Sunshine & Snow

It seems we are having a typical Minnesota Spring here. Last Monday it was in the 70s and gorgeous outside. Connor and his friend Henry were outside riding their bikes and I was out letting Porter experience grass for the first time. He was raking it with his hands and trying to shove fistfuls of dry grass in his mouth. He seemed to enjoy it.

Fast forward to yesterday and we had a snowstorm all day and a very cold and windy day in the 30s with it feeling much colder due to the windchill. Sometimes I wonder why we live in Minnesota, but then again there are many reasons that we do. I guess you have to take the good with the bad sometimes when you live in the Upper Midwest. There are certainly many beautiful days, and I'm hoping they are on their way soon!

Yesterday:

Porter enjoying a nice spring day last Monday:

Mmm this grass is tasty:

Connor is so funny!:

Enough pictures Mom!:

Connor practicing his photography (not bad!). Nancy & Porter:

Porter playing with his xylophone:

Snuggly Sunday morning:

April update

Porter's 6 month check up

Porter had his 6 month check up last week. He now weighs in at 19 lbs 1.5oz and is 27 3/4in long. He is 83rd% for weight and 92nd % for length. He got some shots and cried of course, but got over it quickly. He's healthy and doing great. His doctor said his flat spot was mild and strictly positional due to the fact that he is still sleeping on his back.

Here is a better shot of his 2 teeth:

I have started to let him cry it out (CIO) at night for the past week or so. He's done really well. The first night he only cried for about 10 min one time and settled back down with his nuk. The second night he cried a little harder. I'm sure he was thinking "Hey, I remember this from last night and it didn't exactly go how I wanted it to". However he still only cried for 5-10 min but was up twice. The third night he slept through the night. The next 3 nights he woke up once per night but went right back to sleep when I went in and gave him his nuk, and last night he slept through the night again. I'm hoping that I'm on my way to full nights of sleep again! He's really so easy to put to bed at night. I just plop him in his crib, tuck his blanket around him, give him his little dog lovey and his nuk and he is out in 5 min or less. Much easier than Connor was, but I think that was probably our fault. Oh well, the parent learning curve! Gotta figure it out somehow!

Porter & Jeff:

Connor's doing swimming lessons again, and is really enjoying them. I got a few photos, but most of them were just the top of his head underwater!


Glad to have my parents back too! They came over for dinner the other night, and I have already utilized my mom's babysitting services last week when Connor had kindergarten round-up!!!! I can't believe he's already going to be starting kindergarten soon! He had a fun time and knows 4 of the kids in his class already. I'm excited for him to be starting on this next part of his life, and also for us to get to know some more of the families from our church/school.

Papa Dan & Connor playing Candyland:

Grandma Joanie & Porter:

Also, I am in the process of making over my blog. My co-worker Nicole and I were trying to figure it out and she helped me change my template. It's a work in progress since I am working all weekend I don't have much time to dedicate to it. It all started with Rachel, a BabyCenter friend who did a blog makeover and turned us all on to The Cutest Blog on the Block who offers free blog templates, or will custom-make a page for you for $20-30. I still haven't changed my header yet, but I hear Scrapblog.com is the place to go for that. Check out some of my other blog links to see some really cute designs!

Porter is 6 months old!

Porter is 6 months old! I can't believe half a year has passed already since he was born! Time flies. He now has 2 teeth and is just a drool machine. He can shove his whole fist in his mouth trying to chew on it. It now hurts to let him gnaw on your finger. It's like he has sharp little puppy teeth! He's sitting up really well now. He will have his 6 month check-up on Monday. The only thing I'm a little concerned about is the flat spot on the back of his head. He still sleeps only on his back. I'm also a little concerned about him not rolling so much. He could care less about it. He still hasn't rolled from back to front, and he really doesn't roll from front to back much either. I suppose I have been spending more time having him sit than doing tummy time though, so maybe I should put him on his tummy more. He barfs a lot on his tummy so sometimes that's why I don't put him on it as much.

My parents are finally back from Florida and are coming over for dinner tonight. I talked with them on the phone a lot, but I really missed having them around. I missed having them see the boys too, so I'm looking forward to having them see what they are up to. I really am so blessed to have them 10 minutes away from us. Not that I want to think about it, but you never know when they won't be here any longer. My Dad is 81 and my mom is 76, and they are both in great health, but I never want to take that for granted. I'm just so lucky they can be a part of my boys lives and that my boys can get to know their grandparents. I wish they could see Jeff's mom more. We need to get down to Chicago again soon. Jeff's sister and family are moving to Dallas in June I think, and we will really miss having them only 6 hours away. I'm sure we will plan a trip to Chicago before they move.

Finally the weather is getting nicer here in MN. We had a huge snowstorm on March 31st and now we have had some nice weather and most of the snow has melted. I think it might have reached the 60s yesterday and will probably today again too. Connor has been out on his bike a few times and has been enjoying getting outside more. Jeff is out on his bike as I type and I know he's looking forward to bike racing season. He's planning on buying a new time trial bike this year. Oh joy, one more bike in our garage!

Here is our deck on Monday: