Monday, August 13, 2012

Porter is One!

All mom's say it..."they grow up too fast". It's true, I can't believe my little guy is already a year old.

These are some fun facts about Porter as he turns 1...

He has 7 teeth

The words he says are "hi, mama, dada, bear, uh-oh, and either dog or duke" (I cant' really tell)

He shakes his head no

Waves to everyone

Points where he wants you to take him

He can stand on his own, but makes himself sit down once he realizes he isn't holding on to anything

Loves to read books

favorite toy at the moment is his red car

best friend is Duke

He loves water and will spend all day in the pool or a sprinkler

He gets excited when other kids comes over



I have to admit I wasn't super excited when I woke up on his birthday. I found myself reminiscing the previous year over how much joy Porter has brought to our family. I just don't want it to go by so fast. I want to make sure I cherish these moments with him as a baby, because I'll never get them back. After I had my moment of being an emotional and crazy mom, we celebrated Porter's first year with some fun activities!

On July 5th (his actual Birthday) we went to an Angel game. We got sweet tickets from Brent and Andrea, the seats were right next to 3rd base! It was so fun, Porter loved pointing to the ball. He also did a good job of entertaining everyone around us. Every time the music would come on to announce the next batter he would start dancing. I love this kid!

The next day I took him in for his first haircut. He went from being a cute baby to a handsome little boy. The kid salon was adorable. It was called "Monkey Dooz" and it's safari themed.

 Port had fun sitting in the safari jeep and the lady cutting his hair did a good job making him comfortable. Before she started she showed him the clippers and let him touch them.

Then she turned them on while they were in his hands so he wouldn't be scared of the noise. Then she used them on his head, and he was totally fine! He kept moving around playing in the jeep and she just kept moving right with him. We even got a certificate and a lock of his hair for his first haircut.


On Saturday August 7th we had a big monster theme party for him. I don't know why I was stressed about making it perfect, because it ended up being so fun.



I think the best part was that Porter thoroughly enjoyed himself. He loved being around all the kids, and he LOVED the water.





Grandpa and Bryant did a great job at the BBQ.


I made the goodie bags and party hats :)


The cake was a team effort. Thanks Autumn and Holley!

Here are some of the other decorations...




Andrea volunteered to take all of the pictures during the party. They turned out so great, and it was nice to not have to worry about snapping a shot of everything. She got some great shots of friends, family, and the kids having fun in the water.

                
                    





Soon enough, it was time for the cake. Porter had never had sweets before this moment, so he went to town on his cake. He didn't even care that everyone was watching him!






Here's the end result.

Next was present time. He loved all of his new toys and clothes!

 By the end of the party he was exhausted. I could see him trying to fight sleep, but it was inevitable.

During Porter's 1st year I kept a note of things I love about him. Here

are just a few...

He pats your back when he hugs you

He's been fascinated with fans, since he was a newborn

When he's really upset he'll cry without breathing, and then stick his tongue out without any sound

My hair is the first thing he grabs in order to fall asleep

He is always Happy!

He likes to touch his own eyelashes

Anytime he hears cheering, he'll clap along with it

He's a Mama's boy

He'll drop things on purpose, then say "uh-oh"

When he feeds himself, he makes sure to rub some in his hair
He loves to give kisses (mostly open mouth and slobbery)

His teeth came in funny...instead of the front 2, he had one front one and a side tooth next to it.


He has brought so much joy to our little family. We are so blessed to have this little boy and we love him so much!



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Thursday, August 9, 2012

Yellow Stone 2012

Our big family trip this year was Yellow Stone! We were so excited to visit because neither of us had ever been. We flew into Idaho Falls (there was no way I was taking a 1 year old on the 16 hour drive) and decided to spend a few days at the Grand Tetons before we met the rest of the family in Yellow Stone. Porter did so well on his first plane ride. He pretty much slept the entire 2 hours.




Day one in Jackson Hole was so fun. We went out with Tim and Jeanne to explore the town, and we came across a park with these huge antler arches. In the evening we went to a Chuck Wagon that came with a folk song show. It was really good!



The next day Autumn's family flew in. We got to enjoy a nice hike with them, a trip to the Grand Tetons Visitor Center, and a trip to a shopping center where we were able to feed some horses. Porter has no fear, he was feeding those horses just like the rest of us. 




The Teton's were so beautiful!

After our quick visit to these pretty mountains, we were on our way to the highlight of our trip, Yellowstone National Park!


We were excited to meet the rest of the family at the cabin. Porter had so much fun playing with his cousins.


Here's a breakdown of our week...(Thanks Carla for being so organized!)


Sunday: Our first day in Yellowstone also happened to be Father's Day. Autumn did such a good job setting up a devotional and some fun games that focused on the dad's. This was Scott's first Father's Day, and he really enjoyed it.  We also went to see the Johnny Sack Cabin and went on a little hike along the beautiful river.









Monday was our first day in the park. We saw tons of bison and some amazing sulfur pools. Of  course we stayed and watched Old Faithful erupt. 













Tuesday was our big rafting day.  I've never been before, and this was the thing I was most excited about, so my amazing husband let me go with the family while he stayed back with Port. 






We also got to see a bit more sulfuric activity going on at Mammoth Springs. 




We found the South entrance to the park, so we had to take a pic in front of the arch.



Wednesday was Nicholas's birthday so some of us went to the Grizzly and Wolf Center while Scott and a few of the other boys went fishing.



During this trip Porter's favorite word to say was "bear", he pronounced it "burr". It was so funny because every animal he saw he would point and call it a bear.


Thursday was when we went to see many of the beautiful falls in Yellowstone, we did a lot of hiking, and we saw a bear in the wild!



















Friday, Scott and I were able to go out on our own and rent a quad (thanks Grandma and Grandpa for babysitting!). We ended up going on a trail that led us to this beautiful waterfall. 
 



When we got back Scott went horseback riding with Carla and enjoyed the peaceful country side. 



We packed up to leave the cabin on Saturday, but our fun wasn't over yet...we still got to spend one more day in Idaho Falls. 

Since Porter's new favorite animal is a bear we had to take him to Bear World. He loved it! There were bears all over the place, and every time one got close to the car Porter would get so excited! We had to take him to the gift shop to pick out a stuffed animal.






After Bear World we went to the local museum and checked out the King Tut exhibit. I think our next trip will be to Egypt :)



We had such a fun time bonding with the family, and we look forward to many more vacations with them.