Sandals

A few weeks ago, AnnaBeth's Tia YaYa (Laura) went to the kids consignment store and picked up a few articles of clothing and two pairs of shoes. One pair was a pair of Gymboree sandals that appeared to have never been worn and they're super adorable! I had AnnaBeth try them last weekend to see if she'd be able to walk in them and she walked like a champ in them!

At the park with Bondo and Daddy Walking home like a big girl

Yoga Time!

13 Months

AnnaBeth is 13 months and just amazing us more and more each day! She's walking VERY well now...the days of crawling are long gone. She understands a lot of what we tell her as well. We seem to have entered the "I'm REALLY frustrated and I don't know how to express it so I'm going to scream often!!" stage. She's also gotten in the habit of saying "uh uh" while shaking her head no. She usually does this when she doesn't want to eat something and then proceeds to throw food on the floor. It's been frustrating for me and I'm trying to get better and just being happy that she's eaten SOMETHING rather than focus on what she's not eating (like vegetables).

She LOVES this kitty, which used to belong to her Great Grandma Locker. Sad thing is, we think she's allergic to the fur or the stuffing (or both) and we have stopped allowing her to take kitty to bed. Once we stopped that, her nightly/early morning coughing has nearly stopped and any coughing she does have, is short lived.

Educating herself on the cholesterol lowering benefits of Cheerios.
Loves to share goldfish crackers...with everyone.

Gets a big kick out of chasing Rufus with his feather toy. Rufus is NOT amused and continually runs away. AnnaBeth faithfully follows after him, giggling.

Waiting patiently (sort of) for Daddy to give her more goldfish crackers.

On the move!!

Learned to say "papa" today!

Sandbox Fun

5 and 13

Today was a special day in the Porter household. Not has it been 13 years since I accepted Christ, it's been 5 years since I said "I do" to my best friend! To celebrate our anniversary, I worked a half day and Kent picked me up at lunch time. We went to:

and had our FAVORITE appetizer, mozzerella garlic bread with marinara sauce. We split the lunch sized portion of the penne arrabiata which is penne pasta with a spicy marinara sauce topped with spicy italian saugage. It's absolutely delicious! After that, we walked across the parking lot for dessert. Its the coffee lovers creation at Cold Stone and it was super yummy!

After we were fully stuffed, we headed over to the Chandler Mall to see:

It wasn't too shabby...had a number of funny moments and we both enjoyed it! Before we picked up AnnaBeth from Kent's parents, we went to Home Depot and picked up 5 bags of play sand ($4 each). Then we hit Fry's and picked up two small wading pools ($12 each). That's right, we made a sandbox! The second pool will be used as a lid to keep neighborhood cats from using it as a litter box and also to keep debris out of it. We will also use it as a swimming pool for AnnaBeth this summer.

During summer monsoons (or any other time when it will be fairly windy), I'll flip the pool over and set a brick in it so our little pool doesn't fly away.

Having Fun

Playing in the sand is an all time favorite

Such a ham!

Flock of Seagulls Making a Comeback...

What do you get when you combine oatmeal, blueberries and a one year old who insists on feeding herself with her hands? A Flock of Seagulls Purple People Eater!

When I do this, it makes a wet, squishing sound in my hands!
Enter Flock of Seagulls

Hi Daddy!