Eden Amelia has a Secret!

Eden has some exciting news she's been anxious to share for the past few weeks (OK, not really…truth is she doesn't grasp concepts too well yet and she really has no idea what she's getting herself into, but…she has news nonetheless)…

Jeff & I are really thrilled about this new addition to our family.  We had a photo shoot with Heather of  Kidd Photography this afternoon to share our joyous announcement with the world.  Unfortunately, taking pictures with a toddler can be really stressful.  Especially when said toddler didn't get a long enough nap.  Thankfully, with a little patience and a lot of chocolate, she got at least a few good pics!  I'm sure there are more where these came from, as well.

Eden Amelia is 18 Months Old!

Today, August 23, was Eden's half birthday!  It's been a while since I've done an Eden update so I'm hoping I can squeeze everything in that I want to share with you all.

Words, pictures and short little videos cannot really express what a joy Eden is right now.  For those of you who have the privilege of interacting with her know that she is just so much fun and the cutest thing ever.  Not to say that parenting her isn't without its challenges because she does continue to be whiny and clingy at times, disliking sleep with a passion, and generally, just a toddler (tantrums, etc.).  But the good definitely outweighs the bad and when I can keep a level head about things (a.k.a. when I get adequate sleep), life is pretty great.  Some particularly cute things she does right now are say "cheese" anytime she sees an iPhone and wants her picture taken, scrunch her nose up in a cute little face, say "wee" anytime she's rocking in her rocking chair or some other fun activity, say "please" in the most adorable way, bark anytime she hears or sees a dog, and pat her baby dolls (or anything really) and say "shhh."  I'm sure there are many more but that's all I can think of for now.  Her language has exploded in the last two months and she has a vocabulary of about 25 words.  In addition to exclamations like "wee," "uh oh," and "ow," she says Mommy, Daddy, Nanny, Poppy, Nana, Pop, Mallory, Ollie (my parents' dog), teeth, night night, cheese, yummy, hi, hello (which sounds more like "o"), bye, eyes, shoes, owl, pee pee, tattoo, ball, baby, please, trash, and bug.  She can sign "more" and "all done."

She's very bright and does little things that amaze me and Jeff.  She notices every little detail and is not easily tricked.  She loves to sing and dance.  She continues to dislike riding in the car but does okay if I sing to her.  We have quite the repertoire of songs.  Her favorites currently are "Wheels on the Bus," "The ABC song," and "Old McDonald Had a Farm" where she joins in and says "e-i-e-i-o."  She also continues to thoroughly enjoy being read to.  Her current favorite books are "Pajama Time" by Sandra Boynton and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle.  She also continues to love "100 First Words" and "Peek-a-Who?"

Eden had her 18 month checkup at the doctor on Friday and other than a few little skin issues, she is super healthy.  She is in the 50th percentile for weight and height at 24 1/2 pounds and 31 1/2 inches respectively.  Her head circumference is 19 1/2 inches which is greater than 97th percentile.  Apparently this would be concerning if there wasn't a family history of huge heads but Jeff and I both have pretty big noggins, especially Jeff.  LOL.

I have lots of pictures to share since I haven't done a picture update in several months.  (They are in no particular order because Blogger hates me).  Enjoy!

Eden at her 18 month check-up the other day!

Being silly looking at Mommy through the window!

Eden and her great-grandma, "Hootie"

Looking at Daddy out the window this time. Pretty girl.

Saying "cheese" while holding both of her baby dolls.

Hanging out in the doggie bed.

We had fun playing with Brianna and her puppy, Shadow!

Painting with water.

Riding the horsey at Nanny's house.

Playing on a playground in Harrisonburg.

Sitting with her friend, Aubrey.

Visiting her great, great aunt, Marjorie, for the last time.

Selfie with Aunt Marjorie.

Giving kisses to Hootie.

Sitting in her little rocking chair.

Saying cheese while looking adorable all ready for bed.

Trying on a hat at Aunt Marjorie's house.

Riding on Daddy's shoulders at Target.

Wearing her ladybug bikini.

Hanging out on the steps at our friend's pool.

Playdate with friends, Aubrey and Xander.

Sitting with cousins Karly and Mallory.

This is quite possibly the cutest picture I've ever seen.  I can't get over her smile and her hands.

Chicken Fajitas with Homemade Seasoning

I don't know about you guys but we love some Mexican around here.  About a year or so ago, I started making our own taco seasoning to avoid the preservatives in the packaged kind.  It's very easy and so tasty!  I may do a different post with some other seasoning mixes I've done but for now, I'm going to share my fajita seasoning mix and my recipe for chicken fajitas.  I'm really not much of an artist when it comes to cooking but this is a recipe that is my own.  I used a few recipes on Pinterest as a foundation and tweaked it to our liking.  It's super simple and very yummy.  The prep--cutting the vegetables and chicken--takes the most time.  Everything else is very quick!

First, mix up your fajita seasoning.  This makes enough for more than one batch (for lack of a better term) so I mix it all up and store it in a mason jar.

Fajita Seasoning

2 1/2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4-1/2 tsp salt

Fajitas

1 to 1 1/2 lb. chicken, in strips
1 large onion, diced or sliced
2-3 bell peppers of varying colors, in strips
4 oz mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbsp olive or grape seed oil
approx. 1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp (or more, to taste) fajita seasoning mix

Prep all your vegetables and chicken.

Place oil in skillet (or wok) on stovetop on medium-high heat.  Cook chicken and vegetables until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender crisp, stirring frequently.  I like to add the mushrooms a little later than the onion and peppers because they tend to cook a little faster.

Add water and seasoning mix and stir everything together well.  Cover and simmer for about 10-15 minutes (so the meat and veggies can soak up all the yummy spices).

I like to heat our tortilla shells on a plate covered with plastic wrap in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Serve with cheese, salsa, sour cream (or substitute plain Greek yogurt for a healthier alternative), avocado, etc.

Make your family smile.

For a Love of Reading

It's been about four months since my last blog post.  The main reason for that is because in mid-May, I discovered the most wonderful book series I've ever read.  I proceeded to spend the following eight weeks completely engrossed in reading.  Since I finished, I've been going through withdrawals and doing what I can to keep the characters alive.  The first book has been made into a television series so I've been watching episodes of that and I also started to re-read the whole series from start to finish (much slower this time).  The actual book series is not the main point of this blog post, though I most definitely have plenty to say about it.  The point is that after many years of not reading for pleasure, for one reason or another, I've finally been able to read for pleasure again.  It's like finding a part of myself that I didn't know was lost.  One drawback to this wonderful book series is that it may take me a while to get back out there and read anything else.  It's like I don't want to date anymore because I want to be in a monogamous relationship with these books. LOL.  I know I'm crazy.  You don't have to tell me.

This book series actually isn't what got me back into reading.  Rather, I was reading old blog posts by a new friend of mine over at bam.  She wrote a post a few years ago reviewing several books she had read that year.  Since it seemed that she and I had similar taste in books, I decided to get back into reading by selecting a few of these books and starting to read again!  I also took the plunge and downloaded the Kindle app on my iPhone and iPad which makes reading on-the-go much easier.  

I will give a brief run-down of the books I've read in case anyone is looking for something good to read.  In the order that I ready them,

The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald - This was a fun, short little novel with some fantasy and fairy-tale elements.  It is written in such a way that a very wide-range of ages may enjoy it.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan - This is part of a series but I haven't read any of the subsequent books.  I'm not sure I will.  It was good but not really good enough to keep reading.  It's directed towards a younger audience.  If you enjoy mythology, you'll like this book.  I never did well when learning about Greek mythology in school so I constantly found myself having to refresh my memory of all the gods and goddesses in order to fully understand and appreciate all the nuances of the story.

The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - I don't think I need to say much about these books as most everyone is familiar with them.  I was quite engrossed with this series and read all three books very quickly.  I did not find these to be light reading and they were a bit disturbing but all in all, I did enjoy them.  I liked the first two more than the third.

Finally, the book series I alluded to at the beginning of this post is the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon consisting of eight books:  Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, Drums of Autumn, The Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, An Echo in the Bone, and Written in My Own Heart's Blood.  My mom told me about the television series but I shrugged it off knowing I never have time to watch TV (not to mention, it airs on Starz which we do not subscribe to).  Then, a breastfeeding page I follow on Facebook mentioned an episode where one of the characters has recently had a baby and has to hand express breast milk for her comfort when emergently taken away from her newborn.  Some comments on this post mentioned "the books" and I was instantly intrigued.  I did very little research, only finding out that it was a very long series, before plunging in and immersing my whole body, mind and spirit.  I was particularly excited about the length of the books and the fact that there were so many of them because I figured they would keep me occupied for a very long time and I wouldn't have to worry about that depression one sinks into when finished with a really good series.  Alas, I read all eight books in eight weeks and slumped into the deepest post-series depression I've ever descended into.  The only positive, which is also kind of a negative, is that the author is working on a ninth book.  This is great because I know the story goes on.  But it's bad because it will not be out for several years at the least and I may go crazy with waiting.  I may dedicate a whole blog post to a review and my thoughts and feelings on these books someday but for now, if you enjoy historical fiction and an epic love story, go pick up Outlander (or download it to your eReader) ASAP!  I have a couple of other disclaimers before you actually get into the books so feel free to comment or shoot me a message if you're seriously considering reading this series.  These disclaimers aren't meant as deterrents to reading, but rather preparation for what you're getting yourself into.  Haha.  

Looooong overdue picture update and a few fun facts about Eden!

So, I was scrolling back through the last few entries and realized that there are a BUNCH of pictures from the last several months that I haven't posted! So, this will be quite the undertaking but I am setting out to share the best of the best since mid-January or so.

First, a few new things Eden has been doing lately. I think I will start with my favorite:

When we sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" she puts her little fingers together to try and do the motions.  I wish I had it on video but I have yet to be able to capture it since she's enamored with my phone and forgets what she's doing the moment she sees it.  Believe me, it's cute!

The other adorable thing she's been doing for the past couple of weeks is blowing on her food as if it's hot.  She obviously got this from me.  It's really quite amazing how quickly kids pick up on things.  The funny thing is she doesn't usually blow on the food if it is actually hot because she's too anxious to eat it.  It's not usually until she's had several bites and the food has had a chance to cool down that she decides she should blow on it.  In that same vein, she's using utensils more and more these days and it's super cute.

I'm sure I've mentioned how obsessed with our cats she is but a few weeks ago, she started cuddling with them.  She'll go up beside them and lay her head on them as if they're a pillow.  They're not really huge fans of it but Josie mostly tolerates it.  Wyatt makes his getaway before she gets too close to pull any hair (which she, unfortunately, often does).  I did snap a pic of this when she first did it but it was dark so it's grainy.

Lastly, Eden is in love with going outside.  She's always been a pretty big fan but since the weather has gotten nicer and we've been going out more often, she wants to go out ALL. THE. TIME.  Sometimes, we'll just go out on the back deck and blow some bubbles or something and she begs to go out constantly…even if it's raining or cold.  She's a lot like our crazy cats in that aspect.

Please enjoy lots of pictures!

Bedhead!

Playdate with Xander!

Eating rice a roni from a bowl like a big girl!

Yum!  Chicken soft taco! (This didn't last long…she still prefers to eat all the constituents separately).

Riding the fire engine at Grand Home Furnishings while Mommy & Daddy picked out a new sectional.

My first time "playing" in the snow! (I wasn't a huge fan).

But I look cute!

Hehe.

Just looking really cute in my new pajamas.

Playing at Chick-Fil-A on the way to Florida.

Sitting in the rocking chair at Cracker Barrel like a big girl!

Having fun at the park!

All of the cousins at my Papa's memorial service.

Playing with water on the back deck on a very warm day in March!

Playing with cousins, Karly & Mallory, at Chick-Fil-A on the way to Florida.

My first time at the park (in Florida).

Beautiful baby fell asleep on the way to dinner.

Hanging out with friends, Xander & Elise, at a playdate at the park!

Sporting my adorable raincoat and the cutest smile!

My sisters and brother at my Papa's memorial service.

Eden and her cousins, Mallory and Kenzey.  They love Jeff!

Making a mess with spaghetti.  What fun!

Looking cute in my Easter PJ's.

Playing at Amazement Square.

Riding the John Deere tractor at Amazement Square.

I love my "new" shoes so I asked Mommy to put them on me even though I was still in my pajamas.

Playing with Kaydon in his hospital bed after he got a life-saving kidney transplant from his Dad 6 days prior.