Kirk Family Adventures

It has been fun having joshkirk.com as our blog address, but I am having too much trouble with the program I am using for blogging.  I did take a HTML hardcoding class in grad school, but let’s be honest there is an easier way to blog.  I am going to join the rest of the world on blogspot.  Our new blog address is http://kirkfamilyadventures.blogspot.com/ .  Thanks for sticking with me while I make the switch.

Today we learned that we are having a BOY!  We are very excited.  We had no preference, but there are defiantly advantages.  One advantage to having a boy in the fall is that will make him one of the older kids in school, which should give him a good advantage (something girls don’t usually need as much).  I also think that it is great for boys to get on their missions before starting college.  Cara won’t notice or care much at this point, but Caleb is really excited about having a brother.  He measures in the 90^th percentile for his due date, but the doctor didn’t change the date.  Caleb has been totally off the charts for height most of his life so we just might have another big boy.

The main disadvantage of having a boy is that Josh and I don’t have a name we agree on.  (There are a couple of girl names we both like.)  I would like to name him Andrew (Andy) or Benjamin (Ben or Benji), Andrew being a family name and Benjamin being from the Book of Mormon.  I have also considered Paul from the Bible.  I guess I need to look at some family history and see what else I can come up with.  Josh thinks those names are too boring.  I remind him that he didn’t like the name Caleb until I had been calling him that for about a month.  It had to grow on him.  Any ideas?

Last Friday I sent a text to Josh in the afternoon threatening to make him do yard work all weekend if we didn’t get out of here.  (I am experiencing some cabin/spring fever to say the least.)  He sent me a text a 4:00, which I didn’t receive until he called and was headed home at 5:00.  His message was pack your bags.  Needless to say we had our bags packed, a hotel booked, and we were headed out of town by 5:45.  We had no idea what we were going to do, but we were getting out of here.  If you have never used hotwire to book discount hotel I recommend it. (www.hotwire.com) We stayed at the SLC downtown Hilton for $85.  It was a fun adventure for the kids and for us too.  On the way down we stopped and had dinner with the Coombs’ family and went to the donut factory, aka Crispy Cream.  While swimming at the pool Friday night we ran into one of Josh’s friends who introduced us to the Salt Lake City “Connect Pass” which was THE BEST PART. 

I had to get home and spread the word because it was such a great deal.  If you want more info go to http://www.visitsaltlake.com/what_to_do/connect.html.  The pass was only $18 for adults and $14 for children for a one-day pass.  I had no idea there were so many fun things to do with kids in SLC.  It included so much that I almost felt like I was cheating.  There are 14 SLC venues to choose from with the pass, and you can do as may as you can fit into the day.  We did the following in one day and all for $50 for the family.  We went to the Hogle Zoo. We had lunch at the Lion House Pantry. (Amazingly lunch was included with the pass.)  We got tickets to the Clark Planetarium IMAX show but missed the show because we were distracted at the Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum.  We went to The Living Planet Aquarium.  (At this point Cara and I took a nap in the car, but Josh and Caleb were going strong.)  Finally, we went to the worlds largest dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point.  It was so fun!  We really felt like we were on vacation.  The only unfortunate part of the day is that I didn’t grab the camera.  We did have our phones and took a few phone pictures.  I guess we will have to do it again to get some pictures.

Friday night we went to Orem to a Flash game.  Flash is a semi-pro team that feeds into the Jazz and another pro team that I don’t remember.  NAI, the company Josh works for, is a major sponsor and has box seats.  It was fun to see how that works.  We ended up extending our vacation one night and spending Saturday night with my cousin Tamie Bateman.  I had no idea that Josh and I would have so much fun with Tamie and her husband Nate.  We laughed and laughed.  It goes without saying that our kids had fun together too.  It was so fun to get away.  I loved spending the quality time with the kids, and of course I loved that I was getting a deal.

Many of you know that I have had the intention of writing a book on transitioning into motherhood for a few years. The transition was rocky for me, and I still feel like I am figuring things out. I work on the book in phases and have found much joy in compiling information, mostly from questionnaires you have filled out for me. I have it compiled to a point that I am now requesting help. If you can ever spare a few moments to spend some time on my wiki found at http://mommyworld.pbwiki.com/FrontPage I would appreciate it. I would like to allow you to edit and add, but I have to send you access so if you are interested in helping please email me or reply to this blog entry. One word of warning, don’t go to the wiki looking for a finished product. It is NOT EVEN CLOSE. I would like to spend another year editing and writing, but I just can’t seem to make the time. The other day I was writing an email to my friend who recently had her first baby and I decided that there is no reason for me to keep the information I have pulled together to myself. What I have compiled is a reference guide, not a story, so click around and see if there is something that might help you on the crazy journey we call parenting.

This morning Caleb came into my bathroom where I was getting ready for the day, scissors in hand, smiling ear to ear, and said, “mommy I fixed Cara’s hair.”  The phrase every mom dreads hearing from her four year old son.  My heart sunk to my toes.  ”You didn’t cut it did you???”  ”Yep, I did.”  I held my breath as I hurried into the living room to see the damage.   I have to admit it could be much worse he took a few sections out of the back that will not affect pulling it back.  Basically he gave it a serious thinning, but all in all didn’t cause major damage.  Unfortunately their piggy bank puppy, Daisy, wasn’t so lucky with her ears.  Daisy is one of Cara’s favorite toys.  Just before the hair cut I took a picture of Cara feeding Daisy breakfast.  At least we can hold onto the memory of her cute long ears.  I am glad that Cara’s hair is only partially redesigned, and I am hoping Caleb has learned that cutting hair is not acceptable.

Our Easter celebration started on Saturday morning at the park next to Cathie’s house with a big West Point, Easter Egg Hunt.  The kids have had a little practice with Grandma Iva and at the Lows so we thought they were good to go.  Well. . . we were wrong.  In the 0-3 category Cara couldn’t wait until they said go.   She kept dashing out into the eggs upsetting the children around her.  When it was finally time to go she ran, and ran, and ran.  It took some coaching to help her remember that she needed to pick up eggs.  She and Emi did well. 

 

On the other hand Caleb was excited and ready to go right up to the point that they said go.  That is when he started to freak out.  He broke into tantrum mode which put him way behind the other kids.  When Josh saw that Caleb was about to have no success he took him to the “special needs section.  Josh’s comment was, “it was obvious that he had special needs.”  The poor kid buckled under pressure. 

 

The Easter Bunny made it to our house this year even though Josh didn’t understand why the Easter Bunny needed to bring presents.  He thought hiding eggs would be sufficient.  He tried to tell me it wasn’t Christmas, but I held out and the kids scored a $120 swing set from Walmart.  I say if the cheapest swing set worked for me (my family had an identical one to the one we have for 15+ years) it will work for my kids too.  The kids love it even with the snow still in the back yard.  Josh was not happy trying to put it together on Easter afternoon when ALL of the screws were just a little bit too short.  It is amazing what a hammer and a frustrated man can do.  Caleb informed Cara’s speech therapist on Monday morning that his dad is a builder and “he can build anything.”




Our eggs didn’t get colored until the Monday after Easter, but I am quite proud of myself for even embracing the messy tradition.  Honestly, it was quite fun.  I think we came up with some egg-celent designs.

One of our financial challenges this year has been making payments on a home we built as a spec in Star, Idaho (a suburb of Boise.)  When we started the investment in the winter of 2006 the market was hot and it seemed that there was no way to loose.  Unfortunately lots of other people had the same idea and the aria got overbuilt and then of course the mortgage market crashed leaving us with a beautiful empty home and large payments.  We have learned that there is no such thing as a “safe” investment because from all angles this appeared to be a great one. We feel so fortunate to finally have it leased out.  This last week Josh and I took a day trip to see the home and make sure everything was worked out with the woman leasing the home.  She is somewhat of a celebrity with a radio talk show she is running from the home.  You may want to check it out at www.daytona-n-friends.com.  “Positive talk around the clock.”  We are excited about what she is doing with the place and hope that she will be able to buy it within the year.  Following are a few pictures. 

 

                       
 

We took a few minutes to stretch our legs in Twin Falls and to see the falls.  Being a native of Idaho I don’t believe I have ever seen them.  It was awesome. 

The time has come to make the announcement official. We are expecting! Luckily it is something that we really wanted because I have been so sick. It has been a rough month or so. I guess I had it in my mind that sense I was better with Cara than with Caleb that this time I would be even better. Boy was I wrong. As rough as it has been I am really trying not to complain and to count my blessings that Josh and I are able to be parents again. The widget we have added to our blog is so that Josh can keep track of how far along I am. I am going to keep my eyes set on the weeks I have behind me not what lies ahead. I want to share with you some excerpts from my journal as I was trying to look past being sick and count my blessings.

1. I had two miscarriages in the last six months and I am grateful that this pregnancy is sticking. I really do want to have a family and I am grateful that I am capable of bearing my own children. When I think of the heartbreak of those who can’t I am so sorry for them. I know that is much worse than this temporary discomfort that I have.

2. Zofran went generic after I had Cara. (The medication I take so that I can keep food down.) With my other pregnancies I (the insurance) payed $45 for each pill. I have almost quadrupled the dose I was taking with Cara and I am so grateful that they do not cost what they used to.

3. My discomfort is temporary. I know that my sickness will go away in seven months and I will get a prize at the end. I am so grateful for that!

4. I am grateful that I am not experiencing this alone. My husband loves and supports me. I am so thankful for a husband that is a team player and is a worthy priesthood holder. A few weeks ago Josh and I were laying in bed and it was just like you see in the movies. I felt like I was starving. I hadn’t kept anything down all day and all I wanted was macaroni and cheese. (I haven’t eaten that sense I was 10, but in the last couple of weeks I have had it everyday for lunch.) Unfortunately we were out and Josh was very tired, but he went to the grocery store and stocked up for me. I ate some before going back to bed and I slept better than I have for a long time. I wasn’t even sick in the night.

5. Caleb and Cara have been so sweet and worried about me. For the first few weeks that I was sick Caleb would ask me each and every time I got up, “are you going to throw-up.” He would ask with such concern, and Cara has taken it upon herself to be my nurse. Although Caleb doesn’t hesitate to tell me how disgusting it is. He has done his share of gagging because it sicks him out, but he has to watch.

I do have one kind of funny story. On Saturday morning I was about to jump in Josh’s car when I started to gag. (I don’t go to the bathroom when I feel like I am going to throw-up or else I would be in the bathroom all of the time. I don’t go until I start gagging.) Of course I wasn’t thinking clearly, all I could think was that I didn’t want to clean up puke in the the garage or the car. Instead of just running out to the yard I stupidly jumped in the car and backed out to the yard, all the time I was gagging and just trying not to loose anything in Josh’s car. Once I got out of the garage I jumped out of the car to do my business, but the car was still in reverse. At that point my breakfast started coming out, but I was getting run over by the car door as the car continued backing out. I jumped back in the car keeping my head hanging out the door to put my foot on the brake while I finished what needed to be done. Needless to say I was really glad no one was looking as I closed the door and drove away, I am also pleased to announce that the car and garage were saved.

Cara turned TWO on Saturday. She was a cute little birthday princess.

We are looking forward to “the terrific twos.” She really is a great kid.

She has been so cute with me sense I have been sick. She gets me her blankets when I am laying down. I can’t decide if she thinks she is my nurse or my mommy. She tries to feed me and she is always sweetly touching my face or hair and affectionately saying “mommy”. She is a sweet little girl, but she knows how to keep up and be tough like the boys. On Friday we had five boys at our house four and under. Cara had no clue that she was any different than them. At one point I saw her chasing after them with a helmet and a gun. As they were wrestling that day I also had to peal her off of a four year old boy who was crying because she wouldn’t get off of him and later a three year old boy. Caleb has taught her to wrestle with the best of them. She has also added the word “chout” aka “watch out” to her vocabulary. She always throws an elbow at her brother as she says it.

Caleb had a great birthday! It was a party all day long. He was lucky enough to have his friends and cousins here all day and then loving visitors all evening. The day started with him yelling from his bed “mom come get me up.” He couldn’t stop talking and he just wanted to know when his birthday “starts.” I tried to explain that it was all day, but he needed a starting point. Thanks to everyone who made it a great day!