Happy Birthday Porter!!!

Today my baby turned three years old. I can hardly believe it. Time has completely flown by since he was born. He has been such a blessing to our family. It has been so fun to have such a great little boy as part of our family. He is such a little ball of energy and is always getting into things, but we wouldn't have him any other way.

We have been telling Porter for the past couple of days that his birthday was coming up. He didn't quite understand the whole time line, but last night Nate told him that he needed to get into bed and when he woke up it would be his birthday. Well, at two o'clock this morning I heard him come out of his room and climb up onto the side of my bed. He put his face right in mine, mind you it was dark, and whispered, "Mom, today is my birthday." I said, "I know, but it is still the middle of the night and still time to sleep. Get back in bed." He quickly used the bathroom, I tucked him back in and he was fast asleep...that is until around 6:45 or so. I thought that I heard him come out of his room, but I was still partly asleep. I then heard his room door close and I figured that he had gone back to bed because everyone was still asleep. Nope! 7:30 rolls around and he climbed back onto the side of my bed and showed me his mouth. It was full of something very sweet smelling. I asked him what it was and he promptly replied, "Candy". Great. I rolled (and I do mean rolled) out of bed and went to see what he had gotten into. I had just purchased a box of fruit-by-the-foot last night and had mistakenly left it out on the counter. Porter found it this morning and took it into his room and consumed five of them. Needless to say, this is how Porter started his birthday morning.

Poor guy.

Thank goodness the rest of the day went well. We let him open a couple of presents before we headed out to church. He was so excited to take his new "guy" with him.

After church was over he was able to open the rest and we had cupcakes and ice cream to top off the day. He got spoiled by his grandparents, as usual.

Thanks everybody for the nice gifts. He loves them. And Happy Birthday, Porter. We love you!

San Diego, Sunshine, Shamu, and Stones (kidney that is)

A couple of weeks ago my mom and sisters decided that they wanted to go to Sea World during Spring Break. They stopped at our house for the night on their way down to San Diego. At the last minute (as in the next morning, an hour or so before they were planning on leaving) Nate and I decided that we would join them on their journey. We thought that it might be fun for one last little trip before the baby comes. As soon as Porter heard that we might be going with Grammy he decided that he had better get packed. This is what he thought was most important to take.

Of course, he had to bring his boots, which he already had on, his swimming board, and two shoes, both of which didn't match. What a character!

Well, we threw our stuff together and we were off. About a half an hour into the trip I started to not feel so hot and started getting a weird pain in my side. I just figured that I was sitting some-what uncomfortably in the front seat (pregnancy will do that to you) and was getting a little car sick. I hadn't been feeling well earlier that week, and I just figured that my antibiotics hadn't kicked in yet too. Long story short, the seven hour ride down was completely miserable. After we had checked into our hotel and got everybody settled I told Nate that I needed to go to the hospital. The pain in my side was unbearable and I knew that I needed some help. Twelve hours, four ultrasounds, a diagnosis of a kidney stone, and a lot of pain medication later they realeased me from the hospital and we were able to get back to our kids. Thank goodness for my mom who stayed with them through the night in our hotel room.

The day I was realeased was supposed to be the day that we went to Sea World. Instead, my mom and sisters took my kids to the pool and on a small jaunt to the beach while I rested. I was hoping that the pain medication, love me some Vicoden, would help me through the day, but it made me extremely drowsy. Another long story short, because of the many prayers and fasting of others (thanks everybody), I was able to have a better day the next day. We went to Sea World and had a great time.

We started our day by feeding the dolphins, which my kids were not too sure about. You have to touch them on the head first, before you put the fish in their mouths. Well, the awaiting dolphin sits there with its mouth wide open and all you can see is teeth. Needless to say, it took a bit of coaxing before they would touch anything.

We also watched the shows and the kids loved them.

Good 'ol Shamu. Although, I think this whale was really named "Corky". My kids were so entranced with this show. I almost teared up a couple of times just looking at their faces. It was just the perfect look of child-like amazement and wonder. I am so glad that they were able to see it.

They liked the dolphin show, but their all-time favorite had to be the sea lions. They still talk about bits and pieces of this show all the time. I think it was a little more interactive than the others and they remember quite a bit about it.

Of course, we saw the sharks....

fed the flamingoes....

tried to get the kids to touch the sting rays (that was a no-go)...

visited the sea turtles...

and touched the star fish.

We had a great day. We had a blast and can't wait until we someday return. I was blessed to have been able to walk around that day without my pain meds. (Thanks for all of your prayers and concern on my behalf.) We spent that night at my aunt and uncle's house in San Moreno Valley.

Porter was exhausted, but wouldn't let go of his new Shamu souvenier. I am so glad that we were able to go when our kids were old enought to remember the trip.

The return journey was long and uncomfortable for me, but we made it. Thank goodness, the next morning the stone passed and I was able to get some much needed rest and recovery after a week in pain. Miracles do happen.We had a wonderful trip and we are looking forward to when we can do it again and really enjoy ourselves. Thanks mom for letting us crash your party and for looking after the kids when things were looking bleak. We love you. Thanks also to my wonderful husband Nate who put up with everything and was very patient with me. He stayed by my side through the night in the hospital and wouldn't leave me even though I insisted that he return to the hotel to be with the kids. You are the best. I love you!