Wiggles and Giggles

Before I had a kid, I used to not be the biggest fan of toddlers. I thought they were kind of annoyingly silly and too much trouble to keep corralled. Now that I have my own little version, I think she is wonderfully silly because she's too hard to keep corralled. Let me elaborate with pictures.

Why play with toddler toys when you can play with fireplace toys?


And more fireplace toys?


And the best fireplace toy of all? (On guard, ashes and grate!)


And who wants a few crayons when you can have hundreds (literally) strewn about the floor (thank goodness for Magic Erasers)?


And food isn't just for eating...


Don't you hate it when you get your mom's cell phone stuck in the bottom of your pajamas?


The heck with pushing a doll in a stroller! Daddy's church stuff and work stuff is way more fun!


And finally, sometimes you have to go out on a limb and make your own fashion statement.

Holiday travels

Croup update: croup is gone (I think), and now Eden's on the tail-end of a regular cold. Glory glory hallelujah!

I promised an overview of our 2011 holidays, so here they are.

We visited my mom and step-dad and Eden opened enough presents to supply Santa's workshop for 12 years.


We stayed with my dad and his wife and family for a few days and visited the lights at the zoo.


Eden discovered the joy of slides while we were there.


And the sandbox.


We also visited Kevin's parents and had a nice dinner with them. Then we came back to Alabama to have a relaxing Christmas morning together. Eden loved the stockings.


And just because I think this photo is funny (she's playing with a necklace):


Then we went to church and sung lots of Christmas carols.


Then we came home and she discovered the oven mitts.


And finally Kevin took my favorite photo of Eden and me the other day so I thought I'd include it, too. Here's actual proof I'm pregnant. It's probably the only photo I have of me pregnant with Baby 2. I hate what's happened to my belly button, but I won't complain too much because I've been blessed with no stretch marks. Thank you, genetics from Mom!

Oh, poop. It's croup.

Happy 2012, everyone!

The holidays were lovely, but I can honestly say I'm happy to see the end of them and get back to a normal routine. I feel like November and December were kind of one big long vacation-but-not-really blur. I thrive on routine. Without it, I fall into a slump that is really hard to get out of, especially being pregnant (the couch is always soooo inviting...). Anyway, Kevin officially started his new S.O.S. teaching cycle on Tuesday. He gets his first S.O.S. students this coming Monday. With him returning to his regular job, I have been re-inspired to un-slump myself and Eden. It's a new year, and I'm ready to get back to normal. I have been bad about letting Eden's normal routine slip (which part of me feels a little okay about since I'm pregnant and sleeping is just so wonderfully wonderful), but life is so much easier outside of pajamas so that's what I'm going to strive to do. Pajamas come off, real clothes go on, and away we go.

Unfortunately, this plan was sent slightly askew the first day this year. Eden took her first (and I pray to our Heavenly Father above the last) trip to the ER this past Sunday night due to difficulty breathing. Luckily, it's only croup, but let me tell you: listening to your child struggle to breathe is worse than struggling to breathe yourself. Good Lord, I was close to flipping out (which I did not - *cough cough* - despite what Kevin claims). But like I said, luckily Eden only has croup, which sounds, literally, horrific, but is actually quite common, I hear. (FYI: croup is when the trachea swells around the voice box and makes breathing a bit difficult and is often exacerbated by a cold which causes congestion and thus greater difficulty breathing. At least this is how I understand it.) But she's on the mend, thankfully. She's all drugged up on steroids (to reduce swelling in her throat) and antibiotics (to protect her lungs from infection) and cough syrup (duh), all of which I'm not a fan, but I guess all those drugs are better than listening to her wheeze and cry.

Other than that, things are fine here in Lawracy Land. I'll post holiday photos on my next post, I promise. No photos today. Sorry.

Toodles!