Christmas 2009

Christmas 2009 came and went way too fast. We had a great time with our family and are so blessed that we live close enough to enjoy times like these. My brother's family was able to make it home on Christmas Day so all the kiddos got to play together. Reese and Madison are an absolute riot together :) Makenzie and James are still a little young so there wasn't much playing between the two of them...but that will soon change as they grow.

It was great to see the excitement in Reese's eyes on Christmas morning....something I missed last year. He was soooo excited to get his new bow and arrows from Santa. He was also pretty proud of his camo bathrobe too....anything to be like Daddy. :)

James started walking this weekend and we watched him progress from letting go momentarily to taking 6-7 steps just in the matter of 4 days. What an exciting time for him too!! My babies are getting so big.....Our entire family is truly blessed with healthy, happy (and busy) children all of whom were terrorizing Mimi and Papa's house all weekend. But...I have a feeling they wouldn't want it any other way. :)

Well Christmas is fastly approaching and Devin and Reese couldn't be more excited. James is probably excited too and is telling me all about it during one of his babble sessions. As I race throught this Christmas season buying gifts, wrapping presents, writing Christmas cards, making Christmas candy etc etc etc I often stop myself...slow down... and say a prayer thanking the Lord for the wonderful gift he gave me last year at this time. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will be very different this year....thankfully. I will not be laying in a hospital bed constantly praying for the health of my unborn son. God blessed us with James 7 days after Christmas and for that I am forever grateful. This Christmas I am trying to remember where I was last year and when I get stressed....I remind myself it could be a lot worse.....

So...on that note....our family is going to enjoy the hustle and bustle of Christmas up to the last minute. My 2 boys and I are going to fight crowds and finish up our last minute shopping, make a BIG mess in the kitchen decorating cookies and making candy, and even go on a flashlight candy cane hunt tonight. We look forward to seeing our family on Christmas and are thankful we can all get together. One of Reese's favorite Christmas songs (other than "Santa Claus is coming to town" of course) is "Away in a Manger". I'm going to give you a reminder of one of the most important verses because I can't seem to get it out of my head.........

"Be near me Lord Jesus, I ask you to stay

Close by me forever and love me I pray

Bless all the dear children in thy tender care

And fit us for Heaven to live with Thee there"

Merry Christmas Everyone

Reese turns 5 years old!

Halloween 2009

I cannot believe this day actually arrived. My baby turned 5 years old. :) He is such a "proud" 5 year old and is ready to start Kindergarten any day now. Reese is also a very proud big brother. He loves James soooooo much. I am blessed with very loving children that is for sure. Devin is also a very very good big brother. :) I have been horrible about keeping up with my blog (that is an understatement) but I plan to be more diligent from now on. Until then......

A Day on the Farm

Well, since I went back to work I haven't had a whole lot of time to update my blog. I will try and be better from now on.

Reese had his FIRST field trip last week and he went to a farm. I cannot believe my baby is in preschool and now going on field trips. I was thankful I was able to take off work and go with him. His class got to see horses, mules, sheep, a HUGE sheep dog (that Reese didn't want any part of), and chickens. They also got to have a barn dance! Reese is always talking about his "girlfriend" and as you will see they are together most of the time. She is the little blond girl in the pictures. Too Cute!! The lady holding Reese while he is petting the horses is Mrs. Carroll, his teacher. Bless her heart, she has the patience of Job. :)

This week in the 'Burg

I don't have too much to write about so I will recap this past week or so. I loved the picture of Devin and Reese right before James' baptism. Aren't they handsome guys??? They are such proud big brothers. Devin got some big news this week...he made the Legion summer baseball team and is pretty excited.

On Saturday morning we woke up to snow falling...needless to say Reese was super excited. We got about 4-5 inches and Reese was happy to help Daddy shovel the driveway. We also took him to a big hill here in town and they went sledding. However, James and I had to stay in the truck :(

The other pics show Reese being my big helper. He loves to do anything for James and that makes my heart smile. He also likes to play "Daddy" when Kevin is out of town. He even asked me yesterday if I would call him "Kevin or Daddy". Needless to say... I said no :) I told him he could pretend to be daddy though. He was happy.

Jesus loves the little children....

James Ryan Dirnberger was baptized Sunday at our church. It was such a special day and we were thankful our friends and family could be here to help us celebrate. Kevin's family even came in from southeast Mo. Mike and MeLeah were unable to make it but I know they were thinking of their little nephew at this special time. Devin and Reese were very excited for their little brother and were angels in church....which is a good thing... because we were sitting on the front row. :) We had everyone over for lunch after church and had a great time. Devin and Reese got to see all their cousins and really had a good time running around like crazy boys! It was such a wonderful day and I am thankful that my beautiful son has officially been baptized. A lady stopped me after Mass and said, "now you know.. he is God's child...he is a gift to you from God". That has stuck with me so much since yesterday...not that I didn't know that already...but we can all use reminders every now and again...God Bless you James Ryan....

Children have the biggest hearts...

I cannot believe how big my little guy is! Yesterday morning Reese came downstairs holding his "blue bear". This is a normal morning ritual, however, this morning was going to be special. Reese went to James' crib and said, "he can sleep with blue bear if he wants to. Then he can be happy when he sleeps like I am". For those of you who know Reese well, "blue bear" has gone everywhere with us for the past 4 years. Over the last 6 months or so, Reese has kinda grown out of taking him everywhere, but he still sleeps with him every night. So... this was very sweet for Reese to give him to James. I am not sure if it is permanent....Ha! but nevertheless it was precious. God has blessed me with a very loving and gracious child...I pray that he always remains that way. I also pray that James grows up to be just as caring and that he knows how much his big brother loves him.

Happy Valentine's Day~

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! It was pretty much a normal day around the Dirnberger home. Kevin worked outside, I worked inside, Reese kissed on James Ryan all day long... ya know ... the usual. Those typical Valentine activities of time to ourselves, dinner and a movie for two, weekend get-a-ways... yep that didn't happen. We ate at home, bathed the kiddos, and watched a movie on TV. Sounds exciting huh? Well... I wouldn't trade it for the world. God has bless us with wonderful children and I would rather spend the time with them versus leave them with a sitter...unless of course the sitter is Mom.... then it is okay. :) Hope everyone had a great day!

Fun at Mimi and Papa's

Last weekend Kevin went down to his parents to help clean up from the ice storm. I figured the boys and I would not be too much help so we decided to go to my parents for the weekend. We went to the park, went shopping, and went to a show in Branson. We had a great time and Reese LOVES to spend time at their home. James...well...he just kinda "hung out" as always. He is such a sweet baby.

Bowling Fun!

Dad sent me an email after seeing these pictures and he said, " I think Reese is going to be able to do anything he sets his mind to". I think he is right...

Reese started a bowling program on Monday night and needless to say.. he loved it. He is really good at bowling on the Wii, but I never thought he would do this well in an actual bowling alley. Well, "bowling factory" as he calls it :) As you can see from the score board, Reese got 2 spares and 1 strike... I was amazed. He was so proud of himself and was jumping around like a kangaroo. I don't think he could have stood still if he had to. (The picture of him sitting was before we got started). Reese has only been bowling one other time at a birthday party so he was super excited to go again. We haven't taken him on our own... just never thought to do so. I am HORRIBLE at bowling and after Kevin injured his hand... he hasn't been able to do it either. Well, looks like we are going to have to start going more....Something is going to have to get this child a college scholarship Ha! :)

More of the boys...

As you can see from other pictures, Reese is very photogenic so when he wants to take pictures I jump at the opportunity. He wanted to take pics with his "baby brother" and he was all smiles. He is still so proud of his brother and that makes my heart smile...

Devin seems to be getting so big and he is not a "little boy" anymore. It does not seem possible that he is old enough to be involved in sports like this... From what I hear he is very good at wrestling... of course that is coming from HIM! I can't wait to see him at a wrestling meet soon.

Dirnberger Boys

Well... Meleah started this blog for me so I am trying it out... I am such a rookie when it comes to this stuff :)

We welcomed James Ryan into this world on 12.31.08. He had 2 very anxious and excited brothers waiting for him. Devin and Reese do a great job with him and are very proud. God has blessed our family with 3 healthy children and we are forever grateful.

James Ryan's First Photo Shoot

The other day Mimi took the boys into Springfield and had their pictures made for the first time. Reese is such a proud big brother. The pictures turned out beautifully. Jen will have to post more later. Enjoy!!!!