Aaron showing off his sign language.

No denying the resemblance here!

I was looking back through some older pictures last night and came across one of Paige when she was right around Aaron's current age. I had to call Steve in and he agreed that the resemblance between them is just amazing! It's like they are twins born 4 years apart. The funny thing is that I always thought Aaron had a look of his own. He looked so different than the other 3 at birth. But, maybe he's not as different as I once thought.

Do you think they look alike?

Even when they're sick!

Aaron has the stomach virus with vomiting and diarrhea. He started with it yesterday late afternoon. I was bracing myself for a rough night, but fortunately he slept through the night as usual. This morning he was so out of it, though. We couldn't even get him to smile at us! Normally he's so smiley and laughs very easily. After his nap he seemed to be in a better mood.



As evidenced by this picture he was back to making messes. I was in the kitchen and thought to myself that he was little too quiet. Sure enough, he was so quiet because he was getting into something he shouldn't be. Doesn't he look so proud of himself?


I can only imagine what he is thinking here. I'm sure it's something along the lines of "you are interrupting me from this FUN stuff for pictures?"



By now he's remembered that he LOVES the camera and enjoys hamming it up. It's so funny that he already runs to the camera to look at his picture after each shot. It doesn't take long for them to learn that.



And now he gets back to the task of making messes. He just took a handful of those little balloons and threw them in the air.

8 years ago today......

Kaeli surprised us by making a slightly early entry into our lives. My due date was March 21, 2000. The fact that I was HUGE should have tipped me off, but it didn't. Even the constant "you must be due any day now" didn't really tip me off. My response was usually, "nope, I have another month". To which they would usually respond "I don't think you're going to make it that long". Sure enough, those complete strangers knew exactly what they were saying.

The morning of Feb 25, 2000 (a Friday) I decided that the guest room just had to be finished THAT day. I spent the entire day painting. I honestly don't think I rested very much that day at all. Steve got home around 5PM as usual. He seemed a little surprised by how much I had accomplished and asked if I wanted to go out to dinner. Looking back, I should have said yes. But, there was something in me that was driving me to get that room done. I asked Steve if he'd put all the furniture back in place and help me get the room completely finished instead. He dared to question my need to do this RIGHT NOW, but obliged anyway. It obviously didn't take him long to learn that a pregnant woman is not rational and there's no need to even TRY to rationalize her behavior. The last thing that needed to be done was the ceiling fan. I will never forget holding up the fan blade for him and then feeling that huge gush of water.

The moments after that are a little blurry. There was no doubt Kaeli was coming soon. Well, I should say there was no doubt to a rational person. I still had my doubts. But, the on-call OB said to come in and I did as she said. Steve and I rushed around packing our bags. Yep, we looked like one of those movies where the couple is running around like crazy with nervous anticipation. I sure wish I had packed sooner, but I never imaged I would go any earlier than my due date.

I changed my clothes a couple of times, grabbed a towel, and headed out the door. I walked in the maternity triage door and told the nurses "I think my water broke". They actually laughed at me because I didn't seem sure. But, I'm guessing my soaked clothing gave my little secret away. They sent me straight up to the labor/delivery floor.

At this point I knew my little girl was coming, but had no idea when. I was only having TEENY-TINY contractions that barely registered. We waited for a few hours before the decision was made to start pitocin. This is where my memory gets a little fuzzy. I think the pit was started around 11PM. After about 2 good contractions I decided an epidural sounded really good. The rest of the night Steve and I slept.

7:59 AM on Feb 26 Kaeli was here.

How did 8 years go back so quickly? And, even more amazing, we managed to squeeze 3 more births in those 8 years!

Unfortunately we didn't have a digital camera back then. I have to find time to scan *real* pictures in order to get newborn pictures on here. I can't promise that will EVER happen. I will try, though.

Another visit from the tooth fairy

I was brushing Paige's teeth before bed tonight. When I brushed over the front teeth Paige yelled, "OW!" Thank goodness I had enough sense to realize that OW could have resulted in a missing tooth. I immediately looked into the sink and found her 2nd little baby tooth glimmering in the light. That was a first for me to have it fall out while brushing their teeth. But, it sure was a lot of fun to be a part of that special moment. I guess the tooth fairy will be visiting our house again tonight. Thank goodness she only brings money for the 2nd tooth. AND, thank goodness she just happens to have a couple of dollars in hand.

The girls got their awards for their essays today. They sure were very proud about their certificates and medals. I will try to get pictures on here ASAP.
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Pictures are uploaded.....here

Found out the subject of Paige's essay

Paige wrote about a time when she scraped her knee and Kaeli got a band-aid for her. So sweet! I love these moments when I realize they really DO love each other. :) Sometimes it's hard to see for all the arguing and all the complaining they do about each other.

Paige's first visit from the tooth fairy

Paige lost her very first tooth on Monday, Feb 11--Ryan's birthday. Her tooth fairy left 2.00 and an outfit for her Webkinz. The tooth fairy always brings a special gift for the first tooth and for the top front teeth. Those are special teeth and the tooth fairy doesn't get many of them for her castle, so she always gives something extra special in exchange. Paige was so sweet that she left the tooth fairy a quarter. Paige told me that the tooth fairy took her quarter and left another in its place. I thought the tooth fairy just left it for Paige to keep. What was I thinking?

Video Montage of Ryan's first 3 years

Ryan celebrated his 3rd birthday on February 11! I was just going to post a few "then and now" pictures but I just couldn't decide between them. This was my first montage, but I enjoyed it so much you can look forward to more. Ryan's pictures start with his birth. He was born via c-section because he was breech. He was stuck in there folded up in a jacknife position--meaning his legs were straight and his feet were up next to his ears. So, after he was born his legs were stuck in that position. In that first newborn picture he wasn't just putting his legs in the air, they were just stuck like that. It was actually pretty hard to keep him swaddled the first week or so because of those legs. All the nurses that worked with him always commented that he must have been breech because of those legs. He was an amazing little baby and had the most wonderful demeanor. He was sleeping through the night the first few days in the hospital. In fact, I remember talking to the Dr because I was concerned that he slept so much. He did go through a rough patch from about 4 wks until 3 months when we realized he had a milk allergy. At 3 months we switched him to a hypoallergenic formula and we got our easy-going baby back who slept through the night again. From that point on he was hands-down the best sleeper out of all 4 of our kids. He found his thumb at an early age and self-soothed very easily. He was just so easy-going and almost never cried.

The pictures in the montage go (mostly) in order from birth to his 3rd birthday.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

News from a very proud mom!!

I was in the middle of downloading pictures to create a video montage of Ryan's first 3 years to add to the blog. I decided to take a break to get the mail. In the mail were two letters--one addressed to the parents of Paige Kirk and one addressed to the parent's of Kaeli Kirk. Both letters from the Director of Curriculum for the school district they attend. A few weeks ago every student in the district was asked to write an essay about "Compassion" to be entered in the district-wide essay contest.

Now to get to the point!

Paige won honorable mention for the Kindergarten level and Kaeli won 1st place at the 2nd grade level!! They will both be honored at an awards ceremony on February 23. I'm so happy and so surprised! What a huge honor for them both! I can't wait to see their faces when I tell them. I can't even describe how happy I am for Paige. She really seems to lack confidence in academics and I certainly hope this helps boost her a little.

Kaeli's essay will be published in the town newspaper. They also included a copy of Kaeli's essay in the letter. They did not send a copy of Paige's, though, so I can't put it on here. Kaeli chose to write about her school counselor. I gave her a hard time when she told me that--I asked her why she didn't choose me. I don't know who Paige wrote about. I'll be sure to ask when she gets home, though.

Here is Kaeli's essay (it brought tears to my eyes):

Are you feeling in need? Are you feeling more different than others? Mr. Van Veen is the one to help you! I met him in Kindergarten. He will help you with anything. Even the hardest jobs he will help you with!

Mr. Van Veen helps me alot. I couldn't walk to school alone when I switched schools. He helped me by playing Candy Land with me and walking me to class. He also got me a buddy so I could find out what it felt like to walk alone. My buddies (buddy's) name was Sarah. She was really nice. She is also my next door neighbor.

He also helps others, not just me. He helps kids who are mean by getting them together with nice people. So the mean people can learn how to be nicer. He helps people who do not understand things like math by doing specail (special) math with them. He helps people who are sad by playing games with them.

Lastly, he makes learning fun. He helps kids that do not understand by talking closely to them. He also makes shure (sure) school is O.K.

That's why Mr. VanVeen is so compassionate. He will help you with anything. He makes school great!

Time flies when you're having fun!

I knew it had been a while since I wrote anything on my blog, but I didn't realize just how long until I looked at the date of my last entry. How in the world did a month go by when it only seemed like a week or two? Keep checking back because I am going to be doing some catching up during the next couple of days. It's already 5 days past Ryan's birthday and I must have "reminded" myself 100 times within the past 5 days to sit down and write out an entry especially for Ryan. That will be my first priority. And, Paige had an exciting little event take place on Ryan's birthday so that will be priority number 2. Valentine's Day was yesterday and it marks 10 years since Steve proposed to me. I certainly can't let too many days go by without memorializing that in my blog! So, I will now get to writing about Ryan's 3rd birthday!!!