Not Our Baby?

{Is there something on my face?}

No way our baby is 6 months old! *sigh* But, as of today P is 6 months old. Wednesday Porter has his 6 months check up so I'll be posting his stats and a post all about P, so that will be coming up. This is what Porter looks like when dad feeds him...boys will be boys!

Thank You Gelter Boys

These 3 men did me a great service Saturday...they built those beautiful shelves in our garage! Giving service is a great feeling, but giving others the chance to help can be a great feeling, too. We felt so lucky to have their help!

IT'S OFFICIAL: Porter is teething! Those fingers are being chewed on 24/7.
ANOTHER OFFICIAL BIT: Porter has a nickname... if you haven't picked up on it yet it's
P
Everyone thought we'd call him Port, but I hate that so P has come about and I quite like it.

He is tolerating the teething pretty well, but sometimes it's obvious they're bugging him. The worst is that it's been waking him from his good sleep.
He's so cute and growing again! He's getting SOOO Big!!!

{This video is of Daddy and P playing a new favorite game. Watch P push up on fully extended arms (YAY!) and talk with his Pappa. Every time he gets up he gets so excited, I'm bummed I couldn't really get his face, but listening to him talk just melts my mommy heart.}

This weekend I went to a conference for parents of infants and toddlers with down syndrome. I was asked to talk about my experience. It was the first time I've ever been asked to talk about it outside of a very intimate setting. I tried, but got choked up. I've decided it's time to write some of it out. There our parts of our experience that almost feel sacred so those I won't be sharing. I've decided that I'll be writing our experience to Porter, because one day I'll listen to him read it from our blog book. I also think there is a chance he'll want to know. My goal is to write a part or chapter each week. Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps. I'm not sure I can express such big emotions accurately. But I want Porter to have his story, so I'll try for him.

Spilling Over

{This picture is a little old, but needed to be posted. He was so excited about these super long chains and as soon as I went to take his picture he just cried. It's cute in a sad kind of way.}

These are all the random things I've thought about posting, but never do. I guess you could call them my leftovers.

• FHE TEAM: We struggle with family home evenings and have a goal to become more consistent after hearing Elder Bednar's talk about FHE. I was thinking it would be awesome to get 4 families together to collaborate. A theme could be selected for the month along with 4 sub topics. Each family could prepare one amazing lesson on a sub topic using a simple lesson plan template. Then those amazing lesson could be rotated through out the month between each family. Making Monday night that much easier.
• I'm homesick for the classroom: After my Halloween visit, I can't stop thinking about teaching. I miss it. But, I can no longer imagine letting someone else take care of my baby. I'm thinking I'll volunteer so I can go for a short time get my teaching fix and still take care of Porter.
  
• Maybe it's a flaw but I'm not changing anytime soon: I am a little obsessive about Porter's therapy. Every spare moment I have goes to him and hopefully his progress. There was a two week period where I decide I wasn't balanced enough so I change things up and let Porter be on his own for a few hours each day while I cleaned, organized, ect. Well, he didn't meet his goals and didn't improve much. After that I decided I was being selfish and that he really is more important. The sacrifice is worth it if he keeps moving forward. Here's the thing though...somethings got to give because I still want a clean house and there are only so many hours in the night after Porter goes to sleep before I crash. *sigh* Wonder Woman...not so much, but I'm trying.
• Some see it, some don't:We're beginning to experience peoples reaction to Porter's down syndrome. Some people really have NO idea and then some pick up on it at first glance. These people have normally had some experience with people who have down syndrome. It's weird because to us he's our baby and perfect. It's hard to think of people not seeing his as the perfect little angel he is.
• Pilates for Dummies: I need to start exercising so this is what I'll be doing. Hopefully, I can find time for it. The gym is to expensive, it's to cold to take Porter outside now, and I've never done pilates before, thus I made my decision.

{Much To Cold}

• Changing Advisors: We're looking for a new financial advisor. The drop in the economy seems to have really hurt our old one, making him too desperate. Luckily for us we picked up on it and haven't taken his advise. However, we're to a point where we'd like to have someone to help educate us before we move forward. We've been meeting with several different advisors and it's not an easy decision to make. I want my old advisor back, he was so great...to bad!
  
• Infant tubs are dumb: I tried bathing Porter in his infant tub instead of the sink the other night. You can guess how I felt about it. I have so much more control when I bath him in the sink. Crawling over the edge of the tub to keep his head above water wasn't easy, but we got some cute pics.

Sorry, it's been over a week since my last post. I'll try to be better!

Bed Head

Porter's hair is long enough now that every morning he's got a disheveled hair due going on.
Now a good mother would get out the comb and tidy up that red mess, but I'm not that momma. I love his misbehaved hair so I leave it so I can enjoy it all day long.

{thanks aunt Ann & uncle Randy for the best PJs ever!}

{he had just opened his eyes in this one}

{Oh, how I love the curly silliness!}

Let's Have Lunch

Here's a peek at a sunny family moment we stole Tuesday afternoon. Aaron's alarm didn't go off that morning and he forgot to make lunch so we decided to meet up here:

We enjoyed some Village Baker sandwiches; best bread ever! We also shared a cookie the size of Porter's head, a guilty pleasure.This little outing made my week. It was a pleasant surprise to get to have lunch with Aaron. Having my boys together, on the temple grounds, on such a lovely afternoon felt a lot like Heaven to me. Watching the Daddy-Son moments reminded me how lucky a lady I am! Just visiting the temple grounds lifted my spirits, knowing that this joy I have in my heart will always be mine if I live up to the covenants I've made in the temple I can have happy family moments in the next life as well. Ever since Porter was born visiting spiritual places (even our ward chapel) can be overwhelming because the Lord can reach me better. I've learned some really neat things about our baby boy. The most important of which is: Porter is God's son but our Heavenly Father always intended for us to be Porter's parents on this earth. We were all a family before we left our Heavenly home and being together on earth is a merely a glimpse of that existence.

Porter had a fantastic time and soaked it all up! This is right before we put him in his car seat, which he wasn't very happy about. Below is a video and Porter giggles just a little in it. I was trying to get his belly laugh on video but as soon as I'd stop filming is when he'd do it. But, I don't think Grandma's have heard this little giggle yet and it's a sweet sound too.

a few more

{the ugly tie companionship}

Here are some extra Halloween pics we got so excited for our Fondue dinner with our friends we forgot to take pictures on Halloween! But, I have a few from our phones.

We had a great Halloween! Good food+ good company= good times! Now if only the Phillies would win a game life would seem pretty perfect!

Happy Halloween!

We dressed up for the Ward Chili Cook Off so until we have some really Halloween pictures these can hold you over. In case you're wondering I'm a 6 year old. Aaron dressed up as a missionary, I still need to get that picture from our neighbor who was his companion. It was funny when the real missionaries showed up and told Aaron he needed a hair cut to really pull off the costume. Porter is a monkey even if it looks more like a teddy bear. He is an accessory to my costume because he doubles as a stuffed animal.