At the beginning of the year my friend told me about story time at the library. We tried it out, and it was a great fit. They sing a couple of cute action songs read a few books, and then end with a craft. The teachers name is Miss Brianna, and Porter loves her. 
She always has a cute little theme each week, and does a great job making each child feel important. Porter has loved going, and loves almost as much, having something to hang on the fridge each week next to Aimee's school work!
This is one of the things I am really going to miss about living in Village Green! There is just nothing like a hot afternoon spent outside watching my kiddos playing in the sprinklers and wading pools with all of their little friends! Lucky for us, this early warm weather has given them the chance to get in a few more fun summer days before we pack up and head to Ohio where we will have a fenced yard (if we get the house we want) and play time will have to be much more planned. It usually starts with one of the moms turning on a sprinkler or filling up a pool. Then every kid in the neighborhood runs in their house and begs to put on their swimming suit so they can join the fun. In less than 15 minutes you have something of a pool party happening at the end of Arbor Ct. I love it! 
Pratt is even getting big enough to join in the fun. At one point on this day he crawled right through a cold sprinkler. He did that stunned gasping thing, and I just sat and laughed instead of rescuing him. Call me mean, but it was pretty funny. We have stocked up on otter pops and have the swim suits ready to enjoy what is left of our last Omaha summer!
It was pretty obvious that everyone was anxious, and it only got worse once everyone got seated and things got started. The way Creighton does match day is they mix up everyone's envelope (with their future inside). Then they randomly call up each student and their family to open their letter in front of their entire class, their family and friends, and whomever else chooses to watch the podcast. This only adds to the nerves! Our kids did pretty good playing quietly until Chad's name was called to be on deck. This was about a half an hour into the readings. Up until that point I sat wringing my hands and answering frantic texts from friends and family that the pod cast feed had dropped. We gathered up the crew and walked to the stage. By this time we had both started to get a little shaky. Chad had to hand off Pratt to have a free hand to open his letter. It took him a minute because he had gotten very shaky. 
Wright State University Boonshaft Orthopedic Surgery and Reasearch Program in Dayton, Ohio! This was the six year program. Our families didn't get to see it, but we were thrilled! What followed were lots of texts and phone calls and just trying to let it all sink in. Everything Chad and our family had done to get to this point in his career had paid off! As we talked about his interview there it was interesting to remember that when he came home he just told me how good it felt there. And, that as he told me that, I felt that same goodness. It was those feelings that led us to have Dayton as one of our top picks on our rank list. For a couple of weeks we debated about our top three choices. In the end location and economics put it as number three, but we are ecstatic to know that we get to create a life for our family there as Chad continues his training!
It is always hard for me when my babies have their first birthday. It kind of symbolizes the end of them being a baby and becoming a toddler. It isn't that I don't also love them being toddlers, I just miss my babies. Pratt turned one on Sunday! I think this one was extra hard. 
Of my three kids, he has been my easiest and happiest baby. Understandably he was a little cranky when he had a couple of ear infections, and while he was cutting his first two teeth. Other than that he is a pretty relaxed kid, who is just happy to be part of the family, and explore anything he can manage to get into. It was Stake Conference on Sunday. The birthday boy spent two hours in a make shift play pen we constructed in the Relief Society room, out of the courner and some chairs, where we watched the conference. He is at that age where he is getting hard to handle during church, so this was awesome! Then we came home and had naps before we did anything about his b-day. That is the luxury of the first couple of birthdays, they don't know the day is any different. Once everyone was up, we Skyped our families and Aimee and Porter helped me make the cake they had picked out for Pratt. 
They were great helpers! After a couple of different birthday songs and Porter blowing out the candle for Pratt, we let him do the traditional cake bash. Sadly, my big (at least for our house) child was pretty dainty about it. We made him sit there for quite a while so that he could be satisfactorily messy for a picture. It was a fun day, even if it was bitter/sweet.
He loves to push chairs and my flour buckets around like they are walkers. He has even been clever about it and has figured out how to push and even pull them from diffrent angles to change his course. Sadly, he even managed to push a chair and himself down the stairs a couple of weeks ago! I nearly had a heart attack when it happened, but after a very quick love he was fine and wanted to get put back down so he could do his own thing. He loves to follow Aimee and Porter up and down the stairs (which he figured out himself a couple of months ago), and he loves to eat! Pratt always laughs when I come to get him out of his crib and has been an absolute joy in our family. I adore this little guy!
Thank you Target for an hour of free fun things to do together! Aimee went to a birthday party that afternoon, so me and my boys went to the Married 2 Medicine family bowling day. Aimee is at an age where she often has parties, primary or school things happening. Being able to take Porter for a fun afternoon thing while Aimee partied was great. There were no bumpers or ball slides, so I think he ended up with a score of about 18. We made Chinese for dinner, and had a late bedtime. Maybe not a big news day, but it was one that at the end, Chad and I were feeling pretty blessed.
We woke up Saturday morning to about eight inches of heavy, wet snow. When I went to get Aimee and Porter that morning, you would have thought it was Christmas. They were so excited to finally get to put their boots to work playing. It took a good twenty-five minutes to get everybody ready to go outside. Partly because they were so excited, and partly because some of our winter clothes were a little difficult to track down since putting them away last winter. 
I knew Pratt wouldn't last two minutes outside, so I stayed inside. I was pretty bummed though. Although I am well known for my dislike of being cold, I have some great memories of playing in the snow, and am willing to bundle up for the sake of fun. Plus, Chad didn't have any commitments this Saturday, and I didn't want him to miss this golden opportunity. Instead, I got got the hot chocolate ready. It was a good thing too, because Porter only lasted about ten minutes, and that was at least five minutes longer than he wanted to be outside.
Aimee lasted a lot longer, and helped her dad get a good start on our big snowman and completed a small snow family on our porch swing. 
With the snow still falling though, everyone took a break. By the time I got back from a thing I had that morning, it was time for lunch and naps. With both of the boys sleeping, and the snow finally stopping (totalling 10-12 inches) Aimee, Chad and I all headed out for round two. Aimee and I rolled a ball for our snow man that we had to get a neighbors help to get it stacked on the existing ball. Our neighbors four doors down had built a pretty good snowman, and Chad refused to be out done. By that time Aimee was ready for something else though. While Chad "selflessly" continued working on our snowman, the girls headed over to the hill at the top of the playground to do some sledding. I got my workout in by sledding down, and pulling Aimee on the sled up the back up the hill a good twenty times. I admit I tired out of that one before she did. We made snow angels, went for a jog, and by jog I mean me jogging in snow clothes while pulling Aimee on a sled (and yes I did sing the Rocky theme song while I jogged), and checked the snowman progress. We went back for round two of sledding and continued until I knew I better get in the house before the boys woke up. Chad spent another hour or so packing snow, and eventually carving a snowman. 
He ended up being about eight feet tall and four feet wide. This picture was taken a couple of days later, but still almost shows how big he was. I think he will definitely be the last snowman standing. It was a fun day, but I think it was more fun for me and Chad than the kiddos. We decided that all of our best snow memories came when we were much older. Maybe in a few years these kinds of days will be a little more exciting to them.
I had been dreading it for a long time. I was even a tiny bit glad that the possibility of knee surgery would delay the inevitable. As it turned out however, I wasn't that lucky. So I prepared for the worst. I stocked up on Christmas clearance candy and hoped for the best. Day one we basically spent in the bathroom with Porter wearing just a shirt and under roo's. We watched movies on my laptop, and ate chips and juice (salt to initiate thirst, and juice to cause the need to, well, pee). We had some successes and some failures, but overall it was a pretty good day. It had to be because Porter looked so darn cute in his little man underwear! 
Day two we branched out to the main floor. It was one of those days that I was so grateful to have wood floors. Actually it wasn't that bad. Again there were some wins and loses, but ultimately there was big progress. In fact, Porter did a little too well. He would tell me he needed to go to the bathroom, go about 5 drops and want his treat. The little trickster. Well, I thought he was a trickster, but I can admit when I am wrong (sometimes). He just was learning bladder control. Once we established that to have a "big pee" and get a big treat (a Hershey's kiss instead of just an M&M) you had to have a stream with pressure, there was joy in the Williams house hold! It took a few more days to get number two under control with much more limited opportunities. But in the end, it was a victory. I had heard that little boys were much harder. 
With the exception of getting him to sit and aim I disagree. It was a lot easier than I had expected, and I am glad to be done! 