Cake Lady

On Tuesday night, our Relief Society gathered for enrichment. Three people demonstrated different cooking skills. My neighbor, one of the most generous people I know and fabulous cook, made a fantastic Korean chicken dish. Her cooking is restaurant quality and I wish she had made more. The second woman taught how to make bread. A skill I have yet to master.

Somehow, I was on the agenda. I gave a 20 minute crash course in cake-decorating and baking. As I said the other night, I do not profess to be an expert, but I sure love to eat cake! Apparently, my son does as well. While cleaning up the frosting bowls and loading them into my dishwasher, Owen got his first taste of frosting. Several bits of frosting fell on the floor and onto the open dishwasher. While I turned around to rinse another bowl, Owen scrambled for the frosting pieces. He was elated! I however, was disgusted. Eating from the floor and dirty dishwasher are not the most appetizing places from which to dine. I quickly closed the door and my son proceeded to bang on the closed dishwasher and cry. This was no small fit mind you. This would compete with most 2-year-old girls. He has even learned to throw his head backwards as he lies down on the floor.

Although I am not empathetic of his fits, I do relate to enjoying a good piece of cake (or spatula or frosting). I am also not one to toot my own horn, but at the request of my good friend and neighbor, I thought I'd post some of my most recent cakes and all time favorites. Who doesn't love cake?

Why Kids Should Never Be Left Alone

We are happy to report that Owen is not one of the children in these pictures. We are also happy to report that we do not know these children. Some of our dearest friends however, have kids just like these. Smart, creative, able and a little bit mischievous. While recently remodeling their house, their oldest took a black Sharpie to the newly painted walls. I guess that measures up to the paint on the TV.



Each time we see them, there is always an interesting story about the weeks adventures. The most recent would be of their five-year-old boy strapping his younger sister into an umbrella stroller and launching her down the street. My friend looked out the window just in time to see the incident, make a mad-dash for her daughter and grab the stroller before it made its way down the hill.


We are just praying that Owen isn't left alone long enough to get into this kind of mess.

Thankful

Today, I am feeling very grateful. First, I am grateful for good doctors, nurses and medical staff who cared for Owen today. Early this morning, we headed to Primary Children's Medical Staff to have tubes put into both of Owen's ears. The nurse practitioner, anesthesioligist and nurse all cared for Owen with an incredible amount of love and patience, as I am sure they do for all of the hundreds of patients they see each week. We felt cared for and that Owen was sincerely important to them. (He makes friends wherever he goes - with that crazy hair and two-teethed grin, who could resist falling in love with him?) Everything went extremely well and he was back to climbing on things and running around within 10 minutes of surgery.

That brings me to the next thing I am grateful for: Owen. He is my guy. He was so brave today. He wasn't able to eat anything after midnight last night and he tolerated being tested, examined and poked very well. He was remarkably patient for an 11-month old. As they wheeled him into the operating room, he was bouncing and giggling in his little red wagon. He is spunky and fun and is ray of sunshine on a stormy day. He was ready to run and explore as soon as they unhooked him from all of the machines. He has energy and so much excitement in his little body. I am glad he is mine and that he shares his little world with me.

I am also extremely grateful for good neighbors, family and friends. Our neighbor and home teacher came over last night and shared a tender moment with us in preparation for Owen's operation. I am continually amazed that there are so many people who have so much good to give this world and that we are often the recipient of such love. We are truly blessed.

I am also grateful for all those who are serving our country throughout the world. While sitting in the waiting room today, I read a magazine article honoring our soldiers. I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the sacrifice they give so that I can continue to live me life, relatively free of interruptions.

This list wouldn't be complete if I didn't express gratitude for my faith. I felt peace, comfort and calm today. My faith instills hope and optimism for things to come. It sustains me during trials and gives me perspective. For all of these things, I am truly thankful.

ultimate gEEk

Joey celebrated his 27th birthday on Tuesday. We spent the night in good company eating pizza, frozen key lime pie and playing games.

We are all thankful Joey is in our lives, for more reasons than one. I composed a list of many of those reasons, which Owen and I gave to him early Tuesday morning (Joey may or may not have appreciated the early morning wake-up call, but he was a good sport nonetheless).

Since that list was created, I have been thinking about the many other contributions Joey has made to my life, his friends' and family's. I will only name a few:

1. "His computer hacking skills": for those of you who know Joey, they will know this quote has multiple meanings. The first is that it comes from Napoleon Dynamite, which Joey quotes regularly (I think he secretly wishes he was Kip). The second is that he really is quite useful when it comes to computers. Case in point: when a group of friends were gathered around watching the Jazz game late one evening, he was sitting on the couch fiddling with the computer. He has since been hired by several family members and friends who have needed his expertise. We have all been helped by his computer hacking skills.

2. His ability to connect different groups of people: he created two online forums and a blog within the last few years. His first was www.uengineers.com. It is a forum for engineer students to discuss many techy issues. As Joey has said numerous times, "We put the EE (electrical engineer) in gEEk." The second website is www.ultimateslc.org. It is an Ultimate Frisbee forum that discusses his favorite sport and posts upcoming events and announcements. His passion for this sport was evident when he willingly volunteered to watch Owen for two hours every week so his wife could go learn the sport. True love. His most recent production is Double Stamp, a blog about useful computer and internet technology for those of us who aren't technically savvy.

This guy is creative, passionate and full of energy. We are all grateful he is in our life, but I am mostly grateful that he is my Ultimate gEEk.

Good Luck to Me

A friend of mine recently stated that if she wanted to make something accessible to her one-year-old son, she should put the item someplace truly disgusting, like behind the toilet for example. As I thought about this statement and my little guy, I watched him closely this morning as he explored some of his favorite places: the kitchen garbage can (he pulled a banana peel out, placed it in his mouth and then proceeded to explore other exciting places), under the dishwasher or behind the fridge (he found month old food bits, which much to my dismay also found their way into his mouth), under the bathroom sink to peel off and lick a sticker, and yes, also behind the toilet (fortunately this time I grabbed him before anything made its way into mouth).

I wondered why my child can be sitting on the floor with a bucket full of wonderful toys and look away in disgust, but squeal in delight if he finds a chord, an electrical outlet, or toilet brush. As my family always says, "Good luck to you."

We hope we keep this kid alive and bacteria free to see his 1st birthday. Good luck to me.

Ball Boy

"His name's the O-ball,
His name's the O-ball,
He snuggle-snuggle,
Snuggle, orange poop.
Bee-doo, bee-doop."
(repeat as needed)

This has become the theme song of our life. It is sung when Owen wakes up in the morning and as Joey is coming and leaving the house. Our niece Paige, (who we had the opportunity to babysit in February), sang the song throughout the day with her three-year-old charm. She still sings it when she sees him, although all the words don't sound quite the same as when Joey sings it!

Owen has become our little O-ball. His Grandma Scott calls him O.B. for short. Coincidentally, this little kid has fallen in love with balls - all shapes and sizes. His favorite ball however (much to his mother's delight) is the soccer ball. He will catch it if you roll it to him, lick it or try to bite it, and then push it back to you. After his release of the ball, he clenches both fists and shakes his head as if to say: "you better give that ball back to me!"

Last week, Owen learned a new trick with the soccer ball (again, much to his mother's delight). After two days of walking, this kid can dribble! Maybe someday when he is playing in a stadium somewhere, the crowd will chant "his name's the O-ball . . . ."

Caneel Bay

My brother just took a job in what he has labeled an "international management position." In reality he will be selling beach goods (shirts and nail polish that change in the sun, swimsuits, etc.) on St. Thomas, Virgin Island. He will be staying with three other 21-year-old boys, each given room and board, a scooter to drive around the island and spending money.

When we were in elementary school, our parents took us to Caneel Bay, on St. John's. After landing in St. Thomas, we took an open-air taxi through the city to a yacht that awaited us on the other side of the island. We boarded the yacht and were immediately given island drinks of mango, pineapple and guava. If there is a drink in heaven, this would be it. By the end of the trip I think we each drank our weight in the stuff. We docked on one of the resorts seven private beaches, with white sand and clear blue ocean. The resort really is every bit as beautiful as the pictures.

I think my brother thinks that this is where he will be staying. For his sake, I hope his room is just as magnificent as the one he remembers at Caneel Bay, but I don't want to see the look on his face when he is presented with staff quarters.

Scavenger: Will Hunt for Food

Owen's appetite is one of the biggest quandaries of my life. This little kid will put in his mouth (and consequently eat) anything he finds in his path. During January, he consumed a small round battery which may or may not still be in his system. I find countless pieces of paper, hair or other carpet debris in his diaper on a regular basis. This kid loves French fries and will eat them by the fistful. He can easily drain a 6 oz. bottle or 4 oz. dish of baby food in less than 5 minutes flat. The first encounter he has with a new food usually results in rapid consumption of the dish. He will grab at anything placed in front of him (at least once) and will try even harder if it belongs to someone else.

This is particularly interesting because during the first seven months of life, we struggled through nursing, countless prescriptions, and hundreds of dollars of formula to find out why this little kid wouldn't eat or gain weight. Finally, one day, we stumbled upon our Manna from heaven: Similac. Overnight, this little boy ate like he had never been fed and started sleeping through the night. Obviously, an answered prayer- for more reasons than one!

Owen has flourished. He is a happy baby who is one of the most curious vacuums I have ever met.