Happy Father's Day!

We took a few photos on Father's Day, including the one and only shot of my belly with Peter in utero. We had full on professional photos taken when Cate was in there, but, well ... it turns out what they say about second children is true. I figure it's lucky Peter's a boy, because how much is he going to care that we don't have pictures of my giant belly with him inside? Not too much, I don't think.

Here we are! As with Cate, it's hard not to wonder wehther Peter is all in my belly or whether he's also decided to spread out in my cheeks and arms, right?

Sure do love these two!

Cate loves giving kisses, and every one comes with a big "smooch" sound. And a wet cheek when she's done.

My girl and me.

I love how Cate's not even looking at me but she has her hand on her belly just like I do. So sweet.

Cate and me ... and Peter

I took a picture of Sam and Cate in this chair last Father's Day (the day we got the call from Mark's about Sam being invited to interview here!) but I can't find it. I'm bummed, because I really wanted to post both pictures.

A butterfly card from Cate and a caterpillar card from Peter attached to Daddy's present.

Cate loves to help open presents! Daddy got a pull-up bar for his new P90X workout plan. He knows it's really a present from Cate and Peter because I'm not at all thrilled about the idea of having a pull-up bar installed in our house! Ack!

Too bad Peter didn't join us for Father's Day, but hopefully he'll be here within another week or so! 

Happy Anniversary!

It's been two years!

Us, newly minted as Mr. and Mrs.

We still remember the big day like it was yesterday. Apparently our photographer didn't realize how long it's been either, because we just got our wedding album this week.

Anyway, hoorah for marriage! Hooray for love! Sam's my favorite! I'm his! (He told me.)

I wondered a long time ago (before Sam and definitely before Cate) what I would say when my future children would inevitably ask me who my favorite was. I decided on my answer long before I met Sam: "Daddy's my favorite," I would tell them. Of course, I've thought a lot about this since Miss Cate came along. I love her oodles. Feeding her and changing her and bathing her and reading to her and snuggling her and playing with her and clapping for her is an unparalleled blessing and privilege. She is the cutest thing I've ever seen.

But even now I am so aware that Sam and I have each other forever and her only for now--that some day she will grow up and she will leave us. I think of her as a future grown up, I imagine her going to kindergarten and then to junior high and off to high school and college, and I believe my friends who tell me it will happen in the blink of an eye. I get a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes when I think about it (I know, she can't even walk yet), but the fact is she will grow up, and get married, and it will all start again, as it always has. And it seems to me that there are only a few things I can really give her along the way. And one of them--the confidence and certainty and security that will come with knowing she and her future siblings are decidedly tied for my second favorite--seems like the one to think about on the occasion of our anniversary.

How, you might ask, can Sam compete with this little bundle of cuteness:

It's not easy, but he does it. Day after day after day, he does it.

For our anniversary, Cate and I went on a tour of six Houston bakeries. We picked up a few treats from each of them, brought them home, and made this display to welcome Sam home from work:

Here are some close-ups:

Let me assure you that none of these treats came close to comparing to my Sam's treats. But we ate them anyway.

Sam gave me this Norman Rockwell print I've had my eye on for a while:

Don't you think that, in another era, this is how Sam and I could have met?

I love you, Sam. You mean the world to me. And Cate, you mean at least 9 billion planets to us both.

Our New Family Motto: "You Don't Have to Shovel the Heat"

Y'all heard it here first: We are moving to Houston, Texas!

Our departure date is July 28!

Here is Cate in her new Texas outfit:

Cate and I picked out this cowgirl onesie while Sam was at his audition--yes, audition--to become the Executive Pastry Chef at Mark's American Cuisine. We decided right then and there that if Sam got the job we would purchase this get up from the hotel gift shop.

After I found this job posted online we worked together to get Sam's resume, cover letter, and portfolio together. We sent it off in the middle of June and within a day the Executive Chef owner of Mark's had called Sam and offered to fly him out to audition in the kitchen. Thus began a feverish few weeks of at-home preparation. Sam practiced four plated desserts that he would make when he got there. Here are photos of two of them (these are the rough draft practice versions he made at home--they were even better for the real thing!):

First, bread pudding made with chocolate donuts. This is topped with an almond toile (uh, that might not be how you spell that) cookie and served with a pistachio macaroon and tart cherry sauce.

Next, a lemon tart served with mint granita in a meringue basket and raspberry puree. Those are Pop Rocks on the end of the lemon tart:

The other desserts were a peanut butter banana s'mores and a goat cheese Bavarian with strawberry watermelon salad, basil, and a balsamic syrup.

Getting to Houston meant that Cate took her first airplane ride. Don't you love how skeptical she looks in this photo:

But she got the hang of it pretty quickly. Here she is on the plane:

While Sam was at his audition Cate and I mostly just hung out nervously in the hotel room. At one point we took a nap together in the giant hotel bed and when we woke up I found myself thinking, "Please let it be 11:00" but it was only 10:04. Sam's audition was six hours, from 8 until 2. I put off going to the pool until about 1:15 so that we'd have something to look forward to during the nerve wracking part. Here is Cate just before we headed out:

This girl is a fish! She loves swimming lessons so much and now she really gets the hang of getting in her bathing suit. As soon as I get it out she wiggles her whole body and squeals in delight. We had a great time at the pool! (It was the 4th of July, and so of course she wore her red, white, and blue suit from Grandma!)

While we were at the pool I was checking my phone every two seconds and Sam finally called. He had been offered the job! The next day we checked out neighborhoods and found a place to live. Within a week all the details of the package had been finalized, Sam had given his notice at work, and we had started to pack.

We are sad to be leaving our friends in Salt Lake, but we are so excited for our new adventure! I can't wait for warm Christmas. I'm already thinking about how we can have an outdoor element to Cate's first birthday party in December.

On our third date, Sam told me that when his kids turned one he wanted to make them cakes bigger than they were. Thus began our love story.

Clearly, a cake bigger than she is is a possibility--Sam made this wedding cake this week and Cate and I went to check it out:

Here is a better shot of it:

Not sure if I'll get to another post before we head out, but I'll get back on the blogging once we get settled in our new home.

See y'all later.

Ladybug Cake

Ok, so I didn't fall asleep while that last post was uploading, so here is one that is actually not about Cate. Sam made a ladybug cake this past week for a girl's birthday party. He also made 24 matching cupcakes, but he didn't take pictures of those. Here's The Lady:

March Madness

In honor of Coach K's 900th win, here is a photo of my two favorite Duke fans. This photo was taken the night of the Duke-Carolina game that was played at Cameron Indoor Stadium in February. It seems hard to believe, but I was a student at Duke when Coach K won his 500th game. I even bought the commemorative t-shirt. You can bet Sam and Cate will be wearing these outfits again Thursday night when the Blue Devils take on Arizona:

Chef Sam

Sam's mom came by for a quick visit last Friday night on drive back to St. George from Milwaukee. We only got to see her for a few hours, but she brought us a treasure from Sam's first grade class:



The booklet has a little caption for each kid, "Most likely to be a teacher," "Most likely to be Mayor of Mequon," "Most likely to be an astronaut." They are all darling, but this one is obviously the cutest.

A lot of times people ask me what it's like to be married to a chef, especially a pastry chef. People ask me (sweet) things like, "How do you not weigh 600 pounds?" after eating one of Sam's delicious treats. [Nevermind I feel like Cate and I are getting there even without tons of treats, but that's another story.] People usually preface a dinner invite with something like, "I'm sure you're used to much fancier meals than what we'll have, but we'd love to have you over."

The truth is, Sam doesn't bake much at home in our barely mediocre oven, we don't eat dessert with every meal, and we take the easy way out and have spaghetti a lot of nights just like every other family.

Nevertheless, it's a sweet life.

I love my Chef Sam.