A Beautiful Insight

While talking with an amazing person the other day, we were on the topic of gifts while skimming through Black Friday Ads and this person mentions that her and her husband don't usually "ask" for things that they'd like for Christmas. They feel as if it takes away from the true meaning of Christmas. I strongly agree with this point. Rather than asking for gifts, we are surprised by a a gift our spouse has put much thought and time into. It's more meaningful to receive a gift that wasn't "asked" for.

(Thanks to this amazing woman who shared her thoughts with me).

What would you like for Christmas Jimmy?
"I want the red race car on page 6 in the Toys 'R Us catalog, bar code # 47389578939574758!!! And it MUST be the one from Toy's 'R Us okay?!

See the point? When the word Christmas is brought up, the first thought that comes to mind of many individuals (esp. children) is presents and what they'll receive this year. I grew up this way as well. I remember STUDYING the new ads that came out with my siblings and circling the things we 'needed' oh so badly. Deven and I want to make it a tradition in our family to have the main focus of Christmas be our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. We don't want ourselves or our children to ever forget and question the true meaning of Christmas.

I am looking forward to starting new traditions with our growing family:D What an exciting time of year, a time to celebrate the birth of Christ and to bear testimony to our children and family the kind of life Christ lived and the sacrifice He's made for all of us. Oh I LOVE Christmas:)

Christmas Season

Christmas Season....there is such a different feeling about this month. Overall, people seem to be happier. For some, it's unexplainable...the happiness just is. I am one of those people. For some odd reason, I am sooo much happier in December. I promise I'm not depressed throughout the other months in the year but the month of December is always accompanied by the "spirit of Christmas." I know this all sounds cheesy and cliche' but it's true! Everyone is excited this month...there could be many reasons factoring into that though; presents, end of the semester, presents, visiting family, Santa clause, spending time with loved ones, engagements, incredibly delicious food. For me, I believe it's Santa Clause that has me so excited:)!! Kidding...I'm excited for Porter to meet Santa for the first time, but I believe I am most looking forward to spending time with my family. I haven't been 'home' for Christmas in 3 years now and I can't wait to reminisce with my siblings, parents, cousins, grandparents aunts and uncles and friends who've been needing a visit for one too many years now.

Mastitis:(

Today, I woke up with symptoms of EXTREME nausea, CRUSHING killer headache and ...yep, the REALLY PAINFUL SORE (mastitis)! Deven has been such a blessing today, I couldn't even lift Porter out of the bath and I was COMPLETELY out of it today...slept until about 4pm. I would NEVER wish this upon anyone..I felt miserable all day. After Deven brought my prescription for antibiotics home I've actually been able to get things done around the house. THANKS SWEETHEART!

WALKING!!

Porter started walking for the VERY FIRST TIME YESTERDAY at 1:30p. I had my cell phone or the blue ball to get his attention (can't remember which one) and he started walking towards the bed rather than me..but it was 5 steps!! Last night, he walked 7 for daddy..then later on 10 for Grandma Munns and Aunt Jaclyn. Today I got him to walk 37 steps!! 3/4 the length of our Kitchen!! Yay Porter!!! I'm soo so proud of my little guy!


On a side note: check out mcnaughtonart.com this website is truly INCREDIBLE! Deven showed this to me a couple of night ago and I'm not quite sure if this is an lds artist but I'm about 98% sure he is. Go check it out! I promise you'll love it!

First Snowfall

I left for class today around 7:30am...it was just starting to snow then. It continued nonstop throughout the whole day! At around 1pm..there was at LEAST 3 to 4 inches of snow on the ground! The first snowfall has always excited me...there is so much beauty in a snowfall; watching as it collects on the leaves of tree's or even better..barren branches? Yeah?! I wanted to whip out my camera and start snapping some pictures then blow 'em up and hang 'em on the wall ....but then I came to the VERY disappointing realization that my camera was dead. :(

Although I DO find snow to be SOO wonderful and beautiful...I was beginning to have mixed feelings about my excitement of it's grand arrival. Twice a week I walk to class very EARLY in the morning (when the temperature is the lowest)...I'm not quite looking forward to walking 15 minutes to class while trying as best I can to keep my body temperature as high as possible in such low temperatures. Next semester I once again signed up for the earliest class time and I can only imagine how many layers of clothes I'll be wearing to keep warm:). On a more positive note...SNOWBOARD SEASON!! I hope to go snowboarding with my hunny at least two or three times this season...I have a new board which I have yet to use, last year I couldn't go because I was pregnant with Porter and I am so grateful...honestly...no regrets. (Of course!) He's such a blessing in my life! We'll see how I cope.

FIRSTS!

Porter DANCED for the very FIRST time yesterday!! We were visiting Grandma Munns and she played some music from his little exersaucer and he started moving his legs and bending his knees...soo sweet!

He is now recognizing the word "TOUCHDOWN"! ALMOST every time we say it he throws his hands up in the air...Deven and I have been attempting to teach him this on and off since he was about 3 months old..but while I was doing homework in another room, Grandma Munns got it through to him as he was chucking her apples all over the floor from the box.

Porter's tooth up top is looking SO SO big! His second one up top looks like it will be making it's grand entrance soon as well. Deven and I threw our very first annual Halloween party last night! We had a great turnout...about 22 people came decked out in SWEET costumes!

We had a pole and dancer ;) with their little ADORABLE witch:)...SOO CREATIVE! GOOD JOB Nick and Haley!

...an olden times couple from Ukraine..LOVED THE HATS!!

...a "how to train your dragon" family theme...Little Bailey was the dragon while Beth and Chance dressed the parts of the two main characters..( I don't know the names because I haven't seen the movie :(...but after talking with Beth, I will see it soon!!) Beth had a lot of work and time go into these costumes..home made! yay! They looked so great!!

We also had a Squaw (Scotty) and Becky was a cowboy..sweet costumes and arm n face paint...There was a pirate (jac), 80's chick (aubrey), and my cousin Tyson and his wife Cassie swapped clothes...tyson didn't look too hot in a dress but we'll pretend he did.

Addison came as a referee, Dion came as a "black guy"..haha, he came straight from a test with no time to dress up..then Deven came as Dr. Doofenshmirtz, Porter as a dinosaur (thanks grammy Terry) and myself as a cowgirl...fun times! Great food! Exciting "games"!!

Latest Upcomings

Porter is scooting the hamper around like a grocery cart
Weighing in at 20lbs 9oz 28 1/4 inches long 18 in head circumference
His percentile is going down:( I wasn't aware that I could start feeding him meats at 6 MONTHS! WHEW! I'll be getting on that...given him Ham (disliked) and Turkey (not sure about it yet) thus far...we'll see how it goes as I give him a bit more protein and LOTS more calories through meats. (The doctor told me that cats LOVE jarred meats because they taste like cat food. I should have asked him how he knew that huh?)

Porter JUST started cutting a tooth up top on the left center!! Yay! (it would be HIS right though)

We'll be going to visit a pumpkin patch hopefully soon..if we can find one around here...no luck thus far. Our pumpkin patch fun may have to end up being the front of Broulims or Wal-Mart. :/

And even MORE milestones reached!!

3 days ago while Deven was changing Porter's VERY HEAVY-LOADED STINKY STANKY diaper, he noticed "deer poop" in Port's diaper!! His first solid poo!! My reaction to missing this was rather odd now that I look back on it...I was SO sad that I didn't get to see it and I wasn't the one changing him for his first solid poop! Funny right? Or maybe just weird. We'll go with weird.

For the past two weeks Porter has also been starting to stand himself up next to the hamper and push it around the house like a GROCERY CART! SO SWEET! He'll be walking by 10 1/2 months...I'm bettin' on it!!:)

On Wednesday, Porter was invited to his first PARTY!! Now when I say party...you know I meant a BIRTHDAY Party right?? Sadie Terry, Porter's (let's go with cousin)...so Porter's cousin Sadie celebrated her FIRST birthday!! She was SO darn cute! She's got 4 teeth now and LOTS of hair! We haven't seen her for a while now, so when I heard her "cackle" (sp?) I almost cried!! (well, maybe not that emotional) but I missed it SO much! Nick and Haley (with the help of Brent and Joyce) had decided to do a fun BBQ at a park in Iona. The homemade, WELL DECORATED cupcakes were incredibly delicious and the food just hit the spot. Thanks Haley and Nick for such a fun time! Happy Birthday Sadie girl!

New Glasses!

Yesterday I received my VERY FIRST pair of glasses (since the 2nd grade..but that doesn't count because I never wore them). I just love the look of them. I've never felt comfortable with glasses of any sort because none seemed to work with my face shape...ESPECIALLY aviators which is a bummer because they look so darn cute on Deven. I had Deven make the final decision on which ones I would purchase (well, Insurance covered pretty much the ENTIRE cost;)) because he's got great taste, it's incredible!! After trying on about 20 something pairs, we settled on a cute "young secretary" styled pair of glasses. They have a light blue color on the inside rims and around the sides which is WONDERFUL because it really brings out my big BLUES! Yay!


I have DEFINITELY been needing some lenses seeing how, without them, I am illegally driving because my eyesight is JUST THAT BAD. :)

My favorite part about wearing glasses is at night, when Deven and I are staying up reading, watching a show or studying together while snuggled in bed... we look SO darn CUTE in our glasses! I just KNOW we'll make an adorable old couple:)

Awkward Experiences...

I've just finished my VERY 1st test (of this semester) in the testing center!! Funny thing though, it was an AWKWARD experience. Strange right?! How could taking a test be awkward you might ask...well, this test was for my Kinesiology course and a few of the questions are basically impossible to answer without moving several limbs around. So pretty much I looked like I was A.D.H.D. I actually had one of the "employees of the testing center" stop by me several times (pretending to browse the room) to make sure I wasn't cheating on my test. Later, I glance across the room and see another employee "watching" me. Haha...

I PROMISE I'm NOT CHEATING!!! Then before I leave, I see a young man across the room "abducting his shoulder in the frontal plane of motion on the sagittal axis of rotation, and in the shoulder abductors muscle group." Heehee...he's taking the same test I suppose.

Or, maybe he IS A.D.H.D :)

Developing a routine between mommy and student..

I started up with school again about 2 weeks ago and I still have yet to find some sort of study schedule to fit in with being a mommy at home. I didn't think it would be this difficult. Lately, Porter has 2 moods...he is either VERY mischievous and adventuresome...getting into and terrorizing our ENTIRE home....OR he is needy and clingy and wanting mom LOTS! NEED HELP!!

PONCHO'S

Bath: a washing or immersion of something, esp. the body, in water, steam, etc.

In our home...JUST recently...Porter has a new-found LOVE for splashing in the tub...not only himself, but mommy as well. Call out all PONCHO's!! Recently he has started to crawl to the bathroom every time I put him down. He initially heads towards the garbage can (which we've already experienced how messy and DISGUSTING that can be) but then he turns towards the tub (because mom put the can on the counter OUT OF REACH ;). Whenever he hears the water running...he tries to dive right in...oh how much i love my water baby! His bath times are now reaching the 45 minute mark...and if Porter had it HIS way..they would probably last around 3 hours. After washing him and letting him play for about 30 minutes longer...I empty the tub (assuming that him sitting in an empty tub all wet and cold will make him want mommy with the warm towel) and to my astonishment...he doesn't want to get out. In fact, he'll SCREAM all throughout the towel drying session, the diaper session, the pajama session and sometimes story time! How long does this generally last?

Anxious for school to start!

Tomorrow will be Deven's FIRST day of school and Friday will be MINE!!! I feel like I am still in Jr. High where I get the "first day of school jitters!" It's a fun feeling to experience...I almost want to go "back to school shopping" for myself....you know, the whole deal...clothes, school supplies, shoes, accessories. Money IS an object, and one that can't be spent just on a whim...so looks like I'll have to keep dreaming. This semester I'll only be taking 3 courses to see how it goes with Porter and actually getting homework done..I HOPE! Crossing my fingers that this semester will go by smoothly. I'll be taking Kinesiology, Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases and FINALLY Book of Mormon. I've taken just about EVERY other religion course BUT this one thus far. Ha, ironic right??Wish us Luck!

Standing on his own

Deven worked a 19 hour shift yesterday/today so when he arrived home at 8:00 this morning, I decided to let him get his sleep and took Porter out to the living room. Apparently, Porter is a HUGE Mickey Mouse Clubhouse fan because his attention span EXPANDED while I read the book to him 5 times! Go Porter!! Keep it up hun, PLEASE?? :) Then later on, as I was making myself a sandwhich, I turn around to see Porter standing up in this kitchen holding himself up with the folded over stroller!! WHEW! Milestones here we come!!

Around 1pm he went down for a nap while listening to Michael Buble's "Lost." This man has an incredible talent! What a voice! I was reading another blog when this song came on... I wasn't aware you could put MUSIC on your BLOG! So I check to see her source...of course it's playlist.com. So of course I go to the sight to check out how to do this to my blog...after having played around on the site for a while I STILL can't figure out how to add playlist to my blog. Any ideas?? I'm desperate! It REALLY adds some character and fun to the blog.

Road Trip Games

On our way to Cali, we stopped in Vegas for a night to break up the trip...but on our way back ( with my lil sister Jaclyn) we drove straight through...17 hour long drive!!! I started making up fun games we could play along the way home..because...as some of you know...I'm REALLY into games. :) A few that we played were"

1. An ABC game, but the ABC's had to be descriptive words for things around us.
2. Another ABC game (there is a pattern here) where the ABC's were different cities, states, and countries.
3. And ANOTHER ABC game...(DEVEN came up with this one) where the ABC's had to be the name of Sports teams (not naming cities or States).
4. Our LAST ABC game..(Jaclyn OBVIOUSLY came up with this one) Can you guess what the ABC's had to be about?? Knowing Jaclyn...it's REALLY NOT that hard to figure it out. Yes, you are correct..the theme was JONAS brothers!! lol.

Deven and I had to fully complete the alphabet while naming different song titles, record titles, and facts about the JONAS BROTHERS so we could avoid listening to their CD on the way home. haha..i honestly didn't mind listening but it was fun to try to get through the alphabet. And shockingly, Deven actually got into the game! Yay! SO much more fun with his humor. ;) We basically listed all facts all throughout the game...some of them sounded like this:

"m, Jaclyn is getting MARRIED to Nick" Jaclyn's response: "YES!! K Jenn, your turn."
"N, Nick is so completely in love with Jaclyn" Jaclyn's response: "Yes!! You guys are really good at this! See, it's not that hard."


Up until the last 5 or 6 hours, we kept ourselves well entertained and had a really fun trip.

100 years

Our beautiful little Munns family just returned from a most wonderful trip to Anaheim (etc.) California for Porter's Great Great Grandma's 100th BIRTHDAY! The last trip we took to see her was exactly a year ago for her 99th Birthday. We were glad to have the opportunity to visit and celebrate with her again. In the 5 days we were down there, Porter mastered crawling and is babbling even more so. Deven and I were actually able to get some down time and spend time together ...just the two of us. We played Farkle, walked around Downtown Disney, went shopping...so much fun! With all of the family that came down for the Birthday Party, we had several hands oh so eager to help out with Porter. He was quite the little treat for everyone. :) Our last night in Cali, Deven, Porter and I drove over to the Santa Monica Pierre (sp?). Deven and I had both been there before but never together so we thought it would be fun. To our surprise, it was actually COLD when we arrived so we had to pick up a sweatshirt for Porter..the smallest size was 4T...and it fit me! Whoa! Well, a little short on the arms and stomach..but not tight! Crazy huh?! It looked so darn cute on Porter as it basically swallowed him up. We didn't stay too long because of the chilly breeze but we did get to ride on the ferris wheel. :) Porter's first ride! Yay! He LOVED looking at all of the lights...and Deven and I thoroughly enjoyed his reactions to it and the many facial expressions. What a fun trip:) We definitely want to go again next summer. Thanks mom for letting us join you in the presidential suit! AMAZING!

First time Crawling!

Yesterday as I was packing our home away into boxes for the move...my friend Lynn) who was watching Porter for me called out "Jenn, come here! Come here quick!" Porter was starting to "crawl." For the longest time now, whenever he wanted to go anywhere, he would either scoot himself backwards or roll over..and over..and over. Now...FINALLY, he starting scooting forward and even doing somewhat of a bear walk but on his tippy's! YAY! What she was doing was holding her charm bracelet out not too far in front of him and encouraging him to get it. IT SURE WORKED! My little guy is becoming more mobile each day!

6 month check-up (at 7 months) ;)

Today we had Porter's BELATED 6 month check-up. I was extra excited to go today because Dr. Edwards would be seeing Porter today! (Dr. Edwards was my Doctor in the Hospital) He said that Porter is strong and healthy and even hitting a few milestones EARLY. For one, he is up on all 4's and rocks back and forth and also he already is ANXIOUS around others when mommy is not around...aka "stranger danger". As for his stats...he is weighing in at 19lbs 9oz and is 28 inches tall! Yay! Only 7 oz away from legally being able to sit in a "forward facing" carseat!! He actually sat in one for the first time yesterday. Grandma Munns invited us to go lunch with her and cousin Reegen Price and sweet little Evelyn. We didn't have Porter's carseat because I had left it in Deven's car the night before and Deven was at work in Idaho Falls. So, she bought a forward facing one for future usage with grandbabies. We couldn't figure out how to seat it facing the seat so we justified our needs and just took the easy way out. He really liked it too! We may just use it on our drive to California in a couple of weeks.

Oh yeah! We are moving in 8 days! Whoopee! Finally sold our contract, the buyers just need to finalize it by faxing a paper to the front office tomorrow but it's basically final. Can't wait! HUGE 2 bedrooms. HUUUUGE kitchen! Tiny TINY living room (but that's okay). A walk in closet in the master!! YES! So moving date is August 20th! We might move in a day or two earlier because my mom and little brother Bryce will be visiting the 21st through 26th til we leave for Cali for G.G. Bell's 100th Birthday!!

Bustin my bum to get into shape again

Yesterday my neighbor Heather invited me to join her on some hard core "interval training" at the University's track. Deven wasn't home and it was earlier in the morning so I didn't want to call someone to watch Porter...I ended up bringing him with me...and thank goodness I did because it was a nice break from the "OUT OF BREATH" sprints! WHEW!

We only ran a total of about 3 miles overall but with sprints...whew! Am I out of shape or what!?! This would be the first hard core workout since having found out I was pregnant (other than the run to the temple and back/UPHILL THE WHOLE WAY!) and it's taught me a good lesson....don't slack off JENN!

Running in the morning completely set my day off on the right foot...ha! no pun intended. I felt so much more productive, got so much more done, had much more energy, only ate ONE oreo...I caved okay? I wish I loved to run EVERYDAY!

THANKS HEATHER!

Separation Anxiety

For the past few days or so, Porter has become extra clingy. If I leave him alone with ANYONE else, he starts to scream and I come back to find him with a terrified expression on his face doing the "heavy breathing" type sobs. :( These sobs just BREAK my heart! Oh I feel horrible now leaving him alone to play with toys for even 5 minutes. It's been much harder to get a sitter or get anything done...is this normal at 7 months? I hope it doesn't last too long..:/

I can't lie though...I am enjoying the fact that he recognizes and missed mommy.

On a happier note...Porter has been starting to walk....SPEED walk (while holding my fingers) down the hallway, in the grass...he LOVES it! It's all he has been wanting to do lately. SOOO fun! He's going to be walking before he crawls!

Wal-Mart...no good!

So, very sad to announce...our jogging stroller is no more:( When we were walking back from the blue angels performance at the I.F. airport a couple of weeks ago, the front wheel and the all the attachments just ...came off. Luckily Porter didn't get hurt but it made the 1 mile walk MUCH more difficult to handle. Deven had to balance the stroller on it's back wheels with camp chairs, a carseat, and a big diaper bag on the seat of it. What a man! GO baby! We returned it to Wal-mart and got store credit for what it had cost us.

Now that I've gotten a good vent in...
Deven and I finally got the opportunity to go on a fun outdoor date ...I surprised him by going to Rigby Lake and going Kayaking!! SOOO much fun! We had a blast paddling around the Lake. Deven threw his flip flop overboard at an attempt to build some muscles in my arms and let me paddle in our "tandem" kayak to go rescue it...haha, when I turned around to hand it to him after my long journey (40 ft) to retrieve his beloved flip flop, I learn that he had also thrown is paddle overboard to add to the "humorous" occasion. Ha! But, get this....he threw it in the opposite direction just for kicks.. I love my man! After a good time on the lake we decided to go towards the beach area again....well, Deven thought it would be funny to ram into the bouyes sp? first. This idea freaked me out, I thought we would FOR SURE go overboard...and I wasn't quite ready to dunk into the water. Sure enough, I was overreacting and NOTHING happened. lol

So before we head back home to our sweet little guy Porter, we take the kayak down the river/canal that runs right alongside the Lake...beautiful!! We had a perfectly strong current, a nice breeze and a great view. All in all, it was a very fun date!

After paddling alon

No comments..ever? really??

Porter's New Stats...

Porter is now weighing in at 18lbs 17oz and is measuring at 27 1/4 inches! yay!! It's been quite the adventure with my little guy. Lately he's been pretty fussy during the day...not as laid back as he used to be. It's been quite a change and I am still learning how to get use to it. Feeding time has not been so enjoyable lately either...he won't eat anything I give him:( I know the best way to get him eating is to continue trying and feeding. I won't give up just yet....well, ever I guess. It's been a bit frustrating but things will turn up, I KNOW it! I did feed him TINY pieces of banana today, he actually did seem to "enjoy" it. And I learned at the appointment that it is actually a good thing to give HIM the food and let him learn to develop his fine motor skills by picking the food up and placing it in his mouth. He's not quite to the chewing and swallowing skills yet...but we are getting there!

Until next time,

notes from Blessed Mama Jenn

Inspired

'It seems only right and proper that we extend to others that which we so earnestly desire for ourselves."

I found this quote from a beautiful talk given by President Uchtdorf, titled "You Are My Hands" in a General Conference in April 2010. I promise you, you will LOVE this talk and walk away filled with happiness and love and a yearning to serve.

"One woman who had been through years of trial and sorrow said through her tears, “I have come to realize that I am like an old 20-dollar bill—crumpled, torn, dirty, abused, and scarred. But I am still a 20-dollar bill. I am worth something. Even though I may not look like much and even though I have been battered and used, I am still worth the full 20 dollars.”

Our Hands Can Comfort

With this in mind, let our hearts and hands be stretched out in compassion toward others, for everyone is walking his or her own difficult path. As disciples of Jesus Christ, our Master, we are called to support and heal rather than condemn. We are commanded “to mourn with those that mourn” and “comfort those that stand in need of comfort.”

It is unworthy of us as Christians to think that those who suffer deserve their suffering. Easter Sunday is a good day to remember that our Savior willingly took upon Himself the pain and sickness and suffering of us all—even those of us who appear to deserve our suffering.

In the book of Proverbs we read that “a friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” Let us love at all times. And let us especially be there for our brothers and sisters during times of adversity."

Our life recently...

I realize it's been a while since the last time I posted. Lately I've been trying to keep up with my little ball of energy! Porter has definately gained tons of energy lately and he is s interested in EVERYTHING! His new favorite things to play with are MY toys...haha. He is always grasping for my cell phone and even more recently, the laptop computer. Not such a good thing. haha!
I've tried to seem less and less interested in my laptop lately so it won't seem so interesting to Porter. He wants whatever I "play" with. :D


He is sitting by himself SO well now! Rarely does he collapse and fall over!! So exciting! His two teeth are growing in more and more each day and continue to appear larger. It's fun to watch him laugh now with those teeth budding.

Deven and I have come up with an agreement for mornings with Porter, since he usually was the one to get up and play with him til 8 a.m. it is now my turn to play with Porter from 5-8 and let Deven rest. I think it's plenty fair....Deven needs his sleep because he works late shifts so often.

As for the apartment, we are STILL trying to sell. No luck as of yet:( If you know anyone who is trying to find a 3 bed 2 bath apt in Rexburg, we have lowered our price A TON! and we are now selling the contract for $725. I know whatever happens is in the Lord's hands. We've tried everything so what happens happens and we'll be okay with it. It's tough to have patience right now but we're working on it. Well, rather I am... I think Deven is okay with things. lol.

Grandma Terry just came down for a visit last week! It was such a fun few days with her. As usual, she absolutely LOVED the time she was able to spend with Porter. She brought Ashley (a family friend) with her so it was fun to have the extra company:) On wednesday we drove to Utah to check out BYU's campus. SOOO big compared to BYUI!! I've been there before but not for a while. We were able to take a tour...no free t-shirts though...DRAB! We ran into a few friends there...Patsy and her sweet Hubby Greg Hernandez and Kylie Yeager came and met me for lunch which was SO much fun! I've missed those girls! Kylie is almost due now and has the sweetest baby bump! The weather was nice but a bit too hot! I'm sure I got a little tan while we were there. We also got to visit with my sister Kim and her two kiddos while eating YUMMY frozen yogurt!! SO YUMMY!!! I loved it!I think the place was called "The Red Mango" or something along those lines??

2nd tooth ALREADY!

Only about a week after getting in his first tooth...Porter has his second TOOTH popping through!! So sweet! His first two teeth happen to be in the center on the bottom. So sweet! Luckily for me, this teething period is going fairely easy...not too much fussing at all! Yay! I've always been nervous about the teething period from "horror" stories other parents have told me. I thought I would go weeks and MONTHS without sleep because of all the fussiness I was expecting...NOPE! None at all:) Not bragging in any sense...just spilling my excitement into words on our blog.

These are a few of HIS favorite things...

At age 6 months!! ...Porter has become a fan of MANY new things. As of two days ago...he's really been LOVING and CRAVING Oatmeal Cereal with Bananas. FINALLY! I've found something my little kiddo LOVES to eat and CAN'T get ENOUGH of! YAY! Accomplishments accomplishments:)

Another love of his would be his little teether toy "Sophie" the Giraffe (name came with giraffe). Grammy Terry bought it for him at his 2nd baby shower in Washington about mid April. He didn't know what to think of it then but it's the first toy I bring to him now when he fusses.

He also loves BATH TIME! He's getting into the kicking and splashing ...and he's recently (about 2 weeks or so ago) discovered his manhood. It's pretty comical seeing the new things he is getting into. When feeding him, he reaches for the little bowl containing VERY LIQUIDY food and smacks it so it pours onto EVERYTHING! I've become a pro at feeding time now though and can walk away from the experience with ONLY Porter's chin messy:) ACCOMPLISHMENNNNT! :D

He has also been loving his two strollers, both the jogger and the everyday stroller from Grandma Munns. It's the view and the smells and the warmth that I think makes him enjoy it so much.

Lately, I've been taking Porter out to our complex's little play area and take him on the swing. At this point he doesn't quite know what is going on...but in time I'm sure I'll see his little gummy (or tooth filled) grin showing up. :D

Little Tooth Poppin' In!!

This morning while playing with Porter, he stuck my finger in his mouth to chew on, (as usual) and I felt something sharp hitting my finger....he's getting his first tooth in! Yay! I didn't think it would happen this soon!! Oh I can't wait! It'll be so sweet ;D. Excitement would be an understatement...he's been extra fussy today but not uncontrollably. Poor little guy. It's on his bottom left center gum area. OOOOh, it's going to be SOOO cute!


OK, I just needed to share the excitement:)

P.S. Porter, you are adorable! Ooo I love you so much! You love jumping up and down on EVERYTHING! It's the sweetest thing. You've definitely been building up my arm muscles lately and taking away my energy. You silly boy...I am so excited to watch you grow and to learn and experience new things. I love you so much my little monkey!

A day at the SPLASH PARK ;D!!

Today was such a treat for Porter and I. Haley and sweet Sadie came to pick us up and we all drove over to the local splash park. Once we parked we found the park EXPLODING with babies, kids, adults...everyone of all ages pretty much. What can I say...it's a fun place to be! After getting our kiddos all ready with suits, sunscreen and smiles...we walked over to the spraying water. Porter wasn't quite sure what to think at first...I was a bit worried about his feet getting scraped because he LOVES to jump up and down on anything and everything (we were on cement) but I decided he'd be alright. After jumping in a little spout of water next to Sadie, Porter finally began enjoying it and jumped like crazy!

With Haley's help, Sadie walked right over to the little spouts of water and upon reaching one, she just plopped down and played in the water...also trying to take a sip every now and then to stay hydrated. ;) Silly girl! Oh she was such a cutie! We took our kiddos down the slide a few times before the bigger kids went down. We had to go quickly with the slide though because a big bucket of water on top of the play area would tip and DUMP LOADS of water!! AH!

Before heading home, Haley and I thought it would be fun to take the babes on the merri-go-round. Oh they LOVED it! Well, Sadie loved it...Porter wasn't sure what to think throughout the whole horsey ride...he started getting fussy the last couple of minutes of the ride. Poor little guy. It was sweet though.

Oh, and after changing Porter into dry clothes...I noticed that I had little spots of blood all over one leg of my SOAKED khakis. I'm getting a bit worried at this point...just praying Porter didn't hit his head or get badly injured...nope, just a couple of tiny scrapes on his pinky toe...but it was still bleeding and I felt so bad!! Next time for sure I'll have little water shoes for him. You live and you learn right?

Thanks for such a fun day Sadie and Haley!

Happy 4th of July/ My lil. snoozer:D

Because the 4th of July was on a Sunday this year, the city of Idaho Falls celebrated with their Maleluca Fireworks show on Saturday, the 3rd of July. To our dismay, Deven had gotten called in to work so he wouldn't be able to join me until about 10pm. (Luckily this is the time the fireworks show started on the Green Belt in I.F.).

My cousin Haley called a couple days prior and invited me to join her nick and the Terry clan to celebrate...I was so excited! I love the Terry's!! Such a fun bunch:) I headed over to Brent and Joyce's to hang out prior to a family BBQ (which was AMAZING), before heading to the BBQ, we drove over to Bonneville HS for car races!! So fun to watch! The guys loved it. I wasn't sure what to expect seeing how I've only been to car races once before, but wow...it was crazy fun! There were random cars racing, not necessarily the kind you would expect to see whipping around cones and making sharp turns. Amongst the cars, I remember seeing...a Mazda Miada, Prius, Corvette, a few Mustangs, an old VW, and a bunch more. (Sorry, I'm not big on cars so I can't remember the models).

Firework show was THE BIGGEST I have EVER seen! SOO beautiful! There were thousands of people that come from all around. Even from different STATES! WHOA BABY! We got pretty lucky in our search for a "plot of land" (heehee) to watch the show. We ended up DIRECTLY across the river from where the fireworks were lit!! Couldn't get any better than that right?

Deven showed up just as the show started and we had a really great time. Little did I know...he had to run about 2 miles to get to where myself and the Terry's were seated. (No Parking). We weren't sure how Porter would handle the loud noise, luckily he LOVED IT! The expression on his face was unexplainable. I guess it was a mixture of shock, surprise and awe. Then 10 minutes before the 31 minute show ended....he fell ASLEEP! REALLY?!

....They say babies can sleep through anything right? I wasn't aware that it included Fireworks.

Thunderstorms!

Last night while our home teachers were over, we all noticed that there was no light peaking in our apartment anymore. Out of no where, dark clouds had overtaken the sky!! haha....then within SECONDS it was POURING down rain and then the thunder came....and as expected, it was soon followed by BEAUTIFUL lightning:) The storm lasted probably about an 1 1/2 hours. SOO Long! We enjoyed watching it...FROM OUR WINDOW of course. Poor home teachers had to walk home in the POURING rain though.

New Upcomings...

So...The couple who were going to buy our contract, they bailed on us:( They went for another 3 bedroom in the complex instead because management gave them a better deal. Oh the frustration! We were getting so excited! We had looked for about 5 weeks at probably EVERY apartment in Rexburg under $630 in the city and it is now down to TWO apartments we love around the same price range.


"Funny" news: I was talking with my mother-in-law on the phone when I hear Porter "fart-poop." Now, usually this is no big deal right? Well, I look down 2 minutes later as he is curling his legs towards his mouth to do some chewing, and there is POOP ALL THE WAY DOWN HIS LEG! Ahh! I get off the phone so I can clean it up, my mother-in-law found this a bit entertaining, who wouldn't? So I wipe down his leg to get the poo off, then I change his diaper, expecting a "butt load" of poop. (No pun intended). NO POO AT ALL! The only poop that was even TOUCHING the diaper was on the outer edge....the rest of it had shot down his leg and was completely covering the whole left side of his pant leg. EEK! Fun times though.


New STROLLER! Yesterday, Deven and I took a trip to Idaho Falls late afternoon. It was SO hot! 89 degrees and beautiful! It was overcast so luckily we didn't feel the heat nearly as bad as we could have. We were already in Idaho Falls when we realized we had left the stroller in MY trunk. OOps! This wouldn't work out, the whole plan was to go walking around the Green Belt next to the river and a few parks as well. We've been wanting a jogging stroller for a while now anyways so I could go running outside again and enjoy the weather....so...what the heck?! We bought one! Yes! We've already used it for a max of probably 4 hours?? Oh I love it! We figured we couldn't go wrong with Wal-Mart so we went there to purchase our Baby Trend Expedition Jogging Stroller.

Last night we took our new jogger to the Chucker's Baseball game! Porter's first ball game with mom 'n dad! Yay! He was actually watching the majority of it too! Shocking! haha...Deven was SO stoked to take his son to a ball game. We met up with a couple friends, Ty and Sheena. Sheena just ADORES porter and held him for the majority of the game. Oh Porter just loves her! It was sweet watching him smile and flirt! After the game, they allow the kids to go out on the field and run the bases. Deven decided it would be fun to take Porter out, so he put Porter on his shoulder and when coming upon each base, he would take him down and touch Porter's feet to the base! SO sweet! (Of course he was the only one taller than 5 feet there:)

We SOLD our CONTRACT!

Yippee! We've JUST sold our contract to our 3 bed 2 bath VERY EXPENSIVE apartment!! We don't quite have another apartment picked out to live in but we are thinking about finding a cheaper place in Rigby. This way we'll be closer to Deven's work. It makes us 15 minutes from school rather than 7 but we've decided it's best. Wish us luck in our hunt for a new home!

Sick Baby...Sick Mommy..

2 days prior to heading back to Idaho, Porter came down with a chest cold and since then has had a mucus(ie) cough. It's been a tough few days, he's been extra fussy and I've had a hard time nursing him because it's been affecting his ears as well. Yesterday I've started to feel nauseaus (sp?) No fun! Oh how badly I wish my energy would return to my body. I took Porter into the doctors yesterday and he is now a whopping 17 lbs. 6 oz! WHEW! Almost a 2 pound gain in ONE MONTH! Crazy right?!? Well, if anyone has any suggestions of what I can do to make my little AND myself feel better ... PLEASE let me know! It's been tough taking care of a sick baby while mommy is sick as well.

Washington with Porter and I

This is our first trip away from Daddy:( A full NINE day trip! Ahh! I knew I'd miss him lots, and I have. He'll be excited to see how much Porter has grown and changed physically and mentally with his new milestones reached and mannerisms. So fun! Since we've been here, Grammy Terry has taken us to my new FAVORITE baby boutique..."Sugar Babies." They've got the CUTEST things! Tutu's, jogging strollers, sweet stuffed animals, sport themed socks, little sailor suits, soft n fuzzy baby blankets, sweet little shoes etc. Oh how I love it! This would be the best place for window shoppin!


We bought a few cute items for Porter and oh how I wanted that jogging stroller. Can't quite afford it right now so I may just have to dream:D heehee! I was pretty shocked though with one sweet little shirt I saw, it was a 6-9 month baby boy t-shirt, pretty basic but with a fuzzy football cutout on the front; when I looked at the price tag, I just about fell over! It cost a whoppin $44!

We also received and invitation from my cousin Danielle to go to the zoo with her and her two sweet kids, Taylor and Wendy girl:) (my nickname for her). Porter is still a little young to really understand what is going on, so basically...the tiger, elephants and the sharks didn't phase him. haha, it was fun though. While observing the elephants, it started to rain on us and apparently this makes elephants more active and playful. We had a fun time watching them interact with one another and kick a box around. Thanks Danielle! We had a really fun time!

The main reason I came down at the time I did is because my old dance team's concert was this weekend! Go PBD! They did such a wonderful job and have really come a long way! There are about 168 dance team members now! CrAZY! There were only about 50 when I started. It was so fun seeing friends again!

Porter's First Flight

Mommy took me on my first flight! We were travelling to Seattle to visit Grammy and Grampa Terry's.first leg of the flight I was a little fussy, mommy thinks it was my ears and the air pressure change. Luckily, I had great Aunt Miran there to distract me. :D We stopped in Boise and waited for about an hour for the next plane to come in, pick us up and fly us to our final destination. I was laughin and laughing for the first few minutes of the 2nd leg,then *snap,* I was out, asleep. While I WAS awake, Mommy was showing me things out the window that really just didn't interest me...I kept looking elsewhere; this was almost like a game...mommy would point and get excited, then I would look in another direction. This is probably my new favorite game to play. hee hee! We had the stroller which made it so much easier to get around. (Mom looks pretty awkward with her funky waddle while trying to carry me around in the carseat). I think Mommy's favorite thing was having the opportunity to cut ahead and get on the plane ahead of the crowd. All in all, my first flight was pretty fun!

Oh the Joys of Time Spent With Family:)

This past weekend Deven, Porter and I were lucky enough to get together with all of the family on his dad's side. I loved it! Great company, wonderful food, fun games:) This time we didn't do much other than football for the games but still had a blast! We were celebrating Grandma Munns' 80th Birthday and she's just the sweetest woman. She has such a big, warm heart. I know it must have been such a special day for her to have all of her family there to support her. I feel blessed to be married into her family:) All of her children and grandchildren have been so welcoming to me from day 1. I am so blessed with AMAZING in-laws!:)

Hoping for,,,

I've been blessed with beautiful weather outside lately...FINALLY! YAY! Been looking forward to it for quite some time now:D The stroller I have is WONDERFUL but lately I've just wanted to run, and with the kind of stroller I have, it's not all that easy. I almost feel spoiled even considering the idea of getting another one when I've got a great one right now but I REALLY want to run, and when I'm on rougher terrain every now and then, I feel justified.

I guess we'll see, I've been saving up for one, but most of what should go to "savings" has been going to our rent lately:( We are currently in the process of trying to move out of our apartment. Rent is pretty high up there and we are currently looking at a great place that is MORE than $200 LESS EXPENSIVE!! WHEW!

Crossing our fingers that we get an offer!

A girl can dream...

Lately I've been web surfing a bunch of shops for cute little baby clothes, wishing so so very much that I could be the next winner of a shopping spree!! :D Gymboree, Old Navy, Baby Gap, Target, KOHLS!!...these few shops have really caught my eye...I'm loving what they've got in stock:)

Here's a few outfits I've had my eye on..just had to share because I've found it IS possible to find cute apparel for boys amongst all the frilly dresses, flower headbands and curly ribbon bows! Whew!

Feeling GRRRREAT!

Today I walked...a LOT! I haven't walked this much for quite a while:) I feel good:) Porter enjoyed it too:) Thanks Haley and Jenna!

Baby Room Decor

Last night, Deven came home from work to surprise me with adorable little wooden letters spelling out P-O-R-T-E-R...a NEW PROJECT! I was ecstatic! I've seen really cute baby rooms with these letters hanging from a ribbon with cute modern scrapbook paper mod podged to the front. I can't wait! Decorating our apartment is something I've been wanting to do for SO long but it's hard to justify the money that goes into it.

Grateful

Lately I've been pondering the MANY blessings I've been given. I am especially grateful to have such a loving and understanding husband. Deven has been and done everything for me. I couldn't ask for more. I am also so incredibly grateful for our precious son, Porter. He is always smiling and goofing off when he wakes up (early morning). I just can't go back to sleep with him kicking me in the stomach and giggling n' smiling while doing it.

There are many days that life seems a little less than bliss, but it's only because I have forgotten to reflect on all that I have, and those people in my life that make it all the more better. Being a mom is honestly the best thing I could have ever possibly imagined. I've never felt this kind of love before, the love I have for Porter, and it's because it's a "motherly love". It's indescribable and impossible to REALLY understand until you're blessed with the miracle of having your own child. Whether it's adopting or bearing your own. I would do absolutely anything for my family. They mean so much to me. And the love I have for Deven, he's everything to me. Again, I'd do anything for him. Lately, I've been quite the butt though, I think it's that time of month. But he's put up with it. Luckily I've got a guy with patience. Haha!

This sweet little town we currently live in has a special spirit about it. We've got wonderful neighbors and such fun family members living in the same area with us. We truly are blessed to have family. They've helped out IMMENSELY! Whether it's inviting us over for games and dinner, watching Porter so we can go shopping, to the temple, on a date etc. Whew! Where would we be without them!?

All in all, I am blessed. Thank you to all those who've gone out of your way to help out someone else, you may never really know how much your efforts are really appreciated, but I assure you, it's probably made someone's day that much BRIGHTER:)

Shall I frame it?!

Yeah, I know this is going to sound a bit strange and quite disgusting...but, well...let me start from the beginning. A few days ago, Porter got sick...you know, the runny/stuffy nose and coughing frequently?? Well, I FINALLY, after SEVERAL attempts...got the blockage out! That's right! His boogers are conquered by the MOM! I can't even begin to describe how accomplished I'm feeling right now, I almost want to make a mommy award and frame em!

You couldn't know how ecstatic I am unless you knew the frustration I went through. Every time Porter would eat, he had to constantly pull away to catch his breath because he couldn't breathe well enough through his nose. After 23 minutes of trying to booger sucker 'em out, NOTHING. Porter moving and crying during my unsuccessful efforts didn't help much either. I tried for 3 DAYS! Then this morning, tadaa!!

K, who else feels like they should be rewarded with a mommy award? Fill me in on what future successes I have to look forward to.

Good memories from my childhood...

I just had to post this...sound familiar to anyone? If so, see if you can read through it without the tune of the song playing in your mind.:) I sure failed at my attempts!

Say say oh playmate
Come out and play with me
Bring out your dolly’s three
Climb up my apple tree
Slide down my rainbow
Climb out my cellar door
And we’ll be jolly friends forever more more
1 2 3 4

Say say old playmate
I cannot play with you
My dolly has a flu
Boo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo
There ain't no rainbow
There ain't no cellar door
But we’ll be jolly friends
Forever more more
1 2 3 4

Book Club?

To pass some time at home when the weather isn't all that pretty outside and Porter is down for his nap, I've been quite taken to reading. I've just finished a book my sister let me borrow titled: "The angel's trilogy" by Lurlene McDaniel. FANTASTIC read! This book made me laugh, cry, get upset...it takes you on an emotional roller coaster. This book taught me SO much about the Amish Community; their beliefs and their way of life. I grew to really respect them after having read this novel.

Another Book I am in the middle of reading right now is titled: "A Time To Dance," by Anita Stansfield. This one is also an AMAZING read. This is actually the second book in the series but I'm borrowing them from my mother-in-law and she doesn't own the first one so...what the heck? why not, right? It only makes me want to read the first book even more so. In this particular book, although I am only a third of the way through reading it, has taught me about the struggles family's have with Leukemia and how important it is to support those around me who are struggling.


I encourage all my blog readers to give these novels a try. I promise you, it is well worth the time:)

Unexpected...

It's a BLIZZARD right now in IDAHO! CRAZY! Isn't it supposed to be SUMMER??! Ah, Idaho is so unpredictable sometimes:) It's beautiful!

New Happenings...

Porter peed on my hand...AND his face while I changed his diaper early morning...

...He's discovered the joys of pulling mommmy's hair and getting a good giggle out of my reactions..

...when taking Porter to...well, anywhere...he's enjoyed kicking the blankets I've tucked in around him to keep him warm onto the ground. (Porter hates being confined, in EVERY sense of the word).

Deven and I FINALLY got to go on a date!! Thanks Rhonda:) Because Robin Hood was sold out, we enjoyed a night of Bowling. I had the LOWEST score at 80 POINTS! The only one not above 118! Little did I know, I was bowling with CHAMPIONS! Deven pulled into the lead with a score of 132! WHEW! GO BABY! Following our bowling game, we went home and watched an AMAZING movie...yeh, i forgot the title of it, i'll have to get back to that one.

I have my flight booked to go to Washington for 9 days in JUNE! YAY!

Summertime!

Lately I've been thinking about all of the new hobbies I want to get in to. Problem: fun hobbies cost $$$$:( I had all of these fun ideas just racing through my mind...crafts: home decor, baby's room etc. then I thought, well, how about cooking up new recipes and trying to create new ones?? YEAH! $$$$!! MMMMmmm...well, how about reupholstering old furniture and giving it a modern twist? $$$...I hate money! haha...I am constantly telling Deven this because it takes money to do just about everything these days. Outdoor SPORTS!! Hmm..well, it just snowed last week here and yesterday it was rainy and really windy. I wouldn't mind playing out in that but it would mean getting Porter sick if he was exposed...any ideas out there?

Okay, so far I've been enjoying blogging, so until I find a hobbie that isn't too expensive...I'll stick with this.

Happy 25th Birthday Hunny!

Yesterday, Deven, Porter and I celebrated Deven's 25th birthday by taking a drive that was initially meant to be a hike up to Mesa Falls and Island Park.

Throughout the entire week we've had beautiful sunny weather...up until Deven's birthday that is. The clouds decided to rain on us. And once the rain cleared up, the wind picked up. Bummer! We didn't let the weather ruin the day for us though. We had the most AMAZING trip and were able to visit some of the most breathtaking sights.

After taking a walk over the Island Park Dam, Deven returned to the car and told me he'd finally understood what the term "BREATHTAKING" meant. He was standing at water level at a bridge. He saw where the river had carved a crevice into the hillside, tree's lining the banks and covering the hillside....pure bliss:) I didn't get a chance to see it because I didn't want to wake Porter, but then I couldn't leave the car with him in it.

For lunch, we headed over to Big Jud's. (Creative name right? haha) MY FIRST TIME THERE! We got the Big Jud's Special: 1lb burger with all the toppings, 2 waffle cones and fries. MMMMMM!! I love the home-cooked goodness! The burger bun was even toasted on the inside!! SOO YUMMY! It's almost as if this restaurant was CATERED to me!

After driving around for about 4 hours, we headed home to watch the 2nd to LAST episode of LOST with Scotty. I made up a new recipe that I heard about from my cousin and great friend Haley. It's called the "Peanut Butter Brownie Truffle". No need to say more right?? SOO good! It turned out better the next day after having been refrigerated longer though.

If any of you have ever tasted a "leanout" smoothie from Emerald City Smoothie, it tasted a lot like that..mmmm! Peanut-Butter Chocolate Goodness!

All in all, it was a great day!

Thursday's Awkward Moment

After running throughout Broulims, collecting all the ingredients for a new recipe I am STOKED to try out for Sunday's dinner with Ty and Sheena (Chicken Tortallini Alfredo), I get to the register and notice the CUTEST little baby in front of me. After piling all my items onto the belt, I turn to the young mother of this cutie and say "you have the cutest little girl," to myself I'm thinking about how she'll respond...maybe an "oh, thank you! I think so too!" or even "I know! I get it all the time," nope! Heck was I wrong...instead she turns and says to me, "HE'S a boy."

You can just imagine how red my face was at this point. I probably apologized to her about 11 times or so. Ugh! Whew! To make matters worse, she had just gotten her items on the belt JUST before me and had quite the shopping list...I was behind her for another 7 minutes. Now for the awkward silence...nope, she still spoke to me after that and made small conversation. Thank Goodness.

She had actually mentioned that she'd gotten that a few times prior to the idiot standing behind her in line right now! haha! I think what made me think her little boy was a girl is because he had a lot of "long" hair...Porter on the other hand, he's just getting out of his balding stage.


Please feel free to post embarrasing moments to make me feel a little bit more sane.

Our new High Chair!

We just got a high chair for Porter and wanted to post a pic for everyone to see. For those of you who may have the same one or a friend that has this one...what do you think of it?

New diapers!

Hey! So I've started realizing that Porter's diapers were starting to fit a bit small on him and decided I better move him up to the next size...size 3's! Not only are they fitting small, but he constantly leaks out of em into his clothes...and mine. Not only urine leakages but poo as well. And the poo, not so easy to get out. :( We tried him in size 3's yesterday for the first time and we LOVE THEM! They don't look too big on him and no more leakage! YAY!!! They hold so well!

The crazy thing about it is that I bought Parent's Choice brand of diapers which I didn't like earlier on when he was in Newborn diapers, but now I LOVE EM! They hold so well even though they don't feel so soft.

K, I'm done obessing over his new diapers...maybe next time it will be baby foods??

Cabin Fever

Ever since I became a mommy of our sweet little Porter, I've learned SO much! Not only have I learned things such as...
1) Always keep a spare outfit, diapers and wipes on hand.
2) Wear loose shirts while at home...easier and quicker to nurse.
3) I WILL get spit up on several times throughout the day, do NOT change after each incident or I'll end up with LOADS of laundry by the end of the day.
4)shower during his first nap in the day if I don't get an earlier opportunity to
5) Poop stains are harder to get out the longer I wait.
6) change Porter's diaper prior to going to bed and after each feeding during the night because they are so spread apart...
etc.

Not only have I learned those few things and SEVERAL more ... but I've learned how hard it is to be home all day if I don't have a plan ahead of time.

I have always thought I knew the meaning of "cabin fever"...boy was I wrong! It's been tough being stuck inside all day, I have quickly run out of things to do. I've realized the best way to stay busy is to go out and meet new people, go to mommy groups, go serve someone (watch their kids while they need to go out), invite friends over for dinner etc. I've loved doing play dates with other mommies. Reegen and her little sweetheart Evelyn stopped by the other day and it really just made the day for me! We had fun watching them lay next to each other and nonchalantly hit/kick one another (softly of course) but still funny.

Evelyn kept hitting Porter in the face so he finally just took her hand, shoved it in his mouth and started sucking on it. SO funny! Thank goodness for video cameras!

I've gone to see my cousin Haley a few times and her sweet little Sadie. Sadie is now 7 months old and the happiest little girl! Oh I just love them! We've enjoyed going on walks around the Lake when the weather is nice (we've gone 2 times in 2 months...) and we've also gotten the great opportunity to make freezer jam! Yay! It was my first time, i felt so domesticated:) haha!

If anyone has an idea of something to do to make the time pass by faster during the day...PLEASE let me know! Give me your ideas!

Mom...

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Throughout my life my mother has taught me SO much! I strongly believe that because of her influence in my life, I am who I am today. Some of the many things I have learned from my mom throughout my life would include:

1. Love and serve all those around you.
2. The most important things in this life are God, Christ and Family.
3. Have a sense of humor (for those of you who know my mom, they would most definately have to agree with me on this one).
4. Take time out to to get to know and spend quality time with relatives.
5. Clowns aren't scary ;)
6. Save up for family vacations. The memories that are created are well worth it!!
7. Work hard!
8. Get an education early in life...don't wait until after all your kids are out of the house.
9. How to make the worlds BEST chicken pot pie
10. Grandma is always right ;)
11. BE POSITIVE
12. Think before you spend
13. Surround yourself with people who share the same values.
14. Enjoy each day with your children because time flies!
15. To love involving myself in work...especially work that takes place inside the home.
16. To take MILLIONS of pictures of Porter, you can't miss a moment!
17. To give, to be selfless, to share with others my talents.

Mom, this is just a small number of the values and things you've taught me in my life. Thanks so very much for all you've done for me! I love you so much! You are an amazing mom and I hope I can live up to the standard you have set:)

Porter's first experience with solids...

We finally recieved the go ahead from the doctor to start Porter on solids. We decided to start with veggies after hearing from several friends that they don't eat them after having tried fruits:) I guess I should have known that.

For Porter's first eating experience, we decided to go with rice cereal mixed with green peas. MMMM!! His reaction was priceless! First taste and he had the face that would usually accompany eating a lemon! Can you picture the one? I'm sure everyone has experienced it. After about 15 "bites/licks" or so, he started nibbling and slurping the yummy greens:) Yay progress! Honestly though, I believe he was just going after the fun texture of the spoon. We have it all on video so hopefully we will get it up here soon!

I want to read about more stories about baby's first bites...please share!

My frustration with Wal-Mart Shopping Carts...

Today Porter and I took a trip to Wal-Mart to purchase some baby food..i decided to start out with rice, split peas and carrot flavored mush. After I got his carseat in the cart, we started wheeling down the aisles...as expected, the shopping cart was difficult to push, it could have definately used some grease on the wheels.

...thanks for the well needed vent. I have NEVER had a decent cart at Wal-Mart and needed to express my built up frustration.

Bath time Entertainment...

It's now become a tradition for Porter to assist mom in filling up the tub. After scrubbing him down from head to toe, I grab a towel and he starts to pee...usually on his legs and stomach, or just straight ahead. This time, Porter chose a new target. I go to reach for him and just as my hands grab around his body, a stream of urine shoots him straight in the center of his face!

Although Porter expressed a look of terror and shock during this little episode, I couldn't help but laugh...which confused him even more. He couldn't understand what was going on.

4 months!

Porter has recently hit his 4 month mark and has grown immensely in these few short months. At his 4 month check-up a couple of days ago, Porter weighed in at 15lbs 10oz (63rd percentile), and measured at 25 3/4 inches (79th percentile)!! WOW!

Physical changes I've noticed thus far: thunder thighs..LOVE EM!! fuller face, rolls at his "wrists" that aren't detectable, more scratches on his poor little face (and mine), but that's not news.

...It seems as though I am trimming his nails twice a week!

And all around he has pretty much filled out. I remember when I was once able to lay him on my lap facing me, his entire body would fit in the length, now it's only his upper body! I've been told by several people that he is going to be a tall boy...just like his daddy :) I can't wait! Well, yes...I can. Just saying though.

Dr. Petitt informed Deven and I that we can now start feeding him foods! YAY! I am so excited! I've already ordered in a high chair online (my 2nd online shopping experience...) if you are interested, it's the Graco Contempo Rittenhouse high chair. I decided to go for a gender neutral one seeing how I plan and hope to have more children. I had probably looked over a variety of 100 different high chairs and read ALL of the reviews for a total of 4 weeks now. Finally, I've found one I feel comfortable purchasing. It just arrived yesterday and luckily there was no set-up required:)

Although...I told Deven I had set it up all by myself when he got home around midnight from work and he was pretty impressed:) Too bad I have this built-in guilt trip mind that had me confessing the truth after what, like 5 seconds? The glory of his approval didn't last long. haha!

We plan to feed Porter his FIRST EVER "solids" tomorrow to celebrate Mother's Day...I'm thinking we'll either go with rice cereal or applesauce. Any ideas?

10 Reasons to Love Being a Mom!

1. You receive a reception worthy of the next American Idol even though you'd only left the room for a minute to get more wipes.
2. There's no better exercise program than entertaining an energy-filled infant.
3. Nothing is sexier than a man holding a baby--except for a man changing a diaper.
4. The 100th reading of Goodnight Moon is every bit as good as the first.
5. You no longer look silly dressing up for Halloween. In fact, not dressing up might make you odd man out.
6. NAPTIME!
7. Alarm clocks are more appealing when they're wearing footie pajamas.
8. You always awake to a smiling, cooing and let's not forget drooling precious little face.
9. Somebody loves you no matter what you are wearing (sweats and an old t-shirt smelling of spit-up, throw-up, strained peas and oh so many more unexplainable stains).
10. The overwhelming love and joy you feel each day for one small single being you had just met. Most days bringing tears to my eyes:)

New Milestones Reached!

I have loved experiencing each new milestone with Porter and Deven as Porter grows...everything from his first grins, first coos to the most recent ones: grabbing at his feet while I change his diaper, kicking his legs up (he's got AMAZINGLY strong ABS!) cooing more than ever before, SO observant of the things around him, getting a higher pitched laugh etc. Ahh, i love watching Porter, he's so sweet!

Last night/this morning, Deven and I ended up watching an ENTIRE season of 24! We went to bed this morning around 7:15, talk about addiction right? haha...so when we finally got to bed, Porter was just waking up, and there was no convincing him otherwise...oh snap! So I thought to myself, well...maybe if I feed him he'll fall asleep while eating...nope! He wouldn't stop cooing and laughing and flailing his arms into my face and legs into my stomach. I would usually find this adorable...not when I'm deprived of sleep! haha...fun mornings!!

Bad Mommy!

So yesterday I went to lunch with Rhonda, Gina, Beth and Bailey at Wingers which was SOO yummy! But once we got there I kept worrying about Porter being overheated because it was so dang hot outside and his forehead was burning! Yikes! So, I decided to experiment a bit and give him some water...ha, let's just say he didn't think too much of it. So about 30 minutes after we sat down, I go to take a sip of water while holding him and basically, he got SOAKED! Ah, I felt horrible because the water was SO cold. His reaction shocked me though, no tears, just shock. He jumped right after it had happened and shook a bit so I changed his clothes (that's right, I packed a few extra outfits 'just in case', go mommy!) and he was fine. Little did I know, the water not only got on Porter, but all over me as well! I had a huge wet spot going down my thigh...haha, quite the experience.

The girls all got a good laugh out of it:)

Any other mommy's out there do mean things to their kids unexpectedly?

To see more of Stacy's work visit her website at StacyJacobsenPhotography.com

Photo Shoot with Stacy Jacobsen Feb. 16th!

So I've gotten the edited pics back from Stacy and am absolutely THRILLED with the wonderful work she's done. Here's a sneak peek at the results! SOO hard to decide which 3 to pick for 16 x 20? (?) foam boards to hang on the wall at home...please let me know which 3 are your faves!

Our wonderful week-long vacation...prepare yourselves, this is quite a post!

Saturday, April 24, 2010
Two days ago, Deven and I returned from our week long trip to Washington and Oregon. I was pretty nervous prior to leaving because the longest trip Porter has been on was a 4 hour drive to Utah. This trip would be almost 8 times as long! Whew! I got SO lucky though because he only woke up TWICE in 16 HOURS! WOW BABY! The drive there was great, I slept about 6 full hours of the trip while Deven drove all but the last 4 hours of the trip. We ended up leaving at 8pm because we figured we could get more driving time in while Porter took his 7 hour “nap” for the night Turns out, we planned it out PERFECTLY! Two of the most memorable things about the drive to Washington would have to be:

1. Almost had a close encounter with an adult female deer in the middle of the road, and
2. Discovered a small little “town” called Tokio in Washington! Crazy huh?
Apparently no one else has heard of it which really wasn’t much of a shocker. But to remember our stop there, we bought a little Ty monkey for Porter and named him Tokio. Haha fun huh?


We arrived at my parent’s home around noon on Thursday and after getting settled in just relaxed a bit and took advantage of our break from school, work, and Rexburg by taking a long nap. Throughout the 4 days that we stayed at my parents, Deven slept LOTS! He was getting over a really bad sore throat, which, sadly he got from me. Poor guy, he was miserable the whole time. My mom threw me a wonderful baby shower the day after we arrived and I got lots of cute things for Porter, but the best part was having the opportunity to catch up with old friends.

Porter’s Photo Shoot with Stacy Jacobsen

We also snuck in a fun photo shoot with Stacy Jacobsen (stacyjacobsenphotography.com) for Porter while we were in town. We just LOVE Stacy and her phenomenal work! She is such a talented photographer and really captures the beauty and spirit in everything. Ha, he was so funny during the first shots because he kept looking in the OPPOSITE direction Stacy had wanted him to, come to find out (20 minutes later) that he was checking out the black and white contrast of another background she had set up on the wall. So sweet! He was pretty happy throughout most of the shoot which made things so much easier for all of us.

Giggles and Grins with Grandma Terry

My mom was really looking forward to seeing Porter again, she tells me often to take MORE and MORE pictures and to text them to her when we are home in Rexburg. I finally got a week of her satisfied and able to take shots of her own. haha! I love her, she’s a wonderful grandma and Porter has so much fun with her. She actually just bought him a jump-a-roo which he LOVES! It’s quite a treat to see him play in it. At this point, he isn’t quite tall enough to jump because he can’t reach the ground so we are putting a pillow underneath him to give him a little boost.

Visit with G.G. Caswell!

Monday night we stayed with my Grandma and Grandpa Caswell at their beautiful Inn in Long Beach. They prepared a yummy “Taco Buffet” dinner for us just after we arrived and we had a great time visiting. We woke up in the morning to my absolute FAVORITE breakfast, Blueberry and Buckwheat pancakes with eggs, bacon, and O.J.! YUMM!! What a fun stay…we love our visits at the B’nB!

Oregon with Derik, Kelly, Isaac and their new arrival little Jonah!

We had the wonderful opportunity of spending a few days with Derik and Kelly and their two sweet little boys. Isaac has grown SO much! He’s just FILLED with energy and is talking away! He just loves his rice cakes and spending time with his mom and dad. It’s fun to just sit back and observe his interactions with everyone…especially his new little brother Jonah. Our 2nd day at their home we all went out to lunch at the mall and had a really nice walk…as oblivious as I am, I kept running Kelly into the dirt just next to the sidewalk. How sweet am I, right?! I felt SO bad! I guess I had done it 3 times before Deven finally pointed it out to me. Haaha, I’m such a klutz sometimes. Our last night there, Kelly, Isaac and I took a trip to DQ for some Blizzards because they had a special going. SOOO YUMMY! I’ve FINALLY fulfilled my craving of the past 3 years! It’s been WAY too long!

CRAIG and Bri

Our last stop before heading home was Eugene, Oregon to meet up with our good friends, Craig and Bri. They are currently expecting a little boy, Packer, in June! Can’t wait! Bri has the sweetest baby bump! I kept rubbing her tummy. Weird right? I got that ALL the time when I was pregnant so I kind of justified the awkwardness. Lol! We all went to the food court to have lunch together, then walked around the mall for a few hours as we caught up. Porter was pretty grumpy throughout most of our little get-together. Not so fun, but it worked out. Oh, and they got a sweet little Dog from Build-A-Bear for Porter. They didn’t have any Moose stuffed animals which we were originally looking for, so we named the dog Moose. It all worked out.

Drive Home

Our drive home was great! We took a different route this time which took us through most of Oregon it seemed like, 6 hours of it at least. We passed by 2 national parks and drove through Bend, Oregon which I guess is in the dead center of the state. For the first part of the drive, we were driving alongside this BEAUTIFUL river! SOO pretty! The trees lined the freeway and really added to the beauty of the drive. Hit a snow storm about 3 hours from home which was pretty scary but once we arrived home (at 4 a.m.), it was the greatest feeling…finally able to unpack and settle down again. Overall, we had an AMAZING vacation! We loved getting the chance to visit so many family members and friends. Thanks to all of those who made our trip so enjoyable!