School of Love

Liesel is attending the same school my sister Reagan did when she was a youngin'. Once upon a time, Reagan broke her nose while playing on the playground. Nothing bleeds quite like a head injury and so it was rather dramatic. Mom tells me as Reagan was taken away to the hospital with her face all bloodied, a little boy sorrowfully proclaimed, "But I was going to marry her!" She survived the incident and while they never did marry, Reagan is still friends with the boy via Facebook. I remember Reagan getting a HUGE pack of frozen popsicles that no one else was allowed to eat. And a lot of attention. But I digress.

This morning as I dropped Liesel off at preschool, a little boy in a Batman t-shirt ran up to me and gave me this envelope:

His sidekick told me I needed to open it up at home and give it to Liesel. Inside, I found this drawing of a purple heart.

Ahhhh the romance continues! Another one I'm hanging onto for Liesel's permanent file. After all, they may be Facebook buddies someday!

Fail

I've seen Reagan do this numerous times with her girls (resulting in gales of laughter) and decided to try it:

I guess I don't have the magic touch! Poor Ireland...

My Heart Broke Along With Hers

Tonight we said our goodbyes to Brent at the bus depot. Ireland was already asleep and Brigitta was working her way there with a few tired wails now and again. As I pulled out of my parking spot Liesel spoke up from the backseat.

"Mom? I'm really sad because I miss Daddy." And she burst into tears. She cried like I have never heard her cry before. 

And I sobbed too.

Happy Thanksgiving...

...from the Wuehler girls (cousin Elizabeth included!). Vanessa had the idea to make hats shaped like turkeys, color them and then glue on feathers.

Surprisingly Ireland seemed to enjoy it the most. Every time she glued on a feather she'd smile and shake her shoulders. She's still carrying that hat around.

Liesel also brought these beauties home from Preschool:

I will never get tired of turkey hands! I'm saving this one.

This turkey mask just makes me (and Liesel) smile. I'd like to meet  whoever came up with this!

Bring Your Kids to Work Day

While the girls had these masterpieces painted on their faces:

I contemplated these masterpieces at Chicago's Art Institute:

They should really rename Bring Your Kids To Work Day something a tad more apropos like Give Your Stay-at-Home Spouse a Break Day. I think the day flew by a tad too quickly for everyone. It's been years since I've been to an art museum and making it back was a breath of fresh air.

Brigitta and I were second in line and once we got in I made a beeline for the Seurat. Being able to stand at that huge, huge, HUGE painting and just take it in was heaven. I always notice something different and this time (thanks to the audio tour I flipped for) I noticed the soldiers near the upper left. Chagall's America Windows was stunning. I always forget how much I love stained glass (I took a class myself in high school) until I see something this impressive. I find it funny the figures in American Gothic were Wood's sister and dentist. Sometimes I feel like my dentist is using a pitchfork on me too... I've decided I will make it to Monet's gardens in France someday. I absolutely will! My heart skipped a beat when I saw the Pollock. For someone who is as fastidious as I am, I'm not quite sure why I like his frenetic work, but I do. I could stare at it for hours. The passion just seems to radiate out of the canvass.

I'm already looking forward to the next Bring Your Kids to Work Day! Between the face painting, magician, pizza and donuts I think the girls are as well.

Right Brent?

Brigitta's 3 Month Photos

Per tradition, we had photos taken of Brigitta in her blessing dress. I also brought along her baby quilt which my sister Katrina worked on (she's done a beautiful heirloom quilt for each of the girls). There was a huge family doing a Christmas photo just ahead of us and we ended up waiting over an hour to get in. The poor baby was exhausted by the end of the shoot! Nonetheless, Brigitta looked absolutely angelic in the yards of silk, lace and ribbons. Just looking back at the photos makes me want to squeeze and cuddle her SO tight!

Brigitta October POTD

Cleaning and scrubbing can wait 'till tomorrow,
For babies grow up we've learned to our sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

Brigitta and Rockwell are growing up so quickly, Reagan came up with the brilliant idea to send each other a Picture of the Day of our babies. I don't typically have time to pull out my Nikon to catch the latest, but I almost always have my iPhone handy. Now I wake up excited to see the latest of Rockwell. As I'm closing out October, I thought I'd post some of Brigitta's most brilliant moments. Bear with me while I learn the ins and outs of Instagram!

14 Oct 2012: First Sunday at church. 

15 Oct 2012: At the park. Lovely eyelashes growing in!

16 Oct 2012: Immunizations.

17 Oct 2012: Blessing dress finally arrived in the mail!

18 Oct 2012: Shopping at Gymboree.

19 Oct 2012: Long nap after a blow out diaper

21 Oct 2012: Telling Dad about her day

22 Oct 2012: Tummy time!

23 Oct 2012: Sleepy, squishy face

24 Oct 2012: Being a baby isn't always easy

31 Oct 2012: Swaddled

Blessings

Brigitta Katrina Wuehler became a member of record alongside her cousin Rockwell Fisher Dickson. It was a sweet day filled with family, love and of course, babies. Brigitta was intially a tad more uh, vocal than her cousin but she calmed down midway through the blessing. I'm so very grateful my girls all have a cousin counterpart (who all happen to be boys!). It will be so much fun watching Brigitta and Rockwell grow up.

To the Moon and Back

Bed Time

It's so routine the girls could probably do it on their own. Nevertheless, I feel compelled to document the steps we take to get our tinies down for the night. 

Step 1: Brush Teeth. The challenge here is making sure the girls actually brush their teeth rather than simply run their toothbrushes under water and then suck on them. Sometimes I brush my teeth alongside them and can't help but laugh when they mimic my spitting and toothbrush tapping on the side of the sink. When I remind Ireland to be sure and clean her teeth well, she jiggles her head like a bobblehead doll. It's so adorable it kills me.

Step 2: Dance Party. Somehow Brent came up with this scheme to get the last bits of energy out of the girls. No one will be knocking on our door for choreography gigs but Brent doesn't care. He unabashedly dances with his little girls while the room fills with squeals of joy. Their favorite part is his version of Ring Around the Rosie.

Step 3: Church Video. We've tried all sorts of things to get in a little spiritual thought before bedtime and so far this is the one we've settled on. The church has so many wonderful videos on lds.org which also help the girls calm down after kicking up their heels. We ask them follow up questions to see if they're paying attention and get some pretty funny answers. Someday we may read scriptures together but for now this works well. 

Step 4: Prayers. Lately Liesel always thanks the Lord for being able to "play with Barbies" which I find odd since we don't own any. Ireland always prays for more food. There's something said pretty much every night during prayers which has Brent and I stifling our laughter. 

No peeking allowed!

Step 5: Off to Bed. The girls get one last thrill as Brent whisks them away to a land of dreams. Sometimes there is one last request for some milk or to have a rice bag heated up. And then the house falls silent. Brent returns from their darkened room red-faced from all the exertion and without missing a beat he stands at the edge of the room and looks around; calculating his next move. Then he either picks up his laptop, catches up on some ESPN or haunts the kitchen for a bit more dinner (when the meal was especially good). 

I cuddle Brigitta a bit tighter and somewhere between the jammies, "sparkle fingers" and heartfelt prayers for more Oreos, I fall in love with my family all over again.