Liesel is NINE!!!

Liesel's birthday photos turned out beautifully and she's such a poser, I really didn't expect anything less. Here are a few (or a lot!) of my favorites:

I don't know where this location is, but it is such a pretty spring background! Such pretty light!

I'm really glad I went with the striped shirt- it gives a little bit of structure to the natural setting.

I'm a big fan of pictures of children that are not head-on. It's so much more honest! That's totally her smile right there.

Personally I think the basket of flowers is sweet without being gimmicky. Love it.

I can't pinpoint why, but this is my absolutely favorite photo of the whole bunch. I look at it over and over. There's something in her face that captures the still-innocence of her age but you can see the maturity just starting to creep in there. She's looking sentimental, like she's thinking about something and not like she's just been ordered to smile. The way the sunlight catches the ends of her blonde hair just makes my heart sing. Even the way she's grabbing that branch above her- Liesel DOES that kind of thing!

I love it in black and white too. I just can't stop looking at it!

Those braces have been an adventure this year. She's tolerated all the pain beautifully and already her teeth look so much better. I didn't mind her wonky smile, but I don't mind her metal mouth either.

My one request was to get a good shot of all her freckles. The spray across the bridge of her nose is one of my favorite features!

Don't you just want to go to wherever this is?

The way the sunlight catches her hair... it looks like spun gold!

I'm always concerned about how confident my girls are in themselves as they grow up. Every extracurricular activity we invest in is to help them develop a strong sense of self. This photo makes me feel like it's paying off.

Again, I just love this one.

The light on that hair!!!

Like Ireland, Liesel is going strong on our chocolate challenge so Brent hunted for something that would work. Liesel asked me endlessly about what kind of cake he bought and he insisted on keeping it a surprise.

 Obviously, she was pretty happy about it, especially with the bright colors and sprinkles.

She became pretty serious when it came to blowing out the candles. I didn't dare ask what she wished for but man, she was intense!

This has been a roller coaster of a year for Liesel. I'd had some inklings she might be a touch ADD because I noticed she had difficulty focusing. Getting her out the door for school was a nightmare every morning. Ireland would be standing by, perfectly dressed with her backpack all set (including her lunch!) impatiently waiting for Liesel who was off in a dream land. Homework was always a struggle. It felt like she knew what to do, she was just being defiant, and I was ready to tear my hair out. I asked my friends with kids her same age what they thought and they all insisted she did not have ADD-- especially because she was capable of focusing on a task. Only my sister Whitney pointed out hyperfocus is actually a byproduct of ADD. It just nagged at me and I communicated my concerns to her teacher who agreed with my line of thinking. She immediately told me there were things that could be done that didn't include medication, but I'd need to talk to a doctor first. Finally I made an appointment with our pediatrician.

For that first appointment, I went alone and it took over an hour. As he asked me detailed questions about Liesel's behavior, it was like the heavens opened up and suddenly someone was completely tuned in to the battles I had been facing with her every day. I felt completely understood and I knew we were on to something. There were endless assessments and emails with her teacher and behavior modification therapy and so, so, so many tears over everything. My relationship with Liesel took a 180* as I read up on ADD and realized her brain just doesn't work the same way mine does. One book said the worst thing you can do with an ADD child is to shut them in a room by themselves and instruct them to do their homework-- that's exactly what I'd been doing! Another book said to just forget about a clean room-- again a sore point between us! I developed a lot as a mother as I learned how she thinks, how she's motivated, and how to help her.

I tried to be very careful when I told Liesel she was diagnosed as ADD. I talked about how Ireland has asthma so she has to be careful about the things that set it off. Then I told her that her body was just made a little differently and distractions come easily to her. I assured her we were going to try and help her get rid of those distractions. I was driving at the time and she said, "But Mom, it's like telling you not to look out the front window! You HAVE to look out the window!" Point taken.

Now that we have some tools at our fingertips, we are in a much better position to help Liesel and her future is looking bright. This is her final year being in the single digits but she insists she is a tween already. Our gift to her was an American Girl doll- I really wanted to get her one before she's too old to play with them anymore. The drama among her peers is definitely amping up and I'm concerned how obsessed she is with who her "crush" should be. At the same time, our conversations are getting a little deeper, and I find myself telling her about what I did at her age. I love our one-on-one chats!

We love our Liesel-Lu and are so grateful she's a part of our family!

ASL Concert

I feel like there's nothing that helps one understand the English language better than studying another language... and that's especially true with American sign language. I'm so grateful our elementary school has an ASL club and I was excited for Ireland to join Liesel, who now has a couple of years under her belt.

Unfortunately, Ireland had a tiny cough that quickly escalated into a full-blown asthma attack (changes of season are always hard on her) and even though I had her on medication, she was still not feeling quite up to par the night of the concert. See those ruddy cheeks? That's a side effect of her corticosteroid. They both did a fantastic job though and this year a local news network gave the school some coverage (see here) so the girls have now been on TV!

As you can see from the link, the kids learned to sign to Go Cubs, Go! so we were asked to dress them in Cubs gear. Even though we will forever be Red Sox fans, we kind of need to give a nod to the Cubbies or we will get chased out of town with torches and pitchforks.

I begged the girls to teach me how to sign to Roar so here's just a snippet (I love, love, love their little dancing there at the end).

If you want to see the whole song, here's my video of Ireland.

ASL concerts are always short, but so very sweet!

Ireland's Dollhouse

Ireland began asking for a dollhouse around Christmas 2014. I can't remember what she received that year, but I remember the ship had sailed on a big-ticket item. Her pleas for a dollhouse continued all through 2015 and with the holidays approaching again, I began a cursory search. Turns out they can be rather expensive. I mentioned Ireland's ardent desire to my parents and my sisters, who also joined the hunt. 

At our local Hobby Lobby, I noticed one of the dollhouses on display was damaged and so I asked a worker if there was any way I could purchase it at a discount. It doesn't hurt to ask, right? She radioed the manager and it turns out they had a fully-assembled but unpainted one, that was NOT broken, that they were willing to sell me at a discount. When I got to the checkout, I asked if I could use that week's 40% off coupon. It doesn't hurt to ask, right? The clerk radioed the manager and she gave the ok. I burst into tears right then and there.

While I wiped away my tears, I blubbered to the clerk that my little girl had been asking for a dollhouse for years and they were so expensive but I really wanted to get her one before she was too big to care about something as sweet and innocent as a dollhouse anymore and well, she radioed the manager once again and said, "You just made this customer very happy!"

In case you don't remember Ireland's reaction to getting her dollhouse, let's review:

It was her DREAM!!!

Somehow I thought painting that sucker and putting it together would be easy peasy. Somehow I forgot, as I always do, that I have a knack for making projects much more complicated than they should be. Days grew into weeks and weeks into months and when Christmas rolled around again, I felt awful that the dollhouse still wasn't finished. I put it on the table, right in front of the TV so I'd have to look at it every day and decided come hell or high water, I would have it done by her birthday.

As we don't have the big bucks required to tackle some of our own home renovations, I found working on the dollhouse rather therapeutic. Ireland narrowed down her choice of color to a pretty green, which I love. I honestly try not to inundate her with shamrocks and green and everything Irish, for fear she will end up hating her name. Even so, she really embraces it so a green dollhouse it was. I was SO excited to add the tulips to the window boxes! They're so cheerful.

I love the rocker and welcome mat!

Living room. I sent a picture of the music on the grand piano to a dear friend who teaches piano and she blew it up and played it for Ireland. It's a sweet little tune.

I tried to put touches all throughout the house to quietly indicate this is IRELAND'S dollhouse and I was thrilled to find these little maps... one of which has the British Isles (including Ireland) on it. Hammering in those teeny, tiny nails was surprisingly difficult.

Kitchen. The table, chairs, broom and spilled pail of milk were donated by my mother. As a kid I remember playing with the pail, it just looked so cool to me and I'm so happy now it's living in Ireland's dollhouse. I just about flipped out when I found the little cuckoo clock, it just seemed so perfect for a farm kitchen!

Again, I wanted to put in little touches here and there that were unique to Ireland, so a shamrock layered cake seemed perfect.

Master bedroom. I'm a sucker for the tiny parcels of mail.

There's a little pot of shamrocks at the top of the stairs. So sweet!

Bathroom. This is one of the colors Ireland considered for the exterior of the dollhouse. Even though it wasn't the big color, I wanted to incorporate it somewhere and this seemed the best place. Eventually I'd like to figure out how to hang up some towels racks and towels in the bathroom, but until then this works well. The tiny scale just kills me!

The baby gets the top floor with the dormer window. The bassinet is for when she is particularly fussy and needs to be rocked to sleep. I'd like to create a mobile to go above that crib... eventually.

There's a sewing room for Mom!

And sister's room is complete with her own little dollhouse. That's actually my favorite part of the dollhouse!The bed could use an update... eventually. I could seriously spend weeks and weeks on the details of this house.

I've read that little girls love dollhouses because it gives them the power and imagination to play out daily life on a tiny, non-intimidating stage. Every now and again, I check in on the dollhouse inhabitants, which has been interesting to say the least. One morning when Brent had been rather crabby, I found the dollhouse father in the baby's crib. I found the dollhouse toilet in the master bedroom on a day the girls were fighting over bathroom time. I can't help but smile when Ireland grouses about how things have been moved while she was at school and I know Brigitta or Sydney has disrupted the delicate balance of harmony she'd created.

Did I mention we put it on a turntable? That really ended up being a smart move because I can just spin it around when it's not being played with and it's just a sweet little accessory to the room... the color even coordinated with the room!

More than anything, I'm so glad Ireland loves the dollhouse! It was way more work than I anticipated, but so worth it.

Ireland is SEVEN!!!

My sweet Ireland-girl has taken yet another trip around the sun. Her legs have lengthened, her mind has quickened, and she's even lost a tooth or two. No matter how much she grows, at her very core is the kind, sensitive, cuddly girl she's been since birth.

However life ends up thrashing her around, I hope she never loses the light in her eyes!

Traditional breakfast in bed, along with all of her birthday cards and the latest Highlights magazine.

No editing from Mom on this outfit, and he hair was done per her request.

Ireland is still (impressively) off of chocolate so we had a strawberry Coldstone ice cream cake for dessert.

She didn't seem to mind...

Ireland's big present was a mirror I had custom-made just for her. There are two shamrocks in the upper right corner because she is the second child. Brent and I had barely hung it up when she was right in front of it preening. I may take a photo of her in it every year... it might be fun to see how the reflection changes as time marches forward!

I cannot gush enough about this year's birthday photos. Ireland just adored the couple who taught her Primary class last year. To this day she will ask to go sit with them during Sacrament meeting and then cuddle up with them. They were so kind to her, and love her so very much. I have all kinds of photos of Ireland, this year I just wanted a handful of pictures taken by skilled photographers who love her and let their view of her (through their lens) speak for itself. 

Oh man, we got way more than we bargained for! I don't know if I can ever face them again because the photos we received would have come from a shoot 4X more expensive than what we paid. They gave us so many options and the editing is just beautiful. Here is a glut of my very favorites:

Fresh faced!

For a tender-hearted girl, Ireland is our household spider-killer. She has no qualms about stomping a six-legged intruder to death. In this photo I'm told she was watching a spider on the rocks below. No surprise she's as calm as the waters in the pond behind her- bugs don't often unnerve her! I love the curtain of long hair and how her lips are silhouetted against the sun shining on her hair.

I'd like to think this is how Ireland sat in Primary for the Miccolises- very reverently and calmly.

The only thing I requested for Ireland's photos was a really good shot of her eyes. BAM! Done.

Even in black and white they just hit me.

Ireland's sentimental side come across so much better in photos where she's not directly looking into the camera.

This was the last time she wore this dress as it was getting too small for her. Sniff, sniff!

Ireland has never been one to want to grow up too fast *knock on wood* and we are really enjoying this age with her. She's such a joy to be around, although she doesn't often demand a lot of attention. She can still burst into tears, especially if she feels misjudged or when she's been struggling with her asthma and life gets a little overwhelming. Ireland has so many friends! We joke all the time that Brent may have to get a second job to cover the gifts required for all the birthday parties she attends. Her teachers give nothing but glowing reports and she's at the tip top of her class. She's fully embraced her name and loves reading about the country of Ireland, knows the flag oh so well and really brightens up around St. Patrick's Day. She's not perfect of course- she has flatulence like her father and usually lets one fly when I'm right in the middle of a braid and can't exactly go anywhere for fresh air. She can tangle with her sisters and has a pterodactyl shriek that makes me want to throw myself off a balcony. But she can also be gentle and kind to those who need a friendly smile and remembers so many people in her prayers.

We love our little Ireland and are excited to see what this next year brings!

January Recap

We finally made a trip to Iowa City to visit the grandparents! While we were there, we returned the huge garbage bags of cans we've been collecting for months and months and made deposits into the girls' savings accounts. They did their penny grabs and I got to feel like a really, really good mom which is pretty rare. Maybe they don't have much, but they have something that they've earned all by themselves and through returning cans.

We went to the Children's Museum which seemed all new to the girls since it's been so long.

Brigitta created this "city" all by herself and I have to say I'm a fan! It looks like a fun place to live. Very Seussical.

Liesel and Ireland built a big wall. Spoiler alert, it fell down after this pic.

We made a quick stop at Amanda's to wish her luck before her mission to Logan, Utah. We sure love this girl and all she did for our family while we lived in Iowa City!

Mom and Dad picked up some ribs from Jimmy Jack's. Brent and I were able to go to a session at the Nauvoo temple and on the way home tried Zombee Burger which is new to Iowa City. Ooooh that was good! We WILL be going back!!!

It was Girl Scout cookie season! Brent is getting more and more involved with the girls' scouting and I love it. He may be a cookie dad next year and with his accounting expertise, I think it's a good fit.  

Liesel got braces! I know normally braces are something for teenagers, but her mouth is so tiny, it's either get braces now and create space for her adult teeth to descend, or wait, let them get more crowded than they already are, and then have to pull teeth to make the room.

We decided to get the braces now. There was a bit of an adjustment period there.

I came down with the Black Death which just would not go away. Some sort of virus, but not pneumonia according to the x-rays, that aggravated my asthma, and they could only give me so many corticosteroids, and the codeine based cough syrup didn't touch it... it was so, so, SO miserable and hung on for dear life.

I'm still not entirely sure how I made it through all that. I vaguely remember trudging through routines and getting everyone where they needed to be, parking kids in front of a movie and crashing, but that's it. Brent was home for a week between Christmas and New Year's and I spent pretty much that entire time in bed. All told, I was sick for 3 months start to finish.

Not gonna lie, I was happy to see January end.

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Brigitta?

I was out doing a Personal Progress visit with our newest Beehive and her family when I glanced at my phone and saw I had 5 missed calls from Brent. Brent never calls me that much, EVER, so I excused myself to call him back. Brigitta was supposed to be napping, but she'd climbed the shelves inside Sydney's closet to get her a hat. Why was she getting Sydney a hat in the middle of nap time? I have absolutely no idea and Brigitta couldn't give us a decent explanation either. But I digress. In the process, she slipped and fell and cut a gash into her head. Doesn't look too bad though, right?

Sure it didn't look bad, but anything above the shoulders bleeds like crazy and this was why Brent called me 5 times:

By the time I arrived at home, Brent felt he was able to control the bleeding so I took over while he headed out to do his Home Teaching. After being gone for about 30 min, Brigitta complained her hair was wet and indeed, it was dripping with blood. The gash opened up again and long story short, another pair of blood-soaked pajamas went into the trash. I called Brent and we agreed to meet at the nearest Immediate Care which was closing in just 20 minutes.

The girls and I had a thrilling ride in Brent's car which the girls noted does not have a dvd player. My concerns about entitlement were pushed out of my mind once we arrived at the Immediate Care. The nurse asked how this happened and I tried to explain what we'd pieced together. Finally I told her, "With this one, I'm not surprised that I'm here. She licks the bottom of her shoes, she put beads in her ear, she just does this kind of thing. We'll probably cross paths again after tonight!"

I'd hastily dressed Brigitta in Brent's cursed Group Hug t-shirt and told the nurse if she felt the need to cut if off to save her life, I was totally ok with it. At the very least, I thought Brigitta would bleed enough on it that we'd finally be able to toss it but no, they got the bleeding under control and prepared her for staples. Here she's being swaddled to prevent her from flailing.

As a mother I've learned either you can give in to your emotions and then be forced out of the room, or you can push down those feelings, channel your British stiff upper lip and deal with it and then be available to be a comfort to your child. My ancestors would be proud to know I'm getting to be a pro at the stiff upper lip. I helped them hold down Brigitta while the doctor put 3 staples into the wound to hold it shut. Her tears eventually dried up and we stopped by Culver's for a shake and fries.

We had to keep the wound moist so Brigitta had a huge oil slick on the back of her head and of course no fancy hairdos. I'm so, so, SO grateful for my Laurel advisor who is also a nurse. She was able to take out the staples after church the following week and save us another trip to the Immediate Care.

Oh this girl!!! This pequena traviesa! What am I going to do with her??? AYE DE MI!