Christmas christmas and more christmas

I have so many pictures to post! We had a wonderful Christmas starting with our own little family celebration the friday before Christmas.
Who would dare put these little angels on the naughty list? Note Maggie's new haircut, I did it myself. Not sure what I was thinking maybe that the last time we took her to have her haircut by someone who knew what they were doing she cried like she was being hauled off to prison. So, I set her in front of an elmo dvd and chopped it off. It turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself. But, let's face it that little girl can make a buzz cut look good.

Opening presents by the tree...Henry got a little help opening his gifts from his big sister.
A quick piggy back intermission.
On saturday it was on to Columbia for Sam Purnell's wedding. The weather was so nice Henry wore shorts. It gave him a chance to show off his cute little leggies...okay me a chance.
The week leading up to Christmas was spent enjoying lots of quality time with family and friends and also taking fun little outings with the four of us while Grandma and Poppa worked. One night Grandma and Poppa took us to the zoo lights. This was a second visit for the kids and me, we lucked out and no goat stole any glove this time.
We went to the mall for a little last minute shopping and even took a ride on the merry go round one day.
Christmas day was so relaxing we woke up ate breakfast casserole and yummy kringle (thanks
Dirks)! And then iced Jesus birthday cake and Maggie put the candles on it. She arranged them quite fabulously. We sang happy birthday and ate it for dinner but it was a great way to start the morning because it tangibly turned our hearts toward the true meaning of Christmas, Christ's birth!
Santa found Maggie in Columbia and brought her this little "big wheels" (oh the irony). So, we played outside until the Tylers and Zaepfels showed up to open gifts.
Santa didn't forget about these two good little boys. This year he stuffed their stockings full of man gear including knives, headlamps, transformers and other manly things.
Maggie's Christmas included all things Elmo just come and visit our home now and you will see he has taken over, which suits Maggie just fine.
Henry received this fancy new cap.
The rest of our stay consisted of some hard core playing. They couldn't even take a break to say cheese to the camera so intense was their mission.
"I love Christmas and you too Brody."
"Thanks for all the gifts Poppa..."

blog sites lost

So as you can see the Dirks Fam has been under construction today and I accidentally lost some valuable blog links. If you don't see your blog link in my list please leave me a comment with your address so I can stalk you and your family. Thank you for your patronage.

Henry Stats

So we just got back from Henry's two month check-up (although he is really 10 weeks old) and here are the stats for all those interested... namely grandparents (and Aunt Melodee).
He weighed in at a whopping 12 pounds 1 oz (61%) and was 23 1/2 inches long (73%). The doctor said that he is doing great and she is very impressed with his motor skills. What a champion way to grow Henry!

Also, Henry was vaccinated with some magical sleep potion, because he has been asleep since we left the doctors office.

The goose is getting fat

Christmas is right around the corner and we have been enjoying this festive month thoroughly. Tyler was in Dallas last week for RUF training (which was not so fun for me) so me and the kiddies headed to Chapin (Grandma and Poppa town) for the week. My folks worked most of the day but we got to spend some quality time early in the morning together and then again right before bed. So, during the day we kept ourselves entertained in a variety of different ways including but not limited to baking, swinging, playing with dogs, chuck e. cheeses the zoo and visiting with the locals.

Maggie and I made some holiday treats. A simple recipe really all it is is rolos and pretzels melted together. Maggie put the chocolates on all of the pretzels and then I put them in the oven to bake. She did a great job arranging them precisely in the middle of each pretzel, an obsessive compulsive tribute to her father I suppose.
One evening we headed to lights at the zoo and found this fun pint size train to ride on. I promise Maggie was more excited about this than me contrary to what the picture might look like. We were the only ones riding and chose the caboose to seat our own cabooses....or is it cabeese?
Okay so here's a funny story. While we were at the lights at the zoo we headed to the petting area and found these fun goats. You can't see it in this picture but Maggie was wearing some mittens because it was so cold. Well, what do you know but this ole goat tried to snatch one of them up for his after dinner snack. He almost got away with it too, but thankfully we had Grandma with us to rescue the little lost mitten.
There's the mitten inside the cage with the hungry goat.
And, there is farmer Grandma with a trusty old rake given to us by another zoo patriot, hence rescuing the mitten. I don't know why but I found the whole scene hilarious.
Henry was with us this whole time but usually snuggled up in some blankets somewhere. But, here he is....and he is as cute as a button. Maybe it's because I am his mom, but I think he just might be the cutest little guy in the whole world. And, he's so smiley...I could eat him up!

Thanksgiving

These pictures are a little chronologically out of order, but here are some shots of what we have been up to since Thanksgiving.
Last saturday we went over to Matthews for there Christmas festival. We just made it for the very end of the fun. This is "Hocus" the magician's rabbit. He was just sitting there not even making an attempt at a getaway. He may have been hypnotized or something because he really just sat there like a bump on a log.
Maggie has been copying my every move since Henry's arrival. She asked to wear the baby sling the other day and put her bear in it and then started talking on the phone. It was quite cute, lucky for all my readers I was Johnny on the spot and snapped this pic.
Here is the fam at the Johnson and Wales tree lighting ceremony. We also got to sit on santa's lap but that was not such a lovely moment what with Maggie's screams of terror. We have a polaroid picture of it so next time y'all come over I'll show it to you. It is quite hilarious.
This is a picture of some of the ladies at my grandma's house on Thanksgiving day. I took this picture off of facebook from my aunt so it is miniature. From left to right we have Sally, me, Christine, Megan and Katie.
And, here is Henry meeting some of the fam for the first time. My cousin's Katie and Sally and Great Grandma herself.
One very exciting activity over the holidays was playing on the new swing at Grandma and Poppa's house. Here are Brody and Maggie learning to take turns.
Henry also met his Aunt Megan and Uncle Peter and Maggie convinced Uncle Peter that playing in the laundry room with a mite size kiddie kitchen is really the best way to spend your holiday.
On our way out of town we stopped in at Moe's in downtown Columbia to meet up with our ole pal Mees Lorrie. Maggie is so proud of her little brother and couldn't wait to introduce him to Lorrie.

cute kiddos

Just your typical PK saying his prayers.
Henry smiling take one.
Henry smiling take two. This is his thanks for the milk face.
Maggie playing with one of her best friends in mommy's shoes.
Maggie sleeping in a big girl bed!
Maggie in the big girl bed take two.

Weekend Update

Here are a couple of pictures to show you all the excitement last weekend held for the Dirk's crew. Friday morning we had some hang out time with our friend Ms. Jessica and then after lunch I met up with some of my girl friends and we headed to the Uptown Church Women's Retreat in Montreat NC. Henry joined me and crashed the "all girl" party. And, Tyler and Maggie had a really fun Daddy daughter weekend. They enjoyed one another's company and even headed to the Nature Museum on Saturday. They just happened to be doing fun Thanksgiving activities at the museum on that day. So when I got home Maggie had made me my very own hand traced turkey coloring. It was delightful (read with Andy Bernard inflection).
Maggie drawing Ms. Jessica her very own Maggie art piece.

This is my prayer triad and retreat carpool. I love these girls and I am so glad I got some sweet girlfriend time with them this weekend.
These are a couple of ladies in my small group at the retreat (a few had already left bc I didn't use my camera until the end). I enjoyed them so much and God taught me so many things through these gals during our small group discussions.
When I got home on sunday Maggie didn't even say hello to me or I really missed you mom...nope nothing like that. She walked right up to me and said "Nee-Nee" she wanted to see Henry. She missed him so much and wanted to hold him right away. So sweet. I believe I might have gotten a kiss at some point, but much much later (sigh).
Since we've been home Maggie has really turned it up a notch. Henry is never alone during his "activity time." Here you can see Maggie has placed a few of her stuffed dolls around Henry on his mat, just to keep him company I suppose.
Tummy time the same thing happens. Notice all the dolls are face down too. These pictures were not staged at all by us parents, Maggie really did this all by herself. It is really funny to watch her play change since having a baby brother around.

We're on our own

Well, Aunt Melodee has left us and with her absence comes the conclusion of a long line of visitors. This past month and some has been so precious. We have had a great line up of fun visitors, but now we are officially on our own. YIKES...if I never see you again friends it's been nice. Here are a few parting shots of the Dirks bunch.
Not sure what the future holds...
Okay I'm just joking it won't be that bad, but seriously the Lord has poured out blessings on us since Henry's arrival. We have had so much help from friends and family and we are so very thankful for all of it. Thanks for coming Aunt Melodee!

Aunt Melodee's so fun even Henry can't keep from smiling.
Henry loves his auntie.
We headed to Noda on saturday for the fall fest as you can see here (or not). Maggie is just checking on her baby brother (he's in the sling).
I think Maggie is sharing some family secrets with Henry in this shot.
If you ever come over for a visit to the Dirks household you might want to watch where you put your shoes. Maggie loves to try them on however big or small they may be. And, if they don't fit her feet they make it on Elmo's feet.
Already making faces for the camera...what a ham.

Peace Y'all

Melodee's coming!

More Henry

This blog entry is dedicated to our sweet little guy, Henry. It seems that his sister tends to steal the camera sometimes with all her crazy antics, but we don't want our readers to miss the exciting Henry moments either. He will be one whole month old tomorrow and I can hardly believe it. I remember my first month as a first time mom with Maggie was really really hard and long. There were a lot of firsts and unknowns for me. Don't get me wrong I treasure those times with my first born, but it's just different this time around. My precious second child's first month has been so pleasant, albeit my personal sleep ratio from both times is about the same, but I know what to expect with him. Well, that plus he is a very sweet tempered and easy going little baby boy. And, we are so thankful for him.
Here is our little guy doing what he loves best, sleeping and more specifically in his swing. He loves it, which helps when I need my hands free.
Henry, like his sister was, is not a huge fan of tummy time. Ususally within the first minute of putting him on his tummy he will roll onto his back. So, we keep putting him back on his tummy and this is always a tad frusterating for the wee lad.
You lookin' at me?