3!

Dear Porter,

Today you turned 3 years old. I can still remember your sweet baby angel face the moment you were born. I had only caught a small glimpse of you when the nurses whisked you away to weigh and measure you, but I immediately fell in love with you. You had the roundest, baldest, hugest, head with this adorable bald widow's peak. Your face was so kissable and sweet I just wanted you back from the nurses so I could hold you and love on you. Then I hear, "Congratulations! You just had a 2 month old!" Weighing in at 8 lbs and 12 oz and 21+ inches you were a big boy, but it was the size of your head that really bumped you up into the big category!

Okay enough of the trip down memory lane. Fast forward to your 2nd year of life. Porter, you are one of the coolest, most easy going children I have ever known. You go with the flow. If I ask you and Paxton "who wants red and who wants blue" and Paxton says red you automatically say blue.

You love your brother more than anyone in the world. You look up to him. You use him as a crutch. He is your best friend. You love your baby sister too, but you look up to Paxton. Luckily, he is a good role model! And you guys get along so well. You have your sibling spats, but they are short lived and usually not over anything significant. Paxton loves you so much, too. He was invited to a birthday party for a kid in his class and he wanted you to come too. He wants you to meet his friends and loves to have you there.

You are are a great eater, a great sleeper, you know your numbers and your letters and you speak perfectly (other than your little lisp that I love!!). You are all around exactly what you would think a perfect little 3 year old boy would be.

You try to act tuff, but you are so sensitive. Thomas the Tank Engine makes scared and sad and angry faces sometimes. It makes you cry. When Charlotte is fussy or upset you try everything you can to make her laugh and happy. When you see or hear something that scares you, you cover your ears. It is precious.

You are kind. You are sweet and caring, however, you're not really a kisser. If I ask you for a kiss you say, "no I will give you a hug." But if I ask really sweetly you will give me kisses just to humor me.

You are strong and fast and really coordinated. You are really good at gymnastics, throwing and catching a ball, and are a great runner. You learned how to ride a bike with training wheels when you were 2 and a half. You are going to be an athlete.

Porter, you are the sweetest most amazing "medium boy" in the whole entire world. You are my little buddy. I cherish the time you and I spend while Pax is at school and Charlotte is taking a nap. We eat snacks play games and read books and watch tv and snuggle. I love this time we get to spend together and look forward to a whole year before you go to school yourself.

I love you more than anything, Porter Pie.

xoxoxo,

Mommy

Favorite things right now: macaroni and cheese, "cracker sandwiches," Go Diego Go, Hats and Shoes, gymnastics, riding your bike, music, video games, action figures, playing "go to sleep"

Thankfulness

Today Charlotte stopped up the toilet when she tried to flush an entire box of Kleenex down it. Paxton let me know that this had happened after the fact. A day late and a dollar short, I guess.

I took the kids to Sam's to get my stuff to make my Thanksgiving contributions. Of course they didn't have sweet potatoes. So I took Charlotte and Porter home, and Pax and I went to Target. After getting all my stuff we loaded back up and went home. When we got home I realized that I had left my purse in the basket at Target. So I leave Pax and grab Charlotte and head back to Target. Thankfully, a good Samaritan turned in my purse and it was waiting for me at Customer Service. I say thankfully not because of my money or credit cards, but because all of Paxton's medicine was in the medicine bag I carry with me at all times in my purse. Hours later I finally had everything I needed to make mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, and cookies.

I was putting the laundry from the washer to the dryer. You know what I pulled out of the washing machine that had been run through the cycle with the clothes??? An ab roller.

*Just in case you weren't sure what an ab roller was!*

We let the kids watch a movie in Scott's office tonight before bed. I cleaned and cleaned and got everything all spotless to put up our Christmas decorations this weekend. Then I took snacks up to the kids. Grapes and pretzels. It was dark in the room because they were finishing up watching their movie. When I turned the light on later, I noticed Charlotte had chewed up and spit out about 1oo pretzels all over the carpet.

These are just a few of the happenings at the England household today. I say all of these things not because I am complaining, but because I am THANKFUL! Thankful that I married Scott almost 8 years ago and we had these 3 perfectly amazing and rambunctious children. That my children are healthy and happy and able to make these beautiful messes. That we have a home to get dirty, and food to spit out all over the floor, and medicine to panic about being lost, and each other to laugh at all of these things with. I am thankful for these things and for all of God's gifts and blessings. I love that Thanksgiving is a day to celebrate all the things we are thankful for, however, I don't feel any more thankful this day than any other day of the year. I know everyday is a gift and try to count my blessings every day of my life.

Thanksgiving at the England's.

Thanksgiving at school.

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera at Thanksgiving with my family. Booooooo! I will have to get some pics from my sis.