Baking Cookies

This is from back in late August or early September.  Eden helped me make a batch of cookies.  We had a really good time together and I feel like I always forget to take pics of the special little moments that make it all worthwhile.  This was one of them.  She was so cute.  She would count out the amounts of things and loved putting the ingredients in the bowl and watching it mix it all up!  I had a blast with her and hope that she will enjoy baking with me more as she gets bigger.  

Cullen LOVES to bake cookies and always has.  One of these times I will have to get a picture of me and him too because he is just as special to me!

Are You Freaking Kidding ME!?!?!?

Today is one of THOSE days.  I wish there was some kind of "out of order" sticker that I could slap on my forehead for days like these.  I knew I was off when I woke up.  I haven't slept well in forever and on top of that my stupid hands/arms wake me up about 40 times a night.  So, this morning was a doozy anyway because Eden and Viv woke us up way too early.  Then Cullen came to me, sick, and I realized that he would have to stay home from school today.  Which wouldn't have been that bad but, I also had Asher and Vivianne to take to see Dr. Davis for check-ups.  Jeremy couldn't come to the appointment with me (even though he knew about it plenty in advance) which was awesome (it was decidedly NOT awesome). 
We also had Susan taking someone through our house and I wanted to get to Carthage early to put some scentsy out and make sure things were okay.  Did I get to leave the house on time? No. Because apparently I was the ONLY one that heard me say (30 million times) that we all had to get to the doctor's office today.  Ugh. 
Went to Dr. Davis's.  Asher was a monster.  Cullen was good but, was hacking his lungs up all over the place.  Vivianne was good but, annoyed because she got shots today. By the way, today was the 6 month check up.  She weighs 15 pounds even and 25 inches long.  She is a tiny girl...she was in the 20th and 30th percentile for height and weight.
 I was trying to make appointments afterwards and I thought Asher was going to crawl out of his skin.  It literally takes over 20 minutes to schedule an appointment at this office.  And this time I KNOW it took that long because I had a timer that they gave me, set at 15 minutes, to make sure there were no reactions to Vivi's shots.  I cannot for the life of me figure out what the bloody hell takes these people so damn long to make an appointment but, dear god, I thought I was gonna lose it!! Finally Jeremy showed up and took all the kids to the car.  Thank God! 
Then Asher screamed for 20 minutes more because I wouldn't take him to Dairy Queen.  I had told him that if he was good, then I would take them to DQ.  Well he was SO NOT GOOD.  And he couldn't wrap his brain around why I was being so mean to him!?!?  GAHHHHH!!! 
I went to the house and tried plugging my scentsy in and the bulb burnt out in my hand.  Are you freaking kidding me?!!?!? Whatever.  So, I just left.  We came home.  Asher was just on one the entire day.  Literally.  Not exaggerating at all when I say, he make me wanna take the slow train to Denver.  I have no idea what the heck that even means but, it sounded good right there.  Whatever.  Just go with it. 
I tried to get some more organizing/cleaning done.....but, Vivianne had other plans. She has been super fussy ever since the dang shots.  I was/am on the fence about shots.  I don't agree with the frequency, the need, etc. etc.  Dr. D. also talked me into a flu shot for Vivi today.  I, nor anyone else in the family, has ever had a flu shot.  I definitely do not agree with them for sure.  But, I figured Vivi was young and might benefit from it.  Who knows?? All I know is now I have a cranky, unhappy baby when I did have a happy, smiling baby.  She just wanted me to hold her all day which is torture on my hands.  Then, the dang bug people came buy for our quarterly pest control and literally did nothing except put some steel wool in a hole outside our house.  I told them I wanted the house bombed for spiders and they said they don't do that.  WHAT THE EFF!?!?  YOU ARE A PEST CONTROL COMPANY!!!!!!!  Then he gave me a bill for $105 and told me he would see me in the Spring.  I have never in my life seen such a waste of money.  For reals.  I cannot justify this.  I can do everything they do, myself.  Just dumb. 
Then we had to load up to get kids from school....still having not gotten anything done at all.  My head is throbbing at this point and Asher is still going strong.  Vivianne was still crying like crazy.  The other kids wanted food, me to clean up spills on the floor, fix computers that I can't fix, and all that fun stuff.  Eden decided that it was a great time for potty training and had me take her to the bathroom, take her pants on and off 42 times, and put her on and off the toilet an equal amount of times.  It was loads of fun. 
I couldn't cook dinner because I was insane at this point.  We put some frozen pizzas on for everyone.  I don't like them but, tried to eat some anyway.  Every piece I got, Eden would take it from me and eat it when I wasn't looking.  I didn't actually get to eat.  I am so annoyed with today that it can so be over now.  I need a vacation.  I need people to leave me the freak alone for a bit, so my mental health can recover I think. 

Bouncy-Boo

Cullen calls Vivianne's jumperoo a bouncy-boo and gets mad at whoever calls it something else.  Cute stuff. 

ARGH!

OMG, I am having a real blog crisis since moving.  I am so behind on so many things and I don't want to leave them out of the blog.  But, I cannot seem to make myself do it.  It's like I am so behind now that I don't even want to start again.  Ugh.  Just dumb.  I've been in the slumps for no good reason really.  Nothing to complain about that is worth really complaining about.  In fact many, many good things are happening.  Why do I have these feelings, fears, anxieties, mental fogs, etc??  I am starting to wonder if there is a chemical imbalance somewhere.  Or hormone imbalance.   Or thyroid??  I don't know but, I have just been "off".  Simple tasks like making phone calls consume an entire day for me because first I overthink it and stress about it. Then decide not to do it.  Then realize that I HAVE to do it.  Then worry about it some more.  Just dumb.  It's a freaking phone call for the love of pete!! 

So,  a quick recap of some random things.  We have started an IEP through the school for getting Eden diagnosed.  The Easter Seals wants her to see their physicians but, don't have an opening until Summer of 2015!!  Whaaat?  Whatever.

I have started a little photography business called Captured by Colista.  Things are starting off with a good amount of interest.  My last session I did, I am so upset about.  I took some great pictures but, in the wrong mode on the wrong ISO and made them not as great as I would like to them to be.  I'm sure the people will still like them and they will work fine for printing I suppose but, I am a perfectionist when it comes to things I create.  I want them to be the best.  Anyway, so far in the past three weeks I have made $350.  It isn't much but, it feels good anyway.  And I totally enjoy doing it......after having panic attacks in the days before each shoot! ha!

Cedric has decided to be the basketball team camera man.  He has to video the games and practices.  He is excited about it and I like that.  He is really turning into a cool little teenager even if he isn't officially a teenager until next year.

My hands hurt now.  

Seriously, how the freak does every dang kid in the neighborhood end up at my house every day!?!?!?!  GAh!!  I thought I wanted my kids to have friends over more....turns out that was a very stupid thing to think!!! URgh!  Go Home!  And you can't say "Nope, no one is coming over today because I am sick."  Nope they just go around and try to sneak in the basement door....they already broke our new freaking lock on the door.  UGh.  I am so mad right now.

Sickie

I am so sick.  I hate it.  Seems to be mostly a head cold type thing.  Yesterday I took enough cold medicine to probably sedate a small horse (joke btw, but, I did have my head in the dang clouds) and didn't get a whole lot done.  I couldn't focus on anything.  I ended up locking us all out of the house when I went to get kids from school.  Jeremy had to come give me a key. Then I forgot all about scouts even though I had literally just talked to my mom about it on the phone.  Dumb.  Jeremy and I HAD to get get some groceries again which I really did NOT want to do.  Finally got the last of the Halloween costumes for the kids too.  I hope I don't feel ill this weekend because it is jam-packed with things to do. 

Diapers, Pull-ups, Wipes, Oh My!

• 2 Cases of 504 wipes each Huggies Wipes
• 1 Case of 40 Huggies Good-nights for boys
• 2 Cases of 56 Huggies Pull-ups for girls
• 1 Case of 216 Size 2 Luvs Diapers
• 1 Case of 186 Size 2 Pampers Swaddlers Diapers (every other month)
• 1 Case of 112 Size 6 Luvs Diapers
• 2 packages of 20 adult pull-on diapers

Trisha and I were talking about how exciting it will be to get some of these kids out of diapers, pull-ups, etc.  And she said we must go through a lot of them and I said yes!  But, I decided to make of list of just potty training related items that we order each month from Amazon.  We get all these thing EACH month (minus the pampers which we get every other month)!! Craziness, I tell ya!! Somebody has to decide to stay dry through the night!! I wonder what we will do when no one is in any of this though?~!?!  I can't even imagine! lol!

Milo the StairMaster....er, Slider

When I watched Chase and Milo a week or so ago, Milo was all about the steps.  He kept trying to walk down them but, wasn't very careful about it so I kept telling him to sit on his bum.  So, he would sit, then turn around and lay on his belly and slide all the way to the bottom of the stairs.  He would just GO!  And so fast!! lol! It was really cute and probably tons of fun for him...he was laughing like crazy!  I had to get a picture of it! 

Earlier This Week

Well Sunday I had to have more pain pills called in to a pharmacy in Keokuk because I ran out and still was in pain.  Jeremy went and got them and then I felt good enough to go take pics of The Clark's and The Gallahers!  It went good.  I got home and thought of a million other shots I should have tried but, I never think of it when doing it and under pressure, lol! Oh well, we got some good ones.  The next morning I woke up with the taste of blood in my mouth.  I went to the bathroom to look and the infection had broken through the gumline and was literally erupting like a volcano with blood and pus.  GROSS, I know.  I kept pushing on it to make it all come out then dabbing it with gauze and it took all day. It just kept filling up again. The good thing is, with all of that coming out, the pressure and pain I felt in my face and jaw was so much better.  I can finally brush and chew a little more regularly.  I called the endodontist and he decided that my dentist in Ft. Madison could look at it and see how it was progressing.
 So, I had an appointment for yesterday(Tuesday) but, a couple of hours beforehand I had to cancel.  The school had called and said that Eden had wacked her head again in the exact same spot she did last week(the school called me last week too) and that it was huge! So, I went and picked her up.  It looked awful.  The thing with Eden is that she doesn't really respond to pain.  They were all saying how surprised they were that she whined a little when it happened but, otherwise acted like it didn't happen.  She was in great spirits when I picked her up.  I loaded her up in the car, stopped by the house real quick to grab an ice pack, and decided to take a little trip to McDonald's in Keokuk with her.  We turned on the CD that they listen to at nap time at school and sang along to it while we drove.  I kept telling her to put the ice pack on her head and she would do it every time.  She is such a good girl.  We came back home after going through the drive thru and fed Vivianne then went to pick up the boys. 
My mom stopped by and tried a little aviator hat that she was making for Kiffen on Vivianne's head to see if it would fit right.  It was so cute!  She may have to make one for Vivi too! 

***DAYS LATER****
I started that post on Monday of this week and it is now Friday.  Whew.  This week and last week have been doozies!  I have been in a funk and I hate it.  Ugh. I have an overwhelming tiredness that just won't quit.  Feeling pretty fat and stupid lately too.  Ugh.  

My Smart Little Eden Rose

 Eden Rose LOVES school!! Which is wonderful!! Every morning she will let us get her dressed, do her hair, eat, get her backpack on, and says the cutest things as she leaves. 

*side note* So she finally lets me do her hair...and my hands are pretty much useless.  It hurts so bad to do it that I can't relly do a whole lot.  Still waiting on that doctor to call me back with an appointment for surgery.  Guess I will get my mouth taken care of first.  *sigh*  I am falling apart.  *end side note*

  I already have noticed such changes in her since she started school.  She says "friends" and "Aubrey" alot.  She has also started saying "Stinky shoes" when I take her shoes off so I think someone told her she had stinky shoes when she takes her shoes off for nap time, lol!  And she must be like me with the whole stinky feet thing!! :)  I pass only the best traits on to my offspring!! haha! 

 She has always likes books but, now she loves to be read to and read to herself and others.  It is so cute because she will "read", then turn the book around to show the pictures to everyone just like a teacher reading a story to a class would do!! She is so smart.  I'm sure that she knows more than all the kids in her class academically she just needs help with social, behavioral, and speech.  She is a puzzle genius and knows all her numbers, letters, shapes, etc.  Way more than most kids know at her age. 

 Cullen brings home a piece of paper every day with a letter and a picture on it to correspond with the letter.  Then there is a row at the bottom for him to practice writing that letter.  (I think Eden is more at a Kindergarten or 1st grade level with her letter and numbers).  But, she loves to take Cullen's papers and carry them around and talk about them.  This one was the letter 'L' and had a picture of a lollipop.  Immediately she took it and said: "This is my spot."  Then she would set it on the ground and sit on top of it!  lol!  Come to find out, the rug that all the preschoolers have to sit on each day has a different picture for each child to sit on.  Eden's is a lollipop.  She made the connection right away and carried the paper around for a few days.  She even took it to school where her teachers were very impressed with her! 

 She is sitting on the paper here but, you can't see it! :)

Freaking Tooth Update

Well, Friday morning I called the endodontist again to let him know that my face was so swollen I sounded like I had a sock in my mouth when I talked.  He wanted to see me that day.  There was no way possible of getting to Iowa City that day.  Jeremy had a very important meeting that day with a new business client that would basically give us a good raise(and he got it!!! woot!...so proud of him!), everyone was working, I had told Trisha and Josh that I would watch their boys so they could go celebrate their 5th Wedding Anniversary(Congrats, you two!!!), and I had to pick kids up from school.  The dentist was hesitant but decided to call in another stronger antibiotic to take WITH my amoxicillan.  It is Flagyl which I haven't had for a very long time, if ever, and I have never been given an antibiotic that you can't drive on....weird.  So, that day, my mom went to Carthage and got the prescription and I started it and the swelling did go down a bit and I took a crap ton of pain pills and felt half way decent.  Enough that I was cheery and fun with Chase and Milo.  I made crock pot ranch pork chops with mashed potatoes, cheesy veggie soup, and giant chocolate chip cookies.  Chase requested chocolate chip cookies so that is what he got, lol!  He was pretty impressed with the size of them!  At first he said he only wanted half of one but, he ate that and came back for the second half!  :)  They were really good for me (seriously enjoyed having them over!) and my kids were excited to find Chase and Milo here when they got home from school!  My mom helped me out a lot that day.  She ran to the store to get me ingredients for the soup so I could maybe eat something, got the prescription, and took my Expedition to school to get all the kids. 
Anyway, yesterday my face started swelling, throbbing, being stupid again. I can feel all the infection in my mouth.  This freaking sucks so bad.  And now I am out of pain meds.  I am going to have to find something, somewhere.  This is unbearable.  I am half-tempted to pay the emergency fees and drive to Iowa City today. The dentist wants to see me tomorrow no matter what and of course Jeremy has another very important meeting.  I don't want to have him cancel but, I cannot live like this.  It's been a freaking week of torture and hell.  For people who have never had tooth pain.....to give you some reference...I think I would rather deliver a baby.  For reals.  I just throbs and envelops your entire head.  No eating, no sleeping. Oh and just for shits and giggles, my period decided to come yesterday too....you know because I'm not already going through enough.  Sheesh. 

Chipmunk Face

Well this is the second night in a row I have been kept up with my tooth.  Yesterday was awful.  I got the Endodontist to call in two prescriptions....amoxicillan and vicodin.  I thought that would nip this in the bud but, boy was I wrong.  I can't think straight, sleep, eat, nothing.  I finally just got out of bed about an hour ag0, and said "forget it" to sleeping.  I looked in the mirror and my face is swelled up like a chipmunk.  The pain is so bad, I'm crying.  This sucks so bad.  UGH.  WHY!?!?!  Oh and I forgot to mention the puking. Probably because I have nothing but, pills and yogurt in my body. 

Root Canals

On Monday Jeremy and I left immediately after getting kids to school for Iowa City.  I had two root canals scheduled.  Once we got there the endodontist decided that I only needed one root canal and it wasn't even on the original tooth that had bothered me in the first place which I thought was weird but, hey, if we can save some money, then great!  The root canal actually went really well in terms of how root canals go.  I definitely have had much worse.  The funny thing is, none of the past three dentists I have went to can figure out why my teeth do these things and go bad.  There is no decay.  No gum disease.  Nothing to indicate why my teeth should be going into root canals.  All of them ask me if I have had any blows to the face.  Nope. What the heck, I would remember that, right!?!?  Anyway, we got back in Iowa City just in the nick of time to pick up kids from school.  Yesterday, I could feel that my tooth was tender and took tylenol.  Last night the tooth started to swell and throb with pain.  I have been up and down all night with pain getting worse and worse.  I finally just got up for good at 4:30am.  I am calling first thing to get some pain meds ordered.  UGH.  I hate tooth pain.  It just fills your whole head and makes everything awful.  Now, I am betting there is ANOTHER trip to Iowa City in my future.  Just great.

My Baby

SO annoyed right now.  I wish people would keep their freaking sick kids to themselves!! GAH!  Now, my baby is sick and there is nothing I can give her except tylenol!  Worst feeling ever.  Poor thing is all stuff up/runny nose, eyes red and crusty, fever, etc.  She can't even drink without choking.  And just in time for Cullen's birthday party tomorrow.  I might just cancel because ya know, I have a brain and don't want to spread my kids sickness around!  UGH!

Easter Seals

Just got done with a 30 minute phone call from Easter Seals for Eden.  I had to send a packet of information in about a month ago.  It was about 20 pages long and took forever to fill out and then even more questions today.  The lady was super nice and very informative.  Now that she got even more information she has to talk to the physician and go from there.  I should expect a call back in the next week or so to find out if Eden has to come in for an interview or another phone interview.  We shall see.  Sometimes I still second guess if we are doing the right thing by getting her diagnosed.  I just worry about her having a label.  But, then again, good things can also come from this. 
I would love to be able to type more about this but, my hands just don't work right now.  Hoping to have that all resolved soon...I need to blog about that too.

Not In a Good Mood Today....AT ALL

Today is not a good day at all.  For a multitude of reasons.  I hate when I get in this funk and then take it out on the kids or Jeremy.  Right now I am sitting here hating the fact that my milk is gone.  I have been crying my eyes out and now they are so blurry that I can't see straight.  I ordered some more of the More Milk Plus tincture and have been taking my fenugreek.  The problem is, I cannot pump right now.  My hands are pretty much useless so I can't really hold my dang boob to actually feed her either.  Failure.  I am boiling water right now to sterilize the pump to try to pump all day today.  I am sure I will have to take a vicodin after this though from the pain in my arms.  My neck has had a HUGE crick in it all freaking weekend and I can't turn my head either.  Or lay on it.  My foot feels like it is broken and I am limping around like a gimp.  What the freaking hell is going on with my damn body!?!?!?!? For reals.  What the hell!?!?  I don't understand.  And who is suffering from it besides me?  Vivianne.  I am so annoyed with myself that I just don't know what to do.  UGH.  And the milk I get from Sarah keeps leaking into the dang water that I am thawing it in and wastes the whole stinking bag.  I am so frustrated.  *sigh*  I just wanna go back to bed. 

I feel like we are never going to have the time to get rid of our other house either.  We are just going to struggle with two payments forever.  It sucks.

 And another thing...Fall came too quickly and the kids don't have any clothes.  And all of that falls onto my shoulders to figure out what the crap they can wear in the meantime.  Liam had to go to school today in shorts and a sweatshirt.  Pretty sure I look like Mom of the Year. 

Of course it is rainy and grey today.  To match my mood I guess.  My house is a mess and I don't want to move to clean it.  And the spiders....don't even get me started on the spiders.  It wouldn't be so annoying except that we have PAID someone to get rid of the spiders and...the spiders are STILL FLIPPING HERE....in fact, they are worse.  FML.

I could go on and on about a zillion different things.  But, I won't anymore.  I'm just done.  

TRUST

 I think everyone knows that I have trust issues.  It takes me a long time to finally open up completely to someone because I have been burned SO many times.  It seems even when you invest years of your life in family, whom you should be able to trust above all else, it sometimes proves to be a pointless endeavor.  This has nothing to do with me and Jeremy.  We are GREAT!  I literally could not be happier with our relationship, our life, our kids, our living situation, etc. right now!  But, as in the past, there are people we have let into our lives that screwed us over and over, drug our names through the mud, and been overall bad people. I'm done with giving the benefit of the doubt and I am in full defensive mode.  No longer will I allow someone to lie, cheat, steal, and emotionally abuse me, my family, or those around me that I KNOW and TRUST to be wonderful people.  And let's be honest here, we all know who this post is about.....

 There are always signs and things that are heard that you try to put in the back of your mind and give the benefit of the doubt. And with this particular person, the amount of things we let slide in order to preserve feelings was a massive amount.  We would hear SO MANY THINGS all the time.  It's time to stop denying them.  The whole time we had her back, she was stabbing us in our backs.

The thing that I really appreciate is when people can at least own up to their mistakes and apologize for them.  One of the most courageous things I have ever witnessed is when I went to the jail after my nephew Zack had been arrested for burglarizing our business and others in Carthage in a drug induced binge.  He was a broken man but, still mustered the courage to own up to what he did and sincerely apologize.  He poured his heart out and asked for forgiveness, which was given.  But, the most important step he took was actually following through with his apology and took those very hard steps to change and make his wrongs right.  

From a certain person right now, there have been literally countless wrongs.  Never once have I or anyone else had an explanation, an admittance to wrong doing, an apology, nothing.  Nothing.  But, we continued to trust and accept because we had made a commitment to FAMILY.  To our detriment it seems.  But, no more.  No longer will we support and defend someone who clearly cares nothing for our FAMILY.  What I don't understand is how she can just drop us from her life like we meant absolutely NOTHING to her AT ALL, then ENTIRE TIME.  The funny thing is, she is acting like we are the ones that did something wrong here?!!?!? WTF?!?!  WE didn't do anything, YOU did. 

  This all needs to be said but, I know that I will not get the chance in person, as this person that I am talking about is a coward.  Obviously, I am not the main person involved in this situation.  But, Jeremy and I still feel the sting of betrayal.  We will not allow the names of those we love and TRUST or our names be tarnished at the hand of a pathological liar.  

 She is/has been messing with our lives in ways that make you wonder how or why she even came up with!?  It is the lowest of the low.  And then somehow in her psychopathic logic thinks that somehow none of this is her fault and she is spreading even more lies in a vain attempt to save face.  I'm sick of it and won't tolerate it.  It makes me want to puke, all the time I wasted.  And to think that I let my children be around her is even worse.  I put absolutely nothing past her at this point. Literally, NOTHING would shock me.  She crossed so many lines, so many times, that a person would have to be a complete MORON to believe her delusional lies and trust her ever again. 

What is done is done.  The choice was always yours and there were plenty of opportunities to change.  You chose wrong.  So stand there in your wrongness and be wrong.  Own it.  Admit it.  Accept it.  And dear God, freaking learn from it, finally.  Get some help.

First Day of School 2014

 This year all the kids are enrolled in the Nauvoo school district.  YAY!  School started on August 18th for all the boys.  Tristan is a Freshman at Warsaw High School.  Warsaw sends their middle school students to Nauvoo and Nauvoo sends their high school students to Warsaw.  He was able to get into some awesome classes and was excited.  So far he is loving high school and that makes me happy to know that he is happy.  

 Cullen started Kindergarten and his teacher is Mrs. Fink.  She is the second Mrs. Fink that we have had.  This one used to be Mrs. White though before she was married.  The old Mrs. Fink teaches Pre-K in Warsaw now.  (Side note: The old Mrs. Fink adopted a daughter a few years back and emailed me before they got her and asked what I thought of her naming her new baby Kalista!  I thought it was super, lol! Obviously she isn't named after me but, she got the idea for the name from my name, because she hadn't heard it before me.) Also, Cullen was convinced that he was going to stay in PRe-K with Mrs. McConnell.  In fact on the back to school Open House night he threw a huge fit in the PRe-K room on how it was HIS and not Eden's classroom.  Jeremy finally had to take him to the car because he was screaming so loud! :) Anyway, Cullen is happy to be in Kindergarten now and again...that makes me happy too! 

 Liam started 4th grade this year and his teacher is Mrs. Rose.  Tristan had Mrs. Rose back when he was in 1st grade.  Liam adapted very quickly (he had a few friends from Scouts in his class that he knew so that helped!).  So the transition from Carthage to Nauvoo was fairly easy on him.  He seems happy....and of course, that makes me happy! 

 Cedric is in 7th grade this year and my only one out at the Middle School.  He was very nervous to start that first day.  And for the first week or so, he struggled with not know the school or anyone in it, and being shy.  I got the inspiration to send him to school with a couple of packs of gum to share with people and help start up conversations and, voila, it seemed to do the trick!  He is doing well and is happy to be there!  And when he is happy, let's all say it together, "That makes me happy too!"  LOL! 

 They are all so cooperative and happy to pose for pictures for me.  

(Please note the sarcasm.)

 Asher started 3rd grade this year and his teacher is Mrs. Nolte.  Asher is doing great in school.  He is always very excited to talk about what happened that day when I pick him up.  He also had the duty of picking up Liam from his classroom the first few days to help show Liam around.  And now he gets to go to Eden's classroom to pick her up and walk with her to the Music Room where I pick them up each day.  He is excited that she holds his hand while they walk.  I think it makes him feel like a good big brother and he is!! So, can you guess what I am going to say about that??  I am so happy that he is happy!! 

 Don't they all look just THRILLED!?! 

 Eden started school on the 21st of August (Tristan's birthday.)  They started half the class on Thursday and half on Friday and they all went they following Monday.  This is her first day of school ever!  She is in Pre-K with Mrs. McConnell. I took her to the classroom that morning and she waved goodbye and told me "See ya later!"  No tears, nothing. She did GREAT! I am so proud!  The first day the teacher called and told me a couple of funny stories.  One, Eden decided to leave a lasting imprint with her new friends and laid it all out there for them by getting naked on the playground!  lol!  She took her shoes, socks, shorts, and pull-up off but, decided to leave her shirt on at least!  Oh my!  Also, she got away from the teacher and decided to take off to the other side of the school and hide out in the Kindergarten loft!  Mrs. McConnell looked there first because she said Eden was wanting to visit Cullen earlier in the day.  And yep, there she was! 

She loves getting up to get ready each day since and is always happy when I pick her up.  I already notice a difference in her.  She is talking more, using sentences more, and waiting more.  She is also letting me do her hair and washing her hands.  

I think this is going to be very beneficial to her. 

So, it is just me and Vivianne all day, all by ourselves.  It is good and bad.  The first day Eden was at school I was Anxiety Girl and couldn't focus to get anything done.  The days since have been better and we are all getting into a new groove.

Liam and Viv

 Liam loves Vivianne.  He loves to help out with her and always wants to make she she is happy and okay.  If she starts fussing while sitting in her port-a-crib or swing he will jump and and get her.  He says "It's okay, Vivianne." He likes to tote her around like a little doll but, I prefer it when he sits with her, lol.  But, he is always very careful with her.  

 He was just hanging out watching t.v.  

 She doesn't mind at all.  I think they are going to be buddies! :)

Rollin' With the Crab Apples

 This is where I find Eden most since we have moved here.  She loves to pick up the little crab apples from the ground and roll them down the slide.  I wanted to try to capture how cute she is while she does it.  I love that she never wears shoes like me and that she loves being outside.  

 What are you doing, Mom?  

I had tried to kind of sneak up on her so I could catch her natural faces and such but, she was on to me, haha! But, she just kept right on doing what she was doing. 

She would  make a few trips and make a pile then roll them all down the slide.  Then I pushed her on the swing for a while.  She loves swinging really high!