6 months old

We love Jonas and can't believe he's 6 months old.

Stats:

Height: 26.5" (45%)

Weight: 15 lbs, 13.1 oz (18%)

HC: 41.7 cm (9%)

Jonas can sit all by himself and play.  He adores his big brother and watches him constantly.  And he is often laughing at Porter and his antics.  Jonas loves giving kisses which is a little like having your face attacked and sucked.  He still loves kisses and tickles and cuddles.  Jonas has a bit of stranger anxiety and often cries when I leave him in a room alone.  He squeals, giggles, says what sounds like "mama", he started doing raspberries.  He stands up while holding your hands and is still really strong.

We love you baby Jonas!

For his big day we played at Seven Peaks Water Park and then hung out with cousins in Kaysville.

He did not love the water park.

Brotherly Love.

Porter loved the water park and playing with cousins. He had his first "sleep night over" with cousins tonight...we'll see if he makes it through the night.  He was so excited to stay with his cousins and I think they were equally excited to have him.  I miss him though:).

"Can I turn the blue one on?"  Porter really wanted to drive the 4 wheeler.  He had to settle for pretending to drive it.  This will be scary in about 14 years!

Creating outlines of dead bodies.  Totally normal play for a 2 and 6 year old:).

Father's Day

We love our Dada and I love my Dad.  I've been incredibly blessed to have a father that led by example, humbly goes about doing good, always speaks kindly of others, took time to be present and involved, played, cooked, laughed and taught.  He is a good man.  Because of him, I knew the kind of man to look for and marry.  And, I found someone very different than my dad, yet so similar in the ways that matter most.  David is thoughtful, faithful, hardworking, involved,  goes about doing good and loves being a dad. I could go on and on about them, but let's just say I'm so grateful to have them in my life and that our boys have such incredible examples to look up to. 

I am also grateful for a father in law that is kind and loving and has always been good to me.  You can never have too many people to love you like a dad. 

This photo sums up how the boys feel about dada, I just wish I had taken a picture of all of them on Father's Day.

Porter man

Porter now loves helping in the kitchen. He's made bread, cookies, muffins, pancakes, salad dressing, etc, etc. it is quite cute.

He likes to help grocery shop.

He completed his first painting.

We also headed to the Gateway Mall for the Families for Fosters festival this past Saturday.  There was incredible sidewalk chalk art, but best of all was the Splash pad.  Porter squealed when he saw it and then he couldn't stop smiling and jumping around.  I couldn't help but feel joy just watching him.

Repentance

Tonight Porter and I talked about repentance.  This was not our first conversation or probably our last on this topic.  Per Porter's request I told him the story of Jonah and the whale.  Then for the first time Porter said a prayer on his own and told Heavenly Father he was sorry.  It went like this:

"Heavenly Father, sorry for biting Connor.  In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

Then, "Sorry for hitting Olivia."

I think he's starting to get it.  I love this boy and I hope he always knows he can prayer to Heavenly Father and ask for forgiveness and to repent.

And we talked about how Heavenly Father knows him and sees him.  How he is aware of what he does and that he wanted him to be happy.  He asked me to sing a song about Heavenly Father so I sang one of my favorites, "A Child's Prayer".  I know his tender spirit is being touched.

Frustration

When it gets to the end of the night and I want the kids in bed so I can get some things done, I get super frustrated when bedtime is prolonged.  Porter has a hard time going to bed.  He goes and goes until the last second his body finally stops and he crashes.  Well, tonight I just wanted to clean the bathroom before going to bed.  Porter was still up at 9:30pm. This is right around when I want to be in bed.  After spending the last 1/2 hour super frustrated that he kept coming out of bed, he finally laid down and was almost asleep.  I went to tell him I was sorry and I loved him.  He said, "You were mad at me.  I don't want you to be mad at me."  I love him.  I don't want to be mad either.  He really just doesn't want to miss out.  He really wanted to help me clean the bathroom just like he wants to help with everything else.  Tonight he told David he was going to vacuum and I was not going to help.  Not only was I not going to help, he did not want me to help and he screamed if I tried to help.  I hope he always wants to help.

He is so silly.  He always asks to take a bath in Jonas's bath.  Tonight I finally let him...he didn't play forever like he normally does.  I don't think it was that comfortable.

He also always wants to eat Jonas's baby food.  I found out that's one way to get him to eat veggies.  He says, "It's not yucky, it's yummy."

And this big boy now sits and plays with us.  Yeah!  Although Porter does not like if he grabs something he's playing with or if he knocks over something he's building.  Just wait until he starts crawling:).

We have a sitter

Jonas can sit by himself and play.  He is so much happier doing this.

Busy Boys

We spend lots of time talking about trucks, going to construction sites and reading books about trucks.  There was some work being done around the block, so we packed up our lunch and enjoyed a picnic while we watched the workers.

The pool has been filled up almost everyday.  With our shady backyard, spending time outdoors is so relaxing and peaceful...and it is so cool it's really enjoyable.

And we still enjoy Popsicles almost everyday.

Kenny and the fam flew in Sunday.  Porter was so excited to have cousins come over.  He immediately put Sophie and Jackson to work. Sophie said, "Porter's a feisty one today."  If only she knew he was everyday:).

He of course had to sit on Sophie's lap who was already sitting on Ash's.

This is David's week on service and the unit has been busy, so he has just been sleeping at the hospital.  When he does that, I usually let Porter sleep with me if he wants.  So, Sunday night I told him he could if he wanted.  Over and over he kept saying, "Thanks so much for inviting me.  I am so glad to sleep in your bed."  Then tonight I let him again and he said, "Thanks for sharing your bed with me mom."  Love him.

Porter loves the sand park (Laird Park), so we went again this week.

We are trying to get out and do more things.  I go crazy at home too long, especially if David is gone and we don't have a play date.  We ventured to the Tracy Aviary today.  This is Porter with an Andean Condor.   Interesting fact: it poops and pees on it's legs and feet to keep cool.  Yuck.

My little love bug.

These boys are such a joy.  I love that they can swing together.  Jonas always watches Porter.  Even when we are driving, I can see Jonas in the mirror lifting his head up trying to see Porter.

I knew these boys would fall asleep on our drive home.  Literally seconds before Porter fell asleep he said, "it's not bedtime". Unfortunately his eye rubbing gave him away.

Porter did not want his diaper on, so I told him that was fine, he just had to stay outside.  So, we set up the pool.

He decided to fish for goldfish.  

Jonas and I were entertained.

Porter must have decided his shirt was interfering with his fishing because that soon came off. And trucks were added to aid with the fishing efforts.

Then when he was done fishing, he decided he wanted to eat those soggy goldfish. He would come to me with each goldfish and ask if he could please eat it. When I said yes, he'd say, "Thanks mom."

We ended the night meeting friends for snow cones.  Yum!  We got ours with ice cream.  It was sticky and delicious.  We sure missed dad.  But we are trying lots of new things to share with him.

Milestones

Jonas can now sit up by himself for longer periods of time and he rolled over twice in a row.  He's getting big.

Summer is in Full Force

Summer is here.  Birthday parties, swimming, playing outside all day, eating Popsicles and getting dirty.

Continue in Patience

Sunday am while David and I were finishing getting ready for church we put on a Mormon message video for Porter.  It was in reference to a talk by Pres Uchtdorf, "Continue in Patience".  Quite appropriate for a Sunday when things can be pretty crazy and stressful getting two boys ready for church and then bringing them to church and staying when sometimes it seems way easier to just stay home.

Both the boys loved the video.

And they look handsome.

Out of the mouth of my babe

Porter was eating grapes and I was telling him about how food travels through your body and you poop out the waste food.  He tooted and said, "that was a grape".

He has switched up the words to yet another song.

"No one likes a smiley face, change it for a sad face."  Or "No one likes a happy face, change it for a frown."

Update

As the rain stops and the sun shines, we have ventured outdoors to work in the yard, play with friends and enjoy the fresh air before it gets too hot and I start complaining about the heat.  Porter probably won't complain and Jonas just tags along wherever we go.

First time in the high chair to eat. Such a big boy!  I have found out the way to get Porter to eat vegetables... Give them to Jonas in baby food form.  Without fail Porter will want to try them and will eat them:).  Wish I would have thought of that before!

Taking his first scooter ride with our neighbor.  Do you think he liked it?  Ummm, "yes way"!

We've been gardening and watering.  Porter loves to plant seeds and help water.  He wakes up some mornings and asks to plant herbs.  David and the boys go out early in the morning when I am running and get sites ready for planting.  They trim back bushes and pull weeds.  David is such a great dad to always let the boys feel apart of every project.

Working on a Father's Day gift.  He had to wear the gloves.

Because everyone needs to see a smile like this!  And because Jonas loves to eat.

Things he's eaten:

Applesauce, pears, peaches, bananas, green beans, carrots, squash, spinach, mashed potatoes, smoothie with yogurt, spinach and mixed berries, chicken, yogurt, beans.  That's all I can think of right now.  But, today he had his first real big boy food poop.  Since he only poops every 4+ days, when he poops I seriously think it's equivalent to 5 poops. It just comes and comes.  I think he must have pooped on/off for 20 minutes this am.  Lucky us:).

Porter and his buddy Chase.  So sad this friend is moving this month.

We took the boys to Laird Park last night.  Porter calls it the "sand park". When David told him we were going he was beyond excited.  He was skipping around and saying "I love the sand park."  He was giddy and of course we couldn't think of a better way to spend our night then watching Porter play and explore and be utterly gleeful.  Jonas even got in on the fun and got to swing for the first time by himself.  He was in heaven too and giggled happily as he swung.  Life through the eyes of s child is pure joy.

After spending time tackling jobs at our house, David set off this am to help out friend hang gutters. He's a good man.  He is always busy doing and serving.  He seems to rarely tire and even if he's tired and someone is in need, he is there.  I am constantly amazed by the service he renders and the amount he is able to accomplish.