Life As We Know It

No, Thanks

Lately Porter is really into saying "No, thanks"... which you'd think is great, right?  It makes him sound like a little gentleman.  Hmm..

Now, the above picture.   I was attempting to take his picture by this cool blue wood wall (actually a river scene).  Here's our little conversation:

me:  Porter, come over here
porter: No, thanks
me: Oh!  Porter look at this wall!  Can you stand by it?
porter: No, thanks
me: Come put your back on the wall.  Try it!
porter: No, thanks

Other examples:

me: Let's change your diaper (not really an option, dude)
porter: No, thanks

It just cracks me up how he says it so matter-of-fact like.  It sounds so polite it almost makes it hard to go against his "No, thanks" wishes.  Almost. 

Beds, School, Mess, Work, Pictures, etc etc...

Just some random things going on here....

• JCPenney has the bunks on backorder that I want.  I'm afraid they're discontinued.  The search for bunk beds at an affordable price continues.   I freaked all day at not being able to find bunks I like.  The ones at JCP have "slats/spindles" on the headboard/footboard so I thought that'd not make the room so "boxy" as a "flat" foot/headboard would look.  I found a black bunk set I really like (I so love black wood furniture!) but I was afraid it'd be too dark/solid (no slats/spindles to let light through the foot/headboard) but then I had a flash of brilliance and thought DUH!  The whole reason we're getting bunks is so that *just in case* we decide we don't need the extra bed, each of the boys can have a twin bed.  So, for now while we're stuck in this tiny house and P is in his 10x10 bedroom, we can just set up one twin and it won't look like the bunk is taking over the bedroom when people come to house showings!


• My check engine light came on in the Fe today.  And it sputtered when you step on the gas.  And on the way home it struggled to accelerate above 35mpg.  Nice. So, Ryan is taking it in to our mechanic today.  Please, please don't let it be anything expensive.  We are flat broke right now.  Not to mention Christmas bills are breathing down our necks.

• I forgot to mention a few weeks ago.... I'm going to be working more than part time this next semester!  I had applied for a Title I full-time teaching position but never got called for an interview. Turns out the Title teacher at our school (who was part time- afternoons) took the job (it was at our other elem. school in our district) and her job was left open.  To compensate her position (I'm assuming this) they are having both Language Arts Specialists (me and another teacher) work afternoons 4 days a week.  We'll basically assist 2nd and 3rd grade at risk students with math etc.  So... instead of only getting 13.2 hours a week I'll be working 25!!  Such a blessing.  I was just thinking last month that I get paid a great amount per hour, but if only I could get more hours.... and look what pops up!
  

• Ryan and I have awesome, amazing families that are so gracious and willing to step in and help us out with watching Porter a couple days a week.  And they are always so willing and "offering" to help out when I have sessions and just need a break.  I never thought we'd be so lucky.  Bless them!!  (ok, I'm sure it doesn't hurt that they just love being around P, though, right? HAHA!)

• I'm pulling my head out of the sand and signing up for Masters courses this fall.  How I'll do this with two kiddos under 3, plus work, plus a house, plus Ryan going to school... I don't know.  Only, Katie kicked me in the ass reminding me that I have just 4 years to complete 18 credits or my teaching certif is null.  I need to just do it.  This topic deserves an entire post in itself... which would outline:
  • How will I afford this on top of my now $50k in student loans (which are costing me $400/month, FYI)
  • How will I find the time to run my photography business, take care of 2 kids and a house, spend time with my family, and do daily mundane "errands" and still have a life?
  • How will the schedule work out with Ryan going to school?
  • Oh, should we touch on the topic that I don't even TEACH yet?  At least not in an actual "teacher-as-a-title" position... which I should get my ass in gear looking for.  I don't want to obtain my Masters before having a full time job... it'd make getting a job even harder I'm sure. 
  • So, the Masters course is 36 credits.  I have 6 years to complete.  So, 6 credits a year. Basically means I have to pile on a class every summer as well as one in either fall/spring EVERY YEAR.  And after that's done don't go thinking I'll be done.  I still have to accrue 6 credits every 3 years to keep my certificate valid. 
  • Gosh, teachers are asked a lot of... not to mention they get paid jack squat in relation to what the job entitles.
    
    
• Desperate Housewives sucked tonight.  UGH.

• Our house is still a pit.  But, its coming along.  We have made lots of progress in the past few days!  I'm actually excited about all the moving around and rearranging we've done.  We're a little more cramped, but its looking good!

• I am going to vote in the election this year!  I've never voted.  I've never been interested in political things, but I think its something I need to get educated on and be a part of.  So, this year... education begins!  I will vote! I will vote!

• I need a new blog banner. (ETA: ok, so I have a new banner now!)

• I hope Ryan doesn't snore tonight.  The couch is not comfortable.  Note to self:  we need to get P's bed sooner rather than later just so I have somewhere to sleep when Ryan's throat decides to close in at night.  Because, he SWEARS he does not snore.

• There was more I was going to post but now I've forgotten.  I'm way too tired.  I need to get to sleep.

And, if you've made it through my excessive rambling thoughts... here are some pics from St. Louis I finally proofed tonight.  I should mention how green with envy I am that Heather's tub has a huge window behind it.  *sigh*




(^^that is Saw-Man in case you couldn't tell.  Sheesh, they look a bit alike!)



(^^another of Sawyer)

Playing in the snow with P-Man (1.4.08)

Yesterday was Porter's first "real" play in the snow.  The snow was above his knees and he was so funny trying to walk.  He kept saying "BIG step!" LOL.  We were in the dog/human yard and of course we haven't scooped poop lately so I told Porter to watch out for dog poop.  He wouldn't stop reminding me "Yucky poop!  Watch yucky poop!" 

It wasn't the "good" packing snow for snowmen... more like the light, fluffy, fly away when you try to hold it snow.  We walked around the yard, made snow angels, "watched yucky poop", ate snow off of the picnic table, and Porter slid down his snow covered slide. 

Honestly, he didn't seem too fond of playing in the snow.  I think it was mostly because he couldn't move or walk. But, he is a bit hesitant with new situations too. 

I took some pics... braved the snow with my good lens and camera.  EEEK!  (and, I have to say I hate taking pics in the snow... I can never get my metering right without blowing out the snow!)

Porter at 22 Months

I'm a little behind in posting this.  I started making this list just before Christmas.  So, some of these things are things that were going on in the last month or so. 

• He says these things a lot:
  • "HEY!" as in... "Hey!  My trucks over there!"  "Hey, my zebra!"  "Hey!  My cup onna table!"
  • "Almost".  "Almost done?"  "Almost ready?"  He adds this in a LOT.
  • "Found it!".. he says this a lot of times when he finds a toy that he hasn't played with in awhile.  Or, when I was looking for a cd to play for him, when I found one he says "Mama found it!"
• He's been a stink pot with taking naps lately.  He plays around in bed for the whole 2 hours he should be napping.  At least he plays happily and give me a break.  However, he's a huge grump by bedtime.
• He's weird about his long sleeve shirts.  He always wants the sleeves pulled up to his elbows.
• He has such good manners.  Makes me so proud.  He's been into saying "No, thanks" a lot lately.  He's so good with saying "Thanks" and "Please" for things.  Often we have to say "Porter, what do you say?" but thats all the reminder he needs. 
• He has finally hit 25lbs after being stuck at 24lbs for quite some time
• He can count to 10 (however, doesn't get the 1-1 relationship yet... but he can count in order 1-10)
• Would sing "Jingle Bells Jingle Bells Jingle all the way!" around Christmas time.
• LOVES Cars... the movie, the toys, anything.   His favorites have been Sally and Mater. 

Some funnies lately:

>He dropped part of his bagel in the car.  He said to me "Piece Bagel Fall!"  I picked it up and handed it back to him. He says "Thanks, Baby!"

>We brush our teeth together.  When we're done, he always says "YAY Mama and Porter!  YAY!  Brush teeth!"

>

 

(ok, pics are from Thanksgiving... so technically he was 21 months in these pics... but really, who's counting?)

And, a more recent pic from our trip to St. Louis.  (Excuse the overblown conversion... I'm on the laptop and its not calibrated).

King turns into Snot Rod

Porter is sitting next to me on the couch playing with his King car from Cars.

He is holding it out, inspecting it. 

Ryan: "Porter, what IS that?!"

Porter (matter of factly): "A boogie."

(and, yes, I'm queer enough to grab it from him and take a picture before wiping poor King clean)

Diaper Issues

If its not one thing, its another.  Well, this time we're having TWO different diaper issues.

Issue #1:  Naptime.  Porter has begun to think its quite amusing to dink around in his crib at naptime, throw all his animals out, take off his pants and diaper.  I can usually tell when this happens as he'll become extremely loud, banging on the crib, yelling and running in the crib. Yes, maniac indeed.  Usually I just go back in and he asks for his diaper and pants, which I put back on, and that is the end.  Well, yesterday he took off his stuff twice.  So, today this was my solution:

Yes, that is electrical tape on his diaper.  We didn't have duct tape.  Yes, I made him stand there and post for me.  Poor kid.  Well, he is sleeping finally and his diaper is STILL on.

Issue #2:  Bedtime.  For the last oh, 6 months or so (maybe more, maybe less) we've had problems with Porter leaking through diapers at night.  For awhile I summed it up to us giving him a cup of water in bed, and once we quit that *most* of the leaked through diapers stopped. 

During the day we use cheap diapers- Luvs or Target Brand.  At night we were using Huggies, which worked fine up until a few weeks ago.  We stopped the night water, and he was still waking up with soaked pj's in the morning. 

So, we tried Pampers and those were working fine.  Up until this week.  Three days in a row he's woken up at 5:30-6:30am yelling "Mooo-mmeeeeeeyy! Mommy! Moooo-mmmeeeeeyy! Messy! Messy Mommy!"

He doesn't get water at night.  He doesn't drink an excessive amount of liquid before bed.  Last night we had dinner at 6, he drank a cup of milk.  He went to bed at 7.  I can't imagine stopping his liquids BEFORE dinner (granted, most of the time we try to have dinner at 5/5:30 but that doesn't always happen). 

So, any suggestions?!?  I'm at a loss, and short of waking him up before we go to bed to change his diaper (bleh!) I don't know what to do!

Obsessive Compulsive Boy

Its been a productive day for me so far..

• Did a load of dishes
• Called New York Life Ins. and set up an appt. for next week to get life insurance
• Took Porter in for his second round of flu shot (which I didn't realize was TODAY until... today!)

When we went to the doctor's office, Porter was playing with the trucks in the waiting room.  We went back and he got his shot (which he took like a champ!) and then on our way out he ran over to the toys saying "Bye bye truck!" and began his rounds of giving the trucks a kiss goodbye.  I tried to hurry him out the door, but he began picking up all the trucks.  "Mama, truck awaaaaay?" (meaning, "Mama, I'm putting the trucks away????")  So, I waited patiently while he picked up about 6 of the toys that were laying around the waiting room and put them in the toy box. I heard a mom behind me say to her daughter, "See, look at what a good job that little boy is doing!" 

When he finished, we turned to walk out and I caught the moms eye and she was saying to her daughters "Did you see what a good job he did?"  Oh man. I was thinking "What a freak child I have!  HAHA!  Who VOLUNTARILY picks up toys that other kids had gotten out before him?"    So I just looked her way and said "Well, let's hope he keeps this up for awhile heh. heh. heh."  Yikes, show off kid! 

Its funny, though, because he'll do things like that.  Usually its at the worst time, like when we're going out the door or getting ready for bed.  He'll find something that HAS to be put away.  Like a tissue on the floor.  Or some random toy that has been lying around but it just *needs* to be put away.  And how can I argue with that?  Voluntary toy clean up?  HAHA!

That's what you get, punk.

My grandma came over to sit with P while I went to the doctors at 1:45.  I left at 1:30, and Porter was still in his bed chatting away. 

I got home at 2:45ish and my grandma said he'd just gone to sleep bout half hour before.  She said he had been yelling "Mama! Dada!  Where are you!  Hey!!! Hey you!" HAHA. 

So..... anyway... 3:00 rolls around all too quickly. I hear Porter start to fuss.  I figure he's just had a bad dream, or something and would fall back asleep.  20 minutes later he's still whining and crying so I go in, and he's laying on his stomach half asleep. 

Bare ass in the air.

That's right.  He had stripped his pants, socks and diaper off and fallen asleep, and then peed on himself in his sleep!! He was soaked in warm pee. Poor kid.

Oh. His. Words.

You'll all get a kick out of this.

I'm in a dressing room at Target with Porter, trying on some "real waist" maternity pants as many of my dress pants are getting snug.  (Ugh... only 10 weeks pregnant... WHAT IS UP WITH THAT??).

I start to try on one pair.  Take off my pants.

Porter walks over, and in his loud, sweet voice says "Mama PENIS!"

I about convulse.  I try to hush him. "No.  No Porter... mama doesn't HAVE a penis!  Boys have penises, remember?"

Porter is unfazed.   "Mama Gy-NA!?" 

I nearly gag.   I whisper-yell to him  "Yes. YES Porter.  Mama has a gyna."

OMG.  Thats what I get for being strait up with a one year old. 

And, you'll love this as well.  Last night Ryan turned on a game on tv.  Porter says something that sounds quite close to "Oh Damn!"

We both look at each other... "Uh...."   So, we try to get him to say things that 'might' have been what he was saying.  "Porter... say Oh! Game!"  (nope) "Porter, say Oh! Man!"  (nope)

I say to Ryan..."Hmm... look what he picked up the last time you watched a game with him around...."

And, today we're in the checkout line at Target.  He drops his matchbox Jeep.  "Oh Damn!" 

Thats all I can figure it out to be.  I have no clue. 

The Baker and his oven

Its 10pm and I'm home already.  I was getting tired so I loaded Porter up and brought him home.  Ryan stayed to chit chat and hang out and, luckily my mom lives about 3 blocks down the road so he can just walk home when he's ready.  I thought I'd get a nice, quiet evening to sit and watch tv, but our neighbors are having some kind of party and all I can hear is this annoying repetitive rap music... the beat reminds me of an Eminem song.  "doo doo doo doo, do do do dooo,  dum doo do dooo. doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo doo, dum do do doooo"  Bleh. All I can hear is the beat.  Annoying. 

Here are our costumes:

And, just in case you don't "get it", wander on over here. 

And Porter was a little lion.  "Raarrrrr!"  He's actually supposed to be Goliath from JoJo's Circus (my niece Aubri is dressing up as JoJo for Halloween... I'm hoping we'll get them together to get some pictures). They do sell an actual Goliath costume but its hideous... one of those "heads growing out of the kids head" type of costume.

I wish I had been creative and thought of a super cute, "unique" costume like I did last year, but I just didn't have the energy to put into it this year.  And I was fresh out of ideas.  I mean, how can you top this cute, feathery little chicken last year?

(Ryan kept saying we should have dressed him as a wolf this year with a few feathers hanging out of his mouth.  Cute, but uh... how are you going to get a one year old to keep a few stray feathers by his mouth? HAAH!)

Anyhow, he's sporting the Old Navy-Made costume this year and I think it looks pretty darn cute on him.