Happy Birthday Eden

Eden Meets Steeplechase

So, I still can't upload videos here... boo blogger. But I was successful in uploading them to facebook (well, technically Josh was successful). So check out this link and have a merry Christmas!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=570491124435

Look what Eden Did...

For WEEKS (maybe months) now, we have been working on getting Eden to hold two objects in her hands while playing and then "banging" them together. Every time we gave her a toy, she'd drop what was in her hand to get the next toy... it was almost humorous how she just would NOT hold on the the first toy. Today during physical therapy, we caught Eden holding two toys at the same time! Yahhhhh Eden!  Jenny and I decided that she while she doesn't like to do things on command, if we talk and ignore her, she will do a lot more things:) Now I'm wondering what all she does when I'm not watching! 

These were from our "photo shoot" earlier today...

And then here's what I've been up to:)  Yesterday was a day FULL of cooking, crafting and wrapping. I had a few baby recipes to try for Eden... Here's chicken, apples and sweet potatoes  and Chicken, broccoli and squash... she's tried both (and I actually tried them both) and seemed to like them!

Some fun coasters and journals I made from one of my new favorite books "Last Minute Patchwork Gifts"...

And my first ever handbag... from keykalou... her shop is on etsy... and she has lots of different fun patterns!

For all you cloth diaper mamas...

Here's a quick post for all my cloth diapering friends... Cotton Babies has clearanced Bum Genius 3.0s right now for $12! They have some other styles as well... I just ordered 7 diapers for less than $80 (including shipping).  Poor Eden, getting diapers for Christmas:) (thanks Nana and Papa Joe!)

Christmas at our house...

So we've been busy these past few weeks, getting ready for Christmas. I wish I was doing a better job of blogging, but here's what we have been up to instead:

Exploring the Christmas Tree..

Loving the Christmas tree...

Becoming a drama queen... note the pouty face... she's cutting a few top teeth, so I'll attribute the "drama" to that.

LOVING our Advent calendar Gigi made... here's E opening some spoons:) 

And playing, lots of playing... 

And me, getting sentimental! I always thought it was a silly idea that my parents got us ornaments every year.... well, this year when I put the Christmas tree up, I began to realize how glad I was that I had all those ornaments and decided to start the tradition with E... so I immediately went to etsy to see what I could find and here's what I found. I loved it so much, I returned to this shop and bought a few more items which a few of my readers might be getting for Christmas:) 

I'm staying busy with etsy orders these days... when I'm not with E on the floor, you will probably find me at my craft table sewing or cutting away! Here's some Christmas cards for a sweet friend:

And the beginning of a batch of 15 list takers, yes... 15! I had sold out of all of the ones I had in my shop, so decided to make a whole bunch more: I'll be listing them slowly, so check back... and if you want one you see here, but not in the shop, just ask!

I also just realized that I forgot to update on Eden's evaluation a few weeks ago at Duke... well, it resulted in yet another:) evaluation.... they sent us to Lenox Baker Children's Hospital (its assocaited with Duke) to see their "feeding expert" team which consisted of a feeding therapist and occupational therapist. They spent 2 hours with Eden, watching her eat and play... needless to say it was VERY thourough. Their conclusion was that she doesn't really need feeding therapy!!! They agreed with Dr. Herriott (who I took Eden to see the day before, our pediatrician) in that now she's almost a year old and is transitioning to solids, the number of ounces she takes isn't so important. You don't know who freeing this was for me!!!! For the past few months, I've thought... if I could just feed her solids all day, she'd eat. Well... thats what we're going to do and see how her weight does. So far, she's eating lots! I've already had to go the grocery store an extra time just to get some more food that she could eat. So even though she doesn't need feeding therapy according to Duke, we're going to go back once a month for occupational therapy and feeding "follow-up". I think this is a great plan and am SOOOO glad I got a second opinion on her feeding issues! I definitely won't wait this long next time I feel a second opinion is warrented! 

Okay, Eden's screaming for more cottage cheese... so I must go... but hope you all enjoyed the update! Merry Christmas!

Finally... another update!

We are all three home and together again! Thirteen days apart is long enough! But I have to say, I had a wonderful trip to TN, visiting with everyone and taking some much needed rest - And I'll speak for Josh and say that he had a wonderful trip to Africa and enjoyed his visit with Staci as well. 

Here's a link to his pictures if you want to browse through the few "hundred" he took!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2005292&l=3cc48&id=176300477

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2005224&l=cddc7&id=176300477

Sadly though, Eden and I didn't take many pictures while we were there, so here's all I have to post from our trip:




Not much else is new here... we have another visit at Duke tomorrow for a second opinion on Eden's feeding issues... we'll keep you posted on how it goes. Thanks again for checking on us!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I thought I'd take the chance to update and wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. Eden and I are in TN visiting family and having lots of fun. Our trip started out a little rough when I got the stomach bug... yuk... thankfully my mom was here and took Eden and I slept for 24 hours straight. I am feeling MUCH better though, thankfully! Today, Eden and I went to the 'boro to see Nana and Papa Joe which is always fun and I think we are going to take it easy the rest of the week and enjoy a week with NO doctors appointments:)

Many of you know that Josh is spending the week in Africa hosting Runners Camp!!! (don't worry, he's not attempting this alone, there is a team there!) He sent me a few pictures (which I can't upload right now, but I will later) and it is stunning - they have already had one race and just looking at pictures, I know that he is LOVING his time there already... there's not much he loves more than running!! I read this this morning and thought I would share it here and ask you all to pray for him while he is gone. (Its from John Piper's book, "Pierced by the Word":

Great God of overflowing grace,
move our hearts to pray for
Your saving power among the nations,
Burden us with the plight of people who
have no access to the Gospel,
Grant us to pray big, global
God-sized, Bible-saturated prayers.
Don't let us lose sight of the one lost sheep nearby.
But, O Father, give us a passion for Your
Worldwide purpose to call Your sheep from
every people of the earth.
For the glory of Christ
and in His Name we pray, Amen.

On the ETSY front... I've had lots of sale lately which is very exciting... and I was even more excited this morning when I realized I was featured on a blog I frequently read!!!! The author also happens to be the owner of a fabric shoppe I have bought from.... Check it out by clicking the link below (note... she update much more frequently than me, so you many have to scroll back a few days to find me - I was featured on 11.22.08)

This One's About Eden.

I realized that the past few posts were about my crafts... so I'm dedicating this blog soley to the rightful star! 

Eden has been doing wonderfully since her surgery. We went for her follow last week with Dr. Fuchs and he said she looked great... he was impressed with how much she was using her legs and moving around. We are going to do another MRI in February to make sure everything "inside" is healing properly. 

We've started a new therapy... hearing therapy... though I still don't know exactly what we will be doing... the first two times the therapist came, she just did evaluations and went over those results. So this week should be our first "therapy" session. And I think we're about to let go of feeding therapy. I just don't feel like its doing anything for Eden and its been 5 months or so now that we've been doing feeding therapy... I think we've decided that Eden is just going to have her way when it comes to eating and I must learn not to stress over her weight. I think this might make life a little less stressful for me for a while. 

I've cut back my hours at work to just one day a week. I've wanted to be able to do this for a while, but the timing was finally right when Eden had her last surgery. Things had just gotten so crazy with all her doctors visits and such that even my measly old two days a week was getting a little overwhelming for me. Hopefully this will slow us down a little as well. 

We are all three excited about the next few weeks to come. Eden and I are traveling home to TN for a FEW days. I can't wait!!!! And Josh will be leaving to go to N. Africa with our church. He is very excited and I am excited for him to have this opportunity. Missions is at the center of his heart and I know that it is a little dissappointing to him that we are not going to be on the field ourselves so for him to be able to go for trips like this is such a blessing. Not to mention that he gets to coach a track and field camp for 400-500 little kids! Its been sweet to see the Lord train our hearts on how to be involved in missions even while we are here in the states.

Eden is sitting all by herself these days! She never missed a step with her surgery - if anything she is doing "more" now that she was prior... Makes you wonder... She still topples on occasion, but for the most part will stay upright. Though she is still my cuddler, she is becoming more and more antsy when we are holding her. Josh and I keep saying if she knew how to crawl - she'd be everywhere. A sweet friend at church gave me a new perspective on things this weekend. We were talking about all the obstacles Eden has gone through and the delays she has and she encouraged me to enjoy the time that I have where she is still dependent upon me and to use the time I have now while she's not into everything. She reminded me that many parents would love more time like this with their little ones... since they don't stay this small forever... so for now.. we're just going to enjoy the non-crawling, non-walking, non-backtalking moments! 

And of course, the post wouldn't be complete without a few pictures!

 

Eden enjoying Halloween in her Tutu - she really did wear it all day!

One of my new favorites of my two favorites

Eden eating like she's baby monkey - we thought it was hilarious! Maybe no one else will find it funny, but it was at the moment!

Out for a walk (wish I could say jog... but it was definitely a walk). I LOVE this new skully (josh told me to use this word since I didn't know how to spell tabogan?).

I have lots more pictures, but blogger is being EXTREMELY slow and won't let me load the rest.. so I'm calling it a night and I'll hopefully post more pictures laster this week! 

Craft Fair Success

The Craft Fair was a HUGE success today! Thanks for all who came out and visited. And a very special thanks to all who bought something:) by far the most popular item was the Children's Coloring Wallet - I sold them all within the first two hours and had quite a few people come back to get one only to find them all gone:( If I had only known how popular they would have been, I would have made many more! I don't even think I had the chance to "debut" them on the blog, so I'm taking the opportunity now:





And don't worry - if you didn't get one today, its not too late. I am making more and will have them up on the website soon. And I'll even let you take advantage of the craft sale price ($10) - just mention the sale or my blog in the note to seller when ordering and wait for a revised invoice (or just email me and I'll make you a special listing). Here are a few fabrics I just bought and can't wait to create with. If you see one and want a custom order, just let me know!



Here are a few other pictures from my "shop" today. I wish I had brought my camera to get a picture of the table... oh well, maybe next time. I have a few List Takers left and plenty of card sets (I did sell a lot of cards, but I had about 40 sets to begin with). The ones that I have left will be up on etsy later this week, so be sure to check back soon!

I also wanted to mention a blog I've started following, primarily because I think she's a brilliant crafter and she also takes amazing pictures of her crafts! She just so happens to be the designer of these List Takers and Coloring Wallets (she has the tutorials available for purchase on her etsy site). She is having a giveaway on her blog for one of her handmade quilts!! I'd love to win a pink, brown and orange one for Eden.... check out her blog if you have a free minute (or two or three).  www.jchandmade.typepad.com and www.jcasa.etsy.com

In Case You Were Wondering...

So in case you were wondering what we've been up to since we got home... I thought I'd post a few pictures and let them speak for themselves:) 

Playing in PJs and a tutu, because EVERYTHING is more fun with a Tutu on!

Eden now knows how to feed herself... she actually started this in the hospital. She's no pro yet, but is sure does keep her entertained!

Being a happy girl... because she is just that sweet!

First Time brushing her teeth... well, as much brushing you can do with two "barely there" teeth! But my mom would be proud. 

And here's where all my crafting mess happens... and at least for this week, the mess stays!

I'll have more pictures later... especially after Friday - I think I'm going to let E wear her halloween costume all day since she won't get to wear it otherwise. And once I get all my crafts done for the craft fair this weekend, I will be sure to post some pictures!