happy birthday to my catie bug

A few nights ago I heard Dan and Cate having a little chat in the bedroom. I asked Cate about it when I tucked her in for the night. She told me they were talking about what she wants to be when she grows up and stuff.

I give you her top three choices:

Artist (most likely a painter)

Professional Bike Rider (if she chooses this one she'll have to explore waaaaaaaaay more than just around and around our block)

Ballerina

***

On our drive home from bowling at BYU yesterday (113 for me!! I totally kicked everyone's trash!), she asked to hear the story of how she was born. Again.

"Tell me how I was born because I've been thinking about having a baby and I'm feeling a little nervous."

So I told her about how my body got sick and I had to stay in bed for a few weeks before she was born. And about how the doctor said I could only get out of bed to shower and go potty. After a few weeks I went to the doctor and he told me to go to the hospital. They checked me overnight and the next day told me that my body was too sick and she needed to be born.

I told her about how I got a big shot in my back so I didn't feel any pain when she came out. But she was so tiny anyway. And I pushed once, maybe twice and there she was. The nurses scooped her away to check on her. She was born a month early so she needed help breathing and eating so she stayed in the hospital for 3 weeks until she got it all figured out.

I'm not sure if that helps with her nerves but she's got at least a good 20 years before she really needs to worry about the joys of childbirth. 

***

I sure love that little Catie Bug of mine. She's so very different from me in so many ways. But that's part of why I love her so. I love that she's cheerful (most of the time but watch out if she's tired and doesn't get her way) and carefree. She's a talker (but not at school or church where she's a very good listener). She loves to entertain and be entertained. Never a dull moment with her around. And what a creative little artist she is. Some days the first thing she does after waking up is head straight to the table for paper and markers and a masterpiece.

 ***

She's a happy little miracle and I'm so glad she's mine.

Happy 7th birthday to my best girl!

it's great to be eight

Every night when I tuck him in I tell him these three things:

I love you.

I'm proud of you.

You are special to me.


Every night he tells me these three things in response:

I love you waaaaaaaaay more.

I'm proud of you too.

You are special to me too.


Then we have a little smooch and I'm outta there.


Last week at tuck-in, after he said the "i'm proud of you too" part, I asked him why he's proud of me.

"I didn't do anything for you to be proud of me. I'm just the mom."

"Yes you did! You gave me my life! You are my gift!"


That might just be the best thing he's said to me ever. It pretty much made all the less-than-stellar moments of parenting him so completely worth it. What a gem he is.

I just really really love him. He's the best. I get him, you know? He's me, in little boy form (except I don't love basketball and football nearly as much as he does).

I'm just so glad he's mine.

Happy birthday to my favorite Danny boy. 



 

and many more

He told me that he was in charge of everything we'd do since it was his birthday. I agreed (mostly).

He wanted to play games with me in the morning before school. We played Sorry, dominoes and Scrabble Jr.

I dropped him off at school after lunch. He brought birthday treats to share with his class.

He played at the cousins' house after school while Cate and I bought birthday balloons and birthday cake. It's the first year I didn't make his birthday cake. He requested the dinosaur cake from Costco instead.

We ate pizza for dinner (pepperoni and bacon for toppings) and then went bowling with the cousins. He won. Sure, he used the bumpers and the ball ramp thingee but whatever. Winning is winning. 106!

He opened presents (wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper but I don't think he even noticed).

He ran around the house playing with cousins, making messes and playing with new toys.

And then he declared it The Best Birthday Ever.

>>>

Here's how he started the day. A little snuggle time with his favorite person in the whole wide world.

I know all the super moms out there like to rise early, way before their kids. Get started on the day. Check off stuff on their to-do lists before the kids start begging for their attention.

Well, you know how you have a baby and then they all say "sleep while the baby is sleeping"? Yeah. I never did that. Well, there's this one time I remember when Danny was 5 days old. Dan drove my parents to the airport and I napped while that little baby napped. I think I remember it so vividly because it was the only time it ever happened.

So here's what this super mom does. She stays in bed until the kids come in to wake her up because she's catching up on all that "sleep while the baby is sleeping" rigamarole. It's true.

And you know what I don't miss out on? Washing dishes, scrubbing toilets, folding laundry and sweeping floors before the sun comes up.

Also, snuggles in my bed with my little sleepyheads.

I figure this is my last chance. He'll go to school all day next year. No more lazy mornings for us.

So for now I'll continue to be lazy so I can get my morning snuggles.

It's the least I can do. Literally.

>>>

So this one's not from his actual birthday but Grandma gave him this costume when we saw her a few days later and it cracks me up.

He put it on and said, "I'll wear the gloves so I can torture Daddy." Ha.

Now he wears that costume every time he and Dan wrestle. It's a hoot.

>>>

I love that son of mine.

He just keeps getting better and better.

I'm a lucky lady.

almost six

My boy will be six in two days.

He drew this picture a few weeks ago. See those little dashes in between his head and the birthday cake?

That's his breath blowing out the candles.

Awesome.

my favorite four-year-old

My baby turned 4 this week. A few highlights of the day:

+ waking up too dang early, like a good hour before her normal time (not sure how that's a highlight but I just thought it was lovely that she wanted to make the almost longest day of the year feel even longer)

+ playing with her new bubble toy in the front yard at 7:30 in the morning (it should be illegal to play in the front yard at that hour of the day and it only reinforces my hatred of summer. hate it. but she loved the bubble thing. that's good.)

+ no more swim diapers (this is big. HUGE. the pool requires all kids under 4 to be double diapered, potty trained or not. those blasted diapers make me want to...never mind. I'm glad we're done with them. she is too.)

+ cocolito's for lunch (except she and her brother fell asleep in the car on the way there, slept through the entire lunch - which was quite lovely for her daddy and me - and stayed asleep while we carried them out to the car, buckled them in and drove home. they missed the whole thing!)

+ cupcakes, brownies and cookies at the park with family and her best friend (and me not feeling the least bit guilty about purchasing said cupcakes, brownies and cookies. not one little drop of guilt. nobody's perfect, starting with me.)

+ opening lots of presents (only two of which i actually bought for her birthday. the rest were extras from christmas that have been stashed in the garage for 6 months.)

+ kind friends and neighbors who brought over presents and balloons (it's nice to have kind friends and neighbors)

+ asking her throughout the day if she remembered what she and i were doing exactly 4 years ago. do you remember when you were in my tummy and we were in the hospital? (not that i thought she would be it's fun to ask) her reply: was i playing around in there? ha!

+ remembering how i was laying in bed at the hospital (4 years ago of course) for my 24 hour urine collection (how lovely) and bed rest combo and i didn't have a laptop or a smart phone (how i survived that i'll never know...i must have a source of inner strength i never knew i possessed) and the doctor came in around dinner time and told me we'd be having a baby soon (since i failed the urine test miserably and that little 4-week-early baby needed to come out)

+ being thankful for my sweet girl and her adorable personality and budding sense of humor

She's my Catie Bug and I love her.

halfsies

I asked Danny a few weeks ago if he'd like to have a half birthday cake (inspired by my internet buddy...except her cake looks way nicer than mine) for his half birthday.

He said no.

I was a little disappointed but got over it and moved on.

I probably baked something else to get me over the sadness of it all so it's fine.

Well, looks like the thought of the half cake for his half birthday kept brewing inside his little brain.

He asked me on Thursday (11 days after his half birthday day) if I was ever going to make that cake.

Oh, brother.

So I whipped up the batter, poured half into a cake pan and the rest into cupcake liners.

Notice the five and a half candles? I think that was pretty clever of me if I do say so myself.

I only frosted the cake.

The cupcakes got left naked because I know Danny doesn't like frosting and he'd want one that way.

I was right.

I even cut his cupcake in half just for funzies.

A few pictures before the candle lighting (out of order but who cares).

Having a little taste of the frosting.

Then I told him to just smile.

And that looked so goofy that I told him to not smile.

Here's what I got.

Ha. I sure love that his grumpy grump face doesn't come out as often as it used to.

I'm not sure what Dan and Cate were singing to him before he blew out the candles. 

I was singing Happy Half Birthday To You. It seemed appropriate.

I think I like this little half celebration idea. Maybe we'll keep it.

With only two kids it shouldn't be too difficult.

Plus, it's a big deal to them when they finally get to add that half when they tell their age right?

Right.

nine on the ninth plus one

Except it wasn't really a surprise since he had to give me directions to his school.

And I figured I should ask him ahead of time if it was even ok to come.

All his teacher friends thought the kids were so cute.

And his students thought they were soooooooo cute!
We even got to crash the Teacher Appreciation luncheon.

Came home and made the cake.

That took extra long because people wanted to "help."

Danny said, "Mommy, I'm going to pretend to bite it and you take a picture."

Cate said, "Nooooooooooo."

But I think she actually wanted him to take a real bite.

Here's the birthday cake in all it's dark chocolatey glory.

I copied the Nothing Bundt Cake guys and frosted it all cute.

Well, all except for what looks like a dollop of poo in the middle.

It sure tasted good though.

Root Beer Float Cake

I will most definitely be making this cake again.

I couldn't really taste any root beer though.

A slight aftertaste if I took a bite of just cake.

But that's it.

No matter. It was a mighty tasty chocolate cake anyway.

And the frosting?

YUM! And that's coming from someone who usually scrapes off the frosting.

It's chocolatey and smooth but not too sweet.

And I got to use my bundt cake pan that I never ever use.

Bundt makes me think of My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

This scene. It's a kek!

We had pizza for dinner in the front yard.
Then the cousins came over to join us.

Dan's such a good sport.
Even with his stomach full of pizza.

Time for the cake.
I think it took a good 5 minutes just to get all those candles lit.

Other awesome things I did for my husband on his birthday:

mowed the lawn and ironed 8 of his shirts.

That's true love right there.

one hundred

my dad and his parents

Today's my grandpa's birthday.

He would have been 100 years old.

He passed away when I was 9.

I don't have lots of memories of him because I didn't grow up around him.

He lived in Utah.

I lived in Alabama.

Now I live in the house that he built for his family.

It's the house that my dad grew up in.

I like that it's the house my kids are growing up in too.

I have neighbors who remember my grandpa well.

I asked one of them to share a few memories that she has of him.

(Please excuse Ray Ray and Cate making a lot of ruckus in the background. That's life with little kids.)






I love that she said "duck bumps" instead of "goose bumps."

I can't listen to her story without getting duck bumps of my own. And tears in my eyes.

This kind neighbor also told me that she remembers tending my dad when he was about 2 years old. She's pretty sure he already knew how to read at that age. She said when she was reading to him he'd stop and correct her if she missed a word. That sounds about right.

If my grandpa was still around I would have called up Willard Scott and had him added to the Smucker's spotlight on the Today Show.

That's for sure.

Happy birthday to my grandpa.

happy birthday to you and you

Happy birthday to the best mom I've ever had.

She'll want to kill me for using this picture but that's a chance I'm willing to take.

Look how cute she is.

* * *

And happy birthday to one of the best little sisters I've ever had.

Pretty sure she won't kill me for using this picture.

Look how cute she is.

{the one standing in the back holding my other little sister}

Happy birthday, you two.

Love you both!


p.s. Thanks for sharing a birthday...one less thing I have to remember.

on his ninth birthday

My third nephew. Trevor.

He was born late at night. It was his grandma's birthday too.

We live an hour away and didn't go to the hospital. Wait and drive up for Sunday dinner and see him then.

As we turned the corner onto his street, we passed a car. His parents in the front, their baby in the back. Rolling down windows and chatting we found out he had a fever. Headed to the hospital.

We visited after dinner. Bearing gifts. Little blue baby clothes for a tiny baby boy. Can't hold him. Sleeping? Not allowed? I don't know. I just remember not holding him.

Prayers for a quick recovery said in my heart.

Days passed. Drove up to get his big brothers and bring them to our house for a few days while his mom and dad stay with him in the hospital. A call to turn around and bring them back. Baby not doing well. Big brothers need to be with their family.

Children's hospital this time. Sadness. Holding back tears. Heart beating fast. Wondering how those big brothers will understand. They were only 11 and 6.

Aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, Grandma. Waiting room. Waiting and waiting. Holding back the tears. Silent prayers.

Seeing the baby. So many wires. Tubes. Eyes closed. So swollen.

Took the big brothers down to the cafeteria for a break. From the 6-year-old, "I just don't get it. Trevor came to earth, got a body and then he dies." A statement. An observation. But also a question. I don't remember what I told him. Hopefully something comforting. I just don't remember.

Moved to a private room. No more wires. No tubes. Eyes closed. No holding back the tears. Aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, a mom and a dad, Grandma. All together. A family prayer. Peace. Comfort. Sadness.

And then he was gone. Held in the arms of his father.

Tears. Sadness. Wondering why.

Then I held him. Regret not getting the chance to hold him while his spirit was still with us. While his little heart was beating. While his eyes were open. While his warm body slept.

A kiss on his forehead. Then handed gently to another loved one waiting to say goodbye.

He'd be 9 today. I can't even imagine what he'd look like. His mom? His dad? His big brothers?

Someday I'll know. I'm sure of it.

I don't know the sadness of losing a baby. I didn't know then. I don't know now. What I do know is how much I love my own babies. Feeling that love now, I can't imagine how it must have felt to have to let one of them go after only 10 days of holding, feeding, caring, crying, worrying, sleeping.

10 days.

I thought of baby Trevor when each of my own babies reached 10 days old. I thought about how much I cherished them already and how I would feel if they were taken away from me. And then I put it out of my mind because I just couldn't imagine.

Remembering a sweet baby today.

And silent prayers of gratitude for my own babies.

That I have them to love and hold and tickle until they cry.

on his first birthday

Happy birthday, dear Ray Ray.

Happy birthday to you.

Love,

Your Favorite Aunt

(sorry to the other aunts but it's true)

what's up with cate?

She's three. That's what's up with Cate. Here she is bright and early on her birthday morning. This is the second bright and early of that morning. The first one was at 12:47 (not so bright though) when she woke up and pitched a fit of massive proportions. We're not sure what she wanted because all she did was scream. Dan got her calmed down and read her a story. What a lovey way to ring in her third birthday.

She enjoys wearing the "gobbles" she gave me for my birthday 2 days earlier.

She loves her new Dora ball house from Grandma. I love picking up the balls and putting them back in the Dora ball house 56 kajillion times a day. Just in case you think that's a pretty cool looking Dora ball house and you want to have a turn sitting inside and throwing all the balls out, forget it. Well, unless you're a three-year-old girl or her almost one-year-old cousin. That's all that's allowed inside. We made that rule pretty quickly. Dora ball houses are not to be shared with older boy cousins or older brothers.



I came through with my promise of a polka dot cake. I didn't actually make the cake. I never promised that. She didn't care anyway. I used my birthday gift certificate to a cute little cake/cupcake/cookie shop and bought this mini cake for Cate and a dozen cupcakes for everyone else. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.

I squeezed on the polka dots and made the little sign and she was happy as can be. She didn't even eat that cake. She wanted a cupcake instead.

More pictures from the birthday:





















I just love Cousin Ray Ray's hair. I'm hoping he doesn't get a hair cut for a few years.



Other stuff about Cate:

She's really good at making the silly face for the camera.

And the pouty face too.



Dan took her to the doctor for her three year check up. No shots. Thank heavens.

She weighed in at 39 pounds. I think she might pass up her big brother soon. Who would've known when she was born weighing 4 1/2 pounds that she'd be in the 83rd percentile 3 years later? The kid likes to eat.

Her tonsils are big. We have an appointment with the ENT next month. Ear tubes have fallen out. One's in the ear canal still. I wish Dan had told the doctor to fish it out for me so I could save it. I saved one of Danny's too.

Know what else I saved? Danny's shriveled up cord thingee that fell off his belly button. I would have saved Cate's too but she was still in the hospital when it fell off and those nurses didn't even tell me when it happened. Seriously. That's a momentous occasion right? It's probably for the best that I don't have 2 shriveled up cord thingees in my house. One is probably enough.



Cate loves to play hide and seek. She never asks me to play, just her daddy. She considers putting a blanket over her head and standing still in the middle of the room "hiding."

Dan told her to count from one to ten. She went over to the wall (their counting spot), covered her face with her hands and said, "One, two, ten!"

Cate requested Dan get her a banana one day. He asked if she wanted to eat the whole thing (because sometimes she just wants half). She said, "No, just the inside." Well, duh. She must think her parents are a bunch of dummies sometimes. They don't even know that you only eat the inside.



Last night Dan made Danny obey and Danny didn't want to obey so he went to his room and cried. No yelling. No spanking. Just Danny not obeying. Cate told Dan he needed to go to work because he's a mean guy and the rest of us are nice guys.

Cate got hurt one day. She came to me with her "owie" and I kissed it. She said, "Hey! That doesn't make it feel better! Need a band-aid!" Imagine that. My kiss didn't make it feel better. She's figured me out.



Here's one I hear a lot.

her: I want something to eat.

me: What do you want?

her: Tell me.

Right. Like I'm a mind reader or something? So I list some choices and we usually end up with her eating cheese.

One day she decided on almonds. I asked her if she was done when I found them sprinkled all over the floor. She told me yes, because the almonds were freaking her out.



Cate likes to twist her hair. I don't like it when Cate twists her hair.

She calls her ankle her hippo. Sometimes she calls it her wrinkle.



This kid has more stainless steel (or some kind of play version of it) pots and pans than I do. And she's even got 2 pink ones. I want pink ones too.

According to Cate, a rooster says dock-a-dock-a-doo. A gun goes wa-hoo (a toy gun made from legos of course). A rocket ship goes woooooo. And the wheels on the bus go wa-wa-wa.



She's into knock knock jokes now too. This is my stand-by. Knock-knock. Who's there? Lettuce. Lettuce who? Lettuce in, it's cold outside.

Here's her version. Knock-knock. Who's there? Salad. Salad who? Salad it's raining outside! And then she laughs and laughs like that's the funniest joke you've ever heard.

She also enjoys a good game of I Spy when we're in the car. She makes up her own rules and we let her.

She's a cute kid with a good sense of humor already. I think she's pretty funny. We'll keep her.

the end

A Little Update: I was wrong. She's in the 97th percentile for weight. 83rd is height. Carry on.