young love

summer gets her flirt on during lunch.

with a young gentleman friend of hers who was first mentioned here.

dents du bonheur

assessing the damage

look, it’s no secret that i’m high strung. “laid back” and “easy going” are never going to be words used to describe that emily wheeler. i’m straight up uptight and function best in a world of order and discipline, organization, cleanliness, and control.

(i know, i’m totally making everyone want to hang out with me right now).

so needless to say, there have been a lot of things about infants and toddlers that don’t exactly give me warm fuzzy feelings. enter: potty training. my kryptonite, as it were. i spent many a night lying awake wondering how i would conquer this formidable foe. i read all the books, i bought all the supplies, i googled for days. then i fastened on my rubber gloves, grabbed the sponges and held my breath for the worst.

after all, summer is the girl who can take a carefree bike ride through san francisco and turn it into a harrowing journey of ear-splitting screams. who can decide she doesn’t want to get out of the car and therefore thrash about for hours inconsolable. who wants her corn placed in the bowl just right, or she’ll throw it back at you.

can you imagine potty training this girl?

but luckily, in an effort to avoid being pigeonholed into any one role, my summer is also the little sweetheart who transitioned to a big girl bed with ease, who is kind and polite, who lets me do her hair every day and doesn’t gives me lip about her outfits (thank heavens!). and THAT is the summer who i wanted to rise to the occasion for this all important moment in our lives.

**and glory be!! she did!**

now, obviously, we’re only at the tip of day four, so it’s much too early to be calling the game, but she’s been my little potty prodigy, and i just gots to give props when props are due.

i shan’t bore you with the details of her hits and misses (of course, it’s all thoroughly documented), but let’s just say at this rate, she’ll be home free (uh, “ish”) by next week.

way to go, summer girl. way. to. go.

let the games begin

potty training, day one.

a sutton baby

after three little ladies (the loveliest of lovelies, i might add),

bryan's parents, mike & janna, welcome their first grandson

(quite the cutie pie charmer himself):

joshua sutton

born may 14, 2010

congrats to proud parents cindy and peter!

say my name

our little baby prodigy:

caught in the act

the following photographic evidence will likely put a dent in bryan's
image of emotional unavailability, insensitivity and stoicism.

but the thing is, he has always had this rather charming
habit of leaving me love notes around the house.

i guess underneath that hard candy shell,

he's just as soft and mushy as the rest of us.

i carry your heart

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart) i am never without it (anywhere i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want

no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

e.e. cummings

happy mother's day.

brunch

bryan has come a long way since his first mother's day breakfast: cumin toast. that fateful morning he accidentally put cumin in the french toast instead of cinnamon. and believe me, a little cumin goes a LONG way. (of course, not really being the "supportive wife" type, i couldn't even choke it down).

this year he whipped up some chocolate covered strawberries (my favorite!), a country french omelet, a delicious orange berry banana smoothie, and light and fluffy lemon ricotta biscuits.

i think i'll keep him.

a mother's day

hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,

hundreds of bees in the purple clover,

hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,

but only one mother the wide world over.

george cooper

my mom, wendy, at age 27 with me and owen
(the brother formerly known as daniel), circa 1984.

my name is afton wheeler

and i am not my bow.

sugar rush

(oreos + cheesecake) /martha stewart =

make a batch and stuff your face.

...uh, i mean, share with friends...

psst - martha stewart's cupcakes

is a treasure that no kitchen should be without.

play hard

the clown pirate

bryan rarely voices a negative opinion

about my clothing choices for the girls.

but he hates this shirt:

apparently, it reminds him of a certain other puffy shirt.

only this one has had an unfortunate altercation with a run-away circus.

sigh. the indignities our children endure.

miss manners

would really disapprove of the way those wheeler girls eat their food.

summer versus the surf

here summer tries to conquer the san francisco bay. unfortunately, it beat her down.

and though the video cuts off before we see (as somewhat responsible parents, we tried to save her from her foamy fate, losing the climax of the film in the process), she does get soaked.

better luck next time, babe.

also, you'll have to forgive my maniacal mommy laughter in the background. it's hard to suppress.