The Buerglers

Yesterday Evie attended her first birthday party.  My friend (and now co-worker) Alyshia' s son turned three and had a birthday bash at Catch Air.  The bigger kids enjoyed the inflatables and obstacle courses, but my little crawler spent most of her time with her boyfriend Evan in the foam block pit or crawling on the light up dance floor. See my little girl?  Crawling away.... Evie was such a trooper!  She had two naps in the car and had a bottle and meal in a stroller.  After two hours of hard play, we got home and she slept for another three hours straight! It was great for me to connect to some new friends I've made through Alyshia and Rebecca (Hi Ladies!).  So blessed to have such great people in my life. Thanks for including us Greg!!!

For those who do not know, I am a Confirmation coordinator at a very large parish.  Each year I have over 170 candidates.  This year I have 194.  Each year has it's own set of battles.  A few years ago I was planning a wedding and got married during the "Confirmation Season" last year I was pregnant and on bed rest trying to organize things from a far with help from co-workers. This semester of work has been particularly challenging for me but in a different way.  This year our pastor/boss charged the youth ministry team with being bold and to not back down to pushy parents.  Obviously, there are exceptions and there is compassion.  He meant that the people in our area feel very entitled.  They use their money, job status, and every other thing you can imagine as an excuse to not follow the guidelines for our program, or the rules of the Church.  You would probably be appalled at the lines people give me.  He a...

I have sat down so many times to start this post and to start the text for my photo book, but don't even know where to begin! A few days before we left for Ireland, Eric, Evie and I went to a local (awesome) Chinese restaurant for dinner.  As I'm sure most people do, we took turns opening our fortunes, including one for little Evie.  Eric's couldn't have been more perfect. ...though I do think this is what began the three days of waterworks from this Mama about to leave her baby for almost 11 full days. I am so thankful I spent two weeks packing.  Totally not my style, but not only did I need to fit 10 days of my cool / rainy weather clothing into a carry-on, but I had to pack Evie for staying with both sets of grandparents and a set of great-grandparents.  Thank God for Target sales and jumbo Rubbermaid bins, am I right? We also had to create a will, which, of course, we intended to do before Evie was born, and then before we went to Asheville ...

I'm baaaa-aaaack to blogging.  It's been a nice summer off from both reading and writing blogs, but I've missed it and I am refreshed and ready to recommit. It's been an fairly uneventful summer here at the Buergler Haus.  I hated it and loved it at the same time.  Just three short years ago Eric and I were so busy that in one calendar year we only had 5 weekends that were not filled with weddings, showers, babies, travel, holidays, or work.  And now, we have so many leisurely days, nights and weekends that I am almost bored.  At the end of the day, this summer taught me about being truly present to my family, and to be thankful for my many, many blessings. This summer I learned that I am still battling depression and took action to manage it.  The last few weeks have been a thousand times better than the start of the summer.  I feel like "me" again, and an even better me.  I am more focused, more productive, and more in control. ...

It's been about six weeks since I seriously blogged. I am okay with it. I needed a break. I needed to spend time laying on the floor playing with my baby. I needed to spend time NOT reading other people's blogs and comparing myself to them. I needed to spend time building a website for our youth group. I needed to spend time preparing myself for the up coming Confirmation season. I needed to spend time supporting my husband through a systematic company staff reduction (aka he's getting laid off in November). I've also been taking care of me.  Setting a bed time and sticking to it. Sneaking in bits of cardio here and there.  Being more intentional in what and how much I eat.  Not taking naps.  Not spending the whole day surfing the internet, but reading books. I've been battling a bit of "back to Confirmation" anxiety.  Sleepless nights.  Heart palpitations. Happens every year as I get the year rolling.  New parents. New kids.  New drama...

Measurements: Weight: ~ 24 lbs Length/Height: ~28 inches   Eats: 3 solid meals & a snack each day:   purees, finger foods, 30-32oz forumla Diapers: no change Clothes: 12 and 12-18 months, 18 months in sleepers Firsts for Evie new foods: cottage cheese, mac & cheese, pork, whole peas, combination purees July 12 - Johnny Jump Up! July 16 - bought big kid toys July 20-21 - Full weekend at Grandma & Grandpa's August 2 - Trip to Catch Air Milestones Out grown many of her "baby" toys - took a trip to Toys R Us to get a few carefully chosen toys for Evie to play with Graduated to stage 3 purees and does really well feeding herself solids Does great in the bath tub and would play for hours if we'd let her Still not crawling but she gets around sideways, backways, reaching Super chatty, talks to her self, her toys, or us all the time Spent a day or two clicking her tongue Blows raspberries Says things like, ...