Three's a crowd...

...and we wouldn't have it any other way!

I hadn't posted anything on this site yet about our baby that's coming this spring. I wanted to wait until I knew whether it was, well, another sonshine or a flower. And it's a boy! So, this will now be the celebration of life with, in all actuality, four boys! Yikes!

Zach assured me that the reason it's a boy is because I'm all the woman our house can handle. Ha! I'm not so sure I believe that. When the testosterone really gets flowing around here, it can get pretty thick! Thick, and stinky, and loud, and rough, and rowdy, but fun. Definitely fun.

They were SO little!

From time to time I just won't be able to help but post pictures from long ago. Every time I browse through the thousands of photos [really, thousands] on my computer, I can't help but let out the occasional: "Ooohhh, look how cute!"

This picture was taken exactly one and a half years ago. Caleb was only two months shy of his 4th birthday and Owen was just over 8 months old.

"Ooohhh..."

A Word About My 1st Boy...

On my other blog, I've been doing a daily, alphabetical list of things I love, appreciate and am thankful for. The list will be finished [letter Z] on Thanksgiving day. I can't wait that long, though, to unabashedly declare that I love, appreciate and am thankful for Zach.

If I even begin to think of the ways in which you, daily, sacrifice yourself, your wants and your desires for our family, I'd bawl. You have been selfless in SO many ways. I know you'd deny it, but it's true.

You have a tender heart, beautiful dreams and admirable aspirations. You are passionate, funny, kind, intelligent, conscientious, gentle, dedicated, strong, talented, creative, thoughtful and so much more. [In no particular order, of course.]

You are a husband and friend of the sort that women dream of and long for. [And you're all mine!] You are a daddy who is raising his sons in a legacy of incredible love.

You are so much more than someone who merely "affects the bottom line". You are daily changing and affecting lives in such a good and profound way. I am SO proud of you!

Thank you for everything you do and for everything you are. I am blessed beyond measure to be your wife.

All my love,
S

More Caleb Cowboy

A few weeks ago I promised pictures of Caleb in his Halloween cowboy get-up. I think they were worth the wait!

My little [as in skinny], handsome cowboy and his goof-ball poses:

From the Mind of a 5-Year-Old

The following conversation between Caleb [C] and I [S] ensued in the car earier today:

C: [completely out of the blue] I've made a plan for my life.

S: Oh, really? What's that, Buddy?

C: I'm never, ever going to get married!

S: How come?

C: Because! I never want to kiss a girl! It's gross!

S: But how do you know? It's just like trying new foods. You're not supposed to decide whether or not you like it until you've tried it. Have you even tried kissing a girl?

C: [after a very flustered pause] I just don't want to kiss girls!

S: But you'll still kiss your mommy, right?

C: Yes, but you're not a stranger!

S: Oh! But, Buddy, you wouldn't marry a stranger. You marry someone that you know really well and that you love very much.

C: [obviously done with the kissing subject] Yeah, because a stranger could rob you... Or a ninja could rob you, and they'd probably have a sword!

Go Ahead!

When we're in the shower, one of Owen's favorite things is to watch the soap bubbles go down the drain. He used to ponder, "Where go?" Now he at least understands that they disappear into the holes. This morning, though, there were a few clumps of bubbles stuck to the wall of the shower and, in his encouraging little squeak, he said, "Go ahead, bubbles! Go ahead, bubbles!"

'niffin!

Last weekend, my guys were having some good 'ol "guy time" out in the front yard. I'm sure Caleb was riding his bike (like a kid strapped to a rocket) around the cul-de-sac. Zach was probably tinkering in and around the front yard. Owen usually spends his "out front" time divided between pushing his scooter around the driveway and getting into stuff in the garage that he shouldn't.

I, unfortunately, didn't get to witness the following exchange, but Zach's face told it all when he relayed it to me. He went into the garage and found Owen standing in there, not really doing much, but definitely sniffing air in and out of his nose.

Z: Hey, Buddy! What are you doing?
O: I don' know!!! [Exclaimed with SO much enthusiasm and excitement for his new ability.]
Z: Are you sniffing?
O: 'Niffin?!? [Again, super excited and followed by some very exaggerated sniffs.]

Ever since, if you ask O if he can sniff, he hollars [in an unusually high-pitched tone], "'Niffin?" And he's always super-eager to show you his skill. After a few days, it turned into "'Niffin garage?" Which is really not the most pleasant thing to sniff, but I guess that's where his discovery was made, so they'll forever be linked.

Oh, my goodness, Owen. You make me hurt inside.