1) Bryce: he is so sweet and already puts up with a lot from his brothers. I say prayers all the time "thank you that bryce wasn't hurt when..." the blanks are filled in with - when dallin dumped him out of his carseat, when tommie went to steal his blanket and pushed him off the couch, when jackson's football landed on his face... etc. It really isn't funny, but I am doing the best I can! He is precious and has given me a few smiles I think were real. He gets really uncomfortable at nights - doesn't cry just moans and grunts. I think I have a nursing issue like I had with Tommie. I am working on it, and he is now a stomach sleeper- we will see if I can get him to sleep at least 2 hours in a row again. Nights are still long. But, I feel really positive this time around. I am so thankful that I really do feel happy and hopeful each day. My emotions and energy levels are really better than they have ever been postpartum. That in and of itself is a huge blessing. He had his one month check up and is now 9 lbs. Still only 20 inches long. I love how tiny he is. We made it through our first full sunday at church this past week. It was exhausting. :) James seemed to have a harder time than I did. He said he just felt like the kids could never stop moving and he couldn't pay attention to anything. I think I am a little more used to it and actually thought they were really behaved. Plus, it was Tommie's first ever sunday to go to nursery all by himself and stay the whole time. So, for 2 hours, it was just 2 babies! 
2) GREAT neighbors. Sis. cluff brought in a meal this past week and 3 neighbors and my grandma the week before. How amazing! The neighbor girls will walk my boys back inside if they leave the house while I am nursing. This happens a lot now that tommie figured out how to open the back gates and carries dallin out with him. Speaking of... Tommie has someone watching out for him. He really does. He has so many "near misses" of accidents. Last week he was out bad playing with Jackson. Jax got mad when Tommie bit him really hard and threw a chimney starter (a huge metal thing used for heating charcoal) at him. It hit him really bad, and he came screaming inside with blood everywhere. James was still working, which always stinks on saturdays, so I carried him over to Matt Porter's house. Matt offered to stitch him up right then- saving me from figuring out how to get everyone down to urgent care or something. So nice! He had 7 or so stitches put in and it's still super glued shut. Needless to say, I'm back forcing him to wear his helmet when he plays. :)
3) Time at home. I go days without going anywhere and I love it. I miss going to the little things like library story time and the museum, but I love my house. I love that I have so much time to just do nothing with these boys. I seriously think all I do is feed people, clean up after them, and change so many diapers... but I love that I don't really have other responsibilities right now. I'll admit that people ask me to do things and I say no - but, I love capturing some of our daily moments together. (and yes, dallin has a huge cut on his head too. He fell out of the car while I was trying to load the baby up. He had pretty bad road rash poor guy!)
4) THANKSGIVING! Both of our dinners were held at the park this year. The weather was way warm - almost hot- and it was perfect for my active little boys to spend so much time running. We met with my family when my grandma and grandpa Matthews came down from utah. It was a week early, but still fun to be with them. James smoked the turkey. It was delicious and everyone raved about it. (of course). And then we met with all the Andersen extended family this past thursday. So fun to have so many cousins. Spencer had been down to visit for a few days. Man, I miss him living with us. He is such a help with my kids - they love him. He seemed so much older to me and ready for his mission. Yep, he was called to Rome, Italy. He leaves the end of January. So exciting for him!
Thanksgiving morning, we went to run the annual 85201 turkey trot. I had the hardest time waking up jackson and james to come. James said he was going to sit this one this year, and jackson said he didn't even want to leave his bed. I convinced them both, but we got to the church building right as the race was starting. We had just unloaded Jax's bike and were unloading the strollers when the announcer said "go" and Jackson took off. He was riding his bike (with no training wheels now) SO fast and passing everyone up. I told James to run up ahead and catch him but it turned out that we never even SAW jackson the rest of the race. James ran his fastest 5k ever - mostly trying to find jackson. We were afraid that he would get lost, or not wait at the red lights etc. I pushed the double and Brianna pushed a single stroller and just walked the rest of the race. Jackson was found at the finish line. He said "I did it- I won mom! The guy said I was the first kid across the finish line!" Ha! James and I decided we probably need to address his competitive energies again and get him back in some sports.
5) It's christmas time around here! We put up our tree and the fun activities are starting. Dallin is in love with the christmas tree. Ya, he destroys it, but he also spends a lot of time just sitting looking at it, pointing, saying "ooh". It's way cute. Tommie refused to go anywhere near santa at the neighborhood tree lighting, so Jackson was the only one who would take a santa picture.
6) James - It wouldn't be fair to not give another shout out to James. He is always the best - but something has been different this past baby. He has been so understanding and calm about everything. I can think of os many times that he would come home, or call, and just wonder how things were going. I'd roll off a few short answers, and he'd say, "no really, how are YOU?". He has been so aware of my needs and the things I need help with. Another day, by the time he made it home at night, I had had it. Everyone was crying, house was trashed, and I mostly just felt guilty that I couldn't give each kid the attention they needed because bryce had needed me all day. He looked around, started laughing, and picked each boy up. He started asking about their day, wrestling them, and with in 5 minutes had everybody laughing. It's little moments like that where I recognize what a good dad he is to pay attention to each boy and what they need. No wonder they all drop whatever they are doing and sprint to the door when he gets home. He is always greeted by a line of boys yelling "dad's home!" pushing each other out of the way to be the first to get to him. Also, he has always slept through the night - and I used to be amazed that even with a baby screaming, he was just snoring. But, this time, something has changed and he is up A LOT with me. And we need it with the 3. He jumps up before me to go get Dallin when he is crying, or takes Bryce from me and camps out on the couch so I can sleep. His work days start way later now so I can sleep in a little and not have to do the breakfast routine all by myself. Some days he doesn't even leave until 9 and I love it! He really is the best, and there is no one else I'd rather be with. Sometime we joke around about how fat and old we have gotten lately. Especially since 7 years ago, it was just us, engaged and oblivious to what was ahead! And, it seems even more crazy to think that when we moved here it was with just a 3 year old jackson and now TWO AND A HALF YEARS later- we are a family of 6! That helps put it in perspective how quick life has changed for us. I love him and am so grateful he's willing to put up with us. He doesn't have easy days right now, doesn't always love his job, or love taking on landscaping side jobs to fill up his spare time, he doesn't know where his career will take him or if he'll even find a career he loves - his nights are even longer and he is totally sleep deprived, but he'll still wake up for an occasional basketball game with his friends at 5 am - or stay up late while I'm nursing and watching cheesy hallmark christmas movies (every single night). He tries so hard to stay involved with his calling and is always in contact with the sister missionaries - helping them with their needs. But, I love him for all he sacrifices. I love him for just being a good man - worthy and choosing the right. I love him for just being my best friend and making me so happy. I need him now more than ever.
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