Memorial Day

This Memorial Day was very busy, I had hair cuts this morning, we clean out the car, and we had a ward BBQ. We picked up a non active family to go to the party with us. Chris had to drop me off first and take the car seats out and then go and get them so we were a little behind schedule. I am was glad they could come. It was loads of fun for the little ones...they had a pinata with lots of candy in it. I did not get a photo of Trey hitting it because I was tending to Porter but he sure had fun swinging at it. He ate way to much candy. Porter took a slight nap therefore was cranky by the end of the BBQ. I dressed the boys up for Memorial day. I put Porter in his army outfit and Trey in his red, white, and blue shirt in support of the fallen soldiers. Chris and I just wore blue and white. This made for some cute family photos even though one of us is not ready in all the shots...go figure. After the ward BBQ we came home and me and the boys took a well needed nap. Chris had to help a member family move so he did not get his deserved nap today..boo! I love him and his willingness to serve. I am so glad they did not have school so we could spend some time as a family together.

On a somber note I did take time to think about the real meaning of Memorial Day. I thought about all the soldiers that have went in our behalf...from the deepest parts of my little heart I could not say thank you enough to them. I also thought about all our loved ones that are in Heaven, some we do not know, some we miss have learned about, and some that we miss terribly! Sometimes I feel we have more people that we love in Heaven then we should, and other times I think of the great overwhelming reunion we one day will have. My heart is full today. I am so glad we take a day off just to REMEMBER...its very therapeutic and healing. I made this photo which says, "Families Are Forever...no empty chairs" because I felt that it fits perfectly for Memorial day. No matter the people we have lost, we are forever, and their will be a chair waiting for us when our memorial comes. I loves this...it makes me happy. I hope everyone had a blessed Memorial as we did.

Have a great rest of the week!

Summer Family Pics

We were due for another family picture. The boys have changed so much since our last one so we felt we better get it in before the summer break. I like the way they turned out. Let just say this will be the LAST time we take pictures in the summer in Iowa. It was so hot! My hair was sticking to me, Chris forehead could not stop sweating and even my boys were perspiring! My boys do not like to cooperate in pictures, there was only a select few that they were both looking at the camera. There were ones that I loved so much but either one or the other were not looking. My little men love to smile and laugh just not for the camera...once that thing comes out they just shut off..boo! Trey even got bribed with a sucker and would not budge that much and Porter was too busy looking around at all the scenery! I swear when taking family pictures you need like 1 person for each child you have so they can entertain them to look at the camera..LOL! It's always a work out trying to get pictures with these boys but all that matters is that we are making memories right? Thanks for taking them Erica! Happy Sabbath to you all...make it a great week!

Living Scriptures Deal

There's still time to get YOUR free DVD!

Bloggers & Website Owners: Get a

free Living Scriptures DVD

of your choice for putting a link to our Facebook page – facebook.com/livingscriptures – on your (NON-Facebook) site. To claim your DVD, create the link then email the URL and your contact information to: rewards@livingscriptures.com. Limit: One free DVD per blog.

You guys this is awesome, I love these DVD's, and Trey loves them too just as much as he loves his other Disney movies....so act fast and get your free DVD. We are doing the BOM ones right now and we get one about ever couple months or so...its worth it. I am excited! So come on what are you waiting for?!?

For your entertainment...

Trey is just too funny. We all know how much he loves BUZZ LIGHTYEAR so therefore he acts him out every day by saying "to infinity and beyond"! We have a big couch so he likes to jump from the top edge to the other end and act like he is flying. I think he makes a pretty good BUZZ..LOL!

He is a pretty good at gurgling! We probably should not encourage it because it is bad manners but we think it's funny! I am not sure where he learned it...Chris might have something to do with this habit;)!

Porter sure likes to gibber jabber all day long. I always feel like he is telling me a story, maybe about heaven? I like listening to him. He also always says ma ma ma now and I love it!

He sure is our little giggler! I can make the daintiest noise or sound and he thinks its funny for some reason. He loves when I turn away and then hurry and look at him again, it really gets him going. The laughs are what keep me going everyday...if your having a bad dad just listen to a babies laugh and you automatically feel happy!

I love these to little rug-rats and as you can see my entertainment does not get better then this!

All about Treyson

Ok, so I feel I need to write a little bit about Treyson since I wrote so much about Porter and because he has grown up so much in the last 6 months. Trey is for sure my CRAZY CRAZY boy, everyone is always tells me how much a handful he is and trust me I know. I can hardly keep up with him most days. He sure has the cute factor though and makes the funniest faces all the time...LOL!

I love his smile. It melt my heart because it goes from ear to ear. He is so handsome already and he is only 2. I know I am bias but really he is just so so adorable!

He is a Mama's Boy and loves to snuggle with me! Most days he will shout across the room at me just for no reason and says, "MUMMY!" LOL. When he does this he will come and give me a hug or kiss then go back to doing what he was doing. It really cute. Did you know I have magic kisses? I fix all of his owies and boo-boos all day long! It amazing how he will be crying bloody murder then when I hold him he immediately stops..I always say, "did you just need a hug" and he will squeeze me so tight then go back to playing. Ah, I just love my big boy!

He does love his Daddy though. He always wants him at bedtime and even if I put him to bed he will ask for him a million times. Chris is the voice that bring "Thomas the Train" to life! He loves to wrestle and jump all over his Dad, and most days he thinks he is a trampoline...LOL! When Chris comes home every night and Trey hears the door he yells, "DADDY HOME!" He then runs and looks for him. I know Chris loves coming home to that cute voice. What can I say they are best friends!

Since Trey was really little he was always twiddled his hair. He usually does this when he is very tired., immediately when the paci goes in the mouth he reaches up and starts twiddling. It is so adorable!

What can I say, Dirt and Trey go hand in hand. You can not have one with out the other. Even if there is not dirt around he will find a way to some how get dirty. I know that's what boys do but I swear he gets more dirty then most boys...haha!

He is still a little giggler. He pretty much laughs at anything and everything. Even if I am not doing anything to him or even touch him he starts laughing at me. I love his laugh, its contagious.

Treyson is a THRILL seeker. He always wants to be thrown for swung as high as possible. He will always say, "gan-gan (again)" We are usually exhausted by the 10th time but he just wants to keep going. I am sure he will like roller coasters, skydiving, and all that thrill stuff when he is older.

He also has been on this upside down game for a while now. He just loves to be upside down for some reason. I think he likes the feeling of the blood being rushed to his head...who knows. I love to play with him and just act like a 2 year old sometimes.

He is not happy all the time so don't let me fool you. We have our fair share, well more then fair share of fits everyday. He loves to throw himself on the ground and throw huge fits--sometimes I try not to laugh. He sometimes spends half of his day in time out but he is getting it and wants to please us more. When we say its time to go to time out he hurries and gives us a hug so we wont put him there...manipulating already, ha! We are definitely in there terrible twos!

Treyson wants a bath everyday sometimes 2-3 times a day he will ask for one. He likes to feel the wrinkles on his finger tips after he is done with the bath. He always scans his hand after the bath and then puts his fingers in his mouth to nibble on the wrinkles...I know he is silly!

Oh potty training or should I say non-potty training? He screamed the first couple times I put him on it but then it got better. I would not say I really doing it but I am just talking about it a lot and putting him on the potty before baths and when he goes into the bathroom. He has never gone in the toilet but when he gets off he says, "I did it." I always praise him for trying. I am not stressing about it even though I would like to be done with at least 1 diaper. There has been a couple times that he managed to take off his diaper in the middle of the night and wake up dry, other times not so much. He getting better but I just wish potty training was as easy as training a dog..LOL!

He loves to drink, he will ask me for a drink about 10 times a day. He admires his spider man cup and loves to gurgle anything liquid in is mouth. He only will drink milk if it has chocolate of strawberry in it and he will only drink plain water if it is out of my water bottle or else he has to have propel or something like that if it is in his sippy cup. He loves juice and prefers it over anything. I try water it down as much as I can...no wonder he has so many wet diapers!!

Trey for sure loves his snacks and heaven forbid I forget them if we go anywhere. He loves, goldfish, raisins (one time he ate the whole tub), string cheese, pickles, teddy grams, and puffs. I never have to force this child to eat fruits and veggies, HE LOVES LOVES THEM. He even likes them raw. I have to separate his veggies and fruit from the other stuff on his plate or he will only eat them then ask for more. No wonder why this boy is so dang skinny!!

On of his favorite foods (if it is really even a food) is any kind of DIP....bbq sauce, ketchup, ranch, anything you can dip anything in. He just uses one thing (chicken nugget, carrot, ect) to eat all the dip then asks for more...LOL! "ooorrr diiippp pease" is what he really says. It gets very messy and finds its way even up his nostrils! This kid cracks me up.

Mischievous is his middle name. He gets into everything. One day he had gotten a knife out of the drawer and cut himself and piece of cookie cake and then the other day he had gotten into my hair wax and smeared it everywhere! He likes to dump things out all over, he is really good at it. Some days are better then others but some days I just want to say, "AHHH!"

Trey has lots of favorite toys including, cars and trucks, tools, and his all time favorite BUZZ and WOODY! He usually gets sick of toys pretty fast but not Buzz and Woddy. He loves them and gives them kisses and carries them around all day. He always has to have a toy in each hand, never one, always two unless one is his sippy cup. When he is not playing with those things he loves kitchen utensils, q-tips, boxes...sometimes I ask myself why we even bought him any toys..LOL, he only has millions to choose from but he would rather play with things he is not supposed to...go figure! He has a great imagination and he even will just play with his hands and pretend they talk back to him.

He enjoys coloring, especially on himself! He likes crayons and markers but would rather use a pen or pencil. I figure he likes them better because that is what we use. His scibbles sure are fun and cute!

We cannot wait until Toy Story 3 so we can take Trey to it. It comes out sometime in June. He will be so excited and probably take his Buzz and Woddy along..LOL!

Treyson is sure our fun full of energy kind a guy. I love him more everyday and its fun to watch him grow. He is talking pretty good, he can say just about anything even if it does not sound right. He can count pretty well, the highest he has gone is to 7. We do our ABC's but he just likes to listen to them not say them back. He knows when its time for prayes and always folds his arms and bows his head...its precious even if it is for only 2 seconds, at least he is learning the concept right?!? He is ALL BOY no question there and we sure are greatful he is part of our family! Love you Treybo!

The Big 25!

I am officially a half a century old!

25, wow!

I am really starting to feel like a grown up now...LOL!

This year was seriously the best birthday yet. This is the first year Chris and I have been together for my birthday in the past 3 years because of summer sales. He did sweet things for me but this year he definitely redeemed himself from the past years where he could not do much. Yes, I was spoiled rotten. Chris let me sleep in and I woke up to a yummy breakfast which Chris had prepared for me. He got me a new BBQ Grill, got to get my hair done, and then he even surprised me with a new salon chair! When I was getting my hair done he wrote with chalk all over the back yard...

"We love you"

"Happy Birthday Mom" which I could not get a photo of because it was too big.

It was really sweet and I was really surprised when I came home.

He got me the sweetest card which had a recording in it saying..

"We love the MOMMY!" (Chris)

"Where's da Mummy" (Treyson)

"Coos" (Porter)

He wrote some sweet words to me and even had Trey do his scribble signature!

It seriously was the sweetest thing, I almost cried. I also came home to a squeaky clean house thanks to Chris. I love him, he is so good to me!

We threw a big BBQ country hoe-down style in our backyard to celebrate. We got decked out in our cowboy hats, belt buckles, boots, and I even wore my lucky hat signed by Chris Cagle the country singer! The weather was perfect. Everyone brought there own meat for Chris to grill and something to share. I am not a big cake fan so this year my birthday cake was a big sugar cookie with my famous cream topping and thinly sliced kiwis and strawberries on top shaped in a twenty five. I was not able to get a pic of it before it got eaten because I was feeding Porter. Trey had fun playing with all the kids and he thought it was funny to teach the other kids how to do target practice against shed with sand...LOL! Porter actually was a good little baby for staying up way past his bed time. Later that night when most of the group went home we roasted marshmallows for smores with the Pulous's and Newcombs. The Pulous boys and Treyson and best friends, he asks to play with them everyday! I love Tammi even though I think she got me addicted to Pepsi while we lived with them...haha! The Newcombs have a dog named Gracy which Jax loves...we have decided they are husband and wife..LOL! We had a great turn out-- I love all my dear friends here in Iowa, thanks everyone for coming it was a blast! I have to give a big thanks to my "cowboy" lover for making it a wonderful special day for me. I "wuv" him heaps and heaps!

The big 25, WOOT WOOT!

1/2 a year Birthday

Porter is 6 months old today!!!

aka...Porta-kins, Porty, and Portster

I am in denial...really, it has went by so fast!

I have not posted about him in a while and he has changed so much and hit so many milestones! I am sad that he is growing so fast but it sure is fun to watch him grow.

Porter is very ticklish, he actually loves his diaper being changed...he just laughs and laughs. He loves to be sang to-- he will just smile and smile some more. His Dad can get his full belly laugh going pretty good...its pretty addicting!

Porter is still a super eater. He loves the milk and I have plenty so I just let the kid eat. He hardly ever spits up but when he does it pretty much like a fountain...LOL! I broke down at 5 months and let him have solid food. I was going to wait until 6 months plus but he was more than ready. When food was around he would just have his mouth open the whole time and even take little nibbles off our food if it was close by. Before that at 4 months I just started giving him a spoon to suck and chew on so he could get use to something other than a "nipple" in his mouth and soon the spoon became his favorite toy. I started with avocado for his first food because it has good essential fats and is really good for their digestive systems. I then began with rice cereal and he actually had a bowl movement that same day so I know the avocado helped. He pretty much will eat anything, he just gets so excited when he sees food around! He eats so much. Sometimes 2 full jars of baby food and a bowl of rice or oatmeal. Even when I know he is full he gets really upset when I put the food away. I seriously don't know how he can eat that much. I have to stop because I do not want him to get a tummy ache but even after that he wants to wash it down with some breast milk....he a Porker for sure! There is nothing he does not like. We usually do fruit and oatmeal in the morning and a veggie and rice at night. He is probably ready to go 3 times a day, well he would probably eat all day long if it was up to him. He really loves baby mum-mums because he can actually feed himself...its a huge mess but that's ok right? I guess all I have to say is Porter slow down buddy!

Porter has a foot fetish. He actually found his feet at exactly 5 months and has been obsessed with them ever since. He concentrates on them and even loves to eat them!

We are still working on the sit-up thing. He does the monkey sit awesome, but he has been doing that since 4 months. He would rather be on the floor rolling around or on his tummy playing. I am afraid he might crawl before sitting up! We work on it everyday and he seems to be getting better. He can do it for a couple of minuets on his own which is good. He is really good at it if he is on the couch, I think he just enjoys the view.

Porty is my curly haired boy! I do have curly hair but I did not have it when I was little. He reminds me of my eldest brother Kody who had jerry curls just like him. I love the curls! It's more curly when it is wet but if I put some gel in it they will stay in all day. I hope it stays this way.

Porter is an escape artist. He can get out of anything even if he is strapped in! I always find him turned all the way upside down in the swing or completely turned over in his bouncer.

One day I had put him in the bumbo and he totally got out of it. He just arches his back so much that it flips out from under him. What a little stinker!

He loves to stand and has since he was like a month old. When people hold him they always tell me he hates to sit and I always say yes I know...its always a work out when you hold him! He can hold his own weight pretty well if he is just holding on to your shirt or your hands. I must say we have a strong boy on our hands.

Of course he loves to suck on everything just like any other baby. He think everything belong in his mouth including my face....I love it though. I live for his slobbery gummy kisses!

His jumper is by far his favorite thing. He could bounce and bounce for hours. He gets so excited when he is in it and sometimes he gets to bouncing so hard he starts crying but laughing at the same time. When you are holding him under his armpits he mimics the jumper and just jumps and jumps all over your lap. What a crazy little man. This thing has been a life saver.

I have to add that Port is pretty much as handsome as they come. His dimples make my heart skip a beat. I adore his squint eyes and his button nose. I could just gobble him up ya know..LOL!

He loves to laugh and sometimes I have no clue what he laughing about but it get me rolling too. You can not help but laugh with him when he gets going giggling.

We must certainly not forget his signature smile once again. Smile from ear to ear with his tongue sticking out out through his gummies. I am not sure why he smiles this way but its PRICELESS if you ask me.

Porter loves to be held and would be attached to my hip all day if he could. He will play by himself for about 20 min then I have to be in the room or he has to see me to not get fussy. This can be difficult at times but there is that saying that says, "it feels good to be needed." Sleeping deserves it own entry...LOL! I am sure thankful that I am his mother and everyday I look at him I can not believe he is MINE!

I love you Porter-Bear...Happy 6 months baby boy!