YES!!!

Ladies and gentlemen,
I succesfully got my pre-pregnancy jeans ON!!! Not zipped up mind you, that will have to wait for another day. And forget the fact my thighs looked like denim sausages. And forget they were my "roomiest" pair to begin with...

Nonetheless, I got them on!

Oh happy day.

On My Honor...

Recently I was helping Brent go through one of his boxes of stuff. He's slowly been whittling down his things and I'm happy to report he's almost completely finished! We came across a bunch of Scout memorabilia and I immediately knew I wanted to make a display case for it all. Both of my brothers were Eagle Scouts and had their things memorialized in one thanks to my mother. Because my mom was in town to help me out with Ireland, I took advantage of her expertize. A couple of calls to my mother-in-law garnered a few more pieces which made the whole thing perfect. Here is the final result:

I'm under no delusions that I will have the time or the energy to complete any more projects in the near future but I'm SO glad this one is complete!

Da Girlz

I don't claim to be any great talent when it comes to shooting abstract photos but I'm really happy with how this one turned out:

This is a typical Sunday morning on Mom and Dad's bed. Doesn't Liesel look just ginormous compared to Ireland? Liesel still can't get enough of her... SWEET!

Ireland Gayle Wuehler

By popular demand, pictures of Ireland and company here

Sibling Rivalry or Sisterly Love?

In case you were wondering how Liesel reacted to meeting her new sister:

Introducing the Fourth Wuehler

Saturday I had a bit of a melt down. I felt a frantic rush to get the house clean and all baby equipment set up. Brent tried to put me down for a nap and I resisted, telling him it was more important I get everything in order than get my sleep. Long story short, Brent won and I woke up a bit more contrite and apologized. I told him I wasn't sure what had come over me but I'd heard pregnant women will "nest" like crazy when the baby's about to be born. That should have been clue #1.

Sunday I went to church mostly to make sure Mindy (who is due a couple of weeks after me but is known to go early) was still there. Phew! She was :) As usual, I just went to sacrament and then Brent took me home so I could take a nap. Brent sternly told me I had to nap, not just catch up on episodes of The Locator. I was still exhausted from the day before so I told him not to worry. Just before he walked out the door I flippantly said, "I'll try not to go into labor while you're gone." Memo to me, memo to me, watch what you say because you never know when the irony gods are listening and laughing. Brent pulled his cell phone out of his suit jacket pocket and told me just in case he'd have it on. It didn't occur to either of us that would mean little when he returned to church and was surrounded by lots of noisy toddlers.

15-20 min after Brent left I was eating lunch and watching the Duke game. Suddenly I felt wet and so I ran (Read: waddled) to the bathroom. Feeling like a geriatric with no bladder control, I emptied myself and pondered how I could have done that. Then I stood up and another gush of fluid came out of me. Not so geriatric at that point. I called Brent... no answer. I called my mom... no answer. I called my sister Katrina and told her what happened. She confirmed that my water probably broke and I needed to get to the hospital. I told her I couldn't get a hold of Brent (who also had the car) and she reminded me every ward has a clerk's office. If church was still going on there was probably someone in there who could hunt him down for me. Just for good measure I tried calling him again... no answer. I called the hospital and gave them the rundown. They gave me the green light to come in.

I called the clerks office and Dave answered. I told him I needed him to run down to the nursery to severely chastise my husband for not answering his phone. "Ooooohkay...." he responded. Then I told him my water broke. "Oh! Okay!" I'd completely forgotten that to get to the nursery, Dave would have to go past the open room where RS was being held. He swiftly grabbed the RS President and together they headed to the nursery. Sources tell me they then saw Brent run out, Dave run out, the RS President run out and basically no one got anything out of the lesson after that. I received a call from Brent telling me he had given the car seat and charge of Liesel to the RS President who would follow him home to grab her pre-packed diaper bag. He also told me he'd be home in 2-3 minutes. Perhaps it's good to mention here he was still at the church which is 10-13 minutes away.

We took the Mass Pike into downtown and got stuck in horrible traffic. Turns out it was the St. Patrick's Day parade in South Boston and there was some kind of emergency that was tying things up even worse. We didn't move an inch for 15 minutes and finally Brent started taking side roads. We drove by what looked like a huge fire coming out of a manhole and finally, finally made it to the hospital. Things from there went fairly quickly. Our nurse told us if the baby was born after 8 PM we'd get an extra night in the hospital. At 7:30 I was fully dilated and ready to go but we waited. This isn't our first time at the rodeo and we knew what an extra night at the hospital (with nursery) means.

Ireland was born at 8:35 PM weighing 7 lbs 8.3 oz and 20 inches. Start to finish it was just about 6 1/2 hours to bring her into this world... or an eternity depending on your view :) The estrogen to testosterone rating in our house has gone from 2:1 to 3:1 and Brent couldn't be happier. Me? I've fallen in love again and am so excited for this newest addition to our little family.

Help?

Any Cougars out there happen to know what was in BYU Sparkle? They don't make it anymore and if memory serves it was some concoction of cranberry juice, orange juice and Sprite??? I can't remember for sure though so I'm hoping someone else does.

Mucho obligado in advance for your help!

Mona Liesel's Smile

Between breaking some big molars, entering the world of potty training and anticipating a new baby sister, life has been a little hectic for Liesel. She's had her up days and her down days but by and large she's handling all the changes quite well. When she was nothing more than a beautiful baby peering out of a blanket people told us over and over, "it just gets better." We couldn't agree more. Even though the occasional melt downs are no fun for anyone involved, she's such a joy in our lives.

Usually Brent lets me sleep in on the weekends but this morning Liesel would have none of it. She came to the door of the bedroom and said, "Mom? Hungry?" Then she cocked her head to the side, held out her hand and said, "COME ON!" It was just adorable and I'm still laughing about it.

When I was pregnant with Liesel I told Brent I didn't know what kind of mother I would be, but I was confident my daughter would be well-heeled. My latest slew of Gymboree clothes went on sale so we went back to the store to get the price adjustment. The only catch is that I wanted to keep the total amount spent the same so I wouldn't lose my Gymbucks which are redeemable in April. The ladies at the store were SO nice! They brought out all the stuff from the back for a newborn and a 2T. Some of it belonged in the back but there were a lot of things that were adorable and ridiculously cheap. This dress was all of $5. Initially I got it just because it seemed wrong not to. Once we were home I realized the colors and scalloped edges coordinated perfectly with a pair of her Crocs. She was looking cute but when I gave her low ponytails with huge bows it officially became one of my favorite outfits. Hands down dressing my daughter is one of the best perks of motherhood.

We've learned that a toddler's mood has it's polar opposites. On the flip side of the melt downs are her unbelievably giddy moments like this one. How can you not smile with a little girl like this?

Quote of the Day

"It's one thing to say something stupid; It's another to say something stupid to an idiot"