Crawling Around...

Mae has figured out how to army crawl and its pretty funny when she REALLY wants something, feet in particular!

Happy Halloween!

We were in Crystal Lake for Halloween this year, we went to the Purdue/Wisconsin game in the early afternoon and then took Mae trick or treating with her cousin Genevieve at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Mae was a monkey and Super G was a lion. We only made it to a few houses because our little monkey fell fast asleep in her stroller, but I'm sure she had a good time even though we ate ALL her candy!




On a side note, the game was NOT FUN! It was super cold, Purdue scored 0 points and the fans at Camp Randall let us have it. But, we can cross it off our list of Big Ten stadiums and hopefully the next one we visit we will see the Boilers actually win a game!

Good Bye Indianapolis!

After a long 15 months, we finally said Good-Bye to our house on Valley Trace Ct! It was a bit bittersweet because it was our first home and we have so many memories there, but it will be well worth it to have Eric so close to home. His new commute will only be 10 minutes, round trip. FYI, his old commute was 3 hours round trip!! Thanks to Steve and Josh for helping us move our house!

Roly Poly

Mae hasn't quite figured out how to crawl yet, she does get push herself up when she is on her tummy but usually gets too frustrated to keep trying. So....she has learned to get to someone or something, she just rolls from back to belly over and over util she gets to where she wants to go or she runs out of space. She is very proud of herself when she is finished and usually flashes her sweet smile at us to let us know! She is such a big girl, it is all going by too fast!

Mae's First Purdue Tailgate

Ever so often since graduation, our friends get together and return to Purdue for a weekend of debauchery, some of us having more "fun" than others...this was the first year we kept it pg so Mae could come and experience part of her heritage as a mini Boiler! The game was not good as the football team has grown accustomed to not only loosing games, but actually giving them away to other team. We all still had a lot of fun and Miss Mae got to meet some more of Mommy and Daddy's dear friends!

Its so hard to be LOUIE..

1/2 Birthday

Wow, I feel like I blinked and Mae is half way to her first birthday! It feels like she just got out of her newborn diapers yesterday!
Some things she is up to....
likes to blow bubbles and raspberries
can sit up on her own(mommy or daddy has to help a bit)
loves her jumperoo (thank you Super G!)
has tried sweet potatoes, bananas, avocado, and rice cereal
becoming very aware of strangers
becoming better friends with the bottle
makes Daddy lots of presents in her diaper....haha!
She is like a little person now and we both LOVE her laugh and continuously try to think of new ways to make her use it!
More to come....hope you like the pics!

Bert's 60th Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Mom! We all celebrated 60 years of Diane on September 19th...It was a lot of fun at Bucca's and Mae can't wait for her own birthday cake!


The first picture is of my cousin Courtni, a college freshman at Indiana State...I remember holding her when she was a teeny, tiny baby and now she is all grown up holding my teeny tiny baby!

Boiler UP!

Mae's First Cubs Game

Another Big Girl Moment...

 
I recently went back to work and out of protest, Mae has decided not to take a bottle while she is at the babysitters for four hours. However, the sippy cup seems to be hitting the spot!

ps....baby Lucy is getting better and will come home soon hopefully, thank you to everyone for keeping her and her family in your thoughts and prayers!

Mae's BFF Lucy

To all of our friends and family who may or may not know the Hopkins', Josh, Sarah, and Lucy are the strongest little family. Lucy Kate was born with a few heart defects and had surgery yesterday to repair the damage, she is recovering in the PICU at Riley Hospital. My friend of almost 16 years and I have been through many things together, but this is the most difficult thing she has had to endure and I feel so helpless to her. All I can do is continue to pray for them and ask you to do the same. So please pray for Sarah and Josh to continue having the strength they need for each other and their precious little girl and please pray for Lucy to make a full recovery and to get back home soon. We LOVE you!

Mae is 4 months old!

I cannnot believe it's August and Mae is over 4 months old! Each day she changes a bit, so we never have a dull moment...
Some things she is doing:
-Rolls over from belly to back and sometimes back to belly
-Is VERY chatty, especially with her musical octopus (see older post)
-Likes to squawk at Mommy and Daddy, hitting the high notes very well
-Wants to go outside and go for a walk or play
-Watches people and is very interested in what they are doing
-Loves to chew on EVERYTHING!

At her four moth check up, she weighed 13.9lbs and was 25 inches long! She is 50th percentile for weight, but 75th for height...We just think she is awesome and we love her so much!

Mommy and Mae

 
I just figured out there are hadly any pictures of just the two of us......we both look like we could use a nap!

Lazy Sunday

 

Quality Daddy & Mae time on the couch

"Seriously, answer me!"

So Mae has become quite the chatterbox, especially when she is sitting in her high chair during dinner. She tends to get a bit fussy while we eat dinner, so we give her toys to play with. The following is just a taste of what dinner is now like at our house and I am sure will only get better from here on out with the introduction of food!

HAHAHAHA

The video is a bit dark, but it's her first laugh on record. If you need a pick me up during the day, I recommend watching it on repeat!

Three Months and Counting........

Time sure does fly when you are having fun...and have a three month old keeping you on your toes. I am a little late to post this because Mae has been three months old for two weeks now and it feels like she is ready to start college any day now! She has had a busy month: she rolled over for the first time the day after her three month birthday!! She has also become quite the chatterbox, in fact we took a trip to Chicago for July 4th and Grandma bough her a duck toy to play with. She had a great conversation with this duck while the rest of us had dinner..... I don't know if the conversation took a turn for the worst, but her little voice kept getting higher and higher and needless to say we were all laughing, except for cousin Genevieve who chimed in every now and then.
She has also been sitting up in her bumbo and highchair, but tries to pull herself up when she is laying on her back or laying in our laps...... she is going to be sitting up all by herself soon at this rate!

I'm a Big Girl!

 
My goodness how time flies, I can't believe Mae is almost three months old!!! She has been wanting to sit up more and more and on a whim, I decided to see if she would sit in her bumbo....and she did it without any trouble at all! Her new favorite thing is to sit in it and stare into her mirror and just jabber away with herself. I will try to get some video of that soon, it really is a riot to watch her carry on with herself!

Two Month Checkup

Well sweet baby Mae is two months old and we started the week off with a visit to the Doctor's office. The nurse and doctor both said she was very alert and strong for only being 8 weeks old and that she is still perfect in everyway. She weighs 10lbs 12oz and is 22.5 inches long, both in the 50th percentile for her age. So she is doing great, she did have to start her shots and got two, one in each thigh. The nurses were great and gave them to her at the same time and up until that point she had been happy and smiling, but as soon as she got them her whole face turned red and she let out a cry I have never heard before...I did ok though, I didn't cry myself! I scooped her up right away to tell her it would be alright and she calmed down pretty fast. Now she is sleeping it off in her swing with a full belly and some tylenol. Now we just have to go back in a month to get two more........maybe Eric can take her, but I don't think he would handle it as well as I did :)

Happy 6 Weeks Mae!

My little lady is six weeks old today! I can't believe how much she is changing and growing. She has recently began to "talk" to us and I was able to record some of it. The whole thing is pretty cute and makes me wonder how she is going to continue to change into a little person. I hope you enjoy it!

Three Cheers for Eric

 

After many hard months of training and eating right, Eric finally ran the Mini Marathon this past Saturday! He did so in under 2 and a half hours and managed to raise close to $1200 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, which contributes to clinical research to end blood cancers. The whole experience was moving and I am so proud of him, not only for completing the 13.1 mile race, but even more so doing his part to help save lives. My wonderful husband, I love you!

5 Weeks Old!

 

Mae's favorite spot at the moment.....I can't believe how big she is getting! She weighs 9.5lbs and has outgrown her newborn size diapers....a little sad, but I am happy she is thriving in her new environment...we just love her so much! Thanks to Aunt B and MaryJane for the pretty purple dress!

Go Cubs Go!

Mae has officially joined the ranks of hopeful Cub fans everywhere, she already knows this is going to be the year!

First Checkup

Well our baby girl is doing great! We visited Dr. Goul this morning and she tells us Mae is a happy healthy almost 2 week old, everything the way it should be. She weighed 7lbs, 15 oz when she was born. She left the hospital at 7lbs, 7oz and now weighs 8lbs 3oz....needless to say she has a healthy appetite! Despite all of my tears, we decided to put her in her big girl bed in her room on Saturday night and she has been sleeping much better and so have mommy and daddy! Today is Eric's first day back at work and we are missing him very much, and I am sure he wishes he could be back home with us, 5:30 can't come fast enough! We are praying we can sell our house soon so he can spend more time at home! Thanks again to everyone for all your well wishes, we couldn't be happier with sweet baby Mae!

Mae Elizabeth Dirksen

Well I am very slow to post this, but I have been busy in the hospital with our new baby girl, Mae! I started to have contractions on Tuesday afternoon and by the time Eric got home from work, they were close to 10 minutes apart and by 8:30 they were 7 minutes apart. So we made a secret trip to the hospital (just in case it was false labor) only to learn I was only 3cm. So the doctor sent me home and that is where the real fun began. The contractions started getting stronger and seemed liked they were right on top of each other, so back to the hospital we went and in only 2 hours I went from 3cm to 5cm! So needless to say I was admitted and waited very patiently for the epidural man to save me.....I think I was at 6cm when he came to the rescue. So I was pretty comfortable and excited to meet my daughter. I started to push around 12pm and did so for 3 hours!!! And in the process of pushing, I started feeling back contractions and all because my little lady wanted to come out face up, which the nurse said was pushing the biggest part of her out of the smallest part of me...yikes! My husband was the best coach I could have asked for, he made sure I was comfortable, spoon fed me ice chips, and mostly kept me happy....and I love him more each day for the man he is. She finally came to us at 3pm and is perfect in every way, she weighed 7lbs 15 oz and is 20 1/4 inches long. I could have never imagined loving someone so much so soon, but my beautiful little lady has shown that is possible. Eric and I are so happy and feel so blessed through this whole experience and we can't wait for what happens nex. Thank you to everyone for your well wishes, we will try to post often.

38 Week Checkup

Well still pregnant! I am just a little bit dilated and progressing nicely, according to Dr.Lupton. I have been reading a lot of ways you can induce labor....which by the way, that whole taking a long walk thing is just an old wives tale, well according to one book anyway. Friday is my last day of work...yipee! I go back next Wednesday to see how things are going, but I have to see the Nurse Practitioner because my Dr will be on vacation.....if my luck still has its way, she will probably come some time while he is headed to Florida! I guess that would be ok because she would be here sooner than later, and it would be nice to see her pretty face in person instead of just dreaming about it.....everyone keep your fingers crossed!

HOLY COW!

Has anyone else looked at the Mommy and Daddy ticker......I am going to actually be a mommy in less that a month! I think it is finally starting to hit me, right smack in the face that I am having a baby. I know she is in there, because she is definitely Eric's child and hardly ever stops moving.....but I have only seen her one time and I can't help but wonder every other minute what she is going to look like...will she be a brunette beauty or have white blond hair like her daddy? Sometimes I wonder if she will inherit my dad's ears, at which case I will have to pierce them right way to distract people from the size of them! But either way, I really can't wait any longer for her to pop out and say hello to me and her daddy and meet the rest of the world......only 3 weeks and 3 days to go!

Snow Day

Eric Dirksen.....hard at work, thanks to the ten inches of snow we got last night and today. I had to remind him, he wished this upon himself!

Eric' s Hard Work

So I know I am a little late to post this, but I just want to say how proud I am of my man, the engineer...her put the whole thing together in less than an hour and a half!

7 down, 3 to go...

Now that's a belly!

California Dreamin'

Ok...so I know I am little late posting this, forgive me though. We took a lovely trip to sunny Cali about two weeks ago with our friends Jenny and Steve to visit some friends...we had a blast. Well I might have had a rough New Year's, lets just say it interesting to watch other people get wasted while you stay stone cold sober....drunk people forget that though! We did do other fun things like visit the Living Desert where we fed giraffes! So cool....we also went to Joshua Tree National Park to climb some rocks. We even had time to go to LA and Venice Beach, it was so much fun, it has taken me the past week to fully recover, ankles included! A Big THANK YOU to the Tanner Family for putting up with us for the week, we love you guys!