7.13.11 picking blackberries

We went again this year with my parents to pick blackberries.  I suited the kids up in dark colors and sunscreen and we were off to this great little place up in Concord, NC.  The kids did a great job and were much better at actually picking the berries than they were last year.

But it was HOT and that made Caleigh a little grumpy...

Andrew ate a ridiculous number of berries... probably more than a pint.

Dad wanted a picture with mom with his mustache before he shaved it off and this one turned out great!

This one is so cute too!

We picked a flat of blackberries and though it was late in the season and several were overripe it was still good - perfect for making cobbler.  Can't wait to do it again next year!

7.10.11 meeting baby Haven

On July 8th one of my dear friends, Carrie Dirks, gave birth to this bundle of joy - sweet Haven Katelin Dirks.  She is my hero - as she birthed this sweet girl with no drugs - and we didn't know whether she would be a girl or a boy until she was born.  I got to be in the delivery room when Haven was born and it was amazing - I have never experienced a birth before (except for when I was the one giving birth) and it was truly spectacular.  Such a miracle of life.  On Sunday the whole fam went over to meet sweet Haven at home.  Andrew was particularly enamored...

 Isn't she gorgeous for a 3 day old?

 Caleigh was absolutely precious with her -

C

 And then the kids had a fight about who got to put the paci in...

And a big kid pic - the girls hamming it up for the camera (especially Maggie - and the boys looking slightly bewildered while staring off in the distance)...

We already love this sweet addition to the Dirks family!

7.6.11 roomtime

Sound asleep on the floor after 30 minutes of playing in roomtime...

7.5.11 sibling love

happy 2nd birthday to Andrew!

On June 14th (a Tuesday) we celebrated sweet Andrew's 2nd birthday.  I thought it would be weird to say that he was 2 but he definitely seems like a 2 year old.  He seems older at 2 than Caleigh seemed at 2.  He is really verbal and really active and physically coordinated - he has been jumping up and down and off of things since 18 months or slightly before (whereas Caleigh didn't jump up off the ground until almost 2.5).  On Tuesday morning he opened his gifts - 

 A scooter (isn't it disguised so nicely? - we won't be able to get away with that much longer)...

 Sissy wanted to help of course and even since his birthday she has been talking non stop about her birthday (several months away!).

 He got his first remote control car...

And he LOVES the scooter.

Andrew at 2 LOVES balls and all things sports related.  He loves to point out which kinds of balls are which and throw everything as if it is a ball, even if it isn't.  He is actually quite talented at throwing (again, more so than even Caleigh is at 3.5 - it is so neat to see the many differences between boys and girls even at such a young age).  So... we thought a ball cake and cupcakes would be great -

 I think it turned out pretty cute - there were a bunch more cupcakes, decorated like soccer balls, baseballs, and basketballs.

 We had the cake on Saturday when Gigi and PopPop and KK and Gammy and Bampa all came over to celebrate with Andrew.  They brought more gifts... and more balls!  Andrew was thrilled.

 More matchbox cars which was great because one of his other (non pictured) gifts from us was a big rug with a racetrack and all kinds of places to go and park his matchbox cars.

 He also got a sweet book, The Little Engine that Could, from KK with a sweet inscription in it.  He is really getting into trains too so this was right up his alley.

 He got a helmet that he loves for his scooter along with the balls from Gigi and PopPop.  It also comes with a (rather loud) horn that Andrew loves too (but we didn't love so we had to put it away - way too loud in a 1200 square foot condo).

 Trying out the scooter with his new gear...

 And the patented foot raise - pretty cute...

 He was super excited about the cake...

 And made a pretty good attempt at blowing out the candles...

He choose a baseball (which Adam is already rejoicing over - praying that he indeed chooses baseball to play as a sport - and with Andrew's left-handedness Adam really has high hopes for him) - and Caleigh choose a soccer ball cupcake.

We had another special moment at Andrew's birthday party which I will share in another post!
Happy happy birthday to our sweet 2 year old boy!

6.24.11 flowergirl

Getting ready for the big day... well, not Caleigh's big day, but sweet Marcy's!  We can't wait for September 24th to get here so we can celebrate with her and Adam as they join their lives together forever.  

6.19.11 my sweet 2 year old boy

potty time

Andrew's adventures on the potty - in May he had several successes (this picture with the happy face is from May), both #1 and #2.  So I got really bold and tried to potty train him in June, before he turned 2.  That was a mistake.  He can tell me he needs to go and can go on the potty but he was going through a very defiant phase - and our potty training looked like me telling him it was time to go potty and him throwing an all out tantrum, including falling on the floor saying over and over, "I don't want to."  That combined with the fact that he didn't care about soiling his undies was the straw that broke the camel's back.  After the first #2 in the undies we gave up on potty training (something I said I would never do) and decided for the sake of our sanity that we would go back to diapers.  And it was amazing how as soon as we put the diapers back on all my stress and anxiety just melted away.  Hopefully we will wait and try again in a couple months.

6.6.11 bad idea

With preschoolers/toddlers lotion is never a good idea.  I should have known that, but I was all about them putting lotion on my legs... until I turned around and saw that it also covered their faces, every inch of their bodies, and the carpet.  Adam was not so thrilled but it was fun while it lasted!

the halcyon years

We just got back from the beach where I read Water for Elephants.  I loved that book.  I especially love this quote that comes at the end of the book, as an old man in his nineties looks back at his life:

"Those were the salad days, the halcyon years! The sleepless nights, the wailing babies; the days the interior of the house looked like it had been hit by a hurricane; the times I had five kids, a chimpanzee, and a wife in bed with fever. Even when the fourth glass of milk got spilled in a single night, or the shrill screeching threatened to split my skull, or when I was bailing out some son or other--or, in one memorable instance, Bobo (the chimpanzee)--from a minor predicament at the police station, they were good years, grand years. But it all zipped by. One minute we were in it up to our eyeballs, and next thing we knew the kids were borrowing the car and fleeing the coop for college. And now, here I am. In my nineties and alone." 
~excerpted from Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen 


The salad days (which I had to look up because I had no idea what it meant) refer to a time of youthful inexperience.  The stage we are in right now! The halcyon years - the prosperous years, the golden years... I love this quote - it his reminds me to slow down.  To enjoy these crazy busy days where I have more to-do lists than time.  It reminds me that I will look back and miss these days - I hope to sit and look at the end of my life and say that these were good years, grand years.  Teach me Lord to number my days, that I may gain a heart of wisdom (Ps. 90:12).  Teach me Lord to enjoy each day you have given me - to know that this stage won't last forever.  I am so thankful for these salad days, these halcyon years!

6.1.11 beach wrap up - rides and family photos