merry christmas

making cookies... making memories

from our home to yours!

life after adenoids & tubes

wow... yall... we seriously should've done this a long time ago... eden is doing incredibly!

she has managed to amaze us yet again at her resilience and exactly how much fun she can be when she feels good!! she has eaten meat for the first time... ever. the day she came home from surgery and woke up from her extreme slumber, she asked for some of lee's lunch (sesame chicken) and has been nearly eating us out of house & home ever since...

 pre-surgery breakfast: 1 pancake OR a bowl of cereal OR a nutrigrain bar OR some fruit...
 post-surgery breakfast: 3 pancakes, a cup of yogurt, a bowl of cereal and 3 cups of milk.

pre-surgery chickfila (a girls-night-out favorite of ours.): 1/2 order of small french fries and 2 packs of ketchup and chocolate milk
post-surgery chickfila: 4 nuggets, small fry, chocolate milk, goldfish & a squeal of delight when she received her cow watch.

see what i mean? yes, i realize she's not been out of surgery long enough to get sick or been back to school yet--but things are honestly different...i'm her mama. i can just tell. we have curbed many of the meds we were giving her--its what my gut told me to do... time will tell if that was the RIGHT thing to do... she's talking more, sleeping better... she's doing everything she was doing before the surgery--and doing it a little better.

 ah, now... let's back up a little bit. the week before her surgery, eden managed to catch a stomach bug of sorts... and share it with her mama and daddy... the day after the surgical nurse calls and says "please let us know if she comes down with anything--specifically spiking a fever"... surely she heard my sigh of relief--because my kid doesn't get fevers. her mama doesn't either. i bit my tongue, didn't call...because after all, stomach bugs are 24 hour things... fast forward 2 more days... off to the ENT for our pre-op visit... to make sure after 4 WEEKS OF ANTIBIOTIC, that her ears are clear & get the "green light" for surgery. nope. her ears were STILL infected--but after a closer exam from dr. g, he decided she was "well enough" for surgery... i've never loved those two words together more than i did in that moment. we are so so so thankful for the close attention and special care she has received from her specialists! phone calls checking on her--FROM THE DOCTOR..not just the nurse. i know i've already mentioned her eating--but i'm still in shock at how much differently she's eating! i knew she was a light eater before, but i only thought so because she drinks SO much milk... i thought because that was her "comfort", she never desired much "food food" and seemed to fill up on milk... and plus, she's a snacker--always with the snack cup in hand! hard to measure how much she eats because she was always nibbling on something....

this is really all i had to say for now... the house needs to be vacuumed & i'm ready to hit the hay... however, i'd had a few requests for a "more detailed" update... so, there ya go. i have a few pics (one of her oodling over her chickflia cow watch!), but i've not mastered the icloud for my photos yet... i'm workin' on it.

as promised...

as i was decorating the little tree tonite, i heard my camera flash go off and i found this:

an oreo-encrusted, rosy-cheeked toddler who has stolen our hearts.

it reminded me to update you patient folks with some pictures

these pictures basically go in reverse order... sorta... just go with it.

e loves snowmen... her greatgranny t taught her about these little guys and she can spot them ANYWHERE.

even in a wine cork at the junior league shopping spree... lawdy. 

she is also REALLY into her nativity set right now... "baby jeeeeesus" gets to ride in the baby doll stroller, and gets offered some of her nighttime cup of milk... she also notices that joseph has a beard like daddy and mary is the mama... "mama mary"

this girl was born to be the center of attention... can you tell?

i love this pic of these two.... seriously, two of my favorite people on the planet. 

(i have a few favorites, don't feel slighted if you weren't in this picture.)

the horn that she's holding in both of these pics makes this little squeaky noise, and whenever she blows is aunt lisa chases her and tickles her (she started this a while back)... well, just like one of pavlov's pooches, eden still giggles when she toots her own horn. the previous statement is both literal and metaphorical.

"cheese, mama"

halloween costume... did i post this already... oh geez.

daddy's shooooes

i'm lovin' her golden locks these days... her hair has gone wildddd

holiday elmo. a must-have for your holiday decor this season

this was thanksgiving day... these two fell asleep on the floor, as nershi and i were snuggled up on the sofa. the perfect morning nap before a day of FEASTING... and being thankful.

eden decided to use her bath basket as a helmet (a choice entirely hers) for her "nascoupe"

its become a morning habit on days that lee gets up with her, that nershi stays and sleeps with me... and eden comes in bed with me for a few minutes... the cherry on top of THAT sundae of love? this morning, she runs in our room while i'm playing my usual game of possum and says "hey mama, i love you" and gave me the biggest hug.. melt. my. heart.

surgery still on go... eden STILL on antibiotics (3 weeks, and counting!) and wasn't getting all kinds of better... actually, she was getting a little worse. to the point of my "call the doctor" threshold. her resp. doc (not the one operating) prescribed some steroids for her... 

you know its getting complicated when the pharmacist sends home a separate sheet of paper with the dosing   for which days (days 1-3 do this, days 2-6 do this, days 7-9 do this...)

getting a few butterflies about surgery coming up, but i think its more of a feeling of "let's get this over with" than nervousness.

also, while i'm in such a blogging mood and can't sleep (hello, midnight!)... i wanted to update on her antics and ever expanding vocabulary... i'm CERTAIN i will miss some things... she's saying a LOT these days

talking:

wow... doing this alot and is very good about using her words to tell you what she wants. some of the words she says consistently and recognizably:

hey, bye bye--all those "obvious" words, elmo, big bird, cookie (the food and cookie monster), baby, abby (abby cadabby), baby jesus, tick tock, ALLLL the animal sounds and the majority of the animals themselves, the modes of transportation (boat, truck, tractor, car, train--though most of the time she calls it a choo-choo), peaches, snack, cracker, apple, banana, butterbeans, please, juice, milk, i love you, back up, no no nershi, good boy doggie, wolfpack, most of the family's names...and her friends names, buckle, swing, she can repeat just about anything you ask her to and... she will read you this book cover to cover:

(some times i say "what's that?" and point to something... and sometimes i say "where's the ___")

she's also piecing lots of words together... probably her longest sentence so far is "bye bye socks, HEY TOES!!" as she took her socks off while in the car one day... i almost had to pull over i was laughing so hard. she's pretty consistent with 3-4 word phrases... "more juice please", "back up, doggie" (what she says to him when he's begging at the dinner table!), "daddy go bye bye"

she knows the parts of the body, most of her alphabet (she sings most of the song, and is recognizing several letters), and counted to five (repeating all the numbers) for the first time this weekend! we are working on the colors... 

she can be affectionate when she wants to be... giving kisses and/or hugs... and i love the hug we get if we pretend to cry. when disobeying, we've reached the "i'm going to count to three" stage... which works most of the time... and we've dished out a few good old fashioned spankin's a time or two (+80% of them were because she was running away from a diaper change...deliberate disobedience when she fully understands what she should be doing). at this stage, i try to be very sure that she does FULLY understand what she's supposed to be doing before she gets a whoopin'... its tough sometimes to know if they just don't understand what you're asking them or if they know and choose to do differently--i'm learning consistency is key.

she is LOVING school... i'm 98% sure she's got a little boyfriend there... its cute... for now. heh. her teachers are wonderful and i see the fruits of their hardwork and love--combined with what she's picking up from her family and she is learning SO. FAST.... i can hardly keep up. i've waited almost two years for this stage... this is my FAVORITE age. (well, so far at least ;))

this is the age that i always enjoyed volunteering for at church--the 2-3 year olds... 

our weekend from iphone pictures

thursday afternoon we went to the jr. league shopping spree with kiekie and e spotted a "doggie doggie" and of course--she was in love. she petted him, slapped on her legs to call him...

 ...and even gave him a hug

then saturday we went to the red & white game at state... we did NOT go to the football game. it was a bit chilly and i'm not risking any more respiratory issues. no thanks.

e got to hang out with emily and mrs. wuf... and we saw/hugged/blew kisses to mr. wuf but didn't get any pictures of that.

 then we hung out and got lots of good rest and started a new sleep routine that has restored mama & daddy's sanity.

then we went to moe's for dinner and got ready for our week!

i'm not letting my guard down yet--but e's doing much better and the new sleep routine is working out swimmingly. i'm feeling so. r.e.s.t.e.d... 

halloween 2011--one to remember.

my dear eden was sick over the weekend... with RG (respiratory gunk.) we missed the much-anticipated neighborhood halloween party and had to miss her school festival celebrating "God's harvest"--but i would NOT let her miss ALL the festivities of the weekend! my heart just broke for her (even though she didn't even KNOW what she was missing!)

we did venture out to church for their "hallelujah night" monday night... i had an ulterior motive, though... our sunday school class hosted a chili cook-off!! i had my game face on!

ahem, when i say "game face" i mean that i looked like a zombie. 

e hasn't slept much since saturday. 

(i'm crying on the inside.)

any hoo! back on subject!

eden was a little unsure of ALL that was going on at church--lots of people and folks she wasn't terribly familiar with doing the "cute baby ambush"... but, she caught on pretty quick and got her 2nd wind.

she did GREAT! she played a few games and proudly flaunted her elmo basket 

(i love lee's enthusiastic hands in the side of this picture! :))

so, i know she's my kid and all... but she looked ridiculously cute. i wanted to eat her.

lee dressed up as andy dwyer from parks & rec

...if you watch the show, i think you'll agree with me...

he nailed it.

most of what he had was in his closet... but i hooked him up with a few finishing touches.

i ended up winning 3rd place of 14 or 15? chilis that entered... and the winner was a self-proclaimed cheater. so, what's that make me? 2nd! haha...i even have a trophy!

after eden's candy selections and a dose of steriods, we all had a really long night... 

poor e... 

she's feeling better, but still wanting to be held at night.

i do cherish those moments--as they are few & far between with her now, but goodness gracious...

it was sorta like the stubborn stand-off at high noon midnight...

once we determined she wasn't in pain, wasn't hungry, didn't have a dirty diaper, etc. etc. etc....

we just had to let her "cry it out"--it nearly killed me.

this lasted OVER AN HOUR.

and it only makes me feel tireder (yes, its a word--that's how tired i am.) when i find out that while i'm at work, she takes a THREE AND A HALF HOUR NAP today... 

thanks, eden. i would've loved to have taken part in the siesta. 

however, as i type this blog to you--our night tonite is ALREADY better than last night. seriously.

i'm thankful that His mercies are new every morning, and eden's mercies are new every evening.

weekend update

this will be a quick, choppy post because i'm enjoying life without the computer* (i don't want to get sucked back in)

*i'm still playing with facebook--its a terrible addiction--but i do it mostly from my phone. the computer is a time warp--and facebook is an addiction... its really not a great combination.

e's feeling MUCH better... still a teensy bit of rash left... i'm going to call monday if its not gone by then...

we're having a wonderful weekend with the weather as the metaphorical cherry on top! wow! chilly temps... e is RIDICULOUSLY cute in a down vest... no, really.

last night we had a chillaxin-with-a-capital-c night last night (after a long, productive, and relatively stressful week!)... i grilled out porkchops & had steamed veggies and parmesan bowtie pasta on the side... we played with e, gave her a bath....and after she went to bed, lee and i sat around and watched tv... y'all, its been a long time since we did that... just normal fantastic family stuff!

tonite, lee officiated his first wedding... it was PERFECT! i got a few pics of my maaaaaan doin' his thang.. i'll post later... e had a blast dancing at the reception (imagine that.) and on a side note--she caught a cricket! whaaaaa? she squatted down in the grass, and i looked away for 1 second and she had that cricket who'd been bouncing all over the place in the palm of her hand and was PETTING HIM!... he laid perfectly still until she held out her hand for him to "go bye bye"

...she's the cricket whisperer, i say!

tomorrow we're venturing out to the pumpkin farm after church/nap. not sure which farm yet... should be fun... stay tuned for some lovely fall pics of our sweet girl.

did i mention lee was OFF WORK... FRIDAY.... SATURDAY... AND SUNDAY!! wow. i'm lovin' it.

umm... ok. that's all i wanna say. bye.

eden & mama swinging!

i could listen to these giggles all. day. long. and never get tired of it!

photography 201: the self portrait

we begin with a quick refresher course on what we've already learned and snap a few pictures of daddy

(while the camera is still sitting on the counter.)

...and seriously. she looked ridiculously cute today... she's lost any resemblance of a baby.

legs slimming out, getting taller, face not so round... 

oh, on to today subject matter...

SELF PORTRAITS.

so, you hit the button while the camera faces the OTHER way... see?

 "mama, can we take a picture of my nebulizer pieces"

in this last one, she was in the middle of the word "push"

(she likes to say it e.v.e.r.y. time she hits the shutter button)

you're not allowed

eden,
you're not allowed to sit in the swing like that. it makes you look too grown up.
love, mama

(you'd never know she's "sick" here in this picture--sick enough to skip school... a weekend full of motrin, nebulizer treatments, and a trip to the specialist for antibiotics for an ear infection. she's resilient, i say!)

i must take a lot of pictures...

eden has been very interested lately in my cameras (eh, so have i!)... she sees ME use them and wants to emulate me... and i've gotta admit--she's gotten the hang of it!!

we're learning about videography:

how to turn the camera on:

learning to look through the viewfinder (so funny, because you don't have to do that on this camera--but she sees me use "the big camera")

take a few pics while mama changes your diaper...

and lastly... and most importantly: review your images

jumbled thoughts

oh man... 

after lee and eden went to bed, 

i discovered i was (am) not tired and there were clean sheets on the bed

what does that mean?

well, i try to coincide my personal "spa nights" when we have fresh sheets on the bed.

it just makes "spa night" better.

what is "spa night"?

oh come on.... you know what that is.

quiet. uninterrupted. introspective.

"me" time... 

i remove the chipped, faded, weathered nail polish that's been painted over and painted over and painted over this summer. filled the tub with the hottest water that can possibly come out of the faucet. i actually use shaving cream to shave my legs...(as opposed to soap or cascading shampoo suds in my normal morning rush). apply my nice lotion after i get out. an extra good floss (yes, an essential part of my personal spa night. i love it.)... with mouthwash. and my special face wash

[enter new woman]

hey... wait a minute.

why don't i do that more often?

i just love when the summer's FINALLY gettin' the heck outta here seasons poetically change.

many people have "spring cleaning"

we have more of a "fall cleaning" around here.

i like to clean off the cluttered places to make room for my fall decorations.

and my snowmen. (many of which from granny t!)

lee always loves the de-cluttering revolution when it comes through

(eh, i do too. but life usually lets the clutter creep back in)

in other news:

eden has discovered her "bee bo"

(belly button)

and depending on what kind of clothes YOU'RE wearing,

she'll show you yours, too.

and as if her simple anatomical discovery couldn't be any cuter,

when she pushes on it, she makes HERSELF laugh.

love.

after a short day at work (1/2 day), dad and i had lunch together and went shopping for little e... fun! then came home to visit granny & grandaddy (tick tock) to find granny had gone shopping TOO!

needless to say, eden is SET for fall...

i work tuesday, wednesday... 

then, thursday leave for a business trip

(work? yes.. but certainly a change in gears)

eden will enjoy a weekend at the beach with her kiekie

and bigdaddylee will man the fort

i think my brain is confused for my change of pace from these last few days and for the days ahead...

i'm havin' to spend more time thinkin' about what i'm doing instead of being stuck in my normal routine

...not a bad thing, but i'm sure by this time next week, i'll be glad to jump back into normal.

so, with that being said, this may be the last post for a few days.

but most of y'all keep up with us via facebook anyway :)

welp, my freshly exfoliated skin is going to go enjoy my dryer-fresh sheets.

g'nite.

first football game of 2011

i will add captions & descriptions later... 

but, i'm pretty sure you'll get the idea of whether or not eden had fun.