A lot has happened since the last post.

As you can see from the photos, Porter has developed an attitude. Turns out he doesn't like the sound of the vacuum cleaner anymore. It probably says something about my housekeeping that I vacuum so infrequently that his outlook on the subject has flipped 180 degrees since the last time. After our run today (about 5 miles through the parks) I had taken off shirt off right before I decided he stank more than I did and needed a diaper change. Mid diaper change he took his revenge by pulling on a few of the sparse hairs on my tummy-excruciating. He is also crawling like a pro now and pulling himself up to stand. He is threatening to start walking any day now. It's crazy how fast he is progressing.

I started Anatomy and Physiology on my quest towards a career in some sort of medical field. So far so good. We just took our first test and I did pretty well. I also actually found the rat dissection slightly more interesting than disgusting.

I paced a friend of my brother, Jayk Reynolds,  for the last 30 miles of the IMTUF 100 mile race up in McCall. Jayk is a beast, he ended up getting 3rd place overall. Luckily for me he'd already run 70 miles before I joined him. We ran together from about 11pm to 7:30. I am told the course is beautiful, but I didn't get to see that much of it(the starts were pretty amazing though). The aid stations/volunteers were great-I'll have to try baked potatoes and bacon mid race more often. To Brittany's relief, this experience has not made me want to do a 100 mile race myself. As they say; any idiot can run, but it takes a special kind of idiot to run a 100 miles in the mountains. 

Picked up another garage sale special. Granted, it's a "Jenny Jump-up" and not the more traditional and more appropriated "Johnny Jump-up," but I think it's healthy for the little guy. Apparently I'm still

We recently returned from our first major road trip with Porter. The car top carrier worked great and we had plenty of room in the trusty Subaru. Brittany kept me from running off the road and we made it all the way to Yachats, Oregon for a beautiful wedding. Can't help but look back at our own wedding and think of all the hard work that Brittany and friends and family put into our wedding and the receptions. I hope they know how grateful that I am and how awesome that it was. Who else had a bounce house at their reception? I wouldn't have it any other way, the last four years have been the best of my life.

Well, we've made it to six months. As you can see by the photo, we've started Porter on solid food. So far he has had rice cereal, yams, wooden number 6s and peaches. I may have jumped the gun on the peaches (I have learned that the citric acid might be a little tough on the tummy at this age). He seems to like everything so far, but I think yams just edges out wood.

Porter is increasingly mobile. He doesn't quite crawl, but he is getting super close. He'll get up on his hands and knees-then fall over. He does manage to get all around the room via the face plow and rolling over. He even managed to roll off the couch once (just once). He's going to be a serious handful once he figures out the crawling thing. It's a good thing for him he's so darn cute.

Loving the summer grass.

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I am cheap. I openly acknowledge this fact. This doesn't mean I am a smart consumer, just that I am cheap. I love getting a deal. We recently picked up this exersaucer at a garage sale. Porter loves it. You may notice that it has a few modifications. Some of the toys were missing (they are all detachable) when we bought it and while you can purchase replacement toys from the manufacturer, it's ridiculously expensive and would make this a good deal no longer. Besides, Porter loves the spatula, Dr. Pepper bottle and the flavored water bottle at least as much as the rest of the toys. In fact, I even removed one of the original toys that made some annoying noises(what he doesn't know won't hurt him).

Porter Laughing

4 months and counting! Just when you thought he couldn't get any cuter...

This weekend we are headed up to Stanley, the Alps of the great North West. Some friends of friends told us when they went camping with their baby for the first time they gave up halfway through the night, gathered up their belongings and tossed them into the dumpster on their way out of town. We chickened out and got a hotel room. Hopefully we won't keep the other guests up too much. We do plan on doing some hiking, maybe some boating, and meeting up with some friends at their campground for the obligatory s'mores. I Can't wait! I might break into the s'more mixings early.

I went for my annual wellness exam a couple of weeks ago and my Dr. was nice enough to point out that I'd put on a few pounds. He generously pointed out that a new baby (in our case, the ever cuter Porter), tends to lead to gaining a few pounds. However,  that only works so far for the father. I knew the time would come when my metabolism would slow down and I wouldn't be able to eat a whole box of Lucky Charms in one sitting with no ill effects, but it still sucks.  Couple that with a baby at home to help take care of, and I've got all kinds of reasons why my summer clothes seem to have shrunk over the winter.

Not to worry. I've come up with a plan and some goals, I even weighed in today so I can keep track of my progress. I'm signing up for a 20 mile trail run in the beautiful mountains of McCall on July 13th (http://mccalltrailrunningclassic.blogspot.com). It seems a little daunting, but I took Porter on 3 mile run on around the neighborhood today, how much harder could the race be? I am also experimenting with the 100 Push ups in 6 weeks program (http://www.hundredpushups.com), so if we bump into each other and you notice a pronounced swelling in my chest and/or arms, please don't be alarmed, I'm not suffering from a peanut allergy or anything.

I don't care how much yoga I do, I will never be able to stick both my feet in my mouth at the same time. Another reason to envy babies (like laying around eating and sleeping all day-they don't even have to get up to go to the bathroom!).

So, I almost never bother to color my drawings. I thought this one turned out pretty well (the scan is lighter than the actual drawing), until I noticed I'd spelled armadillo wrong. #@$%!!

Eat and Run Review

I just finished ultra trail running legend Scott Jurek's book, "Eat & Run." The book gives some interesting insights into his childhood and evolution of his running career and his road to becoming a vegan. He even threw in a a vegan recipe each chapter. I think I could get behind the idea of being a vegetarian, but vegan seems to little over the top. Also, Jurek is some sort of vegan gourmet. I originally thought it would be fun to try a recipe or two, but they are way too complicated. Mostly I  enjoyed his accounts of some of his more epic races (especially the Copper Canyon race described in the book "Born to Run").

I must admit it has worked on some level as I have been hitting the trails a little harder than usual and am looking for nice trail run in the next couple of months, not to mention the fact that I haven't eaten a burger since I started the book...

H is for Hamsters hugging humans

Not really sure about H yet, but I think I'm getting close. Any suggestions?

3 months!

We made it, safe and sound. I can't believe it's already been 3 months. Porter is grabbing his feet, Brit's hair and anything else that gets in his way, and slobbering on anything in reach (I fear he may get a little dehydrated if he keeps it up). It really is incredible how fast they change. He's more fun everyday.

I think we are adjusting well to being parents. I am getting the hang of being home with Porter and Brittany is still kicking butt at work on top of figuring out how to feed the little guy at the same time. We were talking the other day and she asked me if I ever thought we would produce such a perfect baby (in our totally unbiased opinion), and I had to answer yes. I pretty much figured on it; since Brittany is so perfect, my genes couldn't mess things up too badly.

The Letter G

So, it seems that I am having some trouble picking an idea and sticking with it. Please feel free to comment and let me know if you prefer any of the ideas (anybody new to this site, I am working on a children's alphabet/coloring book).

Letter F ideas

 This mustache may have been the best 25 cents I have ever spent. Albertsons on Overland and Orchard vending machines.

 It's official, I am house husband. I quit my job of eight years as a claims adjuster at Farm Bureau Insurance. Can't say enough nice things about the company and all the friends I have made there over the years. The above Scion XB is the car we bought to replace the company car. I am going to miss the free gas and insurance. My friend Brandon pointed out that the cars I buy are usually bought bay 50-60 year old women-obviously the most intelligent group of consumers. I like it.

So, this is what I've come with for E so far. It's weird how there are so many animals for some letters and so few for others. I better start brushing up on how to draw Xantus's.

We spent Easter weekend in Logan with the Pfisters and discovered the joy of the Bumbo chair.

Did I mention he had a small head? These are the smallest glasses the baby store had. Bring on summer.

Still working on the letter D.

I'm having a little trouble coming up with a sketch for the letter C, I'm not happy with it yet. This is what I've come up with so far:

So this is the view Porter has from his crib. Not the clearest picture ever, but you get the idea of the kind of childhood trauma he is experiencing:

So we took the little guy in for his 2 month doctor's apt. Turns out he is in the 84th percentile for weight and length, but only the 25th for head size. So, he's a bit of a pinhead, but a pretty darn cute pinhead. My wife is convinced that his small head size makes him look slightly less like an alien than the average newborn. Overall we think his proportions are good, but it is sort of hard to find a hat that fits.

Installment "B"

Month 2

As you can see from the photo, we are attempting to raise our child in the carnival sideshow tradition. While I am hoping to make it as a bearded lady, Porter is well on his way to becoming the family strong man. My beautiful wife is deciding between knife thrower and the Ringmaster.

The little guy has hit the two month mark and is healthy as can be. He is already starting to bust out of the three month sized clothes. Brittany and I are adjusting well as parents; managing to grab enough shut eye to keep functioning and once in a while I change a diaper without getting pee'd on.

I've also been away from the office for over 2 months now. Brittany likes her job and is way better at bringing home the bacon than I am, so she has started back to work and whilst I am blessed with the opportunity to stay home with the little guy. I definitely have the better end of the deal. It is a surreal how much things have changed, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm hoping this blog will help me keep track of the passage of time, document our parenting failures and successes, as well as to motivate me draw and paint. I plan to post the occasional photo as well as a daily coloring book page that I am drawing to keep Porter entertained (once he is old enough to grasp a crayon without shoving it up his nose). We might throw in a recipe here and there if we can manage the energy to cook something up.

The doodle for today is the first of an alphabet coloring book I've been considering for a while: