Just not right!!!!

Poor kid!!

Cruncher the Spinosaurus

Poor Old Cruncher. He's not well received!!! :)

It's Raining it's pouring...

Nate heard on the news this morning that we are going to get rain today. That prompted this song!!!!

Construction Pictures...

These are probably not the best, but I think you can get the idea!!

This is the framing for the new bathroom downstairs...

This is a new hallway between the room downstairs which is now the master and the sub basement and entry to the backyard. The sub basement is going to be a playroom for the kids.
This has been a long time dream of ours. Jim took this picture from the new entry to the upstairs from our garage. The hallway takes you to the master bedroom.
This is a view of the new kitchen from the door in the hall entering the kitchen. What you are looking at is where the window used to be as well as the wall between the kitchen and the breakfast room.

Hopefully soon, we'll have pictures that will better resemble our new house!!

Getting Close

So construction is underway!! We are making structural changes to the house. The contractor has everything detailed in stages for us and they are hoping to be done by the end of January. They are taking the month of February for final inspections and finishing touches. I had the opportunity to swing by last Friday. They had completed the framing of our kitchen, new hallway downstairs and the new bathroom. It was so awesome to see our dreams coming together. I am very excited.

I just went through the process of selecting appliances. I had been looking online to get an idea of what is out there. And lets face it, it's not easy for me to just pick up and go appliance shopping! I dropped the kids at my moms one afternoon so I could go to airport home appliance to "touch and feel". The other day I spent the day researching reviews and consumer reports to make sure my selections really are going to be good. This is it!

I would like to bring Nate in but there is still a lot of burned wood exposed. Hopefully soon we'll get him over there.

Nate has been doing well. He LOVES school! He's made lots of new friends. We also got him started in soccer. He played for the St. Cecilia Irish. He wasn't so sure at first. DID NOT want to do it! I did a drop and run on the second practice and he was in like Flynn!!! It is so cute to see him cheering his friends on from the sidelines! They really are a sweet group of kids. All the parents are hoping to have their child(ren) in next years Kindergarten class.

Nate loves Halloween as much as Jim. Halloween was never my favorite day in terms of dressing up and parades. Nate was totally in his element. And LOVES to trick or treat. We went over to our neighborhood to trick or treat. Nate talked for most of the year about being a dinosaur. When the catalog came in the mail and he saw Buzz Lightyear, he changed his mind.

I've got a couple of pictures to update. Still nothing on the house. Hopefully I'll get some up this weekend! Although with the rain, I'm not sure I'll be able to do so!!

Nate cycling with mommy at the Russian River. I guess he can't ride like this anymore. It goes up to 40lbs and he's there now!

He received his first ribbon at La Petite Baleen.

Earlier this year, he would NOT go near this dinosaur! Now it's his favorite thing ever!!!

Visit to Clancy's pumpkin patch with his friends from Happy Times. We had a great time. My mom watched the babies which turned out to be for the best since we would have had to miss out on the hay ride!

Halloween costume!!!

carving pumpkins with daddy

The finished products!

Our soccer team...

It's been awhile

I am toggling now between 2 blogs. I now have Triple the fun plus one. But I would like for Nate to continue to have his own blog. He's getting big and school is starting and it's good to follow him on his own!

Last night we took this picture of him reading with Auntie Babe. His face was just so serious.

Nate is becoming very inquisitive. I need to be on my toes. Last week when he came home to us, he asked me where do babies come from. So I said, they came from mommies tummy. He says No, how do they get in there. So I said Mommy went to the doctor and he said it was time for babies. He bought it for now. I usually like to give him honest answers but I am just not prepared for that type of honesty at 4!!!

Yesterday he came up with another great question, one he told my mom he was going to ask me. As you may be aware, our house caught on fire. We chose not to tell Nate the exact truth. Really we left out the fire and smoke part!!! He worries and I just don't need him worrying about that right now! I'm sure though he's heard us talking to others so I am now trying to spell F.I.R.E when talking about it. When we picked him up from Nana's we drove past the house. By this time all the garbage had been removed from the street. We were also staying at Jim's sister Mary's house. So he said we passed our house. We then told him that we were staying with Auntie Babe. After he got over the fact her dog was not home, we told him the reason was Daddy wanted to get us a new kitchen, but when the man came in he noticed there was some icky things in the wall and it wasn't safe for us to live in the house. Truthfully we were riddled with Lead and Asbestos. And our kitchen is a total loss and every single wall is smoke and water damaged. Jim had met with the contractors at the house that weekend, so he asked me if he could pick up his brown t-rex. That is when we broke the devastating news that his toys were all gone. The insurance is recommending we keep nothing for the kids because they cannot guarantee they will get all the chemicals out. He was upset but we told him that we have insurance and what that means is we'll get a check to replace his toys. He was happy enough with that.

Well, I guess there has been a lot of talk around our "orange" house and the fact we're living in other accomodations at the moment. So he asked me, "how did the icky stuff get in the walls!" So I said, good question. A lot of it has to do with the fact that our house is very old and sometimes in old houses chemicals build up and get into the walls. I then told him it will be nice because it will be fresh and new once we're able to get back in!

And to that, we're finally getting ready to pick our contractor. It will be 2 months on Tuesday that we had the fire. Check back here from time to time to watch the progress. I won't post the before pictures we have but trust that it is very very bad. Family told me I shouldn't go but I needed to. I lived in this house for 7 years. I needed to see how it looked before we made the repairs. Knowing it was bad made it easier for me. Because it truly was BAD! I just Thank God Jim made it out in time and that there were no health issues. So, while I won't have before pictures, I will chronicle the improvements!!! We're looking forward to getting home!

How to Train your Dragon

We have been seeing the ad for this movie for a couple of weeks. We asked if he wanted to see it and he said yes. Jim and I decided we'd take him tonight. This morning, Nate comes in to me begging me to see the Dragon movie and he *NEEDS* dragon toys!!! So we went and he was delighted telling me it's been awhile since he's been to the Theatre!! LOL We bought popcorn and a drink. He even pointed out how they have a drink size just for him!! LOL We get in and he has the big tub of popcorn sitting in his lap and is DELIGHTED!! The movie starts and it's going good. Then he freaks a bit. But then goes into major FREAKOUT! wanting to go home - get me out of here - I tried to reason with him and it seemed to work. It ended on a happy note so we're back to wanting dragon toys. We're just not sure we're going to see the movie again...maybe if the lights are turned on. LOL. Now let's pray that we make it through the night without nightmares....

Scratches

Jim for whatever reason cannot seem to scratch his own back. Usually he sits on the bed and then asks me for scratches. Nate just came to me and asked what is that called that we give daddy at bed time. I'm thinking hugs and kisses?? He says no, and then shows me with his hands what he's talking about. It's looking like he wants to play dinosaurs but he started to describe what he was trying to convey. So I said, scratches??? He says, yeah, can you give me some right here (pointing to his lower back). Jim has created a monster!!! :)

Out of the mouths of babes!!!

So today we went to lunch with Grandma Frances. As we were driving back Frances suggests that since we had a big lunch that we could probably just do something light for dinner. So I tell her we're having spaghetti. She talks about her plans for dinner and goes on about how she doesn't like to cook. Then from the back of the car we hear "Grandma, my mom can teach you how to cook!!!" Frances and I looked at each other and she says "Natey is your mommy a good cook?" And he says "Yes, she can show you how to cook if you want!!" LOL Priceless!!

VICTORY!!!!!!!!!

We had some fierce excitement here at the Porter household this afternoon! So much in fact, my throat is still a bit raw from all the screaming!!! :)

As I have mentioned previously, we have been having MUCH difficulty in completing the potty training of Nate! He just refused to sit on the potty and poop! We tried EVERYTHING!!! I got to the point the other day of pure frustration. I am having a hard time bending over to clean up the mess. I was tempted to put him back in diapers but was fearing he would then regress on the potty!! Especially with the triplets arriving!

Wednesday this week, I had it! I called the Pediatrician because short of beating him I was out of ideas! He told me that with toddlers they have found they like to have control over one of 3 things - eating, sleeping or toilet training. Well Nate really has been a champ with the first two, although lately its been harder to get him to eat vegetables. I backed off that and would give him fruit with his dinner instead. He started eating veggies again. So, maybe the doctor was on to something here!!! He also told me to drop the emotion. No more Oh Nate, why didn't you tell me! Don't you feel it coming!!?? If that doesn't work we were to go back to rewards again but again no emotion. If he pooped in his pants we were to say, oh, too bad you don't get XYZ treat.

So I dropped it. I didn't say anything more to him or put any pressure on him to go poop. This afternoon, he was dancing around the kitchen trying to figure out which garbage can to put the paper towel in (thank you San Francisco for mandating the recycling program). It looked to me like he needed to go potty. So I simply said, Natey, do you have to potty? He said yeah mom! Off he went to the bathroom. I left him be like I normally do. A few minutes later, he says to me, mommy, I went poo poo in here. I am already disgusted thinking, great, maybe we're getting closer in that he is heading into the bathroom to poop in his pants!! But instead, I go into the bathroom to see my precious little guy, pants down, sitting on the toilet! - OMG he pooped on the potty. I started screaming! I wiped his bottom and was telling him I was so proud of him! He asked me if he could have his robot back!! YES, YES, YES!!!! I then asked if he wanted to tell Nana, so we picked up the phone and called her and Grandma. Then he decided he wanted to wait to tell Daddy when he came home from work. Jim came in the door and he announced to him that he went poop in the potty. Jim was all excited and then asked me- did he really?!?! LOL.

So a very exciting night in the Porter household for sure!!!! If I could I'd have a glass of wine to celebrate!!! :)

Baby Dinosaurs!!!

So Nate is very much opposed to having a new sibling let alone 3 new siblings. He has been very good though helping me out since lifting him is a NO and bending over is difficult. We have to tell him to be careful getting close to my stomach because he's practically kicked me a couple of times!

On Wednesday night he says to me "Look mommy, my belly is getting bigger!" He lifted his shirt to proudly show me his belly!!! I said my goodness what's in there?? Thinking he would reply with my dinner!!! :) He says, "I have baby Dinosaurs!!"

Yesterday I was putting him into my mom's car as I was leaving to head out to the doctor. He asked me if I was coming with them. I said no, I have to go to the doctor to check on the babies. He replies "mommy I have to go to the baby doctor too to check on the baby dinosaurs...they are starting to hurt me!" The kid is killing me these days!!!

More pictures to come later today.

Sleep Talking

Last night, Nate had a bad dream so he was in our bed at 1:30. Something I am going to be addressing thanks to some tips that Dr. Oz had on his show today that will be good for our situation.

Anyway, around 4:30 I was awoken to not only a very HUGE downpour of rain but also to "ROOOAAAAR ROOOAAAR" subsequently followed by the cutest little giggle ever!!! He is so huge into Dinosaurs right now. He's been playing with his Dinosaurs every minute possible AND he loves Dinosaurs the movie as well as Dinosaur Train which I found on PBS. I couldn't help but laugh myself because it was so cute!!

Chore Time!!

So lately Nate has gotten into this kick with me - and refuses to clean his room. He says he would prefer to watch me clean! Soon I won't be able to get down on the floor or if I do, I may have trouble getting back up!!! :) So yesterday he was home with me. I started out doing the dishes and a load of laundry. He saw I was dropping water on the floor - which is what happens when you have a dishwasher BEHIND the sink! So he asked if he could mop the floor! I said sure! Then I changed the sheets on my bed. He helped me take the pillows off. Proceeded to lay on them until it was time to put them back up again. We headed into his room and he helped me clean up his toys and made his bed! He was so proud. He kept commenting as we put more toys away that it's getting cleaner mom! Funny how that happens - huh???!!!???!!!

So we had to run out to go to the doctors to drop off paperwork. We decided to stop at Staples to get supplies for a Chore chart. I don't think he *quite* gets it but he is understanding that if he does all his chores, he will be able to get a squishy dinosaur next time we're at the Russian River. :)

This morning as we were getting him ready to go to Nana's house for the day, I asked him what toy he wanted to bring. He said his Chores!! LOL He was funny though because in the hallway was his Star Wars Gun and of course the beds weren't made yet. He starts waving his hands saying "Mom - what happened to our house?? It's not clean like we like it!!" That kid!!!

He's growing up!!

What happened!! Recently I noticed that I am now MOM! Hey mom; Mom, I need; Mom can you get; Mom; Mom; Mom. I guess there is no more mommy. :( He is a big boy afterall. The other day he asked me for a cookie. I said, no, we're having dinner soon. What does he say??? Awww Mommmmmm!!!!!!!!

And he's so chatty!! His sentences are getting longer and more articulate. You can really have a conversation with him now! And his imagination. Sometimes it's hard to figure if what we are talking about is real or imaginary. He watches this program called the Upside Down show. It's two Australian guys - Shane and David. They run around acting goofy and then they ask the kids to press a button on their "remote" to get them to stop being silly or to get out of a room. The show has helped with his imagination. He also has an infatuation with fish. Especially Nemo. He talks about fish constantly. Usually he has bought fish and they are in the car with us?!?!?!

I am enjoying this time with him at home before the babies arrive. I've realized you can't do it all - work that is - and not miss out on the little things - like vocabulary!

Oh Nate!!

Last weekend we were up at the Russian River with Jim's parents. It was a nice 3 day weekend. We are STILL working on the potty training. He still refuses to poop in the potty. I've tried everything! Anyway, we're sitting in the living room and Nate is playing. He stands up and asks "Mommy did you bring extra underpants???" So I answered, "of course I did???" And then I get "good, I went poo poo in my pants" Ugh! I feel like at this rate, the triplets will have this down long before he does!!!!!!!

What we've been up to!!

We've been a little busy! I am now on disability to make sure my blood pressure stays down! I do need to continue with my exercise so we're trying to do more family things on the weekend. We started out the New Year with a drive to Point Reyes to walk the Earthquake Trail and the Miwok trail.

We started out on the Earthquake trail. Here is a sign explaining about the history of the San Andreas Fault Zone..

Nate checking out the gofer holes... he had no interest in the guided tour!! :)

Jim participated in the guided tour. I believe this is where the fence moved as a result of the '06 quake.

Checking out the bridge and the creek while waiting for daddy.

Running the trail - while waiting for daddy.

I guess we forgot to take pictures of the Miwok trail. Maybe next time.

Then my very first Sunday not having to prepare for work...Jim and I noticed the outdoor guy in the Chronicle wrote a piece about the man made waterfall in Lagunitas (Marin County). So we hopped in the car and headed out North. This guy is definitely one for us to follow because we've now gone on two of his recommended drives and had a blast!!!

The watershed was overflowing with the intense amount of rain we have been having!!! Here are a few pictures to share...

Nate didn't quite make it to see the waterfall!! He fell asleep!! We'll take it since most days naps are hard to come by and he DOES need them!!! :)

The Waterfall - cool!!! It was pretty mucky out though. Lots of people must have read the same article because there were a lot of people around!!!

The actual Watershed. It was such a beautiful drive there. Lots of lush green trees and hills. Really, very pretty countryside!

On our way back down I spotted this Turkey Vulture! Jim was able to zoom in with my camera and capture this awesome picture!! He couldn't believe I saw it - it was quite a distance.

Finally this past Saturday, we decided to take Nate to the Aquarium of the Bay. I had been once years ago and Jim has never been, so we decided to check it out with Nate. As I was getting coupons off the net, Nate noticed pictures of Sharks and decided he didn't want to go! I told him that there would be Nemo fish so off we went!!!

Fortunately for me, the first thing we saw - was NEMO!!!! However, we could not get him to leave! So I told him I think there might be more Nemo's downstairs so we need to go check! He was GAME!!!

First thing we did see was Jelly Fish! He was in HEAVEN!!! He loves jellyfish!

Mom - LOOK - MORE JELLYFISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was really not getting good pictures inside with or without the flash. So this is what we've got - but Nate was purely excited! It was fun! We actually went around a second time. And his favorite fish at the end of the day....The sharks and the Sting Rays!!!! And to think, that was what was stopping him from going!!!!!!

Then we went back upstairs for the final portion of the exhibit. We fell in love with the pool of sting rays. You were actually able to pet it's wing. Our little boy - normally afraid of everything- was happy to get close to the sting rays. He even put his fingers in the water. He did not however, pet the sting rays!! :)

Daddy Did though....

Then there was the star fish.

Keeping in pure Nate fashion, he would not pet the star fish! However, he would not leave the exhibit. There was a little waterfall that caught his attention. We were able to distract him with other exhibits.

Like the tree frogs!!!

And the turtles.....

But this by far was my favorite...The African pygmy Hedgehog. We seriously believe Nate thought he was Diego or at least one of his buddy's on a great adventure! Nate has a Diego camera - similar to what Diego uses on the show. Diego takes pictures of the animals he encounters on his adventures. Nate, in all his seriousness, turns to me and says "mommy, I need the camera, I have to take a picture!!!" We gave him the camera - he didn't capture a shot but he was delighted thinking he was Diego - even if only for a moment!!! :)

Of course a trip out to the Pier would not be complete without checking on the Sea Lions! While almost all of the Sea Lions have left the bay onward and upward to Oregon; we were able to see a small few left in their home. Hopefully the others will return one day!

So we're having a great time - this weekend we're heading up to the Russian River for a 3 day weekend. Weather isn't looking that great, but it should be a nice restful weekend and we can't wait!! And we can actually get on the road earlier Friday night since I will be home!! :) Life is good!