What a good way to end my long day of work yesterday than to get these cute flowers from this cute kid! I'm sure Becky had a little part in this since she was watching my boys all day (Thanks Beck!), but it still was a cute surprise to come home to. I love my flowers and I love you Jackson!

The beginning of the PUMPKINS!

This day has been a long time coming for Jackson. Jackson has always wanted to play some kind of sport but for the longest time he wasn't ever old enough. Lucky for him, this fall, he FINALLY is old enough to play soccer! Even better is that his whole team is from our neighborhood... all 13 of them! Before our first practice I knew we needed to get Jackson a few things like shin guards and shoes. Nate also had a list of one thing... this awesome head band. We are still trying to get him to think it is cool to wear it, but he did pleasure me for a picture right before his first practice.

This first day of practice they got their soccer uniform (shirt, shorts, socks... not bad for rec ball). I love that its his first jersey and its his favorite color... ORANGE!! He was so excited! Before we knew what color the team was, he kept telling everyone he was going to be orange and sure enough he was right. If only he wasn't so big and didn't have to take the biggest size jersey or he could have had his favorite number 5 too! After uniforms were passed out it was time to think of a team name. Us parents chipped in with a few suggestions, but when the kids were asked what they wanted it was almost a unanimous vote for the PUMKINS! Not the most intimidating team name but they sure make the cutest little pumpkins.

The rest of practice consisted of giving the boys turns kicking the ball at the goal and practicing throwing in the ball without touching the white line. This season is going to be hilarious watching a swarm of orange running and tripping over each other and their own feet with no realm of the boundary lines.

Nate and I are so excited to watch his games. We would have had one this past Monday but because of the fire it got canceled, so this Saturday is the big day! Hopefully we can get Jackson to wear  his head band, but until then Andersen will wear it and cheer him on as his biggest fan! 

Good luck on Saturday Jacks! Go #13

11 Months

It seems like all of last month was spent dealing with this little guys tonsils. He has decided to follow in his brother's foot steps and get abscessed tonsils. After a couple rounds of antibiotics and a trip to the ENT, Andersen is lucky he wasn't signed up for surgery! The ENT we went to said to give them some more time to clear on their own rather than put him through surgery. I agree! We had many cuddle days and lounging on the couch like this together, but Andersen seems to be back to normal with no signs of tonsils bugging him so far. He recently cut two top teeth that was accompanied with a slight fever and fussiness but nothing compared to his sore throat! Besides this little hiccup in sickness he is the happiest baby around! Andersen wants to be big SO bad and do everything Jackson does. He is doing everything but walking. He loves to walk around things as he is holding on and pull himself up to everything... but is still too chicken to take some steps. I did catch him take two steps in between a touch of the couch but nothing that looks promising of him about to walk on his own.
He has recently learned to crawl up the stairs and thinks he is the coolest kid now that he can race with Jackson. He also has taught himself to get off the couch.
If you even look at Andersen he will give you the biggest grin. He usually is always smiling unless he is tired or hungry. And man when he is hungry... there is no wasting time! He is the best eater and for the most part will eat whatever we give him. Andersen also out eats Jackson almost every night for dinner. It is very common for Andersen to eat a WHOLE hot dog cut up into little pieces
And my favorite... He FINALLY (a month or so ago) learned how to hold his own bottle! It seems like Jackson learned to do this within in a few months, but Andersen knows how to work the system and knows if he doesn't hold it Mom or Dad will do it giving him more time to relax and really enjoy it.
Andersen is getting quite the personality and starting to learn how to hold his own around Jackson. You will see a feisty Andersen when it comes to his toys, food, or Jackson not sharing with him. It is probably bad, but I love watching Andersen fight back because he looks so cute and innocent when doing it. The most recent thing he has learned is his voice. Man is this kid loud sometimes. But with that voice comes words and his vocabulary consists of "Daddy, Dad, Mom, Mommy, Hi and Bye" So cute to hear him talk!!

I can't believe in less that 1 month he will be 1 years old! I remember the Fall season approaching last year and knew that Andersen would be here soon so when the colder weather hit this year, it was like a flash back to all those prego emotions and being so excited to meet this little guy.
Man have you changed our family for the better!

Labor Day {Steeple Chase}

What a fun idea this was! This is the 2nd year the Dye family has organized this fundraiser. It is a steeple chase from Oquirrh Mountain Temple to Jordan River Temple equaling 5 miles! The fundraiser is to raise money for countries that don't have the funds to make the day(s) trip to and from the temple. Usually this type of fundraiser is from a church building steeple to steeple run, but since our temples are so close we might as well run from one Moroni to the other. How lucky are we to have two temples within 5 miles of each other!! This was our first year running it and it was even more fun having Jackson run it with us. Here he is stretching with Nana. It was so cold this morning, so I made sure Andersen was bundled up nice and tight so he didn't get cold.

We started at the top by Oquirrh Mountain Temple and then made the 5 mile run down to Jordan River Temple. I thought it was only a 5K, but once I saw the 3 mile marker and Moroni was no where to be seen yet, I realized I still had 2 more miles to go! But we finally made it, just barely under 1 hour!
I had high hopes that Jackson would run more of the race with us, but this is about all he did... the last home stretch! He tried around mile 2 and made it two steps before he fell on his face, so considering the circumstances he was a champ to ran the end with us all. A HUGE thanks to Nana for pushing the stroller most of the way!
I don't know who enjoyed the race more, but if I had to do it again I would take this little guys spot in a heartbeat. He slept the whole time and decided to wake up as soon as we were done to enjoy Creamie's with us all.
Congrats Jackson on your first race! You did awesome!!

Jackson's new ride

This kid is one lucky dude! While Nate and I were out for our anniversary last month, Jackson got to go on a date with his Nana. This wasn't just any normal date night... This was the full shebang! Jackson already knew before he left that he was getting a new bike, so it wasn't even an option to do dinner first. They went right to Toys R Us! I am sure after Jackson had to try every single bike in the store, he agreed on this bad boy. The green "Rattlesnake". If only you could hear him say what his bike is through text... Its hilarious! He does actions of a snake and everything. After they finished picking out Jackson's new bike (and Andersen's new basketball toy) they headed off to dinner at Hire's. Jackson definitely knows how to sweet talk his Nana, because during dinner he leaned over to Nana and said "Nana, you're the best!" That's right Jackson, and don't you ever forget it! Thanks again Nana for another fun date night! He loves his new "big boy bike" and he has been riding it every day since!

5 Years!

On August 25th, Nate and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. Nothing too exciting as far as gifts and dates, but we did go out to dinner while Nate's mom took Jackson on a date to get a new bike (post coming soon!) So Andersen got to be the 3rd wheel with Mom and Dad on their date. Not very many times do we get to spend time just with Andersen so he made for some great company at MiMi's for dinner.
Earlier in the day I was driving and heard Sugarland's new song "Stuck Like Glue" and it made me think of Nate and the past 5 years. Man have we been through a lot it seems like, especially this last year, but through it all I wouldn't want to be "stuck" to anyone else but him!


Here are the lyrics to my favorite verses of the song that explains it all I think:

Absolutely no one that knows me better
No one that can make me feel so good
How did we stay so long together?
When everybody, everybody said we never would
And just when I, I start to think they're right
That love has died...

[Chorus:]
There you go making my heart beat again,
Heart beat again,
Heart beat again
There you go making me feel like a kid
Won't you do it and do it one time?
There you go pulling me right back in,
Right back in,
Right back in
And I know- I'm never letting this go-

I'm stuck on you
Stuck like glue
You and me baby we're stuck like glue

Some days I don't feel like trying
Some days you know I wanna just give up
When it doesn't matter who's right, thought about it all night
Had enough
You give me that look
"I'm sorry baby let's make up"
You do that thing that makes me laugh
And just like that...

[Chorus:]
There you go making my heart beat again,
Heart beat again,
Heart beat again
There you go making me feel like a kid
Won't you do it and do it one time
There you go pulling me right back in,
Right back in,
Right back in
And I know- I'm never letting this go-

I'm stuck on you
Stuck like glue
You and me baby we're stuck like glue

I love you Nate! Happy 5th Anniversary

Preschool, already?

Can you believe this little stinker just started preschool? Today was his first day of school and he was so excited! This was taken right before he left. While we were all getting ready this morning we were telling him that Mommy and Daddy were going to take him for his first day and how excited we were that he was going to school... His only response was "I don't want Mommy and Daddy to take me to school" (sniff, sniff!) He is already getting too old that Mom and Dad aren't cool anymore. His one and only request for school was... "I want Nana to pick me up!" Although his wish didn't come true, he was still excited to see me when I went to pick him up. He had such a fun day and loves school! Lets hope the excitement continues.