Tuesday, November 23, 2010

The first snow!

It snowed for the first time this year on November 9th, as opposed to September 21st last year! I, for one, welcomed this change with open arms! It has been fun seeing Porter get SO excited about the snow, even though it has been sparse so far.
And where there is snow, there is hot chocolate! Cheers!
Here's to a warm and cozy winter, snuggled up to these two cute boys :)


Goodbye, old friend.

Thankfully a material friend, but a friend nonetheless. I think this picture explains itself for the most part. This is Porter kissing the t.v. goodbye before the garbage men took it away. (Actually someone still took it off the curb before morning...do you REALLY think we put it out there without making absolute sure it was broken?!)

Neither one of us saw what happened, as I was making dinner and Craig was changing clothes upstairs, but we like to think it was an accident. Sigh.

Halloween!

This year our little man wanted to dress up as a firefighter! My friend, Amber, let me borrow this adorable jacket and Porter was THRILLED! He wouldn't take it off for hours at a time!
We attended our ward Trunk or Treat, which was INSANE. I think 5 times more people came than they expected, but surprisingly they didn't run out of food or candy, so a good time was had by all! Porter even won a prize for having one of the top 3 cutest costumes in his age group!

Here is Porter getting deadly peanut m & m's...don't worry, Mommy ate...err, I mean confiscated them to protect the little guy :)
Here is Daddy helping him go from car to car. Daddy was dressed as a baker, and I wore my "bun in the oven" costume from when I was pregnant with Porter. It was a big hit! I only have a few pictures from that night because it was pitch black and all of them are of the back of Porter.
On Halloween night we spent the evening with Craig's family. The kids had a blast trick or treating and came home with tons of loot!

Here are the pretty princesses!
I had to carry Porter's bucket for him because it got so heavy with candy that he couldn't pick it up!
This is our wonderful neighbor, Tom. Can you see how concerned the little firefighter is with that raging fire?!
The kids doing their Halloween duty!
Afterwards we decorated Halloween sugar cookies. Our neighbor, Kaleb helped the kids trick or treat and decorate :) Porter ADORES him!
Check out Lissie going straight for the icing! Who needs the cookie?!
It was indeed a Happy Halloween!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Anderson Farms

On October 30th, Porter and I headed out to Anderson Farms for a fun day at the pumpkin patch with Granny, Auntie Shannie, Abby, and Lissie. We had an absolute blast and came home exhausted! I have never seen a pumpkin patch with so much to do! The kids had a ball and it was definitely worth the hour drive.

This was my best effort at getting a group shot!
I think Porter's favorite part was this huge wooden train (did you know he LIVES for trains?!) He inspected and played on every car, starting at the back. When he made it all the way to the front he pretended to drive and, of course, shouted out the window "ALL ABOARD!"
Riding this little guy was fun, too! He kept yelling "YEE HAW! YEE HAW!"
Now this is not a pumpkin patch view we are quite used to yet. This picture does not do justice to how gorgeous the mountains were in the background. This was taken from one of three different rides that day, and Porter was pretty darn excited about that green tractor!
Granny likes to have the kids help her find the ugliest pumpkin in the patch. I think Porter may have the winner, here!
They had pedal cars which the kids went NUTS over. Abby was an absolute natural and Lissie only needed a little help from time to time. Porter couldn't reach the pedals, but he did a fair job at steering. Unfortunately Granny and I had to take turns pushing him, and we got pretty wiped out! Especially since the kids asked to do this about 5 times that day :)
We did so many fun things that day! They had a barrel train, hay rides, wagon rides, pedal cars, a sort-of-petting zoo, pumpkin patch, we got to feed a buffalo and some cows, and mostly enjoy time with family and the gorgeous weather. I think we will definitely make this a tradition every year!

AND....now I shall leave you with the final outcome of trying to get your two year old to LOOK and the camera and SMILE!



Oh, well. They sure make me smile now!

A Boy and his Blankie

I am taking advantage of this night without my husband to get some serious blogging done. I really feel strongly about journaling about our family, and I wish I had never gotten out of the habit! I hope to be better at documenting our lives not just for our far away friends and family, but so our own little family will have the memories that one day I know we will cherish. Now, onto the recent-ish happenings in our lives!

The other morning (okay, like a month ago), Porter was watching for the garbage truck to come and pick up our trash, which is one of his favorite things to do (almost as much as helping Daddy take it out on Thursday nights). He had his blankie with him and I couldn't help snapping a few photos of him with his best buddy.

The satin edges are almost disintegrated from being loved and washed so much. I have noticed that in the last few months he loves to stick his fingers underneath the torn satin, especially when we snuggle in the chair and read books before bed.


He adores his blankie, although he is happy to leave it in his bed unless he's not feeling well or extra tired. He doesn't carry it around or leave the house with it. He lights up when he snuggles with it, though! Another funny thing is he won't go to sleep unless his "blue blankie" is spread across his pillow in his crib. He will ask me to "fix it" if it's not on his pillow so he can sleep on top of it. I wonder how he ever got into that habit, but it's been months that he has been sleeping that way!


We are thankful for "blue blankie" and for the sweet friend, Cathy, who gave it to Porter when he was born, embroidered with his name and birthday. We are definitely going to get one for his little sister when she arrives so they can have matching blankies!

Friday, November 12, 2010

It's a...



We were super excited (and I was TOTALLY SHOCKED!) to find out today that our little bean is a GIRL!!! I was 100% sure it was a boy, so there goes Mommy's instinct! The baby looks wonderful and perfectly healthy. We are so excited, and it's a thrill to think about bringing a little baby girl into our family!

Here is her sweet little profile today at 20 weeks, 2 days... Do you think she looks like Porter?
The classic alien face :)
Her perfect little beating heart :)
Her fingers on her left hand.
And, of course, the money shot :) It's a GIRL!!! I can't believe it!
Here is an awesome video where you can see her move her tongue, open her mouth, and swallow, as well as see her perfect little heart just beating away :) It is so amazing!



We are already in love with our little girl. I still am in total shock and I can't believe I'll have a daughter of my very own! I am so excited, and can't wait to fall in love with her even more.

As far as the pregnancy is going, it has been a breeze. I suffer from horrid, horrid, nasty, evil acid reflux, but medication helps a ton, and I feel great when it's under control! I am feeling wonderful, and I hope it continues to go as smoothly as it has been. Heck, I may even do this again :)

p.s. I know I haven't blogged much AT ALL. I have some seriously cute photos of Porter's fall and Halloween, and I promise to be better about posting!