Eden: 8 Months

-Getting very wiggly

-Baby food snob, only wants what we are eating

-Wakes 1-3 times a night

-Prefers mama above all (and her milk)

-Wants to be mobile from sitting

-Turns in circles while sitting

-Loves to play as long as not left alone

-Still no teeth

-Getting harder to put down for a nap

-Beautiful baby girl

*****

My little garden baby. Perhaps she didn't make big leaps in development this month, but her personality is sure blossoming. She loves to be silly and all the attention, hates being put down while you have things to do that require two arms. We enjoyed a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Kartchner and being passed around by her aunts and older cousins. I thought she would be extra clingy but surprised me with how content she was.

This girl refuses baby food or anything close to it. I think it's the texture. She loves sweets and being the third child we became really lax about what to feed her. Whoops. So far she seems to be doing well, so oh well. No teeth, and not actively teething, so we'll see when those teethers pop up.

She wants to be mobile so bad. She reaches from sitting to the point of flopping on her belly and she never stays still in our laps. Eden is ready! But maybe I'm not. Those boys leave legos and trash everywhere so I have to be extra vigilant. 

Lastly, she isn't sleeping great. Eden wakes up a few times a night and sometimes just popping her binky back in does the trick but it's hard when she wants to eat. I'm full and she wants it, but then she doesn't learn to put herself to sleep. One day she will, I guess.

Playing with her toys. (That bald spot already looks a lot better).

Being silly. 

With Grandma at SeaWorld.

Left: Grandpa time  Right: Her favorite cousin

In a field of Blue Bonnets

Why it's getting harder to take pictures of her!

Eden: 7 Months

-18 lbs at 6 month check up

-6-12 month clothing and size 3 diapers

-Uses whole body to reach for things

-Stranger danger

-Tolerates tummy time a little more

-Hates baby food and most table food

-Doesn't sleep through the night but in her own room now

-Takes her bows off

-Claps

-Lights up the whole room with her gummy smile

*****

She is no longer a little baby! Eden is now closer to one and is getting more and more independent. She does love a good drink from Mama and to be carried everywhere.

Joey is especially in love with Eden. He calls her her favorite and whenever any of the boys see her they say "Edie! Cute, cute Edie!!" She really does light up the room, this girl, even if she doesn't sleep through the night!

Big smiles.

Happy in the morning.

Pulling Daddy's hair.

Doesn't need a baby bath anymore!

Sweet chubs!

I don't know why I find this so cute! Joey took this picture.

Look at that noggin! She has great head control.

Ho Ho Ho, Y'all!

Trying to keep our blog somewhat updated. Christmas 2018 was a good one. We started off the season by both playing in the San Antonio Messiah, run by our own stake. Having three kids makes doing anything like this difficult, but thanks to wonderful ward members, we got to be a part of it. It truly set a beautiful tone for the rest of the month!

Group photo! 

None of these events have photos, but the next weekend we enjoyed a holiday dinner hosted by the chief of ophthalmology at Wilford Hall, Dr. Caldwell. The highlight had to be the excellent White Elephant. We ended up with some Nerf guns, but the hot item was a pair of socks with Dr. Davies' face plastered all over (an oculoplastics surgeon in the Air Force).

The weekend after that we paused the Christmas festivities to celebrate Eli's 3rd birthday! We had a puppy theme and he enjoyed it immensely. He seriously needed one-- it was his first party and poor thing never has the focus on him ever. We forgot to take photos, sorry dude!

Then we hosted a little party with Sam's co-residents at our house. Only two showed up with their families, but I didn't expect any more. We had a food White Elephant and had a yummy pulled-pork dinner. Again, no photos...although one of Sam's friends took some and maybe I can ask for themwhen I'm not feeling lazy!

I realized I didn't get a photo of the kids with Santa, so I ran to the Bass Pro shot which had free photos with Santa. What I didn't know was how popular this was. I was supposed to get a ticket earlier that day then come back for that time. Ain't nobody have time for that! However, the elf, the amazing saint she was, let us in when she saw how sad our boys were and she got a huge thank you from us. Look how happy they are! When I took Eden off I noticed she pooped through her pants. Sorry Santa and everyone after that!!

On the Saturday before Christmas we went to Sea World and I made sure to get actual photos!

Beautiful decorations at the Beluga stadium.

My fave!!

We sat extra close this time and it was magical.

Santa!! I know him!

 We also got to see Killer Whales up close...like swim right pass us. That was super cool and I'll have to find the photos.

Left: Enjoying this giant inflatable. Right: Nothing's hotter than a father traveling with three kids. 

 Our neighbors gave us a cookie decorating kit and we decided to decorate them for Santa!

We also made cookies to deliver to our friends nearby! No photos there, sorry! But we do have photos of our beautiful decorated house on Christmas Eve. We made luminarias to light our driveway. Cool story: We made a random number of bags (like 29), but I swore I had tea light candles somewhere, but I didn't remember where I put them. I decided to say a prayer after learning from Joey's faith in prayer. I randomly went to the shed to a random box and found them. However, I realized there might not be enough. We decided to put them in our bags anyway. Guess what? There were 29 candles exactly. Such a little thing, but a confirmation of the power of prayer!

Christmas Eve jammies! Sharks for Joey.

Paw Patrol for Eli!

Eden even got some pretty PJs.

Christmas morning.

We love her. A lot.

Sam was on call Christmas, so the biggest thing we did that day was eat a Christmas lunch at the hospital...which happened to be super fancy and extra delicious. We could fill a plate or two of steak, turkey, etc. for only ten dollars! Christmas miracle.

We decided to hit Sea World one more time since we literally live down the street from it. We got to see the lights and sit on Santa's lap...after Christmas. What do you say? "Thank you for the presents, Santa!"

Actual reindeer.

Snow in San Antonio! A novelty here--it was even advertised.

Sesame Street Parade. It was crazy busy tonight!! But still worth the experience.

...And that's about it! We opened presents in Albuquerque, but that's for the next post I suppose. Happy 2019!