Football weekend!!!

We are in mobile this weekend staying with friends and gearing up for a good Saturday of football. Daran and Sissy are both Florida grads (and former floria cheerleaders), so what better weekend to get together and watch football than the Alabama vs Florida game. We also have big plans for cooking and grilling. Can't wait!! The boys have been playing hard since we arrived. Now they are fresh and clean and settling down with a movie.
Porter and Morgan sharing a bean bag...


Porter, Morgan, and Jennings...


Tara
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Hoping for a thumb sucker!!!

Swung by ultrasound for a quick peek and shot some 4D yesterday. Little Stella was sucking her thumb at one point. Wouldn't be too disappointed if she was a thumb sucker. Can't take it away later, but sure can't ever lose it in the middle of the night and have to go find one to put back in their mouth either. We have a lot of thumb suckers in the family, and I am an alum. Odds are she might be one too.



Tara
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Hickory dickory dock

Porter loves watching the mother goose club videos on YouTube. Here is the resulting video:

Tara
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Mr independent

If I don't find a way for porter to help do almost everything, there will be a meltdown. Sometimes finding that little thing can be difficult, but he is a very enthusiastic little helper and will do his task like his life depends on it.
He wanted to carry the basket at the grocery store the other day and did not want any help.



He let Jared help him carry it only when it got too heavy.



Tara
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Roll tide!!!

We went to our first Alabama football game in four years this past weekend. I can't believe it has been that long since I have been able to go to a game!! The last game we went to was when I was a 3rd year resident. We picked a good one to go to. The weather was great, and we had seats on the press box side so we were in the shade the whole game. The only downside was that I had worked a night shift the night before, so I was a little tired by the end. I have never been so happy to see my bed.






And of course, part of the reason I like to go is to see the band...





Tara
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Sewing again...

Today's creations....

Another shirt for Disney.



And farm attire. Porter is obsessed with Monk Monk and Jerry Ward and now he has the right shirt to go visit.



Tara
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The end of swimming lessons

Today was our last day. I thought it was Wednesday, but we actually didn't finish until today. I am so glad we were able to do it. Porter had a rough couple of weeks to start, not so sure about learning these new skills, but now he loves going every day and squeals and giggles during his lesson, requesting to repeat certain skills. Yesterday Jared got in the pool with him and today he just had one more good lesson, and he made it a great one.
Pics... (sorry, my phone doesn't take good action shots)














Being silly...


One last video...

Tara
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Rewind and fast forward

Rewind about 1 year and we were still waiting on our shower to be finished and using the extra bathroom for showers and our bathroom for everything else. We are still waiting for the shower door to be replaced so we can begin using it again.
Rewind a couple of months and we were pulling our hair out trying to figure out how to make porter sleep all night. And we are there again. He's been slowly and steadily working his way from waking up once a night to last night's recent high of three. Loud reprimanding and door slamming was involved twice, with one episode of contact encouragement.
Rewind about 3 weeks and cracker was off to a new home and we were a one dog household. Now he's back. He was neutered yesterday and we are going to give it one more try. He's not a bad dog at all. He's just more energetic than we need around here right now, and concerns Blue more than us. Cracker pesters Blue and when Cracker is around Blue doesn't get the freedom that he normally does. Blue can be trusted in the house out of his crate, but Cracker can't. We'll see how he does now that he has been neutered. But that still doesn't solve the problem we may have in a year if Jared gets in to crna school. It would mean he would be living away from home during the week, leaving me with 2 kids, 2 dogs, and call nights. Not going to be easy. We'll see....

Now, this summer seems like we have fastforwarded more than just a couple of months. During the course of this summer we have gone from having a toddler to a big boy. Porter was potty trained in the spring, and we are still doing well with that minus a rare wet pullup in the mornings. He goes to the potty by himself sometimes, including emptying the tee tee from his little potty and flushing. He's pretty much mastered big boy utensils and cups, and we recently put the booster chair in the closet. He asked for several days where his chair was, but enjoys sitting at the bar. He goes to "school," brings home papers every day, and is constantly singing songs about letter sounds that that are learning. Alexander alligator, a, a, a (short a sound), and connie cow, c, c, c ("c" sound). He walks more than he is held, and holds my hand and walks with me in a store well on short trips.
We are working on the biting and pinching, and haven't had any episodes this week, but I certainly don't think that we are past it. If only we could work out the sleep issue. AGAIN!!! :/
Sitting at the bar eating cereal...



Tara
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Near the end of swimming lessons

Today is the next to last day of swimming. Porter swam fully clothed today to simulate a real life scenario. He didn't like it at all. It was harder than just in swim trunks.






He cried during his lesson today. It was harder to watch today and gave me a sickening feeling in my stomach thinking about a "real life scenario." I am glad for this opportunity and hope that he never has to use his skills.
Tomorrow is the last day, and we can get in the pool with him. Hopefully we will be able to continue with once a week maintenance lessons to keep his skills up. But it will be nice to have our evenings back too.
Tara
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He's baaaaacck!!!

Our minor bump in the road over the weekend was the return of Cracker. Let's just say he didn't enjoy Atlanta. He did enjoy sleeping in the bed with his new owners, which is why he made our weekend less than perfect. He was returned Sunday evening and barked, whined, and scratched in his crate all night long showing his disapproval for his new/old sleeping arrangements. Guess that's why he was so tired Monday.






He's going to get "scootered" tomorrow to see if that helps his "enthusiasm."

Tara
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Decent weekend and the week is looking good

Well, I am happy to report that our weekend was much better than the end of the week and so far this week is starting out good, with just a few minor bumps.
Saturday morning we slept til almost 8:00!!! That's a fantastic way to start if you ask me. Porter agreed to go lay down in mommy and daddy's bed when he got up at his usual 5:45 saturday morning, and then he went back to sleep, so we did too. :)



We helped Sylvie celebrate turning two and watched some football. Saturday night Porter spent some time at Nana's house and Jared and I enjoyed some yummy Sugar Rush for dinner.
Sunday morning we slept in again and then went to church. Porter *quietly* played on his iPod on the way to church. So funny that he can work that thing better than some adults.


We had lunch at La Paz in destin before coming home and napping.
Today has been pretty productive. I got all my cases done and ran some errands. And our shower is already done!!! We can use it tomorrow night. Unbelievable!!! It took months to get it done the first time, and the redo took less than a week. Hopefully this addition will finally be completed soon!!






Tara
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I bit him back

It's been an interesting 2 days at the Harden house. I'm really hoping tomorrow morning brings something better. Better luck if nothing else.
Yesterday morning right after I dropped of porter at school I was waiting to make a left turn to go to the hospital. There was one car in front of me and I happened to look in my rear view mirror just in time to see the car behind me rear end me. All it did was crack my bumper in a couple of places, make me late, and aggravate me. I wasn't hurt and the bumper can be fixed, so we move on. It did throw my day off a little so I had to work hard to get back on schedule. Everything had just about fallen back into place when I got a call from the daycare that porter had bitten and pinched and was generally not obeying his teachers, so I made a detour by the daycare to provide some "parental guidance" that is not provided by the school. I left porter at the school to continue my errands. I went back to get him when my errands were complete and in time to go to swimming lessons. Once at home things finally calmed down to our normal evening routine. We watched the lsu vs miss state game and went to bed.
This morning I got up at the regular 6:00 and shortly after went to get in the shower. It was taking an awful long time for the water to warm up so I sent Jared to check on it. Jared went outside to see if the pilot light had gone out and quickly returned to break the news that the entire area under the house where the water heater was located was flooded and water was spilling out into the backyard. Awesome. I packed up porter and I and we went to my parent's house so I could shower and get porter ready for school. I couldn't get my parents to answer any phone at their house, so when I showed up they thought something was wrong. And it was. We had no water. We got ready and out the door without being too late and Jared took to the task of pumping the water out from under the house. He called me soon to let me know the water heater had sprung several leaks, accounting for the flood and the lack of hot water. He was on it as soon as business hours came around and we had the SEAGD guys working to install a new tankless hot water system that was finished and ready for use around 3:30pm. At least something good seems to have come from all this. However, we must back up to about 8:00 am, which is when I got my first call of the day from the daycare. Porter had already struck for the first time. He bit a classmate. I dropped what I was doing and was at the daycare in about 5 minutes and met Porter, his teacher, and the daycare owner in the front office. I have never bit him, but today I did. In the same spot he bit the other child. Something has got to make an impression and so far nothing else has. Time out is a joke as is just explaining to him that it hurts or making him apologize to his victim, which we do all of every time he bites. Plus some. :) So after I had gone through the routine, adding a bite from the mommy, I went back to work. I didn't like biting him and I could tell it shocked him that I would do that and he cried, but it's just not acceptable to us to pass it off as a phase and not do anything about it.
About two hours later I got the next call. He had pinched the same little boy and he drew blood. Seriously?!?! I hope this phase is short because if not we're going to have to look for a new daycare. This time I sent Jared to deal with him and I waited at home for the gas district workers. Jared took his turn with him and then I was able to get back going with my day. Once again, late in the afternoon things seemed to be getting back on track. We had gone to the homecoming parade and had a good day at swimming lessons and had just sat down to eat a barbeque plate at the football game when I began to notice something warm on my right butt cheek. I thought my cell phone ha gotten hot in my pocket, but quickly realized it was warm and wet, and porter was kneeling down right beside me. Just when you get comfortable and feel free because you don't have to take a diaper bag anymore, he wet his shorts, and my right butt cheek. We were able to get Nicole to swing by our house on her way to the game and pick Porter up some dry clothes and continued to the game.
Life happens? My mom said, "welcome to adulthood." I guess all I can do is just shrug my shoulders, go to bed, and see what happens tomorrow. I'm not in control anyway, so who am I to question it.

Homecoming parade...





Tara
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New boots!!

Tara
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The shower saga

Remember our wonderful shower that took forever to complete??? And how much we loved our beautiful shower???
Well, here it is now....






Yes, that is the outside world you can see. The short version is that it leaked. Jared and his dad had planned to do the siding on the house, and due to several delays from injury and a death in the family, it was many months before the siding project was begun. They got part of the siding done and noticed that some of the plywood was wet at the bottom where the shower was. They cut away part of the boards the find wet insulation and mold. So I guess the delay in the siding turned out to be a good thing. :/
Now it is being torn out around the bottom and the entire floor has been ripped up.
In the time since we added the shower and now one of the tiles used was discontinued, so that also makes it interesting. Hopefully we can enjoy it again soon!!!


Tara
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Swimming "gwessons"

Tara
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Weekend fun?

I worked a 24 hour shift in the ER on Saturday. Not fun. Jared and porter played in the woods with Scott, checking on all the deer stands. I think Porter had a lot more fun than me.


















On the way home...










Tara
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ATLS for me, Nana's house for Porter

Thursday and Friday of this week I had to travel to Huntsville to get recertified for ATLS. Jared went with me, so Porter stayed at Nana's. Jared was bored hanging out by himself all day for 2 days, I was bored by ATLS because of my immense trauma background, Nana wasn't bored for a minute taking care of a busy little boy, and I don't think porter has ever slowed down enough to get bored!!!! I think he had a pretty good time despite wanting to be home in his bed at night--he's a little home body like his parents.
He played outside....





Ate spaghetti...



And went to the AHS football game Friday night....








We picked him up from the stadium on our way in last night and all crashed after we got home. It was a wild week--fun to have a little time away, but we missed the little p-pot.

Tara
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