Uncle Josh and Aunt Allison

Good times in Michigan this weekend! Uncle Josh and Aunt Allison visited to meet Stella. Mom & Dan and Katie (with doggie Jake in tow) all descended on the Kirk household for a fabulous weekend.



Uncle Josh thought Stella was pretty cute and was glad to know she really existed, not just in pictures. Aunt Allison was a natural and did a great job holding and feeding Stella. She even got a lesson in cloth diapering. Between Grandma Mary Lou and the aunts, Mom and Dad didn’t have to do much except the late night/early morning feedings. No one wanted to do those – wonder why?

We ate at a couple of really good restaurants. Mom and Dan even tried Indian food – and seemed to like it OK. We also visited the Kalamazoo Nature center and talked to the bee keeper as he explained how the hive at the nature center works. The hive is set up inside Plexiglas so we could see all the activity. We even saw the queen lay eggs while her court circled around her. We saw bees with pollen on their legs dance out the directions for other bees and asked lots and lots of questions. Well, Allison and I asked lots of questions. The rest took a couple of quick looks and then wandered around. The rest of the time was spent hanging out and catching up. Tim made a wonderful meal on Sunday and Grandpa Kirk and Uncle Bill joined us for the grub. We also squeezed in a trip to Bell’s downtown while Grandma watched Stella. Now Joshy and Allison are on their way back to DC. I miss my little brother already!


We missed having Grandpa Tom and Grandma Judi with us. Dad’s hip replacement surgery has been a terrible ordeal for him and for Judi. He’s still in the hospital recovering from the second surgery and is having a really difficult time. The surgeries themselves were difficult, but the worst has been the neurological issues that he’s having due to reactions to the anesthesia. He had to have a second surgery because he dislocated his hip multiple times after the first surgery. The whole saga began on March 1st, and still continues!


Josh, Allison, Katie, Stella and I made a video for Judi and Dad – we just have to figure out how to post and/send so that Judi can play if for Dad in the hospital.

Bonus Pic:  Cloth diapers drying on the line!  Reusable and drying using wind & sun power :-)

Easter Fun!

Easter Sunday was a beautiful day, if a bit chilly. Still, that meant that Stella could wear the beautiful wooly lambie coat that Grandma Judi had gotten her over her cute little Easter dress and sweater (a Target find -- nothin' but the best for our princess :-). First thing in the morning, she opened the Easter basket Grandma Mary Lou had given her. Mommy was more excited about this than she was. She got finger puppets from the Big Bunny and books full of fun stories-- I'm sure she'll be more interested in them as she gets older.




Stella behaved beautifully at church and everyone ohhed and ahhhed over how beautiful she looked in her coat, dress and fuzzy bunny slippers (from my friend Jen and her daughter Anna -- passing along things that Anna has outgrown). But, the real excitement began just as we got home. Stella let us know that she was quite hungry. After all, celebrating the resurrection is hard work! As Daddy fed her, Mommy was tidying up in her room. Daddy rushed in saying, "I think she pooped." As Mommy stepped in to change the dirty diaper, Daddy realized that not only had she pooped in her disposable diaper, she had blow it out! The bloomers were soaked, the dress too, and -- look at the big spot on Daddy's pants! And, as he retraced his steps, whoops, there were some spots on the floor too! It's a good thing we are used to dealing with dog and cat spots on the rug; we had just the stuff to clean it off. A short soak and some Shout! took care of the clothing, and soon everything was good as new. The moral of this story is that cloth diapers are much better at containing big poopies. And that Stella apparently doesn't like to dress up!