Porter's Day with Daddy at School

Today I had some "important" lab work to do in order to be prepared for a patient next week. I was talking with Porter yesterday and he got so excited and asked if he could come with me. So, he went to the school with me today. I think he had a pretty good time. Mom packed him a lunch and he was able to watch a whole bunch of cartoon on the lab TV. After a while he started to get board so I gave him some dental "rope wax." It's soft and somewhat like playdoe. He loved it and tried making all sorts of things. He even was allowed to melt some over the bunsen burner. He loved that. The pictures show what he made. He was pretty proud of himself.



When I knew that Porter had almost reached the end of his attention span he asked if we could make his hand. We found the alginate impression material, mixed it up in a large bowl, and made an impression of his hand. He also requested that his hand be made with yellow stone. So, we did. It turned out Ok. The pictures below are the pictures he took of his hand. He had just watched me take some pictures some of the lab work I was working on and he thought that looked like fun. He took the camera, placed his hand on the counter, and then took a picture. Then he rotated his hand from the palm view to a side view, then to a back of the hand view, and finally to the last side view; he took a picture of each position and acted so profession. It was pretty neat to watch. Anyway, the pictures he took of his hand are below.

25 things

So, my sister Kim did this and wanted me to do it as well, so here we go.


25 Random Things about Erin:

1. I love being a mom of two boys because they are low maintenance.

2. If there are no sweets in my cupboard I will eat frozen chocolate chips.

3. I thought I was pregnant last week, but I'm not.

4. I love reading others blogs, but I hardly update mine.

5. I talk to at least one or more of my sisters every day on the phone.

6. My favorite PBS kids show is Aurthur

7. I have developed a love of jewelry only in the past three years, but never wore it before then.

8. The ring I wear on my left ring finger is not my real wedding ring. I develop a rash on my finger whenever I wear my real one.

9. I am secretly hoping that we end up in Northern California after we finally graduate, but who knows.

10. I love to sing, but get nervous every time I preform in front of anyone.

11. I can tell you the names of all of the Ninja Turtles, Transformers, and Star Wars characters. I never cared before I had boys that were into them.

12. I put my kids to bed 7:00 p.m., so that I can have more time to myself. (selfish...I know)

13. I get a thrill out of finding a good deal on anything. Lynn teases me that I buy things just because they are on sale.

14. I liked the name Peyton for a girl before I liked it for a boy.

15. I have a love for rugs.

16. I am terrible at remembering birthdays, but I'm working on it. (Sorry if I forget yours)

17. I was almost engaged before I met Lynn, He said, "I want to date you if you break up with him".

18. I would do Sharing Time every Sunday if I could. It makes me feel like my teaching degree is getting put to good use.

19. My house is always messy, unless I know someone is coming over or Lynn is coming home.

20. I am not organized at all. If you look into one of my closets you will see things just stuffed in there. It drives Lynn crazy, but it's who I am.

21. I'm very sporty, but growing up I was in a dance troop for two years. Needless to say, I chose sports over dance.

22. The kids an I like to dance in the afternoons when we are waiting for Lynn to get home from school. One of our favorite songs to dance to is Steve McQueen by Sheryl Crow.

23. I have been listening to the Mama Mia soundtrack for a month straight because it's the only CD that's in my car right now. (Good songs though)

24. I dream to go on a cruise someday with Lynn and without the kids.

25. I cry almost every time I see anyone else crying. I also cry every time I am in an interview for anything. I get the sensitivity from my DAD!




25 Random things about Lynn
by, Erin:

1. His favorite candy bar is Reese's Peanut Butter Cup

2. He loves to play sports and has enjoyed winning two intermueral championships this year.

3. He is an amazing artist!

4. He studies more than anyone I have ever known.

5. All kids like him. Random kids will go to him at church.

6. He didn't get into college until he talked to the wrestling coach at Ricks. He wrestled in college for a little while.

7. I've only seen him cry twice in 6 years.

8. He is usually watching an ESPN gamecast while he is studying. It doesn't actually show the game, but it does show play by play.

9. Lynn's original plan was to be a pediatrician.

10. Lynn sold his truck to buy a family car when we were engaged. I don't think he will ever get over it...he was pretty sad.

11. Lynn always made fun of people who got engaged really quick, but we were engaged after a month and a half of dating.

12. Lynn is an amazing dentist and perfectionist.

13. Lynn is an awesome dad. The kids prefer him to me most days.

14. Lynn used to be a very good wake boarder. He could do flips on it!

15. He drew up the plans for our future dream home and even measured everything out and drew it up on the computer.

16. When playing Canasta, he always wins.

17. He claims that I'm the boss.

18. When he comes home from school, he always falls asleep.

19. He's very organized!

20. Favorite Restaurant: Red Robin

21. LOVES BSU Football

22. He is the best person to watch America's Funniest Home Videos with because he laughs hard at most of the videos.

23. He loves to eat weird things for breakfast

24. He eats a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day after dinner.

25. He went to Curitiba Brazil on his mission and speaks Portuguese, but also wishes that he spoke Spanish too!



25 Random Things about Porter

1. He would eat eggo waffles for every meal if he could.

2. He is an awesome at coloring and gets mad when he colors outside of the lines.

3. He loves star wars lego and wishes he had the wii game.

4. He cryes every Sunday for me even if I'm in the Primary room with him.

5. He doesn't like most candies.

6. He is the best at Hide and Seek because he picks tricky hiding spots.

7. His favorite song right now is Mama Mia and makes me turn to eat every time we get into the car.

8. He has always been a very good big brother.

9. He likes to go into his room and play for hours by himself.

10. Only likes pepperoni pizza and won't eat any other kind.

11. He currently has a chore chart that he is trying to earn a batman lego computer game with.

12. He likes be read to.

13. Sleeps with the door open and light on with his Rhino.

14. He is very obedient and will usually always go to time out when told to.

15. He is very good at telling us that he loves us and he likes to cuddle.

16. His favorite movie is TMNT

17. He got in trouble at school for the first time and thought he was going to be in time out at school the next day all day, so he pretended he was sick so he didn't have to go to school. I still made him go.

18. He often tells me "that's so cute" when I ask him if he likes something I have made.

19. His favorite restaurant is McDonalds.

20. He is a perfectionist just like his dad and loves it when he has a clean room.

21. He likes to chat on the phone with grandmas, grandpas and cousins

22. Doesn't enjoy brushing his teeth

23. Loves to rough house

24. Very computer savvy...he can google things.

25. He is just an all round cool kid!



25 Random Things about Peyton

1. Loves to use just about anything as a weapon...hats, utincils, cars, you name it!

2. Has the cutest personality.

3. He loves babies.

4. Loves anything that Porter loves.

5. Likes to dance and sing

6. His favorite hat is Lynn's BSU hat. He will find it randomly and just wear it around.

7. He always gets complimented on his beautiful blue eyes and eyelashes.

8. Likes to go to sleep at night.

9. He loves to be read to.

10. Throws the BIGGEST fits in the store. I can rarely go shopping with him anymore.

11. He is the biggest tease and will even tease Porter.

12. Loves his daddy

13. Likes playing with our junk mail.

14. loves beans and corn

15. If someone smells a stinky diaper, it's usually Peyton.

16. Loves bath time and splashing

17. He's scared of dogs and cats, but likes them from far away.

18. He likes to climb especially onto the table.

20. Likes to roar.

21. Loves pizza.

22. Loves being outside.

23. Goes for the dishwasher every time it's open

24. Loves doing airplane.

25. He loves family hugs!

My Patient Passed Away?!?

Here about two weeks ago I received a message from one of the staff ladies that I needed to see her in regards to one of my patients. The note mentioned that my patient had unexpectedly passed away. The news was a huge surprise and quite a saddening moment for me, from a dental school standpoint she was a wonderful patient that was pretty reliable; for those of you that don't know that much about dental school patients, reliability isn't always the easiest quality to come; for another reason she appeared to be quite healthy at all her visits. Anyway, I met with the staff lady that spoke with my patient's son that reported the sad news. We did the things we needed to do at the school to prevent future staff or students from reminding the family by future calls in regards to the patient of record. We talked a bit and decided that it would be kind gesture to send a cared offering our condolences to the family. The staff member went out and purchase a card and then she, I, and several faculty members signed and offered our support to the family. That was that, so I thought.
You see, today while I was attending to a different patient I noticed on my computer that I had just received a message. I stopped and took a quick peak to see was the news might be; I usually try and check those messages fairly often and rapidly because they generally contain important information regarding patients or the clinic. To my surprise the title of the message was the above mentioned patient's name. I thought that odd and figured it was just a note regarding her funeral or something of that nature. Adding to my surprise the message stated that my patient had called and was wondering about her appointment that was scheduled for the next day. The secretary with whom she spoke told her that she didn't have an appointment on record and that I would get back with her. You can imagine the surprise I had as I read the message. The card and paper work I had previously mentioned above all came back to me. I couldn't help but think of my patient's thoughts when she received our card and condolences in the mail. I did some checking with the staff that originally reported she passed away and she actually showed me an obituary. I called the patients emergency contact number to see what was up and her daughter answered and proceeded to tell me that her mother was home but wasn't feeling well and was in bed with the flu. I'm still not sure what to think of the whole senerio, but the only thing I can think of is the staff confused my patient with another patient with the same name.

Some Peyton Memories

This is Peyton the other night after his bath. He was being sneaky and just plain cute with his spiky hair.

This a picture Porter took of Peyton figuring out the ways of the three wheeled scooter. I think P0rter and Peyton both did a wonderful job.

I'm not sure what to think of this picture. I just thought it was interesting. What do you all think he's thinking about?

Brundo's Gift

Just wanted to immortalize our flag football year by posting the thank you gift we are giving to Dean Brundo for sponsoring our team with the entry fee and shirts. It sure was a lot of fun.

Peyton and the trash.

Peyton surprised me today, Porter and I were sitting at the computer looking at our blog when Peyton came up to us and wanted to participate as well. I had just finished banana and set the peal on my leg for a second. While Peyton was trying to crawl up my leg he noticed the peel and picked it up. I was just about ready to take it from him when I thought I might try something. I asked him if he could put the peal in the trash. As soon as I asked he turned around and headed to the kitchen, peal in hand. I was totally shocked. Quickly, I told Erin to look and grabbed the camera. Sure enough Peyton made it to the trash can. Erin was in the process of asking Porter to go help his brother open the lid when Peyton figured it out on his own and place the peal inside. Erin and I both were so impressed we clapped and cheered at his accomplishment. We were just blown away at how much he does understand and we take for granted.

Christmas Vacation Part 2

After spending the week with the Gurneys, we had to get back to Utah before the snow got too bad. All of my sisters and their families were in town, so we had a little Christmas with all of them. My Grandma Ballard was there along with my Aunt Wendy. We had such a good time together. Lynn left a few days earlier than me and the boys. We went to Kamas Rec center and swam, visited Kim, went to Cafe Rio, and shopped in Provo. Porter had fun playing Star Wars Lego on the Wii.

Peyton was holding on to the racket and Lynn lifted him up while he was still holding on.

Here are all of the grand kids on Erin's side.

A picture with Grandma Ballard and all of us!

Mom and Dad Belcher

Porter was so excited to get this Batman Imaginext!

My sisters and I went to Park City for the day to go shopping!

My mom and aunt Gayleene planned an awesome girls night out that began with a dinner at The Roof and a play at the Hale Center Theater. We had such a fun time together and the play was so funny. The Roof had amazing food and it was the coolest atmosphere with the Salt Lake Temple in the background.

Lisa and I after dinner with the Capitol in the background.

Left to right (My Mom, Grandma Ballard, Aunt Wendy, Aunt Gaylene)