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.)

whirl wind

This summer has been a whirl wind of adventure...to say the least. Let me explain.

I graduated.

The next day we droved across the country to Pittsburgh.

Then a few weeks later I flew back to Utah.

Then a couple weeks later I had her...Trace came home for a few days.

Then I went to Arizona with my parents.

I went back and forth from Show Low to Heber to have fun with family.

I went camping.

I got really sick.

Then I flew to Provo to get some doctor check ups.

Then I drove back down to Arizona...across the beautiful rez.

Now I'm packing my bags to fly to Pittsburgh tomorrow.

It will be so nice to be back to normality. Don't get me wrong. It's been so nice spending time with family and having them help me with the kids. I feel so blessed to have such amazing and supportive parents. Brody has enjoyed all the extra attention. He sucks it up like a dry sponge.

As for Dot...she gaining weight and growing and has enjoyed being held every second of the day. She's in the 1 percentile for her weight and 3 percent for her height. Petite...but getting some chub on her.

As for Brody...he'll be happy to be with his Poppi again and back to a normal schedule and a set home. I am pretty sure he's sick of moving around and going to and fro. He is a little extra clingy and always wants his mamma...and to sit right next to me when I'm feeding Dot- just to make sure I'm doing it right.

the BIG 3

Dear Brody, our little buddy...

It seems like yesterday the nurse handed me to you and you made a little grunt noise and I saw your cute dimples for the first time. You were a meer 7 lbs 12 oz...and I'm pretty sure your head weighed at least 3 lbs! I was instantly amazed with you- and that hasn't changed ONE bit. Your Poppi was quite fond of you too- and that hasn't changed ONE bit either. Here are a few things that your 3 year old self can do:
1. Cartwheel...running or standing.
2. Air Guitar with head bang. (Yes, it looks as rad as it sounds.)
3. Skateboard- which is actually a 180 spin jump off the couch and landing it on both feet on the floor. Sometimes you make the full 360...but it usually results in a face plant into the carpet.
4. Potty Trained with no accidents at night. You even wake up and go if needs be.
5. Ride a bike (with training wheels)
6. Use a computer...the mouse pad, the arrow keys, and finding Mickey Mouse or Curious George online.
7. Manuever through an I-pod like nobody's business.
8. Puzzles.
9. Dancing- you have got some wicked crazy moves.
10. Baseball, soccer, frisbee, football, and wrestling. You can hit a ball that is tossed to you. You can kick a ball farther than I can. You can throw a frisbee farther than I can. You know how to tackle and charge with a look of furry that would scare anyone. And ofcourse- you can wrestle your Poppi and usually win.
11. Transformer: which is when you run and jump to your knee and stick one arm out. (it looks more like Spider Man...but we'll let you call it "transformer".

We love you Broders! We hope you had a good #3 Toy Story Birthday. You are our best little buddy.
(Love the Hamburger/mustard face and Cheetos hands.)

our little Dot

She loves to sleep with her mouth open.

She sucks on her lips and kind of looks like a grandma.

She is a WEEK old today.

And our little Dot is as cute as button. (cuter, if you ask me)

Dorothy Kate Porter

7 am...bright and early. Ready to rock n' roll.I delivered Dot 8 hours later. She was 5 lbs 14 oz and 17.5 inches long. (I recommend having a 5 lb baby to everyone.) She is SO tiny and loveable. She has two dimples, a pouty bottom lip, and is my favorite baby girl so far! It amazes me how perfect she is. Brody LOVED her. Everytime he walked into the room he said, "Where's the baby?" Then he told the doctor that he needed to fix her belly button because it "hurt baby dorothy." He gave kisses and was soft- for the most part.Trace was so excited and loves his girls so much. (Note: this is pre-shower)After getting cleaned up...her AND me. Is it just me or is the shower after delivery pretty much the best thing ever? I can't say it enough...she is DARLING. Absolutely darling.

She did her hands like this all by herself. Just makes me realize that she comes from a very special place. One proud Poppi and Dot in her "come-home-clothes". Nanna and Grandpa bought the smallest outfit they could find and it still was a little big.

As for recovery...I am feeling great. My husband has been so sweet to me. My mom and dad have pampered me, kept Brody entertained, fed me, done my laundry, and cleaned my house. To say the least- I've been very well taken care of.

I am so excited to have a girl. Bring on the fingernail painting, hair-cuts, earings, PINK, dolls, hair ribbons, and all that fun girly stuff.