Me, Pie, & the Nikon...

at the park.

Stardust

It's about darn time I update my blog. Sorry, folks, but lately I just haven't been up to it. Not blogger's block or anything - I just haven't felt like it. But by golly, I have not poured myself into this blog for almost 3 years now just to burn out and stop posting. Never.

It's 10:30am. Eisley and I just woke up at 10. I went to yell at the dog's for barking - we have an unusually high number of pedestrians in this neighborhood, most of them walking their dogs. Our dogs have to bark & howl at every. single. one. of. them. But this time it was Justin they were howling at, he ran up the walk and presented me with a white bag, which can only mean one thing, kissed me on the cheek and said, "Have a good day, I have to go!"

Just like that he was gone again.

A white paper bag means: a croissant from Trompeau's Bakery. If you live in the Denver metro area and have never been to Trompeau's you're missing out. A little hole in the wall, right across the street from DU, run by a real Frenchman - thus, he knows how to make a croissant like nobody's business. You MUST visit the hole in the wall and delight yourself with a ham & cheese, or perhaps a pear & chocolate.

Or pick one up in the morning to surprise your wife with.

So, me with my warm croissant & Eisley occupied by playing the piano with her butt {a daily morning ritual}, I now have a chance to update my blog and I must do so.

I give you: Stardust.
{The small one on the left.}

Eisley's first pet. We spent some of her birthday money on this little setup. Of course, after the pet store I read online that 1/2 a gallon is far too small for a betta {then why do they market this tiny betta kit???} so we'll have to upgrade Stardust's house here pretty soon...
Which is too bad, because it's so lovely to have a tank that mounts on the wall. Out of reach for small, curious hands, if you get what I mean.
Eisley loves her new pet, and feeding him has become part of our daily schedule. Now that she's two we're trying to create more rituals & routines in her day, such as brushing teeth & Lord's Prayer before bed. Feeding Stardust is a pre-nap routine.

My grandmother gave my sister & I each our own pet fish when I was about two years old. It's one of my first memories.

Cheers! Let's see how long it takes me to post again...

It's been busy...

I've been a neglectful blogger lately. It's been busy! I'm not used to being so busy. I come from a family that values its leisure time, so the go-go-go vibe is difficult for me.

I think there is a happy medium, as with most things. Too busy and overworked, you get burnt out and lose yourself and end up neglecting relationships. You end up missing things.

Too lackadaisical and you turn into a person who can't handle the minor stresses of life and rarely achieves anything major. This is my theory, at least... and striking a balance can be hard. I think most of us are wired one way or the other.

Just from the past few weeks - I know exactly what a decapitated chicken feels like.

"I'm running out of time and I don't know where to run next!!!"

A couple weeks back I crafted until the wee hours of the morning to get orders together for this store, and then this store. One right after the other. And that first one just called and needs more because she's sold out! That's a happy problem, no?

And then Justin & I stayed up late one night, working together to upholster a chair. You can see more of the chair on my Lark & Lola blog here.
And then up until 2am another night last week, making a certain 1 year old's birthday cake. Whew. This was especially hectic, finding out I had to add another tier just hours before I needed it done! {Happy Birthday Miss Mara!} See more here.
And in the pressure to get the home looking good for guests, we tried to spruce up the porch. That meant another late night painting this bench we made, and turning my antique Ball jars into hanging vases. I still have more plans for the porch...
Today, Mother's Day, I hosted a lovely party with lovely guests and it was just a lovely time. In my humble opinion. ;-) Of course with parties I throw I always end up thinking about all the things I didn't get done. That's bad, though. I wanted to create a lovely atmosphere for the ladies in my life and I think it turned out pretty well. See more here.
I am not complaining about being so busy! I'm so fortunate, that if I must be busy, I'm busy for things that I love. Party planning, arts, decorating, crafting.

If I'm going to put down my pretty magazines, if I'm going to give up my "Oprah Hour" {aka naptime} to work, if I'm going to deprive myself of sleep - at least it's all for that which I love.

Adrenaline

Today, a couple hours after Justin left for work, Eisley was tired so she settled into the couch.

Cheerios & sippy cup in hand, she became engrossed in an episode of Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends. She usually hates that show, so I knew she was tired.

Not to miss a rare chance for a moment to myself while she's awake, I sat down at the table to read emails & the blogs I catch up with every day.

All was well.

Until, after about 20 minutes, Eisley left the couch to find me. She was limping. Slumped over. She looked lethargic...

and her left leg was swollen about three times it's normal size - looking ready to burst through the seams of her footed pajamas. The pajamas were still zipped & buttoned, but her leg was deformed and enormous.

I was absolutely alarmed. I read horror stories on other blogs all the time. True stories. Recently one about a boy who drowned in the tub and was technically dead for over 12 minutes {he's okay now}. Another about a little girl who was not so lucky, after a fainting spell she landed face down on a toy and suffocated. {Why do I read these things???}

And if you know me, you know I'm not the calm, collected, laid back mom who brushes off worry and anxiety.

So as I took in this sight - my child hobbling towards me with a horrifically swollen leg - my adrenaline glands intoxicated me.

Now - a lot of people don't mind adrenaline. It's fun! It's the reason we ride roller coasters, right?

UNTIL you become a parent, and then suddenly there's another side to adrenaline. It's evil. It means your child is in danger. This is, beyond question, the worst feeling in. the. world.

It makes you sick.

It makes you want to scratch your skin off.

It makes you physically ill.

When you are a parent this kind of adrenaline is liquid dread, 100 proof, injected directly into your marrow.

I've never experienced anything like it until I became a mom.

So that's what happened today, adrenaline shot into my body as I reached for Eisley.

I admit this, I didn't stop and think logically. I reacted. I panicked. I assumed the worse. {And I hate assumptions!}

Now here is reason #243 why moms are most certainly superheroes in their own right:

In that millisecond it took for me to reach down and grab my child - a mom can think one million thoughts in an instant. Our brains go into overdrive.

Here's a few of those thoughts, to give you an idea, that my supermom mind thought in the fraction of a second it took for me to lean over:

"Oh my gosh!!!"
"What happened?!"
"Did she break her leg?"
"Did she get a spider bite?"
"Why is she lethargic?"
"She looks distraught!"
"What am I going to feel when I touch her leg?"
"Is it black and blue?"
"Is she going to live?"
"Do I call 911 or do I rush her to the hospital?"
"The doctors are going to think I'm a bad mother..."
"Did this happen after she fell off the bed this morning
and it's been swelling all morning?!"
"What if she has to have her leg amputated?"
"Why isn't she crying? Does it hurt?"

{Note: I have heard that toddlers & babies can break their bones and show very few signs of distress, some parents don't even realize it for a few days.}

Did I overreact? Yes. {It's me, I always overreact a bit. I'm an excitable person. I will not apologize for this, however. I like having strong emotions and vibrancy in my heart. Most of the time.}

Sick, achy, and dreading what I would see & feel - my hand finished the journey towards her leg and gently squeezed.

Eisley looked up at me.

"Shuh-sha?" She said. Hardly distraught.

I pushed harder, since it wasn't hurting her.

Squish!

The tsunami-sized adrenaline waves receded within my veins.

Left over was a faint numb feeling and weakness in my limbs. I laughed and rolled my eyes at myself.

No spider bites.

No broken bones.

No mystery disease.

Apparently her diaper had come undone on the right, and worked itself down her left left. She had been limping from the strange feeling of a wet, full diaper wrapped around her leg. She had acted lethargic because, duh, it was nap time.

Silly mommy.

And although she was half-covered in her own urine, that was nothing a bath with mom couldn't fix.

Crisis averted.

My daughter had two perfect little legs.

A bath.

And a dry diaper.

{One Peaceful Moment}

{Dear Eisley}
This is what you look like when you nap.
I could stare at this face for hours.
These are your sweet tiny feet, still for once.
This is what you look like when we are trying to gently wake you. There are errands to be ran and a schedule to stick to if we don't want to be up until midnight...
This is how you're like your mom when you wake, confused and disoriented.
But if we give you a minute, you'll start giving out smiles.
I try and enjoy these sorts of moment when they're here because so much of life is made up of moments not like this. {Like last night, for example, when you embarrassed mom & dad in front of a restaurant full of people.}
Here's what I look like when you wake up from a nap and you snatch the camera and start taking your own pictures.
{With Love, Mom}


Friends, head over to my Lark & Lola blog if you'd like to see all the different projects I've been working on lately...

February 2010

{Above: the day mom & dad took me to the mall and everyone thought my boots & bow were cute, but my several tantrums were NOT - see middle pic.}
{Above: "watching" tv with mom.}
{Above: tv with dad.}
{Above & below: the day cousin Mo came to play and we did an awesome rendition of "Heart & Soul" together... actually we just banged away. Still fun. Especially when wearing a winter bunny hat. Mom LOVES these pics.}

Just wanted to share a few photos from our February.... since I can't think of anything else worth blogging about.
What, with the Olympics on all day and whatnot. I got nothing.

Almost done settling into the new house, so I'll be back with pictures & stuff to say about that shortly...

MWAH!

A few days ago Eisley got a letter in the mail. It was from her Great Grandma Erwin, and enclosed was some money just for her, with instructions to find her something special for Christmas.

I tucked the bills away in my purse and made a mental note to myself to think of something special Eisley would like for Christmas.

A couple days later, after a family portrait session and lunch at Aspen Grove, Justin and I spotted Build A Bear Workshop.

"Do you think that's something Eisley would like to spend her Christmas money on?" Justin asked.

"I'm not sure..." I said.

We hesitated, after all, Eisley is only 16 months old and she cannot tell us herself what she would like and what she wouldn't. But we ended up entering the colorful store anyway, just to see {we told ourselves} if Eisley reacted to anything in the store.

Justin held her up to look at all the un-stuffed bear & animal skins to see if she took to any of them. A gray kitty made her smile so we decided to go with it.

Eisley watched as the employee used a huge machine to stuff fluff into the kitty and then sewed the kitty up.

Eager to see how she would react to her new stuffed friend, we handed over the kitty and...

"MWAH!" {The air kiss noise we taught her recently.}

Eisley kissed the kitty on the face, hugged kitty, and then kept going...

"MWAH! MWAH! MWAH!"

And we didn't even prompt her. She did it on her own whim.

Any doubts we had had about Eisley being old enough to enjoy Build A Bear were long gone. It was clear she had a new, and very dear, feline friend.

We dressed kitty in a Mrs. Claus outfit for kicks, paid {Eisley's Christmas gift money was exactly enough for the experience}, and left happy.

She still kisses that kitty...

Last night we put Eisley to bed with her kitty, and heard her kiss kitty. "MWAH! MWAH!"

Again this morning, I was downstairs and heard Eisley waking up...

"MWAH! MWAH! MWAH!"

She *really* loves her Christmas gift, Grandma, thank you!

Car Rides

Dear Eisenheimer,
{as your Pappa Erickson calls you}

Gone are the days of relaxed reclining in the rear-facing car seat. The lovely Chicco model we brought you home from the hospital in will go into storage until Violet or Paxton arrives {No, I am not pregnant. Yes, we have the names of the next children picked out}. This photo is not of you on the day you were born, but last week in King Soopers, where they give free cookies to the kids:
Now you ride in a forward facing seat. Much to our joy. Because unlike the day you were born, you now know how to get attention by throwing your milk, food, and toys over the edge of your seat to get attention and make the car messy. Also frustrating is driving while reaching one hand way back desperately searching for some way to stop your screaming. And finally, we can make use of that DVD player the previous owner of our car installed. If any kid deserves it, it's you, as you currently spend too much time each week riding in the car. So mom & dad are more than willing to give up listening to their new Glee CD so that you can watch Yo Gabba Gabba.

We're just SO happy your favorite show happens to be this one, and that we don't have to listen to Elmo's shrill voice or Barney talking down to children. Oh no, this we can put up with:




Love,
Mama & Jsuhshen

Yes... More Pics.

At the Park

Eisley. Dancing.

The House Elf

WHY?

Why can't we keep up with the laundry? The piles just keep growing.

Why do the dishes never seem clean anymore? There's never a clean cup when we need a drink.

Why are Eisley's toys always strewn throughout our living spaces? Tripping us in the middle of the night if we get out of bed...

There's been a lot of extra mysterious messes around here lately.

It's the strangest thing. We clean. And then the very second we turn our backs, the room is messy again. It's... well, disturbing.

In fact, I'm beginning to suspect our home is infested.

With a house elf.

And I even think I caught it on camera the other day. Making a mess.

So tell me what you think, could this be a photo of the little elf, in my crafting room where a mess suddenly appeared out of nowhere the other day? The reason why we can't keep anything clean anymore???




Do you see it, or are we just going crazy?

This is Eisley

As if turning one wasn't recent enough, she's almost 14 months now!

She's morphing into a little girl before our eyes. Like magic.

In the mornings she likes to eat scrambled eggs {her favorite} and then likes for us to put on Yo Gabba Gabba {also her favorite}, lower her high chair, and she climbs in and out of it while the show runs.

Eisley delighted us last month when she started rolling her arms around each other without having to be taught. It's her own little dance. We've also been able to teach her to blow kisses and give a high five {although she usually refuses to do it when put on the spot before others, making us out to be liars...}

She chats and babbles. She smiles at everyone. She loves to play with piano and softly plunks at the keys, sometimes even trying to copy my rhythm when I play a one-finger tune to inspire her.

In a room full of kids, say 19 girls and 1 boy, she will find that one boy and follow him around attempting to win him over with smiles and curious finger pointing. Yep, she's boy crazy. Watch out, Justin.

She is scared of play dough. Doesn't like the texture I think. And, no, I don't just mean that she doesn't like play dough. She actually runs from it.

Speaking of running, we're on our way. Daddy likes to chase her. See for yourself, and don't mind the mess, this is a typical Paris Street week mess for us:

Eisley, according to September.

PS - Leave a comment for Eisley! Just click right down there.