Thursday, December 30, 2010

A Little About Eden

She is SO stubborn! Lately she is so persistent that she needs to stand or walk and refuses to sit down or to crawl. She really doesn't have that great of balance, but she is determined. I have learned that Eden will NOT do something unless she is ready. She took so long to sit up, to crawl, etc. However, once she decided she wanted to do it, (sit, crawl) she took off in a matter of days.
This being said, today Eden stood by herself without holding on to anything for the first time. She has been whining all day, but she did it! She is persistent, stubborn, and determined. I am so in love with this little girl, and she shows me who is boss every day!

I'm so grateful for her because she teaches me so much. I love that she is persistent, stubborn, and determined. She is also the sweetest, most loving girl. I hope she keeps these attributes throughout her life. She amazes me every day and I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.
I LOVE YOU EDEN!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Christmas Videos

Eden got a car/walker from Santa. I think Santa wanted to help her learn how to walk so her poor knees won't be so bruised from our hard cement floors. She was super cute and loved it at first sight.
Kael's Santa present was a trampoline. He has LOVED jumping on it every day. I also think Santa was hoping it would help him burn some extra energy off during the winter months to help his mom out. He got some cars in his stocking, a ball, and some candy (dots). He LOVES candy.

Christmas 2010

December as usual is a crazy month. Derek's finals were intense, and December 17th at 5 pm was a joyous occasion to be finished with the first portion of year 1 of medical school. Derek flew to California the next morning bright and early to visit with his cousin Andrew who just got off his mission from Hungary. The kids and I made another ginger bread house because they are just too fun, and Kael loves eating the candy. :)

We spent the next week enjoying having Derek with us and getting ready for Christmas. We did lots of cooking and cleaning, and watching movies at home. Lots of Garfield's Christmas, and Claymation Christmas, Kael's favorite Christmas shows.

Christmas morning was absolutely amazing. I loved seeing the kids enjoy the day and the surprise and excitement! Derek's Mom and Sister's family came over for a couple hours in the afternoon and it was so much fun to see everyone. We ate TONS of yummy food, and Kael went around hugging everyone about 100 times each. It got to the point it was almost embarrassing. He is such a sweet spirit and loves everyone so much. We are only now getting around to getting our Christmas letter done, and we got a family picture taken on Christmas day, so our update should be coming soon.

We love and miss you all and hope you all had a fabulous Christmas just like us and were spoiled as much as we were!


Monday, December 27, 2010

United States Air Force




On December 21, 2010, Derek was commissioned as an officer in the Air Force. This was a big day for us. He has worked really hard to get to this point, and now we have so many more years of hard work ahead of us. Derek will have his first choice of residencies as an air force residency, which we will more than likely do, and then he will have 4 years of active duty and 4 years of inactive duty. This all begins when he is done with medical school.

On May 31, 2011 he will go for officer's training in Alabama for 5 weeks. This will be the longest he will be away and the first of many experiences of having him away from us. I know this is what Heavenly Father wants for our family. I'm so full of emotions. I'm so grateful to Derek for wanting to serve our country. Grateful he is doing this for our family so we won't have as much "financial" debt from medical school. So nervous to have him away for so long. And just happy that we have reached another huge point in our lives. I am excited to see where this brings our family, and I know with Heavenly Father guiding us that we are doing what we are suppose to, so we will be taken care of.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

She's 9 Months


9 Month Appointment:

Weight: 16 lbs 10 oz = 25%
Length: 26.7 inch = 45%
Head Circumference: 44.5 cm =70%

Eden at 9 months:
SHE CRAWLS.
Yay! And Oh Crap! She can get around to anywhere she wants now. It's a little scary. Her absolute favorite place to crawl to?
Kael's room.
His room has SO many toys and she thinks they are all hers. It has been fun seeing her get into all kinds of trouble. She also loves to crawl into the bathroom when I leave the door open, which is totally gross. My bathroom is clean, but I have no idea about the floors. Yikes! Ew, I know I know, I'll shut the door.
Words: She is really starting to babble now. It is so stinking cute. She can say MaMa when she is mad, and sometimes even when she is just really talkative. It is the sweetest! She can say DaDa every once in a while too. Her favorite sound is just plain old ba ba ba ba ba. I love it and it makes me laugh.
She loves to clap her hands and give high fives! It's pretty amazing. ;)
She SITS great now. This took her so long to get stable with.
She can pull herself up in her crib to stand. Oh this got scary. I was hoping I could wait until Derek was done with finals to lower her crib to the bottom because she kept sitting and kneeling in her crib, but finally she stood and made me a nervous wreck, so I had to stop Derek's hard core studying to lower the crib that day.
She loves to KNEEL. Her poor knees are bruised from our cement floors. Our carpet is junk. I feel so bad, but hopefully she'll learn to walk quickly because of this. It is so cute seeing her kneel and bounce her bum.
She is learning so much every day and brings us so much joy.
She LOVES her brother. She is his tag along. Poor Kael is doing pretty good putting up with it. Where ever Kael is you can be sure Eden is a few feet behind crawling as fast as she can to keep up. They are finally fighting over toys already, but Kael is learning quickly and he is so sweet to share with her.
Kael loves having Eden in his crib with her. It has become a nightly routine to have her in his crib where he can tuck her in and say night night. She loves it and usually gets squished and tickled.
Eden is still a picky eater. The only vegetable I can get her to eat is sweet potatoes and not very much when I try. As long as she is growing, Oh Well. She still refuses to use a sippy cup or bottle or anything, and I offically have 3 months before I want her good at a cup of some sort. Any ideas??? Kael could drink from a regular cup when he was 4 months old!
She sleeps at night for the most part now! HOORAY! Oh this is the best stress reliever in my life! Sleep is vital to my good mood I think. I don't mind getting up with my kids, (which I still do A LOT), but to not have to feed her two or three times at night has become awesome. She still cries out at least once a night, but I can usually put her pacifier in her mouth and comfort her for a while and she either cries for 15 minutes or just goes back to bed. She eats at 7 and then goes to bed great, and usually wakes up at 6 or 6:30 to eat again.

Eden, we love you! Slow down growing up! You are such a joy to our family. I'm glad you came when you did! Keep learning, and exploring, and being you! You are so opinionated, but in such a good way as well! Love you little lady bug!

Saturday, December 11, 2010

She Crawls

The Big Man

I have to say I was impressed with how this event turned out. The University Student Apartments hosted an activity for each village to see Santa. I think the whole process took about 40 minutes. Perfect for my little wiggle kids. They had donuts, coloring pages, and Frosty the Snowman movie playing to entertain the kids while they waited their turn. Kael however was not interested in any of it. He was so excited to be in a room full of people he just started going crazy with excitement and standing by a bunch of older boys.

Kael was more interested in the candy cane they gave him than looking at Santa. He wouldn't look at him at all! I think he was a bit nervous, and the candy cane helped him out a bit.
Eden wanted nothing to do with Santa at all. She took one look at him and screamed. And Kael just wanted the candy cane still.

Eden: "Get me away from this hairy guy!" ;)

Sunday, December 05, 2010

First Tooth

Just want to write the Eden FINALLY has a tooth that popped through. Really and truly this time. It wasn't there last night as I put oragel on her gums last night from her screaming most of the night, but I felt it after church today. No pictures because it wouldn't show up, but I felt it, and I'm so grateful for ONE down and many more to go. Way to go Eden!

Family Home Evening Gingerbread House




Kael loved decorating as much as he loved he loved eating the candy. Eden enjoyed the gingerbread tree. We sure had fun, and it only took about 20 minutes total. We do everything SUPER fast around here.

What we do for fun when Dad is Home.



The video of them driving around the house is so cute. I think I'll put it on You Tube.

The Tree



Here is our REAL christmas tree. It smells so good! It has been a lot of work with vacuming up all the needles, but so worth it for the smell!
And, Kael's stocking ornament from Grandma and Grandpa Heaton. Eden's is up too, I just don't have a picture. Kael helped me hang his.

Sledding and more Snow

The HUGE sled. We can all go as a family on that thing!
Kael making me climb in a tunnel with him. We really got stuck good, so I took a picture.

We are coming to love the snow here. It is finally melting a bit and I can honestly say I'd be ok with another snow storm soon. I probably won't be ready for one in Feb. or March though. :) We bought a sled for Kael, and Derek said the description was a 2 person one and when we actually saw it, it is a 3 person Big Man sled.

Kael's Tower

Kael loves his legos lately, and this is what he likes to do with them.

Uncle Brian Visits

Thanksgiving Meal


Kael and his cuteness!

The Big Snow Storm