8 Months

Here we are again, at another monthly milestone. Our little man is 8 months old! Here's a little bit about Porter right now:

• no teeth yet
• not crawling, but can get on his tummy and push himself backwards and roll around to get to wherever he wants to go
• takes at least 3 naps a day
• had his first taste of table food--a graham cracker. I gave it to him thinking it would occupy him for a while. He devoured it pretty quickly and went on to eat three more pieces. I don't even have to crumble the crackers up, he just sucks on them until they are soggy enough for him to eat. I kid you not, it probably takes him a minute or less to eat one stick that I've broken off. 
• going along with the above one, Porter would be happy if he just sat in his high chair and was presented with food all day long. I swear this kid is always hungry. If he sees one of us eating and he doesn't have anything to munch on, he gets really mad!
• And because he eats SO much, I have decided to start making my own baby food. After a couple batches, I realized it's not hard at all and I have been getting ripped off at the grocery store. I think the only thing that will take a little getting used to is pulling things out of the freezer for the week. I am used to just being able to open a jar of food from the cupboard, and Porter is going to have to learn some patience.
• He is finally sleeping in until 5-5:30am and then going back to sleep until 7, which is a great change from 3-4am. Hopefully soon he will give up the 5/5:50am feeding, but with how hungry he always is, I doubt it :) I have been tempted to try and wean Porter, but this early morning feeding is my #1 reason to hold out. I am way too lazy at 5am to make a bottle. 
• is wearing 6/9 and some 6/12 month clothes
• hates to have his face wiped off (and is not afraid to let you know it!)
• can say "mama"--I know it's just the baby babble, but I still love it and pretend he is talking to me :)
• We are trying to get him to wave, but whenever I wave, Porter just laughs and thinks it's hilarious
• Porter is in for it because I think he has the bossiest big sister ever! Brooke is a little mom to Porter and I often have to remind her that I am actually the real mom. A common saying at our house is "Mom, you're the boss of everyone, and I'm the boss of Porter."

 We are trying to get Brooke out of the habit of her weird smiles and to just smile normal.

I love the kids' expressions as they listen to Blake talk to them.

Love you my little munchkins! And Porter, you can stop growing up so quickly anytime now!

My Girl

Oh, Brooke! What words can I use to describe you right now? Funny, spirited, bossy, stubborn, fiesty, imaginative, creative, dramatic, smart, helper, curious

A lot of people say that age 3 is worse than 2, and Blake and I have definitely found that to be true! But we have also heard that 4 is a great age where kids really start to behave themselves. We are only 2 months away from 4 and while I am in awe over how much Brooke has grown up and changed since turning 3, we are still just as mystified as ever on how to raise our toddler. Consider this:

• Brooke knows not to throw sand outside the sandbox in our backyard. But as soon as a friend comes over, there they are tossing sand out of the box like they are digging for burried treasure.
• She knows not to jump on furniture. However she went to a friend's house the other day and was overheard trying to persuade her friend to jump on the beds. When he said" no, that's against the rules at our house" (good boy!) she turned her tactics on the 2 year old sister and the two of them were found jumping on the bed. 
• She knows when I am distracted. If Brooke wants to be sneaky and try to bring food downstairs to the TV room (which is not allowed in our house) she will say to me, "mom, go upstairs for a minute" or "go get on the ipad"
• She will not take no for an answer. If we say no to something, she will immediately start whining and pouting and saying, "but I want to" over and over. 
• and while the tantrums have gotten far less, we are STILL working on using our words and asking for help instead of just screaming and stomping her feet when she is frustrated or mad. 

Yes, we use time out. Yes she gets sent to bed early without stories, yes she gets privileges taken away like being able to have a friend over or watch a movie. She hasn't been to Mcdonalds in a LONG time since she threw a MAJOR tantrum over her and I having to share a seat because it was a very busy day in the play area.

After feeling particularly frustrated, Blake and I went to our ward conference and listened with open ears to the speakers. They spoke on the simple truths that will help us with raising our children. These are things that get spoken of often and sometimes, I think, get looked over because we hear these reminders so often. Family prayer, Family Home Evening, Family Scripture Study. We say a family prayer each night, and Blake and I read scriptures. We hadn't even thought of including Brooke. Recently, we have made the change and I have been so impressed that Brooke actually likes reading the scriptures. She asks to read them now, and even though she may not understand all the words, she knows they are special and sacred. We are also trying to be better with Family Home Evenings. We have good intentions, but usually they don't last very long. Last Monday night we were invited over to our friend's house for FHE. They have 3 young children. The dad prepared a simple lesson and showed a short video from LDS.org. Then the kids colored a page and we had treats. It was so simple, yet very effective. Blake and I left feeling like we can do this! I also felt renewed as I listened to President Uchtdorf's talk during the Saturday morning session of General Conference. "Don't be like the boy who dipped his toe in the water and claimed he went swimmin!" I need to put my good intentions into action! 

I know these seemingly simple things will help with Brooke. I also know that raising children is hard no matter what stage you are in--each stage comes with different challenges, right? 

A few weeks ago, my mother-in-law's ward put on a mother/daughter party and she invited Brooke and I to go with her. The theme was "Vintage Garden Party" It was set up like a tea party and the guests were given the option to wear fancy hats like you would wear to a tea party. We didn't have any of those, but Honey found a hat for Brooke to wear and she was thrilled.

There were lots of mother/daughter combinations--from adult moms with their adult daughters, to young moms with babies and todders. It was wonderful to see how a mother/daughter relationship matures and changes over time. It was also fun to do something special together.

Pre-School Round-Up

Working part time has been tricky so far. I feel like I spend a lot of time running back and forth between my school in town and home, which is on the opposite side. Brooke was in a morning pre-school class that she attended with my sitter H. who also runs a preschool in her home. It was a great set-up and Brooke attended pre-school there last year and loved it. A few weeks ago, however, H. told me that she would no longer be able to watch any babies under 1. This caused me a lot of stress until I found L. my new sitter. She is a friend who was just interested in watching a few kids to make some extra money. L. has a child that is exactly Brooke's age as well as a younger child about a year older than Porter.  We have been going to L's for 2 week now and so far, so good. Both kids have really adjusted well to their new sitter. Luckily, H. had an afternoon pre-school class that I was able to switch Brooke into. Un-luckily, I did that for a week and realized it was not working. It was way too much running back and forth from my school to the sitters to pick up the kids, home and lunch for the kids, 45 minutes later we we were back in the car driving back into town for Brooke's preschool. Back home for 2 hours so Porter could nap. Wake up Porter from his nap and head back into town to pick up Brooke. NOT FUN! And Brooke still naps, so 3 days a week she wasn't napping and super cranky by the end of the night. As much as I love H. and her preschool, I had to call it quits for the sake of my sanity. I am determined, though, to keep up on Brooke's skills. I pinned a ton of preschool ideas on pinterest and just recently waded through all the websites to find the best ones. I thought maybe some of you might like these, so here they are:

Daily Preschool Learning Notebook: it's 80 pages but you put the pages in protectors (or laminate) and use them over and over. You talk about the months, days of the week, numbers, shapes, letters, and the weather everyday.

Over The Big Moon preschool packs. The packs are pretty much the same skills over and over (following lines, matching pictures, puzzles, cutting practice, beginning sounds, numbers), but with different picture themes. I printed the autumn fairy, halloween, thanksgiving, and winter kits to get us through the end of the year. It is definitely worth to read the "how to use these packets" article. She gives great tips on how to store them so they can be used over and over.  In January, I plan to jump over to Homeschool Creations and print some of her themed units.

My goal is to work on skills for a little each day, do a letter of the week craft, read a book to go along with that letter, read a book that teaches character traits, and play some games like matching pictures, candyland, or some of the games I have on my ipad. I think I also want to incorporate Starfall into it a little each day. I still feel very unorganized but am really motivated to do this and just need to jump in. Not only will it help Brooke's skills, but I think the mommy/daughter time will be good. I am already gone half the day, she doesn't need to be gone for 2 more hours in the afternoon.

My friend gave me this tip when trying to teach your own children: She said when she taught her daughter piano lessons, she would make her daughter go out the back door and around to the front door and ring the doorbell. My friend would answer the door as "the teacher" not mom. She would invite her daughter inside and even ask about her questions about her family. I thought this was so cute and am going to try this with Brooke. I will let you know how it goes!

Sunday Drive



Sunday after church, we decided to take a drive up into the mountains and see if the leaves had started changing colors. We packed some snacks, I packed a book (that never got read because the kids were too needy), and stopped along a stream for the afternoon.

 

The leaves were beautiful, and the air just cool enough for a jacket. I had fun taking pictures of the kids and Brooke and Blake had fun exploring. I set up our little baby tent for Porter (can you believe we set this up for Brooke in this exact same spot? Man, that seems like yesterday). It wasn't too long before both kids were in the tent laughing together. Then Porter decided he had enough of the tent and wanted me to hold him the rest of the time. So much for my book...sigh.

Confessions of a Wannabe Runner

I have been a wannbe runner since middle school. Sadly, my first experience with competitive running was coming in dead last at my 8th grade middle school track meet. That kind of dampered my spirit and I didn't really try again until high school. Throughout high school I attempted to run track (then quit) then joined the team again until I dropped a 100lb weight on my foot my junior year and that put the kabosh on running for a while. The thing is, while I liked the idea of running, I really didn't enjoy actually running. What's to love? It's hard, you're sweaty, and endurance does not come easily to me, so building miles was REALLY hard. After I got married, I pretty much stopped running altogether. 

Then when we bought our first house, I met my good friend R. who wanted to get back into running and asked if I would run with her early in the morning before her husband left for work. I agreed and felt really proud of myself when I was able to run 2 miles without feeling like I was going to pass out. In 2007, Blake's family  decided to run a half marathon in honor of Blake's brother who had recently passed away. Motivated and not wanting to embarrass myself too badly on the course, I set out to run more than 2 miles. I'm not going to lie: IT WAS HARD! I wanted to give up so many times, but knowing that I had committed to this race was a great motivator. When I crossed the finish line at the end of 13.1 miles I can honestly say I had NEVER been more proud of myself than I was at that moment. I have always been a nerd, so getting good grades and even graduating from college was just something I always knew I would do. But running 13 miles just for the heck of it?! I never dreamed I would do that. 

I pretty much stopped running that day in April of 2008. I knew I was pregnant with Brooke before the race, and used that as my excuse to just stop. After she was born, I didn't really get back into running. It was too hard to run with a baby, I HATED running with her in a jogging stroller, and Blake's weird work schedule made it difficult to find time to fit it in. 

Fast forward to Sept. 2011. I was pregnant with Porter and watched Blake and my mother-in-law finish the half marathon our town puts on. I felt those familiar feelings creep up inside me. I told myself, "I am going to do this next year" Little did I know how hard it would be to start training for a race again after taking the last 4 years off from running and also recovering from having a baby. YIKES! I was slow to start, slow to build my miles, and anytime Blake would say, "Don't go run tonight, just stay home with us." I would say OK! I had to run in the evenings so Blake could watch the kids. He was a champ at giving baths and putting them to bed. Several times Blake came to look for me in the car when it started to rain or when it got too dark outside and I was still running. He would drive patiently behind me with the hazards on so I could finish. There is NO WAY I could have trained for this race without Blake's support. On my last run before the race, I decided to run 2 miles. On the way home I ran past the cemetery where I had started my training in July. I had tears in my eyes as I decided to a couple laps around the cemetery. Just a few months ago, it was a struggle for me to run just 3 laps around. Now, I was running 10 miles and still feeling good. When I rounded the last corner of the cemetery, I saw a purple blob running towards me. It took me a minute to realize it was Brooke and Blake was pushing Porter in the stroller behind her. They came out to support me on my last run before the big day and it meant the world to me.

 

Finally, after all that preparing, it was race day!Blake, the kids, my mom and in-laws were so great to stop at various points along the race course to cheer me on.

If you notice in most of the pictures of me running, there is a guy in a yellow shirt and a girl in purple. They were right on my heels almost the whole way. My goal was to never let them pass me and they didn't!

Still smiling at mile 11...

I finished 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 27 minutes (I am not sure about my official time and like to think that maybe it was really 26 minutes)

 

My mom said when I would run by, Porter would get this look on his face like, "What?! You're not going to stop and hold me?" He was pretty happy to see me.

And this is the morning after result: a bruised and very sore big toe. I really hope the nail doesn't fall off.

While I think I am done with my 10 milers for now, I still hope to keep running and maybe even try to beat my time at next year's race :)

Ketchup with my Thoughts

I have had so many thoughts recently that I have wanted to write them. Some of them are random, but some I actuall want to record in our family journal. 

I have been thinking about socks lately. Both Brooke and Porter needed new socks for fall. While at the store I was wishing I had someone to talk to about the socks I saw:

• Why would socks for 0-6mo need the rubber grippers on the bottom? Do you know any 0-6 month olds that can walk?
• Porter now needs a bigger socks, and I was confused as to why the next size up in most brands is 6-18mo--doesn't that seem like an awfully big leap to you? I was happy when I found that Hanes makes a 6-12 mo size.
• And Brooke, who usually hates socks, was happy when I bought her some fun pink, striped, polka dotted, flowery socks (they are sized 3-5 years...another big leap if you ask me).

I took Brooke one last time to the Splash Park over Labor Day weekend. We met some friends there and had the whole place to ourselves, it was awesome.

 Brooke and her friend, K. They are 9 months apart. K. planted a kiss on Brooke when she was 18mo. Can't wait to tease them about that when they are older ;)

Blake and Brooke reading before bed..

 Brooke started preschool. This is her second year since H. started in her preschool last year, even though she was technically too young.

 Porter doing yoga poses in his sleep...

 "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home! Glad as I can Be..." Blake is a good sport, he's getting his hair pulled by Porter and Brooke is jumping on his back, trying to ride him like a horse

I can't believe September has come and is almost gone. I am already a month into teaching again. I LOVE teaching half day. It's so nice to only teach 3 classes and then be home with the kids the rest of the day. The down side is paying for childcare on only half the salary I am used to. What a headache! I feel like I am getting close to the end of my teaching days, which will be sad because I do really love it so much. But, at some point, I am going to have to choose what is going to best for our family and I know that is me being in the home.

As Blake and I have gone through some recent struggles, I am so thankful for the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know our struggles are small compared to others I know, but no matter how small or big, I know Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers. This last little bit, I can honestly say that Blake and I have grown closer together and have really tried to focus on what's important: the Gospel, each other, our children, and living simply. We are excited for the change in seasons, and the focus on Christ the end of the year brings.

Little Man's newest tricks

Time slow down! As each monthly milestone passes, I am getting sadder and sadder that my baby is getting bigger and older. I don't want his first birthday to come! I am enjoying my smiley, chubby baby so much. He is now 7 months (I literally can't believe it). I am too lazy to make collages of all these pics, but had to include them all on the 'ol blog.

 

Blake's good friend Jason, and fellow hunting buddy, and his wife picked this outfit out for Porter. Blake has been itching for Porter to get big enough to wear it. Last week while I was working and Blake was watching the kids, he didn't hesitate to pull it out and try it on. I must admit, Porter looks adorable in his hunting outfit:

 Gotta love the bum flap :)

 At 7 months Porter is eating solids for 3 meals a day and is loving it. He has also mastered sitting up. He is still a little wobbly and we have to watch to make sure he doesn't suddenly take a head-dive into something hard. He is loving sitting and up and playing and watching. He will cry if a toy or something he wants is out of reach or if we take away something that he was playing with. He is still my early to bed baby (usually around 7pm) and early riser (around 5:00-5:30 to eat, then sleeps until 7-ish). He also takes about 3 naps during the day--which is nice and frustrating at the same time. Porter seems to be taking after his sister on the tiny feet department, which is funny after the fuss that was made when he was born and how long they were. He still fits onto his 3-6 month clothes and his church pants are actually 0-3 months (but i blame that on weird sizing)On Sunday Blake was trying to teach Porter how to crawl and I yelled, STOP IT! I am not ready for that yet. I can already tell that once Porter gets moving he will be on the go all the time. He is already so curious about everything and reaches and grabs everything he can get his chubby hands on! We will have to do some MAJOR baby-proofing.

 This is what happens when the camera cord got too close...

 

 I also have to add that his is Porter's first pair of jeans he's worn. Doesn't he look like such a big boy?

 Yummy grass...

Brooke and Porter got into their first "fight" the other day. Brooke had a paper that was ner nap (map) and Porter got ahold of it and put it in his mouth and ruined it. Brooke was mad, but then came up to Porter and said, "I'm sorry, bud, for getting mad" and gave him a kiss and said, "Mom, now we are friends again! I'm not mad anymore!"

Porter in real time: