The Porcaro Family: Wrapping Up 2012

Where, oh where, has 2012 gone? I have been asking myself that question for the past few days! I'm sure that you are asking where we have been the last few months as well, since I realzied that I have not updated since August!

First, we would like to wish all of our friends and family a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I cannot believe that it's almost the end of December already. A dear friend of mine once said that once you have a little one, the days are long and the years are short. I couldn't agree more!

We have continued to be busy and equally blessed as 2012 is drawing to a close. Cash is 19 months old now...and boy, does he keep me busy! Each day is a new adventure with him and I honestly believe that I am more exhausted at the end of the day than he is! He seems to really be picking up on new things lately and it's so exciting when we realize that he is doing something new or something by himself that once required assistance. Since I haven't updated in awhile, I will post a few pics from the last few months and give any news that has been going on. So, here we go!

September:
Cash turned 16 months old this month. He loves to play outside and doesn't sit still for long at all! Since we haven't had any "professional" or nice pictures taken of Cash (since he will not cooperate for that too much), we decided to take him to Gilchrest Park in downtown Punta Gorda for a little photo shoot. As you can see, we did get some great shots, mostly of him on the move. But that is how he is...always going and smiling along the way! If you would like to see more of Cash's 16 month photos, let me know and I can email you the Snapfish link!

October:
October brought us some beautiful weather, which meant a lot of playing outside and at the park! Cash loves being able to "explore" things and we have found a really nice park near us (about a 5 minute car ride) that is on the water and has a ton of shade for days when it isn't quite so nice out! We were able to go to a local church that was having a Fall Festival and Cash picked out a pumpkin for daddy to carve and as you will see, he did an awesome job again! We also took Cash out trick or treating for the first time this year. He really wasn't too into it...we took him to downtown Punta Gorda (which is set up a lot like downtown Plymouth) and it was a MADHOUSE! Next year, we will have to find something more low key or take him to the mall until he is a little bit bigger to tackle the craziness! While we live in a lovely neighborhood, there aren't many sidewalks so trick or treating is a little different down here. Overall, we had a great month of October! Here are some highlights.

I love this picture of Cash...he is roaming around our yard and I just caught him at the right time!

Cash and Momma at the Fall Festival

He was so excited to pick out his own little pumpkin!

Our handsome little man!

"Exploring" around the house!

Cash is ready to go trick or treating!

You can't see it that great, but Cash was a bag of Cash! His "bag" says US Federal Reserve and has fake money coming out the top! We still have his costume and I need to take some better pictures of him in it!

Here is Cash taking a look at his pumpkin...he did NOT want to help daddy clean it out at all...maybe next year he will be more into it!

Jeff did a GREAT job on the Elmo face!

November:
November brought our family many blessings as one chapter closed in our lives and a new one opened. As you all know, we were brought to Florida with the acceptance of Jeff's job in 2008 at the Wal Mart Distribution Center. In November, Jeff accepted a new position with PPI Technologies in Sarasota, FL. Jeff's buddy, Moke, that he met at Wal Mart, has been with PPI for about a year now and his position as the Shipping & Receiving and Inventory Control Manager was going to be opening up since he was being promoted to a Project Manager. He was asked if there was anyone that he would recommend for the job, and he called Jeff. Within a week, Jeff submitted his resume, interviewed with the company and accepted the position before leaving the interview! We feel so blessed that this wonderful opportunity came our way. Jeff has been so extremely happy with the new job and I couldn't be more proud of him!

Before Jeff started his new job, we were able to take a little 3 day staycation to Tampa. Awhile back, I saw a great deal on Living Social for a 2 night stay in Tampa with tickets to the Lowry Park Zoo and the Florida Aquarium. So we packed up and boy, was it an adventure! For those of you who have traveled with a little one, you know that it's never really that easy. Our first night did not consist of a whole lot of sleep for any of us, and it also happened to be the night we turned the clocks back! Needless to say, we got an early start to our day and had a great time at the zoo (with a little nap for Cash as well!). Our weather was fantastic and we wrapped up our couple days with a great morning at the Aquarium.

Cash and daddy trying to relax for bed...Cash was having too much fun sleeping in the big bed to settle down!

Cash and daddy checking out some animals

Cash took his first Merry Go Round ride at the Zoo with momma...best part, it was free!

Cash and daddy checking out the Tampa traffic


Hanging out at the Aquarium

Thanksgiving was a wonderful day for us. Jeff was off work and had that Friday off as well. I cooked the full Thanksgiving meal and we hung out at home and just relaxed. It was a nice day to just be with my boys and while we missed being with our families that day, it was a day to be thankful for all that we have together. I was able to do some Black Friday shopping since Jeff was home and we put up our Christmas tree that weekend as well.

December:
I absolutely LOVE the Christmas holiday season! I am always so excited to set up the tree, wrap the gifts, bake delicious treats, listen to Christmas music and just enjoy the month of December. This year, I have been especially excited because of Cash. I couldn't wait to see his little face on Christmas morning and to share in the joy and wonder of a child. Since we have not traveled to Michigan for a few years now for Christmas, I am always in a rush to get all the boxes out and make sure that all my crafty things (mostly ornaments for the nieces and nephews) are done. This year, I was surprisingly on top of things! It's been a bit of an adjustment the last couple months with Jeff's new job...he is now working "normal" hours again (he was working four ten hour days at Wal Mart and had three days off) and I have had to really use nap time to my advantage to get things done. Jeff's company closes down for the holidays, so we are trying to enjoy our couple weeks together before the New Year begins and it's back to work and school for daddy. I know that Cash has loved having Jeff home for the past week and I have too. It's nice for us to get to spend some lazy days together. We were able to go see Santa this year at Fisherman's Village. Cash wasn't too sure about him when we got up there, so Mommy had to sit on Santa's lap too! But Cash did give Santa high fives, as you will see in the pictures. I will do a separate post for Christmas morning, but we had a wonderful day together! Here are some December pictures.