Change of heart

Today David and I had a talk that really upset me.  David was kind to let me go to the temple.  I needed to go.  So I quickly got ready and headed out.  I really wanted to do an endowment session, but when I got to the temple I had missed the cut off for the next session.  I was really bummed.  I wanted to watch and learn about marriage.  Since I was already emotional from our talk, I was on the verge of tears and quickly ducked into the women's locker room.  I decided to do initiatories.  Still bummed, I got changed and sat down to wait.  While waiting, I picked up the scriptures and just read.  There was nothing particular I read, but my feelings of frustration and disappointment were washed away and I enjoyed just being in the temple, enjoying the peace and solitude there.  I could listen again to the words of the initiatory and remember the promises I am given.  I needed to be at the temple today.  Thank you David for knowing that and being willing to put your needs and all the work you needed to do aside.

11 Weeks

Small bump in front, large-wide bump in back:).

Jonas- his own post (5/24/2016)

Jonas is growing into his own.  He is almost 17 months!  His personality is becoming more apparent, he is learning to stand his ground and he is also no wall flower.  Porter and him are very different, but neither one of them are shy, quiet or stationary.

Jonas continues to be my little buddy.  He will wander away, but he needs to know I am near by.  He is quite the tease also.  Randall said the other day that he "leans" into all of his emotions and he sure does.  His little head tilts in and he smiles at your or slyly looks at you, etc.  He babbles all the time and actually continues to say more and more words.  His words are really clear.  He loves to help when there are projects and he has started to help David.  He will say "help", so he know is up for whatever you want him to do.

He still loves animals and squeals with delight any time he sees one.  His whole face lights up and he is so excited.

He now willfully disobeys and thinks it's funny.  But at the same time, he will stop what he's doing when I ask him to.  I'm not sure why he decides to obey or not obey.

He hates getting his diaper changed and will run away from me.  Then once he's down he flips his body over and tries to squirm away.  If I bribe him with a fruit snack he is super excited and lays down.

He continues to give the best kisses and hugs.  I love when he says "Maw".  That's his kissing sound.  He blows kisses too.

I love to sit at the end of the day and sing him a song(s) before bed.  He will hum along as if he knows the words.  He loves music and loves to dance.

Jonas loves to be outside and he'll go to the door and say "out" and "shoes".  He'll bring you his shoes to put on for him.  He will play out there all by himself.  Although he prefers that the back storm door is left open so he can check in when he wants.

He loves eating and has started really loving his milk.  He will frantically sign milk and scream until you see his sign and he knows you are getting it for him.  He is mad when I give him water instead since he shouldn't drink as much milk as he really wants to.  He continues to cram too much food in his mouth at once, but luckily he is not choking as much and he is handling fruit snacks better.  He still can't eat the peel of an apple and will store it in his mouth until I have him open his mouth and spit it out.

Playing hide and go seek with him is a blast.  He is actually pretty good.  He doesn't immediately give our hiding place away with laughing or making noise and he's really good at finding Porter when he hides.  Although, he loves to always check the hall closet to see if Porter is there.
He will "count" and say "Ready or not hear I come".  Although, it's more the rhythm of the sentence than saying the actual words, but you can tell that's what he's trying to say.

He loves to read books, but that's about the only time he sits still.  He climbs all over stuff and us.  He even rocks when he is sitting in his high chair for dinner or to put himself to bed.  Fortunately we don't hear his bed rocking anymore since we've put him in a crib.  It's now more of a side to side rocking.  Sometimes his climbing all over us is exhausting.

He loves to climb up and sit in a chair at the table, but since he doesn't sit still and has to stand up, he has fallen off many times.

Bath time is still one of his favorite things.  He loves splashing in water and he actually gets mad if I'm taking a shower and he can't get in.  He will try to lift his leg up over the edge of the bath tub to get in.  I'm sure he's going to fall and get hurt really bad one of these days:).

Well, I'm sure there are a million other things I could write about Jonas.  We sure love him.  His face is so precious and his smile melts your heart.  I can't wait to hear all that is going on in his brain.

The past few days

Porter loves to wait for some neighbor kids (Meg and Kate Murdock and Cooper Kirry) to walk by on their way to school.  This particular morning he was a few minutes late, but he patiently sat out there waiting.  So sad that he missed them, but super cute that he pulled up a seat and just waited.

Here's our little bubba.

The other night David took Porter down to play kickball with some friends.  Porter came back with a lacrosse stick and ball to test out his skills.  I knew Aunt Ash would be proud.

The weather has been pretty nice lately.  Not too hot, so perfect for spending time outside.  I have a similiar picture of Porter around this same age chilling in this chair.

Jonas found a new place to get in to.  Now I know why the shelf won't stay up.... he weighs a little more than it was meant to hold.

Enjoying our Sunday morning.  I don't love church at 1pm, but this particular Sunday we got in a walk and some play time before Jonas took his nap.

Jonas loves this little bus.  He actually is learning letters and letter sounds.

David pulled up his chair to sit down and then Jonas went and pulled up the other one so he could sit right by him.  They had a little chat and played a little "I Spy".  Jonas was really mad when I made him come in and get his diaper changed.

Stop growing up Jonas!  He pulled out Porter's underwear and was so proud to put on a pair.  Of course David says, "Should we potty train him?".  NO!  I don't think he's even close.  He just thinks the underwear are cool.

Every Tuesday morning we try to go to the story time at the library.  The head librarian, Paul, is fabulous and Porter loves it.  Jonas only half pays attention.  Porter will walk right up to the front and sit right in front of the librarians.  It is such a great program and I'm glad we can participate.  Here's Porter at the end of story time today playing with the parachute.  Notice he is right next to the librarian?  This is where he always is.  I am so grateful that he is eager to learn and participate.  He is not shy at all.

These two enjoying a cool, drizzly afternoon coloring and painting with water colors.  Porter's painting expanded from the paper to his body.  He decided he wanted me to help recreate the Hulk from Halloween past.

10+ weeks pregnant

Feeling good, but still bouts of nausea, dizziness and bloating (aka bad gas).  Overall, I can't complain.  The weight gain is steady and a little high for how far a long I am.  They say you should gain 2-4 lbs the first trimester... Well I've gained around 10 so far.  Yikes!  

 

I can still run although a bit slower, but I am so grateful for this.  Today I ran 5.85 miles in the cold, rain and it felt awesome.  It's interesting that I actually feeling the best when running.  No nausea, etc.  So grateful for a healthy body.

We love to eat

Today we joined a bunch of friends at Zupas for a VT lunch.  Yummy food.

Jonas chilling during our grocery shopping trip enjoying the free fruit.

Jonas loving his Popsicle and generously sharing it with all.

Jonas is seriously the cutest, but he does know what he wants and is not shy about telling you.  He may screech, thrash his body, run away and he has even tried to pinch my face and bite me.  We just started putting him in short time outs this week.  He hates it.  He gets so sad and the last time David put him in, when he got out he came running to me for a hug.

Last swim lesson

Porter had his last swim lesson for Level White.  He now consistently puts his whole face under water, floats on his back with the teachers help, kicks his feet, jumps in and doesn't mind going under and loves the pool.  He's made some great progress.

Jonas enjoyed Gayle's soda during the class.  At least it kept him preoccupied.

So excited.

Looks like he does this all the time.

My welcome

When I came home from my morning run, this sweet boy welcomed me home.

I love that he is still happy to see me.

Lower Bell Canyon Reservoir- Granite

We set off for a hike today with Alli, Maddy and Max Boothe and Mallory, Kayden and Fischer Stahl.  It was great weather and a great way to get all of us out doing something active.  The hike ended at a reservoir that was beautiful and a great place to relax and eat before heading back down. Kayden, Max and Porter hiked the entire way and it was a pretty steep uphill for little legs and 3 moms carrying children in backpacks.  The boys raced ahead.

Unfortunately right before heading back from down, Porter threw Max's stick down the creek.  So, I gave Porter's stick to Max.  That caused a cosmic breakdown from Porter.  I know he was tired, so that never helps the situation.  But, seriously.  He cried, threw a tantrum for about the next 20 min+.  Fortunately I did get him to at least eventually start walking while crying so we could get down.  No replacement stick would do, he wanted his.  I eventually was able to start distracting him for short periods until he remembered that stick that had been ripped from his life.  I had previously told everyone else to go ahead while he had his melt down, and we did catch back up with Alli and her kids.  Porter got his new stick and all was well.  The boys had fun the rest of the way home.  When we got home we all crashed for great naps.  Porter was actually asleep before we made it home.  I read for a bit, but it felt so good to sleep.  

View on the way up.

The boys.  Each with their own stick.

The reservoir.

Alli, Max and Maddy with Jonas the photo bomber.

My sweet crew.

Randoms (5/4-5/16)

I have been so behind in blogging and I am finally getting caught up.  Do you think I can stay on top of it again for awhile?  A post a day?  I really need to since this is the closest thing I have to a journal right now.

Porter's swim lessons on 5/4 were a bit different because someone had thrown up in the kid pool.  So, he was in the big pool, on a platform with a substitute instructor.  He did great!  I was paranoid that he would get excited and step off the platform edge.  He does bounce around a lot in swim lessons, but fortunately he stayed on.

 David and Porter sleeping in their homemade tent.  These two are best buds.

 Testing out the bikes at REI.  Notice he selected the bright pink one.  He is comfortable with his masculinity.

 The other night we were working in the yard, pulling up weeds and planting stuff.  It had started raining or was muddy from rain.  I'd gone inside to get Jonas ready for bed and get some other stuff done.  Porter ventured inside by himself to get a drink.  I came into the kitchen to find this.  This is why we have a rule... NO SHOES IN THE HOUSE.  It's easier to have kids take them off then to determine if they are going to track stuff through the house or not.

Porter is in the process of dropping his nap.  I tell him he doesn't have to sleep, but he does have to have quiet time.  He generally still falls asleep, just a lot later than he should so then he still can't go to bed at night.  This day was no exception.  He'd come in to my room to ask me for a blanket.  Shortly later I notice that it's awfully quiet.  Generally when he's playing, you can hear him talking.  I came out to find him like this.  Tuckered out.

 Porter designed his own auto mechanic shop with a little help from me, Dad and Uncle Randall.  Pretty cool.

We went up to Chuch Fork site again with friends and played.  It was pretty chilly today so we didn't stay as long.  But, Jonas sure had a blast chasing around the dog.

 More T-ball.  Porter is definitely improving, but still much prefers the snacks at the end of the game.

 9 weeks pregnant (5/12).  I'm pretty sure I've gain 8-10 lbs and feel like I look much further along than I am.  I'm hoping the weight gain subsides a bit or I'm going to be huge.

 We played over at our neighbor's the other day.  They had their pool up and the weather was warm.  It was fun to hang out chatting and watching the kids play.  I love when the neighbors all gather together in the front yard.

 Jonas found this little friend at Wal-mart and had to carry him around with us throughout the store.  It was pretty sweet.

 Ash came up for the weekend and it is always fun to have her around.  The boys use her as their transportation.

 Ash and the boys letting us know they are okay.  David had a conference in Park City 5/13-5/15, so I joined him Friday night.  We met up with some friends from Oregon (Amy McCammond and Laurie Armsby) and then a bunch of other people from the conference for dinner in downtown Park City.  I ended up staying the night in David's hotel room and then heading back in the morning.  Ashley may be one of the only people that Jonas will stay with, so I was glad she was around.

 The view from the hotel room at the Grand Summit in Park City.  Amazing. I wish I could have brought the boys up and gone swimming.

 Learning how to take a selfie.  Not too bad.  The other day he was practicing using a point and shoot camera and he actually looked like a natural.  His stance, the way he held the camera, etc.

 Porter's last T-ball game of the season was Saturday, 5/14.  It was hot and he was tired.  He actually walked between some of the bases and really was not that into the game.  But, he was proud to get a trophy at the end.  I'm glad he did T-ball.  It was a fun little sport.  And he went from hitting the ball and running to get his own ball to hitting the ball and running to first base.  He used to also run more towards second base than first.  Improvements were made.

 Porter loves to bear his testimony.  He cleared off the table so he had a "podium".  He also asked if he could give a prayer and then proceeded to give one.  It was pretty funny, though David had to tell him we don't give pretend prayers.

At the middle school down the street from our house they had goats behind an electric fence eating all the grass.  Of course the boys loved it even if they both got shocked from touching the fence.

 Porter made his own sandwich, Turkey, Cheese and Mayo the other day.  He did a fantastic job.  He has got it down.  He even put all of the food away when he was done using it.

This guy walks by our house every morning when he takes his kids to school.  He also always has his dogs with him.  He has stopped by before to let the boys play with the dogs and today he had a new itty bitty dog.  The boys loved it.  They would chase that scared little puppy all over and pick it up.  It was the perfect size for Jonas and he picked it up all by himself.  I was too slow to get a picture though. (5/16)

I took the boys to the zoo.  Here we are riding the train.  It was another cool day and I'm hoping to enjoy as much outside time as we can before it gets so hot and I won't want to be out there. (5/16)

We also took a family run this morning.  David pushing a stroller still runs faster than me:).  I ran about two miles with them before they headed home and I continued on.