Better Late than Never

As Thanksgiving has come and gone, I have thought a great deal about all that we have been blessed with.  There is so much.  We have been so blessed this past year.

First and foremost I am so truly grateful for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I am forever indebted to him.  He loves us more than we can understand.  He endured more than we can comprehend.  He was and is perfect.  He did not need an atonement.  But we did.  There is no other way we can return to our Father in Heaven except through him.  He will guide us through this life.  All we have to do is remember Him and listen.

I am so grateful for our prophet President Monson.  He is truly amazing and has led an outstanding life (his biography "To the Rescue" is very informative and interesting).  He wants all of us to return to our Heavenly Father.  He loves EVERYONE.  He has many Christlike attributes.  He is the Prophet for our time and I am so grateful he is here to guide us at this time.

I love the scriptures.  They are such a blessing in my life.  As I read from them I can feel the love that grows in our home. They make me want to become better.  They guide me, comfort me, and give my life meaning as sometimes it's tedious doing the same thing every day.

I am so grateful to be a wife and mom.  Bo is such a great husband and father.  He makes us better.  He is always there when we need him.  Which is every night.  I still can't wait for him to get home from work every night.  I still can't wait for the weekend when I get to see him more than just a few hours a day.  I am so grateful to be married to such a great man.  He brings peace into our home.  And he just got back from pack meeting with a caramel sundae just for me. :)

I love being a mom.  I've wanted to be a mom for as long as I can remember.  I was always asking for a new baby doll each Christmas.  Each one of our children is special in their own way.  I am grateful for their unconditional love and forgiving spirits.  I love their little giggles.  The way they think I don't ever make mistakes.  The way they are ready at any time to give me a hug and a kiss.  And each of them gives a different wink.   They are always making gifts for us.  The things I learn from them.  The way they always see the positive and reach for the stars.   The way they treat each other (for the most part).  Yes, as every parent thinks, I have the best kids ever.  What a blessing it is to have a family.

As we raise our kids, it makes me realize the many things that our parents did without so that we could have every opportunity we could.  I am so grateful for all that my parents have done for me and continue to do for me.  And for all Bo's parents do for me and our family also.  We are so blessed to have great loving parents!

Of course I can't forget the rest of our family and friends.  We always have so much fun when we are together.  I know I can count on support from each of you!

Life is easier with the extras.  So, I must say the many things I am grateful for every day.  I am grateful for a variety of foods to eat.  I am grateful for a warm home in the winter and a cool home in the summer.  I am grateful for my bed, my bathtub, my kitchen, a car to get to places I need and want to be, cleaning supplies, a dishwasher, and disposal. My piano.  I'm grateful that we are all healthy and happy. I'm grateful to live in Rigby, ID. I'm grateful for time to myself every morning (well most mornings if I get up early enough). 

If any of you are still reading this my list could go on forever.  We have been so blessed.  I'm not sure what we have done to get all these blessings.  I just hope I can always remember our Father in Heaven gives us everything we have and not take them for granted.


  

2 month stats

Oh, I just love this little man!!! He is such a sweetheart. He started smiling last week and it just makes my heart melt.

Brayden loves to cuddle and I have mixed feelings about it. There is nothing better than holding a baby and just being able to cuddle. The problem is that he has a hard time going to sleep on his own and sleeping in his own bed. The other boys just wanted to be put down and they would fall asleep on their own. Much easier than trying everything to get them down. But, I'll take what I can get because I know someday he will not want to cuddle anymore. :)  He is very strong and can hold his own weight and hold his head up when he's on his tummy.

He fits in great with the family. Everybody just adores him. He has such a sweet spirit and I can't wait to watch him grow.

Sorry I don't have any great pictures of him. But here are a few for those who haven't gotten to see him yet. And for those of you who haven't seen him for awhile, I think we have another little tank among us.

2 Month Stats:

Weight: 13 lbs
Height: 23 1/2 inches
Head: 15"

We love you Brayden!!

The Infinite Atonement

I have been reading a book called The Infinite Atonement by Tad R. Callister the past few weeks. It is AMAZING!!!

When Bo was on his mission, I went into Seagull Book to find a great book to send his way. The store clerk recommended this one. I quickly read it (not getting to deep into it because I had to send it off quick so he'd get it in time) and liked it so I sent it off to him. It has been staring me in the face on a bookshelf for the last 7 years but I've never been a big reader and so I never picked it up even though I wanted to read it again. I've always told myself, "I should just read my scriptures because I'll get the most from them, and I don't feel like I read them enough". But I just decided to start reading it a few weeks ago.

Wow! I am totally inspired I want to be a better person. It has made me want to devour the scriptures and any other gospel book. I know that sounds dumb, but he talks about the scriptures and other great books so often that I just want to read everything he mentions in the book. He explains the atonement in a way that is so simple and organized yet so deep and thought provoking. I have such a greater understanding and love for Christ and all that he did for us and continues to do.

If you are looking for something to inspire you. Read it. I can't really put in to words how I felt reading the book, but it has strengthened my testimony greatly and has made me a better wife and mom.

New Tradition at Our House

I am so far behind on blogging but with 3 new posts I'm a little closer.

I have been trying to think of a new tradition for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Yesterday, our Home Teachers came by.  For the lesson, they summed up President Monson's talk on gratitude from conference. They gave us the idea to have a "Thankful Jar" sitting around the house until Thanksgiving, We are to write things down that we are grateful for and open it up on Thanksgiving and read it.

I set ours out on the table so it is easily seen. At dinner each night until Thanksgiving we all write two things down and place them in the jar.

Our kids have been drawing pictures of what they are thankful for. Hailey loves this idea. Most of those papers are hers.  I can't wait to read what we all come up with.  I just hope I can tell what the pictures are that the kids are drawing. :)

Happy 29th Birthday!

Bo's birthday was fun. Once again we had family over and had cake and ice cream.

Bo you are a great dad. The kids love you and get so excited to see you every day. You know just how to make us laugh and feel special. Thanks for all that you do for us. We love you!

Halloween

Ok, I know I am way behind on my blogging. But, I wanted to have this on here so I can remember. This Halloween was probably the funnest one so far. My parents and Trent and Alisa came over and we had lunch. It was fun. I forgot to take pictures.

Then we carved pumpkins. Well,Hailey, Jackson and Bo ended up doing it. I had to feed Brayden right after we started. Conrad wanted to take pictures because the goup inside the pumpkins was too slimy. But, it's nice to have the pictures.

It was a beautiful night for trick-or-treating. The third year in a row. I can't believe it. But, I am grateful every year that it is nice. Off went to trick or treat. It was a lot of fun. We went through our neighborhood for the first time. It was just the right amount of houses and treats. After we got back home, the kids had just as much fun putting their candy back in the bowl and giving it out again. (their idea not mine, but I wasn't going to say anything.) Then our neighbors had a party at their house. It was a lot of fun.

Hailey was an Indian, Conrad was the Black Spiderman, and Jack was Wolverine in the afternoon and got his costume all dirty and ended up being Spiderman when we went. It was cute to have the two older boys dressed and Spiderman.

I am so happy that we have fun holidays to look foreword too. I can't wait for the rest of the Holiday Season.

Hailey's 6th Birthday

On Sunday we had a family party.  It was a lot of fun.  We had Gini (Bo's mom), my parents, Barry and Sam, and Trent and Alisa there.  Hailey was excited to have you all there.  Thanks for taking the time to support her.  We had Broccoli Cheese Soup (her new favorite) and cake and ice cream.


Hailey had so much fun.  She got a whole bunch of art supplies and games.  It was fun to watch her.  I love birthdays.

I know the cake is not pretty, but she wanted chocolate cake with caramel frosting.  It tastes good, but it's nothing to look at and I forgot to decorate it until it was too late.


Monday she had a friend party.  It was her first.  We are trying to get to know the two girls in her neighborhood her age so we had them over.  Hailey got a cupcake maker for her birthday so I did a cupcake themed party.  They made chef's hats and decorated cupcakes.  The girls had so much fun.  Little girls are so cute!  I had fun watching them.







At 6 Hailey's loves:
school
writing
coloring
cutting
actually any art project
church
her new brother and her other brothers (they are best friends)
reading
her purse she got for her birthday
bread
chocolate
TV
Hailey, we love you so much.  We are so blessed to have you in our family.  You are a great older sister and daughter.  You are such a big helper and we are best friends.  I can't wait to see what the next year brings

Brayden at 4 Weeks

 Brayden is now 4 weeks.  I can't believe it went by so fast.  Brayden is still a very mellow baby.  He must know he's number 4 and has to be.  He can sleep anywhere and never gets woken up with noise. He is the only one of our kids that likes a binky and it is so nice.  It totally soothes him when nothing else can.  I will probably be hating it in about a year, but for now it's great.

The kids still can't get enough of him.  They are so helpful.  Some (well Jack) is a little too helpful.  I've caught him trying to pick him up while he was napping a couple of times.  We love you Brayden!

I thought it would be fun to do a comparison to see how big Brayden has gotten these first four weeks. 

2 Days:

4 Weeks:

Just a picture I took after church on Sunday.

Brayden's two week stats

Weight: 7 lbs 8 oz

Length: 22 in

Jackson's 2 Year Stats

Okay, I know Jack turned two in June, but I just took him to the doctor for his well check. He is doing great.

Height: 36 inches
Weight: 29 lbs 7 oz

I took this picture of him and Brayden. They look a lot a like in it.

Brayden at 1 Week

Okay I promise not to blog about Brayden every week, but I have to do his first.

So far, Brayden has been very content.  Feed him and he's happy.  He's jaundice, but no biliblanket. YAY!

The kids LOVE him.  Hailey wants to hold him all day long.  Conrad loves to just look at him.  Jack likes to hold him too.  They are all quick to let me know if he's making a peep and needs picked up.  It's so fun to have the excitement in our home.

Here's a couple of pics I took today:

  I had to get a picture of his hair.  I don't know why I haven't done this with the other kids, but I have to have a memory since it probably won't last.

I had to get a picture of the blanket my mom made too. It's so cute and soft. I'm sure he'll love it when he gets a little older. Jackson and Conrad still have theirs close by.

He's Here!

We are excited to announce the arrival of Brayden E Porter!

Brayden was born Wednesday, September 15, 2010 at 9:29 PM

He was 6 lbs 15 oz and 19 inches long

Delivery went better than ever and we are all doing great!

We are so excited to have Brayden home. He is so sweet and we love him.

 

 

These four pictures were taken just after Brayden was born

 

 Here's one of the family.  Crazy there are 6 of us now. :)

Going home outfit!

Parenting: Touching the Hearts of Our Youth

I don't normally take the time to watch videos, but tonight I decided to watch this one and loved it.

The past few weeks I have been pondering on how in the world I can be a mom of 4 and make sure all of the kids get the love and attention they need and deserve. The beginning of this pregnancy was really rough for our whole family (not to complain but to explain). The quick and easy version was that I was on survival mode and the kids and Bo didn't get the love and attention the deserved. I could see an effect on each one of them. But, Conrad was really affected by it. He is our sensitive one and I have to be sure that he gets lots of hugs, kisses and time with me. He became angry and grumpy for a few months. He is just coming back to his loving self and it's so nice to have him back. I was on a blog tonight and saw this video. I loved it. It was just what I needed and couldn't have come at a better time. I thought I'd share it too.

Hailey's First Day of Kindergarten

Wow!  It's hard to believe Hailey has hit the big milestone of Kindergarten.  I'm sure everyone thinks this as their kids start school.  But, it really is crazy.  I am so excited for her, but it does confirm that someday she will grow up on me and I won't get to have her smiling face around every day.

Hailey started yesterday, but on Tuesday she went to get her hair cut. And by Wednesday morning she could hardly contain herself as she woke up bright and early (not a normal event for her).  She hurried and put her new outfit on.  We had the perfect pink sparkly Converse shoes, but she hasn't worn them all summer and they ended up being too small.  So the pink flip flops had to do.  We got her hair done and then she had breakfast.  Bo gave her a blessing and then they were off.  He dropped her off on the way to work.

She came home telling us all about how she got to color, cut, and listen to her teacher read a story.  She made three new friends at recess.

This morning was about the same, but there were no nerves she was just excited.  We are so excited for you Hailey and hope you continue enjoying school and making new friends.  We love you!

Crazy...Any ideas?

So, yesterday after Conrad got out of the bath he showed me some weird red spots on his feet.  I was like those are weird looking and thought I'd better watch them.  About an hour and a half later I checked them again and all around each of his toes and the top of the ball of his food was kinda getting wrinkly.  And the whole ball of his foot was turning really red (although it wasn't really hurting him). I thought....wow that changed fast. I'd better go get this looked at.

I just ran to an ugent care here in town because I was spreading so fast.  We saw a PA and she had no idea what it was.  I'm pretty sure it was a bug bite, and the antibiotic is working well.  His foot is looking tons better.  It's just so weird how it spread across and around his toes and ball of his foot.  Anyone seen anything like it?

I traced the marks in pen to watch it and make sure it wasn't spreading anymore.  But I didn't trace around the tips of all the toes but those went weird too.

 Notice he has webbed toes...I think they're so cute :)  He likes to show them off too.

More Summer Stuff

We went to Bear lake for a family reunion with Bo's mom and siblings.  It was a lot of fun.  I never knew how great Bear Lake was especially for kids.  We went to the North Beach.  You can walk out forever without the water getting deep and the sand is so nice.  There are no rocks.  It is also pretty warm.  I am a huge wimp and I even got in.  All of the kids got in too.  They LOVED it.

Jack loved the sand and army crawling in the water

Conrad loved laying on his tummy and having the waves splash over him.

Hailey loved every part and even went out pretty far to swim

 If you look behind Hailey's head you can see how far out those people are and the water isn't even deep.

You may be wondering why we have life jackets on in such shallow water.  When you have 3 kids and only 2 parents it's nice to have a little more help :)  BTW-these life jackets are awesome.  The kids love wearing them.

Finally All 3 Looking and Smiling at the Camera!

I decided to try all of the kids together and we got a couple of pretty cute pics.  We even got Conrad smiling.

Jackson's 2 Year Pictures

I had a lot of fun taking Jack for his pictures.  He was so cute and loved every minute of it.  He just did what they said and smiled.  Here are the results.