Gilbert House

Lunch with Mommy and Daddy and baby Maggie at Red Robin. Porter loves pockets!!

A rocking chair at the Gilbert House, just Porter's size.

The rain forest room at the Gilbert House.

We took Porter to the Gilbert House for the first time while AJ was on Spring Break. We had fun playing and Porter could have stayed for a lot longer but Maggie was ready to be home and stretch her legs. We had gone up to Portland in the morning to take the kids to the doctor and then out to lunch and Costco. Porter hadn't had a nap and Maggie was tired of being uncomfortable, so Porter got to explore all the rooms and the playground a little but not to his hearts content. We will take him back again someday, most likely when he is a little older. Our zoo year membership is up in May so I hope to take the kids there one more time before it expires.

Where should we get a membership to this next year? I hear OMSI is good for the little ones, surprisingly enough!

Stop time, please...

Tonight at 10:50pm, I am sitting on the couch by myself watching the end of The Bachelor and I realize I want to stop time. No, not because of The Bachelor. I want time to stop because tonight is the last night of my maternity leave. This is the first of many lasts. I didn't think this would be hard for me but I guess it is hitting me a little more than I thought it would.

When AJ and I began talking about having kids, we both agreed that we wanted to have 2 kids. I may have said this before that I am the middle child of 3 and AJ is the youngest of 2 and we both felt 2 was a perfect number for us. When I was pregnant with Porter, I got sick and did not enjoy being pregnant at all. My labor and delivery was the least enjoyable as well so it was a miracle I wanted to do this all over again.

Then in April of 2010 I jokingly told AJ we should try for another one and that night we did and the next morning I woke up in a panic afraid of what we may have done. AJ reassured me it was just one try and it had taken us 2 1/2 years to get pregnant with Porter. So my panic subsided only to become reality on Mother's Day 2010. We were excited and even more excited when we learned that Magnolia Raine would be entering our lives. Another pregnancy and more sickness and then all the anxiety of how my labor and delivery would go. Well, you know the story about that and needless to say, I did not mourn the last time I would be pregnant.

I was happy at the prospect of losing the weight and never having to do that again. I was relieved my constant heartburn was subsiding and I was so excited to someday wear all my normal clothes again! No looking back.

But tonight as my 8 week old daughter and 23 month old son are soundly sleeping in their beds, I am sad. I have loved being home with them for the last 8 weeks and being their full time mom. We have had our moments. We have had fun. We have cried. We have laughed. We have slept. We have gone places and stayed home. We have had LOTS of jammie days. It was amazing.

Porter is at such a fun age. Maggie is still so little. I am still so emotional.

This is the first of many lasts that I will be missing. I hope Maggie nurses till she is 3. :)

Yes, I do know that work is good for me. I know I need to make money. I know God has ordered all of my steps and my kid's steps but I just wish I could be there for more of them. AJ's mom, Lori (Grammie) is an amazing grandma and such a blessing to us for her willingness to watch our two kids and Jana's son, Finn. She will have 3 kids at times all 2 and under! What a HUGE blessing! Porter loves his Grammie and Maggie will too as she grows. Lori and Al turned one of their guest rooms in their home to a completely kid-safe playroom and it is beautiful and lots of fun. So I do know my kids will be well taken care of.

I am just sad tonight. Guess I better get to bed so I can get some rest before the whirlwind of a morning as we all get ready to head off into our 'new' normal.

An almost 2 year old

Well, today is the 3rd of March which means in one month Porter will be two. How do I feel about that? I just can't believe it. Where did the last 2 years go? I guess because I was nursing him for the first 17 months of his life and then got pregnant at month 13 of his life, I have always been nursing or pregnant for the last 2 years. So I am excited for the next years to come with him and not worry about being pregnant again. It was a rough 10 months for all of us, but we have made it and now can enjoy the joys of being two and very active.

Porter loves to go and do and do some more. He is a hopping fool. He loves to chase and run. He loves to do somersaults and climb on the couches. He loves to ride Strawberry (Grandpa Al the horse). He loves to push boundaries and think outside the box. He loves to read, color and paint. He loves to splash in mud puddles with his rain boots and even without his rain boots. He loves to give his sister kisses and will do it repeatedly at night knowing full well we will let him and it keeps him out of bed longer. He loves to play balls and loves to go shopping for balls at Target. He remembers things I had no idea little 2 year old minds would remember. He knows Home Depot, he knows La Hacienda, he knows where our street is, he knows where Daddy and Mommy go to work, he knows when we are on the way to Grammie's house, he knows his cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles in pictures and points to the correct ones. He loves life!

I could go on and on but those are some of the things that jump out in my mind when I think of our little Porter-man. So he is turning 2 and one of the things I have been wanting him to learn is to tell people how old he is. He just learned how to say the number one with his hand and when asked how old he is will show you one finger. So along with that learning I figured why not start showing him basic counting and count up to five. So he have say, with his mouth, two and three and show you that on his hand as well. So he is all ready to turn two now and be able to tell people how old he is. So cute! I keep asking him what he wants for his birthday and I don't think the concept of that makes any sense to him as he has no response really. If only it stays that way, right?

One more month and what used to be my little baby, Porter, will be 2. Now, what should we do for a birthday party? Hmmmm.... Do we let him eat the "real" stuff? Porter has not had any dessert or intentionally sugary foods the first two years of his life. Yes, he has had muffins that contain sugar, but generally they are homemade and not cupcakes but muffins like blueberry or bran. He does eat fruit flavored yogurt, but again, yogurt is not known to be a sugary item. He does drink juice but nothing like Caprisun or Sunny Delight. All that to say, he has had some sugar but nothing dessert like, so the question is, "Do we let him eat cake?" For his first birthday he had a sugar-free banana cake. I will admit, it wasn't amazingly delicious but he didn't know the difference at all. This year, we will see. The jury is still out and AJ and I haven't decided. When I post about his birthday, we will see which way we went. :0)