This might seem crazy, but as much as I wanted another baby, when I saw that positive pregnancy test back in February, I felt just a tiny twinge of sadness. Sadness because I knew my time of just me and Eden was coming to an end. And even though I know the new baby is just going to add to our happiness and fun days, it was still a bittersweet moment.
At that moment, I became determined to make the next few months with Eden the absolute best ever and to soak up every last moment of just me and her.
That's because at that moment, the first trimester exhaustion and pregnancy nausea hadn't hit yet. Dude, I forgot just how tired you are in that first trimester. I mean, I know I slept pretty much 24/7 when I was in my first trimester with Eden (like seriously... 24/7... it worked out so perfectly that my first trimester lined up exactly with my summer break, and I laid on a mattress in front of our living room TV ALL DAY. We slept there at night, and Dustin would leave me there in the mornings and come home in the afternoons to find me still there. "Did you do ANYTHING today?", he'd ask. "Um, yes fool, I built an ear! What the hell did YOU do?"), but somehow I forgot the extent of it. So first, I got really, really, really, really, really, REALLY tired. Then as my first trimester was coming to a close, and I thought I had somehow managed to escape "morning" (ha! morning!) sickness this go-round, I got sick. Like really, really sick. And for a solid six weeks, I didn't do much other than um... be sick. Lost lots of weight. Couldn't keep anything down. Couldn't look at or smell meat. And all that wonderful jazz. Eden would watch Mickey Mouse all day long while I laid on the couch, and when Dustin came home from work, I would just cry and cry about how horrible of a mom I was because I couldn't play with Eden or do anything fun with her. We missed gymnastics class a few times and storytime at the library a thousand times in a row because I couldn't manage it.
I'm all better now and have been for a couple of weeks, but I've still been feeling guilty about what I thought was a horrible, boring time for Eden. But yesterday, I was looking at some pictures, and I realized I was being way too hard on myself. Because from the looks of these pictures, Eden didn't have it too bad. Yes, there were definitely days when she watched a hundred episodes of Mickey Mouse so that I could just lay on the couch willing myself to not throw up, but it looks like we managed to have some fun too.
So here are some of the things that Eden has been up to for the past month or so:
On Easter, we went to church with my mom and her side of the family at my grandma's church in Houston. Eden entertained herself throughout the service with an Easter basket from my mom.
After church, we all had brunch at The Aquarium.
Then that afternoon, Susie and I set up an Easter egg hunt in my grandparents' front yard for Eden and her cousin, Rylen, so that my grandpa would be able to watch them hunt eggs from his chair in the living room.
hi Pops!
Eden was into it as you can see from her basket. Rylen didn't care much. He just wanted to play with the water hose.
Susie gave them each a little swimming outfit for Easter, and they insisted that they must put them to use RIGHT NOW, RIGHT NOW. I was freezing just watching them (it got chilly that evening!), but they had a blast!
Eden got a garden for her Easter present from me and Dustin. Even though ACTUALLY I didn't have it ready for her until two weeks after Easter. Fortunately, she has no clue yet how these things are supposed to work.
If your name is Eden, you HAVE to have a garden.
It has flowers on one side...
and she loves to water them...
but mostly she waters the dirt, so I have to go back later and make sure everything is properly watered.
On the other side, she has strawberries and cucumbers. We've had a few strawberries so far, but they never get big because as soon as Eden spots the tiny red berries emerging, she immediately eats them.
some little knickknacks for her to play with...
and then a whole lotta dirt for her to play in.
and I always put her in her swimming suit when she plays in her garden so that when she's done and she's nice and filthy, I can either rinse her with the hose or put her in the water trough now that we've brought it back out for the summer.
If your name is Eden, you HAVE to have a garden.
It has flowers on one side...
and she loves to water them...
but mostly she waters the dirt, so I have to go back later and make sure everything is properly watered.
On the other side, she has strawberries and cucumbers. We've had a few strawberries so far, but they never get big because as soon as Eden spots the tiny red berries emerging, she immediately eats them.
some little knickknacks for her to play with...
and then a whole lotta dirt for her to play in.
and I always put her in her swimming suit when she plays in her garden so that when she's done and she's nice and filthy, I can either rinse her with the hose or put her in the water trough now that we've brought it back out for the summer.
My Grandma Jan gave Eden a dinosaur egg for Easter. It was the coolest thing. We placed it in a bowl of cool water, and after a few days, it hatched, and voila - a little dinosaur toy. Eden thought it was the coolest thing, and she checked it's progress first thing every morning.
I think the first weekend in May is becoming one of my favorite weekends of the whole year. For the second year in a row, Eden and I spent that Saturday at the Maifest parade and celebration with some friends.
She got her face and arm painted, and her initial reaction seemed to be, "What the hell is this lady doing to me?"
Once she saw the flowers on her arm though, she was pretty into it.
She rode a pony.
And visited the petting zoo.
Eden gets reallllyyyy into petting zoos.
Then, on that Sunday, we again had friends over to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Even though this year it was really Cuatro de Mayo. Dustin made fajitas and enchiladas and quesadillas, and I made tres leches, and a friend brought a piñata, and we brought out the water trough for the first time this year.
Dustin threw that red cup into the trough and said, "Here Eden, a new toy." And the little girl pictured in the trough with Eden above excitedly said, "EDEN! A NEW TOY!" And they were all excited and ignored the other toys to play with it. Oh, to be a kid again!
One Tuesday after gymnastics, I took Eden to The Children's Museum. It'd been a couple of months since our last trip, and I wanted to get in a trip before summer because last summer I made the mistake of taking Eden, and NEVER EVER will I visit The Children's Museum during the summertime EVER again!
First, she went grocery shopping, and she went straight for the seafood and stocked up. I had to text Dustin a picture and let him know that his daughter is just like him!
Then I felt like she was finally big enough (though the art smock says otherwise) to go to the Art Academy.
I managed to look at it long enough to take a picture, and then I had to run outside to ahem (TMI) be sick. I managed three bites of crab total. I felt so terribly guilty that he had gone to so much trouble, but he was really nice about it. He, Eden and the dogs had a fantastic supper. And I was able to eat the chocolate covered strawberries he had bought... so yay.
We FINALLY put together Eden's big girl bed.
I'm not crazy about the pink bed against the pink wall, but I had the bed painted pink because one day hopefully soon, we are going to build, and I plan to paint Eden's new room green. And the pink bed against a pale green wall will be so cute!
Eden was so dang excited about her new bed that it took her over three hours to fall asleep the first night!
Did you know that big girl beds come with dream dust to be sprinkled on the pillow every night for happy dreams?
Then I felt like she was finally big enough (though the art smock says otherwise) to go to the Art Academy.
what a masterpiece!
I felt great the two days before Mother's Day... I had energy and no nausea! I thought I was finally over the whole pregnancy sickness thing, and I was excited about eating meat again. So I told Dustin I wanted him to make me a steak for my Mother's Day dinner. He, of course, went above and beyond and made steak, lobster, crab legs, potatoes and grilled vegetables. Eden stayed in the kitchen with him all afternoon to "help" him.
As they were cooking though, and I started smelling all the food, I started thinking that maybe I wasn't going to be able to handle everything after all. Dustin called me into the kitchen that evening to see the results of all his and Eden's hard work.
We FINALLY put together Eden's big girl bed.
I'm not crazy about the pink bed against the pink wall, but I had the bed painted pink because one day hopefully soon, we are going to build, and I plan to paint Eden's new room green. And the pink bed against a pale green wall will be so cute!
Eden was so dang excited about her new bed that it took her over three hours to fall asleep the first night!
Did you know that big girl beds come with dream dust to be sprinkled on the pillow every night for happy dreams?
They do. And this is such a fun little ritual that we do every night now.
This past Saturday, Dustin went fishing while Eden and I went with some friends to Splashway.
Dustin got home that evening after I had already bathed Eden and put her in her pajama gown. I was just fixing to put her to bed when Dustin pulled up, so I took her outside to tell him "goodnight". Dustin asked if she wanted to see the fish, and he took them all out of the cooler and lined them up on the sidewalk. Eden LOVED them. She started picking them up herself. She would put them back in the cooler and then take them out of the cooler and line them back up on the sidewalk. She petted them and poked their eyes. Then after Dustin cleaned and cut them all up, he gave her the fish guts, and she sat there playing with those! YUCK! She had the time of her life though! Dustin was so proud. As I was taking her back inside for another bath, Dustin said, "Eden, Daddy's so proud that you're not a little pansy." HAHA!
On Sunday, Eden and I went dewberry pickin'. It was her first time.
She couldn't wait until we got back to the house to start eating them.
And there's absolutely nothing wrong with her head; she just thought she needed a band-aid there.
This past Saturday, Dustin went fishing while Eden and I went with some friends to Splashway.
Dustin got home that evening after I had already bathed Eden and put her in her pajama gown. I was just fixing to put her to bed when Dustin pulled up, so I took her outside to tell him "goodnight". Dustin asked if she wanted to see the fish, and he took them all out of the cooler and lined them up on the sidewalk. Eden LOVED them. She started picking them up herself. She would put them back in the cooler and then take them out of the cooler and line them back up on the sidewalk. She petted them and poked their eyes. Then after Dustin cleaned and cut them all up, he gave her the fish guts, and she sat there playing with those! YUCK! She had the time of her life though! Dustin was so proud. As I was taking her back inside for another bath, Dustin said, "Eden, Daddy's so proud that you're not a little pansy." HAHA!
On Sunday, Eden and I went dewberry pickin'. It was her first time.
She couldn't wait until we got back to the house to start eating them.
And there's absolutely nothing wrong with her head; she just thought she needed a band-aid there.
On Tuesday, it rained and rained and poured, and after it was finally over, we went outside so Eden could splash in all the water.
and some other favorite pictures from the past month...
and some other favorite pictures from the past month...
