Jamie P.

Long Day

2010-05-12T18:45:00.001-07:00

Well, it was a long day. All those nasty fronts moving in and out has wreaked havoc on my sinuses, but the below makes every day worth it. Two versions of the same, and both they just crack me up.

Better every once in while than never

2010-05-10T18:54:00.000-07:00

I have been terrible about blogging I know, but after reading Jenna's wonderful description of her mother's day, I was inspired.
I too had a wonderful mother's day. I got to sleep in until 8:00. Then I sat at the kitchen table and directed Alex on how to make me some scrambled eggs. James made the toast. Overall, it was a wonderful breakfast. I got some great gifts from the kids that they made at school. Mom's are such suckers for pictures of their own kids. Speaking of pictures, I will attach some the latest I have of my children. Enjoy!

Swinging is fun. I wish I could add Ali's sound effects she makes when she swings, whoa,whoa,whoa!

This is by far my favorite, big brother helping Ali Mae get her shoes on, so we can get outside faster!

Oh, and I cut my hair and now have bangs for the first time since I was 10 (literally, its the last time I had bangs).

My big ham!

The Birthdays

2010-02-22T17:10:00.000-08:00

Alison's first birthday was celebrated on December 4, 2009. Birthday girl really was into her cake. By the end, mommy was wearing it, Ali was wearing it, and oh, the floor got a taste as well!

Today is James 4th Birthday, and his birthday party was at Chuck'E'Cheese this past Saturday. The kids had a blast, the parents survived and grandparents, well they were exhausted and had headaches.

Need Help

2009-10-13T16:41:00.000-07:00

Ok, I promise to post pictures of the kids, I really do! But in the mean time, I need help choosing a new pattern for our stamped concrete patio. I know this is lame, but I just can't decide. Here is what is what is narrowed down to. Please note the coloring will not be the same. I have chosen a brick red color with a beige color release (that means the base concrete will be brick red, and the "release" will be beige, the beige will be what appears in the cracks.) Please note that i have brick on the back of the house. The Ashlar Slate and English Yorkstone are pretty similiar, but one is more irregular.

Ok, here are the 3 patterns:

Random Stone

English Yorkstone

Ashlar Slate

Larry Porterfield, February 21, 1951 to July 28, 2009

2009-07-29T18:24:00.000-07:00

Larry Rankin Porterfield was born in Wheeling, West Virginia and spent his childhood in and around Beverly, Ohio. Larry’s aptitude in math and curiosity about the business world was nurtured by his Grandfather Porterfield, who taught him mental toughness and an intense desire to succeed. Growing up, Larry helped with the family farm enough to know that he had different ambitions. He attended The Ohio State University and majored in finance and computer science. At the age of 20, he married his high school sweetheart, Jo, with whom he had two sons. He graduated from The Ohio State University in 1972 and started his career at General Electric in their executive training program. He was later recruited by Sprint in 1988 and left in 2002 having served as a Vice President in several key organizations. In the last few years, he was very successful with his own business, The Willow Creek Group, named after the family dairy farm in St Clairesville, Ohio. While he worked hard, he knew how to play too. His love of golf took him all over the country and he played several memorable rounds with Arnold Palmer. Most recently, he stayed at and played the great Augusta National Golf Course this past March. Larry was a loving father, great leader, loyal friend, die-hard Buckeye fan, and card shark. Larry was well known for his mentoring, for living life on his own terms, and his famous “Porterfield-isms”, including “it’s not who you know but who knows you”.
While not a fan of the win-loss record of the KC Chiefs for the last few years, Larry was typically one of the first in the gates for over a decade at most home games in order to scope out the best spot for tailgating. His grilling skills were well known and something he took great pride in. He always estimated cook times as either “one or two highballs”. Since childhood, he also had a passion for Lionel trains and began passing the tradition down to his grandsons this past Christmas, giving each a special edition Ohio State University set that played the fight song.
Larry is survived by his former wife Jo, his two sons, Jason and Alex, their respective wives Andrea and Jamie, and his grandchildren James, Brannon, Alison and “a player to be named” (due August 15th). He is also survived by his brother, Kirke, his devoted friend, Janet Taylor, and countless others whose lives he touched. Visitation will be held from 2-3 pm on Friday July 31st at Mount Moriah Funeral Home, 10507 Holmes Road, KC, immediately followed by the funeral service at the same location. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org).

Summertime

2009-07-13T17:19:00.001-07:00

Because there is nothing cuter then a baby girl in a swimsuit. My beautiful Ali Mae.

And a bonus, not from the pool, but Little Karen! I mean Alison!

And Classic James

Cale and Pictures from Conner

2009-07-11T07:24:00.000-07:00

Without further Adieu, here is Cale Jacob.

These two pictures are for Aunt Jenna and Uncle Reid.
The first is James striking a pose at Mr. McClure's (sorry if I got the spelling wrong) wood shop at Conner.
The second is James making himself at home on the step at McClure's house.

More Pictures

2009-07-11T07:17:00.001-07:00

Here are the pictures of James "ballooning"! Thank you Papa Jay for letting us help!

What are we supposed to do Alice?

Oh, well, I can do that!

And this one is Mommy's indulgence, it was just cute.

I am back....and have a new nephew!

2009-07-09T17:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I am so sorry it has been a ridicolously long time since I posted, most of you probably though I gave up on blogging, but no, I am just a little tired in the evenings really. That being said, I thought what better time to reenter the posting world then to announce the arrival of Cale Jacob, my new nephew born at around 6:30 this evening. He is health and BIG. With a head the size of 15 inches! Also, he is 8 lbs. 9 oz. (see my last post, only a pound lighter then my child at 2 months of age). He is also 20 1/2 inches! So welcome to the family Cale, hope you like that Fout nose :)

In other news, my baby celebrated 7 months on July 4th, I cannot believe it. Below is a picture from a few weeks ago. She is now, at last check 16.5 lbs. and still a happy baby.

Here she is a few weeks ago.

James is also doing great. He loves his baby sister and is having fun swimming this summer at the pool.

We did have a busy July 3rd. July 4th was rained out but we had fun at Albi's house (I mean Papa Jay and Alice's house).

July 3rd was first Conner Prairie. I have pictures, they will have to be come later. Computer is not cooperating.

Then ballooning! Here are some pics, I did not get the ones of James loaded before the computer gave out on me, but here are some for viewing!

I will post pics of Cale as soon as I have them!

2 month check-up

2009-02-12T17:35:00.000-08:00

Well, Ali had her 2 month check-up yesterday. She did quite well. She is weighing in at 9 lbs and 12 oz. and is approximately 21 1/4 inches. This means she is 25% for weight and 25% for height. Perfect and petite baby girl. She actually picked up some weight on the percentile and the doctor was very happy about that. There was one thing though, mainly to do with her left eye. This past Sunday when Alice and Jay were over for dinner, Alice noticed that Ali's left pupil was dialating more then the other one. I mentioned this to the doctor and she was definitely interested in know this. She looked at it and said that she did not see anything irregular in the pupil, but also that she could not see anything behind the eye, and that the posterior of the pupil could actually be irregular. So...we get to go see a pediatric opthamologist (who knew?) We don't know when we are going yet, the doctor's office had to call them first before we can make an appointment. I am not trying to fret this mainly because Ali seems to be seeing ok with the eye and following with it, so we will just see. My only concern of course is that my father's eye problems may have been passed on, but I will discuss that with the pediatric opthamologist. We will keep you posted.

In the world of potty training... James made all the way through today without an "accident"! They do put him in a pull-up at nap time at school and he did go in that, but really trying to teach them control in the sleep is a little beyond us right now. He also did not got #2 today, but we are just focusing on the no accident part today!

Finally, Alex's last day at his company is tomorrow, so wish us luck on that new adventure.

Alison Mae Darlington

2009-02-09T16:22:00.001-08:00

Ok, I know that I have not blogged in forever and this is woefully overdue. As all of my readers probably know, Alison Mae Darlington entered into this world on December 4, 2008. She was 6 lbs and 9 oz. and 19 1/4 inches long. Here are all sorts of pictures. I have tried to go with oldest to the most recent. There are lots! There are also so great pics of James that I had to share. Be sure to scroll all the way down to see pictures taken this very night!

Alison in the delivery room

Wow, doesn't my hair look great after 14 hours of labor!

Sleepy Ali!

Yes, her hair was this dark, but it has begun to lighten up. Still, you can't tell what color it is or will be.

This is how baby girl prefers to sleep. All frogged up.

This is the swing shortly after coming home from the hospital.

This was two weekends ago, hanging out with Alex.

Here she is waving to the camera!

Asleep in the swing again.

Daddy and Ali are chillin!

Yawn!

Ali and Daddy hangin out in Daddy's chair.

And in case you were wondering, I do have another child, here are some James Pics!

Here he is making Christmas cookies with Aunt Anne. They both had lots of fun.

Of course you swing in the snow, come one mom!

Falling down in the snow is funny!

And fun!

And finally, pictures from tonight! James asked to hold Ali, which means I helped James hold Ali, while holding him.

Tickle, Tickle Alison

Say cheese!

Goodwill Desk to Changing Table

2008-11-22T17:53:00.000-08:00

Ok, here it is. I admit that I forgot to take before pictures of the whole desk, but I think you can get a good idea of what the whole desk looked like from the picture of the drawers before I painted them.

These are the before drawers.

This is the desk in progress

The finished product #1

Finished Product #2

Sibling Class and Goodwill Find

2008-11-15T19:07:00.000-08:00

My angel was not such an angel at sibling class today. In fact, he was a regular Dennis the Menace. The class was a little big with the seven 2 year olds including James. Generally, in this type of situation, the worst we expect from him is that he will not want to participate and will stick close to me. However, today, he chose to spin around in circles until he fell down. He did this a couple of times. I went to sit on the floor with the hopes that he would sit down with me. He did come to me, but he would not sit still. We were in the class room for about 30 minutes, then we went upstairs to see the nursery (and the babies) and we saw a post partum room. He was better during this time, but not great. Luckily, the other parents, who all had 2 year olds were very understanding. At the end of the class, James did try to give Snoopy a pacifier like you would baby sister and did hold the baby, but we were glad when it was done. Yes, it came to our attention after this episode that while James is generally well behaved that if we do not begin to be a little sterner during situations such as this that he will not be a well behaved little boy anymore. We will get there. So, on to the better news, my goodwill find.

On our way home from sibling class we were driving along Michigan Ave. (because we could not remember if there was a Bed Bath and Beyond over there..there is not) we decided to stop at the Goodwill Store. Alex and I had discussed last night that we had a problem because we did not have a changing room for baby girl's room. James changing table is simply a desk that we inherited and painted. James is not ready to give his up quite yet, so we needed something new. We could not justify the expense of a changing table, we could not justify the first time around. So, my husband suggested we look for a desk or something similiar at Goodwill. I thought this was a good idea (especially after pricing desks on-line). So, we walk into the Goodwill and amazingly and luckily we found exactly what we wanted for $17.99! For those of you familiar with what James desk looks like, this is one is exactly the same, but instead of shelves on the left side, there are drawers. So, we went to Lowes today I picked up some white and pink paint and in our basement the desk has been sanded and received its first coat of paint. The body of the desk is Ultra White and the Drawers are Hello Dolly! Pink (it is actually a nice powder pink.) I will share before after pictures once its done, but I am very pleased. Although the paint cost more than the desk.

Between sibling class and desk painting, I also took a nap today!

Hope you all had a good Saturday.

17 days

2008-11-14T19:45:00.000-08:00

Not that I am counting down or anything, but it is 17 days until my due date. The not so fun thing about due dates are that babies do not believe they have an appointment time to arrive, so, we shall see. If she is more Fout than Porterfield then she will not be on time. (I just got a swift kick while typing that comment). Up to this point, I have been doing pretty well. The fatigue is really starting to set in though. I felt ok today, but due to some heavy duty movements by baby after dinner, I have not felt so great. So, I am off to bed here soon.

Tomorrow we have a sibling class for James at St. Vincent's where I am delivering. The class is designed for two year olds and they get to see a post partum room and the nursery, so it should be exciting! I will let you all know how it goes.

My sister's wedding

2008-11-10T17:16:00.000-08:00

This weekend was my sister's wedding and it was so amazing! We had lots of fun, but it sure wore us all out! The best part of the whole weekend was seeing how happy my sister was and seeing that same joy reflected in my now brother-in-law as well! What I also love are the pictures as you can really tell how happy she is! You can check some out at www.richweddings.com (I forgot my camera)

Reid's uncle, Rich Miller was the photographer and he did a fantastic job!

Halloween

2008-11-10T16:51:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I am a few weeks behind, but here are the pictures from Halloween. Halloween went ok. James is generally a shy little guy, but we went Trick or Treating with Callum and Allie, the neighbor kids who live behind us. Callum is 4 and Allie is 2 1/2, James age and he likes both of them. They are not so shy, so I think going with them helped bring him out of his shell. However, I am not sure we had the best costume for him, maybe a little long to make walking easy. Hindsight is 20/20. I had brought along his wagon in case he got tired of walking. However, James felt that he had to carry his pumpkin, walk and pull his wagon. Well, this was recipe for disaster and he fell. After that, he wanted me to carry him, which was not possible, so he eneded up riding in his wagon. That means I wheeled him up to every house and back out again. This also meant we were generally on ehouse behind Callum and Allie, but we survived. James did have fun, but, as with mommy, was ready to go home when it was finished. Personally, having them dress up is fun and their excitement is also fun, but (and maybe this is the pregnancy speaking), I think I may stay at home and pass out candy next year and leave the walking around to Daddy.

Anyway, James was being a little camera shy, so here are the pictures I did manage to get.

This was our first house, James is the one with the Buckeye hat on (we tried to put on the conductor's hat, but being his father's son, insisted on wearing his ball hat)

Here we are, James the train, with pumpkin and wagon in tow.

Here we are finishing up at Callum and Allie's house.

The best part of the night, reviewing the goods! He got to eat one piece of candy that night. Since then he has a piece of candy after dinner every night.

Finally, this is a picture from the Halloween party up at the neighborhood park.

Ode to the Belly Band

2008-10-25T16:55:00.001-07:00

For those of you who have been recently pregnant (Sarah), you will remember your constant battle to keep you pants up. Yes, they have these wonderful maternity clothes these days, but your really can't keep those pants up on your stomach. First, it is not comfortable and second, they just don't want to stay there. Then, there is the problem with the fact that since everything is all out of place, pants fit differently and your behind does not feel like keeping up the slack and keeping those pants up. So, you are left with constantly pulling those pants up...well no more! I have discovered the BELLY BAND.

Sick of my constant struggle to keep my pants up, I went to Motherhood Maternity in search for a belt. Alas, they don't make belts for maternity clothes (how does that make sense), anyway, the very nice clerk told me they did not have belts, but they did have the "belly band". She said you wear it and pull it down over your waist band and it would keep your pants up. I was skeptical, but she encouraged me to try it on and see. I took her advice and tried it on. I bought it and walked out of the store with on, pulled down over my jeans.

Since owning the belly band (essentialy two to three weeks) I have had it on almost every day. The belly band is simply a piece of nylon, with elastic on the top and bottom. It stays up nicely on your abadomen, without cutting into you, and you pull down the other end over the waist of your pants, and you are actually not pulling up on those pants any more, they are staying put! Now, admittedly, you sometimes have to pull down that belly band when you stand up, but trust me, it is much more graceful then shimmying those hips to get those pants back up again. So, for those of you that have been in my position and or will be in the future, I recommend the belly band!

Dining Room Pictures

2008-10-20T17:34:00.000-07:00

Well, we got the dining room put together, and the chandelier is up. I am not sure the pictures do it justice, becuase I personally think it looks really nice, but regardless here are the pictures.

This is the picture looking into the dining room from the entry way.

This is the picture looking into the dining room from the office/den.

This is the close up of the chandelier.

Our Weekend-Babies R Us and the PUMPKIIN TRAIN!

2008-10-12T17:22:00.000-07:00

We had a busy weekend. Saturday we ran errands, very exciting. We went to the bank, the post office, Babies'R'Us and Pottery Barn. Babies R Us was exciting because we essentially walked around the store to determine what it is we need for baby girl that we don't have, or is simply worn out from use by James. Then to Pottery Barn for a new dining room chandelier. The one from the house was taken with the previous owners (and was a bit ornate for my tastes anyway). I have posted a picture of the one we bought below. Hopefully it will look nice in the dining room.

Ok, on to more exciting things, like the PUMPKIN TRAIN.
Today, we went on the Pumpkin Train. This is actually a train that leaves from the Indiana Transportation Museum in Noblesville and then takes you out to a Pumpkin Patch. The pumpkin patch has some face painting, a small petting zoo and of course pumpkins. It was admittedly not the best pumpkin patch, but James LOVED the train ride. Here are some pictures, we also got some great video, but I will refrain from sharing that right now. Without further adeu, the pictures.

This in the mail car in one of the old trains they have on display, and which you can walk through. It was pretty cool, James loved it, but walking through all the sleeping cars was kind of creepy and close quartered.

This is the baggage car, James was very excited about being on the train.

Here we are on the train, riding to the pumpkin patch.

James and Daddy looking out the train window and barns, horses and corn.

James and Daddy checking out one of the photo op tractors at the Pumpkin Patch.

Here is a picture of the pumpkin train, from the pumpkin patch.

Here is James, driving another tractor, this one had a wagon, which apparently made it much better.

Finally, here is the family pic. The nice stranger who took the picture did quite a good job.

New Runner- I need your opinion

2008-10-05T16:59:00.000-07:00

Hello, these pictures are rather mundane, but I need another eye on this. I bought this runner at Kohls today. I thought it would look great in the kitchen and I got a really good deal. But when I got it home, I was a little concerned that the red in the rug did not exactly match the red in the kitchen. Please tell me if you think it looks ok. Remember, you can click on the picture to see it enlarged on your computer screen.

Indiana State Fair- From August 9th

2008-10-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

So, I thought I had posted these, but I did not. These are the pictures of Alex, James, Larry and I at the Indiana State Fair on August 9th. We had a great time at the fair. Alex and James rode an elephant! We got to pet and feed some goats and pigs and Papa Larry showed us the kind of tractor his grandpa had on his farm, and I got a funnel cake. All in all it was a great day.

Driving a John Deere Tractor

Petting and Feeding pigs (mommy got "bit" by one of the pigs, no teeth, but they clamped down pretty hard)

Look at the Cows!

Papa Larry and James at the tractors (this is the one like Papa Larry's grandpa had on his farm)

All of the boys around the tractors, James had a good time with all of the TRACTORS! My favorite picture from the fair.

My second favorite picture from the fair, James and Alex riding the Bumblebee. Daddy had to ride all the rides because of mommy being prego (otherwise I would have ridden the elephant as well)

James and Daddy on the elephant.

Which dress?

2008-09-28T17:48:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I am now 31 weeks pregnant.

When my sister gets married on November 8th, I believe I will in fact be 37 weeks pregnant. I am a bridesmaid in this wedding and as of right now, I have two dresses of which I can wear. I have my favorite, mainly because it was already in my closet, but please let me know your opinion.

Books

2008-08-12T16:16:00.000-07:00

The Big Read is an NEA program designed to encourage community reading initiatives. They've come up with this list of the top 100 books, using criteria they don't explain, and they estimate that the average adult has only read 6 of these.So, we are encouraged to:

So, we are encouraged to:

1) Look at the list and bold those we have read. (I had to underline them in order to get them to stand out)

2) Italicize those we intend to read.

3) Underline the books we LOVE

4) Reprint this list in our own blogs and share!

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (LOVED IT)

2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (1 out of 3 anyway)

3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling

5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

6 The Bible (no but I should considering I follow beliefs taught from this book.

7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell

9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott (I think)

12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (almost… minus a few)

15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien

17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

19 The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

20 Middlemarch - George Eliot

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald

23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens

24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams (Hillarious)

26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh

27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck (Hated it...really I did not enjoy this book)

29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis

34 Emma - Jane Austen (Loved it)

35 Persuasion - Jane Austen (definitely on the list, I love Jane Austen)

36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis

37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell

42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving

45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery (I tried too)

47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood (I had to look this one up to make sure I read it, but I did, I believe it was a Woman's studies class, very interesting from what I remember)

49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding

50 Atonement - Ian McEwan

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel

52 Dune - Frank Herbert (working on it)

53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck (again, not a Steinbeck fan)

62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt

64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac

67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding

69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie

70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

72 Dracula - Bram Stoker (no, but I've read Frankenstein... does that count?)

73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett (I think)

74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson

75 Ulysses - James Joyce

76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78 Germinal - Emile Zola

79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

80 Possession - AS Byatt

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker

84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

87 Charlotte's Web - EB White

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94 Watership Down - Richard Adams

95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Ok, my total was 18, which is not quite my best friends 23, but oh well. It is still better than the average 6. Plus, I am working on Dune, really, I am on page 90 something. And honestly, I think I have read some of them, but simply don't remember, because it was so long ago. Plus, I think I tried to read quite a few of them (3 Musketeers) and Les Miserables when I was young (i.e. 12 to 13) and should probably try again. I do note as well that many of these are award winning movies. It may be worth watching some- you know cliffs notes to make sure the book would be something I might read.

Moving States, New Jobs, New School, New House etc.

2008-08-04T17:51:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a ridicolously long time since posting, but alas, I have been busy.
Alex and I both started our new jobs on June 9th. Some saintly women from the Fout family (Grandma Karen and Aunt Jen) helped us out and watched James until he could start day care on June 30th. We have both had adjustment times at work. My work is very challenging on an intellectual level, but I am really enjoying it. Alex had to get his new account into shape and drivers into line, but he has done so, and things have calmed down for him too.

July 4th James and I went to the trailer, and well, some weekends are best left untalked about. Nothing bad happened, it was just a little more stressful than I bargained for. That being said, it was great to see my cousins and their kids.

The rest of July was spent working and being lazy on the weekends. When you are livng in an apartment (something we have not done in a while) there is a whole lot less to do "around the house" on the weekends. So, we did not do much. I did go to Ohio the last weekend in July and went to the Irish Fest with Anne and saw one of our favorite bands Gaelic Storm. It was fun, but really hot! I have to admit, Irish Fests do lose something when you can't drink.

So, while I did not write at all in July it was because there was not much going on in apartment living. Overall, apartment living was not for us and we are happy to report that as of this past Saturday, August 2nd, apartment living came to an end.

We are also happy to report that we no longer own the house in Kansas! We were very fortunate in that we only had a 15 day overlap in homeownerships. We closed on the house here on July 15th and the house in Kansas closed on July 30th. As you can imagine, this was a HUGE relief. The stress in our household went way down knowing that was done and we were not going to be paying a double mortgage.

So, we are in the house, with only the stuff we brought for the apartment. It looks pretty barren, but I am already enjoying my new kitchen. The rest of our household goods (163 boxes plus furniture) is supposed to arrive tomorrow in between 10:00 and noon. So, that should be fun.

James is loving the new house, he has a sand box and swing set and run of the house, no more small apartment! He is so much happier, it is amazing. He has been having a hard time adjusting to day care, or at least he has a problem in the morning when I drop him off. He does not shake off, I am told, until usually about half hour to 45 minutes after I leave, but when I a pick him up, he seems happy. However, I am hoping the mornings will get better soon, especially since he already seems so much happier in the house.

So, that is what is going on with us. I will try to post more often again, but that is a quick summary of our summer!

Alot Going On

2008-06-15T17:26:00.000-07:00

So, we have had a lot going on lately, that is why no post in such a long time. I have talked to and/or seen most of my readers though. The first week of work went well despite that I was sick as a dog (nasty sinus infection, that started out as a cold the on the previous Monday), but other than that good. The cat is out of the bag at work, they know I am pregnant. I can't say that they are thrilled, but I have six months before I have this baby to prove to them, I was still a good choice and I plan on it. However, most of you simply just want to see pictures of the house we bought (or are in the process of buying) so, without further adeu, here they are, it will probably be a long post!

Here is one view of the front view of the house. Now, it was raining, and I had parked out front of the house, so it was hard to get a great picture. Besides that, the house is actually blocked by two large trees.

Here is another front view.

This is the entry way to the house, looking at it from the dining room. Basically when you walk in the house, there is the stairway in the center, dining room to the right, and a half bath to the left, along with the hall way into the kitchen. If you look in this picture you can see the door to the half bath on the other side of the stair case.

This is the dining room. The chadelier does not stay. Which, while it is gorgeous, am kind of glad they are taking, because I don't want to clean it.

Here is the family room, the huge family room!

Here is another picture of the family room, I think this one shows the vaulted ceilings a little better. We loved this room, it was so big, we knew we would always be comfortable in it.

Here is a picture looking into the kitchen from the family room. Very similar to the set up we have now. There is one step up into the eating area.

Here is a picture of the kitchen.

Here is another view of the kitchen. These pictures do not truly give just to the granite counter tops. Mainly because the inspector and Alex were both using it as an office.

This is the formal living room, which is right off the kitchen. In the original layout, I am sure this was supposed to be the dining room, and the now dining room, was the formal living room, but the owners switched it, and we think it works and will probably leave it that way.

This is the half bath.

Here is the basement.

This is the laundry room/mud room. You walk into this room from the garage. There is even a nice little utility sink which is a plus.

NOW FOR THE UPSTAIRS....

This is the hall bath upstairs.

This is a mural in one of the bedrooms, it would also be known to Jenna, as Glory and her nine puppies! Yes, it is indeed a painting of a mommy beagle and nine puppies.

This is a master bedroom.

This is the master bath.

And here is just a picture of the mural over the very large garden tub! I can't wait to take a bath in here.

Kind of a long week

2008-05-31T06:43:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been kind of a long week here. Alex had to go Indiana again this week to learn his new job. Both he and I will be starting on June 9th. That left me at home with James, which up to this point has not been a problem. However, this week, when James came home from daycare on Tuesday, he was acting very, very lethargic. He was also very hot to the touch. I took this temperature, and it was 101.5. Now, James has had a fever before, but I had never seen him so taken down by it. His breathing was kind of labored, his eyes were just pouring water and he would not move. In short, it was freaking me out. I called Alex a few times, and then decided to take him to Urgent Care at 7:00 we got to Urgent Care. We left at 10:45. It was diagnosed as just a virus. However, his glands were swollen, so they had to do a "rapid" strep test. I wwould use the word "rapid" very lightly. James did however have a nasty looking ear which the doctor believed was going to be an ear infection without question, so we did get some amoxcilin. Luckily, James slept from 8:00 to 9:30, but I did not get a nap at Urgent Care. I did however get the popsicle that James would not eat. James went to bed at 11:00 on Tuesday night. I went to bed shortly thereafter after a shower. Unfortunately, that is not the end of the story. James has not slept well all week due to the fever, which hung on until yesterday. He has night terrors every night. This generally requires me to wake him up to get him to calm down, which is sometimes not very easy. I also got sick with some throat thing along with some lovely sores on the roof of my mouth that made it diffucult to eat (I know gross!). I also ended up at the Walgreens clinic (it was quicker than the regular doctor.) I went to make sure I did not have strep throat, mine rapid test was also negative. Furthermore, the nurse practioner was also kind enough to rule out herpes as the problem in my mouth. (Gee thanks! I am not sure where she thought my mouth had been). In the end, I do not know who was happier to see Alex when he walked in the door last night- me or James because we are quite at our wits end with each other.

Even this morning after a fight over waffles that I am not quite sure was about except the fact that James does not like syrup, I, not my two year old yelled for Alex to come intervene. I felt I was tattling! Oh well. In the end I think nerves are running high this week since we leave for Indiana for good on Wednesday and the little guy obviously has picked up on mama's tension.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

2008-05-26T07:14:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone is enjoying a nice memorial day weekend. The Porterfield family is currently hanging out at home, as it is raining outside. James and I are still in our pajamas and I'm quite content to stay that way for a while. The gray day is not so motivating. Plus, I have also decided that tomorrow I will start getting up with an alarm clock again. I have had a blissful four weeks without one (well if you don't count a "mama" alarm clock going off every morning around 6:50), but if I expect to be half way normal on my first day of work, that must come to an end.

We have had a nice weekend so far, on Saturday we went to the zoo! James absolutely loved it. His favorites were the lions and the gorilla. We even went for a camel ride! Here are some pictures from our zoo adventure.

Here is the camel ride.

This is about 3/4 around when James waved at his daddy and said "Hi Daddy, I ride a camel!"

James did enjoy the ride and thought it was pretty interesting.

Here are some of the animals we got to see.

An elephant enjoying a snack.

A gorilla eating a snack.

A lion eating leaves. Anyone see a theme here?

Finally, we finished up our trip to the zoo, by riding the carousel with Papa Larry. We of course rode the gorilla, because that was our favorite animal. This was actually James favorite animal last year as well.

After our successful trip to the zoo, we came home and all took a two hour nap. This rejuventated James, but Mommy and Daddy who had actually walked for almost 5 hours straight, were pretty much done for the day.

Yesterday brought errands and hanging out at home. It was actually 90 degrees outside, so we only played outside for a little bit, because James got so overheated so fast.

Again, I hope all of you are enjoying your long weekends.

Relief

2008-05-20T11:56:00.000-07:00

Well, I went to the OB today and I am very obviously glad to say that we heard a heartbeat and everything appears to be fine. The doctor had no problem finding it and it was around 167 beats per minute (another boy?) which is a really good heart rate. I am now at 11 weeks so the doctor said that upon hearing the heartbeat, most of the "danger" has passed. That is percentage speaking, the likelihood of something happening is low. I actually cried when I heard the heartbeat. I had no idea how much I was really worried until I finally heard it and knew that it was ok. I am also doing ok, although I have not gained any weight, the doctor was not concerned but told me to expect a decent gain spurt here in about a month. I have defintitely "popped" and for those who know me, my acne is a sure fire indication that I am indeed pregnant. The acne is in fact worse then it was with James. I currently have more now than I did at five months with James (again, another boy?). We shall see. That is my news, I now most go do something from productive. People keep telling me I am moving in two weeks.

Daycare Drama, No House News

2008-05-19T17:21:00.000-07:00

So, as some of you know the daycare situation with James has been a bit difficult. After being told James would have a spot at the DFAS daycare in June, when I spoke with the office manager last week she told me June was iffy, but to call back next week (i.e. today) and see if she had any more news. So, of course we panicked and made alot of phone calls and even sent Alice on a scouting mission to Abacus daycare in Carmel. The good news was that we did find a place for him to go. However, it looks like the plan has again changed this week. I called the DFAS daycare today, and as it turns out, we got a firm start date of June 30th. So, this is all how it breaks down.

DFAS has an older 2 room and a younger 2 room. James needs to go into the younger 2 room which is full. However, there is a little girl ready to go into the older 2's, but that is full. There are 2 little boys in the older 2's who need to be moved, but apparently are not doing well with their potty training, and course, you can set a start date when depending on a 3 year old to get potting trained. However, there is a third little boy, who, is not quite 3 but IS potty trained. This little boy can not move to the 3's until 2 weeks before his 3rd birthday, which is July 13th. So, this means can start daycare on June 30th, for sure, got all that?

So, the hiccup here is obviously that Alex and I both start our jobs on June 9th. So, we have called in some reinforcements. Mom has graciously agreed to watch James for 2 weeks. Jen will watch him the beginning of the 3rd week, but then she has to go to St. Louis to see Wally defend his thesis. So, Alex will hopefully be able to work home those last two days. Anyone else's head swimming?

If you are wondering, we decided on the DFAS daycare, because while it may not be that close to where we are looking to buy a home, it is $21 a week cheaper, and this amount of money adds up quickly. Not too mention, with me expecting the infant rate is probably going to be about a $40 week difference when we start the next one, so then you are looking at approximately $240 a month. Even if Alex has to go to DFAS to daycare occcasionally, I am pretty sure it is not going to be $100.00 in gas, but with gas prices, who can say?

In house news, there is no news. We had a second showing on Saturday, but have heard nothing. We had an open house on Sunday, with a whopping amount of 2 visitors. We have been told at least twice that we are people's short list (top 3 or top 2), but unfortunately have been nobody's #1. But, we continue to pray, but the emotional roller coaster is difficult to bear. With each showing, you don't want to get your hopes us, but yet during this process you must remain hopeful. So, we continue on.

FYI. I have an OB appointment tomorrow, am very nervous, I am now two weeks past when I lost the last one, but have not been back for 3 weeks. I will let you all know what I find out, for now, it is bubbles time for James!

Sunglasses

2008-05-17T06:27:00.001-07:00

Yes, I know another post! These are from this week as well. James has recently discovered sunglasses!

Lookin' good.

He is so heartbroken in this picture. I believe it was because I would not let him take pictures with the digital camera.

Cupcakes

2008-05-17T06:12:00.000-07:00

On Monday, James and I made cupcakes. James did quite well, here are the pictures.

First we poured the cupcakes into the cups. I only had one cupcake pan, so James got to do his on plates, because the first batch which mommy had done were already in the oven.

Overall he did really well pouring, but as you can see, one was a little big.

But, he was obviously having fun!

Here we are decorating the cupcakes, or which James thought of more as getting to lick all the cupcakes. Here he is licking the 2nd one.

In fact, James made sure to lick all three cupcakes he was "decorating", in this picture he is getting ready to move on to lick cupcake number 3.

Trust me, things got much messier from here. We ended up with icing to our elbows. Unfortunately, my camera's batter died, but you can imagine.

Mother's Day

2008-05-16T17:52:00.000-07:00

I am little behind on my mother's day report, but here it is. I had a lovely mother's day. Alex, James and I went to brunch with Grandma Jo, Aunt Andi, Uncle Jason and Brannon. I took full advantage of the buffet. After brunch, Alex, James and I came home and all took a nap. That was very nice. I think I may be getting a mother's day gift still from my husband. When I asked him at approximately 5:00 p.m. on mother's day "So, I guess I did not get a mother's day present?" The response was "I didn't say that", but I have also heard nothing since, so I don't know. Regardless, it was a lovely day. Also, my parents sent a beautiful bouquet of 2 dozen roses. Here are the pictures of the flowers which are now sitting in my entry way, welcoming prospective buyers.

There is always something unexpected about pregnancy

2008-05-09T18:09:00.001-07:00

So, as I have some time off right now, I am trying to get in all possible doctors appointments that I can. I have already been to the dermatologist and learned that my drastic sunburn from last May (from which I still have the tan lines) has not yet produced any scary melanoma spots. But, I digress.

Since I do have the spare time, I also decided to get my eyes checked out since, I have not been able to wear my contacts comfortably since getting pregnant. In fact, my contacts had become so bothersome, everytime I put them in, I could feel them and no matter what I did, the left eye just would not focus. I had pretty much stopped wearing them. The problem is, this means I can't wear sunglasses, which I dearly love to wear, so I went to the eye doctor yesterday. I ended up just doing a walk-in appointment. I swear to you the intake guy thought I was crazy when I told him that since getting pregnant that I could not wear my contacts. He admitted that he had heard of eyesight changing in pregnancy but that contacts should not be an issue. However, not discounting what I said, they agreed to do an brief eye exam. And although I just had my eyes checked in September, the results of the eye exam were quite shocking to me. Since wearing corrective lenses, I have had the prescription in each eye. That has changed. Also, since September, the prescription in both of my eyes has changed as well. I was wearing -1.75 in both my left and right eyes. After going to the eye doctor yesterday, I am now wearing -1.00 in the left eye and -1.50 in the right eye. So, my eye sight has actually improved, and no wonder that left contact was blurry, I was wearing -1.75 and my eye had changed to -1.00! The good thing is, I wore contacts comfortably today for the first time in almost 2 months! I did not deal with this particular eyesight issue in my pregnancy with James, so there is always something unexpected about pregnancy.

Painting is fun!

2008-05-06T08:07:00.000-07:00

So, keeping a two year old busy for 8 hours is certainly not easy. Thankfully, there is nap time, but that leaves quite a bit time in between. Yesterday, after we went to Target and took a walk in the stroller (great exercise for me and James loves it), we still had an hour for a project before lunch time. I decided it was Art time, which James loves, and I discovered he truly loves painting. The paint he was using are just little hand held balls with paint already in it, just get the top a little wet and voila, instant painting, with no dipping a brush. I then gave James my large artist sketch pad and he went crazy for 40 minutes! Trust me, this is a long time to keep a 2 year old occupied. He does have his mother's love for the abstract. He also discovered that if banged the brush down that a big glob of paint comes out (my little Jackson Pollock). So, being the great mommy I am, I showed him how to spread it out with his hands. The end product was actually some really good paintings. However, the cuter picture was my little artist. I had him hold up his hands for this picture to get the full effect.

He also is really into the camera and wanted to take a picture of me and him, this was the end result of his photography talents.

Trip to Indy

2008-04-27T19:46:00.000-07:00

So, I am definitely delayed in this post, but am still recovering from the trip to Indianapolis. Overall, it was exhausting. We arrived on Saturday afternoon about 4:00 p.m. James was an absolute dream in the car. We actually only stopped twice on the eight hour drive and Grandma Jo was a big help. We then had dinner with my mom, Alice, Jay, Aunt Jen, and Aunt Anne. After dinner, we headed to Aunt Jen's hotel to swim in the indoor pool. It was James' reward for being so great and mommy's way of getting all that energy out.

Sunday we spent house hunting. We saw some good stuff.

Monday was a grueling day spent apartment hunting. It turns out that most places expect you to sell your soul to terminate a lease. Let me begin with the fact that due to the fact we are moving in June, 3 month leases are almost impossible to come by. So, I decided to look at 6 month leases. However, in order to get out of a six month lease, most properties required 60 days notice PLUS 2 months rent. In case you are counting, if you give notice the day you move in, you are still on the hook for four months rent. Other places tried to be cagey about the fact that there was no way to terminate a 6 month lease. From a legal perspective, this irked me, b/c technically, if they rent your apartment a month after you move out, then you should not be liable for the double rent to the landlord, and I certainly was not going to sign a contract allowing a landlord to do so. Ok, that tirade was over. So, after Monday, I was feeling very discouraged and concerned that Alex, James and I were not going to have a place to live. So, I got a hold of the realtor and decided to look at more homes on Tuesday.

Tuesday, Jo, James, and I went again with the realtor Stephanie to do some more house hunting. I had decided to up the maximum price range we were willing to look at to see what a little more could get us and it turns out a lot. I really liked three different houses in a subdivision called Spring Meadows. It is off Spring Mill in Carmel, in between 131st and 146th. I am not quite sure where exactly, but I was told it was close to O'Malia's, which is nice. So Tuesday morning was fun, Tuesday afternoon was more apartment hunting. Since nothing in Carmel, Castleton, and Fishers was working out, I jaunted up to Noblesville (I was desperate) and actually Noblesville revealed (around 4:00 p.m.) a brand new apartment complex offering 3 month leases. So this was a definite possibility. However, we had one more that we had called in Fishers. So off we went to that one. Trust me, this was as terrible and as boring as you can imagine and as writing is about it. But, at the last complex visited, approximately 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, there was an apartment in Fishers offering 3 month leases! YEAH! The rent is astronomical as far as 2 BR goes, but 3 month lease as kind of the priority. And, this complex is at 96th and Lantern. For those of you familiar with Fishers, if you are heading north on Interstate 69, exit off of 96th Street and turn right, go past Mejier and all of that. The fourth light is Lantern, there is a Marsh grocery store on the corner. The apartment complex is about 1/2 mile up on the right from Lantern. It is called Wellington Place Apartments. The plan is right now to sign the lease if the house has not sold by June 7th. If it has, then we forfeit the deposit, a $150.00 risk we had to take.

Hopefully, our house will sell, because in the end house hunting was much more fun that apartment hunting.

As far as our house selling...we have had a total of 8 showings, 7 of those to prospective buyers (one was a realtor preview). So far no takers. And, after having a showing almost every day since being on the market, we have not had one since Wednesday evening. They are doing the realtor open house on Tuesday and hopefully this will generate some more showings. In the end, it is in God’s hands and I trust that God will decide what is best for my family.
Well this is post really long enough, so I will end it!

Updates

2008-04-15T09:27:00.000-07:00

Well, I have meaning to post since Friday, but just got busy.
Baby Update:

I went to my first pre-natal visit on Friday. My doctor is currently on maternity leave, so I got to see somone else. He was great though. Things seem to be ok so far. I am currently seven weeks along and my tentative due date is December 1st. Fortunately, the doctor had a plan in place since I miscarried relatively recently. The first thing he did was to give me a prescription of proestrogen, which is the pregnancy hormone. He indicated he would check my levels, but to start the medication anyway. Furthermore, since I am seven weeks this week, I will be getting a sonogram to see if we can see heartbeat. And finally, given my apprhension the doctor agreed to see me in two weeks, instead of making me wait a full four weeks to be seen again, which gives me a certain amount of relief. So, right now, I have a songoram on April 17th at 4:00 central time. My next doctor's appointment is April 29th. I did get my lab report back and it turns out my levels are fine. They apparently look for something at 15 and mine was at 17.5. The doctor told me if the levels were good this was a pretty good indicator that the pregnancy would be fine. However, I do not know what they were last time, so I am still nervous. I am looking forward to and am very nervous about the sonogram on the 17th.

Indy Update:

We are just about all set for our trip to Indy this weekend. I have set up the appointment with the realtor to look at about 8 houses on Sunday. We are getting an early start at 9:30. Aunt Jen and Aunt Anne are both coming into town and have agreed to take their nephew on a jaunt to the Indianapolis Children's Museum, so that should hopefully be fun for everyone. As for who is on the house hunting crew, I know myself, my mom, my mother-in-law, but I do know if mom 2 is also coming? Let me know, I already warned the realtor she would have contingecy of people. The only other thing we have been looking into is apartments. After making some phone calls yesterday, I am not sure that furnished living is the way to go. Mainly because most places require you to pay more for the furniture then they do for rent. So...we are still trying to work out what we are going to do. I am going to contact DFAS and see if they have any agreements or any suggestiongs for temporary housing. Of course, it would be nice if the house just sells, but always be prepared is this girl scouts motto! (Ok, I may have been a lousy girl scout, but I still want to be prepared!)

Lame Duck

2008-04-10T12:49:00.000-07:00

Well, I am officially in a lame duck position and bored to tears. After giving notice, I have been wrapping up my open files. The problem is, I did not have that many open files and it is certainly not taking me a full ten days to place status memos in these files. I am also of course not getting any work, with a couple of exceptions. Furthermore,my complete lack of energy has also not motivated me to ask for any short term projects. So, I have admittedly been sitting here looking at houses on the Internet, for lack of anything better to do.

As the houses go, Alex and I have picked out some houses I definitely will look at in Carmel. There are also a couple in Fishers that are nice. Finally, we actually saw one in Fortville, along the Geist Resovoir which is nice, it even comes with a deeded boat dock, which could be fun. This is still in the Hamilton Southeastern school district, but it appears that there is alot of annexing and redistricting going around along there, so we shall see.

The news on our house is not much. The painters powerwashed it yesterday. As I was driving home I was wondering if I would be able to tell if they powerwashed it or not. When I drove up, there was no question. It looked like we lived in a hovel. They were going to attempt to work today, but there has been alot of rain, so I am not sure what they got done. They are also apparently going to work on Saturday to try and get it done. It is only a two person crew (husband and wife), but once the weather breaks, it should not take long to complete. The goal is to have the house in the market by next Friday!

I am going to the doctor tomorrow for my first prenatal visit. I am very apprehensive this time around, of course knowing what can happen. I think, for peace of mind, I may ask the doctor to be seen again in a couple of weeks, instead of waiting the full four weeks before another check-up. I am not sure what dates the doctor is going to give me, but according to babycenter.com I am approximately 6 weeks pregnant. I lost the last one at nine, so I am probably going to remain pretty nervous for a while. In the end though, there is nothing I can do except to take of myself and put my faith in God and let him/her decide how this one is supposed to turn out.

Ok, well that wasted some time. I hope all of my readers are doing well.

Shortly after crossing the Rubicon I got a surprise

2008-04-07T12:55:00.000-07:00

My little surprise came in the form of a positive pregnancy test. Alex and I are very excited, but of course apprehensive as well. After last time, we are attempting to hold back our enthusiasm. I go to the doctor on Friday afternoon. It is difficult to say how far along I am, but probably in the four to six week range. This obviously brings a new dilemma with my new employer, but again, we will remain in a wait and see pattern for now.

In other news...Alex and I worked very efficiently this weekend to get the house ready for market. The only major rooms to completed are the basement and office. Alex will be working from home on Tuesday to work on these, so hopefully, it will be ready soon. They are supposed to start painting the outside of the house this week, but it is also supposed to rain all week, so we shall what happens there.

Alex and I have also continued to look at houses on-line. We have broadened our search to Fishers, but, this may not be ideally located for Alex. It turns out that two of the three J.B. Hunt accounts are located in Lebanon and Plainsfield, so going further East to my work, may not be best for Alex and his work. We think we have plenty of options in both Carmel and Fishers, and are excited about getting a new place, but that will not happen until our current home sells. All of this means, I may be looking at apartments, instead of homes. Only time will tell.

I have crossed the Rubicon

2008-04-04T09:01:00.000-07:00

This morning I crossed the Rubicon and gave notice to my employer that I am taking a position with DFAS in Indianapolis. The response has been supportive and understanding. Obviously, my family has always been important to me and getting a little closer makes a big difference. My mentor was very supportive and indicated that he was sorry to see me go but personally thought I was making the right move for the right reasons. Others were a little more surprised by my announcement, but still supportive.

My start date at DFAS is set for June 9th. This will give me plenty of time off in between to get ready for the move and to just relax and spend time with James. I am looking forward to it, but needless to say, I am scared, because, well this is scary, but also exciting.

Right now the plan is to travel to Indy on April 19th, go to open houses on the 20th and hopefully meet with a realtor. will be staying until the 24th. James will be travelling with me, as well as my mother-in-law, Jo. I will also be setting up a bank and looking at daycares. I am optimistic though about getting James into the daycare located on the DFAS campus. I spoke with the office manager this morning and went ahead and got on a waiting list. DFAS employees receive first priority, so this is good news. I also learned that there should be some openings in the two year old room in June, as soon as a couple just turned 3's get potty trained. I will obviously tour the facility but hopefully it will be a good fit.

That is all from here!

Preparing a house for market

2008-04-01T09:08:00.000-07:00

So, while I am still awaiting word from DFAS, Alex and I have begun to prepare the house for market, just in case. The first thing to do was hire a painter for the outside of the house. When we first moved in, we noticed that the previous owners had attempted to "touch-up" the paint, but with the wrong color. Two years later, with sun damage, this looks even worse. So, we got some bids on the paint job, both reasonable, but one was $1,000.00 cheaper. However, the painter that we liked, and recommended by our realtor, agreed to match the lower bid. So, Alex and I were very pleased and it is costing us alot less than we thought it might.

Second on the list was replacing all of the hardware in the house. Most of the hardware in the kitchen and bathrooms had the finish rubbed off after 19 years of use. So, we have bought new kitchen hardware, this we paid a little more than we liked for, but I am relying on HGTV and the promise that I will see that return. We are not quite done with this project yet though, becuase they were 8 handles short of what we needed, so those are on order. We also have to replace all of our external hinges to match the hardware. All in all, we only need 60 hinges! Luckily, those are sold in pairs.

Finally, our realtor came and did a walk through and we discussed what needs to happen in each room. For the most part, it consists of removing a piece of furniture or possibly rearranging. We will most likely get a storage facility to remove the excess furniture, but it is not really too bad.

So, that is what is going on here in KC. Hope all is well elswhere in the country.

It's going to be a while...

2008-03-26T06:04:00.000-07:00

So, I finally heard from DFAS, mainly because I messed up some of the forms I completed and had to fix them. I also had to do the fingerprint card AGAIN, because I had completed it on the wrong card. So, that was fun. However, it did give me a chance to ask how long the background investigation would take, and I was told that "he has seen them come back within 45 days, but sometimes it can take up to a year." Now, I don't think it is going to take a year, but it is going to be a while.

Great Easter...with no pictures

2008-03-24T12:25:00.000-07:00

Well, I had a great Easter weekend, but completely forgot to take pictures. My sister Anne flew in on Thursday morning last week and got to spend some quality time with James on Thursday and Friday when Mommy and Daddy went to work. I also got to spend some time with Anne during the evenings. James of course loves his Aunt Anne or more like Aunt Ain (as pronounced by him). We overall had a pretty low key weekend. Friday afternoon, I got off work a little early at 3:00, so went home and Anne, James and I went to Target to do some shopping and then we met Alex for dinner. Anne and I then rented a few movies and watched Battlestar Galactica:Razor. It was very good, and yes we know we are nerds, but it was still Awesome! Saturday was marked with a trip to Borders, in which James was not shy of telling everyone in the store that he was looking for his Aunt Ain.

Saturday night, Anne and I went out for a girls night on the town. First, we say Doomsday, which if you are in the least bit queasy or offended by offensive language, this is NOT the movie for you. The premise of the story, is a little Mad Max like. In the present day, a "Reaper" virus develops in Scotland and since they can't control it, they essentially rebuild Hadrian's Wall, and quarantine all Scotland and leave them to die. Flash 30 years forward virus shows up in London, little girl who escaped on a helicopter from Scotland is now a bad a*s cop and she goes back in to find the cure, since it appears there are survivors. Like I said, alot of shooting, dying and blood. All in all it was actually quite good if you are in to this kind of movie.

After the movie, we headed downtown for dinner. Kansas City recently opened a Power & Light District Downtown. All sorts of new restaurants and bars. I wanted to try out the Raglan Road Irish Pub. We thoroughly enjoyed the menu, appetizers, main course and desert and then stayed for a while to enjoy the live music.

Easter Sunday, James got into his Easter Basket and figured out there was candy in those plastic eggs in no time at all. Daddy ended up having to empty them because James had attempted to eat a Peppermint Patty with the wrapping on. Then Jo came over for brunch, and we had a nice relaxing Sunday.

I hope you all had a great Easter weekend and I am sorry I forgot to take pictures.
FYI: No news from DFAS yet.

I am a pseduo-aunt!

2008-03-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, so everyone else I know posted about the arrival of Raley Margaret and I just wanted to join in the fun. Very close friends of the Fout family recently (at approximately 7:15 last night) welcomed their first daughter! This makes a me a pseudo-aunt type person. Overall, the whole Fout clan is excited because we have another woman to add to the Fout/Doty women's weekend (well in a few years anyway). I am also personally very excited for the new mom and dad, new Aunt Jenna, and esepcially new Grandma Alice and Grandpa Jay! In fact, Raley was kind of enough to provide herself as a present for Grandma Alice on her birthday! So Congratulations to the whole crew! We can't wait to see pictures.

Sick is me

2008-03-06T07:12:00.000-08:00

Well, I have yet been able to kick a nasty little bug that I have had for about 2 weeks now. I was actually doing quite well at the end of the week, was really good all weekend and then on Tuesday it came back! So, I started some anti-biotics, the ones I was supposed to be taking all along and did not, and have to suffer through. I would not mind so much, but I think I may have given it James and it is a nasty thing with a terrible cough. This translates into James not sleeping well, which means no one sleeps well.

Other than that things are going well. I am just trying to keep my head down at work and get the job done. I am supposed to hear something from Indianapolis towards the end of the month, I am hoping around Easter, but until then it is status quo and Alex and I are in a holding pattern until then. I just keep hoping and praying that God will lead us in the right direction. After all, it is completely out of my hands now.

I hope everyone is doing well and in better health than I! I am sooo ready for Spring!

Birthday Pictures

2008-02-23T18:52:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, after you recover from shock that I am actually posting pictures from the same day something happened, you can sit back and enjoy the pictures.

Here is James' Birthday Cake.

This is some of the balloons (if you can't tell we had a doggy theme)

James is very impressed and enthralled with this candles.

This is the gratuitous "hot mama" shot. There were some other very PG-13 shots of mommy when she was sitting on floor opening presents with James. These pictures have since been cropped, thank goodness for photo shop. I will remember not to wear this shirt next year.

This is my favorite picture from the day.

He was ready to open his presents.

James was very into opening the presents. He was a little upset with me that I would not open each toy as he unwrapped them, but he got over it as soon as he got to open the next one.

This fire truck was from Grandma Jo. He got a couple of trucks which he loves!

Here is James playing, hesitantly with his cousin Brannon.

This was from Friday night. I am very happy to say that James recognized and took to Grandma and Grandpa in no time.

Finally, a cute picture of James' cousin Brannon. He is a adorable!

My Baby is 2 today!

2008-02-22T08:44:00.000-08:00

This is a sad but exciting day for me. My little guy is two today. That means that two years ago today, I was about 3 hours into a 11 hour labor, and I had not even met him yet. I love being a parent, James is such a great joy and entertainment to boot. I did not imagine even 5 years ago, that I would nothing more than running around the kitchen island with my son on a Saturday night, but I do!

James started out his day by vomiting, apparently the stomach flu is going around, but he was showing no signs of a fever or otherwise feeling ill. So, we went forward with the day. He went to his two year check-up! He is now 27 lbs and 35 1/2 inches. This means that he is average weight (50th percentile) and above average height (75th percentile). So, he is the same height/weight ratio that he has been since about four months of age. The other good news is that his ears looked great. Some of you may recall that we had to take James to the ENT to get his ears cleaned. Well, the doctor told us to start putting baby oil (about 2-3 drops) in his ears about twice a week. He said this would soften the wax and let it work its own way out. Apparently, q-tips compound the problem. So, we were happy to hear that this little trick seems to be working!

We have a busy weekend a head of us, Grandma Karen and Grandpa Dave are visiting from Ohio (or should be given the weather, but I think they will get here.) Then tomorrow we are having a birthday party with pizza, cake, ice cream and BALOONS! Which means I should have some fun pictures to post soon. Have a great weekend my two loyal readers!

It's Friday!

2008-02-15T07:47:00.000-08:00

Well, it is finally Friday! This week has not been as long as other weeks but I am always glad when its Friday regardless of how long or short the week went.

I hope you all had a lovely valentine's day. I was rewarded with a single rose and card from my hubby. He actually ventured from his usual doggy card and got me a music card. This one actually played "ring of fire" by Johnny Cash, who is one of my favorites, so I thoroughly enjoyed it. It also brought more joy when James got a hold of it and danced around the kitchen opening and closing it while I cooked dinner.

On tap for this weekend is finally painting the dining room! I have planned on painting our dining room since June. I have had the paint since sometime during football season. The room has been taped for two weeks and now I am finally ready to go. I will post before and after pictures hopefully by Sunday. Currently our dining room has great wainscoating (sp?)and crown molding. However, you really don't see it becuase the walls are also white. So, I will painting it a lovely color called Dry Dock. It is a nice neutral brown, that is very in right now and that if necessary to sell the house will hopefully be a turn on for buyers.

Alex and James get to go over to Grandma Jo's house and Alex has to put together the crib Grandma Jo has over there. He is really looking forward to it!

Well, I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

My little boy

2008-02-09T19:45:00.000-08:00

Well, my little boy will be two this month. It is amazing how time flies! Here are some new pictures of the little guy. He has officially taken to his mother's and father's love of the camera.

Here, we have James wearing his daddy shorts.

Here he is coloring this evening. James loves to color, especially since he knows almost all of his colors.

This was very fun, because when I got the camera out this evening, I said "Smile for the camera" James was more than willing to oblige.

Here, he is again, my little blue eyes.

Long time.. no post

2008-02-04T12:10:00.000-08:00

I admittedly have not posted for a while because in general my life has been a bit stressful and I did not want to be the Debbie Downer of blog world.

However, there may be a light at the end of this tunnel. While I can not share too much, let's just say that some telephone conversations later this week, may lead me closer to some you than I currently am.

Also, I will try and get some new pics up tonight. James has officially lost all "baby" looks and is truly getting to be all boy!

Christmas Pictures.... Finally!

2008-01-15T19:02:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning began with this oddly shaped gift, what did Santa bring?

We find out that Santa brought us a chair, but we seem a little confused.

After trying out our chair..get OOOH LEGOS!

Ahh..this is what Christmas is really about.

And finally, my favorite...."I got a new hat!"

Here are some other favorite pictures from the holidays

Christmas with Grandpa Larry, 3 generations hard at work.

Taking down the Christmas tree...James was a big help.

This was a few nights ago, hanging out in the laundry basket on Sundays (laundry day)has become a favorite past time.

Did I mention James has started to cheese it up just like mom and dad!

Pictures soon, but first a VOCBULARY LESSON

2008-01-09T13:53:00.000-08:00

Today I read a court opinion out of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (California), published in 1999. I generally ready about a dozen cases a week, but I took particular delight in this one due to the vocubulary exercise it provided. While reading this opinion, I have had to look up the following words, let me know how many of them you actually know.

1. allonges
2. mendacity
3. insouciant
4. sortie (kind of knew this one but looked it up to make sure)
5. bulwarks
6. ossify (again, I double checked this one, it meant what I thought it meant)
7. bevue (this one is not listed in any on-line dictionary, maybe it's a typo?)

Other words used, that I know the meaning of but still would not necessarily be used in everyday conversation:

1. ubiquitous
2. fulcrum
3. parries
4. the phrase “sallies forth”
5. immolate
6. pyre

We lost...again

2008-01-08T06:50:00.001-08:00

Well, the name sake of this blog, my beloved buckeyes lost their second national championship in a row last night. Neeldess to say, Alex and I were not happy, but since I truly expected them to lose the game, it was not such a hard blow. I know my non-sports related readers may not be able to relate, but I know the Boilermaker fan who occasionally reads this blog just might. Overall, the game would not have been so bad, if I was not filled with hope at the beginning when we led and then throughout the game when it looked like we might just come back. However, the best thing about College Football is that there is always next year! So, Go Bucks!

New Year, New Hope

2008-01-04T07:36:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I have gotten really bad about posting, but I promise, as part of my many, many new year resolutions to get better. Now that the holidays are over, it should be slightly easier.

As most of you know, I made a trip to Indy over the New Year's weekend. While we unfortunately had to attend a memorial for my friend Jenna's uncle, it made it a little easier in that the company kept during such service was good. I also got to see my mom and sister, which was nice. We got to spend alot of time in our jammies just talking. On New Year's Eve, Jenna and I drove back from Indy to Olathe. It was nice to spend some time with her and just talk. However, Tater was very upset that #1: I was not dad and I should not be driving the car and #2: Due to my things he did not have a large enough seat in the back. Admittedly, the tower of things on the right back passenger seat may have been a bit scarey. We made it to Kansas in decent time, to rescue Alex from James, who is a bit of handful right now. New Year's Eve was spent on the couch and in sweat pants. We only stayed up until the apple dropped in New York (11:00 central), but Jenna and I still managed to do some damage to a bottle of champagne.

I am looking forward to this New Year. The end of 2007 was a bit of trial and while it may be arbitrary date, the start of New Year always presents new hope in my mind.

Next Post... Christmas Pictures!

Thankful

2007-12-08T11:18:00.000-08:00

So, I know I am month late on the "what I am thankful for" but I think any day is good day to express what you are thankful for.

Today, I am thankful for many things, the first is an amazing loving husband who would do anything to make me and James ok.

The second, although of course not really second, is my son, James. His unconditional love, hugs and kisses, make everything better.

Last and certainly not least are my dearest friends and family, who love me so much, are so comforting, and who would drop anything to be there for me. While I always know they are there for me, it is sometimes truly overwhelming to know I have so many great people who care. So thank you everyone.

It's Been a While

2007-12-04T06:24:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess I should not be surprised that I only have only a few loyal blog readers when I fail to post for at least two weeks. Things have been busy, but alas, not really to the point that I should not have at least blogged a few times.

Alex, James and I went home for Thanksgiving. We were lucky and got to be in Ohio for the whole week. It was wonderful visiting family and friends and it was hard to leave when it it was time to return to KC. That being said, there is nothing like being in your own home. James did really great at Grandma and Grandpa's, he took to the toddler bed they got for him right away and he loved playing with his aunts. Overall, he was a little disturbed about why Aunt Jen and Mommy sound so much alike, but he got over it. I will hopefully have some pictures up soon of our grand adventures in Ohio, including our trip to Newport Aquarium, where James ran from tank to tank shouting "ish!" He loved the fish, it was so much fun seeing him so excited.

Things have been kind of quiet around here since we have returned.

In pregnancy related news, the second child is slightly more finnicky about what mommy eats and drinks. As a result, I am currently not able to drink coffee. As soon as I stopped drinking it, I stopped getting sick in the morning. Some of you may wonder about the advisability of drinking coffee while pregnant anyway, but while pregnant with James, I drank my normal 1 cup a day with doctor's approval, but alas, that is not to be this time around. However, there is still tea! Second, I no longer like zuchinni, it is not so much the effect on my body, but I actually don't like the taste any more. On the bright side, knock on wood, my neck is not yet pimple playland, so that is a small favor. It is true what they say about the second one though, while I am still in all of my clothes, my gut is decidedly pooched, much more so than last time around. I go to the doctor on Friday and hopefully should be able to hear the heartbeat, as I am now 10 weeks along.

The long awaited, Halloween Pictures

2007-11-11T18:58:00.001-08:00

James was a doggy, he was very excited although not sure why. We visited about six houses, then came home and passed out candy.

Just so you know, I have had these downloaded since november 1, sorry it took so long.

Getting Ready to Go!

Bouncy! Now we are getting excited!

Going up the front stairs (I was still inside and he did not want to leave without me.

Have to be careful!

Watch wear you walk!

Just precious, if you ask me, but I am a little bias.

Meme

2007-11-11T18:42:00.000-08:00

Ok, I have been tagged twice, and have not responded. Sorry. These are the rules as I understand them.

Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you (check!). Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they’ve been tagged. As a caveat, I will not be tagging anyone because all of the blogging people I know, have tagged me, but hear are my random eight facts.

My favorite baseball team is the Cincinnati Reds, but my favorite professional football team is the Cleveland Browns, and I live in Kansas City.

I have lived in 5 states, Ohio, Tennessee, Connecticut, Florida and Ohio.

I have not lived in Ohio for five years, but it is still "home".

I am the only one of my sisters who did not move back in with mom and dad after college :)

I transferred colleges in undergraduate and law school and did not lose a single credit either time.

I am six 1/2 weeks pregnant, and everyone is already referring to my "sons"

Illinois beat my buckeyes yesterday, and I worked very hard to not be devastated today.

I am absolutely exhausted and ready to go to bed, it is 9:00 p.m.

I am will now attempt to "link" Jenna and Sarah's blogs. Ok, I tried, it did not work, so i just put in the website addresses.

http://theworldofjenna.blogspot.com/"

and
"http://www.snargle.org/crafty

The Pumpkin Patch

2007-10-28T18:48:00.000-07:00

One of the best parts of being a parent is getting to do the Pumpkin Patch Photo Op! We went this Saturday, a perfect fall day! Grandpa Larry went along, that was fun! James enjoyed running around outside and getting dirty, he also loved the big orange balls. The pumpkin he picked out for himself was unfortunately broken before we even left because he thought it was a basketball/soccer ball. Pumpkins are not fond of being bounced and kicked. Here are the pics!

This is going to be fun!

Family Picture

Go pick out a pumpkin!

Here is mine!

You hold it mommy!

The Boys!

Family Pics at Target

2007-10-16T11:52:00.000-07:00

We went a few weeks ago for family pics at Target. Here are some for your viewing pleasure.

Crazy Life!

2007-10-16T06:21:00.000-07:00

Well,

Since my last post, things got a little crazy. As most or all my readers know, I had to take an emergency trip to Ohio a few weekends ago. My grandfather fell ill and was given very little time. I was blessed that I got home in time to say goodbye. Grandpa led a long life, had his wits about him when he went, and was ready to go see "Katie". I flew home on Sunday night and Grandpa passed away Monday night/Tuesday morning. I did no go back for the funeral. Since then, I have been catching up on rest and work. Alex and I had planned to go to the Ohio State football game this weekend, but in light of all recent events cancelled the trip. It was heartbreaking putting the tickets in the mail, but someone else will get to enjoy them.

My little guy is doing fine. He has a double ear infection that we are working on with some pretty potent anti-biotics. We have started vitamins to hopefully keep them at bay, but I might talk to the doctor about tubes if this continues.

In happier news, James is growing, he can now reach the light switch in the kitchen if he stands on tiptoes and can turn the light on and off....over and over again. He must have gone through a little growth spurt because he couldn't reach it last week. Also, he has two "new" words. We can now say "baby". We can also call our milk "mak", which is well on our way, and it is an identifiable word.

That is all from here, I will post some new pictures soon.

Fall is finally here....

2007-09-25T06:04:00.000-07:00

Fall is finally here, but the fall weather has not been. Oh well. Last weekend, Alex, James and I ran errands on Saturday, played outside and went to dinner. Nothing too exciting. There were all sorts of festivals going on this past weekend, but in the end, the backyard was the most tempting for James. On Sunday, we went and had family pictures taken. Keeping an 18 month still for pictures was difficult to say the least. We got some good ones, I will share with you as soon as I get the e-mail link and I can promise my faithful readers they will get their own copy, b/c we got ALOT of pictures.

In other news, I am very very busy at work and trying not to get to bogged down by it. So, if I don't post for a while it is because I am busy at work and generally do not want to see a computer at night. Also, it is premiere week and alot of good shows are starting that I have to catch, because I am a tv junkie. I also now have DVR which will not help my addiction. more later.

Jamie

Not much going on here....

2007-09-20T07:26:00.001-07:00

In case my one loyal blog reader wants to know, there is not much going on here in Kansas/Missouri. This past weekend, we ran errands on Saturday and watched the Buckeyes beat Washington.

On Sunday, I went to Sunday School. I am volunteering as an aide for the 3 year old Preschool class at the school of religion. It should be interesting keeping ten 3 year olds occupied for an hour. Luckily, I am just aiding, so I just help the teacher. I only go every other week, but since last week was the first week, I went for a little bit, but will go again next week. It should be fun and rewarding, but my ulterior motive is to see what it is like, because I will want James to start this when he turns 3.

After Sunday school we went to brunch to celebrate my nephew's baptism. Brannon Porterfield was baptized in Cleveland, at his mother's home church. Andi and Jason wanted Brannon baptized in the Byzantine Catholic church and their priest was kind enough to let them to return and do it there, which I think is cool.

Finally, the last news is James has an ear infection. I had to leave work on Tuesday and take him to the doctor. So, by 3:00 on Tuesday, Alex, James and I were all at home. James was fine, but Alex and I had to take turns getting work done!
James is still just fine, taking his pink amoxcilin which he thinks is yummy! Our other breakthrough is that James actually ate some of my zuchhini the other night...he generally will not any green vegetables, so I was VERY excited.

That is all from here...

18 month check-up and weekend

2007-09-10T18:23:00.000-07:00

James had his 18 month check-up on Friday. He is 25.9 lbs. 33 inches. This means he is in the 45% for weight, 75% for height. His head is also growing just fine and is in the 75% as well. Not much else to report regarding the check-up all is well!

This weekend was a pretty easy weekend. James got his third haircut. Unfortunately the person who did the second haircut did a terrible job, so we went someplace else, someplace that is cuts kids hair only. We just felt he needed someone who new how to move with a child, that does not understand that he is not allowed to turn his head. So, James got to sit in a police car and watch baby einstein has he got his haircut. It went quite well. The rest of the weekend we just hung out at home and James got to play outside with the neighbors quite a bit because the weather has cooled down.

That is all from here!

Socks!

2007-09-05T19:13:00.001-07:00

James was interested in learning the word SOCK tonight, which currently being pronounced as ck! or ock! Since I already had socks on, he decided he would take my other pair and put them on himself.

Labory Day Weekend

2007-09-05T19:00:00.000-07:00

Well, we had a busy Labor Day weekend.

Aunt Anne flew in very early on Saturday morning. After some time with James, Anne and I went to see "Becoming Jane". If you are not aware of the movie, it stars Anne Hathaway and is loosely based on Jane Austen's life. It was very enjoyable. After the movie, Anne and I walked around the Plaza and then had Jack Stack Barbeque for dinner (yummy!)

On Sunday, we spent the morning at home and around 4:00 Anne and I headed out to the K.C. Irish Fest. This was my first trip to the Irish Fest and was well worth the trip! The festival is still growing but they have excellent bands. Anne and I were fortunate to see two bands "Solas" and "Gaelic Storm". Solas was a really good band and much to our surprise a gentleman by the name of SEAMUS EGAN was playing with them. Here is Seamus Egan, Anne and Myself at the Irish Fest, you can not really see Seamus, but it was him!

We got a quality two hour performance from Solas and it was great. The next band to play was "Gaelic Storm". Gaelic Storm is most well known for their appearance in Titanic. If you are like Anne and I we were expecting a low key band and some pretty music....not so much. Gaelic Storm is a Celitc rock band, their songs are fun and hillarious, and we ended up staying through the second encore. I will definitely be paying money to see them again!

On Monday, Anne and I recovered from the Irish Fest (tired more than anything, but the Boulevard Wheat Ale was also quite tasty). Then we headed over to the neighbors for the street cook out. Here are some pictures from that event...James was being very cute, of course.

By Monday night, we were all interested in just being on the couch!

That was our labor day weekend, fun but a little tiring!

New Words- James Report

2007-08-29T06:33:00.000-07:00

James is adding to his vocabulary!
We can now say "ow" which means "cow"
"at" means "hat", I only know this because he pointed at the cat in the hat last night said "at" and tapped his head.
"boc" means block and box, several times we have opened the pantry door and stated "boc, boc, boc" as he pointed at all the boxes.
"oc" means sock (i think)
"k" is drink.
and every else is doggy or duck! He has really got his "D" down!

James has also started eating with a fork and spoon (kind of). He is actually quite successful with the fork, and he has taken to eating all of my strawberries.

Finally, James is also addicted to cheerios, like any good toddler. The other evening, I had a handful of cheerios on the kitchen table for him. However, James knows the cheerios are in the pantry. So, James went to the pantry, squatted down to be eye level with the Cheerios and stared at them. I would tell him I have the cheerios, he would run over and get some from me, then run back to the pantry to again stare at the cheerios. He did this for about five minutes, until we closed the pantry door, which was welcomed with a temper tantrum (which if you have been on the phone with me, you know are quite famous).

Thatis all the new stuff with James. Alex and I are saying all of our words just fine and have managed to kick the cheerios for some years now. Not much to report for us, going to work and watching James!

Mama!

2007-08-17T07:39:00.000-07:00

Well, after 18 months, my son finally pointed at me last night and said Maoma! I was very excited, he has being saying lots of things but not this. I had to share.

Other things

2007-08-15T19:25:00.000-07:00

In other matters, things are tracking along here in Kansas. Those of you who visited Jenna's blog lately should know that it is more than dirt roads and windmills. Although, the windmills are pretty.

Alex and I celebrated our fourth weddding anniversary on August 9th, we did manage dinner and a movie the following Saturday.

Also, since I have last posted, James got his first black eye. This needs explaining. James was travelling from the living room and into the kitchen, which requires going up a step, and he slipped and hit his face on the edge of the step. Overall, he was over it quite quick, and just a little red mark. However, he went to school next day and was standing on a step and had one foot on and one foot off, and slipped again, hitting his face on the exact same spot, hence a black eye!

Here is a picture of the black eye.

Here is another picture, but I think it is slightly more "thug" like.

Currenltly the little guy is battling a sore throat, no he did not tell us, but his fever and fussiness gave us a clue and the doctor figured it out. He should be better in a few days, the virus just have to run it's course, and then I will get it!

The Pool

2007-08-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

I have not posted in a while, so let's get caught up. Here was our visit to the pool a few weeks back.

First thing first, is the pool bag ready?

Let's Go!

Finally at the pool, and we are not happy!

But now mommy is swimming, so it is better!

Harry Potter and My mother-in-laws "new house"

2007-07-23T07:24:00.000-07:00

Well, I finished Harry Potter last night at 9:00. I could not have done it without a great deal of cooperation from my husband and James. Although James tried very hard to give me his books to read instead, and I did as I always do, begin to read his and after 3 pages, he walks away.

As some or most of you know, my in-laws are getting divorced. Fortunately, now the decision has been made, they are not attempting to drag it out and make it bad. In fact, my father-in-law bought my mother-in-law a new house. She is downsizing to 4000 sq. feet. The link for some of you who are interested is below, just copy and paste and it should take you to the listing. There are not very many pictures. Overall though, Alex and I very pleased with her choice of location because instead of being 25 miles away, she will only be five miles, and I believe the new place will ease the transition for her.

http://www.prukc.com/xq/ASPX/MLSNum.1400499/qx/HomeSearch/Listing.htm

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

2007-07-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

Chapter 1, 2:00 a.m. I know you are shocked, I did not got to bed at 10:30p.m. As I left for Border's around 12:30 a.m. (I already had my wrist band) I almost felt like I was breaking curfew! If my mom reads this blog she should get a real kick out of that!

Back to work

2007-07-19T12:19:00.001-07:00

Well, I am happy to report that I am back at work today. I did not arrive until 9:45 a.m., but I am hoping that will improve. Right now I only have 2 1/2 hours to make until 5:00, and so I am very optimistic :)

I however and very swamped with two weeks worth of work that was barely maintained in my absence, so I better get back to it.

On the mend....

2007-07-17T06:50:00.000-07:00

I am still not back to work but definitely on the mend. I am on a great deal of medication which includes hydrocodone and valium and some other medications. Needless to say, I am not awake very much. In fact, in the past 72 hours, I would say that I have been awake for about 22 of those hours. On the bright side, all that sleeping has allowed me to continue healing. I am definitley feeling better and have begun to back off the meds...just for any wondering eyes they are all prescribed medications.

I plan on doing some work from home today. My mommy is leaving me tomorrow, so that will be difficult. She is heading to Indianapolis, picking up the Doty crew and heading to Middletown for the great balloon race.

James has been a golden child while Mommy has been sick. He plays alot on his own in the living room and comes and hangs out with me on the couch and gives me big hugs and kisses which is definitley the best medicine. Dadddy has also been a hero, taking care of bath and bedtimes.

That is all from here.

Surgery

2007-07-09T11:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I survived surgery. It was unpleasant as surgery tends to be. I was not able to make it back to work today as I had hoped. I am still in to much pain. I tend to be in the most pain the morning and it gets better throughout the day. So, my hope is to return to work tomorrow, even if only for the afternoon.

Unfortunately, I am not the only one sick, on Saturday Alex came down with something. He went to the doctor today and he has strep throat!

Luckily for us, and unlucky for her, Grandma Karen has been here to take care of us...all of us. She is getting paid with James kisses though, which I think is good enough for her.

Later.

The Police Concert

2007-07-04T18:40:00.000-07:00

Well the Police Concert was on Monday night, my sister Anne and her friend Kelly and I went to the concert. Before the concert though we had a lovely dinner at Landry's at Union Station with Mom, my sister Jen and her boyfriend Wally.

After dinner we headed to the concert. The Concert was AMAZING, PHENOMENAL, as our horribly expensive tickets ended up being worth every penny. We were placed on the side of the stage with Sting standing on that side of the stage and he was only about 30 to 40 yards away, so if you know me at all, you know how big of Sting fan I am, that was...well words can't describe. Oh, and the music was AWESOME as well. The first song was Message in a Bottle, and the last song of the night was Every Breath You Take. So, we heard the greatest hits and more!

One of the bad things about are tickets were that they were in three separate spaces, but two of them were in the same row. A very nice man willingly switched with us (because I was not shy about asking!) In the end two of tickets were together. Then half way through the show, Anne and I switched tickets so we each got about equal time in the amazing seats. The other seat was directly across from the other seats, and only about 10 rows up from the other seats, so that seat was actually really good as well. I could go on and on about the concert, but I will not. Needless to say....I am very happy I went.

Tomorrow is surgery, I will post again as soon as you can.

James meeting his cousin last wednesday

2007-06-27T13:12:00.000-07:00

Quiet Week

2007-06-26T06:21:00.000-07:00

To see Brannon Christopher go to:
http://www.overlandparkregionalmedicalcenter.com/WebBabies.asp

Birth date was June 20, 2007, click on Brannon P

This is a pretty quiet week for the Porterfield house. Right now, we are just trying to enjoy the nice weather. James and I have been going on a walk every evening. He really enjoys pointing out the grass and the trees and calling them "ball". It has been great for me as well, because since we started walking, I have lost 2 lbs and a couple inches in some spots! Very nice and unexpected.

Next week will be pretty busy, I am going to the Police Concert on Monday in St. Louis. I am uber excited for this because- I love Sting and Sting in the 80's- can't get better than that! In St. Louis I am picking up Grandma Karen for a visit to K.C.
Then Wednesday is 4th of July, which should be an interesting day at my mother-in-laws. For those of you who know the situation- interesting is putting it lightly. The worst part is I probably should not be drinking that day because on Thursday, I am having surgery. This should not be a big deal, as it is outpatient, but they still have to put me out, which I hate. Oh well.

Have a good week everybody!

A few things

2007-06-23T19:58:00.000-07:00

Well,

First of all, I am including in this blog pictures of our new hardwood floors. We love them so far, and I am pretty sure anything would look better. They were completed on Wednesday. Now we are looking for area rugs that will make me happy.

Also, we went swimming today and there is a picture of my little boy in his swim trunks and aqua shoes ready to go.

It is a boy

2007-06-20T18:33:00.000-07:00

Well, Alex's brother's wife, Andi, finally pushed out a baby boy this evening. I now have a nephew!

His name is Brannon Christoper
He was 8 lbs. 15 oz.
20 1/2 inches.

Andi's water was broken at 8:00 this morning. She started the whole process was at 3cm and 90% effaced, so we did not think it would take long. At around 11:00 she got an epidrual. By 12:45 she was 8 cm. My next update was at 3:00 p.m., she was at 10 cm, but did not have an urge to push. Brannon was finally born at 6:15 p.m. The moral of the story is... epidural if you dare. Over 3 hours at 10 cm-- I'll pass :)

Good Morning

2007-06-20T06:36:00.000-07:00

Well, we are waiting on pins and needles for Andi to have the baby. They broke her water about an hour ago.

In other news, I got a traffic ticket when I left work last night. No left hand turns from 4-6. Oh well, truth be told, I make that turn every single day, the fact that I just now got a ticket is a small miracle. The up side, is that I do not have to pay attorney's fees to take care of it :) Why else become an attorney if you can't fix your own traffic tickets?

James has a "splash day" at daycare today, so I might have a tired bubba at home tonight.

I will be in mediation for the rest of the day, but will post as soon as I know anything about Andi and the baby.

Jenna did it, so I will too.

2007-06-19T06:54:00.000-07:00

Here is my new blog, this is mainly going to be so people can see the new and wonderful pictures of James that you are clamoring for me to send. I will try to be better.

Not much is going on in K.C. Currently, James is anxiously awaiting the arrival of his cousin. Jason and Andi are expecting, and Andi is going to be induced tomorrow. I personally am beside myself excited, because we don't know if it is a boy or girl or what names they have picked out. If you know me, you know that I am not a patient person for these types of things!