Ready or not....

Well Eve has been fascinated with telling people about the baby in mommy's belly, so the secret is out! Come July and there will be a new addition in the Edwards family. Eve has been getting ready, and I love it! She takes her baby everywhere, she feeds the baby from her sippy cup, puts it down for naps. She even tells us to be quiet when baby is sleeping! She is getting much better at being gentle around her baby as well. She is so sweet and nurturing, I am hoping she keeps it up when the real baby comes. How do you know when your toddler is ready? She seems really excited, and talks about how she loves her baby all the time. 

My little lady was so good when I was sick in the first trimester. She would beg me to come and play, but if I told her "the baby makes mommy tired" she would just say "ok mom" and bring her toys to me and play next to me. I just love her! She did her best to pitch in around the house too, most the time it makes things worse, but I love her enthusiasm!

She is getting surprisingly good at sweeping up the floors...

I can't wait until she can actually wash dishes....that is going to be great...sigh, one day.

Uncle Peter

Recently we had the pleasure of getting a visit from my brother Peter. He was passing through on his way back to Canada and he was able to rearrange some flights to spend a few extra days with us. He was rather tired and jet lagged, so we didn't do much, but it was just enough. We lounged around the house and did a few things in the area. Two highlights were obviously Super Duper Weenie and Shake Shack :) Eve took to him right away! She hasn't seen much of him due to the distance, but she sure remembers him now. She still asks when uncle Peter is coming back. 

It was so cute to see them together. He is so good with her, this was really the first visit he has been able to really play with her and talk with her, as she was much younger when she has seen him in the past. So Peter, being the great sport he is, endured many tea parties, princess books, coloring in princess books etc. He's going to be a great dad. Very quickly, it was only Peter that could get her out of her car seat, push the stroller, hold her hand etc. We have never gotten to have him all to ourselves before, it was such a special visit. Did I mention he's my only other sibling in the dental field? This little sparty pants graduates from dental school this spring, so we had lots to talk about! Haha, we had many nerdy talks about dentistry and such, it was awesome! We love you Peter! Come back soon!

It Matters

When Eve was a baby, I will admit I would often wonder "does this really matter?" Does it matter that I read to her every night before bed? She doesn't understand what I'm saying, how much does it matter? Well as Eve is getting older, I am now understanding that those things DID and DO matter.
Just recently, as I was putting Eve to bed. I did our usual routine, brushed teeth, potty, pj's, story, and a song of her choice. She generally she has 3 favorites. This night she chose "shipchers" which is "Search, ponder and pray" and as I started singing it to her, I could hear a soft whisper coming from her, she knows the words! Not all of them, but about every third word she knows. And I can't describe it, but I was just so overwhelmed with pride and love for this little spirit. When she said the end line "I know the shipchers are twue", it was magical. It made me realize how those little things matter. She picks up every little thing, every word, every gesture. She's truly amazing, and I feel so blessed to have her in my life. I will never wonder again "does this really matter", I have now seen that it does. I love my sweet little Eve, and now the highlight of my day is singing primary songs with her, and having her join in :)

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Christmas

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is the opening of our new pjs on Christmas Eve. My sister did them again this year, and did such a great job! She sneakily did a little research, and found out what Eve's favorite thing in the world is, her bear. This white, scraggly little bear goes everywhere. She loves it so much! So Eve's pjs said I heart bear, and Braden's said I heart Megan. It's hard to see mine, but mine says i heart Bray Bray, which is a funny little joke name for Braden so graciously given to him by my family back when we were dating. 

She never wants to take off her new pjs.

So, this Christmas morning I had a great new tradition planned, I wanted to make the best pumpkin waffles and buttermilk syrup of all time. I got up super early so I could have them all ready before Eve and Braden woke up. Well, my pumpkin waffle recipe was a disaster! For some reason the waffle iron couldn't cook it all the way through before burning it. And they pulled apart when you tried to open it. So we tried to salvage the morning by pouring he batter to make pancakes, no bueno. So after a while we all just got so hungry we had cereal...maybe next year will turn out better, and I can test out the recipe before hand.

This little monkey was so excited to finally get to open all the present under the tree! They had been tempting her for so long, we thought maybe she would lose interest or forget, but NO!

She was so fast at ripping off the wrapping paper. She opened every single gift, if it wasn't something she liked (one for either of us) she would look around and give it to one of us, then move on to the next. We had so much fun with her. 

We had a wonderful Christmas, we feel so blessed to have our families and each other. I hope everyone felt the spirit of Christmas this season. 

Florida part 2

Ok, wrong post I know, but these are the girls that shop :) Little Capri was a great little shopper, she is the best baby of all time. So mellow as long as she's by mommy. And of course we dined at our favorite spot, PF Changs. They don't have them in Canada, so my family always makes time to go when they are in the USA.

This day just Braden and I went to Animal Kingdom with Eve. She loves animals! She knows so many of them, and loves to make their sounds. 

There is this safari ride there, that is just a truck driving through their wildlife preservation areas. So it was been going on for long enough that the animals are fairly used to they traffic. It's nice that you get to see them in their home setting (as close as you can be I guess).

This was a real treat, there was a baby elephant born at the park just a few months prior, it was so cute!

Ok, best part of the day for me, a white rhino walked up to us! About 4 feet from me, unbelievable! Eve was just beside herself, the whole ride she was just pointing and rhyming out animal names and sounds with such vigor. It was entertaining for the others on the ride. Needless to say, we went on this adventure a few times that day.

Anyone else like to "people" watch? Braden and I love it, just to observe and enjoy watching crowds of people, their interactions etc. Well, I suggest you monkey watch! It was so funny to see these little guys swinging around and such. While Eve napped, we just sat there and were amazed at the view.

The famous "Tree of Life". This thing is truly amazing, there are animals carved into the sides if you look close enough. 

Round 2 on the safari!

And the parade was always Eve's favorite part of the day. At each park, she enjoyed the parade the most. 

Well going to parks can really wipe you out, so the rest of the time was spent either relaxing at the resort, just hanging out by the pool, and spending quality time with family. I miss them all already! Eve talks about mickey mouse and her cousins constantly. It was an amazing trip, and we can't wait to take Eve again, but when she's older. 

Florida part 1

The week before Christmas Braden and I met up with my parents down in Orlando. My sister and her little family also joined us, just a bunch of Canadians (with 2 Americans) escaping the cold. The first day together was such a gift! the husbands took all the kids to Sea World and the ladies got to go shopping :) It was so great to have a day just with my mom and my sister, we had so much fun just hanging out, shopping and eating lots of Pinkberry. That place is so addicting! Going home to all the hubbies was interesting, they were all very interested in our purchases, haha AKA damages , but they were all good sports about it. 

Well next stop was MAGIC KINGDOM! That place really is the happiest place on earth, the energy there is just contagious. Eve had fun, so many things to look at and explore, she loooves Cinderella. She is convinced that she is Cinderella, every time she sees her picture she says " Evie Evie!". She went on a few rides with us, but wasn't really into them, she just liked the atmosphere. 

I will say, it was so nice going with my parents. They were so great to help with Eve, and stay back with her so we could do a few grown-up rides. 

And the timing, nothing short of perfection! Mid to high seventies for weather, and schools still in session :) We never waited more than 20 mins to get on a ride. It was such a blessing, and great for taking a toddler with the attention span of 1.3 seconds.

This is Eve and Braden right before getting on the Dumbo ride, unfortunately the knob didn't work to adjust height of the elephant, so it stayed at the highest setting, and the altitude scared Eve a bit. 

And yes, we did manage to get some awesome pictures at Splash Mountain, I would post it, but it is rather embarrassing. 

The next day we did Epcot, this place was awesome! I had my doubts, but this place delivers. the detail in every "Country" was phenomenal, it really felt like you were there, everything is laid out so you get really engulfed in the culture. 

This was so cool! This was a real gingerbread house! 

And of course with all the amazing sights, and activities, Eve was most interested in a wandering duck. She so graciously donated half of her sandwich so we could feed the little duckie. This was the best thing that happened to her all day, we were there for a good while, until the duck went back to the water. 

For the kids they had a little "passport" they could color and get stamped at every country.

This was the highlight of the day for me! The best restaurant there, it is called Biergarten, or the Beergarden. It is this huge, amazing buffet of all German food! Having a Czech background, I have been exposed to a lot of similar cooking, and it really was delicious. Lots of sausage, cabbage, with an array of soups,salads and potatoes. but the best was the potato dumplings or "Kinedlicke" as we knew it growing up. They had a show of German dancers and musicians going as you ate as well, it was magical really. Even all the serving staff were German, it was so fun.