football 2014

Football season has come and gone. 

It was Boston's first year doing tackle and I was pretty nervous about it.

We bought Boston's helmet and pads early on so that he had plenty of time to get used to them.

Practices started the first of August and it was definitely not easy for Boston the first few practices.

He was hard to read this season because he would dread going a lot of times but then he would come home saying how much FUN he had and how much he LOVED it.  Apparently, he enjoys all the fun drills WAY more then all the running during the 2 hour practices.

 Hudson would always BEG to go over to the park during practices.  Since I was SO nervous about tackle, it was hard for me to walk away from the practice but you've got to keep the little man entertained.

 Boston was ALWAYS full of sweat.  It always made me worry but he always thought it was pretty cool (must be a boy thing).

 Kent helped coach again this year.  It made me feel WAY more comfortable about the whole thing especially since I had Nolan towards the end of August and wasn't able to go to many practices this year.

We had a few LATE night games

 But this little boy stayed busy thankfully (and the baby slept).  I also got smart and started to get a sitter when we had 8 pm games so Hudson could just go to bed.

 Last year, he was constantly coming over to me completely muddy.  This year, it only happened ONCE. 

We had our homecoming game

 

 

 And Boston got loaded up with lots of loot.

 He also received a CRUNCH award after one of the games.  Coach Tryon would give out TWO crunch awards each game for players who did an awesome job that night.  Boston works hard to get one each year.

 And to finish the season off, Papa was able to come over for his last game. 

The Eagles finished 5-5 this year.

Boston played various positions from running back, full back, and lineman.

They played hard, learned a lot and did their best.

I was sure proud of my little tackle football player.

He says he's not sure if he wants to play next year or not (again, he gives mixed signals) BUT he does say he wants to play in college AND the NFL....

halloween

We went back and forth on a few different theme ideas this year for the boys.  Finally, we settled on STAR WARS.

Boston requested Darth Vader

And Hudson...well he got to be a Jedi (he wanted to be a few other characters whose costumes all sold out before I could get to them).

I'm not a massive fan over those cheap costumes made of that cheap material but I didn't have many more options this year sadly so I had to deal with it.

 We tried to pose for a group shot but Yoda (aka Nolan) wasn't having it.  Between the wind and needing a nap, this is the best shot.

 This year my Aunt Jill invited us over to her neighborhood for trick or treating so we decided to try it out.  Thankfully, right after some chili eating and before trick or treating, everyone was somewhat okay with taking a group shot.  Hey, it turned out a little better than the first.

 Then we were off hunting for some candy.  My boys got lucky this year because my Aunt's neighborhood is VERY generous on Halloween.  From massive pixie sticks, giant candy bars, HANDFULS of candy and even TOYS, these boys got loaded down.  Although we weren't trick or treating with friends like we usually do, it was still a perfect night.  The weather was perfect, the boys had a BLAST, all the homes were REALLY in the Halloween spirit and Boston deemed it "The BEST Halloween EVER!"

 And although Nolan will never remember this Halloween, staring at this cute little peaceful Yoda all night made the night even better!

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

fall happenings

There's so much to do during the fall and I LOVE it. 

I feel like as life gets busier its getting MUCH harder to squeeze in some of the fun things we usually do.  I guess you just do what you can.

I found a Groupon for this place called "Halter".  We had never been before, I had heard little about it and thought maybe we would check it out.

Let's just say that although its for a good cause, we probably won't be back.  I prefer Dewberry farms. The HEAT that day didn't help either. 

The priceless moment was the haunted forest.  It really wasn't scary at all but Boston has been BUGGING us to take him to a haunted house.  After telling him over AND over that he probably needs to be a little bigger, I think this haunted forest did it for him. 

Hudson got a chance to ride a horse for the FIRST time.  He was THRILLED about this.

 There was a little tractor train that gave a fun little ride for everyone (I think this is the only group shot we got of all the kids--Curtis' and Hoopers).

We finished with this little horse and buggy gig after the petting zoo.  The kids were completely done afterwards. 

So what do you do on a HOT day in the fall?  Finish the day off with a little Bahama Bucks snowballs!

Emily and I were crazy enough to take the boys down to the zoo for Boo Zoo.  It was SO busy that we couldn't even find parking for 30 minutes until we basically created our OWN spot.  It was one of those quick trips to the zoo where we didn't accomplish TOO much but zoo+costumes=fun for the little boys.  Plus, we caved and let them ride the merry-go-round. 

 

 We also had our first annual SOUP AND SCOOP with our friends the Curtis'.  I LOVED this idea when Marcie told me about it.  I laughed once we started carving pumpkins once again this year that after the "scooping" is done, it pretty much turns into Kent's job.

 Our two pumpkins are on the right.  Can you tell the difference between boys and girls?

 We also had our ward TRUNK OR TREAT.  I failed to take any pictures but this one of sweet Nolan.  It was a little chaotic in our building that night.  The boys had a blast and I let Boston roam with his friends for the first time alone.  Perks to getting older I guess.  He told me he felt pretty cool being able to do run around on his own. 

pumpkin patch

We made it yet again this year for our pumpkin patch visit. 

This time as a family of FIVE (sometimes I still can't believe it).

I love to go for the pictures.

The boys love to go to spot the biggest, smallest and strangest pumpkins.

They also seem to have energy that SHOOTS through the roof and this year they definitely ran around acting quite crazy.

Meanwhile, I try to stay calm....

 I'm super impressed I got any good shoots (if you only saw the outtakes).  Basically the boys' silliness ruled the night.  Luckily we got out of there without busting a pumpkin or breaking a wagon.  I'm sure this will only get worse the bigger ALL the boys get...because really, why can't you lodge pumpkins back and forth at each other?  That's what they are for right?  Boys will be boys.

2 months

Little (I use that term lightly) Nolan hit the 2 month mark.

 At 2 months, he weighed in at 13 lbs 6.5 oz (90%) and was 22.75 inches long (50%).  Each baby continuously gets bigger and bigger.  We love his chunky cheeks and gave him tons of kisses after the nurse gave him 3 shots!  Always so sad to see.

This kid has always taken that binky like a champ! And boy and am I grateful for it.

 He loves laying on his play mat especially when Hudson rearranges all the toys into one BIG mess in the middle.

 He enjoys his tummy time and never complains.

He also has figured out how to give us sweet smiles and is even trying to figure out how to talk to us.  He always seems surprised after a noise comes out.

He started sleeping from 11:30 pm-5:30 am and we are all very grateful for a little more sleep.  Sleep does wonders in my life. 

He has also been eating about 4.5 oz every 3 hours.  I am not much of a nurser.  In fact, I hate it.  So after a massive struggle with Boston, I resulted to pumping with my other two.  I love knowing how much they get every time I feed them and I also love that if needed, someone else can help feed.  I also seem to produce a plethora of milk.  This is 300 bags....and we're still going.

Now that Nolan is two months, I think we are starting to get the hang of three.  Life was CRAZY at first.  Kent and I would often laugh when Boston was whining, Hudson was wanting attention and baby was crying to be fed or wanting to fall asleep.  With our house in what seemed to be utter chaos, we would jokingly say that three might be our max. 

Now we are on a better schedule with Nolan sleeping better (which means we are all getting more sleep) which has really changed the whole dynamic of our home.  So even though we aren't ready to have another one anytime soon....we will definitely try for another one because why wouldn't you when they have sweet faces like this