Hers and His

pie pops

2011-09-07T06:53:00.000-07:00

Last night, Lincoln and I made pie pops! He LOVED them! I blogged the recipe and how to make them a long time ago---here's the link! http://hersandhisblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/once-you-pop-fun-dont-stop.html

Hope you guys are enjoying this fall weather as much as we are!

oh my...

2011-09-03T18:42:00.000-07:00

Just for the record--I did not teach him those shoulder dance moves. Jesus take the wheel...

{prayer}

2011-09-01T17:41:00.000-07:00

Our friends Beth and Josh gave us this list of 31 Biblical Virtues to Pray for Your Children. We put it up on our fridge and have been praying these things for Lincoln every day. We have found it helpful and thought you might too... You can find this list at www.ReviveOurHearts.com

31 Biblical Virtues to Pray for Your Children

1. Salvation—"Lord, let salvation spring up within my children, that they may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory." (Isa. 45:8; 2 Tim. 2:10)

2. Growth in Grace—"I pray that my children may grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (2 Pet. 3:18)

3. Love—"Grant, Lord, that my children may learn to live a life of love, through the Spirit who dwells in them." (Gal. 5:25; Eph. 5:2)

4. Honesty and Integrity—"May integrity and honesty be their virtue
and their protection." (Ps. 25:21)

5. Self-Control—"Father, help my children not to be like many others around them, but let them be alert and self-controlled in all they do."
(1 Thess. 5:6)

6. Love for God's Word—"May my children grow to find Your Word more precious than much pure gold and sweeter than honey from the comb." (Ps. 19:10)

7. Justice—"God, help my children to love justice as You do and act justly in all they do." (Ps. 11:7; Mic. 6:8)

8. Mercy—"May my children always be merciful, just as their Father is merciful." (Luke 6:36)

9. Respect (for self, others, and authority)—"Father, grant that my children may show proper respect to everyone, as Your Word commands."
(1 Pet. 2:17)

10. Biblical Self-Esteem—"Help my children develop a strong self-esteem that is rooted in the realization that they are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus." (Eph. 2:10)

11. Faithfulness—"Let love and faithfulness never leave my children, but bind these twin virtues around their necks and write them on the tablet of their hearts." (Prov. 3:3)

12. Courage—"May my children always be strong and courageous in their character and in their actions." (Deut. 31:6)

13. Purity—"Create in them a pure heart, O God, and let that purity of heart be shown in their actions." (Ps. 51:10)

14. Kindness—"Lord, may my children always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else." (1 Thess. 5:15)

15. Generosity—"Grant that my children may be generous and willing to share, and so lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age." (1 Tim. 6:18-19)

16. Peace-Loving—"Father, let my children make every effort to do what leads to peace." (Rom. 14:19)

17. Joy—"May my children be filled with the joy given by the Holy Spirit."
(1 Thess. 1:6)

18. Perseverance—"Lord, teach my children perseverance in all they do, and help them especially to run with perseverance the race marked out for them." (Heb. 12:1)

19. Humility—"God, please cultivate in my children the ability to show true humility toward all." (Titus 3:2)

20. Compassion—"Lord, please clothe my children with the virtue of compassion." (Col. 3:12)

21. Responsibility—"Grant that my children may learn responsibility, for each one should carry his own load." (Gal. 6:5)

22. Contentment—"Father, teach my children the secret of being content in any and every situation, through Him who gives them strength." (Phil. 4:12-13)

23. Faith—"I pray that faith will find root and grow in my children's hearts, that by faith they may gain what has been promised to them." (Luke 17:5-6; Heb. 11:1-40)

24. A Servant's Heart—"God, please help my children develop servant's hearts, that they may serve wholeheartedly, as if they were serving the Lord, not men." (Eph. 6:7)

25. Hope—"May the God of hope grant that my children may overflow with hope and hopefulness by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Rom. 15:13)

26. Willingness and Ability to Work—"Teach my children, Lord, to value work and to work at it with all their heart, as working for the Lord and not for men." (Col. 3:23)

27. Passion for God—"Lord, please instill in my children a soul that 'followeth hard after thee,' one that clings passionately to You." (Ps. 63:8)

28. Self-Discipline—"Father, I pray that my children may acquire a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair."
(Prov. 1:3)

29. Prayerfulness—"Grant, Lord, that my children's lives may be marked by prayerfulness, that they may learn to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers." (1 Thess. 5:17)

30. Gratitude—"Help my children to live lives that are always overflowing with thankfulness and always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Eph. 5:20; Col. 2:7)

31. A Heart for Missions—"Lord, please help my children to develop a desire to see Your glory declared among the nations, Your marvelous deeds among the peoples." (Ps. 96:3)

lincoln at the park

2011-08-18T19:14:00.000-07:00

Lincoln's favorite thing to do right now (besides playing with his cars) is going on the trails at the Charlestown State Park. Chris took these precious photos of Lincoln posing after our hike. I was the crazy mom jumping around and impersonating Mater to make him smile :-)

burp boy

2011-08-09T17:37:00.000-07:00

It doesn't happen too often, but sometimes when Lincoln is laughing real hard ... he burps. I don't know if it's because he's swallowing a bunch of air while he's laughing or what, but I do know it is the cutest, funniest, sweetest thing ever! Chris got it on video not too long ago and I couldn't resist sharing. This video also captures how Lincoln likes to give us hugs and kisses 24-7. Literally. I love it!

cars on the brain

2011-08-03T18:14:00.000-07:00

Lincoln is obsessed with cars right now. It's usually the first word that comes out of his mouth when he wakes up and the thing he sleeps with when he goes to bed. He takes his cars in the bath tub, in the car, to Mimi's house, to Target....everywhere!!! He plays with them the entire day and it's so cute!

Another toy Lincoln is becoming more and more fond of is his microphone! I walked into Lincoln's room tonight and he was standing on his bed, singing "Sing a Song" from Sesame Street at the top of his lungs into his microphone. When I went to take a picture he jumped off the bed and ran out of the room screaming :-) Love that boy...

feeling saucy

2011-07-31T19:54:00.000-07:00

I was going through old pics on our camera and I found this jewel :-)

Lincoln LOVES spaghetti dinner!

hellloooo

2011-07-14T19:34:00.000-07:00

Hello blogworld! Here's a quick update of what's been going on at the Birke house (I promise I will do better). Sorry in advance for the cell phone pictures...

Lincoln is ALL boy. He has left Elmo in the dust and has moved onto cars. It saddens me deeply. The first night Lincoln requested to sleep with his cars instead of Elmo, Cookie, and Ernie...I just about cried. He's getting so big! He's wearing size 4 clothes and he is only 2 years old. I need him to slow down for my emotions sake! Lincoln is the silliest, funniest, sweetest boy ever.

Rufus got a haircut! He was at an all time low. Let's just put it this way----I conned Chris into dropping off Rufus off at the snobby dog salon because he looked that bad. But not before contemplating dropping him off myself and telling them that Rufus was a stray dog I found on the side of the road.

I had the best birthday ever. I know I say this every year, but this year it really was! Chris, my parents, family, and friends made it so special. I had an unexpected surprise from my nursing school friends. They brought me cookies to school and my sweet friend Joanna surprised me with a quilt and pillow she MADE! This picture doesn't do it justice...it's beautiful! She's currently making Lincoln a quilt made out of some of his baby clothes. I will post pics when it's done!

Lincoln LOVES the outdoors. He could spend every second of every day outside. Here's the sweet boy at the park :-)

This picture cracks me up!!! Chris and his dad have been working hard staining our basement floors. And from the pic you can tell the fumes have been horrendous. The floor looks great though! I am sooo lucky to have such a hard working handy husband :-)

This is Lincoln at Walmart the other day. He was bored so he used a banana as a cell phone. He talked and talked and talked! He is so funny! His imagination is getting more wild every day.

Lincoln is a drink snob. It's hard to say whether he got that from his momma or his daddy but let me tell you...the boy loves his organic chocolate milk from Starbucks.

Anyhoo---that's all for now! I'm off to watch the Andy Griffith Show with my honey. It's our favorite show right now...we also like to refer to it as our anti-anxiety drug. Try it some time. It works wonders! Night!

lincoln's birthday party!!!

2011-04-07T16:04:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Lincoln's birthday the weekend after his birthday. There was Sesame Street everywhere and Lincoln LOVED it! He would randomly point and scream "ELMO!!!" every few seconds :) It was a great day. Be sure to watch the video of Lincoln blowing out his birthday candles ... he is sooo precious!

Lincoln on his new tricycle....the face he's making here cracks us up!

i frew up

2011-04-07T13:52:00.000-07:00

Our family just got over the worst stomach bug EVER! It started Saturday morning. Our church was having a clean up day and I had signed up to disinfect the toys in the nursery and toddler room. As I was sanitizing the toys (more like infecting them) Lincoln started puking all over the place. I cleaned up and we left. Lincoln puked in our car on the way home too.

I was sick with the stomach bug all night on Saturday. I decided not to go to church, but felt much better on Sunday. By the time Chris got home Sunday night, we were both feeling awful. I told Chris, "Surely I'm not gonna get sick again..." Boy, was I wrong. Chris and I spent the entire night taking turns puking our guts out in the bathroom. We only had one bathroom available because our other bathroom is currently under remodeling. Lets just say it was a crazzzy night at the Birke house.

Chris puked AT LEAST 15 times. It was awful. The low point of the night was when I looked down the hallway from our couch and Chris was crawling to the bathroom with his bucket in hand. We have laughed till we hurt talking about Sunday night but at the time it was sooo not funny.

Before it was all said and done, we had passed on the sickness to my poor momma as well.

We are all doing much better now :) I'm not really sure why I just typed out this long post about vomit ... oh well, there it is.

happy birthday, baby

2011-03-17T18:47:00.000-07:00

lincoln's song

2011-03-06T17:53:00.000-08:00

And to answer your question....no, Lincoln isn't always naked.

my valentine

2011-02-21T14:47:00.000-08:00

We normally don't buy each other gifts on Valentine's day and then we use the money we saved on gifts to go do something fun. I was pleasantly surprised to come home to these beautiful flowers and a stack of cards with a love note on each one telling me something Chris loved about me. I've read them a bazillion times (that's right ... a bazillion) and they are one of my favorite Valentine's day gifts, store bought or handmade, Chris has ever given me :) I know I'm a little late, but I just wanted to say how thankful I am for my Valentine.

23 months

2011-02-15T15:19:00.000-08:00

You LOVE Sesame Street with all your heart. You would watch it all day long if we would let you. You typically have a meltdown when the show ends. There's lots of crying and gnashing of teeth involved.

You sing and dance all the time! Your favorite songs to sing right now are Elmo's Song, I Love You, This Little Light of Mine, and We Make Music.

You have such a tender heart. You love to give hugs and kisses. You especially love to give group hugs to mommy and daddy. The look on your face when we do group hugs is priceless.

Your favorite book right now is Goodnight, Moon.

You LOVE Rufus and you call him Roo. You do this thing where you look at Rufus with pure love and joy in your eyes and then you say, "Oh, Roo..." It is hilarious!

You've started referring to Daddy as Chris. We are trying to break that habit but it's just soo cute! When Daddy comes in to see you in the morning he says, "Hi Lincoln!" And you reply, "Hi, Chris!"

You are talking non-stop! The word we've been hearing most here lately---"MORE!!!!" :)

You enjoy going to nursery at church. You don't cry for me when I drop you off, but you sure are happy when I pick you up.

Mommy rocks you to sleep every night and sings "You Are My Sunshine." Sometimes you sing it too.

You can identify your toes, hands, nose, mouth, ears, hair, tongue, teeth, and belly.

You rarely take naps anymore.

You LOVE to eat! We've started noticing that your likes and dislikes in food are the exact same as daddy's :)

We love you to the moon and back, baby boy!

...

2011-02-14T17:35:00.000-08:00

Just so you know...we are alive. I'm in nursing school and Lincoln is about to turn 2 soooo you understand that it is crazzzzy here, right?

I'm about to ramble in no particular order...

Chris is doing great at his new job. He is now the executive minister at the church where we met and leads the music there too :) Lincoln is the sweetest, craziest, smartest, most silly boy in the world. As I'm typing this, Lincoln is barking at me like a dog and trying to lick my leg.

We've just started getting ready for Lincoln's birthday party. It's going to be Sesame Street themed seeing as how Lincoln loves Elmo more than he loves his mother...haha...seriously, he does.

That's all I've got for now. To the whopping 3 people that read this...I apologize! I will post pictures soon ... I think.

:)

stuffed mushrooms

2011-01-07T05:56:00.000-08:00

I made these for my parent's New Years Eve party and they were sooo yummy I had to share :)

Ingredients
24 ounces, weight White Button Mushrooms
⅓ pounds Hot Pork Sausage
½ whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
4 cloves Garlic, Finely Minced
⅓ cups Dry White Wine
8 ounces, weight Cream Cheese
1 whole Egg Yolk
¾ cups Parmesan Cheese, Grated
Salt And Pepper, to taste
Fresh Parsley, finely chopped

Directions
Wipe off or wash mushrooms in cold water. Pop out stems, reserving both parts.

Chop mushroom stems finely and set aside.

Brown and crumble sausage. Set aside on a plate to cool.

Add onions and garlic to the same skillet; cook for 2 minutes over medium low heat.

Pour in wine to deglaze pan, allow liquid to evaporate.

Add in chopped mushroom stems, stir to cook for 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set mixture aside on a plate to cool.

In a bowl, combine cream cheese and egg yolk. Stir together with Parmesan cheese.

Add cooled sausage and cooled mushroom stems. Stir mixture together and refrigerate for a short time to firm up.

Smear mixture into the cavity of each mushroom, creating a sizable mound over the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Allow to cool at least ten minutes before serving; the stuffed mushrooms taste better when not piping hot.

2010

2011-01-06T14:42:00.000-08:00

In 2010 we started a photography business, celebrated Lincoln's 1st Birthday, finished a parenting class, joined Community Bible Study, had many many lovely date nights, went on vacation to Florida, drank waaay to many Starbucks coffees, photographed two weddings and booked 2 more, bought a new car, realized we were neighbors with some really cool people, received many hugs and kisses from Lincoln, Chris got a new job (more about that later), and a lot more stuff that I'm not going to take the time to write out... :)

I cannot imagine what 2011 has in store for us!!! Happy 2011 everyone!!!!! We are all so very blessed!

another goodie :)

2011-01-04T05:10:00.000-08:00

Lincoln's favorite line on Christmas.... "Oh Wow"

Christmas 2010

2011-01-03T05:19:00.000-08:00

Christmas was so much fun this year. Last year Lincoln enjoyed the wrapping paper more than anything. This year was soo different! Everything he opened was, "Oh wow!" It was the sweetest thing ever.

Showing off his new Ernie doll

Kissing his Bert Thermometer from the Sesame Street Medical Kit we bought him. He LOVES it!

Every time Lincoln opened up anything Sesame Street, he broke into song "La La La La, La La La La, Lincoln's Song. La La La La, La La La La, Lincoln's Song. THAT'S LINCOLN'S SONG!!!!!" (a crazy song from Sesame Street)

Many many many catch up blog posts to come :)

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T18:10:00.000-08:00

what God wants for Christmas

2010-12-13T16:05:00.000-08:00

I've mentioned before that my mom and I attend a Bible Study together. Last week we had a brunch and the topic for discussion was "Christmas Traditions". A lady in my group shared a tradition that Chris and I thought was really neat. And we decided to start it with Lincoln this year!

You can buy the What God Wants For Christmas kit at the Family Christian Store. It comes with 7 gift boxes, a pop-up manger scene, and a poem that tells about each gift. Six of the gift boxes contain characters in the Christmas story, and the seventh box contains ... a surprise---what God wants for Christmas!

We let Lincoln open the first box a couple days ago and he LOVED it!

He squealed when he saw there was something inside. He pulled the angel out and kissed it! He also tried to make Rufus kiss it :)

He put the angel in the manger.

We read him a poem about Gabriel ...

And he cried like a baby when it was over.

lincoln loves elmo and cookie monster....most of the time

2010-12-07T06:25:00.000-08:00

white bean and tomato casserole

2010-12-06T12:25:00.000-08:00

Easy to make, super yummy, and only 327 calories per serving!

If you make an extra batch of roasted tomatoes and onion, you can put half of them aside for this recipe later on in the week and save yourself some time :)

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 medium red onion
2 Tablespoons e.v. olive oil
1/4 teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes
1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
Coarse salt
Thick slices of rustic bread

1. Preheat brolier. Toss tomatoes and onion with 2 teaspoons oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the red pepper flakes. Broil on a rimmed baking sheet until tomatoes are just starting to brown, 5-7 minutes.

2. Transfer tomatoes to a 9-inch square baking dish. Broil bread until golden, about 1 minute per side.

3. Stir beans and oregano into tomatoes. Dot with ricotta. Drizzle with remaining 2 teaspoons oil. Broil until bubbling, 3-5 minutes. Serve over toast.

Total Time: 30 Minutes
Serves: 4
Per Serving: 327 Calories

shutterfly ... it's in the cards

2010-12-01T18:13:00.000-08:00

I'm not gonna lie, a couple days ago I had never heard of Shutterfly. After reading our sweet friend Anna's blog post, I'm hooked! In case you, like me, have never heard of Shutterfly I will fill you in. Shutterfly is an Internet-based personal publishing service. Shutterfly provides products and services that make it possible for consumers to preserve their digital photos. They have everything from birth announcements to calendars to holiday cards! I wish I had known about Shutterfly when Lincoln was born because the birth announcements are soo cute!

What I'm most excited about is the Christmas Card promotion they have going on right now. If you submit a blog post reviewing their products, you can receive 50 (that's right, I said FIFTY) of their adorable Christmas Cards for free!!! And if you are like me, you cannot pass up on freebies. Hence the blog post :)

They have over 800 super cute Christmas Card designs to choose from! Here are some of our favorites...

Mom I know you will LOVE this one! It's literally impossible for my momma to dislike something if it has plaid on it.

I like all of them because it's literally impossible for me to dislike a Christmas Card that is FREE! haha So, I encourage you all to go check out Shutterfly's website and take a look at their Christmas Cards. If you are interested in their Christmas Card Promotion, you can click here.

If you however, do not do the whole Christmas card thing, I have some good news. If you simply join Shutterfly (which is also free), you can receive 50 free regular 4x6 prints! Surely if you don't like Christmas Cards you at least like pictures! ha! You could also use Shutterfly to send and pick up your photo prints at Target, Walgreens, and CVS in as little as an hour!

All I'm saying is, if you receive a Christmas Card in the mail from us don't stress yourself out too bad...it was free! :)

Mr. DJ

2010-12-01T07:25:00.000-08:00

Here Comes Santa Claus

2010-11-29T13:03:00.000-08:00

We took Lincoln to the Bass Pro Shop so he could meet Sandy Claws :) I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking ...

our lives according to facebook

2010-11-29T05:10:00.000-08:00

November 27 - Christopher Birke The Birke Thanksgiving celebration was the best ever! Lots of GREAT memories made that day! Looking forward to Christmas! Special thanks to Chef Megan Birke who makes Martha Stewart look like a loser.

November 25 - Christopher Birke VERY thankful for a great Thanksgiving Day! My inlaws provided us with a gourmet feast and sent us home with some holiday movie classics! Tomorrow we'll have Thanksgiving II with my side of the fam. Megan made a bunch of side dishes tonight and they look and smell AMAZING!!!

November 24 - Megan Birke would pay big bucks if starbucks delivered today...

November 22 - Christopher Birke Super proud of the CIC youth group. Many of them have read through the book of Matthew this month. What a GREAT group of teens!

November 13 - Megan Birke was doing some cleaning and had movies spread all over the floor. Lincoln pointed at Amy Adams on the cover of Enchanted and said "Momma!" over and over again. Haven't stopped laughing :)

November 12 - Megan Birke loves the weekend

November 11 - Christopher Birke I'm ready for Thanksgiving because I've been thinking a lot about what I'm thankful for ... my beautiful, godly wife; son; nieces and nephews; awesome parents; and very loving church family ... And most of all ... my Savior, Jesus!

November 3 - Megan Birke day date with Laura!

20 months

2010-11-24T13:07:00.000-08:00

You LOVE sesame street! You especially love Elmo.

Here are the new words you've learned to say this month: uh oh, more, drink, please, up, down, where did it go?, yuck, and Xander.

You are the most hyper about an hour before bedtime every night. You go crazzy!

You still love bath time. You love filling cups up and pouring them out. You also enjoy putting your head under the water which scares us to death.

You love music and dancing. You dance side to side and take turns lifting your elbows up to your ears while you boogie :)

You are wearing a size 3T and occasionally you wear a 4T.

Your favorite books are B is for Bear and Puppies & Kittens.

You wear a size 6 diaper.

You love being outdoors.

You skip and hop everywhere.

You love Veggie Tales .... almost as much as we love watching it :)

Your favorite songs are The Wheels On The Bus, BINGO, He Fills My Heart With Laughter, If All the Raindrops, B-I-B-L-E, and Let's Take a Ride in an Automobile.

You LOVE momma's Salsa Chicken. Days that we have Salsa Chicken, you eat adult size portions. Seriously.

One of your favorite passtimes is hiding things. We are pretty sure that you remember exactly where you've hid them too.

You love cats and dogs! For some reason you think horses are cats too, because everytime you see one you say "Kitty!"

the itsy bitsy spider

2010-11-01T06:33:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how much Lincoln has changed since last year, and how much he still looks the same ...

Halloween Time!!!

2010-10-29T07:53:00.000-07:00

I'm getting soooo excited about Halloween! Fall is by far my favorite season. I plan on baking some goodies for our families tonight and pumpkin cookies are a must! I blogged about them last year... here's the post in case you want to bake yourself some pumpkin cookies!

I made these yummy cookies for the Office party we went to Thursday night. I saw the recipe on my used-to-be neighbor, Kelly's blog and I knew I had to make them! They were so good! I also sent some to work with Chris and he had someone ask that I post the recipe. So here it is!

Blend shortening, sugar, and pumpkin with a mixer.

Add the egg, flour, baking soda, and cinnamon

Mix well

Spoon dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes at 375 degrees.

While they were in the oven baking, I made the icing. Mix and heat butter, brown sugar and milk in a saucepan. Remove from heat once mixture starts to boil.

Once it has cooled slightly, add powdered sugar and vanilla and mix.

By now the cookies should be done baking or close to it!

Spread the icing on while the cookies are still hot. A little icing goes a long way once it melts, so I only put a little on each cookie.

Once they've cooled off a bit and set up, you can stack them up on a plate ... or you could just go ahead and shove every last one of them down your throat. I wouldn't recommend this if you're doing the 30 day Shred.

My sweet little pumpkin watched me bake while he played in his exersaucer. I could just eat him up! Seriously. Who needs cookies?

Ingredients for cookie dough:
1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin (I used canned pumpkin)
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon

Ingredients for icing:
3 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
5 tsp milk
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

things that make me smile

2010-10-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

This is a self portrait of Lincoln we found on Chris' phone a couple nights ago.

This is what happens when my brother encourages Lincoln's spinning .... what are we going to do with this wild child?

whole-wheat penne with tomatoes and red onion

2010-10-26T07:08:00.000-07:00

I made this for the first time last night and it was delicious! It was so easy to make and there are only 297 calories per serving! I will definitely be making this one again.

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 medium red onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
coarse salt
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
8 ounces dried whole-wheat penne
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano
1/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

1. Preheat broiler. Toss tomatoes and onion with 2 tsp oil, 1/2 tsp salt, and the red pepper flakes. Broil on a rimmed baking sheet until tomatoes are just starting to brown, 5-7 min.
2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup cooking water.
3. Toss warm pasta with garlic, remaining 2 tsp oil, and 3/4 tsp salt. Stir in tomato mixture and the oregano. Add reserved cooking water to moisten and ricotta cheese.

Serves 4
297 calories per serving
Total Cooking Time: 25 minutes

The Prince and The Dragon

2010-10-21T17:00:00.000-07:00

19 months

2010-10-18T10:51:00.000-07:00

You are wearing mostly size 3T in clothes.

Your favorite books are Trick or Treat with Elmo and B is for Bear.

You LOVE Sesame Steet. Veggie Tales is a close second.

Your favorite songs are I Heard My Dog Bark, The Wheels On The Bus, BINGO, Let's Take A Ride In Automobile.

You are wearing a size 5 diaper.

You are a great imitator. Your daddy and I always eat the whipped cream off of our starbucks drink with a straw. A lot of times we will get you a vanilla milk while we're there, and you too eat your imaginary whipped cream off of your milk with a straw.

You weigh 31 pounds and are 34 inches long!

You enjoy hiding things. Your favorite spots to hide things are in your bookshelf, the closet, and the bottom drawer in our nightstand.

You hop everywhere.

You are a dancing machine!

You can point to your nose and your eyes when I ask you where they are.

You love to swing at Poppy and Mimi's house.

You are very curious.

You added a new word to your vocabulary this week---juice!

Bedtime is around 8:30 and you sleep till about 7-7:30.

You can feed yourself with utensils! You hate it when we feed you now. Sometimes you even go as far as to refuse food if you can't do it yourself.

You can tell us what sounds a cow and a dog make.

You've been attending nursery while me and Mimi go to Bible Study, and on Sunday mornings during church. You've made some friends too! Mommy and Mimi worked the nursery on Sunday and you spent most of your time hugging and on some occasions kissing, Jill, Alex, and Kandon.

You love your daddy and you go completely insane with happiness when he gets home from work.

You love being outside. You could stay outside all day! We took you on a trail at the Charlestown State Park, and we've been referring to you as Wilderness Baby ever since. You high fived the grass, raised your arms way up in the air everytime the wind blew, stirred dirt with a stick, and petted the trees. You are hilarious, Lincoln Michael.

You love your Uncle Josh and you yell for him constantly ... even when we are at home, and you know he isn't here.

You love playing hide and seek.

Your favorite toys are your mailbox, Elmo, hairbrushes, balls, and your Sesame Street remote.

We bought you a special potty that looks like a frog and you love it! You like to sit on it while drinking your sippy cup. You have yet to pee in it.

football

2010-09-22T05:52:00.000-07:00

This is my brother's first year playing football and he is doing soooo good! We've got to see him score a touchdown every game we've went to! Lincoln is really enjoying the football games too. He loves clapping with the crowd and giving the "Chris Birke Stare Down" to anyone who yells like a maniac. It's really quite hilarious :)

Last Friday we tailgated with my parents and some friends. Here are some of the photos from that evening ...

baby's day out

2010-09-06T18:31:00.000-07:00

At the spur of the moment, we decided to take Lincoln to Huber's Saturday evening. We decided to let him run wherever his little heart desired and we followed close behind. Much to our dismay, he chose to run up and down a hill ... over and over and over again. So we got lots of exercise chasing after him!

I love, love, love this photo Chris took of Lincoln!

dancing and clapping his hands :)

my beautiful beautiful blue eyed boy

up and down the hill

baby boy says bye bye to his mullet

2010-09-05T19:32:00.000-07:00

We finally bit the bullet and decided to have Lincoln's first clippy! My sweet friend Audrey cut Lincoln's hair and was kind enough to meet us at my parent's house so we could make it a family affair! We all gathered around and watched the blonde curls fall to the ground. It was a bittersweet moment for some of us and for others (my dad), it was a joyous occasion! haha! All in all, it went really well! There was quite a bit of whining going on from Lincoln, but no real tears until the very end. Audrey did a great job! I was amazed that she was able to cut his hair with all of the wiggling that was going on! Our baby boy doesn't look so much like a baby anymore ... tear*

3 weeks

2010-09-01T12:37:00.000-07:00

That's how long it's been since I've updated this poor neglected blog! 3 weeks! Where do I start?

-My mom and I started going to Community Bible Study. It started just a few weeks ago, but so far we're really enjoying it! If any of you ladies are interested, let me know! It's not too late to start up!

-Lincoln is changing by the second. I'll give him his own post later when I have time to write more than a two sentence recap :) In the meantime, enjoy this picture of my little precious showing me his filthy feet. I'm not sure how they got so dirty --- our dirty floors or running around outside barefoot ... it could go either way.

-I got accepted into Galen's nursing program and will be starting in January! Yeaaaa!

-Chris and I are getting our house ready to sell. Anyone wanna buy a house? :)

-Chris and I joined a new bible study for young couples. We've spent the last few weeks understanding our spouse's personality. The study breaks personality types up into four groups: Lions, Otters, Beavers, and Golden Retrievers. Chris is a Lion and I'm a Golden Retriever. Last week we were asked to draw our spouse as a superhero and to list their strengths. I couldn't resist posting Chris' drawing of me ...

In case you're wondering, my super powers include being "able to whip up dinner on a moments notice, being friendly, sensitive, a natural mom, great communicator, awesome cook, very organized and a woman of the word." He's pretty sweet, isn't he?

I guess that is all I have time for right now ... my Superman is almost home.

happy birthday, momma

2010-08-12T17:04:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to the best Momma in the world!!!!! We love you so much ...

an update on Juan boy

2010-08-09T17:01:00.000-07:00

We received a new picture of Juan in the mail today! I can't believe how much he has changed since last year!

We also received a letter from Juan's teacher and a drawing from Juan :)

His drawings are getting better and better!

Here is what's been going on with Juan since our last update...

*Juan bought clothes and chocolate with the Christmas money we sent him.
*Juan passed his classes and is moving on up to kindergarten!
*He celebrated his 5th birthday at his aunt's house.
*Juan LOVED the bandaids we sent him! He had never seen colorful bandaids before. His teacher said, "They left him enchanted!" Isn't that just precious?!
*Juan thinks Lincoln is cute.
*His teacher said that Juan is a "very good, intelligent, dedicated student."
*Juan is learning the letters of the alphabet, numbers, and is very excited that he is learning to write his name.
*They celebrated Easter at Juan's Compassion Project with a special supper.

look who's talking

2010-08-09T06:19:00.000-07:00

happy birthday, hunny bunny

2010-08-07T07:36:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, Christopher Alan! I love you so much ...

happy birthday bubby

2010-08-04T14:08:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to the best little brother in the world!!! Love you, Joshy!!!

ps. your sweater is amaazzzing ... almost as amazing as the giant lace bib hanging from my dress. way to go mom :)

16 months

2010-07-20T18:04:00.000-07:00

You weigh around 27 pounds and you are 34 inches long, putting you in the 97th percent for you height and then 75th percent for your weight!

You are barely squeezing into your 2T clothes.

Your Granny Birke had your foot measured at Dillards last week, and they said because of your extremely wide foot you should be wearing a size 8 shoe. We're still trying to wrap our minds around that one.

Your favorite video is Sesame Street's Kids Favorite Songs 2.

You have the prettiest blue eyes.

You hate wearing shoes. You take them off just as soon as we put them on.

Your favorite books are Puppies & Kittens, and Puppies & Friends. Basically you love any books with puppies or kittens in them :)

You are wearing a size 5 diaper.

We've started introducing you to potty training. So far, you love to flush the toilet, but you're not real crazy about sitting on the toilet :)

Your favorite songs are If You're Happy and You Know It, The Wheels on the Bus, ABC's, and He's Got The Whole World In His Hands.

As of just a couple days ago, if I point at my nose and say "Nose!", you will point at yours!

Your hair is getting blonder every day. It's pretty straight all over, and then it curls up on the ends. It's so precious!

You love music and you love to dance.

You have 14 teeth.

You are jibber jabbering 24-7. You are so confident when you jibber jabber ... as if you're speaking your own language!

Some new words you've started saying are: this, hot, and kiki (kitty).

You are having some issues with not liking to be controlled. For instance, you will only cooperate during a diaper change if we allow you to choose the place on the floor you're going to lay for the diaper change. The other day at Mimi & Poppy's house, you wouldn't eat unless you were the one feeding yourself with a fork. We have a feeling we are going to have our hands full with you!

You are a cell phone genius. You can call people, change my ringtones & wallpaper, set my alarm clock, and save text drafts. Your most recent text draft reads, "3?9566." I wonder who you are planning on sending that to? :)

You love playing with Poppy & Mimi's alarm clock and listening to the noise (aka the most annoying sound in the world).

We love you so much, Lincoln Michael.

xoxoxo

and so it begins ...

2010-07-19T17:15:00.000-07:00

We spent the evening at the McKain's last night. We spent a good portion of our time together giggling at Jill hand feeding Lincoln her cheerios. Adam sent us this picture from his cell. And so it begins ...

happy happy birthday

2010-07-11T17:04:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated my Mamaw and my cousin Kelsie's birthday. We had some delicious food and lots of laughter. Happy birthday to two lovely ladies that I love very much!!!

I think Kelsie's favorite gift this year was having her sister Johanna in from Sweden!

one moment I don't want to forget ...

2010-07-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

riding the carousel with Lincoln in Florida ♥

fun in the sun

2010-07-05T18:18:00.000-07:00

My mom and dad were generous enough to invite Chris, Lincoln, and I to Panama City for a week on the beach. They rented a beautiful, ocean front condo where we stayed for freeee!!!! Our days were spent in the pool, or in the ocean. We also got in some extra long naps. It took Lincoln a few days to warm up to the feeling of sand between his toes, but he grew to love it! Thanks Mom and Dad for a great week! We enjoyed spending time with you and with Josh, Carl, Rhonda, and Jake!

mexican chopped salad

2010-06-16T09:01:00.000-07:00

1/3 cup Zesty Italian Dressing
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed
2 avocados, chopped
2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped red onions
1/2 cup Mexican Style Shredded Cheese

MIX dressing and cumin.

COMBINE remaining ingredients in large bowl. Add dressing mixture; mix lightly.

SERVE immediately.

not me monday

2010-06-14T06:40:00.000-07:00

My hair dryer did not stop working some time this month.

I did not put off buying a new one because I didn't want to pay for it.

I have not been letting my hair air dry every single day and looking like a complete slob. Of course not! I love blow drying my wavy hair every day and then straightening it, just to notice in a few hours that it's gone wavy again. Not Me!

I did not get in the shower late on Sunday morning. I'm a good Chrisitan, so I always get up in plenty of time to get ready for church and then we spend the remainder of the morning relaxing. Not Me!

If all of those thing had happened, which they did not, I would have most definitely not blow dryed my hair using the a/c in our car just so I could make it to church on time. Not Me!

When I went inside, my husband absolutely did not inform me that I could have just used the fan that is sitting on our dresser.

do you know the muffin man?

2010-06-11T06:10:00.000-07:00

What I would give for Panera Bread's Wild Blueberry Muffins ....

date night

2010-06-09T06:16:00.000-07:00

Chris and I have had some really fun (and inexpensive) date nights here lately. A couple weeks ago we went to one of our favorite places---the Georgetown Drive-In. Lincoln doesn't normally accompany us on our date nights, but the movie didn't start until 9 p.m. so we let him tag along. It was so much fun! Lincoln was awake for about an hour and then slept the rest of the time on my lap.

If you haven't been to the drive-in, you are missing out! It's a little cheaper than going to the theater, and the snacks are less expensive too. Chris and I usually just bring our own snacks ... even cheaper!

This weekend we went to Charlestown's Movie in the Park with Lincoln. They showed Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Admission is completely free! You bring your own chairs or blanket and it's so much fun. Lincoln liked it until he fell asleep :)

What do you all do for fun on date night? We love new ideas!!

a letter to my momma

2010-06-07T19:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Momma,

Thank you for the beautiful flowers.

Love,

Siddy

you are my sunshine

2010-05-28T08:55:00.001-07:00

Hers & His

2010-05-27T08:19:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of my favorite photos we've taken recently ...

We recreated Karen and Jonathon's wedding on Saturday and took some portraits of just the two of them. You can click here to see more of their photos.

These sisters had their photos taken as a Mother's Day present!

These little darlings are my neighbor's grandbabies. They were the happiest kids I have ever photographed! I don't think they stopped smiling for even a second.

think inside the box

2010-05-25T08:20:00.000-07:00

playing possum

2010-05-24T06:03:00.000-07:00

I let Rufus out to go pee in our backyard. I looked down and saw a baby possum stuck in our window well. If you know me, you know I have a huge soft spot for animals. Even a nasty possum seems sweet when it's a baby! I went to my very wise husband for advice.

M: Chris!!!! There's a baby possum in our window well!!!

C (while looking down into the well): Are you sure it's not a skunk?

M: I'm positive that's a possum. It has a weird tail. What are we going to do?

C: Do we have to do something?

M: Yes! We can't let it stay in there and starve to death!

C: Okay, okay. You're right. Here's what we will do. We can fill the well up with water and then the baby possum will just swim out.

M: (no words. just complete shock.)

That is when I decided I should call my parents. I was hoping by calling them that my dad would say, "Don't you worry your little head darling! I'm on my way to save the possum for you!" Instead I talked to mom and I heard, "We have a net and a shovel you are more than welcome to."

I knew what I needed to do, but Chris could tell that I was clearly procrastinating. He tried to make the situation better by reminding me, "You best not wait to get the possum out when it's dark. You think he's scary now? Wait till it's dark!"

I hopped in the car. Before I had even left our neighborhood, I hit and killed a squirrel. Do you know how much I LOVE squirrels? Let me fill you in: I once hit my neighbors mailbox to prevent me from harming a squirrel. That's how much I love squirrels. WAYYY more than a stupid possum.

I picked up the net and shovel from my parents and headed home. As soon as I got home, Chris reminded me again of the fact that darkness was approaching. I went inside, put a jacket on and my rainboots. I went outside with the net in hand to save the possum. Chris looked me up and down.

C: Why are you wearing your winter clothes?

M: Mom said that possums can be mean. She said I shouldn't wear flip flops because it might bite me.

C: (smile) I'm going to save the possum. Give me the net.

M: THANK YOU!!! (kiss kiss kiss) I'm going to get the video camera! This is what proceeded.

The next day I scanned the yard to see if it was safe for Rufus to go pee. I found the possum dead laying next to our house. It was very depressing. To make matters worse, my dad has been sending me text messages that read "Possum Killer".

The moral of the story is don't save a possum. Because you will probably kill a squirrel, waste some gas, save the possum, and then find it dead the next day. What I really should have video taped was Chris shoveling it up to put it in the trash can on garbage day. Priceless.

sweetness

2010-05-18T12:20:00.000-07:00

I was very sick this weekend. Chris took such good care of me and Lincoln. Saturday morning Chris got up with Lincoln so I could sleep. After awhile I noticed that the house was quiet. I slowly opened Lincoln's bedroom door and this is what I saw ...

Not the best quality, but given the circumstances I wasn't going to take another one :)

I love my family.

a night with the McKain's

2010-05-17T07:03:00.000-07:00

Friday night we had the McKain's over for dinner. The McKain's (Adam, Jessica, Jillian, and Natalie) are our neighbors who we met through church! Their little girl Jillian is just a few months older than Lincoln. It's so funny watching the two of them interact. Lincoln spent most of the evening trying to touch Jill's hair, kiss her face, or give her a hug.

When he wasn't doing those things, he was serenading her with music via his keyboard (as you can see below). Jill tried to find a happy place while playing with Lincoln's dumptruck (also shown below) :)

Jill loved her mommy's magic bars, as did we all! They were delicious!

A good time was had by all.

random long post ... again ... sorry

2010-05-14T07:55:00.000-07:00

*My sweet friend Anna opened her website with all of her goodies! Click here to check out her site, Lane & Lila.

*I said I would post more about Mother's Day later. Change of plans. If you want to hear what we did on Mother's Day, hop on over to Pookie & Doodles---my aunt Jenny and cousin Kalynn's blog :)

*We've had a few photosessions since the last time I updated on here. I will do a seperate post about that later.

*I was a bridesmaid in my friend Lauren's wedding this past Saturday. Chris and I sang two songs together. I told one of the other bridesmaids that I felt like Chris and I looked like we came straight out of high school musical! haha

Wasn't Lauren a pretty bride?!

*Chris and I were apart overnight for the first time this week. Chris went to a Pastor's conference in Cleveland, Ohio with a couple other guys. He left on Monday which was our anniversary, so needless to say I missed him like craazzzy! He got home Wednesday night, and can I just say how happy I am that he's home! I love him so much.

*We have a fun weekend ahead of us. The McKain's are coming over tonight and we are celebrating our anniversary tomorrow.

♥

2010-05-10T11:34:00.000-07:00

Who would have thought that this baby girl ...

and this baby boy ...

would get married ...

and have this baby boy.

On May 10, 2008 I married my best friend. Two years and one baby later and I'm more in love than the day we said "I do."

I wrote a blog post when we first got engaged about how we met and how Chris proposed. If you're in the mood for a looong story, you can click here and read it :)

blessed

2010-05-09T18:21:00.000-07:00

We started off my second Mother's Day by going to our Biblical Parenting Class. During our class we discussed the four different types of parenting: Permissive, Authoritative, Authoritarian, and Neglectful. To sum it up, we should all be striving to have an Authoritative parenting style---a parenting style in which you discipline and have boundaries, but you also give your child lots of love! We were asked to reflect on what type of parenting style our parents had and what parenting style we currently have. As I was "reflecting" I couldn't help but to feel so blessed to have my momma on Mother's Day. She is the exact kind of mom that I am striving to be. I love you soooo much Momma!!!

And a Mother's Day post wouldn't be complete without a picture of me and my boy! I couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day present from Chris. He gave me the best son I could have ever imagined. Corny. I know.

I love my family so much. I love being a mother. I would blog more about our wonderful day, but that will have to wait. I'm going to spend some time with Chris....the sweetest husband in the world.

Island Pork Tenderloin = ♥

2010-05-06T04:56:00.000-07:00

This is one of mine and Chris' favorite meals. And since Chris' dad can get us pork tenderloin for really cheap, it's a meal that we have quite often :)

If you are into a recipe that's easy to make, will make your house smell like heaven, and make your tastebuds throw a party in your mouth ... well, than this is the dish for you.

You are going to need:

16 ounces pork tenderloin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon chile powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 tablespoon fresh garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tablespoon Tabasco sauce

Put the pork loin in a medium baking pan. Mix all of the ingredients (except for the pork loin) in a small bowl. Rub the mixture onto the pork loin. Bake at 425 for an hour. Some pork tenderloins are smaller than others, so I would check it at about 40 minutes to see how it's cooking.

Bon Appetit!!!

Strawberry Romaine Salad

2010-04-27T12:51:00.000-07:00

Chris and I had this salad tonight and it was delicious. I think it's a perfect spring/summer treat! Although, Chris said he could eat it every day :)

First, cut up a whole bunch of romaine lettuce.

Slice up some strawberries

Add some mandarin oranges to the lettuce and strawberries

Add some feta cheese

Add Kraft's Creamy Poppyseed Dressing and mix it up!

why do i do this to myself?

2010-04-27T06:15:00.000-07:00

Why do I neglect my blog for weeks and then sum up our lives in a reaaallly long post? Argh! Bear with me. I hope you're ready for another list :)

1. Chris and I started a Biblical Parenting Class at Southeast. We had to miss this Sunday's class due to prior commitments but we LOVE the class. I can't wait for next Sunday's lesson. We also got to meet our blog friends, David and Jill Pennington, for the first time. They are in the class too!

2. My mom and I went to new member orientation for a community bible study we will be starting in August. While we were there, Lincoln went to the nursery for the first time in his life. Yes, he has lived a very sheltered life. haha :) He did great! He didn't cry one bit. He went to the nursery for the second time last Sunday while we were in our parenting class. They said he did great for most of the class, but he cried at the very end. I'm really excited about Lincoln going to the nursery and I think it will be really good for him. Even the kids Lincoln's age get a lesson and they are taught to pat the Bible. Isn't that precious!

3. Having said that Lincoln went to the nursery for the first times this month, it should come as no surprise that #3 will be about how sick our family has been. It started with Lincoln. He ran a high fever, had ulcers on his throat, and threw up once. Then Chris got it, minus the puking. They are both doing much better now.

4. Hers & His Photography is doing great! Here are some of my favorite photos we've taken here lately.

The precious Natalie McKain

and the Hudson Family

5. Our friends, The Taurman's, were in town visiting from Florida this past week and planned a blog get together with the Birkes, Kaelins, Spencers, and Tibbs Friday evening. There was delicious food and great company. We had so much fun and so did Lincoln! He spent the entire evening running from one end of the room to the other blowing raspberries, flirting with Sulayne, or lifting his shirt to show off his abs. He is so funny!

The highlight of the evening was getting to meet Ms. Braeleigh Taurman for the first time since she was born. Aren't her eyes beautiful?!

Before we left, someone suggested we take a picture of all our kids on the couch. By the time I got to the front of the picture taking line, our kids were done! So, I stole this cute picture from Beth .

Here are all of our kiddos from left to right...

McKinley * Isabella * Elizabeth * Blair * Brooklyn * Drew * Braeleigh * Micah * Lincoln

6. If you haven't had Papa Murphy's Taco Grande Pizza, stop what you're doing and go buy one now. You can thank me later.

7. My brother has been kicking booty in track. Seriously. He's awesome.

Am I forgetting anything blog worthy, Chris?

13 months ... and a few days

2010-04-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

I let you take your 13 month pictures with Horsey instead of Blue Bear because you've grown quite attached to Horsey in the last month or two.

Here lately if we ask you where Rufus is, you will point at him and say, "Deer" (there).

You wear a size 5 diaper.

You love being outside. You could be in the worst mood ever, and if we take you outside you're immediately happy.

You love playing Peek A Boo, Hide and Seek, and Pat-a-cake.

You love unloading things. Some of your happiest times throughout the day are when you're unloading Rufus's doggie basket, our bathroom drawers, the bedroom nightstand, your bookshelf, and Daddy's underwear drawer. What are we going to do with you?

You LOVE music. Your favorite videos are Sesame Stree Kids Favorite Songs, and Praise Baby. Your favorite songs right now are The Bear Went Over The Mountain, The Wheels On The Bus, The Ding Ding Song, If All The Raindrops, Down Down Baby, and The B-I-B-L-E. You're also very fond of the song Mimi made up for you ... Stinkin' Lincoln :)

You love going for walks in your stroller.

You wear a size 5/6 shoe.

You are so tender. You love giving hugs and kisses, and snuggling.

You wear 24 month clothes.

You are completely BINKY FREE!! I'm working on weaning you off of your bottle. You are down to 1 bottle before bed and none during the day!

You hate having your diaper changed, taking off your clothes, putting on your clothes, and getting in your carseat.

You are a great eater. You will eat just about anything. A few odd foods that you LOVE are avocado, kidney beans, and black olives. We're pretty sure you're not going to be picky! You are still the noisiest eater ever.

You love taking a bath. Your favorite bath toy is the big green cup I use to rinse you off.

You love swinging in the baby swings at the park.

You can say Dadda, Momma, Nini (Mimi), Dosh (Josh), What, Hi, No, Bye Bye, and Go!

You love to clap.

You have 12 teeth!

You love the sound of the magic bullet.

You love waving goodbye.

You love hiding things. After a long search, we found Rufus' leash in Daddy's underwear drawer. You have also "hid" Mimi's cell phone in the trash can and my flip flop behind your books.

We can't get you to play with your toys for anything. Your favorite "toys" are the remote control, your tooth brush, my hair brush, and Mimi's Koolaid spoon.

Your favorite books are Puppy and Friends, B is for Bear, and How Do I Kiss You.

You love talking on your cell phone.

You love to dance.

bubble boy

2010-04-05T05:26:00.000-07:00

I have to give a HUGE thank you to my sweet friend, I like to refer to as Anna Banana, for making Lincoln this adorable shirt for his birthday! We have never met in person, but I feel like she is one of the family. I totally realize that I'm sounding crazy right now. Anyhoo ... Anna is the same person who sent Lincoln the super cute tie onesies and the turtle hat too! She is very talented. Here soon she will be opening her website so you can purchase her amazingly cute items online! Yay! Thanks again, Anna!

We took Lincoln to the park last night and let him enjoy the bubbles Mimi and Poppy put in his Easter basket. He LOVED them!!! Chris took these precious photos of our baby boy ...

what a difference a year makes ...

2010-04-04T14:15:00.000-07:00

Our cranky little bunny last year ...

And our sweet little boy this year ...

Lincoln, Poppy, and Mimi

Lincoln and his Uncle Josh

Our little family :)

Happy Easter!!!!

♥

2010-04-01T17:30:00.000-07:00

Chris brought me these flowers yesterday after picking them from a field. I ♥ that man.

longest post ever

2010-03-29T04:48:00.000-07:00

I have so much to catch up on. Instead of doing a bunch of little posts, I'm just going to do one really long post. And yes, I will be doing this in the form of a list :)

1. Here are some pictures from our recent photosessions. First up---Ryan and Jen

2. Brandon and Lauren's engagement photos. They will be getting married in May!

3. Tony, Sulayne, Rhett, Micah, and Blair Kaelin. Do we not have the most gorgeous clients?

4. We doubled with Ryan & Jen for date night on Friday. I cooked Beef Enchiladas and then we saw Alice and Wonderland. Loved it! Loved the company even more :)

5. A few days ago, my sweet friend Amanda messaged me saying that she wanted us to get together because she had knitted Lincoln an Easter bunny! How sweet is that?! We met Amanda, The Boyfriend (that's what she refers to him as on her blog hee hee), and Amanda's sister Sarah for coffee on Saturday. I was in complete shock to see Sarah there because she doesn't live around here and the little stinker didn't even tell me she was coming! She said she wanted to surprise me, and surprise me she did.

Amanda made Lincoln an Easter basket, and here's the bunny that was inside ...

Thank you so much, Amanda! That was so sweet!

6. Sunday we celebrated my Grandma King's birthday. Here's Lincoln with his GREAT grandparents!

Whew! That was A LOT!

he gets it from his momma ...

2010-03-28T12:51:00.000-07:00

Seriously, you have to watch both of these ... I mean, please.

I'm working on a long catch up post ... more later :)

2010-03-23T15:19:00.000-07:00

Bye Bye Binky

2010-03-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

On March 18, the day after Lincoln's birthday, he had his one year check up. Here's an update on his stats...

He weighs 24.5 pounds, which puts him in the 80th percentile.
He is 31.5 inches long, which puts him in the 95th percentile.
His head was big, which puts him in the 80th percentile :)

While we were there, we asked Dr. Corba when would be a good time to take his away his binkies. Dr. C recommended that Lincoln be binky free by 18 months. So, when I couldn't find his last binky anywhere this morning, I decided to make today the day. Incredibly, when nap time came he drifted off without the aid of his binky. The same thing happened tonight. I'm beginning to wonder if we ever really needed them ...

Lincoln's 1st Birthday Party

2010-03-22T07:19:00.000-07:00

happy happy birthday

2010-03-22T05:44:00.000-07:00

I'm working on getting Lincoln's birthday party pictures on here, but in the meantime you can take a peek at this video :)

1 Year

2010-03-16T17:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Baby Boy,

It's hard to believe that a year ago, your sweet face came into this world. We have thoroughly loved spending the last 365 days with you. We've sat on the edge of our seats, watching a seemingly never-ending parade of firsts: smile, laugh, sit up, crawl, walk, dadda, dance, swing. Every one of them brought us so much joy. It always made us a little sad when you outgrew a set of your baby clothes. We'd pack them up and carry them to the basement, thinking you were that much closer into becoming a big boy. When we look at you now we still see a baby, but we're also starting to see a boy. We couldn't be prouder of you.

Love,

Daddy & Momma

You wear a size 4 diaper. You wear 18 months and 24 months size clothes.

You have loved going for walks in your stroller ever since it warmed up.

You love swinging in the baby swing at the park.

Your favorite books are Puppy and Friends and B is for Bear.

You wear a size 5 shoe.

You love play time with your daddy. You get extremely hyper, loud, and happy. We love it.

You can say Dadda, Momma, Mimi, Dosh (Josh), No no no no, Bye Bye, and Hi!

You wave goodbye and you are very enthusiastic about it.

You love to play with cell phones. You hold them up to your ear and talk and talk and talk!

You love Sesame Street.

You love taking a bath. You could sit in the bath tub for hours! You love drinking the water. You love drinking it so much, that we usually have to cut your bath time short.

You still love to play with anything other than your toys.

You are a lover. You are constantly giving kisses and hugs.

You love playing hide and seek, and peek-a-boo.

You can dance! Seriously, you can boogie down like a pro ... to the beat! There are certain songs that when they come on, it doesn't matter what you're doing, you start dancing. It's hilarious.

You love to eat. We tried to come up with a few of your favorite foods, but after a few minutes we decided it was too hard to pick just a few! You love them all!!!

You are a super loud eater. You say "Mmmmm! Mmmmm! Mmmmm!" the entire time. You had a cold a couple days ago, and we were worried about you because you were eating quietly. hahaha

You go to bed every night between 7:30 and 8:00. You usually wake up between 6:30 and 7:30 in the morning.

You have 8 teeth---four on the top and four on the bottom.

You love having your hair brushed. The other day you almost fell asleep sitting up as I brushed your hair.

You have sandy blonde hair and very blue eyes. Your hair looks really crazy when you wake up. Your daddy refers to it as "crazy clown hair."

You are a morning person, just like you're momma.

swing swing

2010-03-10T10:12:00.000-08:00

Today has been a great day. Beautiful weather. 67 degrees outside. Been drinking lots of crystal light lemonade. Still in our pajamas. Took Lincoln for a walk to a hidden park Chris found near our neighborhood. Lincoln loves swinging. I love Lincoln ♥

Dear Mr. Lincoln

2010-03-08T10:07:00.000-08:00

Dear Mr. Lincoln,

You love going outside.
You do not love your bare feet touching grass.
You love picking leaves for mommy like they're flowers.
You did not love it when mommy touched the tree with your hand.
You love throwing Rufus sticks.

Love, Mommy

Brian, Maria, Brooklyn, and Elizabeth

2010-03-08T06:31:00.000-08:00

and the award for bad blogger of the year goes to ...

2010-03-02T10:02:00.000-08:00

ME! So, I'm going to try to make up for it by overloading you with tons of information. Here's a list of what we've been up to here lately ...

1. We've been taking lots and lots of pictures. Here are two photos of Gretchen's kids Pierce and Hope.

2. We had a photosession with Tracey's family on Saturday. Although we've been stalking each other's blogs for quite some time now, Saturday was our first time meeting in person :)

3. I started doing the Shred workout again on Monday. This time around, my sweet friend Rachel is joining me and it's a lot more enjoyable :)

4. We are planning Lincoln's 1st birthday party! Can you believe it?! He will be ONE in just a few weeks!!! Sigh ...

5. A couple months ago, my mom and aunt Chrissy painted our kitchen this awful color I picked out. We finally repainted it this weekend with the help of Chris' dad and the color is soo much better!

6. Lincoln has been doing all sorts of cute things here lately. This first video is of him clapping and the second one is of him playing his keyboard and loving his bear

7. Our photography website is up and running! It's a work in progress, but you can check it out at hersandhisphotography.com

ellie

2010-02-23T05:12:00.000-08:00

Forgot to post my favorite photo of Ellie from our recent photosession :)

11 months

2010-02-16T18:09:00.000-08:00

Lincoln will be one in just one month!!! The pictures of him in the crib just weren't working out today. So, I took these photos of him in the blue chair while his Mimi made him smile. Notice that Lincolon is holding Rufus' bone in these pictures. It's one of his favorite "toys" :)

- Your favorite foods are peas, avocado, cheerios, green beans, and carrots.

- You can say Dadda, Momma, Bye Bye, No no no no, What?, Mimi, and Hi! Your daddy was often referred to as "Mouth" as a child and your mommy was often referred to as "The Mouth of the South", so I'm not sure why we're so surprised at your amazing talking abilities...heehee

- You are wearing a size 4 diaper.

- You weigh about 25 lbs.

- Your hair is the prettiest color. It's a sandy blonde and we love it!

- You are walking everywhere. Just yesterday you walked from one end of the room to the other! We can't believe it!

- You love bath time. You have every bath toy a child could ever want, and yet your favorite thing to play with is our foot scrubber. Silly boy ...

- You love it when you're daddy gets home from work. Your face lights up and you bounce up and down from pure excitement.

- You love to snuggle. You are always giving hugs and kisses. You are so tender!

- You and Rufus are becoming best friends. Rufus has taken the backseat ever since you were born. We haven't been playing with him as much as we used to, but you've picked up our slack. You throw him his toys and he loves it.

- You love playing hide and seek.

- You love music and you love to dance!

- You are wearing 18 months and 24 months size clothes.

- You have a real problem with being restrained in any way. You hate being in your carseat, getting dressed, and having your diaper changed.

We love you to pieces baby boy!!!!

my valentine

2010-02-15T13:29:00.000-08:00

I had to post this card my honey made me for Valentine's Day. Isn't it sweet?! The inside was even sweeter but unfortunately for you, that part of the card was for my eyes only. hee hee :)

Thank you for being my valentine, Chris! Love you!

these are a few of my favorite things ...

2010-02-14T18:30:00.000-08:00

Lincoln has changed so much in the last couple weeks. He is now saying: Momma, Dadda (his favorite word to say by far), Nini (Mimi), Bye Bye, Hi (imagine it in a Minnie Mouse voice), no no no no no, and my new favorite "What!?" He says it so cute, like he's extremely confused by what you just said ... although we know he's just mimicking us :) He is a talking machine!

Lincoln has been walking more and more here lately. He usually only takes about 3 steps at a time. He surprised us a few days ago and took 7 STEPS from me to his Poppy King.

Our baby boy is growing up so fast. I cannot believe he will be one in just a month... Sigh Here are a few of my favorite things...

belly laughing

walking from his uncle Josh's desk to the bed for gummies :)

saying bye bye

i scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream

2010-02-09T07:30:00.000-08:00

Lincoln had his first taste of homemade ice cream today and I think it's safe to say he LOVED it.

The recipe is pretty simple. Go outside and get a bowl full of clean snow. Clean being the key word there. Add a little vanilla, sugar, and milk. Voila! Homemade ice cream :)

I think it's pretty tasty. Lincoln does too ...

He thinks it's so tasty that he strained his neck after every bite to see if more was coming :)

just because...

2010-02-04T11:47:00.000-08:00

I know...two posts in one day. I wanted to post this picture because

-I love my husband
-I love Lincoln
-I love this picture I took of them to test my camera's settings before a photosession
-I love Lincoln's little belly hanging out.
-I love their matching faces :)
-I love our little family....rufus too.

sweet child of mine

2010-02-04T06:33:00.000-08:00

Lots has been going on with Lincoln since his 10 month post! He's saying "Hi" now. And because I say it in a high pitch voice very similar to Minnie Mouse, Lincoln does too. It's adorable.

Lincoln's been taking steps! I think 4 steps is the most he's taken before toppling down. We're so proud of him!

Lincoln came down with a cold on Monday. He had a runny nose, watery eyes, and lots of sneezing. Then he had his first vomiting experience on Tuesday. When I puke I cry, vomit, gag, cough. It's a pretty awful thing to see. Let's just say Lincoln takes after me in that area.

The good news is Lincoln is feeling much better now, and is constantly on the move. That's why I allowed him to play with my lens cap just so I could get him to sit still long enough to take his picture.

He may look just like his daddy...but that scrunchy-nose-face is all mine. So, he got my vomiting skills and scrunchy-nose-face. Bless his little heart :)

it's official ... almost

2010-02-02T20:46:00.000-08:00

In case you haven't heard, Chris and I started a photography business and it's called Hers & His Photography! Our business cards came in the mail yesterday. Chris made them and I think they turned out great! We're pretty excited :)

We will consider our business officially launched when our website is up ... stay tuned.

Our friends Jeff and Janette brought their grandsons over this weekend and we took some photos of their family. Sam and Luke were so cute! Here are a few of our favorites ...

Beth, Isabella, and McKinley

2010-01-29T04:36:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of taking pictures of our friend Beth and her two girls Isabella and McKinley yesterday. They were both little angels! Isabella was so well behaved and McKinley rarely made a peep.

I had been itching to take some newborn photos for a long time. It was my first newborn photosession, and I learned A LOT! I hope to do more newborns in the future. They are so precious!!

I still have more editing to do, but here are a few of our favorites ...

Here's baby McKinley at almost 3 weeks old

Isabella was rewarded with a massive lollipop for being so good :)

Thanks for letting me take your pictures Beth!

Juan Update

2010-01-28T05:14:00.000-08:00

I've received two letters since my last update on Juan. Here's what I've learned

*Juan is close to his mom and they have a good relationship.
*Juan is excited that he has a "beautiful sponsor" (hehehe) Seriously, it said that.
*He loves receiving pictures of our family.
*He participates very well in his activities at the Compassion Project.
*Juan's father works as a cleaner.
*Juan had a good birthday and was so thankful for our gift. (We send money to Compassion and then they help Juan pick out his birthday present) The letter said, "Juan is a very smart boy so he chose toys first, and then some clothes." Ha! Smart kid!

This was by far the most encouraging part of the letter, "Megan, know that you have been a blessing in Juan's life and his family is very thankful to you. Everyday we pray for your life and we always ask God to provide you everything you need."

How amazing is it that they are praying that God will provide everything I need. It's so sweet. I'm not just saying this---if you aren't sponsoring a child, you should! I have been really blessed by it and I know Juan's being blessed too.

Okay, I'll stop now.

Seeing as how Juan's just a little boy, he can't write yet. So his teacher writes for him. Juan loves to color and he always send us some pictures! Here are the last two we received. This first one is of his favorite toy---cars.

This is a drawing of Juan, the sun, his dad, a doll, a car, and a house.

best. friends. forever.

2010-01-26T17:27:00.000-08:00

cute things ...

2010-01-22T07:05:00.000-08:00

Here are a few cute things Lincoln's been doing here lately. Please try to block out my crazy voice. I never remember to act like a normal person while I'm videotaping Lincoln until it's too late.

While we're on the subject of cute things ... Click here to see some of our favorites from the photos we took of the DeVore family.

10 months

2010-01-20T21:20:00.001-08:00

These monthly pictures are getting harder and harder. Last month he wouldn't stop slam dunking his bear. This month, I literally cannot get him to sit still long enough for me to take his picture by the bear! I'm probably just going to have to take a picture of him and the bear while he's sleeping. This one will have to do for now.

You can have table food now! We can't even begin to pick your favorite foods ... you love everything!

You still love watching Praise Baby and Enchanted.

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

You have 6 teeth now. You had 4 teeth come through on top this month!

You love music. If you really like a song, you will bounce as if you're trying to dance.

You are pulling up on everything.

You've been standing by yourself and you've even taken a step or two!

You know who Rufus is. I will say, "Where's Rufus?" and you look for him with your eyes until you find him!

You are wearing 18 months and 24 months clothes. You wear a size 4 diaper but I think we may be moving up a size here soon :)

You love Baby Mum Mums and you can feed yourself!

You love the Ding Ding song, How Do I Know (from Enchanted hahaha), Happy Working Song (Enchanted again), and when your Mimi sings "Stinkin' Lincoln"

You love bath time.

I think you look and act more and more like your Daddy every day.

You are very curious! You have to be able to see what's going on everywhere at all times!

We've been chasing you all over the house. You start going for the places that are off limits the moment we put you on the floor.

You have tons of hair and it's blonde.

You are really good at waving bye bye and high fiving now :)

You get sooo excited when your Daddy gets home from work.

You enjoy taking off your socks, and other people's socks too

You go to sleep around 7:30pm and wake up around 6am.

I rock and sing to you every night before you go to bed.

Your favorite toys are not toys at all. A few of your favorites are Mimi's Koolaid spoon, pots and pans, the basket that hold Rufus' things, remote controls, my makeup bag, and your froggy thermometer.

You have no idea how happy you make us, baby boy...

DeVore family sneak peak!

2010-01-18T16:48:00.000-08:00

Here's a sneak peak of the photos we took on Saturday. More to come...

so much funia

2010-01-17T16:45:00.000-08:00

I came across this really cool website called photofunia.com. It sooooooo much fun(ia).

randomness

2010-01-11T16:09:00.000-08:00

When I'm feeling overwhelmed I like to make a list. So here's whats been going on at the Birke house ...

1. Lincoln discovered how much fun it is to bounce on his bed.

2. Lincoln has been pulling up on everything in sight. Seriously. I feel like I haven't stopped moving for weeks.

3. I took some photos of Kelsey Abbott for the Outlook newspaper. Kelsey's a Christian songwriter who the Outlook is doing a feature on for this Thursday's issue.

4. Lincoln has started having separation anxiety. I witnessed it BIG TIME today while I was trying to take Kelsey's photos.

5. We went on a double date with my brother and his girlfriend, Brittany. It was quite the experience. Chris will post about that later ...

6. We saw the movie Avatar twice. It was so good! I would see it ten more times if we had any gift cards left over from Christmas. hint hint Mamaw Jones. hahahaha

7. Lincoln scratched Chris' face so bad that he looks like the villian from Avatar.

8. I just started taking down our Christmas decorations today :(

snow day

2010-01-07T18:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a great day. School had been cancelled for my brother Josh. Mom was off from work. I was stranded at our house because my car, along with Lincoln's carseat, was at Mortons Car Shop being repaired. After Mom and I did a lot of scheming we finally accepted that this was going to be the first snow day I didn't spend playing in the snow with her and Josh or watching movies with them on the couch. It was a very sad moment for both of us.

I had just put Lincoln down for a nap when I heard a knock on my door. A lot of thoughts went through my head: "Who would come to my house in this snowy mess? Those Jehovah's Witnesses will stop at nothing! I'm still in my pj's. I have no makeup on! EEK! At least the house is clean... Please Rufus, don't bark and wake up Lincoln!"

I opened the door and there stood my dad with a brand spankin' new carseat and his very-good-in-the-snow Dodge Ram glistening in the background. As Chris likes to say, "It was like a Christmas miracle." We installed the carseat and then he took me and Lincoln to their house. Did I mention this was all during his lunch break? Dad saved the day. Thanks Dad :)

Thanks Anna!

2010-01-06T19:11:00.000-08:00

We received a package a few days ago and inside it was this sweet hat and shirt our friend Anna made for Lincoln! We absolutely love them! Here are a couple photos of Lincoln sporting his new hat and tie shirt.

Thank you sooo so much, Anna!

2009, what a year ...

2009-12-31T09:52:00.000-08:00

Here are the highlights of 2009 for us. You can click on them to see the full post!

-LINCOLN MICHAEL WAS BORN!!!

-We started sponsoring Juan through Compassion.

-We had our One Year Anniversary!

-My first Mother's Day and Chris' first Father's Day as parents!

-We went to NYC!

-Lincoln was a pumpkin for his first Halloween.

-Lincoln had his first Christmas.

Oh, and here's our favorite video of 2009. No, it's not David After The Dentist :)

between bites

2009-12-29T18:28:00.000-08:00

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.