Rawr!

We got completely out of our routine during all of the chaos surrounding Christmas and Eden's birthday, but this month, we got back into a schedule.

Our current weekly routine:

On Monday mornings, I've started working as Dustin's secretary.  Eden either goes to Susie's or to my grandma's.  Dustin is great at his job, but terrible at the paperwork behind it, so my dad asked if I could help him out.  Since I could seriously win awards for my organizational skills, this is right up my alley.  Making folders and filing papers makes me really happy!  Seriously.  I'm kinda a loser like that.  And Dustin and I have only gotten into a couple hundred fights since I started a month ago over how things should be done!  Hooray for us!

Tuesdays are the best day!  It's gymnastics day!  I waited patiently for TWO YEARS to sign Eden up for gymnastics.  Gymnastics was a HUGE part of my childhood.  Actually gymnastics WAS my childhood.  So signing Eden up was a very big and exciting deal.  Dustin wants to make sure I don't force it on her, and I've assured him that anytime she wants to quit and pursue another activity, she's more than welcome to.  And I'll only cry a little bit.  Kidding.  Maybe.  For now though, I think it's safe to say that SHE LOVES IT!

LOVES IT, LOVES IT, LOVES IT!  Her little leotard was a birthday gift from her Bubba and Aunt Audrey.

As soon as we walk through the door to the gym on Tuesday mornings, she RUNS to give hugs to the other little girls in her class.  I think back to all the friends I made through gymnastics when I was younger and how close we all were even though we all went to different schools, and I can't help but wonder if these little girls are going to be some of Eden's best friends one day.  Not that I'm completely invested in this gymnastics thing or anything.  She can totally quit if she wants to.  Really, Dustin.

 SHE IS SO CUTE!

We do the weekly grocery shopping after gymnastics, and Eden gets so excited to go to the grocery store.  She is just like her daddy!

Wednesdays are for story time at the library, playing at the park and then having lunch with Dustin.

On Thursday mornings, I've joined a Bible Study for moms.  They have childcare available for the kids, and to be honest, I actually signed up just so Eden could be in a little class and get to play with other kids her age.  Now that I've gone a few times though, I love it so, so much and look forward to it.  We're studying the book of Ephesians, and I leave each time feeling so uplifted.  But also, it's so nice to spend time with other stay-at-home moms.  They freaking get me!  Eden, my little social butterfly, has a blast with the other two year olds during those two hours.  She is so outgoing, and it just baffles me that I could give birth to somebody so social.  The very first time I dropped her off at the door, she gave me a hug, said "bye-bye" and ran to join the other kids.  When I walked into the room to join the other women, they were so concerned with how Eden handled me leaving her on her first day, and I was like "Um, fine, she didn't care that I was leaving at all."  Me when I was that age?  That would have NEVER happened.  When I was four, they actually told my mom to quit bringing me to preschool because all I did was cry all day.  Even now at the age of twenty-seven, it was hard for ME to walk into the Bible study class where I knew NOBODY.  I almost had myself talked out of it three times that first morning.  When it was over, I had to make phone calls to both Dustin and my mom letting them know that I was able to do it!

Nothing planned for Fridays - just a whole day to play with my girl!

This has been a good month.  For the most part, it was warm.  It's amazing how much happier I am when it's sunny and warm outside.  I'm sure I'm being dramatic, but I totally think I had Seasonal Affective Disorder last month!  I wouldn't last five minutes up north.

My mom came to visit a couple of weeks ago, and she and my grandma went with me and Eden to gymnastics.  Afterwards, we took Eden to The Children's Museum.  I can tell that The Tot Spot doesn't hold the same appeal for her that it did just a few months ago.  She's now big enough for Kidtropolis - a little city complete with a grocery store, bank, vet, cafe, etc.  Eden went grocery shopping.  Of course.

When I was little, we had actual grocery carts.  I would like to know what idiot decided to get rid of the carts and bring in teeny-tiny little baskets instead!  You can't have teeny-tiny little baskets if you're going to have regular sized cartons of eggs and orange juice!  Stupid!  Eden overflowed three baskets!  Bring back the carts!

Eden has two new obsessions these days in addition to her ongoing love for stickers and all things Minnie Mouse.  One of them is dinosaurs.  It started when my aunt gave her a dinosaur piggy bank (dinosaur bank?) for her birthday.

Then my cousin gave her a giant reusable sticker pad that had one page completely devoted to dinosaurs, and the obsession grew.  She went around "rawr"ing all over the house, and a few weeks ago when I let her choose a new toy for Daisy at the grocery store, she went straight for the squeaky dinosaur.

So after The Children's Museum, we took Eden to The Museum of Natural Science so she could see the dinosaurs.

I wasn't sure if she was going to understand that these giant bones were dinosaurs, but she said "rawr" a few times while looking around.  I told her they were dinosaurs, and whether or not she truly got it, she was fascinated by these giant things all the same.  I think her favorite part though was getting a dinosaur toy from the museum gift shop.

photography by Eden

 

Then we visited The Butterfly Room.

Eden slept good that night.

The second obsession is band aids.  Eden has many invisible "owies" every day.

Two year olds definitely make life fun and interesting.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Yayyyy, it's one of my favorite days of the year!  I know there are a lot of people out there who hate Valentine's Day... but I'm definitely not one of them.  I love the story of St. Valentine, and I love wearing pink, decorating with hearts, and getting flowers.  It's such a happy day.

Eden and I have spent a lot of time this week making Valentine's Day cookies.  When I told her on Tuesday that we were going to make cookies, she ran to the pantry and got out the oats.  Oatmeal cookies are, by far, my favorite cookie, and I obviously make them a lot.  She was confused when I told her we didn't need oats, we were making SUGAR cookies.  I can only handle sugar cookies if I draw it out over a couple of days, so on Tuesday, we just made the dough.  As always, Eden helped me dump all the ingredients into the mixer and then said, "round, round, round, round..." while it was going.

On Wednesday, we made the cookies.  And SOMEBODY kept eating all the dough.

I was very impressed with Eden.  She cut out some hearts all by herself, picked them up, and put them on the cookie sheet.

Eden kept watch while the cookies were baking.

I SWEAR my oven door does not look that dirty in real life!

Just the same, I cleaned it after I saw this photo.

In the middle of making cookies, my grandma called, and I let Eden answer the phone.  "Hewwo?"  Then Eden proceeded to have a conversation, most of which I couldn't understand.  Something was "gone-gone."  I heard Granny tell her bye, and Eden said, "bye-bye" and gave me the phone.  WHEN DID SHE GET SO BIG?

After the cookies had cooled, Mama glazed and Baby sprinkled.

Yesterday, I helped Eden (or Eden helped me) make gift tags for the cookies.  I pointed to where she should put the sticker letters, and she was KINDA able to do it.  Then I bagged them up!

Then today, Eden and I spent the morning going around delivering our cookies.

We left my grandparents' house with a giant unicorn.

Eden also got flowers from her Auntie Kate.

They're on the ground so that she can go smell them whenever she wants.  Which has been approximately two hundred times so far.

When Eden wakes up from her nap, we have plans to watch Minnie-rella (her Valentine's Day gift from me and Dustin - and I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm really excited about watching it), and then Dustin and I are going to have ourselves a hot date this evening.

And to make this day even better?  IT'S WARM AND SUNNY OUTSIDE!

I'm Cold

So it snowed yesterday.  Which is cool, I guess.  Seeing as it only happens every few years.  It would have been a lot cooler if it would have happened in December.  Then I would have been like over the top excited.  But since it's February, I was just kinda meh.  Because I am SO OVER WINTER!  Seriously, OVER IT!  We're actually HAVING a winter in Texas this year, and it's cold EVERY DAY, and I DON'T LIKE IT!  I don't like it AT ALL!  Every day Dustin comes home from work, and we have this same conversation:

Jenni:  Do you know what I'm over?
Dustin:  Let me guess... winter?
Jenni:  YES!  I HATE WINTER!  I AM SO COLD!

Now usually I'm one of those positive people who, even though winter isn't my favorite, will try to enjoy it anyways and focus on the good stuff associated with it.  But I guess that's because I'm used to MILD winters, and this winter is actually COLD EVERY DAY, and I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!  I've worn all my cute sweaters and boots.  I've sat around a fire.  I've drank hot chocolate and have eaten plenty of stew and chili.  I've gone hunting with Dustin.  I've watched movies while being all cozy under blankets.  I'VE DONE ALL THE THINGS!

I am cold.  Have I mentioned that?  I'm cold right now.  Because my house was built in the 1870s and has the suckiest insulation ever, so even when I'm inside with the heater on, I'm cold and have to wear a jacket.  Seriously.  I feel coldness coming in through all my doors and windows.  Also, something really strange is happening.  I go to bed every night wearing socks because, you know, I'm cold.  But I wake up every morning with no socks on, and not only do I have no recollection of taking them off, but I can never find them!  I'M RUNNING OUT OF SOCKS!  WHERE ARE MY SOCKS?  Dustin swears he's not messing with me.  WHAT IS HAPPENING?

I know now that I would NEVER EVER EVER be able to live anywhere more north of where I live now, and I'm actually strongly considering moving even closer to the equator.  And yes, I'm aware that all of my northern-living friends and family think I'm ridiculous right now.  I DON'T CARE!  But really people... how do y'all do it?

Also, I was really pissed off at that stupid groundhog for seeing his stupid shadow.  That bastard.  My ten day forecast depresses me.

So anyways it snowed yesterday.  And even though I was like whatever, it's February, I live in Texas and should be wearing shorts right now, it WAS the first time it's snowed here in Eden's lifetime, so okay, it was kinda special.  When she woke up, I took her outside and was all, "Look Eden, that's snow!"

 

Yes, I'm aware that that is NOTHING, but that amount of snow actually IS a big deal where I live.

At first she was excited.

naturally, the only picture I took where she's actually looking at the camera and smiling turned out blurry.

 

But she must take after me because after about five minutes, she was OVER IT as well.  Because her hands got cold from touching the snow.  Because she doesn't own gloves.  And she started saying, "Inside, inside, inside!"  So what's a mom to do when her child is freezing and miserable and wants to go inside?  Duh, take a picture because she is so cute!

 

We went in right after this, and I put her in a warm bubble bath. 

 

I'm fantasizing about the day that's it's once again sunny and warm and we spend our days outside.  In the meantime, I'm doing my best to keep Eden entertained inside.  Other than the snow day, she actually doesn't seem to mind the cold and is willing to play outside in it.  But I'm a giant pansy and can't handle it.  I sucked it up and took her to the park a few weeks ago.  I only lasted fifteen minutes before I insisted on leaving.  Fortunately the girl just had Christmas and a birthday so we do have lots of stuff to play with.  And when that gets old, we paint and bake cookies and take bubble baths in the middle of the afternoon.  Have I mentioned lately that I LOVE being a stay at home mom?  I mean of course because I get to be with Eden.  But also a little bit because I can take bubble baths in the middle of a cold afternoon.

 

And sometimes, we just watch a lot of episodes of Mickey Mouse. 

 

 

 

 

So Eden can pretty much identify every single animal ever.  She can't necessarily say the names, but the girl can seriously point out every animal.  She can identify everything from a horse and cow and all the farm animals to a rhinoceros and cheetah and all the African animals to a whale and shark and octopus and all the water creatures.  Then she knows random ones like a snow leopard.  I didn't even know a snow leopard was a thing until recently, but Eden can find it in a book for you.  I think it's impressive.  Eden is a late talker and compared to other kids her age, she doesn't talk much, but for whatever reason, she will do any animal noise that you tell her.  My two current favorites are when she hisses like a snake and roars like a dinosaur. 

 

When I took Eden to her two year checkup, the pediatrician referred us to a cardiologist because of the way Eden's heart murmur sounded.  We've known she's had a heart murmur from the time we were in the hospital when she was born, and I've never worried about it because I know so many people who have heart murmurs who are perfectly fine.  Even though the pediatrician said it was PROBABLY nothing, I couldn't help but be a little worried as we headed to Texas Children's Hospital for them to run a bunch of tests on Eden.  It turns out Eden's heart is completely and perfectly fine... she just has a REALLY, REALLY, REALLY loud, obvious heart murmur according to the cardiologist.  He said it was one of the loudest he's ever heard.  Eden thought the whole thing was great fun because they put "stickers" on her, and she got to watch Mickey Mouse during her ultrasound.

 

 

She was pretty dang cute in the hospital gown that she had to wear for the duration of our visit too.

 

 

You know, there's nothing like a couple of days spent at Texas Children's Hospital to literally make you fall down on your knees and thank God for your healthy child.

 

We hosted our annual Super Bowl party on Sunday, and Eden got to spend time with her second cousin, Peyton.  Staying home with me, Eden obviously doesn't get the chance to be around other kids very often.  But on Sunday, she made her very first little friend.  This was the first time that I've ever witnessed Eden actually interact so much with another kid.  Even when we have playdates, Eden is perfectly content just playing NEXT to another kid but not really WITH them.  It's what she's used to, I guess.  But on Sunday, Eden and Peyton were talking to each other and copying each other and chasing each other and running around together and just laughing their heads off, and it made my heart SO HAPPY.  It was precious, and I loved how happy Eden was.

 

 

A few more of my favorite iPhone photos from the past few days because I've been too lazy to do much with my nice camera lately...  (I blame winter.)

I love watching Eden while she sleeps.  I love everything about it.  I love the noises she makes.  I love how soft her skin is.  I love how she smells of soap and lavender oil.  There's really nothing sweeter than a sleeping child.

 

Happy 52nd birthday to my dad yesterday!

 

Well I'm off to put on another sweatshirt.  Because have I mentioned that I'm cold?