What We've Been Up To

We've had a busy couple of weeks in the Mason household. We're getting ready to have a garage sale this Saturday, we're dog-sitting for my mom who is on a mission trip this week, and I've been working on a writing project for some DiscipleNow curriculum. Whew! I wanted to do a quick post to say hi to everyone. Below are some photos of what we've been up to.

This is a picture of Eden in her favorite "Dora cowgirl" pajamas, laying in our bed. I honestly think that Eden's favorite place on earth is "Mommy's bed." For some reason, she never calls it "daddy's bed" even though he sleeps in there too!! Can I just be honest and say bedtime/night time is so frustrating and hard? Every time I think we're making progress she regresses back to severe clinginess and anxiety. The other night she was laying in bed with us and she looked over at me with the sweetest expression and said, "Mommy." Then she looked over at Gene and said, "Ba-Ba." Then she said, "We are a family." I immediately starting crying and said, "yes baby, we are your family forever." That was the first time I ever heard her say the word "family." It was so precious. I am continually humbled by what God has done in this little girl's life.

A couple of weeks ago, we took Eden to see "Sesame Street Live - Elmo Makes Music." She LOVED it! This is her with her Tickle Me Elmo before we left. She was so sweet singing all the songs. Her favorite was when they sang the ABC's. You know every kid has a cute, unique way of singing the ABC's when they are first learning. Eden's version is: A B C D E F G, H I J K L L L L P, Q R S, T U B, W X, Y Z.

The Chick-Fil-A near our house has Family Night each Tuesday night. Two weeks ago it was "Princess Night." Eden got all decked out in her finest princess gear and we went out to eat. There was a real princess there, a limo, and free balloons and tiaras. So fun!

We took this picture before church a couple of weeks ago just because she looked so stinkin' cute. This whole outfit came from Target...I love Target. So does Eden! The other day she and Gene were spending the morning together and Gene asked her what she wanted to do next after they left the park and she said, "Go to Home Depot and get a Sprite and then go look around at Target." Isn't that hilarious? She always goes to Home Depot with Gene and he always buys her a Sprite when they check out. And of course she is with me when I go to Target. So that's what she wanted to do.

I can't believe we have been home for almost 15 months! And I can't believe my baby will turn 3 in December. Time is flying by. I can't remember what life was like before she was my daughter. Sometimes I grieve over the 18 months I missed with her. I'll see an infant and think about how I wish I could have known her at that age. I wonder what she looked like before her surgery and wish more than anything that I could have been there for her during the scary time of her surgery. It makes me so thankful for every "new" thing she does, because I missed so many firsts in her life. She is such a blessing...and a mess.

The Lord has really been convicting Gene and I lately about materialism. I realize that so many times I show my love to her by giving her something. What we really desire is for her to have experiences and memories with us. We want her to have a heart for the poor and be appreciative of what she is given. We have committed to really scale back on "stuff," and to focus on experiences with her. This will be a challenge with the holidays and birthday approaching. But we are resolved to be obedient and make some tough changes in our family.

Lastly, Eden has been talking constantly lately about her little sister in China named Lucy. Don't ask me where she gets this stuff. We have talked to her about adopting again when we explain to her about her adoption. But she is taking it to a whole new level. She'll bring me a toy and say, "I not need this anymore, I save it for Lucy in China. She is crying and sad and this will make her feel better." She has quite the imagination. Gene and I are hopeful that we will begin a home study late next spring to adopt again. We are praying for God's direction in all of this, but are right now leaning toward going back to China. We think it might be important for Eden to walk through the experience with us on this end, and travel to her home land. We will have to see what doors God opens as we depend on Him.

Hope you are all doing great. I will post again soon!

Beach Trip

Hey everyone! Eden and I (mommy) were able to slip away to the beach for a couple of days last week with my mom, grandmother, brother, and niece and nephew who are here from FL for the month. I am going to get Gene to help me do a slideshow later because there are so many AMAZING photos. But, I'm posting a few of my favorites to "hold you over" since I haven't put pictures up in a while. Hope you enjoy them!

We went to Gulf Shores and it was Eden's first time at the beach. She kept calling the ocean the "big pool." She LOVED it and the sand didn't bother her one bit. In fact, she had sand in places that the sun don't shine, people! Eden loves the water. Several times I sat in awe as I remember how absolutely terrified she was of even a bath 11 months ago when we brought her home from China. Now, she will jump off the diving board with no hesitation..."all by herself."

She is so strong willed. Her favorite words these days are: "No mommy, Eden do it!" We are coming along well on potty training. We have pee pee down but poo poo is still an issue. She just prefers to do it in a pull up. Any suggestions? She will say she needs to go, we will sit on the potty and read for like 30 minutes and nothing happens. But then she'll poop 10 minutes after we get up in her panties. Help experienced moms!

We went to the cleft clinic for our 6-month visit last month and got a great report. We will go for a full speech evaluation in 6 more months and if that is normal then we won't have to go back until it's time for her first cosmetic surgery when she is 4 years old. We LOVE Dr. Grant and his team.

That's really all that's new with us right now. I can't believe our 1-year anniversary of Gotcha Day is next month...July 23rd. It seems like she's been mine forever, and yet the last year has flown by. Eden loves to pull our the "China DVD" that Gene made me for Christmas. She narrates each part and loves to tell others her story as she watches. She'll say, "poor Eden" on the parts where she is sad. And the funniest thing is the footage from Gotcha Day where Eden was sitting with the nanny looking at me and I'm trying to get her to come to me, she'll say, "Eden not know," which is how she expresses that she didn't know us and was unsure about letting me hold her. It's a hoot!

Well, I need to go. I still haven't finished Eden's "Life Book" from her adoption and I'm bound and determined to get it done. She's with her Ba-Ba visiting Meemaw and Peepaw so this is a good time to work on it. Oh, and did I mention we got a Guinea Pig and named her China? So now we have 2 dogs, 2 turtles and a guinea pig. Am I crazy???

Here are the beach pictures. I'll post the slide show later.

Playing on the beach.

Check out those legs! Couldn't you just eat them up???

Eden loves the sand!

Precious, just precious! These are the shots that will make me cry when Eden is all grown up!

I call this the Pottery Barn Kids photo. I don't know how my mom managed to get this one...Eden is never still!

I love candid photos like this. Eden loves her cousins, Hayden and Savannah.

Moo Moo Here?

"Eden had a birthday party... E-I-E-I-O! And at this party she had some cake... E-I-E-I-O!" Eden celebrated her 2nd birthday with her friends here in Birmingham on Jan. 26th. We waited until the holiday rush was over even though she turned 2 on Dec. 27th. I'm so glad we waited. She had so much fun!

We did an E-I-E-I-O theme since she LOVES the "Old McDonald" song. We had it here at home and invited many of our close friends and their children, and many friends who don't have children yet. These were the people who I say "prayed" Eden home from China. They love her so much and have been a constant source of encouragement to us throughout this journey. We love them dearly!

I made a cow cake and it turned out really cute! My mom brought puppets that she had made several years ago and I found a CD with "Old McDonald" on it. I recruited some "sports" from the adults, threw a sheet over our banister, and presto...a homemade puppet show. It scared Eden and one of her friends a little bit but overall it was a hit. We adults maybe liked it more than the kids did.

We let the kids play, then we ate pizza, opened presents and did cake. We had asked everyone to bring a small donation of blankets, clothes, etc. for Eden's old orphanage in Wuhan. And, everyone chipped in $5 to help with shipping costs. We ended up with more than a lawn-sized bag of items for the children at the orphanage. I can't wait to send it with updated photos of Eden. Thanks to EVERYONE who gave to these precious babies.

As Gene and I were talking about her party I remembered the photo we got of her last January. She was wearing a really nice, heavy orange Winnie the Pooh winter coat. I remember thinking, "Wow, what a nice coat...just like something I would buy her." I'm sure it was given to the orphanage. People gave to help care for her before we could do it ourselves, so we want to do the same for other children. We had asked everyone to bring a donation instead of a gift for Eden. But, everyone wanted to get her something, too. Such kind friends we have.

Here are some of my favorite photos of the party!

Eden's Birthday Outfit. It has a cupcake with 2 "puffs" on it. Of course, her Ja-Ja (my mom) gave it to her! She even has 2 pigtails!

Eden took the "farm" theme to a new level with her red hat she wears when she plays on her rocking horse!

Do you notice how the "kitchen" is full of boys? Why can't that happen in real life? I think some of the dads might have been a little bothered by how much their boys loved Eden's pink kitchen.

So do you think she had fun?

The E-I-E-I-O puppet show.

Eden and her friends eating pizza.

Eden is ready to blow out her candles.

The cow cake.

I'll never get tired of that smile.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream. Eden LOVES it!

Opening gifts. She got books, bath toys, a robe, a microwave for her kitchen, & 2 Noah's Ark sets.

Eden laughed so hard playing with her "Uncle Daniel" with her new microwave oven. He was acting like the chicken was really hot and burning his hands and she was cracking up!

The donations for the orphanage in Wuhan, China.

Family Photos

Eden met her Big Daddy and Mare-Mare for the first time on Sunday. They were so sweet and brought her a HUGE bag of fall clothes. Thank you so much!

Eden at a Rehearsal Dinner

Luggage Tags

I ordered some customized luggage tags for our family. Aren't they so cute? I also got mailing labels!