September & October

September and October were pretty great!

This little guy started soccer again. He's a fire dragon this year. And I guess he felt like his jersey was missing a few extra details.

I took my older piano students on a field trip to the Utah Symphony to see Salute to Youth. 

We had a great time at the State Fair! The highlights were the kids farm and the free circus they had.  Andy danced the entire time!

My dad had another great year in the Lotoja! It was the first time I've ever been able to come and watch/help. It was SO fun! I was in a car with Rachel and Abby and was his support crew for two of his stops. It was a serious business because he wanted to do well and podium in his age group. He took 2nd place in the 55+ Masters! SO proud of him!!!!

Just a cute one of this stylish guy.

Andy started preschool at Oceans of Learning. He was SO excited and still is. He told everyone who would listen about his "new school Oceans of Learning." It's proven to be a great experience for him! He's learned so much and is really thriving.

We had a great Halloween! Max was a Dinosaur and LOVED his costume.  He asked to wear it all the time. He enjoyed being pushed around on his choo choo during trick or treating. And he just sat there like a king eating a sucker. :)

Ready for trick or treating!

Andy wanted to carve a mad pumpkin.

The boys got to paint their own pumpkins.

Even little Maxy got into the painting!

Lots of fun rides around the block.

Our bibs made it big and showed up in Us Weekly on Sharon Osbourne's grand-daughter!

Cutest little guys at the ward party!

Love our little dinosaur!

I had a rough foot injury (from landing weird while holding Max in the Mcdonald's Playplace). It was SUCH a pain. I couldn't walk well for a week or two and have just barely been able to start running again.

We had a fun overnight getaway to Park City! Cam had been working CRAZY hours at work, so we all needed a little family time. We went on a little hike, hung out at the hotel, played at the park, did lots of swimming, and ate good food. 

We went to see the witches at Gardner Village.

Love these brothers.

I think this is the day Andy got NINE goals at his soccer game! He usually doesn't try very hard or care, but something clicked that day and he turned pro. He was mad the rest of the day he didn't get a tenth goal. :)

Andy had a the cutest field trip with his class at Pack Farms. Max and I got to tag along!

Messick California Trip

Better late than never, right? We had the best trip back in July with my family. My parents kindly rented a beach house in Oceanside, and we had the best week! Lots of beach time, playing games in the house, delicious food, etc. Plus one magical day in Disneyland! It was our first time attempting that length of drive with our boys, and all things considered they did great.

Best picture ever, right? Just same late night gaming going on. Apparently Rachel is an angry gamer.

This little one LOVED the beach.

Aunt Rachel competing for "Best Aunt" award.

The sweetest picture. Rachel is SO good with kids. I love watching her play with my kids and to watch them adore her.

Our daily spot on the beach!

This went on for a longgg time. I think they were trying to beat a record set by Rachel and Jordon?

Just can't get enough of this little guy and his beach loving.

The parade might be my favorite part of Disneyland.

There was this magical moment when we were standing in line for a ride and someone tapped Andy (dressed as Peter Pan) on the shoulder. He turned around...and it was Peter Pan! Andy was THRILLED and still talks about how Peter taught him to put his hand on his nose. It was pure magic.

I promise Andy was more excited than he looks here. :) 

Family Shot!

Fierce little Peter.

All the guys really got into boogie boarding. Andy loved it!

Sorry...I just can't get enough of Max at the beach!

This is totally out of order, but we stopped at a total dive in Jean on the way there. A swimming break was a must!

Max's Birthday Party

Well I'm going to be playing catch-up for a little bit.  I can't believe Max turned 2 more than two months ago! He had the best little family party. Other than our immediate family, his guests included all his grandmas and grandpas, all his aunts and uncles, GG, and his cousins Sam and Grace. He loved all his presents! He got a "choo choo" (push along car), a tent/tunnel, a rocking horse, a farm animal book, a fishing puzzle, and an interactive dinosaur. He loved it all!

Max loved his Mickey cake!

He quickly caught on to present opening. And he had two excited helpers!

GG gave this fun tunnel to Max, and it's proved to Andy's favorite thing ever. He even slept in it one night!

Have you ever seen a sweeter face? Love this boy with all my heart.

Family shot!

The sweet tooth was going strong.  I even let the birthday boy have second helpings. :) 

Happiest boy.  He clapped when everyone was singing to him. And he went around the room looking at every single person as we sang.  It was the cutest thing.

He's warmed up to his horsey since then. :)

Max is 2!

How in the world is my baby 2?!?! There are no words to describe this sweet soul.  But I will try because I truly want to remember him forever at this age.

• "Sweet" is always how I describe Max.  He truly is the sweetest thing.  He's a kind, gentle person. I see it in the way he treats everyone, the way he loves animals and babies, in everything, really.  
• He's still pretty cuddly and I LOVE it. 
• He loves to be sung to.  And if I start singing the "wrong" song, he starts screaming "no!" until I start singing the song he wants. He likes me to sing "Key!" (Mickey). And more specifically "Ot Dog!" (the Mickey Hot Dog song). He also loves "Skin-a-ma-rink." And always sings along to "moon" and a few other words. And he's always right on pitch! Mark my words, this kid is a musician. 
• He's a total mama's boy.  Maybe more than ever? It's *almost* gets exhausting sometimes. ;) He is constantly yelling, "MAMA!!!!" and trying to get my attention. He is persistent until I give him attention. He sobs when I'm not there, leave the room, etc. I pretend to be annoyed sometimes, but I secretly love it. 
• He's talking more and more.  I'm impressed with how quickly he's learning! I can understand most things he's saying, but most others can't. He's stubborn about his words.  He still insists every moving vehicle is a "choo choo." He'll see a car and say "choo choo!!!" over and over, even when correct him and tell him it's a car. I eventually give in and agree it's a choo choo, and he's very satisfied. 
• He's pretty stubborn in general.  He's more soft spoken in general than Andy is, but he still knows exactly what he wants. Zero to sixty in two seconds.  He goes from sweet to ANGRY. He can get some serious rage over the smallest things.  I know it's typical toddler behavior, but it just feels so unexpected with him since he's always been the sweetest, most easy going guy. Most of his rage is directed towards taking something away from him that he really, really wants. Like Andy's markers. (Which he calls "elmo" for some reason.) He's quite the trouble maker in general.  He's always getting into things and making messes.  Exciting things like painting our bathroom floor with nail polish. 
• Recently, he's become quite the climber. It's terrifying. Andy's a little more cautious so I never really had to deal with this with him.  But with Max, I turn around for two seconds and he's on the kitchen counter playing in the medicine cabinet. And then I'll take him down and he's up there again two seconds later. Stinker. 
• He HATES nursery.  With every fiber of his little being. He did better with it in the beginning, but he just can't handle it now.  You've never seen anyone so upset. I'll leave him in there for twenty minutes and he still can't calm down--he's just hysterical. 
• He has quite the sweet tooth.  He loves "tweets" and "cookies." He constantly asks for them. This means Halloween was his favorite holiday ever. 
• He is obsessed with his little "choo choo," a push-along bike thing. He always asks to ride it and oftentimes just goes into the garage to sit on it. 
• He loves when I chase him around and tickle him. He asks me to do it all the time, "MAMA?! Get you?" Coming from me saying, "I'm gonna get you!" It's very cute. 
• He loves Andy. He gets sad when Andy goes to school and always points out "Andy buh-bye" a few times while he's gone. 
• He's a picky eater. Drives me crazy.  He'll love something one day and won't eat it the next.  The one thing he consistently loves is his green smoothie every morning. He also loves cheese. He has kind of an adult pallet and loves nuts and other things that surprise me. He HAS to feed himself everything now and always throws all of his food on the ground when he decides he's done. (I can't watch him eat...the mess stresses me out.) He surprised me at this two year visit and had gained 6 pounds! I'm always nervous he's not eating enough, so that was nice. I think he's 28ish pounds now? 
• He finally loves some TV shows, which honestly is really nice. I can occupy him for a few minutes if I'm trying to do something. 

This sweet boy is an absolute joy! The Terrible Twos are alive and well, and he's testing me more than ever, but I'm still wrapped around his little finger. Love this sweet boy. 

He'll sit like this for five minutes after his bath.

He loves to play the piano. He does NOT like when it's Andy's turn to practice piano and not his turn.

Livin the life on Halloween on his choo choo.

The cutest little naked bum running around the house.

Sweet brothers.  Max is more likely to do what Andy says than what I say, so I usually put Andy in charge of holding Max's hand. 

Cute guys reading. Max is a lover of books.