Halloween Lullabies

This morning I was singing lullabies to Eisley. I sang "Baby Mine" and "Golden Slumbers" to her and she loved it. She smiled and cooed at me the whole time. I was able to capture this picture of her looking at my face while I sang:

Here is my Halloween Basket O' Goodies. As I type this it is now empty. Good news for my thighs.

Here's the "Piggy Pie" in her costume, which tends to cover her face:

This morning daddy took this picture of Eis and my hand right before he left for work:

I was, as always, a black cat for Halloween. The kids who came Trick or Treating just loved Eisley's Piggy costume:

Every morning when we wake up, we spend time ooh-ing and awe-ing over our baby girl:

Happy Halloween!

I just came from the store where there was a circus in the Halloween candy aisle. As I sit here and write this, I'm thinking back to last Halloween, which didn't seem that long ago. We had our fondue party and I got drunk (probably the last time, pre-pregnancy). Justin and I had just decided to start "trying" for a baby in November.

It makes me realize that next Halloween isn't really that far away. Not really. And little Eisley will be over a year old at that point. Heck, we might even be expecting #2 at that point... but that's another blog post.

Halloween is my favorite holiday. I know, as a Christian I'm probably supposed to favor Christmas and Easter. I love those holidays, too, really! But there's something so cool about Halloween. Part of it is the season. The weather is cooling off, the trees are losing their crowning glory - which means crunchy orange and yellow leaves celebrate my footsteps (ooh, was that poetic or what?) There's the whole Tim Burton thing. Yes, I love the Gothic morbidity of All Hallows Eve oooh.... spooky!

Well, you get the point. Yet another Halloween. Hooray! We had to take it easy this year, but hopefully next year I'll be back as hostess of a kids Halloween Party! This time I won't get drunk, not in front of the children. I shudder to think of hearing, "Mommy, why is Auntie throwing up orange on the carpet?"

"Well, dear, Auntie had one too many Pumpkin-tinis."

Miss Eisley's Baptism

On Sunday Eisley was baptized at Epiphany Lutheran. I thought it would be fun to show pictures of Justin and I on our baptism days - 24 years ago.

So here is the Sander family, dressed to the nines for 1984. Justin was baptized on April 1st. In the front are Justin's siblings, Adrienne, Katie, & Todd.

And here is my family on September 23rd, 1984 at St. John's Lutheran. Mom had the oh so trendy Farrah Fawcett hair going on. Me? I had my thumb in my mouth, of course (a habit I didn't completely break until the tender age of 9!)

Here's me on my sister's lap in the dress that Eisley wore for her baptism, almost exactly 24 years later.

It was Reformation Sunday, so the church was decked out in red and black. Here we are with Peter and Angela up at the front of the church. Eisley started fussing about this time (hungry).

Eisley's name on the banner for her special day:

Here we are posing afterward with pastor and Godparents:

After crying up in front of church, Eisley was tuckered out and slept through the rest of the service in Daddy's arms:

Posing with Godparents and Grandparents after the service:

Godmother Angela holding Eisley and glowing the way pregnant women do:

Justin's Grandpa Nelson holding his great granddaughter:

Any family out there who have anymore great photos to send, please do!

Boo at the Zoo & Cake

Today was a big day! Eisley's baptism! I'll post pictures of that later, as I still have to get them together...

Yesterday was lots of excitement, too. Justin had to work, but the rest of my family went to Boo at the Zoo. Despite the horrid parking situation (I drove around the lot for a total of 8 miles looking for a parking spot!) it was really beautiful and fun day.

Eisley wore her piggy costume, this was right before we left the house:



Mom & Bea:

Gramma Jan and Pappa with their granddaughters:

Me & Eisley:

Me & my sister, Bea:
Eisley slept almost the whole time:

Me and my dad:

Indy was clinging to her Pappa all day. She would have no one else as her zoo buddy, it could only be Pappa:

Here's my sister Bea, with her family - Indy, Ayla, and Noah:


When I got home I made the cake for Eisley's baptism party after church. I've always wanted to get more into cake decorating, so I took the opportunity to practice my skills. It was a 3 layer chocolate cake (box mix) with buttercream frosting from scratch. I did use pre-made for the borders...

I was really nervous about this cake. I needed it to turn out well, but 3 layers of super soft moist chocolate cake isn't the easiest for a beginner to layer and frost:

The second layer split coming out of the pan (I greased and floured really well too!) so I kinda panicked at this point, but tried to use some frosting as glue:


I didn't have enough frosting to do a crumb coat, but it was okay. This is the cake, pre-smoothing:


To get the buttercream super smooth, I used the Viva paper towel trick. That's an amazing technique!Next I added some borders and a cross in the center. I was starting to feel pretty good about it at this point:

Then I added a rose in the middle of the cross (I really need to practice those more) and the words "God Bless Eisley" and some sugar sparkles on top. Here's the final product:


I learned some great skills and got my buttercream recipe from SeriousCakes on Youtube! She's the best.

Eisley at 11 Weeks

Some recent pics of Eisley to keep you up to date. Does she look big or what?

And a video of my chatty girl:

Celebrity Look Alikes

I thought I put together a little post about our celebrity look-a-likes. What do you think? Is there a resemblance?

I've always seen a little bit of Prince William in Justin:

As for me, I don't think I resemble anyone specifically, until I do my squinty-eyed pursed-lipped Renee Zellweger face:


And, well, let's face it. I think my daughter is flippin' adorable, but she does have the Yoda ears going on:

Hehe...

This little piggy...

...went to market.

Eisley always sleeps through shopping trips :-)

Sunday Drive

Sorry, no pictures of Eisley today. Instead I have some pictures of our "Sunday Drive". Justin and I really like taking a scenic Sunday Drive after church.

I got some great pictures of the beautiful area we live in! I *love* this time of year, when the Scrub Oak that sprinkles the hills, plateaus, and buttes in Castle Rock turns red orange and yellow. It's just beautiful!

All these pictures were taken today from our car while we drove through the Lemon Gulch area about 10 mins from our home.