New Goal...

So I would like to say that I am going to try blogging once a week, but even that may be too ambitious with three kids!

Today I think Jack is a good topic. Everyone at work gets to hear my crazy Jack stories! This boy is definitely keeping mommy on her toes! He LOVES everything he isn't supposed to have! Batteries, markers, gum, butter...all in his mouth of course. And then there's the eggs on the floor, running from mommy when we have something we shouldn't, and let me tell you he is fast! I just wish he could TALK. I know that everyone tells me I shouldn't wish that but it would be so much better than the unrecognizable words he is still using at almost 2 1/2.

I feel partially responsible for his development. I play the "what if" game as in what if I had taken the shot they offered instead of just choosing to have the cesarean...how much longer would I have lasted? Same goes for Shelby but at the time I didn't think I had a choice. Now I know better...

Jack's fave song is "Tonight Tonight" by Hot Chelle Ray and his fave show is the "Upside Down Show". He is NOT interested in potty training! I thought maybe he would soon, but maybe I should wait until he can communicate that better.

He loves hummus and so it's a new thing he and I share before his nap; hummus and pretzels and a fruit. Then he gets something more kid style when he gets up from nap.

I am blessed to have such a happy boy and just hope and pray that he grows up to be a good man.

Life in general...

Life in general lately has been a downer...lots of sadness at work...crabbiness at home...so I am making an effort here and now to rectify the situation! I haven't blogged in over a year and I think getting back to putting my thoughts on "paper" will help my cause...I talk to the walls (kids and hubby) at home and don't get a response so we'll see what we get here! ;)

We went to California this past summer and had a great time! Jamie and Jack did not get to go so my goal is to get them out there soon. The weather is AMAZING and there is so much to see! I have realized though that there are many things here in Missouri that I have never even seen or done...hmmm...my goal list is already getting too long. Ha! Maybe I will make a bucket list here and see what I can accomplish. Life is too short to sit on your butt and be lazy, right??

Audrey is dancing and doing fantastic. She is definitely my performer! Third grade is going perfectly and she decided to try violin this year. Let's see if she keeps up with it!

Shelby is now in karate and is having a great time! I am so glad she has found something she likes! Karate is perfect because she doesn't have to keep up with anyone and her performance is solely dependent on her. It's perfect! She's really good, too! Fifth grade doesn't seem to be too hard yet...she likes her teacher and seems to be enjoying herself.

Jack...well, Jack's job is to keep me running! He is always in to something and keeps me crazy. His new thing is this show called "The Upside Down Show". Unfortunately there were only 13 episodes made so we watch the same thing over and over but it's the only thing he will sit still for! He is currently in speech therapy and making progress but we still have a long road ahead of us.

My camera is broken so the only photos I get now days are from my phone, but part of my new goal/plan is to get a new one or get mine fixed so we can capture these moments! I will post pictures very soon...you'll be amazed at how big the kids are all getting!

Whew...Summer Birthdays are OVER!

It's hard to imagine what life would be like with kid's birthdays spread out through the year...I don't get that. I get 3 birthdays from June 15th to July 10th. That's right folks...25 DAYS OF BIRTHDAY FUN! My idea is to always have combo birthday parties until they have a BIG one, like their 5th (before kdg) and then their 10th (double digits) and then their 13th (teen...OMG). Some may disagree but I am not paying for 3 parties in as many weeks! Anywho...this year was a fun BBQ with family and friends. All went well except for my jalepeno experience that left me kissing an ice pack for 40 minutes! Leigh and her kids, along with Cindy, her mother in law, came in from Nebraska! It was a rushed, but fun time.








So my Shelby turned 9 this year...Jack's little momma...

My little Audrey turned 7...spunky little blonde!






and Jack turned ONE! Oh don't worry...I'll put a better, more manly, picture up tomorrow. It's late and I thought this was cute for a stand in! Just pretending I have 3 girls...





Happy Amanda?!? :) I'll do more when I have time!

Springtime Is Here!

Yay! I love that the weather is getting warmer and the flowers are blooming! I don't always love the yardwork, but I'll deal with it! :) We seem to be busier lately...maybe it's the two committees I have joined at work. I am currently serving on the Mercy Service Team for Labor and Delivery and the Nursing Clinical Council for the hospital. Both seem to be positive and forward moving so I am excited to see what we can accomplish this year! The downside is that I seem to have lots of Tuesday meetings...less time to clean and play with Jack. :(

Jackson is now 10 months old. He is very mobile now, crawling everywhere! He likes to cruise around his crib, but I have found that that seems to be the only area he can cruise. I am going to work on rearranging the furniture to give him more area to walk. He now has 6 teeth and LOVES to use them. We pretty much are only giving him table foods...daddy seems to think that ice cream and cookies are acceptable foods too!

Audrey and Shelby are going to be playing softball this summer, which brings back lots of great memories. Audrey is playing for St. Norbert's in Florissant and Shelby is playing for Concord Baptist in South County. Let's just hope they don't have games on the same day...might be a big haul from one side of the city to the other! The doctor thinks Shelby has asthma and has given her an inhaler. I hope it is just seasonal and will not be too bad over the summer.

Birthday Season for the Birk family is well on its way. Jack is June 15th, Shelby June 29th, and Audrey July 10th. I think we will be having one big party, maybe at a park or something. Audrey didn't have an individual 1st birthday party so keeping with "being fair", which she is SO concerned about, we will not have a separate one for Jack either. Nana suggested the girls each taking a friend to Six Flags for their birthday since we just got season passes.

In addition to Birthday Season, our wedding anniversary is coming too, July 8th. 10 years this year...unbelievable! I can't believe how much our lives have changed in the past 10 years and am excited to see what's next!

January

I feel like there's not much to update, but here's what I CAN think of!

Jackson: Jack is now 7 1/2 months old...he still does not roll over, and he isn't interested in trying to crawl. He DOES however, LOVE to stand and all I keep thinking about is how Audrey started walking at 9 1/2 months! EEK! He is trying to pull up on his crib and toy basket and constantly wants me to hold his hands so that he can stand. He gets all giggly and starts bouncing, but is still kind of unstable and that is fine with me! :) He still only has two teeth, on the bottom, likes to squeal and make noise, but isn't saying anything yet. I still can't tell what color his hair is going to be...or his eyes for that matter! His hair looks blond in one light, and almost strawberry in another. His eyes are blue on the outer ring and brown on the inner. Who knows who he will end up looking like?!? Cute though...definitely cute!

Audrey: We have decided to quit...ok I decided to pull her from competing gymnastics. She's not thrilled about it, but I wasn't thrilled paying an arm and a leg for her to BEGIN learning all-around gymnastics. I am going to talk to the coach and see if she can just take one class/week instead of 6 hours/week and then get her and Shelby into swimming lessons. Pool time will be here before we know it! She is doing really well in school...her teacher's comments are things like "Audrey is working on giving her friends a chance to answer questions...and Audrey likes to help her friends when she is finished with her work...". We sometimes think she might need a little medicine too though with her non-stop talking and movement! :)

Shelby: Shelby is such a good kid...she is going through a lot of changes at school right now with the IEP we just put in place and she seems to be handling it all like a trooper! She is going to be having a few extra tests in the near future for something called Central Auditory Processing Disorder. The evaluators that worked on her IEP thought it might be a piece to the puzzle, and if so I think it's a BIG piece. It means she hears you, but can't process what you are saying. This disorder overlaps a lot with ADHD and looks similar, but auditory testing will prove whether this is affecting her or not. She still loves school and loves to help take care of Jackson! I think I am almost ready to teach her to change his diaper, but soon he will be able to get away from her so maybe not! :)

So I think that's about it for us this month! I kind of like when there's not a lot to tell...Calm is good!

The kiddos...

Jack went to the doctor today for his 6 month checkup and shots...yuck! Being the bad mom that I am, I forgot to take his binkie in to the office. He actually did really well with the shots and didn't cry too much until the soreness started to set in to those thunderthighs! He was 18.7 lbs which I didn't think was too bad! :) Both of those bottom teeth are fully through now thank goodness, hopefully now the runny nose will go away!

We had a meeting yesterday with Shelby's IEP team at school. For those of you that don't know, an IEP is an individualized education plan through Special School District. I asked for an SSD evaluation back in October because even though she is on medication for her ADHD, she is still really stuggling in her schoolwork. She did qualify for assistance through SSD which will be really helpful...but they also are going to take a look at something else that might be slowing her down. The screener seemed to think she might have a central auditory processing disorder (deficit?) and that might be what is causing many of her educational problems. I still have a lot to learn about it, but the counselor did give us a few papers with info and tips. Reading over it I found myself saying "yep" and "see...I told you it was something else" a lot! I am not excited for my beautiful, talented daughter to have another diagnosis, but I am intrigued as to why it has taken us this long to discover this as a possibility and how it may help her now that we have discovered it! Stay tuned for more updates on her progress!!

Audrey...well Audrey never ceases to crack me up! This evening she gave me part of a cookie she got at school during their holiday party. I was shocked that a parent paid to have Cookies by Design cookies made with their names and all. They had them for Halloween also and are delicious! I told her that the next time she got one she couldn't eat any of because I wanted to eat it all! She stated in a funny voice, "It's okay...I'm sure I'll get one for Easter...and I'll get two." She asked me how Jack did with his shots today. She can be a very caring person...and then manipulative and cunning all at the same time...I hope the next 11 years are kind to us, or at least she is! :)

Funny story and then I HAVE to go to bed...I was cleaning house last night and was wiping down the kitchen table. We have an Advent calendar on the table that has doors and holds candy inside. I decided to take a peek through the rest of the month because Audrey had 4 candies after dinner and I was confused. Not anymore! She must have been behind and was catching up to her sister...who has already eaten her candy all the way to Christmas Day! I questioned Shelby about it this evening and her only response was..."How did you know?!?"

Time...

I can't believe Jackson is already 6 months old. It really does seem like yesterday that we brought him home. I asked Shelby this evening if she even remembered how little he was when he was born and she said no. I remember exactly how tiny he felt when I picked him up...I miss that. But now we are heading into the last half of his first year and I want it all to slow down! He already has his two bottom teeth, they came in this last weekend. He is STILL not rolling over but is starting to at least become more active while playing. He LOVES his bath. I wish I could get a video of bathtime to post but everytime I try to video him or even take his picture, he freezes! No joke! It is the craziest thing. He stops laughing, playing, everything...it is really funny. His 6 month check up is this Wednesday so I will post stats as soon as I get them...too big...too fast!

The girls are both fantastic. Soccer is over for the season and now they are down to one activity each. Shelby is bringing her violin home for two nights every week and is showing us the songs she learns at school. I am glad she is interested in music...I think it is a good outlet for her.

Audrey is busy with gymnastics. Her first meet is coming up soon and should be interesting! She just got her aerial cartwheel tonight (no hands) which is awesome. Many of the older girls can't do one and she is only one of two in her level than can do one. She was pretty proud of herself! I will put up info for the meet as soon as I know more. I'm sure she would enjoy a few extra friends/family cheering her on! :)