Delayed birthday pictures for my oldest and youngest boys!

I know i am late, but better than never! The older porter gets, the smaller his birthday parties are. For instance for his third birthday we had food, cake, pinata with candy and toys in it, about 40 people with adults and kids, major decorations with ballons streamers and signs covering the living room, kitchen, and outside, and presents, and a big loud birthday song. See that was the kind of birthday party i always wanted as a kid so like many adults i went all out for me not so much for him. The thing is he hated his third birthday party. So both last year and this year we let him plan and do exactly what he wanted. I told him he was the "boss" and he got to pick everything. He invited two friends from church and wanted to go miniature golfing. After that we came home and they wanted to play in his room, but he is funny about somethings and he had cleaned his room and didn't want anyone to put anything out of place so had a little melt down when they headed up there. So we came back down and decided to do the cake. He had requested a star wars cake, this exact scene from the movie. He picked out the candles him self as well as the figurines. He also told me that i had to decorate the house and surprise him for his birthday, i asked him if he knew what surprise meant and he said its when you walk in the room and its all decorated and everyone says " surprise!". So while he was sleeping Cory and I hung streamers and balloons so we could "surprise" him in the morning. He loved it! After his party which was short and sweet he wanted to play his new Lego batman video game which he did for the rest of the day basically and we let him because you only get to have a fifth birthday party once! Both Cory and I remember turning 5 so we didn't want him bringing up how we were mean to him on his birthday the rest of his life. Cory even sacrificed watching his football game so porter could play his video game and be happy! The cake. It was fun to make porters vision come to life!

He asked that no one sing to him ( he cant handle the attention and noise at the same time) So he just blew out the candles

This is the face he made when i asked if we should sing to him.

How old are you porter??

Love that boy! I cant believe its been five years since i had him! He has been such a joy to have in our family and I love having conversations with him and watching his brain work! He is my little smartie pants, who is currently interested in math. today he came up to me and told me that 10 plus 10 plus 10 plus 3 is 33. I don't know why he was even thinking about that, but he cracks me up!


AND NOW for Arthur's first birthday! poor third child gets lost in the chaos of life and didn't even get a post last month of his cake pictures! But hey, at least i did take all the pictures right? So he will know when he grows up that he was just as loved and honored on his first birthday as his brothers, in fact even more so since he has two big brothers that love him so much!

First birthday, He was my neatest baby yet and just stuck his little finger in and licked of frosting until he forced him to get into the cake a bit!


are you sure i am allowed to be eating this mom??
Enough pictures already!! I am going blind from the flash!
Im full, can i get out of here yet?

One of those days : the vomit diaries

Today started out great, I was super productive and got most of the house clean and even deep cleaned the downstairs bathroom including moping and Lysol. Feeling pretty good and hoping to get some errands ran this evening when Cory came home from work. Then at three Porter told me he didn't feel good. Which he says all the time when he has a head ache, he is bored, he is upset, and when he is really sick. So i didn't read much into it and put on some cartoons and told him to have some quiet time on the couch.

I was trying to figure out why the computer was not working ( obviously figured that out, go me!) when i heard the coughing gurgling sound that every mother knows is followed closely by vomit. I bounded across the room yelling to go to the bathroom but it was too late porter had projectile vomit all over the couch, my new carpet, and himself. I picked him up and ran to the bathroom while he continued to puke all over the hallway and me. I cleaned up Porter, the bathroom floor, the couch, and the carpet as best i could and re settled him on the couch with a bowl in case he needed it. Right about then Cory walks in the door from work and walks up stairs to change his clothes. Ten minutes pass and I wonder if he decided to take a nap too, but before i could head up there to see what he was doing Porter told me that he had an accident in his underwear. Oh so fun! So i take him to the bathroom to address that issue, but before i could even get his pants down I hear the tell tell sound of the gurgling cough from the hallway behind me. I spin around just in time to see Theo holding both his hands to his mouth as he throws up so its spraying the walls and the carpet. I grab him and throw him in the bathroom where he projectile vomits on Porter, on his cloths, on my used to be clean floor, the toilet, and the walls. Porter starts throwing up too. ( can you blame him? Its kind of gross to have someone throw up on you) I am screaming at Cory to get down here and help me, after the third time he screams back he is feeling sick to his stomach and cant.

lovely.

So i strip the boys of all drenched clothing, wipe them down with paper towels and Carry them to the bath tub upstairs and start the water. I hear the baby wake up in the other room, perfect timing, right?! Go get the baby, go back to bathroom and start washing off the older boys. Hear Cory being sick in the other room. Get boys out of bathtub, put them in bed and go help Cory.

I go downstairs to throw all the clothes in the wash, clean the bathroom again, clean up hallway, clean up walls, open all the windows in the house to help with intense smell. Theo comes downstairs and sits down on the floor. Its now 5 pm and I am exhausted from two hours of being the nurse on duty. I sit down on the couch to relax, just as i sit down Theo walks over to me crying, and vomits all over me, the couch, my really pretty brand new couch pillows, and again on the carpet. For some reason he thinks that by holding his hands in front of his mouth he can stop it, which only makes a bigger mess. I grab him go up stairs and clean him off in the bath tub again. Put him in bed with porter and instruct him to throw up in the bowl if he needs too. I go downstairs and clean up everything again. By now I am seriously thinking of buying a new couch. Five minutes later as I start this post, i hear him gurgling and crying.. run up there he is throwing up all over himself and the floor in their room. Third bath of the hour, convince Cory to lay by him so he can help him get it in the bowl next time.

So now i am praying that I will somehow be spared this sickness, although after cleaning up all the gross stuff all afternoon i am feeling a bit nauseated.

Its now 8:30 pm. We have repeated everything above about 6 times. Not one of them has yet to keep down even a tablespoon of water. Oh and the baby just threw up on me. My whole house smells like puke. I smell like puke.

So far I am not sick, I am racking my brain to think of something they all ate and I didn't, hoping that I don't get what they have. It looks miserable. Pray for us! Cory wants me to take him to the ER but right now draging the whole puking family there so they can say yep you have a virus sounds like a waste to me and I am hoping it passes soon for them.

Off to do the rounds and check on all my patients.

A sick day (the kind where you wish you could stay in bed and dindt have kids!)

So we are supposed to go to Dallas this weekend and since today cory has the day off we were supposed to get all the things done like laundry and packing and loading the car so it would be ready. Instead the kids and I all got really sick starting last night and Arthur screamed at the top of his lungs all night so there was much lack of sleep in my department ( cory went and slept in the other room lucky duck!) when i say screaming imagine one of those fireworks that lets out that high pitched sound that everyone covers their ears for? yep that is what he sounds like EXACTLY and it makes me want to put him on some church's doorstep. I tried everything from Tylenol to rocking and nursing. As I type this he is sitting by me screaming. I am learning to ignore it a bit. I am secretly hoping he loses his voice soon! I called the dr but they cant get him in till tomorrow.

So back to our supposed to be productive day. I was feeling pretty yucky after my sleep less night and my yucky respitory cold and fever and body aches. So I was laying on the couch and Cory started to clean up the living room. He kept dropping hints that i should get up and help him and I kept telling him that i felt like my body was rotting from the inside out. He even commented on how easy it was to get the house clean by himself with all three kids around... about thirty seconds after that comment though Theo dropped a large glass in the kitchen that shattered into a million piece, the baby started screaming again and needed a diaper change, and Porter re dumped out the toys he had just picked up to vacuum. Needless to say it was not as easy and he thought and I was laughing on the inside. So when he got back to cleaning and told me i had to help even if i felt yucky I got up to help. Ten minuets into me helping I felt really weird and like i couldn't breath and then I passed out. Cory let me lay on the couch after that. I guess then he believed me when i said i felt weird.

Cory is trying to console screaming baby upstairs now. Its not working. I think I may be going to the ER tonight. Either that or my neighbors are going to call CPS on me because my baby has been screaming for about 12 hours strait.

Being sick as a single person rocked. You could sleep all day and night, drink your juice, and when you felt good enough read books or watch TV. I think the people that die from the flu must be parents because you cant muster up enough energy to care for yourself and your child and of course you care for the child first.

If you need a place to live

We are looking for renters again, or buyers. Our renters are ditching out on their lease early and so i thought i had till February to worry about this but i have to now instead. groan. I really wish that Cory would deal with this and it didn't fall to me because i dont want to be the grown up right now.. but alas i am.

so if your brother 's sister in laws mother's uncle's cousin needs a place send them my way! There is a blog of my house with lots of pictures and information, and we lowered the price to $1095. http://rentinutah.blogspot.com/

A years worth of Photos of my baby boy!

I cant believe its been a whole year! He was not a planned baby but by the time he got here we were overjoyed to have him join our family and cant imagine it any other way. He is such a sweet little boy and I love being his mom! He is a walking pro now and loves to run all around outside. He loves to throw all his food on the floor and tell me "uh oh". His new favorite things to eat are brie cheese and otter pops. He loves to sing songs and read stories and cuddle. He enjoys nursing still and when he is done he pops back up gives me a big smile and says "hi". He has four teeth now, but still barely any hair. He is so small compared to my other boys that were 20 lbs by 5 months. He is still only 19 pounds and that's with clothes and diaper on! Its weird having such a little baby and most of the clothes he cant fit because Theo stretched them out so much! Its amazing how much I love this baby boy, he just makes me so happy. Happy birthday Arthur!

I will post pictures later of his first birthday cake adventure but for now if you are bored and want a long photo trip down memory lane here are a bunch that are somewhat in order ( i dont have much time to organize this with all three kids in the background!)

going home from hospital three days old

a few seconds old cuddling with Mommy.

Turn off the lights!!

Theo was enamored. He loves having a baby brother, even though he is a bit rough with him

First few days... mom this world is too bright!

the passed out look right after a nursing session. I love it! He still nurses and falls asleep looking so cute! In fact as i type this he is in my arms asleep from nursing.

conked out. wish i slept this soundly!

waz up? stylin in the shades at 3 weeks old.

Lovin the moby wrap! He lived in this almost 12 hours a day the first three months, he always wanted to be with mommy!

snuggling Papi

first smile i got on camera. He really was such a happy baby and we couldnt get enough gummy smiles from him!

Blessing day at three months old

poor kid has been sat on many times by Theo.

His turtle look

Theos art work, the first of many times i am afraid!

He gets this surprised look a lot. this was about 5 months old

6 months

8 months old

Doing some Yoga

Easter Sunday 9 months old

Eating the pink jellow salad and LOVING it!

yes i am one of those moms that let their kids practically roll in the food.. thats what baths are for right? Plus then you can have dinner and arts and crafts at the same time, bonus!

This baby always has a bump on his head!

10 months old always opening the cupboards and so proud that he can!

Driving the moving truck to Texas.

Big huge smiles are his trademark

he would climb up onto this and thought it was the neatest trick! Then he would try and stand on the tray... we gave it away to the neighbors after that! I didnt need any more ER trips!

11 months old. I could watch this boy sleep all day! He is so adorable and I want to scope him up and smother him with kisses!

The Art of friendship

Making friends has never been my strong point. I know many of you are thinking, what? because I am so talkative and loud and seem to be outgoing and confident. But really i am not. I am just loud :) I was the token loner kid all through my school years until College where I finally made some wonderful friends, but those same wonderful friends told me later that when they first met me they thought i was a bit.. um crazy and loud! I know. Really I do. I cant seem to help it, I have tried for 29 years now. I am crazy and loud but fun too! Cory always tells me that I am too overwhelming at first. I am really a great friend if you get to know me, but I cant seem to figure out all the rules of making friends and feel like I am about 15 years too late. I guess everyone else figured this out in junior high and high school while i was reading a book in a corner somewhere. I have found that making a girl friend is much harder than dating was. It seems more complicated and to be honest I was much more comfortable in a room full of men then I am now in relief society with all the women! Women are more complicated for me to read I find and they also will pretend to like you when really they cant stand to be near you. Which makes it really hard to know if someone wants to actually be your friend or if they are just being nice.

So now as a 29 year old stay at home mom in a new state away from all family and friends I find I am lonely and I want a friend or two. And not just the ones you say hi to at church because anyone that knows me knows that I talk to everyone at church. I want the kind of friend that you can call on a Tuesday afternoon and say hey my kids are driving me nuts today want to have a girls night out and make our husbands deal with bedtimes? But how do you get there? Its like dating all over again! Its awkward, you don't know what to say, you worry you are stepping over boundaries... You dont want to annoy them, but you want them to know you like them ( jeez do i sound like i am in the 7th grade?) I am always worried if I ask someone to hang out with me they are going to feel obligated to even if they don't have any desire to do so. And I am like a scared little 16 year old boy that doesn't want to get turned down so i never ask in the first place! Like my dear sister Thora once joked wouldn't it be great if you could just make an ad and people could respond like those dating sites but for friends

29 year old mom to 3 energetic boys who is a night person and loves to workout at the gym even though she is eternally going to be a size 10-12. seeking a friend who likes board games, talking, going to dinner without the kids, scrapbooking, going shopping so we can people watch ( and let me tell you there is some prime people watching at the midland mall!), and if you have kids that would entertain any of my kids bonus!

So what I am wondering is what do you all do in new social circles? Does anyone else have a fear of reaching out? I would love to hear what you do.