Motherhood at it's finest

My Dear Children:
You owe me.  BIG.  It is 9 in the morning and I would like to paint a picture of the scene I have just endured on your behalf.  In an attempt to cut Tyces hair, which, I hate to point out, but it must be done, Tyce, you were screaming like a banshee and running away from me...hence the uneven jagged edges of hair around both of you ears.  Hali was in the bathtub because she wet the bed, again, and had just emerged sweet smelling and clean when a royal fit ensued over the wrong color of towel I brought to her highness.  I was then sentenced by her to the dungeon, but luckily, Madi swept in and saved the day (love her).  Although Madi, you did wet the couch last night that you were sleeping on, I have no idea how to clean that thoroughly and may have to donate it to some unsuspecting victim at goodwill (it is old anyway), it's the circle of life people.  And now you Kylie.  Well, you weathered the hair cutting and towel storm fairly well but I noticed a particular stench emanating from you and took you in to change you in the midst of tyce rinsing off in the shower from all the hair that he was telling me through his tears were itching him.   Can I just say right here that changing you is more like roping a tornado than  changing the diaper of a 10 month old.  And how is it that I feel like you are stronger than me? In the midst of this diaper change, I hear an  ear curdling cry from the shower.  Over and over.  I would have come sooner son, but I was up to my elbows in poo.  I was fairly sure that someone was doing you bodily harm, by the intensity of your yelling.  With the last strap of a diaper in place on a baby turned bucking bronco, I ran into the shower hopping mad.  You wanted the shower head lower.  I should apologize now for the fit I threw at that point.  Needless to say, I am keeping track of all of this and I am not raising you out of the goodness of my heart.  When you are older and successful I am sending you a very large and detailed bill.

Sincerely, and with love forever,
your mother

Halloween

 This year for halloween we had quite challenge deciding on costumes.  In fact, Tyce decided to change his at the last minute ( amid a major meltdown) from a cowboy to a hamburger.  (why can't I get a decent picture with everyone all looking in one direction??)

 Madi was a beautiful snow white who stayed away from ALL apples that night.   kylie was a BYU cheerleader ( no indoctrination going on here whatsoever!)

 This is a random picture I took of Kylie after a nap.  I want no more criticism that I am not posting enough pictures of her!

My parents had a little halloween dinner before some serious trunk or treating at the church with my sister and her family.  Hali was tinkerbell, if she had had a wand there is no telling what we all would have been turned into that night.  Tyce is now the hamburger at this point in the evening, he looks delicious don't you think?

Madi is 6!! No Kidding!!

October is the month of birthdays for us.  Exactly two weeks after we celebrated Tyce's birthday, we had the same crew over to our house to celebrate madi turning 6.

 Here she is on her birthday heading off to school.  I wish time would slow down so i could take in these years more completely, but man, ever since Madi started school it has been a whirlwind of busyness that is making my clock run on super speed!

 Madi asked for this 3 layer pudding cake for her birthday, well that's not totally true, she wanted some whiz-bang princess cake like I have made for her before, but with a newborn and mark working like crazy, I pleaded for an alternative.  Thank goodness she loves this too!  I should have taken a picture of ME smiling by it, knowing the mess and stress I avoided by doing this instead!

Oh Madi.  Did you know, that I sometimes come into your bedroom at night and kiss your cheek?  Well I do.  I have missed you while you are at school, but am so proud of the things you are learning and how well you are doing.  I new you were ready, even if I wasn't.  You are such a big helper for me especially with hali and Kylie.  You love school and any kind of art, coloring, painting, drawing.  You also like to do craft projects and read.  You are writing all sorts of words and even making up some on you own!  You really are growing up and the only downfall is that you understand the world better and don't say as many funny quotes, but you love to laugh and have started telling knock-knock jokes at the dinner table.  We love you Madi!!!

Tyce is 4!

Tyce turned  4 in October and we celebrated at a nearby park after school.  I can't believe how old he is getting right before my eyes!  He wanted some type of cowboy party so I made him these cowboy hat cupcakes that he thought were pretty snazzy!

We had cousins, friends and aunts and uncles there to celebrate and had a great time.  Tyce's big birthday gift was a bike!  He loves it and can even ride without training wheels (some of the time).  Can you guess who picked out his bike helmet???  I sent Mark to the store the day of the party to get the helmet and this is what he came up with.....awesome.

Tyce, you are a fun guy to be around!  We love how you get so excited for new things and activities we do as a family. I smile every time I hear you laugh because you laugh with your whole body and it cracks me up! You are sensitive and cautious, slow to warm up in a crowd but friendly to everyone.  Madi is your best friend, hali, is the thorn in your side taking all your toys.  You love to cuddle with me and go to work with dad.  I often find you "building" something with your tools.  You love to climb trees and play outside but usually you want someone to play with you.  You love tractors, cars and popsicles   We love you and are so happy for all the things you are learning to do and be.  I can see you becoming more independent and wish I could keep you from outgrowing your cuddly self, but I am excited for you and so blessed to have you in our family!

This is a picture of a sleeping kylie around the same time, she would have been about 2 months old.  I am so in love with her!

Inspire Me

A few months ago I picked up an old picture frame at goodwill that hit my fancy, and the makings of a chalkboard took shape in my mind.  For a while now I have wanted to have a place I could write quotes on that inspire me, or make me laugh, or make me want to do better, and in a place I would see it all day.  I wanted my children to read these quotes, or scripture or whatever I chose to write on it, knowing that if I had it up long enough they might just memorize it.  So I turned this picture frame into my chalk board and put it up in my kitchen just about a week or so before I had Kylie.
That week, I wrote one of my favorite sayings  "you can do hard things.  Do something HARD this week!"  That week I had my baby.  I think I accomplished that one!!
Then, I changed it to "Keep Calm, and Carry On!" in the weeks following the birth of our 4th child and mark's absence from our lives during harvest, by far one of the most challenging experiences of my life to do a new baby, start school for Madi,  and lose my husband's help for 2 months!!  My next quote was by Dr. Latham in his book Christlike Parenting, "Act the way you want to be, and soon you will be the way you act".  Then there was, Make life harder in order to make it better".  Last week it was this:

I LOVE that!  This week my inspiration came from this  talk by Henry B Eyring  called "Choose this day"

So that is what is on my chalk board this week.  Anybody have any quotes that inspire them or make them laugh "I dearly love to laugh" (what fictional character said that, anyone know???), I would love to hear, I am always looking for new ideas!

Madi's first Day of School!

Well, it happened, Madi had her first day of school.  She was beyond excited, I was beyond terrified.  How did she grow up so fast?  And how is it that I have 4 children??  

 It felt like a big day, we were all a little excited and nervous.  It was a beautiful day.

 Driving her to school I couldn't help but get a little teary eyed.  When I took these pictures my eyes were watering a little (she is obviously having no problems with this transition)

 At this picture my throat started to get tight

 I had tears running down my cheeks when I took this picture and said goodbye in her classroom.

When I got to the car I was sobbing.  I ran into my sister Carly dropping her kids off for the first day and she  reassured me that it got better with each child.  I do not have a picture of myself leaning over the steering wheel of my car sobbing, although my mother -in-law caught me at this point and said she would take of picture so Madi could always remember how much her mother missed her on her first day of school!  I declined the offer, but now I wish I had taken her up on it.  Keep in mind, I did just have a baby, I think that may have played a role in the sob fest.

When I picked her up after school this is the conversation we had
me: madi!!  how was your first day of school?!!

madi: It was the awesomest day of my life!

Yeah, she obviously didn't have the same reaction I did to her first day of school.  Afterwords i took the kids to Ted and Jean Christensen's little kid pools for the afternoon with some homemade chocolate chip cookies.  It would have been un-american not to have chocolate chip cookies on the first day of school.

She's Here!!

Kylie Camille Christensen
Born 8-14-12
weight 8lbs
height 19 inches
 We are so excited she is here!

Madi loves having another sister and is becoming the "little mother" asking to change her, feed her, whatever she needs madi wants to do it.  So far, we let her hold her and she feles pretty satisfied with that...for now!

Hali is SUPER helpful as you can see.  She wonders how we ever had any children without her help and constant attention!!  I need to get a picture with tyce and kylie but he is surprisingly infatuated with her!  He thinks she is so cute and wants to hole her as much as the girls do, though not for as long!  We are doing well, and loving the new member to our family!

A new Ending

It is so interesting to be pregnant.  This is my 4th well, actually 5th if you count a miscarriage, time being pregnant and although most of the beginning and middle parts of this pregnancy have been predictable according to my previous ones, this last little while has been foreign to me.  I am in uncharted territory.  I am about 38.5 weeks pregnant and find myself unsure of how my body will react to impending labor.  First off, I have never made it this far before (not that I am complaining..since when do pregnant, exhausted, hot, huge swollen women complain??), I have delivered at 38 weeks, 36 weeks, and 37.5 weeks.  So this is what it's like to wait for a baby come, fun.  I am usually surprised and caught unprepared.  Secondly, I am nauseous all over again, every.day.  I am a little bitter about the last one, i feel I paid my dues the first 5 months of this pregnancy.  Third, I am actually prepared.  I have all the projects done I was hoping to finish, burp rags, blankets, baby clothes washed and put away.  I have also been nesting something awful and would like to brag publicly if you don't mind!
Went through ALL of the kids clothes bins and sorted, reorganized, threw out.
went through all the kids toys and "                                                                  "
Picked up a few new baby projects like a nursing cover I am halfway finished
Reorganized my closet
Reorganized hali's closet
Reorganized madi and tyce's closet
Reorganized craft space
Reorganized laundry room
made freezer meals (which I am slowly been using because I feel no desire to cook in the heat)
Finished getting Madi ready for kindergarten (clothes, shoes, backpack)
Made some hair bows
 Yeah, I have been nesting a little.  So here I wait, while contractions have been my friend every evening for 2 1/2 weeks now ( tricky little suckers), and nausea and all around crummy feelings.  I really don't mind going to my due date or past, I just wish my body would stop practicing labor and just wait for it you know?  Did all your pregnancies go the same?  Has anyone experienced a varying off the straight and narrow???

Soccer

There are moments or milestones in life that take me by surprise and  leave me a  little breathless at how quickly life moves.  This is one of those.  Madi was old enough to play on a soccer team and as I watched her play with the other two kids in tow, I thought how this was the very first game that I sat and watched one of my children play, and how many more games were yet to come.  It made me excited and also  little sad as my little family enters the world of school and sports and other commitments.  I have been flying below the radar, and now will be in full view.  It was so fun for Mark and I to watch her play!  we weren't really sure if she would really interact, or be aggressive at all and were really surprised at how well she did!  She did great!  We have had our suspicions that she might be an athlete with how tall she is, and strong.  In any case, she really enjoyed it, and we enjoyed watching her.

 The very best part about soccer were the treats at the end of the game, that is as predictable and unchanging as the as the rising and setting of the sun,  it's why you play in Madi's opinion.

Easter pictures

Because Easter was so cold and windy, I had to take our easter pictures a few weeks later.  On the way to church we passed a blossoming orchard and stopped to take a few pictures in their easter clothes.  This was the best one which isn't saying much, I know, but I am slowly learning how to take better pictures.  The trick for me is to just keep taking them even if they don't turn our so hot.  I am horrible at this and am determined to improve!!

Easter

 We went to an easter egg hunt this year that the kids loved.  They hunted for eggs,

 dyed a few

 took a picture with the easter bunny ( this is as close as Tyce would get, I don't really blame him.)

 Easter morning was cold and windy, but we manages a little easter egg hunt of our own.

 A picture with the cousins and my parents at the easter egg hunt the day before easter.

Winter

 There is a song the kids sing in primary about summertime and goes something like "Oh what do you do in the summertime, when all the world is green?"  In the summer, you really don'e have to think about what to do, there are so many things to do outside that it's easy to stay busy and entertained.  The real question, or song should go something like, " Oh what do you do in the winter time, when all the world is, gray, and windy, and cold, and rainy and dead?"  Well, this is what we did, over and over and over again until is was at least mildly acceptable to play outside.  

 Guns, or cowboys.

 Dress up!

 Read books.  At this point I was in the midst my first trimester in this pregnancy and had somewhat lost the desire to live.  I was so sick.

 But somehow we made it through alive.  Madi was a big help with Hali, and a lot of other things I had her doing to help me while I lay in the fetal position on the couch.  In fact, I may have asked too much of her because one day she told me " I am tired of being a mom, I want a break!"

Light Reading

 We are not really potty training Hali yet, but she loves to sit on the potty.  She has obviously been taking notes because she wants a magazine while she does her business.  This picture is for my brother Jeff, who studies business at Wharton.  She obviously shares your love of finance and will be glad to advice you in any investing you care to do in the future!  I also love how her belly hangs over the magazine!!

The Zoo

 My sister and brother in law were doing some work to their house and needed Mark's help with a few projects.  They live near Seattle, so we decided to make a trip out of it (if you want Mark, you have to put up with all of us!).  While the boys were working, my sister and I took the kids to the zoo.

 They loved it and since we don't have anything like it near us, it was a real treat for us.

 They also had a carousel the kids rode.  My country raised kids were in heaven!

I love this picture, but that horse kind of scares me.