Grandpa Turns 80

A couple of weeks ago Grandpa Christensen turned 80! Trent's dad came out for the week to celebrate and spend time with family. It was fun having him here and him & Trent had a great time together!We took Grandma & Grandpa out to dinner. Isn't this the cutest pic of them? I hope my hubby is this affectionate towards me after 50+ years of marriage! (no pressure babe)

Trent & his dad. Check out the size of that meatball!

Singing Happy Birthday to Grandpa. Kami thought it was for her, of course.

Like I said, Trent and his dad had a great time together. They decided to ride to the gym and back, which is no small feat, but on the return trip they got caught in a major downpour & hailstorm! This pic of their return home says it all....
Trent's cousin who is barely 16 wears a size 13 shoe. Tanner has big shoes to fill...

We had a good time with family and are glad we have such supportive & loving family in our lives.

Halloween Activities

The week before Halloween was filled with lots of activities, of course, and Kami was obsessed with her costume. I made the mistake of letting her try it on and she threw a tantrum whenever I made her take it off. Lesson learned. Above was from the ward "trunk-or-treat" which was super speedy when it came to the trunk-or-treating because it was FREEZING that night! It was fun and neat to see all the kids dressed up!

One day, Kami thought she was so funny when she called over to me and said, "mommy, look!" She had put her minnie ears on her little brother, who didn't seem to mind. What a trooper!
We had a little carnival at our gym, which included riding horses, her favorite. And petting animals, NOT my favorite. I really don't like reptiles. They had this huge snake there - and I took a pic of it but it grosses me out so I refuse to post it.

Trent had a blast taking her on the jump house obstacle course & slide. I think he had more fun than she did!

See what I mean?

Trent explaining to her how to get to the next objective.

Nice catch babe....

She wanted THIS pumpkin...

And we had a Halloween playgroup with decorating (and as you can see, EATING sugar cookies)

I had to post this pic - because Kami & Tanner's expressions are so funny. I think Isaac was a little excited for the picture...

The only pic I have of the two kids together in their costumes.

Miss Minnie Mouse herself.

Halloween is so much fun with kiddos around!

Kami's Activities

Kami is my fun-loving, headstrong & energetic two year old! It's a challenge to keep her stimulated with different activities. She gets bored easily so more often than not I neglect the house cleaning to go out or read books or just play. But I figure the house cleaning will always be there, but my two-year old is only two once!

She is doing pretty good with being a "big girl" and being potty trained. She still has accidents now and then, but not bad considering she's not even 2 1/2 yet.I went with a few friends with toddlers to Wheeler Farm. They had fun picking out pumpkins, playing on the tractors, looking at animals, and just running around enjoying the beautiful fall weather. I think it was the last semi-warm fall day - it was gorgeous! (I don't know how Kami was let on the tractor seat by these two boys - her best buddies Andrew & Isaac)

They had this little maze for the little kids out of hay bales. They actually figured out how to get out a lot quicker than I thought they would!

Kami is such a mooch. Isaac's mom and I asked them to put their arms around each other and Kami does a hand sneak for one of Isaac's snacks!

She was determined to have THIS pumpkin. There were bigger pumpkins, but she saw this one and that was it! She is very protective of her pumpkin - and won't let Tanner near it.

Kami & Isaac running through the pumpkin patch

Kami has NO FEAR when it comes to animals. She LOVES to ride horses, and does not need my help at all. I was so NOT like that as a kid.

Isaac, Kami, Mia, & Andrew on the wagon. For some reason Kami thought we were saying a prayer or something. Speaking of prayers, she's doing so good at saying her prayers, and knows several primary songs after me singing them with her just a few times. She has a great memory, unlike her mom.

I know this a random pic, but this was the last of the swimsuits this summer. For one day it was in the 80's so I busted out the frog pool and let the kids enjoy the warm weather & play with the water. This is the one pic I think I have that Kami is actually SHARING with Tanner. She is getting better and being a good helper and being nicer to him instead of constantly taking toys away from him.
My friend Katie came up with her son Ryan and we went to Ikea and as we were heading out Kami grabbed his hand and said, "c'mon Ryan". It was a kodak moment.
Kami is my blueberry girl! She LOVES blueberries! She would eat them for every meal if I let her, that and yogurt. I went to check on how she was doing with her cup of blueberries and saw some serious blue teeth!


We went down to BYU last month when my two brothers were in town for a BYU football game. We went to a tailgate and Kami had her FIRST ice cream cone - all by herself! Nothing but the good stuff - BYU Creamery ice-cream!
I am trying to survive life with a two year old! She is such a joy, but such a challenge at the same time. She is very smart and remembers places, names, and things after me just telling her once! she can count to 10, is starting to color in the lines and still loves to read books & knows many letters. I think we are going to start her in a pre-school next semester because she needs more than just ME I think for stimulation.

The Chickens

Yes, we have chickens! Trent ordered these baby chicks who are only a week or two old online (what CAN'T you buy online?) and they arrived last week. I have to admit I wasn't thrilled about the idea, but they are pretty cute (right now, at least) and we don't have to do much for them right now. Already they are growing and Kami is totally LOVING them! She asks about 10 times a day to see the chickens in the garage, where they are incubating under a heat lamp. She actually is pretty good with them.


So we shall see how long this chicken raising thing lasts. Soon we will have to get them a bigger coup to live in for the rest of the winter, then in the spring they will move outside because they will be old enough and start laying eggs! We are totally rookies at this, so if anyone has any advice, let us know! Trent calls this part of our "self-reliance". If we were allowed to have a cow, he would probably want to get one of those too!

My Blue Eyed Boy at 10 months

I have so many pictures from the past month - I don't even know where to begin! Somehow blogging has been put on the back burner, but know that since I'm not a super "scrapper" (anybody seen "New In Town"? Don't - it was so boring I fell asleep) this is the best I can do these days to keeping a journal/scrapbook. So, I will be busting out the blog posts - I know you are all so excited!

My little boy is 10 months old and is getting cuter every day. He is so so HAPPY and easygoing, but growing up too fast! He no longer wants to cuddle much with me, which is sad, so I kiss him all the time and he knows how to give mommy kisses now. He gets SO excited when either me or Trent come home - and does his super turbo crawl to the door to greet us. He waves hi/bye with both hands - adorable! I gave him his first official "haircut" the other day i.e. the clippers to the back (so much easier than girls - I want more boys because they are easier to maintain!), but didn't have the heart to chop off the top of his blonde locks quite yet....

He drags his blanky with him everywhere - and shoves it in his face like this...

Nasty pic of me, but cute of him right before I put him to bed. I decided I didn't have enough pics of me with him so I did an awesome self-portrait...

He LOVES food (as you can see) - and insists on eating whatever we eat - especially what his sister is eating! It is really quite funny - he will follow her around and whine/cry until she shares with him. It's the only time he gets insistent on anything is if he wants to EAT!!! He wiggles out of his high chair though - no matter how tight I do it - he finds a way to stand up and scares me all the time! It's kind of a problem right now, I'll have to figure out someway to keep him seated! This first pic was him at 9 months, and the next is at 10 months. You can see he is starting to put on a little meat - because he has a healthy little appetite!

He is also accident prone. It doesn't help his sister is kissing him one minute and chucking toys at him the next, but one week he split his lip open not once, not twice, but three times! The poor kid couldn't even take a bottle his mouth was so sore and he had a fat lip. Notice the nice little outline of blood from sucking on his binky after he hurt his lip....

The boy LOVES the bath! I have gotten to the point where I can hardly take a shower without him trying (and sometimes succeeding) at climbing in the bath! He gets mad if he's not involved in the fun - but it's great he's at the point they are starting to have fun together, especially in the bath....

Could these two munchkins have more opposite coloring?

I could leave them in for hours and they would be perfectly happy (don't worry - I don't)

He is also the FASTEST crawler - so I think he won't be walking for a while because he can get around so incredibly fast on all fours! He can take off in an instant, be up the stairs, or into trouble faster than it takes me to take a quick potty break! He goes to the bottom of the stairs, starts to climb up and looks at me waiting for me to chase him. It is funny - it's totally a game for him - he giggles and tries to climb up the stairs as fast as he can before I catch him. I need to get it on video one of these days.

More updates to follow shortly!

I'm Done

With b-feeding my baby, that is.

So yes, it's past midnight right now as I type, but what am I doing? I am PUMPING after working a short shift at the hospital tonight - which is supposed to end at 11:30pm but inevitably ends much later than that - and I leave STILL feeling like I need to tie up loose ends. Anyway, so I come home ready to hit the sack, when I realize I really HAVE to pump - so I don't wake up in the middle of the night dying of pain from "the girls".

Okay, so let me take you back a month or so ago when I went on my fun weekend with my fun friends from high school. I "pumped" the whole time to be a good mom and keep nursing my baby until he is a year old.

What I didn't know was that I would have one (stop reading if you don't like hearing girly female stuff details) cracked, bleeding, PAINFUL nipple from the pumping trauma. I kept putting stuff on it to make it heal, tried just pumping, tried just nursing. Nope - each time I nurse it hurts - bad - and yes, still sometimes bleeds.

To make matters worse, my baby will NOT focus and nurse unless it's first thing in the morning or last thing at night - so I have ended up pumping during the day.

Can you tell I was DETERMINED????? I wanted to be one of those moms that nurses their baby for a YEAR!!! No matter what I had to go through, I would do it! (With Kami I lasted about 9 months, but lost my milk & she wasn't growing, so I had to stop)Even if it meant cringing every time he latched on that cracked, bleeding side and I wanted to scream in pain. Even if it meant pumping during the day.

Last night was the LAST straw.

He has not been sleeping the best at night - waking up a lot - I don't really know why - but he has. And the only thing most of the time that gets him back to bed QUICK is a little mommy nursing time. But last night I think he was having a belly ache or something, and wouldn't settle down. He didn't want a bottle, or to be cuddled, so I try b-feeding him and he just screams! It was kind of dark so I couldn't see what was going on - but I look down and see blood coming out of his mouth - so I get a tissue thinking he hurt his mouth or something.

Oh no, that blood was MINE!

So, that was it. I am DONE!!! Over a month of this painful, cracked/bleeding thing, pumping during the day, not nursing good thing has overtaken my desire to be one of "those" moms that checks it off her list of doing in her life - nursing my baby for a year.

Anyway, can you tell I feel kind of guilty about it?

Well, I'm sure he'll survive (I do have like a month of frozen milk in the freezer), and I'm sure I'll get over the guilt once I no longer have to PUMP!!!! I mean, he is turning one in december, so that's close enough.

So here is to having no more blood coming out of my baby's mouth!

(It's kind of liberating to be perfectly honest)

p.s. I promise I will post some fun pics of the fall festivities SOON! (that stuff is way more interesting anyway)

How Pathetic!

This morning as I was getting the kids dressed & fed before we were to head out the door, I got a knock on my door from a neighbor. This neighbor NEVER comes by my house, so I knew something was up. She told me her car was dead because she had accidentally left a light on in the car overnight. She had to pick up her daughter from pre-school and her husband was at work.

So I thought to myself, "No Problem - I can fix this problem in a jiffy!" So I told her I'd be at her house in a minute after I called my friend I was to meet for a playdate and told her I would be a "few minutes" late. Hah! If I only knew....

First off - I didn't know how to OPEN my hood of my car! Yep - so pathetic - I had to call Trent and ask him how to open my car's hood - the car I drive daily! After several minutes of my neighbor and I trying to figure it out, and me calling my husband in frustration, I FINALLY figured out how to open the hood. Obstacle one, check!

Turns out my neighbor had never popped her hood either, so as she was busting out the user's manual of her car she's had for years, I found the hood button and we were in business. Obstacle two, check!

Next, jumper cables. Hmmm, time to call the hubby again. My neighbor had the cables, but I had never jumped a car (that I can recall) and neither had she, so after Trent talked me through it, I see my friend who I was supposed to meet up with THIRTY minutes earlier show up! She acted like an old pro - and confirmed our position of the cables. Obstacle three, check!

As I turned my car on, and my friend turned on our neighbor's car - NOTHING! We tried several times to start her car, but her battery was obviously TOTALLY dead! "What a bummer," I thought. Especially after ALL that effort! I revved the car, re-positioned the cables, but to no avail. Obstacle four, no check!

So as we were about to give in the towel, I had a thought to try myself at turning on my neighbor's car. So my friend turned on my car as I got in my neighbor's car and turned the key. Instantly the car turned on! Success!!!

My friend had forgotten to put her foot on the brake while trying to turn on the car - a minor detail that prevented the car from turning over. Oops.

Anyway, I was thinking about this tonight and realizing how pathetic us three women were, myself especially, in accomplishing such a minor "manly" task. Goes to show how much we rely on our men, huh?

Watch Out

I had to write this down before I forget. This morning, I have realized that my little girl who I think doesn't listen to me much is talking LIKE ME!!!

For example, this morning for breakfast I made a smoothie and asked if she wanted some. She said, "Sure!" Then she asked, "where did the lid go?" to which I replied as I picked it up, "it's right here." Then she said, "Good Job Mom!" Like I did such a good thing by finding the lid to the blender! But I cracked up - because I ALWAYS say, "Good Job Kami" when she does something good - you know - the whole positive reinforcement thing.

Then a bit later she was coloring at the table and Tanner crawled by and she said, "Hi Tanner. How's It Going?" I busted up laughing. She doesn't talk the most clearly or with the greatest vocabulary yet, but she says, "How's it Going?" Too Funny.

Then I said "good job honey," after she put her cup in the sink after I asked her to. She replied, "I'm not honey, I'm Kami!" (Honey is what we call my mom - Gma Honey) I laughed, again.

And lately if she thinks something is neat or exciting, she says, "That's Cool Mom!" Like this morning I was throwing laundry in and she likes to watch the washing machine work, and she said, "That's Cool Mom!" Apparently I need to find a different word to describe something neat besides "cool".

I have been cracking up a lot lately with her little sayings, because she totally is talking like her mommy and daddy! I think we REALLY need to watch what we say - because she imitates everything!

And I think I need to start writing down her funny phrases while I remember them - because I know soon I won't remember!

Girls Weekend Away

Last weekend was the much anticipated "girls weekend" with my friends from High School. We all were good friends in High School, and have since kept in touch here and there but have all moved apart for the most part. Since all of us were turning 30 this year, we decided we deserved a weekend away to get away from the kids/work and have an excuse to pamper ourselves! We all flew into Newport Beach and had a blast!

Katie and I (pictured above) were the first to arrive. We are both quite intelligent, I promise, but it seemed like together we don't make a good pair. I mean, in the first hour or two we got lost going the 5 miles from the airport to the hotel (we actually went to the WRONG hotel initially), made checking into our rooms a fiasco and way more complicated than it should have been (I'm kind of embarassed so I won't elaborate) and got lost together several times more during the weekend. It was quite humorous - because we both never have directional issues like that.

Anyway, we are wearing tiaras as a gag joke for Nicole. She emailed saying we should arrive wearing tiaras - so you better believe Katie and I showed up wearing tiaras for when Nicole & the rest of the group arrived! We had some interesting looks and questions. I was totally embarassed; Nicole had no shame.

Well we laughed a lot, chit-chatted & caught up on the happenings of our lives, and ate out at some great restaurants (thanks to Kristin's culinary knowldege. I voted her the culinary queen of the weekend. She is prego and not feeling so hot but was a trooper!) And we went out to yogurt every day (okay, let's be honest - sometimes twice a day!) This is us eating out at the Rusty Pelican in Newport.
Since we have two photographers in our group (Jen & Katie) we decided to do a "photo shoot" during our weekend of us looking "30 and fabulous" or whatever that means. I learned I am not photogenic and don't know how to pose at all, but it was still fun.

Beth arrived with this massive suitcase, but we were all thankful for her bringing her plethora of accessories! This is all the goods she so kindly shared to help us appear a little more put together. She had some really fun stuff! I voted her the most "stylish" of us all this weekend!
We ate out to breakfast at this cute little place on Balboa Island and then went SHOPPING! How cute are Katie and Beth???
I voted Katie as the best model of the weekend. She is so photogenic! Isn't she gorgeous? And she even had a broken toe on top of it all - she was in a lot of pain but totally didn't let it phase her. One tough girl!
Me, Jen, and Nicole. We have grown up with each other since toddler years and have a lot of early memories together.

Okay, so Nicole is a CRACK UP!!! I voted her the life of the pary this weekend. She is so funny and has the best stories of her adventures on tour or just her fun, crazy life. She hasn't changed a bit and I love her for that! Who else would climb on this horse? Only Nicole!

Thanks Nicole for being so much fun - and for always making me laugh! I guess I will forgive you for all the teasing you did of me as a child - you've more than made up for it~ :)

We shopped in the cute shops along Balboa Island. It was so great to be able to shop without kids, take my TIME, try things on, etc. It was great!

Jen joked about how she should have put a lock on her purse....but she didn't...
Cute purses, huh?
I voted Jen super photographer of the weekend. Who else would bust out the camera when we were all supposed to be "relaxing" at the beach? Everything was a photo-op - but it was great and she got some great shots!
Nicole and I were the rejects of the photo-shoot at the beach. We weren't cute enough or something and kept being told to get out of the way (I'm exagerating - we kept teasing Jen about it) so we pretended to drown our sorrows in the skittles & M&M's.
Do you see why we were the rejects? Because Katie is just a total model naturally - just look at her? What a fierce pose!
Nicole and Beth being their cute selves....
Can you believe we are 30? I can't...
We went shopping at Fashion Island and I made Jen wear this scarf (Beth's, of course - our stylist) because it looked so awesome with her shoes. So I made her stand in front of this sign and strike a pose. Jen was close second at the model of the weekend!
Kind of a cool shot, huh? I was proud of my amateur photographer skills...
See her cute shirt she was wearing? Well it was so cute on her Nicole and I decided to try it on. Well, let's just say if you aren't super petite this shirt looks AWFUL!!! It was laughable how bad we looked in it (obviously we didn't buy it) we took a pic of us. It was so bad I'm not posting it, but I'm sure you believe me. We looked like football players in it! It's darling on Jen though!
We chilled at the pool. Heavenly weather, it was perfect!
I met up with my mom-in-law Heather at Laguna and we went to breakfast at Las Brisas. It is a gorgeous location and a family favorite! It was fun to visit with her one on one and enjoy the scenery. I LOVE california!
I am looking forward to the "professional pics" from Jen & Katie and will post some of those once I get those. It was a fun weekend, a much needed break for me, and I came home tired (stayed up too late with the girls) but glad I went. It was hard for me to leave the kids. It's the first time I've left them since Kami was born. It was especially hard to leave Tanner since he's still so little, but Trent did a GREAT job taking over and I came home to a clean house and happy kids! I couldn't have been more grateful - thanks babe! We (the girls) decided we have to do this every few years for sure! Thanks for a fun weekend my friends!

It's been a good day

Why?

Because I have the two cutest kids on the planet! And a husband who loves me and loves his kids! Although sometimes (okay, let's be honest - MANY times) I get frustrated, especially with my two year old, and want to go in the closet and scream, days like today make up for all of those times!

Kami has been potty training herself like I said for the last week or two. She is perfect at home, except for sleep time of course, but I have been afraid to go out and about without putting a pull-up on her. Today, I decided to be courageous and go out shopping with her wearing her "big girl" undies! I promised her ice-cream (which she loves - just like her mommy) if her panties stayed dry until we got home. So I went on a trip out to the store to get a baby gate. I was always against baby gates, thinking that babies just need to learn how to do stairs and a gate would just inhibit that. I never got one for Kami. Well, Tanner heads for the stairs ALL THE TIME and is so fast and no-fear and since I can't seem to get anything done with him doing that, I broke down and bought a gate.

Anyway, so we were at the store and I kept promising her ice-cream if she stayed dry, and kept asking her if she needed to go potty. Once she said yes, so I took her in the store and she did great! Well, like most females I get VERY distracted while shopping - meaning I can't resist looking at all the sales and always find things I "need" like another sheet set for Kami's bed (I really DID need that because she gets bloody noses a lot lately), or 2$ pair of CUTE pants (I bought two pairs - $2??? I couldn't resist) and another shirt for $1.50. Really? And cute? Wow - I love a good bargain. Well, the time quickly passed and soon I realized I had been out for almost TWO HOURS, and after getting home and chatting with the neighbors, I was THRILLED Kami was DRY!!!

I was so proud of her - so I rewarded her with my homemade "ice-cream" meaning it is actually kind of good for you but tastes delicious and she doesn't know the difference! (From a hint from a friend I put fat free cottage cheese, frozen strawberries & banana, and some chocolate syrup in my vita-mix and voila! Homemade ice-cream that is so creamy and yummy!) She downed it and I couldn't have been prouder! And earlier today I was upstairs changing Tanner and asked Kami to go downstairs and get his binky & blanky for me - and she did it! I was so proud of her for finding them where I told her where they were and then actually doing it!

Okay, and Tanner is just cute. He is happy and so good and didn't make a peep when I was out shopping. He is my big blue-eyed angel! I let Kami play in the bath (don't worry - it was like one inch of water and I was only a few feet away - I know what you are thinking) while I fed Tanner & put him to bed - and she didn't even pour water out of the tub! We read books, talked about the day, said prayers, and she said "luv you" and went to bed without ANY whininess!

After they were both in bed, I just had one of those moments where I realize how blessed I am to have these beautiful children in my life. In my faith I believe and know families can be together forever, even after we all pass on, and sometimes it scares me to think of the tragedies of life that can happen, and what heartbreak I would have if anything happened to them, but I try not to think of the "what-ifs" because I feel so blessed and comforted in knowing these two angels are ours FOREVER! What a gift. They are so innocent and good and I really HOPE I don't mess up too bad as a parent raising them, because I am so blessed to be their mommy. I guess I am not one of those people that pretends every day I absolutely LOVE being a stay at home mom. Honestly there are some days I'd rather be working at the hospital running around crazy stressed dealing with sick people than dealing with two crying kids or tantrums or messes or whatever else. Maybe some of you never have those days, but I do sometimes - not all the time - but sometimes. But days like today remind me of what it is all about, and how lucky I really am - and that MAYBE I am actually being a good mom and doing something right.

Today was a good day.