Porter at 4

On one hand, I can't believe my first baby is 4 years old and on the other, I can't hardly picture what life was like before him. He brings me joy every single day and I can't imagine being any more proud of him. I love him with my whole heart and am grateful every day for the privilege of being his mommy! There are so many things I want to remember about our children at each age and some days I wish I could freeze them or make time stand still. I know that there will be parts of each age that I love and cherish and others that will be incredibly challenging. This age is no exception. He is so incredibly strong-willed and tests my patience on daily basis. I love how persistent he is and I can only hope he will use that persistence to show others what an excellent role model he is and how much he loves The Lord. I pray that he will use his strong will to follow his convictions and do what's right, even when he is surrounded by people making bad choices. I trust The Lord will use this sweet boy for big things! 

His brown teddy bear eyes and silky brown hair melt my heart! He loves horses as much as he did 2 years ago. He is obsessed with farm animals and spouts off facts that I have no idea where he heard. His favorite foods are apples and watermelon. He loves watching his shows and needs his time in the morning to wake up and watch cartoons. He has a random collection of animals and toys with him at all times, no matter where he is. His imagination is huge and impresses me every single day with what games he can come up with. He is the absolute best big brother I have ever seen. They fight at times, of course, but he truly loves spending time with his brother and sister and helping/teaching them. He is working so hard to learn his letters and letter sounds and I love watching things begin to click for him. He wears socks at all times and never takes them off. He is the neatest, most orderly child I've ever met. He loves music and I often catch him singing to himself. He isn't particular at all about his clothing and will wear whatever I lay out. He loves his cowboy boots and still plays cowboy any chance he can. His plastic animals are his favorite toys. His daddy is his best buddy in the world. He much prefers to play with adults over children, for now. He is very reserved around strangers and takes a while to warm up to new people. He is incredibly quarky, but I love every single thing about my sweet boy and wouldn't change one thing! 

Mountain Playlodge

On Friday, we celebrated with some special friends that also have a February birthday boy. We went to Chick Fil A for breakfast, Mountain Play Lodge for some play time and then back to our house for lunch and cupcakes. We love spending time with Lindsey, Sawyer and Lilly and are so thankful for their sweet friendships! 

Birthday Snow Day

When you're a child that adores snow, having a huge snow day on your birthday is the coolest thing ever! Our big boy even went sledding all by himself for the first time on his big day. Savannah however, wouldn't leave the patio. 

Chuck E Cheese

Porter's birthday dinner of choice was a trip to Chuck E Cheese. I'll say, I prepared myself for very expensive chaos, but the snow worked in our favor and it wasn't crowded at all and thanks to every single coupon I could find, wasn't too expensive either. The big kids had a great time and Sullivan was entertained enough to behave very well. All in all, a very special night of making memories with our 3 favorite sweeties! Savannah's reaction to the games and winning tickets was priceless! She jumped up and down and squealed every single time she won tickets. Porter's favorite was, of course, riding the horse. 

Birthday Celebrations

This year, we opted to skip the large family party and do several small celebrations instead. It worked out great and our sweet Porter has had several days to feel like the special birthday boy! 

Tuesday, Mimi, Papaw and Ciara came over for a pizza party and cookie cake. Porter loved his farm puzzle and stickers. 

Wednesday morning, Jesse, Tim, Emma and Nonni came over to play and we went to Blue Sky for a special birthday celebration lunch. Porter has loved reading his horse book from Emma and hasn't put down his new animals from Tim and Jesse. 

Wednesday night, Mammi and PopPop came over for a quick birthday visit to see the birthday boy and had a new ranch set and the movie Planes. The big snow storm was starting, so we didn't have time to take any pictures of this celebration. 

Porter's birthday morning felt like Christmas to me. He has asked for a bike for the longest time and I couldn't wait to see his face. He woke up with hugs from Sissy and ran out to see his surprises. He got his new bike and a Paw Patrol movie. His breakfast request was chocolate chip muffins. He also woke up to the biggest snow we have seen all winter. My sweet baby whole heartedly believed this snow storm was his very own birthday gift. 

Porter and I shopped for some birthday cupcakes at Target and he chose to make sprinkle cupcakes with blue icing at home. And he chose Ninja Turtle plates and napkins for decorations. 

 

Our birthday evening was spent as Chuck E Cheese. And Porter still has 2 more celebrations to look forward to. A special day out with Nonni and Papa and a visit to Grandpa's to see the new horse. Porter's lunch choice was Papas and Beer, but he didn't get to go on his birthday, so we took him on Friday. The meal was fun, but the birthday singing wasn't exactly his favorite thing ;)

Roommates and Babies

There are so few friendships in life that withstand the test of time. So when you find one (or in this case, 3) you cherish them. Becca, Heather, Ashley and I shared an apartment in college and have since all moved from Charlotte, gotten married and had children. But we do get together every few months to catch up on life and meet the ever growing number of babies. I love these girls! And their sweet babies! Here are the babies in birth order. Porter, Skylar, Savannah, Addy, Evelyn, Sullivan and Reece. Ok and can we just talk about Sullivan's face for a second?! Poor sweet thing got scared when we were trying to get their attention for pictures. 

Milkshakes and Pancakes

Just because I love these two kids and these two pictures...

Sharing a strawberry milkshake. Porter was explaining to Savannah. That she needed to take only one sip so she wouldn't get brain freeze :)

  

And making Sunday morning pancakes together...