Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from our family to yours!

A glimpse of our family pictures...

We had our family photos done last week by a cute gal that Jared went to High School with. Here are just a few of my faves. I love love love the last picture of Porter, and those sparkling eyes. To die for! (PS: If anyone is interested in using the same photographer I have placed a link to her photography blog on the right hand site - Lindsey Mangum Photography. She does awesome work, and is very reasonable. We'd highly reccommend her!)

Heaven in a bottle...

All I can say is yummy. This Black Chamomile fragrance oil from Bath & Body Works is supposed to be a sleep therapy thing, but it smells divine. You can find it here or at the Bath & Body Works store. They sell a couple of lamps for them, but I thought they were outgrageously priced. I found one at Big Lots for only $4. In 10 minutes your entire house smells wonderful, even Jared loved it.

Just had to share, it is my greatest latest find!

Sweet Grammy Moments...

I told my mom it's hard to imagine her as "Grandma" because she's my mom. Ha. I had to take a picture when she was reading Porter some bedtime stories, I thought it was so sweeet. And these cute little books she was reading him, like "Danny the Dinosaur" I remember from when I was a child! So I thought it was darling. They were so cute chasing each other around the house and giggling. I am so glad that they could have some time together. We're now back from California, and to update: Grams is now back at home. She didn't have a stroke thankfully! Slowly her vision and speech has come back to her. It was hard to see her in the hospital not being able to speak, but she is doing much much better. I spoke to her on the phone today and she sounded almost back to normal. We are all so grateful that Katie is there with her and able to wait on her hand and foot. I know she is much more comfortable being in her own home. Thanks, Katie, for all you have been doing!

FHE Part 1

Porter thought the pumpkins were balls and kept trying to kick them.


















Was grateful for the hay that provided as entertainment during the ride!


















Porter and his Grandma Robbins and Grandad Robbins


















Andrew, Ryan, Zach, Autumn, Savannah, and Andrew - the sweetest kids!

FHE Part 2

Last night Darron and Jamie had all the Robbins family up for a fun FHE. We went to the Red Barn in Santaquin where we took a hayride to the pumpkin patch and picked out pumpkins. It was a chilly willy night, as Jared would say. Porter didn't really like being bundled up, I don't think the poor boy could move his arms, and half the time he couldn't see out of his hat. Hehe. But I think he was warm. After that, we went back to Darron and Jamie's house where we had some yummy homemade chili and cornbread, donuts and hot chocolate. It was bundles of fun! Thanks D and Jam for planning this great evening!

We got a big pumpkin for J and I and the smallest little pumpkin you've ever seen for Porter. I think we're going to draw a little binky onto it, what do ya think? Ha.























The cousins -


















PJ and J























Love this pic of nana!

Grams

This is my dear Grams, who we have all had in our prayers these past couple of days. She is currently in the hospital and we're all hoping she starts recovering soon. Because thoughts of Grams have been so heavy on my mind lately, I thought I would share with all of you what an amazingly wonderful person she is to me and to all. Here are some of my favorite memories. More to come.



















1. 1st Memories of Life Include Grams
One of my earliest memories of life was when I was about three years old. I was in Hawaii on vacation with my family and Grams was with us of course, she came on all our vacations! I don't remember anything about the vacation, except this- sitting on a blanket on the sandy beach with Grams sharing Ritz crackers while the others were near the water.
2. Sleepovers
One of our all time favorite things to do when we were little was to have a sleepover at Grandma's house. She made sleepovers so much fun! She would let us stay up as late as we wanted. She introduced us to classic old movies, like the Sound of Music, my personal favorite. We would watch the Golden Girl's and tell her how she looked just like Rose, the "pretty one". She would let us wear her silky pajamas to bed, and in the morning we would wake up to the smell of Grandma's coffee. We would always find her at the kitchen table in her robe playing a game of solitaire. The sliding door was open to let the cool crisp morning air in. She would then make an amazing breakfast which included hot chocolate with marshmallows on top. The girls would all play house with a beautiful doll that was my Aunt Gayle's when she was a girl. The boys would catch tad poles at the creek.
3. Card Games
Every card game I ever learned was probably from Grandma. We would spend hours upon hours around the kitchen table playing cards. And Grams wouldn't let the kids win either, she was fiesty and got mad when she was losing just like us! Ha.
4. Quilts and Sewing
Grandma has taught me how to sew, although my interest in sewing is a roller coaster with peaks and lows. I have to relearn it often. She has made me a couple of beautiful quilts, one affectionatley known in our house as "the favorite blanket". It was my comforter in college. And Porter also has a beautiful white croched quilt made by "Great Grams".
5. "Oh Bird" and other Lingo
One time we were on a camping trip, and we were all around the table inside the trailer playing cards. I don't remember the story or what brought this on, but Grandma said "oh bird" at something and we all busted up laughing for 10 minutes straight. Grandma is always blurting out the funniest little comments! She'll still bust out the "oh bird" here and there.
6. Puberty
I got my first period while I was staying at Grandma's house. She wasn't so sure what to do, since it had been years since she had to worry about "that kind of thing".
7. Advice
Do you want some? Grams will give you some. Hey, you know the saying "one year older and wiser too?"... I'm listening. I've gotten so much great advice from Grandma. It's because of her that Porter puts himself to sleep each night! I'm sure Jared's grateful for early advice to always keep my legs shaved because my future husband wouldn't want to feel prickly legs. Hehe.
8. Love
I've never wondered if Grandma loved me because she tells me all the time that she does. At least 5 times before we hang up the phone or depart one another's company! But she has shown me endless love not only by word, but by deed. Thank you Grams for always being there for me during every stage of my life, and for making me feel like I was the most important person in the world.
9. Best Friends
When I was 6 years old I had a journal, and inside the cover I wrote my two best friends. One of them was "Grandma".
10. Baptism & Testimony
When I was baptized at 8 years old, Grandma gave me a baptism journal to record my thoughts and feelings on that day. What a wonderful blessing to have this treasure. I am thankful for her part in helping me develop my testimony in my Savior.

Guilty Again

What can I say? The boy loves chocolate! He is, afterall, human! Friday night we intended to go on a romantic family date, which consisted of getting dinner OUT and bringing it IN (home). Ooh la la. Since it was a date we got some chocolate cake (what? your dates don't include chocolate?) and Porter dropped his dinner and began his "AUGHHH" which means he wants what you have. I probably gave him 1/4 of the cake piece. I know bad mom. But this is not where that mess came from. One of our neighbors BOO'd us with some yummy brownies. Some of them read this blog and I just want you to know that we were laughing hard thinking that one of you were running as fast as you could doorbell ditching us! Did you feel stupid? Like you were in High School again? Haha, because that was how we felt the nights prior doing the same thing! HA. Anyway. As soon as we pulled back the foil to reveal those beautiful brownies, this little boy snatched one. Ha. He cracks me up.

Faith Restored

Warning: This entry is solely for the sake of journaling, don't bore yourself with my medical venting!!

Monday morning came, and as planned, I ditched the dreaded crutches. Walking felt wonderful, I was able to get my house back in order... I could play with Porter again. I was able to attend the funeral of a Ward member. My foot was tender, but my soul was uplifted!! That evening we headed to Santaquin for a Robbins FHE. As we were driving, I checked my voicemail and there was a message from a doctor from the Riverwoods Urgent Care where I was seen on Saturday asking that I call. I called in expecting the usual insurance questions. He politely asked how I was feeling and I filled him in on the latest. He began to ask if the pain was located on the outer edge of my foot, closer to the ankle than my toes. I thought about it. "Yes, it is," I replied. He proceeded to ask other questions. Finally I blurted out the nagging "why?". He says the doctor that I saw mis-diagnosed me, and that the x-rays that were taken show a fracture in my foot! Are you kidding me? (I'm supposed to be on crutches right now, until they figure out what to do, but I'm walking on their silly splint. Crutches aren't an option!) Jared has no faith in doctors, and this bad experience along with his bad experiences is making me doubt doctors in general. How do you miss that??

Then, my faith was restored. Today I had an appointment with an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist. For three months I have been suffering from vertigo. (I know, I am falling apart here!) Any time I would lie down, or look up, or move my head in a different direction I would get so dizzy. The dizziness would only last for a short period of time, like 20 seconds, but it was so unsettling. It also caused the worst headaches! I began to research online the causes and read that hearing loss can be a cause. Since I have a hearing loss, I wondered if they were somehow related? So I meet with the doctor and he tests my hearing, and I have a hearing loss. Duh, just filled out 5 minutes worth of paperwork on it. Then he does another evaluation and tells me, "I think I know what you have, and if it is, I can fix it today." So excited! A cure? The doctor's are going to CURE me? Sweet!! So they do the test to find out for sure. They put these goggle looking things on me, which made my vision super blurry but on the opposite side my eyeballs were magnified for the doc. He lies me from a sitting position to lying position with my head to the left. No dizziness. In my head I am thinking "of course it's not going to do it on cue!" Then he does it again with my head turned to the right. Again, nothing! He waits a few more seconds, and the world starts spinning. I'm trying to stay consious which is much harder when you have to keep your eyes open, and I hear him saying "Aww, there they go!" My eyeballs were apparently twiching in a counter clockwise motion. Creepy huh? But cool, he knows what he is doing. He explains all about what it is, and then he does this procedure and fixes the problem and makes it go away. I'd explain it all, but I'd go on forever and I've already done that. I just have to say that my faith has been restored. Doctors are awesome again on my list. THANK YOU doc!

Missing Mobility

Who knew this....









...would lead to this?









I am on an adult soccer league, and on Saturday our team had a game. It was the first snow of the season, and it was the first time Jared and Porter didn't come. Go figure. Not five minutes into the game, an unfortunate play sent my ankle rolling. I heard a pop and immediate pain. The cute girls on my team carried me off the field --bless their hearts-- and I sat and debated with myself whether I was okay or not. It killed to put pressure on it. I sat on the side of the field for 30 minutes or so, to see if the pain would start to decrease, but it didn't. Finally I called Jared and had him come get me. After a crazy long doctor visit, and some x-rays it was determined that I sprained my foot. Thank goodness, it wasn't broken! Doc gave me some crutches and said to stay off my foot for 72 hours. I do not like this handicap. I am not very good on crutches and I have a sweet little boy that wants to hold them while I walk. I'm super grateful for Jared right now for playing Mr. Mom the past 2 days, and Porter loves all the daddy attention. I'm still trying to master -- getting up and down the stairs. Carrying something while hopping on crutches. Getting from the rocking chair to the crib while holding my baby. Tomorrow is the 3rd day, I'm determined to ditch these suckers if I can. And a special thanks to Mickey and Steve for helping with Porter on Saturday! What a help!

Fall Pumpkins & Retro Hats

We are taking some family photos next week, and I thought maybe I could stick this hat on Porter for a couple of the photos and have a cute litlte old fashioned look. Jared's not really for it, and I don't know that I really am either. I let Porter play with the pumpkins while I snapped some pictures to see how I felt. I think he looks like a doll, as always, but I am thinking for family pictures we'll stay modern. But since he looked so cute, I had to post. My little newsies boy.

Like Father LIke Son

I will begin by assuring you that the lawn mower is off. :) Porter apparently decided to try and help his papa mow the lawn, and there is a handle just for him, right? While they pushed, we had a little friend join us. This cute little pup just came and layed down right next to us. It was a beautiful Fall day, and possibly the last mow job of the year. The weather chanel says there will be snow across the State this weekend. Amazing, it hasn't even gotten that cold yet!

Joy In The Journey - For all mom's.

My good friend Sarah just posted her favorite talk from Conference on her blog. It was about "Joy in the journey" by President Monson. I loved the talk also, and the part that hit me the hardest was when he said "If you’re still raising children, beware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled, will disappear all too soon and that you will, to your surprise, miss them profoundly." I got so choked up as I thought that my little baby will grow up. Jared and I enjoyed the talk, and lets just say Porter was getting smothered with kisses after it. In addition to this talk, I also read this (see below) the other day, and it also hit me. I told Sarah about it, and I wanted to share it with her and with all the other mothers out there. Sometimes it is hard to try and juggle the many roles of a mother and housewife. But our children are what it is all about. I feel so very blessed to have my little Porter in my life. I love him more than the world, I ADORE him. And mom.... as long as I'm living, my baby he'll be.

To My Child

Just for this morning, I am going to smile when I see your face and laugh when I feel like crying.

Just for this morning, I will let you choose what you want to wear, and smile and say how perfect it is.

Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play.

Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.

Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles..

Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck, and I will buy you one if he comes by.

Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.

Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them.

Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys.

Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.

Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.

Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars.

Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV shows.

Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given.

I will think about the mothers and fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children's graves instead of their bedrooms, and mothers and fathers who are in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside that they can't handle it anymore.

And when I kiss you goodnight I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer.

It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask him for nothing, except one more day...

As big as she is...

I just found out that in my ward I am affectionately known as the "cute girl in primary with a baby as big as she is." This comment made me laugh. Here is me with my baby as big as me. Ha, had to share...

My little helper...

So just the other day I was spending the day doing the much needed laundry. It was the 1st time it actually seemed easy with Porter around. He likes to walk in the front room which so happens to be where I fold my laundry, so he was entertained while I did all my folding. Well, I headed into the laundry room to put yet another load in, and I heard Porter in the kitchen and some unknown noise. I walked in to the kitchen to find out what mischief he was getting into, and this is what I found. My darling little boy saw me carry the laundry baskets back and forth so many times, he must have thought he could help. When he demonstrated his skills for Dad later, Dad took it to the next level and let him go for a ride in the laundry basket, which of course he loved. We can't get enough of this chunk-a-dunk!

Cruising & Bruising

So finally about a week ago we stopped following Porter all around the house waiting for him to fall so we could catch him. He learned pretty easily how to fall correctly, ie on his bum instead of timbering over. He is loving exploring the house, and finds the strangest things interesting. The blinking light on our router is insanely enticing. Cabinets and drawers make really loud noises when you open and close them. Now that I am not having back breaking days bending over him all day, I have come to the conclusion that Porter learning how to walk at 9 months is a blessing bestowed upon me from Heavenly Father. This kid recently weighed in at 26lbs at the pediatricians office and at the end of the day I was exhausted from hauling him around. Now he is independent and I have much more energy. And of course he is much happier that he can go and do what he'd like. It's a bonus if he can carry his blankie while walking without tripping over it. Talk about heaven! Occasionally we have the lows of course. He has had two goose eggs on his forehead from falling, and yesterday he got his 1st bloody nose. I'm a bad mom because my first thought when I saw the blood was "oooh I should get a picture of his first bloody nose". I came to my senses and took care of him like I should. Oh well. Guess I can't capture every thing he does.