9.23.12

the letter D for preschool 

8 AM doctors visit for Porter,Kemp was awesome and brightened up when he saw dinosaur books in the room.

This week was crazy. I felt like I ran everywhere. I just don't think I've been very busy since Porter was born so I hit the ground running this last week. I felt like I just wasn't giving my all in at least one area of my life every day. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things. Anyways, Porter had his 2 months check up. He is 13 pounds 8 ounces which puts him in the 78th percentile. Kemper was the same way, cute and chubby and then he started moving and lost it all, not the cuteness. Then later that morning we had Kemper's preschool at our house. A few friends and I teach one morning a week, so I think it turns out that we all teach just one week in a month. We're expanding our driveway so we have a big digger in the front and so we dug in the dirt for a while. I made dinosaur eggs using dirt flour salt and water and the kids loved that, I might do that more with Kemper. It took awhile for them to break it apart, so thats a win in my book. I can tell that this post is kind of a ramble and may not be making sense, so I'll end here and go to bed.

p.s. Does anyone watch the property brothers on hgtv? I swear the reno guy looks like Flynn Ryder from Tangled... especially with the work belt. Thoughts?

9.9.12

I love these boys!

-Kemper is pretty much potty trained, yay! He only has accidents when we're with friends, so right now he is working on going two weeks with out any accidents and he earns a garbage truck. Yep, thats what he asked to work towards. Whatever, I'll go with it. I'm also working on chores with him everyday. I can't believe how fast he is growing.

-Porter is sleeping and eating great. Oh and pooping. I cut out dairy and it seems to be helping out a lot. He's not as fussy and he's not power puking like he was before, so win.

-Other than that, life is pretty uneventful and I'm fine with that. The weather is starting to cool down and I love that, I'm so ready for fall. Then the holidays and the craziness begins, but I'm looking forward to that too. 

hello again

So, after not blogging for a little over a year I feel its time to pick it up again. I haven't really missed it, but I want to keep updates on the boys for everyone to read. I know he world needs another mommy blog, right?

Anyways, here it goes:

-Porter Ryan Hermesman was born on July 11th, 6:54 pm weighing in at 7lbs 4oz and 20in long. My due date was July 22, but my water broke unexpectedly just before midnight on the 10th. So we went in to the hospital, my contractions weren't doing much so they induced me around noon. I got the epidural around 4 or 5. And then he was born after pushing through two contractions. He shares a birthday with my sister Anne, and my friend Serena's son Elijah who was born the same day, in the room next door!
 Around 2 weeks old he was getting pretty fussy and I decided when he was a month old that i should try giving up dairy and caffeine.  From everything I read that seemed to be what the problem might be and I have to say he's much happier and easy going, more like Kemper was. He's growing really fast, too fast. And I have yet to make his birth announcements, but I took some cute pictures for it so they'll be done soon.

-Kemper has taken well to his role as a big brother. For the most part he helps out. He's pretty much potty trained now, although he still has accidents.  He loves to be loud and jump off the furniture which drives me crazy. But he's also been even more of a sweetheart, snuggling and saying I love you more. So I'll take it. I just can't believe how fast he is growing, I can't keep up!

- I have joined a MOPS group here in Durango and it's been great. I've made some good friends and this year I'll be in charge of the crafts for each month. I'm doing that and I'm still in the Young Womens group at church and trying to keep Kemper going to lots of playdates and a co-op preschool once a week. Being busy is good right?

-TJ has been a huge help, and I'm loving having him around to help with Porter. In case anyone doesn't know, when Kemper was born TJ deployed 2 weeks later, and came back when he was 13 months old. He's in school working on an associates and then he'll get a bachelors in Business. He's been busier than ever with work, but we still find time to play too. He's going to be a groomsman in his best friend from the Marines wedding this winter, and I'll be the maid of honor in my sisters wedding. The two weddings are right after the holidays and 2 weeks apart and we're so happy to be apart of them!

I'm sure there's plenty more to update on but this is starting to sound too much like a Christmas letter and I'm too tired to check for mistakes or to see if any of it even makes sense. Thanks for reading?

mountain living

So a couple weekends ago now, we went on a jeeping trip with some people from our church. And I should use jeep lightly as there were only two actual jeeps. The rest of us had 4 wheelers and side-by-sides and trucks. We were in TJ's truck which did awesomely on the trails. For most of the way going up it was an easy ride and then the trail started getting smaller and the elevation higher so it was a little nerve-wracking to me, but I'm alive! Kemper loved it, and loved being able to play when we stopped at a little old mine. We were all around the town of Silverton and Ouray which were both mining towns and there are a lot of old mine buildings left. Anyways, here are a few pictures from my phone.

This is how he smiles now...

We kept going higher after this, my phone just died and I had no camera.

hi

Yes I'm still here, if anyone was curious. I just don't have a ton to talk about. Or actually I do, but I'm lazy and don't ever want to take the time to write it all out. I haven't been very good at reading all of your blogs either and for that, I apologize. But I'm here, hoping to keep up with the blog again. Obviously my distraction has been my ever growing two year old, he keeps me busy 25 hours a day it seems. We've been going to a few play groups, the playground, and the rec center pool. I went to girls camp a few weeks back, which I loved being there as a leader. And we've been to the lake a few times now. And on drives up to Ouray and Silverton. It was our 3 year anniversary a couple weeks ago, first one we've spent together, and we kept it pretty lowkey with a nice dinner out. I've just finished the book The Help and absolutely loved it. I think the movie is going to be incredibly cheesy but I want to see it anyways. And I want to read more books like it, any suggestions?

My other distraction from the blog world has been Pinterest. Its basically a virtual bulletin board that you can keep track of all the things you find online, and use for inspiration. You have to have an invite to join, so if anyone wants one, let me know! I've actually used it a lot for remembering recipes. So since I can't find my camera at the moment, heres a few "pins".

these are from honestly...WTF. They have a few tutorials for bracelets, but I really like this one because similar bracelets sell for the big bucks, and this cost me less than $9.

These cupcakes make my mouth water just from the picture, found here. Who wants to come over and eat?
This is my basic go to look, I like how effortless it looks (although for here it probably was put together by a stylist)
This look is too preppy for TJ's taste, but I really like the mix of pattern.

our guest room

So we are fortunate enough to have a guest room in our home. And a loft too. The guest room and Kemper's are both in our basement. The only thing that isn't great about the guest room is there is only a tiny window, so not much natural sunlight comes in. And the lights in there are really strong fluorescents, which I'm not a fan of. So I'm trying to make it has bright and welcoming as possible. We really need to repaint, but that'll be later this summer. So here's what I've managed so far:

Both the paintings are by me, I'm trying to get back into painting and wanted to just make something quick and easy.

Once we paint the room a new color (probably a blue) I also want to get a few more lamps so that there is more than just the one in the corner, and the overhead fluorescents.

The only think that I've bought specifically for this room are the blue pillow cases. And they were .25 cents for both. Everything else I've already had in the house.

So definitly still a work in progress, and as you can see I'm still a novice decorator and artist, but I wanted to put something I've done on the blog so.. there ya go.

baked

So, I'm a terrible blogger. I know this, I apologize to my faithful readers... but this morning I made blueberry muffins, from scratch (instead of the box) and they are amazing. I guess I'm starting to settle into my domesticness. So I got the recipe from Joy the baker (click for recipe).

Heres what her's look like:

And heres how mine turned out:

I could've baked them for longer, but I was too eager to eat them. They are a lot easier than I thought and I think I'll only make these from now on.

Other news, my brother in law, Nikita graduated high school Friday and had a party today. I'm made a "better than sex" cake per request of my mother in law and thats easy to make too. As far as being better than sex, I'll let you all be the judge, but my vote is no ;]

Better than Sex cake:

Devils Food cake mix

Cool Whip

Crushed Heath bars

Caramel topping

Condensed Sweetened Milk

-Bake the cake according to the directions on the box, no change for high altitude.

-Cool on a wire rack for about five minutes, then cut like you're cutting pieces to serve, just not all the way thru.

-Heat about six ounces of the carmel with the condensed sweetened milk. Pour all over the cut sliced cake so that its absorbed.

-Then sprinkle a ton of the crushed heath bars (walmart sells it in a bag next to the choc. chips) on top of the cake as well.

-Let cool all the way and then cover with cool whip.

Enjoy!

-Let cool on a