The terribles

 Colin really put me through something terrible when he hit two years of age. His keen sense of curiosity got the best of all of us on a daily basis. There was one particular morning I documented when we had returned from the library. I pulled into the garage, parked the car and went to pull the kids and books out. I keep an oscillating fan up against the wall plugged in right where the van door opens.  It is there in case one of my kids falls asleep in the van and the garage is a little hot. I can turn the fan on, keep the car door open, and they can get their nap. (Of course my kids don't transfer!) Well this one morning as we were getting out of the car it was the usual: everybody's hungry, everybody's hot, everybody's tired, unbuckle me, can I go get the mail mom?, I want to read that book mom, can we ride bikes?, can we play outside?...type of morning. I unbuckled Coin and Lexie, then pulled Porter out of the car seat and grabbed a few bags before making my way into the house.

Before I could put everything down, I heard a loud crash and Colin crying. I ran back into the garage to find he had turned on the fan full speed, took off the protective cover to the blades, then stuck his knuckles into them. He had a nice 1 inch gash across his hand and he was bleeding. I don't think I have ever taken that protective cover off, I'm still baffled at how he accomplished it.

I spent the next HOUR of my day trying to clean his wound.  Every time I turned to grab the band-aid, or soap, or ointment, he had his hands again in dirty water, or touching the toilet, or somewhere where I had to rewash them.  I about wanted to cry. Then to top it off, how on earth do you bandage the knuckles of a two year old?  The answer: you don't.

So, in the end, I did get them bandaged. Then I sat down to recover. No sooner had I sat down then Lexie came running to tell me Colin was into the Desitin.  You guessed it. That clown face is made of DESITIN.  And of course, it was on the bandage.

Mariah and Ruthie

Living so far from family has had its pros and cons. The cons: Its tough being away from your main source of support, friendship and love. The pros: You meet other families that are away from theirs too and somehow you mesh and become "family" to each other. Tanner and Lexie found this in Mariah and Ruthie. For the last three years they've played together and grown together. This summer was a tough one as we watched them move away and embark on a new journey to find more friends to call "family".  (Though they will always be family to us, no matter where we live.) Here are just a few of my favorite pictures of this foursome.

Slip 'n Sliding

Park Days (never with shoes or socks on!)

Playdates

Toy Story 3

Date night swaps (Mom and dad loved mom and dad Webb too!)

My kids have been anticipating we will be moving one day too. They are convinced that wherever we go, it will be where Mariah and Ruthie are! This last year has been good for us as we've learned to make more friends and strengthen previous relationships with others. There are many here who we call "family" and for these special friendships, we are most grateful!  Wherever we do go, we will always do our best to be "family" to others. We love you Webb family!

Porter's Poop

WARNING!!! This a bit graphic.  If you can't tolerate baby excretion of any kind, I recommend closing your eyes and scrolling down about 5 scrolls. I hope you won't think less of me for posting this, but it was a must-be-recorded detail in our family history.

Okay, so for those of you who want to brave it, here's our story...
 
Here is our sweet Porter at the age of 6 months. At which time, he was solely breast feeding and had a bowl movement just once a week. WHICH he chose to share with us each Sunday while we were at church. This particular Sunday, (June 11th to be exact) we were blessed with a calm and delightful Sunday with no explosions while away from home.  Later that day, we were all enjoying our lazy afternoon when Derek called for me in a bit of a panic. I knew I had left Porter in the exersaucer.  My mind imagined a direct flow up his back.  That's what normally happens, right?  Here's what Porter accomplished:

Porter in the exersaucer...

Porter's back in the exersaucer...completely clean.

 The worst blowout we've ever experienced in the history of having four children.

Thank goodness it was June and we could just take everything outside and hose it down. Then Clorox.

 Always happy after his system has been cleaned out.

Definitely worth recording. I hope you weren't queasy before you read this post and I hope you're not now that you've seen it for yourself. May you go through life without these kinds of experiences.