summer ends

We were lucky enough to get a whole month of summer break this year. While that may not seem like a lot to many, it could have been worse. His boards were the first day which meant while others were still taking the test, we were in Idaho spending time with our extended families. Since returning we have been able to spend a lot of time as a family. Last year Chad worked all summer, plus we had a new baby so we didn't get this kind of time together. In the last two weeks we have done almost everything together. We have done the regular stuff like go grocery shopping, go to church, craigslist (yes the fast is over, and he is going full force), and clean (but the truth is Chad has done most of the housework. He said that this is his way of giving me a break too. I am pretty much the luckiest girl ever!) We have also done a lot of really fun things like go to Chuck E. Cheese, the Children's Museum, and of course, the Zoo. Today we went there to have a picnic. On our way to the playground\picnic tables we stopped at one of our favorite exhibits, the Budgie house. Porter did really good feeding them for such a little tike. Aimee loved it as much as ever. There's just nothing like a giant cage full of trapped birds to keep a couple of kiddos entertained! Tomorrow we jump right back into the grind. I have no idea what the next school year will be like. I love schedules and predictability. It will have neither, but we are still excited!

vacation

We made it! While we had been looking forward to our trip back to the gem state, we had been dreading the driving. We thought we would be brilliant parents and start in the afternoon. The kids would then take their nap in the car and then later also fall asleep for the night while we drove the 1000 miles to cross Nebraska and Wyoming. Well, it was all good in theory. It took us 19 hours to get there. Chad made a small error that took us toward Denver rather than Pocatello. It reminds me of that talk by Elder Uchtdorf where a flight plan was off by two degrees and it ended up putting the plane way off it's destination. It also crashed into a mountain, but we faired slightly better than that. The kids did great while they were awake, but had trouble every time we stopped for gas, or to switch drivers. Chad could only stay awake while I was awake, and I could only drive for an hour or so while he slept before I started to get sleepy. It was a very long drive! We found that going by day not only saved us five hours, but also many miles and a lot of stress.

While we were home we had a lot of fun with both of our families! Sadly, I didn't take as many pictures as I should ha[Image]ve, but i did manage to catch a few. One of the best things about the trip was that Porter turned one! He is such a little squirt it is hard to believe. We had a birthday song and cake with both families, and I don't think Porter minded making a tasty mess twice! In fact he had a great trip all around. Since the tubes, he has been the happiest kid ever! He went from whiny and clingy to smiley and adventurous! Just today he went back to the ENT to have everything checked and for the first time in 6 months everything looks great! It just breaks my heart that he felt so crumby for so long.

Despite the weather, which was much cooler than it is here, we had a great time. We had a lot of family dinners, rode hourses, bowled, played at a gymnastics[Image] gym, went to the lake, played with cousins, and a lot of other great activities. Aimee loved all of the attention she got from so many people, especially from her aunts. She couldn't get enough of the horses, and Porter loved having some great baby friendly dogs he could torment all day long. We feel so lucky that we are able to make it home a couple of times a year to spend time with the people we love the most!

tubes

It is a done deal. After the visit with the ENT on Tuesday, we decided to wait a month, check again, and then decide if we wanted to go through with tubes in Porters ears. I called Chad to give him the skinny on the visit. While he was telling me why he thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and do it, I saw Porter rub at his ear and start to whine. After the antibiotic shots I didn't want to do anything unnecessary without giving it a chance to do it's thing. But, it had been a week and he was still hurting. He had been hurting for about four months strait. I had also learned that his hearing was only at 75% due to fluid in his ear. The fluid was the real culprit. It was the reason the ear infection could never properly heal. As luck would have it we were able to fill a cancellation spot for today. Porter had a pre-surgery physical yesterday afternoon. It was all pretty quick.

We had to be at the hospital at 8:00 a.m. Man wasn't allowed to eat anything before the surgery. This was really the hardest part of the morning. I checked Porter in and was escorted to a small hospital room with a small hospital bed. His nurse blew bubbles and played peek-a-boo while gathering his vitals, and left me to change him into Loony Toons hospital jamies. The surgery wasn't scheduled until 9:30, so to distract Porter from his growling tummy we were shown a play room stocked with all kinds of great toys. While we played several staff members introduced themselves, explained their role, and double checked to see if I had questions. During all of this each raved at what a hansom little man I had! At about 9:00 we were asked to go back to our room where Porter was given a dose of Versed (also used in conscious sedation in dentistry) to help him get a little dopey, and not be upset when they took him away. It worked like a charm!

I watched the history channel, enjoyed a few snacks in the parents lounge, and called Chad. About twenty minutes later, Dr. Denman, the ENT, came to report that all had gone perfectly. The only catch was that he didn't know if the nurses would be able to stop oogling and give him back to me. It was only about 15 minutes later that Porter was wheeled in with his own blanket covering him, some apple juice and a new teddy bear. He was still very groggy. I was able to nurse him (which was much needed by both Porter and me) and let him ease back into things. We were home by 11:00, and able to go about the rest of our day as normal. None would be the wiser that he had been in the hospital today. It had all gone over without a hitch. I know that Heavenly Father took good came of him today!



Porter sporting his sweet hospital issued jamies.









In the playroom with all sorts of great new toys.









Enjoying being catered to by everyone while coming out of anesthesia.

aqua babies

The last several days have been hot! This morning I went running at 6:00. It was 75 degrees and very humid. Every time Aimee goes outside to play, she comes in with a bright red face. While I know many of my friends and neighbors are not fond of the weather, I really don't mind, and neither do the kiddos. In fact it has been fun to start to enjoy some extra outside activities that we have been excited for. I knew that Aimee would be all over the swimming pools and the sprinklers, and I was not disappointed. In fact, this afternoon Aim had an extra long nap, and I knew she would be cranky when I went to wake her up. Luckily I was able to silence it immediately by telling her she could put on her swimmy suit and go outside. I was however, uncertain that Porter would want to be forced to tag along for these activities. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that he shares Aimee's affinity for water. Turns out he was actually the last kid to ditch the sprinklers, and that was only because I had to take the kiddos inside to finish dinner for the missionaries.

tidbits

My last post may have been just a tad misleading. Even with some of the bummer bit of life that are going on, we have really had a great week. Here are a few pics of our most recent happenings. Even with all of the studying that Chad has been doing lately, he still manages to balance things. Aimee's new trick in the morning to prolong Daddy from leaving is to bring him a book and ask him to read it to her. Can you say "sucka!" Aimee can!

One of Aimee and Porter's new favorite things to do during lunch time is to throw the end of the the bread loaf out the back door and watch the birds and squirrels eat them.







Porter has become an eater. I can give Aimee and Porter both a half of a PB&J for lunch and Porter is done before Aimee is even half way through. Also, this is just such a cute picture of is maturing smile. He has his Daddy's teeth!






This must be a right of passage for a little girl. I have a picture of my niece doing the same thing. Aimee loves to get dressed with me in the mornings. She helps me put on my make-up and the whole nine yards. It is fun to have a little girl and see her wanting to be a big girl like her Mommy!







The summer heat is starting to hit Omaha! Our neighbors busted out the sprinklers. This is at least a bi-weekly event all summer long. It will be fun to see Porter get into the action with his ever improving mobility!

it's chronic

You can't tell from the picture but we love our Pediatrician, Dr. Loucks! I have mentioned that we have frequented her office before. We have been in several times since the first part of February for Porter with ear infections. We were in just two weeks ago for this. We just went through our forth regimen of antibiotics and then went in yesterday for a follow up before we head off to Idaho. Well, the little man still has it! It breaks my heart to see Porter pull at his ears and cry from pain, so Dr. Loucks broke out the big guns. Porter had an injectable antibiotic given. It is a big dose so it has to be spit up into both legs. Because it is thick they have to use a fairly large gauge needle that left little black bruises on his thighs. It is also a three part deal. We will go in again tomorrow and Monday to repeat the shot process. Just to be in the clear after that we were referred to a pediatric ENT doc to check things out. If the shots don't work we will have to talk about tubes in Porters ears. We are keeping our fingers crossed!

fluke or fate?

The other night while we were enjoying our favorite family time (tubby time) I noticed Porter sitting at the front of the tub grunting. Wanting to avoid another night of cleaning poop out of the tub I went into action and quickly set him on Aimee's potty chair on the toilet. Having been interrupted from doing his business, he just looked at me. I started to grunt and do a little fake straining. Porter has some pretty good mimicking skills and followed suit. Just a few seconds later we heard a little plop, plop! Poop can be pretty exciting when it is in the right place. The next day just before I nap time I was taking Aimee to the potty. I decided that since we were already there we might as well give it a go. A little fake grunt and strain from mom again produced a little plop, plop! I was pretty excited at this point and did it again after nap time, and received the same result. Twice I tried on Sunday and I failed. I tried again this morning and again I failed. When nap time rolled around, and Aimee had been taken care of, I decided to give it one more try. Grunt, strain equalled not only a plop, plop, but also a trickle! When Chad was doing the pediatric section in school he learned that the nerves that give the sensation of needing to go, and allow for control of that need do not finish developing until a child is something like 18-24 months old, and often longer in boys. His professors also talked about how psychologically difficult it can be on a child to try to potty train them when they don't have the physiological ability yet. They said doing so often yields either the parents becoming "potty trained" for the child, or they become very frustrated. I largely agree with this. However, I figure that at this point, since I already have to help Aimee (to avoid the mess she leaves when left to wipe herself) I might as well save a diaper. Who knows, maybe I have a prodigy on my hands!