Happy 5th Birthday My Blue Eyed Boy!

While I may be his mother, Porter is definitely raising me!  His mind and memory astound me and his love and understanding of the Gospel are far beyond his years.   Family prayer, meal prayers and FHE cannot be missed (even if he has to say them quietly to himself).   He is so grown up that sometimes I forget that he is only 5 and expect a little too much from him.  His self confidence is incredible (something I lacked most of my life) and he truly believes he is incredible.  I hope with all my heart that he never loses his self confidence.  I have loved volunteering in his Preschool and watching him interact with his friends and teachers.  His two favorite people in the whole world are Daddy and Papa Carl and if he could choose, he would spend every waking moment with both of them.  This little boy has my heart and although at times he can be a handful, his sweetness melts me and I would love nothing more than to snuggle his scrawny little body all day long.  

FAVORITES:

Song: Praise to the Man and Latter Day Prophets

Color: Green (blue is a close second)

TV Show:  

Food:  According to him, Chicken Fingers and Salmon, according to me, Mac and Cheese and Peanut Butter Sandwiches  (although is palette is finally expanding)

Book: The Book of Mormon (according to him)  We just finished reading Harry Potter, which although may have been a bit advanced was completely thrilling to him

He loves Playmobile, Legos and Superheros and a new found favorite The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

The traditional breakfast in bed (in mom's bed because a bunk bed is entirely too hard for those types of things)

We celebrated his birthday Pirate Style and invited far too many children to count!

They walked the plank, launched cannon balls, at Pizza and watched "Pirates-Band of Misfits".

A few of the many LeBaron cousins (remember how I said too many children to count, these were just the family members invited, this doesn't include all the friends, yikes!)

It wouldn't be a party if Jack doesn't crash!

Oh Jack!

 My little darling boy, I cannot express my love for you and all your crazy quirky habits.

You may possibly be a little OCD and very habitual but you love to shop!  Every morning you began the ritual of Grocery Shopping our fridge and pantry.  You had favorites, namely:  cereal, mac and cheese, chicken broth, and milk with a few others thrown in there randomly each day.  It began as an arrangement on the counter and then moved to the stairs but we can't keep you away from it!

So shop away!

The Rest of November

November was full of taking in every moment of this little beauty!  How adorable!

We started a new tradition of the LeBaron Family Turkey Trot!  This may have been the first time I exercised since I had a baby and it was a little rough but we all thoroughly enjoyed it and hope to make it an annual tradition!

 The whole English clan was here visiting so we made the most of our Thanksgiving weekend!  

Gardner Villiage

 Porter and Tommy joined the family down town to see Savior of the World and take in a little bit of what down town has to offer at Christmas time.  Porter was in heaven, especially at Temple Square.

 His favorite part about this visit was seeing the statue of Joseph Smith.  He was in complete shock and awe and literally believed that Joseph was that tall!

We headed down to Alpine to cut down our Christmas tree!  It was unseasonably warm and the boys were in heaven romping around the field trying to find the perfect tree!

I'd say we did pretty well right?

November 2012-The First Snow Storm

October 2012

Catching up with Life!  It's been FOREVER since I posted but I realize how much I love looking back at this record of our lives and so I will press on!  Let's start with October.  It is crazy how much this baby has already grown since then, but here she was:

Can we talk about how fat she looks here?

But alas, I'm a mother of three so we had to keep up the entertainment.  Here were our successful Mummy cupcakes:

Jack Likes to Eat in case you can't tell

 The Annual Pumpkin Catch Visit

 We opted for painting rather than carving this year!

Tommy had his second week of Paternity leave and we had a wonderful trip to the Zoo!

Jack has an obsession with Elephants (Dumbo is his favorite show!)

And Finally, HALLOWEEN!

The Knight, the Dragon and the Princess

Just to Remind Myself

Last night was one of those sleepless nights.  The kind where kid after kid is crying or needs something.  The kind that you start praying for the night to end while knowing that the morning will bring a zombie like state and perhaps a bit less patience for your kids than you would hope.  While browsing the web last night during one of Addie's feedings, I came across a post a mother had written to remind herself about all the things she loves about her two year old.  So in an attempt to keep my sanity and patience level on high, I am going to follow suit and remind myself of all the reasons I love my two year old (I do love my 3 week old and 4 year old too but that will be a different post)

1-  I love what a problem solver you are.  Your mind works in a way I cannot even fathom and along with your determination, you will find a way to conquer anything.  From climbing the shelves of the fridge to reach the top and rescue the sword that is in time out to scaling the shelves in Addie's room to reach the Winnie the Pooh nesting doll you have always found a way.  You've learned that the oven door provides a valuable step stool to the counter, stools can be dragged around the house to give you the extra height and if you don't like what Porter is doing you can sit on him.

2-  I love how independent you have become.  If you are hungry, you don't wait for me to assist you.  At the age of 2, much to my dismay, you have already mastered the art of making the perfect peanut butter sandwich.  Luckily, lately you have been choosing the butter knife over the knives from the knife block and have given up on the sticky honey.

3-  I love how thoughtful and loving you are towards your siblings.  When it is time to get in the tub, you always inform me that Porter should be first.  You test out all of Addies binkies for her just to be sure they are safe to suck on, and you always share your food with the dog (ok not a sibling but close enough)  But in all seriousness, you always offer to share your food with Porter and always get him a bag of fruit snacks when you get one for yourself and you insist on holding Addie and bringing her stuffed animals and blankets and rocking her cradle while she sleeps.  My heart melts when you gently bend down to kiss her head and softly say, "my baby".

4-  You are my little shadow and side kick and I love the time we spend together taking naps, playing blocks and going on walks.  You love your daddy but I think it is safe to say you are a momma's boy through and through and I wouldn't have it any other way.

5-  I love that you still have baby breath.  I know it sounds weird but you haven't reached the stage of stinky breath and that was really important while I was pregnant.

6-  I love that although you have horrible problems sleeping at night sometimes, you can never go without your nap and will take it anywhere you can find a place to rest your head: grocery stores, movie theaters, and sacrament meeting just to name a few.  Your most recent nap was at Costco with your head propped up on a coat.

7- I love that you are an eater.  Most parents struggle with getting their kids to eat or at least getting them to eat healthy, but you will eat whatever I give you.  Your favorite foods are bananas, grapes, pasta and string cheese.

8-  I love your fearless and adventurous spirit.  Nothing scares you and nothing holds you back.  Ok well maybe the new lock on the front door that keeps you from roaming the neighborhood or running to Finn's house, but other than that, nothing.

9-  Although your speech may be a little slow in coming.  I love hearing you speak and watching you learn new words.  You are constantly surprising us with words we didn't know you knew.

10-  I love how social you are.  You may not always be the best at speaking tangible words and often find the other kids staring at you with a dumbfounded look on their face, but you love playing with your friends and trying to make new friends at the park.  Pictured above is Jack having Finn feed him Cheetos.

Jack, you are larger than life.  You keep me on my toes and have me on constant alert for fear of what will happen if I take my eyes off of you for more than a second.  You try my patience and work me to the point of exhaustion and since the day you were born I've had many sleepless nights and shed many tears.  But Jack, I wouldn't have it any other way.  I love you so much it hurts and feel blessed to know that God trusted me to raise your sweet little spirit.  I hope you never lose your adventurous spirit and excitement for life.  I hope you always stay a mommy's boy and that I can be inspired to know exactly what you need and how to make you happy.

Baby Adelaide