Siblings ...

Time flies when you're having fun ... or are sleep deprived!

Huck is already 3 months old, it's time I post some pictures!

... siblings ...

Della loves her brother in 30 second spurts about twice a day.
I was lucky enough to have a camera on hand to capture these lightly longer than normal loving-my-brother moments.

Christmas 2013 - Part II

Christmas 2013 Part II

The Porter Family Holiday Calendar is complicated. We celebrated Della's birthday a couple weeks early so it wouldn't get lost in Christmas. We celebrated Christmas a day early so Nana could fly down and visit my sister on Christmas Day. I mailed my Holiday cards a month late because ... well ... 

I'll blame it on a newborn + birthday + holidays (and lack of sleep). 

As you may have noticed we are a pretty laid back family. As much as I'd like to have a beautifully staged home and carefully crafted holiday pictures, I just don't have the energy. So our life resembles the snapshots of my youth ... disorganized with a cluttered background but lots of smiles and plenty of comfort. 

Early in the morning on December 24th Nana arrived. She cuddled Huck while I put out the finishing Christmas touches and we waited for the very important coffee delivery man ...  

 Mr. Coffee delivery man ... 

Then Stark and I woke up sleeping beauty who wasn't feeling very beautiful on this particular morning. 

 After a wardrobe change Della emerged to see presents under her Christmas Tree. This being the first year we've had a tree, much less presents under it, it took her a few moments to put the pieces together. 

 With a little prompting undertook the role of present-hander-outer. Although not properly represented by this picture, she did enjoy the role and was a cheerful delivery person. 

Pondering her options ... 

Reading the gift tags ... 

Delivering Huck his very first Christmas present!

Huck seems excited to have a brightly wrapped present ...

Della seems a bit frazzled that she just gave Huck a perfectly good present. 

The contents of said present.  

I wonder what it could be?

 Animal magnets from Nana!

Daddy's OCD was exposed when he insisted on helping Della stick every-single-magnet onto the board!

Having assisted in opening Huck's baby gifts and her own birthday gifts, Della is well versed in opening presents!

 Noah's Ark ... with all the little animals two-by-two ... except for the human. Nana was quick to point out that poor Noah doesn't have a wife. It's a wonder the species survived the flood.  

Kissing Lumpy's (elephants)

Delivering Daddy's gift ... a rather heavy bag that had been tempting her for several days. 

 It was a fancy coffee maker for those of you interested. 

After all the presents were opened we resumed our normal morning routine ... green juice and playing.

The End. 

Christmas 2013 - Part I

Christmas 2013 Part 1 - The Christmas Tree

Stark & I had procrastinated on getting a Christmas tree. We'll blame the delay on newborn Huck but really we were just a little afraid of the toddler vs tree challenge. In the end it was Della who spurred us on by asking, very specifically, for a Christmas Tree ... or as she actually says it "cuppa tea". 

I doubt there are many parents who can say NO to their 2 year old daughter when she makes such a request and we are no different. So Daddy and Della made a late night run down to the corner tree stand and came home with 'shorty'. I joked that we've started a tradition of buying a tree that is the same height as Della. We should be up to a 6ft tree in about 14 years. 

Once the tree arrived home Stark quickly started settling it into the base and Della, to our surprise, was the first to set an ornament among the branches. Maybe being a Christmas baby invokes an inherent love of the Holidays but it was definitely Della's Christmas. She lead the charge on decorating the tree and each night would give the tree a hug and kiss before saying 'good night cuppa tea' on her way to bed. 

Our fears were mostly unfounded as overall Della treated the tree and the decorations with loving care for the entire week it was up. Each morning she would exclaim 'WOW CUPPA TEA' and we would often find her rearranging the ornaments throughout the day. 

Her love for the holidays also includes Christmas Lights and Santa. One evening Della, Nana, and myself arrived home and Della refused, REFUSED, to get out of the car insisting instead that we go see more Christmas lights. So we piled back into the car and drove around random neighborhoods for another hour exclaiming at all the residential holiday lights. I'll admit that my heart swelled every time we'd drive by a beautifully lit home and I'd hear Della exclaim "wow" or "pretty". 

On another occasion Stark and I were having a conversation while driving in the car when from the backseat I hear a persistent 'Santa, Santa' and finally after we failed to respond  "Mommy! I see SANTA!" At which point I look back to see Della proudly pointing at the large inflated Santa on the corner ... she indeed did see Santa. 

Note Huck in the background ... he slept thru most of his first Christmas. 

Watering her tree ... I love her concentration.