The Porter Family

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Pregnancy update!

So here is a long overdue pregnancy update! I am currently 29 weeks preggo and everything is going well. Baby Alexandria is growing tons, although I am not. I gained 32 lbs. with Kaden (I know I shouldn't admit that...) and so far with this baby, I have gained a total of 5 lbs. My midwife is not too excited about that, but I assured her I am eating everything in sight. I have craved root beer for the last month-weird-I know. We always bring home at least one 2-liter of root beer from the store whenever we go for anything. haha Here is a badly scanned ultrasound picture of Alexandria sucking her thumb. It is such a cute ultrasound, I just have no idea what went wrong in the scanner....so, yeah. If you can't tell, her head is at the lower right hand side of the pic and you can kind of make out her little arm going up to her mouth. SO CUTE! Kaden never sucked his thumb. The nurses said (after he came out) that he has a love affair with his tongue. For some reason, he was always sucking his tongue. I also have a pic of me from about a month and a half ago when I hit 6 months along. I am even bigger and more uncomfortable since this pic...hard to believe I've only gained 5 lbs! :)

HUGE belly!!

Birthday pictures!

Ok, ok, I know this happened like 3 weeks ago, but I have been a bit busy. Anyway, now that I have a minute, I will post the pics from Kaden's first birthday party that I know you all have been breathlessly awaiting. There are tons, so enjoy! We had a BBQ first, but didn't get any pictures of that since I was running around like a chicken with my head chopped off. P.S. A HUGE thank you to Kelly for letting us use her camera for the day (also for all the help she gave me in setting up...) and also thanks to Suzanna for being the photographer and going picture crazy. It's her fault there are so many pics on here...she gave me a ton to choose from and I am indecisive. :)

Lots of presents! Kaden really couldn't have cared less until the actual presents came out, then he just wanted to play with them-not open more. :)

Look close at Kaden's face-so random and cute! lol

Our friend's daughter, Halle. She was so interested in the gifts! I should have let her open the presents since Kaden didn't want to.

Halle and Kaden checking out the Elmo in the Tub toy.

These are a little out of order, but I wanted to save the cake pictures for last. So, after Kaden had his cake, we had brownies and ice cream for everyone! Here are Shane and Stephanie (it was Stephanie and her hubby's new home we were at...) dishing up the goodies.

Shane's mom and sister getting their dessert.

Some of our family that came-sorry to anyone that is not in the pictures! There were a lot of people there so don't be offended if you are not on here. :)

More guests-some of my side of the family.

Eating the yummy brownies and ice cream...mmmm...

Cake time!! I, uh...helped him blow out the candle. Ok, so I am the one that did it, but I am sure his wish still counted!

A shot of the cake. I didn't miss a spot when frosting it-that's where the candle was...

Kaden going for the cake. You think he's totally going for it, right? He's concentrating....going for it...

And then he just wants the frosting that barely got on his fingertips. Nice...

Shane trying to help Kaden dig in. I am a weird mom and wanted my kid to get really dirty and have to hose him down...

This was the biggest (and only) real bite he took-YAY!

Kaden kept crawling over to a spoon nearby so we thought he would dig in better with a spoon. We got him a clean spoon and I got a big scoop of cake. He took a tiny piece off the spoon-very politely-what a kid....I swear I don't know who raised him. I always thought my kid would be a pig and dive head first into his cake-oh well.

CAKE FACE! All done!

Mom and Kaden

Friday, October 3, 2008

High School Tag!

School: Clearfield High

1. Did you date someone from your high school? Just one guy-Jory
2. What kind of car did you drive? Um....I think it was an '84 (???) gray, Toyota...um....something? I know it was gray!

3. What was your most embarrassing moment in high school? High school was one big embarrassing moment for me.

4. Were you a party animal? Nope
5. Were you considered a flirt? I know I considered myself a flirt, but (much to my dismay) the boys didn't catch on to the "I'm flirting" thing...I was everyone's kid sister...yay.
6. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? Choir-that's where all the cute boys were (Shane took choir, too, for those of you who don't know....)
7. Were you a nerd? Not really-I didn't get the best grades...more of a misfit than anything. Maybe a drama geek....
8. Were you on any varsity teams? Uh-does Madrigals count?
9. Did you get suspended/expelled? No way
10. Can you still sing the fight song? Heck yeah!!
11. Who were your favorite teachers? I really liked the young Mr. Reed-he was my favorite English teacher and taught me a lot, also Mr. Aird because in my three years of classes with him, I got to know a different side of him than people who just had one class with him.

12. Where did you sit during lunch? My sophomore and junior year I sat with my older sister, Suzanna, and bugged her and her friends, but my senior year was mainly either Wendy's or in the drama room with the other drama geeks. :)

13. School Mascot? Falcon!
14. Did you go to homecoming and with who? Yes, I went Junior year with Jory, even though he had graduated the year before and his sister who was my age hated me for going with him....drama, drama, drama.
15. If you could go back and do it again, would you? No flippin' way...you couldn't pay me enough.
16. What do you remember most about graduation? I skipped the after party to hang out with my college buddies from Macey's (grocery store where I worked). We had a girls' night that turned into a sleep-over then played raquet ball the next day with some cute college boys (also from Macey's).
17. Where did you go senior skip day? We didn't have one...but I often made up my own. :)
18. Have you gained weight since then? Well, right now I weigh more than I did in high school, but I am also 7 1/2 months preggo....but when I am not preggo, I weigh the same or less than I did in high school (I was a big girl back then....).
19. Who was your prom date? Didn't go-blah. I hung out with my friend, M, and her fiance, Jared. So, M and Jared were my dates that night. :)
20. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? Nope-anyone I want to keep in touch with I do! (or try to)
21. Looking back, what advice would you give yourself? RELAX! It's not the end of the world when your hair or makeup isn't done, everything that seems HUGE now, seriously won't matter 6 months after graduation.

I tag Dee Dee, Kelly, M and Hill.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Sleeping on the job...

For those of you who don't know, I work as an on-site manager for Alpine Storage. It is nice because it is only 3 hours and 20 minutes a day and Kaden comes with me! We live on-site (no, not in a storage unit...they have real apartments for us...) so it is nice to be able to just walk 10 steps to the office for work. There is a playroom for our kids, which Kaden LOVES (especially when his g/f Liz is in there with him). So, this morning I was working and doing the morning paperwork while Kaden played in the playroom. I could hear him moving around (a lot-he is noisy) when all of a sudden, I noticed it had been about ten minutes since I heard him make any noise. I looked in and saw this....

Kaden had gotten under the big slide/play toy and fallen asleep! He, of course, had his puppy right next to him and was so stinkin' cute.

We still don't have a camera, so I had to take these with my camera phone...sorry! Someday we will get another camera...Christmas IS coming up. :) Anyway, I just wanted to share-I guess when you are tired, you're tired! It wasn't even his naptime, yet, which is the funny thing. I wish he would do this in church so we weren't so inactive.... :) Enjoy!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Tag from June

Ok, so I thought while I am neglecting homework that really needs to get done, I would make good on my promise to Kelly to finally do the tag from when she got me in JUNE...I'm a slacker..I know.
Eight random facts/habits/stories:
1) Ever since I can remember, I have loved dancing. When I was 4 or 5 years old, I would turn the radio on and just make up moves as I went (teaching myself a lot without meaning to). Contrary to popular belief, I really actually am graceful when I want to be. So, my parents put me in a ballet/tap/jazz class when I was 5 or 6. I remember going for the first time and it was a beginners class. The teacher was telling the girls to "jump over the pretend puddle"-trying to teach them to leap properly. I thought this was so dumb because it was WAY too easy and I had been doing this on my own for years now. The teacher must have noticed that I wasn't challenged by the pretend puddles, because the next week I was in an advanced class. I was with girls who were 9 and 10 years old (SO big to me, then). They treated me like a baby (asking if they could read me stories while I sat on their laps when we had our water breaks-I hated it), but I showed them. ha ha At our first recital, I was the ONLY one who stayed on beat-everyone else was behind. It looks funny in the video-me:a short, tiny little thing one beat ahead of these tall girls who should have known better. Anyway, I love watching that home video of me and knowing that I was the only one in that class who could keep a beat in front of an audience. lol
2. I am a HORRIBLE artist. People think it's modesty (or me trying to be funny) when I say I can't even draw a stick figure, but I am totally serious. I always wished I could draw or paint better, but my little sister, Jacquelyn, got those genes. It's going to be pretty sad when Kaden turns 3 and can already draw better than his mom (not even kidding...).
3. Something most people outside of my immediate family don't know about me is that I have started a book. It's not anything good, but it is my passion. I love to read and write. Writing is such an amazing release for me. I have done the first couple of chapters and made my family members read and critique it for me, but we will see what happens with it. Shane believes heart and soul in me and always pushes me to finish the book....what a good hubby. He just wants me to be his sugar mama. :)
4. Most people can't believe that I have never climbed a tree, but those are the people who don't know my dad. I didn't get to jump on a trampoline until I was....about 10 or 11 years old. My dad is VERY protective and didn't let his girls (four of us) do anything that might result in any kind of injury. So, I missed out on a lot of childhood fun, but I think I have made up for it in my teenage years. I found out a few years ago that rock climbing is amazing and SO fun! I actually tried skiing and snowboarding (I am really bad at both, but hey, I tried...my butt just hurts for the next few days after going). I have been thrown off a horse a couple of different times (I felt like someone should be filming me when it happened-I would have loved to see the replay). I know those are not extreme in any form compared to some people's lives, but for me, they are big accomplishments. Shane, on the other hand, loves skydiving. I think he is crazy and tell him all the time that I will skydive with him as soon as the plane I am in is burning and both engines are out. Total wuss...I know.
5. I am the second oldest of 5 kids. No offense to my older sister, but I always wanted to have an older brother (too, not in replace of her!). I thought growing up that an older brother would be cool to have so he could beat up on you and have a best friend to rough house with, but now I realize that the only reason I wanted an older brother was so that he could bring his hot friends home for me to stare at. lol
6. Funny story involving Shane...when we were engaged, we were looking at pictures of ourselves from high school (we went to the same school). Shane was a senior when I was a sophomore, but we never met in high school. Shane saw the few pictures of me that I have (I tried not to have evidence of those years) and told me, "You know, it's a good thing I didn't know you back then, I would never have been interested in dating you." Harsh! It's because my teeth were messed up before braces, I didn't know how to do my very thick hair, I thought makeup was a cover up for acne, so it was always caked on, I had no idea what tweezers were AND to top it all off, I was way chunky, but everyone was too nice to tell me to lay off the gallon of ice cream for dinner (not even kidding on that one). Scary. I don't blame him one little bit, but just so you know, I would NOT have even given him a second look back then, either. He was this scrawny kid with ORANGE hair! His younger sister (she's my age) was going to cosmetology school and would experiment with bleaching his hair...HAHAHA. He literally has orange hair for his senior pictures. lol Good thing we didn't meet until after his mission. :)
7. Places Shane and I have been: Hawaii (yay for Maui!), Disneyland (every year since we met..except this year-Kaden is too little to take and I can't ride any rides being preggo anyway), Disneyworld, Bahamas, two cruises (both to Ensenada (spelling?)-Mexico and Catalina Island), Yellowstone, Jackson Hole, San Francisco and Sacramento (yay for Rocklin!). Our next big trip will be to Disneyland (I am having withdrawls) and England once the kiddos are old enough.
8. I had a total of 7 surgeries before I was 18 years old. My first one was when I was 6 1/2 years old and they have kept coming ever since. I have had my birthmark removed from my left calf (when I was 6 my parents were told there was a good chance of my getting bone cancer in that lef before I was 12 if it wasn't removed...it was gone within a week), I had my adnoids out (usually this happens the same time as tonsils coming out, but the doctor was stupid...), I had my tonsils out when I was 15, I have had my wisdom teeth pulled (p.s. dry socket SUCKS), and I have had a total of 3 knee surgeries between both of my knees. The knee surgeries were the worst of any I have had, but now at least I can kneel down without worrying about my kneecaps popping out of place (unbelievable painful!).
Who to tag now? I tag Emily, Steph Chugg, Yuki, Amelia, Kristin, Jamee, Hill, and Lori
RULES
1) each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2) people who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules.
3) at the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
4) don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Tagged!

My friend, Emily, tagged me to do the husband tag, so here ya go!
1. What is his name? Shane Robinson Porter
2. Who eats more? Ummm....right now, me, but when I'm not preggo, him for sure.
3. Who said, "I love you" first? ME!
4. Who is taller? Him
5. Who is smarter? With finances and electronic gagets-him...with everything else-me :)
6. Who is more sensitive? He is sensitive, but I probably take the cake for most sensitive
7. Who does the laundry? ONLY me-I tried to let him when we first got married, but after he shrunk and discolored one of my favorite shirts, I have done it ever since. He always offers, but we can't afford to keep replacing my clothes that he ruins. :)
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? The right side of the bed when you are looking at it, him, but when you are in it, me. We tried to switch it up once, but for some reason, it works best this way.
9. Who pays the bills? Him-I couldn't even tell you what comes due when.
10. Who cooks more? Me-again, I tried to let him when we were first hitched, but after learning that his idea of cooking doesn't involve receipes, butter or even measuring ANYTHING, I quickly took that over. Which is fine with me-I love to cook. It bugs Shane, though, because he thinks he is such a great cook...and he is...for a male college dorm. Love you hon!
11. Who is more stubborn? That is a toss up. We can both be stubborn about different things, but I am probably more stubborn all in all. It's that German in me popping up again.
12. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Shane-I'm never wrong...haha ;)
13. Who has more siblings? Him (he has 3 sisters and 2 brothers-I have 3 sisters and 1 brother)
14. Who wears the pants in the relationship? I really don't know. We take turns...I do when it comes to Kaden, activities and household stuff, but he does with our budget and finances.
15. What do you like to do together? When school isn't in and we actually get to see each other, it is the best to just play with Kaden and relax watching a movie or going for a walk.
16. Who eats more sweets? SHANE-whether or not I am preggo
17. Guilty Pleasures? He LOVE, LOVE, LOVES brownies! Also, around this time of year, he really likes the nasty candy corn-probably because he gets an entire bag to himself...yuck.
18. How did you meet? I was in his cousin's single's ward and he came to an activity with her.
19. Who asked whom out first? ME! He will tell you that we never dated, we just "hung out," but I asked him to "hang out" first. :)
20. Who kissed whom first? I waited TWO FREAKING MONTHS for him to kiss me. He wasn't ready to settle down, he wanted to play the field a bit more since he just got back from his mission. I respected his decision (it was the longest two months of my life) and waited until he realized he wanted to marry me...haha.
21. Who proposed? Shane-on Christmas Eve (ironically, my due date this year!)
22. His best features and qualities? I love his eyes and his soul patch (the little spot of hair under his lower lip). People tell him to shave it off, but I tell him that if he does, he is sleeping on the couch until it grows back. He is very thoughtful and considerate-I couldn't ask for a better hubby! And I LOVE that everyone says Kaden is the spitting image of him. I think Shane is a hottie, so it's good that Kaden is as handsome as his dad. :)
Ok, I tag Angel, Suzanna and Kelly (I just remembered that Kelly tagged me a few months ago and I never did that one...oops! I will do that one soon Kelly-I promise!)

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Happy Birthday Kaden!!

It's hard for me to believe that one year ago today I was headed to the hospital and scared to death to have to bring a baby home. I was pretty sure I should hire one of the nurses to live with us because they all did such a great job while we were at the hospital. Well, Kaden had his one year old doctor's appt. today and here are his stats (for those of you who are interested): he is 30 inches long, which is the 60%...he weighs 20 lbs 8 oz, the 15%...and his head is 18 inches around, the 24%. So, he is still long and lean. :) If he would ever sit still long enough to eat a ton like he should, maybe he would gain more weight. He's come a long way since his original 6 lbs. 9 oz and 19 inches long, eh? :) Since it's my baby's 1st birthday today AND I am pregnant...again...no one can blame me for being a bit teary eyed all day today. I have been thinking about my labor and delivery and can't help loving Kaden even more for being such an easy kid. We didn't have a blog back then, so if you haven't heard my labor story, here it is! If you have, or don't care, skip on ahead to the fun pictures. :) I had just gotten off of work at 1:30 pm and came into my apartment to try and find something decent to eat (meaning chocolate...). We didn't have anything, so I skipped eating for a while and went to play on the computer until I got hungry enough to eat something that we did have (most likely PB & J). Around 2:00, the weirdest thing happened. I heard two "bubble, bubble" sounds (I don't know any other way to describe it) and at the same time, without realizing it, I stood up VERY fast. My water broke the second I stood up (it was like my body reacted before my brain knew what was happening...) and I was shocked. I hadn't been having any contractions (that I knew of) so I called the hospital and asked, "Um, my water just broke, but I'm not having any contractions. Should I wait to come in until I feel pain or just come now?" The poor nurse, "You're WATER just BROKE?!" Me: "Well, yes." Her,"Get in here NOW!" So, I called Shane and told him it was "time." Shane thought I was kidding at first and then was shocked and panicked when he realized I wasn't. lol He started to head home, but got stuck in traffic, so he called me (panicked, still, thinking I would have the kid on the bed at home) and told me to have someone pick me up and he will meet me at the hospital. I said ok and went into the office (it's connected to my apartment-for those of you who don't know) and Kenzie was in there working. I said, "Uh-Kenz, could you drive me to the hospital? My water just broke." She, of course, was SO excited and starting freaking out. While she grabbed her almost one year old son, I went and changed my clothes so I wasn't all wet. Well, what NOBODY told me was that EVERY time you have a contraction after your water breaks, MORE water keeps coming! I felt like freakin' Niagara Falls! I think I changed 3 or 4 times before realizing it was pointless and just grabbed a towel to wrap around my waist. Kenzie drove me to the hospital and it was on the way that the contractions kicked in. Let me just say....OUCH! The whole way there I wanted drugs and I kept telling Kenzie she is amazing for having done it without any drugs. Anyway, I got checked in and 3 freaking hours later, I finally got the wonderful, glorious epidural. It would have been sooner, but there was a lady delivering her baby in the parking lot who demanded more attention than I did. lol The man who did the epidural looked like Hitler (I'm not kidding at all) so I was scared (being German like I am) when he first came in, but about 5 minutes later, the drugs kicked in and I was in HEAVEN! Shane liked me a lot better after I got the drugs. :) haha Anyway, 3 hours after I got the epidural, Kaden Shane Porter was born. I went through a total of 6 hours of labor and about 7 minutes of pushing...and everyone I know wants to kill me that it was so "easy" for me. Hopefully this next one is like that, too (except that I get the drugs a TON sooner and they are not administered by Hitler...). This first year has been fun and Kaden just keeps getting cuter! Here are yet more pictures of the last year. Kaden's big birthday party is on Saturday, so more fun pics after that. :) For those of you who did, thanks for sticking with me through the long story.