Dear Santa,

Just a little Christmas Eve highlight for Porter's grandparents who couldn't be with us this holiday. Merry Christmas! We love you and can't wait to see all four of you soon.

Last night, I told Porter we needed to leave a note for Santa. This is what came of it...I merely played scribe. (The video should begin, "Dear Santa," but I think Porter started "reading" before the camcorder started recording. Also, you'll have to strain your ears to hear over the paper punching that is Porter's own dramatic emphasis.)

In its entirety, the letter he actually "wrote" read,

Dear Santa,

Welcome to your Christmas Eve.

I have been a beary good boy.

I want a present with cars and trucks.

I love Christmas.

I want some more presents after Christmas Eve.

Have a Merry Christmas.

Love,

Porter

This all came straight from Porter's mouth. We got a kick out of it. Hope you do too.

Merry Christmas!

(Yes, I am just waiting for my two sleepy-headed boys to wake up so we can get this show on the road.)

Let it Snow

It finally snowed this weekend. Bring on Christmas.

I know, I know, I'll be sick of the cold and ice soon enough, but for now, I say let it snow. Why? Watch and see (sorry my voice comes through much louder than Porter's).

At seven months, Porter's first winter was fairly anti-climactic, and at 1-1/2, last year saw a few fun moments, but overall, the cold still won out over snow-play in young Porter's mind. This year though, all bets are off, and we spent a large majority of yesterday afternoon out in the yard making snow angels and scooping the snow back onto Andy's neatly shoveled driveway.

The cute dino hat (which elicits giggly-growls every time Porter dons the green spikes) is courtesy of our pals Jaime & Jared...thanks, three years later. This definitely beats the lobster bath towel we gave you guys. Though this photo does mark its winter debut, many an afternoon has been whiled away in the great indoors playing monsters or dinosaurs.

Can You Stockpile Sleep?

I just read an interesting (and disheartening) fact that seemed appropriate to share as we're now under a month away from baby making four in the Burt home:

A parent loses 450-700 hours of sleep in the first year of their child's life. Eeek!

Playing with the Big Kids

We babysat for some friends tonight, which opened Porter's world to six and eight year-old play. What started out as an innocent game of cars, turned into bionical robots destroying the city and all the race cars and gas stations in the world. This story line - far from the "I'll race you up that big mountain" plot we usually play with Porter, brought up a  whole slew of new vocabulary words which resulted in these Porter greats:

While throwing a slinky at one of the boys robots: "I slinked you bad bot!"

After the bionicals destroyed the "entire city," Porter grabbed his dump truck and said: "We have instruction trucks to fix the gas station."

We Love our Small Town

I'll start by saying this post has no scrapbookable photos. Sorry. I just thought I needed to post something considering I haven't posted a picture since October. So here's a recap of the last two months of Burt...

Halloween: Porter was a very polite ghost who refused to take a second candy when kind neighbors told him to take more than one. (He also apparently loves suckers, and chose Dum-Dums over chocolate at every door. This did not make for very fun parental candy raiding after the festivities had ended.) No pictures because my camera battery died.

Early November: Baby prep, furniture painting (good husband) and some last-minute trips to Salt Lake and St. George for things you can't buy at Wal-Mart (aside from three grocery stores, that's all Cedar has to offer).

Thanksgiving: My folks and my sister, Mandy, visited. Busy playing hostess and forgot to pull out the camera - though I've been promised copies of the pics my mom and Mandy snapped. (Ladies?) Good visit, a few killer Black Friday steals, and we got the Christmas tree and lights up to boot.

In between all of that, we've been trying to squeeze in some extra fun for Porter before the baby gets here (I hear newborns and the flu season do not make for a lot of public outings). Soon, we will no longer be a family of three.

Last Weekend (and the reason for the "We Love our Small Town" title of this post):

Cedar City's Christmas Children's Festival.

Fireworks on Friday night (from the car, overlooking the valley...Andy and Porter both had the flu).

Breakfast with Santa on Saturday morning (Unfortunately, we missed this one thanks to a lingering fever for Porter that caused maternal instincts to win out over festivities and photo opps)

And the Christmas Parade Saturday afternoon. We did hit this one (just Porter and I - Andy had homework), and though this picture may not look it, as Porter was a bit tired and run down (don't worry: the fever had disappeared by the afternoon and Porter was asking about the parade all morning long), the parade was a lot of fun.

All the floats in the parade are themed after popular fairy tales and Disney movies, and many of the most popular characters walked alongside the road, giving the kids high fives and hugs (though none stayed long enough for any respectable photos). Porter was very excited when Bert, of Bert and Ernie, gave him a high five. He was also over the moon when he saw "the pirates" who were actually members of a bagpipe band (not sure why he thinks pirates wear plaid skirts), and loved the Three Little Pigs (he and Andy play "big bad wolf" on a daily basis) and the Where the Wild Things Are floats (so much, in fact, that he asked me to take a picture of the WTWTA monsters...after the float had passed).

But the highlight of the day (besides the high school bands who played Christmas medlies and the herd of mini horses dressed as reindeer) was most definitely the big balloons reminiscent of a much more popular parade on Thanksgiving day in New York. Though the balloons spent a large portion of the parade pulled close to the ground (Cedar City strings lights back and forth across Main Street), the balloons were a huge success in Porter's book (and the reason you can only see the back of his head in this picture. He kept saying "No, Mommy, I'm busy," when I asked him to turn around for a picture).

All in all, a lot of fun. And cause for a long nap afterwards. Hope the Christmas bug (but not the flu bug) has begun to take root in your homes as well.

Spoiled?

Me: Porter, it's naptime now, but when you wake up, we're going to go to SUU for the basketball game.

Porter: No.

Me: If you're a big boy and stay in you're bed and take a really good nap, maybe we can even get a treat at the basketball game. (Porter loves the penny candy bins in SUU's convenience store.)

Porter (eyes gleaming): Is my surprise a car, a toy or candy?

Looks like we toss the ol' surprise-bribe around a bit too liberally in the Burt home. The good news: it worked, leaving naptime open for Andy to finish up some more finals homework. School ends next week. Hooray!

Who Taught You That?

This weekend was packed with Porter funnies. Here's a little sampling to brighten up your Monday morning...

Porter: Holy Shoot!
Me: What! Who taught you that?
Porter: My sister.

And so it begins. This little gal had better watch out - if pending birth doesn't deter her big brother from playing the blame game, I don't know what will.

While running his fingers through his hair, Porter gleefully observed, "My hair is like spiky grass."

We were running errands this weekend, and while Andy and I were in the middle of a conversation, Porter started asking where we were going. He kept repeating his question as we talked over him, until he finally - and with every ounce of exasperation a two-year-old can muster - yelled, "You are driving me nuts!"

At breakfast, Porter and I were eating one of his new favorites, Frosted Mini Wheats. He stops mid bite, looks at me, and asks, "Mommy, don't these weeds taste good?"

Oh, how I wish I could freeze the little guy at this age for life. Between Porter's linguistic mishaps and Andy's, well Andy-ness, my days are filled with laughter as of late.

Hmmm...

Not sure how I feel about comparing an ultrasound to a "real" photo, but I've heard enough comments about our recent ultrasound pics looking like Porter that I thought I'd open it to opinion. What do you think?

If I only had a name...

Ok, the last couple of weeks have been busy. So, while I know I should be posting pics of Porter in Haloween garb, I've yet to retrieve those from the 'ol camera. He was a ghost. It was cute. I'll try to get them up soon.

I do, however, have some grandparent eye-candy to pass the time (and for the rest of you, yes I know all three pictures look the same...bear with me as I wade through the proud mommy moment).

Introducing "Little Sister" at 30 weeks.
Seventy days (or less) to go. To date, little no-name is 3 Lb., 6 oz. and all her vital stats look good, says the ultrasound tech. The doctor also marveled at the amount of hair she has (we could see it waving around during the ultrasound), though I was bald until I was three, so I'm not holding my breath.So, now that the pre-delivery screenings are all out of the way and the nursery is much closer to completion, I guess we'd better get serious about names. Any suggestions?

Where's the Face?

This is one of three planned posts for the Halloween season, and we're kicking things off right with a little Hallows' Eve humor (courtesy of Porter Burt, of course).

Keeping with our long-standing one-year tradition of taking the kiddo to pick his Halloween pumpkin at the pumpkin patch, we joined some friends on a combined Family Home Evening adveture (ok, this was two weeks ago, but I'm a little slow on the posting).

During dinner and before the trip to the patch that evening, I tried to get Porter excited (mostly just so he'd eat his dinner so we could actually go) by talking about all the big pumpkins he could choose from. He looked at me very matter-of-factly, and said, "No, Mommy. I want a little baby pumpkin."

After trudging through the dirt and weeds (a southern Utah pumpkin patch is generally much less groomed than you big city folks get...we still pick the pumpkins off the vines ourselves), and sifting with frozen fingers through some sludgy remains, Porter found the perfect pumpkin.

Before capturing this triumphant smile, I did have to repeatedly explain the pumpkin carving process, as with each rejected pumpkin, Porter would ask, "Where are the ones with the eyes and noses?"

Yes, that is last year's too-small winter hat - the cold snap caught us a little off-guard, as the week before, we were still hanging out in shorts.

Afterwards, we headed home for some hot chocolate with our pals (one of winter's only one-ups on the more temperate seasons), and I used the eating-for-two excuse to justify two sprinkle doughnuts. Hooray for being pregnant during the Holidays.

Turns out pastries and hot chocolate don't go so well with bedtime, and we were left with one spirited (ok, tired-but-hyper) little guy to calm down at the night's end. At least it made for a cute picture.

Explanation:

The white basket is Porter's race car, the Mardi Gras beads are his keys and the pumpkin bucket is his "scary mask." Apparently the best race car drivers rely upon fear tactics to win the big race?

Coming Soon: Grandma's Halloween bash and Trick or Treating. In the meantime, hope you're enjoying the week-long sugar rush as much as I am.

Never Sleep with a Two-Year-Old (and other Porterisms)

Porter and I are staying at my sister's in Salt Lake this weekend and we're sharing the guest room...and bed. So with no further ado, here's my Saturday morning wake-up call.

Me: (peacefully sleeping)

Porter: (wiping his nose back and forth on my elbow)...giggle..."I am rubbing my nose on your shoulder."

Me: "Sshhh, Porter. It's still nighttime." (Ok, it was 6:30, but it was still dark out so I was hoping to postpone the morning just a little longer.) "No talking. Go back to sleep."

Porter: "Ok, I'll talk to baby sister." (moving his head down to my belly) "I will tell her two stories because I'm two."

Me: (Mumble. Yawn.)

Porter: (with his lips on my belly) "One-tupon a time. There was a little boy named Porter. And he had a friend named Porter. And he and Mommy and Daddy and Mariah (my brother's wife) and Crystal (Andy's brother's wife) went for a ride on an airplane. And they went (waving his stuffed duck in the air) QUACK QUACK!"

Immediately following the story, Porter climbed onto my side and started bouncing up and down, giggling, "You are a mommy-horse. Say 'NEEEEE-IGH! NEEEE-IGH!'."

After lots of talk about airplanes (he heard one fly by overhead) and his "baby duckie," we rolled out of bed for some cartoons (and groggy blogging).

I've been Tagged

More shocking than that, I'm responding. An uber-productive morning necessitates a little time-wasting every now and then, right?

Ok, on to The Eight Things Tag

8 TV shows I watch:
And yes, I know this makes me sound like I'm 19. I don't care.
1. Real World/Road Rules Challenge (only the challenges)
2. The Hills (I want my MTV)
3. America's Next Top Model
4. Gray's Anatomy
5. Project Runway
6. Brothers & Sisters
7. The Office
8. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Weird, those are the only shows I watch...looks like there is a method to this 8-things madness.

8 things that happened yesterday:
1. Baked blueberry muffins with Porter
2. Reorganized Porter's closet
3. Debated nursery design with my oh-so-patient husband
4. Hit Home Depot for the zillionth time in the past two months
5. Didn't shower until 3:30 p.m. (I love lazy cleaning days)
6. Washed baby girl clothes until I dropped (I know, it's early, but I wanted it off my list)
7. Went to Grandee's Ice Cream for family night
8. Ate candy corn until I was sick

8 Favorite places to eat:
1. Cafe Rio
2. Su Casa (ah, the memories)
3. Cheesecake Factory
And that's where my list ends. If they've got a good salad and it's not one of the five restaurants in Cedar City, I'm happy.

8 Things I'm looking forward to:
1. The end of potty training (more specifically, the end of the beginning...Porter's too stubborn for his own good)
2. Some much-needed home & baby shopping in the big city
3. Little girl Burt
4. Playing at the park with Porter tonight
5. Maternity leave
6. Our next ultrasound (two more weeks)
7. A haircut (still need to make an appointment though)
8. A landscaped backyard (nothing in the works before winter, but a gal can dream)

8 Things on my wishlist (see above)
1. To get Porter potty trained before December (stop laughing)
2. A backyard
3. A second car
4. A good haircut (the kind that requires me to have no ideas...I just want someone to say "this would look great on you," then to do it, AND have it actually look great)
5. To find someone who can sew and who would be willing to help me recover cushion covers for our nursery glider (any takers?)
6. To learn to sew...and be good at it (stop laughing)
7. A long autumn (I'm fine with no snow until Dec. 24)
8. To someday ditch work and stay at home with my kids (more for me than for them...Andy is more creative in one pinkie than I could ever dream to be with kiddie projects, games, etc.)

8 People I tag:
Anyone who has a few minutes to kill on self-reflection

Think Pink

Just a little shamless self-promotion (by proxy for Coach Burt) for a good cause.

SUU's Women's Soccer Team is going pink this Saturday for its annual Breast Cancer Awareness Game. In addition to coming decked out in pink uniforms, painting a giant pink ribbon on the field and providing loads of info on breast cancer detection and research to T-Bird fans, the team is also working on a fundraiser through the Susan G. Komen Foundation. A bulk of the money they raise will come from the pink SUU uniforms each player is selling.

Should you know of anyone looking for some pink soccer duds, give me a holler and I'll get you all the pertinent info. In the meantime, in case pink is not your color, you can still contribute to this worthy cause by visiting www.komendonations.org/goto/suusoccer.

Go pink this October. It's hip AND tax-deductible.

Conference with a Two Year-Old

So conference with a two year-old went much as you might expect: lots of bribery with snacks and lots of toys strewn about the room by the time it was over.

Actually, Porter was pretty good both Saturday and Sunday (a huge surprise to us). He especially liked the music, and kept asking me which was "Heavenly Father's favorite song." But even funnier than that, on Sunday, during one of the talks, a picture of Joseph Smith was flashed on the screen. I asked him if he knew who Joseph Smith was, and he replied, "Does he live at the Smith's store?" (For our non-Western friends, Smith's is a grocery store, much like Kroger.) He didn't believe me when I told him no, and insisted that Joseph Smith lived in our grocery store.


Other than that, not much new from the Burt family weekend report. 99 days to baby and counting, and I made the three-page baby countdown to-do list this weekend to prove it. If you know of anyone who's up for some yard work or shelf building, send 'em our way. In the meantime, happy Monday to you all.

Boogie Nights

Last night was an evening just like any other in the Burt home:
Soccer for Andy
The dinner rush
(complete with spilled juice...hence, no pants in the video you're about to see)
and, of course, play time.

While the evening's adventures oftentimes include dancing, I can never catch it on film because Porter generally stops when he sees the camera (he also loves taking pictures). Last night, however, I finally outwitted my two year-old (which explains why I'm filming from the back).

We were so excited to finally get footage of Porter's smooth moves (the squat-point is his latest addition to the repertoire), that Andy tried to egg him on. Hope round two is just as enjoyable as the first clip.

True T-Birds

I know, I know, I promised pictures of the new house, but these were so much cuter (Thanks to our friend Jen for the photo services) that I opted for a re-cap of last weekend instead. Saturday marked SUU's Homecoming celebration, and considering SUU is to credit with the fate of our family (Andy and I met on SUU's soccer field 9 years and one month ago), we decided we'd better represent.

Saturday morning, I ran in the Homecoming 5K...first place in my age division and a free t-shirt to boot. No pics because, as most of you know, Andy's not a morning person so standing at a finish line with a two year-old at 8 a.m. took second place to cartoons on the couch. No biggie; I probably wouldn't have wanted to post them anyway (after all, who wears make-up on their morning run?).

That afternoon, Andy helped coach the T-Bird Women's Soccer team on to its first win of the season, 3-1. We held a dinner for the entire team at our house the night before (just testing out the capacity of the new diggs), and I credit the win to Andy's game night and my gourmet dessert of candy and chocolate galore (hey, I'm pregnant...they're lucky they got a homemade dinner). No pics from the game because Porter and I opted to nap (reminder: I did run a race pregnant) to fuel up for th evening's festivities. We will be out in full force this Thursday evening though. In the meantime, I do have the official SUU Women's Soccer Assistant Coach Andy Burt mugshot for your pleasure.

I think he looks very official - though this did bring up the age-old conversation about why he never smiles in pictures. For all you ANTM fans, at least he smiles with his eyes, right? Tyra would be proud.

But I digress. On to the photos of Porter.
That evening, we donned our red at the Homecoming football game.


The highlights:
The Air Force fly over before the game
(tractors and dump trucks take second only to airplanes in Porter's heart)

Our friend Noel's magic trick of pulling gummy bears out of Porter's ears
(got us all the way to half-time tantrum free)

and meeting Thor the Thunderbird.

Porter wasn't sure what to think at first, but after a few minutes, we finally got him to shake Thor's hand.

All in all, a successful weekend. Hope you all had a great one too.

We're In!

After an extra long weekend thanks to a sympathetic boss, we spent Friday through Monday packing and cleaning and hauling, and...(drum roll please) we've officially moved! I know, I know, this post could be much more fun with pics. They're coming as soon as I figure out which unpacked box contains our camera.

Until then, thanks to my mom, Kelly, Layne, Crystal, Becky and Don for all the hard work this weekend. We couldn't have done it without you.

And to all those who've not yet toured the new digs, no, we don't have phone service yet. You can reach us on Jen's cell phone for the next two weeks (that's right, utility service is slow even in podunk Cedar City).

Always Exciting in the Burt Home

Porter has some news we'd like to share with all of you...

(Translation: Princess Burt will join us in January!)

My Kid is Cute

I preface this post with a diclaimer: Not once have I pretended this blog was anything more than a tool for bragging about my kid to all our friends and family.

So now that I've cleared that up, I just have to say that Porter is cute and funny, and aside from the dinner-time tantrums we seem to face as of late, he truly is so so much fun. I've decided two is the perfect age, and I'm trying to find a way to keep him from growing up.

Now, aside from the toothy grin and love for dancing, you may wonder why I'm oozing with maternal pride for our first-born son. The answer: We can't go more than ten minutes without Porter saying something that makes either Andy or I laugh out loud. Seriously, the kid is funny. So I've decided to create a new section "Toddler Talk" (see right) to share some of Porter's generally unintentional humor with all of you. My hope, is that while I'm not great at keeping the photo postings current as of late, that I'll be able to add a Porter-ism or two a week to keep you all smiling.

To kick things off, I'll add one here:
Porter and I were walking around the block the other night, when an ice cream truck came around the corner blaring that old-timey song that, when pumped out of a white van covered in stickers, can make a grown man salivate.

Porter's face lit up, he looked at me and said, "Mommy, it's a musical truck! I think it's full of inst-WOOments!"

Yes, I am feeling a little guilty that we've denied our son of this summertime tradition. However, I think his excitement over the musical truck easily makes up for any nostalgic nelglect on our part. Ok, that's all I've got. Hope you all have a good weekend!

The Rest of the Story

At long last, here is update #2 on the Burt Family Summer.

Hope it explains our recent laziness in blog posting.

First, we're trading in the small, yardless townhome for a real house, complete with grass, a garage, and my personal favorite, walk-in closets!

[Disclaimer to Chris & Lori: We stole your house plan/neighborhood from when you lived in Cedar. Just remember, mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery]

Since we're now charged with turning this:

into something magical without breaking the bank, Andy, his brother Layne and our friend Noel have been slaving away with caulk, the Shop Vac, paint brushes and face masks.

All the while, Porter and I have been left to entertain ourselves:

We play dress up,

do art projects,

(some more messy than others)

(Below you will see Porter's first successful smiley face. Done entirely on his own. According to Porter, the lines below the misshapen head are "tall legs")

and of course, go a little nuts without our daddy to provide a little comic relief.A true Burt, Porter loves to visit the construction chaos of the "other house," as he calls it, and heads straight for anything that looks messy or dangerous.

Now I know you're thinking: 'Ok, Andy's clearly busy, and Porter seems to be entertaining himself, so what's Jen doing?'

Well, aside from the work and the endless trips Porter and I take to the park lately, I've been busy on a project of my own:

I call it Baby #2, and though it's not much to look at as of a couple months ago (this photo's all we've got so far), by January 14th, this little he or she will join us as the newest Burt.

Surprise!

Weekend Whirlwinds

I know it's been a while since we posted anything of substance. And now I'm faced with a decision: 1) post two months' worth of past weekend adventures, or 2) start fresh. Considering I've not yet pulled the most recent pics from the 'ol camera, I'm playing catch-up today.


To those of you who are in the pics and wondering why they're just now hitting the blog, I blame it on summer with a two year-old. Collecting rocks and wagon rides is so much more fun than sitting behind a computer. And to those of you who are wondering where your pics are in this mass of outdated photos, this update is just part one of the Burt's whirlwind of weekend activities. At this rate, you can expect yours to hit the Burt blog sometime in August.


Our April was filled with...


A car crash (NOT my fault) that has left the Burts as a more environmentally-friendly carpooling (Thank you Ellsworths) one-car family.





A visit from Andy's folks.








Grandpa, Porter ADORES his trucks








And Grandma, Porter refuses to wear anything but his new blue crocs.





The visit from our Wisconsin fam also gave us an excuse to head south to St. George to see Porter's Aunt Karen and Great-Granmda & Grandpa Erskine.





After the visitors left, I tried to unsuccessfuly make a fondant-covered birthday cake for Porter's second birthday. Never again. And no, I will not post a pic of the cake in its entirety.





And we had a little b-day bash with Porter's friends Holden & Wesley (who were great helpers when it came to opening the presents).





That does it for April, but our May looked about the same (minus the car crash and fondant).


As for May...


We caught the one week of desert blooms while hiking (these pics don't do it justice. Imagine an entire mountain covered in orange and pink flowers in the middle of nothing but red rocks and dirt).











And headed north to the big city a couple times to see Porter's new cousin, Cohen, and visit with the Behle fam before they moved to Vernal, Utah, which is famous for dinosaurs and oil.





We miss you Aunt Kelly!








And Uncle Chris, on the off chance that I say no to a trip to the park, Porter did ask if you'd take him for a couple weeks straight after our SLC visit.





The end of May brought a new roommate to the Burt home when Uncle Layne moved in, and lots of fun weekends with Porter's soon-to-be Aunt Crystal and Layne, who Porter simply calls "Unlce."





Whew! Now perhaps you can see why the posts have been scrace as of late.
Stay tuned. The second half of the updating promises news of a new home for the Burts, a trip to the petting zoo where Porter's favorite "animal" was a little waterfall, and Andy in the Utah Summer Games. Oh the fun we have in store for all of you.


Hope you, too, are all enjoying a summer full of adventure and mischief.

We're Alive!

At the prodding of many friends, and after more than a month of silence, the Burts return to the blogosphere in not-so-full force (nopics yet, sorry). The warm weather has kept us far away from computers, and while we've done many fun things, I just haven't found the time to post the ever-growing pile of pics online. Until then, I thought I'd throw out a few Porter antics to at least prove that he's still cute as ever. (Moms are allowed to brag every now and then, right?)


We'll call this section Porter Says


A few days ago I opted for curly over straight hair (a gal can't blowdry every single day), and I was sitting with Porter on the floor, when he suddenly smiled and said, "Noodles." I had no clue what he was talking about, and asked him if he was hungry. We went around in circles for a couple of minutes, and then Porter finally shouted, "No, Mommy, no. You have noodles on your head." He then walked over, stuck his mouth next to my ear while making a chomping sound, and said, "Mmmm. Deeeeeelicious." Does it get any cuter than that?


Probably not, but even funnier? Yes.


Andy and I were driving in the car with Porter when he suddenly screamed "Holy Shoot!" Well, at least I thought that's what he'd said. I, of course, swung on Andy, questioning my dear husband as to why my two-year old would know that term. He said that couldn't be what Porter was saying, so we then repeatedly asked Porter what he was saying (with a lot of me saying "Andy, I swear he's saying 'holy shoot'). Finally, Porter pointed to his Crocs and said "holy shoot." Turns out that he'd originally said "holy shoe," but my rush to accuse Andy of a parenting mishap (coupled with the repetition of the phrase as we tried to discern what had actually been said) was enough to stick with my young little boy, and he now calls his Crocs his "Holy Shoots." Such is life.


That's all for now. Hope it's enough to fill that Burt fix. I have high hopes to post more soon.

The Not-So-Terrible Twos

Porter turns two today, and while he's definitely more strong-willed than he was a few months ago, I have to say that two seems like it will be a fun age. At his Aunt Lori's prodding, I've posted a video of his latest antics.

The Backstory:

Much like his father, Porter loves music. And again, much like Andy, Porter is very particular in his music tastes. We bought a new CD last weekend, and while we were driving, I pointed out the harmonica in the song to Porter. We all continued to listen, and when the song ended, Porter started screaming "I want the holy moly song!" over and over again. My best guess is that this means "harmonica."

His love for the holy moly song continues, with dancing and giggles whenever the song is on, and screams and whining whenever it ends. See for yourself.

I know, I know, the very things that are adorable now will soon lose their magic amidst the screechy demands of a toddler. But for now, I say bring on the two year-old.

Worth Watching

A friend of mine (Thanks, Caleen) just passed a link to a video blog along to me that I think is worth your while. If nothing else, it will definitely bring a little sunshine into your day.

The Reflections of Christ photography exhibit, by artist Mary Mabry, is a collaborative effort of many to teach about Jesus. The primary goal of the project was to create photographs that could cast new light on our perceptions of Christ. The images from the Reflections of Christ exhibit are at the TempleVisitors Center in Mesa, Arizona (though I should add that they transcend any one denomination). I think the plan is to make this a traveling exhibit in the future.

The slideshow, located at http://mabrystudios.typepad.com/reflections_of_christ/2008/03/reflections-sli.html,

is set to an amazing compilation of “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” performed by Clyde Bawden, Freddie Ashby and renowned cellist Hope Sheaperd.

Here's one of the photos from the exhibit.