Still Kickin'

Oh how time flies. Yep, totally missed November. Oops! We had a whirlwind Thanksgiving. My mom and Pat were out of town visiting family in NV. So that made it "easier" to just visit the Porters. Dave and I both worked the day before Thanksgiving, although I only had a half day. Thanks to our work schedules, we ended up going up to Smithfield and back on Thursday. Same day trip because of a wedding the following day.

Dave's oldest niece, Cami, was married in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple in American Fork Friday. All of the Porter siblings made it to the wedding. It was so good to see everyone! The wedding itself was at noon. Then we went to a luncheon at BYU in Provo at 2:30, and the reception at 7:00 in Mapleton. Another jam packed day.

That reminds me, in mid-November we replaced the carpet in our whole house. That was a chore! We spent time for a few weeks trying to get things out of our house in preparation for the new carpet. We rented a storage unit just down the street for a couple of months. Dave and his dad tore out the old carpet. The new stuff turned out really well. It was good timing because we had Olivia and 10 other nieces and nephews at our house during the wedding ceremony. We did not however, have the house completely "put back together" by Friday. So Saturday we had help from Mom and Dad Porter with cleaning, etc. for a few hours. It was much appreciated.

Sunday was a typical Sunday. Just went to church and spent the rest of the day at home. I don't recall how Olivia did with sleeping that day, but we have had a bit of a challenge with her sleeping, or not sleeping recently. She thinks she doesn't need naps, which isn't new, but then she only got 7 or 8 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period. That wasn't good for anyone.

We had a week or so of better sleeping and now we're maybe somewhere in between. Although Olivia thinks she's a big girl and doesn't need sleep, her mommy does! It's an ongoing work in progress. Among other things, Olivia tries to dress herself. She still has 4 little teeth...no more...yet. I've yet to get a good tooth picture though. And she is more and more mobile. I think she's working on "perfecting" her walking, or sprinting now.

I was going to stick in a video clip, but apparently I haven't uploaded the ones I was looking for. So here are a couple of pictures instead.

 Miss Olivia

 Party animal

 Picking out our new

shatterproof ornaments.

(She has her opinions!)

 Eatin' some grub

 Little miss mobile

 Checkin' out the Christmas tree

 Until next time, which will be sooner than 6 weeks from now.

Happy Birthday Baby Olivia!

Today my sweet baby girl turned 1! While most people talk about how fast it seems to go by, I'm not sure I completely understand that one. That is to say, it doesn't seem so fast to me. I guess it's just been something of a longer year for us, and so it doesn't seem like it went all that quickly. I suppose various parts did, but on the whole, it just seems like another year.

Both Dave and I had to work today. Although, we did get to leave early. Dave bought a little cake at Macey's and took it to daycare for Olivia's birthday. I hear it was quite the scene. Cake, or frosting, ended up all over Olivia's face, and in her hair. Go figure. :0) We are supposed to be getting pictures e-mailed to us soon.

We left work early today because Dave had Lasik surgery done. He's hurting tonight, but will hopefully be more up to speed and feeling better in the morning. Lasik is something we've talked about doing for a while. I think it will be a huge help to him to not have to worry about contacts or glasses as his hands shake, making it that much more difficult for him. I would like to see if I'm a candidate, but I think mine will have to wait a while.

Actually, it's only a quarter to 9:00, and my sweet family is out. Dave was supposed to keep his eyes closed for 4 hours, and I mentioned that he could maybe just call it a day. I'm not sure he had planned on it, but I'm glad he's getting some rest. I put Olivia down for the night, not sure if she would go to sleep, but I haven't heard from her for 15 minutes or so. That gives me time to get a couple of things done, and hopefully hit the hay early tonight!

Tomorrow Dave goes in for a check on his eyes first thing, then it's off to the bi-annual home and garden show, followed by probably cleaning and errands. At any rate...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OLIVIA!!!

Grammy Haskell

Barbara Althea (Quimby) Bishop Haskell (1912 - 2012)  We spent the day in Logan yesterday to attend Dave's grandmother's funeral. She was 99, and only 52 days short of 100 years old. Although I did not get to know her long, I found that she was a very special woman. I cannot describe it, but she had a look that she would always give me, which made me smile. The first time I met her, I recall her asking Dave if I was "the new girlfriend." Little did she know, I would actually be the next Mrs. Porter. Then again, maybe she did know. :0) I'm excited that she lived long enough to meet Olivia. That is something that is very special to me. We have a couple of 4 generation pictures with her. I enjoyed hearing about Barbara's life and memories that her grandchildren have of her. She was very much loved and will be greatly missed. It is however, truly a blessing for her to be in a better place. As Dave's dad has said, her body had become a prison to her. Below is a copy of her obituary.

Obituary     Barbara Althea Quimby Bishop Haskell, 99, passed away of natural causes on Aug. 31, 2012, at Terrace Grove Assisted Living in Logan, Utah, which was her home for the past six years. She was born Oct. 22, 1912, in Mechanic Falls, Maine, to Harold William Quimby and Velva L. Austin Quimby. She graduated from Westbrook High School in Westbrook, Maine. She was energetic and industrious and worked at various jobs as a beautician, governess and secretary. She also was a fancy stitcher in shoe factories for nearly 40 years. Barbara was skilled in the homemaking arts and made many beautiful afghans and quilts enjoyed by family and friends. She also enjoyed many hobbies in crafts, knitting, sewing and crochet. She married Howard Irving Bishop on June 24, 1933, in Westbrook, Maine, making their home in Auburn, Maine. They divorced in 1951. She married Fredrick Eugene Haskell on Oct. 12, 1951. They divorced in 1962. She became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1956 and was active in serving others for many years. She moved to Kemmerer, Wyo., in 2005 and then to Logan, Utah, in 2006. Barbara is survived by her sons, Donald I. Bishop (Charlene) of Kemmerer, Wyo., and Ronald E. Haskell (Janet) of Barrington, N.H.; daughters, Cynthia Bishop Porter (Sherron) of Smithfield, Utah, and Brenda Haskell Collins of Exeter, N.H.; one brother, Eugene N. Quimby (Manola) of Windham, Maine; and 18 grandchildren and 54 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents; five brothers, Ivan, Eldred, Carl, Wendell and Raymond; and one sister, Athena West.

Longest Week!

This last week was the longest I have been through in my life. It was challenge after challenge after challenge. Here's the recap, starting last Sunday:

Sun - Olivia had a 102 degree fever.

Mon - Found out Olivia had a double ear infection, on top of teething.

Tues - Olivia had a mega diarrhea day.

Wed - Discovered Olivia is likely allergic to amoxicillin (red splotches on her face and tummy with facial swelling).

Thurs - Car stalled out, took almost 2 hours to get a new Rx for Olivia, and several times of "it will be 10 minutes." Ironically this less than excellent service came the same day I had a 90 minute in-service at work about giving exceptional customer service.

Fri - I had diarrhea 1-2 dozen times in 16 hours, a 100 degree fever, and found out my right ear is super red, with the left ear having a bulge. Meanwhile, the car totally died. Dave helped me for 1 1/2 hours, but he wasn't feeling well to begin with. Pushing my car, by himself, only made it worse.

Sat - Dave ended up having a couple of major vomiting sessions, then had a fever, and he just didn't feel well. I spent a couple hours with some of the neighbors trying to get things figured out with the car. Ended up with a new battery, but still have some work to do.

Again, it was just one thing after another last week. I didn't handle it especially well. I knew things would get better, but it sure was trying. Thankfully, Olivia is doing a lot better. I am feeling better slowly, but surely. Dave is still fairly under the weather, but will see his Dr. tomorrow morning.

I missed a lot of our church meetings today, but in our last meeting we talked about faith and it was just what I needed to hear. Definitely a good reminder. I am feeling better than I have in a while. I'm optimistic that although we have a ways to go, this week should be better. I really appreciated the help we had this weekend. We will keep persevering and go forth with faith!

Independence Day 2012!

Key word in this post being independence. After a week or so or crawling/semi-crawling, here we are...

We enjoyed the Pleasant Grove fireworks again this year. It was Olivia's first experience. (Aside from hearing them in my tummy last year.) She did really well. It didn't phase her at all. The only thing is that the poor girl was exhausted. It was way past her bed time. Nevertheless, I think she enjoyed it.

I'm grateful for this wonderful country in which we live. I'm also very appreciative of all the military men and women that currently and formerly serve to protect us. This year, thanks to the many wildfires going, I know a number of fire fighting efforts are going on. Thanks to all those battling the many blazes also. God bless the USA!

Sad Day

We are down a family member. It has been an ongoing battle, and definitely a tough decision, but we ultimately had to say goodbye to our cat Jack.

I realize this may not seem like such a tough decision, and anyone who knows Jack would probably say that it's about time! Trust me, there were days - numerous times we thought that as well. We had Jack for almost 5 1/2 years, and he was a big part of our family.

Dave and I got him from one of my co-workers when he was just a kitten. This occurred after only 8 months of marriage. Jack was our baby back then, and has continued to be "Baby J" or "Jack Jack" since. Unfortunately (and fortunately), we then got a puppy a year and a half later. That may have been one of the best things we did. Jack and Sadie got along great...for the most part. It taught us a lot about Jack, and ourselves, "raising" these two kids.

In a lot of ways I think it helped Jack prepare for Olivia. He was very protective of her and knew very quickly that she was part of the family. Jack has been very protective of his family. To a fault occasionally. Over time, we went downhill somewhat though. Jack became territorial (of Olivia's room) and swatted at her twice - never hurting her, but still... Thus we arrived at the heart-wrenching decision to "send him to the farm" as it were.

It has been a trying day to say the least. I believe it was best for Jack, as well as the rest of our family. It was perhaps in part our fault for not giving him as much attention, but at the end of the day, human baby girl trumps cat. I feel okay about our decision. My only concern is what will happen if he doesn't get adopted. My sincere hope is that he will and that he'll have another family that will love him as much as we have. Despite his quirks and flaws,  Jack is also quite capable of giving tremendous love.

We will miss you and we really do love you Jack!!! (I apparently only have the one picture I can add right now.)

Quick Update

Here is a very quick update about what we've been up to. (Hopefully I'll get to write more soon.) Over Memorial Day weekend, and my birthday, we were in California. Specifically Disneyland! Dave and I had planned an adult trip, which turned into our 1st family vacation. Yep, Olivia went too.

 We drove to and from California in a Toyota Rav4 - rental. Olivia did so great. She was quite the little trooper. We only made a couple of stops. Unfortunately that left her with some tummy problems. So we had a day of not feeling so awesome. She made it through a couple of days of Disneyland, and was able to go on a few rides. Of course she won't remember it, but it was fun anyway.

After a lot of thought, perhaps more than it should have been, we picked a souvenir for Liv. I think Baby Minnie is about as big as my girl. Actually, I'll be interested to see her stats at her 9 month check next month. I tried putting her into some "bigger" clothes, and they seem to fit.

We were in Disneyland on my birthday. Dave planned a romantic dinner at the Blue Bayou for us one night too. When we got home we had Dave's birthday, which consisted of him going to a doctor's appointment. (Considerate, I know. :) I thought it was the least I could do.) Actually, it was not good. Apparently Dave had a couple more tumors than we had thought, but everything's still out and we're on the road to recovery. We have a check-up with Dave's surgeon soon.

Our sweet little girl, Olivia, continues to teeth. No teeth in yet, but our poor baby has been miserable. I feel like her teething has been ongoing for several months now, which I hear may not be so unusual. I love Olivia's toothless little smile, but if it will help her feel better, I'd rather have the teeth get in...and soon. I'll keep you posted if and when we get the chompers.

Annular Eclipse

Tonight we went up to Grove Creek and saw a solar eclipse. It was only a "partial" eclipse, but it was pretty cool. It was kind of cloudy when we got there; so we weren't sure we'd see much, but it turned out that we got an awesome view.

I looked pretty good too if I do say so myself.

And we had our first family pic, taken by someone other than me.

Mother's Day 2012!

A day late, but Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing women I know, with and without children of their own. This year was my first Mother's Day with a baby, and it was a great day. I made a quick bacon and egg breakfast before church, then we went to our meetings. I got my annual Mother's Day Utah Truffle truffle, chocolate this time.

After church Dave made us some really good sandwiches. We bought "real" mozzarella at Costco this weekend. He made a sandwich with bacon, tomato, avacado, and mozzarella. It was fabulous. Dave offered to make dinner, but I ultimately did it, which was fine. I tried to do teriyaki chicken, but it ended up being more like lemon pepper chicken. We had peas (from Doc's...from last fall) and funeral potatoes also.

It sounds like I did a lot, but Dave offered to help throughout the day. He really helped me a lot on Saturday with some cleaning around the house. He also takes care of Olivia for an hour or two each day during the week before I get home from work. He says I do better than he does at parenting, but really he does an amazing job too.

My mom gave me a nice blouse for Mother's Day and Dave has been working on a Mother's Day/Birthday/Anniversary present, which I'll be able to write about a little later. Olivia found out that the best gifts come from the heart (or tummy), and so she shared a little of her lunch with me - spit up. It's the thought that counts, right? Needless to say, it was a great day!

Keep Moving Forward...

I don't feel like I have much time to do anything these days. I know we all have the same 24 hours each day, but it often feels like it's never enough. So, here's a bit about what we've been up to.

At Olivia's 6 month check-up she weighed 13 lbs and measured 24 1/2 in. long. This put her in the 5th percentile for wt, 10th percentile in length, and 60th percentile head circumference. That was a few weeks ago. I believe she's packed on some more weight and has grown once again.

 

 

After nearly 7 months, Olivia has been named and blessed! Her Daddy did such a great job. We didn't have a ton of family down, but it was a really nice turnout. Dave was able to hold her without any problem and she cooperated and didn't cry or fuss.

In other Olivia news, she's a self-sitter, (baby) food eater, rolly pollie, cutie patootie. I think we have some teeth on their way. Not her yet though. I will miss my sweet little toothless baby, but am excited to see her "new" smile and progression. She continues to grow cuter and cuter.

Mom and Dad (Dave and I) continue to plug along with our everyday same old, hum-drum lives. We do however feel as though we're regrouping and things are coming together for us. There are a couple of changes in our lives currently, but I'll write in more detail about them at another time. It seems it's time for bed, again, so until next time, poka. :0)

Happy Easter 2012!

This year we did not do anything "Easter" with Olivia. We talked about why we celebrate Easter, but no eggs or visit with the Easter bunny or anything. We didn't even get her an Easter dress this year. Next year...

Mommy did her first holiday dinner. Just for Mom and Dad (Kim and Dave), but it was still a first. I did a crock pot ham with root beer and brown suger, roasted asparagus, and mashed potatoes. It turned out pretty well I think. Definitely not bad for my first "big dinner."

Firsts

Olivia has tried rice cereal, and loves it!

Olivia tried (twie) carrots, and did okay.

Olivia is our little roller, not

repeatedly, but she can do it!

(I'll work on loading some pics soon.)

The Family's Getting Out

It's been a while, but last weekend we went to our bi-annual visit to the Salt Lake Home and Garden show. It was pretty much pure madness this time. We went to the fall show just before Olivia was born in October, but it was Olivia's first time actually there.

We dragged the stroller in, but ended up leaving it at a booth. My aunt Ann has a handmade jewelry booth that she does. It was also Dave's biggest outing since surgery to date. We walked around a little over 3 hours and Dave carried Olivia in her Snugli (baby carrier) half the time.

Also, we've taken Olivia out to eat a couple of times and she's figuring out what "real food" is. She loves watching us eat and now starts to grab at it. On another Olivia note, she has got Mommy and Daddy wrapped around her little fingers. Nothing new, but she's so expressive. She has so many facial expressions.

I'll try to post again soon.

Olivia...and Dad

Olivia is growing. We recently had her 4 month check. Wt: 12 lb 1 oz, Ht: 23 1/2 in, head circumference: 44(?) cm. It's been a bit of a tough stretch for us. Olivia has just not been especially happy, which is very unusual for her. We were rather convinced that she might be teething, which I realize sounds nuts, but it turns out she's not.

Although teething may not be occurring, we have had round 2 of the family cold. Poor Livi has had a tough time with it. Nevertheless she continues to be quite the little trooper. Despite her general not feeling well, she continues to be so much fun. I love seeing her personality continue to come through and we have a blast playing with her. How could you resist this?Dave returned to work last week. He was sore at the end of the day, but did remarkably well. He did 35 hours last week and has just made tremendous strides in his recovery. Thankfully (for everyone involved) Daddy has been able to be more involved with Olivia again.

We have really enjoyed our weekend together. All of the family got a lot of much needed rest. Tomorrow we're back at it. Here's to hoping we have a good week and keep moving forward. :0)

A Post - Mostly About Olivia

We haven't had much going on lately. Dave is still in recovery mode and Olivia is adorable as ever! Hopefully it will just be another week or two until we get some normalcy back. I'm continuing to work and trying not to lose my mind while also attempting to take care of the rest of the family and our house. Not sure how well that's working.Here are some more recent pics:

Cute baby Olivia.She is full of smiles and laughs, all the time!One of the few times she's been
able to sit with Daddy for a few.
Note the facial hair growth.
Looks pretty good, huh?The fun of having a girl - another
adorable dress for my pretty girl.

Despite all that's going on, Olivia is the best and makes everything better. As tends to happen, she continues to grow bigger and bigger. Needless to say though, absolutely love our little girl!

Slowly but Surely, Finally Getting Started...

It feels like it's taken me forever to get started blogging this year. That's because it has. I have been going and going, trying to take care of Dave, Olivia, our house, and working. Busy, stressed, overwhelmed, anxious - just a few emotions I've felt during the last month. It has been a roller coaster, whirlwind of a time. I can say however, that having an easy baby has been a HUGE help! Olivia had her 3 month birthday this last week. This is a very brief entry, but once again it's late and I need to get some rest. So, until next time...