Brigitta's June POTD

June 13: In her new swimsuit...

 ... the best part is the bum!

June 19: Sleepy angel face

June 20: Simply smiling

June 22: After face-planting in bubbles

June 29: Fun, fun, fun 'till her daddy takes the T-bird away

After a couple of weeks observing her sisters in swim lessons, Brigitta made it clear she was anxious to get her turn in the water. Initially I dreaded putting on a maternity swimsuit and getting one more child ready for a summer activity. Boy was I wrong. Now I look forward to a cool dip in the water and spending some one-on-one time with my little one. Brigitta's kicking, splashing and bubble-blowing in that 40 minutes is enough to tire her out for a 2, 3, sometimes 4 hour nap afterwards! She's busted 1 fang and has 3 upper teeth that stubbornly refuse to come down so she is still teething, teething, teething. At times it turns her from the sweetly smiling girl I know into a screaming monster of a child. Oh how I can't wait until those teeth bust through and I can have my darling girl back! Today in church Brent had her on his lap and during one of the hymns Brigitta caught sight of the chorister leading the music. She immediately started waving her arms around and it was the most adorable thing. She's only waking up once a night now (sometimes not even that) and depending on how quickly I can get her a bottle, she's mostly down from about 7:30 to 7:30 which is nice. She's still determined to catch up with her sisters and is getting more and more vocal about her demands. Brigitta's hair is starting to look like and 80's David Bowie with fuzz on top and then straight on the back and sides. No hint of curl and some days she looks platinum blonde while others she's a decided brunette. Only time will tell with that one...

Wuehlers Don't Whine

This is a phrase we've kind of adopted as our unofficial credo. When there is a job to be done, we do it with gusto and with tenacity and most of all, without complaining. I know sitting through church can be difficult for the tinies, especially sacrament meeting. On this particular Sunday, Ireland was having a really hard time so Brent scooped her up to take her out to the car until she calmed down. Of course it was right during the passing of the sacrament and of course, Ireland protested... LOUDLY! "No, no, no, no, no!!! I don't WANNA go in the car!" For whatever reason, the doors to the chapel which are supposed to be shut during the passing of the sacrament were wide open so this protest could be heard as a Doppler effect until Brent got her outside.

The entire bishopric gave me a frownsmile that made me want to melt into my spot there on the church bench, never to be seen again. For a perfectionist like me, motherhood is the ultimate challenge because you can never perfectly raise a child. Even though I had her neatly dressed (in patriotic colors! For the upcoming Fourth of July!) and we'd rehearsed what was and wasn't appropriate behavior in the car on the way to church, Ireland used that strong-willed head and heart of hers.

Just minutes later, Ireland came striding up the aisle with her arms folded, a very stern-looking Brent steps behind her. She'd clearly gotten a talking to and now the whole congregation could see we are not the perfect parents... sooo very far from it, in fact. Ireland was of course oblivious to all this... just happy to be sitting on the bench again with her family. Oh girl, what are we gonna do with you?

Dickson Invasion

We has a short but sweet visit from Reagan and family. After I hugged everyone goodbye and went back to our car, I couldn't help but cry. Reagan was leaving and tomorrow Brent's leaving too. It feels like everyone is always leaving me! Liesel picked up on my tears and said, "It's ok Mom, I miss them too." Luckily we'll be seeing them again in August for Piper's baptism so we have that to look forward to.

Bun heads: they all wanted to look like Tinkerbell!

Aren't they cute?

I loooove seeing these two together! Somehow I still think they're twins in a way.

Reagan has a way of making everyone smile. 

 Really, she makes everyone smile!

Brent and I started out our day in the garage and then I'd been running errands non-stop. No shower, no makeup, and I'm wearing Brent's t-shirt I picked up off the floor. Still, we have so few photos of us together I figured I'd post this one. I have no doubt sometime in the (near) future I'll be horrified I went out in public looking like this!!!

Try as they might, Allen and Reagan still look WAY better than we did!

It's a GIRL!!!

There is no other feeling like the anticipation of finding out the gender of the baby you're carrying. To be sure, another human being in the family changes the dynamics, period. But the gender can swing the pendulum one way or another in terms of the KIND of changes that will take place. Will Brent start making scouting trips? Or should we seriously look at a wedding investment account? Should we book that princess-themed room for our next trip to Disneyland? Or would the Cars-themed room be more fitting for our crowd? It's so fun to guess and dream but in my humble opinion, it's nice to just finally KNOW and move into the planning phase of having a baby.

Since Reagan was in town, she brought along Rockwell while Brent towed Brigitta and poor Allen kept the rest of the girls in line at home. The babies were unusually silent and happy (remember they're both teething and Rockwell had an ear infection to boot) as the ultrasound started. Brigitta even started clapping she was so excited! We got to see the baby kick and swallow which was SO cool to watch! We saw feet, hands, limbs, spine, brain, heart, lots of other stuff I quit caring about as it became apparent the tech was waiting to check the gender last. The little one was intensely private with tightly closed legs and the tech kept jiggling my belly to get a little movement. I offered to use the restroom but she told me that was okay, she just jiggled me some more and checked the image again, jiggle, check, jiggle, check. After staring at the Rorschach-like images for what seemed like an eternity, she FINALLY announced it was a girl. Brent and I took a step away from the dream world and a step towards reality. We are having our Sydney Pippa!

I wanted Liesel and Ireland to be the next to know so I picked up a going home outfit for the baby and a little gift for each of them. Apparently Brigitta was exhausted from all the excitement because she went down for a nap while her sisters ripped open the pink and blue present. Liesel was the first to spot the pink inside and they both celebrated with gleeful yells. I gave them each a hair bow that says, "Big Sister" with one smaller hair bow that says, "Little Sister." Yes, we already have 100+ bows but we're gonna need them with FOUR girls!!!

The outfit and the hair bows.

We're going to have our own set of "Little Women"! While I have no doubt they will all have their distinctive personalities (because santa vaca they already DO), Brent and I have an inkling there will be common threads that will make them well known as "the Wuehler girls".

In my totally, unbiased opinion, she has the most beautiful, perfect profile I've ever seen. I can't wait to meet this little one!

Safety Village

I heard about Safety Village through the network of Relief Society moms at church. Liesel was just old enough and it seemed like a great idea, not to mention the price for the two weeks was reasonable. Sure it was crazy running from swim lessons to yet another summer activity, but Brent and I felt it was valuable. Boy was it ever! Liesel started teaching Ireland little songs about safety and she usurped Brent as the most obnoxious backseat driver in the family.

"Mom, there's a red light up ahead so you'd better stop. Oh, it turned green so now you can go but not until the car in front does or we'll crash. Mom? Did you hear me? WE'LL CRASH!!!"

On our recent stay at a Hampton Inn, Brent and the girls went to the hot tub.  Out of the blue, Liesel stated, "Dad, if you drown, we'll need to go get somebody".  Brent reassured her that one of his purposes of being there was to make sure nobody drowned.

My favorite was the day they learned gun safety. Liesel told me they talked about how you have to wear glasses and ear coverings if you ever fire a gun and to tell an adult if you see one out in the open. She also mentioned you should never point a gun at a person. After a moment of silence Liesel added, "Unless he's a bad guy. Then you have to shoot him until he's dead." I gasped, "Did they teach you THAT?!?" to which she happily replied, "No! I figured that out on my own." I reiterated what she'd been taught in class which is that we NEVER point a gun at another person.

Today Liesel graduated and she showed me what she's been doing the last two weeks. Here are some highlights:

Safety Village is not just a clever moniker... it's an actual little village with these adorable tiny buildings. They learn pedestrian safety and rules of the road in the village which is scaled to kid-sized. 

Liesel in one of the "cars" used when driving the roads of Safety Village. Could she be swimming any more in that t-shirt? I washed it 3 times in hot water to shrink it to no avail. She looks like a Biggest Loser contestant in the final weeks.

The best part about the program is it's staffed by policemen and firefighters so Liesel got to interact with them every day. I'm confident that if she ever got lost, she wouldn't hesitate to stride right up to someone in uniform and ask for help. There was a different rescue vehicle almost every day I dropped her off: police cars, a fire engine, an ambulance... one day an emergency helicopter was sitting there on the lawn! She and her classmates got to explore all of these which honestly made me a little envious.

I love how passionate the kids are about saying "NO WAY!" to strangers!

After her graduation, I took Liesel out for lunch at a crepe place downtown I've been wanting to try out. We're all really glad she had the opportunity to go through an amazing program like Safety Village.

Happy Father's Day

To the man who keeps his little girls well-heeled and eager to follow in his footsteps.

Tidbits

Classy ladies 

At the same time as the girl's swim lessons, there is an aquacise class for senior citizens. The ladies absolutely GUSH about Liesel and Ireland's swim caps. They're a brilliant idea really- nothing works better to keep their long hair out of their way while swimming. I've noticed over the last couple of weeks the aquacise ladies have been bringing out their swim caps as well. I love that the girls have re-upped a trend from a bygone era!

If Ireland can wear these shoes, she does. They're hand-me-downs from Liesel and they're looking kind of sad but that doesn't bother her one bit. I asked her what she likes about them and she said that they're pink and they're happy monsters.

Brent and I were chatting in the dining room when Brigitta let out one of her conquering baby yells. She's pulling herself up to a stand with just about every piece of furniture imaginable and if it's something a bit difficult, she lets everyone know once she's succeeded. Brent shouted back, "Oh are you a queen in there?" Ireland was on the computer in the den and thinking he was addressing her she retorted, "NO! I'm Ireland... in here." 

After checking out some new library books, Liesel and I just had to get a cupcake. They have these swings that hang from the ceiling and a mirror lines the back wall so you can watch yourself while you eat. Liesel picked a cupcake called "Cookie Monster" which had cookie dough inside! 

Getting Liesel to eat a full meal is like negotiating with Pyongyang. I never really worried about it until this latest checkup at her pediatricians. We learned she is in the 25th percentile for both height and weight. Coming from two taller-than-average parents, that's a tad concerning. Then I started noticing how she measured up around her classmates and well, Liesel's TINY! So now we're trying out various methods to fatten her up a bit. The latest one is passive aggressive guilt which resulted in the following conversation when Liesel wouldn't eat a bowl of chili:

Brent: What happened to my little girl who used to eat even the spicy gumbo at Disneyland?
Me: I dunno. I guess she just grew up and got picky.
Liesel: *bursting into big, dramatic, crocodile tears* But that's because IT was yummy!

Perhaps it's worth mentioning she was barely over a year old when she ate that gumbo... long before she would have remembered what it tasted like.

The Road to Bicycle Ownership

Brent and I agreed it was time for Liesel to learn how to ride a bike. A quick online search left me in a bit of sticker shock. Since I have a unique talent for making everything in life much harder (but more purposeful!), I talked it over with Brent and we agreed we'd make her EARN it. We're not the kind of parents who just shower our kids with toys and gifts! No sir, we believe in teaching our 5 year old the value of work! No freeloaders in this house! We would of course pay for a helmet because parents should always make sure safety is in place, but she needed to do some heavy lifting for the actual bike.

I consulted some other moms and came up with a list of items Liesel could do to work towards her bike as well as a chart so she could see her progress. I have to hand it to that girl, she patiently and methodically worked for two months which is astonishing for any kid! When we took her to the local bike shop to get fitted for a helmet, Liesel proudly told the saleslady how close she was to getting her bike. The saleslady asked her what she was doing to earn it and Liesel ticked off a number of things. Impressed, she told me, "Man, I can't get my 9 year old to do that stuff!" Working at minimum wage, some things Liesel did are:

Yard work like clearing the last of the winter leaves.

Ireland (somewhat) joined her for this. Brent loved how they looked in my Mud Run t-shirts... like they were on a legitimate crew. 

Putting away dishes.

Brushing her teeth every day before school.

She also worked on writing out her alphabet, went without movies, took naps, cleaned her room without being asked, threw away at least 80 poopy diapers, set the table for breakfast BEFORE Mom got up and once well, Brigitta was fussy so I gave Liesel credit just for keeping her entertained for 20 min so I could regain my sanity. Every time Liesel accomplished something from the list, she colored in a footstep.

Believe it or not, the hardest part was finding a bike that didn't make me want to stick my finger through my eye, into my brain, and swirl it all around. I could do pink (Liesel's favorite color) but why oh why must everything be tattooed in Disney princesses, Hello Kitty or Bratz? And what's with the white tires on most little girl's bikes? Is there some secret road paved with gold all girls ride on I don't know about? I searched for HOURS until I found the perfect pink bike from Radio Flyer. Classic design, no gimmicks, black tires and it even came with a bell which I thought was charming. That is, until the girls became absolutely obsessed with it. Now I hear that bell in my dreams. 

Pleased as punch, as she should be.

On to the important work of mastering balance.  

We're so proud of Liesel! That bike probably means more to her than it would to most kids.

Noodles & Co. Discussions

I'm totally holding them to this.... aside from favorite pairs of shoes that is. Judging by the looks on their faces, those are totally off limits.

It is truly mystical how a child's stomach can expand and contract based on the food put before them!

Brigitta's First Word

"Hi."

She clearly and concisely said this to a lady who crouched down to her level and offered her greetings. We were in the waiting room of the pediatric dental office after we'd been at the pediatrician's office where Liesel and Brigitta got their fair share of pricks and all three girls were measured, interviewed and prodded. Days like this wear me out but I would much rather have a miserable day of pediatric and dental appointments for all the girls at once than spread them out.

Brigitta was happily crawling around and playing with toys when a very kind woman checked in for one of her two sons. The youngest spied Brigitta's half-finished bottle and made a bee line for it. She quickly redirected him and handed an identical bottle which he took for a moment, threw to the side and again made a bee line for Brigitta's bottle. She caught him just before he made contact and we laughed over it. Then she looked Brigitta in the face and cheerfully said, "Hi!" to which Brigitta immediately responded.

And it was a good day.