The Hills Roll On

One year….one year!  Showers of cute cards began arriving this past week in pink evelopes addressed to Miss Eden Hills.  We smiled huge smiles and  had fun opening them with the recipient herself.  I (Tara) remember how the night she was born, the night nurses brought Eden to me for her a nursing and told me "Your little girl has got quite the personality!"  I ‘pshawed’ that thinking it wasn’t possible for a 12 hour old baby to have clear evidence of a personality!?  I had somehow assumed that personality was somewhat inherent, but mostly developed over time and definitely didn’t show until the child was talking!  But no, the nurses corrected me saying, "Honey, I’ve worked around newborns for a long time now, and I’m telling you, your daughter has a very clear personality!"  Is that a bad thing I asked (was she a little crankypants making all the nurses lives miserable or something?"  "No, no!" they laughed.  "She just knows what she wants when she wants it!"  She piped up only when she wanted something.  Otherwise, she was just chillin’!  As this year has unfolded we’ve seen the truth that little person certainly has a very clear personality.  Quite independent, assertive, and vocal.  As we opened her cards with her she let us know that she didn’t need any help, she could do it just fine by herself thank you very much!

We drew her birthday out over a couple of days since we knew her actual birthday on Saturday wouldn’t be a leisurely one.  So Thursday we shared a double birthday with Ruthie Towner her beloved babysitter who loves pink!) We shared a gorgeous lunch at the Towner family home with guests Toñi, Marilyn and Terry. Then came the birthday cake! Pineapple upside down cake made by Ruthie herself!  Fortunately no freezer rats got into the cake (those pesky rats have a peculiar and pernicious habit of eating a circular hole right out of the middle of anything sweet and yummy left unprotected in the kitchen).  Ruthie blew out the 15 white candles and left one pink candle for Eden to blow out herself.  But she really didn’t know what to do with it so her parents took turns trying to blow it out from a few feet away.  After 2 tries each, her mommy accidentally got a little too carried away and ended up spraying a wee bit of spit (some may have landed on the cake).  In the end Gavin finally got it with his powerful gust!

Gifts were exchanged and soon Eden was ready to slip into her sling and go for a nap.  She can’t fit all in it now if she wants to lay down, so we let her lower legs hang over the edge.  It actually works quite well because she seems to have received her mother’s internal heating system (a full body furnace whose feet overheat easily!).   Eden was blessed with some adorable pink  shoes from (guess who!?) Ruthie .  And a  fuzzy, squeezy duck from the whole Towner fam.  Eden just loves to cruise around the living room at home  now, so non-slip shoes or slippers are a must.  The tiled floors get pretty chilly and they’re slippy any time of year.  She’s survived a few  slips and bumps this year (after a good screaming cry of course!) .

On Saturday, the official day, Gavin and I were in seminars at the church all day with a nice 2 hour break mid-day for lunch (gotta love the Spanish siesta!).   So Eden got to spend the bulk of her special day with her three fabulous friends, Ruthie, Ann Caroline and Johnny Towner!  It was a big day for me  too since it was the longest daytime chunk that we were both away from her.  It was a good opportunity to see how she’d respond to being offered her sippy cup (which she’s growing in proficiency with) rather than ‘warm milk on tap’!  She did great, the 3 Towner kids did great, it was a really special day.  We shared a lovely ‘espegetti’ lunch and saved the chocolate fudge pudding cake for later since we were all pretty full! We attempted to make some clay imprints of her hands and feet, but right before naptime is never a good time for anything too "involved or delicate".  So we’ll try again this week.

Saturday night Gavin and I lay in the dark talking, remembering a year ago, tracing some of the special highlights of this year.  Our hearts were overcome with gratitude and we couldn’t help but thank God for this precious gift He’s entrusted to us. 

Eden Iris, My Delight, you are a vessel of God’s Delight to the world, bringing sweet laughter and simplicity to our lives.  You brighten up a room with your happy presence, you fill our hearts with gladness just because you exist.  May everyone know the truth of God’s heart for them in a deeper way because of the privilege of knowing you. Amen!

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