Jack's a little ornery these days :)

A quick moment to share some of my favorite son's recent ornery-ness:
* We were walking out the door for school the other morning and I said, "Here Jack, carry your bag, please."  And he turned around and said, "No you carry it" pointing at me dead-seriously.  I couldn't help but chuckle and said, "No Jack, little boys help their mommies out" and he finally obliged. 
* Jack has learned how to "fake" different emotions.  He likes to pop out a fake cry if he's trying to get something.  Or at night time, his new thing is to say he's afraid of the dark.  Sometimes it seems to be legitimate fear, but the other night I went in for bedtime routine and he said, "Mommy I'm scared." I said, "What is scary?" He replied, "I see creatures!"  I said, "Where are the creatures?" "On the ceiling" (said with wide eyes and open mouth/half grin!).  Again, holding back a chuckle I said, "Tell the creatures goodnight and go to sleep!"  :) (he fell right asleep)
* Yesterday he was playing with his "Mack truck" (see CARS movie and you'll understand).  He got up on the couch and started driving it around our leather couch.  I said, "No Jack...Mack drives on the ground."  He said, (again grinning) "No mommy, Mack drives on the couch!"  I couldn't help but tackle him with kisses because he just looked so cute. 
I've got to work on my ability to keep a straight face...he's just too cute!
Until next time...

A great way to start the day!

This morning I had a very proud mommy moment!  Jack woke up dry and as I was getting ready to put the diaper back on him I thought, "Let's try to go potty!"  He jumped up and sat on the toilet and immediately went!  At first he looked surprised like, "Oh that really works!"  He was so happy and clapped and we high fived.  Plus he got to run in tell daddy, "I went potty in the potty daddy!!"  :) 
Here's hoping that this broke down some fears he may have and it will be a natural process for us!
Until next time...

It's the beginning of a very long year...

Today was my first day at William Jewell College for the accelerated track BSN program.  And accelerated is an understatement.  All day I felt like I was in a wind tunnel and information was flying by me left and right.  SYSTEMS OVERLOAD!  I'm exhausted, but trying to stay ahead of the game.  One day at a time, that's all I can do.  It will be quite an accomplishment when I'm done and I'm already counting down the days until graduation.  :)

Here's "Mommy's 1st Day of School" shot:

I sure am going to miss my little guy with all these hours I'll be studying...

Until next time...

Happy Mother's Day

Today is my 3rd Mother's Day!  And I can say that I feel more love for my son today than I thought I could ever feel for anyone.  Being a mother is hard to put into words.  It's challenging, but in the end the reward is immeasurable.  Jack has brought so much joy into our lives and I will be eternally grateful for this true blessing, motherhood.
Today I was wakened by my sweet little man saying, "Happy Mother's Day!"  He got to pick out what mommy would eat and brought me fruit loops, "Froo-ba-loops", coffee, and toast.  Also with my breakfast was a picture he made at school of his handprints inside mine.  I love getting new artwork, especially today.
We went to Cracker Barrel for lunch with all of Reid's family.  We celebrated birthdays (Aunt Jayne's and mine) and Mother's Day.  It was very special.  Jack's napping now and Reid and I got to enjoy the sun for a bit.
Tonight we've rented a redbox and one of my gifts was margarita mix-- my husband knows me too well.  :)  So, you can guess what I'll be drinking later on! 
Here's to a blessed Mother's Day to all of the wonderful women I know! 
Until next time...

RIO

Part of Jack's Easter basket was tickets to the movie Rio!  We finally got a free day to do this.  We just got back from Jack's first movie adventure.  He was pretty frightened by how loud the theatre was.  He's never been big on loud noises.  I could tell he was nervous, so I put him on my lap and his heart was racing!  But, after the movie started he mellowed out a bit.  Then when Nigel, "mean bird", came on the screen, he said, "I want to go bye bye.  I no like this movie.  I no like birds."  Ha- tough cookies--but, he stuck it out and by the end he was dancing the Samba with the cast. :) 

I highly recommend this movie if you have children.  It's colorful and fun and gets you dancing.  Plus the cast is full of great actors: Anne Hathaway, Jesse Eisenberg, and my favorites are Nico- Jamie Foxx and Pedro- will.i.am (see below).  Definitely a cute movie.

Until next time...

Catch up

Ok- I've failed in the past month...but, forgive me...life is starting to really pick up!  We've been all over the place and very busy the past 4 weeks.  We've made 1 trip to Hastings (another this weekend, then 2 weeks from now), mommy had a college reunion/girls trip, preparing for mommy to go back to school, daddy is settling in to his new job, and Jack is still loving every minute of school!
This past weekend we had a lovely, relaxing Easter--for the most part.  Aside from a little stomach bug that gave Jack (well, really gave mommy and daddy) some not so nice surprises in his diaper, we had a good weekend.  On Saturday we spent the day with Reid's family and started at their church for an egg hunt/inflatible jumpers/prizes.  It was tons of fun and Jack took part in his 1st egg hunt ever.  At first he didn't know what to think and then just started screaming excitedly and figured it out quickly. 

Jack's ready to hunt:

Cousin Ella covered in eggs:

Since that first hunt, we've been having to hide and hunt eggs every minute he sees his Easter basket.  So, we are obliging for 1 week, then the basket goes back into storage. 
On Sunday, Jack woke up to his gifts from the Easter bunny..still mostly excited for the eggs.  But, he did like his Cars bubblebath, a book about the movie Rio (which we'll be seeing next weekend), and his soccer shaped marshmallow sucker.  We went to Mass as a family and then lunch with Grandma, Aunt Sarah, Uncle Scott, Aunt Tes and all the kiddos.  It was so nice to hang out as a big family.  Sunday evening we had dinner with my brothers and Angela (Ben's gf) at 54th St.  A good way to top off the already indulgent weekend.  :)

Jack playing in the dandelions:

Family photo, Easter morning:

So, that's Easter weekend in the smallest nutshell I could find.  The next few weeks are even busier for us.  We are going to Hastings this weekend to watch Maggie and TIm in Sound of Music production at St. Cecilia High school.  Maggie is Maria and Tim is Rolf (Liesl's love interest).  We're so excited to see them and we know it's going to be great.  Then it will be May and the countdown begins for the start of my school.  May 18th is the big day.  I have lots of work to do, so I'll do my best to give updates as I can. 
Jack's doing great at school and we're loaded up on spring projects already.  It's time to send some to the grandmas!  He is getting ready to move to the 2-3 classroom, to make room for younger kids.  I think it will be a great fit.  He already interacts well with most of those kids and he is able to communicate well with them, too.  I'm happy he still loves it there. 
That's about it from the Kirby camp... hope you had a Blessed Easter!

Until next time...

Crib be-gone!

It's gone, kaput, no more, torn down, and laid to rest...the crib is no longer a crib!  Reid took off the side bars and we've converted (somewhat jimmy-rigged) into a toddler bed.  The bed that was loaned to us is over 20 years old and it is in fantastic shape, but doesn't work quite the same with all the attachments (ie; safety railing) as the new-fangled beds out there.  But, we managed to make it work...for now...and Jack LOVES his new bed.  We asked him to try and climb up into it and he got up on the first try, sat down, and said, "I like this new bed!!" with a huge cheesy grin plastered across his face.  He practiced getting in and out a couple of times before we read books and laid down.  And that's all it took...we officially have no more baby in this house!  I'm excited that he's becoming a little boy and learning all these "big kid" things.  We're on the hunt for a twin mattress set that he'll be able to grow with and use for awhile, but until then, the toddler bed will work. 
Until next time...