Andrew's Four Month Checkup

Andrew's Weight: 17lbs 11 oz. (81st percentile)

Porter Weighed @ 4 months: 16.25 lbs

Andrew's Length: 25.75 in. (69th percentile)

Head: 43 cm (57th percentile)

Day in the Life of Andrew:

Andrew usually gets to wake up with Mom and Porter snuggling him, singing to him, and playing with him. The other morning Porter and I each one of his arms and chanted "Go Andra! Go Andra! Holla, What, What! Go Andra!" and it cracked him up! It was so cute!

He likes to lay on the bathroom rug and hang out while we get ready for the day. He loves it down there, even more than a chair or swing.

He LOVES to have his fists in his mouth along with some kind of clothe. Blankies or burp rags are his fave. He also gnaws on his thumb.

He stands and holds his head very well, but he never has liked tummy time, so he doesn't get it very often. He is really strong though.

He laughs and talks and is ticklish when we change his diaper and when we change his clothes. He has the cutest laugh.

Porter loves to play with him and kiss him, and Andrew seems to enjoy it as well.

He makes this cute face when he is hanging out. His lips are tucked in his mouth.

(See Video for example)

He wakes up every three hours for feedings.

Sleeps in bed with mom and dad for the most part.

This is wearing us out, we keep trying different things, but so far this is the way that lets us all sleep the most. His stomach still is giving him trouble. We can't figure this kid out! :)

Porter's Four Year Checkup

Porter's Height: 40.5 in. (56th percentile)

Porter's Weight: 36.6 lbs (57th percentile)

Porter's BMI: 15.69 (51st percentile)

Porter Quotes:

"uh, yeah, sure."-if we ask him if he wants such and such for dinner or something.

"Oh, my Cow!"-he came up with this when we taught him not to say the Lord's name in vain.

"Dad, your face is too sharp"-when dad hasn't shaved in a couple of days and then tries to give kissies to P diddy.

"What the..."-he says this with Talmage.

"Mom, I'm gonna be a dad when I grow up, huh?" He talks a lot about his future--marrying a princess, delivering pizza, and becoming a dad.

"Mom, you look like a princess."-On Sundays when I'm in a dress.

"Come wipe me!"-Even if you're standing right next to him.

"Hey Ana"-another one of Porter's nick names for Andrew

A Day in the Life of Porter:

What a Good Big Brother! Every morning he comes in and we all end up snuggling for another hour. Porter sings Pat-a-cake to Andrew. Somehow Porter always gets Andrew to laugh hysterically.

Porter Stories:

On Dec. 9th Heidi and I took Chalyse out for din din at the Gateway. When Porter saw that I was leaving and taking Andrew, he was concerned that Andrew would be scared and lonely. He told me "make sure he doesn't get scared, mom." I assured him that I would take good care of him. He said he would miss us and still seemed reluctant that I was going out for the night.

Unfortunately the roles will eventually be reversed. :(

On Dec. 15th before Porter was rushing out the door for school. Andrew was "talking" on the floor next to him. Porter is throwing his coat and shoes on and saying "aww, Andra, you're gonna miss me while I'm a preschool? I'll miss you too, brotha!"

Happy 17th Bday Mer!

Dear Mer, I miss you lots and hope you had a GREAT birthday! I wish I could be there to ruin it for you. darn. Maybe next year! Hope you love being 17! :)

"Jingle Bells!"

Yesterday Porter hops up from playing and runs into the bathroom. In his rush, he peers out the door and says "Mom, when I say "Jingle Bells" that means "Come wipe me."

He pulled that on his dad again today. He must have found a system that he liked.

Porter's chit chat with Santa

First of all I would like to say, Andrew turned four months today, and it was the FIRST time he slept through the night. 11-7:30. He has been getting up EVERY three hours on the dot before last night. We have been working on a schedule since Mike has been on break and it has obviously worked in our favor. I hope tonight is just as great. Also another note. I guess he is not allergic to milk anymore, because at Thanksgiving, I decided to enjoy some dairy. He didn't react. So the next day I had more dairy, no reaction and so on and so on. So that was only 2 and a half months of no dairy. Not as bad as I thought.

On to Son 1.

Mike and I took P Diddy to see Santa today. We were prepping him while we were waiting in line "What will you ask Santa for?" "tell him you want world peace." "I want transformer spiderman........and bumblebee..........and transformers"

He told us "I wanna go by myself, you guys stay here, I'm going by myself." He held his hand up reassuring us...."don't worry, I got it guys." So we stood back and let him have his independence. He got up on Santa's lap and FROZE.

Santa: "What do you want for Christmas?"

Porter: "army guys."

S: "Is that all? do you want anything else."

P: (shook his head-no)

S: "Thanks for stopping by, have a Merry Christmas."

We asked, "why did you ask for army guys, he already brought you army guys?"

P: "Cause I want some."

When we got in the van, I asked if he got nervous or scared. Mike and I were grilling him. And he kept saying no. Then eventually he got mad, "NO! I wasn't nervous. I don't like to be afraid!"

I guess it was a touchy subject, but we feel really bad for making him feel stupid. I hope we haven't ruined his self esteem for life.

Anyway, then we took a trip to our favorite store...the D.I. (thrift store). We are always lookin' for a deal on something we need. We are gonna miss this place when we move. We always find funny treasures and there is always something for everyone. Kids and Adults. It's our form of entertainment. We did not purchase anything today, but we still had fun.

On the way home, Porter was so upset that we wouldn't get him a "lunchable" (his favorite treat). So he told us "I'm not playing with you two!" And argued the whole way home, where he fell asleep around 4:03pm. He then woke back up around 7 tonight.

Shortly after he woke up, Mikey came home. They decided to have a sleepover party in the sleeping bags and watch "Robots". Well, when Mike went to search for the sleeping bags, Porter turned around and smashed his lip on the corner of the door frame. He insisted on having a band aid on it, and that is what you see here. He was NOT happy that I was taking his picture during this traumatizing time.

I hope that I can remember these days, when we get to enjoy or little kids all the laughing and the yelling. :) It's so fun.

Christmas Program

Porter had his first Christmas Program last night it was the cutest thing! Porter gave me the ol' thumbs up and tried to give Mike a wink, which ended up being a couple of blinks.

He kept putting his arms around Logan and Talmage, which they didn't like, then Talmage tried to hold Porter's hand, which he didn't like. It was cute. I can't believe my son is in performing in Christmas programs already!

Sorry Chalyse, it's way past my bedtime, so I'm gonna skip editing you out of this one. Thanks for always being Andrew's buddy, even though you look like you hate him in this picture, I know it's not true. :)

this video has porter giving me the thumbs up, it's toward the end if you don't wanna watch the whole thing.

Welcome Home Tradition

Yesterday was a big day. We had preschool, then we got dinner ready for Heidi B.'s fam, and then there was Porter's Christmas Program. I went to the store in preparation for din din and when I came home, I noticed this ordinary looking laundry basket...

J:"Dad, where's Porter?"

M:"I don't know." (Pointing to the basket.)

J: "Babe, you never know where Porter is, I guess I'll just get this laundry done and then start looking for him."

J: "AH! I thought you were lost!"

Later I went downstairs and found a mostly eaten bag of chips, which explain the orange face and fingers.-dead giveaway.

Porter always hides from Mike when he's coming home. It's usually an easy one...the closet or behind the couch. This one was pretty creative.

Delivering Presents

Last night Mikey was working Papa's so Porter and I delivered little gifts to our friends. Andrew was asleep in the car seat. So Porter and I drove around the neighborhood, just the two of us (and sleeping Andrew). He sat up by me and ran so carefully up to the doors so he didn't slip and fall. It was so cute! I laughed out loud in the nice warm van. I am pretty sure Porter had a good time, cause he kept saying "I love you, mom!"

My little baby is now so big and old. It has gone so fast. He is at a fun age, he can do most everything by himself and we even have some pretty good convos. I can't believe he is gonna be 4!

Drum Roll Please.....

We have decided where we are going for MED SCHOOL! I typed in the name of the town into GOOGLE IMAGES and these are what I found. Can you guess???

I'll give you some hints, here were our options:

A. Des Moines, IA

B. Glendale, AZ

C. Kirksville, MO

D. Parker, CO

If you guessed C you were correct! I would NEVER have dreamed that I would end up in Missouri. We all called it MISERY when we were growing up in KC. And now, here we are. Even when applying, we SWORE up and down, AZ would be the place for us. Especially during the winter time. But, alas. That is not our plight.

It turned out to be the better school over all. There is a bonus! It is close to my family! I have lived in Utah for 9 years, it is about time I get on back to my "ruts". PLUS the boys might get a little accent! :) YAY...my two little hick boys...oh so cute!

I'm SOOOOOOO proud of you Mikey! You have worked so hard and I am proud to say after six years of undergrad, you've progressed to grad school! AHHH...what a relief. I don't have to dump you after all. :) JUST KIDDING! I LOVE YA BABE! Way to go!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Remember my sis, AMANDA?!? She is 15 TODAY! I MISS YA BABE

and Remember my friend, Heidi, who adopts? She just got sealed to her son, Lincoln, three months ago? She got another baby. Romnee Emma Bird was born this morning! YAY! I can't wait to meet the little cutie.

Chalyse's Birthday

For Chalyse's Birthday Mike Hall took her ice skating and shopping for some jeans. A dream come true. Heidi had planned on watching her kids for the night, but she got the call that she was having the baby that night, so we moved the party to our house. Mike set up the tent and we popped them some popcorn they watched Kung Foo Panda. They had lots of fun, but after Elle Bell went to bed, the boys were scared of the basement. So we moved them upstairs. We put a mattress on the floor in the kitchen and the boys fell asleep almost instantly. It was fun to have a "sleep over" that ended at 9:30pm.

Opened the Presents

Okay, Santa, I hope you're not mad, but we only made it TWO DAYS without opening what you brought us! :)

Two Sundays ago we woke up to Porter begging (again!) to open what Santa brought him. Mike said "okay" before I could even say "NO! WAIT!" Porter had the wrapping torn off! I said "WAIT FOR ME TO GET MY GLASSES ON!" and he politely did. :)

But that was so much fun, that we kept saying "one more," and all of a sudden all of them were opened! :) It was a great time, though! Lots of fun being the kid again.

Thanks for the gift cards, the scentsy stuff, the computer and army guys, the ball popper is sweet! It's a good thing Andrew can't play with it yet, cause there would be some fighting with Porter. :) And, we saved the Christmas Eve stuff, so we have SOME surprise! Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much! The gifts were JUST our style. Who would ever know exactly what we needed and wanted! hmmmmm...... THANK YOU!