Jake's 6th Birthday Party!

 A Star Wars cake, of course.

 The birthday boy!

 Our fam (except for Anderson who was chillaxin in the stroller)

 Walker, Carter, Jake, and Ryan Madden

 Katelyn, Mary, Race, Nikolas, and Kaitlyn and Colin Madden in the background

 Sean, DJ, Brady, Daniel, and Pierce

 Ryan and Sean Wensyel

 The crew

 Jake got so embarrassed as everyone sang "happy birthday" to him!

After the party, the Maddens came back over to our house and hung out for a while.  I'm so glad they live so close to us!

On January 4th, Jake turned 6 years old!  For his birthday, he requested a party at Monkey Joes, a local inflatable place.  We had just gotten back from Arizona and were all exhausted, but we had a great time.  More importantly, Jake had a great time.  Happy 6th birthday to my big boy!

Anderson at 4 months

Anderson turned 4 months old on January 4th.  Anderson weighed 17 lbs 1 oz (85%), was 26.5 inches long (97%), and had a head circumference of 17.13 inches.  Here are his stats compared to his brothers at 4 months:

Jake: 17 lbs and 25 3/4 inches
Walker: 15 lbs and 27 inches
Anderson: 17 lbs 1 oz and 26.5 inches

Anderson wins the chubby bunny contest for sure!  Ha!

Overall, the appointment went well.  We discussed Anderson's asymmetrical head- he has a little knot on the back right of his head that the pediatrician kept saying was from the birth canal and would eventually resolve.  Well, it didn't resolve.  I asked about a helmet because poor baby is probably going to end up with a bald head like his daddy, but the pediatrician said it's not quite helmet worthy and some people just have asymmetrical head.  Poor baby Anderson's dome...I tried.  Hahaha!

Let's see, Anderson at 4 months sleeps about 12 hours at night and wakes maybe once if at all.  He takes 3 one hour + naps a day and sometimes maybe 4.  He drinks about 5 oz every 3 hours during the day; we're going to hold off feeding him solids as long as we can since there is a correlation with allergies and starting rice cereal earlier.  Sigh...my hungry boy is just going to have to wait a little longer.  Anderson wears some 12 month clothes but mostly 9 month stuff.  He is still not very good about being put down; sweet boy just wants to be held or have me sitting right next to him at all times.  Other than all that, he is just a sweet, sweet baby who loves to give smiles and loves to be held.  Ha!

Fiesta Bowl: Part 3 (From a Professional Photographer)

I might be a little biased, but I think Tyson looks pretty cute as a DC. :)

Love my #41

 

 

 I made these signs for the boys to hold up.  They were far more interested in their Nintendo DS, though.

I thought this sign was brilliant.  Tyson thought it was ridiculous.  He won.

This was at the UCF celebration pep rally when we got back to Orlando.  It was at 7 pm on a school night, so the boys and I couldn't go.  I'm so glad the photographer got this pic of Tyson leading in the linebackers.  

Fiesta Bowl: Part 2 (FINALLY!)

 About to head out to the game!

 Zoe :)

 My parents insisted on getting a picture in front of a cactus. Ha!

 Coaches' wives!

 University of Phoenix Stadium

 For the first half, this is all the boys did.  They are spoiled rotten.

 Tyson coaching the defense

 As the game was wrapping up...

 ...they got Tyson with the Gatorade bath.

 You can't really tell it here, but he was pink.  Ha!

 Love me some Brandon Alexander (#37)

 The kids weren't allowed on the field until the opposing team was in the locker room, so my dad waited with them to bring them out.  They were so cute and so excited to see their daddy.

 This is right when they saw their daddy.  Love this.

 Mario Mathis #32.

 Walker's first time not being afraid of Knightro!

 These are two of my other favorites- Troy Gray and Terrance Plummer.  God I love these kids.

 TP and Blake Bortles, defensive and offensive MVPs

I hate that it took me so long to get this post up because now I can't remember what I wanted to say. Hahaha!  Let me start by saying this, my husband did a fabulous job as a fill-in defensive coordinator for this game.  Our DC, Jim Fleming, left to go be the head coach at Rhode Island the week before Christmas, and Tyson stepped up and took over the defense.  Can you imagine your first gig as a DC and you're playing the #1 offense in the country (that runs a play like every 7 or 8 seconds) in your school's first ever BCS game on national TV?  He rocked it.  He really did, and I couldn't have been more proud.  Y'all should have seen me as we were going down on the field, I was jumping up and down screaming like a little girl (I still get chills thinking about it).  I hope I never forget it.  It was definitely one of the best moments of my life.  And then to see him get the Gatorade bath...just awesome.

The boys were the most excited I've ever seen them be.  I was afraid they wouldn't understand the magnitude of this game, but I think they could tell it was pretty dang important from all my hooting and hollering and jumping up and down.  Hahaha!  I just wish Anderson could've been there just so I could say he was there for his first BCS game...but just so I could say it.  Hahaha!  The game was definitely a lot less stressful not having to worry about him, but I just hate he missed it.  Oh well.

I have a few more pictures that our Rivals photographer sent me, so I'll post those next.  Oh, and let me clarify, Tyson was just the defensive coordinator for this game.  Coach O'Leary had already named a DC before we left for the bowl, but the new DC just kind of observed for the bowl and let Tyson take the reigns.  Tyson will continue to coach the linebackers as of now, but I think he definitely showed the world that he could handle being the DC on any level when the time is right.  Or maybe that is just my biased opinion. ;)  Have I mentioned how proud I am of my husband?