Brave Ella

I was helping Porter and Ella clean up toys the other when we discovered a little creepy crawling friend. Our kids have a tendency to freak out about bugs and other small creatures (especially Ella) so I calmly told them there was a small lizard on the floor but that he wouldn't hurt anyone. I was trying to minimize the freaking out I was expecting. But what I wasn't expecting was Ella's reaction. "Oh, he's so cute!!" were the next words out of her mouth and then, "Can I pick him up?" After recovering from slight shock I told her absolutely and then she carried her little friend around for awhile before I made her let him go in the front yard.

We've come a long way. A few months ago she saw a lizard at my mom's house and she handed my mom a shoe and instructed her to smash the poor creature. And the other day she even informed me that she could play outside again because she wasn't afraid of wind and firetruck sirens anymore (yep -more phobias from me - well, at least the wind part anyway).

Happy Birthday to our little Storm Trooper

It's hard to believe that in three years you can grow from a sweet loved little baby boy to a Star Wars Storm Trooper.

Porter turned 3 last weekend and we had so much fun celebrating how glad we are he is part of our family. On Friday we had a small celebration. When I asked what he wanted for dinner he said, "Chocolate!" But he settled for hot dogs as long as there was chocolate birthday cake for dessert. When asked what he wanted to do for his birthday he said, "Blow out candles." He's a pretty easy guy to please. We had a fun evening watching "What's Up Doc?" and even more fun the next day listening to the kids quote lines from the movie.

Two days later, we celebrated with more family. And once again, he was content with the chocolate cake and more candle blowing. One of his favorite presents was his new pillow case from his cousins. The older kids had all received one and Porter was so excited to get his fun new case. When I was tucking him in bed that night he said, "I'm the birthday boy and I got two birthdays." What a lucky birthday boy! And we are even luckier to have such a great little boy.

And to top it all off...one week after his birthday he decided he could be potty trained. And so after all the woes of the potty training post, it is going to be the last box of diapers we have to buy for him. Woo Hoo!!!

Fancy girls and a human hamster

A few weekends ago, we went to Sam's Family Fun Day. It's a carnival that a family in Rockwell puts on every year to raise money for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Their son, Sam, is a little younger than Baden and he has Duchenne too. We have gone to the carnival the last two year and it is so much fun. We enjoy doing the Stride and Ride every year as a fundraiser, but I think putting on something like this would be so much fun. For now we'll continue to work with the MDA, but maybe someday we'll venture out on our own.

The kids loved all of the activities - well, except Porter and the train. He thought he wanted to ride the train but then when I lifted him up to put him on he completely freaked out. And every time I asked if he wanted his face painted, he would put his hands on his cheeks and firmly say no. The girls loved getting their faces painted and Baden took his turn trying to make a field goal. He also experienced life as a hamster. They had these really cool human sized hamster balls. Baden loved it, but he did say he flipped way too many front flips in a row.

The Battle - mom vs. boy

This was going to be a post about me winning. It was going to be a post about me taking a stand. It was going to be a post about this being the last box of diapers I was going to purchase for my youngest child. It was going to be about ending my eight and a half year diaper buying streak. And it might have been if Porter always looked like this sweet little angel sitting on a box of diapers.

But most of the time Porter looks more like this punky little boy sitting on a box of diapers. A little boy who is fiercely independent and wants to do things his own way on his own schedule.

After many many days of potty triaining, Porter has only gone to the bathroom in the toilet twice. And the crazy thing is he doesn't have tons of accidents either. The boy is just plain old stubborn. And he has bladder control like no one I have ever met before. Many days he has only had one accident (and nothing on the potty). How does that happen? Other times he has literally sat on the potty for a half and hour and then gone in the kitchen for lunch and wet all over the chair (not 5 minutes after the marathon bathroom sit-in).

And to top it all off, my mom, who has potty trained enough two-year-olds she could write a how-to book, says Porter is hopeless. But she did tell me to look on the bright side - you don't ever see kids starting kindergarten in diapers so he'll have to start using the toilet at some point. Thanks, Mom!!

I have potty trained three children. What is wrong with potty training #4? I even asked my pediatrician for suggestions (haven't ever had to do that). He said Porter would go when he was ready - boo!!!

And so this post isn't about last boxes of diapers, or me winning. It's about a little boy who turns 3 on Friday who has absolutely no desire to go on the potty. And no amount of coercion will tempt him - I've tried everything (from delectibles to consequences - I even bought a little froggy potty that sits on the floor of the bathroom which I said I would never do because, well, they gross me out). So, Porter is winning the battle and I am sad, beat-up and discouraged.

And now when he hides to take care of business and I find him in all of his stinkiness, he says, "I'm not stinky mom. Don't change me." Yep - no desire for potties AND he hates getting his diapers changed. Mercy - I give!!!

Happy Fall

Porter, Ella and I headed to the Pumpkin Patch one morning to meet with our friends for a little play group. The kids had fun, but with all the rain we've been having, it was really crowded, a little stinky and a little muddy. And there was an over abundance of school field trips which had been canceled and all rescheduled for the same day. The schools took over the hay rides which was a huge let down for Ella. But there were some monkey bars Ella was so proud she could do on her own and my friend Suzanne took some fun pictures of the kids and her cute Lucy. We were going to go back with Brooklyn and Baden but the rains continued and the days ran out. And so, like the fair, we look forward to next year.

If you can't take the heat...

you leave the fair early. We made our annual trek to the State Fair of Texas on what happened to be the most humid day every. And I'm not joking about that - it was a little over 90 degrees and the humidity was 98%. It was nasty, absolutely nasty (and of course the next evening it was a beautiful and much dryer 70 degrees).
In the short time we were there, we hit the car show (because the AC was fabulous and of course because it's not a trip to the fair without climbing in new cars).

And we found a magic/juggling act that was very entertaining. Especially because they picked Uncle Ben from the crowd to help with the performance. What a good sport!! Thanks for being so much fun Uncle Ben.
There was a BMX bike show that we thought would be oh so cool but it was oh so not. Huge let down!! The kids were moping and we were all sweating and melting away.

We made one last stop to look at the quilts on display and of course the huge butter sculpture. And it was then that we made our decision - it was time to go. Yes - it was only 5:30pm and no - we had not had our corn dogs and turkey legs (GASP!!). And you will understand exactly how hot and nasty it was when I tell you the kids were in complete agreement. We let them each play one game in the Midway and then we were on our way home. We stopped at Sonic on the way home and brought home corn dogs to eat - because it was fair day and it can't be fair day without a corn dog. We are looking better for a much better fair experience next year - the kind of fair day we have come to know and love.

Wolf Rank and Raingutter Regatta

Baden has been doing great in Cub Scouts. In September he earned his Wolf Rank. His goal was to earn it in 6 months and he did it in 5. Now his goal is to earn as many Arrow Points as he can. He's already earned his gold point and 3 silver. We are so glad he loves being a scout so much.

And at the October Pack Meeting, the boys participated in the Raingutter Regatta. Baden had so much fun. He and his boat, Nitro, did great. He ended up winning the gold trophy for the Wolf Den. Technically he was the 3rd best boat in the den, but two of the Wolves moved on to compete with boys from the other dens and they won 1st and 2nd for the entire pack.

Great job Baden - Pinewood Derby here we come!!

Cars, cars and more cars

Porter has recently discovered the fabulous world of Disney Cars. Actually, discovered is putting things mildly - he practically lives in the land of zooming, racing, revving... Every morning when I leave to take the older kids to school, Dallin turns on Cars for Porter and he watches the entire thing - every morning. And while he's watching the movie, he pulls out his car mat and dumps out all of his cars (most of which are characters from the movie) and then he pulls out his Cars puzzle and puts that together. It's a very exact procedure.
The best part of the Cars obsession is that Porter has started memorizing lines from the movie. I have always been impressed with the ability Dallin and his siblings have to memorize movie lines and apparently Porter has inherited this fabulous trait. My favorite line Porter says is, "Hey DJ - looks like we got a nodder." I love when he plays with his cars and he plays out scenes from the movies. I love that he can sing a long with all of the songs. It's great!! And it keeps us all laughing. And guessing when he's quoting a line for the first time and we can't quite understand what he's saying.

But he also has a feminine side too. Porter and Ella arrived in the living room one afternoon as princesses. Although it seemed like fun at first, Porter could only take the dress for about 10 minutes.