Sickness, Sledding & Syrup

Well, we've had a fun couple of weeks. Porter got a stomach virus (probably from ECFE). It started the day he was at my parents house. They were watching him because our daycare provider's mother died. He was sick a few times at their house and really just didn't feel well all day. I was working that weekend. Jeff had him the next day and he was still not feeling that great. That night Jeff started not feeling too well, so I stayed home from work the next day. My parents called that morning and said they were both up all night throwing up and having diarrhea (sorry for that). I felt really bad that Porter got them sick, but hey, what can you do? At this point Connor and I both still felt fine and I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Jeff stayed home from work on Monday and on Tuesday with Porter while I worked. Porter was still having diarrhea (sorry again) and was getting a really sore butt. Jeff said he got the gold star for the lunchtime diaper change on Tuesday. Jeff was only sick for a couple of days, and luckily not to the extent that my parents were sick. I think now Porter is finally back to normal and his poor butt is mostly healed. Connor mostly escaped, though on Wednesday last week he threw up on the bus just before it arrived at our house. Poor kid. I hope he's not labeled now as "the kid who threw up on the bus"! He assured me that Jonah threw up on the bus once too, so at least he has company. He threw up 2 more times within an hour and then was pretty much fine. I think I dodged this bullet completely. Must be my superior immune system!! There aren't too many infected body fluids I haven't been exposed to over the course of my life thus far.

My 2 sick boys:

Cheese:

So, in the midst of all the sickness, we were able to get outside and enjoy the frigid Minnesota climate. Porter seemed to like his first sledding experience and said "Wheee!" when we were going down our itty bitty slope in the backyard. He really likes being outside, or maybe it's just that he was glad to be doing what his big brother was doing instead of being left behind. I included a photo of Connor in the same hat/coat from January 2004 for fun.

Porter 15 mos:

Connor 10 mos:

The third part of my entry title refers to my foiled attempt to get Jeff REAL maple syrup. I made a grocery store trip last night after putting Porter to bed. It was so peaceful to be in the store Sunday evening with hardly anyone else there. I almost enjoyed myself. I spent a few minutes comparing prices and finally settled on the big glass jug of REAL maple syrup. Finally I'm hope lugging the groceries in when WHAM the handles break, the bag drops, the bottle breaks, the syrup oozes all over everything. Right on the garage floor. $@%*!!!! And the part that really pisses me off...I'm out $16 with nothing to show but a sticky driveway. Guess he'll have to deal with the FAKE stuff for a while.


Finally, Porter had his 15 month check up last week. He was down on his weight, due to his illness. He's now 23 lbs 9.8oz which is between the 25th-50th%. Last time he was 50th-75th%. I'm sure he'll make a comeback though, he's a good eater. He was not however thrilled with being weighed or getting shots!

Talk to the hand:

Christmas photos

I'm kind of glad the holidays are behind us. We had a really nice Christmas and spent lots of time with my family, which was great. It's just all the stress of making sure that you've bought all the presents you are supposed to that makes me feel crazy. Also, I was working a lot before Christmas, and then we had a small Christmas celebration at our house on Christmas Day, so just cleaning and getting ready felt a little crazy. Luckily Jeff had some time off, and really did a great job of getting all the food bought and prepared. He made a delicious leg of lamb, red wine mint jelly, roasted potatoes and fennel and a really yummy pannetone/chocolate mascarpone trifle. I'm really glad he loves to cook and is good at it. It takes a lot of the heat off me! My mom also pulled through by bringing a great salad and some shrimp for an appetizer. We got together at my brother Tom & Jenny's house on Christmas Eve with everyone, so there were 20 of us. We had a really nice time, but weren't able to stay all that late because Porter needed to go to bed. Oh well, he'll be able to last longer in a few years!




Connor got a Wii for Christmas, and was pretty excited, but I think he might have liked the SpongeBob toothbrush he got in his stocking better! We've been having fun playing the Wii and are starting to figure out how to play Lego Indiana Jones.

We went out with a group of neighbors for New Years Eve, and I told Connor he was going to have a babysitter. He said "Why?" I said, because we are going out to dinner". He said, "Can I come?". I said, "No, it's just grown-ups". He said, "Why, does everything have booze in it?". That kid cracks me up. Actually they ended up staying at my parents' house overnight and did great. It was really nice of my mom to do that since New Years Eve is her birthday! The kids had fun and I think Grandma and Papa really liked having them spend the night too. We had a really nice dinner at the Downtowner and hung out with neighborhood friends til around 1am or so, just long enough to ring in the New Year and suffer a tiny bit of a hangover the next day. It was nice not having to get up with kids and to sleep in a bit.

Happy 2009!

Visit with Santa

Visit with Santa:

So we made our annual journey to Gerten's to pick out our Christmas tree and to visit with Santa. I don't think we visited with Santa last year. Maybe he wasn't there the day we got our tree, or maybe I didn't want to bother with Porter being 2 mos old. Who knows. I'm fairly certain that Connor was ok with not seeing Santa since he was pretty afraid of him. This year he said he'd go, but he was not going to sit on his lap. He would just stand near him and tell him what he wanted. So, we got in line to see Santa, and Connor said to me "I've changed my mind. I don't want to go see Santa." Well, I told him that Porter was going to see him and he could just wait in line with us. He did change his mind again, and went up to see Santa. It was pretty cute too. Connor had been planning on telling Santa he wanted a Nintendo Wii, but chickened out when he got up there and told him he wanted some Bakugans. I told him he could ask for more stuff, so he did tell him he wanted a Nintendo Wii then. Santa said he couldn't make any promises, and told Connor he needed to not argue, to listen to Mom & Dad, go to bed when he is told and to turn the TV off when he is told. He just nodded solemnly while Santa was talking. Meanwhile, Porter was happy as a clam sitting on Santa's lap listening to this exchange between Santa and his big brother. Next year, we'll see.....

Getting our tree at Gerten's:

Mmmm, donuts:

Could life get any better?:

Connor's first hockey game:

Holiday Makeover

Whew, it's been a while since I last posted. I think everyone is busy right now. We have also been getting over illnesses here too. Porter had a bad cold for a week or so, and also got about 5 new teeth! He's been pretty fun to be around! Jeff caught some kind of virus and was sick on Thanksgiving and all weekend. Not much of a fun holiday, but we are all better now. Something to be Thankful for!

Porter has been walking all over the place and is really getting good. He hardly ever crawls anymore. He's also been making lots of animal sounds, like Baa and meow, and is starting to say a few words. He now says baby, and I think he says puppy, but it comes out more like doppy. He says mi for milk. I'm sure there are a lot more words that I just don't understand yet. It must be so frustrating to not be understood. I suppose a lot like a stroke victim who knows in their brain what they are trying to say, and it's just not coming out that way. He speaks lots of gibberish which sounds just like a very complex conversation. It's really cute. He's starting to dance too, and gives sloppy wet kisses when he feels like it. When he does peek-a-boo, he covers his ears instead of his eyes! Very fun. We all say "Oh no, where has Porter gone? He must have gone to Porterville". He thinks this is so funny. He loves to laugh and will laugh loud when something unbeknowst to us amuses him. He keeps us all entertained.

Cruising around:

Being Goofy:

Brushing:

Playing hockey:

Mugging for the camera:

Climbing on the train table:

Peek-a-boo, Where's Porter:

Baby Yoga:

Connor is doing great in kindergarten. He seems to be enjoying school and making lots of friends there. We were recently at the Spagetti Dinner and Connor was working the room saying hi to everyone he knows. It was pretty funny. He started playing hockey and is in Mites 2. His team is the Wild this year. He has a few friends from his team last year on this years team, and also has quite a few friends from school and the bus who are on his team. He has really been learning a lot of words and is able to read and write quite a few of them. He is always asking how things are spelled. He loves drawing fighter planes, Indiana Jones stuff and Star Wars stuff. He is obsessively into Legos right now and loves watching SpongeBob. He's hoping to learn how to snowboard this winter.

Tub time:

I am on a little vacation from work right now and am just enjoying having some time off. We are waiting for a visit from the accreditation organization for hospitals at work and everyone has been nervous about their visit. It's like a black cloud hanging over all of us. I just wish they'd come (preferably while I'm on vacation!).

We had a nice Thanksgiving at my parents. It was small this year, just us, my parents and my brother Mike, sil Lisa and their 2 boys. It was a little hectic with Porter and with Jeff there but not feeling well. I think we can all recall how relaxing holidays with one-year olds are! Oh well, someday I'll get to sit down and have a relaxing glass of wine!

Mom working hard:

Nellie hoping for a taste:

Jeff not feeling his best:

Reading with Aunt Lisa:

Reading with Papa:

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! Connor had a blast trick or treating last night. He was dressed up as Indiana Jones, and Porter was a somewhat reluctant Incredible Hulk. We did finally get him to put on his hat and got a few photos. My mom came over and brought us KFC for dinner, some treats for the kids, and got to see them in their costumes. Papa is away on a hunting trip. We also got a shot of Connor and our neighbor girls Caroline and Cecelia who are twins. For fun I am posting a photo from 2005 of the 3 of them too (when they were 2 1/2 and 2). It's fun to see them getting so big. The girls are having their 5th birthday party today!

Indiana Jones:

The menacing Indiana Jones:

An Unhappy Hulk:

A happier Hulk with Grandma Joanie:

Family photo:

Connor, Caroline & Cecelia in 2005:

Caroline, Connor, Porter & Cecelia 2008:

The loot:

And lastly, a man who vacuums stairs! Gotta love it ;)