Last year, Ava swore off soccer. After a few seasons she decided it just wasn't for her. To be honest, I agreed... reluctantly. I had a hard time accepting the fact that my little girl might not love soccer as much as I did/still do. She liked dressing up in the little uniform, her pink and black cleats and watching butterflies zoom past while she was on the field. But that was about it. When we moved back to Arizona we decided she'd give gymnastics a try. But that changed very quickly once she found out her little friend Anna was playing soccer AND that her team's uniforms were fluorescent yellow. She decided soccer might not be so bad and maybe she'd like to give it another go. My initial reaction was hope... hope that maybe, just maybe she'd be a soccer player yet. But then, I got a little nervous. Nervous that she'd get on the field and be more interested in how much time was left until snacks, than actually playing. But, our family rule is if you sign up for something (team, class, etc.) you stick it out until the end. No matter what. I reminded Ava of this rule and she said she still wanted to play soccer. So, we signed her up to be on the "Yellow Butterflies" with her friend Anna. I took it as a good sign when I saw her soccer number was 5, which happened to be both mine and Andy's first soccer numbers.
Saturday, the whole family joined hundreds of other families for what I like to call, "Soccer Chaos." It's several fields, hundreds of kids, hundreds more families and soccer ALL. DAY. LONG. It was awesome. As Ava warmed up with her team, I was pleasantly surprised. She was giving it her all. Game time was no different. She was aggressive, played defense, threw elbows (she gets that from her Mama) and best of all, SHE SCORED A GOAL! Andy, Jax, my parents and I were all jumping up and down cheering. But, Ava just walked back to the center of the field like it ain't no thang. I'm not sure she even smiled. She was in the zone.
So, I'm glad we gave soccer another go. There's still nine games left in the season and I hope she enjoys it as much at the end as she does now. If nothing else, she got an awesome jersey. But, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she gains a little more... a love for soccer.
Blessing day is always chaotic. I spend the morning making sure everyone is dressed, groomed, has underwear on (Jax can be sneaky) and that we're out the door on time for church. Then, when we get there, I frantically search the chapel with my eyes making sure all the family is there (especially the men), panic because it's been two hours since the baby last ate which means said baby could potentially cry during the blessing and say a silent prayer that this Sunday isn't the one where my child's diaper can't hold what's dumped in it, leading to a blowout on a beautiful white outfit. That's my morning. But then, we sit. Church starts. Andy takes our beautiful little baby from my arms, then is joined by several priesthood holders to give our precious baby a name and a blessing. Suddenly, the craziness of the morning melts away and I am filled with gratitude. Eden's blessing went as the other two before did: chaos followed by peace. We were blessed to have two of Andy's four brothers, his dad, an uncle and a cousin all take part in the blessing of our little Eden Faith. I felt the Spirit so strongly as she was promised blessings from our Heavenly Father.
All the Kleinman cousins (at the time). We've since added one more boy, with another on the way next month and one more baby due in March. We don't know what that one is yet.
Afterward, it was a Kleinman party at our house, full of fun for cousins and a lot of catching up. If I could have, I would have kept Eden's dress on her all day, but since we live in the desert, I thought it best to take it off. Oh, but there is nothing more lovely to me than a baby in white. This dress was extra-special for me since I made it myself (pattern and all). Although, not too much attention is paid to the dress when you have a baby as beautiful as our little Eden in it!
I haven't blogged in far too long, but I have good reason. We move. Across the country. Again. This time, though, we're back home to Arizona. Back near family, friends and the weather we love. I won't go into details about the move itself except to say it happened quickly. Like, in less than two weeks. And in that two weeks, Ava started kindergarten at her school in MS, I had to pack up the house, recover from a c-section and take care of a three-year-old and a newborn. Challenging? Yes. Worth it? Totally. Besides, this is what we do, we always make our biggest moves when our kids our little, little babies. Ava was three months when we moved from Oregon to Arizona. Jax was six weeks when we made the journey to Utah and now Eden was just five weeks when we loaded in the car and headed from Mississippi to Arizona. So, we've come full circle. We're not done having kids, but hopefully we're done moving.
We were blessed to find a house to rent very quickly. As a matter of fact, we came across it on accident and it just happens to be owned by old Kleinman family friends. It's an older home (wood paneling EVERYWHERE), but it's great! The best part? A good-sized fenced front yard for the kids to just run around in. Even better? NO HUMIDITY, so they can actually go out there and play in the middle of the day! Jax's monster trucks have spent plenty of time in what he calls the "big pool of mud," better known as dirt.
Ava started kindergarten at Andy's alma mater. They offer both half and full-day. We opted for half. She's made some great friends, but I'll admit, I don't love the school as much as her school in Mississippi. But, unfortunately, I think schools like that are a rarity. She was sad to leave, but seems to have moved on. I'm having a harder time letting go of her school and teacher. She and her class in Vicksburg are e-mail penpals, though and her teacher there has told me she hasn't removed any of Ava's things from the classroom because she misses her so much.
Our sweet Eden is seven weeks old today. She's a wonderful baby, full of smiles and sweet sounds. Her brother and sister still adore her. As a matter of fact, most of their fights and arguments tend to revolve around who has spent more time with Eden or held her more.
Check out that cute crooked smile :)
So, there's life in a tight little nutshell. I have more to post about the decision to move, but that blog post is going to require much more time and thought. And with a baby to feed and boxes to pack... well... that post will have to wait.
