My Dearest Love-
I would be lying if I said the reason I wanted to sit next to you at Pizza Pit on that chilly February night was anything other than because I thought you were a hottie. But from the beginning of that conversation to today, I’m enraptured not only by your beauty, but also glowing personality, your quick wit, your loving spirit and your enormous heart.

1. Your Hotness
You are still the most beautiful woman I have ever met, both inside and out. When seeing you across a room, I find myself having to catch my breath. Not only that, but your humility (which sometimes borders on ignorance) is more attractive every day in a world full of self-conceit and self-worship. You love people. Your heart breaks for people. You want people to know that they are loved. How can I not be attracted to a beauty like that.

2. Your Personality
Jokes, voices, performances, air heels, cheerleading, living room dance parties, what’s not to love? Your beauty captured my attention, but your personality has kept me close. They say over time that married couples become more alike. I feel as though from day 1 we have been the same person. Not in every way, but certainly in the important ways. I’m in awe of how God has unified us, to the point that we don’t even need to say anything to know what the other is thinking, though that certainly hasn’t silence the conversation. I can’t think of another person I would rather spend every day with.

3. Your Desire
Perhaps your most attractive quality is your desire to be the woman God created you to be, and the mother God designed you to be. It’s not always an easy journey, but I love that you always want to be growing toward what you know is better. The growth I have seen in you the last four years makes me excited to see where we will be in another 40.

Thank you, my love, for saying “yes”. Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for loving our daughter and growing baby more than yourself. Thank you for constantly drawing me back toward God and desiring to be the man you deserve.

I love you so much and am forever thankful for God bringing us together. May tomorrow be better than today.

Your Christopher

See?

She’s also giving me a crash course in humility, patience, self-control, patience, unconditional love, aaaand patience. Full disclosure here: Toddler years are really hard. Well, they have been lately in the Saldanha house. When you have a free-spirited, independent, self-sufficient one and a half year old. Who was born with a sin nature. Yep.

“How dare she say that about that sweet girl!” “Children are born innocent! WE’RE the ones who screw them up!”

Um no. Sorry. Not the case.

Genesis 8:21 states that “…every inclination of (a person’s heart) is evil from CHILDHOOD…” and Proverbs 22: 15 says, “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child.” And I suppose anyone that has a child, or has been around a child, or has SEEN a child can attest to this. I don’t ever recall telling Eisley, “Okay. Listen. If Mama ever tells you to do something that you don’t want to do, simply yell NO really loudly and start to cry. And, if Mama tries to pick you up, just go limp.”

So yes, the last couple days have been kinda tricky with Eisley. With my precious chubby cheeked angel pie who has eyes that will melt you and a smile that makes you burst with joy.

Sometimes I just have had enough.

I know these moments don’t last forever, and that she’ll learn to obey the FIRST time we ask…not the third or twelfth (we’re already seeing fruit of this…just not consistent fruit), she’ll respond to us asking her to do something with a “Yes, Mama! Yes, Baba!” And again, she’ll do it the first time we ask. I know this will happen because I EXPECT it from her. This is how a Saldanha child WILL behave.  That is my JOB as her mama and Chris’ JOB as her Baba to see to it that she is a polite, loving, obedient, kind girl that turns into a polite, loving, authority-respecting, kind woman.

This is more of a self pep talk than anything, so feel free to log off now if you want.

As she was screaming the other night, I was thinking to myself, “Motherhood is when you experience every single emotion a woman could feel. All at the same time.” It’s such a bizarre thing…to feel anger and immense love towards the same individual at the very same moment.

But then there’s also moments like the other morning when she and I were taking big gulps of juice at the same time…

….and then simultaneously letting at a satisfied, “Aaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!”

And then it’s things like this that I’m like, “Okay. We can still play together today.”

God has been very gracious to me the past couple days…it’s nothing I’ve done, mind you, He is just ENABLING ME to be more patient, more tenderhearted to her.
Here’s how we’ve been blessed the past couple days with her: she’s been eating like a CRAZY person (last night for dinner – an entire chicken brat, broccoli, an entire orange, crackers, milk, AND a peanut butter sandwich!)  and sleeping close to 13 hours a night straight (ya think? She was probably in a food coma!) We’re done nursing and she’s fine with it, and she has been super obedient lately as well. (Case in point, we were over at some friends’ house for dinner and it was time for us to leave. I said, “Eisley, please put those toys back where you found them and come get your coat on.” She IMMEDIATELY put her things in the toy bin and ran over to me. PEOPLE. This is huge for us. THIS is what we’ve been fighting for MANY months. FRUIT! Hooray!)

She’s a loveface and has been so silly and goofy and lovey lately. But I hear her yelling for me from her bed. So log off I must.

*** EDITOR’S NOTE: I hope this post does not come across arrogant in any way. Please know that Chris and I fail a LOT when it comes to parenting, we DON’T have it all together, we DON’T know everything there is to know about kids. We DO know that we need Christ every day, ALL day and that without Him, we’re doomed. That we DO know.

Hello old friend, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? And I’m going to bring it with a little bit of a downer.

Daily I get an email from a health magazine with some nutrition tips, and today it focused on kids’ health. It caught my eye because I agree with Jamie Oliver, Michelle Obama, and the rest of the crazies out there that our kids are getting fat and it’s OUR fault. We feed them quick, easy, processed junk that is destroying them inside and out. There are plenty of factors – cost, time, convenience – but this email had 6 great tips. One struck a bit close to home.

Rule #5: SET AN EXAMPLE (ESPECIALLY YOU, DAD)

The portion of America’s food dollars spent on meals out increased from 34 percent to 48 percent between 1974 and 2008. Parents’ increasing penchant for restaurant food can translate to nutritionally unsound decisions by kids.

One recent study laid the heaviest blame on fathers. Researchers at Texas A&M University say dads carry the most influence largely because when they take their kids to the Mickey D’s, it’s often as a treat or some sort of celebration. This enforces the idea that unhealthy eating is positive. Mothers, on the other hand, often choose fast food due to time constraints, so the food doesn’t hold as much psychological sway.

Since Katie became pregnant with Eisley, our diet changed radically. And I have to commend Eisley, she eats veggies like a champ. Her favorite food is broccoli and the kid LOVES rice. And sweets are highly moderated. And you know what, she’s fine with that! Just a bit of conditioning and will power on the parents part.

The reason rule #5 struck me was in part about food, but maybe more so the psychological side of things. In our home, dad works all day and mom stays home. Though this trend has been waning in American culture in recent decades, I think there is still a psychology of reward with fathers, and maybe it has snuck into the mentality of working mothers. In some ways, you feel guilty for being gone all the time, and then harping on your kids to eat right. You’d rather not fight the dinner fight and just give them what they want, and let’s face it, the heart wants sweetened batter fried buttery goodness.

Not to toot my own horn (ahem, beep beep), but I think we have done a pretty good job throttling the desire to just give in. We have certainly seen the benefit of being steadfast at the dinner table, and we have a happy, healthy kid to show for it. Sure, some nights there are a lot of tears, and I mean A LOT. But the perseverance is worth it.

Maybe we all need to slow down, spend less money on ourselves and on better food, and take time to appreciate the dinner.

So suck it up dads, otherwise your kids won’t live long enough to be grateful for your discipline.

Check out the full article here.

Inspired by my sister & her family’s recent trip to this apple orchard, Eisley and I decided to make a usually boring Wednesday into a SUPER WEDNESDAY!

During the summer growing up, my mom would always plan something special for us to do on Wednesdays, titling these days “Super Wednesdays.” Her theory was that if we KNEW that we had something special to look forward to, we wouldn’t be whining about being bored the REST of the week. I remember it working, but I’m sure we whined too. Even though it was usually just something like a picnic lunch and trip to the library, I remember being SUPER pumped about Super Wednesdays.

SO. Onto Miss E’s and my Super Wednesday. Chris suggested that, since it’s discounted prices during the week and probably not as busy, we should make the 10 minute drive to Cambridge to Center Grove Orchard. And for only $8, there is SO MUCH TO DO AND SEE! Worth the drive and price of admission, Des Moinesians!

We got to pet all sorts of fun animals! (Sorry Sweet Baby’s face is blurry and the GOAT is nice and clear) She especially loved the roosters and would GUFFAW every time one would crow. I captured her glowing during a cock-a-doodle:

She would dash back and forth between the rooster pen and the goats who were climbing all over their ramps. So cool, even for me! I was like, “Whaaaa??!!”

And silly girl was like ten feet from these beautiful huge horses, and of course, all she wanted to do was to pet the puppy. Girl loves her puppies!

In addition to all these cool animals, there is also an enormous…pillow thing? that the kids can jump on. I wasn’t sure if she would like it; we’re not SUPER coordinated and not SUPER good at jumping, but oh my word. She didn’t want to get off!

I got on there with her when she just got running and started heading down the slope at breakneck speed. It was so fun to jump and roll around with her on there! But once I got off, oh my word Jelly Legs. Eeeyikes.

We also went on a hay(rack) ride! (The perpetual debate…hay ride or hay RACK ride? We say hay RACK ride, but when I went to school in Michigan, they were so confused as to why I called it that and not a hay ride. And no, this debate didn’t come up a lot. BUT WHEN IT DID. I’m like, “yeah, you’re riding on the HAY, but IT’S not taking you on the ride, the RACK is”…whatever…)
Anyway, here, E is looking mighty pensive about the whole thing. I included this picture because I did you a SOLID favor in getting a closeup of those cheeks. There WAS a little boy named Bennett who was sitting awfully close to us…

And then, we spotted the giant slide. The closer you get, the more you realize just how steep it really is. I didn’t think she’d like it (I didn’t know if I would like it!), but sure enough, we went down once (on a burlap sack…should have grabbed some for you mom! ) and DareDevil Jones was like, “Peez! Peez!” And frantically signing More! More! So three more times, we hiked up the hill, and slid on down! I took video of us as we went down, but of course, thinking the camera was trained on her face, it’s actually just the top of her head and my dumb neck, so I’ll spare you.

This angle shows a couple things:
1. It really is freakin steep!
2. Eisley’s flushed cheeks. She got super excited and super worked up.
3. I need to clean her ears out.

She was really worn out after about two hours of doing everything BUT pick apples and pumpkins. So, after frolicking in the corn pool for 5 minutes, we decided to head for home.

Someone really missed their Baba! We got home about 15 minutes before Chris came home for lunch, and oh my word, she could not get enough of him! She even spent a good five minutes BITING HIS LIPS! He went in for a moochie and she started chortling and chewing on his lips! He was in heaven.

All in all, a pretty Super Wednesday if you ask me. Such a fun place to go with little kids! Saldanha stamp of approval! We’re just excited to take Baba one of these days!

So I pretty much am the worst at documenting fun events. I just get so caught up in the moment, that twenty minutes later, I’m like, “Oh crap. That would have made a good picture!” And by then it’s too late.

Hence, the pathetic documentation of our SUPER awesome date night last Friday! DEMETRI MARTIN!

We started out at Gusto Pizza, which was SUPER GOOD. Yes, that is goat cheese on my pizza, and yes, those are banana peppers on Josh’s. Signs of an awesome pizza place.
And this was literally the best picture I got of all four of us. Pathetic, I tell you.
BUT. Demetri was AMAZING. I wasn’t sure if I would be disappointed, since my hopes were SO SO high. But he totally delivered AND with all new material. I had only heard one of the jokes he did! My cheeks were so sore from grinning the ENTIRE time. It was SO fun! Yay for unusual date nights!

So there’s that.

And then there’s Eisley. SPEAKING of totally delivering, Homegirl DOES. Day after day. She delivers the goods. And by goods, I mean cheeks.

HAHAHA! I am just going through recent pics I took, and this one made me laugh! SOMEbody loves her Mama!

(Feel free to print this one off and frame it if you wish)
(I think she’s crying because of my lazy eye)

Here’s Patooks in her new owl hat, made by Granny!

Not a great shot of her face, but you can really see how stinkin cute that hat is! Owls and TONS of others, for sale at Tandem Brick!

And finally, a joyous video I shot just today of Eisley and her crazy cousin, Liam. Every Tuesday morning, Liam goes over to Granny & Uncle Beavo’s house (the boys’ name for Grandpa. Don’t ask) for his “Special Day.” And boy was it special today! I could listen to her squeal all day long.

Eisley and Liam from Chris Saldanha on Vimeo.

AH!! So many fun things to look forward to! I can’t stand it, so I will blog about it! Let me give you a run down about what’s going on the next couple days in the Saldzie household.

Brief intermission: A friend of mine once said this: “A lot of self-confidence issues (a lack of, anyway) stems from the fact that I compare my ‘behind-the-scenes’ with other people’s ‘highlight reel.’” Oh my word, how true is THAT, especially in our culture of facebook statuses, blog posts, and tweets about how awesome your kids/husband/vacation/waist size/etc is! Please know that even though, yes, all these fun things are taking place in our lives, Eisley still sometimes yells at me “No!” when she doesn’t want to do something, Chris and I get annoyed with each other, our envelope system is only awesome when there’s money in there, and I feel nauseous most of the time. There. Behind the scenes. Resume Act II.

Okay, so fun things are happening! Keep in mind, fun to US. So. Tomorrow, C is taking off work. Just because. And it’s supposed to be 59 and sunny. You better believe ALL of us will cloaked in scarves and drinking hot lattes ALL DAY LONG.
Friday, my sweet sweet friend Emily and HER sweet sweet friend Danielle (who I’m hoping soon becomes MY sweet sweet friend) are coming over in the morning and hanging out with Eisley. And I’m leaving. To do whatever. Glorious. Maybe I’ll go to Target and NOT pull everything off the bottom shelves! (AHEM, SugarBuns!)
Saturday, a whole lot of nothing, just relaxing with my Loves.
Sunday, I’m helping out with drama team auditions at our church. Meaning, I DON’T HAVE TO AUDITION! Guess that means I’m IN! Woo! I’m really looking forward to helping people not to be nervous, working with them on whatever Jenni is going to have them do! FUN!!!
Monday, we’re having dinner at Steve & Shelley Larson’s house. Steve has been like a surrogate dad to Chris for a very long time, and he was even the man who married almost FOUR years ago. We love them. So does Miss Lady.
Tuesday, I’m taking my Salt Company girls out for dessert at the Cafe. (Every school year, I meet with 4 Iowa State women as kind of a mentorship type deal. Let me tell you, these girls are so amazing. My sweet Jaimie has a heart for other people like you would not believe. She is so kind, gentle, loving, encouraging. She puts me to shame. Christine is my fashionista world traveler. And she’s crazy smart too. So, she blows me out of the water there. Miss Emily is oh so fun. I feel like she is me, just 9 years younger. She makes me laugh. And Bettina. Oh Bettina…look up the word ‘joy’ in the dictionary, and there would be a fold out section of Bettina. Pure light, this one. So yay. Dessert with these girls. Hooray.
Wednesday, Modern Family premieres. Yay for laughter.
Thursday, PAAARKS & REEEEEEEC!!!! Oh my word, we are popping some popcorn for this! I can’t tell you how much I have grown to love this show. DO YOURSELVES A FAVOR.

And Friday, hoooe my word, Friday.

Ever heard of a guy named Demitri Martin?

He will be Hoyt Sherman on Friday, and my brother in law and I decided since he, Chris, and my sister all love Demitri, why not all go together? He surprised Emily with tickets for her birthday, and I bought Chris tickets as an early anniversary present! Hooray! Super excited!

Continuing on with the fun, another relaxing Saturday, and then on Sunday, we just very well may sing a song at church that CHRISTOPHER WROTE, EVERYBODY! Now we go to a pretty large church, so there will be a ton of people who will hear it! How awesome will that be? He isn’t finished with it yet, but what I have heard is pretty stinkin awesome! If you’re in Ames on Sunday morning, come to Cornerstone Church at either 9:00 a.m. or 11:00 a.m. and listen for the super awesome song. That’s Chris’.

I think after these fun days, we’ll need to take a breather.
But what else is awesome?
Well, THIS girl:

…wearing Chris’ old glasses with the lenses popped out! Please just focus on her and don’t really bother zeroing on what the crap I’m doing. BEHIND.THE.SCENES.

THIS is awesome too! What’s going on, you ask? Stay tuned…

Baby #2 is baking nicely. I had an appointment yesterday and everything looks good. Still clockin in at 12 weeks. I’m SO hoping this nausea/tiredness ends soon. Sigh. Oh well. Here’s how Beano is lookin these days:

Teeny little bump. It gets more pronounced at the end of the day, but then again, it could just be the entire bag of Goldfish crackers that I consumed.

Next up on what’s awesome is Little Model. Mom has been creating some new baby hats to take over to Tandem Brick and she had to try some of the prototypes on the Bean. They’re not finished yet, but holy cow, when they’re done?? Dang. So cute. I’ve placed my custom order for a sweet owl hat for Eisers. (SPEAKING of custom order, apparently there have been a couple women who have gone into Tandem Brick, see a purse my mom has made that they love, and then request “This purse, but could you add, etc., etc.,?” I’m sorry, but would it EVER cross your mind to go into a store, see something you like, but then request a new one but just slightly altered? WHO DOES THAT!??! Oh. Rich people. Never mind)

Here’s bean in the beginnings of the Bear Hat:

Gah!! Can you STAND it!??!

And here is Beginning Bunny:

I know, we’re super drooly today. Not a great head-on shot, but she was just so taken with her reflection, she couldn’t look away from the mirror .

And finally. I just found out that my amazing friend Ashley only has TWO MORE chemo treatments! WOOO!! This girl will take your breath away. She has been so SO incredible these past 6 months. She had only been married A MONTH when she discovered a lump. But you should read her blog about her cancer journey. Grab your tissues. Seriously. Crazy. Here’s a quick link for you so you don’t have to waste your time searching:  Ashley Hinton
And just LOOK at her! WHO LOOKS LIKE THIS ANYWAY, let alone someone going through chemotherapy? I tell you, amazing!

(Ashley, if you’re reading this, sorry I creeped on your facebook and stole your Amber Rose photo. Love you!)

Okay, so read her blog and be encouraged and pray for her as she finishes this crap up.

Phew! Lots of stuff! I should probably blog more than twice a month. My fingers hurt.

A few weeks ago, my mom admitted to me that she hadn’t been feeling very thankful lately. Just like that, outta the blue. Isn’t honesty, humility, and vulnerability quite wonderful traits? I wish more people exhibited this.

I digress.

She decided to host a Thanksgiving meal, scheduled for tonight. August. Oh my word, can’t wait. Like, we’ll have corn casserole TONIGHT. And then in again in three months.

The purpose of this meal is direct our thoughts and hearts towards EVERYTHING we have to be thankful for. It really goes against my grain – to be glass half full about things. Over the years, I’ve learned that I kind of have to FORCE myself to think positively about stuff…to remember to be thankful for things.

I have to train myself to think about the things in my life that are beautiful, right, true, joyful, instead of dwelling on the stuff that’s hard, discouraging, frustrating, or just plain stupid.

“That’s a really nice thought,” you say. “Is it from Oprah?”

Nope.

Straight from the Word of God.

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, my brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS…And the God of Peace will be WITH YOU.”

Okay then. That’s probably what I should do.

************************************************************************************************************************

Well, I wrote this Friday morning BEFORE the great feast. In summary, it was awesome and delicious. And then we all went around the table to share what we were specifically thankful for. We got to Chris, and so I said, “Okay, Chris is going to go now!” And my precious Gavin, being the ever-literal boy that he is, hollered, “Bye Uncle Chris! Where are you going?” Ahh…love it. He’s so great.
Anyway, I loved the timing of this Thanksgiving meal. I left with such a cheerful heart – I have a wonderful family, a handsome and amazing husband, a sweet, adorable, and hilarious daughter…what’s NOT to be thankful for?!?

And then.

That night, about 9:30, an hour after she laid down for bed, Eisley woke up SCREAMING. Like inconsolable, wouldn’t even NURSE. (Now nursing to Eisley is like coffee to Chris. She will NEVER refuse to nurse. Come to find out later, BabySweets had CANKER SORES on her tongue!) So she wailed and wailed for a good couple hours, until we finally said, “Okay, to the E.R. we go!”
I was not thankful at this point.
We were at the E.R until 2:00 a.m. Turns out Eisley has her THIRD nasty ear infection of her sweet little life. Whenever she gets crazy amounts of teeth, she always seems to get ear infections too! Nurse Bret gave her lots of stickers and she was a complete champ at the hospital. By then had caught her 3rd wind of the day and was cheery. For some reason. (Okay, okay, so THAT was something I could have been thankful for).

I think we’re on the up and up. She slept a lot better last night than she has in two nights, and was even a super happy girl at her pal Naomi’s birthday party! Although, she still has a weird rash on her legs and blisters on her toes! I’m hoping the blisters are just from her big ol growin feet being stuffed into too-small shoes. I don’t know.

So, if you think of her (which I’m sure many of you do often!), please say a quick prayer that she continues to heal up. And maybe buy her a pair of shoes that fit.

I’m kidding.

Here she is, because she is so amazingly sweet.

This is truly her favorite place to be…snuggled up close to her Baba. He keeps her nice and safe.

Welll…yeah, sorry.
It’s been almost 2 months since I’ve (we’ve) posted. And it’s not because there hasn’t been anything to blog about, we’ve actually had a very blog-worthy packed summer. But…ehh…I’m just eh about blogging sometimes.

Oh. And our log-in has been on the fritz for a good month and 3 1/2 weeks, so there’s THAT…

Let’s do a Cliff-notes version of beginning of July to now.

• COLORADO. Oh my word, awesome. Long drive there, but Miss Eisers was a champion. Brother Josh had our route mapped out so well, he had us stopping at food/play equipment every three hours. It was perfect. As soon as we crossed the CO border, our car played the game, “Clouds or Mountains?” We lost. Apparently, you don’t start seeing mountains until about an hour into the state.
  Once we were there, it was absolute heaven. Chilly mornings, gorgeous view, family time, coffee was constantly being brewed, I AM BATMAN was constantly being read. It was awesome.

Eisley had an absolute blast being with her boy loves, Gavin, Liam, and Tate. I think her internal volume gauge was permanently raised after this week. These boys are loud, but oh my word, they are such a joy. And they love HER so much…I am so thankful that she will grow up with these gentlemen. And not to mention how much she loved being around her Granny & Papa all day and night. She brings them so much joy, and HER eyes light at the mere mention of THEIR names, so win-win.

I love them too.

Everyone.

Seriously, between my sister, MY camera, Chris’ nice camera, the FLIP cam, we have about, oh, 2 and a half million pictures and 7 weeks of video footage. It’s mostly of the cousins being cute, Chris and Josh being manly in the woods, and cool shots of the sky.

The ride home was…well…not as great as the ride there. Probably about 15 minutes into the drive, Eisley remembered that about a week before, she was strapped to a seat for a good fourteen hours. And then the waterworks came. And came…and came. Even for the next week or two once we were back home, every time we would buckle her in, she would scream and strain at her buckles. I think the words, “Honey! We’re only going to Fareway! We’re not driving back to Colorado!” fell on deaf ears.
Mine, not hers. I went deaf from her screams.
Oh well, we’re past that now! She’s our happy little (non)camper again! She is literally a beam of light shooting straight into my life.  I know we’ve probably told MOST people about this, but sweetpie’s new favorite game is “Helen Keller.” (Her words, not mine.) She squeezes her eyes shut, sticks her hands out in front of her, and wanders through the house, the whole time grinning madly. She is divine. She started doing it and I was like, “Chris! Did you teach her to do that?!” And HE said, “NO! I thought YOU did!”
Proof?

Oh yes, she’s also playing “Helen” with a newborn winter hat on. Per her request.

See what I mean? LIGHT.BEAM.

Eisley has also been a super-duper champ in Sunday School lately. Which is a huge blessing and answer to this tender-hearted mama’s prayer. Now, she is excited to go, runs into the room, and is a happy girl the whole time. Even during snack time! I got assigned to work in her room a couple weeks ago during my nursery shift, and oh my word, snacktime is HILARIOUS. They sit in the tiniest chairs I have ever seen! They all sit around, waiting “patiently” for their oyster crackers! And Lucas and Jackson came right over and sat next to Eisers, but she was like, “WHATEVER! Oyster crackers, yo!!”

(And yes, I am that mom that took pictures of her during Sunday School. She doesn’t know to be embarrassed yet).

Bean ALSO has been requesting to go to bed lately. Yes, you can go ahead and reread that. 7:30 rolls around, and to heck with songs, to heck with reading a book, just get that girl in bed! She pulls snow queen over to her crib, and points wildly, saying “BEEZ! BEEZ!” She climbs in and snuggles up with nary a sniffle. Last night, we listened to her from the living room as she practiced all the words she knew, then said, “Nigh! Nigh!” and then was silent! Hahaha…what a goob.

She also has really big muscles. Gahh! She’s just so stinkin cute!

Do you blame us for makin another one?!?

Wait. What?

Yep.

Eisers is going to be a big ol sissy! Starting around, oh, end of March, 2012.

Now, this is an incredible blessing that is actually, pretty freakin funny. C & I, for the past couple months, have been discussing when would be a good time to START trying for Baby S #2.  We had a tough time getting pregnant with Eisley (close to a year it took us), we LOST a baby a couple summers ago, so we weren’t sure, timing wise, when we should attempt. We both knew we wanted Eisley and Baby to be close in age, so we thought maybe in the fall, or early winter, start trying.

During these discussions, Baby S’s little arm buds were already forming.

I won’t go into details, but *most* of the conditions for NOT getting pregnant were there. But here I am, constantly queasy, not needing my belt anymore, super tired, housing a little incubator for Bug-a-Boo. Boy? Girl? So exciting! We’ll find out in early November. We are really excited and are so thankful that we really didn’t have to decide the when…God did that for us. His timing is ALWAYS best. He knows the child we need to have, the sibling E needs to have.
So we’re thrilled that it’s now. Because if NOW is where God wants us, time has taught us that there is no other place we want to be.

Bye Eisley! Have fun stormin the castle!

Here is just a sampling of things I’ve been loving right now:

1. J.R. Watkins All Purpose Cleaner
This stuff smells amazing. And I don’t know if it’s just me, but it seems really thick when I spray it, if that’s possible. It’s super lemony and fresh and cleans like the dickens. Recommend.  Target. Fairly inexpensive. Go. (And look at that vintage-seeming bottle!)

2. Say Yes! To Cucumbers Facial Towels
So fresh smelling, so easy to use, so disposable! Love them.

3. Body Shop Shea Butter…anything. Scrub, body butter, you name it, I love it. Smells warm but fresh. Love it.

4. Shaun The Sheep

Ahh…this delights my heart like no else. This is a show that a friend of mine recommended watching. For Eisley’s sake. But I have found that even when she scoots off my lap when I attempt a post nap-slow to wake up-let’s just veg in front of the t.v.-cuddle, I end up laughing OUT LOUD at this adorable show. Seriously. It’s hilarious. That’s Shaun with the skateboard. Of course. And he and his sheep friends and their “sheep dog” pal Bitzer get into all sorts of hyjinks with their pesky neighbor pigs. (Hello! They’re standing on top of one another! HYJINKS!)  It’s so good…if you have Netflix (or know what channel this is even on? Probably some cable channel in the hundreds that we will never have) please watch an episode (or eight) of Shaun the Sheep. You will not be disappointed.

5. This:

My super talented and utterly delightful father built the Saldanhas a PICNIC TABLE! This sucker is MASSIVE. The benches alone are about 100 pounds, he said. I am so so excited to have this! I love having people over for dinner or dessert, but with our sweet house, it doesn’t afford the big dinner parties that I would love to host.  NOW WE CAN! This baby seats 12! I don’t think the pictures do it justice – it’s huge.

6. I’m Loving That Our House Is Looking Like This Now:


“Loving this?” you say.
“Eh, sure why not.” I reply. “I think it just means that we have one crazy, active Sugar on our hands. She is simply a nut, and she is making me simultaneously laugh, shake my head in joy, roll my eyes, and cry out to the Lord for patience, and laugh again ALL THE TIME. She is the greatest addition to our little family.”
And come on, what ELSE am I going to do besides clean while she naps…READ? RELAX? DRINK COFFEE? Who would want to do THAT?

7. We have 17 days until we go to Colorado with these crazy mugs:

And so it is: the Earth revolves around the sun, Dr Pepper is delicious, and Eisley is STINKIN adorable.

Baby Girl got some sweet new shades…that only stay on her face for a good 20-30 seconds.

Going through pictures on my camera, I realized we took about, oh, eight thousand pictures in June. I’m not sure how to par it down for your viewing pleasure.

So a summary perhaps of our month? Okay!

We take a LOT of walks. Whilst CARRYING our shoes. Counter-intuitive, I know, but Eisers has a thing for chewing on velcro. Whatever. She’s happy happy when she walks like a big girl. While Chris was hanging out with his high school guys last night, she and I went for a walk. We were about a half mile from home when Baby Love decided she was DONE riding in her stroller. So we walked. Sloooowly. And bent down and picked at every rock. And stick. And wandered into yards that had balls laying in them. And sat on the sidewalk and looked at the grass. It took us a good 30 minutes to finish up our walk. Whew! Independent woman!

We’re also loving cheering on Baba as he plays soccer every Sunday night! Here’s the Bean wearing his jersey. Go Baba Go!

…And we still love books. I can see her attention span lengthening…we can NOW sit through ALL of Hondo and Fabian without getting up to get something to chew on. (That is NOT Hondo and Fabian pictured above. Yes, my daughter sits through a 300 page book! Ha!)

So let’s see…what else…

We’re excited to be heading to Colorado soon in just a couple weeks! My sister just sent me a picture of where we’re staying…WOOHOO! Check this place OUT!

Think that’ll be enough room for everyone!? Wowzah! We’re excited that we’ll be able to spread out a bit – the LAST time we all went on a vacation together, we were in a much smaller cabin…granted, there were only TWO children, now there are FOUR crazy kids (with one on the way! My sissie, not me!) We are so looking forward to ample amounts of coffee, books, quiet time/crazy loud time, star gazing, laughter, etc.

I’m bored with this post. I wish I had more exciting things to say.

Oh wait! I DO!

Eisley has her first freckle on her face. Right by her lip. I thought it was food, but after a good scrubbin, low and behold, Cindy Crawford has made her debut. Lookin’ good, BabyCakes! I don’t have a pic yet…SOON though! Makes sense that a first-born would have a “first freckle!” picture. Sorry.