Choo-Choo!!! Porter Sowa is turning 2...

I had a 2-year-old train party.


We went to the Colorado Railroad Museum.

It was really cool.

Not only did I get to see all kinds of cool trains...

...but mommy and daddy and baby Emma invited all my favorite friends to come along!

Gavyn & her brother Kai were there...

Tarrah & Sofia...

Scotty & Jim...


Aunt Bryn and Cousin Holden...


Angela and Ellery...


Benjamin...


And of course my cousins, Avery and Caroline, as well as Nana Ne were there to celebrate with me!


My cousin Avery took care to make sure I had a blast.


Grandma...


Grandpa...


Uncle Zach...


Uncle Chad...


...and Aunt Jackie were all a special part of my train party.


...I had so much fun opening presents!




I said "oh boy" every time I opened a new gift.


I even got a Thomas the Train cake!!!


I blew out my candle...


...and mom let me have my very own piece of cake!




At the end of the party, we all walked over to a very special train...


We all got on...


...and took a train ride together!!!


I would say that the party was a success.


I spent the whole afternoon playing with my new train gifts.


Emma Rose decided she was too pooped to join me.


Thanks, everyone, for making my party so special!

How to spell Summer

Since I'm doing so well with my alphabet, I'm going to tell you how to spell "Summer"...

S is for Sweet Baby Emma.

O is for Oodles of fun!

M is for Make-Believe.


U is for Unwinding.


C is for my favorite one-sided game, Catch!

H is for all the Hugs and Kisses I share with my baby sister...and anyone else in my path.


F is for all the Fooling Around I do!

U is for Up and Up and Up, which is how Emma Rose and I are growing.

(This is Emma Rose at 8 weeks...)

And N is for Nice - how I'm learning to play with my baby sister.

Summer is S.O. M.U.C.H. F.U.N.!!!

School's out for summer!

Emma's smiling and squawking so much now at 6 weeks!

I think it's because school (and therefore Mom) is out for summer
and we get to have SO MUCH FUN together!



Mom celebrated the start of the summer by running the BolderBoulder with Papa T.

I got to watch them "run fast."
(I'm obsessed with all things fast lately, so watching this race was awesome
(even if my idea of fast may not be all that fast)...

Summer also means spending extra time with friends and family!

This is my uncle Bryce, who's practicing being a dad:

But what makes ME happiest about summer is my birthday!
In just 2 weeks, I'm going to ride a train to celebrate!!!

Choo-choo! All aboard for the greatest summer ever!

"Thank you Jesus for baby Emma"

Every night my mommy & daddy say prayers with me.

Recently, I started repeating after them when they pray,
but tonight, after mommy said, "Dear Jesus," I prayed all on my own:

"Dear Jesus, Thank you - baby Emma..." I said.

Mommy & Daddy dedicated Emma Rose to be raised in a Godly church and home on Mothers Day, May 8, 2011.

(I was there, but to be honest, I was more interested in hugging my cousins in the congregation than I was in standing on stage for the dedication.)

Mothers day is a day to be thankful for Mommy's, Grandmas and Nana's,

(And for me, a day to be thankful for pools and the outdoors, which I really love!)

But I really am thankful for that little girl in red who sometimes steals my thunder:

Emma Rose is a gift from God.

And so tonight, when I prayed,


She was the first on my short list of things to be thankful for.

Angels & Demons

I'm mostly excited about this baby that's clearly not going away...
(Even though at times, I tell those who ask if I have a new sister, "NO!")

...I've had a handful of jealous moments that have moved my mommy to tears, so it really helps when my daddy comes home and gives me 100% attention...

(...and proving that I really am an angel at heart...)

...And look at this little angel:


...Mom can't get over how much she looks like Aunty Erin, and Nana Ne at times...



...I can't get over how much more of a Diva than an angel she is...



...But geez, if you had an angel as cute as this for your competition,

Wouldn't you become a little bit of a demon too???

Easter

I am SO excited that Easter is upon us!

Being that it's Spring, I spend every possible moment outside

and I am convinced there is not better place.

(I have even tried convincing my little sister of that truth,

though she's a little slow to warm up to the idea...)

I got to spend practically the whole Easter week outside.

The WHOLE family started out by dying Easter eggs...OUTSIDE...on Palm Sunday.

It was awesome.

On Easter morning, my family dressed up and went to church,

and I got home to special presents waiting for me.

(I particularly loved my new trash-truck book, and a big, huge garbage truck that my grandma & grandpa brought me later that day!!!)

...And somehow those Easter eggs we dyed the week before were "hidden" all over the grass.

I even found some that had gummy bears and stickers inside of them

(I ate every last gummy bear, which I called "vitamins," on the spot!!!)

(I also found out that babies think vitamins are "icky".)

I got to see my whole family on Easter too - Grandparents, aunts, uncles, & cousins!

It sure was a special holiday, and mom says when I grow up I'll really understand that it's even more special than I can comprehend.