Happy Birthday Special Agent Caleb!!

My little guy turned eight years old a week ago today. I spent two weeks preparing for his "Spy Party" and the last week recovering from it, so I'm completely behind in blogging. Let me tell you, 15 kids - most of them 8 year old boys - running around in one house for 2 hours is exhausting! But we had a lot of fun and I think the party turned out pretty great.

First, I want to write about this little guy who has stolen my heart. Before he was born, I was absolutely certain that he was a girl. We couldn't tell from the ultra-sound, but I always knew that I'd end up with another girl, so I was positive he was a she. I even went out and bought brand new baby girl clothes that would match his big sister's spring outfits. No lie! Caleb was delivered by c-section, and the moment he was born the doctor held him "bootie first" over the paper drape between my head and tummy, and announced, "it's a boy!". That was the moment he stole my heart, and he's kept stealing it on a daily basis for the last 8 years.

But first, here are a few photos from when he was a baby. Please forgive me, I just took digital photos of them from the poster on his bedroom wall. Hence, the flash that I couldn't figure out how to turn off. This one is from Holden Beach, NC when he was 6 months old. We used to spend a week at the beach every summer when we lived in Charlotte. This was his first experience with crawling around in & eating the sand.
Caleb has always, always adored his big sister. He used to roll, crawl, scoot, or whatever else he could make his little body do to get close to her. From the moment he could stand up, he started to run. I don't think the boy ever walked. He was an absolute TANK and it cracked me up to see him running as fast as he could to whatever it was that he wanted. The icecream man used to roll through our neighborhood in Charlotte at least 2 to 3 times a day. When Caleb was only about 15 months old, he would hear that icecream tune coming from the truck and there was no stopping him. He would start running as fast as his little chubby feet would carry him to the icecream truck hollering "Iceceam!! Iceceam!!" before I even had a chance to grab my wallet. Thankfully, I lived by some really great ladies who would often buy him his icecream before I even showed up.

I love this photo for SO MANY reasons! It captures his smile that lights up the world and his love for his sisters all in one shot.

Caleb's brain must go a million miles a minute, because the guy never stops asking questions. Sometimes, he doesn't even wait for the answer before he is blurting out another question. He also uses the cutest darn words on the planet. When we first moved to Utah, he and I went to a candy shop together. He was about 2 and a half years old. The first words out of his mouth when he saw all of the candy were, "This is AMAZING!". He loves to call it the way he see's it, and definitely has the words to do it.

Caleb is also very tender hearted and extremely in-tune with the spirit of God. I went up to tuck him in once when he was about 6 years old. I found him sitting on his bed with tears rolling down his cheeks. He looked at me and said, "Mommy, does it ever make you cry when you pray?". The other day in church, I heard a boy his age ask Caleb, "Why do we even need Jesus?" Caleb's immediate reply was, "Because Jesus shares his perfection with us!". He has always been mischievious, but I've never doubted that his heart is sweet and tender down to the very core.

For his 8th birthday, Caleb wanted a SPY PARTY. We sent out "Top Secret" invitations to all of his friends to attend a spy camp at our house. The kids got their own spy hats, spy badges, and played games teaching them spy techniques. After dinner, cake & presents, they went off on a secret mission to find their goodie bags that contained the rest of the spy items they would need.

Here is Caleb reading the first clue for their secret mission.

I even made the cake with some help from my niece Tiff.

It was a chocolate cake with white frosting. Everything else was black. And no, those aren't rotten plums on his cake, they are BOMBS! Actually, they were tangerines wrapped in black buttercream fondant with tinfoil fuses.

Every child had their picture taken at the beginning of the party for their very own I.D. badge.

On our kids actual birthdays, they get to choose what they want for breakfast (Caleb chose German Pancakes) and where they would like to go out to eat for dinner. Here is a photo of the kids at their favorite eating establishment, Chuck-a-rama :). Mike calls it barf-a-rama, but the kids love it because it's an all you can eat buffet.

Happy 8th Birthday Caleb! We love you!