Christmas

Ashton and Great Grandma

Daddy and Ashton :)

The Jumperoo! (with Papa wearing his FSU Santa hat in the background)

Mommy and Ashton

Ashton and Uncle Harper

Grammie, Papa, and Ashton

Ashton and G-G-Ma

Ashton and G-G-Dad

Ashton and Aunt Mary Liz

Ashton and his cousin, Kayla

Ashton and Papa napping :)

Ashton and Aunt Angie Ashton and Aunt Sarah

Mamaw and all of her grandchildren

Ashton and Great-Great-Aunt Jane

We had the BEST Christmas. John, Ashton, Jackson, Emily and myself made the trek to Tallahassee (via car) on December 21st. We actually made great time for traveling with an infant and a 70 pound lab. We split our time between Grammie and Papa's (my parents) and Mamaw's (John's mom) homes. Ashton received lots of wonderful presents from Santa Claus, including books, developmental toys, clothes, and the best gift of all, the "Jumperoo". We spent Christmas morning at Grammie and Papa's and then headed out to Monticello to see Grandaddy (John's dad), Aunt Ren and Uncle John, cousin Kayla, and Ashton's Great Grandma Kerr. Christmas evening we spent at Aunt KK and Uncle Marty's house with all of Ashton's Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Mamaw. We had such a wonderful time visiting with family and friends and relaxing in our hometown. Above are some totally random pictures from our trip...

Baptism

The "G G's" (gorgeous grandmothers)

Ashton's Fairy Godmother

My (and Ashton's) wonderful Aunt Margaret

Aunt KK and Daddy playing with Ashton

Cousin Suzanne

Aunt Jordan (Ashton's wonderful Godmother) and Mommy

Ashton with Mommy, Daddy, and our Pastor, Jeremy

Ashton and Aunt Tots

Ashton was baptized on December 23rd, 2007. The same Pastor that married us, baptized him. Jeremy is also the Pastor of the church that I partially (4th grade and up) grew up in. Ashton wore his crisp, white romper with embroidery down the front that Grammie got him. It was a wonderful day filled with lots of family and friends. Daddy, Aunt Jordan (Ashton's Godmother) and I took Ashton up to the alter and stood proudly as Ashton cooed and bounced. Ashton did beautifully, just as I promised Pastor Jeremy, until he took him from Aunt Jordan to baptize him. Ashton seemed to literally lean forward into Jeremy's little microphone, which was located on his robe, and wail. He straightened up just in time for Jeremy to hold him up to the congregation for oohs and aahs. After church, everyone went back to the Porter house for a post baptism brunch.

Ten Little Piggies

Ashton has discovered his toes! He is obsessed with them. He is constantly trying to eat them or atleast get them up to his face in order to closely examine them.

Let Them Eat Peas! (and pears...and sometimes prunes)

Ashton started eating solid foods about three weeks ago. (around the 2nd week of December) He LOVES to sit in his high chair at the dinner table and eat. He gets a small jar of organic pears or prunes in the morning and a small jar of organic peas at night, before his bedtime milk. As you can see, we are still ironing out the kinks of how to actually keep the food in his mouth. He is teething big time right now (his top two front teeth), and wants to chew on his hands constantly. So what you are seeing in the pictures is after we have put a spoonful of food into his mouth, he then sticks his hands in his mouth, and proceeds to wipe his hands all over his face, clothes, tray, table, mommy... anything he can reach! Next week we are going to start green beans and applesauce!!!

Ok, so I have some catching up to do...

It has been a while since I blogged, so some of the next few posts may be a little backlogged. (Sorry Ashton)

Love my new camera...

Ashton's best buddy

Hey! There are those wiggly things again!

My one toothed smile!

LOVE eating pears in my high chair...

Starting to discover my toes...

Christmas Came Early for Mommy!

Daddy decided to give me my Christmas present early so I could get good use out of it when we go home to Florida. It is the camera that I have been pining over for years. Yes, literally years. I was so incredibly excited when I got it!! Here are a few pics taht I took as SOON as I opened it and put it together...

4 Month Check Up

Ashton had his 4 month old check up yesterday and our pediatrician seems to think that he is right on schedule...except for the teething thing. Ashton has cut one tooth and another is about to pop through any minute. Apparently, 4 months is pretty early to cut a tooth, much less two. Oh well. She said that we will just be getting visits from the tooth fairy before our friends :) He weighs 16 pounds (double his birth weight) and is 26 inches long. He is in the 75th percentile for his height and his weight. She actually referred to him as "the gerber baby". Always makes a mommy smile inside to hear that. At her advice, he started eating peaches (organic, of course) this morning! Next week, she wants us to integrate peas at dinner. It truly seems like I just gave birth a few weeks ago. Above is a pic of the little man after bath time tonight in his Christmas jammies...

Ashton's First Tooth!

Ashton cut his first tooth on Saturday, December 1st 2007!

Watching The Tube...

My boys... watching the big game.

Thanksgiving

We returned last week from Thanksgiving in the beautiful North Carolina mountains. My "Pema" lives on Mt. Mitchell, just outside of Asheville, and I have spent part of my summers there since I was five, as well as countless holidays. It was so surreal to take Ashton to a place filled with so many of my childhood memories. I truly hope he has the chance to spend a great deal of his time there in the summers to come! We had a wonderful time of just doing absolutely nothing! LOTS of eating and riding four wheelers. John's mom and brother Tripp came and the entire Porter gang was there, minus a few cousins and Aunt Emily, who had to work. :( The weather was chilly, with the highest temp in the forty's. We even had a small snow flurry one night! Below is the best shot of our failed attempt at a nice family picture...

Ashton and his Daddy

Ashton LOVES his daddy. It never fails; if John is in the room, Ashton tracks him wherever he goes. It really is hillarious. Ashton will strain his neck if he hears John's voice and start flailing his arms to try to turn to where his daddy is. He is most comfy when lounging in the easy chair with John. I walked into the living room the other day and they were sitting in John's easy chair in the exact same position. Both had feet crossed and arms at sides. He sits there every night after his bath to promote "night night time". I already call him Mini-John sometimes, and it really does ring true in his personality. The funniest thing that they both do is heavy sigh in their sleep. Ashton's heavy sigh really does sound like a mini version of John's.