What is cute at 1pm is not so cute at 1pm

So, yesterday as the girls were napping upstairs, snuggled all cozy in their beds, I ventured downstairs to do some laundry. I was minding my own business, and as I walked out of the laundry room I was greeted by a super smiley 1-year-old. 'Awww... how sweet,' I thought, 'she got out of bed and came to find me... I love that little girl!!'
.....Fast-Forward approximately 12 hours.....
Now mommy is snuggled all cozy in her bed (ok, who am I kidding, these girls have been getting up way too often for me to get too awfully snuggly recently) and here comes that same adorable 1-year-old waddling down the hallway, screaming, looking for a friendly face. So I took her back to bed. And she ventured out again. So, I took my blankie and cozied into the glider in her room to make sure she stayed put. It was not meant to be. After several warnings to get back to bed and lay down, I was just too stinkin' tired to care. So, she got up, stood in the middle of the room sucking her thumb, and analyzed her situation. Then she decided to read some books and play with her games. After awhile, I think she realized that I was not interested in playing, so she shimmied right back over to her bed, climbed back in, and fell asleep....
I wonder how long this phase will last??!?

Happy Birthday, Eden Elaine!

EE --
You are 3 years old!! Where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday the doctor was placing you in my arms and I was taking my first look at my tiny little baby... (ok, ok, you weren't tiny, but, still....) and now you are a walking, talking, running, jumping, singing, dancing, laughing, imagining, playful little girl. In your own words, you're "a yittle bit big." You will always be my baby, but you are right -- you are a little bit big. And I feel like every time I turn my back for just a second, you get a little bit bigger. What a joy to watch you grow into such a wonderful little girl. You are so loving and compassionate. Some things you've told me in the past few weeks that remind me just how much you love those around you:

• "Mommy, I not like when Jada cries. It make me sad." You are always so concerned with the well being of your little sister. You are always the first one to hear her cry and you make sure we all know that there is something wrong with her. You can hardly wait for her to wake up in the morning so you can give her a hug and a kiss.
• "It nice to share!" So nice, in fact, that you couldn't stand the fact that yesterday was your birthday and nobody else's. I tried to convince you that this was a good thing... you got to have this birthday all to yourself. But you weren't convinced. So you shared your birthday party with Grandpa. (I'm sure he loved the princess cake!)
• "I need to buy Macie gloves at the grocery store." Macie already has gloves, but you think she should have pink ones... since she likes pink as much as you do. (and, as a side note here, you buy everything at the grocery store!! I guess this is what WalMart has done to your generation... you pretty much can buy everything at the grocery store!)
• "I love you, Mommy!" You never hold back on telling others how much you love them. What a wonderful quality!! Don't ever stop telling people how much you like and love them. People need to hear those things!!

I must admit, you are not "sugary-sweet" all the time, but you do have a personality that a mother can not help but love. You sometimes get a bit bossy and stubborn, but that is only because you know what you want and you are determined to get it. Once your mind is made up, it is not easily changed. Daddy says you get that from me.... I'm just going to take that as a compliment and not question him any further! :) At times your personality 'quirks' make you a bit hard to mother, but I know in the long run your determination will take you far!
In the past couple months, your imagination as really taken flight!! You're favorite game to play right now is "mommy, daddy, baby." And mommy, daddy and baby do so many fun things together. We play, have tea parties, go to church, dance, sing, take naps and watch movies.
Eden, I strongly believe that you are a natural born performer. You love to sing and dance. Your favorite songs include Glory to God, ABCs, Go Tell it on the Mountain, Old McDonald, Jesus Loves Me, and Jesus Loves the Little Children, among others. Last week as Daddy and I were watching the Super Bowl, you brought out a little stage and grabbed a microphone (aka a mini-maglite) and showed us what a great half-time show should look like. You gave a great show and I was thankful for all the encore performances.
Your favorite thing to do right now is watch movies. I don't let you watch as many as you would like, but it is kind of fun to watch you get wrapped up in the lives of your favorite characters. Thankfully, you have broadened your horizons past Dora, so we now get to watch Mickey, Strawberry Shortcake, Einsteins, Care Bears, and anything that has to do with princesses!! I've even been able to convince you to watch a few things on PBS from time to time.
Some of your other favorite things right now: Noodles, Moose Tracks ice cream, dancing shoes, dress-up, Grammie, drawing, and "pretending."
Eden, you have filled my life with such unending joy... I don't even remember what life was like before I changed my name to "mom." I am so blessed by your sweet spirit and I can not wait to watch you grow and see who you begin to become in the next year.
Love you, sweet girl!

Peer pressure made me do it...

OK... so I'm going to try this bloggin' thing out... I'm not expecting much from myself, so I hope you don't either!
And if you expect this blog to be about anything other than my adorable little girls and the wonderful and hilarious things they do, you may just want to find a different blog to read. I know they are cuter and funnier to me than they are to anyone else, but I just need to start doing better about documenting all the crazy stuff they do. I figure if I'm writing it anyway, I might as well let you read it. If nothing else, their mama and grandmas will enjoy it!! :)
So, welcome to my blog!