A few tidbits

Well, I have been very blessed to have had numerous naps over the past few days. After the first 10 days of fever/horrible headaches my throat became unbearable. I was literally unable to swallow from the pain. I was spitting my saliva and not eating/drinking much at all. So.....I started Prednisone 4 days ago and am feeling so, so much better. My throat still hurts but the swelling is down and I really feel like my energy has been better today than it has for quite a while. I have been getting close to two hours of sleep during the day by having the older boys with someone else while the little two are sleeping. I was supposed to do a bunch of music at a wedding this weekend and felt so horrible when I called her last week to tell her how sick I was. Fortunately, the bride herself just recovered from mono in May so she was very understanding and I am really hoping they found someone to fill in for me. I would never have been able to keep preparing adequately and wouldn't have been able to sing for sure. I was hardly able to speak yesterday because of the pain in my blasted throat. Anyway.....all that to say I am believing that I am past the worst of it and now will just have to pace myself. Now for some cuteness. Here was Tristan trying to figure out what to do with the flames that were so close to his little face. I just did cupcakes instead of a cake for him since I didn't feel like dealing with Judah and Shane asking for cake nonstop for days. This way the cupcakes were gone in about 2 days. Pretty smart, eh?
Eden has been home now for four months! In some ways it seems like she has been hear forever and in other ways I still vividly remember all the emotions surrounding her homecoming. Honestly, she couldn't be more perfect for our family. I was just saying to Mark today, "Why can't we have just one child who is somewhat compliant and not so bullheaded." This little girl is becoming quite the whip!! She loves, loves, loves to climb! And she climbs on everything. She has a nice bruise on her head right now from a spill she took while climbing. I just can't watch her all the time! Sometimes I have to turn around, you know? She has gained 5 pounds and grown two inches since we are home. She also walks a lot now. She is not completely walking but could if she wanted to. She must have a high pain tolerance too because she can fall and not cry much. Or take for instance her toes. She likes to push her stroller around the driveway outside. She was doing this yesterday for a while without shoes on her feet. I picked her up at one point to give her a kiss and realized that both of her big toes were scraped open and bleeding. She didn't care at all!!! This morning she was back outside and reopened her toes. They look so sore but she doesn't let it slow her down. She doesn't mind getting dirty and is happiest outside. She will spend hours and hours outside. This makes me happy!!! We are more in love with her all the time. She has become a complete daddy's girl and usually wants to be with him when he is home. This makes me happy too!!! I love watching Mark interact with her. It is just different than the boys!
Now before you all think I am a negligent parent let me just explain. This is Eden's new favorite place to climb. I have to retrieve her from the stairs probably 30 times a day - at least!! I decided to take a picture so you can see what my monkeys are like. The first time I realized Eden figured out how to climb on the outside of the railing I found her where Tristan is at in the picture. Talk about heart failure!!
Just hanging out on the steps. All of my children must have inherited their climbing gene from their mother. When I think about some of the stupid stuff I did when I was little - jumping from the garage roof to the horse barn roof, walking across the top beams in the barn, jumping from the top beam in the barn into piles of hay........climbing trees and swinging from branch to branch....
One last picture of Eden. She is into wearing her headbands but likes to wear 2-3 at a time. Tristan likes to wear them too but we will talk about that later. This is her innocent face that she flashes at you when you catch her doing something she isn't supposed to. So cute!!!

Now I am off to sit with the boys while they swim! Shane is now completely water safe so I can rest a little easier when they are swimming. I have a little bit of bragging to do on my older two but I will do that next post.