It was a very merry Christmas, and a happy New Year

We had a wonderful holiday season...the only bad part is that it's over. I enjoyed quite a bit of time off of work and with Kyle not in school, we were able to spend quite a bit of time with each other. We were very happy that we were able to visit both my family and Kyle's for the holidays, and wish we could have spent more time with both.

We headed up to my parents for Christmas. They were in the middle of a great snowstorm when we arrived and it continued through the night. The next day we decided that Porter should enjoy some time out in the snow. So, we headed to the basement and pulled out some of my old winter clothes. We packed him into my old purple snowpants that I wore when I was probably 5 or 6. We rolled up the pantlegs, tied a nice little bow with the shoulder straps and he was ready to go. The snow came up past his waist, but he was determined to make it to Gramma and Grampa's snow-covered teeter-totter in the backyard. By the time we made it back to the house, he was so tired and cold that he shook off his gloves, climbed up to the back door and kept pointing for us to go back in.

We had a great time at the Benton's for our annual Fiesta on Christmas Eve, complete with a pinata this year. I don't know what Christmas would be without Fiesta. I can't begin to fathom not eating Momma's chimichanga's on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas morning we enjoyed watching Porter open his presents. We put two little matchbox cars in his stocking...and that was all he wanted. We had a difficult time getting him to put them down to open another gift, and after a while we just gave up. We opened some of his presents for him and even saved one to open later since he was so disinterested in opening them.

He cruised around the family room for quite a while making "vroom vroom" noises with the cars.

We had to run home on Christmas day so that I could work that night...but with an awful cough that made me lose my voice around 1 am, they sent me home early. I discovered that you can't do my job if you have no voice. It just doesn't work, trust me... I tried.

The next morning we headed to Gramma and Grampa C.'s house as planned. We were able to spend an entire week at their house. I battled with my cough and congestion and then I graciously gave it to Kyle and Porter. We also caught Chase's stomach bug and ended up spending most of the week in our jammies drinking all the fluids we could.

We were able to heal up enough to enjoy our New Year's Eve festivities though. We played games, watched movies and I kissed my honey at midnight. It was a great New Year's... although it was not completely free of its excitement.

We went to bed at about 1:30 and about 15 minutes later Porter woke up screaming... with swollen lips. So, another allergic reaction to kick off the start of the year. Being a good boy like he is, Porter took his Benadryl like a champ and a few hours later his lips were almost back to normal.

We've had 7 blissful months free of reactions...I guess we were due for another. I just wish that we could figure out what has been the cause. This little boy is still a mystery.

The holidays were wonderful and we're looking forward to another great year.

snow

We were all surprised to wake up to it snowing Tuesday morning. Porter especially.

I absolutely love the snow (minus the whole driving in it thing). But, it just doesn't seem like Christmas to me if there isn't snow covering the ground.

And there' s definitely some snow covering the ground, and more and more seems to keep joining it. It started snowing on Saturday...snowed a ton on Tuesday...and snowed some more last night. We probably have over 2 feet on the lawn. Oh, and it's supposed to snow some more today. There's so much snow we don't know what to do with it.

Wait, that's a lie. We know exactly what to do with it...especially Porter. This boy was made for the snow. He loves putting on his coat and socks on his hands (there are no mittens to be found in the stores...we'll have to search when we're up north this next week). He hates having them taken off...even if we aren't going outside, he loves to keep his coat and socks on (always be prepared, right?).

Porter's at home in the snow. The cold doesn't bother him one bit. He could stay outside until his fingers freeze and he wouldn't care one bit.

But, eventually we have to come inside and when we do, Porter can be found here... staring out the window at the snow.

"Wow wow wow!"

toy aisle

A couple of days ago we took Porter to Walmart and decided to let him just roam the toy aisle. It was so much fun to watch him play. He went from toy to toy, and shared with any kid that came near enough for him to shove his current toy in their face.

He walked up and down the back hallway pushing buttons and dancing to music, it was so fun for all of us.

My favorite part...

Kyle found a little Lightening McQueen recliner and pulled it off the shelf. Porter climbed right into it and laid back. He knew what this was for. Even better, he had an idea.

He quickly sat up and looked back to the big toy shelf he had been going through before. He jumped out of his seat and proceeded to carry the chair over to the toy wall. He got the chair within a foot of the wall, climbed in and reclined back... loving the view.

He then started pointing at everything, talking up a storm about whatever he was pointing at.

I really wish I had had my camera on me. I loved the image of the little boy pulling his chair up to the wall of toys sitting back and soaking it in.

a Christmas kick-off

This past weekend we had a decorating celebration at our house...it's really beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!

We made a fabulous dinner of Chicken Carbonara, had a couple of pies (Kyle and I hadn't had enough over Thanksgiving...I needed pecan and Kyle was dying for more banana cream) and we watched "Charlie Brown Christmas", "The Grinch" and "A Christmas Story" all night.

Oh yeah, and we decorated... a lot.

Porter was enamoured with the tree. We always get a real tree and I love it... so does Porter.

I love the smell of pine in the house, and our tree smells delightful. I couldn't stop smelling it the night we put it up and Porter started trying to smell it as well. The only difference is that he makes the "mmmm" noise before he sniffs, this kid makes me laugh.

Porter helped out with the night as much as possible.

He helped me make pies earlier in the night...he can stir very well.

He helped Kyle tighten the screws to hold up the tree.

He kept checking each one.

He helped get rocks to put in the bottom of the tree stand to hold our tree up. He then got a little distracted by how cool the rocks were and started putting them on the floor instead of the stand.

So, we distracted him with the ornaments.

Porter loved trying to put the snowmen on the tree. His attempt was more of him just chucking the snowman at the tree, but it's the thought that counts. He couldn't figure out why they wouldn't stay on. I had to help him out a little.

He was obsessed with the lights and now has to have them turned on whenever he sees that they're off. He walks towards them with his hand up saying "hot, hot, hot" over and over again.

Then he tried to kiss the tree. I've tried to reinforce why this is a bad idea...with the sharp needles I think he's catching on to that one.

It was a very fun night... a tradition we'll have to continue.

(Yeah, so I think I bumped the camera while I was headed over to sit with the boys...possibly why we don't have the tops to our heads.)

Pregnancy update:

Why did I think that I had a belly at 16 weeks? That's no belly when compared to this one...

It feels like there's a basketball under there.

25 weeks and counting. Everything is going really well.

momma

It's been several, SEVERAL months since Porter said his first word..."hi". He still says it, and several other words have slowly joined in the mix. Porter will say Dadda and Daddy, hot, wow, there and a few random others. But, those words pretty much make up this kids vocabulary. We've been working on Momma or Mommy for months and a few months ago one slipped out...haven't heard it again. It wasn't used in the context it should have been and I'm sure that it was a mistake because he never uttered the word again.

Yesterday we were sitting around going through Porter's body parts; he knows where his nose, eyes, ears, mouth, hands and tummy are. He also knows where his baby brother is (I don't think he knows WHAT a baby brother is, but he knows where he resides)... don't know how he picked up on that one, but one day I asked him where his baby brother was and he came over, lifted up my shirt and pointed to my tummy. If you ask him to show you his baby brother and he isn't close enough to me, he'll lift up his own shirt to show you where his baby brother is... it's darling.

Anyway, going through his body parts I stopped him and asked where his Daddy was to which he immediately ran to the kitchen pointing to Kyle. Kyle, in turn, looked at him and said, "Good job, now, where's you're Mommy?" Porter proceeded to lift up his shirt and say, "There!" repeatedly.
"No, no...that's your tummy, where's you're mommy." Porter lifted his shirt up again to show his tummy. We died laughing...such a funny little kid.

So, we worked on it. We changed it up a bit asking him where his Mom or Momma was, (hoping that Mommy and tummy just sounded too alike) but without fail, I always got a flash of a cute little belly as his response.
We started asking him to say Momma or Mommy and all we got his sweet little, "huh?" everytime. It was a lost cause. If there's one thing I've learned with this kid, it's that he can't be rushed...when he decides he's good and ready for something, he'll do it, but not a moment before.

This morning when Porter woke up, Kyle went in to get him and he came and laid Porter next to me. Porter nuzzled his cute little face right up next to mine and said, "Momma?"
He hasn't stopped saying it all day long...it's my new favorite word.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend down in Moab. We were able to spend time with all of Kyle's siblings (minus Brennan, of course). We watched movies, played games and ate... a lot. We also headed out to go Christmas tree hunting on the weekend. It was a perfect Thanksgiving.

Love that tradition. Kyle and I have hunted for our trees for the past 3 years and I think it is one of my favorite traditions. We found a beautiful tree this year and I'm so excited to get it up and decorated later this week. Putting up the tree is always the point where it really starts to feel like Christmas... I can't wait.

I always realize after I get home and start looking through pictures that I never took quite enough. I need to keep my camera by my side all the time...I should have learned this by now!

But, here's one to satiate the gramma's for a little while...

We found railroad tracks while hiking around for a tree...Porter loved them.

introspection...and a very long story.

Here is a picture of my boys. If you tune in to check out photos of the family, here it is...at the top of the post. That way, if that's all you really want to see, here it is.

This is one of those posts that I need to put up for me. Just for me so that I can remember how silly I really am. If you have no desire to read such a long post, I'm not offended in the least. I've put the picture of the boys at the top, so there is no reason to continue down if there is no desire.

I am so excited for the upcoming holiday season. Last year I had a difficult time really getting into it, and I'm happy to say that I'm not having the same trouble this year. I am already salivating over the idea of turkey and potatoes and pecan pie. I sing Christmas songs to Porter nightly...and I've even been scoping out a place to cut down our own Christmas tree. The crafty projects that I have in mind are soon to be put into action, and let's just say I'll have the most darling tree this year... with unbreakable ornaments for a particular redhead to enjoy. I also need a stocking for that little redhead and I plan on making a gift or two and starting on a quilt for the next possible little redhead.

With many projects in mind (4 right now, give me a little longer and I'm sure I can come up with more), I headed to our darling little fabric shop in town. This place has some of the funnest fabric I have ever seen and even though it's a little small, it has all the right stuff in it to make me stay there for hours on end.

Let me back up for a moment... this story needs a little bit of history...

One of my many problems is that I am not a very decisive person. No, it's true. I've known it all along, but I didn't realize the extent to which this is true until about 2 days ago. Maybe you didn't know this about me (if you didn't, you obviously don't know me very well...at all) but it's a cold hard fact. Whether it's where we should eat for dinner, what movie we should rent, or what kind of fabric should I use for this or that, I just can't do it. I especially can't do it without proper help.

That help used to come in the form of sisters or a mom. I used to live close to all of them. And when the need for such assistance would arrive, a much needed opinion and a possible reprimand of, "You're getting this one, right now because I can't stand to listen to you any longer." was only minutes away.

Now, I live all by myself, away from girls, and I have nobody but boys to ask if I have a need for an opinion. One of the things I love most about Kyle is that he is a very laid-back person...this causes a problem though when it comes to, "Do these jeans look too big, or will my belly continue to grow and fill them right out?" or "Which fabric do you like better, the green or the red?" And let me tell you that I have ran into difficulties this past week with both such questions. Both of which have led me to very interesting phone conversations with my mother or sisters...you see these types of questions are ones that should be asked in person. On the phone, these questions are not so easily answered, leaving the askee totally unsure of what to say and normally leads to them laughing their head off on the other end of the line, while, I, the asker starts feeling more and more stupid and homesick for female companionship.

Prior to leaving for the aforementioned shop I had the discussion about the jeans with my mother and my oldest sister (one person simply was not enough you see...I'm sick, I know). Being so indecisive, my answer to such a dilemma was to take pictures of me in said jeans and email them to said sister. Before I could take such pictures I started realizing my indecisiveness/silliness and chose not to send pictures. This would only be hard-fast evidence of my sad little quirk. Plus, it was a choice that should not require the use of photography, emails and a decision from someone 300 miles away, just so I could feel further validated in sending back the jeans because someone else said to do it.

So, I felt good heading to the fabric store with my new sense of independence. I headed in and quickly picked out the fabric for the ornaments, it probably took no longer than 10 minutes to do so (a record for me). Then came the time to pick out the fabric for Porter's stocking. 30 minutes later I was standing in the same spot I had been in for the past 30 minutes and was no closer to picking out fabric. I then started thinking about what I wanted it to look like, and how long it would take me to sew, and how much I wished that Kari was there to pick it out for me and show me how to sew it (ie. sew it for me). I had a favorite material picked out, but had no idea what to do with it or what other fabric would go with it.

At this point I figured I was being ridiculous and maybe I would go home, plan it out MYSELF and come back to pick out fabric after I knew what I wanted...maybe that would help me make my decision. So I headed up to the counter with my fabric for my ornaments. The cute girl at the store had been sewing and cutting fabric the whole time I was in there, and when I went up to the counter she looked at me and said, "You look like you're having some trouble. Do you need some help? Did you find what you needed?" Now, this was my chance! I could stand firm and make my own decisions. I could change the way that I function on a daily basis right then and there. All I had to do was say, "No, this is all I need right now, thank you."

But, being the little wuss that I am, I crumbled. I told her all about how I have no girls around to give opinions and how I'm a wuss and dependent on anybody else to help me with any small or big decision I make in my life...and, I needed help picking out fabric for a stocking for my little boy (okay so I didn't tell her about all the wuss stuff, but I'm sure she picked up on it all by herself...by herself, with no help from anyone else...).

I showed her my favorite material and she quickly helped me pick out something to make a very cute stocking. She then showed me the stockings that she was currently sewing, and walked me through how to make them. She answered all my questions, gave the opinions I needed and I walked out of the store 10 minutes later completely satisfied with everything that I had just purchased.

I realize now that I'm just a dependent person. I just need other people. I would go crazy all by myself and I'm grateful to have people around me who put up with all of my incessant questioning. I'm grateful to the cute fabric shop lady...she has no idea the help that she gave me that night. I'm going crazy not having girls around. I love my boys, and I'm tickled to death that another will join the ranks here soon. But, I also realize how much I need my momma and my sisters. So, thanks for putting up with me. I really appreciate it. And, thank you Kari for being willing to take a look at pictures of me and my jeans to give me your opinion, but I won't subject you to that.

It's time for a picture of the fabric that caused this much introspection into my life. Wanna see the fabric?

The top four will be for ornaments and the bottom two will be for Porter's stocking.

She did a good job helping me out. Thank you fabric shop girl.

Hey, do you think fabric shop girl would take a look at me in my jeans?

warmth

This past weekend we headed up to the mountains to gather more wood for the winter. I absolutely love our woodburning stove and it has been running non-stop for the past month. I love how toasty warm it keeps our house, and I tell you what... I plan to always have a woodburning stove in my home. Not only is it great to stand by when you get home on a frosty evening (or morning) and it can warm your little toes, but it's fantastic for the gas bill. Last year we figured it saved us over $100 a month to burn wood rather than use our heater.

So, with all the wonderful things that a wood-burning stove has to offer, we decided we'd better get more wood.

Now, Porter and I weren't a great load of help, but the boys did pretty well all by themselves. That's right, I said boys. John, my friend/co-worker/carpool buddy came to help us out. It was so nice of him to spend his day-off to help us haul wood. We're also very grateful to John's dad who let us use his truck for the day. With two trucks, two chainsaws and two tough boys cutting trees we ended up with close to 2 cords of wood. Just enough to make it through the winter.

Not liking the sounds of the chainsaws and falling trees, and being the curious child he is, Porter had to ask his Daddy lots of questions (that's what this cute face is). But, even with great reassurance from his Daddy and his Mommy, he was still a bit hesitant about the whole situation. So after I had hauled all the wood that me and my pregnant belly could carry, Porter and I camped out in the truck.

It was a great afternoon, a perfect day to haul wood.

Again we thank John and his Dad for all their help. Now, we get to stay warm all winter.

jumbled, rambling thoughts...

This past week has been a difficult one to get through for all of us. Porter came down with a runny nose last Monday, and it slowly decided to infest the rest of his body. And since Porter is so willing to give kisses (sometimes he's very insistent), it didn't take long for it to infect the rest of us. It was a strange head-cold-chest-congestion-upset stomach/don't-step-too-far-from-the-bathroom kind of illness that took its toll on the lot of us. And Porter weathered it far better than the other two wussies who live in this house. But, this week we are finally back on our feet.

With work this past weekend and tests for Kyle at the beginning of this week, there really isn't much to report. But, in the spirit of writing down things that happen in day-to-day life...here's what we've been up to.

*Kyle and I are getting so excited for this next little boy to come...he's kicking like crazy and it's strong enough that Kyle can feel it too.

*I've narrowed the quilt that I plan on making for this little guy down to 9 patterns...that's pretty good for me.

*Porter has learned where his nose is (and will show you when he's good and ready).

*He folds his arms for prayers and anytime that he sits down at the table.

*He loves to spin in circles until he's dizzy... he thinks it's hilarious and he falls over laughing.

*He loves to stomp his feet and also thinks this is so funny that he falls over laughing.

*We watched Kung Fu Panda last night (such a funny show...I highly recommend it!) It was the first time Porter has even shown much interest in the TV (other than the buttons that he pushes). This morning he was playing around flaying his arms and making all sorts of funny noises. All we can figure he was doing was trying to show us his Kung Fu moves. It was hilarious.

*This kid is so fun...he loves to help in any way possible. We went for our weekly shopping trip today and he helped me put all the food on the conveyor belt. He even helped the lady spin the little bag carousel...although he tried to spin them too soon, and she probably didn't want the help... but it's the thought that counts, right?

It's been a good week.

Oh, I still haven't had much time to be using my camera...but it is back in my possession. I love looking at my memory card when it's been so long since I did it. I had no idea what was left on my memory card. It's almost like finding a five dollar bill in your pants pocket that you didn't know was there.

This was my favorite...

I don't care what anybody else says... but I think these two like each other.

no pictures, just words (okay maybe one picture)

I wish I had my camera around for days like today. Although, it would have been difficult to record some of the things that I want to remember with photos, so I figure that doing it with words will be the next best thing (camera isn't lost, just far away at the moment). Things that I want to remember from today...

Porter running around the house yelling, "Wowwowwow" over and over again. Every once in a while he'll let out a single "wow", but normally that doesn't quite cover the excitement.

He also started folding his arms today when you ask him to, he's such a cute boy.

The rain, hail and beautiful gray skies. I love rainy days (when I don't have to drive in them).

Rented "Get Smart", and plan on watching it later tonight with my honey.

I purchased a(nother) tub of cookies and cream ice-cream. The Smith's Premium Select brand is fabulous. They practically have whole Oreos left in the ice-cream.

(does that even work; a(nother)?? I think so... I'm leaving it)

I held my head in shame for not registering to vote. I completely forgot that I had to register in this district. I remembered on Oct. 23... 2 days too late.

I held my head high, remembering that even if I had been able to vote that I wouldn't have been able to decide who to vote for. It possibly would have ended with me putting in a write-in vote for Kyle or maybe Charlie Brown...at this point I think either would be a better choice than what is available.

I fawned over the fun and adorable fabric that will become our little newbie's quilt. I just have to pick the pattern...and cut the fabric...and sew it...and get it quilted...and bind it... so it's practically done.

I played and played with Porter, soaking up every last bit of my last day off. I love spending time with this kid. He's just too freaking cute.

Oh, and I suppose I have some pictures that I probably haven't ever posted...since I know that there are Gramma's out there who look here daily for a photo.

This is a family shot when we were in Moab a few weeks ago (thanks Ellen).

Enjoy.