Christmas, Christmas, and more Christmas

Ok, so honestly I've put off the Christmas blogging until now because I don't even know where to begin! We celebrated eight(yes, eight!) different Christmas(es?) with different family members and have 300+ pictures to show for them. This leaves me with a bit of a dilemma with where to begin posting pictures, but quite a nice problem to have. Our sweet boy sure does have a lot of love coming his way! So until I can get better caught up, I'll give a quick preview...

Cooking some vegetables while waiting on presents :)

He was super excited about his train set

1 daddy + 2 grandpas + lots of tools= a cozy coupe!

"Hey mom, see my new car?"

Watch out for your toes!

Little People house and books, two of his favorite things!

"Thanks Santa for the new helicopter!"

"Mom, cut it out already!"

Santa brought him a farm for Christmas :)

Checking out his new rug, thanks Nonni and Papa!

My silly boy!

Standing is so much more fun when you have a music table!

NOT a fan of walking this morning!

My most favorite Christmas eve moment!

More pictures and stories to come, I promise!

Double digits!!

Among all things celebrated this weekend, this was one of them...

You want me to sit still? Riiiight!

Happy 10 months sweet boy! You are so much fun these days! You sure can roll your way over to anywhere you want to go, but crawling is not in your future plans it seems. You have gotten very good at standing and taking steps (with help) so I'm beginning to wonder if you're just going to skip right into walking. You eat (and love!) any fruit or vegetable, along with rice, oatmeal, yogurt, and sometimes cheese. You are a pro at feeding yourself Puffs, and it's super cute! You are quite expressive when you want (or don't want) things ;) You make friends anywhere we go! You laugh so hard when we tickle you. And your bedtime hugs are sweeter than ever! We love you little boy!

Presents!!!

Watching Porter try to figure out how to open presents is one of my favorite holiday memories already! He's such a determined little thing...

Bananas, anyone?

To say that bananas are Porter's favorite food is an understatement...

He was telling us "more" the whole time he was eating them smashing them, even with a whole tray full! I guess that's what we get for calling him our little monkey :)

Christmas tree hunting

Our trip to find a Christmas tree (in Boone) was probably definitely my favorite one! Sharing the experience with Porter made it new all over again! Sean's secret career dream has always been to be a Christmas tree farmer and I think Porter just might share that dream with him...

He was SO excited about his very own tree :)

He and Daddy had these smiles the whole time, so cute!

Everyone had such a good time and we found the perfect trees! Our Christmas just wouldn't be the same without a freshly cut tree to decorate. But I would say that everyone's favorite part is probably the dinner that awaits us afterwards...the Daniel Boone Inn. If you haven't been, go! {Hint from experience- you might want to wear your stretchy pants, lol!} I'd say that Porter was a little less than impressed with the Daniel Boone Inn, seeing as how he slept in my lap the entire meal. I'm sure my snuggle bug boy will be much more excited about it next year! 

He was a little worried about the men putting the giant tree on our car, but he loved watching!

Ho Ho Ho

So let's just say that Porter's not Santa's biggest fan...

I thought touching Santa before he sat on his lap might help...

...it didn't!

Sorry Santa, we'll try again next year!

But a candy cane sure does make everything better!

9 months

My tiny boy, you are somehow 9 months old already!

You have a hilarious personality and seem to make friends everywhere we go! You know just what to do to get attention if you want to talk to someone. We love your laugh and how you flap your hands when you get excited. You make us laugh everyday! I love you tiny boy. 

So much to be thankful for

When I was pregnant with Porter, one of the things I most looked forward to was being able to share our holiday traditions with him. They still seemed so far away though. Now, they're here and I am unbelievably excited! Porter and I went to the mall in Greensboro yesterday, while Sean took his test, and we were both beyond smitten by the GIANT Christmas tree that filled all 3 stories of the mall! He stared, I stared, we stared together, and we stared some more, we loved it! He saw Santa, but only from a distance (Sean said he wasn't allowed to see Santa without him there also). He was far more interested in the glass elevator behind Santa's head though, maybe next year :) Even aside from all of the shopping excitement, gift planning, tree decorating, and baking, I'm finding myself reflecting on how many things we have to be truly thankful for this year...

*Our salvation and relationship with a wonderful Savior that loves and cares for us, even when we're unlovable

*The blessing of sharing our lives with an amazingly sweet, perfectly healthy, beautiful baby boy that steals our hearts each and every day

*Wonderful family that loves and supports all 3 of us in a way that we couldn't have even imagined {and spoils our little darling rotten!}

*A beautiful house that we get to call our home and adorn with Christmas decorations

*Friends that enrich our lives and make us better, happier people

*A strong and loving marriage that, while not perfect, has grown even stronger and more passionate throughout our almost 4 years together

My list could go on and on, but you get the idea. This year, as we enjoy our holiday traditions and make new memories with our little love bug, I'm feeling extremely thankful and undeservedly blessed! Happy Thanksgiving!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

For the sake of those that get a little impatient with the Christmas season beginning too early (i.e. Sean!), I have waited as long as I can possibly wait. And since I can wait no longer, Christmas cheer is in full swing here in the Mitchell household!!! Bring on the Christmas music, smells, and blog posts... Our Christmas tree can't get here fast enough!

*As a sidenote, I would like to blame part of the premature Christmas excitement on my neighbor (whose house looks like a giant Christmas tree ornament already- and has for 2 weeks already!).

Just a flashback to what last Christmas was like...

I can't wait to share all of these pictures with our little guy, when he is a little older! {And will know not to say, "Wow, mommy you look huge!"}

"Yay"

Of course every parent thinks their child is the cutest one on the planet, and this mommy {me, of course} is no exception. This diaper-wearing, bumbo-sitting little cutie steals my heart! I've been working hard with Porter on some sign language (eat, more, all done, yay, hi, thank you, and blowing kisses- not sign language, but super cute!). While he is catching on to some of them, he also has an equal amount of confusion with others {quite funny when he says 'hi' to tell you he wants 'more'}. Exhibit #1...

Playtime snapshot

Here's a video of what playtime looks like around here these days. Featured in this video: his favorite word and newest favorite 'toy', enjoy!



Freedom!

I knew this day would come, but now?! Again I'll say, I'm not sure I was quite ready for this one. Bring on the babyproofing...



Roaaarrrr!!!

This past weekend we had the pleasure of experiencing Tiger World. I had no idea something so fun was less than half an hour away from us! It is a rescue center for tigers, lions, bears, monkeys, wolves, etc. The wonderful people there have adopted these animals and are attempting to rehabilitate them. Because of the small setting, you are able to get far closer to the animals than at a traditional zoo. I wasn't sure if Porter was going to be old enough to appreciate the animals, but he loved them!! The lion roaring and tigers eating were the highlights of his day!

With tigers running behind him, we had no chance of getting a good picture!

Telling mommy all about the cool tigers. I love this boy and his excitement!

"Let's go look over there mommy!"

Adorable tiger cubs :)

The 3 tigers he got to watch eat. These guys were his favorite!

Roadtrip, VA style...

Our Virginia trip {two weekends ago} wasn't Porter's first roadtrip, but it was his longest. We drove to Churchville, VA for my cousin, Daniel's, wedding.  We were a little nervous about the 5 hour car ride, but our little champ slept over three hours of it! The weather was perfect and wedding was beautiful. Unfortunately, my camera was m.i.a. for most of the weekend. I know, I know new moms are supposed to have them on-hand at all times. Oops! It was Porter's first hotel stay, and well...we'll hold off on future hotel trips for a while! Let's just say the hotel room didn't inspire sleep for him ;) However, the room was amazing and continental breakfast (not your regular hotel-style breakfast!) made up for some of the temporary sleep deprivation. I wish I had more pictures to share, but hopefully we can get some from Daniel and Kellsye soon! Here are the ones that made it to the camera...

"Mommy, you can't get ready any faster than that?"

Worried face :)

Yes, this is what we do to a hotel room in a matter of hours!