Who's Bad!

So Eve and I have seen, first hand, several times, with great ferocity, what 3.25 years old looks like with our (former) sweet little angel:

 

We've met our match but so far we are prevailing.  We figured this day would come since both Eve and I are "stubborn first born type A driven personalities."  So of course our daughter would exhibit the same tendencies as her parents. Why wouldn't she constantly refuse to bend to the wishes of others when they conflict with her own wishes and desires?  Car trips, bed times, bathtimes, dinner times, all times....it's never boring around here. 

The hardest part may very well be not laughing at her if you can believe it.  She appears to also have her father's sense of humor and sarcarstic wit.  More than half of the times she disobeys she will do something completely hilarious and laugh about it.  One of us is trying to correct her without laughing while the other parent has had to hide their face in their sleeve or leave the room due to laughter.

 A small example for your pleasure from today.  We are doing some errands/shopping and she makes her second "bad choice" at Target.  So Daddy scoops her up and takes her to the car while Mommy finishes up in the store.  We get to the van and I ask her if she can tell me why we had to leave?  "I made a bad choice."  Correct...she understands what she did!  Will you make better choices the next time we go to a store?  "No, I'll make bad choices again" she says.  Ouch.  Wrong answer.  So Daddy in his 'wisdom' informs little one: "if you cannot make good choices you will not be able to go to the store and Mommy will have to go shopping by herself."  To which she does this:

For those who had trouble with the lyrical style:
"When I get home for make a bad choice, I not gonna get to go, Mommy gonna go to the store all by herself cause I make bad choices everytime!"

And as you heard....once again I started laughing. 

We love you kid!  Thanks (we guess) for keeping us on our toes!!!

 

3 Year Pics Photo Sample

The weather cooperated for us the last weekend in October and we were able to have some wonderful photos taken of Eden.  Here's a sample for your viewing pleasure:

 

 

Daddy thinks that with those big brown eyes, we will be calling her "Peepers" for years to come!!!

Patience (and Love) Personified

The Best of Friends:

As long as she keeps slipping him food, she can push, pull, and dress him up all she wants!

A Fun Saturday

Eden had a fun filled Saturday that she thought she should share with everyone.  She was very excited as we were going to her first game day at her favorite university.  She was very excited to see cheerleaders, the band, and lots of forever hopeful fans!

 

Here she is "full of energy" running across campus to see the band play:

 

 

Enjoy the final song before the band heads to the stadium:

 

 

Chilling with Mommy waiting for the band:

 

 

Getting closer to the stadium and finally seeing the band again!:

 

 

 

After seeing all the excitement of the stadium on gameday, we thought some frozen yogurt would be a great treat for a little girl (and her parents:)  As you can tell, she wanted every last drop!:

 

 

All in all, a very fun day for all who went.  Fun and tiring:

 

 

It is so much fun to be able to share these experiences with our "little one" who isn't so "little" anymore...

I've found this wonderful tactic that I can use when I don't want to do something.  It's called "delaying" and I've gotten pretty good at it.  Mom and Dad even think that I tailor my "delaying" to each of them by trying to do things that they consider "fun" or "cute" as a way to stay up longer, not take my nap, not clean up my toys, you know, anything that isn't fun.  Here's a snippet of an episode I pulled on Dad one night.  Enjoy!

Some wonderful examples of what I did earlier in the year when it was still a little too cold to be outside playing (remember those days?)

I can say with certainty that this hasn't happened since.  Not that I'm perefectly behaved...but I don't destroy entire rooms anymore!

I'm Still Here!

It was a busy winter though. Mommy and Daddy have been moving here and there and everywhere doing "adult stuff.". Which I guess means that my on-line presence takes a back seat.

I told Dad that it's 2012 and my on-line presence can't take a back seat....so he promised to update the world on my goings on.

This week was good for me as I had a chance to get back to the farm and keep an eye on the herd....but they kept many eyes on me:

That's all for now.

If It's Gonna Be Cold

Then bring on the snow!

Because I'm ready to go sledding!

2 year old pics

Check out some photos from my 2 year old picture set:

If puppies bring in the girls....

Then little girls bring in the football players!

So the Mock's and the Olson's were at lunch after church today at the McAlisters Deli over by Notre Dame when I noticed someone I recognized walk past. Then I got a look from Jesse that said he recognized someone too. In the booth right behind us sat down Tommy Rees, Dayne Crist, and Mike Golic Jr.

We were all done with our meal when Eden (who had been sitting between Mommy and Daddy) stood up in the booth, turned around, and stuck her little head between the shoulders of Tommy and Mike and said "Go Irish!"

It was the cutest thing ever. Golic Jr. turned around and said "yeah, go Irish." She then high fived and gave knuckles to the guys (while continuing to say "Go Irish") when they offered to take a picture with all of us. Uncle Jesse couldn't bring himself to be in the photo, but Aunt Elyse did.

Great guys who were very nice to Eden and us as well.

 

 

Glad Eve chose McAlisters for lunch today!

Happy 2nd Birthday Eden!!!

It's hard for her mother and I to believe but today our little girl is officially 2 years old.  The time has flown by (just like all of you said it would) but it has been a series of blessings, day after day. 

We had  a celebration on Saturday and it was a joy to see Eden finally realize what saying "birthday party" 6319 times actually meant:

And of course to see her open all of the many wonderful gifts that she received:

This age has been described as "terrible" by many and we have already had our share of "battles."  We know that there will be many more ahead (since it is clear that we instilled in her Mommy's Type A drive and Daddy's classic bullheadedness and curiousity :)  But we also know that raising her is a gift from God and we will be rightly equipped by Him as necessary.  We may need reminded of that every now and again though so don't hesitate to do that. 

Seeing her grow up, learn, explore, and self discover has been so much fun.  Every day has been a gift and we can't tell her enough.....

WE LOVE YOU EDEN:

Happy Birthday Peeps.  Hope your day is wonderful and your brother gives you a break from stealing your food!

From pumpkins...to apples!

Since the weather cooperated and it was nice on Sunday as well, we took a trip over to Kerchers Orchard in Goshen for the Fall Fest. 

Mommy and Daddy were very excited for this trip considering how much fun we had at Knollbrook Farm but as you can tell by the look on my face, I was a little concerned for our safety:

Ever the daredevil, I decided to participate anyway and was soon on my way to finding my very own "big girl pumpkin":

While waiting to ride back to the orchard (another hay ride!!!) I had another one of my good (although sneaky) ideas:

Pretty soon I had Uncle Jesse working for me and I just said "keep them coming!":

And keep coming they did!  Dad kept saying I was "eating the profits" whatever that means:

I may not know all those fancy phrases Daddy uses, but I do know that I had another fun day!:

I've gotta have my fun while I'm young...pretty soon I'll be 2!

Family Fun at the "Pumpkin Patch"

We took advantage of the beautiful weather last weekend and headed out to a local "pumpkin patch."  Eden was able to enjoy this trip much more than her last time at a "patch":

Our destination was Knollbrook Farm in New Paris:

What a fun place we discovered it to be.  We didn't even realize until we got there that Eden would be able to:

Take a hay ride:

See some livestock (real and manmade):

Go through a straw maze:

And of course...pick pumpkins:

What do you mean I only get one?!?:



Cause I'm getting good at this pumpkin picking thing:

But maybe the funnest thing at Knoolbrook Farm was the 50 Foot Slide!  I went down once with Mom and about 5 times all by myself!:

We had a wonderful time at the "pumpkin patch" and I know that the next time I go to one, I'll bring some friends!

It's That Time of Year...

Been real busy trying to get the crops in but I wanted to let everyone know that I'm doing alright!

I think we missed some over yonder...time to get back to work.

*Editor's note:  Eden wasn't driving the farm equipment, she was mostly navigating.  She left the hard stuff to her good pal Jamin :)

Some Kids Like Toys "R" Us...

But you can have just as much fun at Lowe's:

Until Daddy gets tired of chasing you and saying "no."  Then you get stuck in the cart...:

All in all, a very fun time I would say.