Tears and Kisses and Singing ... the Shoe Curse Continues

Remember this post?

Well, today Eden was wearing the brown sandals purchased at that time. I've decided there is a curse associated with those shoes.

We went outside and played (well, she played and I picked up branches downed in our latest round of storms). Then it was time to come in for a nap. Eden wasn't happy but I was firm so in we came. I looked down and noticed that Eden was missing one of her sandals.

"Where is your other sandal?"
"I took it off"
"Where did you put it?"
"In mine house."

She had just been playing in her playhouse/slide thing on the deck and so I thought that is what she meant. I walked onto the deck, looked, but no shoe. I turned the handle of the storm door and was met with great resistance. She had locked it.

After about five minutes of trying to get her to unlock it, I gave up on that approach. I left her crying and fearful and went to my neighbor's house to use the phone. I called Phil (who works 30 minutes away) and asked him to come right home. I spent the next half hour sitting on one side of the glass door with Eden on the other. We sang songs, she cried some, and we did lots of kissing through the glass. She was very brave (which, incidentally is one of her favorite new adjectives).

Then when Phil was about five minutes away, she reached up (without any prodding by me - I had long since given up on that) and unlocked the door.

We are grateful that is over.

Oh, and I found the shoe "in mine house." The real house.

New Shoes

When Eden was born she had extremely LONG toes. It was like she had fingers for her toes - seriously! I don't think they've grown in length in the past two years though. They have grown otherwise. So now, instead of long skinny toes, she has short stubby ones. This makes shoe-fitting difficult. Her sandals (size 5.5) were beginning to rub on her chubby toes and she actually had a couple of sores. Definitely time to buy some new sandals.

So yesterday I put her white sandals on (I had bought them at Kid to Kid a few months ago and this was the first day she actually wore them) and we headed to the Exchange (our local sprawl-center with Target, Old Navy, Kohls, TJ Maxx, Ross, etc.). After looking at a few stores we ended up at Target. We were also looking for a pair of water shoes and so I took her white sandals off and tried on a pair of water shoes (size 7 - she needed size 6). Then she took off. I rounded her up again and then we found a cute pair of brown sandals in the right size. I tried them on her and she LOVED them. I took the tags off so she could just wear them out of the store (and I could still pay for them).

Then I looked and only saw one white sandal. I looked and looked but couldn't find which shoe box contained three shoes instead of two. I asked Eden where she had put the other one but she was either really belligerent or just couldn't understand me (I think it was the former - she was on one!). I was about ready to cut my losses and just leave because Eden was not being cooperative and I was just incredibly frustrated. Finally a woman came around the corner and I explained to her what had happened. I don't think she really wanted to know but she was kind and offered to help. I showed her the shoe I had and then she said, isn't that it right there. Yup, in the box right in front of me. Grateful for help, embarrassed by my blindness, I thanked her and left the shoe department.

Glad that ordeal is over.

My articulate kiddo

Some recent Edenisms:

Saturday we went to the Atlanta temple to witness the sealing of some friends. Eden was so excited to get to go to the temple instead of being left behind with a babysitter. As we drove I explained to her that she would see the Dewsnup kids and stay with them while we went inside. She exclaimed, "yay! they are very nice to me."

Sunday evening I was wearing a shirt that had Simon and Garfunkel* on it. I don't wear many printed tees so Eden was intrigued. She kept asking, "who's that guy?" while pointing to each of them. During her prayer she said, "thank you mommy, thank you Eden, thank you daddy, thank you that guy (pointing to Paul Simon) and thank you that guy (pointing to Art Garfunkel)." What can I say, she knows good music.

You may not know it, but you were likely called yesterday. I wasn't feeling well in the afternoon and Phil was at meetings. So, while I rested (using that term lightly), Eden laid on my bed with me and used my phone to "call" people. She really did call a few people but mostly she dialed 2222222222222 and then pretended to talk. It was hilarious to hear her say things like, "hello? Merleelee (my sister, Merilee)? how doing? hmmm? oh, uh huh?" The best was when she called Corrie and her husband, Brian, though. The "conversation" went like this: "Corralee, hello. I miss you. I talk Brian. Brian, hello. You obey? huh?" At two she already knows the order of things.


* several years ago when Simon and Garfunkel had a reunion tour I really wanted to go to their concert but I didn't really want to pay the huge amount of money and so I had some friends over and we watched the DVD of the Concert in the Park. We made a real party out of it with Simon and Garfunkel trivia etc. One of the activities was to make your own "concert tee." It was pretty fun. We used to do thematic parties all the time. What happened? Oh yeah, Eden is the new theme and life is the new party.

You don't say?

Eden is great with the compliments. Yesterday we were playing the "adjective game" (wherein I say, "is mommy ... fill in the blank with an adjective." It went something like this:

Me: Is mommy big?
Eden: Yes!

Me: Is mommy funny?
Eden: Yes!

Me: Is mommy .... pause to think of something
Eden: Cute? Yes!

Very nice.

*****

Today we were driving around and Eden suddenly said, "Who's that mom?"
Me: "Where?"
Eden: "Up there, oh fishies." It was then that I looked up in the sky and saw two huge helicopters. They do look like fishies. What a cool thought, these huge fishies flying around in the sky!

*****

Eden is kind of potty training. We haven't gone full speed ahead with it but she goes on the potty a few times a day. Just now at dinner she spilled some water on her shirt. It must have seemed like going pee pee because she said, "Oh, I'm a toilet!"
Phil: "you aren't a toilet!"
Eden: (with her most quizzical voice) "I'm a potty daddy?"

This kid cracks me up!!!!

Dumpster Diving

Today Eden and I pulled into the garage after a trip to Winn Dixie. I took one load in and was on my way for a second load when I realized Eden had been detoured. She was standing at our trash can we keep in the garage - kind of a pit stop on the way to the big dumpster.

What was she doing at the trash can?

Why, she was sticking her fingers in the tossed out ice cream carton. I mean really, who could resist even the remnants of Rocky Road?

A cute story perhaps, but it is showing a bit of a trend with her.

A few weeks ago when we went to the Aquarium with my nephews we were passing through the food court to get to the family bathroom (so cleverly positioned past the fries and hamburgers and soda). Well I couldn't get Eden to keep moving (because, of course, she had to walk by herself!). I then realized that she was watching a man throw away an entire basket of fries. Once they were deposited into the trash Eden went in for the kill. I barely stopped her from nabbing one of the fries.

The best part of this whole story was when we got home and I had the following conversation with Phil:

Me: We saw the ultimate in white trash hickdom today.

Phil: Really?

Me: Yeah, we totally watched someone as they watched someone else throw out a basket of fries and then...

Phil: Na-uh!?

Me: Yes, the person totally put their hand in the trash to go after the fries.

Phil: No way!

Me: True story. And the best part is that it was your daughter!

He was relieved to hear that I stopped her before the deed was done.

I love my little 'bama baby!

It's a Miracle!

Eden loves her nursery class. She loves her teacher, Sister Hollie. She learns things at church. It is awesome.

Tonight while brushing her teeth (and in between a marathon of temper tantrums that can only signal her second birthday is a week away) she erupted with the following:

"It's a miracle! I'm alive, Jesus. I'm alive, Jesus. He is risen!"

A couple of firsts for Eden

She got her first bandaid today. I know, she is almost two and hasn't ever needed a bandaid. I told you she was cautious. She scraped her knee yesterday and today it started to bleed so we put a bandaid on it after bath.

She went #2 in the toilet! True story. She flushed it and said, "bye-bye poop, see ya later." I'm not holding my breath for a repeat performance any time soon.

I love Winn Dixie and Eden is busy

We went shopping today. We had a $25 gift card because we filled a prescription at the WD pharmacy. We had a coupon for $10 off a $50 purchase. We took advantage of lots of B1G1 (buy 1 get 1) and other deals. We bought over $100 of groceries for $30. Love it!

At the pharmacy the cashier looked at Eden and said, "you must be about two."
Me: "yup, next month, you are good."
Cashier: "I have a two year old."
Me: "Isn't it a fun age? They are so fun and busy and determined and opinionated."
Eden: "yeah, Eden, busy!"

What do we need to do?

Each day after Eden wakes up from her nap, we go outside and get the mail. Today Phil got her up from her nap and so I thought it would be interesting to see if she remembered our routine.

Me: "Now that you are done with your nap, what do we need to do?"
Eden: "toot."

And then she did.

Nature's Sense of Humor Strikes Again

For those of you with firstborn younger than my Eden, you may want to listen up. For those of you who have already traveled the path I'm on, laugh it up!

Let's be honest, after the labor-intensive infant stage I was really excited to get to the point when Eden would be willing to entertain herself for brief periods. How excited it would be to have her in her bedroom playing while I did things in the family room (you know, important things like blogging). That day came about a month ago. She was willing to be in another room long before that but only about a month ago would she actually spend some time in that other room without requiring "mommy, mommy" to come help, look, be near. Now she is quite comfortable playing without me.

Of course, just when that occurs, she is also quite interested in getting into messes. So now, she doesn't really need/want me around but I don't dare let her be alone. This week she got a brand new box of Cheezits off the counter (how is she that tall???) and took them into the (carpeted) family room then dumped them. In her attempts to clean up her mess, she walked all over them. Yeah, no more turning my back on this kid. :-)

Her punishment? She had to help me clean it up, including vacuuming. She HATES the vacuum. It still terrifies her. I don't think she'll be making those kinds of messes for a while...

Prayer at our house

Tonight after family prayer and after Eden and I had said her prayer she said, "mommy, more prayer." Usually this means she has something she wants to thank Heavenly Father for and so I said, "Thank you for..."
Eden: "sheep."
Me: "and thank you for..."
Eden: "soft"
(clearly she was talking about her sheep blanket that she was cuddling up to)
Me: "and thank you for..."
Eden: "movies, I like movies, I like to move it move it."

Yeah we just got Madagascar II from Netflix. I think she liked it.

Heidi, I try to do'd it

Just now I was in my bathroom curling my hair (cuz it is like 2:30 and it just seemed like time to do that). Eden had just gotten up from her nap and was in the other room. Then I heard this:

"Heidi, Heidi, Heidi!"

I hollered so that she would know where to find me. In she walked and said,

"Heidi, potty. Heidi, I try to do'd it."

And so she sat on the potty. She watched the poo poo go away and said, "bye-bye poo."

An exciting day!

The fine print is this: she had already poo'd in her diaper and I just emptied the contents into the toilet after she sat on the pot for a minute. She did flush it and wave goodbye to the poo. As I was putting a new diaper on her she said, "I do'd it again, more." I think we are just that much closer to the real experience.

I'm not sure why she called me "Heidi" she does that once in a while...

News Flash: She's not PERFECT

Although you wouldn't know it from reading this blog, she really ISN'T perfect. Here is some proof:



But you've got to admit that she is pretty adorable even when she is having a temper tantrum. (I had taken her blanket and put it in her crib, I missed the laying-on-the-floor-kicking part of the tantrum because as soon as it started I had to run for the camera, as any good mother would do!)

Last night was girls' night/craft night and we made tutus. Isn't she cute in hers? If you want to make one let me know and I'll point you in the right direction. Next month's craft project: hair clips, so if you have any great instructions, ideas, patterns, or the like, send them my way.

Speaking of words...

Here are some of my (current) favorite phrases spoken (often) by my Eden:

"Bless you!" (after every sneeze within earshot, including her own)

"Yeah, sure." (when she is enthusiastically agreeing to something, such as in response to the question, "do you want a cookie?")

"I do'd (dude) it" (giving evidence that she is indeed nearly two)

"I help you" (this really means: I don't want you to help me, more evidence of her age)

"love you mommy" (need I say more?)

This headline caught my attention

Roommate Deemed Too Incompetent To Clean Bathroom

Today as I was not wanting to clean the bathrooms (that happens every week) I decided to google "I don't want to clean the bathroom" and see what came up. I found the above article and it just made me laugh. I wish someone would deem me too incompetent to clean the bathroom!

(I only stalled about 10 minutes today and then cleaned the bathrooms, I'm kinda proud of myself)

25 Things

It has been a while since I have done a tag. Corrie shared 25 random things about herself on her blog and invited others to follow in her footsteps. How could I refuse (especially since she kindly mentioned me in hers). So, while I don't promise to be as witty as Corrie, here are 25 random things about me.

1. Right now I am eating leftover chicken cacciatore. I made the recipe up one day by just dumping things that sounded good into my crockpot. After I was done, I realized I'd come up with cacciatore. I often cook this way. It is much more a function of my laziness than it is my creativity. Well, maybe a little creativity...

2. I once killed a mouse in a bag with a hammer. You'll have to ask me if you want the details. (It was a mercy killing though.)

3. When I was young I wanted a daughter named Tiffany. I never considered the name "Eden" until I was about 6 months pregnant with my little Eden.

4. My husband once dated a girl who ended up marrying (someone else) and having a daughter whom she named Eden. (hi, Sarah) Ok, that isn't really about me, but an intersting fact, don't you think?

5. I LOVE to make snowflakes. You know, the paper/scissors kind? Above my computer desk I currently have approximately 35 snowflakes I've made (well, I forced Phil to make two of them). Snowflakes have six points guys. Just in case you didn't know. Yeah, my snowflakes are anatomically correct.

6. When I was growing up (well, getting older anyway) I loved that my mom crocheted us slippers every Christmas. I never learned how until I was in college. My cousin taught me how to do it (my mom taught her). Phil hates crocheted slippers.

7. I like red.

8. I love efficiency.

9. I have six brothers who are all high-achievers. Mark - MBA from Harvard; Michael - Master of Teaching (I don't know what the real title is) and a Vice Principal; Andrew - MBA from Duke; Paul - MBA from Duke; Jon - in Dental school (after getting an MS in biological engineering); Josh - attending USU, speaking Russian, and avoiding marriage.

10. I once wrote in my scriptures: "interesting idiom for a prophet to use prior the the birth of Christ." Yeah, that was in my intellectually snobby graduate school years.

11. I love going to youth dances. I'm the coolest, nerdiest chaperone ever! Oh yeah, I boogie (and I even get Phil to boogie with me sometimes).

12. One time a guy told me the best quality I had going for me was that I was "sly."

13. My parents are two of my biggest confidants, advisors, cheerleaders, and heros.

14. As far as I know, I still hold the record at West Gresham Grade School for hanging on the crossbar (chin above the bar) for the longest time. I think it was 2 1/2 minutes or something.

15. I love sweets and waffles and ice cream and cookies and bread and this cacciatore is gone and I'm having hankerings...

16. I had a crush on Little Joe (not Michael Landon though) from Bonanza.

17. I have three incredible sisters who are raising some amazing kids. I love that all of my sisters and SILs are awesome moms and that the men in their lives support them as stay-at-home moms. My sisters are some of my best friends.

18. I like to sing. I pretty much sing all day long. Phil didn't know this about me until after we were engaged. I was always very threatened by his skilz and so I wouldn't sing much around him. He asked me (after we were married) if I had ever thought about doing choir when I was in high school. I was like, "yeah! I was in ALL the choirs in high school! Show choir, madrigals, jazz choir, concert choir, symphony choir. I wasn't just some girl who was in a few choirs. I WAS the choir-girl."

19. I blog when I'm avoiding cleaning. Yeah, that is what I'm doing now. What I'm NOT doing is cleaning my bathrooms, cleaning the windows, and vacuuming.

20. I once came home from an elementary track meet with a 3rd place ribbon. My mother was so proud. Before I could sleep that night, I had to confess that there were only three kids in the race. I'm not much of an athlete.

21. I did play basketball for three years in Jr. High. The coach played me fairly often. I never made a point in a game. I'm not sure why she played me as often as she did.

22. At my Jr. High graduation, I was awarded some award that was something about being the outstanding physical education student of the class. Same coach. What was her deal? Did she really think I just lacked encouragement?

23. In my first job interview (to be a receptionist of a medium-sized corporation), the HR director asked me if I had any experience. My reply, "well, when the phone rings at home, I'm always the first one to answer it!" I was 18. I got the job. The HR director was not my former BB coach, I promise.

24. I love to laugh and I love hugs. Laughing with my husband and daughter is only second to hugs from my husband and daughter.

25. I am one blessed girl!

Fun with Tape

Dating Diaries - Diaper Odor

Heidi Beck had had terrible days before.

But as the awful diaper scent burned her nostrils, she realized this date was too awful to shrug off.

Beck, 21, a senior from Blue Springs, Mo., majoring in home and family life, looked around the hospital emergency room and found it difficult to believe the evening had started as a relatively normal date, she said.

Granted, she said the BYU linebacker who had picked her up several hours earlier seemed excessively playful. Still, being tossed around like a rag doll by a jovial giant was not as painful or annoying as going hungry all night because your date did not think dinner was important, Beck said.

Unfortunately, she said both circumstances applied.

Beck said dinner was replaced by a rousing series of slides down Rock Canyon hill in garbage cans - not exactly the activity of dating champions.

During the tandem sliding event, Beck said she was convinced her life would be snuffed out by her 300 pound companion. Instead, the other girl on the group date almost had the honor.

"I was covered in poo from diapers in the garbage can," Beck said. "And the other girl broke her collarbone."

The remainder of the evening was spent in the emergency room, where Beck said she would never date again, unless her date would take her to dinner and help her avoid smelly unpleasantness.

Editors Note: although my maiden name is Heidi Beck, this actually isn't my story. It is another Heidi Beck that I just randomly came across on the internet. It made me laugh and I thought it was a perfect post for dating diaries.

More evidence she's not southern...

• She tells me that she went "pee pee" instead of "tea tea"*

• When I say, "Eden..." She replies, "What!" (with attitude) instead of "M'am?" (with deference)**

*I don't understand it but all nurses out here (and probably others I just only have this conversation with nurses) call it "tea tea" instead of "pee." For example, today I had my yearly (oh the fun!) and the nurse said, "did you tea tea yet?" I (not being southern) said, "what?" After three tries she finally said, "did you urinate?" "Oh" I said. (It has been a while since I've heard it and I totally forgot that is what they call it.)

**The children here are so very polite. One of my friends (a transplant as well) received a note from her son's teacher. It told her that he needed to "work on his m'ams."

Metaphorically speaking is like speaking in metaphors.

Have you ever had one of those moments when you are headed into a metaphor and suddenly you don't have an ending and so it comes out really lame-o? Or have you read those emails that get forwarded that have lists of silly or bad metaphors from "real English exams ... compiled by AP English teachers"?

Phil and I were laughing about that this morning when he said "My dad buys and sells cars like ... um ... a guy who buys and sells cars a lot."

I followed up with spending the next half hour turning everything I said into a bad metaphor.

So, share your favorite BAD metaphor. Perhaps we'll select our favorite three and then put them on a poll for the rest of you to vote on and then we'll have a really great prize (read: VM CD or crocheted item or our next-born) for the winner.

*I recognize that all of the above examples are similes but I'll accept all forms of metaphor.