Thursday 7.21.11

Greetings this fine Friday morning from this

COOL KID

who turns a whopping SIX YEARS OLD today.

Holy cow.

And as expected, I’ve spent the last few days remembering the weeks before he born …

… how Ben switched from Enterprise to Murdock Chevrolet in the middle of the pregnancy and I worried for four months straight about how we were going to pay for this pregnancy and our Cobra-ed insurance premiums …

… being furious at my doctor for making me go a day over due even though V-BAC deliveries are always, always  induced a week early (and being so mad that Monday afternoon when he discharged me from Davis Hospital that I walked 1.5 miles home in 90 degree weather and flip flops in a desperate attempt to get my labor going) …

… Ben calling Susan and talking her into using over 40,000 sky miles to fly in at the last minute to help and how much it meant to me that she was willing to give up a trip to Hawaii or Mexico for us …

… telling the admitting nurse that Friday morning that I wanted to get drinks and movies ready now while I still had a sense of humor …

… being mad at ‘the bad nurse’ for putting a narc  in my IV that had me literally tripping out through most of my labor and left me with very few memories of Kade’s actual birth …

… the excruciating two hours and 10 attempts the stupid anesthesiologists  made to get my epidural in and Ben being furious that my back looked like a dart board …

  … the ‘good nurse’ who was my lifeline during those two hours of epidural hell where she stayed right at my side counting me through contractions and helping me stay calm …

… being told it was time to push and feeling total despair because I was so weak and wigged out from the narcs that I didn’t know how I could possibly push or focus …

… saying silent prayers of gratitude that the Lord intervened and worked a miracle on me and Kade’s behalf … because  my 7 lb. 13 oz. baby boy crowned on the first push and was out by the second … and only the Lord could know how much I needed him to carry me at that moment.

And having this little man join our family was all sorts of amazing because he was such a happy baby…

… and awesome sleeper.  Thanks, kiddo.

And 5 out of 6 of us loved that infectious smile immediately …

… and within a year Savannah finally forgave him from bumping her from the baby spot and is thoroughly part of Team Kadester, too.

And six years into life with Kade, I can’t possibly tell you how empty out family would be without him. 

Because I love that his little messes helped spawn our family motto: Live Fast, Play Hard, Use Soap …

… and that so many of his outdoor adventures with his siblings  helped me come up with the name, The Dirty Half Dozen.

I love that he is a face-making

ROCK STAR

who has cornered the marked on funny …

… even when he’s being ornery and talking back to mom …

… or stealing the show in our annual Walk of Shame Christmas cards.

I love that he calls himself Kade the Science Kid and is fascinated with the world around him.

Because I think it’s all sorts of cool that he can tell you the difference between a gustnado, dust devil and an EF-1 tornado … and that he can make an awesome tornado in a glass using dish soap and a spoon … and that he knows how to make prisms on the ceiling with DVDs … and that he loves his dollar store thermometer. (How else would you know that it’s ‘this many hot’ outside?)

I love that he’s smart and curious, taking the kindergarten world by storm and rising to the top of his class, even though he’s the youngest.

And he’s so ready for first grade next week.

I love that he loves being with his family and enjoying our Saturday adventures like this maiden s’mores outing to our favorite park last summer with G & G Peterson.

I love that he’s athletic, coordinated and fearless, teaching himself to ride a bike through osmosis all by himself at G & G Litchfield’s house last week …

… and proudly picked out his first big kid bike from D.I. yesterday to celebrate the occasion.

And tonight he’s going to rock his new Transformers bike helmet and bell as he flies around the track at Grandma park after birthday pizza and ice cream.

And I’m going to be the ridiculously proud momma with the camera chasing him around like an idiot so that I don’t miss a single moment of how great today is.

Now go enjoy your weekend!