Christmas Morning

Friday, December 25th, 2009

Dear Santa,

It was a lovely Christmas this year. Thank you. Hope loves her doll house and Bryce can't stop playing with his slide. As for next year, I already know what I want and would like to put in my order early. If it isn't too much to ask for, I would love next year to have a full nights sleep for Christmas. A good 8 hours would do nicely. :)

Thank you!

Mommy

Christensen Christmas Eve

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Christmas Eve. All the Christensen siblings, except for Heidi and Steve, spent Christmas Eve together at my parents house. It was nice to be with family. Ethan was fussy and the kids refused to eat anything but candy, but it was a fun night. The kids played outside, we ate little appetizers and desserts, and had a live nativity. Santa Claus was planning to come visit the kids, but he ended up sick. So last minute we pulled shirts, belts, a blanket and rope out, and had our own little production. Brody and Sadie stared as Mary and Joseph. Hope was supposed to be an angel, but refused to be costumed. And Bryce and Avery were very cute shepard boys. Uncle Adam even agreed to be a donkey for Sadie to ride in on. I am glad Santa couldn't come, because it was even better to focus on our Savior's birth. We sang together and so enjoyed the sweet spirit that was felt as the children glowed. In a few years we should even have enough kids to have wise men, too.
It was a wonderful evening with my family. And not to be outdone by the donkey performance, Uncle Josh was a horse for all kids to ride to get out that last little bit of their energy. The pictures of it show him on the floor, but he was so fun for them. He was moving around so fast on his hands and knees with 4 kids on his back. Bryce couldn't stop laughing!

Family Picture

Monday, December 21, 2009

A picture of our little family. Hope is 3, Bryce is 18 months, and Ethan is 1 week old. Everything of value to me in life is in this picture.

Too good to be true.......

A classic excerpt of life:

The last week Hope has been put to bed at her normal 8ish bedtime and yet won't fall asleep until around 10pm. She sings to herself, kicks the wall, calls out for Mommy, needs water, talks, and eventually falls silent. By that time of night I desperately need a break time from kids and it just irks me that she isn't going to sleep. I decided to try not giving her a nap yesterday to see if that helps her get to sleep earlier at night. Talk about a backfire in Mommy's face! In addition to the additional whining of transitioning to another sibling, she was just outright difficult. She didn't want to listen, and even would deliberately disobey me. She ran around having crying fits, and was exceptionally sensitive. I anticipated difficulty but was perhaps not wise in the timing of this strategy to skip a nap. (considering Bryce is also experiencing transition to Mommy not being at his side every moment AND Mommy is not running on a full nights rest) We made it through dinner, bath time and pjs early with Daddy's help and decided to take the kids out to look at Christmas lights. Well, around 7:30pm we noticed a quiet backseat and realized Hope had fallen asleep in the car. Score! We came home and put Bryce and Hope in their beds. Ethan had fallen asleep around 7pm and was snoozing soundly. What a great time for Mommy and Daddy! The house was quiet, and we relished the peace as we finished dishes, cleaned up, and even snuggled on the couch and had an uninterrupted conversation. It was wonderful. I so enjoyed the peace. We got in bed per usual, and Ethan had a good night taking 3 hours in between each feeding, but at 3:45am I was startled awake by crying. It wasn't Ethan. It was Hope. I layed in bed for 15 minutes before dragging myself out to check what was wrong. She said she couldn't sleep and that we hadn't sung songs before bed. I told her it was nighttime still, she had to go back to sleep, and I wasn't singing. I left and was so disappointed to hear that the crying continued. Now here is the irony. Jared took the 4am feeding shift with Ethan and at 4:15am I went back and told Hope she could sleep with me. Just as she got in our bed..........yes, that is right.......more crying! This time it is Bryce. I layed in bed hoping it would stop and he'd go back to sleep. Then there was coughing. Now I am thinking he is sick and I need to go check on him to make sure he doesn't have a fever. I get up and get him and take them downstairs. All three of our kids are up by 4:25am! No. NO. NO! And they aren't just up....they are wide awake.....completely unable to go back to sleep. Of course Ethan, our infant who you would expect to be up in the middle of the night, goes right back to sleep after his feeding and sweet Daddy offers to watch a movie with the kids so that I can get a few more hours sleep. It was all just too good to be true. I am glad we relished it because it looks like we won't be having many more uninterrupted quiet evenings together. We'll go back to giving our Hopie a nap!

Pictures of Ethan's first few days......

I am doing this one armed with a little bit of a fussy baby cradled up to me...so it'll be short. These are a few pictures of the last few days. I regret that I don't have pictures of everyone who came to visit us.....but this week has been a whirlwind. :)

Hope's Bithday Party

Friday, December 12, 2009

With a new baby quickly approaching us we had Hope's birthday celebration a little bit early. She turned 3 on December 15th, and on the 12th we had just the Grandparents over for a very small birthday party. Funny note......this was the same day that Mommy was locked out of the house by Hope and out of the car by Bryce. It wasn't a fun morning, but the evening was great. A few days prior to the party we gave Hope her new bike. It isn't pink, as she would prefer so that we can pass it down to her little brothers at some point. Sorry Hopie! :) She has talked about it for months and although Mommy was dragging her feet on the subject Daddy brought it home one day after work and kept it in his trunk for almost a month. Sweet Daddy. The Princess Party was great fun. Hope got some wonderful gifts, all of which she loved. The kids were in Heaven to have all their Grandparents together, and sweet Great-Grandma Cox made delicious homemade pies! Hope only wishes she could have invited her cousins over, but with a small entertaining space, Mommy being nine months pregnant, and Daddy's well known distaste for large parties we thought we'd wait on that another year or two. Happy 3rd Birthday our beloved Hope!

Announcing...........

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Just one day shy of our due date, and on Hope's 3rd Birthday, my doctor induced labor! I was going crazy all day long as we had a 4pm appointment to induce at the hospital but I had to call an hour early to make sure there was a room for me and that they could take me. I cleaned the bathrooms, wrapped the last few Christmas presents, ran errands, cleaned the house, and probably did everything but rest. I just had to stay busy or I was going to go crazy with anxiety. Finally the time came to call the hospital and what relief to hear that they could take me. I went in, had an angel nurse who got us going with pitocin, and talked me into an epidural before I melted down from pain. Oh how I love epidurals! Within a few hours the doctor came in, checked me, and after pushing for just 7 minutes our sweet baby boy was born! Ethan William Forman came into the world at 10:07 pm, weighing 8 pounds even and measuring 21 1/2 inches long. We are delighted, Hope especially so as she was able to meet Ethan this morning. She is in love with him much to our delight and joy. Mommy is recovering well and Daddy has beamed with joy since seeing his second son. Bryce is a bit active to have in the hospital so he will meet his new little buddy at home tomorrow. What a blessing to have a healthy baby, and to add a sweet boy to our family!

Blog worthy........

Friday, December 11, 2009

Just 5 days before my due date we had planned a small party for our little Hope who is turning 3 on December 15th. In the morning the kids and I headed out in the cold and rain to get some decorations and attend our weekly playgroup. (mostly for Mommy's benefit) Close to lunchtime we returned home ready for lunch and naptime. I took my coat, keys and Hope inside and returned back to the garage for the rest of the belongings. I grabbed Bryce and my purse and headed back inside when to my horror the garage door was locked. My sweet little girl, who had never locked a door before, had locked us out and my keys were inside! With sciatic pain and Bryce being only half clothed (long story) I quickly limped over and put Bryce back in the warm car. I talked through the door to Hope but I couldn't explain well enough how to unlock the door. I called Jared who was just about to go to a meeting and he said he'd send someone with a key. I ran out back, and tried to talk Hope through opening the slider door, with no success. She just looked at me and cried. I ran back to the garage and tried to open the car door to warm up a bit and that was locked! Bryce had locked himself into the car, and once again I had no keys. Jared called back to check the situation. Hope was locked inside the house crying, Bryce was locked inside the car crying, and I was shivering in the garage crying. What a sight we must have been! Jared talked to me for a few minutes, getting an update on the situation and assuring me that help would be there soon. As we all cried he was laughing and said, "Hey babe, this will make a good blog story!" I didn't say a word in response as I felt that was not funny, nor helpful.

Soon Hope stopped crying and I could hear her opening up cupboards, dishes moving around, etc. Bryce realized that I wasn't going to open the car door so he stopped crying and started playing in the backseat of the car. At that point I figured that I might as well stop crying and just wait it out. Within probably 30 minutes total Christian (my brother-in-law) showed up with a smile and a house key. Our Angel! I unlocked the door and went inside to find Hope with a chair pulled up to the counter, and a plate with snacks that she was enjoying. Bryce I pulled out of the car kicking and screaming as he was hungry and tired. We thanked Christian, and went inside to enjoy the warmth, eat some lunch, and then they took a great nap. :)

Jared was right; now it seems funny, blog worthy even..........

Random pictures

Last two weeks of November.......

These are just some random pictures from our last few weeks. I am 38 weeks pregnant today and really moving slow. :) I keep wishing that baby boy would come soon, and I actually have slowly gotten us much more ready for him, but I deep down feel that we'll go at least to our due date. My Doctor has promised to induce before the due date if I am dilated and there is an open bed in the hospital but I was really hoping to actually go into labor on my own this time.....We'll just see what happens. :)
I just look at this and wonder, "How did it come to this?" Any tricks to getting an almost three year old to help pick up her room?

Our big girl was asking for a photo op. Only problem, she didn't have any clothes on! That is the reason why there is a blanket wrapped around her.

My sister Heidi's baby shower. She looks like my twin, especially with us both pregnant, and is due just one month after me. She is also having a boy which is fun. That incredibly skinny women in the middle is our sweet Mother. If we turned a little more toward the middle we'd entirely cover her up with just our bellies!

Hope's photography skills. She was trying to get a picture of Bryce but he was flapping himself all around trying to avoid getting his shoes on. It amazes me that he doesn't love to get his shoes on when he walks around constantly saying the word, "Go!"

Reading with Papa. Both our kids love it as does Savannah. Bryce this last week just started saying "Papa" in a car ride where we passed his work. Bryce has always been really attached to Papa Forman, and Hope is super attached to Papa Christensen. Just about every time I looked Hope's way during Thanksgiving break she was laying on Papa Christensen's shoulder.

Just hanging out....enjoying some family time.

Homemade chocolate pudding. The little stinker knows how to use a spoon but ditched it when he realized he could stuff more into his mouth with his hand! He did it so fast that I didn't even get a bib on him before it was too late. He even washed his hair with it!