Learning to Say Thank You

I feel like overall I am polite person. At least I try to be.

I say thank you... I say please... I say excuse me.
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But I am ashamed to say that several times I have been in the airport, seen servicemen dressed in their camo and instead of thanking them for their service I have just walked by.

I don't know why. I felt silly and thought they would think I was weird.

I don't feel that way anymore.
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On August 13, 2009 my 18 year old nephew, Justin, packed his bag and left to join the Army.

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It was quite an emotional goodbye for the entire family. Justin is such a good kid... smart, funny, kind, polite... and now he would be gone 6 months for Basic Training and then on to Medical training.

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He will be terribly missed!

When Justin was a little boy he was my special buddy. He was the cutest kid and I always felt a close connection to him. He was always a friend to the underdog... actually he was always a friend to everyone.

I couldn't help but cry as Justin buckled up Cal for the last time for a while. He will grow so much before Justin returns, but we will write often and send lots of pictures. We love you so much, Justin and we are so incredibly proud of you. We miss you already and can't wait till you are home again.

I promise the next time I see a soldier I will feel proud to thank them for their sacrifice to protect our freedom.

They deserve to be thanked.

Little Lessons You Teach Me

Dear Calan,

For 4 months I have been blessed with the opportunity to be your mommy. For a very long time I looked forward to feeding you, washing you, rocking you, playing with you.

I never dreamed that at such a young age you would teach me so much. When I least expect it, without any words, you teach me a beautiful little lesson that changes the way I look at life. I don't want to forget these precious moments so I will write them down to share with you one day...

You are learning new things everyday. We feel so proud of you! When you smile and giggle for me and daddy we hover over you and soak it all in. The first time you discovered your little fingers we were amazed! I was feeding you a couple weeks ago and as I sat you up you burped all by yourself! You're Incredible! :)

Even your simplest accomplishments are so exciting to us.

The other morning daddy had already left, so his job of sucking out your congested nose fell on my shoulders. I'm no good at it and we both know it. You were so patient with me... you tried to stay really still and didn't cry one bit. The look on your face said to me- "that was a really good try, mom".

I told you over and over what a big boy you were and that I was so proud of you.

A feeling swept over me that said, "And I'm proud of you."

I was taken back for a minute. I felt that just as daddy and I praise you, our Heavenly Father was equally proud of all of us for our simple accomplishments throughout the day.

I had never thought of it before- but in my mind doing the "over achiever accomplishments" would surely gain the praise of my ever watching Heavenly Father. But in that brief moment, as I stood there full of pride for you, I felt that even our smallest actions are not only noted, but praised openly on the other side.

So while finding the cure for cancer will never be in my list of accomplishments, I did smile and say 'good morning' to the people we passed on our walk today- even though I hadn't brushed my hair yet and would have rather ducked my head.

But it felt good- and that tells me it was the right thing to do.

And that's how HE tells us He's proud of us.

Thank you, my little son, for helping me to more fully understand that.

He's twice the man he used to be!

Cal had his 4 month check up today.

HE'S FOUR MONTHS OLD!!

I can hardly believe it!

Check out these impressive stats...

Length: 26 1/2 inches which is 97% for his age.

Weight: 16lbs 8ounces which is 90% for his age.

Holy Cow!!

At birth he was 20 1/2 inches and 8lbs 1 ounce which means he has grown SIX whole inches and has doubled his weight plus some.

2 Weeks Old

4 Months Old

The doctor said that he is incredibly healthy... and that Patrick's dream of having Cal play football for BYU someday is looking good. :)

This last month has been SO much fun! He has been smiling since the day he was born- but now he seems to have a constant little grin which shows off his adorable dimples. He has giggled out loud several time, which of course we love. He holds his head up. He loves to stand up on my lap and looks at me like he is king of the mountain. He has discovered his hands and loves to suck on them often. He reaches for his toys. We love the way he "dances" right before bath-time. He averages about 10 hours of sleep at night (wow!). He talks to us often and has lots of interesting things to say... But I have to say my favorite addition to his list of talents is... his singing.

Patrick and I sing to Cal- A LOT. This last month he has started joining us and it is about the cutest thing I have ever seen. It's different than his talking voice. His little lips make an O shape and his sound is more song like. Sometimes when I start singing to him he will just look at me until I say to him, "sing with me Cal" and I am totally serious- he starts singing along.

Melt- My- Heart!

Tonight he was extra tired and as we were putting him to bed we sang our nightly songs thinking he was already asleep. To our surprise he quietly started to hum along. Adorable!

We love you so much little Calan! I'm sorry you had to get 5 shots today, but you were so brave!

Every day is a new adventure and we are thankful for every minute of it!

Worth the Wait

I got Cal dressed this morning just like every morning.

My good friend gave Cal this onesie and he wears it often... but today as I looked down tears came to my eyes. It's message was so applicable our life.

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I grabbed my camera to capture it's message...

I told Calan to smile...

That's better!! But it's still a bit tricky to read...

Good job buddy, that's perfect!

It says...

Worth the Wait

So many of the greatest blessings in my life came after a period of waiting and patience. I think in heaven I got in the 'patience' line and somehow I accidentally selected the 'apply to most situations' button. :)

I by no means want to sound ungrateful... I can honestly say that each opportunity to wait brought me blessings I could have never imagined.

I never dreamed I would have the chance to teach high school for so many years. I loved my students. They taught me so much. I learned that I LOVED teaching.

I learned that I could be single and love it.

I learned that there was a positive side to trials... I just had to be willing to look for it.

I learned a lot about myself and the kind of person I wanted to be.

Three years ago this year (July 8) Patrick and I got married.

I was almost 33 years old and he was 34. Life was wonderful. We were anxious to start a family, but nothing happened.

A year later we started working on infertility stuff- blah! But all the while we grew closer to each other.

The next year we started the adoption process. We depended on each other more than ever.

It was not our original plan, but turned out to be a sweet blessing. Our relationship was much deeper.

We now have our perfect little boy. He is so sweet. I love watching Patrick be a daddy. I love being a mommy.

We would love to have several children, but we will trust in our Heavenly Father and He will guide us if we are humble enough to listen.

And like everything else in my life I have learned that it will always be...

Worth the Wait

Letting it go...

For the first time in a long time my house is quiet. Really quiet

The entire month of July was full of fun visits and celebrations...

My sister's family left on Sunday. My parents left yesterday. And Lonica, my 10 year old niece, is headed back to Syracuse with Patrick this very moment.

Laundry has been ignored.

My floors have not been swept.

The carpets desperately need a vacuum.

E-mails have piled up.

Blogs have gone unread.

But there were other things to do that were just more important.

Like yesterday it was painting our fingers and our toes, but only after we exfoliated them with sugar and oil. Walking to the store to buy ice cream cones. And watching THREE chick flicks with my favorite 10 year old in the whole wide world.

Cal didn't mind hanging out with us girls.

There were many times I felt I should catch up on some of my "oughta be doings" but instead we made cinnamon rolls and licked the frosting bowl clean, then spent another hour singing Karaoke.

Cal is taking his morning nap and I can get going on all I have neglected. It may take me a while-
But oh I am so thankful for all of the precious memories made.

The housework is very loyal... it will always be there waiting for me...

So I am glad that for a little while I made the decision to let some things go.