Eden is 7 months

Dear sweet Eden,

Seven months is such an awakening! You notice everything and suddenly the world is an incredibly curious place. You crane your neck to see in every direction and just can't see to absorb enough. This month one of your mos exciting finds are your feet. You grab them and hang on, like an expert Yogi, stretching your little feet toward the sky. The changing table is your favorite place to find them and its there that you are enamored most often with your toes, those little digits that seem incredibly new and exciting to you.

Toes of course are not the only thing you are excited about though, you also love food. You continue to try new things and love nearly all of it. Even though you love it, you still don't have any teeth. We can't quite figure out when you'll get them! You are up to two meals a day now, and your little chunky thighs and tummy makes me think you are packing it away around your little midsection. You are a plump and adorable baby and I love those rolls so much and you love breakfast.

With a full tummy and new toes for exploring, you've also taken to rolling around. Its your current mode of transportation and the only way you know to get from A to B, Its fun to see you roll roll roll toward the things you want, or to try to wiggle your from my arms. Its exciting to see your curiosity turn into movement, but also make me recall how quickly things advance from here- before I know it you'll be crawling and I'll be missing my tiny baby.

And while you are excited about food, moving around, and toes, and new things, we are not super excited about your recent sleeping. Lately you've been going down around 6:30 after nursing,but then seem to be up at 2 or so and its an on and off circus to get you back down, eventually we give up around 4 and stash you in our bed, where you only sort of sleep well, and we certainly don't, leading to not the best sleep for anyone of course. Its not ideal and we can't quite figure it out.

This month was exciting for you because it also was your first Christmas. We celebrated at home, which I appreciate very much and Santa brought you your first dolly and so many clothes, because you are growing like a weed. I made certain to hold onto this first moment with you, as you witnessed your first taste of the magic of Christmas. Your brothers continue to adore you and on Christmas it was extra special. They were certain to show you what you received and were excited for you to open presents, and they took special pride in picking out books for you. It was a fantastic morning.

A week after Christmas we headed to Michigan for the new year to celebrate with Nana, Papa, Cha Cha, Aunt Chris, Uncle Pete, Aunt Faya, Uncle Nate, and all the kiddos.  Owen had his sixth birthday party and you were right in the mix. On that trip you took your 11th and 12th flight, which means you are certainly a well traveled baby! 

This month we also started trying out the Starling. The Starling is basically a word pedometer that we use to make sure we are talking to you enough. Its actually a research tool, but I brought it home and put it on you to see if we could use it to receive feedback- which has implications for my work, but has been fun to use with you too, since you are at such a ripe age to hear all the words.

Seven months also meant a few milestones including your first word: dada. It was the first time I considered it a word when you looked right at him and started the dadadadadada babble. You do adore him so much, and its pretty mutual. You're an adorable duo.

Seven months is all kinds of fun, snuggled between being a baby and the independence of the coming months. We love you so much, baby girl.

love,

Momma and Daddy

Monster Trucks!

Sometimes we win at parenting. Sometimes things are all success, and barely any disappointment. Sometimes we feel nothing but joy and thankfulness in the gifts we were given as small, malleable humans. This was not that day. Or month for that matter. This was something different.

When you have a baby things change. We were totally expecting this change, but our two boys not so much. They adore Eden and really really can't get enough of her. But for a little while there I'm pretty sure they didn't adore us. We were short on tempers, over-tired, working to find our new balance. We were not at our best, to say the least. I'm sure they wondered when they'd get their parents back. I'm sure the were trying to predict just what would be our trigger each day. We were not winning.

When you recognize you aren't doing your best, its hard to find the way back. Usually because not doing our best is a function of some stress, and until that is relieved finding our way back is like wandering in the dark. But, this time it was a baby, not some thing that would wander away and out of our world. So we had to figure out to make our lives balanced again.

As we figured out our lives with Eden, we knew we also had to figure out how to give the boys the attention they deserved again. We were fortunate they were patient with us, and after many weeks of tolerating the adjustments in our lives, we thought they were due for something fun.

Enter: Monster Jam.

It was early December and I noticed Monster Jam would be in town. Just after Thanksgiving I bought Drew and the boys tickets and sent them off. Drew didn't tell them where they were headed, they thought they were off to take an afternoon ride on the light rail. When they came to the USBank stadium Drew told them where they were headed, and they, of course, were overjoyed. 

He texted me photos, and their faces showed pure joy. I love that look on them. So innocent and lovely. I was so happy to see them happy. They enjoyed every moment of it and told me all about the various monster trucks when they returned. 

 And while I can't say that Monster Jam was what set us back on balance, it certainly was a start. I felt like less of a jerk and they could see the light in our lives again as we find the cadence that is our family's happiness. And so, little by little we eeked our way back to the homeostatis of life.

Family Photos 2016

Family photos capture moments in time that years down the road you wish to go back to and hold tightly in your heart. Every year we go through the trouble to take them, and on that day, it always feels like such a mess- someone's not smiling, or someone is getting grass stains, or someone is making faces, and I always leave the photoshoot simultaneously wishing that it wasn't so hard and like the worst mom on the planet for all the yelling that happens in that hour of time to get a few good photos. 

But then a few weeks pass, and I see the gems arrive in my inbox, and each moment of discontent disappears, because these photos capture all that is wonderful and good in my children. Impish grins, joyful smiles, curious wonder, I love each photo for all it reminds me of and all it holds- the best of both worlds. 

So here's 2016, for each moment up to it, I'm grateful and for all the love in these photos, I'll forever capture in my heart. I love these four more than anything else and I couldn't imagine a life without all that comes with our family, the ups, the downs, and everything in between.