Sesame with friends

Earlier this month, we spent a day at Sesame place with my college friends. It was the day of the Sesame Place 5K. Lisa, Katey and Chris T. ran the 5K. The kids had a BLAST cheering for the runners.

Most of the kids did the fun run. We got to see so many characters in the parking lot between the races, which was awesome! While Penny was afraid of the characters at this age, Porter is in LOVE with them. They definitely gave him some extra attention, which he ate right up.

After the races, we hit the park. Penny & Ella led the way...I later found out they thought that this was their job because they had the maps. Penny and Porter were very thankful that there were other adults ready to take them on the rides, since mommy can't do many rides. Porter only rides a few of the rides, as we're very sensitive to anything that might make his neck work harder than it needs to...but the carousel & balloon rides are right up his alley. Penny is pretty brave- she'll ride almost anything...but, for some reason, she didn't want to ride the roller coaster.

I love seeing our kiddos together. I love the mix of personalities- they balance each other so well and really do seem to pick up right where they left off, just like their parents :) Most of all, I love seeing these girls as moms...I've learned so much from each of them. Can't wait for our next adventure!

Our Anniversary

Eight years in, we have started new anniversary traditions in our house. We go out to dinner with the kids and we watch our wedding video. They love the wedding video- it's a five minute recap of the day and they get to see some of their favorite people in the video. Penny has taken to calling it "our anniversary" and she thinks it should be a day she also gets to celebrate :) 

This year, we had a long list of appointments on our anniversary, so I took the day off and spent some time with the kids during the day. 

Porter rocked his eye doctor visit- he read every letter on the eye chart and impressed the doctor! I didn't get to take any photos because we had to wait over an hour to see the doctor and after 30 minutes of trying to keep him occupied and away from the community toys, I caved and gave him my phone to play with, so it shut off :( 

After the eye doctor, I dropped Porter off at school and picked Penny up. She came with me to my OB appointment to hear the baby's heartbeat. See the iPad- yep, another wait over an hour. We read all the books we brought along and talked for awhile before she tried to turn the waiting room into a jungle gym, so we did some reading apps together on the iPad while we waited. 

After the doc, we had a girls lunch at her favorite, Panera.  

 Then, we headed to mommy's dentist appointment. Our dentist is Penny's best friends' mom. So, Penny got to learn all about cavities and how they fix them. She got to stand next to the dentist as she learned about ever step of the process. She didn't get to learn about Novocaine, since mommy skips it every time. The dentist thinks I'm crazy, but it takes too long to take effect and leaves me drooling for hours. It's not good for me or the baby and honestly, cavity filling doesn't really hurt...the noise and smell are the worst parts.  Regardless, Penny learned quite a bit at the dentist.  

 Afterwords, we picked up Porter and met daddy for dinner at Applebee's. 

When we got home, we had some cake and watched the wedding video. Our anniversary was a great day! 

Mother's Day

We had a fun Mother's Day weekend. On Friday, after Porter rocked his extra PT session at CHOP, we decided to have a picnic in the park. It was so nice in the shade...I see this becoming a Friday staple.  

We had to stop at the grocery store on the way home and Penny read the box of chocolates and tried to put one in our cart...I asked her for a photo instead.

 After a Saturday filed with T-Ball and birthday parties, we took a family trip to MerryMead for some ice cream. 

 After church and lunch on Sunday, we did a little baking. 

 Porter took care of the dishes...he really tried...climbed the stander all by himself and started pretending to wash :)

 The weather was perfect for some bike riding.

 And walking...keep me moving little man!

 Sweet day with these sweet kiddos! 

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mother's we have in our life. To Great Grandma Jeannie and our other grandmas who aren't with us- reflecting on memories of you as grandmothers to us makes seeing our own moms become grandmas so much more fun and amazing! To Nana and Grammy who have taught us everything we know. To Aunt Meggie, Aunt Becky, Aunt Nic and Aunt Missy- it's been so amazing to watch you join the momma club. You're all amazing! And, to Godmother Kellie and Godmother Maureen...thanks so much for loving our kids.

I Like Purple Grapes

Vocabulary is expanding by leaps and bounds over here. One of his favorite things to do is give a shopping list of sorts...mac & cheese, chicken, French fries, pizza, blueberries, strawberries and grapes. Last weekend, as he was swinging, he gave me his list and then said "I like purple grapes." A full sentence...full of opinion.

A full sentence that made this mamma so happy and proud. The words are starting to flow. That doesn't mean that he always remembers to use them- whining to get attention is definitely much easier and in certain circles it's more effective. So, we remind him to use his words and we celebrate when he does. And, we go out and buy those purple grapes wearing our biggest smiles.