Spring where are you?

I have yet to post about my nemesis "The New England Winter"; probably because I've used all that time moving snow! (Ok who am I kidding, I shoveled once. The other 70+ inches Phillip moved.) But I thought I'd post some pictures to share what we've been enjoying here since January. 

Our first storm about 1/2 way through.

Mid January after yet another storm...

Our front door that we don't use for obvious reasons. 

Porter, like his mother, doesn't get why we hang out in the cold. He does not dig the snow.

But he hung on like a champion and no one was hurt in our sledding adventures. 

Phillip didn't give up on him and took him out again, but the results were the same he just didn't love it. The beauty of this is now it is two against one on moving to Arizona, or anywhere it doesn't snow. 

How'd a girl get so lucky?

You think you are the luckiest girl around when you have a strapping husband to treat you to a great Valentines Day; but it just gets better when you have a miniature to help. I love both my Valentines! (PS If Phillip knew I was posting this picture he wouldn't be too thrilled, so shhh...)

I haven't taken any today so these are from the ward party on Saturday where Porter ripped up the dance floor. Seriously my "too cool" for anything child got out there and gave quite the performance; surprise, 

surprise.

HaPpY VaLEntInE's DAy everyone!! 

One Year...

We have officially survived been in Massachusetts for a year now! It is amazing how much can change in a year. For Example:

Jan 2010

 Jan 2011

"It"

We have been planning Christmas for months and had worked out all the details so it would be a Christmas to remember (the good kind). Phillip's little brother flew in a week before Christmas and his parents were headed in the day after. We had decided to celebrate on the 29th because that would give us a few days to rest once everyone had arrived. The house was decorated, presents were bought, and good food was ready to be devoured. Perfect right? And then it hit; I don't know what "it" is, but it hit hard...

Porter got sick, really sick. The kind of sick were he wanders around crying and being miserable and making sure he makes everyone else miserable with him. Uncle Andy caught the sickness and if that wasn't bad enough, then the storm came. My in-laws got stuck in Denver because ALL flights into Boston were canceled until the middle of the week :( Yep, Christmas was canceled. And if that wasn't a big enough bummer, Porter just got worse and wanted nothing to do with presents so I didn't even get my happy Christmas pictures. Seriously?!?! I sure hope 2011 starts better than this year is ending...

Stranger Danger

So I like to think that I am a pretty decent mother who knows her child fairly well... I know Porter is not the biggest fan of people, any people. So I anticipated he was not going to be a fan of a big jolly man in a red suit with only his eyes showing. So I began prepping him for Santa before Thanksgiving.

We read books about Santa, we watched movies about Santa, we looked at pictures of Santa, we sang songs about Santa; long story short, Santa has been a BIG part of our lives for the last month. And what do I get for my hard work?

On the positive side when he saw him he yelled "SANTA!" so I know he recognized him...

Why I don't blog more...

 I know "not having enough time" is a pretty bad excuse because let's face it we make time for the things that are important to us, but we have been busy lately with a bit more than usual...

The end of October passed in a blur. We spent a day at the temple getting to see three amazing families from our ward sealed. One family in particular is special to us because we had the opportunity to be at their last sealing in Utah when they adopted their first and now the family is complete! That night we hosted a party for the families and had a great time with friends.

Then Halloween came and that meant the ward Halloween Party which I've heard went great. (I honestly don't remember much I was running around like a chicken with no head.) But I do have this one picture to document the day. Poor Porter was so ornery from the crazy day setting up that I didn't put him in his costume. However, he did eat an amazing amount of cheese puffs and that seemed to make the party worth it for him.
The next day we had the missionaries and a few families over for a Halloween dinner that turned out surprisingly good. (I am not an amazing kind of cook but I got lucky)

 

Just a week later we started planning our Thanksgiving extravaganza. It will be our first away from home so we have to make it big, right? And of course a week after Thanksgiving is the Ward Christmas Party. Don't worry, I learned my lesson from Halloween and will not start planning until a week before :) 

In between all the parties I have worked on a few projects; here are the completed ones: 

 And no post about what we have been up to would be complete without a few pictures of my delicious baby. PS It is nearly impossible to take him seriously in this coat and hat!

Off hold

Well I decided if I waited for everything to go back to "normal" before I posted, I would never post again. So here is the update. Phillip has taken the LSAT and now we anxiously wait for his score. I have a growing passionate hate for law school applications but we are making progress and should be done by the end of the month.

Porter is getting more into the "I'm a big boy" stage which is a blessing and a curse. It is so nice that he listens and understands but he is as stubborn as an ox (or as stubborn as his father). He is learning the actions to songs now because I ran out of signs to teach him. Watching him try and keep up to Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes keeps a smile on my face...

I have been planning our ward Halloween Party since September thinking I'd get ahead of one thing in my life. However, the Universe conspired against me and last week our ward boundaries changed so the plan must be revamped to take into consideration the 17 new families (with 40 new children) we got. Don't get me wrong I am ecstatic about having new families in the ward; I have just decided procrastination has a positive side.

Fall is in full bloom and Porter LOVES to be outside. He loves to dig in the driveway and throw dirt at nothing in particular. I love that boy!  Here are new pictures so you can enjoy what I get to enjoy everyday.

 Phillip took the last few pictures of Porter before we left for family pictures (practice makes perfect I hope). I will post the new family pictures as soon as I get them back. Cross your fingers that one of them turned out!

On hold

Well it is definitely time for an update but I'm afraid a monster called "pink eye" has come to visit our house so I will put an update on hold just like everything else right now...

3 Years of Bliss...

I could say it has been the best 3 years of my life but anyone who knows me already knows I hit the marriage jackpot. So here is a post for my best friend who I tricked into marrying me.

I don't know what our future holds but I do know with Phillip it will be amazing...

Help!

I am out of ideas and in way over my head! I am doing more laundry, bathes, and floor cleaning than is healthy.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves but if I can't fix this soon, I'm going to go nuts...

 So to all you moms out there with way more experience/patience than I have: How the heck do you teach them to feed themselves without losing your mind?!? Or maybe I am just feeding him the wrong things but I swear he can make a mess with AnyTHiNg! 

I didn't think it would be this hard to let him turn into a big boy..