March Madness

March has flown by in a flurry of happy kids, playing with cousins, getting haircuts, visiting Abbie's classroom, and watching general conference. Here are the highlights:

The kids were being cute one day sitting on the couch so I grabbed the camera and got this adorable snapshot of them together.

First they had to endure Mommy telling them to all look at the camera at the same time, put your hands in your lap, and smile...

Keep your hands out of your mouth...

Look at me, Porter!

Look at me, Leah!

Porter not enjoying the kisses from his sisters

Porter preparing to be the CEO of a company someday

Porter and his cousin Kaleb, they are only 7 months apart in age and always are so cute together crawling around.

Porter's big eyes and cute smile

Porter loves standing up next to this toy and playing with it now. Maybe with a little more motivation and practice, he'll start walking soon.

Think he needs a haircut?

So did everyone else so I finally broke down and took him to get his first haircut. Here's the back before...

Front before...

Here he is the next day, after his haircut. It's pretty messed up and looks choppy since he slept on it but it normally looks better. Doesn't he look so much older?

The back after, I wanted to leave some length and not go too short.

Porter loves bathtime!

My little "Alfalfa"

Porter after having a little too much (milk) to drink!

We bought the movie Tangled and the girls set up their own little movie theater to watch it with soft cushy seats, popcorn, and drinks.
Leah being cute

Abbie loves to read (and wear this crown)!

Visiting the "dinosaur museum" in Abbie's classroom. They have been learning all about dinosaurs lately and she was so excited to show me everything they have made.

Watching General Conference. I put together these little folders a few years ago for the girls and now they look forward to it each conference and doing all the activities and coloring pages in them.

Watching Tangled (again) with their cousins

I'm so glad my kids get to be around for things like this now!

Porter and Leah's new game

Leah and Porter have started doing this little game where Porter turns around in circles while sitting and Leah runs around him in a bigger circle, trying to stay behind him so he can't see her. It's silly but they both think it's so fun. Take a look!

Random crafty stuff

My list of unfinished projects and things I would like to make is a mile long but every once in a while I find a little time or inspiration and complete something. Here is a wipe-off menu board that I made a few months ago. I was borrowing a cricut from a friend so I cut out the vinyl lettering with it and put the letters right on top of the glass and then put some cute scrapbook paper behind the glass. The frame is 11x14 so I didn't have any paper big enough to cover the whole thing so I used a matching strip of paper for under the title part. Then I wrote our week's dinner menu with dry erase marker and the idea is to change it each week to make planning meals easier and to avoid the whole "What's for dinner?" question from your children. Mine still has these same meals on it, a few months later! But at least it looks cute!

Here's a note board I made about the same time, again with vinyl letters cut out with the cricut. I just painted the wood board black, glued the metal sheet down with some metal glue (I forget the name of it, you can buy it at Walmart) and put the lettering on top. With some cute magnets, you have a place to put those receipts from the library to tell you when things are due or for other misc. notes/cards.

Here's a dress I bought off the clearance rack a few months ago that fit well and I thought was really cute, all except for the hideous bead decoration.

I finally unpicked all the beads and now I need to find some black knit to make some fabric flowers like this to sew onto it. I think it will look a lot better when I'm done.

Here's a little wooden mail holder that I bought a while ago that I still need to paint and find some vinyl lettering for.

A magnet board with hooks that I got for 90% off at a Robert's crafts closeout sale (that's right, it was only $3, me and my sisters bought all the ones they had left!) that I want to paint black and use in my front entryway to hold the kids coats and backpacks.

The white cubes that I got for Christmas that Jared put together for me but that I still need to go arrange and put all my supplies in. That's my next big project, organizing the craft room so I can finish some of the above items. With my luck by the time I finally get it all completed, we'll move and I'll have to start all over again!

I've also been busy sewing and mending items for family members, trying out some new recipes (this one is amazing: Oatmeal Caramelitos), and just keeping up with the day to day cooking, cleaning, and mothering that fills my days. Life is good!

More ballet pictures

Here are the professional pictures of Abbie and Leah's ballet class after their recital. Aren't they cute little reindeer?

Just the four cousins

Silly girls!

Abbie with the nutcracker

Leah with the nutcracker

Close-up of Leah

Little Jack-in-the-box

Abbie doing a snowflake dance

Pretty snowflake girls

Porter at 15 months old

Porter is the cutest little boy ever! He is 15 months old now and is just so happy and easy going. He sleeps great, eats great, and loves to smile, laugh, squeal, and blabber. He is always mimicing the noises we make and can say mama, dada, banana, and Leah. He can sign a few words also and it's so cute to see his face light up when he recognizes a word and signs it. He loves to wave bye-bye and night-night and give kisses to his sisters. He crawls all over the house now and can finally get into a sitting position from lying down. He is still pretty shaky on his feet and won't stand up on his own but hopefully he'll get stronger and more confident with that and start walking soon. He is always smiling and loves attention and being held and I love the joy that he brings to our family. Here's some cute recent pictures of him playing in Daddy's hat:




Okay, I admit, he might need a little haircut!

Isn't that the cutest face ever?

Does this look familiar?

I think he looks like Tom Cruise in the movie "Risky Business"!

I hope you enjoyed getting to know our little Porter better!