Princess Duties

Ever since our trip to Disneyland last year, Bridget sometimes requests a princess bun with her crown from the castle.  She doesn't ask very often, so I indulge her when she feels like being a princess.  This was a day last week when she didn't have preschool:

She happened to have some princess homework to do that day, too.  :)

A New Family Picture

We've had a new family picture taken.  We did it during a big family picture for Brian's family - his brothers and sister and their spouses, all the nieces and nephews and his parents.  This has been a looooooonnnnnnngggggg time coming.  I love having family photos all over the house and I've been begging and dreaming about having a picture of Brian's family since we got married almost 14 years ago.

Our individual family photo.  We got a different one enlarged for our home - in that one we're all laughing.  I like those kind best.

 The photographer had everyone in position... for half an hour.  That's a long time to sit in one position - especially if that's an awkward position, which it was for several of the nieces and nephews.  After only about 12 clicks of the camera on our big family picture, poor Grandma fainted.  She needed some sugar (she's diabetic) and she got some in a hurry because I have a very prepared sister-in-law.  Anyway, everyone scattered like mice and that was it for the family picture.  We're trying again in a little over a week.  Wish us luck!

Bridget started preschool!  She goes three times a week for a couple of hours in the morning.  The first day she quietly said she didn't want to do it, but she did it anyway.  Bridget is shy, but also determined to be independent.  As we walked up the driveway to the preschool, she put her hand in mine and squeezed tight.  Now I'm home by myself for a few hours three times a week.  I think we're both trying not to cry about it. :)

Now that she's gone a few times, she's good to go.  I love seeing her sitting on the pillow with her little backpack on waiting for me when I pick her up.  I wave to her and smile too big, she tries to play it cool and only smiles back a little until we get out the door.  Then she takes my hand and starts talking and never stops.  :)  Love it.

Here she is for the second day of school.  She loves accessorizing her ensembles - check out the silly bands and the giant ring on her right hand.  Who can resist that face?!

Roller Coaster Buddies

We went to Lagoon yesterday.  I worked there in my youth and I get the pukes riding in buses, so roller coasters aren't my thing - two of the big reasons I dread Lagoon Day for Brian's office.  Brian and Bridget are roller coaster buddies, though.  Bridget loves to go on rides.  All day she kept suggesting that we go on rides "as a family," but there are few that we can do that with.  One is the giant Ferris wheel:

Right after the Ferris wheel, we did the Tilt-a-Whirl.  From then on, it was all Daddy because I felt like puking just walking around.  (I think I can handle roller coasters, it's the kind that spin you around that I can't do.)  Bridget and I rode the Paratrooper before the Tilt-a-Whirl and she was a riot - squealing with delight and holding my hand tight.  As with most of our adventures, though, she doesn't get really into it until it's almost time to leave.  Brian and I have noticed lately that in the car coming home from something fun, Bridget will ask where we're going next.  On the way home from Grandma's she'll ask if we can go to the trampolines.  On the way home from day camp she'll ask me if we can go to a park.  Last night, after five or so hours at Lagoon, she asked if we could play "Go Fish" when we got home.  (She wakes up asking me if we can play "Go Fish.")  I like that she's so into life right now - she wants to do everything! 

Thank You For Us

I love to hear Bridget's prayers. She always starts by thanking Heavenly Father for "the nice blessings." Sometimes she prays for things that she wants, like gloves and heels and a necklace to go with her Cinderella costume. If Daddy is at work, she asks Heavenly Father to "bless Daddy to go to work." When both of us are home, she thanks Him for "Momma, Daddy, and Bridgie." There are prayers during which every cousin, aunt, uncle, grandparent, and friend get blessed by name.

Last night during the prayer for the food (which she always says thank you for, but often forgets to bless) she said, "Please bless Momma, Daddy, and Bridgie and thank you for us."

It is a miracle that Bridget is in our family. So many little things had to go perfectly for it to happen. Today I'm marveling at that. And I'm thanking my Heavenly Father "for us."

The Joy of Preschool

Three of my friends and I decided to start a joy school (preschool) with our kids. Each week one of us takes all four of the kids for two and a half hours for play time, a lesson, and lunch. Last week was the first of these preschool sessions. All the moms lingered at Kristi's house (the host for the first day) feeling bad because we were sure it would be Crazytown as soon as we left. Wrong! They were angels! They learned about touch and one of the activities was finger painting. Bridget has been very proud of her picture.

The Dentist

We were a little behind, but we finally got Bridget in to a dentist last week. Of course she's been brushing her teeth (religiously, actually) and she even loves to floss. Whenever her doctor tries to look in her mouth, Bridget loses her mind. I got the dentist appointment because someone canceled and I only had an hour to prep her for what would happen. I told her she needed to be brave like Mulan (current hero) and that the dentist would look at her teeth and even brush them like Momma and Daddy do. If she was good, they'd give her a toothbrush! And maybe even floss! (Dream come true.)
Bridget did so well. I love that she trusts me (and Brian) so completely. When the dentist tried to look in her mouth by using his hands, she shot me a panicked look. He figured it out quickly and opened her new Cinderella toothbrush to "brush" her teeth. She opened her mouth as wide as she could because now he was doing what Momma said he would.

Also, I know I'm old and everything, but why has it taken pediatric dentists so long to figure out how to make kids comfortable? Flat panel TVs on the ceiling playing cartoon movies?! AWESOME. And princess toothbrushes and dinosaur floss. I would have loved the dentist...

Is This "G"?

Bridget (on the right) & her cousin, Anya, last November (2007)

I wanted to include "everyday" stuff in this blog. For example, I'm a piano teacher. Mondays through Thursdays I have piano students after school (about 3:30) until 6:30 in the evening. On Wednesday and Thursday I have a student at 8:00 in the morning. Bridget is at home for most of my piano students and she has slowly (oh, so slowly) learned to be respectful of my students when they're here. You know, not playing the piano at the same time they are, not crawling under the students' legs to play with the pedals, not trying on their shoes or taking off with their coats or bags.

Brian and I both thought that Bridget was more concerned with showing off for my grade school and junior high school age students than listening to what they were doing. The other day Brian was playing a song (it's a secret that he is learning to play... shhh) and Bridget told him he needed to use his left hand. Then she told him it was a quarter note. Of course we think she's a genius, but sometimes it's fun to have proof. Ha! She has some of the lingo down anyway. I'd heard parents say that their kids copy everything they do, but it's still strange when it happens to me.