He's got the look!

Our boys always get a signature "look" when they are about 9 months old and it lasts till they are about a year.  Each boys "look" is different and unique.

 

HERE'S PORTER'S LOOK!!!

He uses it when you show him something....food or a toy and he wants it.  It's almost like it's his approval face.  and of course there is a sound that goes with it.  It is so stinkin cute. 

In case you don't remember the other boys "looks"...

Sorry about the poor quality...this was pre digital to email days...I had to take a pic of the pic.  This is Miles.  It was his fish eye glare.

This is Quincy.  It was a smile with a wrinkled nose.  Allen would get home from work and we would sit down to eat dinner and Q would just keep looking at Allen and give this face!!

Bike riding in November!

The weather has been so nice this week that we have been playing outside!  We had to bust out the sidewalk chalk, play football, and ride bikes.  

For some reason, at our house, 3 is a magical birthday for bike riding.  

Quincy can pedal now!  way to go Q!  

My cuddle bug is back!

Porter was my first cuddler!  I have been kind of missing that since he is so excited to be getting around on his own.  I am losing my baby!  But, it's so fun to watch him be independent and he is loving it!  But did I mention I kind of miss cuddling with him? 

After his bath the other day, he was being cuddly!  So I grabbed the camera and attempted to take some pics of us...look at that cute cuddle bug! 

 

Danger is my middle name!

Porter is so curious and now he has the "wheels" to be very DANGEROUS!  I have several heart attacks a day.  He tries to eat fruit snack wrappers or scotch tape the boys leave on the floor, pull things out of the fridge, smash fingers in____ (you fill in the blank) 

 Yikes!  I am trying to keep up!

I am kicking myself for not having a picture of Quincy with his favorite bath toy at this age.  He put this rubber ducky in his mouth and left it in there his whole bath.  Porter has taken a liking to the mousse lid.  Looks dangerous!  I try not to think about the possibilities.

Thought the gate on the stairs was a good idea to help prevent Porter from climbing up the stairs without supervision...but I about had one of those heart attacks when I walked around the corner to see this...  (after the heart attack I had to grab the camera.....quickly!)

Quincy turns 3!

The time goes by so fast....here is a look at the last 3 years!

Quincy Bradford Matthews

Born November 16, 2005

Quincy's STATS:

nickname: KiKi

favorite food: chicken nuggets, pizza

favorite toy: buzz, batman figure, hoop

favorite word: skanza (made up word....someday we want to know what it means)

favorite phrases: "sorry"  "I do it myself"

pet peeve: tags in shirts

favorite past time: wrestling, playing ball

Quincy tackles everything head on.  He can be so loving and gives lots of kisses, but he is also really physical.  He wants to do everything himself and if I help him with something, he will undo my help and do it again himself.  He loves to play with "brother" which only refers to Miles.  Porter is just annoying to him right now.  He loves superheroes and is enjoying his bat cave and batman set he got for his birthday.  He loves football and basketball, and of course,to him the greatest player is Michael Jordan.  He is awesome at puzzles and loves play doh.  

We love you KiKi skanza!  We look forward to another year!  

RAINDROP smiles!

Today was Porter's first time under the umbrella in the RAIN.  He thought it was the coolest thing.  He kept looking up with this huge grin on his face.  I had to run inside and grab the camera.  Thanks for helping us remember the simple joys Porter....oh I mean Allen JR. :)

Count your blessings!

November is the "thankful" month right? I know we are supposed to be thankful all the time, but November really helps us to remember all we've been blessed with. Sometimes it's just hard to remember....
I am tired...in many ways. Porter is teething and up a lot at night lately and the older boys are getting up at 6am (7am without daylight savings) so I have been starting my days kind of cranky. Whining is at an all time high and I am having a hard time STAYING CALM!!!
So I am really glad to have lots of reminders about my blessings. Today as I sang the opening song at church "Count your Blessings" I really felt like the message was meant for me....I've sung that song a ton of times but I almost got teary eyed from the getgo today...
"when you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings; name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done."
I DO HAVE LOTS OF BLESSINGS!!

Here is our Thankful Turkey. We made it last week for FHE. We can

add feathers throughout the day when we think of things we are thankful for.

MILES

Miles is so amazing! I had to put this picture on the blog. Just look

how grown up he looks. He loves school and is loving his "projects"

that keep him busy after school is over. Miles is very thoughtful and

always concerned for others. He is my big helper and loves to

work. I love you Buddy boy and am so thankful for you!

QUINCY

Quincy is 100% fun and full of excitement and joy OR 100%

miserable. He is so passionate about everything. He is very physical and loves to

wrestle and basically can "take care of" any of us in the

family...as in "TAKE US DOWN" He's got a gorgeous smile and it's so fun to

receive kisses and headbutts (a form of affection for him) from our Kiki.

I love you KiKi!

PORTER

Babies are so much fun. Porter is loving his new freedom of getting around the house but having a hard time with all of the bruises and bonks! We got balloons at the library because the library bond passed!! Look at how much fun he had with the balloon. Sometimes I need to remember how simple and wonderful it was to be a kid! Porter is my baby boy and such a wonderful blessing! He's learning to keep up with his brothers and will try to get on the

wrestling pile and bite the person on top! Go PT!

I love you Por Por!

Although the last week has been hard, I am so thankful for all of my blessings,

and plan on counting them a little more often!

(Greetings all....This is Allen.....I'm at work.......and just saw Tara's newest post......

So I thought I'd edit this post with out Tara knowing......

I just want everyone to know that we had a lesson about being thankful last Monday for FHE---As we introduced the "Thankful Turkey" and asked Miles and Q what they were most thankful for they said MOM first!!!--then home, crayons, then friends, Buzz (as in Light year) and sprinklers and scriptures etc........Dad didn't make the list until the following day

with mom's encouragement I'm sure. :)

Tara, your Boys.....All 4 of us and especially,

me the biggest most "thankful turkey" of all

LOVE YOU!!!)

Happy Halloween!

Our little superheroes (and super villan) were here for Halloween!  The boys loved Halloween...the outfits, the candy....they would love Halloween to be everyday!  (Mom is glad that isn't the case) It was really fun to see how much they enjoyed it! 

BATMAN!

ROBIN!

THE RIDDLER!

Look at those crime fighting heroes!

Ready for trick or treating!!!

Carving our pumpkins

We love to carve pumpkins...

ESPECIALLY when dad helps us make a scary man to sit by our door

 to scare the trick or treaters!  

Allen put a speaker behind the man and then ran a

mic cord through the front door so he could "talk" and scare the older

trick or treaters!

Looks pretty harmless with the flash on..

Kind of spooky in the dark!!

A Day in the Life...

of an 8 month old!  I can't believe Porter is 8 months old!  Boy is he keeping us all on our toes now.  The boys are trying to remember to pick up their fruit snack wrappers and crayons/etc...because Porter is getting into everything!  Here is a typical day...if there is such a thing...

Lots of people comment on what a mellow baby Porter seems to be...

Don't go on if you want to believe that...haaahaaa

Poor baby is teething

Mom, my teeth hurt!!!

oh good...at least one is here!!

I love being able to get up that tile stair now....except

when I pull over chairs on my finger!  

oh mom....look what I can get into now....yeah...wipes!!

I finally get a biter biscuit...and mom remembers why she

stopped giving them to my brothers when they were babies!

Nothing like a bath to make me clean and happy!

yeah...daddy's home!  I love daddy time!

Helping mom with the dishes is fun too!  Look at 

me grab that knife!  

Porter,  I love spending every day with you....even when you are super cranky getting teeth, not napping well, and screaming with a smashed finger!  (dad will need to remind me of this comment some days)  You are so cute and a joy to all of us!  I love you PorPor.