Just precious!

I love this little guy with every fiber of my being. Just wanted to shout out a friendly reminder of that.

Check out his awesome bed head! I love it.

Mom... can I please go in there... I really want to!

Have a wonderful day.

Birthday Fun!

I know this is about a month late... but I finally finished editing all these pictures. There were so many good ones to pick from... I had a hard time deciding which ones to post. But the birthday post is finally here.

A big thank you to everyone that came out and helped us celebrate little man's big day. Porter is so blessed to be surrounded by so many people that love him and we couldn't feel more grateful for each and every one of you. Thank you for all the toys, books, and clothes. Thank you for all the support you give our family. Thank you for all the joy you bring to our lives.
Porter... thank you for being such a wonderful boy. Daddy and I are so thankful that God picked us to be your parents. We could not have been given and more adventurous, loving, or precious son. The last year has been a joy; to watch you grow, develop and learn. We cannot wait for the rest of your life and look forward to each and every day with you.
A peek into his BIG day...

Pre-party with his balloons... or "boons" as he calls them

The cute napkins

His cake... Mickey Mouse Clubhouse... of course
(A little sidenote about the cake... We ordered it from this wonderful bakery in Aledo, The Bake Shop. If you are ever in need of bakery items, she does amazing work. As you will soon see we had to destroy the beautiful decorating job of the cake, fondant and 1 year olds don't mix well. But the cake was fantastic.)

I don't want that stinkin' hat!

What is this stuff?

Typical "Porter face"

I'm still not sure about this stuff

Another "Porter face"

September 19, 2011... A fun filled day of doctor, zoo, and cupcakes!

Jeff took Porters birthday off work so we could spend the day together. He had his doctors appointment first thing Monday morning. He seems to have finally levelled off a little bit. He weighed in at 24 pounds 10 ounces and was 31 inches long. He is still in the 90% for height and 95% for weight, but at least he slowed down some. He took his shots like a champ, but did not like the finger prick to give blood. We went home and he took a good long nap and after lunch we headed to the zoo. This was Jeff's first time to go with us to the zoo, so it was a very special occasion!

My loves!

Talking to the "kitty cat"... they say "meow meow"

The alligator statue might be one of his favorites... they talk!
After dinner we decided to give Porter a "his size" cupcake. He thouroughly enjoyed it. I think the fact that it was a.) small and b.) not very sweet made it much more appealing to him. That added to the fact that he had his "giggle pants" on, made for a very interesting birthday cupcake with Daddy and Mommy.


Mommy... you are hilarious

Mmmmm... delicious!

Icing? Yes please!

This is the only picture that I got with him on his birthday... and I love it!

Happy birthday to the most adorable baby boy I know! We love you so much.

Sorry...

I know I am so behind on blogging. I will be uploading quite a few posts that I have been working on for weeks... but am just now getting to upload pictures and finish. I promise birthday post is coming.

For now... I am going to spend my Friday night with my amazing husband! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Love, Erika

Sickness and Labor Day

Porter contracted hand, foot and mouth disease (just a virus) at the museum. Not that I expect him to never get sick... but whoa! For this being his first "BIG" sickness I have to say we all managed pretty well. Except for getting Jackson sick... so sorry! We had to cancel our weekend plans to go to Montgomery to spend a few days with my brother, sister in law, and their kiddos and we hung around the house and went to the lake for a night. It was a much needed lazy weekend for all of us after having a sick baby for 10 days.

See his little sores on his chin.

Porter playing in the yard on Labor Day.

He sure does make a cute patient, doesn't he?

Hide and seek anyone???

Porter loves to play hide a seek. It it one of his favorite things to do right now. He crawls in his closet, we close the doors and hide, and he will pop out and say "Boo". And then we pop out of our hiding spots and say "boo". He laughs and we do it again. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures or videos of that because the cameras distract him and he won't do it anymore.

However, I do have a couple of pictures from my camera phone of him hiding in one of the kitchen cabinets. Pretty hilarious. When I turned around he looked at me like "can she see me?"

We need out of the house!

After being locked away for 2 weeks we had to get out of the house. I figured the safest place to go was the zoo. He couldn't put his mouth on anything and we would be in the fresh air. It was the perfect day for it too. High of about 85! My mom was able to meet us and enjoy the zoo with us. Which was wonderful.

I just love a good picture!

Watching the penguins!

Loves the coy fish

ELEPHANT!

Crawling, climbing, and trying...

We have been doing so many fun things that once again... the blog got away from me. Porter is crawling like a maniac... climbing like a monkey... and trying so hard to walk. The funny thing is, he can actually do it. He gets in his walker and goes into our bedroom (on the carpet) and lifts the walker up to get across the room. The way I figure it, if he can hold the walker up and maneuver his way around the bedroom he can for sure walk. Unfortunately, anytime he realizes the hes not being held on to any longer, he freaks out and sits down. Oh well, I'm in no rush for him to walk. He's enough to handle now as it is.

My sweet niece Shelby got to come up for a few days and we were able to play with her for a couple of days. We went to the museum with my mom and Shelby and my cousin Sawyer and her little boy Jackson. If you live in the FW area and haven't been to the newly remodeled Science Museum, you have to go. They have so many fun activities and areas for kids. With how hot it has been, it is perfect for the kids to play.

Porter, Shelby, and Jackson

Shelby, me and Porter

That's a big ole hula-hoop!

Another exciting moment... Porter got to go on his first ever plane ride. Jeff's dad bought a small 6 seater plane and we took it up for a little while a couple of weekends ago. Porter did great. I got a few arm squeezes when we would drop suddenly, but he loved it. He looked out the window and checked out the sights the entire time. It was amazing.

He kept trying to open/close the window, so I was holding open so he wouldn't squish his little fingers!

"Mom, mom... are you seeing this!"

Hanging with my daddy!

The Anderson men... and their new toy!

Porter is growing and changing daily. He learned in the last couple of days how to point. So now he is pointing at everything. He is saying mama and his version of dada is more like "did". He still says ball and dog sounds a lot like "dag".

"Can I have the camera please Daddy?"

He's dangerous in this thing!

He likes me... really he does.

Not as much as he likes food though

...or the bulb that goes to my baster.

He has already begun the climbing phase (insert sigh here). I was really hoping we could wait a little longer for that phase... but no no. He climbs on everything. The dishwasher door, the chair in his room, his crib (when he is on the floor), the shelf inside the kitchen cabinet... You get the picture.

"THIS IS AWESOME!"

"What... you mean I'm not supposed to do this?"

"Well since you're not mad at me... I'll smile!"

Something not so fun. Porter finally got sick. We went to the mall last week and 12 hours later, he was running a fever and had some serious "tummy troubles". It lasted about 24 hours and I am so glad that we got that first one out of the way. He was even nice enough to pass it along to Mommy. Lucky for me, it affected me a little differently and I wasn't running any fever. Jeff stayed home from work and took care of us both. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful husband/daddy!

We are also working on his biting. He gives kisses the same way that he bites, so I don't think it's intentional (98% of the time). But man, that small percentage that it is intentional... Whoa! So we have started biting back. NO FUN! And I have also had to give him a little spanking. Yes it was justified... and yes, MY HEART BROKE!

Can you believe my little man is almost a year old!? We're working on birthday preparations. I picked up his invitations today and I'm so excited to print them and get them out! Any advice for 1st birthday parties is appreciated!

Jeff and I are leaving tomorrow for New Braunfels for the weekend. I am so excited to have a weekend away and so sad to have a weekend away. We will be spending the weekend with my best friends Amy and Tara and their boyfriends. And we also get to see my sweet friend Anne that is flying in from California. What a fun filled weekend! I hope my mom holds up well with Porter! I'm sure it will be perfect for all of us.

Last but not least, if you could all say a couple of prayers for me I would appreciate it. My wonderful Aunt Debbie has been undergoing chemo and radiation and next week she is finishing up her last round of chemo. Also, our wonderful friend Laura, went to Baltimore this week to undergo surgery for her cancer. The surgery went well, but she has a long road to recovery. Please pray for healing in both of them.

Thanks for checking in on us and as always, we love ya!

Baby's First Haircut!

We finally had to cut his hair. It was so long it hung in his eyes... which drove us both crazy. Then last week, I had 2 people ask me how old our "little girl" was? Time for a haircut. Jeff was completely against it... and re-inforced that multiple times during the actual cut. But it had to be done!

Before...

First cut!

During...

After...

He looks like such a little boy now. Where did my baby go?

Thanks Gammy for my big boy haircut! I really like it!

If you need a good hair stylist, let me know! I'll give you her number.

Have a great weekend!

Love, Erika