Brennon

Brennon's pregnancy was the hardest of any of them. Since I got pregnant with him when Shelby was only 4 months old, my bones didn't have time to heal. So, as Brennon grew, so did my pain. Then comes the blessed day of his birth where my epidural doesn't work, so I have him natural. All the pain I had endured the last 5 months was nothing compared to the pain of those three hours. After he was born, he had colic. Extreme colic. I felt bad just "waiting" for him to grow up so he'd stop crying. 6 months later his colic ended, but his crying didn't. He was 15 months and not crawling yet. He would cry for everything. I was exhausted. Now, three years after his birth, I look back at that time without the least bit of regret. I look at him now and see what he's become through his trials. I see his sweet personality. His adorable lisp as he sounds out new words and phrases. As we were eating desert last night, he exclaimed, "This is delicious," although it sounded more like, "This is de-with-uth." As I write this now, he's twirling in the front room saying, "Mom, look at me." He is such a warrior. He is my sweet Brennon. Although life was truly a challenge with him as an infant, life without him would never be complete. Happy Birthday Brennon!!! I'm grateful for every minute I get with you.

B-boy's B-day Party

Ahoy, Maties!

We celebrated Brennon's birthday last night the same way we celebrated Shelby's last month. Pizza, cake, and perfect company!!! The only difference? I made his cake. And liked it!

I want you to pay attention to his cute sausage link fingers. Aren't they so pudgy and cute?!

I found this cake in a magazine this week and knew I could do something similar. It was super fun and super easy.

I think Brennon likes Hailey and Kennedy just as much as Shelby:) That's who he wanted to invite as well.

They gave him a football. I think it's a hit! Thank you Lynn family for such a fun gift!!!

This made me laugh. How many people does it take to put together a Fisher Price Little People Garage? This gift has been played with a ton in the few hours he's had it. I love toys like that. In fact, Caden and Keilie were playing with it together. For a while. Without arguing! Happy Birthday my sweet, Brennon. You make our lives perfection.

Luckiest girl alive!

I felt so lucky on Wednesday when I got an appointment for Ty down in Utah to get his tubes. I feel even luckier today! Randy saw an ENT in the OR today and joked around with him that we had to go all the way down to Utah because they were so backed up. The doctor said, "Uh-uh. Let me make a call." He called his nurse right then and said that he needed to see Tyson Dirks today at 1:00. We took Ty in today and have a surgery schedule here in Casper on Friday, March 4!!! How wonderful it is to have a husband that has these kinds of connections. I'm sad I won't get to spend time with my mom, but glad I don't have to make that drive. Here's the sad news about today. He still has fluid in his ears. After those SIX shots he got this week! He NEEDS these tubes! Here's to doctors that care! Here, Here.

Dinner Disaster

My friend, Kim makes the BEST oriental chicken salad I've ever tried in my entire life. I crave this stuff. Even when I'm not pregnant. I tried a recipe from the Internet that sounded like her recipe. It wasn't! Caden made a face the instant it hit his tongue, but ended up gagging it down. Keilie just gagged and gagged until she finally had to spit it out. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't Kim's either. Randy was joking around that since it was such a cheap meal, we'd have it once a week. In his best Italian accent, he raised one hand and proclaimed, "We'll have it to tempt our taste buds." To which Keilie replied, "To tempt our throw up!" How can you not love this girl! Kim, I'm emailing you for the recipe today:) The dinner wasn't all bad. Here is a recipe that I tried yesterday that will go in my recipe file.

Praline Sauce

1 stick butter

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 t. Vanilla

3 T. Milk

1/4 Walnuts, chopped

Melt butter in Medium sauce pan. Add Brown Sugar. Bring to a boil then remove from heat. Add Vanilla, Milk, and nuts. Allow to cool completely, it will thicken as it sits. YUMMY!!!

Surgery Scheduled

I took Ty in yesterday for another ear check. I knew he wasn't better because he had two days of happiness and then he was back to crying constantly. He just seemed agitated all the time. My suspicions were correct. He still had one in the left ear, and the right looked worse than it did before the antibiotic shot. I asked Dr. Vigneri if he had any pull to get us into see his dad, the ENT, any sooner. He said the only way he could do that is if Ty was in the hospital with something much worse than what he had. Ty was given another dose of the medicine and has to go back for a third dose again today. He said that is his last resort, however, the three doses of this medicine always gets rid of infection. It better, it's a two part shot each time. He has two bruises on his left leg and will probably get another one today! Anyway, I called down to an ENT in Ogden that can get me in for a consult on Tuesday, March 1st and the surgery on March 2nd! I CAN'T wait. I'm so glad I don't have to wait until March 28th for the consult!!! So, Sunday I'm packing up my kids and heading down to paradise. No, not San Diego, it's just Roy. But with the peace that will come after these tubes, it might as well be paradise!

Voices

I love the stage when kids say the funnest things. That stage is now for Shelby. Here's her recent conversation with Keilie.

Shelby: "I sound like Shelby."

Keilie: "You are Shelby."

Shelby: (Annoyed voice) "I KNOW. And I talk like her."

She does have the cutest voice if I do say so myself!

New Website

Ordering your food storage just got a whole lot easier. Check out my new website at www.StephanieDirks.shelfreliance.com. You will always get the party price when you order from this site. This is the lowest prices you'll see, even online straight from the company! You'll get up to 45% off Food Rotation Systems, and 20% off THRIVE food. I also wanted to remind you that we have a club that helps you get your food storage monthly. It's called the Thrive Q. If you've ever rented movies from Netflix, you'll know how to use Thrive Q. You customize your 12 month food supply to your family's taste. Then, you tell me which day you'd like the money to be taken from your credit card and food storage will be sent to your door monthly. No stress included! This would work well for those of you that think each month that you need to start your food storage, but don't! I can set it up for you and help you get a shipment as soon as possible. Check out my website and let me know if you have any questions. I LOVE food storage. Also note that there are recipes on my website to help you cook with the stuff you may already have. Awesome! Let's get your "Food Insurance!"

Birthday Poll

Randy and I were talking about Brennon's birthday this morning. There are two ways to look at it, so I thought I would put up a poll to see what everyone thinks. It'll be on the top right, so just quickly put your opinion.

*Brennon's birthday is the last day of February, so we should celebrate it February 28th.

*February 29 is the day after the 28th, so we should celebrate it the day after the 28th, the 1st.

Here's a funny story that happened yesterday with our little B-Boy. We went to the church for a food storage group with the Relief Society. There were cleaners there at the same time. When a man came in to switch out our garbage, Brennon runs to me screaming, "He took our garbage." He couldn't believe it. It was super cute.

Brenda

Yesterday was both an exciting and sad day for Brennon. It was his last day for Occupational therapy.

May 2009, Brennon was accepted into the Child Development Center's program to help him with his gross motor skill development. He wasn't crawling and was having difficulty with the strength/courage to even try. This is when we met Brenda.
From day one, Brennon has LOVED Brenda. She was the only person that Brennon would actually let hold him other than Randy and I. She has been such a huge part of Brennon's life, it's hard to see her go. The hardest part for me is that Brennon doesn't understand that we're not going back. He's said goodbye to her many times over the months, but none were this permanent. We will miss her terribly.

This time was so good for Brennon. It's easy to get lost in all the chaos that is the Dirks' life, so this was a time for Brennon to shine. He loved the one-on-one time with her. She ended up having to find harder toys for him. Once he figured something out, he was on to the next task. There were a few things that she brought that he loved to do more than once, but for the most part, he was looking for something different. Brenda always had the funnest things for him to do.

Thank you Brenda for taking our little guy and molding him into the little man he is today. We couldn't have done half of what you've done for us. Thank you more than we can express in words. We LOVE you. We're lucky to know you.

Tubes

Since January 1st (when we took Ty in for his first ear infection) I've given him his antibiotic for the 7-10 days that it asked for, waited a week after the meds were gone, and went in for an ear check to find out that the antibiotic hadn't worked. He still had his ear infection. We've done that each time. He has now had four different antibiotics and his ears are still infected. We're getting tubes. The infuriating part is that Casper is so backed up with ENT work that I have my "CONSULTATION" on March 28. This is where I go in, pay our $20 co-pay for them to tell me that he needs tubes. After I just paid $20 to find out that he's still got the infection. Then they will schedule the surgery. Who knows how many more infections he'll have till then. As for me, I'm ready for tubes 4 weeks ago! There has been more crying in this house the last 6 weeks than there has been the last 6 months. And most of it is me! It looks like Randy's birthday present this year will be a good night's sleep after Ty gets these tubes!

Couch Potato

While Brennon was sick he slept most of the day. He would only wake when I forced liquids down his throat. It was pretty pathetic. His sad eyes were even sadder. He would look up at me and say, "I'm tired. I want to go to bed,"or "I'm coldies. I need my blankie." However, he only wanted to nap on the couch. He didn't want to miss any of the action going on. And we all know that there is always action at the Dirks house!!

If we tried to put him in his bed, he'd usually find his way back to the couch and fall instantly asleep. No matter how uncomfortable it was!
He wanted to make sure that the other animals didn't feel left out while he was sleeping on the couch, so he let them have a sleep over in the pan cupboard.

How thoughtful!

16 months

Sometimes it hits me pretty hard that my baby isn't so much a baby anymore. He just turned 16 months on Sunday! Nursery in just 8 more Sundays:) Party!!!
I took these pictures last week when we were all pretty sick. This was his pedialite breakfast.
He saw the camera and gave me his signature "cheese."
And a cute expression I can't quite explain.

Doesn't he look so big? My little man is getting older and it makes me sad. Although, I am still SO glad I'll never be pregnant again. I will sleep through the night forever more:)

Valentine's Day 2011

Tonight, Randy took me to Johnny J's for dinner. I had a really good Grilled Chicken Salad(I love their Ranch dressing), and he had a Mushroom Swiss burger with a Caramel Shake. We then headed up Casper Mountain for a drive-in movie.
Randy put the air mattress in the back of our trailblazer and we were set. With our Whoppers, Junior Mints, Red Vines, Lindt chocolates, homemade white chocolate covered strawberries, and Sparkling cider we were ready for the show. We rented "Life as we know it." It was ok.
I came home to my last surprise of the day. Roses and chocolate covered strawberries from ProFlowers. It was a perfect night. This is our 11th valentines day. Time is going so fast!
And so perfect!!

Shelby's world

(While getting ready for dinner.)

Enter Shelby.

Mommy: "Go get into your seat, Shelby."

Shelby wandering around, dazed.

Mommy: "Shelby, I said go get into your seat."

Shelby: "Oh, I don't speak Spanish."

Kitty

Since Shelby was a Kitty for Halloween, she now refers to this black shirt as her "Kitty Shirt."

When we were getting ready for our family pictures(you have to look closely in the picture below to be able to tell that she's even wearing it), Shelby was telling everyone that she was wearing her kitty shirt. We needed to explain, because it so obviously has nothing to do with kitties.
Last night Shelby was wearing this beloved shirt while Randy was getting Caden and Keilie ready for the Monster Truck Winter Nationals, when Shelby asked, "Do they let kitties go?" We love that she refers to herself as a kitty any time she's wearing this shirt. Cute!

Laryngitis Anonymous

Hello, my name is Stephanie Burrell Dirks. I am a recovered laryngitist. It's been 2 hours since you could hear my voice. Although it's not completely back to normal, it's a huge improvement over yesterday and especially Thursday. I'd like to thank my family and friends for their love and support which helped me overcome this trial. I come to you today to pledge and promise to gladly give up any and all addictions that will ever tie me to this tragedy again, such as coughing, colds, raising my voice when I'm losing it, and sleepless nights. I will not go looking for these things again, and I hope they will not come looking for me. I ask for your continued support and patience in this area. Thank you!

LOL!

Today has been fun and it's only 10:20!

* As Shelby was struggling to get a pickle-her breakfast choice- out of the jar she said, "I can't get one. They're hyper."

*She asked me why I can't talk. I said I'd lost my voice. In her cute panic voice she said, "We need to find mommy's voice. It's lost."

*We made some cookies for our party tonight. Shelby walks into the kitchen and proclaims, "Something smells delicioso." I guess she liked 13 going on 30. Fabuloso!

* Keilie told me she can jump higher than a mountain. As she jumped her high, impressive jump she explained, "Because mountains can't jump."

Although it's been hard to talk with the kids, it is fun to see them whisper back when I ask them something. Kind of like when a mom whispers a primary talk to a child and they whisper it into the mic. It's just as fun. But way more frustrating! I joked to my friend yesterday that I felt like Ariel minus the seashell bra. I'm glad I don't have to wear seashells!

Chastised

I've decided it's really hard to have laryngitis when you're a mom. I can't get the kids to do anything without trying to find them first. I might as well do everything by myself by that time. Anyway, as I was dropping Shelby off for preschool today, she threw up all over the floor. As I was cleaning it up, thinking it couldn't get any worse, I had a thought. Heavenly Father was chastising me! Not one of these cute kids has Cancer. Not one of these kids is missing. Not one of these kids has to be victim of abuse. Not one of these kids has a life altering disease. Each of these kids goes to bed with full tummies (when they're not sick). Each of these kids has both a mommy and a daddy. Each of these kids knows their Heavenly Father. So, although we've been sicker than we ever have been before (all at once) we're blessed. Since I can't say a word, I'll ponder these thoughts in my head. Sickness isn't the end of the world!

Ding- we're done!

Shelby had a hard time falling asleep last night. I thought it was just the chaos with the power. Nope. She woke up saying her ear was sick. AGAIN! I'm not sure how it has happened, but she's been ear infection free for a year since her tubes have fallen out- let alone the year she had them in- and now has had three ear infections in a month and a half. WHY? I thought I had my share of ear infections when Shelby had 17 ear infections in the six months before she turned 1! Well, seeing as Ty has had two since January 1st, I had Dr. Vigneri check his ears to see if they had healed from last Monday (this is the one that had lingered since New Year's Day). Nope, he's got a double ear infection. These stupid infections come just mere hours from them getting over their fevers from the last few days. I'm DONE with sickness. I'm so done, I am left speachless. With laryngitis!! Thankfully the other kids are finally eating again. I know that my husband works in hospitals/clinics, so I should be grateful we're not constantly sick with all he's exposed to, but for goodness sake, I'd rather be sick a little here and there instead of two weeks straight without reprieve. Or better yet, NEVER SICK!!! Wishful thinking from a woman that's sick in the head. Literally! Look on the bright side... Things could always be worse.

Power problems

Flooding. It's happened to us twice. Both times in August! Last night we had a scare!!! Here's the story.

After the first flood, we had a plumber come out and put in a second sump pump. A couple of weeks later, Randy had him come back out and tie them together so that if the first pump stops working, the water would flow into the second pump and it would pump it out. This gave us a little more ease when it came to our water problem. But not completely. Randy has tried to come up with many different ideas to stop the problem, from digging a trench, to tunneling it off of our lot, to hooking it to the sewer, and so on. One of the ideas that we were waiting for our tax returns we now know should have taken care of sooner. A generator. Last night the power went off at 10:00. The weird thing is that it didn't just go out, it kind of fizzled out. Well, this has been a fear for a while. We know what would happen if the power went out for an extended period of time. Another flood. Randy called Rocky Mountain and found out that they didn't know the cause. Randy jumped in the car and headed to Walmart. He knows the one he wants to buy at Home Depot, so he was upset that he was going to have to buy crap just for this one night. Anyway, Walmart didn't have any. We thought we were out of luck. Seeing as it was now after 11:00, Randy was hesitant, but desperate for anything. He was calling everyone he knew. Our friend, Josh came through. Like he always does for everyone. Everytime! He not only let us borrow his, but he helped Randy load the mammoth heavy generator into his own Tahoe since it wouldn't fit in Randy's charger. Without a single thought. So generous. Randy got it home and we got to work. Since it was negative11, we had to work fast. Randy pulled the cord for more than 20 minutes with nothing. We then tried to jump start it. Nothing. I was praying as if my life depended on it. After 30 minutes of trying without any hope, we decided to bring it in the house and let it warm up. That was our last hope. Randy called Rocky Mountain again and found out it would be back on at 1:00. It was 12:30. Only 1/2 hour left. We turned on the fireplace (although the blowers wouldn't work) and tried to stay warm. The heat was dropping in our house fast. -11 degrees will do that! At 12:45 Randy called again to see if there was another update. There was, 2:30 now. We freaked. We tried the generator again. IT WORKED!!! We ran an extension cord from the back door, down the laundry chute, and to the pump. How wonderful the sound!! As we were walking on air, Randy stepped outside for a minute to look down the street, hoping for good news. And boy did we find it. The lights were back on! At 1:03 the lights came back on. We only had the generator for about 5 minutes, but it was just what we needed. We now know that is what we need. Randy's going to Home Depot today, tax return or not. A look on the bright side... our basement won't flood if the power goes out for 3 hours. Thanks SO SO SO much to Kim and Josh for being the kind of friends that would sacrifice so much to help someone in need. We love you guys so much. You are the most selfless, generous, wonderful friends.

B-Boy

Do you remember these cute pictures? Brennon's 1st birthday.

Can you believe it's been two years already?

For some reason it is more weird for Brennon to be turning three than it is for Shelby to turn four, or even Keilie to be baptized in 6 months.

I'm struggling with this little guy getting older. I didn't say bigger, because no one could get bigger than this:)

I do miss these ROLLS! Such a Buddha!!

I'm not sure I can handle my kids getting older. It's ripping my heart out! Next year we will actually get to have a birthday party on his actual birthday. I love every four years for that reason. We'll probably do a frog cake to commemorate Leap Year!

Sick of being sick!!

There are some people that think we're crazy for having three kids in three years. It has never really been a problem for me. I've never felt like we've made a mistake. I've never truly felt that it was too much for me to handle, except for those rare stressful times where they are all crying for me at the same time. Yesterday was one of those days! I had to pick Caden up from school at 3:30, however all three were clawing at me, looking up with their sad, red eyes, begging for me to pick them up. All At Once. I laid them down side by side and took each of their temperatures, taking the thermometer from one bum to the next. It started with Brennon at 101.7, Tyson at 101.7, and then Shelby at 102.7. I could feel the heat radiating off of her skin. I got three syringes full of Tylenol, shot each of them up with meds, and ran out the door to pick up Caden. As I was driving, I was almost in tears at the thought that my kids were all so sick and I didn't have enough lap, enough arms, enough strength to hold them all at once. They all needed me to hold them close and I couldn't! When I got home, I went down with the kids to watch Kung Fu Panda. I pulled Shelby close into the right side, Brennon close into the left side, and Ty sat right on top. That's the best I can do. Two kids was never an option for us. Can you imagine my life, or this world for that matter, without Shelby, Brennon, and Ty? It's too painful. However, it does make me sad that they had to share me when they were all feeling so completely miserable. I've had a fever of 102.5. I wanted to die! They're still not 100%, but they're on the mend. Thank goodness. I'm not sure my heart could last another day like yesterday.

Sled

Randy is home with me every second that he's not at work. This makes it easy for me to allow him to buy things like this...

so that he can have a break/hobby/guy time. I know that there's a chance he could be gone every weekend during snow season, but I also know he'll be home with me every other minute he can. We love doing things together as a family. We even all get in the car to pick someone up, or so mom can run into the store for a gallon of milk, or so dad can run into Home Depot to get more trim for mom's demanding projects. We love being together! But, I wanted him to have time away from the stress of family life sometimes. To do things he loves. And I KNOW he loves snowmobiling. So, I'm sad to say that at this very minute he's on his way down to Fort Collins, Colorado to sell his beloved sled. We've made a plan to pay as much to the house as possible so that we can be completely debt free by the time Randy's 37. This is his answer. He also says that he feels guilty having a toy that only he can enjoy. So, goodbye loved hobby. Hello financial freedom. Although I'm sad to see it go, it does feel nice to make such a huge payment to the mortgage!

Curtains

I've always hated that my curtains have an extra layer that they didn't sew down. Each time our heat/air conditioner turned on, it would make the curtains fan out, trapping the air, stopping it from heating/cooling the room.

But after the last few days where the temperature has been -21 with a wind chill of -54 and we've all had fevers, I don't mind too much, because...

It makes the perfect tent to warm the kids. They crawl under and get as warm as they want. Which hasn't been warm enough with the fevers. After this week, I'll want the curtains sewn again!

Funny Story

I first tried these at my friend Alicia's house and fell in love with them. Since, I've purchased at least 20 boxes, and I've only known about them for 3 months! We're addicted. As I was looking around for things to purchase for Shelby's 4th birthday, I saw these and thought she might like her own box. I was right!! As she was opening her gift bag she first pulled out the ballerina bear she's been carrying around non-stop since Saturday, and the ballerina swimsuit she hasn't taken off since then as well without so much as an exclamation of joy. She then proceeded to rip the two movies and CD out without a care in the world. They were flying over her shoulder as if they were discarded outfits before a first date. Anyway, the last item to be pulled out of the bag was our beloved fruit strips. She pulled them out with a gasp that said, "I just won the publishers clearing house," or, "I've just been crowned Miss America." I guess we know what she wants for every birthday/Christmas/gift giving holiday:)

Book of Mormon Challenge

Our Bishop has given us a challenge to read the Book of Mormon as a family this year. We've been reading together for a while now, but have had no such goal. We just read. So, I went on to find the Book of Mormon reading chart that I had when I was a child and came across one that I thought was even cuter. It kind of reminds me of the Missionary countdown that some of my friends had for their missionaries. So, our goal as a family is to finish by the year's end. In a recent study, the Book of Mormon was found to be one of the "Top 20 books the has changed America." I believe it. I know it's true. Randy and I once saw a marquee for a Baptist church that read, "Don't read the Book of Mormon. That's where they get ya." Read it for yourself. Pray to know if it's true. It will change your life! I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true. I can't wait to accomplish our goal!!!

p.s. If you want a copy of this cute chart, leave a post and I'll mail it to you!