These are a few of her favorite things....

Ahhh... I'm singing the wonderful song from "Sound of Music" that somehow got turned into a Christmas song... Anyway, Eden is changing everday and I thought I'd share some of her favorite things right now. Hard to believe she is only 10 days shy of 10 months. I'm thinking about her birthday party which looks like it'll be ladybugs upon big sister's request!

Eden's my little drummer and will "play" just about anything! Here she is with a wooden spoon, a block and some bowls. This was my way of entertaining her when I was trying to make phone calls for work.


Eden can't get enough play time with her sister and daddy. This pictures makes ME want to get in on the fun!
Eden LOVES anything with buttons but especially the phone. She's also a huge fan of the remote controls and calculator. Her little pointer finger gets a work out!

Love anything that makes sound. Here she is playing the glockenspiel - no, it's not a xylophone because it's made of metal, not wood. We've called it the wrong thing forever!
Always loving those books
The past week and a half our little girl has decided she wants to use her pointer finger to point to everything! It's pretty funny because she's so into detail with that pointer.

Eden loves spending time with her Grandparents -here she is with Mimi and Grandma on Labor Day. Notice she is pointing to the bird's beak!
Loving her bath time and REALLY loving grandma doing the honors. This is my mom's favorite thing to do. That and lather babies in lotion! Eden is happiest bathing next to the mirror so she can check herself out but she is usually in the big bath now. She's growing out of her tub!

Miss Curlie Q!
My baby taco
Stay tuned for crawling, eating and clapping!

"Jesus Send the Rain"

If you haven't heard this song by Mercy Me, it's a goodie. I was recently reminded of the power of this song when I saw it on a friend's Facebook headline and heard it on the radio today. She has shown me great strength while she has just been faced with an incredibly trying time. It amazes me how God can be glorified in situations that seem impossible to us. In our weakness, He is strong.... praying for you....

It DID rain here yesterday and we had a wonderful time playing in it and thanking God for the relief from the heat we've been suffering from here.

Claire and her beautiful locks waiting for the clouds to open up
Claire taking a pic of me - can you tell I'm excited?

I promise she was having a great time!

So was sweet Eden but she was feeling a little left out so.....

she went out to feel the rain too!

Transitions

The past two-three weeks have been a huge transition for our family. With the beginning of school comes busier hours for Neil, Claire back to MDO, me back to teaching privately. I've also taken on some more responsibilities with church so right about now.... I'm exhausted! Amidst all the go here, do this, I'm still blessed with the moments I have with my girls. It never ceases to amaze me how hard being a mom can be but how completely and utterly rewarding it is. I wouldn't change it for the world.

Eden's pics take 2!

First of all a BIG thank you to Jenny for coming out again to retake some good ones of Eden by herself. Just as you said, it's amazing what a nap and a overcast day can do! I just love them and it certainly captured my sweet baby at this stage. Especially when she is inspecting the grass - she's discovering everything these days!

Eden's 9 month pics

Last week I got Eden's 9 month and sister pictures taken by my sweet friend, Jennifer Harrison who is starting up her own photography business. www.synergyphotographysa.com Let me tell you.... she did a wonderful job and the pictures turned out better than I thought because I was dealing with some pretty fussy girls!

It was a hot, steamy, mosquito infested day and Eden didn't get a morning nap because she slept in after a terrible night. Claire was giving me drama and not being very cooperative... it was just not good. These are some of Jenny's favorites that she sent along but there are so many other cute ones so if you want to see all of them let me know and I'll send you an email!

Yesterday we took some more to get some of just Eden when she was in a better mood. We got some cute ones of her pushing up and playing/eating her feet. Perfect 9 month shots!

9 months old

We had Eden's 9 mo. appt. Friday and it went really well! She is now:

18.4 lbs. which is right about 40%
26 and something inches (didn't catch it) long which is 15%
16 and something inches for her head which is 4% - still a tiny little head

So looking at my rolly polly, I guess having her be shorter makes her look bigger. Just love her full cheeks and sweet baby thighs =)

Got to tell Dr. Gulde that she is finding her knees and rocking some. He asked if she is pulling up or able to stand when holding something but that was a no. So looking forward to that happening sometime this month! What a big girl! We spoke about her sleeping pattern after I came in with my detailed chart. He really didn't leave me with much but that between 9-12 months is when they start sleeping longer, that she doesn't need to eat during the night time, to send daddy in if we need to because she wants me to soothe her and just to change things up because what we're doing isn't working. On that note, we had a VERY good night last night. She slept from 7 p.m.-6:15 a.m. (sister woke her up - Grrr...) and only cried for 20 minutes during the 11 o'clock hour. I feel like a different woman!! Hopefully this is a turning corner and she will be sleeping better every night! (update: only that one lucky night - at least it was one!)

I couldn't decide which pictures to post so I posted a ton =)

"What's up mom?" - Just catching her trying to get to her knees from her sitting position. Any day now....
Much more interested in Mr. Bear this month!

I love this one!

This one too!

A big Bear hug and Kiss - we love those wet, open mouth kisses

Not liking the bows so much this week....

Ahhhh... success!

No bow and all smiles! She looks so long here

I will need to come back to the "what to remember" - I wrote this last week and lost it so it'll take me some time to get it posted again.

Here I am to finally update!

Things to remember about this month:

- You said your second word "dada" on July 28th while he was feeding you at Chick-fil-a

- At the end of the month you started finding your knees and rocking. You will roll anywhere to get what you want.

- You still love your books and have found a new love of pictures of babies, especially yourself!

- When dad or I come home, you give us the sweetest smile and rock back and forth out of utter excitement! What could be better than that?

- You started meats at the beginning of the month and you still like everything except ham. I also started you on some stage 3 foods and you're getting more used to the texture. You also started taking a sippy cup of water.

- You have finally had it with the bows but I'm persistent! You just look so darn cute in them

- Your first word recognition "cat" - anytime we say it you frantically look around the room for Rollo.

- You still don't sleep at night and I like to say thank God you're so darn cute and sweet during the day because you're not during the night. You always go down just fine but you just can't self soothe. You are so stubborn! You will cry as long as it takes....

- Your favorite things right now are:
....watching Rollo
....playing with your feet
....your morning song "Good morning to you and all that you do. Good morning Eden girl. Brand new day is here, time to give a cheer. I love you my dear. Good morning Eden girl!" composed my none other than daddy!
....playing with Claire
....music and singing
....your exersaucer

Thank you Great Aunt Barbara and Great Aunt Linda!

A HUGE thank you and shout out to my sweet aunts up in Wisconsin who sent Claire this CUTE art apron! The ladybugs were a huge hit and the slots for the markers are perfect for her! She has been so excited to draw with markers because that's a "big girl thing to do". Here she is modeling and drawing you a thank you note. She's also modeling her Barbie sticker she got from the dr. office this morning for Eden's 9 mo. appt.

All smiles and wild-child hair.... suits her just right this week =)

"Thanks Aunt Barbara and Aunt Linda!" We just skip the great around here even though you are GREAT! We're so blessed to have Claire know, talk about and love her family in Wisconsin. Every time she sees an airplane she says "Maybe Grandma Ann's on that plane?" Guess she wants to see you again soon Grandma!

On a side note, thank you Linda for being so sweet to print off the blog and showing it to Grandma. I love knowing she's keeping up with it and getting to see the girl's grow up so quickly!

We Love You!