Lately

My posts lately are not as organized as I'd like them to be, but I don't see our lives changing any time soon.  In fact we just got some news today that we'll actually be adding to the to do list in the form of a church calling.  When it's made official we'll let ya know more.  So even less time but more blessings. :) 

I still want to share some of the things that are going on with us.  Without frequent blogging though some of the best stuff gets left out.  We're happy and I'd like to share just a little of that for memory sake. 

I missed one of my favorite things from our Christmas season this year: our wreath and home made banner.  It matched the snowman table cloth and it made me happy.  

 After Christmas we took on a task that has been overlooked far too long.  We organized all of the toys we have acquired since Porter's birth.  As I did the purge I thought about how it had gotten so bad and honestly our home has lots of nooks and crannies to house lots of toys so it wasn't terrible.  I love our new system though.  Both kids have a major play item in their rooms (i.e. play kitchen) that they love and play with every day without getting bored.  There are 4 bins of toys that are in our living area that the kids can play with without adult interaction.  Then the majority of our toys are in a closet in containers organized by activity and they're toys that we use for preschool.  It's so wonderful because I can teach concepts with hands-on play activities that my kids are excited to engage in.  That and less clutter.  If you're curious I tossed over 50% of our toy inventory.  It's all being sent to new homes or donated to children shelters.

 I continue to weave necklaces for Porter every week for his oral sensory input needs.  I thought this captured a lot about our current state of life with our little man.  He's going through a lot right now and we're working through a lot of different things.  It's sad knowing that Porter isn't well, waiting for doctors to discover what causes him discomfort, but we will not giving up.  The doctors agree something is wrong and they're working on it.  It just takes time.  Part of his coping is chewing so I weave a lot. 

 Aaron worked an INSANE amount of overtime this last month.  We all missed him a ton and I was batty by its end.  Mostly because I missed Aaron so much.  Aaron's boss is awesome though and has decreed that Aaron will get some free time off on condition that I have a day off.  Aaron is required to report back on his day with the kids.  LOVE THAT! 

 There has been a lot of blood work needed for Porter and this was after his first draw.  We had a Mommy Son pity party, including cuddles, cars, and cookie dough (vegan style). 

 We had to change her diaper in the middle of the night and sleeping beauty was not amused. 

A late night visit the the doctor after a particularly bad string of problems.  The doctor scared me to death and suggested the P may have HEP B during this visit.  His blood work came back good though and I was also informed he was CANCER FREE... yeah, doctors are tricky like that sneaking the super scary test in with the not as scary stuff.  I was grateful but also a little taken back to find they were looking for cancer.  :-( We love our new Pediatric office and they all work with Porter and do an amazing job.  It's nice feeling confident in their care of our Porter Ray. 

Friday family date night: Tinker Bell The Secret of the Wings, Games and Pizza.  Priya is now obsessed with all of the Tinker Bell movies.  I'm so grateful because I can do Tinker Bell instead of the Princess stuff, which I'm sure is just around the corner. For now she only seems interested in Rapunzel (my favorite) and Cinderella.  She's easing me into this girly business. 

 I came out of the bedroom after getting ready for church to hear Donkey Kong Country old school style.  I found the boys playing Super Nintendo.  It was AWESOME! 

 I did this for a week with the kids in Preparation for Potty Training.  I did a 2 hour trial with Priya and she is absolutely ready...not what I was hoping for... I'm just not ready.  But Priya sure is.  We've had to postpone with Porter's health problems and Aaron's overtime.  I'm going to go 3 days intense because I just want to get it over with and I feel Priya can handle that.  She is talking in complete sentences and tells us when she needs to go and she's got control of her muscles so my hope is that it's simple.  Hopefully in the next week or so life will be calm enough I can find 3 free days to get it  done.  I really dislike Potty Training. 

 We still have a dog and he's cute. 

 We did some waltzing and swing dancing to celebrate having Daddy home for Breakfast.  We were all sad when he had to go back to work. 

 Sibling love!  These two are buddies and I so love the tenderness. 

 Our Friend Danny hanging out with us one morning.  Danny just became a big brother!  Oh yeah, we use our guest bath as a ball pit, much more useful that way. 

 It is the little moments that fill my heart with joy.  I sometimes get overwhelmed at all I HAVE to do, but when I let the spirit of service enter my heart I see it as doing good works.  Even in my family Heavenly Father still sees me in service to him.  These Children are so amazing and I'm so grateful I get to care for them. 

 In "You Must Be Crazy" news we have changed our lifestyle and we are now 80% organic, mostly meat free, the kids and I are 90% dairy free, I no longer consume refined white sugar (only on special/rare occasions) and we're loving it!  I made these changes because of the medical diagnosis I got in October (no, I never shared the details nor do I intend to do so here) and for Porter's overall health.  I'm doing incredible on a whole foods diet and my symptoms are so much better!   I will never be completely rid of this problem but it's much, much better and so is my life because of it.  Part of this lifestyle has involved creating lunches for Aaron that are more nutrient rich and appetizing to him.  We created a nuts about berries salad in a jar and it's very tasty.  We make them ahead and they're good for a week.  We've also done a taco salad and this week we're trying a Thai salad.

 Popped Quinoa-  Since buying a better quality of this grain and learning how to cook it I've become obsessed with it.  We pop it like popcorn and add it to our salads. 

 I enjoyed my Christmas banner so much I made one up for Valentines day. 

*Girls Night* 

I don't have a picture but last Tuesday I got to sneak out for a night with the girls.  We went to the Blue Lemon, ate girly food our kids would refuse to eat, talked about everything, laughed our guts out and strengthened each other through our Friendship.  Special thanks to Aaron for doing bedtime with the littles so I could go. 

 We are increasing our toddler gospel study and hoping to teach our kids to love evening scripture study.  

 This past Friday we had to take Porter in for another blood draw.  He has been traumatized by all this lab work recently and this draw went very poorly when a newbie tried to do his work.  She dug around in this arm trying to find a vein for what felt like forever until her supervisor finally took the needle from her and got it immediately.  Porter and I both cried.  This test was for Celiac's Disease.  We'll see, guess we may be gluten free soon along with all the other healthy changes we've made recently. 

I took this picture because it was a happy sight for me.  It meant that we were finally going to bed and that we'd get to rest our tired bodies, we would have fresh energy in only a few hours and we could do it all again.  

I'm so grateful for our family's strong faith.  The truth of the gospel keeps us true in our tasks, trials, and triumphs.  

Thanks to everyone the supports and prays for us just because you love us. :-)