No thanks- I think I'll pass!

Today we found out some pretty sad news. The glare that we've been seeing in Caden's left eye (since we got our new camera) is an eye disease that was formed (or underdeveloped) in- utero. We found out that Caden has been legally blind in that eye his whole life. That's why he never knew to tell us he had a problem. The condition is called, "Refractive Amblyopia."

The eye wasn't developed, so when his left eye would try and focus, everything came out blurry. After a while, the brain gets mixed signals from both eyes, one that is normal, bigger, and closer and one that is blurry, smaller, and farther away (Caden's left eye), and then completely ignores that image. In this case, making it so that his left eye and brain don't have to work, making it a "lazy" eye. Because we didn't catch it early enough, he will never have good vision. We will be doing techniques to make his left eye stronger, make his brain remember his left eye, and hopefully get his brain to use both eyes. There is no hope that he will see well ever. He will have to have a lense replacement when he is 18. I was scared it was cataracts- now I would KILL for them. At least those can be removed and vision restored. This is not the case with Caden. This is hereditary, so Dr. Larsen said I have to bring in all of my kids and grandkids. The optimal time is at one year for ALL kids. Why don't they tell us that? They push health, shots, and teeth, but not eyes. The earlier you catch this, the easier it is to get vision corrected. I have an appointment for all three on the 14th! Here's what scares me. Below, you'll see that Tyson's eyes are glowing. That was the big tip off for Caden. I sure hope that Tyson doesn't have it (although it's likely that if I have one, I'll have more.) It makes me sad to think that Caden has never been able to see well out of that left eye, but terrifies me that Tyson has TWO reflective eyes.

I know that Heavenly Father doesn't give us more than we can handle, but I'm pretty freaked out right now. I'm not sure what the next days, months, and even years hold, but right now, I just want to go back to bed!

Love, Love, Love her!

I was doing a photo shoot for Shelby's birthday card and got some good ones. I decided to go with another look, but couldn't pass on posting this cute pose. I love when they aren't concerned about their smiles, so they smile so naturally. I still can't believe she's going to be THREE!

Camera Fun!

I found this self portrait of Shelby taken by Shelby on my camera. Pretty cute. She also took about 15 of Brennon sleeping in his crib:) What a cutie!

Come Play With Us!

Come play in the snow with us!!

Christmas Tale

Tyson would like to take 30 seconds and tell you how much fun he had this Christmas!

3 Sided...

FIREPLACE!!

View of the computer "room" from the landing of the stairs.
View of the family room (and fireplace) from the computer "room."

View of the computer "room"(and fireplace) from family room.

We love our new fireplace. It separates the two rooms and looks super sharp! Now we just need to finish the rest.

Gingerbread Houses

The Randy Dirks family Gingerbread house!
What house is complete without a snow fort?

The Ryan White family Gingerbread house!

The Stephen Dirks family Gingerbread "candy shop!"

The Dan Dirks family Gingerbread house!

What a fun new tradition Sherry and Natalie started this year. Next year we'll be prepared!

Merry Christmas

The mail is not as efficient as it has been in other years, so we still have not received our cards from my cousin yet. They should have been here Tuesday, but still have not come on Wednesday. I'm patiently- but not so patiently- hoping they'll come on Thursday. However, we've decided last minute to travel to Utah, so I might not get these sent out till next week. So, to those of you waiting to get a card from us, here it is:) Merry Christmas to all!!

Who do I love?

While driving in the car, I like to play the "Me" game. I ask a question where the answer is me. Brennon was almost asleep, so I started the game. I asked, "Who do I love?" Shelby instantly said, "Me." I said, "Brennon, who do I love?" In his seriously adorable tired whisper he said, "Delby." I couldn't stop laughing.

Nicknames

Brennon, B-Boy, Boo's, B-Boo, Boozie, Bugsy, Bee, Bruiser, Coock's, Boog, Walker

( Apparently 1 just isn't enough! )

Twins

We ALWAYS get asked if they're twins. Well, they're one year, one month, and one day apart, one pound difference, and both have such blond hair. What do you think? They are really close! I hope they stay such good friends!!

So Lucky!!

I'm so Lucky!! Randy's such a good dad.

My Princess Pie

I sent three pictures to my cousin and had her face swap Shelby and Tyson's face to make this final perfect nativity picture. She put it on this card, changed the color from the original on her blog, and came up with three others. She really did a great job. This is not the one that we chose, but it's my second favorite of the four she sent. She really is creative and has some AWESOME ideas. Check out her blog at http://www.myprincesspie.blogspot.com/ for some great cards. Merry Christmas!!

Teddy Bear Tea Party

Wyoming Cares hosted a Mommy, Teddy, and Me Tea party on Saturday. Keilie and I got to attend. Here is me with my princess all ready to go.

They had cute little sets for everyone. There were about 100 women and children there! You had a choice between iced tea, lemonade, hot chocolate, or coffee.
I Love Love Love this face of Keilie's. She had such a good time!

I just loved this face. She looks so pained to have her face painted!

The finished product. She still doesn't look too thrilled:)

They had a place for coloring. She chose to color a picture for Caden.

Here is the prize for the Cupcake walk. Every girl won. I wish we could have played!!

We won the silent auction. It's kind of sad, but we won this for only $20. All the proceeds go to helping needy kids around Casper. This was probably purchased for $20. People weren't too generous there. In fact, this was the highest winner out of 5!

When Shelby saw Keilie's face paint, she decided to do one of her own!! Thank goodness it's washable:)

I think this will be a tradition. It's for girls age 3-7, so next year I'll have two girls- Keilie for her last time and Shelby for her first! Thanks Keilie for a special day. I Love you Princess!

Coincidence- I think not!

More "Burrell" look with "Burrell" middle names...

Keilie "Ann"- Ann has been passed down for a while.
Brennon "Wayne"- Papa Burrell

More "Dirks" look with "Dirks" middle names...
Caden "Randy"- obvious.

Shelby "Jacquelyn"- Grandma Dirks

Tyson "Darwin"- Papa Dirks

Kind of fun!

Here's another one... Keilie and Brennon have dark eyes- like mine. Caden, Shelby, and Tyson have blue eyes, like Randy!! They just keep comin' and comin'!

Tux

Just in case he grows too fast before we actually bless him! (It happened to Keilie:))

Love It!

My favorite Thanksgiving moment!!

Shelby sure enjoyed Grandpa:)

Winner, Winner, Turkey Dinner!

"No one guessed exact."

I weigh 12 pounds even!!!

Auntie Jamie won the closest guess. She wins a $25 gift certificate to help her thighs get as plump as mine:)

Thanks to all that played.

Happy Thanksgiving!

From: The Dirks' newest butterball turkey:)

Guess if you can!

I got this idea from a friend's blog and loved it so much I had to do it too! Tyson is now 6 weeks and is growing too fast. It's funny to think that the doctor kept telling me he'd be 7 and a half pounds and came out a whole pound more:) I put him on the scale tonight to see what he weighs and was amazed. He's not 8 pounds 9.8 ounces anymore. So, I'm going to give you a chance to win a prize if you can guess his weight now. Look carefully at all his rolls and guess:)

I know my scales isn't as accurate as the doctor's scale, but it's close enough for me. When commenting, know that my scale measures in .2 increments- such as 20.4. Good Luck! Winner selected on Thursday Morning!!

Memories

Here are some pictures we just got saved from a crashed computer. Yeah!!!

Keilie 18 Months
Caden 3 years!

Man, the time is going too fast!!

Plain to see!

Isn't it obvious that this is the best place for cereal?

What doesn't belong?

"What's in that closet?" you may ask!

It's this girl...

Hiding.

Why?

Which binkie doesn't belong?

It's Happening:)

We can now officially say that Brennon is walking when he chooses. If it's his idea, he loves it. If you bribe him with candy or a toy, he chooses to walk. If he knows you really want him to walk to you, he doesn't choose to! He's walking along the walls more now, and can right himself when he starts to stumble. I love this new development. It makes me happy. I hope to have him walking exclusively by Christmas. He'd then be 22 months! Oh, and listen for his cute sound when I ask him to smile at the end. He ALWAYS does this when asked to smile:)

4 Weeks

4 weeks

of absolute

HAPPINESS

Surprise!!

A present from Medtronic. Man, I love this company! The cool thing is that the blue elephant matches his bedding PERFECTLY. We now joke that they have hidden cameras in our house:) I love that the ear has his name and birthdate. This is just so awesome!

Haircut

Who needs a haircut more? It's a toss up:)

My Girl

"My Girl" and I were watching "My Girl" on Netflix last night. When it came to that sad part in the funeral home, I hear SOBBING. I look over at this cutie and see her in tears beyond her control. I ask her what the matter was- since she'd come home from school with a headache- and all she can do is point at the computer. I was so shocked. We've watched countless chick flicks and she's never shown that much emotion. I can see many more bonding moments in the future. Man, I'm lucky! I love my cute little girl that's growing up so fast.