Eden's dr. appt. and a video

Took Eden in for her 4 month wellness visit and everything went well! She weighed in at 12 lbs. 9 oz. which makes her about 25th percentile and her length was right at 20th percentile at 23 3/8 inches. She was below 3% in head circumference but he said not to worry about it. He told me that the 8 hours she has slept can be considered through the night but I just have to get her down later or I have to go to bed as soon as she does - yeah right!! I had to say no to some developmental questions but again, that's because she is about 3 weeks behind. He wanted to know if she was intentionally reaching out to grab or touch things which she isn't yet. Is she squealing or giggling - just a little of in-the-throat giggles but not too much and no squealing. Also, is she following us all around the room with her eyes - nope, not yet! She'll get there but it is hard to say no to the questions....

All went well except when she got her shots - two in each leg and she screamed harder and longer than I've ever heard her. It was a miracle that I didn't cry myself but I guess it's because I've done this before? She was inconsolable until I got her wrapped up tight in her swaddle in the car seat. Thank God for swaddle blankets. Other than that she was just wonderful!! I LOVE this age and looking forward to seeing her develop more everyday. Here is a sweet video I took last night after her bath. She loves laying on her changing pad to look at her quilt and kick her legs! She is "talking" and kicking up a storm!!

Spring is in the air...

and we are LOVING our time outside enjoying the turn of the season (even though it was in the 40's this morning....brrrr)! It has been beautiful here and we've even gotten some rain to get our grass to turn a bit greener! Claire, Eden and I have spent a lot of the afternoons playing out in the front yard with chalk, bubbles, her frisbee and we've eaten a number of our dinners outside too!

Claire concentrating on her chalk art! We work on our letters a lot with chalk - it makes it a lot more fun!
Taking a chalk bath and lovin' the color pink!
The girls hanging out with the bubble maker - too bad you can't see the bubbles!

Eden with our beautiful bush in bloom

Tonight, Eden helped me make dinner so we could have a picnic outside!

Picnic time! Claire and I got her a pink soccer ball and she loved kicking it around with daddy before we ate.

My goofballs with the fresh cut grass - good job daddy!

Meeting Great Grandma Ann

Wednesday evening Eden got to meet Great Grandma Ann for the first time! My Grandma lives in Sheboygan, WI and visits us for a few weeks every year to get away from the long winters up there. Last year she said it was her last trip here but I'm so glad she came again this year to see Eden. I know how hard it must be to travel by herself at 84! Grandma Ann LOVES babies and seeing her with my girls has given me a greater respect and love for her!

Eden had to wear her special dress from my mom for the special occasion! She was so sleepy!
Kisses from Great Grandma!

Grandma getting some love in too!
Eden was so much livelier after she ate and got changed into her PJ's
Can't wait to make more memories with Great Grandma and Eden - Eden has really taken to her! They've already had a number of conversations and exchanges of smiles!

Eden's 4 months old

As usual, this month has FLOWN by!! We don't go to the doctor until Monday and I'm excited to see how much she has really grown. She's definitely filling out and looking a lot like Claire at this age! Here is Eden's 4 month old photo shoot!

Claire trying to get Eden to smile!

"Hand sucking... my favorite!"

Here are some of my favorites from this month (I had to repeat some that I just LOVE!)



I usually have her strapped in!! She sleeps soundly in her swing =)

Holding her head up better everyday!
What makes her smile so?? The FAN!

A little washed out but I love this one too much not to post

Daddy playing with his girls

Sisters

Things to remember:

- Eden has started smiling SO much more and is so ticklish! She has given us a few grunt laughs and we're looking forward to the belly laughing that is on the way

- Eden is still loving her fan but has also found a new love - laying on her changing table and looking up at the quilt hanging on the wall

- Eden has the most unique cry right when she is telling me she is tired - it's a long, drawn out kind of "scolding" sound and I love it! It's actually kind of cat like!

- Eden loves sucking on her hands no matter what time of day it is. Hoping this will help her self sooth because she never takes a paci

- Eden still loves to be swaddled and bounced up and down - we're hoping to get her out of the swaddle this month =)

- Still not sleeping through the night... she has gone 8 hours between eating about 3 times which is really great but it was from 8 p.m. - 4 a.m. so I got about 5-6 hours of sleep at once! Never thought 6 hours would feel good =) She consistently only wakes up once throughout the night so that's good. It's usually 5-6 hours between eating

- Eden's started smiling in reaction to Claire and it melts my heart!

- Eden's gotten a little picky with her bottle. She doesn't always take it well which isn't very comforting when mommy is at work!

Trip to Austin

We had a busy weekend taking our trip to Austin!! We left early Saturday so we could spend some time with Mike and Heather before Neil, Eden and I left for Andy Wilson's wedding in Lago Vista (about an hour west from M&H house). Our first adventure included a meeting with some ducks and some very large, hungry catfish!! It was so awesome to see these giant fish and I think Heather and I were more excited than Claire was! Maggie was just excited about bread being at mouth level and was hoping for some to be dropped her way. Here are some shots of our time at the pond:

Sisters hanging out!

That evening we went to the wedding which was at a very nice place right on Lake Travis. The ceremony was outside and the reception was looking right over the water's edge. Andy is Kate's brother so I've seen him grow up all these years and I'm so glad he's found someone! It was my first time meeting Kathy and I hope she didn't mind that I brought Eden with us. She was REALLY good especially since she only slept about 10 minutes while we were there for almost 4 hours! She was so exhausted that night that she slept in her car seat from 9:30 p.m. to 3:30 a.m.

Kate with Abbey and her niece, Emily

Andy with Craig and Kathy at the table - love this one

Yeah! A couple pic without kids =)

I finally captured a big smile! She was SOOO tired here - it was right before we put her in the car

While we were at the wedding Mike and Heather took Claire to her favorite - Chuckie Cheese and they had a great time! They're getting some good practice in with her =)

Spring Break Recap

Gosh! Feels like forever since I've posted because SO much has happened! Neil was on Spring Break last week which was WONDERFUL... He is such a big helper with the girls! It was definitely a break for me too just to have him around. Thanks honey - you're the best! (btw, Claire has started calling Neil "Honey" because I guess I say it a lot)

Here is a recap of the week:

-Monday -we got pictures taken of Claire at Picture People for her 3rd birthday and they were SO cute! I also got one shot of Eden and Claire together even though Eden was fussing

-Tuesday - we took Claire to the dentist and then Eden and I went to my Worship Committee meeting that night

-Wednesday - The girls and I gave daddy a break and went to Kristin's for playgroup

-Thursday - hung out inside while it was rainy and cold! We ate dinner at McAlister's Deli with Claire's "Brave at the Dentist" certificate for a free kid's meal

-Friday - took a trip to see Neil's grandma in Kerrville - Eden's first time there! We took her to lunch and enjoyed visiting at home. Claire then spent the night with my parents while we volunteered down at the Seton Home. We babysat the kids of the teenage mother's so they could have a mom's night out to the movies for their spring break!

This is how Claire kept busy at Maw Maw's house while we visited!

Claire sharing with Eden

-Saturday - Neil and I got to sleep in without Claire waking us up!! YEAH!! Thanks mom and dad even though she slept in for y'all like she never does for us - we slept till about 8 a.m. which felt wonderful. That evening we went to Neil's sister's house for dinner and the kids got to play

Claire and Justin being silly and playing the Wii

-Sunday - Went to church (I sang both services) and then Eden and I went to her first baby shower for our dear friends Andy and Aubrey and their little one on the way, Lyla Danielle. Then it was off to life group at the Nguyen's house! Claire and Carly always have so much fun together.

The girls eating dinner after playing dress up! Earlier when we were having our bible study Carly came out and then yelled back at Claire "Nope - they're still talking! Not having dinner yet!"

Whew! What a week!! It was a great one but certainly not like the spring breaks we used to have with lazy, sleep in mornings and late, late nights watching movies... it's definitely different but great! So glad the weather is better this week and I got to take the girls to the park yesterday after a long morning of taking Eden's 3 month pics with Jennifer Denton. Can't wait to get those pictures back!! We did Claire's 3 month pics with her too. Visit her site for some great galleries of her photo sessions. There is a great shot of Claire and I under her Mother and Child Gallery

My smiley girl loving the outdoors!