25 weeks!

Just imagine what this tums gonna look like in 15 weeks...yikes! I think my expression communicates that pretty well in this shot. But, it's gonna be so worth it...can't wait to meet you little guy!

Finally a post!

An update for all our dedicated readers:
No move yet, I won't get into the details but know that we are doing well and trusting the Lord all along the way.
Since my last post lots has happened. We celebrated father's day for one and got a new puppy for two. Our new puppy's name is Bella Peppers she goes by Bella (yes I really liked that movie). My parents surprised us with her last saturday and she is simply adorable. However, she likes to pee anytime she comes inside so she spends most of her time frolicking in the back gated area. Maggie and Bella became instant buddies. I think Bella may just love Maggie as much as Maggie loves Bella. Maggie will say "come here Bella" and summon her with her hand. And, she hands Bella her chew toys. Tonight Tyler was calling for Bella and she wasn't obeying so Maggie got behind Bella's tushy and gave her a little nudge forward towards Tyler. Maggie also enjoyed her first taste of dog food tonight. She was picking it up and giving it to Bella at first, but then she figured what's good for Bella is just as good for her. And down it went before I could stop her. Oh the adventures to come with Maggie and her new buddy. Here are some pictures of our sweet little friend. Enjoy!
Maggie giving Tyler his father's day gift. The best daddy in the whole world. We are so incredibly thankful for this awesome daddy. I wish I were more eloquent with words, but even if I were I don't think I could express how much we love this man!
Maggie making a card for great grandpa.
Meet Bella.
Petting Bella.
Laying with Bella.

Missing Daddy but having more cousin fun!

Next week the Dirk's family is moving, so this week we are packing up the house. But, one of us is in Dallas for General Assembly making packing up a whole house with a one year old quite a task. Enter sweet angelic sister and nephew...they decided to come and help out by spending the week with Maggie and me. We are so thrilled and they have been a huge help and not to mention loads of fun. We are packing and having slumber parties 24/7. We pack a few boxes, have some cousin fun and then after the kids go down we have been having some awesome sister time. So, far we have viewed two chick flicks. We watched Bella and PS I love You. We highly recommend Bella...ps I love you...not so much. However, we have agreed that seeing this movie together was ten times better than watching it with our husbands seeing as how there could have been some major complaining about the cheesy ratio of this particular film. I am missing my hubby, but having sweet sister time/BFF time is pretty wonderful. Anybody know of a good chick flick for tonight?
Cousin bath time is always a splash!
See how much fun we're having.
Side note: I have slowly discovered this week my daughter's love of squishing her tiny tushy into small areas. For example, yesterday I found her sitting in a bumbo and then later in the day sitting in a cooking pot. Today, as we are packing Maggie decides to sit in this nice little shoe box. Pretty funny stuff.
Maggie also enjoyed sitting in Christine's suitcase today when she and Brody went out for the afternoon to visit a friend. Shhh don't tell auntie.

Kansas

We spent the last few days in Kansas with our family and friends. Tyler was asked to perform our pals Jenny and Frank's wedding and of course we were very willing to help out some friends in need. We headed out to Kansas City last wednesday and returned sunday. Maggie got a lot of great one on one time with the Dirks while Tyler and I had fun wedding festivities to attend. Here are a few pics from the week.
Maggie loved playing with her Grams.
She also enjoyed some quality time on Dog's lap.
Aunt Melodee was able to come out and visit too and Maggie just loved being around her aunt.
We stayed at Aunt Susan's house and our cousin Matthew, Maggie's second cousin was a load of fun. Maggie couldn't help but smile anytime Matthew made a funny face.
Matthew took us to one of Overland Park's finest public swimming pools, complete with two great big pools and big slides, diving boards and a baby area with fountains and a whale tongue to slide down. I don't have a picture of the whale but you'll have to trust me on this, Maggie loved it. She was a little nervous at first but after she got used to the water she thought she could swim by herself and hardly wanted us to hold her at all when we hit the pool.
When we got back to the house Maggie took Matthew's old jeep out for a spin.
Maggie also got the chance to meet her Great Uncle Arlan and Great Grandma Opal for the first time!
This is the groom Frank. He and Tyler were roommates for one year in college.
This is the beautiful bride with one of their fun cups at the reception. She was beautiful and so was the wedding. You could really see their personalities come out in every aspect of the wedding, rehearsal and reception. They are such fun people and we were so glad to be a part of their big day.
Here we are with the bride and groom their love was contagious... and we couldn't help ourselves. Thanks for having us out you two, we had a fabulous trip!

Cousins

Check out my sisters blog for cousin extravaganza week a few weeks ago http://expandingtylers.blogspot.com/ Sorry I'm not clever enough to know how to link you there myself.

Missing Caleigh

Once we got back into Charlotte all Maggie could talk about was how much she missed her good buddy Caleigh. So, we let her invite her over for some fun in the pool. Maggie loves her friend so much...I think these pictures speak for themselves...but of course I will dialogue for them.
"Here Caleigh have a duck..."
"Here have a ball.... no really I insist"
"I love my friend Caleigh"

Fun in the Sun!

To all my faithful readers I apologize for the lack of blogging lately. And, I can't promise it will get much better this next month. We have a pretty busy June ahead of us complete with a couple of trips and one big moving day. But, I will do my best to keep all of you family and friends up to date with the Dirks family happenings. To make up for my lack of blogging lately I am stuffing this post with lots of pictures from our recent family beach trip with the Zaepfels. We just got back and these pics are hot off the press. We had a great time and wish we could stay another week or two or three enjoying the Isle of Palms.
In this picture Maggie is not quite afraid of the waves, but she developed a healthy fear when they knocked her on her tush a couple of times. So, we mostly played in tide pools and with sand.
Maggie really enjoyed the beach with her daddy. Tyler dug several wonderful holes for Maggie to enjoy. This is the makings of one of them.
After a hot day by the ocean Maggie really enjoyed chowing down on some watermelon.

Maggie really enjoyed hanging out with her cousin Brody. I think that we are talking about the upcoming election or something political here.



This was one of our favorite things to do on the beach. Other favorite things included walking up and down the beach and pointing at anything and everything, but mostly dogs or Poppa, Grandma or "Bro-bee" also called "bro."
Enjoying Uncle Peter.
Enjoying a snack in the monkey chair with Grandma.
Maggie also enjoyed the pool at the house. By the end of the week she had turned into a real beach bum.