Saturday, May 16, 2015

My Baby Girl is 3

Eden's birthday was March 13th. We needed to go to the US Embassy in Guatemala City to renew the boys' passports. There is a 2 week break between every 8 weeks of classes at the pastor's institute and that goes year round. (If you are adding up 52 weeks, there is another week off for Easter and one week for Independence Day.) So, we have 2 weeks every 8 weeks if we need to run any errands outside of Petén. Eden's birthday was during a break, but it was while we were in Guatemala City.
{Our 7 hour drive to the capital}
Guatemala City can be a fun place to celebrate a birthday. We didn't get to invite any of her friends, but with all the fun activities, I don't think she minded... plus she's 3! 
One of our stops the first day we were there was at MonkiBu. It is a really neat place for imaginative play. While we were there I took lots of photos of the back of Eden's head!
And pictures of my boys... sorry E! She basically just played babies the whole time. She LOVES babies!
We got to go to several play places while we were in the city for a couple days. Our kids talk about Guatemala City kind of like it's the States, minus grand parents. It is a little vacation for us really. There are lots of errands and long lines, but all of those are sprinkled with special treats for all of us like this:
 ICEE is in the capital now! I have no personal discipline when it come to a cherry cola ICEE, so thankfully there are no slushy machines in Petén. And they didn't get some off brand, they got ICEE. You couldn't ask for more. My kids call it "cold pop". We were all celebrating like a bunch of foreign weirdos when we found this.
And then this:
Yeah, I'll wait at the mess of a US embassy for several hours with 3 kids and no electronic devices if you give me Papa Johns afterwards!
There are lots of little play places that the kids love to stop at too (Except Eden is still afraid of this ball pit.).

 On the actual day of Eden's birthday we went to Chuck E Cheese. The boys had heard about this place before and were really excited. Eden had no idea what was going on! 
 We were almost the only ones there the whole time. The workers were super nice. I think the air was broken though (or they didn't turn it on to save money... probably the latter). We were sweating like we were in Petén. It was like 85 degrees inside there, but I couldn't get the boys to take their hoodies off, because they only get to wear them in the capital where it is cold and they LOVE shirts with hats.
I picked up some party hats and horns. We had a nice little party just the 5 of us!
The boys had gone to the dollar store with Dada to pick out little gifts to give Eden for themselves. 
Silas picked out a Princess Sofia doll for her and Jonah got her a Hello Kitty purse. I'm shocked to say that they were a pretty good quality and are still intact.

Jimmy and I got her a puzzle and some baby doll accessories.
Just about the time Eden got the hang of playing the games she walked past this!  
Eden had a violent reaction when she saw this guy. She doesn't care for large fake animals... like the Chik-fil-a cow or Chuck E Cheese, haha!
This is her keeping an eye on that shady mouse. 

Chuck E Cheese did come out and sing happy birthday to her. It was a little tense at first, but she handled it pretty well. 
She enjoyed the piece of cake they brought out to her too.
{Sweaty red Jonah still with the hoodie on, lol!}
 Jonah and Silas were hoping to see Chuck E Cheese, so they were thrilled!
They also worked hard to help Eden relax. They were sweet big brothers. 
I think Eden really did have a wonderful time. She knew we were all celebrating her, so she felt special!
This was Eden at TGI Friday's that night. 

The night we got back from Guatemala City we skyped with MaG and G. It was really late. Eden was so tired and chatty, it was a perfect time to get our traditional birthday interview.
{Eating pizza and opening her presents from MaG &G}
Here is Eden dancing in one of her new dresses from MaG and G:
 
Birthday skype/interview pt.1:
 
Birthday Interview pt.2:
 
Birthday Interview pt. 3:
 
Eden still hadn't gotten a cake other than the one slice of cake from Chuck E Cheese, so we decided to have one last birthday hurrah with a cake! The kiddos love picking out their cakes and planning them. Eden basically just wanted something pink and purple and girly!
Everyone likes to taste tests!
I have learned from other years that you can't put fondant cakes in the fridge here because they sweat like crazy when you take them out and bleed everywhere. You also can't leave them on the counter because a rat will find its way to them and destroy destroy destroy. So, I always put them in my room overnight so Petén can't get me.
 Eden was really happy when she woke up!
We had a couple more presents from Eden's great grandparents and also my parents for her to open too... I know, it's the never ending birthday.
Our kiddos love skyping with their grandparents!
 
Kiki and Papa got her a pool set for her dollhouse. Eden's favorite part of it still is the umbrella!

Then we sang Happy Birthday over skype.
 I'm so thankful we get to share all these memories with our parents! Skype and ICEE's... we have an easy life.

Every time I look at E I just see God's love for our family. We really didn't think we could get pregnant again and then God said, "Here ya go, I'm giving you a delightful little surprise from Me." (Eden means delight.) There is no other way to explain it. I don't deserve such a gift, but God chose to bless us and I am so SO thankful He did. She is assertive, determined, always says "thank you", fearless, girly, and very mothering. I pray that as she grows up and learns more about God, she will allow Him to use all the character traits He gave her to bring glory to Him. Eden is a true delight!

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