H Sisters.

Miss T-

This Saturday I went to a bridal shower that I wish you could have been at. It's for our new cousin-in-law, and let me tell you, a bridal shower is a good place to get sisters together. This is a story about two sets of H Sisters. The HT sisters, and the HM sisters.

HT1 is the sister that is getting married, and for whom we were all attending. She is a sassy gorgeous thing, who is very excited to be getting married. She began the opening of presents, and proceeded to read each card out loud that came with each gift. At one point her sister, whom I will call HT2, decided to start up a little conversation with the cousin next to her. HT1 heard another voice and realized not all of the attention was on her, so she just stopped reading, and began to wait expectantly. A few minutes (ok, it was probably actually only a few seconds) later HT2 finally realized that all of the attention was now on her and she didn't even know why. Then she realized she shouldn't be talking, as HT1 cleared her throat, gave her a LOOK, and continued to read.

The rest of us sat in shock of what we had just seen, trying to compute if it was real, or some kind of joke. HT2 was obviously embarrassed. Fortunately at this point HT1 giggled and the rest of us burst into laughter at her sassy behavior. Here is where we introduce the HM sisters. HM1 is going to be HT1's new mother-in-law. HM2 is a HM sister-in-law.

Just after we all giggled about HT1's dramatic demand for attention and politeness from her own sister, HM2 made the observation across the room to HM3 (another HM sister) "Now isn't that just something HM1 would do?" HM1 is the sweetest little aunt I've ever seen whom upon appearance you would think could never hurt a fly. However, what her sisters know about her is that she has spunk. HM3 let out a shriek of glee at the realization that the to-be daughter-in-law and mother-in-law had such a similar sassy quality. HM4 got in on the joke too and the room was full of giggly sisters.

I give kudos to HM2, who is a sister-in-law who knows her sisters well enough and has wit, to give us all a good laugh. Getting a new mother-in-law certainly has got to be an overwhelming experience. Thank goodness you sometimes a get a few new sisters to go with it.

Love you Sis!
Love, Kk

More than just a bad hair day...

KK-


I don't know why this picture was ever taken or why it has not been deleted, but I found it fitting for this post.  


This week has been more than just a bad hair day.  Dealing this post-partum emotions, a newborn, and a 2 yr old already seemed overwhelming enough, but I got a nasty cold this week.  


I had to call for reinforcement.  Miga came to rescue me for a few days.  Don't we have the best mom EVER!


So if you (or anyone else who is reading this) has tried to call or email me and I have not responded, please forgive me.  I have been busy sleeping, crying, chasing T Bear, crying and taking drugs.  Not exactly in the mood for talking.  Hopefully I will be better next week and will be able to talk to everyone pleasantly.


-Miss T

Special Sisters Series: The DGG!

The DGG

I come from of fairly large family, especially for today’s standards, and I seriously LOVE IT! One of my
favorite things about it though, are all the sisters I have to associate with and look to for examples and
advice. I love all my sisters! Unfortunately, jobs and circumstances have separated us so much that we
are spread out across 5 states with sisters living on both coasts! Then, top it all with growing families,
busy lives, an expensive economy, and balancing vacation and holiday time with other in-laws, we just
don’t see each other very often. It’s such a bummer. It was for that very reason one of my older sisters
proposed a brilliant idea! An annual sister (and sisters-in-law) retreat! The DGG!... aka, the “Duersch
Girls Getaway!” Da Da Da DAAAAAAAAAA!

What the DGG entails is every spring all the sisters gather together in some designated city across the
USA, and spend 3-4 days shopping, seeing the sites, and just gabbing away! It’s so wonderful! I love
being able to catch up with everyone and just have girl time. We all love the arts and so always try to
catch a show and visit museums. It’s a big sacrifice for our husbands who take time off work, manage
the kids at home while we’re all away (22 kids between the lot of us!), and basically fund the trips too.
We’re all so blessed to have supportive husbands! (And for the one single sister, I’m sure her future
spouse will be… He’d better be or he’s not worthy of my sister!)

This year will be our 4th year with DGGs in NYC, Utah, and St. Louis so far!

-Alene Duersch Cutler

*Big thanks to our sister-in-law Alene.  She and our brother Kelv just had a baby!

Baby Xan was born on Oct 20th and Baby Cub was born Nov 2nd.  It will be fun to have cousins so close in age.

Here's the Story

Aunty KK -


While you are keeping up a busy social schedule that only a young college co-ed can, here's the story of weekend.


-Baby Cub came home from the hospital with a clean bill of health.  The scare of a heart arrhythmia has dissipated, and we will have a check up in 6 months.


-Miga & Poppa came to Seattle to help our little family transition to a family of 4.


-T Bear spent the weekend being a terrible and sweet 2 year old.  He bossed Miga & Poppa around all day using his favorite phrases, "I don't want to!" "No!" "Don't do that!"  "I don't like that!" "Don't talk to me!"


-T Bear showered Baby Cub with kisses and kisses.  He told Poppa "Baby Cub takes lots of naps-es."


-Miga & I slipped away to the outlet malls for some girly shopping.  We missed you. I bought Miga some cute socks for her birthday.  Don't you just love wearing a pair of cute socks?


-There were tears over breast feeding and even over spilt milk -seriously!


-Every night we reloaded ourselves with chocolate ice cream or chocolate cake.  To be honest, I snacked on chocolate all day long because I felt I deserved it.


-And the most important even over the weekend was my heart growing.  I honestly wondered how I could love another baby.  Immediately after Baby Cub was born, I felt relief.  Physical relief from my body, and then emotional relief when his heart irregularity was not a concern.  Then as time started to go by and I held my Baby Cub I felt my heart grow with love for him.  I love watching him sleep, eat, and look around.  His warm little body in my arms feels so tender and sweet.  It is true that your love doesn't divide, it multiples.  I felt that this weekend and I am so thrilled.  


Even though I miss some of the social events and excitement of collage, I am excited for you to experience this love that comes from having a baby.


Lots of love
-Miss T

Whatif

Hey Miss T!

I was thinking about what it might be like to have a new baby. Here you have this little tiny human (in your case, Baby Cub isn't so tiny), who has DNA and a brain and a personality. He's going to grow and grow, and start doing things that all kids do and go through. He'll eat with his hands, potty-train, want to watch shows, GO TO SCHOOL, catch grasshoppers, hate spelling tests, scrape his knees on the playground, and all that other good stuff. I don't know if any of these things have yet crossed your mind, but they have to mine, and many other "What if?" questions. So in honor of the What if's that may or may not go through your head, I'm sharing a poem from one of our favorite author's. Think of the possibilities for T-Bear and Baby Cub.

Whatif by Shel Silverstein

Last night, while I lay thinking here,
some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
and pranced and partied all night long
and sang their same old Whatif song:
Whatif I'm dumb in school?
Whatif they've closed the swimming pool?
Whatif I get beat up?
Whatif there's poison in my cup?
Whatif I start to cry?
Whatif I get sick and die?
Whatif I flunk that test?
Whatif green hair grows on my chest?
Whatif nobody likes me?
Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?
Whatif I don't grow tall?
Whatif my head starts getting smaller?
Whatif the fish won't bite?
Whatif the wind tears up my kite?
Whatif they start a war?
Whatif my parents get divorced?
Whatif the bus is late?
Whatif my teeth don't grow in straight?
Whatif I tear my pants?
Whatif I never learn to dance?
Everything seems well, and then
the nighttime Whatifs strike again!

Love, Auntie KK

Finally!

Baby Bear Cub
11.2.2010
12:24am
19 3/4 in
9 lb 12.5oz

Finally!

Special Sister Series: Sister Sleepovers

Guest Blogger: Bert

Award Winning Halloween Costume: The Golden Snitch


KK (my lovely roomie) and Miss T (Get that baby OUT!),

Oh my gash (said like you would hear it in Wisconsin)! Thank you so much for the invitation to do a guest post on your blog. I am 100% honored right now to be allowed to make a guest appearance on my favorite blog on the internet.

So, since your blog is about sisters and their love, I thought I should write about my sisters and the fact that, yes, we love each other too. I have four sisters, three of them older and one younger. Since we are all over the age of 18 now and (supposedly) none of us listen to teen pop or have Lisa Frank puppy/penguin/unicorn/panda folders anymore, we have been able to grow closer. I am glad that I am no longer the little sister with a Star Wars obsession and a ridiculous cowlick (yeah, I just wikipedia-ed that to make sure that was the correct spelling) that made my hair stand up in front.

But, when I was much younger, my oldest sister threw what she called "Sister Sleepovers". C is about 7 years older than I am and K, the next oldest sister, is almost 5 years older. And when I was invited to attend a Sister Sleepover, I was, to say the least, THRILLED. Each Sister Sleepover began with a pow-wow in C's room where we would discuss the events of the evening. Then we would run down to the basement to watch a Disney movie. Actually, because our movie supply was fairly limited, we usually watched one of two Disney movies: Sleeping Beauty or Beauty and the Beast (a movie that K tried to ruin for me because she thinks the Beast is abusive...but I digress). My love for Beauty and the Beast stems from Sister Sleepover. However, watching Sleeping Beauty was always quite the work out for me.

Picture, if you will, a 6 year old girl with a bright orange t-shirt, light-up shoes, and scraped knees snuggled up with her sisters, eating snacks on the basement floor. She is watching Sleeping Beauty and, suddenly, the scene goes dark and the evil sorceress, Maleficent, shows up on the screen. Said 5 year old child leaps from the floor and launches herself behind the couch (yes, over the top of the couch, like a vaulter), cowering in the presence of the scariest bad-guy to ever grace the screen (except maybe Voldemort, who is just straight up scary). And every time Maleficent shows her face, that multicolored kid flings herself behind the couch.

And here's the amazing part. Every time I ended up huddled behind the couch, C came over and sat with me. She was totally laughing at me, but she still sat with me and watched around the corner to see if Maleficent was gone.

Now, we are all growed-up and we live in different places. We can't really have sister sleepover since everybody lives all over the country. But all of my sisters, not just C, still comfort me when I'm scared or frustrated or even mad at the world. Nowadays, they don't comfort me when a Disney movie scares me. I hope that by now, my fears are a bit more legitimate.


So here's to sisters who make you feel better when you are scared or upset. I can only hope that my children like each other enough to be friends. Then they can have Sister Sleepovers and watch movies WITHOUT evil sorceresses that scare my six year old. I'm going to make them stick to Finding Nemo and Beauty and the Beast.


Loaf,
The little-girl-who-STILL-wants-to-hide-behind-a-couch-when-bad-guys-come-out,
a.k.a, Bert