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

Made it to March!

Welcome to the world Logan! March finally came and so did you! Logan Chase was born Thursday, March 3, 2016 at 12:43pm, weighing in at a teeny 6lbs 6oz and 18.5 inches long.

Thankfully labor this time was "easy" as far as labor goes. Only 5.5 hours this time which is phenomenal compared to the other two! He was ready to come, he just didn't know it!

So far there hasn't been any sibling jealousy, they both love him! Lauren and Gavin have both been bouncing off the walls for the last two weeks from the excitement and change of routine. I'm hoping they calm down soon. :)

Logan is a sweet baby. He has some lungs on him though! If his tummy is bugging him he has no problem making it known. He also has his days and nights backwards. But the funnest thing is that he full-out laughs, giggles and grins in his sleep.

Boy are we all so glad you're here!

 

Logan with Kaden; two of the four new grandbabies within a month! 

 

Missing

I know I've been a slacker keeping updated with our lives, but it's winter, and cold, and I'm 36 weeks pregnant... so yeah, not much of anything is happening around here lately!

We did have some fun right after Christmas. We headed down to my parent's for the traditional New Year's Eve Japanese dinner my Dad cooks. It's so yummy! New Year's Day we took Lauren and Gavin sledding. Lauren was quite the dare-devil and kept saying, "This is SO AWESOME!" Gavin went down once and screamed the whole way... so he stayed at the top of the hill and put snowballs in the snow tubes. :)

We also attempted to move Lauren and Gavin into the same bedroom to make room for baby. That went over like a ton of bricks. After a week of no sleeping we gave in and moved Lauren downstairs. Made me a little nervous but we put a monitor down there with her and she loves it! 

We painted Lauren's old room, getting rid of the pretty pale pink which kind of made me sad. But Chase refused to put his new son in a pink bedroom. :) So we painted it a really classy, gender-neutral, light gray. I love how it turned out.

This is the quilt top I did for baby. I'm working on decorating the room with red and aqua to match his quilt. Slowly but surely it's coming together!

 

Thus far I haven't minded terribly being a dog owner. But it's winter, and winter makes dogs get bored easily. Bored dogs get into mischief. The last few weeks I've really considered shipping Millie off! Last week she chewed a hole into her bean bag she sleeps on downstairs. This hole was not very big. I didn't notice said hole. Kids were playing downstairs while I ran upstairs to get something. I return downstairs and kids have found said hole. The ENTIRE innards of the beanbag were now 2 inches deep ALL over the basement floor. I could have sworn. But Lauren was making snow angels in the "snow" and Gavin was shoveling the "snow" with his tractor, and they were giggling and having a ball. Even though it took us hours upon hours to vacuum those dang beans up, at least they played in the "snow" without me having to put on their snow clothes and be cold. Now we'll be enjoying residual "snow" for years to come! Oh joy.

The slew of babies due in February has started! My little sister had her baby boy last Tuesday and my older sister is scheduled to have her baby girl on Wednesday. My sister-in-law should have her baby boy sometime next week. I have to admit, I'm pretty jealous. But visiting my sister in the hospital reminded me that it will be worth it, even though I can barely walk these days. The Dr. told me the only thing that might help with the pain is wearing a pregnancy support belt. Has anyone ever used one?

I have several sewing projects in the works. I'm hoping they'll keep me occupied these next few weeks, and sitting at my sewing machine doesn't require any walking. Thankfully Lauren and Gavin have been great lately playing together downstairs while I sew, although not much else around the house is getting done. :P

That pretty much sums up what's happened the last month or so!

Christmas in Pictures

Good Riddance 2015!

Dear 2015,

I'm glad it's 2016. 2015 was full of new experiences I hope made us wiser, and some old ones that were just annoying. But we made it through! So here's to you 2016!

Love,
An excited not-be-pregnant-anymore Mom