4 YEARS

Today is our 4 year wedding anniversary! Crazy how time flies, although as most people point out for us it seems like it has been even longer! The older I get and the longer we are married, the more I realize that Tom is the only person that could have married me. He knows how to handle me and my moods, when I need my space, how to make me laugh, and what to do when I'm at my wits end. (not to mention when to put me in my place) We just got back from our trip with Lake Powell and it reminded me why I love him. Tom has a way with people. He is the one that can make everyone feel comfortable in a group and knows how to make everyone laugh. A day doesn't go by that someone tells me how great he is. One of Tom's philosophies in life is to make yourself indispensable. That way you will always be included. Case in point: Lake Powell. Tom is the best boat driver, can grill with the best of them, is a good teacher for the newbies, knows a lot about a lot of things, is willing to work hard, and this trip he even helped Alan sew some new screens for the boat (yes I said sew). When he is that helpful, it is hard not to like him. Sometimes I admit, I'm jealous that he is so likable. My Young Women love him, my family prefers him over me most days, he is Porter's number one, and I could go on. I'm lucky to be married to such an awesome, positive, happy, knowledgeable, funny, hard working, loving father and husband. I apologize for the cheese, but this is my journal.
Oh, P.S. Porter didn't join us in Lake Powell, we left him with my Aunt Jenny for the week. He loved it! Apparently I am missing something. To Jenny, Porter was a dream. He slept 12 hours a night and took huge naps during the day, he taught her boys how to softly defend themselves against the new puppy, and he even drank less juice! He seems to have grown up in those five days because since we have picked him up he is eating better and talking way more than before.
On another Porter note, it is scary how predictable I am. Porter is very well acquainted with my habits and actions. When we grab Cafe Rio takeout, he spots the bag and immediately knows there is cheese in it for him. Yikes, I gotta switch up my routine a little.

It's a ZOO!

One thing is safe to say, there isn't a dull moment at the LeBaron household, and Porter is loving every minute of it. Nanny's house is always abundant with cousins to play with. He is so happy to have Gracie and Gunnar (and Mag) as visitors for the next little while. Yesterday we went to the zoo to see the tiny 3 day old giraffe. Here are the munchkins watching the baby.

But let's not forget once again Porter's favorite part of the zoo:

Watching the Turkeys! He even climbed over that fence to chase after them.Look at these two fair headed children. They could be brother and sister don't you think? We are happy to have guests and are looking forward to our Lake Powell trip next week sans Porter!!! Although I must admit I am a sucker for agreeing to kid swap with Jenny. My one for her five! Just wait until October when I become a mother of six!! Yikes! Jumping right in head first with getting kids off to school and taking care of three kids under the age of two for four days by myself. And why not throw a new puppy in the mix for the fun of it? But I gotta say, its nice to not have to bring Porter to Powell, especially since he has decided he loves water and wants to jump right in!

BLOGGING THERAPY-

So on the news today they talked about how blogging is good therapy if you really blog about feelings, so get ready folks, here comes another political commentary...
Yes this is completely bias, but that is ok because it's my blog. If you don't agree with it, don't read it!

To start with, since when should it be a crime to be wealthy? Why should you be punished because you make money? It seems to me, especially now under this administration that this is the case. I'm not saying that the wealthy shouldn't be contributers to society or that they shouldn't donate money or help those less fortunate, but just because someone has money doesn't mean that gives anyone, the government included, the right to take away their money.

I'm sooo happy right now that Obama's Health Care Bill didn't pass, at least for now. I would have no faith in our government if it passed without being read. Here are some of my hesitiations: the outrageous cost, the elimination of insurace options (and by the way, it shoudl not be ok to fine me if I choose not to have insurance at all, that is my choice! yes i want insurance, but not everybody chooses to have it even when they have the choice) the idea of long lines and inaccessiblity to doctors, the elimination of choices, etc. ,etc. Seriously it should make every single person nervous that he wanted to pass it through so fast that no one really had the chance to read it.

There does need to be reform, tons of it for so many reasons. There are some clear basic steps we should take before we move to Obama Health Care. In my opinion, he is using those commericals and such to mask from the public what he is truly doing. It sounds great for everyone to get coverage, but it comes with a price and it has yet to be rationally decided how that is going to be accomplished. Nothing comes free, someone has to pay. And it killed me when I saw the clip of him saying that no one needed to worry about his health because he had a whole team of doctors taking care of him. Wait! I thought we should all get the same coverage.

Ok, back to it. First, we should cap malpractice settlements. I'm not saying its ok for doctors to mess up, but a bad doctor should loose his liscence, not be able to be sued billions and billions of dollars. Obviously this isn't helping the outrageous costs of healthcare. And if the government becomes in charge of health care, then doctors don't even have to worry about getting their own malpractice coverage which means if they aren't held responsible, they may not worry so much about messing up. (i'm not saying doctors purposely screw up, but they may not be as on their toes) Second, 1/3 of the American population is on some sort of goverment funded or supplemented health care. This health care is provided through the money of the other 2/3. If you move to Universal Health Care, who is going to pay for it??? There won't be anyone left. In addition, I would say that the costs of this 1/3 is huge. Here is my answer: create government funded clinics where you can get your basic health care needs met. I remember my grandpa being outraged many years ago because he had a woman come to see him that was getting fertility treatments that were paid for by the government! In short, this woman was living on welfare and wanting the government (so the American people) to pay for her fertility treatments! Seriously? Need I say more? Not to mention that the bill calls for the covereage of 5.6 million illegal immigrants to be included. In addition, I do not want the government to be able to decide my healthcare needs. If my doctor says I need the medication, then I do, but I'm worried that the government may be allowed a second opinion.

"Hospitals, doctors, and other health care providers should be accountable to patients - not to politicians, insurance bureaucrats, or HMO Administrators. If the supply of medical care is controlled by the federal government, then officers of that government will determine which demand is satisfied. The result will be the rationing of services, higher costs, poorer results - and the power of life and death transferred from caring physicians to unaccountable political overseers."

I am not a heartless person, but I do believe we have worked hard for what we have. My husband is gone for almost 11 hours every day. I'm happy to help others less fortunate than I, but don't force me. Equality is a loose and undefinable term. Equality in what? To me, equality means equal opportunity, not that everyone should have everything the same no matter how hard they work or not. I hope we can reform health care, but how about step by step bills, not one huge one that no one can read and that slides in a bunch of other things on the presidents agenda we don't know about?

I've said my peace, I feel better, Tom's happy I didn't vent this all to him, and now I'm off to bed.

We're Back from Bryce

Well, we made it. After only one real training run (yes folks, we were dumb and didn't really run at all before hand) Tom and I completed our first half marathon together! It was such a beautiful run and I would say we did fairly well all things considered. It was kind of a bite the bullet and do it even though I haven't been doing hardly any running because of my back and Tom hasn't been doing much because he is too busy. With the commute, Tom is usually gone for work for about 10.5-11 hours every day! But back to the race. Trent left us early in the race, but his knee bummed out and we met him near the finish line and crossed it with him. My mom and her friends finished before it closed and Carl brought up the back just over the three hour mark. Just to be clear Carl went on two long walks before this and doesn't exercise at all so we are proud that he finished and didn't die in the process. It was a fun little trip and we are so glad Sarah Boucher came down with us to watch Porter while we did it. And I am happy to report the two things I was worried about hurting, my back and my feet, didn't hurt at all. They actually feel better than they have for a while. So maybe this won't be the last race I ever do. . . We'll see.
I do have pictures, but they are on my mom's camera so maybe I'll put some up later.

Working Hard and Keeping Busy

It doesn't seem like much has been going on around here lately, but it's safe to say we've been keeping busy. Porter has been loving doing yard work with his Papa, in his safety hat.

My parents next door neighbors, much to their chagrin, have chickens and the first thing Porter wants my dad to do when he gets there is take him to see the "cadoos". We bought a zoo pass so Porter and I can frequent he zoo. We can bring guests, so if you ever want to make a day of it, let us know. Here is Porter with our last guests.

Unfortunately for me, this is where Porter likes to spend his days at the zoo, viewing the turkeys near the entrance. No, not the bears, tigers, monkeys or elephants, but the turkeys. I guess I should have saved my money and taken him to see those "cadoos" more often.

On another fun note, he is talking so much more and it is hilarious. Most people have names now, some are more fond of theirs than others. Trent's name is dirt, and although my mother would echo that name, he is not that fond of it. He has also learned the ways of manipulation with his grandparents. When I tell him no, he will immediately go find nanny to see if she will do what he wants.
Tom and I have been keeping pretty busy as well. I just got back from girls camp, which was so much fun! We are getting ready for the Bryce Canyon half marathon in two weeks. And after meeting with the back doctor last week, this will be my final time running unless I want to have surgery in my back. So this is my final hurrah! Sad, but I will accept it if it can hold off surgery for another couple of years. We had our ten miler on Saturday, after which Tom and I sustained some unforseen and at least for Tom, unmentionable minor injuries. I think I bruised the bottom of my feet. Is that possible? But we are looking forward to the next months of summer since we haven't really been experiencing it yet.

AN APPLE A DAY. . .

Is apparently not enough for our family. Thank goodness for Dr. Payne! This past week or two has been tons of fun in the LeBaron household. My back was really acting up so I finally gave in and went to see my grandpa about it. He sent me to have an MRI (which by the way, if you have never had one is a horrible experience) and it turns out I have Degenerative Disc Disease. I'm not entirely sure all that that entails, but he first sent me to get a nerve root injection. I was terrified but it worked out ok. They numbed my back and then they go in and poke around on the nerves until they think they found the nerve that was being affected and inject this steriod into it that should take away the pain. For the first two days, I was in more pain than I had been for a while, but today I went on a long walk and it felt great. Tommy has been having sinus infections and he was sent to have a CT Scan. He will be having sinus surgery next month. And Porter had this yucky cold which I won't go into much detail about but he would gag a lot on the stuff in his throat and the result usually meant a change of clothes for him and whoever was lucky enough to hold him at the time. But things are starting to look on the up and up. I'm feeling better, Porter's feeling better, and Tom will hopefully be feeling better. And most definitely the health care industry is happy that we are paying out so much money lately. Hopefully we will have met our deductible by now and it will be smooth sailing from here on out.

Disney World

Here is my synopsis of our Disney World trip. Breif, but gives an idea of how the trip went. Although I had doubts and reservations about our trip to Disney World, it was an incredible trip. I thought Porter might be too young to enjoy it, but he loved almost every minute of it. I worried that we had been suckered into scams because we wanted to save money, but everything worked out so smoothly, I am still a little shocked.
We left Friday night. Porter was not his best on the plane, but we lucked out with the one empty seat on the plane being between Tom and I, so Porter got his own seat. We stayed in a house about ten minutes outside of Disney World with my parents, my brothers, and my Aunt Jenny and Uncle John's family which consists of Madison (10), Zachary (8), Sadie (5), and Joshua and McKay (2). Porter LOVED playing with kids closer to his own age. He still keeps asking me where Josh is (which happens to be the only name he can say out of their family)
On Saturday, we headed to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. An error occurred in our favor which gave us an additional free ticket. I honestly can't believe how everything kept coming out right for us. Porter's first ride was Cat in the Hat which is a little like you are on drugs anyways, but right after a nap, I think made him question what we were doing to him. It is a great theme park and we had amazing weather until the end of the day when it poured (but we were on the water ride, so it didn't much matter).
On Sunday we went to Animal Kingdom and started the day off with the Safari, which Porter thoroughly enjoyed, as demonstrated below:

After some great rides, we headed over to the petting zoo with Porter. He loved it a little to much for my liking as he tried to kiss the goats and touch their behinds. Sick! We were headed in the direction of the car when it started to pour! We made a mad dash to the car, but didn't escape without our clothes getting drenched.

Monday was the Magic Kingdom. Here is where we started the day:

Porter LOVED this ride! We had this thing called Ride Max which helps you plan your day at the Park to "optimize" your visit. We avoided long lines all day! Totally recommend doing this.

They have a darling Winnie the Pooh playset outside the ride complete with Pooh's house, honey pots, and more. He was in heaven!!


Here is the fam at Magic Kingdom. Note Carl's stylin' hat. I love my dad, but the man is seriously lacking in style. On Tuesday, we headed down to Cocoa Beach. Porter, my OCD child, had a hard time adapting to the sand, mud and water, but soon joined Josh and McKay and could have been happy playing for hours.

Wednesday was Hollywood Studios. This was one of the best rides the entire trip, it's Toy Story Mania and I could have gone on it over an over. However without a fast pass, the wait is 80 minutes!


They have something at Hollywood Studios called the American Idol experience. You can try out at the beginning of the day. They choose three people for each of their seven shows from like over 100 people or so. Trent tried out and made the first show. He won his round one by a landslide. Gag me, my brother is such a performer. Then, at the end of the night, they have a finale with the finalist from each competition. If you win, you got a front of the line pass to the American Idol tryouts in any country. Trent came in second to a large black lady with a booming voice singing Midnight Train to Georgia. Not the best singer, her pitch was off and she may have missed a couple of notes, but man that lady had soul and won the crown with her deep booming voice and back story of getting hurt on a ride at Magic Kingdom and spending the day with her son in Celebration Hospital. Like I said, Trent came in second, but you wouldn't have known it afterwards. After the show, he had like 8 different groups of girls come and want to take pictures with him. We saw people the next day at Epcot who recognized him from the first show and were bummed that he didn't win, and to top it off, two girls stalked him on Facebook. Gag me. I'm still unsure what they are going to do with the picture. "Hey look, its me with the kid who didn't win the American Idol experience!"

We took a break on Thursday and just hung around the house and swam in the pool. Porter needed a good long nap that day, so it worked out great. On Friday, we went to Epcot. Not my favorite park, but Porter loved it. They had a Nemo ride with fish that he couldn't get enough of. And of course, Tom got his German buffet.

On saturday, we headed over to Blizzard Beach. One of the Disney water parks. I love that park, but was a little exhausted to enjoy it to its full extent. Porter hates water, but started warming up by the end.
On Sunday, we attended church in Orlando, went to lunch and then headed home. Porter slept the entire 4 hours and then went right to bed when we got home and didn't wake up until morning. The child was exhausted and totally spoiled. It was a great trip and I"m so glad we decided to do it.