all growed up

as a reward for sticking around with us long enough to see a third child join the family, summer and afton recently had their sleeping accommodations upgraded.

first off, they moved into a shared room. which they love. both are sleeping great (which we love).

secondly, afton moved out of her crib and into summer's old bed, and summer, feeling all grown up, moved into a "loft" of her own.

editor's note: "loft" being a relatively new vocabulary word for summer, she called her new bed a "raft" for a long time...

totally diggin' their new digs.

(even though summer's face is all, "c'mon mom, take this 
picture already. we've got important stuff to do."

sweet sixteen

days, that is.

i have been sitting here trying to think of something clever and unique to say about baby boy wheeler (who is, of course, totally clever and unique).

but honestly, my brain (my body. my eyes. my brain again.) is just too tired to be clever or unique at the moment, so the following perhaps unoriginal (but still super cool!) insights will have to do:

caleb sleeps. he eats. he loves to be held and never wants to be put down. he endures quite a bit of poking and prodding by summer and afton. and he gets his diaper changed. a lot.

he's soft and squishy and smells like baby (sweet and clean and still brand new).

he makes his momma break out into ridiculous songs (some are originals!)

and oh, how we love him.

we love the way he spits out his pacifier. we love the way he bleats like a goat when he wakes up. and the way he pees on his daddy.

we especially love how he stares off in to space and then suddenly comes to with a look on his face that's all suspicious and defensive and screams, "where am i? who are you? how did i get here? and what, pray tell, have you evil villains done with the flux capacitor!!"

or something to that effect.

whose baby am i?

photos of my kidsies at the two - three week mark:

 (summer's eyes are wide open because she never slept. ever.)

i'm thinking this round of the wheeler-look-alike game goes to caleb and afton.

any outside opinions?

mother summer

caleb has a wee bit of competition 

around here for use of his baby swing:

a birth story

every time i go to write out caleb’s birth story, it just doesn’t come to me the way i want it to.

before he was born, i read over what i had written after the births of summer and afton, and there was something that dissatisfied me in the details. something that didn’t quite capture the day. the moment. the feeling. the birth. 

so i could write about april 12th.

about how i finally gave in to the dirrty pitocin.

about how many centimeters i was dilated and at what time.

i could write about how fast my labor was.

about how many times i pushed.

about my very first experience with an epidural.

and i’m sure i will prattle on and on and on about caleb’s birth at book clubs and social gatherings and certainly at every baby shower i go to from here on out.

but not today.

today i want to let the birth -- that messy and raw and intimate embrace -- speak for itself.

11:59am on april 12, 2012:

welcome to the world, little michael caleb.

improvise

well, the fab five (plus mere) finally made their first public appearance yesterday. we enjoyed a picnic in the park and ice cream cones in downtown duvall. caleb slept peacefully through it all, and as an added bonus, i got to discipline some rowdy neighborhood boys at the park: a spe-ci-al-i-ty of mine.

it was such a nice day, and while there's no question we love the warm sunshine around here, poor afton had a hard time enjoying herself with all that brightness in her eyes. so my mom came up with this great idea to use a paper towel as a makeshift bonnet for her.

it worked so well that i think we might have a new toddler fashion trend on our hands:

after we got afton set up with her new bonnet, bryan remarked, "californians would never be unprepared for the sun." 

true, we failed to bring hats and sunglasses for everyone, but we did bring rain jackets -- even though it was seventy degrees and not a cloud in the sky. i just can't help it. as a pacific northwesterner, i am inherently suspicious of nice weather.

and besides, now we know how to make a bonnet out of a paper towel. how many californians do you know who can do that?

pink polka dotz

the first of many injustices baby caleb 

will have to endure as a result of having two older sisters:

bathed in a bucket

caleb loves his tummy tub. 

and summer and afton love watching him wiggle his cutie wet tubba toes.

baby daddy bday

happy 32nd to bryan!

newly minted father of three.

heaven lies about us

Not in entire forgetfulness, 

And not in utter nakedness, 

But trailing clouds of glory do we come,

From God, who is our home.

snips and snails

introducing michael caleb wheeler

born april 12, 2012, 11:59am

weighing 8 pounds, 11 ounces

debut

wheeler threeler is here!

we want big sisters summer and afton to be the first to meet their new sibling.

stay tuned for more details.

first comes love

then comes marriage.

which for us,  came eight years ago today.

when i think about being married, i think about how many pieces of furniture bryan and i have assembled together. i think about how bryan always knows i mean "palatable" when i say "palpable" and how he makes sure to massage my feet or my back or my neck every day.  i think about how much laughter there is in our home because he and i are, like, the funniest people. ever.

when i think about being married, i think about how every night, bryan has about eighteen inches of sleep space at the veryedge of the bed, with me curled up (and sprawled out) rightnext to him. i think about how no matter the number of times i ask him to put them away nicely, bryan will forever leave his shoes kicked off right in front of the door, and no matter the number of times he tells me it drives him crazy, i will forever chew my nails.

when i think about being married,  i think about how almost every sunday, i have a fashion emergency, and bryan has to help me decide what shoes and necklace to wear with my dress. i think about cooking together and eating together. about sharing cups and forks and food. and i think about how bryan ate banana bread for the first year of our marriage, even though (as it turns out) he hates banana bread.

when i think about being married, i think about how a few months ago, bryan had gotten up at three in the morning to catch a six o'clock flight to go to san francisco for work for the day. he came home close to midnight that night to find sheets and pillows and pajamas and comforters strewn all over the hall, needing to be washed, and me in the bathroom cleaning up summer girl, who had just vomited all over everything in her bed (including herself).

bryan and i tiredly looked at each other and didn't know whether to laugh or cry or just throw in the towel (literally) and go to bed.

when i think about being married, i think about that day.

i think about how the great gift of a good marriage is to laugh together often and cry together sometimes and to take life's cards as they come because no matter who throws up all over themselves after a really long, hard day, you're in this together.

happy anniversary to us.

hello

my name is afton.

and i love sunshine.
and chocolate.
and sunshine melted chocolate.

budding beauties

Easter

Easter is the sacred remembrance of the single most significant belief I have: that He lives!



http://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/he-is-risen?lang=eng

bump watch

so here we are.

still incubating away.

i was so sure my baby would be born last week -- SO SURE -- that i had my mom change her plane ticket to come out earlier. things were progressing and ticking right along, i was experiencing regular and painful contractions (yes! pain!), i packed up the hospital bag to take to my doctor appointment, fully expecting to be admitted that day, and then...not.

the baby had decided to wait.

tricky baby. a wheeler baby for sure.

my doctor said, "i could send you downstairs [to labor and delivery], but they'd probably just end up giving you pitocin." dirrty pitocin.

i passed.

i was depressed for a day or so, but then i decided that hey, let's embrace the change of plans -- this is actually really great.

my mom is here. i get to take naps every afternoon. i no longer feel like selling the other children off to the circus. bryan and i get to go on dates whenever we have the whim. there are three sets of hands around to help with cooking and cleaning and organizing and unpacking and bathing and laundry and everything else. what an awesome way to end a pregnancy: refreshed, rejuvenated, reengergized!

so bring it on, baby wheeler.

bring it.

hippity hop

sleepy spaghetti

i know this is not the first photo we have posted of afton sleeping during a meal (see here). and years before that, we published one of summer as well (here).

still, there is something about a child falling asleep at the table (covered in food, mere seconds after asking for "more cheese, please!") that will never lose its so-cute-let's-take-a-picture!-ness.

conference baskets

this year we added to our general conference traditions (alongside daddy's yummy crepes!) some baskets of activities and treats for the girls.

we included a few coloring pages, a new box of crayons, post-its for taking "notes," and various treats that summer and afton enjoyed at different points throughout the four sessions.

a definite keeper tradition, and i think insofar as our goals for the girls during general conference change, so will the contents of the baskets.

also in keeping with custom, here are a few of our favorite talks:

President Boyd K. Packer, Elder Donald L. Hallstrom, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Bishop Richard C. Edgley, President Henry B. Eyring, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, President Thomas S. Monson