What/Who I Love Most Today is My Oldest Son, Kalen...

This has been a fun post because I have had to go through all of our pictures in order to do get Kalen at his different stages in his life so far.
Motherhood was  shock for me.  I was really young, just barely 22.  Looking back Kalen seemed like a hard baby.  But, he was also our first and there was definitely a learning curve for us, probably more on my part than Kirk's.   I remember waking up with Kalen a lot, and every time I woke up with him I would wake up Kirk and Kirk would patiently come stand by me while I changed Kalen's diaper.

One night I think I had woken up six times by two o'clock in the morning.  I woke Kirk up and said, "that's it, I can't take it anymore, let's just get in the car and drive so that baby falls to sleep and I can sleep while you drive."  Oh, it was heaven.  The humming of the car's engine.  The warmth of the car enveloping me, while I slept with my seat all the way back.

I remember it like it was yesterday.  That car ride ended all to soon.  Kirk had been sitting at the curb in front of our house for a while before I woke and realized we were home.  My gut wrenched.  It was then that I looked at him and said, "babe, I bet we could take Kalen to your parents and just let him stay with them for awhile, their so close, we could just visit him all the time."  Yep, it's true, I was totally delirious with lack of sleep.  Looking back I"m not sure what I was thinking.  Were Kirk's parents going to wake up with the baby bugger twelve times a night?  All I know is that I was desperate for sleep.

My sweet husband just looked at me and rubbed me and said, "I know this is hard but it will pass and before we know it Kalen will be big."   Well, we got smart and sleep trained that baby bugger and he became more like a baby angel, thank goodness.

Below is a picture of me nursing Kalen.  I don't think I have seen this picture since it was taken.  I had to search deep into our hard drive to get some of these.

I look like I'm fifteen here.

Out of all our children Kalen is, I would say, the most unique looking.  He probably looks most like me.  As a baby I looked a lot like this picture of him below.

Kalen has a strong personality, similar to me.  His dad, below, is more laid back.  Remember, Kirk is the last of nine children so this isn't surprising.

I love being a mom.  But it was a big adjustment for me.  And I am so grateful for this adjustment because it has shaped who I am, my character.  I have literally been adjusted.  I feel like I have become equipped with so many "tools" so that I am much more at ease, I have much more confidence and patience having learned with each child that comes, but especially with Kalen.

This was our first Christmas picture that we sent out to family and friends.

Here he is with baby sister, Gwyneth.  He loves his siblings and always has.  Do they fight?  Yes.  They are normal in that way.  But, they have an eternal bond as well, and we've helped them to understand this and appreciate it.

Our family is getting bigger and so is Kalen.  He is now big brother to Gwyneth and Reece.  We are are always catching them together like this, it's priceless.  I'm so grateful to be able to capture these images.

I really wanted to show a picture of Kalen's best friend Joseph Stepan.  He goes by Joe now and they have been best friends since before pre-school.  They are still best friends today and we couldn't be happier.  Joe is a great kid.

Below is also a picture of Emily Angell, one of Kalen's best friends from the past.  We had her family over and she and Kalen disappeared.  Later they came back downstairs with a big chunk of Kalen's hair gone!  He said Emily made him do it, sure Kalen...So we shaved it right then and there.   She moved to Japan shortly after this picture was taken.  This was hard.  Her mom is also a dear friend of mine.

They haven't seen each other since moving to Japan but they can see each other over blog posts.  :)  Kalen still asks about her from time to time and he reads their blog.  

The year Kalen was dracula.  So cute.  I have always loved this picture.

Here's a great one.   I have a good friend from college ask me if our children would be her ring bearer and flower girl.  Here they are in all their glamour.  This was in front of the doors to the Santa Clara Mission, where my friend was married.

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Kalen's first roller coaster ride!  Can you believe this shot...priceless!!!!!!

Kalen is big brother to three younger siblings now.  He's holding Georgia in this picture.

This is Kalen and I relaxing shortly after Summer was born, number six.  We have had some rough times as mother and son.  We're similar people, I think.  I love our relationship now.  Having older kids is wonderful, really.  Since I stay at home and homeschool it's great to have an older kid to joke around with, tease and just talk with.  Some of my friends say hard times are coming as he is approaching teenage years.  I'm hoping we've been through the worst...some say I'm naive.  I'm trying to remain positive here people.

Here is Kalen "napping."  This is his lure to get these two kids to cuddle with him.  He adores Georgia and Shane.  He can't always get them to cuddle if he asks, but they can't resist climbing in with him if he's all "cozied up."

Another great reason for big kids is their help.  He helps so much with his brother's and sister's and with the work load around our house.  Here he is below cleaning the backyard.  One day he came to me and said, "mom what can  I do to earn some time on "cool math games."  I said, "go clean the backyard.."

 He works hard in all that he does.  Here he using a blower!  I didn't even know we had this, apparently Kirk brought it home from my mom's when she didn't want it anymore.   I was cracking up.  He gets the job done and he does it well.  I admire him for his work ethic, this is a great strength to have.

Here are Kalen and Reece Kayaking in Lake Tahoe.  Kirk's parents have a time share in Brockway Springs, North Shore.  They have had this time share since before Kirk was born.  We have enjoyed coming to Tahoe every Summer in August since Kalen was born.   He would list Tahoe as something he loves and looks forward to every year.

Kalen just graduated from Cub Scouts.  He is a Boy Scout now and on the "fast track" to get his Eagle.  He hopes to have it by the time he is thirteen.

Kalen is growing up.  Kirk was right, before we knew it he became big.  He is a great example as the oldest child in our family.  He isn't perfect.  But, he knows when to "shape up" if need be.

Kalen and I have grown close over time.   We all put a lot of time and effort into our children and we hope and pray that they will succeed and be kind, gracious, respectful and good.

Just today upon coming home from church I was holding his two year old brother Shane.  Kalen walked up, took Shane and said, "Come on Wubby (Shane's nick name) let's go upstairs and get you ready to go to Grandma's for Sunday dinner."

You see Shane is potty training and Kalen knew he needed to have Shane go potty and get his "unders" back on.   I quietly went upstairs to listen and I could hear Kalen saying, "you know this isn't a diaper right?  You're a big boy now, wearing underwear!"  Precious.

And this is why we're parents right?  We relish in these moments knowing that they are becoming really good people who know how to love and serve each other.  For this I am grateful.

Here we are today, literally today, in our Sunday best just before church.

Yes, this is Kalen picking me up.  He gloats to everyone that he can pick up his mom.  I don't know exactly what kids are bragging about these days at his age, but I can guess that it isn't their ability to pick up their moms.  But, this must make Kalen feel like a man.   We'll have the missionaries over for dinner and of course he wants to show them his skills...picking up his mom.  So funny.

Kalen does have skills.  Today he has been playing in a tennis academy since 2008.  Just this summer he made the Senior Team at Lost Gatos Tennis Academy.  He is an official member of the USTA and played his first tournaments this summer.  He was placed as the number two spot on the team for winning all his singles tournaments.

He has also been playing the piano for almost five years.  I can't believe its been this long.  When I said above that we put a lot of time and effort into our children, piano comes to mind immediately.  Behind any good musician (especially a musician) is a parent or two that keeps them going and practicing and sometimes dragging them back to practice some more.

Yep, I am definitely taking some of the credit for what your about to hear because he loves piano but he doesn't always find it easy and that's where I've had to come in day after day after day, because our children know once they start to play piano they can't stop until they move out.  I will not forget to give thanks to his Grandma Klippel, who lives just across the street.  She tutors him privately on top of him seeing his piano teacher.  She is an accomplished pianist and boy am I grateful because I can't even read music.

Here is one of Kalen's latest pieces.



He excels in math and reading.  He also enjoys roller hockey, legos, biking, scouting and being with his family.  These days Kalen is my right hand man, and because of this What I Love Most Today is Kalen!