Tidbits

One Fast Sunday, a woman in our congregation began speaking about a funeral she'd recently attended. Understandably, she became emotional and Sydney turned to me.
"She's sad."
"Yes she is, sweetheart" I agreed.
"She needs a nap."

It's so entertaining to see the battle of wills between these two. I'm never quite sure who is in charge.

During the prayer for dinner with the Elders, Brent guided a very cranky Sydney on saying the prayer. It went like this:
Brent: Dear Heavenly Father...
Sydney: I DON'T WANT TO!!!
Brent: ...we thank thee for this day...
Sydney: I'M NOT THANKFUL!!!
Brent: ...we thank thee for this food...
Sydney: I DON'T WANT THE FOOD!!!
Brent: ...please bless it...
Sydney: I CAN'T DO THAT!!!
and on and on it went. Aside from Sydney, we were all laughing so hard, which, of course, just made her more angry. It was so funny!

Heart melt. To think people pity him for having only daughters...

During the sacrament, Sydney climbed under Brent's legs and found the containers of pretzels. Having retrieved said containers, she gleefully yelled, "BRIIIIIIGIIIIIITAAAAAA!!!" (who was sitting right in front of her) loud enough for those in the very back to hear. When Brigitta responded, and in a more appropriate noise level given the few inches of distance between them, Sydney gleefully shared the spoils.

Liesel's hair for Valentine's Day. It turned out really cute because it was right on the crown of her head.

At dinner one evening, Brigitta announced, "Someone needs to give me a kiss" and steadily stared at the missionaries sitting across the table. The Elders turned a bright shade of red while I walked over to her and gave her a peck on the cheek. It was one of the most disappointed "Thank you's I've ever heard from her.

Whitney made Gita this superhero cape which she adores. I had to snap a picture of her sleeping in it. Hopefully she is dreaming she can fly!

The girls love color tablets when they are taking a bath and one night with a combination of red, another red, and yellow making a beautiful marble color that morphed into a lovely peach, Brigitta dubbed it "colorly!" I love that... it's a much better word than colorful.

I knew this was the last time Sydney would be able to squeeze into this dress. I'm glad we could make it work on this Sunday before St. Patrick's Day!

Sydney was vociferously calling for me to retrieve her from her crib one morning. "MOM!!!! MAMA!!!!! MAAAAAMAAAA!!!!!!!!" As the door swung open, her tone changed into the sweetest lilt as she sang out, "There she is!"

Did you know ovens have a "Sabbath" mode? They automatically turn off after 12 hours but Sabbath mode keeps it on for 72 hours. Orthodox Jews can warm food without pressing any buttons and technically "cooking" which is contrary to their Sabbath practice. That information cost us $75 in a service fee after Brent accidentally put the oven into this mode while cleaning it.

Heard from Brent in the other room with Sydney and Brigitta, "No, it's MY princess!" I didn't even bother asking... it's just par for the course in this house.

Cookie season means booth duty. I got the girls the traditional beanies to go with their Girl Scout vests and they were definitely worth the money! Isn't she the most adorable little Daisy?

 While running errands, I pulled Sydney into the front seat of the Pilot with me. She grasped the steering wheel and announced, "I want to drive!" "I'm sorry honey, they don't let babies drive." She looked up at me and confusedly asked, "Why????" So cute.

ASL Club Concert

While our elementary school doesn't have a language immersion program, they do have American Sign Language Club. Liesel had such a positive experience last year, I made sure to sign her up as soon as I could for this year. The concert is always really short- just about 10 minutes- but oh so worth it! The kids go through the alphabet, the pledge of allegiance, a little story (this year it was about a leprechaun) and then a song which this year, was Fight Song.

This isn't my first time at the rodeo... we saw Liesel doing this last year. But something caught me as I watched Liesel signing with such unabashed passion. There was no self-consciousness in the way she expressed herself, and the only person she seemed to care about was me, her mother. She'd look my way now and again to see if I was watching, and then smile when we made eye contact.

I found myself hoping against hope that life won't crush that out of her... that she will always fight with the fervor she was signing... that she will always confront her challenges with the face of a warrior. Her intense expressions belied her tiny body, her fragile frame, her freakishly skinny limbs as she performed. She clearly had no idea the magnitude of forces that would beat her down. This is no mere child in her pretty dress and white tights, this is a fighter in the making. 

Tears sprung to my eyes and I was that mom... THAT MOM who was crazy proud of her kid, even though it may not seem like she did anything all that significant. It is just a 10 minute concert, after all. Brent smiled at me as I wiped the tears off my cheeks. He didn't need to say anything, he just knew.

Ireland is SIX!!!

No matter how old Ireland turns, there's a quality about her that screams "little girl." Perhaps it's how she's never outgrown pigtails. Or perhaps it's the slightest hint of the lisp she had when she was younger. Or perhaps it's the way she takes it upon herself to cuddle with any similarly soft-hearted person willing to open their arms to her. 

In any case, I wanted this year's photos to reflect that despite outward appearances, she is indeed growing up. We've done fluffy dress photos. We've done long, flowing hair photos. We've done photos out in nature. This time I wanted a more urban feel. Long ago, I found this deeply discounted reversible puffer jacket at Ralph Lauren and fell in love. Liesel was less enthusiastic so she never wore it, but Ireland liked it and the day of her photo shoot was rather frigid so it was perfect. One hipster braid and my favorite pink lipstick- Nars Funny Face made her girly without being babyish. Yet again, Reagan did a fantastic job. Get ready for a slew of photos!

This one is my favorite with her eyes looking to the corner and her hair flying behind her. The angle where the street meets the brick wall is just perfect.

I love this one too. Even though her smile with those two front teeth missing is undeniably adorable, I like pictures where she's not smiling too. She's a pensive girl, for sure, and this photo reflects that quality.

She is truly such a love!

Oh those eyes!!!

There's that sweet smile :)

Each of the girls have one or two pairs of All-Star Converse, but Ireland pulls them out to wear on a day-to-day basis more than anyone.

Her whole face is going to rapidly change when those adult teeth grow in. For now, she's still my little girl.

This was technically when the photo shoot was over and we were warming up inside the local Starbucks. I'd bought Ireland a cake pop as a treat for being such a trooper taking pictures in the cold. This photo wasn't planned, but it's another one of my favorites. She's still so young and so innocent.

The other day after school Ireland tearfully told me that some kids in her class were calling her a "cry baby." Big, crocodile tears rolled down her cheeks as she expressed how much that hurt her and I had to keep myself from pointing out that she does, indeed, cry quite a bit. Ireland has such a tender heart and I'm grateful Brent and I are not the only guardians of it. We are blessed with so many friends, family and neighbors who take a special interest in Ireland. It seems like these kids are young for a while and then they suddenly get leggy, lose some more baby chub, and use words I don't recall teaching them. For the moment, time is standing still for Ireland and I want to soak it up while I still can. My sweet Ireland!