Where did smiling Porter go?

Porter is 11 weeks old now and he's just the cutest thing ever! I love trying to get him to smile and stick his tongue out. He's starting to sleep through the night, 7-8 hrs or so at a time every couple of nights and he's gaining weight a little better now. At his two month checkup he was 10 lbs 11 oz and 23 inches long. Here he is in one of my favorite newborn outfits, which he was drowning in at birth. This is probably the last time he'll be able to wear it. :(

Where did Porter go?

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Our magic disappearing baby!

We love this little guy, he's just so happy and fun to have in our family!

No Toes on the Table!

A couple months ago Leah was putting her toes on the table during dinner. After several attempts to try to get her to put her feet down, we established our first "Family Rule": No Toes on the Table. Everyone in the family had to obey the rule and we talked about how it was yucky and you wouldn't want to see Mommy or Abbie put their toes on the table and them touching your food. Anyway, thus started a long list of family rules, most coming about because of something one of the kids did that day. Often, after getting in trouble for something, Abbie would pipe up "I know another family rule" and then she would state "No...(whatever she or Leah just did)".

After a month or two of this, we accumulated a long list on the fridge and when read in succession, they are pretty hilarious. Here they are:

Family Rules-mostly from Abbie Sep. 2009

1. No toes on the table!

2. No standing on your chair

3. No throwing food off the table

4. No standing on the table

5. No touching the blinds

6. No screaming at the restaurant

7. No talking during the prayer

8. No toys at the table

9. No touching Mommy with dirty hands at the table

10. No throwing food at Mommy's computer

11. No throwing food at people at the table

12. No eating your toes

13. No hitting the TV

14. No putting your feet on other people

15. No crawling on the table

16. No sticking stickers on the table

17. No spitting on people

18. No throwing toys at your sister

19. No coloring with markers on yourself

20. No dipping your fingers in the Ranch

21. No more making family rules!

Porter's 2nd month

A lot has happened in the past two months! Here is a random assortment of pictures in no particular order:

A friend of mine came over and took some newborn pictures of Porter when he was 4 weeks old. Here's one that I took with my little Kodak but I'm sure the ones with her nice fancy camera are waaaaayy better. I can't wait to get them back...

I took this one the day after the photo shoot, my friend gave me the idea but we didn't have time to do it that day. This little wagon is probably only 12 inches long or so. Isn't Porter so tiny?

Abbie, Porter (8 weeks old), and Leah enjoying time together

Little feet and toes

Leah being a great big sister and helper

Abbie helping out too, thank goodness. I can't possibly keep up with how often Porter needs to eat!

And sleep! Catching a little nap with Daddy.

Leah playing outside, the first big snow of the season

Abbie was so excited to finally be able to play outside in the snow

Cleaning off the car, I wish they wanted to do this every day!

Abbie's preschool holiday program. They sang some cute songs and Abbie even had a little speaking part. She said towards the end of the program, "After you open your presents, you can have a snack."

Leah making snow angels in the "pretend snow"(carpet). Since it's been in the teens or colder most of this month, I wouldn't let them go outside so they made up that the cream colored carpet is snow and they get all dressed up in their hats, gloves, and boots and pretend. It works for me, no cold and wet snow to deal with!

Do they look like sisters or what?

Leah already knows how to spell and write her name and on this day, she did it with pretzels. I came into the room to clean up and noticed this on the couch. Abbie was at preschool and I didn't write it so I know Leah did. What a smart girl!

Jared got this idea for an add on to a baby helmet a few weeks ago so he made a prototype and has been showing it around the office. It's a little big on Porter right now but maybe in a few months, I'll show a picture of him in it!

Jared also got a new suit for Christmas. We ordered it after Christmas during a sale and then I just hemmed the pants myself and we got a great deal on a very nice suit. It's the first one he's had since his mission, almost 15 years ago.

My handsome boys! :)

A smile can brighten the darkest day

I know I haven't updated in a while and I have a bunch of posts planned that I need to write first but I just had to post this picture of Porter smiling. Isn't he just the cutest thing ever? I love it, he started smiling just a few days ago and now we try to get him to do it all the time. It just melts my heart and makes all the pain and sleepless nights worth it!
Porter's first smile at 8 weeks old