Like Father or like Mother?

It's funny that my family sees Porter and says "Oh he definitely looks like you!" and then people that know Blake's family say that he looks just like the M. side. So what do you think?

One thing is for sure though, Porter is ALL BOY! He loves cars, trucks, riding the four-wheeler and wearing daddy's hat. He's also wearing my shoes in the bottom pic, but we'll ignore that ;)

He really likes phone conversations too.

I love my snuggle-bug and am glad he's a mamma's boy!

And is very sympathetic towards Brooke. One night Brooke was having a hard time and sulking at the dinner table. Porter climbed into the chair next to her and put his arms out and sat just like she was. It was so cute.

and speaking of Brooke....When she's not crying over something that has devastated her she is pretending she is a vampire or a kitty. They both hiss and here is her hissing face:

Or she's with her imaginary friends and stuffed animals making up adventures for them to go on:

We recently got the "Frozen" soundtrack and Brooke knows most of the words to the songs. She can be heard belting out the songs A Capella style throughout the house.

On MLK Day we took the kids to McDonald's to get a treat and play for a minute. Brooke quickly made friends with another little girl. I hear this other girl telling her mother, "Mom, I made a friend and her name is Sadie!" I immediately lock eyes with Brooke and see her giving me this grin and her eyes wide like she can't believe she fooled someone. She was so proud of herself! What the heck?! I called her over and told her that we don't lie and made her go tell her friend her real name. She can definitely tell some whoppers and we have to remind her that Heavenly Father wants us to be honest. 

Also on MLK Day we went to the fish hatchery. Porter and Brooke loved seeing the fish swimming around. I forgot my coat so Blake let me where his.

 Then we went on a hike

 This picture was an accident, but kinda cool in an artsy-fartsy kind of way :)

 I loved the ice on the trees from hanging in the river

It was a fun day to get out and enjoy the sunshine and be together.

Porter @ 23 Months

If I could sum up Porter in one word it would be this: BUSY! I don't think he sits still for a minute! The only time he'll be still is when he wants to sit in your lap and read a book or when he knows he's been naughty and is giving you a cuddle to say "sorry". I grabbed the camera to capture Porter's personality one morning and what he's doing at 23 months:

 Starting to say cheese ("deese") for the camera

 "ooh!"

 Is so curious about everything

 Is usually stuffing his face with food--from the garbage, the floor, chewing through wrappers to get food out of the cupboard. I can't even imagine what it will be like when he's a teenager.

 Snuggling with mom--love his beautiful blue eyes and long eyelashes

 Loves to look outside

 Brooke wanted her picture taken too

 giving hugs

Love those juicy cheeks--I can't help kissing them

• can say thank you (dank-yu), shoes (joos), more (mo), want it (wannit), go, eat, car, bath (bah), ball (bah) daddy, mom (usually sounds like maaahhhmmm when he's yelling for me in his crib), cheese (eese), yucky (ick), done
• signs thank you, more, please, water, milk, bird, fish, all done
• makes monkey, cow, dog, cat, lion/dinosaur, and car sounds
• can point to all his body parts
• dances when he hears music
• likes to go up and down the stairs like a big boy (standing up rather than on his knees). If the steps are close together he can do them himself, but usually he needs to hold our hands as he goes up/down
• loves to push things (the garbage can, his high chair, laundry baskets) around the house
• likes to take his pants and his diaper off (oh boy!)
• He is pretty obedient. We can tell him to throw something away or put something away and he'll do it. He's been helping unload the dishwasher for a while now. He's familiar with time-out and usually a stern warning from dad (not mom, he just laughs and runs away) will set him straight when he's acting up.
• When he's excited about something (like he's waiting for his sippy to be filled and can hardly stand to wait any longer) he'll stomp his little feet.
• I can definitely tell we're entering the 'terrible twos' with him. We recently ran out of milk and I wasn't planning on heading to the store until the next morning. Porter kept asking for milk and getting uspet when I didn't get it for him. No matter how many times I showed him that there was no milk in the fridge he got so upset and could not be consoled. We ended up running down the road to wal-greens for a gallon to make it through the rest of the night--it was just worth it to me.
•  He's also starting to be a little daredevil and climb up onto everything. He can climb into his own high-chair. He has built in shelves in his closet and will climb up on those.
• gives hugs after he's been in time-out to say he's sorry
• empties the tupperwear cupboard daily
• is very social loves nursery--if we even mention the N word during church, he thinks it's time to pack up and go and will try to escape the chapel

I actually really like this stage. It's hard and frustrating (for both of us) sometimes, but his excitement about life and his sweet little personality that's starting to emerge makes it all worth it. I was so nervous to be the mom of a little boy after a pink and frilly girly-girl but it's been so fun! We make car noises and zoom around the house together and just have a great time together. I can't believe my little guy will be two in just a few weeks! 

Wrapping Up December

Here are some of the things we did to wrap up our Christmas break:

Sleeping in and snuggling:

 Many books were read

 More cousins came to play. This was a cause to break out the BINGO and more 4-wheeling/sledding in Honey and Pinch's field

After almost 2 years, we decided it was time for Porter to have his first haircut. I'll be honest, I almost cried seeing all his baby hair fall away. He looks like a little boy now!

This boy is book OBSESSED! We read many, many books over the break.

 We went with some friends to the dinosaur museum.

 Porter's haircut has really grown on me and he looked so cute and grownup in his church clothes. I tried to get a picture, but of course that's impossible.

New Year's Eve was quiet and nice at home. We ate pizza and some yummy appetizers to snack on. Movies were watched and everyone went to bed before 10pm. We had a wonderful 2013 and can't wait to see what 2014 has in store for us!