Porter vs. Rice Cereal

Porter got his first taste of rice cereal Monday night.  I was cracking up with the faces he was pulling.  But let's be honest, that mush isn't the tastiest food on the block.  I'm sure he'll come around once we start trying the good stuff!

 "This is definitely not milk!"

"Oh great, here she comes again..."

"Don't know what the fuss is about, this stuff is nasty!"

That about sums it up...

 

This is a perfect summary of life right now: a certain 2 1/2 year old who absolutely adores his baby brother, wants to "help" with him in any & everyway possible... and a certain 4 month old who has no idea why he constantly is being smothered by a curiously loud blond-haired boy, but nonetheless loves the attention and is constantly watching his big brother no matter where he is/what he is doing.  I have a feeling these two are going to have so much fun together-- and keep me busy as they do it!

PS: This little guy turned 4 months old on Monday!  As his gift to me, he is now sleeping 9 hours straight at night!  YAY!  Now if I could only figure out how to do something about that crazy hair!

Christmas in Utah

We stayed close to home this year and had a wonderful white Christmas with the Hardcastles.  On Christmas Eve a storm rolled in and brought about 6 inches of snow. 

 

Owen had a blast playing in the snow with all his new "friends" over at Grammy & Papa's house. 

 

Brad had a blast (obviously) shoveling it all.

 

Despite my best efforts, one of Owen's favorite things to do is eat the snow.  Better watch out for that yellow snow!

 

We were a little worried that the stormy weather may put a damper on our family Christmas Eve party, but the snow let up just in time and almost everyone was still able to come.  We had a great time with all the Hardcastle cousins!

Porter & Uncle Chris

Porter was quite the hit of the party.  The girls (this is only half of them!) loved holding him.

Owen crashed towards the end of the night.   I was hopeful that this meant he would sleep well, but boy was I wrong.  He ended up waking up as we moved him into a different bed and didn't go back to sleep until 3:30 am.  Brad & I started to have second thoughts about the gifts waiting for him under the tree.... did he really deserve them? 

It was a rough night, but the magic of Christmas morning erased it all. 

Santa brought Owen a new fire truck that spins, lights up, and makes all kind of fun sounds.  Oh how I love all these loud toys!  :)

 By far, the favorite gift of the day was his Woody doll.  Owen loved it.  L-O-V-E-D it!

After opening it, he disappeared and I found him lying in Grammy & Papa's bed with Woody "watching TV".  They were instant best buds.  I think Owen fully expected Woody to come to life, because he kept throwing him down on the ground.  When Woody didn't pop back up, Owen would lay down with him in the exact same position.  It was so darn cute.

 This little guy had a great Christmas!  So happy just to be there!  Didn't care about anything else!

 

We had a wonderful day with our family-- full of laughter, yummy food, and naps!  We also got to talk to Uncle Ross who is serving his mission in Tucson right now.  Merry Christmas!



Instagram Life

A quick snapshot of our December through the eyes of Instagram. I love that my phone can capture these moments when the big camera isn't handy!

Lights at Temple Square

Saturday night we loaded up the gang and headed downtown to see the lights. As usual, it was crowded, but well worth it! The weather was unusually warm that night (only in the 40's) which I was very appreciative of. Owen loved the lights, especially all the blue lights on the trees. But his favorite part of the whole experience was probably watching all of the TRAX trains coast by. He loves trains!

 Love this picture!

 

 Thank you to the nice couple who stopped to take our picture amidst the massive crowds!

 

 Beautiful nativity!  Beautiful temple!

 

Porter wasn't impressed with the whole experience.  He'd rather sleep!

Quiet Book

Ever since Owen was born I've wanted to make him a quiet book.  So earlier this year I started to gather ideas from the internet.  Including: Modest Maven, Oopsey Daisy, Crafty Chic, Homemade by Jill, Camille's Casa, Serving Pink Lemonade, and quietbook.blogspot.com.  All fantastic helps!  Ultimately, it became a hodge-podge of ideas and my own creation.  After I got all the ideas together, I put it away for a few months.  It was too overwhelming!  So the cycle continued of working on it for 2-3 weeks, putting it away for 2-3 months.

Finally with my mom's help a few weeks ago we were able to finish it!!  And I LOVE how it turned out!  There are 20 different pages...

Matching letters

 Fishing page: the hook on the pole, and the fish are magnetic.

 

 Apple picking: the apples snap on/off into the basket

 

3 different puzzles.  A basketball, heart, and star

Barn with finger puppets inside

 Lace the football (Go Cougars!)

 



 Gumball page: matching colors & Tic Tac Toe

Matching letters

Feely fingers with different textures & matching shapes

Car page: garage holds 5-6 different cars (taxi, bus, fire truck, car, etc.) that he can drive around

Ice Cream: Make a cone w/ all different toppings & Mailbox page: write notes, doodle, etc.  (The flag goes up and down!)

Getting dressed: 4-5 different outfits of choice.  I realized as I took the pictures that I forgot to give the man a face... oh well.

Here are 2 outfits: 

 BYU Football

 

 Missionary

 

Flower page: Flowers come on/off the buttons

 

 

Jury is still out on whether Owen likes it or not (he better!)... but at this point-- 10 months &  60+ hours later-- I am just glad it is done! 

3/27 months old!

Porter turned 3 months old on the 21st.  We celebrated by spending the morning at Primary Children's Hospital getting a biopsy of his colon.  Because of some digestive issues he's had since birth, the Doctors were afraid he may have Hirschsprung's Disease.  Good news-- the biopsy came back negative and all is well!

Besides keeping us on our toes with the Doctor's visits, Porter has been a pretty easy baby.  Recently we have found his ticklish spots, and we love to hear that cute little giggle.  He is sleeping great at night-- giving us an 8 hour stretch most nights!  Naps are becoming more of a challenge, with a recent boycott of the swing and a loathing of his crib.  So we have resorted to the carseat.  It works for now!

Cheering on our Cougars in the Poinsettia Bowl!

Somebody loves bathtime

Ah!  Those eyes.  That smile.  Gets me every time!

Owen is 27 months now and suddently seems so grown up!  His favorite time of the night is bathtime, because he loves to "help" give Porter a bath.  His vocabulary has exploded recently, and now includes correct intonation of words like "Where?" and "What?" and correct conjugating of verbs.  He loves fruits & vegetables, but eating dinner is still hit and miss.  His favorite store is the "Fishy Store" (Walmart) & the "Pizza Store" (Costco).  Takes after his Mom on those!

Bathtime is always full of smiles in this house!

 



This picture was taken at 23 months... he has already changed so much since then.