Tuesday, April 19, 2011

easter


Our Easter this year was awesome! As much as it hurts my heart that my kiddos are getting so big, it comes with a lot of fun action. We started with the annual egg coloring the FHE before the big day. Chad and I did all of the dying. We even tried a new trick with oil in the water to make them speckled. It was pretty cool. But, once again we busted out the acrylic paint and brushes, since it is something that Aimee and Porter can do, which meant that very little of the dye job was visible. Every year we sort of have a goal egg. Last year it had the score Chad was shooting for on his step one boards. This year it has the name of the residency we are hoping for most at this point: Banner Ortho (Banner Good Samaritan Orthopedic Residency). Later in the week I took the kids to the mall to meet the Easter Bunny. Strangely enough, Aimee made Porter go get her prize from him. Once they both knew who and what he was, Chad and and I would try to get them excited by saying that he would come to our house and hide our eggs. To this Porter would say, "get him. Tie him up!"





Saturday was kind of cold. It was a bummer because that is the day of the annual Village Green egg hunt. Aimee and Porter were in two separate age divisions so Chad and I split up. Once they finally yelled go it was a swarm of mini people. As outgoing as Aimee is, she gets intimidated in a busy crowd. With that said, she didn't do quite as well as Porter in how many eggs she collected. Plus, her area was empty in about a minute flat. That was fine though because that meant we could go watch Porter. Since his group was much slower, it was lots more fun to see all of these little toddlers managing to find, pick up, and put their eggs in their baskets! It worked out great though, because we just combined all of their candy. Plus, Aimee got a second chance at her first Primary activity later that afternoon! Chad also did a fantastic job before the VG hunt and when we colored eggs explaining what eggs had to do with Easter.


Sunday we started the day with a French toad in the hole for breakfast before getting all dressed up in new Easter clothes. I have had these little outfits hanging in the closet for over a year now. Porters clothes were size 2. Right now he is wearing mostly 12 month clothes, but I decided to try them on him anyway. As it turns out the pants were a little too big, but the shirt and vest were too small. I think they must have been mislabeled. Chad even cut up an old tie that matched the vest and tied it for him. Then he pinned his pants to his shirt so he could wear the outfit even with the size issues. He looked like he was wearing a little zuit suit, and it was adorable! Aimee fit perfectly in her dress, and of course looked beautiful! While we didn't catch and tie up the Easter Bunny, the kids did go find all of our hard boiled eggs that he hid after naps. That hunt last a lot longer since Chad re hides the eggs until they start to slow down.

It was a lot of fun to enjoy the festivities of the holiday, but for me the highlight of the day was Sacrament meeting. There was beautiful music and amazing talks, and of course the sacrament its self. I was so grateful for the sweet Spirit that was there, and the opportunity to remember my Savior and all that is possible through him. Truly, we are blessed!

tidbits

This first picture happens pretty often. As Chad heads out the door each morning he grabs his stethoscope. Then, as a way to delay his departure, Aimee tells him that she needs to listen to his heart. Of course then Porter needs in on the action.


This picture of Pratt in the doll stroller had to be taken since this happened a lot with Porter. Porter does most of the pushing of it now, and since he isn't as interested in playing house, Pratt has only had one ride. Lucky!







This last picture is Aimee and Porter "having dinner" before church the other week. Funny story: My neighbor had her little baby boy just two weeks before Pratt. While her mom was in town helping out she gave the new baby a tiny little argyle sweater vest for church. Her little girl, who is two got concerned and told her mom that the sweater was Porters. I thought it was so funny that such a little person associated argyle sweaters with Porter!

Monday, April 18, 2011

gardening


For this time of year, last weekend was a scorcher here! Chad had originally planned to spend the entire day studying, but couldn't resist a little time out in his garden. Knowing how busy he would be for the next two weeks, he decided to include Aimee and Porter in the project so he could spend some time with them. It was semi-successful. They both made it through round one. By round two, Porter managed to stick with it long enough for me to get a little video, but Aimee had lost all interest. She did, however, enjoy the frog that Chad caught while working in the dirt. Honestly as a kid I hated when my dad forced us all to go help plant the garden, and then followed up by making us weed. Yard work just isn't the out to me that is is to Chad. Either way, I love how he brought the kiddos in on it. Those two adore their daddy, and Chad reciprocates that adoration. He is so in love with his family! I feel so blessed to have such a handsome husband who works so hard to make his family #1, especially when it would be so easy to put us on the back burner. I love this time in our life and sometimes find myself dreading moving on to the next phase. How could life possibly be as wonderful as it is now!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

six weeks














Yesterday Pratt was officially six weeks old! It is amazing to me how those nine months that you carry your baby drag, but then time seems to just run away once they are here. These pictures are of Pratt when he was just eight days old. I had a hard time narrowing it down to just six pictures to post! He has already changed so much. In fact, the last time he was weighed was a week ago, and he was up to eight and a half pounds, and now has a small double chin! While that weight may not seem like much to some people, it is a record for us! We tend to grow very small people. That means he has put on 2 pounds since coming home from the hospital! Part of this may be due to all of the pumping I have had to do to keep him fed, since nursing him has been quite a challenge. With that one exception in mind, he has been an absolute joy! My mom used to tell me how I was her easiest baby. Well, so far, Pratt is definitely mine! If he is full and clean he is pretty much a happy little guy. He has almost just slipped right into our family, like he was always here. We love this little guy so much, and his sweet, patient little spirit has been such a blessing to us!

Saturday, April 9, 2011

blog worthy







Every once in a while when something funny or extra sweet happens Chad will tell me that it is "blog worthy." To be honest I usually forget, and the event goes un-blogged. Chad followed up this time, however, and here I am posting a pretty cute Aimee funny.

The other night we were having tubby time. Aimee and Porter were just getting to the point that we were ready to get them out when Aimee said, "Mom, somebody peed in the water!" It just so happens that I know my daughter well enough to know that even though she said it in a way to accuse Porter, I was suspicious. I came back with, "was that somebody you?" She very meekly said, "yeah." The tun was drained and refilled, and bedtime was successfully delayed by an extra 10 minutes.


As for the photos, I think the only one that warrants an explanation is the one with frozen peas on Porters ankle. He was getting out of his high chair and took a spill. The crying lasted longer than usual, and he refused to put any weight on it for the rest of the night. Since Porter isn't a good enough pretender to pull off a limp we figured this one was for real. I guess the Ibuprofen and ice worked because he was back to running after Aimee the next morning!

Saturday, April 2, 2011

slowed down

Before Pratt was born my calendar was full! I had things I wanted to be sure got done before one more little body was added to the loading and unloading in van. After March 4th I pretty much left my calendar wide open. My recovery with Aimee and Porter were very different, and I wanted to leave room for that uncertainty. In some ways it has been hard not having things to keep the kiddos and myself busy. Chad doesn't call me Bullet (as in a bulleted list) Girl for nothing. There have also been lots of yuckies going around, and we have been trying to not bring them all home. On the other hand, it has been nice to not feel guilty about wearing my PJ pants after I get out of the shower at least five days a week! It has also made for some nice time to just enjoy working into our new family dynamic. These are some of the pics from the last two weeks of us just taking it one day at a time. Porter has actually started taking an interest in Pratt. He now asks to hold his baby, and even gives him little kisses. Aimee is still very interested in him as well. She is my awesome big helper. She gets me diapers and wipes, throws away the dirty ones, holds Pratt as often as I will let her, and is great to "bink" him when he cries. She is the one that shared her baby with him while he was swinging, and was thrilled when I let her help feed him a bottle. I also included a picture of her fashion sense she must have inherited from her dad. The pic of her on the couch was the outfit she came up with after church last week. Life is good,and we are enjoying every minute!