between bites

This just can't be normal. When Lincoln eats something that he finds especially tasty, he often whines, cries and sometimes becomes furious between bites! Tonight Megan fed him a jar of squash and zucchini. He loved it, which is why he hated us for not shoveling it into his mouth quickly enough. Below are a few shots of the mini fits he was having as Megan was quickly getting his next spoonful ... obviously not fast enough for Mr. Piggy.




After I posted the photos above, I remembered a shot I took of Lincoln a few weeks ago after I finished feeding him. Compare and contrast the amount of food on his face when Mommy feeds him (above) vs. when Daddy feeds him (below). Notice that Mommy doesn't even have to put a bib on him. Now that's skill.

Look Who's Talking

Merry Christmas from the Birkes!!!

I know, I know. I'm a bad blogger. Now that we've got that out of the way, let me tell you about Lincoln's first Christmas! We had an amazing day. As tradition, we stayed the night with my parents on Christmas Eve. Lincoln had no idea when he woke up that is was Christmas morning. All he knew was that he loved riding the new Radio Flyer Rocket his Mimi and Poppy bought him and that made us very happy! Lincoln is so blessed to be surrounded by so many people who love him. As my Dad always says, "This was the BEST Christmas EVER!"

David After The Dentist

Chris showed me this video a couple days ago. We've watched it at least once a day ever since ... Seriously, one of the funniest videos of all time.

a short story

Lincoln had his 9 month check up with Dr. C today.

We read books and played peek-a-boo while we were in the waiting room.



They checked every inch of him and he looked perfect. He weighs 23 pounds and is 30 inches long, putting him in the 75th percent for his weight and the 90th percent for his height!



They pricked his toe and he didn't even cry. He was obsessed with his bandaid for the rest of the visit.



The End.

to dye for

My best friend Audrey is a student in hair school. But after she did my highlights and lowlights, I'm convinced she should be the teacher. She did an awesome job! Now here's the great news for you: Audrey currently is seeking clients. Now the even better news: Since she's a student, her prices are extremely reasonable. Now the even better news than that: She's offering 3 free perms and relaxers on a first come first serve basis. And the best news of all: My hair looks great. hahaha

To make an appointment, call 502-897-9401 and ask for Audrey Young.

It's a Christmas Miracle

I put up a post over a month ago about my Christmas Child, Idris, in hopes of finding him a sponsor before Christmas. Weeks went by and I had no one. I was feeling very discouraged. I continued to pray for him and that God would put it on someone's heart to sponsor Idris.

When I offered to make Idris my Christmas Child, Compassion sent me information about him along with three Christmas cards I could send to people I know asking them to sponsor Idris, if I didn't have someone volunteer. On December 7th, I filled out my three cards that were to be mailed the next day. On December 8th, I received a message from my friend, Alyssa Brown. It said that she had been looking for a way to help others that are less fortunate, that she saw my blog post, and that she wanted to sponsor Idris! I was beyond thrilled! I am so thankful for Alyssa. And I am so excited for Idris! His life is about to change drastically.

Thank you so much, Alyssa! You are going to be so happy you did this! Now, if I could only get you to start a blog .... :)

9 months

Lincoln Michael, I cannot believe you are 3 months away from being a year old!



Your favorite foods are avocado with banana, banana and strawberry with tapioca, and lasagna.

You are wearing a size 4 diaper.

You love playing hide and seek and Pat-a-cake!

You weigh 23 pounds.

You have two teeth. You've been teething so bad this month. You have 3 teeth on top that are about to come through.

You still love music. Your favorite song is a song created by your Poppy King---The Ding Ding song. He's been singing that song for as long as I can remember!

You make this face when you are super excited. You clench your fists and sometimes you shake all over. It's so cute!



You are wearing 18 months size clothes.

We just started giving you Zesty Tomato Crunchies and you love them. You would eat the entire can if we let you.

You love hygiene maitenance! You love for me to clip your nails, brush your teeth, clean your ears, brush your hair, etc. It is absolutely hilarious.

You still love your B Is For Bear touch and feel book. You love the page with the "ducklings covered in down" and the page with the red ball of yarn.

You are crawling all over the place.

You love watching Praise Baby and Enchanted in the morning. Although, you are not a big fan of Baby Einstein. At all.



One of your favorite pastimes is tormenting Rufus. You chase him (literally) when you're in your walker. On occasion Rufus will try to give you a kiss. You make the most hilarious face where you close your eyes, as shown above.

You have started pulling up on things.

You think your Mimi is hilarious. She doesn't have to do much, and you're rolling on the floor. You love wacky things and she's willing to deliver :)

You LOVE splashing in the bathtub!

You have your daddy's eyes and nose, and your Poppy's chin. No doubt about it.

You can wave goodbye.

You say Momma, Dadda, Bah Bah (Bye Bye), and here lately you've been obsessed with making the letter "K" sound. Kuh! You make the cutest face when you say Momma.



***The super cute pajamas Lincoln's sporting was a gift from his Mimi and Poppy! Thanks!!

This was my attempt at Lincoln's classic monthly photo. I put the bear next to him. He grabbed it and started slam-dunking him over and over with the most excited look on his face. Oh boy.

Charlestown's Christmas Lights

My hometown took it up a notch in the Christmas lights department this year. The square is covered in lights and Christmas decorations! There was even a lit up nativity! You don't see too many of those anymore. The coolest part about it is if you tune to a certain radio station, the lights are perfectly synced with the music. We've heard that a group from Charlestown went to a conference and learned how to put on this type of show. They did a great job!

We took Lincoln to see the lights a couple weeks ago, but he fell asleep on the way there. So we just enjoyed them from our car that night. We decided we would give it another try last night, and once again he fell asleep in the car. We went ahead and got him out since it wasn't bed time. He seemed to enjoy the lights :)

Sorry about the picture quality!

I saw momma kissing Santa Claus

When we dressed Lincoln in this Santa suit, it put us in the Christmas spirit. We can't wait!

busy

I can't believe I've almost went an entire week without blogging. Between Christmas present shopping, changing poopy diapers, taking a final, going to a concert, a hair appointment, selling our car, and a Christmas party, I got kind of busy. I have lots to blog about---my hair appointment with my bff Audrey, cutie pie Lincoln (by demand via Anna hehehe), and Idris' new sponsor!!! In the meantime, enjoy this funny video. My mom took this on her cell phone while she and my brother Josh, kept Lincoln on Friday evening. Lincoln was getting angry and "Grrr!"ing at them. So they decided to "Grrrr" back, and here's what happened ...

out of the mouth of my husband

A few things you should know...

-I have been exercising like a mad woman for the last week.
-I broke my butt giving birth to Lincoln. Seriously.
-Working out sometimes causes my tailbone to hurt.

I told Chris this morning, "My tailbone is killing me!"

He responded, "Oooh, the weather must-a-be-a-changing," in his hillbilly voice. Then he casually walked back into the kitchen as if he hadn't just said something crazy.


???

love.this.man.

The two of us a perfect fit
You're all mine, all mine

And all I can say
Is you blow me away

Like an apple on a tree
Hiding out behind the leaves
I was difficult to reach
But you picked me
Like a shell upon a beach
Just another pretty piece
I was difficult to see
But you picked me
Yeah you picked me

Chris' Christmas

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate with marshmallows please.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Neither. See #8.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Colored. The great big ones.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No.

5. When do you put your decorations up? The day after Thanksgiving.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Megan

7. Favorite Holiday memories as a child? Pizza Hut on Christmas Eve, a Birke family tradition.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don't know that I ever really believed in him. I just knew I was expected to so I played the game.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We opened all of our gifts on Christmas Eve, right after finishing the pan pizza!

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? It's quite an ordeal. I put on a string of white lights to appease Megan, then I smother it in huge colored lights until the white lights are no longer visible!

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as long as it doesn't inconvenience me in anyway. Hate it every other day of the year.

12. Can you ice skate? Yes.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Yes! A gift that came straight from my parents' hearts! A VCR.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Family.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Megan

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Opening gobs of gifts!

17. What tops your tree? A star.

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? Receiving! There, I said it.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Silent Night

20. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? Yum.

21 Favorite Christmas Show? It's a Wonderful Life. Sometimes I watch it in August!

22. Saddest Christmas Song? Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer

A Christmas Questionnaire

Someone sent me this Christmas questionnaire and I thought it would be fun to post it on the blog. Why?

-Because I have nothing to blog about
-Because we have less than 3 weeks till Christmas!!
-Because I love Christmas
-Because I love questionnaires
-Because I want YOU to fill it out and put it on your blog

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Neither. I love coffee! To be exact, I love Folger's Vanilla Biscotti Coffee with Coffee Mate's Italian Sweet Cream creamer. Yep, I'm a coffee snob and I'm proud of it.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? This Santa wraps her presents in shabby chic wrapping paper and puts a big bow on top.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? This is an ongoing debate in our house. Chris prefers colored lights and I prefer white lights. We've compromised the last few years by putting one layer of white lights on our tree and then covering that layer with 5 layers of colored lights (Chris' idea). If you look really closely you can indeed see the white lights.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Um ... Lincoln was conceived 3 weeks after we were married. So no, mistletoe isn't necessary at this house.

5. When do you put your decorations up? The day after Thanksgiving.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? The holiday dish that sounds the best right now is my aunt Chrissy's cheeseball.

7. Favorite Holiday memories as a child? Mamaw and Papaw King's on Christmas Eve, fruit punch, baking sugar cookies with Mom, Christmas day at Jonestown, opening our pj's on christmas eve, watching It's A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story, Mom rolling my hair and putting me in the fluffiest Christmas dresses imaginable, waking dad up at 5am to open presents, decorating our Christmas tree, the 3 years the Christmas tree fell on me while I was laying on the couch, Josh's excitement over the Power Ranger watch, etc.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don't remember how or when I learned the truth about Santa, so I'm guessing I was pretty young. Either that, or I was so traumatized that I repressed that memory. Yea ... I'm pretty sure it was that one.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? For as long as I can remember, my mom has "randomly" selected a present for us to open on Christmas Eve. It always just happens to be pajamas. I love that tradition and hope to continue it with Lincoln.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Well, I already told you what we do with the lights (#3). Then we hang our special ornaments and put a pretty tin star on the top.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it!

12. Can you ice skate? Yes, Ashley and Laura can vouch for me.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? There was this doll I wanted so bad when I was little. I remember being so excited when I came down the steps and I saw her and a little wooden crib next to her. Looking back, that doll was not the best Christmas gift I ever received, but it always stands out in my mind and it was special to me.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? hmmm...I guess I would have to say Jesus' Birth! Hello!?!

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? The chocolate from my stocking :)

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? (Read #9)

17. What tops your tree? (Read #10)

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? Giving!

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Can't pick a favorite but I love a bunch---O Holy Night, Silent Night, Welcome to Our World, Mary Did You Know, Breath of Heaven, the list goes on and on.

20. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? Definitely yum.

21 Favorite Christmas Show? hands down, It's a Wonderful Life

22. Saddest Christmas Song? (Read #19. I guess most of my favorite Christmas songs also happen to be tear jerkers. There's the melancholy coming out in me again.)