i've moved...

okay, okay... so not literally, but the blog has. it was time to move sites for multiple reasons. go ahead, hop over there and check it out - let me know what you think. there are a few posts you can catch up on, including a new photo of Eden! That is, if anyone ever still reads this thing:)

truthinmypocket.wordpress.com

the flouncy bag...

For Christmas I got a few new crafting books, one of which was One Yard Wonders. I've been thumbing through it 'oohing and ahhing' over all the projects. I the this crazy idea to try and work my way through it this year, but we'll see how many projects I can actually get done!


Well, here's my first project from the book! The Flouncy Bag immediately caught my eye and I knew it would be my first project. I found some amazing fabric at Joann's, of all places! While the pattern was incredibly easy to make, there were errors in it - luckily I found the errata web page prior to starting, but I still think the corrections posted were wrong. I wasn't able to get all the pieces cut from the one yard of fabric, so I used some linen I had on hand for the interior and the top part. Actually though, I'm glad i did because I love the contrast and I think it gives it a vintage feel. I even had this AMAZING vintage button that I had been saving for the right project and added it for a bit of embellishment. Overall - LOVED this project and will definitely be making another one soon, since this one is on its way to a special birthday girl! She better like it, because I definitely didn't want to part with it!

a day at the fair...

I know it sounds crazy, but the Florida State Fair is held in February! Eden's Deaf and Heard of Hearing class was taking a field trip there today, so we decided to all go along. I was pretty excited, despite working the night before. I guess I was hoping for cool rides and wonderful weather - neither of which I found there :(

Don't get me wrong - we had a good time, but we didn't last long. For starters, I didn't layer Eden enough (hence the pink cheeks and runny nose in photo above!) and I didn't even grab myself a coat! It was raining. Apparently you have to be 36 inches to ride ALL of the rides. And Josh couldn't find a deep friend snickers. We did manage to sneak her onto the Carousel, though she wasn't too sure about the horses going up and down. Josh did ride a crazy ride. And we found a petting zoo that Eden got really excited about. Somehow I didn't get any pictures of the petting zoo.





Hopefully next year Eden will be at least 36 inches, it will be 70 degrees and Josh can find his deep fried snickers.

I've been up to some crafting this week... post to follow soon!

a few shots of the day...

kissing herself in the mirror (i know, gross, its a public park) ...



first action shot yet ...




loving the slide ...




telling daddy how much fun she had and its time for lunch ...




topping the morning off with Greek food for lunch ...




The amount of fun she had + waking up at 5:30 for no apparent reason explains the 3 1/2 hour nap she took in the afternoon!

delightful sounds...

We've been working on getting Eden enrolled in a Kindermusik class for a while now. We found out through her Deaf and Hard of hearing teacher that there is a Kindermusik class that is taught in conjunction with ASL, called Delightful Sounds. Today was Eden's first class and it was wonderful! Jodi (Eden's early interventionist in Raleigh) always talked about Kindermusik and how great it was - we even attended her daughter's Kindermusik Birthday party when Eden was much younger. At that point she wasn't too responsive to the music and while I thought it was exciting, Eden didn't seem to be that impressed! Today was different. From the moment we walked in, she was so curious about everything there - mostly the other kids. We moved from song to fingerplay, to dancing to playing instruments, to story time - and with each task she was so excited, giggling, following directions and mostly watching all her newfound friends! I can't wait for our class next week!



I treated her to lunch out (ahem... IKEA) since she did so well and I had been up for more than 24 hours and didn't really feel like fixing lunch! We both went home and took a nice nap!

finally some time for crafting...

I have finally had some time for crafting in the past few weeks... much needed crafting to be exact. At the beginning of the year, I began to reevaluate my etsy shop and decided that at this season in life, going full force with the etsy shop is not really an option. I have a long list of sewing projects I would love to complete, but (un)fortunately, I had tons of business in my etsy shop and I never had any time to complete them. I will still keep the etsy shop open, but I will only be listing ready made items and one custom listing at a time.



That being said, here was my first project I finished a few weeks ago. I bought Anna Maria Horner's Seams to Me, 24 Reasons to Love Sewing last year and had earmarked this project. I loved the fact that it used so many different pieces of fabric, since I can never decide on ONE! Maybe that's why she named it the "I'll Have One of Everything Bag". While it was a fairly easy pattern to navigate, it did take me a total of 4 hours to finish - four, uninterrupted hours. I was certainly tired at the end, but so excited about the finished product! I think my favorite feature is the braided handles, but if I ever make another one, I will revise it so its not so pointy!




Hope you have a had a wonderful week - I'll be back this week with more pictures of Eden!

pirates...

So, apparently, in Tampa, every January they celebrate pirates. We decided to join in the celebration, along with our pastors families, of course! What can be better than a whole town dressing up like pirates? A real pirate ship? Fireworks over the water? 70 degree weather in the dead of winter? Need I go on?

Yesterday was the Gasparilla Children's Parade (I'm differentiating between the *real* Gasparilla Parade which is apparently is pretty scandalous!). It was such a great event in our city - a three hour parade down Bayshore Boulevard, complete with all kettle corn, plastic swords, beads, and fireworks! My only regret is that I didn't know in enough advance to make Eden a pirate costume... but I'm positive we will attend again next year and she will have quite the costume.





More than the pirates, I think Eden enjoyed her first ride in Abigail's wagon. As soon as Justin (our pastor) started pulling the wagon, she started laughing hysterically! She couldn't get enough.. and I think Abigail didn't know what to do with her! I tried to catch it on video, but by the time I got my phone our, she had slowed down on the laughing... but you can catch the tail end of it here.


And just for the record - we may have endured the worst heat this summer, but I'm totally LOVING this Florida winter weather - it really doesn't get any better!

Signing Time

If you spend any amount of time at our house, you're likely to catch an episode of "Signing Time". Ms. Alison, Eden's early interventionist here introduced us to this amazing little series of videos when she started working with us. They have been so instrumental in our WHOLE family learning ASL.... and when I say whole, I mean all of us - when we get a new video, we all sit down and watch it, learning a new set of words in our new found language.

We never really set out to learn ASL, just enough to get us by until Eden learned to talk. Our mindset changed this summer though when Eden started signing and we were able to communicate with her for the first time. We bought a book - teach yourself to sign, but it was pretty much useless as Signing is a hands on language, and really, how much "signing" can you learn from a book? A video though, now thats a grand idea! Nevermind that it was intended for children, it has taught Josh and I so much of the language!

I know there are many theories behind teaching hearing impaired children to sign - and I've even had an SLP (speech pathologists) tell me not to sign to her b/c I will impair her auditory skills and her ability to speak, but I've seen the benefits of signing to Eden and how much it has helped her communicate what she wants and needs, and Oh, you should see her face when "signing time" comes on - it really is the most adorable thing you've ever seen - and then to see her "sign babble" with Alex and Leah (the two kids on the program) - its hilarious! LOVE IT!

walking...

I know Eden, we are excited too:)

Eden has taken her first steps! I think a few tears of joy were shed after the first few steps were taken, but I still can't get over seeing her wabbling around! For a few weeks now, she has been crawling over the bottom step, climbing up to sit on it, then signing "help", eagerly looking for me or Josh to come stand in front of her to help her walk. Then one day, she got so excited, she went for it and walked all the way from the stairs to the door where I was sitting, clapping and coaxing her on! I'm sure most of you have already seen it, but in case you haven't - you can see a video of it here:) CLICK .

I'll be back blogging more next week with a few crafting projects hopefully:) I'm hoping to have some more crafting posts this year, along with more photos of Eden, of course!

Baby Girl Turns TWO!

That's right, baby girl turned two on Saturday! I can hardly believe my baby is TWO already! Where, oh where, does the time go?




We had a wonderful Christmas! Gigi and PopPop came in town for a few days and we had lots of fun spending time with them, not to mention the countless trips to IKEA and games of Banagrams!





Although I hardly ever make new years resolutions (primarily because I am so bad at keeping them), I've got a few on my list this year, including keeping this blog a little more updated:) Oh, and have I mentioned that Eden is standing some by herself!

Happy Halloween

Happy *belated* Halloween from the Carrolls:)

And until I figure out how to upload video to blogger, visit these links for these adorable videos of Eden.

You've been warned... there are no photos of E in this one:)

I have managed to find some time to craft lately, I know... surprising! Its amazing what a little crafting can do for my stress level! I will start by saying, when we moved, I quickly realized there was little crafting space in this "small" apartment of ours and was quite disappointed when my five day a week job left me NO time to sew. After a little rearranging and changing jobs, my life now seems a little more balanced as the sewing machine has found its rightful place back in to my home!

I've got a few new Bible covers in the shop, including my own personal favorite (which just so happens to be on my Bible right now). This one is made from a vintage 1940s Wedding Ring Quilt bought HERE. Go ahead, hop on over and check them out! CLICK HERE





I'm also working on a bunch of TRUTHlets that will be displayed at a craft show in TN (thanks Mom!) in November (details to follow for all you Tennesseans).

Enjoy the week, hopefully I'll be back soon with more pictures of the *not so little* girl!

Pigtails = Big Girl!

I'm not sure how well my math is, but we discovered pigtails this week and already, she's looking more like a big girl!

Working on the Parallel Bars for PT

Many of you have heard, but in case you haven't - we received WONDERFUL news from Eden's Neurosurgeon here! We met with Dr. Tuite last week and he reviewed her chart, repeated her MRI and reassured us that her surgery Dr. Fuchs did in February has done its job of keeping the fluid stable and some areas even appeared to be smaller than her previous scans! Praise to God! I have to admit, I was a little surprised when he shared the good news with us. We have prayed so much for healing, I had convinced myself that she would need another surgery. I know its probably a lack of faith, but every other scan has lead us to the OR, so I expected another surgery and for the Lord to heal her through surgery. I can't even begin to describe the emotions in my heart when Dr. Tuite said the MRI looked great and that if she makes it to 1 year past her surgery with no fluid accumulation, the chances of her needing a shunt in the future are small!

Not much else new here... just wishing for a piece of NC and TN fall:) Pumpkin Spice Latte + 90 degrees does not equal fall!

And a few pictures from our weekly visit to the park:

new table, new skirt, new skill

Gigi and PopPop bought E a new little table when they were here... she absolutely LOVES sitting at her table! When we are in her room playing, she will crawl right up to it and do the sign for "help" - precious!

I've had this fabric for a while now, and have been saving it for a new skirt for baby girl... it makes me think of fall (which I'm eagerly awaiting!). For some *crazy* reason, it also makes me think of this dress I had growing up which makes me laugh:)

And her new skill - Miss Jenny would be proud! She is learning to bend down and pick things off the floor when she's standing... its adorable to watch her try to so hard and be so proud of herself when she is able to pick it up!

Oh, I love this little one... more later... I'm pooped... today was my first day at the hospital and I'm back tomorrow night!

its been a long day...

"More"? Maybe tomorrow, Eden, Mommy's tired...

lots to say

It seems Eden has had a lot to say both "vocally and with sign. She's taken off with the sign language the past few weeks! Her vocabulary now consists of "more", "all done", "help" and we're working on "thank you". I've found myself saying the words over and over just to watch her make the sign and look at me so proudly! I have prayed so much for the ability to communicate. There were definitely times in the past year I wondered if I would ever get to communicate with her, thinking she would never catch on to this whole signing thing, but its so amazing to see how the Lord has continued to prove faithful in her development! She's also got her own little language as well - even though it only includes the consonants "m" and "n". It seems like she can make a hundred different sounds just from those to letters and her vowels! Talent, I tell you!

Eden had her evaluation last week for therapy services here. We're going to start speech/hearing therapy and physical therapy soon and I am so glad! We're praying for our therapist that will be placed in our home. We were blessed with the most amazing therapists in Raleigh, I can't imagine any better ones! This was one of the hardest things for me to give up before we moved, was not knowing who are therapists would be when we got here. But, God knows and I know that He will provide the way He has all along!

Many of you may have heard by now, but I'm changing jobs! The job I was (and will be for two more weeks) was such a blessing to have for our move and obviously God's provision in helping us get to Tampa. It wasn't however, a job I enjoyed, nor a job I wanted to do long-term. Sitting behind a cubicle, staring a computer screen was not my forte. I had been talking with a recruiter at the children's hospital and they were hiring for their Peds Oncology/Hematology/Bone Marrow Transplant unit. Um, yes, I would like that job please! So I interviewed and was offered the job last week. I start on Sept 14th and am so excited to get my feet back into the hospital. There's just something about hospital nursing I have always been attracted to and love this aspect of nursing more than any other I tried my hand at!

Enjoy the pictures, more to come early next week - we're planning a morning trip to the beach tomorrow - hopefully I don't forget my camera:)

And yes, she's started the doll phase!

holland...

a dear friend of ours sent me this video yesterday. what sweet perspective it gives...

http://www.cflparents.org/presentations/holland/index.htm

(in order to view, you have to select an option from the drop down box, but you do not have to give an email)

from frowns to smiles...

I'm not even sure why she was mad at me here... maybe because I was making her practice standing from the chair, but this was the face I got...

And as soon as the pouty face came, this face appeared.... oh my, she's approaching two too quickly.