More birthdays, camping and sailing w/ Granddad

April in our family always begins w/ celebrating the best daddy in the world.

This year, Baxter turned 34!

And what an adventure his 34th year of life has been!

He's back in school and trying to join the Navy Reserves.

Meanwhile, we are fully supporting him w/ lots of love and kisses.

Porter and Daddy went on their first father-son camping trip.

Baxter said Porter did very well that night,

but by 8 a.m. he was loaded up in the car declaring, "I'm ready to go home."

Ha! Baxter assured him there was more fun to be had,

and he was able to coax him out of the car.

They went canoeing on the lake, enjoyed the beautiful weather,

had a nice lunch and then came home.

We celebrated Honey's birthday,

where she also announced that she was taking a job in D.C.

We're very excited for her.

We spent a lot of evenings exploring the beach.

The boys love going there,

and we're taking advantage while the weather is still nice.

Granddad took us sailing.

He currently lives on a 53 ft. sailboat and has a 27 ft. boat that he sails.

It was fun to watch him and Baxter work the sails together.

The boys loved being out on the open water.

That afternoon, we went to the Insectarium in New Orleans.

The boys were excited to watch the bugs and chase the butterflies.

We walked 34 blocks the CBD to eat at a BBQ restaurant.

It was worth it!

We took the trolley back downtown.

The boys were so excited to ride a "choo choo."

There are so many sights to see in that beautiful and dirty city.

And interesting people too.

Daddy even got flicked in the nose by a stranger. Haha!

Easter was great this year...as always.

The boys got some great Easter baskets filled with water guns, goggles and such.

Jazzy got a really chic yellow beach cruiser w/ a cute basket and everything.

We went to church and then joined my family at Uncle Brehm's

(Aunt Jenny and Daley were in Belize).

We had an awesome egg hunt there,

and then we joined Daddy's family at the beach lot

where we had another awesome egg hunt.

The weather was so beautiful, the food was good

and the company was even better :)

 I try really hard to fit workouts in at home in the evenings.

The weather is great in the spring so it's nice to do outside while the kids play.

The like to join me sometimes too.

Daddy still laughs about Porter jumping on my back while doing pushups

and yelling "Run like the wind, Bullseye!"

It's always an adventure.

Ty goes to this wonderful in-home daycare on a farm.

This spring brought a lot of baby goats

and you can tell how he feels about that.

He helps bottle-feed them every day.

Ty is definitely my cuddle baby.

He likes to snuggle all the time but only for a short time.

He requires a little extra loving on a daily basis.

This particular day we rocked in the recliner while watching cartoons

and before I knew it he was asleep.

I truly relish these moments w/ my very busy boy.

And Porter's year in Pre-k 3 is coming to a close.

He has grown and learned so much.

We're so grateful for schools and teachers and learning!

School will end next month and we're looking forward to a great summer.

Springtime in South Mississippi

Spring has sprung in South Mississippi

and this is the view out our living room window.

The azaleas are always so beautiful.

Too bad it only lasts a few weeks.

We enjoyed a day at the park with cousins.

Ty, Porter, Mae, Ave & Thomas in March 2017

We even explored an army tank.

Mommy had to do some more traveling.

And I got pics like this while I was gone.

Makes my heart melt!

I love all my boys so much.

We built a wall! This made our office official.

I handwrote a poem that I heard President Monson quote at general conference.

How far is heaven?

It's not very far.

When you live close to God,

it's right where you are.

And we love the way it turned out.

I'm so grateful I married a man that can do anything :)

Porter and Ty are very concerned about people's "bobos" these days.

Everything is a bobo and everyone needs a bandaid.

The boys sleep very well in their own room.

Last month, we moved Ty in with Porter to give Jazzy her own room.

We were definitely skeptical at first but they've done great.

Sometimes they wake us up at 6 a.m. but it's rare so we don't mind too much.

But of course we never seem to get enough sleep.

I do want to remember our nighttime routine though...

We start bathing and getting ready for bed about 7 or 7:30 p.m.

with the goal to have them in bed by 8 p.m. Of course sometimes it's much later.

After baths, Porter and Ty are intent on running around naked for a while.

We allow them while we scramble to brush teeth and comb hair.

We play pretty hard for a while. Dad is definitely more playful than Mom

as I'm usually dead tired by that point.

Then, we read scriptures and say prayers.

Sometimes we squeeze in a book.

Ty and Porter always kiss and hug each other good night.

Ty goes in his crib, Porter climbs in his bed.

Kisses all around :)

Then, what the kids do not know is that it's party time after that.

Ha! If only I had the energy. But we do have a pretty sweet ritual.

I jump in the shower, while Baxter preheats the oven.

Yes, that's right. By the time I get out of the shower,

there are fresh cookies and milk waiting for me.

We enjoy our shows together while eating dessert

and then we finally get to go to sleep.

I look forward to that moment all day!

And here's Daddy helping to prep the cookie dough for the week.

Sometimes we share with the kids ;)

I got to read to Porter's class.

I really love going to do that when I get a chance.

Sometimes I feel so guilty as a working mom.

I want my kids to know that I am present even though I can't always physically be there.

I think about them constantly and do want to be with them all the time.

And Porter just loves it. I hope he remembers those days.

And I hope it makes him feel special. Because he is!

Porter's Sunbeams' teacher is Karen Zahniser

and she really is the best.

Her daughter and I grew up together and I have many fond memories being in their home.

I'm so grateful that he is blessed with such a great teacher.

We are looking forward to summertime fun but not the summer heat.

February was full of love and Mardi Gras!

February is always full of love in the Turfitt house

because we celebrate Valentine's Day and

Mommy & Daddy's anniversary :)

And boy has that love grown with the addition of these two crazies.

Sometimes I can hardly believe that I've been charged with raising these boys.

Porter & Ty, you have truly taught me and your Dad so much already.

We love you more than we can explain.

And we know that you love each other.

You are truly so sweet to one another,

and for that we are so thankful.

February was also filled with soccer games,

where we cheered for our favorite cousin Daley.

Porter loves to go to the games...

mostly because he loves the tiger mascot.

We like to go to the park while Jazzy goes to piano and voice lessons.

One day someone brought their pet goat.

Both boys were pretty excited about that.

I dressed up like Effie Trinket from The Hunger Games

for mutual one night.

I'm currently serving as the Young Women's second counselor,

and it has definitely gotten me into some adventures.

The boys got matching Batman pajamas for Christmas from EE.

They love wearing them around the house together,

but it never fails every time we put Ty to bed in it he unzips it and takes it off.

It makes us laugh so much. He doesn't do this w/ any other pajamas.

We went to visit our friends the Hayes family one weekend

to see the big beautiful home they are building.

We got to enjoy a long ride on the four-wheeler amongst the cows.

Mardi Gras season was a lot of fun this year.

Aunt B.Z. & Zelleigh (Porter on right) Mardi Gras 2017

Amelia & Porter at HTCS parade Mardi Gras 2017

My work asked me to go to Mobile the week of Mardi Gras to work Navy Week.

We decided to take the whole family and it was great.

We've never done Mardi Gras in Mobile before so we didn't know what to expect,

but it was so much fun!

The parades are a lot shorter but the people were a lot nicer

and everything was clean and orderly and friendly.

We went to a lot of parades and did lots of other things too.

Porter learned to scream "throw me something!"

Ty learned how to cheer for beads.

And they both learned how to eat moon pies :)

We also toured USS Mitscher,

where Porter got to sit in the captain's chair.

We spent a full day at the science museum and still didn't see everything.

We played games with some Navy divers.

We listened and danced to the Navy band.

And to wrap up a great week,

Mommy wrecked a government vehicle.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Starting off the new year with a bang

New Year's Day fell on a Sunday this year.

And it also happened to be the first Sunday

when Porter became a Sunbeam and Ty went to nursery.

They were pretty excited about it!

And so were we :)

They both did great.

And we've only had some minor trepidation in the weeks following.

That week Baxter started feeling bad.

He thought it was just the usual sinus infection

and the doctor confirmed it.

But steroids didn't seem to make it better 

and by Thursday he had immense pain in his head.

So he went to the ER and they gave him pain meds and sent him home.

The pain meds didn't make it better and the pain got worse.

I took him back to the ER and they said it was a sinus infection 

and they couldn't do anything else for him 

but that he should see the ENT in the morning.

So we waited until our 10 a.m. appointment with Baxter in incredible pain.

By the time we got there he was writhing in tears and pounding his fists.

I felt so helpless.

The doc took one look at his CT scans and said he had an abscess on a sinus cavity.

And that he would need immediate surgery!

The doc explained he would try to go through the cavity with a tube to drain it,

but if he couldn't reach it he would have to drill a hole through his eye cavity.

It was very scary!

Baxter doesn't even like needles, much less emergency surgery.

I felt so bad for him but couldn't wait for him to feel relief.

The surgery went great and they didn't have to drill a hole.

The next few weeks looked a lot like this...

And this...

Thomas and Jazzy helped a lot while Baxter was recovering

and I was trying to play both roles and working full-time.

Like all things in life:

everything happens for a reason and

God is watching over all and helps you through it.

Baxter started his second semester back in school.

He's doing great making all As and not dare missing a class.

Before we know it he will be done with another degree.

And I can't wait!

We went to lot's of cousin birthday parties.

Zelleigh Bell turns 1!

Lolah Jean turns two!

 This little ham is really coming into his personality.

He is wild, busy, sweet as pie, demanding and cuddly.

He loves to cuddle! He doesn't sit still long but he loves snuggles.

He also loves his big brother.

Ty thinks Porter hung the moon!

He does everything Porter does...even if it's falling down.

He makes us laugh.

 But he also makes us want to pull our hair out sometimes.

He is attached to both of us. He needs to be on top of us all the time.

He literally pushes me away from the sink and the stove.

He screams the whole time we are trying to make dinner.

Sometimes I will take the kids on a long walk 

while Baxter makes dinner just so he can have some peace.

And he's not even content if we pick him up

because when we do he's screaming to get down.

This child is trying so hard to communicate.

I wish I could read his mind!

 Our house looks like this right now...

 We're still loving our "new house," as Porter likes to call it.

And making it more our own every day.

Life is good.