Lately

Last Friday, Eden and I had a Mama/Eden Day.  I figured Eden could use a day where she had me all to herself.  That morning I told her we were going to have a fun day just the two of us, but I didn't tell her any of the things I had planned.  I let her find out as we went.

First we went out for donuts.

Then I pulled out a Princess Rapunzel dress and told her that we were going to see Rapunzel and all the other princesses.  I swear she actually gasped!  We went to Disney on Ice!

And it was amazing.  I cried.  Really.  Because Eden was so. dang. happy.  Mickey and Minnie came out first, and Eden immediately started bouncing up and down in excitement.  To her, it REALLY WAS Mickey and Minnie Mouse.  She thought they were the real deal.  And I couldn't help but tear up watching her.  And I continued to tear up throughout the entire show.  As each princess came out, Eden would shout their name.  Again, she really thought it was Rapunzel and Cinderella and Ariel and Elsa.  AND OLAF.  She started SCREAMING his name over and over and clapping when he made his appearance.  They were celebrities to her.  I encouraged it, telling her, "Look Eden, Snow White is waving to YOU" and "Eden! Eden! Mickey is blowing YOU kisses!"  She stood there in awe, waving and blowing kisses to them all.  She was out of her seat the entire time, clapping and twirling and dancing to the music.  She was so into it.  And we had the best seats.  I bought front row seats, but I didn't realize that that meant we would actually be right on the ice.  It was awesome!  I could've reached out and touched the skaters.  When bubbles came down during The Little Mermaid, Eden was able to pop them, and when it "snowed" during Frozen, it landed on us too, and Eden had little white flecks in her hair. 

That Disney on Ice show is one of my favorite moments of Eden's entire life.  I will never forget her excitement and wonder as she watched all of the characters.  Oh the magical world of two year olds!

After the show, I spent way too much money on all the Disney souvenirs and the obligatory overpriced picture of Eden next to a cardboard Cinderella cutout.  But she was so happy.

Our next stop was the American Girl Doll store.  I let Eden pick out one accessory for her Bitty Baby.

And finally we went and had cupcakes for lunch.  That's it.  Just cupcakes.  That was our whole lunch.

Eden stayed in her princess dress for our stop at the mall and the bakery.  And a few wonderful people came up to her and asked her if she was a princess and gushed about how pretty she was, and she lit up like a Christmas tree.  Those people made her so happy.  If ever you see a little girl out and about dressed up like a princess, go make her day and tell her how pretty she is!

Other things:

We went "hunting".   To Eden, hunting is sitting in a deer stand watching deer and then getting out to run around and pick flowers.  It was Ila's first time, woohoo!

We had a girls-only movie night in my bed one night when Dustin was out of town.

This is Eden all dressed up to watch Cinderella one morning.  If we're at home, Eden is usually in a princess dress.  On the rare occasion that she isn't, she has her doctor coat on and goes around giving everyone from me and Ila to the dogs to her stuffed animals "check-ups".  Just this morning I stepped on one of her toys and said, "Ow, I hurt my foot", and she got all excited and ran to get her doctor tools to give me a check-up.  I even got a shot.  (My favorite part is the end of the check-up when Eden tells you, "You're good to go!"  So cute!)  And if she isn't in a princess dress or a doctor coat, she's usually naked.  I have the hardest time keeping her clothed when we're at home.  At least she only takes her clothes off at our house - no incidents in public yet!

Those pictures are from Ila's first bath a couple of weeks ago.  I like them because all four of us and Drake (he freaks out if he's in a different room from us) were crammed into our teeny-tiny bathroom for the occasion.  Eden insisted on helping.  Dustin was there to take pictures.  Drake was being a baby.  It was sweet.  And Ila was as calm as she could be for her first bath - even when her big sister was dumping water all over her.

Eden got to ride a horse at a birthday party a couple of weekends ago.  A big horse, not a pony!  It was her first horse ride, and she LOVED it!  Here she's waiting patiently for her turn, and I just really like this photo - mainly because her outfit is so cute!  Those are Dustin's first little pair of boots.  (You may notice that this is the same day as Ila's bath.)

She's adorable!

So is Ila!  Pretty much all Ila does is lay around and look cute.

She's good at it.

Eden's asleep and Dustin is out of town again, so I'm fixing to go do pretty much my favorite thing to do these days... go lay in bed and watch a movie while Ila sleeps on my chest!  :)