Gavin turns 3

Holy cow this kid makes me tired! He's grown up so much in the last few months, physically and mentally. He's been so much braver trying new things and talking better. But sheesh! He is really testing my patience. He is so sweet though when he wants to be and I love to hear him talk.

 We celebrated at Bear Lake again this year. He wanted mac and cheese and hotdogs for his birthday dinner, then we had cake!

Love you my little buddy!

Summer Life

Lauren is the best big sister and loves to take care of Logan. Logan lights up whenever he sees Lauren and Gavin.

 Holding his head up very well!

 Lauren and Gavin found my stack of National Geographic magazines and went through a phase wanting to read them for bedtime stories. That worked fine until they came upon an article that had some gruesome pictures. Oops. I thought I'd looked through them to make sure there wasn't anything to terrifying but I guess I missed some!

 Logan had an incident of pink eye. Lauren and Gavin both had hand-foot-mouth disease for a few weeks but thankfully it wasn't too bad. I got the flu on Chase's birthday and so far we've been healthy ever since!

Gavin has taken off riding his trike! Although now it's almost too small since he finally hit a growth spurt and grew almost 3 inches!

4th of July

We are not spur-of-the-moment people. But I convinced Chase that Lauren would be devastated if she didn't get to see fireworks. So we put the kids to bed and woke them up when it was time to go. We told them we had a surprise and it turned out so fun! We parked in an empty lot a block down from the stadium and had a perfect view! I was proud of us for doing something spontaneous.

On the 4th we headed up to Tony Grove for our traditional canoeing/picnic/play in the water day. It was a great day!

Little Fish

Lauren finished swimming lessons! She loved it and was quite sad when I told her they were over. I'm contemplating signing her up again for another session. She did so well and has improved a ton since last year! She even jumped off the diving board without any help!

I did sign Lauren up for another session which she loved. I moved her up two levels this time since the last session was so easy for her. She did fairly well even though she was quite a bit smaller than the other kids in the class, but I think we'll try that level again.

Gavin, Logan and I hung out poolside and ate fruit snacks. I didn't even try to sign Gavin up this year. Someday, maybe next year; he is getting braver!

Sneaky Fingers Strikes Again!

Sneaky Fingers has been very creative lately. First the bean-bag beans, markers on the cushions... well now it was the attack of the tortilla chips.

While Logan was sleeping and the kids were watching a show, I was hurrying to get some cleaning done. I heard the pantry door open and close very quietly, but didn't think much of it. I finished up the cleaning and headed downstairs to check on Lauren and Gavin.

Well, I should have been more suspicious of the pantry door opening. Sneaky Fingers had snuck an almost full bag of tortilla chips downstairs. To eat them? Of Course not! He was conducting an experiment by spreading every single chip all over the floor, then jumping on them to see what it sounded like. When I found him he was mid-jump and proclaimed that they were, "Crunchy Mommy!"

Seriously kid. Don't let that innocent cheese-grin fool you.

The Busiest Time of the Year Continued

This May marked 10 years from graduating high school, so our group of friends decided we needed to do something special. After taking into consideration work schedules, school, babies and traveling for 11 adults and 7 kids we ended up hanging at our house. But is was a blast! It's amazing to see where life has taken all of us, yet they remain some of my closest friends. I only managed to get one picture of everyone competing to see who could crouch Japanese style the longest, since we're just cool like that. ;)

 

A few weeks ago we had a bout of hand-foot-mouth disease. Gavin started with a fever Monday night and Lauren woke up with one Tuesday morning. I was convinced they had strep since Lauren had every symptom, but it ended up being hand-foot-mouth. Thankfully they really only had fevers for a day and just a few sores in their mouths. At least Lauren did, Gavin would never open his mouth to let me look. :) So they were ornery and we stayed home for a week. Logan got the little blisters all over his feet, but they went away quick and didn't seem to bother him, thank goodness!

 

Father's day for Chase was a bust. At least I felt like it was. Kids were still sick and tired so the day was spent taking naps and then Chase went home teaching. I hope he felt appreciated, at least he got a nap, I guess!

 

 This last weekend we went to Idaho Falls to visit Chase's parents and see the community play, Joseph and the Amazing Techni-color Dreamcoat. The play was awesome and so fun. We took Lauren with us and she was delighted with the whole thing. She squealed with delight when the confetti cannons went off at the end and showered us with rainbow confetti.  Chase was in this play years ago with his best friend, Ben. They were Pharaoh's guards and while bowing at the end, the two of them lifted their skirts and "mooned" the audience with sparkly boxer shorts with their phone numbers on them! Oh Chase. :) It was fun because some of his friends were in it playing the same parts when he was in it.

We went to the zoo while we were there too. Lauren liked the otters.

 And Gavin was mildly impressed with the giant tortoises. :)

 And Chase and Logan were thrilled to have their picture taken.

 

 

Logan has been so fun. He is such a happy baby... as long as you are talking and paying attention to him... at all times. :) His squeals and giggles make us laugh.

 





The Busiest Time of the Year

My Mom always said May and June were the busiest months of the year because of the school activities wrapping up. The last few months have flown by with all the things going on. Not really school related for us, but still lots of things!

First of all, our "little" brother got married! So weird to see the boy that started fires in the driveway with a magnifying glass, carried sticks as guns around, and played Barbie with us getting married. We had to have Kyle lift Brian up for us so we could hold him up! This is one of my favorite pictures of us four! We love Emily and so glad she's part of the family, she fits right in!

 

The kids and I went fishing on Memorial Day with my parents. We left Chase at home to be miserable by himself because of his tonsils.

Lauren loves paddling the canoe with Grandpa!

 

 

 

We went to the Dinosaur Park with my mom and sisters a few weeks ago. Gavin was so funny: he loves dinosaurs but being the timid kid he is, he was scared of the dinosaur noises at first. He did warm up eventually and had a great time. Funny faces and all. :)

 

Lauren graduated from preschool, again! She loved it and tells me almost every day that she needs to go visit Miss Karla. We sure love "Grandma" and Miss Karla! Can't believe that she will start kindergarten this fall!

 

 

 Lauren and Gavin are having lots of fun together. Including picnics in the backyard.

 

 

Well, that's about as much as I can report on today. More forthcoming!

 

 

 

 

Attack of the Tonsillectomy, Adenoidectomy, and Uvulectomy

They say getting your tonsils out when an adult is about the worst pain you can experience, other than kidney stones and giving birth. I believe it.

Chase has had sleep apnea for forever, it seems. Deep down I always knew it was the tonsils causing problems since I knew they were big. We kept coming up with excuses not to do it. Well, after Logan's arrival I knew we couldn't keep going the way we had. I couldn't afford to have Chase exhausted all the time; I need his help to keep three kids alive!

After much coercion, persuasion and love unfeigned, I convinced him that we at least needed to get an assessment from an ENT. The doctor took one glance in his mouth and declared his tonsils "gargantuan."The doctor said he very rarely recommends surgery for sleep apnea, but readily agreed to surgery after seeing Chase's air-flow restricters.

Surgery day approached and finally came. Chase had been completely wigging himself out with all the horror stories online. He was a tad nervous.

Before surgery. He said he'd never talk to me again if I posted a pic post-op. :)

Surgery went well. We got home, put him in bed and all was well, in perspective being that his throat looked like a murder scene. Misery ensued for the next 4 days. Chase started bleeding in the middle of church. (Church with three kids by yourself is an adventure, btw.) We rushed to the emergency room and had an encounter with the rudest, most incompetent doctor I've ever met. At least he temporarily stopped the bleeding, with silver nitrate, WITHOUT ANESTHESIA!!! Grr.

We went home to continue Chase's misery.

He started bleeding again Wednesday, alot more than before.We rushed to the office this time, thank goodness and waited for the doctor while the bleeding kept getting worse. Scared to death that we now had an unexpected ER bill, and possibility of going back into surgery...it was a little stressful. But thankfully, the doctor was kind and considerate and used local anesthesia to cauterize the blood vessel the previous incompetent doctor had missed.

We went home to continue Chase's misery.

And here we are now; day 9 of the process. Everyone says day 10 is the turning point to feeling better.

We are very much looking forward to tomorrow.

Haunted by Sneaky Fingers

So remember when the indoor blizzard of beans happened, oh, about 6 months ago? It happened...again. This time it wasn't the dog. No, it was the 2-year-old who found some scissors and CUT open the beanbag that I lovingly made him for Christmas, with super-cute, heavy duty fabric, zipper, and high quality beans.

 I have never before been this MAD as a parent. Once, I can understand....they didn't know better really, and it was the dog who chewed the hole. But TWICE?! I was ticked off. I had just barely gotten the majority of the beans cleaned up from last time. Undoubtedly, we'd still be finding wayward beans 'til the cows came home, but all the visible ones at least, were gone.

Chase came home and took the kids to buy a shop-vac, since my vacuum was not going to last another round of those clogging beans. But they didn't get to vacuum, oh no, that would be too much fun. They had to stand in the corner, silent, not moving and watch Daddy vacuum.


Those beanbags are now history, at least Gavin's is. Lauren's is put away until certain children grow out of the 2-3-year-old destructive mindset.

Speaking of destructive. Lauren loves to color, and write notes. Subsequently, there are hidden pens, pencils, crayons and markers all over. Not where I can see them, no, but in the hidden crevices that only sneaky little fingers can fit into. Said sneaky little fingers found a marker. His cohort encouraged him to color all over the walls and doors downstairs. Thankfully it was washable and they spent the afternoon washing it off. What I didn't see until later was that Sneaky Fingers made a canvas out of the couch cushion and put it back so his work couldn't be seen. Upon finding the drawing I investigated as to who's work it was. Sneaky fingers innocently and sweetly said, "But for YOU Mommy...for YOUUU!" Nice move, Sneaky Fingers.

Sneaky Fingers turns three in a month. I've been told three is worse than two. Heaven help us all. And nobody give him markers, scissors or a beanbag for his birthday...please.

2 Months In

Two months have never gone by so fast! Everyone told me that the third baby is the hardest... and I kind of believed them...I had no idea! I don't think I've ever been this exhausted before.

 

Now I feel like we have somewhat of a routine figured out. Just watch, it will probably change tomorrow!

Logan is a fun baby, he laughs and grins all the time. He's still figuring out how to sleep at night. But he's making improvements little by little. I can't get him to take a binky which is a bummer, but oh well. He loves to be rocked and bounced while falling asleep instead and he fights going to sleep. I thought he would be a really deep sleeper having such loud older siblings, so far no such luck. The poor kid jerks awake scared to death when Gavin lets out his blood-curdling scream, which is quite often unfortunately! We're working on the volume level in the house these days. :)

He's very alert, his favorite spot is on my left shoulder where he can hold his head up and look around at everything, all the time. He likes his bath but hates being naked and getting dressed! He hates being left alone and he knows the second he can't see you anymore.

He had his two-month check-up on Friday and he did great! He's a small little squirt. Only 6th percentile for weight and 2nd for height at 10.4 pounds and 18.5 inches long. His head is in the 62nd though! I was surprised he was still so little! The doctor says he's growing right on track though so nothing to worry about. He cried like his little heart was broken while getting his shots, but calmed right down when I picked him up. Poor guy has had a rough few days though, he's had a fever, doesn't want to eat and wants to be held all the time. I'll take the snuggles but I feel bad for him!

His hair is growing too! From the looks of it, it will be either dark blond or light brown. It's interesting to see how different all the kids look. They all have blue eyes but they're all different shades.

Oh how we love you Logan and are so glad you're part of our family!

Gavin Grows Up

Gavin has all of a sudden decided to start talking! It's so fun to listen to him. We still have a hard time understanding him, but it's getting better. It's hard to get him to be quiet now! Gavin has been quite the handful lately. (Seems to be a common theme around here from the change of routine.)

He is so mischievous with his teasing personality. He loves to play in the water and "washes" things in the bathroom sink all the time. Awhile ago he decided my phone needed to be washed. It was so hard to be mad because he was so excited and proud that he was helping. Thank goodness my phone revived itself the next day and works just fine!

While feeding Logan, after the snowstorm the other day, Gavin escaped outside with his new bucket. With no pants, short sleeves and sandals. Thanks to the fence, our neighbors didn't see my half-naked son playing in the snow and call child services on me. ;) Oh boy...

I told Chase the other day he needs some more boy time with Gavin since he's quite intrigued with my makeup. This was his first attempt at mascara.

He has a robot shirt that he loves and was so sad when it was dirty and in the wash. He found it in his drawer a few days ago after getting the laundry done. He was so excited to find it and hugged it, saying, "ank ew Mommy! Keen! ank ew Mommy!" It made my day.

I need to find a good way to cut his hair. He used to love it and now hates it with a passion. So I only got the back cut the other day. Still trying to figure out how to get the top and front done now.

Oh Gavin, you make me want to pull my hair out and hug you at the same time.

Loads and Loads of Cement

Ever since moving in we've wanted to expand our back patio so we could fit a picnic table and, eventually, a pergola with benches and a swing. That area has been a weed/junk pile for the last two years and I was sick of it! So after getting a fence we figured we might as well pour the patio so we could enjoy our yard more.

That weed patch didn't seem nearly as big as it turned out to be. It was a much more involved job than we planned on, but thanks to Chase's Dad and help from mine, it's done and I love it! Never thought I would think of cement so fondly. :)

Lauren and Gavin had a ball playing in the sand, which subsequently, meant it was ALL over the house. I think I finally swept up the last of it! We still have a half-yard of sand leftover sitting in the driveway. Any takers willing to haul it away?

And Then She Was Five!

Lauren's birthday snuck up on us this year (not like we've been busy or anything. :P) We decided to get her a new bike since her DI special wasn't working out so well anymore. A little KSL searching and we found a good one for a good deal. I was nervous that she wouldn't like it because it's blue, but I didn't realize there are seashells on it, and since she's been into mermaids lately, she loves it!

The day before her birthday she told me she wanted a mermaid Barbie, pink, rainbow cake. Sheesh. With some Facebook advice and ideas I think I pulled it off.

Grandma Christensen took her to Beauty and the Beast a few weeks ago as her present, which she loved! Grandma Adair also took her out on her first "Birthday Date", which she loved as well!

I know five years really isn't that long in the grand scheme of things... but to me it seems like a lot!
Sometimes I forget that she's only five, still little, and I expect that she should know more than she does. But on the other hand... she surprises me at how much she catches and notices.

Lately we've been telling "Jesus Stories" at bedtime. She likes to tell the baby Jesus story about when He was born then I tell her another Jesus story from the scriptures. One night we had the discussion about how Jesus died and was resurrected then went to live with Heavenly Father. I told her that would happen to us too...I guess that was a frightening concept realizing that she was going to die (oops). I tried to convince her it would be a long time before that would happen and it was a good thing to go live in Heaven. I think she's okay with the idea now... I hope!

She's been doing great in preschool. She makes friends easily and everyone seems to like her. We went to register her for kindergarten (!) and they gave her the assessment to see how much she knows. The little stinker was either distracted or just didn't want to cooperate because the teacher said we'd need to work pretty hard on letters and counting this summer. Coming home afterwards she sang the whole alphabet, counted to 20 and wrote everyone's names in the family. Go figure!

She's testing my patience again. She can't seem to decide if she really wants to be a "big girl" or be treated like a baby. I can't figure out if she's just tired, figuring out how far to push the limits or just trying to get more attention. I think it's probably a mix of all three, I think. We've had several complete melt-downs the last few weeks that put me on edge. Please tell me this too shall pass, right?

We decided she will be great at Debate in high school. She is great at negotiating, arguing and trying to get out of things. She's too smart for her own good!

She has been so attentive with baby Logan. Every time he cries she is right there by him, trying to make him happy. She is his favorite and saves his biggest grins just for her. She is an awesome big sister, even though she can torment Gavin to no end! Lauren and Gavin are best buds that either play wonderfully together or they tease each other to tears.

We sure do love you Lauren! You've kept us on our toes from the day you were born and will continue to do so I expect!

Newborn Pictures