Summing Up January

January has come and gone and EVERY day I have thought about blogging. There were several things that I wanted to post about, but now that time has past I've forgotten a lot about them. Next month I plan to do better.
 



 

Ignore the messy house (if you can). One day I will learn how to keep house & home better...or not to take pictures in my messy kitchen.
They are growing up fast! Hope now insists that we call her HOPE not Hopie and is reading like a pro. Eden has been without a pacifier for several days and doesn't even whine about it. Every once in a while she'll ask about her "jabider" and say that she misses him.  She also goes potty on the potty often (though she still thinks it's funny to go on the floor sometimes. Grrr.). Full on potty use is next!!!

Zoe has been an indoor doggie for the past couple of months. I am happy to report that Eden now goes potty on the floor more than Zoe. No...wait. I am not happy to report it. But it is nice not to have to clean up after two "kids" ALL the time. During Zoe's transition into indoor doggiehood, she and Eden have developed a great little friendship. Quiet storms in our house don't always result in disasters anymore. Sometimes I find Eden and Zoe wrestling or cuddling. Eden likes to hug/smother her and she lifts Zoe's face to hers with both hands. It's adorable and one of these days my camera will capture the moment. Zoe loves this too. She doesn't run away, she sits while Eden tries to love her and she'll even follow her around. Mostly I think she is waiting for her to drop something on the ground that she can chew to bits or lick her face clean. Sometimes, however, they unite forces and destruction does ensue. Like when Zoe got the toilet paper out of the bathroom and was chewing it up. While I was putting Zoe outside Eden was unrolling the remaining toilet paper. But their friendship is apparent and reminds me of myself & Pepper Sr. I love it and it makes me smile.

 

Noah's hair has been driving me crazy for months. He hates getting it cut and likes to wear it long. It makes me want to pull my own hair out. Last Friday I finally accessorized the problem. Don't let the face fool you - I peeked in the bathroom and he smiled the whole time he was taking those barrettes out. :)

 

 

We also visited the Natural History Museum in Salt Lake.

 

 

 

 

Next month we have a trip to Las Vegas, Valentine's Day and by golly a hair cut, and if not...more accessories.

A Miss Chevious Moment

About a month ago I decided to potty train Miss Chevious. I was so determined that I went out and bought the smallest little panties I could find, because I'd be damned if I were going to buy another box of diapers. My plan was to have her sit on the potty every thirty minutes for several days until she got the hang of it. She isn't afraid of the potty, so I thought for sure this was the route to go. Day 1 started with her telling me she needed to go potty. I thought to myself, "Heavenly Father must really know how much I just need Him to potty train this child and is obviously taking this burden from me. I am SO blessed!!!" I took her in and sat her down on the potty. She sat there for a minute or so with a cute little grin on her face as she talked about the potty. Once or twice it actually seemed like she was trying to go. Finally she just wanted to get down. I felt okay with that because she did give it a good try. I helped her down from the potty, but then she started whining because she wanted back ON the potty. I put her back on. She smiled, then wanted back down. We repeated this a couple of times. Finally, she walked into the hallway just in front of the bathroom and peed down her legs, all over her feet and the carpet. "Fine," I thought. "Not my will be done, but THY will." This is experience was, no doubt going to be part of the refiner's fire that I must pass through during this part of my life. ***I'm seriously being sarcastic here. Kind of.***

I decided that putting on the panties might help. She was thrilled with that. She wouldn't put her pants back on because she wanted to run around with her little pink panties. A few moments later I got distracted by something. I don't remember what now, but all it took was a moment. The "quiet storm" hit the house and I went into search mode. This is what I found:

 

 

This is the corner where the diaper genie is kept. She wedged herself here where she reached up on her changing table for the powder and lotion and went to work. Thank goodness I got to her before she had a shot at the lotion. I'm sure Dance Star Mickey is grateful too, because he was now an albino mouse.

This kid. She is like Animal from The Muppet Babies.

 

Her new trick is climbing up on her changing table (which is a re-purposed buffet table, so quite heavy and I'm not at all worried about it tipping over on her). Since she recently mastered climbing into her crib I suppose it was only a matter of time before she gave the other furniture a go. The first time it happened went something like this:

I was cooking dinner when the clouds of the quiet storm began to swirl. It storms quite often in our house. I took a moment to resign to the fact that I would soon be cleaning up another mess and I didn't know how significant the damage of that mess might be. My eyes quickly scanned the family room and living room and then my ears perked with alertness as I realized she must be in the back of the house, which means either she is playing quietly in big sister's room, or she is wreaking havoc somewhere back there. I knew in my heart the answer and as I rounded the corner in the hall the smell of baby powder filling my nostrils confirmed my intuition. But I didn't see her in her room, which is where the baby powder was kept. And I still didn't see any baby powder, only smelled it. I passed her room and searched Hope's room, Noah's room, the laundry room, passed her room again with a puff of powder stinging my nose and searched my room and my bathroom. Nowhere. Puzzled, I turned to go back down the hall when I caught a glimpse of a chubby, bare leg sitting atop the changing table in Eden's room. "No," I thought, "no way. She can't climb up there....can she?" Powder filled the air as I walked in to see her smiling at me.

"I did it myself!" She was proud. I was shocked. I'm always shocked that I am shocked when it comes to this child. Wouldn't you think that I would know by now that there is just no limit to her destruction? Her power is all encompassing.
She had taken off her diaper, which was soiled, and tossed it on the floor. Then she cleverly found the powder, which after the above incident I hid on the shelf above the changing table, doused herself and her changing pad with the white stuff and then strewn baby wipes all about. At the moment I walked in she was very delicately wiping a tiny spot (which was the one spotless place) on her forearm with one of the wipes. I knew I was standing there gaping at her because my mouth suddenly became parched from all the powder in the air. I came to and tried to clean her up, but the powder on top of her messy bottom made that next to impossible. I stripped off her clothes trying not to get any more powder on myself and once she was standing atop her changing table naked, she for some reason decided to give my breasts a high five. Not just one of them, but both of them now had tiny little white hand prints on them. If I had looked closely I am sure I would've found more than the powder in the hand prints, but I didn't need to see it to know it was there. I held her out as far from me as possible, stood her in the shower and turned it on. Thank goodness we have a shower hose. She wouldn't stand directly under it, so I had to follow her little fleeing body all around the tub. *Sigh* Reliving it is almost as exhausting as living it the first time. She'll be three in about six months. Then she'll be past this stage, right?

Father's Day - Cursed???

We are beginning to think that Father's Day in the Maxwell household is cursed. Last year I suddenly had to have my gallbladder removed and was in the hospital on Father's Day leaving Ben home alone with the kids for several days...no Father's Day celebration. This year I was determined to make up for it so I started preparing about a week in advance. Ben had been away on a business trip and I thought it would be great to decorate his office while he was gone so he'd get a nice Father's Day surprise the morning after his arrival. This was to be part one of my plan. I dragged all three kids to his office, which is no longer just down the road mind you, had the receptionist get someone to unlock his door for me and we went to town. Actually the kids just wreaked havoc while I put up a cute handmade banner and tied some balloons around his office. I forgot the camera so I didn't get a picture of it but here is what it looked like.

Super Dad

I copied this blogger's super crafty creativity and made my own banner for Ben. Only I hung mine on twine and in Ben's office surrounded by coordinating colored balloons.

He was pretty surprised and also a little embarassed. I knew he would be, but everyone already knows how awesome he is so I don't see what the big deal was. :)

Part 2 of my plan took place Saturday. Hope had her first dance recital as a part of Swan Lake, so I thought that was a pretty nifty thing to witness as a Father's Day treat. And he is so wrapped around her little finger so it was a great Father's Day activity to watch his little Hopie dance. Then he got these fun little questionnaires I had the kids fill out.

Click on the pictures to make the bigger and readable. I also used another blogger's questionnaire. I know...I have no ideas of my own anymore. What would I do without Pinterest?

 Just as a side note: Hope does know how to spell her name, but sometimes she likes to write Hopie, since that is her nickname.

He loved them and I felt like things were rolling for the following day. For part 3 we planned to go to Ben's favorite breakfast place in SugarHouse and then spend the day at the zoo and afterwards I would make one of his favorite meal, Chicken Marsala.

 I was so relieved I felt like I was doing a somewhat decent job of making up for last year's castrophe when 11 p.m. hit. Eden started crying. She hardly ever cries at night anymore, but when she does I can usually hold her for a minute and put her back down. I went in to her room and there was vomit all over her and her bed. Since Ben and I hadn't been to sleep yet, he helped me clean up the mess and I put her back to bed. We thought it was just something she ate, or just a fluke and we went to bed. The next morning Ben went into her room and immediately came back out and told me how bad it stunk in there. He was right. It was like she had taken a midnight dip in an outhouse...a frequently used outhouse...holy cow! It was bad. She had messed her pants like she had never done before. This was Eden's second load of laundry in less than 8 hours.

I was still determined though. I thought that for sure since she had messed her pants and thrown up that whatever it was was surely gone by now and we could go about our plans. So we got the kids dressed and oops! More vomit! And now Hope was vomitting and had diarrhea. We weren't going anywhere. Not only that but there had been so much vomit and diarrhea that Ben no longer had an appetite for his favorite dinner. Once again Father's Day was a bust.

So the family spent the week sick. Ben and I waited last to be sick but now we are better *fingers crossed*. Saturday we decided to have a re-do and went to breakfast and the zoo.

I love the way Eden is looking at Ben.

Ben, I hope you feel how much you are loved and appreciated, because you certainly are. And, if next year Father's Day gets ruined too I think it's safe to say it is definitly cursed. In which case I will just come up with my own holiday to celebrate your awesomeness. It will be called Ben's Day...or something a lot cooler. I love you.

Also...

"Maybe there is some sort of animal we could make a sacrifice to. Like a giant buffalo or some sort of monster like something like the body of a walrus with the head of a sea lion. Or something with the body of an egret with the head of a meerkat. Or just the head of a monkey with the antlers of a reindeer with the body of a....porcupine." --Michael Scott The Office

"I'll do some research." -- Jim Halpert The Office

Miss Chevious Moments Episode 3

Monday
This morning was beautiful so we spent all morning outside. Eden hadn't been out there for 30 minutes before she had doused herself with sand and dirt. In her hair, in her shoes, who knows where else...she was dirty. I just looked at her and sighed as I watched her sprinkling more sand on her arm and then tossing a handful in her sister's direction. I remember putting sand in my hair when I was about Hope's age. I thought it tickled when it would slide down my scalp. I guess payback is only fair, so I just let her do it. That certainty that they will be clean and smell lovely again is what I love most about our night time routine, even if Miss Chevious only stays clean while she's sleeping.

The girls watched a movie while I made lunch and that is when this happened.

This one is really daddy's fault for leaving his newspaper in such an obvious place for it to meet it's demise. Okay, so it is just as much my fault because I looked at that paper several times making a mental note to move it cause of Miss Chevious, but I kept getting sidetracked. Miss Chevious showed her mercy and the paper remains in tact. You are welcome, daddy.

Eden decided to wash the couch with her macaroni and cheese so mommy decided to wash the cushion covers. No pic of that, but the memory is still vivid.

Then there was lots of tormenting big sister by taking her stuffed animals and running around the house with them (smiling behind her pacifier all the while) while Hope screamed through tears of objection. Yesterday, they had some moments where they got along so well. They would hug each other while they went down the slide and giggle and smile. I tried to soak up as much as possible because I knew it wouldn't last long. I drew on those memories of yesterday for peace and reassurance amidst the screaming and yelling of quibbling siblings today.

Tuesday

Today we met Ben for lunch. Why would I take Ben away from the peace of his work to the stressful environment created by Miss Chevious in a lunch atmosphere? That is a good question and one I ask myself every time we meet him for lunch. I always say to myself, "Poor Ben has been working hard all day and now is being hounded and harassed by this little monkey and then has to go back to work for the rest of the day. I won't do this to him again." But I miss my Bennie Boo and can't help but want to go see him in the middle of the day. I should just suck it up, spare him and let him work in peace until he is forced to come home. :) Anyway...she actually didn't do too bad this time out. She only squirmed and bruised a few of my ribs while we were standing in line, held on to the glass partition between the line and the cooks with a death grip that only daddy could break and then tried to steal Hope's food. After a while of eating what she could snatch from Hope she decided she wanted my drink, but it was laced with caffeine so I wouldn't share. Mean, I know, but the last thing anyone wants is Miss Chevious hyped up on caffeine. She settled for her sippy cup, but grabbed an empty water cup and went to work making her "special juice." This is what Noah calls it when Miss Chevious drinks from her sippy cup and spits it into another container. She did it somewhat discreetly and gracefully though, so I was grateful there wasn't juice spraying all over the surrounding patrons. Her chin rested on the edge of the cup and a steady stream of juice poured from her little puckered lips into the water cup. She reminded me of one of those little statue fountains of the little kids peeing or something. Hey, if a statue of a kid peeing can be a considered a cute fountain why not one of a kid spitting into a cup?

Wednesday

This morning when I looked in little Miss Monkey Pants' closet I was hesitant to dress her in the super cute outfit from Grandma Verla. The shirt is white and this is Miss Chevious we are talking about, but I had waited a long time to dress her in this outfit and it is finally warm enough too so I put it on her anyway. The morning went surprisingly well with no dirties on her clean white shirt, but then came lunch time. I've been trying to get the girls interested in some healthy smoothies and so far Hope refuses to try them and Eden loves them. Today I made a peach raspberry smoothie. I guess Eden didn't like today's flavor cause this is what she did with it.

Raspberries on her cute new outfit!!! I am happy to say that I only had to treat the stain and wash it twice for the stain to come out, but it is out. The outfit lives for another day. Miss Chevious does pretty well with big kid cups (like the one you see on the couch behind her) when there is something in it that she actually likes. Who am I kidding? I bring these moments on myself. You're probably thinking I'm an idiot for giving a two year old an open cup on the couch. I am thinking the same thing and wonder why I continue to do these things?

Here she is having a snack in her second outfit of the day. She loves olives and calls them "tacos" cause we usually eat them when we have tacos. I gave her several in a cup and she sat on the floor to munch.

She found a colored pencil, speared the olives and used it as an eating utensil. I guess putting them on her fingertips is no longer fun.

Thursday
Fast forward through the usual tormenting of big sister and other messes to dinner time. Miss Chevious and Hope sat briefly at the table eating corn when Hope decided she was done. Eden looked at the plate that Hope now left unguarded and went for it. Not only did she steal her corn, but she used her chair to climb up on the table so she could eat the corn like a dog. Precious little thing.

She must not be as seasoned as Hope in eating her food like a dog because after a couple of bites she gave up and resumed eating...like a human.

Friday

I had a headache all Thursday night that lasted until I woke Saturday morning, so when Miss Chevious fought me on getting dressed I just rolled with it and let her stay in her pajamas. I wish I could've done the same with her messy diaper when she fought me on that, but given her history of playing with poop and the inevitable rash that follows diapers that aren't changed regularly I felt I had no choice but to call on my super mommy powers and change her diaper through flailing arms and her squirming body. Diaper changed, but not without a big swipe of the baby powder by Miss Chevious.

While I was cleaning the bathroom she found her potty and dragged it into the kitchen where she stuffed a bunch of toys and paper in it.

At least she isn't scared of it. The more comfortable she is with it the more likely she will be to use it. Right?
Lastly, she was having a snack at the table (shocking that she was sitting at the table, isn't it?) when she decided to turn the yogurt cup upside down, try to empty it on the table and then smear it around with her hands.

Saturday
First thing this morning, Eden grabbed Hope's cup and Hope freaked out even though it was already empty. As I was trying to explain to Hope that she needed to use words to express her feelings instead of crying and whining Eden examines the cup and considers giving it back. Finally Hope asks for it back (such a novel idea) and Eden obliges...but not before slowly and deliberately spitting in it. She didn't even spit juice or milk, it was just plain old disgusting spit. I was so shocked and confused at what had just happened I am sure I stood there staring at her with my mouth hanging open for a good 30 seconds. Why did she feel the need to do that and where in the world did the idea come from????
This evening she got her first goose egg. Hope was spinning her around in the entry way trying to get her to stay inside so Hope could sneak out and see what daddy was doing in the yard. Suddenly I hear a smack and the french door vibrate...then Hope: "Are you okay, Eden?"....Crying. Hope hid behind a chair because she thought we were going to be mad at her. I didn't see  Eden's head right away cause she was looking down, but she hugged me tight when I picked her up. It was after Ben had convinced Hope to tell him about it that we knew to look at her head. There it was. I can't believe I didn't notice it first thing. It was huge and pink/blue/purple with a harsh line down the middle of it which was obviously from the edge of the door. Eden hasn't had many major owies, thank goodness, so I was relieved to see that she got over it somewhat quickly. Hope remained very concerned though and kept asking her if she was alright. While they were undressing for their bath Hope asked, "Are you sure the water isn't going to hurt her owie?" Hope has always seemed to think that getting ANY owie wet is going to make it hurt. Anyway, I was very touched by her concern for her sister because usually it seems like she can't wait to get away from her.
***So I've made a decision about the new Miss Chevious Moments episodes. I will no longer be documenting on a daily basis, as a lot of these moments occur several times daily. Instead of being a diversion of troubles, trying to document on a daily basis seems to be causing more stress. So away with it! Instead, I will do my best to capture the big Miss Chevious Moments and hopefully I will have enough to make a few posts a month. I know family enjoys these posts, but there is so much stress that I can't do anything about that if I have a choice to rid my life of SOME stress, albeit not a huge conductor of stress, I should try to eliminate it, right? Right.***

Miss Chevious Moments Episode 2

Ben took the day off yesterday (5/07/12) to celebrate our 6th anniversary. We went up to Sugar House to the Original Pancake House, a place we used to frequent while dating. It was no surprise to me or Ben that Miss Chevious did not sit still longer than about three minutes. She was climbing under the table running up to the front of the restaurant, where the hostess empathetically said, "You've got a track star on your hands." I just smiled politely and after grabbing the little monkey headed back to my table...but I would soon be visiting the hostess again thanks to our "track star." She also shoved the flatware into the cracks of the stone fireplace that was right next to us. She did this after being told not to bang them on the table. She insisted on continuously picking up and putting down her chocolate milk which resulted in several small spills, even though it was covered with a lid. She took all the sugar packets out of the little dish and after playing with them calmly for about 30 seconds, she rapidly swished her arms back and forth across the pile flinging the sugar packets everywhere. While I was trying to gather them up, she grabbed a few that I hadn't reached yet and started squishing them in her hands. As we were about to leave I dipped her pacifier in the water that the server accidentally filled my sprite glass with and stuck it in her mouth. After a suck or two she smiled, took the pacifier out of her mouth and dipped it in the glass. She did this a couple times. Then she just dropped it in and pushed it under the ice.

Next we went shopping for "creature-free" bed sheets for Hope (refer to the earlier Say What? post). Putting Eden in a shopping cart is quite difficult.  It is in fact, a nightmare. She fights, kicks, cries and screams bloody murder. She is one of those children that you have to look at because it sounds like she's being abducted or beaten. I have no doubts that she can be heard in the furthest corner of the store. She screamed and tried to escape just about the entire time until daddy couldn't stand it any longer and got her out. We went to a couple of stores and in the ones that didn't have shopping carts Miss Chevious would run as far as she could looking back at me and laughing the whole time. Finally, I just tried to hold her, but she pushed and dug her knee into my ribs and wiped her messy cookie face all over my shirt. I didn't even care about the mess all over my shirt...I was exhausted and let's face it, after running back and forth after Miss Chevious several times, I had little pride left.

5/08/2012

Today Hope wanted to draw a footprint with the colored pencils so she sat at the table for a while to draw. Eden got a hold of the pencils after a while and found the one pen that I didn't know was in there and scribbled all over her arm and then came to laundry room where I was folding clothes to show me her art work.

Then she mashed up a banana on the family room floor. Yuck.

5/10/2012

There have been too many incidents to keep track of...this may not have been a good idea. I'm exhausted.

We started the day with Eden having a messy diaper and playing with it in her crib. Straight into the bath! Then she crumbled up a perfectly good hash brown and threw it all over the car.

So this week's episode was kind of a bust. Sorry. But just because I failed to document it don't think that there weren't many many, MANY Miss Chevious moments. I'll try harder next week. But before I go here's something special to think about: While Ben was standing in line at Einstein's Bagels and older lady in front of him got her order and turned towards the door to leave. Eden promptly begins singing "Go Away Scary Witch, Go Away!" and follows her to the door. I'm glad I wasn't there for that one. How embarrassing.

Now you don't need to wonder why my dining room chairs are always put up in my pictures. THIS is why. You can't see it but in the background there was one chair down that she used as climbing device.

Miss Chevious Eats

I don't even know where to begin with this post, but I know I have to document this child's behavior for a couple of reasons: 1) Because she will get a kick out of it when she's older...and so will her significant other. 2) Because one day she may be blessed with a Miss Chevious of her own and I can refer her to these posts and then laugh...in her face. 3) To remind myself that I DO have patience with my children in those moments when I feel like curling up in a ball like a roly poly. 4) To give myself a good laugh when the moment has past...FAR past. And finally 5) To let other parents out there know that their child is not the only half angel half devil.

This post isn't really even about anything extreme, just dinner time. Sounds like a simple every day happening in which family gathers around the table to discuss their day and enjoy each other's company and some good food, right? HA! There is an old family story that my mom likes to tell about when I was around Eden's age. My siblings and I had assigned seats at the dinner table and mine was next to my oldest brother, Bobby. Bobby is 10 years older than I am so I am sure he remembers this incident well, and I just have to thank him for having patience with his little sister and not screaming or slapping me into the next room like many other children throughout the world would've reacted in this situation. So one night we were enjoying mashed potatoes. My mom makes great mashed potatoes and unlike my little Hopie, I ate what I was served for dinner, well, I guess I should say "ate". Bobby says to my mom, "Mom, do I have to sit next to Lindsey?" Mom looks over at Bobby to see that I am massaging mashed potatoes into his hair, slathering it around like shampoo.

My children haven't ventured to siblings hair yet, but they've mastered the art of food shampooing with their own hair.

First Hope with the instant oatmeal

and now Eden with the spaghetti.

As a side note, spaghetti is not easy to get out of hair.

You can see she is very pleased with herself. I think she believes she is creating art when she does this. For example, a couple of nights ago we had mashed potatoes and broccoli with our chicken and she made a beautiful piece I like to call, "The Lone Tree".

She does eat most of her dinner and she is quite fond of broccoli. It is when she is done eating that the havoc starts wreaking. :) I suppose now my mom is laughing...in MY face.

In other Miss Chevious news (not having the slightest to do with eating) is her new potty routine. And by potty routine I mean the way she messes her pants, promptly sticks her hand in her diaper to grab a handful and either come show it to me or smear whatever is nearby. In some cases far away objects as well, she isn't picky. Last year she started doing this and I thought I was pretty clever about adding a onsie to her daily outfit so that she couldn't reach down the back of her diaper. That worked well until a couple of months ago when she discovered that she could reach up under her leg and get through both her onsie and the leg hole of her diaper! She does this just about every day and I have started follow her around the house when I know she is going or about to go because I am not about to let her out of my sight when I know what is transpiring. Alas, I cannot watch her 24/7. Let me just stop here to tell any judgemental people who are reading this and disagreeing with this fact to "shove it." Going on...because I cannot watch her like a hawk, sometimes poop ends up on the walls and floors...windows, door knobs, crib, toys, water bottles...you get it. Sunday was special because she decided to share her poop with Muffin.

I was not present at the time or I obviously wouldn't have allowed it to happen, but this is how I imagine it in my head. Poor, poor Muffin was asleep in the front room resting peacefully on a computer chair when in walks a defecating Miss Chevious. She stands by the chair watching the cute kitty sleep while she finishes her business. She reaches into her diaper and pulls out a handful of the mess she just created and plops it down onto Muffins fluffy fur. Meanwhile, I am in the kitchen and suddenly realize how quite Miss Chevious is being so I start to hunt for her. Luckily I find her before she has a chance it mash it into his fur, but she still has a handful and Muffin has woken up and is looking around as if he might try to escape. I have a dilemma here. If I take care of Eden first Muffin will likely pounce away and poop will go flying. If I take care of Muffin first, Eden will run around in anticipation of my cleaning her up...and poop will go flying. Hmmm....it's a good thing it was Sunday and daddy was home. Ben contained Eden while I cleaned up Muffin and then I was able to clean up Eden. Flying poop averted. Whew. Now it is time to dust off the old potty chair for Miss Chevious WILL BE POTTY TRAINED!!!

I love this child. I do. I adore her. I could look into her chocolate eyes all day. She is such a wonderful, beautiful, snuggly, loveable little weirdo. But dealing with this much poop is exhausting.

What Happened Here?

Here's what happened. We were all sitting down to dinner...everyone was clean and Ben was giving small bites of spaghetti to Eden on a little spoon. Soon Hope required my attention in the restroom to clean up a mess that I am not going to talk about....*sigh* :) and I ended up giving her a quick bath while everyone was finishing dinner. After she was clean I went back into the kitchen and this is what I saw.

My response: What. Happened. Here. Of course I quickly realized that I should be grateful that she was eating as it is nearly impossible to get Hope to eat anything. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Eden will continue to have the same appetite as a child that she does as a baby. We are really only beginning to introduce "grown-up" food to her so she's never had anything likes this before. 

I'm thinking she likes it.