Last one - the WORM!

I guess Nathan did this all the way across the floor the other day and we've been trying to get a video. This is just a short one, but you get the idea.

Tomorrow is Eli's birthday!! He will be 5 yrs old. I can't believe it. He is going to Chuck E Cheese with one of his cousins and he can't wait. Don't tell him, but he'll be getting a bike. Finally. Then the weekend after, we're going up to Rexburg for a wedding reception (Chris' niece) and then we're off to Bear Lake for a day or two camping. We've never been camping as a family before, and I'm kind of excited! Hopefully it won't take me 3 weeks to post those pictures.

The poor little picked on one.

Sunday morning while I'm sleeping in...


I know big sisters like to dress up their little bros/sisters. I guess this is Eli's version of dressing up his brother... I can't tell whether they're Star Wars or Spiderman underwear...

Nathan did this one. I honestly thought his eyes were covered at first. He ran all the way across the kitchen to the garage door and I thought he was going to bang into it. He didn't thank goodness. And no, he doesn't usually have his pacifier. I just took his crib bumper pads out and now he can just reach in through the slats and get it whenever he likes. Darn it!

Memorial Day

We never usually do anything fun for Memorial Day, but this time we actually did. Well, Chris and I did. His sister watched the kids while we hiked up to a waterfall. Don't ask me the name of the trail or waterfall, but it was fun. And hard. It has been a LONG time since I've hiked, and I found myself missing the trees, and the rocks, and streams, and everything. It was very nice. There were also a ton of people on the trail being a holiday and all - we even saw some neighbors. Anyway, about 3/4 of the way up was the first waterfall

And if you keep going up and up and up - you come to the 2nd waterfall.

Oh my heavens - look at my hair!!! LOL! I'm also soaked up to my knees. Just to the right of the right side of the picture is the trail, so you have to cross the water to actually see anything. And there is no crossing it without getting soaked. I was worried the trip home would be awful with wet shoes, but it was actually ok. There were a few spots on the way up close to the water - or crossing it where you tried your hardest to stay dry. On the way back though it was no big deal because you were already wet. So if you fell - who cares! :)
Anyway, thank you Sara for watching the kids and thank you Chris for taking me.

Soccer

Eli has finished his first year of soccer. He had a lot of fun I think. He was very much a follow-on-the-outskirts of the action type person, but he kicked it when it came to him and made a goal or two throughout the year. He wanted to do it again next year, so we signed him up. Can't wait to see if he makes any progress. ;)
Here is his cute little team. Very cute kids!



(And Windy, I just realized we didn't get a picture with YOU in it! You were the coach!!)

What to blog first...

Well, I have a few things that need to go up on the blog today, but overall we're all doing very well. The boys just go their shots today. It was Eli's 5yr check up (and shots for kindergarten) but Nathan wasn't able to get his shots at his 18 month checkup last month - so he got some too. Family Fun!! Nathan is now sleeping t off with an early nap. Yeah!

Fishing

Last night Chris took Eli fishing! Here are the 2 fish that Eli caught. Evidently Daddy only caught 1 fish, so Eli thought that was pretty neat. They didn't get home until almost 9:30 and the poor kid was dead on his feet, but they brought a pizza home so he had to have a slice. I think he almost fell asleep in his plate. Oh well. He had a blast.


(and I'm up to date on my blog) Hopefully it won't be another month before I stop by again.

Eating in the Porter household

Dinner in this house is a you eat what you get. I do my best to serve food that I know will be eaten by my kids and if it's not, you can have something similar. (ie when Eli was too little for fajitas, he'd get a quesadilla so we're all eating tortillas) Things don't always get eaten, which is fine with me and foods that were once loved will get a snubbed nose the next time (and vice versa). Case in point - Sweet potatoes. Eli can't seem to decide if he likes sweet potatoes. There was a few months where he didn't want me to make 'white' potatoes at all and only wanted 'orange'. Then a few months later he refuses to eat them. He'll eat them again thank goodness and we just go in our normal cycles that I'm sure every family deals with.

Nathan is no different. He has good nights and he has bad nights. Tonight he ate some strawberries from our strawberry salad and one slice of potato... not much. But other times (such as the photo below) we have a very definite good night with the sweet potatoes. LOL!

Faces of the Men in my life

How long has it been?

Oh my... It has been weeks. Yes, I am still alive though I have my days where I wonder if I am or not. The last thing I blogged about was my test. No, I don't know how I did yet, but I'm thinking not well. The morning part was good, but the afternoon was really really hard. There isn't much I can do about it at this point but wait. So that's what I'm doing. waiting...

Today is Mothers Day and I just want to thank my Men/Boys for giving me a wonderful day. Couldn't have asked for better day (I guess I could have asked my headache to go away) but we won't go there. Work has kept my very busy lately and I love it, but I miss my boys at night. It's fun when I can look on the camera though and see they were having a good time with Daddy. Man they love pudding... LOL

Random thought before Friday

It dawned on me that Friday is laundry day so nothing is going to get clean on time... But that also means that I have to do a load of cold tomorrow or Thursday so that Eli's soccer uniform is clean and ready for Saturday morning.
Why was this not included in the list for PE preparation they print inside my manual? Do these people not realize I have a life???? They mention bringing a lunch, ear plugs and extra batteries for your calculator... but not to launder your childs uniform before the big game. Priorities PEOPLE!!!!
And yes, my brain is officially fried. (is it obvious??) ;)

I do love you all

But I just haven't had a moment to say hi. I have 75 blog posts on my Google Reader that I just haven't found a moment to read. I WILL get to them. Maybe next week... I haven't posted to my own blog (except for this one) and its just a quick one because I'm at work and I'm waiting for my documents to print. So quick run down on us...
-Its GORGEOUS outside this week, so during the day we'll be outside. Come find us. ;)
-Nathan continues to wake up at 6am. There are no words...
-At night I'm at work furiously trying to finish my project by Wednesday. Thursday and Friday I'm taking off because the PE is all day Friday. Lucky me! But it'll be over after that and thats all I care about!!
-Saturday is my hair appointment. I can't wait to sit in a chair for 2 1/2 hours rotting my brain with Vanity Fair magazine instead of the Civil Engineering Reference Manual.
-Chris has been a saint, never complaining when I need to leave the second he walks through the door
-I'm tired. Is it Saturday yet?

I'm an AUNT again!!

My sister Erin just had her baby!!! I didn't ask, but she has been calling him Edward her whole pregnancy, so I assume his name is Edward was born at 9:14am CST. 8lbs!! Considering Erins first baby was 5 1/2lbs, this is pretty serious. ;) She did it all by herself again with no needles and I am so happy for her. She was 2 weeks overdue and the doctor was anxiously trying to get her to be induced. She has a serious phobia of needles, so she kept putting it off trusting that her body would do what it needed to do when it needed to do it. Tomorrow was her last appt and they would have sent her to the hospital, so YEAH!! She was able to do it on her own. She said she woke up in labor at 4am and the baby came 5 hours later. When she got to the hospital she was already 8cm (same as her first).
Sorry no pictures as the baby was JUST born like an hour ago.
When Erin called, she was so calm when she asked 'guess where I am?'. With her tone of voice I would have guessed the grocery store not the hospital where she just delivered a baby like 30 minutes before. WOW. Anyway, all is well. Mom and baby are happy and healthy, and I have a nephew!!

18 months

Thats him in there... he gets stuck about once a day and/or tries to stand up and hits his head on the corner. Nathan is officially 18 months as of today. We had his doctors appointment and he is perfectly healthy... and hefty as well, coming in just over 24 lbs. whoa. The good news is that he is finally on the chart for his height! 8th percentile. Excellent news. Other than the fact that he isn't talking yet, the doctor really didn't say much. His legs are a little twisted as well as his feet causing a fairly noticeable pigeon-toed/bow legged walk, but he hopes that it will straighten out on its own with time. The umbilical hernia is still large. Large enough that he is pretty sure he'll need it repaired, but we'll cover that more at his 2 yr checkup.

This little guy can be so stubborn sometimes. He wants to do everything himself, doesn't ever want help or to hold your hand. He cries and throws fits quite a bit more than Eli did at this age and he CLIMBS! Just little things so far, like step stools, kids chairs and the drum but thats only because his legs are too short. One of these days he is going to figure out how to get on the counter and completely freak me out. It was strange enough to come downstairs and find him sitting on the couch... by himself. He had moved the drum over to the couch and used it as a step stool.

He loves his shoes and brings them to me several times a day for me to put them on... even when he is wearing his footed pajamas. He is just like his brother in his eating habits wanting to eat fruit all day long and turning his nose up at any type of meat. He loves brushing his teeth and will spit into the sink just like his brother does. He doesn't get toothpaste yet, but he does it anyway - so cute (oh, and 3 new teeth just poked through so he is up to 11 now). He gets mad when anyone closes the door on him. I thought it was just when Chris or I leave, but he does it now when someone comes to our front door or when the doctor left the little room today. He freaked! so strange...

He hates sitting still for reading, for eating, for watching, anything. He does not like to sit in your lap and stay. Church is lots of fun. He wants to be like his big brother in so many ways. I love watching them play together and even fight. Eli is becoming a little more short tempered with Nathan because Nathan is starting to show his stubborn will (and death grip on toys). It makes for interesting days. Anyway, thats a little bit about my youngest. He is the sweetest little infuriating terror and I love every minute of being his mom.

Getting NERVOUS!!!

My exam is in 3 weeks. 3 weeks from today and I am seriously getting nervous. I feel like I have so much more to study! The main problem is now that I've started working, my evenings are gone. And I still have to find someone to lend me out their transportation manuals... and I have to find someone to watch my kids all day starting at 6:45 am... and I have to finish a trail project with plans, specs and estimate for work... the stress has only just begun. I feel bad when my husband asks what I'm planning to do and my answer is always work or study. I guess the study part will be over a few weeks and the trail project should be mostly finished by the end of the month, but still. April is the start of spring! You're supposed to get out and enjoy yourself. For now though, every spare hour I have is going to be spent busy. Oh, how I've enjoyed the last few months of relaxation and no stress. Why did it all have to pile on at once? I'm seriously going to have this pit in my stomach for the next 3 weeks.

Okay, deep breath. Its not going to be that bad. (...eeek!...)

Friday night

So I'm a few days late in posting this, but whatever... My friend Jessica called and asked if I wanted to go to Salt Lake for the opening of the Twilight movie. Wouldn't have dreamed going otherwise, but Hey, girls night out? SURE! So we all went out to dinner and then over to the Walmart in Riverton. Whoa... Talk about a lot of people. The "line" started at the front door and weaved through the prescription aisle, then to the end of the garden section, all the way up to the back of the store, through sporting goods, and started weaving down through the electronics. And that was from where we were standing. I'm sure by the end it was snaked around the entire store. Thousands of people... But for good reason. There had been rumors that a 'celebrity' would be showing up. We decided there was no need for autographs (not THAT big of a need) so we just stood in the mass and waited to get a picture. Not that we had any idea who would actually make an appearance. Well, here is the first picture of us when we arrived. I'm not in it, but these are a few of the girls I went with.

Then finally Victoria (Rachelle Lefevre) came. We didn't meet her or anything, but took a few pictures from a distance. Then we got out of the massive crowd and got some snacks and met another one of the characters....

EDWARD!! Seriously - right?? No, he is not a cardboard cut-out, he is a real life person. There was a costume contest. This kid had red eyes, the hair... we got our books signed by him and gave him a few votes for the contest. (ok, so we gave him as many as we could before the lady behind the counter said - ONLY ONE PER PERSON) :) Not sure if he won or not, but he should of.


Chris doesn't like this picture.

And the Bad Mommy Award...

...goes to...? ME! Yep! Forgot the sunscreen. Darn it if that wasn't the last thing on my mind when we went to the park today. It was great fun actually. I hadn't ever been to this particular park, but Sara invited us for a picnic. It was like a big castle... it had sandboxes and a closed in area for the littler ones... we're definitely going to have to go back. Of course no pictures actually AT the park having fun (or the pile of rocks the boys collected saying they were dinosaur teeth) No, I had to take them after we got home and realized their faces were bright red. oops!

This picture was to show off his sunburn, but I think the chocolate face mask is the more prominent feature. Ice cream for dessert! YUM!


My poor fair skinned children. 3 hours in the sun just isn't a good thing for them. The good news is that it'll be gone (or at least better) by this time tomorrow night and even at the expense of their skin, they had a blast today. :) Thanks Sara!!

7 months... I lasted 7 months

But the drive to work was just too great. ;) I actually don't know what is possessing me to go through with this, but I am going to go back to work. Just temporarily and just at night. I'll go in after Chris gets home from work - not doing the daycare thing anymore! My office is probably the only place in the country that has too much work and I offered to help them out during their 'crisis'.

My boss called me up just to make sure I still wanted to do it, and he said they have a project working out of our Kaysville office that I can just run with. Its sick, but hearing about working in Inroads and Microstation... doing vertical alignments, plans, estimates, it makes me want to be involved. I don't miss the work when I compare it to taking care of my kids but if I get to be with my kids all day and then do that as well? I don't know, its hard to say no. Plus I've spent 6 years with this company and feel a sense of loyalty or something with them. I just want to help out any way I can. Anyway, it'll still be a couple weeks before I go back in, but I am excited!!!!

Reaper is BACK baby!!!

Ok, so this may be the longest clip on youtube about Reaper, but its funny, and I love this show - and you just can't have a clip thats too long. Plus it'll catch you up as to who he is and what he does. :) Tomorrow night, CW 30, 7pm. OH YEAH!!!! (you ready Carrie????)

Sunday night

Well we had a fun night at our house last night. Chris was busy making a lemon pound cake and talking to his parents while I was in the living room reading. Eli was twirling in the living room with this paper thing he made in church. So we have Eli... in the living room... with the paper 'thingy' twirling around. Any guesses??
Here is the paper 'thingy'

The wall in the living room...

Crack. He tripped and split his head on the corner of the wall. And of course its a head wound so - BLEEDER!

Chris took him to a after hours clinic because (of course) its 7:30pm on a Sunday. Why do accidents NEVER happen during business hours? I'll never understand it. Anyway, a lot of crying and 4 staples later my baby is fine. Chris said he actually didn't cry during the numbing shots they gave him or the staples. Just right when it happened and he was seeing all that blood. He slept all night and when he woke up said only that his head a little. Well I gave him some medicine anyway but he is running around the house perfectly fine. You'd never guess. And his hair is long enough that you can barely see the staples today. Now what to do about preschool tomorrow. Am I a freak to be worried that he might get paint on his fingers and then scratch his head? or some other kid with their dirty hands get near it? I don't know. I'm sure he'll be fine. Maybe I'll throw a big bandage over it or something. Anyway, this is our first (of I'm sure many) trips for stiches/staples, casts or other such emergencys. Fun times... fun times...

Love and Randomness

Well, my Mom left on Tuesday and the kids are sad. We miss you already Mom!!! and Happy (belated) Birthday to my Dad. He turned a young 71 yesterday. :) I also wanted to give a shout out to my sister Erin. Her hubby comes home today from Iraq. YEAH!!! Welcome Home Caleb!! We Love You!!!!

So whats been going on with us... not a whole lot. Chris installed new can lights in our living room because the builders of our neighborhood figured we didn't need light in our front rooms... literally there is not a house on this block (that I've been in) with overhead lighting in their front room. Stupid.
We had our ward playgroup over here yesterday. Fun, Fun. I finished my laundry this morning and put it away, reorganized my husbands shirts, filed our taxes, filled out Eli's kindergarten forms (sob!) and we're supposed to get new insulation put in this afternoon. That makes me SO happy. I'm hoping its going to help with our bills - but if not at least help with the ice on our roof. One can dream...

The boys are great. Nathan is walking just about everywhere now. He falls a lot, but is doing so well! Only 6 short weeks and he'll be in nursery! I finally turned him forward facing in his car seat. He seems to like it, but he never really complained either way - hence why I've waited a few more months than necessary. Now he just wants to be like his brother. Although his brother also wants him to grow up and be big like him... I guess its inevidable that Nathan will grow up too fast.
Here are my superheros...

And this picture was from a couple weeks ago. Nathan had been sick or something. I almost enjoy my kids being sick. They're so cuddly... :) but ugh - that picture doesn't even look like me. yikes!

And I think Eli took this picture. What a cute husband I got. Love you babe!