Christmas Eve

 This is the first year we've been on our own for Christmas Eve, and the boys wanted to start it out right.

I have to admit, I've never been swimming on Christmas Eve before... but it was definitely a great idea.

 (Trying to take more timed shots this year, so that I can be in more photos. Turns out trying to run, jump in a pool, and pose in 10 seconds isn't as easy as it looks.)

These two boys are natural swimmers.

We came home and we opened up our Christmas Jammas. Bridger was so excited that he was trying to put them on over his clothes.

 Then we headed out to check out the Christmas lights. This house has its own radio station, and the lights are synchronized with the music. It was amazing.

 Finally, we came home, wrote letters to Santa and made candy cane cookies to leave for him.

Oh, and we watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer...cause it isn't Christmas without it.

Porter needed help with the letter, but he did a good job writing and coloring pictures. The letter says, 

"Dear Santa, Ho Ho Ho. This year I would like a Lightning McQueen Car. Thank you, Porter"

At the bottom are pictures of Lightning and Sally.

It's been such a fun holiday season with these little boys. I don't know who's more excited for tomorrow... me or them.

same conversation, every day

We've tried to find out what Porter wants Santa to bring him... but conversations are difficult with this kid.


Me: "Porter, is Santa coming?"
P: "Okay!!"
Me: "What is he going to bring you?"
P: "Bring you?"
Me: "Yeah, he's going to bring you presents! What do you want him to bring you?"
P: "Bring?..... Presents!!"
Me: "Yes, he'll bring you presents! What do you want the presents to be?"
P: "Presents to be?"
Me: "Yes, what do you want your presents to be?"
P: "Bring presents from Santa!"
Me: "Yes, Santa will bring you presents. And when you open the present what do you want to find inside?"
P: "I find inside?"
Me: "Yep, what do you want to see when you open your presents"
P: "..........................one present"
Me: "You want one present?"
P: "Okay!"
Me: "Okay, and when you open that one present, what do you want to find inside?"
P: ".............................two presents?"
Me: "Okay." (said with an acceptance of defeat)

I guess I should be grateful he's not picky.
After days of this repeated questioning we finally got an answer; a Lightening McQueen car and a train.

I'm sure Santa will not disappoint.

simplify

This year I wanted a more simple Christmas. I've been working so much, and Kyle's been so busy with school that I just wanted us to enjoy our time together and celebrate the season. The solution was to simplify it. Take everything stressful about the season and simplify it.

And I've done well so far.

Our annual chopping down of the Christmas tree was a 4 hour affair, 3 3/4 hours were spent stuck in the snow, but it took exactly 15 minutes to find the tree. I don't think I've ever decided on anything in 15 minutes. See... simple. It may have had to be simple (sun was setting and didn't have more time), but it was simple.

The tree isn't enormous like last year. This tree was much smaller, but it's perfect, and it's up and it's lit. Simple.

We did all of our shopping in one day. One day. It's all finished and it's being shipped. I don't have to worry about any more shopping. Simple.

Our annual kick-off was perfect. We decorated the tree and undecorated the tree (ie. Bridger) and redecorated the tree. We watched movies and ate yummy food (my Gramma's glazed ham and dutch potatoes) and enjoyed the evening together.

I love this time of year. I love the people I get to spend it with. Plain and simple.

Thanksgiving

 A lot of food.

A lot of family.

 A lot to be thankful for.

calvin and hobbes

 Meet Calvin and his best friend Hobbes.


One of Porter and Bridger's favorite things for me to read them at night before they go to bed is Calvin and Hobbes.  I've always loved the comics and have all the books.  So when Halloween was approaching, it seemed like a perfect combo for Halloween costumes.

Halloween was fantastic this year. I've never been a fan of Halloween. I just don't like all the horror/gore/guts/demons/zombies/darkness that's associated with it (I get enough of that at work).

But this year was quite different. I loved watching my boys go trick-or-treating. And the excitement on their faces when they saw other kids dressed up as things that they know, was so funny.

Here we are trick-or-treating with Santa. As you can see, Porter couldn't take his eyes off him. When my nephew Wes walked in to my mom's house as Santa, Porter ran for me and said, "Look Mom, it's Santa....RIGHT THERE!" All night long he kept his eyes on Wes and kept repeating. "It's Santa, right there Mom, he's right there!"

Bridger spent most of the night (after trick-or-treating) watching out the front window for Buzz Lightyear again. He is obsessed with anything and everything that has to do with Buzz Lightyear and seeing a little boy dressed up like him was the highlight of the evening.

They both did really well trick-or-treating, and Bridger loved it even more after he figured out he could get suckers from almost every house down the street. And after about 6 or 7 houses, he decided he was done just looking at his candy, so he plopped down in the middle of the road to start in on his loot.

Porter enjoyed the trick-or-treating as well, but he also decided that it was a fire hazard to have the candles on in the pumpkins on the porches. So, when he walked up to knock on a door, he would blow out all the pumpkins on his way up. It was so funny, and I'm sure the fact that I was laughing hysterically didn't help my point come across that he needed to stop doing it.

These two are a riot. I love my little Calvin and Hobbes. They couldn't have been dressed as anything else that mirrored their personalities so well.

When we put the boys to bed we have to tell Porter not to knock on the door and try to come out. We tell him he needs to close his eyes and go to sleep. This normally works and cuts down on the number of times that he tries to get out of bed.
The other night I walked out of the office and saw a few fingers sticking out from under Porter's door.
I got down on the floor and looked under the door into his sweet little face and said, "Porter, you need to go to bed. What do you need, buddy?"
He whispered very quietly, "Here you go Momma, here ya go." I put my hand out and he dropped something into my hand.
"It's a booger Momma, night night Momma."
And he got up and went to bed.

This kid kills me.

peach orchard

I love this peach orchard. For over a year now I keep telling myself that we need to stop and take pictures here.
A couple weeks ago, Kyle decided he needed some peach wood for smoking purposes, so we headed to the orchard with my camera in tote.

We really are alive and doing well. I just haven't had time to update as often as I'd like.
Kyle is in his second to last semester of school, doing well and working as a grader.

Porter is my little helper, he's willing to do anything you ask.... except share his toys, on that he's a little hesitant.

Bridger is my little chatterbox, learning new words and phrases faster than we can figure out what he's saying.

And I'm trying to balance my time between Momma/Wife/Nurse.

No complaints from me.

Life is pretty sweet. Busy.... but sweet.

Briggs

*18 months old
*Talks ALL the time. and has a large vocabulary already.
*Loves fruit. Particularly bananas, grapes and strawberries. Or, as Bridger calls them, Bana's, bapes, and bawbabies.
He ate half a package of strawberries the other day... a costco size package.
Which I think is two pounds.
He had diarrhea the next day.
Go figure.
And he still asked for more bawbabies.
*Sucks his thumb and grabs his blanket when he's tired or wants to go to sleep. And, it needs to be the correct blanket. The one my Momma made him.
*Loves Woody, Buzz, Nemo and Elmo and will call out their names randomly throughout the day.
*Gives the best hugs and loves to snuggle more than any kid I have ever seen.
*A Momma's boy.
*Loves to look at books and tries to read them after they have been read to him.
*Loves baths and will run to the tub as soon as he hears the water running.
*Briggs is a smart little kid and will figure out how to get into/on top of/ around anything and everything.
*Loves to sit on anybody else's chair but his own. If there is a chair that is occupied, that's the one that he wants. If you move to a new chair and give up the one that he wanted, he will move to the chair you are currently occupying and demand that one. But, he doesn't mind sharing the chair either. So if you choose to stay in your chair, that's fine... but you will have company.
*Puts his hands on his tummy to say prayers and shouts "AMEN!" as soon as he hears "Dear Heavenly Father..."
*Loves dogs... from a distance. He gets excited to hear a dog bark, and will happily tell you anytime he hears it. But, get him close to a dog and he gets pretty clingy.
*Likes to feed himself with utensils, and doesn't do well with other people trying to feed him.  And, he does a pretty good job of getting the food in his mouth.
*Can climb into his crib.
*Naps for a good 3 hours in the afternoon, and a full 11-12 hours at night. He's a good sleeper.
*Argues with me, and he's really bad at it (but cute all the same)

Example #1
We were looking at a Toy Story book, and he pointed to Rex and asked, "Momma, what's that?"  and I said it was Rex.
Briggs looked at me and said, "No... it's Woody."
"No, buddy, it's Rex"
"No, it's Woody"
"No, Bridger, this is Woody, and this over here is Rex"
"No, it's Woody"

Example #2
While shopping I grabbed a bag of green beans and tossed them into the cart. Briggs looked at me and asked, "Momma, what's that?"
"Those are green beans."
"No, Momma, it's a airplane"
"No, Bridger, those are green beans"
"No, a airplane"

He's such a fun little boy. I'm just so tickled to be his Momma.

Zoo

Oh my goodness these last several weeks have been so busy! Hopefully now that school is back in session, and we're back to a routine, things will calm down a little bit.

I know that I'm behind, and sadly I haven't taken my camera out very much over the past several weeks.

For Labor Day, we headed to The Hogle Zoo with Gramma and Papa.
It was a beautiful day.

 Porter loved climbing all over the bronze statues of the animals that were around the park. 
Bridger was a little wary, and a little frightened by some.

Watching animals from a distance is more of Bridger's style.

The classic Hogle Zoo Gorilla photo.

The less classic Hogle Zoo Gorilla photo.

Porter loved the turtles, the elephants and the tigers.

 

 Bridger was a big fan of the rabbits, the balls in the ape house, the puddles of water around the park, and the slides at the playground.

It's been years since I'd been to the zoo. I'm amazed at the changes that they had made, and a little disappointed that we didn't get to see any bears.
It was a beautiful day. Porter talks about it all the time.We will definitely be back.

Popeye

The obsession continues. He loves Popeye and the other day he decided to sing the theme song for us. Now, it may not be the same jingle that you all remember hearing... words have been changed and the tune is a little monotone, but it's darling all the same.

"A Popeye Sailor Man, 

A Popeye Sailor Man,

To Pinich,

Cause, I eat em spinach,

A Popeye A Sailor Man,

Toot Toot!"

random info

* Porter has started getting nervous when people in TV shows get hurt. He started shouting "Popeye, you all right? Popeye, you okay?"

*Bridger is in love with all things related to Nemo and Elmo. While watching Nemo he will stand right in front of the television and yell, "Nemo, Nemo, Nemo" any time that an orange fish isn't on the screen.  Even if it's only for a few seconds. And he'll stop the second he sees an orange fish. "Nemo, Nemo, N......Nemo, Nemo, Nem........Nemo.........Nemo, Nemo, Nemo, Nemo, Ne."

Quite funny to watch actually.

* Porter has always called Grandpa C. and Grandpa M. "Papa" Today that changed and he started asking for "Grandpapa"

*Bridger has fallen in love with the dinosaur "bweeket" that my momma gave to him when he was born.

He loves to be wrapped in a blanket when he goes down to sleep. One morning he woke up with poop all over his dinosaur blanket and his sheets. I threw them in the laundry and had them in the dryer when I went to put him down for a nap with a substitute blanket.

Now, Bridger is an easy-going little boy and normally doesn't cry at all when you put him down to sleep. That particular day, however, he cried for over an hour before I finally realized that maybe it was the specific blanket he wanted. I pulled the dinosaur blanket out of the dryer and gave it to him.

He was asleep in 2 minutes.

*I think Porter has started having some nightmares. That's all I can figure is happening.

Exhibit A.   A couple of weeks ago he woke up in the middle of the night screaming bloody-murder. When we finally got him calmed down he said, "A button, A button!"  Kyle asked him if he wanted to push a button. "Okay." he said.

Kyle carried him out to the front room and let him turn on and off the VCR.

Porter immediately curled up in Kyle's arms and went right back to sleep.

Exhibit B. Last night at 1:30 he woke up screaming and pounding on his door. When I picked him up he said "A Mickey Mouse.... Mickey Mouse" while sobbing.

I tried to comfort him and get him to go back to sleep, but he was wide awake. He didn't go back to sleep until 8:30 AM.

I even tried to bore him to sleep with Gilmore Girls and Pride and Predjudice. It didn't work. Halfway through Pride and Predjudice I asked him if he wanted to go to bed and he said, "No, Momma... Shhhh... I'm watching."

It's gotta be a bad nightmare for him if he's willing to sit through Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy's love story.

* Bridger has started yelling, "Awonnit, awonnit, awonnit" for everything. It took me a little while to figure it out, but he's yelling, "I want it, I want it, I want it!"

Today we made the demanding behavior a little more acceptable by making him say please afterwards. "Awonnit, awonnit, awonnit.... pease"

*Porter also likes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and he loves calling "Oh Toodles" and he puts his hands up to his cheeks to call him... so cute. 

Today we made homemade noodles and while Porter was helping me roll them out he put his hands up to his cheeks and hollered, "Oh noodles!"

* We taught Porter how to play Duck-Duck-Goose tonight, and he loved it. He picked up on the rules pretty quick and thought it was so fun. After our... 127th round or so, he went around the circle and said, "Duck-Duck-Duck- GOAT!!" and took off running and bustin' a gut laughing. He's such a funny little boy.

I love them both. They are such sweet boys.

July 31, 2004

Six years ago today, I married my best friend.

And it was the best decision I have ever made.

Love you sweets.

Happy Anniversary.

He's three.

Three years old. He's so big, I can hardly believe it.

We started out the birthday morning with a pile of pancakes with syrup and sprinkles (don't ask cause I don't know how it started, I just know that it's his favorite and he would eat it daily if he got the chance).

Then Porter opened a couple of presents, cause he just couldn't stand it anymore. Quite possibly a trait inherited from his mother.

This drill set from Gramma M was perfect. It kept him busy all morning.

Around noon, Jill, Aiden and Capri came over to celebrate with us.

We ate some lunch, opened some presents, and then we went for the cake.

The cake that I spent days making (and only 10 seconds destroying).

 Porter got a large Buzz Lightyear as his main birthday present... and it hasn't left his sight since. He flies Buzz around the house all day, or he will sit and watch shows with Buzz. The two of them are inseparable. The small Buzz (or baby Buzz) is Bridger's. I have recently found that you really do need two of anything with two boys. The whole sharing bit is kind of lost on them.

Then, we headed out to the splash pad after all the festivities were over and let the boys run out the last of their energy.

Porter is getting so big. He now weighs 32 lbs. and is finally in the 50th percentile for his weight. He's growing like a weed and has been mistaken for a 4 year at least 3 times that I know of.

He loves Buzz Lightyear and all things related to Toy Story.

He loves Popeye and loves to watch his old cartoons. I realized that maybe he had watched too many when he started yelling, "Save me Popeye!" everytime he was taken to time-out.

He loves to help me cook in the kitchen... cracking eggs being his favorite part.

He will help with anything you ask him to. Cleaning up and putting away toys, throwing things in the garbage, getting things for me or Bridger. He's a big helper.

He's almost completely potty-trained. He's had a few accidents here and there, normally when he wakes up from a nap, but he's doing great otherwise.

He loves to sing and to be sung to.

You can't keep Porter still for more than a few minutes. He's got to be up and moving.

He loves to swim. Put some floaties on him and drop him in a pool and he'll swim around the entire thing.

He's a sweet little three year old. And he certainly has come a long way in 3 years.

  (Photo at 10 hours old, taken by my sister Kari)

Porter at 1 year old.

Porter on his 2nd Birthday

Porter on his 3rd birthday. July 21st 2010.

Happy Birthday Sweetie.