Christmas Day

We had a great Christmas this year! We stayed home and kept things low-key since we had a little newborn in the house. Here is Abbie and Leah on Christmas Eve in their new pajamas and with the cookies they made for Santa.
Leah was very excited about her new Dora pjs

Christmas morning went quick, I think all the presents were opened and half the candy was eaten within an hour

Abbie loved her My Little Pony Scootaloo remote control car and Cinderella princess barbie

She also loved her Elefun game where she has to catch butterflies out of an elephant's trunk

Leah loved this princess Belle dress, she puts it on several times a day and insists that she is "Belle, not Leah" whenever we call her name

Look at those bright blue eyes and long eyelashes!

Porter got some Lincoln Logs, a new outfit, and a little riding pony from Grandpa and Grandma that he'll love when he gets a little older

I got a big cutting board, rotary cutter, and ruler to cut fabric with (just what I wanted!), a book, a new crock pot, and a Susan Boyle CD

Jared got some books, the Star Wars trilogy DVDs, and a Susan Boyle CD! We both got each other the same CD, kind of as a joke, but luckily we had saved the receipts so we could return one of them

Abbie and Leah playing together after an exciting morning

What a great Christmas, it was nice to just have a relaxing holiday together and watch the kids be so excited about Santa and their presents. They are at the perfect ages to believe in Santa and love pretty much everything they got. What a magical day!

Santa Baby...

Hurry down the chimney tonight!

Leah's birthday

Leah's 3rd birthday was on the 23rd but because Grandpa and Grandma were visiting, we celebrated a couple days early. Leah really likes My Little Pony stuff right now and Abbie has a hair salon set that she won't let Leah play with so we decided to get Leah her own My Little Pony gumball house. She loves it and her and Abbie have gotten many hours out of playing with it already!

Here's her birthday cake. She also loves princess stuff so we got a crown and wand to stick on her cake and she thought it was just as good as a custom-made themed cake that would cost twice as much.

Mmmm, cake!

Leah was actually pretty clean eating her piece whereas Abbie totally destroyed hers and was eating with her hands and just making a big mess on purpose. Silly kid!

I can't believe my baby Leah is already 3 years old! She is such a joy to have in our family and it's fun to see how different she is in looks and personality than Abbie, even at 3 years of age. I can't wait to watch her grow up even more. We love you Leah!

Porter's blessing day

Porter was blessed this past Sunday, Dec. 20th, at church and it was a wonderful blessing. He slept through the whole thing and it was fun showing him off in his white outfit. Here is our family on the big day!

Abbie and Leah with their new baby brother, all in their Sunday best

It's official, presenting Porter Lincoln Butler!

Grandma and Grandpa Butler were here for the big occasion. It was so nice to have family here to support us for the big day. Thank you so much for coming!

Grandpa and Grandma B's visit

We had a great time while Grandma and Grandpa Butler were here. They came for Porter's blessing but we also took them out to Cabela's, showed them around town, and took them to Hell (MI). They also had a great time with each of the kids. Here's Grandma with Porter:

Reading a book to Leah

And making sugar cookies

Grandpa also read books, held Porter, and played with the kids but I don't have any pictures of them together. Hopefully next time I'll do better with that and I hope they do come visit again, maybe when it's warmer outside!

Sisters: best friend or worst enemy?

Since Porter has been born, Abbie and Leah have had to rely on each other more to keep themselves entertained and so they've become better friends (and enemies) as some of these pictures attest to. Enjoying a rare loving moment (they don't seem to last long enough sometimes).

The sign on Abbie's bedroom door which means "No Leah coming in my room and playing with my toys!" which she reminds us of several times a day but isn't very effective since Leah can't read and they now share a bedroom so it doesn't work out very well. I'm often heard yelling from across the house "Abbie, let Leah play with some toys" or "Abbie, let Leah in your room or else...!" Maybe someday, like 20 years from now, they'll finally love each other more often than not?

One of Leah's latest creations. She is already drawing stick figure people and I think they are so cute. Abbie didn't really start doing this until after she was 4 and Leah still has two weeks until she turns 3!

About a week ago Jared made the girls a puppet show theater out of a cardboard box, which they loved, but it quickly became a constant fight as to who got to play in it so the next night he brought home an identical box and made a copy and it made them both happy for about 15 minutes. They haven't played in them since and it's been a week...

Taking turns the first night


Playing in the first snow of the season

Abbie actually found one of my snowflake scrapbooking punches and made a bunch with white paper and then they threw these up in the air while playing in the "real" snow

We made a little trip to the temple a few weeks ago to show the girls the outside since they've never been to this one. They loved running around the grounds and talking about getting married in the temple someday.
Leah practicing being reverent

Abbie was actually really sad that she couldn't go inside since the only other temple she's been to lately was during an open house when she did get to go inside.

Playing around the big nativity outside the stake center

A visit to the fancy mall near the temple that was decorated with fairies and beautiful lights and Christmas decorations

Making cookies with Daddy

And gingerbread houses at a party to get into the holiday spirit

Porter's 1st month

Here's a random collection of pictures of Porter from the past few weeks. He is one month old now and is getting bigger and is such an easygoing baby. He is awake more often now and loves to look around and be entertained by his sisters. Sometimes he smiles in his sleep for me and I just love holding him and snuggling and smelling that sweet newborn scent. He won't be little for much longer...

Here he is discovering his hands

Like father, like son

Momma's boy

Being silly with Daddy

Excellent (in a Mr. Burns voice)

First bath

Helping out with the laundry

My handsome boys