Sunday, December 31

HAPPY NEW YEAR!


WOW, Has this year ever flown by?! So Christmas was wonderful, no surprises there (well there were SURPRISES, but it wasn't a surprise it went well...). Everything was the same this year as last year (and the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that) here at the ol' Porterfield homestead. Tradition is the name of the game around here for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, which is just the way I like it! Mack was/is still being spoiled beyond belief! Basically, if his age range is printed on the box, and it's from CostCo, Grandpa got it for him. Many laughs! Mack caught the flu just before Christmas and recovered the day after. Now he's fighting an ear ache (from all those flights), we're hoping he'll be fine by the time we go back to Mexico on Saturday. Go figure, he's NEVER sick in Monterrey but as soon as we get to the states...I think he saves it up to take advantage of our health insurance. I put Mack on the floor in the cultural hall today durring sunday school and he was all over the place. He gets up on his hands and knees and then pushes himself backwards until he's stuck under the couch or a dresser or whatever. Adorable. One more thing, we got a great visit from Sean and Rachel yesterday! It really was refreshing to see old friends. They're the only one's from college that have yet to meet our boy (hint, hint). That's it for now. I'll put up some more pictures one of these days--probably when we get back to ol' Mexico. In the mean time here is one of Mack in his Christmas PJs holding the plate he made for Grammy and Grandpa. Happy New year everyone!

Wednesday, December 13

Once Upon a Time...

Whew! We got into San Diego on Saturday afternoon, and ever since then it's been 'Go-Time'. Saturday night I went to see The Lion King with my Mom, Karly and Kloe at the Pantages (Mack and his Daddy stayed home and goofed off with Grandpa). No surprises there! It was AMAZING! I'd never been inside the Pantages before, and let me tell you, it was stunning. The inside is all very 1920s/30s art deco. I can't believe it was never "remodeled" or torn down. Thank goodness. Sunday morning was the usual--Church--but in ENGLISH, which was much more relaxing. Straight after coming home, we ate and then my Mom and I were off again, this time to a Sing-along Messiah with the La Jolla Symphony. Kassey, you may think I'm weird but it was actually mucho fun. I tried singing alto because I didn't want to sit by myself in the soprano (I didn't come all the way from Mexico to be alone), I held in there for most of it but by the end I was basically a lost cause. On Monday my Mom, Mack and I headed down to Ikea after Mack's morning nap. Tyler opted to stay home get Gyros at Daphne's with my Dad. That night after Family Night (which was going to see Deck The Halls--not so good, but at least we were the only ones in the theater so Kloe could try sitting in every row throughout the movie), my Mom and I were off to run a few late night errands. REALLY. Erands until MIDNIGHT. I can't tell you what we were doing because I could spoil things, but we were both pretty tired by the end of it. Tuesday, Tuesday. What can I tell you about Tuesday? We got lunch at CostCo with my parents (basically Tyler's second favorite place to eat after Daphne's), then Mack had a quick doctor's appointment where they checked his hemoglobin (perfect) and gave him his second round of the flu shot. He complained a little bit to the nurse after she gave him his flu shot and didn't even notice the finger prick. Good nurse and GREAT boy! Last night my Mom and I went to a not so great Enrichment. All the women there were griping about their husbands and children (sheesh!), and there wasn't enough food. It was a progressive dinner. Isn't food kinda the point? That brings me to today. Wednesday and I'm blogging. The end.
Wait! a few more things.
Sorry there still aren't any pictures of Mack. I have to convince my Dad to let me add another internet browser on his computer because that's the only way I know to post pics with a Mac. And a quick tip to any of you out there who might be flying with young children this holiday season: little baby cheeks get very dry on the airplane. Try to bring a sample size of lotion for your darling. Also, I always forget how cold airplanes are. brrrr! What helped us adjust Mack to the time zone change was literally 'forcing' it. We switched all his meals to the new time as soon as we got there and tried not to let him go to bed early. The rest just fell into place after that. GOOD LUCK!!!!

Tuesday, December 5

HO! HO! HO!

Mack met Santa yesterday. He gave him a funny "What's with the facial hair dude?" look, was a little confused by his crying cousin (Mason) over on Santa's other knee, and finally a little wave over to Mom and Dad, as if to say "I'm fine. Go ahead and do what you gotta do." Once again, he's adorable. Lately he's been doing this little straight armed wave with his left hand. He sticks his arm out, elbow locked, and moves his little hand around in a circle. It's too cute!
What else?....
Bellevue is QUITE the place to be for the season. At seven a bunch of drummer boys walk take position along the street (drums, cymbals and all) and drum along to some classic/jazzy Christmas carols. They stand on giant drum platforms about every 20 ft, with a young lady nearby on the sidewalk dressed in traditional caroling garb (fuzzy muff, bonnet, red skirt, you get the idea), complete with tambourine. Everyone is cheery and about 1 1/2 songs into the "set" it starts to snow (like at Disneyland). I'm telling ya I've never seen anything quite like it. Très magnifique!
Jim (Ty's Dad) cut my hair yesterday. He took off about 5ish inches, which I am thrilled about. It was getting to the point where I just had hair for hair's sake. It was down at/past my waist (still mostly healthy at least) and I simply didn't have time for all that hair in my life anymore. It was giving me headaches, took FORever to brush and wash, and no matter what I did I could not keep it out of Mack's fingers/food. So good-bye and good riddance to the last 5 inches of my hair!
Steve Bumstead took Jim, Tyler and me to a Sonic's game on Friday. I'll NEVER have better seats in my life. We were in the third row and to top it all off--they actually won with a buzzer shot! Quality entertainment my friends.
In case you haven't noticed Mack is 7 months old now. He officially fits 18month clothes (lucky because his cold weather stuff is all size 18m), but we like to mix it up with a little bit of 12month in there too (snazzy). He's adjusted well to the time change (Shauna I don't envy you trying to do this soon). We're still working on that afternoon nap, so far he just screams for a while and the falls asleep later when we're out. I don't think Tyler's family believes me when I tell them what "unusual behavior this is for him". HONESTLY, he almost never cries at home.
I feel like I could probably write more but it wouldn't make any sense this has been a pretty scattery brained blog. And if any of you out there are interested, it looks like baby Truman (the premie I linked to a while ago) might be going home today!

Friday, December 1

Okay, But I've Only Got Time for a Quickie....

  • Yesterday we flew from San Antonio to Houston. Then from Houston to Salt Lake. Then from Salt Lake to Seattle. There was a LOT of turbulence on our first flight. Mack was an angel the entire time, he even napped well. On our first and last flight we were able to get an empty seat between us to put Mack/junk/feet on.
  • Upon entering the U.S. of A on Thursday we found our way to the nearest Jack in the Box where I ordered a Egg Nog Shake to celebrate our return to freedom (Tyler had a hamburger).
  • When we got to Seattle there was a package waiting for me from YakPak. A couple weeks ago I'd gone out on a limb and ordered both of their "specials", $15 each with free shipping. I'd completely spaced the whole thing off until Tyler's mom came into the room with box for me. Basically the specials work like this: 15 bucks gets you three random bags, you don't get to pick them AT ALL! OR 15 bucks gets you two random pairs of shoes. You tell them your size then after that's in in their hands. I can say I am very happy with the way it all worked out. One of the bags has a price tag on it for twenty dollars (the rest of the stuff doesn't have price tags but I'm sure it's worth about a gajjillion$$). If I was snazzy I guess I could resell the stuff, but I'm not so oh well! One pair of the shoes is black and the other is a "blue suede shoe" color. I'd post pictures but...
  • We forgot our camera in the car. The car is parked in front of a house belonging to a lady we met the LAST time we were in San Antonio. Also, we were supposed to leave her with a set of keys to the car in case she needed to move it. INSTEAD, Tyler accidentally took the car key off the key chain, then gave her said key chain. oops!
  • Mack has been in 6 states (and 2 countries) in six months! How's that song go? Something, something, I was born a rambling stone (or rolling stone? something like that).
  • Tyler's finals week went well. I think he's just glad it's over. He's heard back about a final grade from one of his classes already, an A! Way to go Tyler! Hip, Hip! HOORAY! Hip, Hip! HOORAY!
  • The time zone change hasn't been too bad on Mack so far. He stayed up till about 6:45 last night (8:45 Monterrey time), but then woke up and fussed at 4:30 this morning for a while til we got him out of bed. He refused to eat his breakfast unless I was holding him, and insisted he eat the pears BEFORE the oatmeal (usually it's the other way around).
  • Tyler is heating up milk for me to have "Giradelli Hot Chocolate: Double Chocolate" as I type this and it's almost done. So I guess that means I'm done.
  • I just noticed the longest bullet is about my new shoes. What can I say? I'm a female!