What a Merry Christmas!!!

Oh... I've gotten so very blog-lazy lately! One of my many New Year's resolutions is to return to weekly posts. You'll notice I am off with a bang by covering Christmas events on New Year's Day, but it's simply the best I can do. Lately I have been striving to be just adequate and I am perfectly ok with that... excellence is just too hard!

Ok, so quick update. Brett and I went on our first baby-free evening in mid December. We went to a little Christmas mixer and then the Granbury Live show downtown. Thank you Eisenrich's for hosting such a fun evening, thank you Doll for watching our Eden and putting our (my) minds at ease, and thank you favorite Kenneth Cole boots for finally fitting again...

Little Miss Eden just gets more fun every day. She has very distinct moods- silly, sweet, serious, cuddly, and occasionally grumpy! She is getting more active, but reminds me a little of myself. I won't use the word lazy, but lets just say content. It's like, "oh, there is my really fun toy over there but I would have to roll over to get it... so even though I am quite capable of getting there, I think I'll just lay here and play with my hands instead". It's humorous to watch.

Speaking of hands, that little girl is getting better with hers by the minute- literally. She went from holding them out to grabbing my nose to patting my cheeks in a matter of hours. I get so excited I can hardly contain it. Seriously, if nose-grabbing affects me like this, I may need sedation when she takes a step or says a word!

Speaking of saying a word (ha), she is getting so many new sounds and loves to "talk". She will sit and "coo" and "ahh" and "goo" at me or a toy or the wall... It's so sweet.

On a sadder note, almost all of her beautiful newborn hair has fallen out. She has a little patch in the back and one right on top. To be perfectly honest, it looks a little like a toupe. It's interesting though, the new hair seems to be really light and her eyes are still dark blue. Who would have ever dreamed I would birth a blonde hair, blue eyed baby... but it seems I may have. It's a little hard to tell in the picture, but most of what you see sticking up comes from 2 square inches on the top of her head!
So, Christmas was pure joy! Santa brought Eden an exersaucer and rumor has it that she may have gotten it a couple of weeks early because... well... she needed it. And she loves it.

My family came to my house in Granbury on Christmas Eve because Mom and Dad are still in the middle of building their house. Here is a good shot of Eden and Anna,

On Christmas morning, we packed up and went to Tyler to celebrate with Brett's family. It was so fun to watch Eden and her cousin Garrett. I am excited to see them actually "play" when they are a little older. Eden was pretty good at opening the packages and of course she didn't get a thing!

This is the little kitchen from her Uncle Jim, Aunt Tricia, and cousin Garrett and I can also thank them for the sweet outfit she is wearing. Now the bow is especially for her Annie and her friend Johnna, you big bow lovers know who you are!

We are unspeakably blessed and I am moved daily by all that God gives me... in spite of me. I can't believe that I get to be married to the man I have and be a part of this amazing little girl's life. God must love me more than I will ever know... He must.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I know, I know, I am way behind in blog land... Miss Eden turned 3 months old and is more fun than ever. She is sleeping through the night most of the time. She is really starting to use her hands to play with toys and pull out her pacifier- but hasn't figured out how to put it back in! She smiles all the time and last week she laughed for the first time when I was kissing her neck- it is amazing how tiny things now rock our world...

We took the usual I-20 road trip for Thanksgiving. Thursday morning to Tyler to celebrate with Brett's family. We were able to hang out with his parents and his brother's family. Our nephew Garrett is 16 months old and such fun. I was so glad to get to spend some uninterrupted time with them. We took some really cute pictures of Eden and Garrett together, but I don't have them yet... Isn't this sweet of Eden and Brett's mom- "Sassy"

Friday evening we came back to Granbury and then left Saturday morning for Colorado City. We spent the afternoon with my dad's extended family and it was such fun to introduce Eden to all of them...

I pray that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and had at least a moment to thank God for all that He has done and all that he has given us. My cup overflows!!

My Daughter is a blogstar...

check it out

Our Little Tomato...

Better late than never! I have no great excuse for just now getting Halloween pictures posted, except that I am STILL amazed at how very little I get accomplished on any given day. I have never been a terribly organized or disciplined person, but I was always able to pretty well disguise myself as one... then along came Eden... I really wish I had nipped some of my inefficient habits in the bud before children, but that's a topic for another day. I will say (before moving on) that I wouldn't trade my inefficient life for any other on earth. Gosh I love that baby.

...Back to Halloween. We took a quick weekend trip down to San Marcos with our good friends Katie, Dewayne, and baby Johnna (Johnna is just 31/2 weeks older than Eden- I know, how fun!). Great weekend for early Christmas shopping, and once again Brett was a champ and watched BabyGirl so I could power shop. True to my roots, I didn't take a single picture all weekend, so I have to be honest and tell that the shot below is from a week earlier at Brett's triathlon- but you get the idea. I giggled every time I looked at her- still do when I see the picture. Thank you Doll for such a fabulous costume!

For any of you that don't know, Halloween is also my birthday. Sweet husband of mine got me four gifts (not including the Starbucks breakfast): 1. beaded make-up bag I'd had my eye on
2. Pepper spray 3. Book on jogging stroller fitness (what is there not a book about) 4. Super cool jogging stroller. I must share that he took all of the gifts (minus the stroller) to Bealls and paid them to wrap them because he knew I loved pretty wrapping (mind you none of them were purchased at Bealls). Isn't that so thoughtful and really funny!? The shot below is of our first jog the other day. May I just say that "pre-pregnant" jogging and "post-pregnant" jogging- NOT THE SAME! Still not sure whose body this is... It was really nice to get back out there though. I'll just be glad when it doesn't feel like my stomach is jogging with me.


The last picture is just because I love it... and her.

Rock the Triathlon...

My stud of a husband finished his first triathlon yesterday! It was a sprint distance with a 300 meter swim, 12 mile bike ride, and 5K run. I am so, so proud of him! I had a blast watching him and he did fantastic- especially for a first attempt. Isn't it funny how you forget about certain parts of a person you know well- like a spouse for instance! I mean, I'm quite familiar with the brillant lawyer, master hunter, bookworthy husband and father- but I had truly forgotten that I am married to an elite athlete! I had never experienced watching him in competition before and woo-hoo I could really get used to it... There is just something about cheering for someone you love! I am so excited about the next one and if I wasn't certain that I would die a slow drowning death I might just think of joining him at some point. Land, people, I stick to the land... Way to go Brett- we are crazy proud of you!

Eden's Nine Weeks Old

Highlights:
*She poops without assistance- yeah!
*She LOVES to take a bath and HATES to get out
*She smiles and "talks" all the time
*Still wakes up about every two hours- Boo

It is such a pleasure to be her Mamma!

Happy Birthday to My Favorite...

Yesterday my favorite person in all the world had a birthday...

Brett,

You have given me a life better than I ever imagined- really. I thank God every day that He gave me a person that is SO much more than I deserve and more than I ever wanted...

Thank you -for loving me so selflessly- for working so hard to provide well for our family- for trying to get better at everything you do- for being so patient with me this year- for stopping by the house during the day, just to say hello- for always telling me you think I'm beautiful- for learning to listen to me- for making everything so much fun- for making me laugh hard everyday- and for teaching me the value of silliness. I love you more than I can say.
Happy Birthday!

For Brett's sake I must tell of the Great Deer. Last weekend Brett went with his good friend Dewayne to hunt his family's land in Golthwaite. It was Brett's first time to hunt with a bow and he got this 9 point from less than 20 yards away. You should ask him to tell the story! We are so very proud!

A little bit of Eden...

"Rough Night."

"Big Girl"