HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Happy Halloween everyone! Well this has been a very busy week in the Porfirio household. With AJ working up his haunted house in our garage, our nanny being out for 2 days, and our animals getting sick and making messes everywhere (sorry if that's too much) we've just been going non-stop. Well today is the day for it all to come together (and tomorrow's the day I get my garage back, hee hee.) William has 2 costumes to chose from this year. A pumpkin costume that my mother made for my cousin a few years ago, or a superman costume that AJ bought when William was 6 months old. AH, I could have used that as a poll - oh well! I'm kind of leaning toward the pumpkin, but we'll see.

Our plans for this evening are to get everything and everyone ready for Trick or Treating. Whitney, Jay, and Addyson are coming over and we'll do some light trick or treating with the kiddos. They will look so cute together. Then after we go early with them, we'll head back to the house and hand out candy to all those who dare go into the "True Fear" Haunted House (I think that's what it's called this year. I think it should be called the Por FEAR io House, but AJ doesn't like that.) Jonathan and Kelly are coming over and Jonathan's making his yummy chili for us too! They've helped AJ with this house every year and it's a lot of fun. So that's it - I'll hopefully get to post some pictures this weekend. I wish everyone a Safe and Happy Halloween!

Poll Closed

Well, the latest poll for "When Will William Start Walking" is now closed. And the answer was 12 months. Now, at 13 months, he's loving walking and doing so well. It's so cute because you can just see him beaming with pride with every step he takes!

So now, I need a new poll. I'll have to brainstorm this one.... Oooh, I got it! The election.

Sad Day, She Left Too Soon...

Today was a very sad day for me and many people in the Nashville music industry community. A friend and colleague of mine, Emmie, passed away suddenly due to pregnancy complications. She was 17 weeks pregnant with her first baby and she was so excited to be a mom. I've known Emmie for a few years as she was one of the first people I met here in the music business. She was always so nice and always made me feel welcome. When she told me she was pregnant a few weeks ago, she was simply over the moon. She was so excited to be a mom and looking for advice on all kinds of baby related things. I had lunch with her last week and she mentioned she felt good for the most part except for pains that she kept having. The doctor chocked it up to just being pregnant and having growing pains. I saw her Monday evening at an industry event and she was her typical happy self, but said that these pains were really hurting her that day. Emmie was telling me about their plans for painting the baby's room and how she didn't want to find out the babies gender, but her husband did so she joked that he may not come to the ultrasound. She passed away Tuesday morning.

Today was the memorial service. I went with my boss and it was as nice as a ceremony could be. There were so many people there and everyone had felt such a loss. Lee Ann Womack was there and sang "I Hope You Dance" and I don't think there was a dry eye in the church. It was and still is so hard to believe that she's not with us anymore. I work with her regularly on promotions and our business is unfinished. She had just married last year and was pregnant and looking to start her family. She was only 33. They mentioned that her baby was a boy named Westin. Although nothing like this can ever be justified or explained, it does make you reflect on your own life. It forces you realize that life is short and that you need to count your blessings. Love your family and friends and tell them so regularly. I do know that I am so blessed with a wonderful family and friends. I love every one of you and I don't take anyone for granted.

At the ceremony, there was a reading that was one of Emmie's favorites. I included it below. I am writing about this because I feel like this blog is essentially a diary for me. Life has a plan of it's own and as much as I like to write about and remember the happy times, it's the sad times that shape who we are as well. Emmie left this world too soon, but I am happy and blessed to have known her.

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

Sewing

Sooo.. (ha ha) I did some sewing today. I spent about 5 hours start to finish and made a pair of baby girl cloth shoes. It was my first real project since the T-shirt pants I made. I was still having some problems with the stitching (tension not right) but I constructed them as the pattern said and they even fit a baby (William) and didn't fall apart. I feel a sense of accomplishment and now I'm hooked to this sewing thing. I will probably make a dress next to match the shoes, but I may wait until after my sewing 101 class on Nov. 4th. You know, I didn't think that handmade boys clothes were all that popular. Well, was I wrong? At the pumpkin patch, a bunch of little boys around William's age were wearing little festive overalls. So, I'll be working on those as well. I'm planning to make him some for the Christmas season.

And why baby girl shoes you may be thinking? Well, because my lovely and thoughtful mother gave me a bunch of fabric to practice with, but they were mostly floral prints. Hopefully, I'll have a girl one day who can wear it. If not, some lucky winner may get them if they have a baby girl! I've also put a slide show here of my 2 projects so far. You'll see William wearing the pants I made. They didn't fall apart, but the seam line at the waist was horrible! You may or may not be able to tell. And there are some other angles of the shoes I made today. Ciao for now!

Zoo and Pumpkins!

Last weekend, instead of making it to the pumpkin patch with the McKenzie's due to soccer game scheduling, we decided to go to the zoo instead. It was William's first time and he loved it. Not the part that interrupted his nap, but he loved watching the animals - especially the giraffes.

Also, yesterday we did finally make it to the pumkin patch. It was so much fun! Vance (Grampy) was in town for the day and it was so nice to have him come along with us. We went through corn mazes, nature trails and walked through a pumkin patch to get our own pumkins. Oh, and I can't forget we played with some corn and saw some farm animals as well. William was such a big boy yesterday as all he wanted to do was walk! It was great! We'd stand him up and he would just hold our hands for a second, then take off. Usually at this point he would squat down to crawl, but he just wanted to walk - no stroller, no mommy, just walk. It was such a blast! I definitely think we will be making the Gentry farm part of our fall tradition! Here's a slideshow of the zoo, pumpkins and some miscellaneous photos as well - Enjoy!

What's Up? Just Raising a Remote Genius...

Well it's Friday and boy am I happy to say that! Another weekend to spend with my little family and do whatever the heck we feel like doing. Well, I say that but we have some serious chore catching up to do. Our house has become quite the mess with laundry, dishes, clutter, and everything else in it. We've let it go and we need to do some serious work in the morning. I'm going to start some laundry tonight and who knows if I'll get a second wind and feel like doing more before bed. In other weekend news, Vance (my father in law) is coming into town tomorrow morning. I guess he was in Atlanta and decided to drive up for the night. We're so excited to see him! After our fun morning chores, we'll probably go to the pumpkin patch that we missed out on last weekend. AJ's hitting the Haunted House circuit tomorrow night, but I will not be attending. I don't get the same thrill from being terrified by zombies and chainsaws as he does, so it's not worth it for me.

I'm also going to start a new sewing project this weekend. I already made a pair of pajama pants for William out of a T-shirt. That was fun to make, but I didn't do a very good job. The tension was not right and the stitch kept looping on me. And I didn't allow much extra room for the seam, so they fit him quite snugly. Two months ago they would have been perfect. I will be attempting baby shoes this weekend. Wish me luck. I found a super cute pattern, but I don't really know what I'm doing. I'll take a picture and post my projects. After this I'm going to attempt making a little dress. Not for William of course. There's not many easy patterns for boy clothes, so I'm starting with girl stuff. Hopefully, I'll have a girl one day to wear it ;-)

Now, most importantly, what's William up to? Well he's getting more confident in his steps as he will now leave the couch or chair to come to us, not just person to person anymore. He's cruising around everything now, couch to the push toy, to the wall, to the kitchen cupboards so he's pretty darn close to really taking off walking on his own. He's been super happy and incredibly cute lately. Not that he's not always the cutest baby in the world, but yesterday he didn't fuss or throw a fit at all. He was happy as a clam and just playing so good with his toys and with us. One thing that's been a somewhat tough adjustment for me is that he doesn't want to cuddle anymore... ever! He's just go go go. He'll make the occasional pit stop to me and give me a kiss or hug, but as soon as I try to snuggle he's off to the races. He's formed an opinion about things and is not afraid to share when he does not like something. AND, the most amazing thing of all - William turned on our TV the other day!!! You're thinking, "big deal" right? Well, to turn on our TV with sound, you need 2 separate remotes. And for each, you have to hit the button for the right setting and then the power button. Well like a miniature electronics genius, he grabbed one remote and turned on the TV power. Without missing a beat he grabbed the other remote hit the correct button and then turned on the sound. I laughed so hard because he just looked at me like "Look what I did? Ah, it was nothing!" Yeah, we've had adults come over that can't figure out our remote system.

Well, I wish everyone a very happy weekend! Stay safe!

New Pictures!

Hello, It's been too short of a weekend if you ask me. William and I were very busy visiting friends for a playdate yesterday morning, then a baby shower in the evening. Today, AJ and I took William to the zoo for the first time. He seemed to enjoy it for the most part, but it was during his nap time so he was a bit out of it. Nonetheless, fun for all! As promised I included pictures to my previous posts. I added slideshows from Tina's Wedding, Meeting Braedan, and William's first Birthday.

This week William went to the doctor for his 12 month check-up. He also got some vaccines, which I always hate. I was convinced by the doctor to give him the flu shot, which I did and of course he had a fever for 2 days. Also, he got the chicken pox vaccine and he had a reaction to it. He's had little red marks all over (like a rash, but it doesn't seem to bother him) ever since. It seems to be going away, but it's very unnerving. He's never had a reaction to any vaccines until now. They measured my little man and he's 29 1/2 inches long and 21 lbs. 12 oz. - I guess I should say my big man. Also, now we are able to turn his car seat around to be forward facing. That is so exciting! I really think William enjoys being able to see us drive and look at where we are going. Finally, He's still practicing walking although he's not yet mastered it. He'll really only go from person to person if encouraged, but otherwise he favors crawling.

Next week we are going to have professional pictures done. It's one of AJ's favorite things to do - NOT! Sorry babe, but one day you will thank me when we're looking back at the great pictures :-) It looks like after that we are going with the McKenzie clan to the pumkin patch so that should be fun! Ok, I'm exhausted and my eyes are blurring, but I need to do laundry. Feel free to comment, since I never know if anyone reads this, ha ha! Ciao for now!