Today is December 30th. It has been snowing a little today so Porter and I decided to make a few videos special for Grandpa Goodrich. Everyone else can enjoy them too!

I hope you can see these Grandpa. I know that your internet connection is slow. I made these videos as small as I could. Know that we love you and HAPPY NEW YEAR

Random Summer Events

This past summer, we went on a raft trip with some friends and had a great time. The weather was perfect and the water felt great!

Porter at the state fair. He loves animals and really enjoyed seeing and touching them.

I was getting ready to take Porter to get his pictures done and thought maybe I should take a few so he'll be used to it. When I asked him to smile, this is what he did. I thought it turned out great!

Jump 'N Bounce

My sister took us to a Jump 'N Bounce and Porter LOVED it! Instead of walking, he usually jumps wherever he goes anyway. And instead of running, he shuffles along really fast. He has so much energy!

Family Visit

Porter and I spent a week visiting family and let dad put his nose to the grind to finish off the semester. Porter had a blast playing with his cousins.
Porter gives us a few good laughs during the day as he comes up with new and silly things. This day, his horse got stuck in his pocket which he thought was funny and asked me to put the rest of his "ahmals" on him. Too cute!

While visiting with the family, we had a dinner with everyone and celebrated Porter's birthday. He did much better this year and smiled when everyone was singing "Happy Birthday" to him. (Last year, he screamed.)

Porter is 2!

Porter turned 2 this month and we can't believe it! He is such a busy little boy; constantly moving from one thing to the next. We are amazed every day with the new words and phrases he can say and how clearly he says them... at least they're clear for mom and dad who are pretty used to his speech. "Curious George" has become a favorite at our house and he asks several times a day for "more George?" Porter still loves his blankets and wants them all piled on him at night. He loves to give kisses and hugs and has a great time playing with other children. He truly is so much fun and brightens our days with his sweet smile and addictive giggle. We decided we'll keep him around!

Our Garden

We got ambitious this year and planted a garden. We have corn, peas, beans, carrots, green onions, different kinds of squash, strawberries and a dozen tomato plants of varying kinds. Yum!

Pictures from Spokane

Trying to get Porter to smile on his block... no such luck.

Kellie and Ryan took us on a hike to see these trees that were 800 to 2,000 years old. They were huge! Here's our attempt to get all the kids together for a picture.

Finally Porter and Claire cooperated... kind of. Kellie's kids started to call Porter "Porty" while we were there. I think it fits him! Haha.

My first time packing the little man. Darn kid never held still so my balance was off for the hike and we were eaten alive by the mosquitoes, but the scenery, weather and company were delightful!

Spokane has this great year-round carrousel. Porter was skeptical at first, but of course threw a fit when it was time to get off.

Chasing Birds

Just a cute video of Porter trying to catch some birds. If you listen closely, you can hear him saying "bird" as he chases them. So smart!

Road Trip

Porter and I drove to Spokane to visit with family. We said goodbye to Jess and Jason who will be moving East for more schooling. We welcomed Haley to her new home for a year and my parents who are moving to Spokane in two weeks. Crazy!

Updates

The mighty hunter who has yet to catch any fish this way... but he'll never give up!

Our little monk! It was cold and I'd forgotten to pack a jacket for the little man so we improvised.

Grandpa and Porter. This was Porter's second experience on a boat.

Aunt Mary and Porter.

It took a few tries, but Porter loves to wear a hat when we're outside.

Playground

I got out the door pretty early this morning (7:40 am) to hit the grocery stores before the crowd. Porter didn't mind so much; he's up by 6:30 anyway. By the time we got home though, it was 10:00 and he needed to play and be free! We have a park just half a block from our house so off we went. Porter went down the slide all by himself!! He loved it and did it again and again.

Brushing Teeth

Porter loves to brush his teeth! He puts it right in his mouth and walks around for a minute and then gives it back to us when he's done.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

New Additions

About a week ago, Ben told me he had a surprise for me. "A surprise for me? Now... what could that be?" Well... two turtles were about the last thing on my mind. No, they weren't even ON my mind. So yes, we now have two turtles we've named Peat and Repeat. (One is a little bigger than the other one. ) I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but they're an easy keep so I guess it's okay.
They're not doing what you think in this photo. The bigger one, Peat, climbs on top of Repeat everyday and just sits there with all his legs spread straight out, even his toes (or whatever they are) are spread out. It's really funny! But every time I try to get a picture of it, they both jump back in the water.

Blankets Galore

Porter loves his blankets! Luckily, he hasn't attached to just one, but he only likes the 100% kind of rough cotton ones. At least twice a day, he will pull all of his blankets from the nicely folded pile I have them in and spread them throughout the house. I took these pictures in a matter of one minute just walking from room to room.

As you can see, there are a total of 10 blankets in use at one time. Instead of saying "blanket" he calls them "daddy" but he does understand when we tell him to go get his blanket. It's very cute! Ben and I have both been grateful he has something that brings comfort to him, especially when we have a sitter. He does still use a pacifier, but only when he's sleeping. We're working on taking that away though. Tough times to come.

Random

So yes, it's been "some time" since our last post and I don't have any good excuses except simply not wanting to. Nothing is new... we're just enjoying family life together and getting REALLY sick of winter and the cold. Porter can say a lot of words and phrases these days such as: more, bottle, outside, dog, "woof woof," all gone, daddy, mama, love you, no no, uh oh, and bite. There are many more, but I can't recall them. He understands SO MUCH more too. We really are so thrilled to have such a bright little man. He is advanced for his age, we just hope it stays that way!
This is a recent classic Porter face. Sometimes he makes this face when we tell him "no" or if he decides he's mad but doesn't want to throw a fit. Other times, he just makes the face. He also loves climbing into things especially containers that already have things in them and he proceeds to throw everything all over the floor.

Here's our happy boy. He's been walking for well over 3 months now and usually runs wherever he is going. We must avoid socks in the house because he slips and slides all over.

Bath time with daddy is a joy! He absolutely loves it (aside from the actual "bathing" part).

Doesn't he look so grown-up in this picture? At almost 15 months, our little baby is not so baby.

Just a cute picture.

Just a funny picture!

Goodrich Family Photo - this was the first time everyone was home for Christmas in 6 years!!

Playing in the snow with Daddy!

Aunt Mary serenading us all... Porter especially loved it!

Porter playing with Gma's toys in a drawer. Whenever we would pull the drawer out, he'd just climb right in.

Christmas in Oregon

We had a wonderful time in Oregon at Gma's and Gpa's house this year for Christmas. In the video below, you can see Porter with his FAVORITE toy. He walked it from one end of the house to the other ALL day long. And eventually...

... he started walking all by himself!!

Everyone said we'd dread the day he started walking, but we were VERY ready for it. It was a great Christmas present.