Curly Hair!

Lauren has some curly hair, and I love it.  Most people that see her don't know it, because I don't usually do anything to keep the curls in, so once it is dry, the curls kind of straighten out.  Once I did gel it, but it didn't hold it because her hair gets rubbed so much from blankets and such.  Another time I was putting lotion on her head because it was dry. I intended to wash it out a bit later, but the greasiness of the lotion held the curls in, and it was fun for the day to have her curls show. I did feel a bit silly, because to me it looked greasy.  I am curious to see if her hair stays curly.  Right now only the crown of her head is really long enough for the curls to show very well, but the hair at the front of her head is starting to come in pretty quick.  Curly hair sounds fun, but also scary... I am not the best hair stylist, and I don't know  how to do curly hair very well.  I guess we'll see! 

Whats better...?

... than  a baby smiling at you?

Lauren started smiling... shoot I never wrote the date down!  I do remember the first time she smiled it was exactly either two or three weeks after she was born. I'm guessing it was three weeks.  I know at first I doubted it was a real smile.  During the next week she smiled a time or two more, and I was still debating the "realness" of her smiles.  Once exactly a week had gone by, I had no doubts that now they were real.  At about this same time she started to make laughing sounds with her smiles.  The first time I heard it, I seriously wondered if it was a laugh.  Not a giggle, just a little laugh.  Within a day or two she always did this laugh with every smile.  It has been so fun for me!

Here is a little tour of her smiles (at least the ones I have caught)

Four weeks old

Six weeks old

Eight weeks old

Nine weeks old

Eleven weeks old

And in case you are wondering (everyone seems to ask), YES I am having fun dressing her up!

Kirk Family

My little brother Ben just left on his mission, but before he did we had about two weeks of lots of stuff going on.  Sad to say... I didn't take many pictures, but at least I can record down the fun time we all had.

On June 4 (Ben's birthday), it was my Grandma's funeral, and my cousin's wedding reception later, and then afterwards we all went bowling to celebrate Ben's birthday.  What fun we had! 

June 5th we blessed Lauren, so we had another fun get together and enjoyed some good food with all the good visiting. (Pictures are on another post)

June 7th we played at Murray Park.  We had fun eating some lunch together, listening to a park concert, playing on the play ground, and watching the firemen practice rescuing each other from the river.


June 9th we went to Lagoon.  What a blast we all had!  Time always goes to fast at these places.  Jayden was game to go on EVERYTHING, and loved it all.  Dylan tried his first bigger roller coaster and earned himself some cotton candy as a reward for trying it. He didn't love it, but didn't hate it. Hopefully that's something we can build on.  Ethan had fun riding all the little kid rides, the boats were his favorite.
 

Nate and Ethan


June 10th we were supposed to go to Seven Peaks, but the weather made some of us nervous that it would be too cold, so we played at a park again with some, while others went (stupid weather).  Later in the day the adults went to the temple to do family sealings together for some of my parent's extended family members.

June 11th we had family pictures:

The whole gang

Grandma and Grandpa with all their grandkids



All the kids with their favorite Uncle Ben



Our big, little family

June 12th was Ben's Mission Farewell (I know we don't call them that anymore, but old habits die hard, right?)  He will serve in the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo West Mission.  I am so happy and excited for him and so proud of my little brother.  WE LOVE HIM!!


This is me, my sisters (and in-laws), my brother, my mom, Lauren, and Rachel's friend.  If you want it all in order, it goes Nancy, Roseann, Ben, Mary Ann, Rachel, Karen, and Rachel's friend that I can't remember her name.



June 13th we played at for a while at Steve and Nancy's house.  The kids had so much fun playing all sorts of things, including house.

playing house

We hoped to go to Seven Peaks, but the weather still didn't cooperate so we swam at the Lehi Legacy Center.  The kids had to give their goodbyes to Uncle Ben as we left the pool.  I tell you... I hate goodbyes, especially when it comes to my kids.  I can get through okay myself, but watching my kids say goodbye to someone we all love... it gets me.

Jayden, Ben, and Dylan

June 14th Ben was set apart as a missionary.  Lets be honest. I cried.  I am going to miss my little brother while he serves the Lord.  He is a great brother and a great Uncle.  He loves all the little kids so much and they return that love back.  He is one of the neatest people I know.  I love his laid back personality.  He seems to love everyone and has a way of making other feel loved and important.  People just feel good around him.  He is going to be a marvelous missionary and will love the people of the Dominican Republic. 

Devon and I with my family, minus Rachel who had already flown back to Oregon.

Ben and Lauren.  The next time he sees her she will be 2!

June 15th he left on his mission and entered the Provo MTC

Austin (21 Months)

My little Austin is 21 months now.  I refer to him as my other baby... which is so funny to me because I feel a little crazy to have two babies right now, but its true - at least for a little bit longer.  He is growing out of the baby phase and turning into more of a toddler.  He walks, he runs, he talks (a little), he is just growing up so fast!  ***sniff, sniff***

Austin loves to be right in the middle of things.  When I am cooking or doing stuff on the counters, he gets mad because he wants to see.  So, I have learned to sit him on a stool near me when he gets upset during those times.  When Daddy is wrestling with the boys, he wants to get right in the middle of the fun, and gets upset if he can't.  When I'm working on the computer (usually blogging), he wants to sit on my lap.  I try to get him to sit next to me if possible, but often I either have to deal with him on my lap, or pause my work for later. (He's sitting next to me now, but has been on my lap on and off while I have been blogging today.)

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Austin is very silly, loves to laugh when others are laughing, loves to mimic, and loves to help.  His favorite ways to help right now are getting my phone, unlocking it, then handing it to me; he also will go get diapers and wipes when I ask him to, and then lay down.  He also hands me any little thing he think may help me, like Lauren's binky, a cup of water that sits next to where I usually nurse, a brush, or any other little thing he finds.

 Austin found Lauren's bow one day, and had some fun putting it on. Here is a great blackmail picture.

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Austin can be very dramatic. He likes to throw himself on the floor when he is upset about something. Recently he found that it is fun to flop himself on the floor, even when he isn't upset about anything. He thinks its pretty funny, and he's right... what a crazy kid. 

 Austin also loves to pull the wipes out of the wipes container, as well as blowing his nose.  Here he is doing both.

 "What..., me cause trouble?"

 Austin loves to wear hats, and loves to go outside.  He gets so excited when you ask him to go find his sandals or shoes.  He will go find them, and often tries to put them on. He has learned to put on his sandals by himself, which I think is pretty good for a little guy his age.

 He is very good at getting into all sorts of trouble.  I've never had one that just seems to get into everything.  I've decided a lot of it is my fault.  For the most part we have always lived in smaller places where their toys were close by and easy to access.  In our house all our toys are downstairs, and I try to keep the boys from bringing them upstairs so that my house stays cleaner. I've had to start bringing up a few toys for Austin so he has something to do other than raid my house.  This has helped quite a bit, although the other boys then try to claim his toys, which causes a bit of a fuss and often results in even more toys being brought upstairs.  Oh, well... you win some, you lose some.  In this picture Austin is sitting stuff he pulled out from under our bed, and trying to put on some of Devon's shoes.

 The other night Austin wanted to take these toys to bed... and I let him.  =)

 This is the look Austin gives when he wants to hug Lauren. Her name is one of the few words he says.  He says Ma (for both Mom and Dad), La (Lauren), done, hi, hot, thank you, there, uh-oh, help, and he has a word/sound he says when he wants his milk or wants more food.

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Austin is a very busy boy. He always seems to be doing something and just goes from one thing to the next.  This is hugely why he doesn't sit very well during Sacrament Meeting at church, but loves nursery. At least Devon and I can sit and listen during some of the meetings! 

I have so much fun watching this boy each day. He just does silly things all by himself.  I looked up the other day to see this.  Of course I had to grab the camera and take a few pictures. If you can't tell what it is...

... its goggles he found on the floor from his brothers.

 I'm horrible...  I'll let Austin play with my cell phone.  The good news is he only holds it long enough to unlock it, and give it to me.  That's my helpful boy. 

 Can you guess who instigated this?  One guess... okay, it was Devon.  And Austin thought it was hilarious.  Ethan, on the other hand did not... but you can't blame him - its the pieces to his Mr. PotatoHead.

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Austin love to tease.  He especially loves to tease Ethan, who gives a great reaction.  Ethan is quite particular about things, and does not like Austin to mess anything up.  Austin has learned how push Ethan's buttons quite well.  I've seen him take a toy of Ethan's and either put it behind his back, or run away.  It's so hard to not just burst out laughing when he does it.  Isn't he too little to know these things?  Needless to say I am working on helping both of them handle these situations better.

I love to watch how much Austin LOVES and ADORES Lauren.  He loves to kiss her, hug her, get her binky for her, try to put bows in her hair.  He thinks she is the greatest. 

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When we sing together for Family Home Evening or scripture study he likes to stand up and "lead" the music.

Austin has little dimples, and I love them. I also love his crooked smile (which he isn't doing in this picture).  He loves to laugh I, which I hope will stick with him his whole life. 

I LOVE THIS BOY!!

We love Lauren