basketball

Basketball season ended in February.  Boston REALLY, REALLY developed a love for the game more so then previous years. 

I think he especially grew a strong love for it when we decided to get him a little more private training on the side.  Once a week he goes to a retired European basketball player for an hour to help develop his skills.  From dribbling, shooting, behind the back, under the leg and more, Boston has gotten SO much better. 

He LOVES it and when he was asked who is favorite basketball player was, he instantly replied "DANTE!"--his basketball skills coach.

 Meanwhile, we had games too.  Boston keeps accurate record of how many shots he made each game and kept track of their win/loss CONSTANTLY.  He even tried to remember other team's records to help debate how they will match up against that team.  It's quite entertaining and blows my mind that boys can remember all this information about players and team stats.

 I slacked BAD in the picture department this year.  Holding a baby each game can be quite distracting.  Not only did I slack on pictures but the ones I DID take weren't that great like this one for instance....Boston shot, made it, I snapped the picture and the ref stood in my way.  I didn't manage to get another picture the rest of the game. 

 The Celtics finished 6-4. 

We had such a fun group of boys who are all good buddies.  Kent and Boston's best friend's dad, Jason, helped coach.  It was also pretty amusing watching the dads get so into it at times.  Sometimes I wonder who is more competitive with it all...the players or the dads coaching!

Boston decided to continue basketball training even though basketball is over.  He said he preferred doing that then starting up baseball.  Apparently, baseball is his least favorite sport and moves to slow for him so we'll stick to basketball training for now. 

No games on Saturdays and only ONCE a week practice....SOLD!
Oh. And Hudson thinks he can ball with the pro's.

love day

Valentine's Day is always a fun one.  We build up to it all month with daily gifts in their Valentine's mailbox and love notes on their bedroom door each day.  I was interested to see how those sweet notes effected Boston in SUCH a positive way.  EVERY SINGLE morning Boston woke up and would get breakfast prepped, get his lunch started, get dressed, or help in any other way he could.  There were also some mornings where I would walk downstairs and he would have love notes all around the house for Kent and me.  He was THE sweetest boy during that time.  Interesting to see how those little notes played a positive effect on him. 

Hudson had his Valentine's Day party first.  We had to decorate a cereal box for his valentines.  This was a first for us so it was fun putting together.  Hudson wanted it to be the "purple Ninja Turtle" so that's what we went with.  I can't even explain the excitement that boy had going to school that day.

 He was VERY focused on his cookie decorating at his party.  He wouldn't even look at me for a picture.

The next day was Boston's Valentine's party. 

Hudson was thrilled to tag along (and that boy totally photo bombed my photo).

And of course, Nolan tagged along the whole time but never got to be a part of a photo until we got home.

On Valentine's Day we enjoyed the day as a family.  We went to the park and let the boys play since it was BEAUTIFUL out. 

We ordered them a heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's, got them a new movie and let them watch that while drinking red Gatorade.

Meanwhile, Kent and I decided to stay in this year and cook together at home.  To be honest it was quite relaxing and low key.  I've got to admit it was kind of nice avoiding crowds and not worrying about a sitter. 

A nice, quiet, candle lit dinner at home was perfect!

HAPPY LOVE DAY!

On a side note, I was trying to get some pictures of the boys all together.  It was very unsuccessful and here's why!

Trying to photograph THREE is not quite easy!

marvel univserse live

When I find out about this whole MARVEL UNIVERSE LIVE gig, I booked tickets for the boys ASAP!  There's always the fun princess shows, but being a mom of boys, that doesn't really cater to our needs.  We surprised the boys and they weren't quite sure what it was going to be about.  Hudson thought he was going to see the REAL deal (I'm pretty sure he still thinks this).

When we saw the cotton candy guy selling these little "hats" with the cotton candy, we HAD to get one.  I later found out that they cost us $15 a pop!!! SERIOUSLY?  Why don't you just burn money instead?

 The show was corny but the boys were GLUED.  We waited and waited to see hulk (Hudson's favorite) and he only came out the last 10 minutes.  Bummer.

 It was a fun night even though it was a little cheesy for adults.  The boys still act out the whole show to this day so it must have been a hit!

rockets date night

One of the gifts Kent got for Christmas was tickets to the ROCKETS vs. MAVS game. 

Currently, Kent LOVES the Rockets (because of James Hardin) where I still remain a Mavs fan.

I like the call him a fair weather fan because he cares more about what players are playing for who then he does the team as a whole. 

Either way, this man LOVES, LOVES, LOVES his basketball.

Coincidently enough, we happened to be at the same game that some of the youth in our ward who sing for their middle school choir were performing the National Anthem.

They did great!

 Kent sported his Rockets gear while I sported BLUE for my Mavs.

 What fun is a game like this without some fun competition? 

We placed a small bet on the game and sadly, Kent won the bet. 

Dang Mavs.

It was still a great date night and one I always love!

5 months

Nolan.

Noligan.

Nolinator.

Nolly

Regardless what he gets called, he hit the 5 month mark.

He is ONE happy boy.

He smiles, chatters and if he's in the right mood will laugh at us. 

I could squeeze him to pieces I love him so much!

The other day the thought came to me of when Hudson was asked what our baby's name would be when Nolan was in my belly.

The first time he answered, he paused for a few minutes and then exclaimed, "RED!!"  He stuck to that name my whole pregnancy.  As I reflected on that, it donned on me that Nolan has that red tint to his hair.  Did Hudson remember/know something we didn't? 

Not sure but pretty neat at the same time.

Our little "Red"

He LOVES his baths. 

I'm sure he would kick, squeal and splash for hours if I let him.

We've been working on sitting up.

 He's slowly progressing

He started rolling over to his belly right before he hit the 5 month mark.  This always freaks me out when they are swaddled so this is when I leave their arms out of the blanket. 

That's always an adjustment for them to get used to.

 Then it was the whole phase of rolling to his belly and freaking out (somehow forgetting he CAN roll back to his back).  It's been a process but now he prefers to sleep on his belly right in the upper corner of the crib.

I also introduced rice cereal.  He was VERY unsure about that at first but after a few tries, he got it down and now takes it like a champ.

He LOVES his little lizard that plays Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

It seems to be one of his favorite songs.

Anytime he's crying in the car, Boston will sing that to him and he calms right down. 

It's actually rather sweet.

This little guy still loves to be outside when the weather is warm enough

And even when it's not warm enough to go outside, he sure does look precious all bundled up!

 

happy new year 2015

We had a FUN night planned for New Years this year. 

Sadly, I was SO sick and not feeling well enough to celebrate.

I slept and watched from a distance.

This year, we labeled balloons with different times.  Each balloon had a fun activity for the kids to do at those times until MIDNIGHT.

First, was the piñata.

 Then the kids got to decorate sugar cookies.

 Up next was FIREWORK time!  I was so sad to miss the show!  Everyone said it was the best one yet (although I feel like they say that every year).

  Kent's mom and our niece Sidney came over that evening to enjoy New Years with us.  Carol kept Nolan warm and protected during the show.

 Boston has a love/hate relationship with fireworks.  His little ears can NOT handle the noise.  I died when I saw this picture because it depicts it  perfectly.

 Once fireworks were complete, each of the kids got their own mini canvas to create their own masterpiece.

 By that time, everyone was slowly started to drag.  Boston laid on the floor for a few minutes and next thing we knew, he was OUT!  In his defense, he had just gotten over being sick.

 Sadly, Boston and Hudson missed out on the count down to midnight and missed the epic balloon drop!

 The Withers kids are the only ones who held strong!

 I had to get up a celebrate the New Year too!

 Meanwhile, our boys had NO idea 2015 had just begun.