Attempt #2

So a couple years ago I made an attempt at taking the PE test. I did not do well... And even though I have quit my job, I'm still going to try and become a (licensed) professional civil engineer. I went down to Salt Lake tonight to study with a couple guys I used to work with who are taking it as well. Hello! Can we say LOST?? I haven't even thought about engineering since I quit and I'm trying to conjure up coefficients and density constants and equations that I used to have memorized. Man do I have a long way to go. So if I disappear for the next 3 months, I do apologize. I have to relearn 4 years each of school and work experience to pass this test. This agonizing 8 hour test that is the bane of my existence. Oh man, what am I getting myself into? Anyone want to offer to watch my kids starting at 6:30am on April 24th? LOL!

Made me laugh

So how many 1 yr olds do you know who just sit and look at family pictures? This is how I found Nathan the other day. He was just laughing and talking to the pictures... At one point, he had his knees bent and his feet in the air. :) Sweet boy

Walking

My little "tiny" baby is starting to walk. Ok, so this has been a month and a half process, but we're making progress!! Back in December he would do a step - fall, step - fall... I am claiming his first steps were Jan 2 when he actually walked 3-4 steps in a row and then fell. Am I wrong in this? Should I count Dec? Well he is doing better now, but he still won't walk but once or twice a day and usually not till after Daddy comes home. Maybe next month he'll try walking a little more often. He SERIOUSLY prefers to crawl and when you try to stand him up he refuses. He is such a man that way. ;) If you try to make him do something (ie. stand up, fold his arms, etc) he freaks out. I'm already strategically planning how to survive his teenage years. Anyway, so here is a video of our almost 16 month old walking. ::sniff:: ::sniff:: (and in case you're curious Eli started walking about this same age)

I want to cry

This was Nathan after dinner tonight...



Hmm.... any guesses? How about a peanut allergy? I had my suspicions from a few months ago when I was making peanut butter bon-bons and he was wheezing after I gave him a little taste. I didn't let it bother me because it could have been the sawdust that he started crawling in right after so I figured I would try again later. Tonight I made pad thai for dinner with crushed peanuts and didn't even think twice about it. I just gave him a little and he ate some, and threw some just like normal until he started itching his eye. And then he didn't stop itching his eye. He quickly developed this beautiful rash and though you can't see it in the picture there were white spots in the rash too... SO much fun. I'm just going to hope and pray that its not severe.

BUSY!!!

So the last few weeks have been a little busy for us, but definitely this last week. My sister Erin was in town with Cecelia (who is Nathans age) and their dog Vicar. It was so fun to see them and spend some time with them. We tried to get out of the house and do things. Some days we succeeded better than others. We went down to the aquarium in Sandy which was fun and up to the Hill Airforce museum in Roy. Lots of big airplanes. Sorry, no pictures. All I have is this one from the aquarium day. Problem was once I took it, the batteries died... stupid camera.
Then over the weekend, we were watching our friends dog as well. So we had 2 extra humans and 2 extra dogs. :) Actually not as scary as it sounds, but it was hectic. Well Erin had to get back and so we traded her and her daughter for three large males. Chris had a few of his mission buddies come and stay with us for a night as they headed up to Logan for a little day o' fun. They met a few other guys from their mission up there too so it was a mini-reunion. Me and the kids spent the day down in SL at Meres house and then went to Bretts parents house to hang out with his family for the rest of the afternoon (Brett was one of Chris' mission friends). Turns out Nathan doesn't love me as much as I thought. He took right to Bretts dad and seemed to prefer him to me. Oh well. I also found some more people who love the Biggest Loser as much as I do! So after that fun night my kids have inherited another set of Grandparents. :) As for our house, we've lost all our boarders, but our days will remain fun filled until after Tuesday. When is the next girls night out? I'm going to need it. LOL!

Chris made bread!!!

Look at my fabulous husband. He is always making fun things, and since we got a wheat grinder for Christmas - Chris tried it out! This was his first attempt at wheat bread. It was actually very good. We still have tons to learn about wheat and gluten and all that fun stuff... but we're getting there!! I guess I should try next. (we'll see)

A learning experience

Oh my, I have so much stuff that I need to blog... But I don't feel like downloading the pictures right now - so you just get my rambling thoughts. Maybe tomorrow I'll find a few minutes.

So today was quite the learning experience for me. We had my classical education book club on Thursday and went off on a tangent about food. There were a couple of us that were much more ignorant than others and wanted to learn more. Field trip!! They took us to Good Earth and gave us a little tour of the health food that they use and what they use it in. Ok, I have things in my pantry now that I have literally never heard of. Quinoa and Millet were the two I'd never heard of, but stuff like barley and flaxseed and mung beans... who would have thought they had practical purposes?? Not I. I haven't tried anything yet, but I'll let you know how it goes when I do. I'm curious to see barley and lentils become ground beef or millet turned into a fruit salad (frog eye type salad). I don't think I'll ever be at the point where I'm going to make my own butter and cheese and milk like these other girls but if I can use some new things that will get my family healthier - thats all I want. I have so much to learn and I'm at the overwhelming point where I just want to cry. I'll get it though. One step at a time. I realize this is a lifetime thing not an overnight thing but I'm trying to get the lifetimes worth of information overnight... not good.

So on to a lighter subject... Anyone excited about this new season of tv?? Biggest Loser is turning out to be my FAVORITE show on television (besides Eli Stone). And yes, I am the type to curl up with my favorite bowl of ice cream to watch it. ;) They've only had one episode so far and I am already getting attached to some of these people! There is this 19 yr old kid who started off as 450 lbs and these polynesian guys that are going to be fun... and I want to see the old guy get healthy since he passed out on the first show. Unfortunately Reaper doesn't start until March. Whats that all about?? I really need to watch some of these shows that I have been taping. I don't even know whats on my DVR at the moment I just know that my # of hours available is quickly dwindling. Some of it might be the 4 hours of Superstars of Dance that I am yet to watch. ::sigh:: I guess thats the good thing about DVR is you can fast forward through all the stuff you don't want. I remember during Dancing with the Stars - I could watch the 2 hour program in 30 min or less. Anyway, well I'm off to give my kids a bath.

Christmas #2

So I got a message this morning on the answering machine... (guess I had that music turned up a little too loud) Anyway it was from my next door neighbor asking if I wanted to buy 1/2 a pig!! We had already talked to him about 1/2 a cow which will come in a couple more weeks but his other guy bailed on him so he called me! He is headed down to the farm right now to pick it up and I am so excited!! Pork, sausage, ham, bacon... 80 lbs of meat at a fraction of the price. Fresh! Oh my goodness its like Christmas all over again. Jumping up and down over here! YEAH!!!!!

Merry (belated) Christmas

So I'm a few days late. I'm enjoying my vacation - alright?? Christmas was great. As you can see we have a white Christmas. It was just the 4 of us and I enjoyed every minute of it. The boys loved their toys and are playing with them even as I sit here typing. Eli got a remote control car from us, a dinosaur and sticky hands from Santa, and a scooter (similar to a Razor) from Grandma. He is in heaven. And Mom and Matt - yes those are the same Superman pajamas he got last year from you guys. He still wears them ALL the time.

Nathan got this ball twirling thing that is actually kind of cute and some magnet blocks. He didn't get into the whole tearing the wrapping paper, but once the toys were out of the box, he was having a great time. I guess he had fun pounding on the boxes too which was what he was doing in this picture.

And I got a wheat grinder!!! I'm so excited, but I'll admit I'm a little scared. Now I have no excuse not to make my own bread. I want to talk to some girls in my ward before I get too carried away and maybe have them come over and do it with me. I need a little hand holding... I also got my Veronica Mars seasons 1&2. YEAH!!! Here is our little mess when we were through with presents. I'd say we made out pretty good!

The rest of the day was made up of me cooking spinach triangles, pie, ham and sweet potatoes... etc while Chris and Eli were making this snowman. Unfortunately it started to snow the next day and the face got covered up. Oh well. I have to laugh, the mouth is a green bean from dinner...


Anyway, overall we had a great time. Merry Christmas everyone and I hope you had as good a holiday as we did. (and Kyle, yes those bacon mints were BY FAR the worst part of my holiday) ...thanks...

6 days and counting!!

I can't wait for Christmas!! The holidays always make me happy and it'll be especially nice this year because my sister will be here and it'll definitely be a WHITE Christmas. I don't mind it when its not, but when it is it just feels right. you know? I think I finally got my shopping done and now I need to wrap. I SERIOUSLY need to wrap. Actually I take that back. Shopping for presents is done. I still need to grocery shop for Christmas dinner and a few other essentials while Erin is in town. I guess grocery shopping doesn't really count, but I swear to you those stores seem to be more crowded than Walmart at this time of year. Understandable, but it makes me dread going. Maybe I'll go tonight to avoid the Saturday rush...

Things with us are good. We are all happy and healthy and doing well. Eli has been obsessed with counting the days till Christmas and asks over and over and over when it'll be here. He is going to be bored to tears though because school is out for the next 2 weeks. Guess I'll actually have to entertain him... hmm... Nathan is doing good as well. I've found his aversion to milk was merely a temperature thing (thanks to a conversation with Erin) so I think we have a way to finally get him off formula when he is ready. yeah!! He isn't walking yet, but he can balance when he stands up by himself. I'm not ready for him to walk. It almost makes me sad. He is still such a baby to me. I'm not ready!!! I actually meant to do this back when Nathan turned one, but I never did. I was going to compare my two boys at the same age. Well this is both of them at (or around give or take a month) a year old.

Eli


Nathan
Hmmm.... are they brothers?? I love that. I'm just looking through some of Elis old pictures and its not that they look exactly alike or anything, but looking at the pictures of Eli remind me of Nathan. I don't know. I'll have to take some of Nathan wearing Elis old Christmas outfit and compare those two pictures. :) I actually forgot I had his old Christmas outfit. Good thing I found it so I could take the one I bought this year back. Is it sad that Nathan is going to wear the same outfit Eli did while Eli was only 6 months old and Nathan is 14 months? I'm sure it won't fit exactly the same, but nevertheless... I'm almost positive it'll fit. Whatever am I going to do with him... My 22 lb chunker baby who is painfully short. I just love him. :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!! We love you and we hope you enjoy your holiday.

Giggle monster

When people ask me if I'm liking being a stay at home mom, I always answer yes. Its true. My life has changed since I've gotten to spend this extra time with my kids. My house still isn't where I would like it to be, but they have been so much fun to be with. Little moments like yesterday (in this video) are the main reason for my answer in the affirmative. Nathan was supposed to be eating his lunch, but I guess he was done because he started throwing food over the side for the dog to eat. Usually I try to tell him to stop, but he was laughing so hard I figured a video would be better. ;) Unfortunately about 4 hours later he had a temp of 102° and was feeling a little less happy.

First blog in weeks! nothing to report...

Well I wish I had an excuse for my lack of blogging. Usually its because you're crazy busy but to be honest, in the last couple weeks its the opposite. We haven't been doing anything and that has just included blogging. We had a great Thanksgiving, we went and saw Santa Claus (at the mall), my sister came out here and we went to see Twilight again (better the 2nd time), we had some friends over for Family Home Evening and now we're headed straight for the Christmas season. Its snowing outside pretty good today... first snow since I think around Halloween! I think I'd rather have it in the 50's like its been though. We've been able to enjoy the outdoors much longer than normal. A few of the girls in my ward and I were out with our strollers and the older kids were riding their bikes. We all laughed saying we were the stroller parade - and in December no less. Here are the kids when we took them to the mall. Unfortunately the camera wasn't picking up the light so all the pictures were dark but this one... and its blurry. Oh well, better luck next year.


Eli is already begging to go ride his sled down the hill at the park. Mind you there is only 1/4" of white stuff on the ground so far and my guess is that it'll be gone by this time tomorrow... This is going to be a seriously long winter. But I'm excited for Christmas at least. Erin is going to be out here and... Erin, Eli is already asking when you're going to get here. :) I feel like there is still so much to do!! I have to send some things - I really better get a move on and I have Christmas cards to mail (if you've moved - let me know). Eli is usually my easy one to buy for, but this year I just don't know what to get him! We got him some pajamas and a dinosaur, but I'm at a loss as to what else. I guess thats probably all he needs. I would like to shift it so that Santa brings only one toy so he doesn't expect a ton of things every year. He is young enough its probably a good time to start. Mommy and Daddy got Guitar Hero World Tour for Christmas... which we opened like 6 weeks ago. ;) Excuse our messy family room (and me in my pajamas). This is the family band - ok, so Eli is usually replaced with Chris but someone had to take a picture.

Eli playin' the drums

Nathan playing the drums too.

Hmmm... Twilight

Well I went yesterday. And BOY was that an experience. Now I don't consider myself as old... as I am not yet 30, but I felt it. Man, did I feel it. I went with a group of 4 and sitting just to the side of my group was this little girl. (I'm thinking 13 or so) I seriously thought we were going to have to sedate her at some point. She was shaking! For the full 2 hours, she shook. My friend who was sitting next to me kept leaning over to me saying to look at the girl and she was making these facial expressions that were just hilarious!! (while she shook of course) LOL! And of course, when Jacob came on screen and Edward and Carlisle and every other decent looking male the audience erupted into screaming that you missed their first few lines. And the kissing scene you couldn't even enjoy because there was a hum of anticipation and then more with the screaming...

So I don't know if my review is based more in my prejudice against my fellow Twilighters in the theater or the actual movie itself, but I was kind of sad. I liked the movie - I really did, but I didn't feel the connection between Edward and Bella (which I guess you could say would be KEY to the whole movie). They just seemed cold and forced like they weren't really enjoying each other. They acted the part where they had to be careful around each other, but they never seemed to smile and be happy they were in love! I don't know, maybe they did and I was too busy watching this hilarious 13 yr old sitting next to us. :) (very possible)
I'm glad I get to take my sister on Monday so I can see it again hopefully with a new perspective. The 13 year olds will be in school and I already know the plot changes, so I won't have to try and figure it out. I can just enjoy it as a movie. I have tons more to say on scenes that they left out or did wrong, but for the sake of people who haven't seen it yet - I will hold off. All I can say is that even though Alice had only half a dozen lines, she was great and I can't wait for the next few movies because something tells me she will steal the show. I just love Alice.

Happy Birthday Chris!!!!

Yesterday was Chris' birthday. My wonderful husband is 32 years old now. What a good man to put up with my craziness for the last 7 1/2 years.

We didn't do much, but we went out to eat at a Mongolian BBQ place and came home to eat cupcakes that Eli and I made in the afternoon. As you can see, we all got candles in our cupcakes and we ended up singing to both Chris AND Eli... I swear to you, the kid loves birthdays.


Sorry honey, I just had to share this gem... Can't tell whether this guy is the 32 year old or the 4 yr old in the family. You decide. ;)

And the happiest one of all. Nathan enjoyed a cupcake as well and loved every bite. Too bad he still woke up at 5am this morning. ugh.

Very very tired

You reach a point where "tired" becomes a word that doesn't mean anything any more. Nathan has gotten up at 5:45 every morning this week. I've tried to go to bed a little earlier, but its never been before 10:30 unfortunately... and with as long as it takes me to fall asleep - lets just say 5:45 comes very very early. I think the worst part of it is that he is ready for his first nap by 9:30 or so and sleeps the rest of the morning which in turn throws off his afternoon nap. Its a vicious circle!! Oh well, I guess there isn't much I can do but don't worry about calling me early in the morning.
I'm up.

2 days left!

::sigh:: Twilight...
Is it wrong that I find the actor who plays James better looking than Edward? Hmmm.... there is something very wrong with that.

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Slackin'

I have no excuse except that I don't like the women in my ward very much... they keep giving me books to read and I can do nothing else while I read. I seriously have a hard time putting them down at all.

Anyway, Saturday was Eli's first pinewood derby! And wouldn't you know, he came home with 3rd place and Chris got 1st. Chris thinks it probably should have been the other way around, but thats a whole other conversation that you are never allowed to bring up in his presence. LOL! Whatever. It was a fun night and Eli had a blast. Chris made a spiderman car for Eli, and he let Eli paint his car... a very interesting combination of black, orange and yellow. They both came home with a chocolate bar, so it makes Momma proud ;)

Chris got 3rd place in the 'anything goes' race. I don't remember what it was really called, but they didn't worry about weighing the cars. His was under the regulation weight and still made the top 3. Not bad honey!!

I've still been reading. I guess I feel the need to make up for the last 10 years of not reading in a single month. Yes, I'm crazy. But I will admit that I have had more fun in the last month than I have in a while. I just finished another book called "These is my words" by Nancy Turner. Excellent. Its set in the 1880's on the Arizona frontier and is written like its her diary. I'm pretty sure its based on a true story, but I don't think its an actual diary. Anyway, Carrie has a couple more books that I need to read to finish up the Goose Girl trilogy and then I'm going to take a break. I really want to buy the Twilight series for Christmas, so maybe my break can last until then and I will reread Twilight at the beginning of next year.
Only 11 more days until the movie comes out!!!!!!!! And yes, I'll be there opening day.

Emergency!

Emergency at the Porter house. We're fine, no harm done, but the CO detector was going off all last night. We left at 1:30am to go to a hotel and Nathan wouldn't go back to sleep. Lots of fun. Chris took him on a drive, but still he only slept an hour or two. I'm hoping we can all sleep in today. Anyway, we came home this morning and called the gas company. He found no CO in the house, but whether that was because it had aired out or there was never a problem - he wasn't positive. He found a couple potential problems that could have caused it - mostly because of the pressure in the storm we're getting right now. We'll just have to change a vent and bore a hole through our house... no biggie. ;) I'm grateful that we called him so we can get it fixed. I swear the whole 'home ownership' thing is just a learning curve. So much to learn.

But for now, we're fine. We can turn the appliances back on when the storm passes. For now the biggest problem will be taking a cold shower.

Happy Halloween

Finally got around to uploading some Halloween pictures. Eli was a Ninja Turtle this year (Raphael to be exact). He had a blast. We hit the trunk or treat and a bunch of houses and he started complaining that his bucket was too heavy. I guess that means he made out good.


sorry... this one is blurry...

the "man" behind the mask.