes to the school to celebrate her birthday with my other kids.  They like to touch her.

It was an amazing five days of remembering.  

Since my 11 month posting, the biggest accomplishment that Eden has had is that she took her first steps.  And my gosh, it was PERFECT.  When I was an itsy-bitsy baby, I took my very first steps at my grandparents house.  When I was pregnant, my grandpa told me that the only thing he was still looking forward to in this life was to see my baby girl take her first steps where I took mine.  Well, if your eighty year old grandpa tells you this, you gotta make it happen.  So I worked and worked with Eden in that spot, and on January 8th, she took her first steps.  Two little steps to me in the same place that I had taken my first steps to my mom twenty-six years earlier, and she did it right in front of my grandpa.  I was weepy the rest of that day - I was just so dang happy about how perfect it was!  

She still prefers crawling though.  She'll take a few steps here and there these days, but then she gets impatient and drops to her knees to crawl the rest of the way to her destination.  

A picture of Eden from every month this past year:

 January

 February

 March

 April

 May

 June

 July

 August

 September

 October

 November

December

Oh, what a year.  God has blessed me more than I ever dreamed possible.  

A Day In The Life Of Eden

I followed Eden around with my camera last Friday to document her entire day through pictures.  But when I went to upload them that night, my picture uploader wasn't working.  It's taken me six days to figure out that all I had to do was download the latest version, and voila.  I'm not so good with technology.

So here is Eden's January 11, 2013.

Christmas & The New Year

I'm big on traditions.  I love knowing that there are just certain things that you're gonna do at certain times of the year just because it's what you do and what you've always done... The things that you look forward to... The things that you carry with you from childhood to adulthood... The things that make memories. 

Growing up, I think my mom was always afraid to try anything new with us because I would declare it a "tradition" and would have a mini meltdown if we didn't do it every single year to follow.  Now that I have my own little family, starting traditions of our own makes me the happiest. person. ever.  I love that there are traditions that Dustin and I are bringing from our own childhoods, and then I love that we're starting new traditions too.

The first year that we were married, we woke up on Christmas Eve and made a gigantic breakfast of pancakes, bacon, sausage, and eggs.  I, of course, deemed it our "Christmas Eve Morning Tradition", and we've done it every year since.  It's the way we kick off Christmas Eve and Christmas.  This year was the best yet, of course, with Eden's high chair pulled up to the dining room table.  Yep, we actually ate at the dining room table.  This is incredibly rare for us as I can think of only one other time that we actually ate a meal in our dining room instead of at the kitchen counter on our barstools.  So we had a fancy Christmas Eve breakfast complete with a table cloth and a "fancy glass" for my orange juice.  Guess what?  It's tradition now, and all future Christmas Eve breakfasts must be eaten at the dining room table using fancy glasses.

We spent Christmas Eve at my Granny and Pops' house, which is where I have spent every single Christmas Eve since I was born I think. 

Eden was bombarded with presents from everyone, and I had so much fun watching and helping her open her gifts that later when somebody asked me what I had gotten, I didn't even know.  I had to think really hard to remember what I had gotten because I just didn't care, as rude as that sounds.  I was just having fun watching how happy everyone was to give Eden presents.  I just love seeing how much Eden is loved.  My dad and his wife, my grandparents, brother, aunt, uncle, cousins... All everybody wanted to do was watch Eden.  As soon as he got there, my cousin Cameron just wanted to know when he could give his gift to Eden.  He got her this little trampoline:

She has some growing to do, but already she climbs onto it by herself, sits right in the middle, and starts moving her body up and down to bounce a little.  Smart baby if you ask me. 

My dad and his wife went to Italy earlier this year, and they got Eden a garnet (her birthstone) cross neckalce from The Vatican.  I mean, come on, if you're going to have a cross necklace, I'm pretty sure The Vatican is where you should get it!

And no offense to all of the other wonderful presents that she got, but if I had to pick a favorite, it would be this prayer book that my grandpa gave to her.

I teared up when I read it, and I know that this is something that Eden will treasure for the rest of her life. 

Eden playing with some of her new stuff

Christmas Day started out early.  Really early.  I love going to Christmas church services at my Grandma's church in downtown Houston ('cause it's tradition!).  From the music to the sermon, it's always completely amazing, and I look forward to going every year.  This year was kind of a practice run for me... trying to see if we could all get up, have Christmas morning presents with Eden, and still manage to get ready and make it to church an hour and a half away by 9:30.  We made it, but barely, sliding into our pew at around 9:28. 

For this first year, Dustin and I just got Eden some clothes and books, and I put everything together into a big box so that after she opened it and didn't care about her clothes and books, she would have a big ol' box to play in. 

She's wearing her Christmas pajamas that my mom bought for her - another new tradition where my mom will buy her Christmas pajamas every year for her to wear Christmas Eve night so that she'll have new, cute pajamas for Christmas morning present-opening pictures.

Eden was beautiful (but she always is) for Christmas church.  The dress she wore is one that my dad brought back for her from Rome.  Thanks to my dad and his wife, this year Eden had an Easter dress from Paris, a Baptismal dress from Paris and a Christmas dress from Rome.  Baby Girl is in for a rude awakening when I have to start buying her special occasion outfits and they come from Gap.  She also wore her new cross necklace and one of her antique baby rings that my dad gave me last Christmas.

After church she played in Jesus' manger for a while:

 

Everyone in the family who managed to make it to church this year took our annual picture at the front of the church:

Then we went back to my grandma's house for lunch, presents and board games.

I spy a Christmas cookie crumb on someone's face.

Late in the afternoon, Dustin, Eden and I left and drove to Hempstead to spend the evening with his parents, eat more good food and give Eden more presents.  By this point, Eden knew exactly what to do when a present was put in front of her.

We got home late Christmas night, exhausted, but happy.  I could not have asked for a better two days.  We were able to spend time with all of our families, and I'm so thankful for everything that my precious girl got and for everything that everyone has done for her all year.  To sum up: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were PERFECT.  I'm looking forward to starting more traditions as she gets older, and actually having her be able to participate in the ones already in place!

Crawling into bed on Christmas night though, it hit me.  The post-Christmas blues.  I get them every year.  For as long as I can remember, I am sad on Christmas night.  (I guess that's tradition too.)  I'm partly sad because it's over - you look forward to it for so long, you spend almost an entire month preparing with music, decorating, baking, etc - and then in a flash, the whole thing is over.  And I'm partly sad because I start thinking about all of the people who I miss, mainly my grandpa.  This year was especially hard because I was just laying in bed wishing so bad that he could know Eden.  I think how special the Christmas is is directly proportional to how sad I'm going to be.  This year = Eden's first Christmas = VERY SPECIAL = very sad.  The post-Christmas blues followed me around for a few days.  The fact that Eden is going to be turning one soon seemed to make it worse. 

I understand that she's SUPPOSED to get older.  I have these conversations with Dustin all the time.

Me: Are you going to cry when Eden turns one?

Dustin: Probably not.

Me: WHAT?!  What's wrong with you?  Well, are you going to cry when she goes off to kindergarten?

Dustin: Probably not.

Me:  YOU HAVE NO HEART!

Then Dustin explains to me in a voice that sounds like he's talking to a five year old all about how she's supposed to turn one, she's supposed to go off to kindergarten, that that means she's healthy and good.  I know he's right, but I'll still be sad, and I'll still cry.

And I really love her at this age.  I mean, to be honest, it's way more fun than when she was a newborn and did... nothing.  But I still MISS those days.

This time of year was just really making everything worse though.  I had to go to Babies R Us last week to buy something for a baby shower, and just being back at Babies R Us, with the cold weather outside just took me back... It was this time last year that I was at that same Babies R Us with Dustin, with the cold weather outside, buying last minute things that we needed before Eden arrived.  As I was walking around the store with Eden, looking at teeny-tiny little clothes that she is way too big for,I was just... sad. 

The fact that Dustin was out of town for four days last week wasn't helping either. 

I spent the time that he was gone undecorating the house and completely cleaning and organizing it.  I do it every year between Christmas and New Year's.  I like for everything to be clean, organized, fresh for the New Year... a new start.  Closets were cleaned out, junk drawers were organized, the refrigerator was freed of expired products, Eden's new toys found homes.  For some reason, this brought me out of my funk.  It made me happy to have everything clean and ready for the new year.  Dustin came home, and all was well again.

*****

We have a new little kitten running around here these days.  We rescued her, and she wasn't meant to be a Christmas present for Eden, but now that she's here, I'm just gonna go ahead and say that we got Eden a kitten for her first Christmas because that's just so cute.  And Eden LOVES this kitten.  Almost to death.  Seriously.  I guess she is just so happy to have something her size.  When Dustin came home the other night, she was picking the poor thing up by the head to try and give her to him.  Literally by the head. 

In that picture, Eden is laughing SO HARD while trying to lay on top of her.  Sometimes, I see Eden go over to the kitten and pet her so gently, and I think to myself how absolutely sweet and precious that is.

Then Eden decides that she wants to hold the kitten, only she's not capable of doing so nicely.  The poor kitten is dragged by the neck from her comfy place so that Eden can hug her.

In the beginning, I would try and save the kitten from Eden, but she keeps coming back for more.  She seeks Eden out.  So I guess she's happy for a friend.

*****

I thought briefly about actually going out for New Year's Eve, but opted to stay in for two reasons. 

1. Just because I stayed out all night does not mean that Eden was going to be nice and let me sleep in this morning, and I actually wanted to enjoy my January 1st. 

2. As Dustin said, "The three of us can start out our first full year together."

So last night we went out to dinner, and then stopped at WalMart to buy pizzas, popcorn, and board games.  After Eden went to sleep, Dustin and I watched movies, played Monopoly Millionaire, ate our pizzas and popcorn and drank champagne (ok, I drank champagne, Dustin hates the stuff).  At 11:45, I went and got Eden, and when the clock struck midnight we were all there together.  I cannot imagine a more pefect way to have brought in the New Year. 

Today was pretty wonderful as well.  We spent the day out in our shop.  We had a fire going, and Dustin cooked prime rib, greens and black eyed peas.  I hate greens and black eyed peas, but had to eat them, it is tradition after all. 

There are many reasons why I love my husband, but the fact that he is such an amazing cook is pretty high on the list.  He always gives me a pretty presention too.  Today, he arranged our prime rib into the shape of a heart for me.

Gotta love him.  Call me untraditional (or just somebody who really, really likes food), but I would take prime rib in the shape of a heart over flowers any day.

2012 blessed me in so many ways.  Last New Year's Eve, I was SO pregnant and tired, and only managed to stay up until 10:00.  I keep thinking about how much my life has changed in one year.  I can't wait to see what 2013 has in store for me and how much my life will have changed one year from today.

Happy 2013, everybody!