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Little round fingers,

Little round nose.

Little round cheeks,

Little round toes.

Little round head,

Little round chin.

Little round curls,

Little round grin.

Pleast don’t change,

because I love you this way.

Sweet and round is how I want you to stay.

I took these pictures of Samuel while we were out in the yard on Monday night.  I just love them.  When I first looked at them, I was struck by how round he was…round eyes, round nose, round knuckles.  I love round!  I was thrilled to be able to capture it in photos and words.

Derek is so good at decorating cakes, I half-heartedly suggested today that he should quit working for Cisco and start a cake business.  He didn’t go for it.  But he really is a cake-master!  Here’s the dinosaur cake he designed for Caleb’s party tonight. 
The process…

The inspiration…

The final result…

The birthday boy…

The birthday boy with the cake-decorator-extraordinaire…

We had a little family party for Caleb last night, with my mom, Steve, and Grandma Kake.  Caleb just lights up with the thought of people coming to celebrate with him.  I made him his very favorite meal…chicken parmesan.  And he requested cheesecake as well.  Actually, he requested to go to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert, but I made him Jell-o No bake Cheesecake instead.  We got him a tool set…a real one, not the plastic kind…which includes a mini power drill!  And he’s always wanted one of those cheap 1$ bouncy balls from Target, so we obliged.  My mom and Steve bought him a big dinosaur and a mini-trampoline.  Last week while at sports camp in Austin they used these mini-tramps a lot and he loved it.  It’s already gotten quite a bit of use from my three boys!  Fun times…

My mom gave Caleb a “singing” card and it just cracked him up!

 

Thanks to everyone who sent cards and e-mails and called yesterday. He was so cute about all of the attention.  His two great-grandmothers sent him money in the mail and I quickly told him that this money was for college (in my best enthusiastic, guess-what, this is so exciting voice).  He got real excited, and started waving the money around, dancing and singing “I get to go to college, I get to go to college!”  So cute – enjoy that while it lasts.  Next year he’ll probably be disappointed that he has to “save” it!

This baby of mine is SIX today.  SIX.  When did that happen?  Why does it feel that his years go faster than the others?  His little life is flying right before my eyes.  I enjoy him so…  He does have an ornery streak lately, but mostly he is just so sweet.  He is full of one-liners.  Has a contagious laugh.  He HATES the heat.  I just know that he will live in a cold climate someday…the mountains somewhere.  He was like that even when he was a toddler.  I would put him in a hot, parked car to go somewhere and before I could start the A/C he was screaming and rubbing his head.  It’s the same now…he hates to go play in this Texas heat.  (Who can blame him?).  He is always making cards for me (and all of us) with butterflies and sweet love notes…I love all of those little notes.  He is crafty.  And smart.  He is witty.  He’s a good friend and loves people.  He wants so badly to be right, and to be ahead sometimes with his big brother.  He wants so badly to be in charge of Samuel and tell him what to do and take care of him.  He is stuck right-smack-dab in the middle.  And I always hope and pray that we are doing enough for him…giving him everything he needs.  There is something about that face…that adorable, loveable Caleb face…it makes me smile.  I just love him so…and have loved him since that first moment I saw him on July 22, 2002. 

Happy Birthday, Caleb.

Next week, this cute guy and I will celebrate 10 happy and blessed years as a married couple. 

And they said it wouldn’t last!  Actually, NO ONE said that, thankfully!  But they did mention that it might be a little too fast.  What’s the hurry?! 

Derek and I met in August of 1997, set up on a fun and simple double date with two mutual friends.  It was a nice evening, but I was entering into my last semester of college, taking 21 hours of class time and interning for the local ABC news affiliate, so I had no time for a serious relationship.  And I didn’t return to Dallas from San Marcos for the next 4 months.  But we did e-mail, and established a really nice friendship.  We still have a notebook with all of those e-mails printed out!

Then in January of ’98 I started looking for a job.  I looked heavily in Salt Lake City…wanting to be near friends in Provo.  But nothing was materializing.  I applied for jobs in West Texas and Ithaca, NY at TV stations, but decided that I wasn’t THAT adventurous.  In the meantime, Derek says he was praying me to Dallas.  And it worked.  I took a job with a start-up TV news/weather franchise called WeatherCaster.  And I came back to live with my mom until I could find an apartment.

Derek took me out for ice cream that first weekend after I moved here, and then every weekend after that. He flew me up for the General Conference of our church in April of that year and I met his family.  We took a drive that Sunday afternoon to see the snow in the mountains and he spontaneously proposed overlooking the Snowbird ski area. 

Then we planned a quick, but beautiful, wedding for July 17, 1998.  Our poor families probably thought we had lost our minds…everything was so fast.  January – July. 

But when it’s right, it’s right.  And we knew it was right.

Derek has always been a calming influence to my high-strung, high-spirited temperament.  Many people don’t ever see this side of him…but he’s HILARIOUS!  Always making me laugh.  He is a hard worker, smart and wise in his business dealings.  He is well-respected.  He is compassionate and kind.  He is an involved, caring, and thoughtful father.  He is so capable and excels at everything he tries. 

I feel so blessed to have this man in my life.  Our lives are certainly not perfect…mostly because of our own foibles and imperfections.  But our life together is so GOOD.  I am truly living the life I always hoped for…being a wife and mother.  Derek has never tried to influence me to be anything that I’m not.  He’s always loved and accepted me just the way I am.  I strive to be better because of his patient influence.

I’m grateful that next week as we celebrate in Hawaii, we will truly have something to celebrate…a marriage that has brought 10 years of joy and growth and blessings.

Ever since we moved in 2 and 1/2 years ago, I’ve been wanting to do something “cute” with the boys’ room.  Jacob and Caleb share a room, so we argued brainstormed for several months about what it should look like.  Jacob wanted camouflage, and nothing too “cartoonish” (his word).  Caleb wanted ocean scenes with fish and sharks painted on the walls.  When I found these shark sheets at Pottery Barn Kids (on sale, no less), I was pretty sure we had found our compromise.  And I loved the quilts that went with them.  I chose a wall color based on the beige on the quilt.  It’s not finished yet…we still have shelves to hang and wall decor to take care of.  But now it’s a real room.  And they’re excited.

From: Uncle Sam

Yesterday afternoon we had a great time swimming and visiting at the Hicken’s pool.  Then we headed over to my Mom and Steve’s for a yummy steak dinner.  And we had front row seats to the local fireworks show from their upstairs windows.  It was perfect…we opened the windows to hear the ‘booms’ and felt like we couldn’t get any better seats.  It was a great Fourth!

 

This little buddy fell asleep on the couch yesterday, amidst piles of clean laundry, on the couch.  I took a picture because I thought it was so cute.  He woke up and was miserable…high fever and sore throat.  And last night he had what we have always called “night terrors”…but these were worse.  Four different times during the night he woke up screaming and crying…sweating, and saying things that were heartbreaking.  The first time we brought him downstairs and he touched my face and screamed, “They’re behind you”, “Mom, I’m scared” and “I’m gonna die”.  Needless to say, he slept in our room last night.  The next three times were much the same…sometimes saying “they’re going to eat me” and “I don’t want to die”.  Sometimes it’s jibberish, but mostly his words are clear and frightened.  He’ll try to hold our hands or feel our face in an effort to come out of it.  We have to just hold him and rock him and speak in calm tones, trying to wake him up with a wet washcloth, juice and blowing on his face.  As a parent, it is AWFUL.  I can’t tell you how heartbreaking it is.  He stares at us and recognizes us, but is still stuck in his nightmare…living it out in front of us.  He’s had these since he was two…but he never remembers them afterwards, and he’s never very descriptive…just a lot of crying and wild eyes.  But these have been different…my pediatrician called them “febrile hallucinations” (associated with high fever).  We think he must be susceptible to them, since he also has occasional night terrors (which have become more rare for him).  This morning as he slept on the couch, I was in the study working.  I heard crying and went out to find him trying to negotiate with his antagonist and defending himself with a light saber. Derek gave him a priesthood blessing and blessed him with peace and calm, and prayed that the nightmares would stop.  They have, gratefully.  We’re hoping tonight he’ll sleep peacefully.

 

This little guy turned 18 months today.  No longer a baby, although I claim the right to call him that as long as I want to! 

Stats…

Weight: Good

Height: Average

Head: Big

Walking: Like a Champ

Sense of Humor: Intact

Decibel Level: LOUD, especially when crying

Sleep: Mostly, used to be great, but is having a first-time bout with separation anxiety

Words: NONE

Sounds: “MUH” for any of the four of us (me, Derek, J or C), “NAH!” which is easily translated as “No”, “UH?” which means “may I please have it”, or “give it to me now”, “Uh.” which means “yes”, not to be confused with “uh?”.

Current Favorites:  books (yeah!), singing Barney songs in the car (‘if all of the rain drops were lemon drops and gum drops”), climbing up and over the chair in the living room, climbing period, wearing his camo Crocs, SHOES…scattering, putting on, taking off, bringing to, hiding, carrying, etc, etc, etc., swimming, throwing food, bouncing down the stairs on his bottom, trying to run (which is a fast walk), playing “ball” (him throwing it to us and us rolling it back), making people laugh, eating…anytime, mostly anything.

Loved: IMMENSELY…he lights up our world

 

Yesterday we went for a fun-filled day at the lake with our friends, the Kovach’s, Brooke’s, Lee’s, and Hall’s.  And, as always, it was SO fun.  We rented a pontoon boat, two jet skis and a ski boat.  The kids fished (I didn’t see Jacob ALL day…he fished for HOURS on end and caught lots of little fish and one BIG fish, much to his glee).  We had tons of food, lots of kids, and plenty of water craft for everyone.  We can’t wait to do it all over again next year.  It’s a great party!

Don’t be fooled by the pictures of Samuel…despite the sour-puss look on his face, he was quiet content and happy all day.  He does NOT like his vest very much.  And we learned that he’s not a big fan of the jet ski.  But he loved the boats.  And was happy just to sit on a lap and observe.

I don’t have pictures to prove it, but Jacob and Caleb both got up on the kneeboard and went for quite some time.  And Jacob even did some wake jumping.  Derek is amazing on skis – he got up on slalom his second try.  And Christopher Brooke and I took off on the jet ski, and went 63 mph (a new record for me – that’s what you get when you let the 12-year-old drive).  So fun!

One Fish, Two Fish, Little Fish, Big Fish

“Look boys…girls can fish too!” / “Head straps for two-year olds are a must!”

Caleb on the raft with McKenna and Taylor

Donna and Christi with Samuel / Who’s that cool cat on the jet ski?!

Me and Samuel enjoying a swim / The boaters

Mer and Caleb about to jet ski together (we only went up to 40 mph per Caleb’s instructions) / Caleb on the raft with Cameron and Michael Lee (Michael was surfing)

This series of pictures is what I call “Adult women having perhaps a little too much fun”!

And one of my favorites…Samuel digging