Today is Tom's 25th Birthday. Be sure to call and wish him a Happy Birthday because he will hold it against you if you don't:) He is pretty pumped about his present, a brand spanking new bike. Thanks Neil for having trade to make this happen because it cost more than we have in our savings account. Sad huh! But he deserves it. He is such a hard worker, working a full time job up in Ogden trying to keep the business alive, going to school every night of the week, and trying to squeeze Young Men's activities in whenever he has a chance. It always seems like the ward wants to give him all these extra assignments on top of that. I feel so bad that he never has time to do anything for himself so I am glad he has this bike to take a break from everything else. (Not to mention it is motivating him to sign up for some triathalons this summer) In these past couple of months he has also taken a lot of his own time to help other people complete their projects. He put in my parents front door, put base boards in the front entry way, and laid a wood floor in their dining room. He has also been very helpful to his brothers and is always willing to help anyone who needs it. I am grateful to him for being such a good dad and having so much patience with me and Porter. Porter loves cuddling with his dad which gives me a nice break at night since he won't come to me. Tom has been an amazing husband so far making sure I am always taken care of and that our family has everything we need. Thanks for all you do babe, I hope you have a Happy Birthday.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Sick of Being Sick
Not much has been going on lately here in the LeBaron household. Porter and I have been MIA passing our sickness back and forth three times over. Lucky for me, Porter loves Tommy way more than me which allowed Tom to enjoy being thrown up on more than once this past week. It is amazing what can come out of a kid who only drinks a bottle. We are now both on antibiotics, me for the second time and Porter for two giant ear infections so hopefully we are on the mend. It is pretty sad when your little one is sick, but there is a part of me that loves that all he wants to do is cuddle. He has been so sleepy lately. Today at four o'clock in the afternoon he found his pajamas and brought them to me. I started playing peekaboo with him, but obviously that was not the response he was looking for. Turns out the kids wanted to get in his pajamas because he was wanting to go to bed. Here he is at 4:30, poor little boy.
If any of you know tom or I you know then that he is his parents child who loves to go to bed early. As referenced to the pajamas, Porter has developed quite an opinion, especially about what he wears. He prefers his Lightning McQueen Crocs to any of his other shoes. He brings them to me in the morning when he wants to leave the house and gets really upset when I try to put on any other pair. He has certain pairs of pajamas he likes over others and when I put one pair on he brings me another pair. Who knew that a one year old could have such an opinion, and about clothes?
Here is Porter playing with Justin in the snow.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
The 911 Call
I bet most people can't say that their child was in trouble with the law at age 1. Not that it is anything to brag about. Yesterday Porter and I visited my mom to help her take down the last of her Christmas decorations. He had been playing with the phone earlier that day, but I didn't think anything of it. Well as we were taking down the tree in the front room, I looked outside as a police car pulled up. He knocked on the door. When my mom answered he said, "What's the Emergency?" We both looked at each other rather confused. He continued explaining that there had been a 911 Emergency call from this number a little earlier. Right when he said it, I could guess what had happened, but chose to still look confused. We said we didn't know anything about it and he explained that during storms sometimes lines get crossed and they get phone calls. He left but waited outside for probably another half hour. I'm guessing just to make sure that someone really didn't make the call. I feel guilty for not confessing, although I don't have any real evidence. You can get fined for stuff like that right? Well, nonetheless, my parents had the police check up on them a couple more times that night to make sure everything was okay. I guess it is comforting to know that they really are there to protect you. But needless to say, my naughty one year old has had his first and we pray his last run in with the police.
Yesterday we also had a last minute family portrait done by Busath photography. The owner is my parents home teacher and he said he wanted to use our family to try out some new techniques with family portraiture. Tom and I are guessing it is to try out some new slimming technique, but it will be interesting to see what he comes up with. Porter was a darling little cheese head (with the exception of stealing the toy away from the assistant) so I am excited to see some of those prints. If there is anything worth showing, I will post them. Happy Wednesday!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
A New Year
As I'm sure most of us are, I'm welcoming this New Year with open arms. The other night Tom showed me an article in the Ensign that really got to me. It is an article called Putting My Hands in the Lords. It is a very humbling article, one of those that puts your life into perspective. It quotes Elder B.H. Roberts who said that "those who have to contend with difficulties, brave dangers, endure disappointments, struggle with sorrows, eat the bread of adversity and drink the water of affliction, develop a moral and spiritual strength together with a purity of life and character, unknown to the heirs of ease, and wealth, and pleasure." I love the final paragraph which reads," The challenge is to love God, keep our covenants, and live the great plan of happiness even when loved ones die and other trials and disappointments occur. It is not just the attractive, smart and wealthy who are expected to endure in faith to the end. That is expected of all of us. The challenge is to remember why we are here: to work out our salvation, alone or married, childless or with a quiver full of children; to shout for joy and then work at being joyful; to remember that the Lord stands ready to succor us through the Holy Ghost. He will go before us and be on our right hand and on our left."
I have a wonderful life and have been blessed with so much. It has been hard to witness struggles and trials of many different family members and friends but I am grateful for the examples they have been to me as they have faced them.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
In the Words of Porter, Merry Chrisix!
For the entire month of December, Porter has enjoyed what he calls "Chrisix." Which to him is the decorated front room of my mom's house. At the mention of the word Christmas, he whispers "Chrisix" and toddles to the door and bangs on it until someone takes him out. He gasps every time and could stare at the decorations for hours. Christmas has come and gone and it was wonderful! I didn't think Porter would really understand Christmas this year, but we had so much fun with him. On Monday we took him to "Candle Light Christmas" which was freezing cold but he loves Christmas lights and we got to see Santa and his reindeer as well as a Nativity Scene. Porter loved the pygmy goats and found the reindeer quite interesting.
The next couple days were so busy it left us all, especially Porter, exhausted. On Christmas Eve, we had dinner at my mom's house. Miko felt a little left out and hoped to catch part of the action through the window.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Utah Mormons
Although it is Christmas and I have much to catch up on from our various past activities, I first must address what has been on my mind lately when one of my extended family members, who will remain nameless, made a comment about Utah Mormons. Mind you this was not the first time my family has been singled out as being "Utah Mormons", and I am certain it will not be the last. So forgive me for my defensive comments which are probably not in the Christmas spirit of things, but this is the source through which I wish to vent. I am a Utah Mormon, and there is NOTHING wrong with that. Since when did it become okay for Mormons to negatively classify other members of their own faith based upon their geographic location? We are all trying to live and practice the same religion are we not? I will never forget my first Sunday down at BYU when my Sunday School Teacher made negative comments about those "Utah Mormons". Before this time, I had failed to realize the rift between the Mormons in Utah and those outside of Utah. And I have never felt more uncomfortable and unwelcome than I did when I attended my grandparents ward in New Jersey when I announced that I was from Utah. I felt like a pariah and was horrified when the members openly made negative comments about Mormons from Utah right in front of me. And it was very difficult for me not to get up and leave. Now don't get me wrong, I am not trying to criticize them, I am only trying to point out the injustice of this classification. (as a side note allow me to point out that our beloved Prophet is as Utah Mormon as well) Aren't we all in this together? This past year and a half has really opened my eyes and made me so much more compassionate for people and their situations. Life is hard. We all have our own battles to fight and we certainly don't need others criticizing the way we fight them. Especially not those that should be rooting for us to succeed rather than pointing out reasons why we deserve to fail. Sometimes, even when you feel as though you have done everything as best as you could, things don't turn out the way you think they should. That doesn't necessarily mean you did something wrong. I will be the first to admit my guilt in this. When children went wayward or boys came home from their missions, I unrightfully passed judgement and tried to place the blame on someone for this failure. As some of these experiences have hit a little closer to home, I have been very humbled. None of us know the intent of anyone's heart and none of us know the circumstances. Utah Mormon or not, we are all trying to do the best we can. My hope is that I may be more aware of my thoughts and words and try to offer feelings of love and compassion, rather than criticism. And to all of those people that do think differently of "Utah Mormons", I only wish you would realize we are all doing the best we can.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Porter Turns One
I officially have a one year old! I can't believe that a year has come and gone so fast. It has been amazing to see my sweet little boy learn and grow. And man has he grown, he is a giant! I love watching him discover how to do something new. He is walking up a storm now and is BUSY! He loves to play blocks, play with and bite the dog (yes I said bite, sick huh!), play with the heating vents, open all the cupboards and pull out everything inside, laugh at sneezes and hiccups, race me to the stairs hoping he might get away with doing something naughty, watching My Friends Tigger and Pooh, taking naps with Uncle Justin, throwing balls, riding in the car carts at the grocery store, having story time, taking baths, and now, he loves to do this:
This is his new present from his uncles Justin and Trent. Man he is such a spoiled child!! We celebrated Porter's first birthday Thursday night at his Grandma's House with his aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. He was overwhelmed with all of the guests and especially all of the presents. He ultimately resorted to playing with his old toy because he didn't know how to handle all of the new toys. He is lucky to have such a great family that live close and are very supportive. Here are a few pictures from his Winnie the Pooh Birthday Party:
