Ramblings, Park days and Teddy Bears

Sorry for the delay in posting. Seems like time has gone by so fast this last month or so... You know I say that, but time seems to have sped up exponentially since we had kids. It's always fun to go back and look at the beginning of this blog. I still cannot believe we have had this thing for 4 years now. Alexa was the same age then that Erika is now. It still amazes me to look at the photos. I could swear those early pictures were Erika and vice versa... they look so much alike.
As I was looking through and reading some of our early posts, it occurred to me that we have posted a lot of the things that go on here in the Porter house, mostly good. There have been a few rare glimpses into the bad or crabby, as the case may be. :) It made me think about how things *really* are here in our house. Yes we have lots of good times, but there are hard times too. We have had our share of sadness, anger, frustration, loss and any other number of adjectives along those lines. We have experienced financial difficulty, lost jobs, broken bones and hospital stays.
Through it all there have been two things that have been constant through out. The first being God. We never could have made this far with out our faith in God. He has been gracious, and merciful all these years. Mike and I do realize that God has protected us even during our hard times.
The other consistent has been our family. We are EXTREMELY grateful to be so blessed with great parents. We both have heard stories of people that do not get along with one side or the other of their families. We do not have that problem. Both of our parents have gone out of their way to help us out when they could (and sometimes made things work even when all appeared lost). I just wanted to take this opportunity to say "THANK YOU!" We could not have gotten this far with out some help, you all mean the world to us!
Not sure where all this is coming from, I guess I have been thinking a lot, and just really wanted to get all my thoughts out.

Ok, sorry for the rambling beginning, now on to the good stuff... PICTURES!
We have has some fun days with our home-school group, but it was fun to watch the kids do PE. They have had to do push ups and run relays... it's pretty fun to watch.

I mentioned in the last post that Tim had some loose teeth. He finally lost one just this week. He was so excited that the tooth fairy came and left him a whole dollar under his pillow. :) He still has one more loose in the front, should be any day now for it to come out as well.

Erika is now officially 11 months old. I cannot believe that in one more month she will be a year old. It really does not seem like that much time has passed. She is still cruising the furniture, but loves to grab hands and walk all over the place. She finally has some top teeth in as well. She is now in the mimicking stage. She loves to watch her bother and sister and try to do the things they do. It cracks me up about the bear. every time I try and get a picture of her with the bear she would put her feet up (see what I mean about mimicking... LOL). She really is such a good baby though, for the most part she is pretty content and she is just generally a happy child. We are so blessed.

Anyway that is all for now. I will leave off with a fun pic of Lex hamming it up for the camera.

Thanks for reading, and take care!

Update, lots of photos

Ok wow I seriously did not realize that it has been a month since I last posted. Wow time flies. Life just seemed to explode this past month and all that time just got away from me.
So I guess I will start from the beginning of the month:
We had been spending as much time as possible out doors before it got to hot. So I have lots of pictures from the park. (For more pictures click here) One of my good friends and I would go walk while the kids played. We also tried to get some more formal shots of the two little ones, but Erika was not happy being put down that day... it was actually pretty funny. I love the expression on Caleb's face.

Erika has had some firsts this last month: Her first graham cracker and her first time in a swing at the park. She seemed to like both a lot. We are beginning to think she is a lot like her sister in that she seems to have the same daredevil tendencies Alexa always possessed. Boy are we in trouble!

Mother's day was nice. We spent it with my family. My folks church had a Mother/Daughter tea. It was fun. My aunt and cousin also came down to spend some time with my grandma. My cousin is pregnant and expecting a boy the end of the summer, so she was getting in lots of practice holding Erika. We had 4 generations on both sides there so it was especially meaningful. My mom, mom-in-law and grandmothers are a tremendous example of what a good mother should be. They all set the standard high for the rest of us. "Thank you!"

No I did not forget about Erika's 7 month pictures either... I had just not got around to posting them. She would not cooperate and put both her legs down, so all we managed was this shot and some of her sitting with the bear. LOL She is now sitting up on her own, trying to feed herself, and just trying to be more independent in general. She is babbling, but all she says is dadadadada... I keep telling Mike it does not count if you don't know what you are saying. heh.

My (step) neice graduated from high school last night. So the night before they had a graduation/ birthday party for her. It was a lot of fun and a chance to reconnect with some family I had not seen in a very long time. We are so happy and proud that Katalena is part of our lives and that she is embarking on a new and wonderful phase in her life. We have no doubts she will do great things and go far in life.

While we had family here we spent some time at the aquarium/zoo. It was a lot of fun. The kids are always fascinated by the fish and they love being so closeup to the animals. (For more pics from the aquarium click here)

So wow we have had one busy month. June is starting to stack up as well with VBS at my folks church, several appointments and hopefully some time to play in the water as the weather is heating up fast here in the desert. Hopefully it will not take me another month to update, so make sure to check back soon!
Thanks for stopping by.

6 months

No I did not forget... Erika was officially 6 months on Saturday. Here are the pics and update:

~She is growing like weed. She is in the 90 percentile height wise and only in the 10 percentile weight wise. Oh well long and skinny... when she is a teenager she will long for those days.

~Still no teeth and lots of drool. But they are close... I hope.

~She is now on baby food. So far she seems to like veggies... but talk to me in about a year and we'll see how well that holds up. LOL

~She is also sitting up on her own, even if it is only for a few seconds at time.

~She is also rolling all over, and now that she is somewhat mobile she does not like to be in the bouncer to much... I am in trouble... I already have two that go separate directions every chance they get, what will I do with a 3rd. UGH!

Anyway... that's all for now... check back soon for new updates!
Thanks!

Update

Sorry for the delay in posting. In between being busy our youngest managed to squeeze in a few days of utter crankiness. She is teething and handling it pretty badly. She was at one point, last week, running a fever of 102.2. We think on top of her teething, she managed to catch a cold or something, as now she is coughing and has a runny nose. Poor baby.
Anyway she is now officially 5 months old as of the 25th. Bet you all thought I forgot huh? Here is her monthly teddy pic: I just love the ones where she is "talking" to the bear.

Here are a few of the new things she has accomplished in the last month:
* She is now rolling over from her back to her tummy. Mike said he saw her go from her tummy over to her back, but I have yet to see her do that, so I think Mike is a little delusional. (heh)
* I have also started her on solid foods. Not to much other than some oatmeal and some squash, but I am going to start introducing some new stuff this week.
* She is becoming much more adept at grabbing things, and can now manage to pick up most objects, so any of Tim and Lex's small stuff has now been officially banished to their rooms.
*As I mentioned above she is teething and we are hoping they make their appearance soon so she can get back to being her normally happy contented self. (Also so we can stop having to change our clothes every time we hold her due to the fact that she drooling buckets. uck.)
So there is the update on Erika.

Tim and Lex are good. We spent some time with my folks the weekend before last and had a good time. The kids played outside a lot with their gramps. He had to teach them the proper way to do hopscotch. Lex liked to jump in each square with both feet, so he helped her learn to hop with one foot in each square. I told him I thought maybe he was going through his second childhood. To which he replied that he never grew out of the first one. Guess that is why he gets along so well with the kids. :)

Of course we have been out enjoying this wonderful weather. We had some kites so we took the kids to the park and taught them to fly the kites. It was a lot of fun and the kids really seemed to enjoy it.

Well things have slowed down a little, but with the weather being so nice I am sure another trip to the zoo will be in the near future (thank goodness we are members. heh). Thanks for stopping by... take care!

Growing up

Well Erika is now officially 4 months old. I cannot believe it has only been 4 months. Erika is growing like a weed... or rather a flower that is beginning to unfurl it's petals.
Her list of new things this month:
✿She can now hold her bottle all by herself for extended periods.
✿She is very vocal and will let you know when she likes something by smiling and giggling.
✿She will let you know when she does not like something by looking at you like you are crazy and then crying.
✿She likes tummy time and is already tying to get her knees up underneath her so she can try and crawl.
✿She has now turned into "Ms. GrabbyHands" and grabs everything in site, which then is promptly put in her mouth.

So, just when we thought it was safe to let Tim and Lex have little toys, they are now banned from the living room, and we are trying to figure out what to do about the girls room. Lex is at the stage where she like Barbie and princess... and ALL the little pieces that come with those.

I wanted to post her monthly teddy pics:

Enjoy!
Thanks so much for stopping by!

3 months old and more pics

Well Erika is 3 months old today. She changes almost every day it seems. She can now sit up (with a little help) and she is much more alert and awake these days. She has also discovered her voice in recent days and she loves practicing using it. We have also discovered she loves to look at books. She studies each page intently. (Mike loves it, although I think some of the books he wants to buy for HER are still a little over her head at the moment).
Anyway here are her monthly teddy pics. She still loves to share lots with him, and now that she has discovered her voice her secrets are no longer secret... LOL:
We have been spending a lot of time outside these last few days. The weather here has just been too nice to be indoors. Here are a few shots of Tim and Lex from a recent outing:

One month and counting...

One month. One month today our newest blessing came into this world. It's so hard to believe that in just a month so much has changed. We are tremendously blessed (and tired).
Erika's personality is now starting to come out. I told Mike just tonight that we are in trouble. I tried to give her a pacifier, she pursed her lips and would not take it. Then she looked right at me and smiled. We are in deep trouble.
Well here are some one month photos of her and her new friend, Mr. Bear. I am telling you she is growing like a weed. Seems to me like she is already out growing some of her clothes.


Hard to believe a month has passed... it seems like she has been a part of us all along. I have to wonder if that comes with being a parent. I seem to recall I had similar feelings after my other two were born too. Anyway, we are all well, and looking forward to a nice Thanksgiving. We obviously have much to be thankful for this year.
Happy Thanksgiving and may you cherish all the blessings God has granted you this last year. Oh and make sure not to eat to much turkey, you have to leave some room for pumpkin pie.