This last week I was overloaded with more than I thought I could do. I had to write a 7-10 page research paper and presentation, study for a final, write a talk for church, and do everything else before company came on Wednesday night.

I surprised even myself and was able to get my paper done by Wednesday afternoon. It worked out perfectly! Renee came to stay with us Wednesday night and I was able to relax and enjoy myself for her visit.

She let me tag along for some of her errands on Thursday. On Friday we met up with the Parry family at Lagoon. Chad was able to come too. I couldn’t really go on any rides but Chad was able to go on some fun ones with his cousins and we managed a few hours there before it started to get pretty cold and wet. That was fine with me! I was getting kind of bored watching everyone else play. John, Renee, Jason and Ellery came over for dinner and a game. We had a lot of fun talking and laughing together. Saturday John and Renee picked up Kindin and Jack from the airport. They’ll be watching the kids while Dave and Mandy are in London. Eden had so much fun with her cousins! We were so happy to have them with us. My goodness, more kids, especially when they are not your own, are exhausting! On Sunday we all had breakfast together and Chad and I got to speak. It was really nice to have family there.

I had my presentation Monday, tonight I hosted a Relief Society book club meeting, and tomorrow is my final. Meanwhile Chad has been working extra long hours and late nights working towards a work deadline. Phew! It will be nice to have a break!

Eden had been sleeping in her toddler bed wonderfully. Lately she has gotten up and pulled things out of the closet, the drawers, wipes out of the dispenser, and anything else. She will pull socks out and put them on her hands like puppets. She’ll try on clothes. She will come to the gate and shake it and call out for attention. After leading her back to bed and shutting the door a number of times she would eventually crash and go to sleep. This habit began to get a little ridiculous though. Eden started to stay up playing for close to two hours after being put down for the night. Someday we’ll come back and read this and wonder, “How did we let that happen?” She was always pretty content, but her sleep started to suffer in more ways as well. She started to wake up early and have difficulty going down for naps. Enough was enough. We pulled out the pack’n’play and gave her the option. If she gets out of her toddler bed one time, (two times at first), then she ends up in the pack’n’play. We really want her to sleep in her much more comfortable toddler bed but it just has not been working for her. After getting up out of bed again we had to put her in the pack’n’play. She pleaded with us, “there! there! there! nigh-night! nigh-night!” It was partly funny and mostly heart-breaking. But a few nights of ultimatums– “if you get out of bed then you’ll need to sleep in your crib” seem to have really helped her sleep patterns. She still lives on the edge. Last night and tonight she crept out of bed and opened her door, then snuck back to bed and fell asleep.

Eden’s fine motor skills have been getting a work out lately. She has become quite proficient at drawing spirals. We even have some big blue and orange ones on the walls. I have no idea when she put them there. I can’t seem to get myself to clean them up. Even though we will not be encouraging more artwork on our newly painted walls I have to admit that I love them and am very proud of her budding artistic abilities. The other day she chose another medium. She was supposed to be down for a nap when a heard some scraping on the walls. She had pulled out her nightlight and was using the plug prongs to scrape a creative design into her walls. Telling her that art on the walls is “No” has worked so far. Hopefully we do not stifle her creativity because honestly I love it!