Quotes from this weekend

Brinnly, whispering during the sermon in church:  "Mommy, can we move over?"
Kaethe:  "Why?"
Brinnly: "So Pastor can see my dress better."

Amalia to Kaethe:
"Mommy, can you watch our unicorn?  Brinnly and I have to go out for coffee".

The Dora Party

Johnny Dean Wilson

He's much too far away from Michigan for our liking, but we are excited to announce that Johnny Dean Wilson entered the world on September 12, 2010. Isn't he adorable? We are rejoicing with Matt and Erica at the birth of their healthy son. Don't they look like naturals? It must be all the practice they had loving our girls so much. We don't know much about baby boys, but we do know that this one landed in an extra-special family.

Three!

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Three years ago today we really learned the definiton of multi-tasking. Baby Brinnly Ruth entered the world and our already full hands (Big Sister Amalia was only 14 months old!) but we gladly made room for one more. And now she's staked out her place in our family as the middle girl--usually the favorite of both of her sisters. Not too little to play with Mali and not too big to play with Carrigan. She chatters away. Nonstop. Especially when she's tired or trying to distract us from her full plate of food that she is not eating. Her cuddles are as irrestible as her eyelashes. She sings and dances and creates with a talent unlike anyone else in our immediate family. Her good (imaginary) friends, Hata and Hoshish, are not around as often anymore but do still make occasional appearances. When we watch her baby her dolls we picture her all grown up as a mommy. She claims she is going to have 11 kids. (Mali doesn't know how many kids she is going to have but she is certain they will be allowed to watch MUCH more TV than our kids are) We think Brinn is going to drive away with a guy on a motorcycle someday, but until then we'll keep holding her close and calling her "Bugs" as long as she'll let us. We love you so dearly, Brinnly Ruth Ward!

Amalia Goes to School (Year 2)

Amalia started back to school the day after Brinnly. We were interested to see how this year would go since she had tentative days last year. She woke up three times the night before (very unlike her) and seemed to be a little anxious, but did great. She loved having her famililar teacher, classroom, and friends back. The biggest rewards? The big hugs between Mali and Brinnly when the greet each other after their 2 1/2 hours of being apart.Brinnly wanted to go to school that day too.



Thankfully Mrs. Meyers teaches both classes!

Brinnly Goes to School

After much discussion, we decided for Brinnly to start 3-year old preschool, two days a week this year and Mali to begin the 4-year-old class on the alternate days. That gives each one time at school and time at home with Mommy and Carrigan. Brinnly was oh-so-excited to start.The front porch and backpack shot.
We saw her friend Eliana in the parking lot and they scampered into school, hand-in-hand.
Brinnly and the fantastic Mrs. Meyers
Brinn with her friend Caleb

Two very excited little girls at the end of their first day.

Carrigan Walks! (And Boats! And Floats!)

It was a perfect boating day this past Sunday so we headed out to Gun Lake with the Stevens family. (When we moved to Michigan we were determined to find friends with a boat. Mission accomplished! But there are lots of other reasons why they are Carrigan's godparents and dear friends to all of us) It was Carrigan's first boat trip outside of the view of my belly. She cried at first when we put the life jacket on her but loved the sensation when the boat actually started moving. She managed a quick dip in the water and then a quick nap on the seats. Just when we thought her "firsts" were done for the day, we headed back to the campsite and Carrigan stood up in the middle of all of us and took 20 good steps! She's been moving ever since.

***In other firsts, Brinnly managed to thouroughly enjoy both the boat and the tube without screaming and clinging on to us. She and Mali are currently tied for "Best Boat Hair" award.