We've been _______???!!

I would say that we've been rolled...but that is simply not what it was. When Frank went to get the paper this morning, he called me to the door. He asked if there were strong winds last night that he was unaware of...what??? Our yard was littered with brightly colored outdoor toys. It was a HOOT!!!! We laughed and laughed. Here are some pics of what we found in the yard this morning...

My personal favorite...an entire roll of crepe paper

Sorry for the lapse...

Wow...it's been a while since our last post!!! We got a little set back because Caden's stomach bug turned out to be some kind of parasite, so it took us a while to recover. He is also getting 2 molars right now, so his nap time has been cut DRASTICALLY short (which is my normal blogging time). He now seems to be back in the swing of things, so the Porter House is a happy place once again!! I have recently discovered that one of Caden's favorite things are the pieces of his breathing machine. He literally will sit in the floor of the kitchen for 30 minutes taking the pieces apart and then putting them back together. We laugh at him quite often because he is VERY VERY precise...all of the pieces MUST go together in a certain way. He's a HOOT!
Look at that precision!

This weekend we went with Aunt Kel to the Bass Pro shop. Caden really liked looking at the fish. There were so many new things for him to look at...I think he had a great time!

Learing Early...

I have a couple of new links on the side...be sure to check them out!

What we did this weekend...

The Porter family had a very eventful weekend...some events were fun, others, not so fun! My aunt and cousin (Joy and Brittany) came into town for Father's Day weekend on Thursday. Friday night, the whole family went to Cock of the Walk for dinner. Caden had lots of fun walking around outside looking at the ducks. Then on Saturday, Frank's parents came into town for a visit, and we went to dinner at Azteca in Brandon. We had a really nice visit with them. After they left, the weekend took a turn for the worse. At 3:00 on Sunday morning, Caden started throwing up...FUN!!! Then when Frank had to start getting ready for church, he also got sick. By the end of the day, Frank was feeling better, just wiped out, and Caden was still sick. So today, I took Caden to the doctor where they confirmed that he had a stomach virus (thanks!), and he got a Dramamine shot...yucky! Tonight Caden was starting to act like his normal self again, and now he is resting in his bed. He has basically been in my lap for 48 hours straight...I hate when Caden isn't feeling well, but I do enjoy the fact that he is so snuggly! Here is a pic of Caden with Frank's parents...you can see the resemblance between Caden and Frank's dad...and Frank is the missing link!!! It is really uncanny!

Water fun...

I am a shop-a-holic, and I LOVE to buy things for Caden...but all I really needed to buy was a water hose. Caden loves to play in water, and it is quite funny to watch. When you squirt him with the hose, he gasps like you took his breath away and then he laughs hysterically (so naturally, I do it over and over again). He had fun playing in the water in Tennessee with Mr. Jeff, and then when we got home, Lesley, Carson, and Aunt Kel ("Telli") came over to play. (We were going to go to the park, but it was WAY TOO hot, so we went swimming in our backyard instead!)

Here's Caden "helping" Mr. Jeff water his plants.I love water!

Hurry, classes are filling up for "Body by Caden"
It's hard work to be that fit!

Caden's face in this one just makes me laugh...

Carson loved squirting Caden...

The Road to Nashvegas...

Caden and I made it all safe and sound to Nashville to visit Jeff and Abbey. Caden did GREAT in the car. He loved to watch movies in the car. He got antsy for the last 30 or so minutes, but we made it! On the way, we passed a "Fish Wagon"...I have never seen such a thing, so I had to take a picture.

I think Caden has made himself right at home with Mr. Jeff!

Fun with friends...

Caden and I are definitely enjoying the summer time that we have to play together! I still cannot believe how fast he is growing up...I know all parents say that! We've had fun swimming in the back yard and having friends over to play. I'm also using the summer for fun things like cleaning out my closet...I'm trying to get the not so fun things out of the way so I can do fun things like make my mom some new curtains and make Caden some new outfits. I'm hoping to take an appliqué class at the end of the summer , so I can add even more to the things that I make for him.

See...I told you he was getting big!He looks JUST like his daddy!! Even from behind...they have identical proportions!

Here is one of our friends, Bryce...

Bryce and Caden...

A new experiment...

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Ok...so instead of the same boring format, here's something I saw on another blog and decided to try out. It's pretty fun!!

More graduating and things you swore you would NEVER do...

First of all...thanks SO much to Shea for the super cute header!! Shea, you're the best!!
Here are the rest of the graduation pictures that I promised. We really did have a great time out in Dallas for Brittany's graduation.

Here is one of Brit and Caden...I love these 2 pics...it must be genetic to pose like this for the camera...

Like Mother, like daughter!

The Smartt Family...Courtney, Brittany, William, Joy

And, for what I swore I would never do...
I have always looked down upon "those" people who put their children on leashes. However, Mom and I did get a backpack/harness for Caden. It was a must have for a toddler in the airport who hasn't learned to hold hands yet. I must say, however, it is pretty cute! It's a froggy, and there is a green tail that mommy holds on to.

The New Look...Please share thoughts!

Ok, so I've been changing the look of the blog, and I would love to know what you think! I like the new header, but I would really like a cute mod/polka dot header background to match the colors of the blog with a pic of Caden off to one side with "The Porter House est. 2005" in cute letters in the middle, BUT I have NO idea how to do that...dare to dream! But PLEASE let me know what you think...even if you don't know me...if you stop by our blog, your opinion is valued! Thanks!

Let's start at the very beginning...

Goodness...I have a lot of pictures on my camera from the last time I updated the blog. So...we'll start at the beginning of the memory card and work our way forward. The beginning of the card is one of my favorite parts...Abbey's baby shower!! It was in Batesville last Saturday. My dear friends Abbey and Jeff are in the process of adopting an ADORABLE little boy from Taiwan. They have named him Reed. If you haven't already, you simply much check out their blog, Landlife. If you are wondering who the cute little boy is in the pictures below, he is known as Flat Reed. He is much like Flat Stanley (click the link to find out what Flat Stanley is...for those of you not in the world of elementary education), but he is Flat Reed complete with actual features of the real Reed! I think it is the cutest idea! You will be seeing more of Flat Reed in the next couple of weeks because Caden and I are going to visit him in Nashville next week! Here are some pics from the shower...

Here I am with Flat Reed and Abbey.

Flat Reed is thrilled to try out his new carseat...

The cutest baby shower cake ever!

Abbey opening gifts...

Here is Abbey showing us all of the features of the new exersaucer...she's so good at doing demonstrations!