little lady

Doesn't she look so like a little chunk of goodness: She has such little features until her cheeks come along. Little nose, little lips, little ears...and then WHAM...big fluffy, kissable cheeks! I love this little lady.

my life in pictures...

Hi. *awkward silence.
How've ya been. *awkward pause.
Remember me and how I used to be cool and blog and stuff and stuff?
Well, (as I awkwardly look at my feet shuffle back and forth) my excuses pretty much suck so I'm not even going to try.
But, just incase you were wondering...my life went on.

The kids still chilled on "Poppi's" lap. Trace and Brody still wrestled and played football in the park.
I still cuddled my little Dotti cakes. I've been making projects.

I've been feeding her...if you couldn't tell! (Not a fat joke Dot, I promise.)Buzz comes to visit most days... And does a cool "Buzz" dance. Dotti was a fairy for Halloween...
I made some rad shirts for Thanksgiving. Very cute.

Man, I never thought posting could be so awkward. It's almost as bad as going to WalMart in Show Low on a holiday and running into at least 10 old high school pals...and you don't know if you should say hi after you both did the double take look or just pretend you didn't recognize them! Sorry for the awkwardness...

But I know you are all dying to hear my excuses...so here I go:

I thought about preparing for a marathon. I changed a diaper or two. I was busy painting my toes. I had a brain/memory problem and I forgot how to blog. I forgot how to type. I can't figure out Photoshop Elements. I almost threw my computer out the window. I was playing with my kids. I was busy making dinner. I tried, but I just couldn't do it. I ran out of cool things to say. I was watching BYU lose. I was teaching my students how to type. I was driving to work. I was facebooking. I was doing laundry. I was busy trying to do jumping jacks. Perhaps I'm lazy. My house was occupied with family and friends. I couldn't find the answers. My dog ate the computer. The house was too cold and I couldn't find my slippers. I have ADD (and no, not my bra size.) I was teaching Dot how to roll over. I was teaching Brody how to hold still. I was busy bathing the kids. I was busy making lesson plans. Trace took the computer to school. I got a smart phone. I was partying in Las Vegas. My computer chair is not comfortable. Oh, and I happen to be a little busy because we're packing and headed back to Arizona.

The end.

the red headed kid

just to let you know...

yes. i still have brody.

yes. he is my favority red headed boy.

yes. he is a wonderful big brother.

and yes...he is still as crazy as ever.

no. he is NOT neglected. if anything, he gets more attention that anyone i associate with.

we sure do love him. he is a blast...

(i also know that this picture is over-contrasted...but i had to do it so you could see the cool rocket ship, alien, and planets.)

Also, if you look close enough, you will notice that there is a trampoline in the rocketship, per request of my favorite 3 year old red headed boy.

the other dress...

So, I took pictures of Dorothy Kate in HER blessing dress...
yes, she is spoiled and got to wear 2 dresses. (mine and hers.)
But this first picture worries me a little bit.
WHY?? I'll tell you why...
She's only 4 months old and looks VERY mischevious...

She is one cute little gal.

NOTE: I also got a new photoshop elements things and i pretty much suck at it...any body want to give me some lessons. (seriously.)

explosions and events

So there we were...

Dorothy Kate was dress in her new, fluffy, satin, WHITE blessing dress...equiped with a lovely bow I made her and some cute satin shoes. Just a little doll, I tell ya, a little sweet doll. After Trace gets done doing the sweetest blessing I've ever heard he brings her back to me and informs me that the little doll thinks it is time to eat.
So I do my thing and she does hers. A few minutes to a half hour later we are back in church. Luckily my dear dad is there and he, of course, wants to hold the little precious lady of the hour. I do as any good daughter would do and pass her to him.
A few seconds to a minute later I hear a gurgling and a bubbling.

First thought: PLEASE don't get on the dress!! I haven't taken pictures yet.
Second thought: Nice out.
(thoughts may have been simultaneous...or vise versa)

I look over and my dad pulls Dotti away from him and *"stuff" is everywhere.
My dad's shirt....check.
My dad's suit coat....check.
My dad's slacks....check.
The bench....check.
The floor...check.

*I say "stuff" cause I was in church and I'm not allowed to say that other word while attending.

Then a miracle happened. I looked at her dress....and NOTHING. Just a hint of "stuff" on her bloomers. A miracle I tell ya.

THEN: Exit Tara holding the baby as far away from her as possible.
A few seconds later: Exit Jim (Tara's dad) holding a blanket in front of him, covering the ish.

Luckily he had a change of clothes in the truck.

Good story Hansel.

As for other news: I got a job. I am an elementary computer teacher. (no spelling involved) It's lovely. The kids are hilarious. One class brought me cookies but as they were handing it to me one of the little girls whispered, "I wouldn't eat them because ZACK sneezed right into the dough!" Nice...

I accidentally told them that my nick name was T-Lizzle...which was a HUGE mistake.
I told them that "It's MRS. T-Lizzle to you!"
Therefore, my new name around the school is MRS. T-Lizzle.
It's only Part time so I'm not away from my kiddoes TOO much. Just 5 hours. I love it so far. Who knows, maybe the PE teacher will get into a freak gasoline fight accident and then I'll just have to take his spot...

peace out. word to your mother.

MRS. T-Lizzle

the name

A name and a blessing:
Last weekend we headed to Arizona to give this little lady a name and a blessing.
Her name: Dorothy Kate Porter (surprised you didn't know that)
The reason we named her Dorothy: My Nanny (my mom's mother) is one dear, sweet, fiesty, beautiful, strong, loving, wonderful, and amazing woman. She knows how to laugh and she knows how to tease. She knows how to take a joke and she sure can dish one out. Therefore, my little miss Dotti has some big shoes to fill in her own little way.
The reason we named her Kate: Quite frankly, I liked it. But...deeper meaning would be if you take Kenneth (my husband) Trace's initials KT...it kind of sounds like Katie...but I liked Kate better and WHALAH, there you have it. Dorothy Kate Porter.
I believe she is a doll sent straight from heaven.
The dress she is wearing is actually MY dress from 27 years ago. She has her own and it is quite delightful as well. (pictures to come of that...she wasn't in the picture mood this afternoon when I tried.)

I love her. I love her little rolls and dimples. I love that she blows bubbles non-stop and smiles everytime you talk to her. I love that she sits on her Poppi's lap and watches sports.

I love that she is ours.

She is my favorite little girl thus far.

editor's note:

After discussing the previous post with my dear, sweet, spell-checking, grammar (er?)-checking husband...I've come to find out that I had a few mistakes in my writing.

1. Normalacy...i guess it really isn't a word...BUT it sounded better to me than "Normality" did. So i put it. You don't like it?...tuff! (and yes, I know that tuff isn't spelled "t-u-f-f" either.)
2. Grantite should be "Granted"...I google searched "grantite" in hopes of proveing Trace wrong, but I failed. Stupid google said, "did you mean granite" and then gave me a bunch of listings of rocks and whatnot. (dumb google, right?)

Anyway- my point of this post is to say: yes, my writing and spelling and grammer (ar?) are not up to par ALL the time. I type how I talk. I type words how they sound in my head. After all, it is MY blog and I can type how I darn well please.

PS. Thank you Show Low School District for making me so smart...

back to normalacy...

Starting Point: San Antonio, Texas.
Destination: Provo, Utah.
Trip: 22.5 hours.
Drive all night and all day....you know it. Would expect anything less from a Porter family?

Why? Why do you ask? Why would you trap yourself in one EXTREMELY packed car with a 3 year old and a 2 month old and travel across the planes of texas, through the ugliness of New Mexico, and to the lovely mountains of Utah? Well, I'll tell ya. It was to go to the opening game of BYU football.
Poppa Porter and the clan (Reed, Lena and their 6 kids, Beau and Keagan, Spencer, Dennon, Devin and his 2 boys, Jared, Brindi...am I missing anyone?) ALL got tickets to go to the game. Trace couldn't stand to miss it, so we packed up and drove home.
I can't tell you what it is like to walk into your house after being gone for months. There is something about smelling your own house and having ALL your stuff. You also realize how much crap you have. For instance...why do I have 5 cutting boards? Why do I have like 20 forks? Why do we need such a large TV? Why am I still hanging onto my High School softball sweats? (A serious reality check).
HOWEVER, you also realize how blessed you are. Like how I have so many clothes in my closest, so much food in the pantry, a huge KING sized- really comfortable bed, a huge park for Brody to play in right in front of my house, a vacuum, a mop, a 9x13 pan, internet...seriously, things I took for grantite on a day to day basis.

Anyway, Trace got to go to the BYU game. I did not. My eyes were so inflamed and red from driving all day and all night that I stayed home and just enjoyed being home and watching it from my large TV.
I also started doing substitute teaching...which I LOVE. I love the students and the fact that I don't have to make up lesson plans. I did have to leave my little Dotti for the first time...it sucked, but we survived.

And that is that. Brody just told me, "MOM, I am getting very frustrating!" So I better go before he gets REALLY frustrating. (Where do kids learn this stuff?)

Dotti cakes...

I love this little girl.

lazy rivering...

This past weekend THIS cute family... and THIS cute family...
Went to the HYATT Resort and Spa in San Antonio.
We got in our swim gear and floated around the LAZY river all day...seriously, ALL day. Even Miss Dot had a little floatie. She basked in the sun and kept up with the crowd.The resort even had a tether ball court (is it called a "court"...I'm not sure.)

This is where a quick story comes in...

So there we were on the tether ball court. Trace vs. Taralee...

Weather was perfect for a great match. Trace grabbed the ball and was ready to serve. Taralee was in the down and ready position...ready to make her move. Trace swung and hit the ball. The game was on. Taralee saw the ball coming and thought to herself, "I'm going to swing so hard and knock the glasses off of Trace's face." So she wound up, twisted her torso for full upper body power, stiffened her hand, clenched her teeth, and swung as hard as she could. It was the most powerful swing I'd ever seen. Problem was, was that she forgot to hit the ball and as the ball soared passed her hand all the force and power that she was bringing had no where to go...except to keep going...which in result, made her face plant into the ground. This, ofcourse, resulted in endless laughter from Trace, herself, and the watching crowd (Lonna and Camron). Made for a good story huh? Real life stories are always the best. Anyway, after the intense game of tether ball and a little volleyball, we hit up the LAZY river AGAIN. Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE lazy rivers?

I haven't? Well just so you know...I LOVE a good lazy river. Lonna and Cooper do too...

What's not to love about a lazy river? Nothing, right?

But let me ask you this...what's not to love about a lazy river and SMORES???

That's a combo that I'll be requesting in Heaven. He likes smores as much as his mama does. Plus Trace is the best smores maker around. The kids got to stay in their swim suits all day, play in the pools, build sand castles, and best of all...spend ALL day with theirs dads.I had a grand time...but when you're in good company it's hard to have a bad time!

big brother brody

Dear little sister Dottie,

I just wanted to let you know that I will always take care of you...after all, I'm the big brother and that's what I'm supposed to do. I'll tell people when they aren't holding you right and tell random people in the grocery store to back up if they get too close. When you are crying I'll be sure to let mom know...I don't know why she can't hear you...it's not like she busy making dinner, doing laundry, cleaning up after me, or trying to make herself presentable. I've also been know to protect you by hitting other kids that get too close...even though mom puts me in time out- I'm just trying to keep you safe. But most of all...I'll pick you up when you fall... Love,
Brody

PS. I'll try not to head butt you when I give you kisses....you don't like it and neither does mom.

tour de america (porter style)

I'm finally getting around to putting up the pictures of all my travels. This is on the Chicago pier...on the way to Pittsburgh (the first time). Chicago is an awesomely LOUD city. I was driving at the time of entry and thought once or twice about flinging a certain finger in the air a couple of times...I refrained. The pier was sure cool and you could look back and see the city.

A couple days after we got to Pittsburgh Ali and Cooper celebrated their birthday at Chucky Cheese. Good times were had. From that day forward I had to listen to "can I go to Chucky Cheese's" "we go to chucky cheese's today" "tomollow??" Seriously- he loved that place. Trace's favorite baseball teams since he was a wee little kid has been the Atlanta Braves. So in Pitt we went to a Pirates game against the Braves. We got tickets for free from some random guy out in the street...blood nose, but free...I'm not going to complain. We, of course, went with the Connolly's.

When I flew home we had a Toy Story 3 birthday party for Brody. He got a bike. He loves it. Loved it a lot. And that boy can FLY on that bike now.It's hard to believe that he is 3...he is our little buddy and keeps us laughing all the time. He has more personality than I do in my little pinky finger. Oh, and while in Utah, as you all know, we (or I) gave birth to Dottie cakes.

Just a cute picture of Dorothy Kate. I stayed for a couple of weeks with Nanna and Gampa and Grandma and Grandpa. Brody loves my mom...they make quite the pairs.So after me flying back to Pittsburgh with the kids...we up and moved to San Antonio, Texas. We made a few stops along the way. First stop- a REAL Braves game and Turner Field. Trace couldn't have been happier. He even said "This is the best day of my life...except when I had Brody...and Dottie...oh and when I married you."
Then we made a slight detour to New Orleans. CRAZY, CRAZY city...full of life and bright colors and crazy people. I loved the buildings and the music and most of all...the FOOD. Holy moley. It was amazing....however...you can't really have bad food when everything is deep fried!

One morning in San Antonio- he's so sweet to his little sister.
This is my Nanny, Dorothy Gaines. I took my little Dorothy to go see her in Odessa. I also got to see my mom, dad, and Danica...and my aunt and uncle and cousins. I had a grand time.

Our most recent adventure was to Sea World. I will be posting more pictures of that event. It was fabulous...and hot and humid...WELCOME TO TEXAS!!

Whew! I seriously have over a thousand pictures from this summer...and to just pick a random 15 or so does not give it justice. Maybe I'll super overload my facebook account or something...and if you're super bored you can look through those.

So as of now we are in San Antonio for a few more days (or weeks or months). I'm loving it so far...what's not to love about Texas? (Don't ask Trace that cause he has PLENTY of things not to like about Texas...starting with the bugs.)