It's a Miracle

Doug got Tate a hat in Europe

First, I have amazing news...someone returned my jogging stroller!  Saturday Josh had a soccer practice he coached and when he come home, he opened the door and had the stroller with him.  My first thought was that he bought a new one that looked like my old one.  Then I saw the head rest I put on it and I knew it was mine.  Josh parked the car and the stroller was just sitting outside of our shed (because now we have a lock on it).  I honestly stood there and looked at it for a few minutes.  I couldn't believe it.  I am so happy and grateful!  I don't know who stole it, and I don't know who returned it, but my faith in the human race has been restored.  So thank you whoever you are!

Friday Josh, Tate, and I went up to Salt Lake for a reception of a friend from my home ward (we call our local church congregations wards) in Georgia.  I was debating whether we should go or not because we had tickets to the BYU women's soccer game v Haiti.  The reception started at 6 and the game in Provo started at 7.  So I figured we could get to the reception at 6, leave, and get back to Provo around 7:15.  It was a great plan.  Unfortunately, we used an app I have on my phone for directions and it lead us to who knows where in Salt Lake and we had to call my parents in Georgia to look up directions on their computer because my 3G wasn't working.  It took us a long time to get there.  But the reception was lovely and we got food.  By the time we left it was close to 8, so we gave up hope of seeing the game.  As we were leaving SLC, Josh thought he had found a shortcut to the freeway, and we ended up at the train station.  At that point Josh grabbed the steering wheel and yelled "Get my out of here!"  We were glad to be on our way home.  We found out that the game started late, so we headed over there and made it for most of the second half.  I saw a lot of friends and little girls I used to coach, so it was fun to be there.  

Today before Church, Tate graced us with his music.  It really prepared us to be reverent.

Today we also went to my grandparents' house for dinner.  It was fun.  After dinner Josh and I went outside and put Tate on the grass.  He was so funny.  He stayed up on his hands and toes like he did not want to touch the grass.  Then he fell to his side and he wouldn't move a muscle.  He just laid there with his head up off the ground.  When he finally did move, he put his head down into the grass, but that tickled his face and he quickly lifted his head up again.  He did that for a while.  Then he went on his stomach and, of course, started licking the grass.  We also blew some bubbles and he would watch them intently has they floated past him.  

This is a typical scene when Josh gets home from work.  

Nathan (Josh's brother) and Sarah (Nathan's wife) are back from living in California over the summer.  I am happy they are back!  Sarah is having a baby girl in November!  I am excited for them.  I hope we haven't made them scared of parenthood.  Tate had a rough beginning and cried a lot and then we tried to sleep train and he cried even more.  But now things are great.  Well, we are still working on the naps and eating and sleeping at night, but he is so happy all the time it makes it okay. He laughs and smiles so easily.  He is so curious about everything.  He wants to touch everything!  We put him down for a few seconds and he reaches for somethings immediately and puts it into his mouth. He can hold something and look at it and put it in his mouth for a long time.  He is a thinker. 

Here are a ton of pictures we took in Georgia.  Believe it or not, these are just a fraction of all the pictures we took during our photo shoot.  Props to my sister-in-law Chelsea for taking all of these.

I love the next two.  

Tate is upset Emma isn't taking this seriously

Tate and I were not on the same page for this picture

I love Tate's smile in this picture.  Claire's is good too.  And Emma.

Almost everyone has a picture kissing Tate 

It got too hot for shirts

Tate and Emma were pretty bored by this point

 I love these next ones.  Tate's smile gets bigger and bigger

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Blue and White

The Fab Four/Seattle Crew (minus Tate)

 Yesterday was the blue and white game for the girls soccer team at BYU.  Josh and I went with the Fab Four/Seattle Crew.  We were able to drop Tate off at Doug and Sharons' so we could go, which we are grateful for because last night was the last night our entire group will be together.  Lo and Jacob are moving to Texas next week.  We are so sad.  We hope we can continue to do little trips with everyone, because we love our friends!

It was weird watching the game from the stands last night.  Last season I was on the sideline helping with game stats, so I didn't feel like I was officially done.  But being in the stands made me feel old, and  made me want to play soccer so badly.  While I was watching, I could see all the freshmen were so nervous, like they are every year.  People were shoving people over...it's always intense because people are fighting for their spots.  But I liked watching.  And after the game was over, we said hi to all our friends and talked to the coaches for a long time.  And we got free pizza so that was a bonus (especially since Josh and I hadn't had dinner).

Going to the blue and white game made me think of my first blue and white game.  I want to write about it, so that I can remember my experience when I'm old.  I was semi-recuited by BYU through high school.  I was always on the fence on whether or not I would get a spot.  I went to camp every summer and that was my biggest recruiting time and I sent in videos of myself (which are really embarrassing to watch now).  The summer before my senior year I went to BYU soccer camp.  I had been emailing Jen for a while and eventually it came to the point where she would look at me at camp and we would go from there.   Here's the email I got from Jen before camp (yes I still have it saved in my email)
> Hi Nicole --
> 
> I hope you are doing well. Today I received your letter and DVD. I really
> appreciate your interest in BYU and our women's soccer team.
> 
> I definitely remember who you are..."Georgia".  Aleisha and I were just
> talking about you and hoping you might be coming to camp again. I'm sorry I
> wasn't able to watch you over the Christmas holiday. I ended up having to go
> ODP national camp in Boca Raton and wasn't able to make it to the other
> tournaments. 
> 
> I was impressed with your DVD, and it looks as if you have continued to
> mature and improve. I wanted to update you on where we are in regards to
> recruiting.  Over the past year our staff has been evaluating many potential
> recruits. We have been taking several issues into consideration including
> positional needs, future roster size, and many others.
> 
> One of the major factors that has had an impact on our recruiting this past
> year and now into the future....is our roster size.  The past three years we
> have been at 30+ players. As you can imagine, this is a difficult number to
> manage. We have recently discussed moving to a smaller roster size, and
> after experiencing all the success this past spring season with a roster of
> 23 players (no seniors), it has made it even more apparent that I need to
> move in that direction.
> 
> We have currently filled five spots (4 field players & a keeper) for the
> class of 2008. We will hold one potential roster spot open.  We may or may
> not fill it.  We have passed on several talented athletes who wanted to make
> decisions on their future, but we are not ready to close all the doors.
> There are several girls like yourself that we haven't been able to fairly
> evaluate. There is still much soccer to be played, and we will wait to
> finalize our roster until the end of State Cup Tournaments, Houston
> Shootout, US Soccer Regionals/Nationals, and summer camps (end of July).
> 
> I look forward to seeing you again. We will be able to watch you closely at
> camps, and I'll have you come play with the staff in the evenings. Let me
> know if you have any further questions.
> 
> See you in July, 
> 
> Jennifer

After camp, the summer wore on and on and I never heard from her.  Everyday was like torture because I would wait for the phone to ring and for it to be Jen and it never was.  So I assumed the spot was filled.  But I didn't let that deter me.  I decided I would go to the open tryouts BYU holds every February and try to walk on.  In October of my senior year during a club game I tore my ACL, which requires a long recovery time.  Long story short I was able to recover in 4 months and play my high school season in the spring.  I decided not to try out in February, because I wasn't recovered by that time and I planned on trying out the following February while I was a freshman at BYU.  I emailed Jen at the end of my high school season, telling her some of the awards I had gotten (hoping that would spark her interest) and told her I would be playing in State Cup that summer if she wanted to come watch me play.  By some miracle, she did.  She came and watched me play in State Cup.  It's weird because I was already graduated from high school and most everyone commits for college their junior year.  A few days after State Cup I got a call from Jen asking me if I wanted to come try out in August during the team's preseason.  I remember being in my room, alone, talking to her and being so nervous.  I was so happy she invited me, but also dreading it because I was so scared to go tryout.  

My mom and I flew to Utah a week or so before tryouts so I could get used to the altitude and stuff.  I remember running around BYU and having my mom time me, because I knew there would be fitness tests, but I didn't know what they were.  Those two weeks of two-a-days were some of the hardest in my life.  I didn't have any friends on the team, I didn't really belong there, and it was awkward because I wasn't even on the team.  Not to mention it was extremely hard.  My mom would sit across the street in the car in the Provo High parking lot and watch the practices.  Everything was awkward with activities outside of practices, because I wasn't on the team so I didn't go.  So I wasn't in any team pictures that year because they took them before I made the team.

Jen said they would make their decision after the blue and white game.  I was terrified.  I really don't remember anything about the game.  But I do remember  talking to Jen after and having her tell me and my dad that I made the team.  I'm pretty sure I cried a little and my dad said something about wanting to hug her.  It's so funny to look back at that experience, because I never thought I would have met my my future husband or my best friends through soccer.  And I never thought I would ever talk to Jen or Coach or Aleisha without being terrified, but last night we were laughing and talking and it was no big deal.  This sounds so cheesy, but I believe dreams come true because mine did.

Yes, I also have pictures from my first blue and white game.  Note the numberless jersey...

And of course some pictures of Tate

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Last Minute Vacationing

Josh's grandma wanted a picture of me, Josh, and Tate.  I thought she wanted one of Doug, Josh, and Tate...
so here it is.  I think Tate is funny in this picture.

We are back!  Tate and I have been in Georgia for a week and then we came home and the next day we went to Park City for Josh's family's reunion.  Both trips were really great.  It was so fun to be in Georgia.  I was sad to leave.  I told Josh that I didn't want to leave, but I wanted him to come to Georgia so we could stay longer and I could be with him.  Leaving made me sad, but also excited to go back.  The flight home was difficult.  I cried a little because Tate cried a lot.  This really nice man in front of me told me a few times Tate was doing a great job, even though he wasn't.  And the people sitting next to me helped me entertain Tate when I can back to my seat after doing squats for 30 minutes to get him to go to sleep (he closed his eyes for 2 min).  I sat down and the woman said, you look really tired, do you want my coke?  I said no, but it was a nice gesture.  All in all, I was glad when the flight was over.

The reunion was fun too.  We went to Park City and spent time with Josh's family.  Josh, Tate, and I spent time at the outlets and we probably had too much fun buying new clothes.  I learned a good lesson at the reunion.  We learned a song to sing at the family reunion talent show and I didn't have the best attitude about singing.  I am not a very good singer and while I love singing at Church or in large crowds or when I am alone, I don't really enjoy singing in small groups in front of people I don't know but am related to.  The song was like 3 octaves too high for me and I was way out of my middle C comfort zone.  The talent show started and the performers were all little kids.  So I thought we weren't going to perform.  Then we decided (or Doug decided) last minute that we were going to do it.  It ended up being great, even though almost everyone forgot their lines and I butchered the ending.  It was a good memory.  On our way home, I was thinking about why I had a bad attitude and how it would've been a much better experience if I would've been more gung ho.  I was disappointed in myself, but it was a good reminder to me to have fun and be supportive.  I had forgotten that things almost always work out when I have a good attitude and a lot of energy.

All of our vacationing has been awesome, but it has taken its toll on Tate, and Josh and I are feeling the pain.  The past few nights have been bad.  Tate is now used to falling asleep in the car or while eating, so when he wakes up at night he wants me to feed him or hold him.  He woke up a lot last night and we are all really tired.  So it's good to be back.

I have lots of pictures from Georgia, but I forgot my flash drive at the Jacksons' house, so I'll post them next time.  In the meantime, here are just a few pictures from our adventures over the past few weeks.

The aquarium in Seattle.  

The Fab Four girls...and Tate(who is missing a sock)

Tate bonding with nature in the butterfly room

Testing our reflexes 

Testing my strength

Kind of creepy 

Josh was the most flexible of us all.  A few days before Josh got a fortune cookie that said others would admire his
flexibility...turns out we did

Gross gum wall

The Fab Four in front of our party van we drove around Seattle

Tate in a restaurant in Georgia on his six-month birthday.  He had not shoes no shirt, but he still got service

The day after we got back from Georgia

In Park City next to a weird looking bear

Tate's outfit for Church

Tate in Park City.  He had been crawling well, but stopped as soon as we turned on the camera

Tate in Georgia.  His first official crawl (it really is just one crawl).  Please ignore my screaming.

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We Made It!

We are in Georgia!  We made it and it has been so fun being here.  We left Wednesday morning and I was really nervous, because the flight was supposed to be almost 4 hours (it ended up being about 3hr20min) and the last time we flew home from Georgia it was terrible.  Tate cried almost the whole way.  So I came prepared and was ready for anything.  We got on the plane and it took a long time for everyone to board (it was a bigger plane).  Tate started being fussy before the flight took off and I almost started crying because I knew what was ahead.  He was only crying and really difficult for 45 minutes.  I was able to stand up once they turned off the seatbelt sign and went to the back and got him to fall asleep.  Then I held him and we both slept for over an hour.  The last hour he was awake and was fine.  So it was a much better experience.  A man was sitting next to me and he was nice and offered to help me in any way.  Once again, people commented on how young I am and once again I think most people thought I was a teenager.

We got to Georgia and my sister-in-law Chelsea and her two kids flew in a few hours after us.  It has been so fun to have them here.  Claire and Emma are Tate's only cousins (not for long though) and he's my parents' only grandson (again, not for long-Chelsea is expecting a boy).  It's been so fun to watch Claire and Emma interact with Tate.  They call him baby Tate.  At first, Emma didn't like it when Chelsea would hold Tate, but I think she is okay with it now.  Tate is so close to crawling.  Every time he is on all fours I think he is going to do it.  He's been great.

We went to the pool today, but we went early because it was the only time that worked with all the naps.  The water was cold and Tate didn't really enjoy it.  One day we will go swimming in a pool with warm enough water.

Last night my mom, Chelsea, and I were baking treats for a bridal shower we have on Saturday and we decided to watch Downton Abbey.  I have had a lot of people tell me I should watch it and last night we watched four episodes.  I have officially been sucked in.  Now all I need is for Josh to watch them with me.

I haven't taken as many pictures as I want to, but here are some pictures we've taken so far...

Tate is almost as thick as Emma, who is over a year older than him

This is just a video of us hanging around.  Nothing spectacular happens...but I still like it.

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