With Nate missing the first night of coloring eggs we definitely needed to do it again so he could join in on the fun. The boys didn't mind coloring more eggs that's for sure. If anything they were pros after the Christensen's house. With our days filled up until Easter, we hurried and did them Saturday night before the Easter Bunny came. Jackson picked out the set that had markers so after they were dyed to the color of their liking, they spent most of their time coloring all over them. Almost colored them too much because the marker wouldn't dry and was "marking" everything in its path, but at least they were all ready for the Bunny to hide in the morning!

With Nate having school Monday nights usually, the Christensen's are always so nice to invite us over for Family Night. They happened to be doing Easter Eggs, so of course we couldn't pass that opportunity up. This is one of Jackson's Easter favorites and it didn't disappoint. They boys each had 6 eggs to color. It was so much fun they couldn't all focus to take a group picture so that is the best we got. They were all so proud of their creations so I guess that is all the mattered!

Every year our ward has done an Easter Egg hunt for all the little kiddos. Usually it is at our clubhouse but this year the weather was yucky so it got moved into the church. Each kid is to bring a dozen eggs to share. They all get gathered together, then hidden and then found just a few minutes later. Its the fastest activity but the kids love it. It was so fun to watch all the kiddos run around for a new set of dozen eggs. Jackson and Andersen are at such fun ages because they are so independent and they love these simple activities because they don't need Mom. Maybe its their friends being there too, but I think the candy part of it all is their favorite (as you can tell Andersen and Parker are already eating it just minutes after the hunt was over!)

Easter Activities

Alison and I saw an advertisement for an Easter Egg hunt at the Herriman Rec Center swimming pool and we decided to try it out. It was a chaotic and crazy packed house but well worth the $2 we spent for some water fun.

Here are all our boys lined up and ready to go! What good sports the dads were to get into the water while us moms sat back and took pictures.

They had it split into age groups, so Andersen and Parker's age group went first. So much fun watching the kiddos get so excited about a few eggs. After all the eggs were gone (in less than a minute) it was time to get out and on to the next age group.

Jackson and Landon were next! They could barely contain their excitement and take two secs to hold still for a picture.

 Jackson was so excited and running all over the place that I couldn't get any clear pictures of him gathering eggs, but I did get the most classic picture... Jackson's bag of water!! Jackson was so excited to get eggs that he ran around trying to some but never got one! He came out of the water with his bag full... but not of eggs. Talk about a disappointment! Good thing Landon is such a good friend because he shared his eggs to make Jackson feel better without even being asked to do so.

 Luckily it didn't matter how many eggs someone had because after your age group was over you turned your bag of wet eggs in for a bag of candy allowing every kid to get the same thing. 

What a fun way to start off the Easter holiday!

New owners of a Nebulizer!

Back in March Andersen had our family's first encounter with RSV! Definitely not as scary with a two year versus a newborn I am sure, but its amazing what a quick breathing treatment can do for a little guys lungs. Andersen fought this for sure, but for some reason Daddy had the magic touch and was the only one that could get him to do his breathing treatments. After a couple days we were back to normal.  It was an expensive doctors appointment after trying to track down a nebulizer. Unfortunately there was not one around to rent so we had to buy one from IHC home care and now we have one for future occurrences like this. (Yes, we have used it since!) Thank goodness for modern medicine and good doctors to take care of our precious little ones!

Soldier Hollow: Round 2

Its kind of weird to be finally blogging about pictures that happened back when it wasn't 100 degrees everyday but I am trying to catch up!

Last year we saw a Groupon deal for half price tubing at Soldier Hollow and we went with the Christensen's. This year they did the coupon again and we couldn't pass up the opportunity for another fun night out as families. We headed up on a Friday afternoon in March to start our 2 hours of tubing. Our session started at 4:00pm. It was still warm outside and they were having issues with the snow melting and the tubes not going very fast. They offered refunds for another day, but we figured we would try it out and sure enough after 30 minutes or so the sun went behind the mountain and the snow was freezing up and sledding conditions were perfect! Last year Andersen was too young (Technically he was still too young this year, but they would never know if he was 3 or only 2 1/2) so he didn't get to go sledding. This was his and Parker's first time. Jackson and his buddy Landon on the other hand seemed like a pros and knew exactly what to do.

Jackson and Landon went down by themselves a couple times, but most of the time we stayed linked as a family so the boys weren't scared and they stayed by us.

My favorite part was watching their reactions. Jackson loved every second of it and always had a smile on his face. Andersen on the other hand wasn't too sure what was going on. He definitely didn't fight going down the hill, but his scream was classic every time we got going fast. I don't think I have every heard a squeal from him like that before! Look closely at his face!

Good thing I was only a few weeks pregnant or I couldn't have joined in on the fun because it was a really fun night as a family and with the Christensen's. We ended our evening with a usual stop at Dairy Keen for dinner and shakes and then called it a night and made the trek back home with some exhausted kiddos. Thanks for another fun night out Christensen's.

Partners in Crime

These two are the best and worst of little buddies. They definitely have a love hate relationship for each other but at the end of the day Andersen LOVES his friend, Parky. A few weeks ago, Alison invited me and the boys over for dinner while Nate was at school. Us moms were in the kitchen chatting and getting dinner ready while the 4 boys were playing. It wasn't too long of the four playing that the two older boys came running into the kitchen telling us moms that Andersen and Parker had made a mess. We instantly walked into the bedroom to find this... BABY POWDER EVERYWHERE!! It was one of those moments of not knowing to be mad or laugh. They thought they were hilarious. Of course Alison ran to get her camera to capture the boys excitement over their mess and then it was clean up time. I have a feeling this is only going to be the first of many messes these two boys catch themselves in as the grow up together. Lets just hope it stays as innocent as this moment.

Kindergarten SHOTS

These were the most classic pictures I think I could have captured for this moment. Jackson has known for months that turning 5 meant the dreaded Kindergarten shots. We talked about it all the time and every day he got more brave about getting them done. The big day came and he was actually so excited. Dr. Boud came into the room and did the normal routine and unfortunately Dr. Boud found two warts that he decided to burn off before he sent in the nurses for the shots. I think burning off those warts took all his bravery out of him, because by the time the nurses came in for shots he was a mess. It took two nurses and me to hold him down for 4 shots. The nurses pinned his legs and I let him hug on to me and a few seconds later it was over. Jackson's first words were "that was only two, I still have to get two more?" Little did he know the nurses did two shots each really quick that he couldn't even tell. When he was done he realized it wasn't as big of deal as he anticipated. I think he felt a lot of relief even though those sad tears don't say the same thing. Good job Jacks! This was one of your hardest doctor appointments you've had in awhile and you took it like a champ... Next step... Kindergarten! 

Hopefully Mom can be as brave and excited as you are for the first day.

Jackson's 5th Birthday

I am the worst mom for taking 2 months to write about Jackson's birthday, but if its any compensation the pictures have been downloaded to a blog post for a month and a half. All I had to do is write about it, so here we go...

I love birthdays! So I made sure the whole day was about Jacks. Jackson got to spend the first part of his birthday at preschool so after I dropped him off I went and bought doughnuts and juice for his teachers and classmates. Jackson loves to be the center of attention so he was so proud that Mom brought treats and was anxious to help pass them out.

After school, I took Jackson to McDonald's for lunch where a couple of his buddies joined us. Here is Cannon and Landon in the background enjoying their happy meals.

Later that day, Nana picked him up for a date. Jackson wanted some new baseball stuff so she took him to buy some new shoes, new gloves and after begging he also got the baseball pants that he really wanted.

After their shopping spree we all met up for some dinner the Brick Oven. Jackson's favorite part was his free dessert as you can tell by the whip cream mustache.

After dinner we went back home to open presents. Other than his baseball stuff, Jackson really wanted his batman stuff, so of course he was spoiled by Grandma Kay with his Bat Cave and a few other accents to go with it. Mom and Dad were the boring ones that gave the necessities like new clothes and some flip flops.

With many ideas tossed around, Jackson decided upon a Lego cake. By far the easiest cake I have made for him yet so I wasn't about to complain about his request. Surprisingly it turned out pretty cute I thought.

I can't believe you are already 5 years old Jacks! You are such a sweet boy and I hope this birthday was everything you wanted. I let you plan it all! All you wanted was family night for your birthday. At first I wasn't too excited about not being able to invite your friends to help celebrate but in the end I am so glad we did just the family, because it was all about you! We love you so much and love that you like spending time with your family because you add so much to ours. 

Happy 5th Birthday Buddy!

FUNNY STORY!

Andersen is such a silly kid! He definitely got the carefree, silly personality out of the two kids so far. With his silly side, he also has a very strong independent particular side too. This picture, plus the story I will share after this, is just a small glimpse of a day with Andersen.

 Currently Andersen is potty training and will only have accidents if he is not commando under his pants, shorts, pjs... whatever he is wearing. While we were at Old Navy yesterday Jackson needed to use the bathroom less than 10 minutes of getting there since he didn't go before we left the house. Andersen on the other hand had just gone potty before we left the house plus we were trying out underwear for the day since he has done so well commando for a couple weeks. While we were standing outside the door for Jacks, Andersen just starts going potty right in his pants. Instantly Andersen's pants were soaked all the way to his socks and shoes including a huge puddle on the floor! I stripped him down and had to go find a pair of pants to buy since I had nothing to cover up is bare bum. So this picture is of Andersen with his new pants on. If you look closely you see he HAD to have them on backwards. It was a battle over that and having socks and shoes on to leave the house, so I picked my battle and let him do it himself... even if his pants and shoes were on backwards. I tried to change it and he had a melt down, so yes we left the house like this!

Now to the funny story: 

(Warning: We are not a racist family whatsoever. You have to take this story with a grain of salt and understand this is coming from a 2 year old perspective)

Yesterday I was in the shower and Andersen kept running in and saying "the monkey is coming!" and "where did the monkey go?" I was clueless but figured it wasn't a big deal since we don't have monkeys anywhere close to our house. Well this conversation about the "monkey" lasted the entire time I was getting us all ready to leave. We were on our way out of the neighborhood when Andersen yelled "there's the monkey!" To my surprise he was pointing at the landscapers mowing the lawn and doing yard work in our common areas of our neighborhood!! Yes they are brown skinned and from a 2 year old's view I am sure they looked like monkeys to him... but man I felt bad, so the rest of the day we kept talking about how this "monkey" was actually a worker guy just mowing the lawn and doing his job just like any other guy he just has dark skin. I guess Utah isn't the most diverse area to teach your children these things, but man it was a HILARIOUS teaching moment for me yesterday!

Look who is wearing GLASSES!

I can't believe my little boy got his first pair of glasses today! I am totally skipping ahead of a dozen posts but I didn't want to forget some of the fun things Jackson said as he viewed a new world today. I think he looks so handsome and grown up with his new specks!

It all started with Jackson's 5 year old doctor check up. We were at Dr. Boud's office doing what we thought was just your typical check up, but along with his Kindergarten shots he had a quick eye exam. It wasn't anything really thorough but he still clearly FAILED it! The doctor recommended we schedule an eye exam just to make sure he just didn't understand what we were trying to do. 

Just a week later we were at his official eye exam. They started with the typical eye scans, a few tests from the assistant and some dilation drops, followed by the eye exam by the doctor. The first question Dr. Broadhead asked was "what brought you in today?" I responded with his family doctor thought his vision was 20/200 so they recommended we get it checked. Sure enough, Jackson was already showing 20/200 just from the nurses quick tests.

Dr. Broadhead already knew we were going to need some glasses so after he did a few doctor things, he added 2 more intense dilation drops to each eye. This was to get a better scan of his eye so the doc could get a more accurate prescription just by looking at his eye.

While we were passing the 20 minute wait for the dilation drops to be in full effect we went to check out frames. After trying on probably every pair, we kept going back to these ones and I think Jacks did a pretty good job picking out his own glasses. Once his eyes were dilated more, the doc had Jacks look through a few different lenses to fine tune the prescription he got from his new eye scan. Only 2 hours later were we finally done! Poor Jacks didn't understand why we couldn't take the glasses with us right then. I had to explain that they needed to send the frames he just picked out and add the prescription lens to them so he could actual see with his new glasses. They told us the wait time is usually a week so Jacks started the 7 sleeps count down! He was really patient but you could tell he was super excited for them.

Today, about noon, is when we got the phone call that his glasses were in! Of course we drove right over to pick them up. When I told him his glasses were in and we were going to pick them up, he got even more excited and the first thing he said was "I love you Mom!" Jackson's first comments once he got to try them on were... "It's not foggy anymore!" (Talk about a mommy moment) I felt so bad that my child has seen nothing but fussy vision for the past 5 years. Granted he didn't know any different until this past week, but it breaks my heart knowing how much he has missed. Had Dr. Boud not done that test who knows when we would have found out he needed glasses because Jacks showed no signs of needing them. He is smarter than your average cookie plus he can hit a baseball like its nothing! Not even signs of squinting. Luckily Jackson can see such a drastic change in wearing glasses that he LOVES his glasses. I don't see it being a problem of us telling him to put on his glasses. He just does it. It has been fun to watch him all day take care of them and take them in and out of his case so carefully. He even asked me to wash them already since they educated us on the best way to do so. It also has been fun to watch him soak in a whole new world that he has never seen before. He is noticing so many details around him and he has been a lot slower going places because he is taking in all the "new" around him. We were driving out of the neighborhood just tonight and he said "we have mountains!" I honestly can't imagine what he must be thinking with such a life changing thing. I just hope the excitement continues because it is going to be a lifetime (until lasik like his Dad) of vision coverage and constantly getting new glasses unless he magically grows out of his 20/200 with a mixed astigmatism prescription.

Andersen Update

I have been wanting to do one of these posts forever but it just takes so long! With having a weekend off for Conference I figured I could find the time because I really want to remember all these funny things Andersen is doing lately. He is at such a funny age and is full of laughs for our entire family.

The last update I gave about Andersen was him trying to potty train. He was doing great for a couple weeks and then gave up... and so did mom! As you can tell from the pictures below he loves his diapers! He would always ask for them so I figured he just wasn't ready. This box of diapers he is playing with is hopefully the last box of diapers I will buy for him.

He has shown signs again of being interested in potty training lately so we decided to try something different this time. He really wants a Woody toy so thanks to the fun idea of my neighbor I bought some fuzzy balls and mason jar last night and just 24 hours later this is how many "fuzzies" he has gotten for going potty in the toilet. I just hope this time it sticks and that I have the energy to follow through.

 The following are just some funny pictures and stories from Andersen.
To just anyone this looks like the most random picture of his blanket and link toys, but to him he was so proud of himself and HAD to have me take a picture of it. Got to love his creative mind!

One of the many things I love about Andersen is all his silly faces. He can pull the funniest faces without even trying. This face is one I got while I was on the phone in his room.

Andersen is the best napper around! If he is tired he will go to sleep no matter where he is at. He still likes his afternoon quiet time so it is very common to find him in my bed after lunch crashed in the cutest positions.

This picture has two of his favorites... hats and being naked! The cowboy hat is a new favorite but usually he has his BYU hat whenever we leave the house. The no clothes thing is a regular. From the moment he wakes up to the moment we need to leave it is very common that he only has a diaper on. If its not a diaper its his PJS. I think we go through 2 to 3 pairs a day because he doesn't like to wear the ones he slept in even if we are just hanging out in the morning and he has to be in new ones for quiet time. Silly boy!

 This is just another cute sleeping picture I captured today during Conference. For being 2 he did really well for hanging out with the family while we listened to the speakers. He made it 3 out 4 sessions before he couldn't take it anymore and climbed up on the couch and crashed on my shoulder.

 

Man we love this little guy! I can't believe he is 2 1/2 years old already. Some of his funny and favorite sayings lately are "what we doin' in the morning?" He says this a dozen times a day especially as we are tucking him in bed. He also says everything twice when asking for something... for example I want "toast, toast", "juice, juice" "my pants, pants" "punch, punch" so of course that has become the norm when asking him if he would like these items. His drinks have become "juice, juice" and we tell him to go get his "pants, pants" on for the day! Another regular saying out of his mouth if he ever hears the name Parker... "Parky my best friend!" Our neighbor Parker really is his best friend. They used to fight like crazy for awhile but now they seem to have buried those feelings and become good friends which makes it easy because one of Jackson's best friends is Parker's older brother Landon.

Two funny stories: I was getting ready for church the other day and was putting on black fish net type nylons and Andersen happened to walk in my closet while I only had my garments and tights on. His first comment was "Mommy, you look silly!" I laughed so hard. Another funny story when the two boys were drinking Nate's leftover drink out of the Cinemark mug. They don't do well when it comes to sharing those things so once Andersen finally got a turn he said "I'm going to drink it all!" Jackson was so upset because he couldn't grab it fast enough and it was one of those classic little brother just won the fight moments and Andersen knew it!

Andersen adds so much to our family and is definitely a Daddy's boy. He asks for Nate all day while Nate is at work. He gets hurt and he says "I want to call Daddy!" He even loves candy as much as Daddy. He is always asking for a treat  no matter the time of day. Although he loves his Daddy and Daddy has to tuck him in every night, but he still picks me for the sweet cuddle moments first thing in the morning (or middle of the night).

Even through all these cute things you can still be such a two year old and have spent your fair share in time out lately, but you are too cute to stay mad at for too long. You have the sweetest voice and faces that wins us over so fast! 

We love you little booger!

Sneaky Little {Irish} Elf

As you can tell I am a few weeks behind in catching up on all my pictures, but I didn't want to forget our St. Patrick's Day. This was our first year a Leprechaun visited our house and the boys thought it was the coolest thing ever! He must have quietly came in our back door, left his foot steps along the floor,

climbed up on the counter,

and left them a little pot of gold treats and a reminder to wear green.

Their faces were priceless in the morning! It was a mix of excitement and confusion all in one. Jacks instantly went for the candy while Andersen was fascinate with the foot prints.

We finished off the morning with some green pancakes.  These didn't go over as well as the candy did, but o'well it was still a fun little something for the kiddos to celebrate with.

Disney on Ice: {Buzz 3}

Nate and I haven't been a huge fan of Disney on Ice from the last time we went when Jacks was younger, but Nate suggested we try it again since it was themed Toy Story 3. And I am glad we did!! Both boys love Toy Story but Andersen especially loves it (but it is called Buzz 3 in his world). Before dinner we took the boys to eat at Crown Burger for the free event parking with dinner and then walked over to the show. It definitely isn't the cheapest family activity we could have done, but the smiles and reactions are what it is all about. The boys were constantly consumed with the entertainment and characters that us parents were happy because they were happy. Of course during half time they had to have a toy just like everyone else had so Jacks picked out a Buzz laser arm and he picked out a Buzz spinner toy for Andersen. I will be the first to admit this was one of the better children shows I have seen, but I think Ken and Barbie stole the show from Buzz and Woody. 

Check out all these SMILES!

Here are some of the kids favorite characters from the show. If only Mickey was out on the ice more because Andersen loved seeing him and would wave to him every time he would skate by us.

Not sure I am sold on HAVING to do Disney on Ice every year but this was a fun night out as a family.

More Indoor Soccer

Jackson just finished up another season of Indoor Soccer. Scott (Landon and Parker's Dad) was the coach just like the last outdoor season . The following are his buddies that were on the team from the left to the right, top to bottom. Cannon Ball, Marcus Wallis, Jacks, Jackson Mather, (don't remember the kid on the end), Parker Christensen, (another team mate I don't know), Tate Porath, (another random player on the team) and Landon Christensen. It's amazing to watch how him and his buddies just keep getting better with every season. This season it was obvious they were on the older end of their age group because they dominated every team they played. Their team had 5 games and Jackson scored at least one goal each game. 

First game: 3 goals

Second game: 5 goals!

Third game: 4 goals

Fourth game: 1 goal

Fifth game: 2 goals 

We were so proud of him! I love seeing his smile as he plays hard and gets the ball in the goal. Jackson used to be happy with one goal, but now it had to be multiple goals to feel accomplished. My favorite goal had to be the one he kicked from mid-court and rolled all the way in the goal. Besides Mommy and Daddy, Andersen and Nana were definitely his biggest fans watching the games even if Andersen decided to have nap time a couple times.

Good job Boys... another fun season of soccer!