"The Bruiser"

I promise I do not beat my child! See, he's happy in this picture. The problem is that Porter has no fear, loves to climb ANYTHING, and is the energizer bunny! That combination means lots of bumps, scrapes, and bruises! He is definitely all boy! If I could have just a small portion of the energy he has! He keeps me on my toes, but I love him just the way he is. Life would be boring if Porter was "normal":)

Lazy Sunday

It was such a beautiful day today, so after church, we decided to go for a walk. We went to Brandon's office that backs up to a private lake. There is a walking path around the whole lake that was perfect for a lazy stroll.

I wanted to take a picture of Porter with the baby geese in the background. He would NOT look at the camera and I took a million pictures of him. In this picture he looks mad because I kept taking pictures of him. This was the best I got, though. The baby geese were so cute! (I guess I better say Porter was, too!)

Whenever we go on a walk, this is always what I see... Porter does not have a walking mode. He runs everywhere he goes!

Porter got the idea to throw rocks into the lake. From then on, every rock and pine cone Porter found, had to be thrown into the lake. It took us forever to get all the way around!

Porter and Daddy feeding the ducks. Porter couldn't get it that he needed to break the bread into small pieces. He would throw HUGE peices of bread that wouldn't make it into the water. Oh well, he still had fun:)!

Hudson was just chillin' with his Momma. I thought it was funny that by the end of our walk (or actually mid-way) neither of the boys were in their stroller!

The Hunt!

After church, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Hoopes' for a yummy dinner, "fishing" (a tradition they do on Easter where the grandkids fish for fun prizes), and a big Easter Egg Hunt.



Grandma Hoopes, Grandma Perry and Hudson cheering Porter on! Notice the umbrella. It was raining pretty good all day. In fact, there were moments when it was raining solid sheets of water! I think it's pretty ironic that the weekend before was soooo beautiful and warm, and this coming weekend is also supposed to be in the mid-seventies! Of course it has to be cold and rainy on Easter. Welcome to Oregon!

Easter Morning

When Porter woke up, he found the Easter Bunny had left his Easter Basket, full of fun things, outside his bedroom.

Easter at the Zoo

We went to the zoo, again, on Saturday. They had fun Easter activities and an Easter Egg Hunt. Porter wouldn't get close enough to the Easter Bunny to get a picture, but he did give the Easter Bunny a high five!



Feeding the Lorkeets. Hudson wanted to grab one. Porter let one land on his arm. I was surprised he held still! It was a fun day!

Our patio addition...

We wanted to add on to our patio to have room for some patio furniture so we can eat outside when the weather is nice. The original patio was too small and narrow to really use. I'm glad we had room for the huge truck to make it as far as it did!

Go, Ryan, Go!

I just couldn't resist! I figured it's our cement, so why not!

Brandon working his magic...

The finished product! It's going to be so nice to have this extra patio area!

A busy Easter Weekend!

My mom, Brandon (brother), Ben, and Ryan came to visit us for their Spring Break. They were soooo awesome to help us add on to our patio. Brandon was a pro at it. I know they probably had things they would rather be doing during their spring break, but they worked hard helping us. Did I mention how awesome they are?:)

Zoo Adventure!

I decided to take Porter and Hudson to the zoo on Monday because the weather was so nice. We got there and realized that everyone in the Portland Metro area decided to go to the zoo, also! We drove around for a half hour looking for parking, and decided it wasn't worth it. I didn't want to turn around and go home, but I also don't know the area very well and didn't want to get lost. I felt adventurous, though, and decided to drive around and look for something else to do. Past the Rose Gardens, I found an awesome park. I decided this would be the next best thing to the zoo. We had our picnic there and Porter LOVED playing in the sandbox (even though we didn't have any sand toys). I didn't get a picture of the play structure, but it was huge! It was almost too big- it was hard to keep Porter in my sight!


After spending 3 hours at the park, I decided to drive by the zoo on our way home and see how crowded it was. Porter was still talking about the zoo, so I really wanted to go. It was still crowded, but I could see parking spaces, so I decided since we were here, we would go in for awhile. That's the nice thing about season passes, you don't have to spend all day there to get your money's worth. We just went to one section (the area with the bears) and stayed for one hour. We were all tired by that time and I didn't want to get stuck in rush hour traffic. Things didn't go as planned, but it was still a fun day and we were outside in the nice weather all day. I wish the weather would last, but today and the rest of the week are supposed to be cooler with rain coming our way. Bummer!

My latest project...

I got this idea at the Street of Dreams a couple years ago, and knew I always wanted to use it. I love having a family wall full of pictures. This is a neat way to organize and display a bunch of pictures. It was super easy, too! That's always a plus! This is in our entryway, so that people that visit will see pictures of our family right away.:)

Mystery Tree

On the same note as my last post, we have a mystery tree in our yard. We don't know what kind it is and what to do with it. I think we need to trim it up, but I don't want to accidentally kill it. If anyone knows what kind of tree this is and what to do with it, please let me know! We don't have very green thumbs here- at least not yet.

Here's a close-up of the budding branches.

How Random!

I just had to take a picture of this. Daffodils growing in the middle of our backyard. I thought it was funny. It makes me wonder how they got there, and how long they have been growing there. I am hoping I will be able to plant the bulbs somewhere else. We are beginning the process of killing the grass, so we can plant better grass. (see below pictures of Porter for our reasoning behind re-landscaping our whole yard.)

This is Porter after playing in our backyard probably for one hour. He didn't roll around on the ground to get all muddy. All he did was throw a ball around and chase bubbles. I had to strip him down before he could come inside because he was so dirty. This is why we are going to plant new grass. Our grass now is yucky and bare, with a lot of mud in between. Not good when you have a child that wants to be outside all day!


These pictures don't do a good job of showing how dirty he really was!

Pay it Forward

My cousin Michele did this fun "pay it forward" idea on her blog, & I wanted to join in. So here's the deal:

The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a gift from me during this year. When & what will be a surprise! There's a small catch though... Post this same thing on your blog, then come back & leave a comment telling me you're in.
Remember, only the first 3 lucky people will receive the gift!
* Don't forget to post this on your blog FIRST, then come back & leave me a comment!
Good Luck!

We Miss You Daddy!

Brandon went on a "man trip", as he calls, to St. Louis with my dad to watch National Wrestling. Porter, Hudson and I have missed him all week and are VERY excited that he is coming home tommorrow! Love ya!

We're in TROUBLE!!!

We have been having a hard time getting Porter to fall asleep lately. He has realized all of the freedom he has in a toddler bed. Well, with his new freedom and the love of climbing, of course that's what he does. He climbs up the bookcase and worst of all, he climbs into the crib, whether Hudson is there or not! There is a light switch above the crib that Porter likes to turn on. I am worried that Porter is going to step on Hudson accidentally. A few days ago, we put Porter down for bed and then shortly afterward, got Hudson to sleep. I knew that Porter wasn't asleep yet, but still put Hudson in his crib. I reminded Porter to be quiet and to stay in his bed, so that he didn't wake up Hudson. Well, I think it is a known fact that what goes in a two-year-old's ear goes right back out the other ear. Brandon and I were in the family room, and we hear talking from the baby monitor. Then we look down the hall and see the light on. We go in and sure enough, Porter was in the crib with Hudson. Hudson was fully awake, but not only was he fully awake, he was getting a kick out of Porter. He had the biggest grin on his face! I know in about a year or so, Porter is going to have an accomplice. Porter is going to teach Hudson everything and they are going to get into all kinds of mischief together... which means Brandon and I are in BIG trouble!

Best Friends

It's rare to get pictures of Porter and Hudson together. Just thought these were really cute!

I'm four months old...

I love watching the world around me...

I've found my fingers and I like them in my mouth...

And when I'm bored, I can always count on my toes to keep me busy!

Growing!

I took this picture when Hudson was almost 4 months old. He can sit up if I put a ball in front of him. It's good practice. Porter started sitting on his own right after he turned 4 months old, but I know this is not typical. Porter was early with all of his physical milestones. I guess we'll see what Hudson does.

Fort

Porter loves building forts with Brandon. They don't last long because Porter ends up jumping on top of the blankets. It's fun while it lasts!