Garden Flower Wachs

We’re back in Utah after a great stint in Michigan, but we’re exhuasted! We saw so many family members, and had so little sleep that we’re playing catch-up now. But it was well worth it! It was great to see everyone. We regret that we couldn’t see more people. We tried our best to see everyone, but there just wasn’t enough time.

Wade’s family made it up to Michigan from Kentucky, too. It was ncie to see them: Clay is growing up more every day; Amber is amazing us with the projects that she can finish so quickly; Shawan and Doug are settling into being grandparents and seem to being doing well, also. While they were in MI, we went to Frankenmuth- a little German town north of where my parents live. We ate at the world-famous Zenders, went to Bronner’s- only the largest Christmas store in the WORLD!, and stopped off at St. Julians winery. (They’ve got the best sprakeling juices!)

We met Anne, my biological mom, and her children for lunch at Zenders, too. It was so good to see them. Only Libby had met Eden, so it was good for them to all get to see her. (And Eden loved the attention!)

As for Wade and me, we were pretty sure we were expecting again until yesterday evening. Aside from that, we’re getting ready for a New Year’s Eve fondue party at our condo. Our friends Erin and Nathan will be coming over tonight to enjoy some non-alcoholic mixers, sparkeling cranberry juice, and 3 courses of fondue! Hooray! And, thanks to Eden’s uncle Clay- we are going to mix it up with the game Fact or Crap. Oh yes, it is going to be great. All the while little Eden will be fast asleep in her snuggly bed. It’s great that we can still get away with this because she is so young.

My house awaits a mop and some dusting cloths before Eden wakes up from her nap and is ready to eat lunch. Thank you all for a wonderful Christmas this year!

We are heading home this evening from a great visit with family and friends in Michigan. We were so incredibly busy we wanted to post the pictures to prove it. Sorry to all the friends and family we weren’t able to see this time. You are all welcome in Utah any time you want.

Video 1

Video 2

Christmas Pictures

Here is a quick video we captured of Eden opening her first Christmas gift! It’s from our good friends Nathan and Erin. They have become rather fond of our little Eden. She’s so loved!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL80OuxVy58

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!

The Beatles say it best, but I’ve actually slept a TON recently. Maybe it is the weather. Maybe it is the time of year. I don’t know for sure, but I do know that I am exhausted! Eden’s still doing great during the night and daytime; we’ve got naps and a sleeping routine down! So I know it isn’t Eden who is making me tired.

She’s actually dropped a nap. So she is settling into a new routine. It’s great! Two longer naps a day, who could complain, really? She’s doing new things everyday, and if you check out the link at the bottom of this post, you can see Eden in action! She loves pancakes! And she’s feeding them to herself.

Speaking of Beatles songs, Eden is loving the music we listen to everyday. She takes after her papa, I think. My dad loves The Beatles, and Eden seems to be following in his footsteps. She’s also recently started to enjoy listening to The Who, The Kinks, Stealers Wheel, The Monkees, The Hollies, The Doors, and Simon and Garfunkel. She’s not really into Queen, but we’re alright with that. She doesn’t just listen to “oldies,” either. The musical styling of Dirks Bently, Jearmy Camp, Kenneth Cope, and other myriad artists sits high in her musical repitoir. She’s taken quite a liking to music. She really enjoyed Kenneth Cope and Hillary Weeks when she was first born, but her pallate is broadening. And she’s only 6 1/2 months! I can’t wait to see what she thinks of music when she is older. We want her to find enjoyment in it as much as we do, so we’re trying to expose her to it early. We’ll see if it works.

It has for reading- so far. That could change at any day, I suppose. She loves to look at the pictures in her books and has been known to try and “read” the hymnal at Church. Sometimes we can get through 4-5 sentences on a page, but she’s does best with 2 or 3 sentences. Any more than that and she thinks it’s time to turn the page and eat the book. She’s doing great, though.

I think that is it for now. I’m going to tackle some things around the house before Wade gets home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-a6eqpr4CQ

Wade and I were set apart as Ward Missionaries yesterday afternoon. We are thrilled! We’ve also started getting ready to go to Michigan. We can’t wait to get back to that silly state. While the economy there isn’t the greatest, out family there is!

We’ve got a few more pictures that we will post before we leave next Monday. (And a cute little video of Eden opening her first Christmas present from Uncle Nathan and Aunt Erin. (They are good friends of ours from the ward here.)

More to come- for now it is time to savor the few minutes I have without laundry, Eden, mail, bills or anything else demanding my time!

My sweet husband affectionately calls me a hippie. Yes, for those of you who don’t know… and that probably is most of you… I am much more “granola” than I may seem. We were talking on Wednesday, after Eden went down for her nap, and have come up with a way to merge my holistic approach to almost everything and his western medicine mentality. (Hooray for compromise!) We both just want to feel better physically, and know how food affects so much of how we feel. We’re also in the middle of figuring out if he is Vitamin D deficient, or if there is an allergy to milk that hasn’t been caught. It’s going to be a long week for poor Wade- who 99% of the time is having a dairy craving of some form or another.

He’s a good sport, though. He just wants me to be healthy and happy. They are for me, often, one in the same. So this week, Wade’s going to do no dairy. Soy milk here we come. While I love the stuff, Wade is getting used to it. And though he doesn’t mind the chocolate variety, the vanilla or plain doesn’t have him sold quite yet. It’s only going to be for a week and then we’ll reassess the situation. He used to drink it all the time while we were dating in Kentucky. (We used to eat SO differently when we lived in Kentucky! Mostly organic or made at home whole grain, etc. We’re on-track to be back there soon.)

As for me, it is still no sugar and no flour. None. Not even Splenda. Stevia is ok because it is a plant derivative, but seeing as though it is a bit pricey we’re just going without for now. Candida is a beast to get rid of, and is holding on for as long as possible within my body. Small amounts of whole grains that haven’t been refined seems to be alright, but that could change anytime. Thank you Candida!

We’ve discovered a little-known-health food store close by, and went to check it out last night. Boy were we in for a surprise! Red seedless grapes are on sale for $0.69/lb! Yeah, in the middle of winter! I was amazed at how great the prices were. We’re going to finish up our shopping there this weekend. With great prices, it is worth it to shop there. Some of the other health food stores in the area are so overpriced! This one is refreshingly comparable, if not cheaper, than many traditional grocery stores. The really great things about this place is that there are tons of foods that we can both have and not have to worry about sugar, or flour, or dairy. It’s quite nice. And Wade actually liked a Vegan cookie that we split for a treat while we were on our way home. Not only was it Vegan, it was completely no refined anything. Hooray! Good food for a good price. Now, I think they are on to something.

In other news, Eden is loving her homemade baby food. We do have some of the jars just in case of emergency, and for those crazy on-the-go-all-day days. But those are rare, and she actually prefers the fresh foods to the jars. We save a TON of money and she reeps all the benefits of no fillers/additives. She’s also quite adventurous in her eating… as out previous posts have indicated. She loves food. And she loves good food. What a brilliant little girl we have!

Eden is currently napping, and I think there is another batch of laundry calling my name. Alas, the time I have to write seems to have drawn to a close…and is only 1 p.m. Wade should be home in a couple of hours, too. And then, we’re going to go grocery shopping and do our date night with a couple friends who live in our condo complex: yeast free, sugar free and refined-everything free pizza with roasted red pepper pesto. Yum! Maybe Wade will wash it all down with a glass of soy milk. Healthful food never tasted so good.

Yes the rumor is true! There are now even MORE pictures up of our little Eden. We’ve posted photos from Halloween, all of October and November. We don’t have a link built into this blog- but if you scroll down the right-hand side, you’ll be able to see a link to the “picture gallery.” That should take you to the different folders, which are then labeled for convenience.  Our friends are in some of the photos, too. We hope you enjoy them. We’re trying— again —to get more pictures up sooner, rather than at the end of the month. Feel free to send us comments or notes on the photos. See you all soon!

(There are new photos posted… please see the link below!)

So we got Wade’s check today and saw that something was different. It was not smaller, but actually contained a Christmas bonus! Yes, even in our economic hardship, the company where he works is thriving. Granted, we had decided if there was going to be a Christmas bonus that it would go toward paying off Eden’s hospital/birth bill. But still, what a blessing! We’re so grateful for the job that Wade has. Yesterday night we just heard that nearly a dozen more people have been laid-off or are holding there breath until after the holiday season. We feel extremely fortunate that: 1.) Wade has a stable job, and 2.) because of that job I can stay home with Eden. We are definitely learning to keep within a budget, and we are distinguishing between needs and wants, but the Lord has blessed us 100fold for doing our best. We also should mention the support that our wonderful families have been to us. Without all of you, we would feel like we were on our own and alone. You have been a great comfort to us on so many occasions, and we feel grateful to our heavenly Father for showing His love for us through many of you.

We’re also building some great friendships out here in our Church congregation. We’ve met some really amazing people, and I can’t wait to get to know them better. Already, we’ve been able to feel comfortable in our new place. The community itself, in Eagle Mountain, is great. We’re all in the same boat for the most part- newly married with children, newly married without children, or the few seasoned married couples with children who have offered invaluable experience. All in all, we really enjoy the community where we are living. Especially because we can walk to so many of our friend’s condos and houses. Although, that will probably not happen so frequently, as we are fighting frigid weather right now.

A couple other things that are note worthy: Eden is sitting up on her own now and has been for a couple of weeks. Her doctor said that she is the perfect baby- which of course -we knew. But it was good to feel our assumptions were validated by her pediatrician. She’s also eating some exciting new things: yogurt, mango, kiwi, blueberries- just to name a few. And next week, we’re going to give her a hard boiled egg yoke with her breakfast. It’s quite the adventure in eating for Eden. I think we may try cinnamon in her sweet potatoes tomorrow, too. I am almost certain that she will love it! She’s started scooting on her back, and a little on her tummy. She twists around more on her tummy than actual scooting, but we couldn’t be more excited to watch her grow and develop. I’m not really sure what else to mention about little Eden. She’s doing great. She loves bath time. She’s babbling up storm- all the time. She brings us both so much joy. What else is there, right?

Wade and I have also managed to get into the habit of trying to have a date night every week. Most of the time Eden is with us. But at least once a month we’ve been able to leave her with someone so we can sneak away a little bit of time together, sans our sweet little girl. It’s been great.

Oh yes. I failed to mention one other thing- we’re heading up a project. It might sound silly, but it is something that we decided to do this Christmas season. We’re getting together money, gift cards, winter attire, children’s books, baby EVERYTHING, formula, and blankets, and we are going to take them to Southern Utah for women and their children who are leaving abusive polygamist homes. (For those of you who don’t know, there is a large polygamist group on the boarders of Utah and Arizona. They are the women and children we are going to be helping.) That was our Christmas this year, and it feels good. Many things will be donated in the names of our family members, rather than giving them the gifts. We felt this was a cause worth supporting, and one we hope to remain engaged in while we are here.

So, I guess that is it. That is what is going on in our side of the states. We love you. Merry Christmas.

The long awaited pictures are here!

6 Month photo shoot