our little cowboy

Dear Grandma & Grandpa E - 

Thanks so much for the cowboy hat and boots!  I love them.  Well, I love the boots.  Not so sure about the hat yet.  Mom loves that I can say "boots" and "hat".

Love, Porter

P.S. Paige loves baths.

(sorry - I can't post about just one...I love them BOTH too much!)

to grandpa m.

Dear Grandpa M. - 

Do you realize I STILL haven't met you?  It's true.  And this is a problem.  Mommy says you are the absolute best.  Porter says you are so much fun.  He says you chase, tickle and kiss him.  Do you really?  Okay, it's very important that you come see me.  Because I really need to experience this.  Please come very soon!

Love, Paige

(Mommy thinks I look like Aunt Jen in this picture.  Don't you?)

P.S. - I want you to come too! Oh..and I love strawberries, can you tell?

(And Mommy also wants to know if you watched the BYU game on Saturday.  She missed it but heard all about it and is very VERY sad to hear what happened.)

one month

Paige is one month old.  She's beautiful.  We love her.
(not really sure what else to say...)

Some other exciting news - my friend Caley came to visit for a day.  We had a lot of fun.  Porter sure enjoyed another adult to play with.  We played at the zoo and the park.  And while the babies slept, Caley and I chatted about old times and new times.  I love friends!

oops

This morning, in record time, I had us all fed, showered, dressed, and ready to leave.  I even threw in a batch of laundry before we left.  I know I know, I'm awesome.  We were go about two hours.  And then came home to this:

Porter was in heaven!  Geez I think I was in heaven until the flood guy came and I found out how much the cleanup would cost.  Those dang fans.  

However I'm already thinking about how excited Porter will be when he wakes up and sees those dang fans.

i like to bake

 Have you ever been to my house?  I usually am in the middle of baking something or have just devoured whatever I've baked.  It's this horrible addiction that comes with being a stay at home Mom.  I know what you're thinking, "Tiff, it'll catch up with you one day."  Well - let that day come because I love to bake and I am proud that my children will only be eating homemade treats. 

Anyways - we will have just finished breakfast and already I am thinking about what to bake.  Porter likes it when we bake too.  He positions himself ever so perfectly on a chair while I stir together the ingredients.  And chocolate chips are a MUST for anything I bake.  Banana bread WITH chocolate chips.  Brownies WITH chocolate chips.  Cookies WITH chocolate chips.  Like, I said...a MUST!

Today it was chocolate zucchini bread.  

 (pic from here)

Except we're out of chocolate chips? 

(How the heck did that happen?!)

I was devastated for a moment but then I remembered it was chocolate bread so I figured I could survive.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread:

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

6 T. cocoa

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups grated zucchini

3 cups flour

1 T. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 cup chocolate chips

(and I realized it was not as good if you omit this...so DON'T omit it!)

Mix eggs sugar and oil.  Add cocoa, vanilla and zucchini.  Mix.  Add the remaining ingredients.  Mix.  Pour into a greased bread pan and bake at 350 for one hour. 

(we made muffins...I couldn't wait an hour.  350 for almost 15 minutes)

Porter and I have already shared four.  Yup.  I said it.  Four.  And I'm positive each time I grabbed another muffin he handed me his half eaten one and reached for the fresh one.  I switched him :)

P.S. I only bake something 1-2 a week.  And I promise my children won't be obese one day.

weekend happenings

We didn't make any special plans for our Labor Day weekend.  And I am actually really glad.  We don't get to see James a lot and it's nice when we can just be together as a family.  I've decided my all time favorite moments are when the four of us are together.  It's nice to get together with our extended family but it's the best when it's just us.

Friday night we put Porter to bed, snuggled up on our bed with Paige, a bowl of popcorn, and a bag of Sourpatch kids and enjoyed a few episodes of Young Riders on Netflix.  (It's an old TV series about the Pony Express riders.  You should watch it, it's a good one!) 

Saturday evening we drove to Downata Hot Springs.  Porter and James played in the water for a few hour while Paige and I watched  

And now it's Sunday.  Both babies are sleeping and we're about to do the same.  Sunday afternoon naps rock.