Camden Jordan Porter

HOLY COW- he is finally here! 

We have waited nine, almost ten months, wondering what this little guy would look like, if he had hair, and how big he would be. I thought that November would never get here and now it finally happened. 

Camden's birth was an interesting experience to say the least. I had been dilated to a 1 with a closed cervix (gross, I know) for about the last month of my pregnancy - go me. This boy was not coming out and I wasn't thrilled about it. I was doing just about anything, and taking suggestions on how to get him out. Yoga ball, spicy food, long walks, you name it I probably tried it. We went to the doctor on Tuesday (November 5th, my due date)  hoping for some positive feedback- but alas I was still at a 1 and not effaced. I basically flat out told the doctor I wasn't doing this anymore and I would do anything to get this child out of me- even if that meant a c-section. Turns out I had high blood pressure and she wanted to induce anyway because she didn't want any complications with the baby. I have never been so happy in my whole entire life. We got it all squared away with the hospital and were scheduled to head to labor and delivery Wednesday (November 6th) night at 9 PM. At that point we realized there was no turning back now and that our lives were going to drastically change! 

Wednesday night rolled around and we got to labor and delivery. They were treating me like a queen, it was so nice! They gave me this pill called cytotec to get me started and an ambien. They proceeded  to give us this big long lecture on how plan on being here a while, its your first pregnancy…it's going to take a while for things to really get going -yada yada. Well turns out I went from being dilated to a one all the way to a four in less than a few hours- the nurses were shocked and I was in major pain. The ambien did nothing for me because the contractions came on SO strong- I felt like I was going to die. The nurse asked if I wanted an epidural and I gladly accepted. That sucker is/was a gift from God- I'm not sure how women can give birth without one but more power to those who can handle it. I myself will take one every time I have a child. One that sucker was in me I was able to calm down and get maybe 20 minutes of rest. It was hard to sleep with the nurse coming in and out to check the baby and the monitors. At about 8 in the morning I had progressed all the way to a 9 and my water had broke by itself. It wasn't but about an hour later I was at a ten and they had called the doctor. Luckily everyone that wanted to be there had made it on time. We had told a lot of our family that he probably wouldn't be here till later in the afternoon so it was such a shock that it was progressing so quickly. It wasn't too long after that I had reached a ten and positive 3 station (meaning his head was in position and I could start pushing). The nurse had me do a few practice pushes to help bring his head down even more. I'm pretty sure I only pushed about 7 or 8 times before they told me his head was there. Mind you at this time my doctor was still NOT at the hospital (she's a real piece of work). I was having another contraction and all of the sudden his head popped out- the nurse had to do a double take before she too saw that it was out. At that point there was no stopping him from coming and he literally shot out of me like a cannon on the next contraction! It was crazy and I didn't realize what had happened until he started to cry! So yes, the nurse was the one to deliver him, she was a rockstar and she should really be the one who gets paid for the delivery. Needless to say we are a little upset with our regular doctor, she took her sweet time getting over to the hospital and acted like it didn't even phase her that she had missed anything. I've got a little bit…okay...a stage 3 tear…which is no bueno so I'm pretty sore and will be down for a little while. Thank goodness for my fantastic husband and parents! 

Camden Jordan Porter was born at 10:28 AM. He weighs 7 lbs 10 oz. and is 22 inches long. He is a big boy and has HAIR! Wahoo! We were so worried that he'd come out as a little baldy. He has brown hair that I can put in a little mohawk- I'm thrilled. He really is the most beautiful baby, I guess I may be a little biased and don't want to be one of those moms who is constantly bragging about her child but he's so wonderful and so handsome! 

This was his 22 week 3D ultrasound. 

Proud papa! Love my boys. 

He's such a doll. 

Nana and her baby boy. This was my moms first biological child, so it was such a special moment for her to be there for his birth! 

My mom, and my darling sister. 

Mommy and Daddy 

Cute little guys! 

My sweet brother told me from day one that he would be here the minute Camden was born. Because I didn't know when he was going to be making his arrival into the world so Jason wasn't sure when to come. The minute he got the call he booked a flight into UT that day and surprised me! Love him.

I feel so blessed to be able to have this experience of being a mother. I know that it won't be easy whatsoever but it will be so worth it. I couldn't ask for a better husband who has taken the best care of me for the last 9 months. We are so excited for this new journey in our lives. We would love to have visitors- but all we ask is that if you are feeling sick or have been sick please come another time when you're feeling better. :) Thank you to everyone who has supported us throughout this pregnancy and what not. We love you all! 

Baby Mama

Baby at 8 weeks.

This little shemale (please take that as a loving term of endearment) is what has been making me puke my guts up for the last 12 weeks. :)

We were really thrilled, and quite shocked to find out that we would be expecting a baby. We were 99.9% sure that the previous pregnancy test I had taken said negative, and a week later we were quite surprised to see that the tables had turned. That little tricker! In the words of Jordan Porter as I was staring at the positive sign on the test "Maggie, you look like you're going to throw up." Thanks dear. :)  As soon as reality set in, and I took about 5 more tests just to make sure, we became really excited! 

I'm currently 12 weeks along and am starting to feel much better (thank goodness, the whole throwing up business was really putting a cramp in my style, as well as my back.) We go back to the doctor in about two weeks, and we are hoping the baby looks more like a human than an alien. 

Like I said, we are so thrilled and cannot wait till November to see our kiddo. We are grateful that we get the opportunity to be parents, and thankful that the Lord sent this little one to us. We love him or her so much already. 

Stay tuned. :)

Thoughts for this Easter weekend...

I have been listening to an album by Rob Gardner lately called "The Lamb of God" (highly suggest anything by Rob Gardner, but especially this one!) We sang some of his songs from this album when I was in LDV and the spirit that they would bring was so peaceful and another manifestation to myself that Jesus is the Christ. As I've been listening to this album lately my thoughts have been turned to the Saviors final days, and this Easter weekend. 

When I was younger I would tell people Easter was my favorite holiday, mostly because I'm a sugar fiend and I love candy, especially Easter candy.  I also love the weather this time of year, not quite hot, but yet warm enough to be outside. But as I have grown and gone through things that have turned my eyes toward the healing and saving power of the Savior, I have realized why I still love Easter, and why its my favorite holiday.  We have a man who came to Earth, WILLINGLY, He died for me, and you, and my neighbor next door, even a starving kid in Africa. He knew what was going to happen, He knew it wasn't going to be easy, but yet, He came anyway. He felt my deepest darkest moments, the times when I felt utterly alone, and that moment when I felt I just couldn't go on anymore. No one else will ever experience that, but He did. He did it alone, no one was there for Him, but yet he is constantly there for me. I cannot express in words how grateful I am for MY Savior. For YOUR Savior. For OUR Savior. That man who bravely went to the cross will forever be my best friend, and I am forever indebted to Him. 

I know He lives. I know that on that third day He rose from the dead. He made it possible that I can be with my family and my Heavenly Father again. I know because of this sacrifice I will see those that I have lost again.  He did all of this because He loves us. He loves me. He blesses me in times that I do not deserve blessings. He sends peace when I feel alone. He will never leave me. 

I hope and pray that this Easter we can remember what happened on that first Easter. I hope that we can find that Light of Christ each of us has and go and spread the good word of the Atonement and the Gospel. Never forget that you have a Savior, who came and died for you, and all He asks is that in return you go and "feed His sheep". 

He loves you. He always has. He always will. 

He lives. 

Your kiss is like..Fire...!

Don't worry this post has nothing to do with kissing...but it has much to do with fire! 

Last Thursday  I went up to Logan to get my hair done and to see my mom and dad, I decided I would just stay overnight on Thursday and then be able to spend a little time with my mom and dad. Everything went fine and dandy, a nice dinner at Texas Roadhouse, ran into one of my favorite teachers Richard J. Jensen, and had my hair done (which is always my favorite thing, and I have a fabulous hair dresser!). Things were really looking up for the James'.

Lets fast forward to about 6:45 AM the next morning. My dad had just left for work a few minutes prior, he came in to the TV room to say goodbye to me. I was passed out on the couch, TV on with Dirty Jobs playing in the background, waiting for Jordan to text me to let me know he had made it home from work. I hadn't slept well during the night, the little love seat does a number on my back, so it felt good to finally fall asleep. Meanwhile, in my dream I could hear this piercing noise, one of those noises where you are just so annoyed by it and ticked off that you can't figure our where it is coming from. My mom wakes up and yells to me to see if I know what that noise is, I was still semi-non-coherent at this point and didn't care what the noise was, I just wanted it to turn off so I could go back to catching some z's. My mom thought it was her straightener, because it tends to make some beeping noises when it gets hot. That wasn't it. So she followed the noise downstairs to find smoke in the laundry room. She yelled up to me, and at first I didn't believe her, I thought she was just being a weirdo and trying to get me out of bed. But I thought I better get down there and check, and sure enough there was smoke! At that point I knew I needed to get upstairs and call 911. My mom and I bolted upstairs and I got on the phone, the dispatcher told me to get out of the house and to go sit in a car and wait. Meanwhile, my mom decides she is going to go out side in her bathrobe...what is this a school fire drill? NO! I told her she better put on something else or she would freeze! We headed outside to sit in the car and wait and watch while our house filled with smoke. 

It seemed like hours (only about five minutes) till the police showed up. The first officer ran inside to see what was going on and came back out to get a fire extinguisher, he then ran back in but quickly came back out and said he couldn't get to it because there was too much smoke. Finally the police department came and made their way into the house. Can I just say it was such a sick feeling to watch your house fill up with smoke and see all of these firemen drag hoses in there? Ugh. Something I hope to never have to relive again. What again seemed like hours but was only minutes they had blasted our house with water and put the fire out. They think that the old fridge downstairs motor went and sparked something which caught onto some clothing and spread from there...thankfully there isn't a whole lot of damage, but enough to really mess  some things up. I will say  one thing, we were blessed! There was a water line that my dad had hooked in down there that leaked and water was misting out onto the fire which we think contained it until the fire department came. Also, Jordan installed a new fire alarm downstairs around Christmas time because the old one was dead...had he not done that pretty sure my mom and I would have been in BIG trouble!

This was our view Friday morning.

Where we think the fire started. 

My sisterinlaw got toasted!

So now we are all staying in a hotel because the house was so smoke filled that there was no way we could stay there. We would love visitors! ;) Jordan headed home to Henefer today and I'll be hopefully going back at the end of the week. Holy cow. We are just so thankful for the Hyrum City Police and Fire Department! What amazing men they are!! We are also so thankful for the people from Alpine Restoration, they are so great! 

What a week. We are exhausted. But grateful. 

Here is to having no more fires! :)

2012 - 2013ish.

Well hello friends! 

What a crazy last few months it has been for us Porters! Where to even begin...

Well Jordan and I finally tied the knot in August, and our day was amazing! We couldn't have asked for anything better. The weather was perfect, pretty overcast but it felt amazing considering I was in a hot dress all day and Jord was in his suit. The rain storm didn't hit till about 8:00 when everything was wrapping up. The decorations and flowers were beautiful. The ice cream was super tasty. We have so many people to thank for that day. And best of all I married my best friend and the man of my dreams. 

Our wonderful families!

Our honeymoon was awesome! We were able to stay at the Anniversary Inn in Logan and Salt Lake before we headed to California. We went to Southern California and went to Disneyland (my favorite place ever!) Jordan isn't a big fan of thrill rides, he gets motion sick, so he wasn't super thrilled about Disneyland but he was such a great sport! The weather was wonderful and we had a blast. 

At the airport @ 6 AM. 

Jordan braved the Tower of Terror and hated every minute of it as you can see by the look on his poor face. I on the other hand am having a blast! :) 

Well the honeymoon and events of the wedding ended and now are back to real life. We live in a three bedroom apartment in a small town called Henefer. Its a really cute place and we love it. Its a work in progress.  Here are a few pictures of some things in our apartment. 

We aren't supposed to paint so I had to compromise and put vinyl up on my wall. I found this little cutie at Target.  

On our bathroom wall. :) 

And this is on one wall in my bedroom. 

We have loved being married! Its wonderful, and adjustment for sure, but wonderful. I have the best husband, I am so grateful to have found him! We were able to spend the holidays with both of our families, thanksgiving with Jords family, and then Christmas with both of our families. (Did I mention we both have the greatest parents ever?!) It has been such a fun time for us and being able to spend the holidays together as a couple was awesome.

Random Thoughts! 

•  I've been put in the primary presidency in our ward, and Jordan still hasn't got a calling yet (Lucky duck!) He gets to just support his wifey in her calling. Its been freezing up here in 
• Henefer. Negative temps, but no inversion which I am so grateful for! I'll just continue to freeze my bum off but not breathe in the crappy air.
•  We went to the Killers in November. My favorite band ever. B. Flowers is just so nice to look at. I was like a giddy teenager all over again throughout the whole concert! Love me some Killers. 
• Jordan has a blog. I suggest you just read his blog instead of ours hah! He's much better at updating and is a way better blogger than I am. 
• Jordan and I watch super random shows on TV because we have nothing better to do. Our latest obsession is a show called Catfish. Its about these people who fall in love and have online relationships with each other before meeting. This guy Nev (who had an online relationship go wrong) goes and helps them to meet up and get together. It's crazy what some people will do to get someone to like them! Our other obsession is Once Upon a Time. Yep everyone looks at us weird when we tell them we love this show but seriously don't knock it till you try it. Its a great show, one that really sucks you in and you have to find out what happens next! 

Jordan and I at the USU vs. BYU game. Don't worry, our marriage is still in tact after this game. ;)

One of our favorite things to do together is go to Jazz games. 

My first ever visit to Hogle Zoo. I loved it!

The Gateway 

North Summit's (the local high school) homecoming game. 

"We've landed on the moon!"

Over all 2012 hasn't been a bad year for Jordan and I. We can't complain. I'm very excited to see what 2013 brings us.  I'll end this post with a cute picture I found on Pinterest. It sums it up right there. :) 

You stay classy San Diego.