Disney World

For Christmas this year my parents gave us a trip to Florida. Porter was very excited to go to "Mickey's House" as he calls it. We spent a whole week there and loved every minute of it. The weather was great and apparently not very many people go to Disney World the second week of January so we hardly waited in line at all. It was perfect. Thanks Mom and Dad!

The whole fam in front of the castle

My cute little Jonah bug. Porter thought this little playhouse was the coolest thing ever. He just ran in and out the door over and over again, laughing so hard.

Mickey's House

Porter at Minnie's kitchen table

Porter and Dad on the "Bumbo" ride

Waiting to ride the toy story ride.

This is as close as we got to meeting Woody we missed the real one but Porter didn't seem to mind the plant version.

Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground

Mickey's Hat at Hollywood Studios

Meeting Mickey for the first time, so fun!

Jonah slept most of the time but he did make it on a few rides. The little time he was awake he was happy as can be.

Inside Bruce's mouth

Outside the Nemo ride. We all went on it together and when it was over Porter leaned over to Jonah and said, "Did you see that buddy? Was that so cool?" I love watching how they interact, they sure do love each other.

and finally here we are at Epcot, one of my favorite days.

We also went to Sea World for a day but somehow I don't have any pictures. We had tons of fun and Porter is already asking when we are going back :)

The past 6 months...

Since I only update this semi-annually, here's a small taste of what we've been up to these past six months.

In May, Whitney and Aaron were married. It was a beautiful day and we are so happy for them. Here's Porter with his two best friends (cousins, Lydia and Elizabeth)

Also in May, Porter turned 2. He got a new bike for his birthday and he was pretty excited about it!
We had a great summer and Porter discovered a new love, fireworks.
In July, this cute little guy joined the family. He is such a happy baby. I was a little, ok very, nervous about how I would manage with two little ones around the house but Jonah is such an easy baby. He is always so content. I love getting him out of his crib in the morning, he always greets me with a huge smile and he's even sleeping through the night, hurray! We are so blessed to have him in our family.
I sure do love these two boys. I feel like the luckiest mom in the world. They are my everything. Porter is at such a fun age. His little personality is so funny. He cracks me up all day long. I love hearing what comes out of that kids mouth. (on a side note, he has been potty trained for about a month now, yippee! So, proud of him)
We are doing great and feel so very blessed. Perhaps I will update this before another six months have come and gone! :)

New Arrival!!

Jonah Roger Tippetts

He's here!! On July 13 we welcomed Jonah Roger Tippetts into the world. He started this life out winning brownie points with mom for coming two weeks early, yay! He weighed just slightly smaller than his brother, at 9 lbs 3 oz and was 21 1/2 inches long. Labor and delivery went great and we couldn't ask for a more perfect son. He has brought such a sweet spirit into our home and we are loving every minute of it!!

Porter is loving being a big brother. He always makes sure Jonah has his binkie, even if he doesn't want it. I think his only complaint is how much Jonah sleeps. Porter always leans over Jonah's crib and says, "Jonah, uh open a eyes!" I'm sure these two are going to be great friends!

Highlights

It is hard to believe another year has come and gone. We had a great year in 2009. So many wonderful things happened. Here are just a few of the highlights.

1. My baby turned 1!!! (I still can't believe it and now he is closer to 2, crazy!)

2. We bought our first house. Andy did most of the work on the inside (finish work, cabinets, floors, painting, you name it he did it) and it turned out great.

3. Family vacation in Vegas. Porter got to ride his first airplane. It was tons of fun, thanks again mom and dad.

4. Shanae got married to a great guy and the wedding was beautiful.

5. We spent many summer days at the pool. Porter took swimming lessons and loved it so much we did three sessions in a row. Six straight weeks of swimming everyday. It was awesome.

6. We had an adorable little monkey for halloween. I was afraid he wouldn't want to keep his costume on but he did great. I think he kind of enjoyed being dressed up :)

7. We had a great holiday season. Thanksgiving and Christmas were both wonderful!

8. And finally, we found out that baby #2 is on the way and scheduled to arrive in July. We are thrilled!!!

Welsh Family Pictures

It has been a very, very long time since the Welsh's have taken family photos. I think my mom tries to schedule them every year but something always comes up (usually me saying I'm not tan/thin enough, sorry mom) but this year was different. It was mandatory and mom wasn't accepting any excuses. So, here they are in all their glory :) Enjoy!

Our first real family pic, yay!

My adorable little po, cute as can be.

Mom and Pops, 28 years later and still

in love and beautiful as ever!

All the girlies, up close and personal

And finally, the whole bunch!

It actually wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. Porter wasn't really a fan of the whole picture thing but I think we were able to come away with a few good ones, all and all it was a good day!

# 3

Three years ago today I married my best friend and it has been the best three years of my life! I love you Andy!!!

Las Vegas

We went to Las Vegas with my family this past week for a much needed vacation. We went shopping, played at the pool, Porter got to ride an airplane for the first time, we saw Lion King, and just had tons of fun. Here are a few pics from the trip:Porter's favorite day of the trip...playing at F.A.O. Schwartz. It was so funny to watch him when we walked in the store. He got so excited he just started bouncy up and down, so cute!

He loved to sit in this bowl at our hotel-not quite sure why
Porter soakin up the sun at the pool
The fam hanging out in front of our beautiful mint green mini van

Waiting for our food at Cheesecake Factory...Yum!

More good times at F.A.O. Schwartz
Waiting for Lion King to start. It was AMAZING by the way
Porter's face almost the entire trip. He loved all the attention he got :)