Yesterday we had a little birthday party for our little miss Eden. I have to admit it has been a little surreal that our baby is already 1. Its been a roller coaster of a year, for sure! We had both Dave and my families over and set up a dessert bar for our guests. It was so fun! We had fruit, little rice krispie balls with pink sugar on top, cupcakes, frosted animal crackers, little raspberry/chocolate cookies, pink candy canes, huge pink lollipops, and raspberry chocolates. Lots of pink and lots of sugar!
Her "smash cake" (which didn't end up looking too smashed after all):
The cupcakes I made...some had pink sugar crystals sprinkled on top and others had an "E":
My mom surrounded by some of her grandkids (Micaela, Eden, and Collin):
My mom with the (squirmy-as-always) birthday girl:
Eden with her Great Grandpa L:
(See, she is always squirmy)
My Grandpa L with his wife Bertha:
Dave, my brother Brian, Jerry, (Dave's sis Kim), my cousin Robyn, Dave's mom Cheryl, and my Aunt Janice:
Collin with my mom and my brother's girlfriend Jessica:
Eden and Jessica:
Dave's mom Cheryl, Cheryl's husband Jerry, and Dave's sister Kim:
My cutie niece Camille:
Camille with her Grandpa Juan (my brother Brian and his family were in town and brought Natacha's dad Juan who was visiting from Argentina--so fun to have them all at the party!):
My sister-in-law Natacha and my sis Alison:
Collin with his Great Grandpa L and Grandma Bertha:
Eden opens gifts with the help of her Aunt Alison:
More gifts...
Of course, the siblings have to check them out too:
Jerry and Cheryl, Janice and Larry and Robyn, and Juan:
Eden tries out the new horse she just got from her Grandpa and Grandma L:
(l-r): Natacha, Janice, Jerry, and Larry
Here comes the cake! Ooo...check out that light on top:
After taking quite awhile inspecting the cake, we finally cut a small piece and just handed it to her:
Poor girl was pretty disturbed by having messy, frosting coated fingertips. She was more interested in getting the frosting off her hands than she was in eating the cake (that was basically the same reaction my other 2 kids had to their smash cakes as well.):
Of course, these little girls (Brynn and their cousin Micaela) were close by in case she needed any help:
Eden with our favorite (and pretty much only) babysitter, my cousin Robyn:
Of course a dessert bar results in a massive sugar high for the little ones. The result was some wrestling and attacking of their uncle Justin. Good thing Justin could hold his own against all these sugar-filled kiddos:
It was so nice to have alot of our family there to celebrate with us. A couple months after Eden was born, she was hospitalized with RSV and at the same time I was struggling with post partum depression. It was one of the most difficult times of my life, and we received so much help, prayers, and emotional support from our family. This birthday felt like it was also a celebration of getting through those challenges and for the humbling gratitude I feel for those who helped us through. We have amazing families!
Eden,
We feel so absolutely blessed to have you in our family! You bring so much joy and laughter into our home. Your older brother and sister adore you, and will hardly let you take a nap, because they miss playing with you for those few hours. You have such an infectious smile. You love to make other people laugh and smile.
There are things about you at this age that I just wish I could freeze forever. I love the hugs you seem to save for your dad, and the way you snuggle up to me when I hold you. I love the silly face you make when you want to get us to laugh (think: crazy smile and wrinkled up nose, complete with a weird breathing noise to complete the goofy effect). I love your crazy hair that spent the 1st 10 months sticking up at the top of your head and now grows straight down into your eyes. I love your perfect little eyebrows that you were born with (the nurse even commented on them and said she had never seen a baby born with eyebrows). I love seeing the bond you and your dad have. Every day he looks at you with the proudest look on his face as he exclaims how cute you are. It is pretty much a daily (sometimes hourly) thing around here that one of us will make everyone else in the family stop what they are doing to see what cute thing you are doing.
You still aren't really sleeping through the night, but there is usually at least one time each night when I am holding you when we both should be sleeping and I just close my eyes and try to capture that memory of you curled up in my arms. I know I won't get those precious one-on-one moments with you forever. Of course, you reserve your cutest smiles for the middle of the night, so I can't help but forgive you for waking me. Your dad must feel the same, because he takes turns getting up with you too.
You would think since you are our 3rd kid, we would know what we are doing, but I still feel like I am just winging this whole parenting thing. I appreciate your patience with me and forgiving me when I stumble through it. You are one of the greatest blessings I could have asked for, and I am so happy to be able to celebrate your 1st year with you!
Love forever,
Your mom
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