The Class of 2014

The kindergarten class of 2014, that is :) Last Wednesday Brooke had her preschool program/party to celebrate the end of the year. It was so fun to see her interact with her fellow preschool friends and show off some of the things they had done this year. (Technically, Brooke should be starting her first year of PreK this coming August, but since Brooke has a middle of the year bday and H. is AWESOME, Brooke got to sneak in a little early.)

They showed a slideshow video of pictures from throughout the year. Brooke pointed to every picture and said, "That's so and so" she knew all the kids.

Brooke got to pick a treat

Brooke and her teacher

Having treats afterwards

So happy to be one step closer to school!

Brooke and her classmates said their ABCs, counted to 20, and sang a song

Mother's Day and Other Stuff

This is what the kids made for each of their grandmas. I must say, it looked much cuter on the website where I got this idea. Porter wasn't very cooperative with his hand print, as you can tell by the white mess all over. I finally had to use his footprint.

 We introduced Porter to some new toys:

I heard Brooke making tons of racket in her room one afternoon during her nap and found her doing this:

 She piled all her blankets onto her footboard to make a saddle and was pretending she was riding a horse.

 And she was wearing a pair of Porter's socks...

 Brooke has been a great big sister so far. She asks all the time now to hold him and when she does she will pat his tummy like she is burping him. She is always by my side when I am changing him or putting him to bed and mimics me when he cries by saying, "It's okay, buddy, I know..." She was also excited to "play" with him.

 During this time, Brooke told me, "Porter is pulling my hair!" and "Porter, we don't push!" Then when he got fussy she said, "Mom, Porter doesn't want to play with me anymore!"

Porter loves blankets! He always tries to eat them and if he is fussy he will settle right down by stroking his check with a blanket. Blake also figured out that is a way to get him to eat. He was fighting me one day and wouldn't eat. Blake put a blanket up to his face and he started eating!

Mother's Day weekend, we spent some time at Danie's Summit Lodge and Restaraunt.

Flowers and tickets to see 'Wicked' from Blake and a tissue paper flower with a candy filled center from Brooke. As soon as Brooke gave it to me she immediately said, "I want some candy, let's share!" and Blake said, "yeah, I could have some candy." Isn't that the epitome of being a mother--getting a gift and then sharing it with everyone else? ;)

Love summer evenings!

  Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful, amazing women in my life!

3 Months and a Blessing

Before I begin my post, I must do a shameless plug for my new design blog: PBdesigns. If you haven't been over there recently, I have totally redesigned it and added tons of new products. I've arranged my products into categories and added links for you to easily navigate between sections. I have a large selection of children's/nursery wall art as well as some wall prints for your home that would make great mothers/fathers day, anniversary, birthday, christmas, or just because gifts! You can also "like" PBdesigns on facebook. And if you think others might "like" it too, please share!

I took these photos underneath our tree in our front yard. Porter was very serious faced as he was enchanted by the rustling leaves overhead. 

 

Porter at 3 months

• is more in a routine.  Likes to be in bed by 8 and sleeps mostly through the night.
• eats about every 2 1/2 hours except while taking his long 3-31/2 hour nap during the afternoon. 
• is a very social/smiley baby. With Brooke, she was smiley but we had to work to get a smile out of her. With Porter, all you have to do is say "Hi bud!" and he will give you the biggest, sweetest grin. He will fuss if he is in the other room and can hear us nearby. If we move his bouncer chair into the same room as us so he can watch what is going on, he's fine.
• giggles whenever I change his clothes. 
• uses his feet to push himself backwards
• is very close to rolling over

We blessed Porter on May 6th and what an event it was! We were so blessed to have lots of friends and family come celebrate with us. Most of our family live at least 3 hours (or more) away and it was so great to have them drive all the way out to see us.

Saturday night we had a fun BBQ. Brooke was in heaven having all her cousins around to play.

Brooke and cousin K. (aka "Yabba") spent a lot of time pulling each other around in the wagon.

 Sunday was the blessing. Even though Porter was pretty fussy in the morning, he was perfect during church. He was wide awake during his blessing, staring intently up at Blake, listening to every word (Brooke did the same thing during her blessing). Blake gave Porter a truly beautiful blessing. Blake and I have a lot to live up to! During the testimony part of the meeting, I got up to share mine and Brooke comes running up to the stand. The whole time while I am talking (and trying not be emotional) Brooke is standing by my side saying "mom!....mom!...." I had to do my best to ignore her and I am sure my thoughts made no sense because I couldn't concentrate. Afterwards, Brooke shared her testimony for the first time. It was so cute. We definitely do not have a shy daughter!

Blake with his sister Steph

Sunday afternoon we got together again and had a great lunch. The lunch was the cause of much stress Sunday morning as I was cooking the entire thing. Thankfully my mom and Blake came to the rescue to help me out. My mom transported food from our house to my inlaws house (where we had the luncheon) and Blake became an expert chicken enchilada maker (he filled probably 50 enchiladas).

Everyone from Blake's side of the family came out to support us

Brooke and Yabba

My friend Andrea came over to take some pictures of Porter. Here is one she's sent me as a little preview. I love it. I already can tell Porter's 3 month photo shoot will turn out better than Brooke's 3 month photos ;)

End of April

Here is my picture dump for the end of April, in no particular order:

After bathtime, Brooke always reminds me of a little hobbit

 Some daddy time:

 Thanks Ben and Katie for the crab outfits!

 Blake shot a coyote:

 One morning Brooke wanted to hold Porter. When I told her to hold out her hands, she cupped them in front of her as if Porter were the size of a tiny mouse.

 Brooke is starting to draw faces and people instead of just scribbles and I think its so cute!

 She loves helping me give Porter a bath

 My sweet baby boy