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

Another day in the life...

Porter is busy, busy, busy these days. One of the women that works in the nursery at church asked me the other day "how I'm not tired" and also that he is "one of the happiest babies she has ever had the joy of keeping". I love to hear that.

Chasing the dogs around their room! Thanks JP and Kristen... he's a maniac in this thing.

Ball or "ba" as he calls it. One of his new favorite things.

Momma, I'm ready to help you with this laundry. You fold it, I'll throw it out!

Such a happy boy!

Eating rice with mangos. Yummy.

Swimming with daddy!

He loves driving the car.

Headed to the lake for the 4th!

4th of July... dinner time!

And finally...

Happy 10 month birthday to my sweet little man. Daddy and I can't imagine what life was like without you!


Have a blessed day!

Love, Erika

SLOW DOWN...

Why is time passing by so quickly?

It seems like just yesterday I was holding my newborn little boy.

Now he looks like this..

And today he did this...

(sorry for the commentary... I just happened to have this on me and caught him the first time... gotta cheer the little man on)

I cried a little.

Love,

The overly emotional mama of this big boy

Colorado here we come

Jeff decided Porter has had a free ride long enough and made him start pulling his weight around here... Mowing is serious business!

Our nightly routine consists of dinner, bathtime, family playtime, and bed. This was right after his bath. I love this kid more than anything in the world.

Porter is officially into EVERYTHING! I decided that babyproofing isn't really worth it since we're only really going to be in the house for another 2 weeks (after our trip). So everything is becoming a NO TOUCH. I'm sure Porter is thinking to himself, "well if you don't want me to touch it then you should make it impossible for me to". Oh well. Two more weeks!

My parents came over for dinner Tuesday night and I'm not sure what my dad was doing, but Porter wasn't real sure of it. This kid has the craziest expressions.

And he really loves beer cans. He crushed it!

Daddy and P-man during family playtime!

Oh and another big milestone down. Last night Porter decided to stand up all by himself. My baby is getting so big!

We are leaving tonight for Colorado. Say a little prayer for us! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Love, Erika

HE'S MOBILE!!!!

Finally he figured it out. We're only doing the army crawl... but at least he got it! It only takes us persuading him by putting our phones out for him to get them. Good to know. Enjoy the video! (I hope it works)

Happy Wednesday to you all!

P.S. We have a contract on our house. Yay! Tentative close date is June 17. Say a little prayer everything works out! We're so happy.

Easter and mobility...

I thought I would start with a few random happenings!

Porter's first Mac'n'Cheese experience... he loved it! As evident by the fact that he tipped his bowl up!

Trying to talk Scout into coming close enough for him to grab on... Scout doesn't want anything to do with it!

So I was trying to get a picture of his crazy bedhead... but then he made this expression and I couldn't resist... what a goofy kid we have.

My baby's standing up :(

(He can't stand up on his own yet, but if you put him there, he'll stay up for a good long while)

Easter service was wonderful on Sunday. We tried out a new church in Aledo called The Summit. It is a fellowship of a church in Fort Worth Jeff and I attended for a while before we moved out this way. The verdict... we liked it and will definitely be trying it again. It is small, held in an old gymnastics gym, with a nursery that only has a handful of kids in it... which I'm happy about. Porter did wonderful in the nursery. At one point during the service I heard this horrible screaming and thought it was him, so I quietly walked out of the sanctuary and down the hall. I peeked into the doorway to see him looking at this little girl like "what's wrong with you... this is fun... stop crying".

His first Easter basket

He likes the eggs!

For some reason this is the face he made in all but 1 picture... and my eyes are closed. Oh well!

And I really thought today he was going to get it! I really thought today he was going to crawl. He was so close... so many times! I know most parents don't get that excited about their kid crawling and try to postpone it as much as possible. But me... man I'm ready. I even trailed some snacks for him. Funny thing is... he got all the snacks, even if he didn't crawl. (Kid will not miss any food!)

His "it wasn't me I swear" face

Almost got it!
In an attempt to get better about blogging I am going to (try) to do a couple of short blogs a week instead of one big post once a month. We'll see if it works.

In other news... an early congratulations to Mr. Jason Black and his future Mrs.! We're excited for the wedding this weekend! Wishing you many years of happiness and health! May God bless your marriage in every way possible. We love you both!