{This Day}

{Dear Eisley}

Today was a good day.

We all got out of bed at 9, and took daddy to work.

Came home, you watched your program whilst I finished some paper crowns. When I was ready we drove off to Cherry Creek Mall where I sold them to a lovely boutique I've been working with. $10 a pop.

You charmed the shop owners. They call you 'Sugar'.

They said you were welcome anytime... I wondered if they'd say that after seeing one of your famous almost-two tantrums?

But my main reason for being there {selling the crowns was a lovely bonus} was to deliver a garland to their employee {her son's name, for his first birthday}, who is one of the sweetest people I've ever met and she made me feel like a million bucks by hugging me three times and flooding my ears with flattery and encouragement. She made me feel embarrassed, in the embellished, Sally Fields sort of way.

We left, picked up daddy, grabbed lunch with him. Used a rockin' coupon. {I love coupons.}

And then it was naptime, and daddy left with the car to go back to work. Good day for him as well, about $3k in sales. I feel it's safe to say we are officially over the "slow season" with his work. Which is good because at one point this month we had $13 left in our bank. {When I had told my family that his commission this month was enough to pay bills and nothing more, I meant it.}

But the Good Lord keeps putting finances in our hands {even though, so many times, we have mucked it up in the past}. I've been called for paying studies twice this month, and that very day we realized we had $13 left, the retailer called and demanded more crafts. Are these things luck? Coincidence? I think not. I know they're not!

During naptime I crafted even more, this time for the market, which I'm already having nightmares about... Then I spent two hours cleaning, dragging myself away from Twitter because I knew that later I'd be mad at myself if I didn't. In all honesty, I mostly like cleaning... don't tell your daddy that.

So daddy came home to a mostly clean house, and you woke up. Then suddenly, the best bread in the world was in the oven {a 3 ingredient, 5 minute recipe that tastes delish}, Pioneer Woman's baked beans cooking on the stove, and kabobs on the grill.

For once it's our house that is making the rest of the neighbor's mouths water {usually it's us}.

We have our beers to drink and you have your $1 glow sticks from Michael's, running around the yard in the dark, cool almost-summer night.

And then I look at you and you're so beautiful and cute and perfect....

and this whole day,

this life,

this charmed,

undeserved life,

but mostly you -

it all makes me think

in a overly corny, Hallmark card type way...

This is the life.

These things can change in an instant, though, I'm old enough to know that. So I'm savoring this beauty that is life while I can. But...


... perhaps someday, just like Laura Bush, I will watch you walk down the aisle...

looking lovely like my only cousin did last week at her wedding...

and again I will think -

"This is the life."

once again.

?

{Love, Mom - aka 'The Sentimentalist'}

What NOT to do in life...

{Dear Eisley}

I want to tell you about a few mistakes I've made in life. As your older & wiser mother, I want to share this with you so that you do not make some of the same mistakes I have made. Hopefully I can save you some grief in life. I want to list some, lest I forget!

So, my dear daughter, don't do the following:

1. Fart in front of your pastor and blame it on another kid. He knows.

2. Seek fun with your friends by driving up to shopping carts in parking lots and pushing them with your car, working up speed, and then brake and watch the cart soar across the lot. Hitting another car with the speeding cart is inevitable. I know this from experience. {Note: Especially don't do it just weeks after getting your first driver's license. And ESPECIALLY don't do this when there's a beautifully restored classic Ford Mustang in the lot.}

3. Stir the pot for fun. Even though it often is amusing, it's also mean.

4. Dress the pets up in your nicest dresses and parade them through your parents bedroom when they're still asleep on a Saturday morning. Believe me, they'll think it's a lot funnier if you do it after they wake up and have had some coffee.

5. Cut up your mom's sewing projects in attempt to make even better sewing projects. She won't be impressed.

6. Go to college and: take multiple prescriptions known to cause weight gain, wear only lounge clothes and never your sized jeans so you don't realize when they don't fit anymore, not work out in rebellion for the last 4 years of forced high school gym class, not have a full-length mirror, and let yourself splurge at the college dining hall one too many times (to be fair, the salad bar WAS disgusting). Trust me -- recipe. for. disaster. It's okay to gain a little weight in college but if you do all of the above you're soooo asking for it.

7. Let friendships dissolve just because you want to prove a point {even when you're right ;-) }

8. Not save at least some of your money.

9. Get credit cards. They're the devil. Seriously, watch this if you don't believe me.

10. Stop learning a musical instrument once you've started. You'll regret it...

11. Set booby traps for Santa.

12. Go too far with your sense of humor. Your 2nd grade teacher might not find it as amusing as you do when, say, you draw a "Kick Me" sign on Martin Luther's back when studying the Reformation. {Post edit for clarity: I'm talking about Martin Luther the theologian. NOT the civil rights activist.}

13. Climb up cliffs without adult supervision. Especially when staying with grandma. Thank God she didn't have a heart attack that day.

14. Run from a horse when it charges you.

15. Try and reason with your philosophy professor in college. Especially if he looks just like Snape. That should have been my first clue not to contradict him.

16. When sledding, and your dad is at the bottom of the hill watching you come down and you *think* he's saying, "Steer towards the tree! Steer towards the tree!"... he's probably not.

And that's all I can think of right now. We all make mistakes, but if I can save you from a few of the ones I've made then I've done my job.

Love,
{MOM}

{Dear Miss Eisley}

You are not a baby anymore, have you noticed? You're quite the little girl, in fact.

A little girl who loves to chill in front of the TV for her favorite shows...

... a little girl who sports her love for mom proudly {hehe}....


... a little girl who loves to run in the yard...

... and says "Hi!" to all the people passing by walking their dogs or taking their kids to the park...

... a little girl who sits still while mommy paints her toenails purple.

You love post-bathtime dress up with mom's jewelry and hair accessories...
... you love all sorts of dress up.
That includes experimenting with unique hats. This one is your favorite, and you get angry if we take it off:
You love music, dancing, and insisting on climbing onto the piano bench 50 times a day to "practice".

This is all great and wonderful... but mommy misses having a tiny baby.
Maybe you'll have a playmate someday?

{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...

{Dear Eisley: Moving}

Dear Eisley,

You do not like moving.

It makes you cry.

Seeing daddy move the furniture around upsets you.

And you are having a very difficult time sleeping in your new room.

{You've already had a few time-outs in the new house. For hitting. And throwing. Someday, after I no longer need you to take time-out seriously, I will tell you how cute you are when you're all ticked off in your time-out chair, and how mommy had a hard time keeping a straight face.}

Speaking of your room, I've decided how I'm going to decorate it. No painting, but...

I'm going to need some yards of fabric, ribbon, and a play table for you to color at - STAT!

Think buntings.

Also...

We could not have gotten through this move without your grandparents.

Those four moved the piano into the house. And then some.

In fact, I did very little lifting {other than your big 18 month old body}.

They also cleaned our cabinets, cleaned the fridge, unpacked dishes, and much more all without throwing out their geriatric backs! {Just kidding about the geriatric part... except maybe for Grandpa Jerry... he is in his sixties now... should we call him a "Jerryatric"?}

No, but seriously, for reals, like totally: thank you, Grandparents!

Mommy thinks we're going to be very happy in this little 1940's house with the white picket fence. Mommy has also concluded, with total certainty, that her furniture & decor belongs with an old house.

Yes. The house & mommy's decor: they deserve each other.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have unpacking & cleaning to do so that I can take pictures and show our readers the newly painted furniture.

{Wood lovers, prepare to be horrified.}

XOXO,

"Mom...ma"

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

{Dear Eisley - Vol. 4}

{Dear Eisley}

I can't wait until...

- you can take ballet classes
- you have your first sleepover
- you have a say in the decorating of your room
- your hair is long enough for me to French braid.
- you can tell us, with your own spoken words, that you love us
- you can understand just how much we love you. This, unfortunately, probably won't happen until you have kids of your own
- your Grandpa Erickson can enrich your childhood through crafts, art, and stories {with all the best voices for the characters} - just like he did mine
- your face lights up on Christmas morning, filled with the excitement that only new toys from Santa can bring
- you can tell me what you'd like to dress up as for Halloween
- you choose Christ by your own free will, it will happen one day, when you realize you are a child of God whether or not we force you to go to Sunday School
- you and daddy go to a Father/Daughter Dance, and I can do your hair all fancy
- you become more my friend than my child

but then again.... I can wait.

Love you,
Mom & Dad
-

{Dear Eisley - Vol. 3}

{Dear Eisley}

It's recently come to my attention that you seem to be growing up. This disappoints me very much, and you may or may not recall that when you were born we had an agreement: I'll give you all the love I have to give, all I ask in return is that you stay my baby forever. Do you not remember this? Because you've been acting pretty mature lately, what, with the walking and talking...

August 8th is coming up in just over a month, and I'm worried that you have intentions of turning 1. You'd better think twice if that is your plan, Missy! It's just not right for you to grow up so fast on your poor mother. What makes you think this is ok? Did one of your grandmothers put you up to this?

Well, this is your last warning. We'll have a party with cake and presents and such, just like I promised, to celebrate the anniversary of your birth. But you are not to turn 1! Is that understood? If there is one thing I won't stand for it's a defiant baby.

{Love Always (no matter how naughty you are) - Your Poor, Poor Mommy}



PS - If you read my blog, you should comment every so often... it's a nice thing to do. AND I hope Eisley will someday come back and read this... it'd be nice for her ;-)

{ Dear Eisley - Vol. 2 }

{ Dear Eisley,

We were so overcome with joy when you started holding your own bottle last week! How nice it is for us to have two hands again during {some} feedings. However...

the feeling of joy has recently been countered by your other new attribute. I'm talking about the screaming that occurs sometimes when we put you down and/or leave the room. We're glad you miss us when you're gone, we miss you too! But try not to take it so hard, we always come back.... mmkay?

Love Always,

Mom & Dad}

PS - Do you like your new hat that came in the mail today? SIX people at Starbucks did and made sure to tell mommy. ;-)

{Dear Eisley} - Vol. 1

{Dear Eisley}

Mommy loves you so much, but can you please start eating during the day as good as you do during the night? Formula is expensive and all these spoiled unfinished bottles going down the drain is like pouring dollars into the trash.

And by the way, why is it that lately the only time you efficiently down a bottle is when you're sleeping? It's the teething isn't it?

{Love, Mommy}

PS - Your new trick of sitting up all by yourself is really great! Keep up the good work, Strong Girl!