Fall Flag Football Season

Not only did school start, but so did football. Yay!!! And AHHHH!!!! Only reason why I say that is because it just makes us feel so busy. We went from simple summer schedule to 2 school schedules and 2 football schedules (which includes games every Tuesday and Saturday and practices twice a week for both of them). Now you see why I say AHHHH?!? 

But you know what? It's all good stuff so I wouldn't have it any other way. I like to call it "Beautiful Chaos." And even though it's so hectic I try really hard to enjoy it. Why? Because I have several clients that have older kids and they tell me ALL the time how this time in my life truly is one of the greatest and I need to soak it up. So I try. And I really do love it. 

How can I not? Look at these two in their football uniforms. So much fun. They both love the sport and it has made me love watching it. This fall season Cy is on the Raiders and Ryker is on the Dolphins. 

As usual I get to hang out on the side lines with this cute little man. Along with both sets of parents. Mike and Heidi and my Mom and Dad make it to every game. I love that they come. They are such a great support.

I think this season will be much better for Cy. His team is younger than the team he was on in the Spring so they are all about his skill level and size. And he's been listening to the coaches better than last season. He's still learning but it's going to be a fun season.

Ryker is quite the star on his team so far. He's probably the oldest one and he's doing really well. I love watching him. He's right there when the coaches call him. He really listens and takes their tips.

This particular game was very close. He had scored 2 touchdowns (but only one was counted) and was paying really hard. But still trailed by 1 point. Right before a play  I noticed him kneel down and realized that he was saying a little prayer asking Heavenly Father to help them win(he told me that part later). When I saw this my heart just exploded with joy seeing this happening. It's yet another example of how that boy teaches me everyday how to be a better person. God blessed our family with his tender Spirit and kind heart. He's truly a special kid and I love him for it.

First Day of 3rd Grade & Kindergarten

The Sunday before the first day of school Ryker wasn't feeling very good. He was complaining that his stomach was hurting and he didn't really eat dinner. I was just thinking that it was nerves for the upcoming first day of school. But when he woke me up in the middle of the night because he needed to throw up, I knew it was more than nerves. Then I started to worry this was the same bug that Fynn had. Which lasted him about a week before he stated to feel better. So I'm thinking that him and I would be up throw the night throwing up. So I changed my alarm to go off later than  I had originally set it, thinking we wouldn't be going to school. Well he fell asleep on the Chase Lounge in my room and slept until morning. When my alarm went off it woke the two of us (Jesse was at work). Ryker acted all peppy and really wanted to go to school. So I got everyone up and we got ready to go. But as the morning went on he wasn't feeling it. But I still decided that I should take him to the school and at least talk to his teacher and the office. I had never had a kid sick on the first day of school, so I wasn't really sure of what to do. 

The drive down to the school Ryker totally fell back asleep. The poor thing. 

I walked him into the school so I could talk with his teacher. But I still had to get his "First Day of School" Picture. He's fighting the yuck to smile for me.

Thankfully when I talked to his teacher she said that he wouldn't be missing anything that day. Just "Get To Know You" activities. But he pretty much knew everybody in his class so he was good to go home and get some rest.

He was feeling all better by the next morning so he was able to finish out the rest of the first week of school.

During this past week Cyrus was patiently waiting to start Kindergarten. I thought he would start the same day as Ryker, but when I found out that he had to wait an extra week, I felt bad telling him that we had to add 7 extra days onto his count down.

This morning he was so excited to finally go. I think he was the most cooperative he's ever been in the morning. Haha.

I wanted to walk him in so he knew where to get settled in his classroom. As I was seeing these two boys walking into the school together my heart just shattered. I loved seeing them matching in their uniforms.

It really doesn't feel like it was that long ago that Ryker started school, and now I have two of them going. Look ho grown up they look? When and How did this happen?

Once he found his spot in the classroom I was able to leave him along with a little piece of my shattered heart with him.

His teacher has a TREMENDOUS reputation that makes me very excited for Cyrus.She told me that the trouble makers are her favorite, so her and Cy might just become best friends. Haha. No I'm kidding I really feel like she'll have the capability of figuring out how he needs to learn. And that what he needs.

We are Reaping

The garden has recently exploded. Well half of it has. The tomatoes are really not ripening, but the Zucchini and cucumbers have been coming non stop. Which is so great. I get quite giddy when I ca go out there and pick all the veggies for dinner.  Corn on the cob, Broccolli, zucchini, cucumbers and we have picked like 3 Zebra tomatoes. 

Here were those Zebra tomatoes that we picked. The Orange tomato was from Heidi's garden. So yummy!

And then to turn it into a Caprese Salad.... Heaven. Cant get enough of it.

Such a beautiful sight seeing all that corn on the stalks. I love it.

When the Broccoli started coming on it was so fun to see how it grew.

What a rewarding view. This time last year it was weeds and grass. Now it's producing food for us. Heck ya.

The flowers I planted around the creek are doing really well too. Love it.

Loving these purple flowers.

Jesse will love to read this because he loves to hear it. But I'm so glad that he toot the initiative and got this garden and pond/creek started. Once he got things cleaned up then I started to see the vision and I got invested. So then we could work on it together. It's been hard work but it's been worth it.

Last Summer Hurrah

Believe it or not, but School is starting on Monday. I am NOT ready. None of us are really. Saying goodbye to summer mode is going to be ROUGH. I don't want to think that we have to go back to the schedule, but we do. I had a lot of mom's this past week at work telling me how ready they were for school to start. But I couldn't agree with them Why I wonder? I couldn't figure it out. Is it becuase I'm a working mother? And when school is in it adds so many more demands on our family?Who knows, I just knew I wasn't ready to wrestle kiddos early in the morning to get them all ready for school and out the door.

With that being said, we decided to hit up the Drive-Inn to get one last hurrah in before reality kicked us in the pants.

I wanted to invite friends to join in on the fun with us as well. So my fried Harmoni and her new hubby and kiddos came.

The parking lot was packed. I guess everyone else had the same idea as us on this last Summer Weekend before School starts.

We went and saw the new remake of "Pete's Dragon". I thought it as cute and the boys just loved it.

Family Photos

It was that time again. Family picture day. I typically like to do it once a year. But this time it had been less than that. Last time we did pictures was when Fynn was 2 months old and it November and cold. So I really wanted to do it when it was nice outside. We were all SO excited about it too. Haha. Right Jesse? No I kidding. As much as he cant stand Family Pictures he's really a good sport about the whole thing. 

Since Fynn has been sick since Saturday, I kept hoping that by Tuesday that he'd be feeling all the way back to his full happy self. I went back and forth about rescheduling the pictures, but I had scheduled these like 3 months ago. Finding a time in mine, Jesse's and our photographer's schedule to line up was really tricky, so I was afraid that I would have to wait another few months before we could get them done. So we just went with it. (And I had had the craziest debacle with finding the right dress. I went through about 5 different dresses and finally decided on this one only a few days ago. And it was nothing I thought I wanted for the color scheme, but actually love how it turned out with the whole look).

Fynn was feeling better, but still now 100%. So before we left we were just hoping for the best. 

After debating where to go for pictures, we ended up going to Temple Square. We also thought he Salt Lake City Library would be really cool too. But we never made it there. After an hour of being there Fynn just was done. He was acting very sensitive the whole time. He didn't like it when any of the boys touched him, so it made it really hard to get a good photo of the 3 of them together. Oh well. Better luck next year.

By the end we were all feeling like we just survived and so glad that we were all done with it for  another year.

Now, we wait for the final product. And I hope they turn out.

He can't seem to catch a break

Fynn finally finished his antibiotics on Thursday. Then on Saturday morning when I got him our of bed he was covered in throw up. And it was all his crib as well. I had to go to work so luckily Jesse was home that day so he could take care of Fynn. 

After being at work for only an hour or so I got this picture from Jesse. Fynn only wanted to snuggle with Jesse and sleep in his arms. Which isn't like him. So Jesse wasn't able to get much done. And it didn't help that Jesse wasn't feeling great either. He had Strep Throat. So the two of them hung out together being sick. 

Sunday, Fynn didn't seem to show very much improvements. The throwing up had stopped at least. But his appetite was still diminished and the diarrhea hadn't ceased. The poor thing. Jesse stayed home with him while I took the boys to church. When we got home I had to take advantage of the snuggle time that he was giving, But it's so bittersweet. Love that he'll snuggle. Hate that he's so sick  

Monday he seemed to be perking up a bit.At least when he saw food he was interested. 

And that smile was coming back.

 But he's still not that his full happy self. But he's getting there.
We did family pictures last night and I was really worried that  he wouldn't be better for it. But he did pretty good. He didn't last as long as he normally would. But hopefully we got some good ones out of it.,

Today he's still had diarrhea so I'm hoping tomorrow it'll be better.

I live for my family

This past week has been quite eventful. I think we had something going on every night. Which I love before school starts again. Speaking of, it starts 1 week from today and I don't feel ready. It's going to be rough transitioning into that routine with the boys. We have been playing and staying up way too late every night and they are not used to going to bed early yet. So the first time I have to wake them up Monday morning. 

Anywho, before I get into what we did for this past week I wanted to post this picture of Jesse and I from a few weekends ago when we went on a date for the first time since May. Eek. We need to better about that. Especially now that I 'm done breastfeeding, we really have no reason why we shouldn't be able to go more often. Temple dates nights need to start up again.  

A week ago Sunday we went to the Smith's to have dinner with Matt Bohm and his family. Matt is Heidi's brother who lives in Kansas. Him and his wife Lisa have 4 kids. 3 boys and 1 girl. Well their 2nd son is starting Graphic Design School at BYU next week. So they drove out here to get him started and settled there. And while they were here we got to hang out with them.

Before we left for dinner Ryker requested that we all wore our new matching Ogden Firefighter Association shirts. So of course I needed us to capture that moment.

Last Sunday was a good Sunday as far as church goes. We all made it on time to church and the spirit was just present. I guess it's always present but it was just so good to truly feel it. Sometimes there are Sundays where you feel just overwhelmed about getting to church on time and while I sit there in Sacrament meeting I don't feel happy to be there. Just guilty. But this week the boys were all really good while we were getiing ready. Everything went smoothly so when we arrived in Sacrament Meeting we were all happy. And it felt so good to sit. Be Calm. And feel the Spirit. Stepping away from our busy lives for 3 hours and letting my spirit soak up the goodness. Anyway what I'm trying to say is that when I got home I was feeling so good. It was a much needed Sabbath Day.

Wednessday we went to the Lake again with my family. One last hurrah for the boys. We wanna go again in Sept. But there wont be any kiddos coming so that'll be enjoyable. This time is was onlt my parents and our little family. Chan has started Massage School and Ty and Jess were working, So it was more of a chill day.

This picture though. These 4 boys are MY WORLD! They all have my heart just turned to mush for all of them in their own special way.

Fynn got the biggest kick out of holding the flag. That big smile of his never gets old.

Last time we went boating Jesse didn't get the opportunity to slalom ski so he was excited to take advantage of some nice water. And he always kills it out there.

We worked again on trying to get Ryker to stay up on the skis. And he was getting better, but just having a hard time staying up. My dad is thinking that next time he wants to bring the bigger set of skis that they have for kids and that'll help him. He's got the getting up down. Just staying up is what's messing him up. But he'll get it.

We tried to get Cy to ski but he wouldn't have it. He wouldn't. He cried a ton and Jesse gave up.

It was finally my turn and at that point the water was stirred up to much it was hard to find some good water. But my dad did a great job finding me good water. Once he did I was able to get some fun jumps in. Then me trying to me cool (and being influenced by Jesse) I tried to attempt a 360. And Failed. Miserably. And don't worry Jesse got it caught on video. Lucky me. Haha. Everytime I watch it I feel how painful it was.

That night we met up with The Smith's and The Bohm's. They showed up at our house and we led the way above the B to go have tinfoil dinners, target/shooting practice and smores. So from Lake Side to Mountain Top we were getting our fill of our day that day.

The whole gang of Smith's and Bohm's.

I have been really nervous of shooting Jesse's handgun for a really long time. And that night I finally got the guts to do it. I was feeling scared at first but by the end I hate to admit it, but I kinda liked shooting it.

I love this picture of our family up in the mountains. They truly have me feeling so loved and so blessed.

K, so a few weeks ago I mentioned to the boys that we should read The BFG together, and then go see the movie of it that just came out. So we have been reading it. I never read this book when I was younger, mostly because I didn't like to read. So reading it with the boys has been quite bonding to discover the story together.

Well Saturday night we went and saw the movie. We literally finished the last chapter right before we had to leave. The boys had never been more excited about going to see a movie than this one. And I loved that I got to experience it with them. I also loved that on the way home we got to talk about the movie and compare it to the book and how it differed.

We were bummed that Jesse and Fynn couldn't make it. Fynn woke up that morning with throw up all over him and he continued through the rest of the day. But I'll post about that in the next one. Jesse was sweet to offer that he would stay home with Fynn so the boys and I could go and see this movie together.

What a fun week. It has been a fun way to start to wrap up things before school starts. Where has the summer gone? I don't think I like it. Even though we haven't gone anywhere for the summer I feel like we have made it a fun one at home. 

11 months old

Oh my goodness, we are so close to the year mark it is so weird. Just looking back at where we were a year ago from now I was anxiously waiting for Fynn to arrive. Thinking I only had a week left. But I had no idea I still had 2 1/2 left. But this baby was so worth the extra wait. 

This past weekend thought Fynn has been so miserably sick. Saturday he woke up from a nap with tons of goop in his eyes. My first thought was he had pink eye or something. But the whites of his eyes weren't red or pink. So I wasn't sure.

Sunday night Jesse got called into an OT shift and I was left to take care of the boys alone. No biggie. But I didn't know what was ahead of me that night. The whole day Fynn just wouldn't take a nap. He just screamed every time I put him in bed. But when it finally came time to go to bed at night I just had to let him cry. But then I kept hearing him every half hour from 8:30 until 11:30pm. So I finally thought maybe he would sleep better next to me. But that wasn't the case. He wouldn't sit still in my bed.

So I tried going to the rocking chair. There were moments that he would calm down and almost fall asleep but then something would wake him up. And he would just cry and cry. I had the toughest time trying to console him.

I went into the kitchen for something and he saw a wisk on the counter and once it was in his hands he calmed down. Haha.

So we headed back up to the rocking chair. We sat there for, who knows how long. I was starting to get tired and thought maybe we could try the couch.

So the 2 of us kinda snuggled on the couch watching a movie while he played with his wisk. And climbed all over me. I could tell he just had a hard time getting settled. He wanted up, down back and forth. Nothing settled for him.

Finally around 2:30am I gave him 2 bottles and he started to finally act sleepy. That when I decided to put him back in his bed. And he FINALLY fell asleep.

When the sun came up I called the Pediatrician's office and made an appointment for Dr. Sabey to look at him. And sure enough he had an ear infection. Which explains so much. He was put on a very strong dose of antibiotics. His eyes were still gooping and it was because of the infection. Poor thing.

He's been on the antibiotics for a few days and hes much happier. I love being able to see that big smile again.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of him from the past month.
July 11

July 26th
After I took this photo I couldn't stop staring at it for 3 reasons.
1. Fynn's smile is just pure joy
2. Cy is browner than he's ever been, I swear.
3. The love in this picture is just making my heart swell.

Today,
Fynn has no idea how much love everyone has for him. And it's because of the kinda of personality he has. He's so easy to love.

We just love this baby so much. I still can't believe that I just never wanted another one baby. Now I can't imagine our family life without him. The mother's heart is very interesting how it manages to make room to love another child just as much as the other 2 boys.