Sunday, April 20, 2008

Mr. Mom

With everything that has happened to Val lately, I've tried to let her rest and recoup. That means I did a lot of the stuff she usually does, and let me tell you, It would take three of me to do what she does alone!

To avoid boring you with the specifics, let's just say I tried to take care of the kids whenever I was home from work,(including all night - every night), I read more books to them, walked with them, took them on errands, etc. I usually do all that stuff, but this week I did it more. I think the kids are finally getting used to me.

All week long, I dealt with each of the kids crying for their Mother. Xander and Mia were so mad at me at times that they would just scream "MOM! MOM! MOM"! Val would poke her head in and they would immediately calm down. I thought I had finally won Xander over today in the van. He was very tired and throwing a tantrum. I tried and tried to calm him down. I sang him songs, played peek-a-boo with him, told him stories. Nothing worked. I decided to give him some gummi bears. He stopped crying immediatly, ate it and with a huge smile, he looked at me and said "Thank you Mommy".

Whatever.

Even though I can't be half the mom Val is, the kids and I have a great time anyway, and they amaze me with the way they think. Mia had a stomach ache the other day and told us she had a "shark pain" (sharp pain). I thought that she just miss heard the words, but when we were watching Discovery channel and saw some sharks, she said "Dad! Shark Pains! In my belly!" So I guess she thinks belly aches are actually caused by sharks in there. Another thing about her, when she gets ready to cross the road, she looks both ways and waves at the cars (or lack thereof) in each direction. We just thought it was her friendliness until we realized she's "looking both waves".

Here are some cute pictures (or rather, pictures of cute kids). Thats one of the things I did for Val too - take pictures.

This first one shows a couple of toys I snagged from the trash. 2 Radio control cars. The Mustang is almost big enough for Moo to drive!
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CJ's finally growing her teeth in!
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Cool Xander
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Mia's got to get prepared to eat otter pops! Hey her hands get cold.
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9 comments:

Liz and Dave said...

Love the post. You've done a great job as Mr. Mom. Keep up the good work.

Andy Porter said...

That's hilarious. I love seeing life thru Mia's eyes. I was totally having shark pains yesterday too.
You're a great Daddy. I hope Val can be feeling better soon.
~Andy

Valerie said...

Ben is a great Dad and he helped out so much. I really liked it when he tried to be me; it made me want to be sick more often.

Kornelia and Emanuel said...

I came across your blog through the Packard's blog and I am wondering if Ben has served a mission in Hungary, in Miskolc. If not, I am sorry for bothering.
Kornelia

Ben Porter said...

Yes I served in Hungary - in Miskolc! És emléksem rád! Lisa Packard az unokahúgom. Te honnan ismered öket? De kicsi a világ, ugye? I saw your blog. You have a beautiful Family!

Valerie Porter said...

Jó reggelt kívánok, Nem beszélek magyarul.Mi a neve ? Örülök hogy találkoztunk. Köszönöm (szépen).Viszontlátásra.

Adios!
Ben's wife

Kornelia and Emanuel said...

Lisa ferje az en ferjemmel szolgalt egyutt Franciaorszagban a Parizs misszioban! Ki gondolta volna... We live in Italy, my husband is Italian. Meg mindig megvan a T-shirt, amire Mickey egeret es a templom teret rajzoltad!! Giacomonak nagyon tetszik! May I make a link on our blog to yours? Valerie speaks (writes) well in Hungarian!
K.

Ben Porter said...

Valerie cheated on her Hungarian, she copied it from the internet! Feel free to link to us, and we'll do the same.

Valerie said...

What! You made me sound cheap by saying the words "cheated" and "copied". You could have said, "Valerie was so brilliant to find a website with Hungarian phrases and so elegantly put them together in sentences." That is what you should have said.