As soon as the leaves change...

...we're headed to Logan for the weekend. My little bro is on canyon patrol for us so we know when to book the hotel. It will probably still be a few weeks but can you tell I'm excited?

Rally Round Our Boy

Buddy Walk 2009-Sept 26

We are excited to invite you to participate with us in this year's buddy walk. This walk is a way for our community to build awareness for Down Syndrome and to show off our amazing children and adult members who have Down Syndrome! To register for the walk as an individual costs $7. If you have 4 or more people you get the family rate which is $5 a person.

We know that not everyone will be able to come but if you can make it work we think it would be a lot of fun to get together as a team of people who love and support Porter! By registering for the walk you will receive a t-shirt and a Red Robin hamburger for lunch. We have put together TEAM PORTER RAY and would love for you to join our team! To join please visit our team page by clicking THIS. There is a link on the right that says join this team. This page also has a place where you can sponsor Team Porter Ray if you can't be at the event or would like to donate to the cause. Note: it's a charitable donation, pretty sure, you can write it off on your taxes. We hope to see you there!

Thanks for all that you've done for us and for loving our family, especially Porter! For entertaining the thought of joining and/or sponsoring us we now present you with the most recent pictures of Porter{Bath time a few weeks ago}

{Bath time last night. He loved it!}

{Porter waking up--goofy kid}

{still sleepy}

{night time story with Dad}

{Dad's favorite PJs. Porter had a growth spurt so he's in 3 month old clothes, except for pants. He's in 6 month pants, the boy has got a belly!}

{His game face}

{This is the beginning of his laugh...so cute! Sorry it's blurry, I took it with my phone.}

There is another picture on our team page of Porter in his Sunday best so go visit it!

"He Lights Up Our Life"

That's what Aaron said tonight when expressing gratitude for our baby boy in our good night prayers. I know it's late but I wanted to write this down so I would never forget...

Tonight we were visiting Aaron parents and Porter was a little grumpy because of constipation. Well he finally took care of the problem and was all smiles. Grandma Judy described it well tonight when she said, "He smiles with his eyes." I took advantage of the happy baby and start playing with him, you know, the typical Mommy stuff. I was getting huge smiles so I put my hand on his chest and shook him (in a nice, gentle way) his little chubby arms wrapped around my hand and HE LAUGHED!!! It was the most darling sound I've every heard! He did it a few more times and we tried to get it on camera but by the time we'd gotten it out he was tired of me vibrating him. We weren't expecting him to laugh so soon it surprised us and it was so great because Aaron was sitting right there because he had the day off so he didn't miss it. We were all together as a family, it was so perfect!

All night long I've felt so grateful for my life! It's not what I expected and things haven't gone according to my plan but the Lord knew better. He's blessed me with something I never knew I wanted and in fact had feared. Our Heavenly Father really does know best and the joy, love, and gratitude I feel for being so blessed makes me feel unworthy of such a gift for Porter truly does "Light Up Our Life."

p.s. Porter--I hope one day you read this and that you know just how much your Mommy Loves YOU!

New Pictures

Aaron sister Rachael took maternity pictures for us a few weeks before Porters arrival. I love them, click RachaelTyler to see more.

Dani in our ward is building her photography portfolio and ask to take Porter's picture. I've decided he's a stinker when it come to getting his picture taken. But she definitely got some eye candy of these big beautiful eyes! Cick Yellie Photography to see more.

As promised...

As promised, here's the video we took of Porter thoroughly enjoying being read to!

Porter's Stats

At the end of last week Porter had his 2 month check up and he was:

• 9 lbs 11.5 oz
• 21 inches long

On a typical growth chart he doesn't even hit the lowest percentile, close but not quite. On a down syndrome growth chart he's only in the 25th percentile so he's small. But, he's growing and healthy. We had to take him the an ENT (ear, nose, throat) doctor and they stuck a tube down his nose, poor baby. His congestion isn't going to cause heart problems yet. We're going to try more saline spray to clear it. The doctor suspects silent reflux which causes congestion at the back of the throat this is exactly what Porter struggles with. So he may end up on medication for that. Overall we're blessed to have a healthy baby.

Here are some things Porter has started to do:

• He brings his hands together and clasps them tight. He loves to stare and examine them.
  
• He holds his head up for longer periods of time without our help. He's getting so close to having head control.
  
• He'll bat at toys with both hands if they're hanging over him.
  
• He coos-- goo, gee, & gaa.
  
• He's started to coo or at least tries to talk to us when we read to him. ~*~ Aaron's going to post a video of this soon, so stay close.~*~
• SMILES-- we get to see them regularly now!
  

Mommy's favorite things:

• Baby massage time.
  
• Reading to Porter he's just fascinated by it.
  
• Baby cuddles.

Porter's Baby Blessing

{Porter was Happy all day, I really do think he knew what was going on and he was excited about it.}

This is long over due but Porter really doesn't let me get on the computer much these days. I should get on more because too often I have no response to, "Didn't you get the e-mail I sent you?" Oh well, I love every moment with my little red head!

August 2, 2009 was a great day for us! We had a very peaceful morning which was nice because we enjoyed the spirit of the day before we became concerned with the logistics of the event. We were very blessed to have lots of family come and support us. The love for our Porter was filling the room and I could feel it from the family members on both sides of the veil. Aaron was truly inspired to give Porter the blessing he did. I don't feel right about sharing the things he said and blessed our baby boy with on here, but I can say it strengthened my testimony of the Priesthood. We are so blessed to have Porter.

Alright now the fun part PICTURES!!! There are A LOT prepare yourselves...

{Mom and Gregg}

{Our handsome little angle all in white.}

{I'm not sure how Porter feels about that kiss :) Thank Grandma Joy for the blanket.}

The rest are from the Picnic after the blessing

{Yes ladies, this is the face of one of the most charming men I know!}

{Porter with Aunt Kaleena and Uncle Couper}

{Mitt and Syd played chase it was so cute}

{Aaron's only request for the picnic was Popsicles}

{Emma and Aunt Val- 2 Fine Lookin' Women ;)}

{Steadman- I love the nose wrinkle}

{As cute as his little tux was he enjoyed being in his onsie a lot more}

{Porter asleep on Grandpa Randy.}

{Grandma Judy got some loves in, also.}

{Porter with Aunt Dev- She even has her eyes open!}

{This is my favorite picture from that day! His big blue eyes and his precious little face just make me melt. Oh, how I love my little boy! Thank Breezy for taking it.}

For all of you that came or were with us in your hearts we appreciate all the love that you send our way! We love, that you love Porter! Thanks :)

MLS All-Star Game

Meg and I decided to make our first outing out without Porter last Wednesday. Meg's mom was kind enough to come to our house and watch our little man while we ventured out. We bought tickets a few months back to go to the new Rio Tinto Stadium and watch the Major League Soccer All-Star Game. It was so fun!!! We had excellent seats on the fifth row in the corner and it was a very entertaining game. Unlike other all-star games in other sports, the MLS all-stars form one team and they play one of the really good teams from one of the premier leagues around the world. This year they played Everton F.C. from England. The game was tied 1-1 at the end of regulation, so they decided the winner with penalty shots. Talk about a suspenseful way to end a game! Unfortunately, the all-stars ended up losing 4-3 in penalty shots, but it was still way fun!

We really loved our time out, but also thought about Porter at home a lot. Luckily, Meg's mom is an excellent grandma and he had a great time!

5 Years Ago

We were lucky enough to marry each other!