Farewell 2009...

2009 was a pretty good year for us. Although it started out with a very scary hospital visit for Blair, our prayers were once again answered & he made it through. He’s gone almost a year now WITHOUT another hospital stay & for that we are forever grateful. This year allowed us lots of quality family time spent together as a family of three, every moment treasured. We settled our lawsuit from the accident at the end of August, allowing us to breathe a sigh of relief. Through that, we were FINALLY able to get the accessible van we’ve been waiting for…for so so long. The freedom that brings is immeasurable. It also allowed us to get the ball rolling on getting our family back into a house of our own again. Here’s to a great 2010…with many more family memories & many more places to go & see together with the help of our new van…to building our new house & turning it into our new home.

Never too young to start.

Santa brought Porter an awesome bath shaving kit for Christmas. Daddy has been giving him lessons & he does it EXACTLY like he was taught. So cute! As you can see, he takes it very very seriously. When you ask him how he learned to shave, he says “My Daddy teached me.” Best. Gift. Ever.

Winter Wonderland.

Due to the snow & cold, we hadn’t been outside in a few days, so today we decided to brave the cold for a bit & check out all the newly fallen snow we’ve recently received. FRESH AIR DOES WONDERS!

Merry Christmas!!!

It was a snowy, snowy Christmas this year, but still (almost) everyone made it over to the condo for the day. (Auntie Jessika & Uncle Jeff headed to Chicago instead) Santa came, so Porter was very excited about that. He even ate the cookies we left for him. Porter was I think the perfect age this year for Christmas. He got soo excited about everything & it was a blast just to watch him.
Merry Christmas to all…and to all a good night.




Porter got drinking glasses in his stocking!

















Trying out his new Star Wars blanket with Bapa Robb...


Tilly brought her new puppy, Chester, this year!

Over the river & through the woods...

Porter & I loaded up & drove to Wisconsin today for the annual “Schultz Family Christmas” in Horicon. This year, it was at my cousin Donna’s house. Since we usually only make it back once a year, we always relish the time with this side of the family, particularly my Grandma & Grandpa Schultz who are both now 91 years old! Porter always gets spoiled at these gatherings because he’s the only “little kid” as all the other great-grandchildren are much older, so…that means, gifts, gifts & more gifts! The weather held out, so we made it there & back with no issues which is always a bonus.







After Horicon, we headed back to Madison to Auntie Jessika & Uncle Jeff’s place & exchanged gifts between our little family. (minus Blair, who couldn’t make the trip) Papa Dave found Buzz Lightyear wings for Porter that he just couldn’t pass up. Porter was ecstatic of course! He put them on right away & then when he looked at himself in the mirror…“I look just like Buzz!”

Dear Porter...

Dear Porter,
Happy birthday to you, birthday to you!
I can hardly believe you turn FOUR YEARS OLD today. I know everyone says it, but it truly feels like just yesterday that you entered our life on a cold Sunday afternoon. What an adventure it has been…the hardest, most rewarding job we ever could have imagined. You have turned into quite the little boy in the past four years. You don’t always like to sleep, afraid you’re going to miss something; you know just the buttons to push when you want to, in both Mom and Dad; you love anything sports-related, particularly baseball & football, building things, singing, and of course Star Wars. You are a kind & compassionate little boy, always looking out for those younger than you. You ask a lot of questions, many of which we don’t always have the answers for. You’re usually shy at first, but warm up within a few minutes & are best friends with “someone” by the end of the day. Your daddy & I are both so proud to be your parents. You amaze us everyday & truly are our motivation. We love you with all our hearts. Happy birthday, our sweet boy!

#4

Nana outdid herself again & made #4 cookies for our four year old birthday boy. They were soo cute & soo good! Porter loved them!

An afternoon of Adventure!

Well….we did our first “kid” party this year for Porter’s birthday. We conquered Adventure Peak, an indoor play area inside Edinborough Park. Porter & I had been there before for birthday parties & in fact, when we were leaving the last one in September he said, “I wish I could have my birthday party here.” Wish granted! We weren’t sure how many kids would show up being right in the middle of this chaotic month we call December, but we had 15 kids come help celebrate! Between kids & parents, we had quite a crew, but it went better than we could have envisioned & the kids had a blast! All in all, a great party for our BIG four year old boy.