somebody LOVES watered down oatmeal cereal...

5 years

and counting...

4 months

While Porter was turning two...this little guy was getting bigger as well.This guy is 4 months old, and he's growing like a weed... or two.
We had his Dr.'s visit last week and the nurse had to double check his length because he is getting so big... she just couldn't believe that he's grown so much in two months. In just 4 months this guy is now weighing 16 lbs. 6 oz. and is 26.5 inches long. That puts him in the 80th percentile for his weight and the 93rd percentile for his height.
Looking back on Porter's 4 month visit, we can see just how big Bridger is getting. At this point, Porter was 14 lbs. 2 oz. and 25.25 inches long. Our pediatrician guesses that Bridger will catch up to Porter in about 5 months if this pattern persists.
Bridger is such a good little baby.

He sleeps perfectly through the night at least 8-9 hours (and has been for a couple of months).
He can roll over, both ways... making him mobile. He can roll across the floor pretty quick.
He smiles all the time.
He's very content and only gets fussy every once in a while. And, if he is fussy, he calms down pretty quickly just by being held.
He still likes to be swaddled.
He can sit up on his own. Still pretty wobbly though, and when he gets excited he kicks his legs out which knocks him down, but he can sit up on his own for a while.
He giggles (while awake and asleep, it's very cute...I recommend hearing it).
He has a soft crinkly frog book that he inherited from Porter that he will sit and chew on for hours. Loves the frog book.
He likes his big brother and laughs at Porter's attempts to entertain.

Oh... and he's got the sweetest little chubby cheeks I've ever seen.

two

Two years ago we turned our little family of two into our little family of three.
I just can't believe that he's two years old already. And what a handsome little guy he is.


Here he is on the day he was born.

6 months.
1 year.
18 months.
Yesterday.

With me having worked, we decided that we would keep his actual birthday celebration a little low-key and then (after his Momma gets some sleep) we will take him somewhere fun this weekend.
So, we headed to the park to open a few presents.
Blow some candles out of some cupcakes.
And play in the water.
Happy birthday sweet boy... love you.

one year older and wiser too...

Kyle's birthday was this past Sunday, and since we ended up at the family cabin for the Johnson reunion over his birthday, we decided to have another little celebration when we got home.
Kyle got a charcoal grill for his birthday and was tickled to be able to use it, so we got a couple of ribeye steaks, plucked some squash and zucchini out of our garden (the first fruits of our labor... or veggies if you want to get technical) and grilled them up for a nice little BBQ in our backyard. The food was excellent, and the company even better.We set up Porter's pool and let him go to town... he was so excited to get in that we didn't have a chance to change him completely into his swimming garb before he barreled into the pool. Hence, the non-matching swim-wear.
And in the mean-time, Bridger worked on rolling from his back to his belly (which he finally succeeded in yesterday).We had a nice relaxing evening celebrating the birth of the greatest man I know... I'm a very lucky girl.

Happy 29th sweets, I love you.

if you give the boy a cookie

Porter doesn't have a huge sweet tooth. Sure... he likes sweets, but not to the extent of say... well... me. But apparently we weren't giving him the right kind of sweets. Normally it's one or two bites of ice-cream and he's done, or he'll take a bite of a cookie and it's enough... but not today.

Today we gave Porter a sugar cookie, one with loads of frosting on the top and lots of sprinkles... and the boy went to town.

First, a little cookie inspection...

...then a little nibble... from the top, where the good stuff is... then we settle in for the long haul...What better way to get the cookie in your mouth than by shoving your whole hand in?"Oh, Porter, you missed a spot..."
And the best... cleaning off both pinkies at the same time. This kid is talented.

Then it was off to tell Daddy that the cookie was gone... and find out where the rest were hidden.

So, if you give the boy a cookie...

lava flows

We decided to head out to yet another place we've never been before. And the other day we made it back home safe and sound as soon as we were done (seems like a first right?). We headed to the lava flows that are up in the mountains. We thought Porter would enjoy running around, climbing over the rocks; and he did to an extent. Lava rocks are sharp, and pointy, and they don't sit perfectly on top of one another, so they can shift and move underneath you while you're walking over them. It was a little hazardous, but we had fun. Porter loved to pick up rocks and throw them through the cracks. When they would disappear, he would look at us and ask "huh?" (aka "where did it go?"). More than once I had to stop him from trying to crawl in between the rocks to find the ones he had lost. Porter scrambled over the rocks a little bit, but when the rocks would hurt him he would ask "hep, pease" (help, please) for me to pick him up. As soon as he was in my arms, he considered me a pack horse. "Dat Doe!" He would shout and point, ordering me to go whichever direction he wanted me to. I have no idea what the exact translation is for that one, but he definitely got his point across. And, he would get a pretty good kick out of it when I would stumble while carrying him... at least one of us thought that was funny. Porter cracks me up.
In the end, Porter got distracted by something a little less pointy and he spent the rest of the time wandering around talking on Kyle's cell phone.
It was a fun excursion and we'll have to try it again... and bring some gloves for Porter to use.

2:15 am

I realize that I have a very different schedule than most people. This realization came to me a long time ago, but has really hit home the past couple of days.

I work nights. Normally my shifts run from 6 pm to 6 am. 12 hour shifts, 3 times a week. I like working nights. In fact I would rather work the night shift than the day shift. It seems that the night shift attracts a certain kind of person, and I like those people... a lot. I love who I work with and I wouldn't trade to work days (not just because of the people, but it works well with Kyle and me being able to trade off the kids when Kyle's in school).
And, I'm a night owl. So, it all kind of works well. When I have several days off in a row, I'm easily able to transition myself back into a be-awake-all-day-sleep-at-night kind of girl.

Currently, however, my schedule is arranged just so, that once every week I don't have enough time to adjust back to a day schedule because I work the next day. Today was one of those days. I came home, tried desperately to stay awake and play with my boys, but by ten o'clock I gave in. I fell asleep and Kyle being the wonderful man that he is, let me sleep until five when I woke myself up.

Falling asleep and staying asleep all day leads to this.

Me wide awake, at 2:15 in the morning.

What does one do at 2:15 in the morning if she isn't at work "saving lives"? (as Kari always puts it... she always makes my job sound so exciting)

*I hold my baby. I can't tell you how much I enjoy holding Briggs. He's getting too big too quick. But he sleeps so soundly that I don't have to be alone at this hour of the morning... I personally think he snuggles the best at this hour.

*I edit pictures. Tonight's photos of choice? Bridger in his blessing outfit and Porter playing at the park. See... impressive right?

*I work on a quilt for Briggs. I wanted to have it done before he was born, but I guess that as long as I get it finished before he turns one, it will be completed a year earlier than any other project that I started before this one. So, I'm doing good.

*I shamelessly eat Mother's Taffy Cookies, for two very good reasons.
A. Mother's went out of business, and Taffy cookies were gone...but Kellog's bought them out and now the precious cookies are back... so in celebration of their return, I should indulge.
B. Calories don't count past 2 am. I promise.

*I make food. Pasta salad has been on the brain for way too long now and I think I need some. I had some on Sunday at the blessing and now I can't get it out of my head... the pot is on the stove, water boiling and ready for noodles as we speak.

*I blog... apparently.

*I watch Gilmore Girls for the umpteenth time... or maybe a little Mary Tyler Moore on msn.com. I can watch whatever I want... Bridger doesn't complain one little bit.

*I do laundry. Loads of laundry can be washed and dryed and folded at this time of night. And sadly there is no little redhead to tear down the piles, cause he won't be up for at least 5 more hours.

*I sadly remember that the little redhead isn't up and won't be for a while, so I sneak in his room to watch him sleep for a little bit...

In about 2 or 3 more hours, I'll get tired enough to head back to bed for a few hours before waking back up for the day.
It's amazing the things you can get accomplished when the rest of the world is busy sleeping.

"tchat"

Porter hasn't been a big fan of wearing hats until recently when he took to sporting one of his Daddy's hats anywhere he goes.
And he looks pretty darn cute with it on if you ask me."Tchat" is either cat or hat... or both. We read Dr. Seuss to Porter all the time and one of his favorites is "The Cat in the Hat". He will bring you a Dr. Seuss book and say, "bweeaad!! tchat"

And I don't know why, but I find it incredibly funny that the hat he wears most often, is a CAT hat.

still here

it's just a little hard to blog when you've had no sleep... There will be updates, I promise. But, there is a certain Gramma who lives for pictures of her grandbabies... so I'm giving this as a peace offering until more blogging can be accomplished (and more sleep can be acquired).

I hope you find this offer to be satisfactory.
I know I do... his smile alone is more than satisfactory.