Funny Kids

Of all of the kids Andy pauses every time Ali is in reach to give her a hug. He can’t get close enough to her. Yesterday he kept trying to bite her head. He really loves her! I think it is that he his only 18 months, but at this point he doesn’t seem jealous. When I am feeding her he just does his own thing except the occasional pause to “love her.”





This picture shows that it was "love at first sight."


My mom was with us last week helping while I recovered and got used to being the mother of four. She wrote my sister Connie, on a mission, and filled the letter with funny things that the kids did and said over the week. I guess I am accustom to their quirky ways so I hardly noticed. It was fun to have her point out a few things. I stole the following excerpts from the letter she wrote.

“Andy has shoes that he wears all the time now so he can walk outside. He walks like a robot, very slow and cautious, gets down to crawl over the elevator threshold, and if the sidewalk gets a little bumpy. When I let him out of the car to walk to the store he just heads out, doesn’t matter what direction, just going, doesn’t know his name or at least doesn’t respond. I think he is going the way of gravity actually.



“Cara loves her ‘siser’ and she is so proud to tell everyone her ‘siser’ is here. The first night Cara made a bed on the floor by Ali’s crib. She was up with Carrie at each feeding. Carrie was so excited to call Cara and tell her it was a girl. Cara nonchalantly replied something like, "My baby siser is here." She already knew it was a Sister. She was excited after the phone call. I was with her and she was ready to go see her siser.

“Caleb was holding the baby at he hospital for about two seconds when Cara yelled ‘He’s not taking turns!’



“Caleb has been telling me what keeps him busy. He is in two clubs a rock club and a deer club. In the Deer Club they make a plan: ‘we find the deer and sneak up on it, when it is under a tree, then we get our deer-whackers and wack’em until they are dead.’ I asked what they do after they kill them and he said ‘we eat um.’

“As for the Rock Club, he asked me if I thought Connie would let Mia [her dog] be in his rock club. I asked what he does in his club and why he would need her. He said he and Issac get all kinds of rocks. They need Mia to help find them, and then she is to dig them up. I caught him out on the tailgate of my truck, in his yard, with rocks lined up. (The back of the truck full of little girls.) I asked what he was doing, ‘I’m selling rocks grandma.’ He had all of his and Cara’s money outside, I guess for change. He told me, ‘We sell some and we give some away.’ He’s quite the businessman.

“I asked the kids to dance for me one night. Josh played the guitar while Andy bounced, hardly getting his feet off the floor. Caleb is a bit crazy of course, although he does have some sharp moves like a rap singer. Cara showed me some ballet moves. I asked her where she learned ballet, she said, ‘from my pajamas.’ She has ballerina PJ’s with dancers in different poses. She would study her PJ’s then show me the move."

Ali Pictures

As requested here are a few pictures of perfect baby Alice.


This is the Kirk baby leg stretch. I think she tried to do that in my tummy too.


This one makes me laugh. Look at how paitent she is with Andy's loves. This was after he pulled the flower off of her head. I think she will be a headband girl because Andy can't stand for a bow or flower to be glued on her. This also shows her size next to Andy who is almost 18 months.


It is impossable to show how small 7 lbs is, but here she is compared to my shoe. (She was an ounce short of regaining her birth weight at one week.) She is doing great.

Cara turned 4!

What happened to my baby girl? She is growing up! She is still as sweet and good as ever. She is more emotional than she used to be, but I guess that comes with being a girl. Unfortunately her brother, Caleb, can talk her into almost anything. He talked her into combining her birthday money with his so they “can buy anything we want.” Of course he made it clear to me that it won’t be a girl toy. How do I teach her not to give in to his devious plans? On a year that her birthday could have been entirely missed (Ali was born exactly one week before Cara’s birthday and eight days after Caleb’s birthday) she had a great one.

On Saturday Grandma Iva and Aunt Merle took Caleb and Cara to Disney on Ice. They LOVED IT! I found a good deal on the tickets before Ali was born and we have been calling it her “birthday party.” I wanted her to have something to look forward to. (Grandma Iva made her the Happy Birthday crown.)


Grandma also made Cara a butter fly birthday cake. Cara put the candies on to decorate it.


It was a good thing that she only had one candle. She had a hard time blowing it out.


Last minute we decided to have a few friends join us at McDonalds for dinner. It was so fun the Korinne and Ellie and their families could come. It made Cara feel very special.


She also got some great birthday presents.


Including a girl bike. Last summer she rode Caleb’s boy bike. This summer she can get serous about the bike thing with her own.


Aunt April even got her some Barbie roller blades. Only time will tell if she is persistent and brave enough to learn how to use them before they get too small.

Alice Sophia

Birth of Alice Sophia Kirk (Ali)
March 8, 2010 3:14 PM
7 lbs and 20.5 inches

She is so beautiful! She is named after her two living Great Grandmas. Alice is Josh's dad's mom, and Sophia is Josh's mom's mom.


It is impossible to show how little newborns are, but this picture with Josh's hand gives some perspective.


Here is the traditional family picture. It looks like I may have my hands full.


If you are interested in more details of the labor and delivery here they are from the prospective of Ali:

My birthday was perfect!! I am so happy to be out of my mommy and to join my family. They are so excited to have me. Although I tried to provide my mom with as much comfort as possible we were just getting so crowded! I was getting tired of living on peaches and rice crispy treats, too. (She has said that as terrible as it was this was her best pregnancy yet.) Mom did everything she could to put herself into labor last week, but it just wasn’t time yet. She tried to take caster oil twice, but I would have none of that and she threw it up. Thursday she had her membranes stripped and that didn’t work. She had her feet zoned on Friday and that gave her good contractions for the evening, but didn’t put her into labor. Finally she resigned herself to the being pregnant until her doctor appointment on Monday. She kept saying that she wanted to go to church on Sunday any way. (There were some changes in the primary presidency and she was moved from 2nd counselor to 1st.)

Sunday night I was trying to kick myself out right through her skin, but even that didn’t work. Apparently my kicking all night just makes mom tired. We had a 8:45 AM OB appointment with Doctor Fowers. Mom seemed healthy to the doc except her blood pressure, which was about 145/95. She wasn’t surprise because her blood pressure has gone up at the end of all of her pregnancies. She was prepared to give Dr. Fowers a list of about 100 reasons why he should start her, but her blood pressure was enough so she didn’t even have to cry or whip out the list. When he left to call the hospital he said he would schedule a start for “today, tomorrow or Wednesday.” Mom was relieved when he returned and told her that they could start her in 30-60 minutes.

We drove home and got dad and mom’s stuff and dropped Andy and Cara off at the Lows. Things went a little bit slow in the morning. We arrived at the hospital at 10:15, and the pit was started at about 11:15. I slept for the first few hours of labor, which the nurses didn’t really like, but I was fine. My heart rate was beautiful through the second couple of hours of labor though. For me the labor and birth experience was as smooth as can be all except a little scratch on my head from when Dr. Fowers broke my water.

For mom, however, labor and delivery were an entirely new experience. She had decided to mix things up a little this time by, one, not finding out what gender I was, and, two, by “waiting longer to get an epidural and maybe not even get one.” She had been studying the Hypno Birthing book and listening to the CD’s. She had peer pressure mostly from Erica, and from Cathie too. They both had natural deliveries this year with their fourth. Mom wanted to see what it was like. Mom says that labor went great. Even though the contractions were painful there was always a brake. She wanted dad close by to talk to her and to tickle her arm and back during the last couple of hours or so, but it was not nearly as bad as she thought it would be.

Mom is quite proud of herself. Not only was she on patocin, which makes labor more painful, but Dr. Fowers broke her water about 30 minutes after she was started which also makes things more intense. That allowed me to drop and for things to progress more quickly. By 2:00 mom was at a 7, 100%, and I was at a 0. She had taken some fentanyl to take of the edge and they also slowed down the pit. Slowing down the pit slowed down progress so with no change from 2-2:30 she got some more fentanyl and they upped the pit again. It was 3:04 when I crowned and was ready to be delivered. It was at that point that mom was convinced that going without an epidural was a really bad idea (although I the end she decided that it is a better way to go for her). Mom said, “oh my gosh, the baby is coming out.” Dad ran into the hall and called to the nurses to “come and catch this baby.” The nurses were scrambling! They were telling mom not to push. Yah, right!! She didn’t listen nor did she respond. She just listened to her body and knew that it was time for me to be born. The nurses were relieved when Dr. Fowers made it within seconds of delivery. The doctor said that it was the first time he has sprinted in months. She still needed an episiotomy to get me out, but as soon as the doctor came he gave her one and I was born.

It was such a relief to be born. Dad announced to mom that “it ‘s an Alice!” Mom wanted them to wipe me down before they handed me to her. I was having a hard time waking up due to the fentanyl, but other than that I was perfectly healthy. They tried a few times to make me cry, but I am just not that interested in crying. It is just so nice to be born and to have a body, why would I cry? Even though I was tired as soon as I got up to moms skin I wanted to eat. I am a Kirk; I love to eat!

Caleb, Cara, Andy, and Grandma Iva came shortly after we arrived in our room. They were so happy to see me. They got to help give me a bath and hold and love me. They were so happy to see me. I am the sister that Cara has been dreaming of. Caleb told everyone who came into our room how much “we love babies at our house.” He will be a great brother. Andy was a little nervous, and a little rough. He just needs a little time to remember what great friends we were before he came to earth. I am perfectly happy and excited to be here. I have no reason to cry or fuss. I am healthy and strong and I already feel the love of my family.

Princess or Superhero?

I love this picture of Cara with her Joy School friends Jules, Abby, Korinne, and Cara. It appears as if they were having a hard time deciding if they wanted to be princesses or super heros when playing dress up.


Someday this picture of Cara in her "student nurse" scrubs may become a reality. She is a perfect little nurse right now. She is thoughtful, helpful, and tough as nails.


As a side note - Andy is FINALLY WALKING. I would guess he is on his feet 80% of the time. What a relief! He has been such a perfect baby for this pregnancy. He has been slow to make his milestone like walking and crawling which has made life easier for me and he is such a happy guy. He does have one bad habit, but just one, he loves the cup drawer. Lately he has taken to getting right on in.


Caleb celebrated his 100th day of school and made this cute hat. Caleb is such a funny guy.

Power Ranger Birthday - Caleb's 6!

Caleb turned 6 on Sunday. He has been so excited for his birthday. I have forgotten what a huge deal birthdays are for kids and Caleb seems to always take things to the extreme. I would guess that he verbally invited over 100 people to his "Power Ranger Birthday Party" before he and I had even discussed if he was going to have a birthday party. I had a 7 year old girl at church tell me that Caleb told her that he could only invite boys to the party after he had already invited her. I told her that was true because he had too many friends he wanted to invite. We narrowed the list down to 10 boys half of which came. It ended up being way fun. I will put some of the ideas at the end of the entry just in case you want to copy. Of course the presents are always a highlight.


One thing that Caleb gets really excited about and wants to help plan every detail is the cake. This one doesn't look professional like the one that April did last year, but Caleb couldn't have been more happy with it. I let him put the figures on it so they are arranged a little less than perfect, but that could describe most things about the cake. The think that he really wanted for this cake was for us to use every Power Ranger color. That was something I could do.


The awesome thing is that to a 6 year old it was the best cake ever.


Caleb also loves to plan the invitations. Josh always goes the extra mile designing them even though I give him a time limit. Caleb just can't wait to get those things delivered.


On his birthday we were going to the Kirks to celebrate and we were playing a number guessing game. (The "how many minutes until we will be there" game.) Caleb guessed seven and said, "I pick seven because I am almost seven." His birthday wasn't even over and he is already counting down to next year.

Ski Party

Last weekend was the traditional, last Friday in January, ski party. We did the math and figure that my mom has had that party for about 25 years. She was going to give it up this year with Connie, her baby, leaving on her mission. She did it for her kids and they are all gone. I was just a couple of years older than Caleb when she started so I insisted that she not give it up because it is the fact that she has been doing it for so many years that gets her such a great night. If she gave it up we may never get a Friday night again. So I decided to take it over. It was interesting to see her perspective of the stress of having enough people. I tried to presale tickets so I could get a better count, but people have a really hard time committing which makes getting a good count stressful. In the last three days we went from 81 people (if there were less than 80 I would have to pay the difference) to 146 that night, but had the weather or snow been bad we may have gone in the other direction. I hope that in the years to come the stress will be worth it. My moms stress was sure worth it for me. I do have to ask myself why do it for my kids.



Caleb is SO NOT A SKIER. He was so excited for the party and counted down for it all month. All month he talked about doing jumps and what a great skier he is. After spending $27 to get his pass, his rentals, and his lesson he didn't even ski - again! He was excited for the lesson right up to the part where you put on the skis and go down the hill. He is such a chicken! He did enjoy playing on the snow in his ski boots. He called that skiing.



Cara on the other hand did a great job. She is a good sport and was willing to give skiing a good shot. I was proud of her.



The party in the lodge was fun. There was lots of great food, fun people and games. I tried skiing (which I did when I was this far along with Caleb and with Cara). I know some people would object, but I feel like a few careful runs wont hurt. I just have a hard time resisting the fresh air and the beautiful white snow. This time I only did a couple of runs because I was getting terrible charlie-horses in my feet and toes. I must be getting old. Darn!

The day after the ski party we took a little trip down to Temple Square. Connie finished up her visitors center training at the MTC with a trip to Temple Square. Every time she has written from the MTC she reminded mom of the hours she would be at Temple Square. We weren't going to go until on Saturday morning Connie's companion called from the call center to "get a referral." Mom could hear Connie in the background asking why she wasn't on her way to SLC. (Some people may frown on this so if it upsets you please keep your comments to yourself because what is done is done.) We did see her and visited for just 2-3 minutes. It was great! She was so happy to see us and we were happy to see her as a missionary too. We spent almost two hours on Temple Square even though we saw her within the first 30 minutes. We spent the entire time at the North and South Visitors Centers. It has all changed so much, and we did stuff with the kids that we have never done before. I think regular trips to Temple Square can be such a blessing for a family.



The kids just eat it all up and the sisters are so cute with them. Especially this time of year it seems that there are more missionaries on the temple grounds than visitors so we got a lot of attention. The highlight of the trip for me, besides seeing Connie, was when one of the missionaries asked Cara if she was going to be a missionary. She said that she was and the sister put her nametag on Cara. Cara stood so straight and tall with that nametag on. She was really glowing!



Usually we are at Temple Square at Christmas time when there are big crowds. It was fun to be there practically by ourselves and feel like we could take time to take classic pictures like this.

Random Thoughts by Caleb

I don't record the funny things my kids say often enough. Following are three things I have put on FaceBook at the end of last year. The others are just Caleb's random thoughts recently.

Is it a bad thing when your five year old says, "Is dad coming to visit tonight?" (November 13)

Today Caleb was telling us that there will be five kids in our family once the baby comes. Josh reminded Caleb that he isn't one of the kids. Caleb's reply was "oh yah" hence the miss count. (November 14)

Caleb refused to leave the classroom when he was called out for his H1N1 shot today. He came home bragging that he "didn't have to go." He was 100% sure he had outsmarted the system. He wasn't very happy when I took him right back down to the school, lying that we weren't going to get a shot the whole way. When he learned the shot was coming he ran for the door. It took four people to hold him down while the shot was given. (November 24)


For Christmas Caleb really wanted a kitty. (I am not a fan of stinky, hairy pets or really pets in general.) When I asked him what he asked Santa for he smiled and said, "You'll see" with a mischievous nod and smile.

Caleb is about to loose a fingernail. (He will probably loose another one in a month or two.) His fingers got slammed in the truck door after his Christmas program. Anyway, he has been hitting me up on a regular basis wondering if there is a "fingernail fairy" that can come and give him some money when he looses his nail.

Caleb's birthday is coming up and he has a doghouse set up under his bed with a spot for everything. He has a water dish, a food dish, a place for the puppy to go poo, a pillow, and he even has a face drawn on a long skinny piece of cardboard for the puppy to play with. He has been driving me crazy with his requests for a puppy and I am VERY CLEAR about saying no. He just keeps hoping saying, "maybe someone will surprise me." He has hit up both of my sisters who have dogs for one of their puppies. Connie told him he could have one if he has $150 to buy it. NO THANKS!

Recovering from Caleb Trauma

So after just five days of being on a behavior plan at school Caleb is "off." His teacher says that he is doing great, and that maybe all we needed to do is to raise his level of awareness. He seems to be doing better at home too. Also, his teacher informed me today that he doesn't qualify for the reading intervention program. Somehow I just didn't think he would, but it sure stressed me out. I really appreciate your ideas and support. It is nice to have a caring network of smart people out there.



So on with other issues. Andy still isn't walking. I don't think he has a physical delay because he is cruising and taking a few steps when really encouraged. I think he is just scared. The problem is that I hope to have a baby in about seven weeks. Andy will be 16 months this weekend. Don't you think it is time for him to get going. An 18 month space between kids seems reasonable, but having two that don't walk is a problem.

Lest I leave out Cara and let you all think she is perfect I have to mention something that Cara does that makes me look like I haven't taught her to pray. She has been praying by herself on at least a daily basis for months now, but she ALWAYS starts the prayer with "Jesus Father" and ends it with "Jesus Father". I ALWAYS correct her and I have from the start, but for some reason I can not get into her little head that we start by saying "Heavenly Father" and end with "Jesus Christ." I guess they really are one to her. You all have such great ideas maybe you have an idea for this little problem.

Parenting Trauma

Last Wednesday was parent teacher conference with Caleb's kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Coburn, who I think is fantastic. She has over 30 years experience as a teacher and I feel like she knows classroom management and how to teach children as well as any other teacher he could have ever had. Anyway, she was very direct at the beginning of the conference that she is having trouble with Caleb. I went hoping she would have some solutions for me as he has become extremely non-compliant at home. Apparently she is having similar problems. He loves to wrestle, talk out of turn, and sometimes just refuses to participate. She is putting him on a behavior plan where she ranks him 1-5 after every activity and I am supposed to come up with rewards and consequences for when he brings his report home each day. (Problem number one, it is so hard to know what rewards and what consequences are best, and of course the big problem of consistency.)

Mrs. Coburn followed the extremely disturbing discussion on his behavior with a discussion on his academic progress. On his last DIBBELS test in two of the four categories, Letter Naming Fluency and Nonsense Word Fluency (which is a comprehensive skill of sounding out words that aren't words) he is above benchmark. On Initial Sounds Fluency he is somewhat behind, but nothing to worry about. The problem comes with the Phonemic Segmentation Fluency. He scored a 0. Which is a huge read flag, and indicates that he can't do it, but he must have refused to do it because when his teacher and I quizzed him on it he had no problem. When I ask him about school his response is, "I DON'T LIKE TO DO HARD THINGS." So how do I teach this stubborn five year old that we all HAVE TO do hard things. There is no choice.

Mrs. Coburn is suggesting that he should possibly start in a reading intervention group and then it will become easier for him. The thing that gives me heartburn (well everything gives me heartburn right now), but the thing that I am stressed about is that he is "proficient" on every single Language Arts skill required for kindergarten and he still has half of a school year left. Do I allow this behavior problem to be treated with an extra 30 minutes of school each day instead of going to lunch? (He would eat lunch at 12:30 when he gets home from school.) I have been sick about how to parent this child. He is so strong willed and stubborn. I just thought I would share some of my parenting dilemmas and see if you have any ideas.