Eden Amelia is Eleven Months Old!

Ahhh, Eden will be a year old in ONE MONTH!  I cannot express to you how quickly this year has flown by.  But if you have children, you probably understand.

My sweet girl is such a joy!  I am so overwhelmed by what a blessing she is.  It's no secret that the first several months of her life were quite challenging and being a parent will never be a cake walk but lately, it's become so very evident just how very worth it all the tears, sleepless nights (and days), and struggles are.

Eleven Months Old

Not sure of her current weight, length or head circumference.

Foot Size:  4.1 inches (we measured because it's time for her to start wearing shoes!)

Amount of Teeth:  Two with two coming in!

Activity:  Crawling, pulling up and standing holding on, playing with toys, pulling things out of boxes and putting them back in, banging toys together, playing instruments, dancing (rocking back and forth), clapping and putting her hands up in the air to "Praise the Lord."

Saying: Dada, Mama, Nana, "Digga digga" or something like that, haha and lots of other gibberish.

We are very much enjoying getting out of the house here lately.  Eden LOVES playing with other kids and their toys.  She also tends to do a lot better if we get out of the house for a change of scenery.  I'm glad we have that in common!  I've been off for the last 5 days (7 if you don't count the brief 4 hour shift I worked last Saturday evening).  We've gone out every day!

A lot of my time has been consumed with planning Eden's 1st birthday party.  I may love party planning a bit too much.  I realize that she won't remember it and it really isn't necessary to make a huge deal out of it but I can't help it.  I just love parties.  I'm trying to keep myself in check but we'll see…

Here are some cute pics from the past month or so!

Looking cute after getting down from riding on Mommy's back.

Playing with her friend, Aubrey.

Eating some yummy spaghetti!

Uncle Patchy came to visit and we gave him his Christmas presents from us and Aunt Rachel's family.

Enjoying playing with the wrapping and tissue paper.

Laughing at Uncle Patchy.

Crazy hair, don't care!

Jeff and I got to go to Norfolk on the first Saturday of the year to see one of our favorite bands, Mae, on their 10th Anniversary tour.  It was so nice.  We are so thankful my sister watched Eden for us.

Mae

Eden LOVES our cats.  Josie is too stubborn to run away when Eden tries to "pet" her sometimes.

Just looking cute in her high chair.

Eden's friend, Aubrey, turned 1 year old on January 11th and we went to her adorable party!

Aubrey getting ready to smash her cake!

 

Playing at the birthday party.

Eden's other friend, Xander! (We went to his first birthday party, too, but I didn't get any pictures that day).

Red, chapped cheeks but still happy!

Strawberry butt!

Mmmm, banana!

Trying on some sunglasses at the craft store the other day.

Happy New Year!

We're already two weeks into the new year and I'm just now getting my New Year blog post up, but hey, we still have 50 more weeks of this year, so that's really not that bad, huh?

I'm the type of person who makes resolutions every single year.  Shoot, I make resolutions every week!  I thrive off of new beginnings because I desire a clean slate and a fresh start over and over and over again.  And I see nothing wrong with this.  His mercies are new every morning and I can claim them over and over (and over and over and over) again.  Praise God!

So, what resolutions did I make this year?

• To stop drinking soda (or at least stop being addicted to it),
• To stop being addicted to sweets, desserts, sugary foods, etc.,
• To eat cleaner and healthier, and
• To blog more (most likely about food).

Do you notice a trend?  It's no secret that food is at the forefront of my thoughts and plays a huge part in my everyday life.  Of course, we need food to survive, but I have developed some seriously bad habits and attitudes when it comes to food.  I want to get back to eating for sustenance and I want to get serious about what I put into my body.  To be really honest, it all stemmed from my stance on vaccines.  As I've thought more about refusing to put harmful substances in my body, I've been more convicted about the food substances I'm putting in my body every day.  1 Corinthians 6:19 says, "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?"  I really feel that I am doing my family a disservice if I don't make a commitment to eating healthier.  Being an example to my child(ren) has been the strongest motivation I've ever had!

Now, when it comes to blogging more, it sort of ties in with what I talked about above in that I want to share some of my new ideas and recipes with all of you.  But also, I thoroughly enjoy baking/cooking and I really enjoy blogging so why not blog about the things I cook and bake?  So, for my very first cooking post, I am going to tell you how I make turkey noodle soup.

The first time I made turkey noodle soup was right after Thanksgiving of 2013.  We had a lot of leftover turkey and I did not want to eat a bunch of turkey sandwiches or make turkey hash.  So, I looked on Pinterest, of course, and found a very simple recipe for turkey noodle soup.  We made it a handful of times last winter and tweaked it each time.  This was my first time making it this winter and I had to remind myself of ingredients and portions because I tend to repeatedly make the mistake of not writing down my recipes.  It's also been a collaborative effort between me and The Bean so I don't always remember his contribution.  Anyhow, let's cut to the chase.

Turkey Noodle Soup 

First, gather your ingredients.  You will need the following:

• 4 carrots
• 1 medium onion (I used yellow)
• 2 ribs celery
• Olive oil, or oil/butter of choice (not pictured)
• 5 cups turkey stock (or chicken or vegetable stock/broth)*
• 1 cup water (not pictured)
• 2 cups uncooked wide egg noodles (I use whole wheat "egg" noodles)
• 2 cups chopped, cooked turkey
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper (more or less to taste)
• thyme (not pictured) and/or any other spices you want to include (suggestions: marjoram, basil, bay leaves, parsley, poultry seasoning, etc.)

*I used bouillon cubes instead of turkey stock.  I find it easier to have them on hand.  Just follow the directions on the package.

Then, prep your veggies.  I like to chop everything pretty small.

Heat oil/butter on the stovetop in a sauté pan.  Add carrots, celery and onion and cook until slightly softened, about 4 minutes.  

Place stock, water, turkey, vegetables, pepper and spices in a large saucepan or stock pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer approximately 15 minutes until vegetables are tender.  Add noodles and continue cooking about 7 minutes until noodles are tender.  

Spoon into bowls and enjoy!  Yummy with grilled cheese (which I recommend using muenster cheese), crackers, or bread.  

*Please ignore the formatting on this post.  Blogger is being annoying and I don't have the energy to try and fix it. 

Eden's First Christmas!

We had a great Christmas with lots of time spent with family.  Beforehand, I really gave a lot of thought to what traditions I wanted to start with Eden and came up with a lot of good ideas.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to implement many of them.  We were super busy!  I did decide to start some traditions when it came to gifts.  On Christmas Eve, we gave Eden some new Christmas pajamas, two Christmas books, and a blanket.  All of them were incorporated into her bedtime routine.  Unfortunately, she was sick and threw up after a coughing fit all over her new pajamas.  Thankfully, I was able to have them clean and dry before the next morning.  As for her actual gifts, we gave her a stocking and then did the "Something she wants, something she needs, something to wear, something to read."  We got her this Toddler music band for the "something she wants," this bath toy organizer for "something she needs," this and another coat for the "something to wear," and these Sandra Boynton books for the "something to read."

We enjoyed spending time with all (well, most) of our extended family.  On the Sunday prior to Christmas, Jeff's mom, sisters, brother-in-law, and nieces and nephew came over.  We had a big dinner  with the traditional holiday spread (I kept thinking it was Thanksgiving, haha).  I and gotten a free turkey from work and since we didn't use it for Thanksgiving, I wanted to cook it for Christmas! After dinner, we exchanged gifts.  Eden was super adorable opening her very first gift from her Nana.  She actually did a really good job considering she's only 10 months old!  Unfortunately, I didn't get too many good pics from this day.

Cousin Mercy doing some Pilates.

Blurry Virgil and Hazel posing for a pic.

Unfortunately, Eden started with some mild congestion and a little cough on Saturday evening.  Sunday, it turned into what was obviously croup.  We were supposed to leave on Monday to head to my Parents' but I ended up having to take Eden to an urgent care place to get her some steroids.  She was never all that sick but we figured it was better to go ahead and take the steroids to prevent it getting worse while we were out of town.  Needless to say, it was not a very fun experience.  Thankfully, we just had a few rough nights of coughing and throwing up and restless sleep but we were still able to go to my parents' and enjoy time with family.

My pitiful looking sick baby.

Taking a nap on the way to Nanny and Poppy's.

Feeling better and hanging out with Poppy.

 That day, we had breakfast as a family (minus one sister and my brother, sad times) and exchanged gifts.  Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures.  (Having a baby has really made me slack off in the picture-taking department).

Wednesday, Christmas Eve, we had a lazy morning and then went to my grandmother's house to celebrate with extended family (lots and lots and lots of extended family).

Hanging out with Nanny at Brebre's house (Brebre is my grandma).

Playing with my fun new toys!

Blurry picture of the active babies!

My nieces with Eden.  They are enamored with her.

That evening, we came home and opened Eden's Christmas Eve gifts that I mentioned earlier.  We took our time getting her ready for bed and read her new Christmas books to her.

Me & my baby girl on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Day, Eden & I got up around 8am when she woke up for the day.  Nanny & Poppy were at my sister's house having breakfast with them and watching the girls open their gifts.  We waited for them to come home.  Then, we had blueberry waffles and Eden opened her stocking and gifts from Mommy, Daddy, and Santa.

My grandmother, "Gran" or "Hootie," got Eden a stocking to match the one she got for Jeff several years ago. Then, I bought myself one to match theirs.

She loved the little balls she got in her stocking.
One lights up, and the others make noise or have a little picture or something inside.

Seriously, so. much. fun.

Opening another gift!

All smiles.

Enjoying my new instruments with Daddy!

That night, we headed back to Lynchburg and went straight to Robin's house (Jeff's sister).  Jeff's dad was in town and we wanted to hang out with (almost) the whole family.  Unfortunately, they had to eat dinner without us because Eden took an epic nap that day (four hours long).  In hindsight, I probably should've just woken her up and gotten on the road earlier but oh well, it is what it is!

Cousins, Mercy & Eden playing.

FaceTiming with family in New Jersey.

Adorable girls.  Eden wasn't too big on having her picture taken that night.  Haha!

Still not amused.  Silly girl.

After getting Eden to bed that evening, Jeff and I had a nice quiet time exchanging stockings and gifts.  Then, we hung out on the couch listening to my new CD.  It was very relaxing.

Adorable little ornament Jeff got me.

And my new Copeland CD.  So wonderful.  

He also got me a charm for my bracelet and some cute cases for my iPhone.  I got him pretty boring stuff not really worth mentioning.  Heh.

Last, I'll leave you with a few pics from the next day…the aftermath, if you will.

Eden trying on one of her new hats!  We are all set for cold weather!

All our new blessings underneath the tree.

Eden has several new toys and she would rather play with the boxes and old wrapping paper.
  (I'm not surprised but it's still funny).