I almost forgot

to share the invites to one of P.G.'s parties...




Vague much?

P.G.'s Bday, Part II

Because I make way too big of a deal out of my children's birthdays, Porter had a two-part birthday. The second part was supposed to take place in Thatcher with the Merrill family... unfortunately, Porter-Pot decided that his b-day weekend was a good time to get sick.

It was not.

So instead of getting ready to take a mini road trip the night before Porter's birthday, I was scrambling around to find some decorations for his viewing pleasure when he awoke the next morning ('cause I do way too much for kiddos birthdays, remember? Scroll through some past birthdays to see me hard at work, over-celebrating).

And here is what I came up with:







A little underwhelming after his last birthday decorations, right?

I did forget to make him a "birthday chair", so Piper created one fit for a buggy king:



And Porter chose chocolate-chip pancakes for his breakfast. With sugar. And whipped cream. Don't ever say we Merrills don't know how to celebrate a birthday breakfast.

Oh... and he got to watch "Shineas and Sherb" (how Porter pronounces "Phineas and Ferb") while eating. A real treat around these here parts.



For lunch, we got McDonalds and went to a park for a Porter kind of picnic.

And no, you can never have too many "How old are you?" pictures.



That night we had our friends David, Ayami, and Casey over for pizza. Since they were already sick, we thought it would be fun to combine all of our germs and see what we came up with.

Here's lil' Casey. He loves coming to our house to play with Porter, but I suspect he is just using P.G. for his toys...



And look! Mom remembered the candles. Miracles do happen!



And yes, those are ice cream sandwiches. Porter doesn't like cake, remember?

One windy day...

we thought we'd have a bug party for Porter's 4th birthday at the park.



But the wind blew.

And blew.

And blew. (Just look at the balloons... can you tell?)



We used giant, plastic bugs for weights to hold down the plates, napkins and food. And then we had to keep the plastic on all the food so it wouldn't fly away.



But we could still play basketball (or at least Whit, Chris and the kiddos played).



Porter mostly just played in the sand with his trucks.



Here's lil' Leland and his Daddy (otherwise known as my big bro).



The kiddos got bug nets and went on a bug hunt for glow-in-the-dark buggies (thank you Target Dollar Section).



Actually, only the girls searched for bugs, Porter was too busy playing with his trucks!





Everyone ran to their cars and searched from jackets to protect them from the stinking wind.



And Porter played in the sand some more...



We went back to Nana's house for the dessert, which was not cake since Porter-Pot does not like cake (strange, strange child). Instead we had dirt cups.

I apparently threw away Porter's candles, so we pretended that he blew them out after we sang to him.



Total awesomeness, right? Did I mention that Porter was sick here too? He has something called reactive airway disease, which likes to flare up when he gets a cold. Which he had... and we just found out he had strep throat too.

Poor guy!

My Lil' Golfer

Yesterday My baby boy Porter-Pot turned 4.

Now, I know that he technically is not my baby boy anymore.

I know that, but I don't feel it.



For a long while, Porter was the baby. The last one.

And I held onto him. I might have tried to keep him a baby for longer than he should have been, but I couldn't help it.

And now that Mr. Wyatt has joined us, I'm trying my hardest to let go.

But it ain't easy.



P.G. is all-boy. He likes big trucks, airplanes, ropes, guns, tools and golf. He loves watching Phineas and Ferb, Fireman Sam, and Mighty Machines (if you have a boy, buy this show. And thank me later).

He eats almost nothing... "lunchables"- which is lunch meat rolled up served with chips- hot dogs, and chicken. Pretzels, "fishy" crackers, corn on the cob (and on the cob only) and marshmallows are mainly what you munch on. No bread, pasta, fruit, beef... but he will eat Mahi Mahi.



This past year was amazing watching this little guy develop from the baby I was making him into the boy that he is. No more sitting on my lap while we're catching up on Scooby Doo- now he sits on the ground with his trucks laying around him and every once in a while glances up at the TV. No more holding my hand in the store, now he climbs on the front of the cart and windsurfs.

And he's started calling my "mudder"- which is mother in Porter-talk.




Yet, when I get home after leaving him, he still runs to me, throws his little arms around my neck and says, "I missed you!" Talk about melting your heart.

He still wants to give me kisses and picks me wildflowers. And he loves watching me sew.



But now he prefers Dad over me. He wears his hat with his sunglasses on the brim like Dad. He pushes his Little Tykes lawnmower behind Dad when he mows the weeds... I mean grass. He wants to fix things, kill the ants, start the car... just like Dad. Dad, Dad, Dad. That's what Porter is all about.

Yet he stills loves helping me cook (mostly because he likes stealing licks when my back is turned) and he always comes running when I'm unloading the dishwasher.



Porter's three favoritist hobbies are: 1) Teasing his sisters. 2) Loving Wyatt. 3) Teasing his sisters. He loves to hear the girls scream. He also just wants their attention, and when they ignore him, I am sure to hear a yell of pain soon after. But he loves his baby brother.



Porter likes to make people laugh. Whether it's telling the same old knock-knock joke over and over, or reenacting someone's moment of embarrassment, Porter will not stop until everyone is laughing (or at least forcing a chuckle out).




Ever since Aunt Whitney let him play with her stethoscope, Porter has wanted to be a doctor.

And my guess is that if that's what he really wants to be, he'll do it. This kid has more concentration and dedication than I have- just watch him tie his knots, or line up a shot in golf, or beg for a bag of chips at 8 o'clock in the morning. The kid won't stop until he either has what he wants or is in time out for throwing a mega-fit when told no (I'm talking about the chips).



I'm trying to sum up this little boy in this one post, but that just is not possible (especially when he is is the other room making his big sister cry).

My friend posted this quote on Facebook the other day, and I fell in love with it:

"Little boys come in all shapes and sizes,

Shy and adventurous, full of surprises,

With misshapen halos and mischievous grins,

Small dirty faces, and sweet, sticky chins.

They'll keep you so busy, and yet all the while

Nothing can brighten the world like their smile.

And no greater treasure has brought homes more joy

Than a curious, active, and lovable boy!"

Porter is my little rascal with the face of an angel and the fit-throwing ability of a champion. He makes me smile so much my cheeks hurt one minute, than pull my hair out in frustration the next.

Porter is "Poder Gwant Merrow".

And that is all I ever want him to be.

All in white...

Yesterday was quite eventful.

Adi was baptized. And Wyatt was blessed.

All in one day.



We decided that since we had to get everyone to drive all the way out here (and it is a bit of a drive) for Adi's special day, we might as well squeeze in Wyatt's blessing to save everyone a trip.

And so we wouldn't have to do two luncheons.



Awesome idea, right?




So in the morning, we went over to the stake house so OP could baptize our eldest child.

It was kind of stinky since Adi had to participate in stake baptisms, meaning three other kiddos were being baptized as the same time. It turned out fine though; Grandma Merrill gave a talk on baptism and we got the relief society room to just our family while the ordinance was performed.

Plus the family that did the musical number did far better than I could have pulled off!



I do admit that I cried a little when she actually was baptized. Ok, a lot.

What can I say? It isn't easy watching your little baby girl taking another step toward independence.

I was also thinking, "Have I taught her enough? Does she truly understand was this is? How important it is? Have I failed her as a parent?" And other such completely-overwhelming thoughts.




But she came out of the water grinning and didn't stop smiling for a great while.

Then we went back to our house to confirm Adi and bless Wyatt.



Isn't his outfit the cutest? My mother-in-law Sharon made it. Perfect! My momma made his little tie and crocheted the blanket.



Doesn't he look like he's in temple clothes?



These are the same wee shoes little Orrin wore on his own blessing day...






Now, I have a confession. I only took two pictures on the actual day. And those were of OP and Adi in their jump-suits (as seen above).

Dumb, dumb, DUMB Courtney.

We had so much family come out to celebrate and take part in this awesome day and I didn't get a single picture of any of them.

Do any of you feel like dressing up and coming back so I can take a few shots?

I didn't think so.

Luckily OP's little sister, Hannah, brought out her camera, so I'm anxiously awaiting her pics!

But here's Piper and Wyatt this morning:



Orrin would only let me take one shot of all the following pictures, so I got what I got.









Isn't my family so darn cute?

We are loving this weather!

After living in Utah for nearly three years, I have to say that March in Arizona rocks.

For reals.

Because where else could we do this so early?



That's right, we went to the splash pad. And the kiddos actually got wet.

Well, all except this cute little one, that is.



Here is Adi begging to go over to the pool side (which she can't since she can't swim I am swimsuit-less).

She told me no more pictures until I say yes.



And then I took this:



Don't try to bargain with this mom.

How can this be fun?




Seriously.

I had to finally tell Pipes to step out of the water before she drowns.



Now this is the face I'd be making if I were playing in the water: