A few of my favorite things...

I celebrated my 28th birthday at the end of last month and I am officially feeling old. I'm not sure exactly why that is but oh well! This birthday was however, one of my best. My husband went all out on the gifts which earned him major points! With the help of my party planner sister(more like under the direction of my sister), he threw me a surprise party, at which I was very surprised! I wanted to show you a few of my gifts because they were awesome! Matt was walking through Costco, the day before my birthday of course, when he saw this giant jewelry box (I'm not kidding I think I could probably fit Marshall in there). He had noticed that I had my jewelry in bowls and kind of all over the place so he thought I could use a nice place to keep it all. I think it was actually saying, "Here's something to put all the crap in that's taking up space in the bathroom!" Just kidding it was a very thoughtful gift and I loved it!
The next gift was this killer pot rack which we hung above our mini stove. If you didn't know, we are living in a studio apartment and although it's quite spacious for a studio, it's still a little tight. Anyways I wanted to hang my pots on the wall because I hate having them in the kitchen drawers since I used them so often. A couple weeks ago I put hooks on the wall and hung them all up. It didn't really look that good so Matt went out and found this little treasure. Again more points!
The last two pics are of Marshall's area of our place! I wanted to show off the cute Pottery Barn vintage baseball crib stuff that I found super cheap a couple months ago. I did make the bedskirt for the crib just in case you're wondering!:) Next to the crib is the gorgeous changing table/dresser that my dad made me before Marshall was born. It was his baby gift to us and I love it. We didn't know it but it ended up matching our crib. The crib was a gift to us from Matt's mom, grandma and brother! Well now that you've been given a small tour of our humble abode maybe you feel like you've been here! I hope so! Love to you all!

We're Up and Scooting!

Yesterday was a big day for Marshall as he offcially performed his first crawling motion. He's up on his knees and kind of scooting forward. He's not all over the place yet but definitely can spin himself all the way around, as well as roll wherever he'd like. This morning he got stuck between Matt's guitar case and his little chair. Today he is continuing to work on rocking back and forth while on his knees. I put him to bed tonight and about 45 minutes later Matt and I heard him moving around in his crib. We snuck over to the crib and there he was rocking back and forth with his little binky in his mouth! He was so excited to keep practicing his moves that he couldn't sleep. Not good for my sleep life! :)
Enjoy the pics and by the way I had just changed Marshall's diaper which is why he doesn't have pants on...I don't usually make him wear shoes in the house either!

Oh and the last picture is to show you the intensity with which my child grabs at things. I'm not kidding he wrestled this bag of wipes around the whole living room for about 15 minutes! Very entertaining!

SPOONS!!

Well we have reached the point where Marshall is reaching for and grabbing at just about everything! I have had some cold Starbucks drinks when he's in my lap and he has pulled the whole cup down and actually put the straw in his mouth...I know I'm training him young!
We went up to my parents house last night for a little time away from Salem and of course to give my parents a little grandbaby fix. My mom pulled some measuring spoons out for Marshall to play with and he was in heaven. I'm surprised at how long he stays entertained by one thing. This morning he played with one book for a good 10 minutes! I know you moms with older kids are saying, "Enjoy it!" and trust me I am!
Well we're off to another busy week! Since we started our church we have had quite a bit going on but I think we're settling into a good routine and we're having so much fun! We love our church and as a mom it's so incredible to have people around who love my kid! I hardly get to see him on Sunday nights as he is passed around so much! Matt's mom goes to our church and Marshall also has several 'special friends' who love to have time with him! Marshall has such a great personality and is so happy that I think he just loves seeing new faces all night! Have a great week everyone!

My future guitarist!

I think that most of you know by now that my husband Matt and I, along with our dear friends Paul and Gina Diaz, started a church here in Salem about two months ago! We are having an absolute blast and God is doing some awesome things in the lives of our young people! (If you haven't checked out our website it's http://www.outwardchurch.com/ ). Anyways we started a college small group tonight which will be meeting on Thursday nights. Our first night together was awesome! One of our guys, Grae, was showing Marshall a thing or two about the guitar! Matt hasn't had a chance to practice with Marshall yet but it looks like he already has some skills!



You want me to play it like this?















Don't worry I'll get it in tune for you!

6 Months Old!

I can't believe that Marshall is 6 months old today! He had to get shots today but he did so well! He only cried a little bit and was so tired from missing his morning nap that he fell asleep during the five minute drive home! He took a three hour nap today which was awesome! Poor guy the shots really knock him out! Anyways he's weighing in at 16lbs. 5oz and is 26inches long! He's in the middle areas of both of those percentiles!
I took these pics because he is learning to get up on his knees and I just loved the diaper shots. If you look closely you can see a little crack in the last one...like father like son!:)
The last one is with Uncle Tim at church on Sunday afternoon. He just cuddled up with Tim and fell asleep on his chest...very special moment for the two of them!

Just a typical morning...

I think that my life is about to change drastically as Marshall is beginning to get up on his hands and knees. He is moving off the blanket on the floor in all directions and is pulling his knees up under himself. This morning he got up on all fours and stayed there for a little bit! I'm not ready to 'crawl proof' my apartment yet! We had Bible study this morning so we took some pics with cousin Deakan! Marshall and Deakan are only two months apart! Deakan is already bigger than Marshall but that's no surprise if you know his daddy! We came home from our study to have a mid-morning snack which was extremely messy. When I tried to keep one hand out of Marshall's mouth he would just put to other one in. When I tried to hold that hand back with the spoon he just decided to bite the highchair...at that point I gave up and just let him make a mess of himself. Oh well at least he's eating well...here's to happy and messy mealtimes!

Tiki Torches!

One of our college aged girls in our church is leaving on a mission trip soon so we went to her going away party this last Friday night! Marshall was hanging with uncle Landon and learned all about fire that night! He so quick to grab for things now so I was of course watching Landon like a hawk! Marshall is growing so much right now. He's is talking all the time and his laugh is so fun! Matt and I are absolutely loving all of our time with him!

Marshall's Baby Pics

Some of you might remember when Marshall and I went to get his
pictures taken when he was six weeks old! Well we just got the pictures back and I'm so excited about them! I couldn't load them all in one post so keep scrolling down!

Marshall's Baby Pics!

Marshall's New Highchair!

Today was an exciting day here in the Porter household as Marshall got to try his new highchair out for the very first time! Grandma Judy did a little spoiling and bought him this chair. It's gorgeous and I'm really excited about it too! It's brand new and I was trying so hard today to keep it clean...well I tried but good thing it wipes down easily! When Marshall got done eating this morning I put him on the floor to play. Seconds later he rolled into his 'new toy' and proceeded to chew on the legs of the chair! (hope that's not bad for him!) I'm sure we have many a messy meal ahead of us, but I'm so thankful to have a chair to try and contain some of the mess! Thanks Grandma!