The Christiansen Family

Home Improvement Projects

2011-02-09T21:29:00.000-08:00

For the past month around here we have doing some home improvement projects. Some voluntary some involuntary. Nevertheless all good things in the end. After living with flooring that I never really liked we finally got new flooring. I love it. Big thanks to my in-laws for coming down from Utah to help with the flooring one weekend and coming down again to do the painting and baseboards. So here are my before and after pictures.

This was my kitchen before. We had a textured linoleum that never looked clean to me.
Here is the hallway ready to have new flooring laid in it. Wade spent all day Friday getting our house ready for new flooring.

This picture is a little disturbing to me. I knew our carpet was bad but not this bad. The "white" piece underneath is from under our TV so it was never walked on. The pieces around it that our "gray" are what we had been living with. I am so glad I don't have to have that carpet anymore.

Here are the girls helping out.

After Pictures

Here is a picture of our new faucet. We discovered our old one was leaking. This was an involuntary repair but I do like my new one.

We painted all our walls a light tan color. After 6 years in our house and 3 kids we needed to upgrade our paint. If I tried to wipe the walls clean the paint would just come off.

We put in taller baseboards. We had to take our old ones off to do the laminate.

Here is a picture showing our wood laminate. We left a little area with carpet by our couches. In the back left corner of this picture is where you enter from our garage. We wanted to put laminate in our high traffic areas so the carpet would not get ruined again. We also had carpet under our table area before so it is nice to have laminate.

Here is the kitchen now. That is also a new dishwasher in the background. That was also an involuntary improvement but I am sooo happy to have a new one.

Here is our entry way now.

New Carpet !!!! Yeah!!! I am so excited about the new carpet. Our old carpet was gross. We do still have it in the bedrooms but they are not as bad. We will probably re-carpet those next year. Our new carpet is so soft and thick. I love it. I feel like I have a new house. Big thanks to my husband and in-laws cause they did all the work for the improvements. there are still some little touch up things to do but the major part is done!

Brandon's Wedding

2011-02-09T21:15:00.001-08:00

My Brother Brandon got married on Saturday. We are so excited for him and so happy to have Melinda in our family. I am really bad at getting my camera out for pictures but at least I remembered it and got a few. I did not get any of her in her wedding dress. You'll just have to trust me that it was beautiful. It was a great day. We had a lot of fun.

This is Melinda and Brandon at their luncheon.

Here is our family picture before the reception. My mom made the girls dresses. All the nieces pretty much had the same dress.

For the luncheon Sarah made all the nieces and nephews shirts to wear. They all had different sayings. Caitlyn and Elsa's said " When I grow up I want to be a princess just like my aunt Melinda" Sam's said "I won't remember this day but I am glad to be at the Par-tay" All the shirts were so cute .

Holy Pictures!!!

2011-02-08T10:32:00.000-08:00

I have not blogged in six months nor I have I loaded pictures from my camera to my computer. So now you have this huge post of cute pictures. I needed to document them for Family history purposes.

This is Elsa on Christmas day. She fell asleep in the playhouse tent that my mom made. It goes over our table. It is awesome. Elsa and Sam were pretty sick on Christmas this year.

Here are our pictures from Christmas morning.

These are our pajamas we got on Christmas Eve.

Here are the girls in their Christmas dresses. Sam was cracking me up in these pictures.

This is a random pictures. Usually on Laundry days the girls will climb in the laundry baskets. Who needs toys?

Here is Caitlyn at her Christmas dance recital. She is turning into quite the dancer!

Here is Elsa at her dance recital. This is what she did a lot of the time. She was easily distracted. She had tap step down though. Once she started she didn't stop.
I had to snap this picture because it is a rare occasion for Sam to crawl up on her dad's lap. She is a mamma's girl but we are trying to change that.

When I went in to check on the girls before I went to bed, this is how I found Elsa. Too Cute.

Halloween 2010

Random Cute pictures of Sam. She is a busy girl
I have pictures of all of my girls doing this same thing.

Aunt Angie gave Sam this cute dress for her birthday!
Here is Sam's first birthday celebration back in August. Better late than never! This was her first time ever eating cake or dairy because of her allergy. She loved it and had no reaction. We are grateful that she no longer has any allergies

Disneyland, Utah and Random Pictures

2010-06-16T14:08:00.000-07:00

This year we were able to go to Disneyland for 4 days. It was so much fun. The weather was perfect and the crowds weren't bad. Last time we went Caitlyn was 18 months old. It was definitely more work with 3 kids but worth it. We would get there when the park opened and didn't leave until it closed. We would get back to the hotel and would fall asleep so fast. We were there on Caitlyn's birthday so she got to wear a Birthday pin so everybody would wish her happy birthday. She loved it. We also were able to have dinner with the princesses on her birthday. Below are some pictures from our trip. (You will notice I am not in a lot of them, I don't totally recommend taking an 8 month old, it was still worth it though)

This year we decided to plant a garden. Wade built this in our side yard. He is so handy and can figure out anything. I am always way impressed. This was taken at the end of April.

This was taken about a month later. We are hoping to get some food from it but we might have planted a little late. We have learned a lot this year so if we don't get anything this year we know better what to do for next year. The girls have loved it. They always want to show anybody that comes to our house and always are out there when Wade is. Even if we just get one tomato or one squash it will be a success.

We went to Utah for Memorial day because Wade's sister was blessing her baby. Every year on Memorial day Wade's family is always good about putting flowers on their relatives graves. If we are up there then I like to put one on My grandparents grave.

Wade ran in a 5k on Saturday and the rest of his family walked it. The 5k was to raise money for a family is Wade sister's old ward who has terminal cancer. Sam didn't sleep good the night before so I did not get up for it and Elsa was asleep when they left so only Wade and Caitlyn went.

Here are Wade's dad, mom sister Tristen, and her husband Ryan with Caitlyn and Rylee.

For Caitlyn's Birthday she received a Target Gift Card from Wade's sister Angie. She picked out Princess and the Frog Instruments. So here is the Christiansen Family Band.

Caitlyn also had her Spring Dance Recital the day we got back from Utah. She did great. She always knows her stuff.

This year we put Caitlyn in Swim lessons with a lady in our ward. She learned so much. She always wants to go swimming now.

Caitlyn was funny the first few days of class when she had to jump in the pool. She stood there and thought about for so long before she would jump in. By the time swim lessons were over she didn't think about it at all.

Here is cute Sam playing in the laundry. She is getting so big. She is crawling all over the place.

Elsa looked so funny here we had to get a picture. She is funny.

Random Pictures

2010-04-23T21:46:00.000-07:00

So I have finally had a few minutes to get pictures loaded on the computer and get caught up on my blogging. This post has a lot of pictures so here it goes.

Every year after the tax deadline we usually take a trip up to Utah to visit family and Friends. We hadn't been up there since Thanksgiving so it was fun to go visit. Also, Wade's sister had a baby a week before so I couldn't wait to get up there to see the new baby girl. Sam is a mamma's girl and really only lets me hold her (she came out of the womb like that, she has been a pretty difficult baby) so I didn't get to hold Tristen's baby as much as I would have liked to. We had fun on the trip. The girls love to see Nana and Papa and play with their cousins. It is always nice to get away and not worry about the daily grinds.

This is a picture of us with my Grandma (my mom's mom). She has been living with my aunt since December. I wanted my girls to spend some time with her so we went and visited. She used to live in Seattle which is a little far for us to see her on a regular basis. One of the girls favorite things to do in Utah is visit the Zoo. It is not my favorite thing to do so this has become a tradition they do with their dad and nana. They always have so much fun. They went with their cousins Nathan and Rylee.

Below are our Easter pictures. We had a simple Easter at home watching General Conference. It was nice to just relax. The Girls got their own BBQ from the Easter bunny. Wade grilled pork chops for dinner that night so the girls had their BBQ outside cooking food also.

Here is Sam enjoying the porch with the girls.

Here are the girls checking out their Easter Baskets. They were so excited. Caitlyn came in my room in the morning and said, in a very sad tone "I don't think the Easter Bunny came". So we went downstairs and I showed her that he did. They were up way too early morning. I think I went back to bed. As you can see so did Wade.

This is before the girls were up. The Easter bunny totally spaced getting a basket for Sam. Really the only reason she got anything is because I know the girls would be all concerned if Sam didn't have anything so I got her some gerber puffs but she didn't like them.

Here we are dying Easter eggs. We had a princess egg dying kit. The girls loved it. We even managed to do it without spilling anything. I'd say it was a success. Sam was taking a nap during the process.

This is Sam when she was first learning to sit up on her own. She is getting so big so fast. She is getting a little easier now that she is older.

Here are Caitlyn and Samantha before Church one Sunday. I don't know why Elsa isn't in it. Probably somewhere throwing a tantrum.

This was my hint that Sam is too big for the bouncy chair. Anytime I would put her in it she would sit straight up and hold onto the toys. It is now at the storage unit.

I looked over one day and Caitlyn had put her sunglasses on Sam. It was too cute so I had to get a picture.

I love when the girls play nicely together. It doesn't always happen but the peace is so nice when they do. I walked in the room one day and saw this. Too cute!

Once again Caitlyn was playing with Sam and put the crown on her. Caitlyn loves Sam.

I have been really bad about taking a lot of pictures of Sam and have been trying to be better so this was just a snapshot I took one day.

Maybe Elsa will grow up and cut hair one day. There have been several occasions where she is doing her baby's hair. She can put a smile on my face so much. I love to watch her little mind at work.

Easter Dresses

2010-03-31T21:22:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are still alive around here. I know I have not blogged in months. I still have some Christmas pictures and other things from December to post so those will probably still come sometime soon. The last few months have been crazy.
The girls looked so cute in their dresses though I wanted to get these pictures posted. Since Easter Sunday falls on General Conference I had the girls wear their dresses a week early. My mom made the dresses again this year.

Here are the girls smiling and looking adorable. Keep scrolling down to get a glimpse into what life is really like around here most days.

This is what it is like around my house when there is something Elsa wants that she can't have and when Sam is hungry and tired. Caitlyn just wants everybody to be happy.

October Happenings

2009-11-07T16:57:00.000-08:00

Here is a cute picture of Samantha before we went to church on Sunday. I love getting girls ready for Church. Below are our pictures from Halloween. We went to the annual Barlow family chili cook-off night. After we eat all of the chili we go tick-or- treating around my brother's neighborhood. Elsa would have gone all night. I stayed back at the house with Sam but got a call from Wade halfway through to pick up Caitlyn because she was tired.

This is a picture at our Trunk or Treat. Wade gave out full size candy bars.

We also took a trip to Utah in October for my brother-in-laws homecoming talk and my aunt was also having a weekend for all her nieces. Wade kept the 2 girls for the 2 days while I took Samantha with my and went down to my aunt's house. Wade had the camera so I don't have any pictures from the niece's weekend but it was a blast.

Here is a picture of Papa Scott with Sam. He always takes my babies and rocks them to sleep even if they are fussy he will still take them. It is the best.

I am not an animal lover and so I do not really enjoy the zoo. This trip it worked out great because Wade could take the kids without me. They had a blast. The girls loved it. I had a blast eating at Kneaders while they were at the zoo. It was a win win for all parties.

Samantha's Blessing

2009-11-07T16:37:00.001-08:00

I know it has been over a month ago but here are some pictures from Samantha's blessing day. It was a very good day. Wade gave her a beautiful blessing. Samantha was blessed in the same dress that I was blessed in that was made by my grandma Martenson. Caitlyn and Elsa were also blessed in it.

Here are the pictures.

Random Pictures

2009-09-15T16:18:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to remember to get the camera out and take picture of Samantha. Caitlyn loves to take pictures so she helps remind me.

Caitlyn has been wanting to take a picture of Daddy and Samantha. So here is her picture.

Samantha went to church for the first time on Sunday so I had to snap a picture. The best part about having girls is getting them all dressed up for Church. I love it. Here she is before church.
This is Caitlyn on her first day of Preschool. She was so excited and is loving school.

Here are the girls. They are so cute. After juggling 2 kids adding the 3 one hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be. I do have good and bad days though but that is just the joy of children. Samantha is a pretty good baby. She is sleeping good at night. She thinks if she is awake that she needs to be held though so we are working on that.

First Bath and Update on Samantha

2009-08-29T17:38:00.000-07:00

Here is Samantha at 5 days old. She is so cute. She is finally sleeping good at night. The last 2 nights she has gone to bed around 10 or 11 and sleeps until 3 and then goes back to sleep until 8. That has been so nice because all of the nights before that she was not going to bed until 2 or 3 in the morning. That was rough. I hope she will continue her schedule and is not just teasing me. She went to the Dr at 4 days old and everything looked good. She dropped to 8lbs 13 oz in the hospital but was back up to 9 lbs 3 oz at the Dr so I was happy about that. So far she has been a pretty good baby. We are happy to have her in our home. The girls are loving her. They pick out her clothes everyday. Caitlyn is big help getting mom things. We gave her her first (well technically second because they gave her a bath in the hospital) the other night. Of course she screamed but it was quick. Here are the pictures from that.

This was a picture from coming home from the hospital.

Samantha Dawn has arrived

2009-08-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

Samantha Dawn arrived on August 21 at 5:24 p.m. She weighed 9 lbs 8 ozs and was 20 inches long. It was a pretty rough delivery for me, it took 2 epidurals and I still felt a lot of pain. The Dr arrived for about the last 2 pushes. I am just glad to to not be pregnant anymore. I am glad she is here and that we are all healthy and doing well. She is so sweet and it is fun to have a newborn in the house. The nights are rough but I know we will adjust shortly. Here are some pictures from the big day.

July Happenings

2009-08-03T20:39:00.001-07:00

Now that July is over I thought I should blog about some of things we did. It has also been on my list of things I need to get done before the baby comes. I only have pictures from the beginning of the month. We haven't really done much. It is too hot to be outside doing anything fun. I am usually hot just sitting indoors. I am just waiting for the baby to come. At this rate I am sure I will be going until my due date hopefully not beyond this time. I am getting excited for the baby to come. Slowly I am getting things set-up and ready.

My SIL Angie gave the girls these outfits for their birthdays. I love when they are matching so I had to get a picture. Elsa turned 2 on the 5th of July. She actually had 3 different birthday celebrations. These pictures are from her actual birthday opening gifts from Mom and Dad.

For the 4th of July we went over to my Brother Tyler's house for the 2nd Annual Barlow Family Olympics. It was a lot of fun. We spent most of the time in the pool which is the only way to survive the heat. We had good food too. We also celebrated Elsa's b-day with some cake and ice cream since all the family was together.

Elsa was being quite the stinker on this say when I was trying to get any pictures of her. Here she is enjoying the otter pops that we ate while watching fireworks. We had a lot of fireworks to set-off.

Caitlyn enjoying the sparklers and watching fireworks.

Here are the girls in the pool. They had so much fun with all the cousins.

Our attempt at a family photo. Elsa was having none of it.

Here is the cake that Wade made for Elsa. It was really good. He did a great job. The adults enjoyed this while the kids had cupcakes.

I was trying to get a picture of the girls together because they looked so cute in their matching shirts from Nana. I told you Elsa was being a stinker for the camera. Usually she is right there smiling, I don't know what her deal was. Caitlyn's is cute though.

Here are the pictures from Elsa's first birthday celebration when Nana was in town. My MIL Debby makes quilts for the kids when they turn 2. It was kind of big to ship so she used it as an excuse to come see her grandkids. The night before she left we got an ice cream cake from Coldstone and opened presents. Elsa was spoiled this year for her birthday.

June Happenings

2009-07-17T21:55:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know July is almost over but I am finally finding a minute when my kids aren't around I have the energy to blog. I decided I needed to catch up before the baby comes or it won't happen. So here are pictures and what we did in June.

Caitlyn had swimming lessons at Sunset Park this year. She actually did pretty well this year except she would not put her face in the water. Wade took her her first 2 days because I was in Utah at a funeral. It was quite hot sitting at swimming lessons and kind of pain being up and out of the house every day but we survived. Wade took these pictures or we probably wouldn't have any because I always forget the camera.

Below is a picture Caitlyn took of Wade and I. She loves taking pictures.

One weekend we watched Brock for Tyler and Sarah while they had a night away. They really are cute together. I did realize over this weekend that Caitlyn is quite bossy. We are trying to teach her to be nice. I was practicing the piano and so Caitlyn and Brock starting dancing. Too cute!

In June we took a vacation to Utah. It is our only family vacation this summer. It was a lot of fun. I forgot our camera but we were still able to get pictures with my MIL's camera.

One of the days we drove up to Blackfoot, ID to see the grave of Elsie who my Elsa is named after. Yes, I know the spelling is different but they are pronounced the same. We changed the spelling so Elsa wouldn't have her name pronounced wrong her whole life. Elsie and Birger that are buried here are Wade's Grandpa's brother and sister that died when they were young. That is who Elsa is named after. It was fun to visit the grave. As you can see it was pouring rain so we had to be quick.

One of the main reasons for going up when we did is so we would take our kids through a temple so we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Open house.

Here is Riley Caitlyn and Nathan, Elsa wouldn't get in the picture, in the tent after the open house where we had cookies and water.

Here is Elsa playing with Bitsy my in-laws dog. She loves loves loves dogs. I really don't ever want a dog so she has to enjoy other peoples. She just follows the dog around and has to know where she is at all times. It cracks me up to watch her play with Bitsy.

In June was Caitlyn's big Spring Dance Recital complete with costumes. This year though was Lori's 30th year of teaching so she had all of her alumni come back and dance. It was so fun to be dancing again. So being 7 months pregnant I was out there dancing.

Below is my age group dancing to Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice. This dance was complete with some great early 90's dance moves like the running man, cabbage patch , and kid n play.

Here is Caitlyn dancing. She is so cute to watch. She loves dance so much.

Here is me in the tap number. Here is Caitlyn before the show.

Happy Birthday Caitlyn!

2009-05-13T13:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Caitlyn's 4th Birthday. I can't believe she is 4. She is getting so big and is so cute but can definately be challenging sometimes. We had a pretty simple birthday. We went to Chuck-E - Cheese and had cake and ice cream. She had a great time and loved all her presents. Here are pictures from the day.

Easter (and My Birthday)

2009-04-19T22:27:00.001-07:00

Since it has been a week I decided I better blog about Easter and my birthday. We had a good Easter. This year my birthday was on Easter. I have had a few birthdays that fall on Easter. The story from my mom about when my birth was scheduled (she had C-Sections on all 5 kids) was that she had to direct the Ward choir on Easter Sunday and then they could schedule the C-section. We went out Saturday night with some of my family with no kids and that was nice. Having a birthday 3 days for the tax deadline is not the best birthdate to have being married to a CPA but we have made it work. Even though Wade is super busy my birthdays have always been great. On Sunday we woke up and Wade made pancakes while the girls played with their easter baskets. The highlight of my Easter Sundays is getting my girls dressed in their dresses that their Grandma (my mom) made for them. They don't know how spoiled they are with the dresses they get to wear. After church we went to my parents for an Easter dinner. It was very nice because I didn't have to do anything since it was my birthday. It was a great day. My girls were adorable and it will be fun next year when I have 3 girls in Dresses.

Tax Season

2009-04-19T22:10:00.000-07:00

So what do you do when it is tax season and your husband is a CPA? You have a picnic on your porch. On this day he called me (during our nap time) and said that he would not be home until 9 or 10. I was like okay guess I am not cooking dinner. The girls wanted Cheese sandwiches and a picnic so that is what I did. To keep my sanity during the last few weeks of tax season I have to get really creative so I don't have a breakdown EVERY DAY. Being pregnant and staying home with the two kids was pretty hard some days. Luckily I have family close by that I can go hang out with when I need the break. This was the week Wade worked 70 hours. The kids saw him Sunday and didn't see him until Wednesday night. It is a crazy time of year. I am grateful for his sacrifice for our family. It is definitely hard during Busy season but I am starting to get used to it. Every busy season gets a little easier. It is now over and Wade has taken a few days off and so it has been very nice. Here are the pictures from our picnic. It is amazing to me how much they can find to do on our little porch. They stay entertained forever and never want to come inside.

My kids are so hard to pose for pictures.

Photographer Caitlyn

2009-04-19T21:59:00.001-07:00

Below are pictures that Caitlyn took. I let her take a couple pictures and then she was off with the camera (I think I was chatting on the phone and didn't realize she had taken it) When I got the camera back she had taken about 70 pictures. She actually did pretty well. Elsa was also a willing model. Only a few of them had her finger in the way. Maybe she is discovering her career at an early age. Here is a sample of her pictures. Hope you enjoy.

March Happenings

2009-03-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

Caitlyn is growing up so fast and I can't believe she is almost 4. The other day I cam downstairs and saw her reading the scriptures so I had to snap a picture. Her scriptures go to church with her and she will even take her crayons and mark or color her scriptures while she reads. I love to watch her imagination work. She says the funniest things sometimes. The other day she had her Belle dress on and came down to inform me that she was cooking for her castle. She loves the princesses and is excited for the day when she meets her prince charming. Everyday she makes me laugh and some days she makes me want to cry too but we love her.I did Elsa's hair in pig tails the other day and I thought it was so cute. We won't be doing it a lot because Elsa is a bear to get to hold still to get her hair done but I wanted to try it. So 20 minutes later and chasing and bribing this was the result. Too cute!

For awhile now I have wanted a toy that my kids can play with on the porch. I don't mind going out there with them there was just never anything for them do to. So I saw this at Costco and decided to buy it. 2 weeks later and lots of drama we FINALLY were able to get the sink operating so they could play with it. It was windy and cold but the girls had been waiting so long to play with it they didn't care and had a blast. It was nice because it entertained them while I vacuumed the van out. Everyday all day they ask to play with it. It is fun. The next thing I want is a playhouse for our side yard but I don't know if we will get one. That is what Caitlyn wants for her birthday.

Pictures

2009-03-07T08:57:00.000-08:00

So here are the pictures I have on my camera.

Yesterday Elsa was laying down on the pillow that is next to her and it was so cute. By the time I got the camera though she sat up. That is how it always goes though. The guys were here fixing the bunk beds and her and Caitlyn were a kind of scared. Elsa just stayed in this corner the whole time they were here.
Here are their bunk beds we got back in January. We had some issues with the posts but they are finally fixed. The girls love them Caitlyn sleeps on the top. It will be awhile before Elsa joins her. Sometime after the baby comes. And yes if you look close on the walls behind the bed you will see Caitlyn's lovely art work. I think we are going to be painting Caitlyn's room because I cannot get it off. That has been Caitlyn's latest phase. She hasn't done it in a while so I think she has gotten in trouble enough to know she can only draw on paper. She is not allowed to have writing utensils without supervision either. Oh the joys!

Here is Caitlyn posing for the camera. I can't believe she is actually smiling.

I was trying to get a picture of Elsa with her dress on her because she was dressing herself but by the time I got the camera she pulled it off. I took the dress off of her to put her pajamas on her and she grabbed the dress and tried to put it back on. It was really funny. Elsa is obsessed with clothes and putting them on herself. It is quite frustrating.

These are our new couches. We decided that white cloth couches were not the best with kids so we started looking for new ones. They are way comfortable. They couch has 2 recliners and the love seat are double rocking recliners. We have really been enjoying them and the leather is so nice with the kids

It's a ........

2009-03-06T08:58:00.001-08:00

So Yesterday I had my ultrasound to find out what we are having. I am a little early at 16 weeks but when I went to the Doctor last week they gave me the sheet to go have it done and I was going to argue. I really wanted to know what we were having. So after and 1 1/2 in the waiting room filling out paperwork and being told it is still pending with the insurance company for approval (and by the way if the insurance company doesn't approve it you will have to pay $231.00. I was like really you couldn't have called me this morning before I dropped my kids of at a friends and before my husband took time off work during busy season to be here to let me know so I could make the decision before I am here and way excited to find out that everything is okay with the baby and what the sex is. Wade and I were like whatever we are here so hopefully the insurance will cover it. I am grateful to have insurance though.) We were finally called back and started the ultrasound.
I am really excited to say that we are having a girl! We were kind of hoping for a boy. I love having girls but I also want to have a boy. I really was not disappointed though. Girls are a lot of fun. It will also be nice too because I don't have to try and fit boy toys into our little house. It will be fun. Caitlyn wanted a brother and is not very happy she is having another sister but I don't know that she fully understands it. She will be excited when the baby is here. I have no girl names only boy names that I have had picked out forever and I keep having girls. Good thing I have some time to figure it out. Everything else looked good on the ultrasound with the baby so that was a relief as well. I am going to go back in 8 weeks for another one.
Life has been going well for us. Busy season is upon us so single motherhood is upon me which can be challenging at times especially being pregnant. There hasn't been too much else to report on. I was released from YW a couple of weeks ago so that has been weird to not have that responsibility anymore. I am not doing anything right now so I am just trying to enjoy it because I don't think it will last long. The girls are still as cute as ever. I will try and post some pictures later.

Utah Vacation

2009-01-15T20:47:00.001-08:00

We went up to Utah after Christmas to Visit Wade's Family. His sister was in town from CA who we don't get to see often. It was a fun week. We didn't do too much but I like those kinds of vacations. We went to a Utah Basketball game on Wednesday night and I was reminded of why I usually stay home from those. They are just kind of Pointless with the kids. I am too busy watching the kids that I don't even get to watch the game so I feel like I might as well be at home. Wade also went to another game on Saturday. The highlight of the weekend for Wade though was being able to watch Utah win their bowl game with his Family. It was so loud from their cheering I think the whole neighborhood could hear them. We played card games during the game so that was fun for me. Overall it was a fun weekend to just hang out with Family. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Since we aren't all together a lot we took some pictures. Of course Caitlyn was being her stubbron self when it comes to pictures. That is why she is the only grandchild not on the bench. Overall it was a pretty good picture experience. It didn't end with me in tears from frustration.

Here is Elsa and Wade enjoying the football game. Elsa could not get enough of the dogs. She was so cute with them. She has to love nana's dog though because we will probably never have a dog.

Caitlyn went sledding with Papa, Dad, Angie, Morgan, Tristen, Ryan,Nathan and Dad. She had a lot of fun. In all the picture I saw she had a smile on her face.

Christmas

2009-01-15T17:29:00.001-08:00

This year for Christmas we were able to stay at home. We had Christmas eve with my family and then home to prep for Santa. Santa was very good to the kids this year. We videotaped more than took pictures this year so I don't have a ton but a few to show what the kids got. It was a great Christmas.

Caitlyn received cleaning items from Grandma.

Here is Caitlyn with some of her gifts.

The girls received this little table, which they love and sit at all the time, and a wooden train set.

This ball toy is Elsa's favorite. Not a day goes by that she doesn't play with it.

And of course Wade broke the budget as he does every year for me. He really does spoil me. This year we were just doing stockings for each other. This picture was part of my stocking. I have always loved this picture. I told Wade that if we have to 2 girls I definitely want this picture. Well, Greg Olsen was at Costco in May and so he signed it for me and wrote a message. I love it. It is now hanging in our family room.

Polar Express

2009-01-15T17:06:00.001-08:00

This year we were able to go to Williams, AZ to ride the Polar Express. Last year for Christmas my brother and his wife gave us this trip for Christmas. It was so much fun. It was hard to wait a whole year but worth the wait. It was perfect little trip. Not too far of a drive but just enough to get away. It was cold in Williams though. Part of the present was matching pajamas for the trian ride. Below is a picture of all of us. There was close to 40 people. It was a lot of fun to be with all the family. I am glad we all get a long and like each other so we can do these things. the day before we left Elsa woke up with Croup. Yeah! So off the doctor we went for the steriod shot. I didn't want anything coming in the way of the trip. We left on Saturday rode the train that night and then drove home Sunday. Part of the package was a dinner and Breakfast buffet. the train ride was a lot of fun. Caitlyn had a great time. Elsa was not feeling very well on the Train ride but I think she still enjoyed it as well. It was a great trip. Thanks Tyler and Sarah. Below are the pictures we took from the weekend.

December Happenings

2009-01-15T16:47:00.000-08:00

I know it has been forever since I posted but I am finally getting around to it. This has post has some random pictures of things we did in December. Below are pictures of Wade and Caitlyn making a gingerbread house. Elsa just enjoyed being cute and eating the candy.

Of course I had to take some pictures of the snow we had in Vegas. It was fun to have snow and it was even better to know that it would last one day and not come back like this for a long time. That made the snow very enjoyable. The girls loved it and all Caitlyn wanted to do was build a "nowman"( snowman).

Also, in December we found out that I am pregnant with Baby #3! We are excited. I haven't been to the doctor yet but figure I am due sometime around the middle of August.

Update on Life

2008-12-15T12:53:00.000-08:00

I found some pictures on my camera that I had not posted to my blog.

These were the only pictures I got from our Thanksgving weekend. It was a great weekend. Wade's parents came in town. We ate and shopped the weekend away. Here are the girls loving being outside while their dad and Papa put up the Christmas lights.

At our Ward Christmas party Santa came to visit. Caitlyn was really good and sat on his lap. She told him she wanted Tinkerbell, the movie. Elsa was a little more cautious. She just wanted the candy cane.
Here is Caitlyn before her dance recital. She doesn't know how to just hold still and smile for the camera. She is more interested in seeing herself after the picture is taken. She definately our little princess.
Here she is patiently waiting for her dance to start.

Here she is dancing away to a doodlebop song. Here is Elsa in her Christmas Dress. Caitlyn has the same one but she changed while I was taking a nap so I didn't get a picture of her in it. I will snap one of her next time she wears it.

Christmas Dance Recital

2008-12-09T20:40:00.000-08:00

Last night was Caitlyn's Christmas Dance Recital. She was so excited for her dance recital. She did a great job. Below are the links to watch her dances.

Here is her Tap Dance
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5229042095922996553

Here is her Jazz dance
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2671311083285271156

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-02T17:45:00.001-08:00

This year for Halloween we had two nights of Celebration. Thursday was our Trunk or Treat and Friday we had a get together at my Brother's house.
The trunk or Treat was fun. Only Caitlyn and I went to that because Elsa was sick with the stomach flu on Tuesday and then decided to throw up again right before we were leaving so Wade stayed home with her. This year it wasn't really trunk or treating, they just had us go around to the rooms to get the candy. Caitlyn had a good time and got some good candy.
Friday I was gone all day for a stake young women activity so Wade watched the girls and cooked his chili for the Annual Barlow family Chili Cook-off. I got home right before we had to leave so I got the girls ready and we left. As always we had a lot of fun at Tyler and Sarah's. My mom , Tyler, Jared, and Wade chili. Unfortunately Tyler's chili won. They were all good though. After that is was time to go trick or treating. I think there were like 20 kids at the party. We divided in two groups so the big kids could run from house to house. Caitlyn was a lot of fun this year. She could say trick or treat and it was so cute. She was also way excited to be with her cousin Brock. They were holding hands as we walked from house to house. Elsa enjoyed the stroller ride but towards the end Wade took her out to go up to the doors. By the end of the night I was exhausted because I had been up at 5 that morning. I went to bed and then awoke at 2:30 a.m. feeling sick. Yes, I had caught the stomach flu that Elsa had. Luckily it was about an 8 hour bug for me. I just slept most of the day. I am feeling better now but that is why this post is late. I am just hoping Cailtyn and Wade don't get it. Elsa has been lingering longer than I want it to. Anyway below are the pictures from the weekend.

This year Caitlyn was Belle. She wears this dress all the time but when you asked her what she wanted to be for Halloween she said Belle.

Here is my cute Bee, Elsa

Here is a group picture of all the kids at the party. It was a lot of kids!
Aren't these so cute?! My brother Jared always makes creative things. They are double stuffed oreos with pretzel legs and then dipped in chocolate. They tasted really good too.

Pictures on the Camera

2008-11-02T17:34:00.001-08:00

When I went to download the Halloween Pictures I found a few other pcitures on the camera that were cute so I had to share. We are in the phase with Elsa where she wants to do everything her big sister Caitlyn does. One morning Caitlyn brought in an apron to put on her so she could cook in her kitchen. Well, Elsa was right behind her with an apron for her. They went into Caitlyn's room and cooked some Mac and Cheese. They are so cute together. I always have 2 helpers in my kitchen ready to help at any time. Caitlyn is now setting the table. She can be tired or throwing a fit and I say okay it is time to set the table, and her face lights up and she is ready to help. I hope it lasts forever. If only she could wash all my dishes!
Wade ran in a 5K Last weekend so we went to support him. I only snapped a couple of pictures but it was fun. It was at the Southern highlands Fall Festival. They had Bounce houses and all kinds of vendors giving out free food.

Well and Sick Check-up

2008-10-08T13:03:00.000-07:00

Today was Elsa's 15 month Well check-up. Time has gone by so fast. Here are her stats:
Weight: 23 lbs 12 oz 53 %
Height: 31 Inched 69%
Head: 19 Inches 96%
I took Caitlyn with me today becuase she started to get a cold on Monday. I decided since I was already going to be at the Dr's office I might as well have Caitlyn checked out as well. He said it was just a cold. She had a little fluid in her ear but it should clear up on its own. It was a pretty good trip considering I had both kids with me.

Last week was the week of the parks. We are at the park Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I only remembered my Camera on Friday so here some pictures from that. My girls would stay in the swing the whole time if I would let them. We are tying to teach Caitlyn how to pump her legs so we don't have to push her.

Here are the girls enjoying some popcorm as we watched the Boston Red Sox win Monday night.

Girl's Weekend

2008-10-02T15:10:00.001-07:00

I know that it is Thursday and almost time for the next weekend but I am writing about last weekend. I forgot my camera so I was waiting for pictures and then the time to sit down and blog about it. This last weekend I went on a trip with my girlfriends that I grew up with. There were a few a missing but it was still fun. We have really known each other since elementary school, some we met in Jr High and High school but it is like we have known them just as long. I feel truly blessed to still stay in contact with them and that I had a great support system growing up. It is amazing we are all still friends because sometimes we were not very nice to each other. I think that makes are relationships great today because there isn't really much that we can say or do to make us mad at each other.
The weekend was great and a nice break from the day to day life of wife and mother. My awesome husband (with some help from my sister-in-law Sarah on Friday) watched the kids for me in the middle of tax season so I could go. When we stopped and ate in Cedar I was like oh my gosh I get to actually eat my food when it is hot, I don't have to cut anybody's food up or feed them. It was so weird. We stayed at my Friend Jacque's Cabin in Panguitch, Utah. It was so pretty and the weather was awesome. We stayed up way to late got up way to early but ate really good food and played fun games. We also went to the RS broadcast that was so good. My throat was pretty sore when we got home because we talked so much but it was worth it. We try to do one every year and they are so worth it. I was glad to be back home but can't wait until next year. Here are the pictures from the weekend.

Tagged

2008-09-25T15:54:00.001-07:00

So my friend Liz Tagged me and I was in the right mood when I read it so I decided to do it.

What was I doing 10 years ago?
1. Going to high School
2. Working at K-mart
3. Singing in the choir at High school
4. Hanging out with Friends
5. Taking Dance

What is on my TO-DO list today? Since it is almost dinner time my To-Do list is basically done but here is what was on it today. I am a pretty simple person when it comes to what I have planned for a day and don't plan a lot. I don't want to get too overwhelmed!!

1. Go Visit Teaching
2. Go the Grocery Store
3. Make Lunch
4. Make Dinner
5. Catch up on my DVR'd shows from Last night and this Morning

What are my favorite snacks? I am not a huge snacker, I would rather it a good meal that I didn't have to cook or clean up but here are my favorites.
1. Potato Chips almost any kind I am not picky
2. Chocolate
3. Oreos dipped in 2% milk
4. Chips Ahoy Cookies (the original ones) dipped in 2% milk
5. Ice Cream

What would I do if I were a millionaire? I have to agree with Liz on this one for the most part.
1. Pay my tithing and taxes
2. Pay off debt (cars, house, school, etc.)
3. Set aside a chunk for the kids
4. Share it with my family
5. Invest, invest, invest

Where have I lived? Probably not five places either so I will improvise with Streets too
1.Cartegena St
2.Wallaby Ln
3. Apartments on Silverado Ranch
4. My In-Laws
5. My house today!

What jobs have I had? I haven't had five only 3 outside of the home
1. K-Mart
2. Bigelow Management
3. A construction/Development company

People that MUST complete their own tag! YAY!
Anybody who wants to do it and needs something to blog about.

Forts

2008-09-23T14:18:00.000-07:00

Didn't you just love building forts when you were a kid. We built them all the time with Pillows blankets anything that would work. Caitlyn has a new love of them. She tries to make a "house" out of anything, the laundry basket , chairs or just plays under the table. Elsa always joins in with the fun as well. Yesterday I helped Caitlyn make a small house in her room yesterday. Today she brought the couch and blanket down so I decided to make her a bigger one. It has been great and cheap entertainment for the day. I really think I will be buying her a pop-up tent, a little less of a mess and it won't fall down as much.

Caitlyn's First Haircut

2008-09-19T14:11:00.001-07:00

I had Caitlyn's hair cut today. For a long time I didn't really know what to do with her hair and everybody just said let it grow. That's what I've done for the last 3 1/2 years. Last week I was looking at though and thinking that I need to do something. It just looks scraggly sometimes. She has curly hair and so if I don't put Mousse in by the end of the day it doesn't look good. It was short on the sides and long in the back. It is also pretty fine and so it doesn't hold a curl and I didn't know if she has the right hair to grow it long. I decided that I needed to cut all one length. So today was the day. I had my friend Shelly do it. I am really happy with it. It will be an adjustment because I can't really do ponytails but it will be fine. The curl in it looks a lot better too. Here are some pictures from the cut. I think she didn't really know what was going on. She just sat really still in the chair. I talked to her about it to prepare her so she wouldn't freak out. Now it will grow out and be even so I am excited.

Here are a couple of pictures that were on my camera. It doesn't rain a lot in Vegas so we had to take advantage of the rain we received this one afternoon.

Elsa is so dang cute and silly. She was standing on the chair playing the piano.

First Day of Dance

2008-09-08T16:37:00.000-07:00

Today Caitlyn started Dance. She will be taking Tap and Jazz from Lori Day. It was kind of crazy for me to take her there because it was only 8 years ago (but feels like 2) that I was taking dance from Lori. I am not sure who was more excited her or me. I was totally excited because I loved Dance and I am excited to Lori every week. For ten years of my life I saw her weekly and she is just awesome. I knew Caitlyn was excited too though because ever since we have had her dance outfit and shoes she has been asking me when she gets to go to Dance. Well, today was the day. She did awesome. She did everything she was asked too. She would get distracted sometimes because she loves to watch everybody but she kept up. It was also so fun because my friend Alexis (I know crazy that she has the same name as me, she is really the only person I have met that is around my age with the same name.) that I grew up dancing with has her daughter Jocelyn in the same class. It was fun to catch up with her. She was actually Caitlyn's baby nurse when I delivered Caitlyn. It was just fun and Caitlyn loved it. At the end of the class Lori gave them suckers but before they could get one she had to do a dance step she learned. When she was called she went up there and did heel step. I was a proud mom. Here are the pictures from the day. I actually remembered my camera.

Go Utes!

2008-08-31T16:16:00.001-07:00

Yes, it is that time of year again. College Football season has started. I am not quite sure how I feel about it. I really don't enjoy watching it but it does give me a good reason to buy cute new clothes for the girls and Wade doesn't usually object because it is supporting his favorite team. If you are familiar with University of Utah you know their colors are red white and black and no my camera is not broken the girls are in Pink. Isn't is so cute? I liked the pink outfits better than the red white and black ones they had. I want to find me a pink shirt as well. My kids have always had Utah clothes to wear since they were a baby. As some of you may recall Caityn's Birth announcement featured her in a Utah Onesie as we introduced the newest University of Utah Fan. That really is the excitement for me is dressing my kids all cute. I am a fan because I want a happy husband so I do want Utah to win. Wade grew up cheering for the Utes so it is in his blood. Wade loves watching sports and I am slowly being converted. You would think growing up with 4 brothers that I would love it but I have always been a girlie girl.
We had a Ward party last night and the girls wore their outfits and people were giving us a hard time it was pretty funny. It seems like in Las Vegas there are more BYU fans than Utah fans. I watched the last 15 minutes of the game yesterday(that is how I like to watch sports, right before it is over. That is really all that matters. A team can be ahead the entire game and lose it in the last 5 minutes). Caitlyn and I went shopping while Elsa slept (she actually did sleep amongst all the cheering and shouting Wade does at the TV) and Wade watched the game. Maybe as my kids get older and if they get it into I might start to enjoy it more but for now it just is it not really my thing but I will continue to dress my kids cute for the games.

I'm Back

2008-08-25T08:41:00.000-07:00

I know that I am not the best at blogging regularly but I do kind of have an excuse. I was on vacation in Utah for 2 1/2 weeks. I have been back a week but you know how it is when you get back in town so I am finally sitting down to post about the trip.
The First weekend I was up there was the Matenson Family Reunion (My mom's side of the family) in Park City, UT. This reunion is over the whole weekend and I think it is fun that way because I have time to see and talk to everybody. My mom has 7 Sisters so I have a lot of family to catch up with. I drove up Thursday by myself with the two kids. Wade had to stay home and work. I don't know how sad he was about that, he thinks this reunion is too much socialization. Anyway I caravaned with my SIL Sarah (her husband stayed home also) so that helped when we stopped. The trip wasn't too bad I just had 2 of everything so if the kids dropped something I just handed them another one. Besides after an 18 hour drive to Oregon this was a short drive to them. The reunion was pretty relaxing. We had time to do whatever during the day and at night we would all come together. The first night we had Karaoke and Dancing and the next night was our annual Auction to raise money for the next year. My aunts were disappointed Wade wasn't there. He's not very conservative with money at this auction when he wants something for his girls and he likes to bid the prices up for fun. I managed to come away with some princess stuff for Caitlyn. Sunday we went to Church and had our final get together. They decided we are only going to do the reunion every other year which makes me sad. It was a good time and I can't wait for the next one. Here are some pictures from the reunion.

Me making lunch for the kids. There were seven kids and 4 adults in our Condo.

My brother and I doing the MacarenaBrock and Caitlyn enjoying some Ice Cream.The Auction ( My Mom, cousin Jessica and Niece Mackenzie)

Since we had another reunion in 2 weeks and I really didn't want to drive by myself witht he kids again I decided to just stay in Utah. So the next part of my trip was hanging out at my in-laws and visiting friends. I was able to go to lunch with my friends that live up in Utah and that was fun to see them. It is crazy how you grow up with them seeing them everyday and then we all grow up and get married and I only see them a couple times a year. When you get back together though it was like you have never been apart. I am horrible at remembering my camera so I didn't get any pictures with them but I love going and seeing them it is always a good time. Also, while I was on this trip I read Breaking Dawn. I am not obsessed with these books but they have been pretty good. I thought Breaking Dawn could have been like 400 pages long. Overall it was pretty good. It ended how it should have.

While I was up there my in-laws came to Vegas for a wedding so I went and stayed out at Wade's Sisters house. She has kids the same age as mine. That was fun to hang out there and let the kids play with their cousins they don't see very often. Wade came up towards the end of the last weekend I was there. We went to the Zoo. I can't say I love the Zoo but the kids do so I went for them. The sacrifices we make for our children. I am just not an animal lover. We rode the carousel and the Train and I think that was the highlight for the kids. The next day Wade went golfing so We took the kids and heading downtown to the I am a Child of God Exhibit in the Church History Museum. That was fun until Caitlyn had a meltdown so we had to leave early. The next day was the Christiansen Family Reunion. That reunion is on a Saturday for 4 hours. That was fun to see all of Wade's extended family. They rented a blow-up slide and the kids loved that. Overall the trip was fun but also stressful because we were still in the process of potty training and Caitlyn did not want to poop on the potty. It just added an extra stress on top of being up there so long without Wade. I am happy to report that since we got home she has been going just fine. I don't know what has changed but I am glad it has. Here are pictures from the rest of the Utah Trip.

Update on our Life

2008-07-21T21:53:00.001-07:00

Here is random updates on our life. I have a few pictures I need to post. I also did a post about our trip to Oregon so keep scrolling down when you finish this post. Life has been pretty normal. The one big update I have is that Caitlyn is Potty Trained! After a few failed attempts I finally was able to get it done. It was so easy once SHE was ready to do it. I am firm believer that they will do it when they are ready and if you try and force them you won't win. It seriously took maybe a day. There have been a few accidents but that is to be expected. It is weird that she potty trained I seriuosly never thought it would happen. I had been so frustrated with it. It is a whole new world but I am so glad it is done. Hopefully Elsa will be easy too. As a bribe to get her to go poop in the potty we told we would take her to Chuck E Cheese so tonight for FHE that is what we did. We went with my Brother and his family because there little boy Brock who is Caitlyn's age also is potty training and that was his reward too. I am still trying to decide who liked it more Wade or Caitlyn. I had to keep reminding Wade that we were there for kids and not him. Here some pictures from the last few weeeks.

I had to take a picture of this. Caitlyn made a bed out of boxes that I still need to put away. She keeps me on my toes. I love to see her little mind work. The other funny thing in this picture is the story of why Elsa has a hairbow on. While Elsa was napping I made some hairbows for a gift. I was sizing them on her head to make sure they would fit. So when I took the bow off she threw a fit so I went and got one of her hairbows and she kept it on all night.

MMMMM! Licorice. I don't reccomend giving 1 year olds licorice. It seriously took like 20 wet wipes to get it all cleaned up. She was in heaven though.
Elsa's new favorite place to play is in Laundry baskets full of dirty clothes and if there is clean folded ones in there she will unfold them for you. I couldn't keep her out of there she kept going and climbing back in.
Here are the girls enjoying a ride with Chuck e Cheese.
Here is Caitlyn having a tea party with her Bear.

Oregon Trip

2008-07-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

So we went to the Oregon Coast for a week. It was so fun and relaxing. Wade's Grandma has a house up there so almost every summer we take a vacation up there. My favorite things to do are eat out and shop and Wade likes to golf. We drove up there this yea. 18 hours in the car with a 3 year old and 1 year old. I know you are all jealous! All things considered though the kids really were not that bad I got some good reading in. I started the Twilight series. That is why I am kind of late on this post because any free time since I got home was spent reading number 3. I am done now so I can post the pictures. We really had a good time. My mom came with us, it was nice to have the extra hands to help and to babysit so Wade and I could go on a date. I will explain the trip through the pictures.

Here is Elsa enjoying the car drive. If you look close you can see that she has donut crumbs all over her. She loves the Entenman's old fashioned donuts! Smart Girl. We had to vacuum her car seat out when we got to Angie's.

Wade's sister Angie lives right off one the freeways we were traveling on so on our way up to Oregon we stopped for a visit and a much needed break for the kids. We drove another 4 hours after we left Angie's. Without that visit I don't think we could have made it. It was fun to visit with them. We hadn't seen them in a year and half. Here is Elsa and Caitlyn with Morgan.

This is a picture of the awesome crib that Elsa slept in. Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you the mattress I mean foam pad is on the floor. I felt like she was an animal in a cage not a baby in a crib. She slept soundly all night in there.

We woke up the next morning and only had about a four hour drive which was way nice considering the way long drive the day before. It was also Elsa's first birthday. I still cannot believe she is a year. She is getting so big and is so stinking cute. I brought her gifts up there for her to play with but Caitlyn kept thinking they were hers. We are working on the sharing thing.

This is us trying to get a family picture from a viewpoint on the Heceta Head lighthouse. As you can see it was incredibly windy. So windy that it almost knocked me over when I was walking back to the car.
I decided that shopping and eating out aren't always Caitlyn's favorite things to do so I wanted to do something for her. There is a family fun center in Florence so we decided to go Miniature golfing. My mom went shopping while we were golfing and we should have had her take Elsa, it was pretty difficult with her but we still had lots of fun. Caitlny actually got a hole in one on one of the holes. This is how Caitlyn played, she would hit the ball once, go pick it up and put in the hole and clap for herself. It cracked me up.

We really didn't go walk on the beach much because low tide was always at weird times that didn't work with our schedule. We did get this opportunity though.

No, your eyes are not deceiving you again. This is another crib with a foam pad on the floor for Elsa to sleep in. We had to turn this crib upside down to make it work. The guy had to search long and hard to even find these parts of the crib. When we booked both hotel rooms they told they had a crib so we didn't bring a pack n' play because the Oregon house has one. I mean seriously have these hotels not heard of a pack n' play. They are only $70. It gave us a good laugh.
Oregon was lots of fun. I can't wait to go again. We drove a total of 2800 miles. I am not excited to do that part again but it is worth it in the end.

Air Conditioning

2008-06-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

I could not live in Las Vegas without air conditioning in the summer. I rarely spend any time out outside unless I am at the pool. It is usually hot getting the kids in the car to run errands but I can get through it because I know that air conditioning in my car, house, or the store will be there ready to give me relief. Sunday Morning though my air conditioning in my house let me down.

Let me back up to a week ago. Remember as you read this that we are on a corner lot and the side of our house with the most windows gets the afternoon sun. So it was Saturday night about 7 p.m and I was getting ready to bathe the kids. I looked at our thermostat and it read 85 degrees. It really didn't feel 85 degrees so just kind of thought that it was because the sun was shining through a window right on to the thermostat. The air was blowing cold so I figured the sun was going down so it should cool down. When we went to bed at 11 it was reading 80 degrees. Keep in mind too that for 4 hours our AC is just running constantly so think of the great power bill we get to pay. That night Wade and I decided to we need to get solar screens. It was one of those things that we have talked about but have never done. After dealing with sales guys, calls to the Homeowners, and our window company I am happy to say that those have been ordered and should be installed next week. Also that night I was asking Wade if he thought our AC was working right or if we should have it serviced because it has been 4 years in this house and we have never had it serviced. We decided to get the solar screens and then maybe have it serviced.

Now that brings me to Saturday night. We went to bed around 11 and the AC was working fine. Around 5 I wake up and Wade is sitting up in bed I think Elsa is waking up to. I was asking Wade what he was doing. I didn't think he was getting up for the day. He said aren't you hot the AC is out it is 85 degrees. I thought I am kind of hot but sometimes I wake up hot. He went and checked the breakers and they were fine. I feed Elsa, she went back to sleep and I came downstairs. Around 5:30 Caitlyn woke up so she came downstairs with us. We called the repair people and after a few phone calls back to them we were scheduled to have it serviced between 9 and 12. I went back to sleep for a little bit and then had to get ready for church. We went to church and then I went to my parents while Wade came home to wait for the repair man that was of course running late. It ended up being something that powers the compressor. Thankfully it wasn't anything to major or expensive. I came home around 3:30 and it was still like 85 degrees but at least cold air was coming out of the vents. As long as I didn't move too much and sat under the fan downstairs it wasn't miserable, I was able to get a little nap in. Elsa also took a nap in the heat. We went to my SIL's house to have cake and ice cream for her birthday so it was nice to get out of the hot house. We came home and put the kids to bed. Around 11 when I was going to bed I heard Elsa over the monitor choking so I ran in her room and she had thrown up. What a great ending to the day. I changed her and the sheets and got her back to sleep. She hasn't thrown up since so I am wondering if the heat of yesterday got to her. We haven't been around anybody that has been sick and she was acting totally normal before and after she threw up so who knows. I hope it was just the heat because I don't want to pass that around. Every so often I think we just have to be reminded of how many wonderful things we have in this life like air conditioning.

Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Even with no air the girls still looked adorable for church. (I love Target Clearance!)

Anytime I get the camera out Caitlyn wants a picture taken of her so she can see herself.Elsa has discovered purses especially mine. It is the perfect size for her and kept her very entertained at church yesterday.Elsa has discovered the kitchen drawers.One day I looked over at Elsa and she was sitting on Caitlyn's couch reading a book. Too cute!

Music

2008-05-17T21:45:00.001-07:00

Music is a major part of life. I love it. Not a day goes by that I haven't been singing through out the day and I wish I could say the same about playing the piano. Music has always been a part of life. I grew up in a musical family, starting playing the piano at age 6 and always loved to sing. When I entered high school and joined Mrs. B's music program my love of music grew to a new level. Growing up I had been around a lot of people in her program, my mom accompanied a lot the students and would substitute for Mrs. B. I couldn't wait to be a part of it. We were suppose to move to Utah in my my 8th grade year but that changed and we stayed in Vegas so I was able to be in choir. Choir at Chaparral was not just an easy A. You were in that program because you loved it. It was well established by the time I entered it and it was awesome.
Tonight gave me a chance to reflect on really how much being a part of that program really made me the person I am today and not just musically. Marsha Borovicka, or Mrs. B as we called her, is retiring at 33 years of teaching, 23 of those at Chap. Tonight there was a retirement party for her. It was fun to go there and see some of the great friends I had in HS but I haven't seen in 7 or 8 years. These are the people that I spent all my waking hours with in HS. Choir was basically my social life. During the Christmas season we would have 30 or so performances. I was around all these people all the time. Some of them I have stayed in good contact with but I wish we could have just all kept in touch but most have gone on and gotten married and have kids and families but it is fun to have a reunion once in awhile.
As I sat and listened to the various people that spoke at the party I couldn't help but sit and think about how much Mrs. B and this program really had an effect on my life. I learned a lot of what I know about music because of her. I learned a ton about leadership as well. It is amazing to this day when I go to other choir performances that I still notice people touching their face and not looking at the director, all things Mrs. B taught us not to do. Those things are ingrained in my head. I grew so munch as a person. I have never really sat and thought about how much impact those 4 years had on my life. We moved across town the middle of my sophomore year and there was no way I was going to switch schools and leave her program so I stayed at Chap and drove the 20 minutes to school everyday. At the end of the presentation we sang "Friends"(at the end of every spring concert we sing that song and alumni were always welcome to come sing it) I never can get through that song without crying and tonight was no exception. It was a great night I am thankful to have that time to remember all that choir taught me and how important music is to me. Mrs. B said tonight to make sure that we are singing with our kids because there is a lot of yuck in this world and music can help us get through that. I totally agree music has amazing power in our lives. I hope I will never forgot the wonderful memories I have that program and all that it taught me.

Happy Birthday Caitlyn (a day late)

2008-05-13T21:40:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAITLYN ANNE!!

May 12, 2005

Yesterday was Caitlyn's 3rd Birthday. I can't believe she is already three. Time has gone by so fast. She is getting so big. She definately can be a handful but I love her and think she is so cute and funny.
Two of my nieces have birthdays right around the same time as Caitlyn so we always do a family birthday party and celebrate all 3. This year we tried to have it at the park but the weather didn't want to cooperate so we ended up at my brother Jared's house. We had pizza for dinner and a cake from Freed's bakery. It was a lot of fun. Caitlyn got a lot of princess stuff which she loves. Wade and I gave her a CD player and made her CD of her favorite songs from the princess movies. Anytime she could today she was singing in her room. It was a good day for her yesterday. Below are some pictures from the evening.

We picked out a princess cake for Caitlyn and since we were celebrating Mackenzie and Caylee's birthday's, who are older, we served it on Hannah Montana plates.

Here are the Birthday girls as we sing Happy Birithday. Mackenzie turned 9 today, Caylee turned 6 on Saturday and Caitlyn 3 yesterday.Here are the kids enjoying there cupcakes and ice cream.Caitlyn opening her Belle Barbie Doll.Here is Caitlyn opening the CD player. Of course we had to get her a pink one.

Here are some pictures of Elsa that I had on the camera. She is getting so big as well. She stands up without holding on to anything and has cut her 2 top teeth. She is a so fun and loves her big sister.

Elsa was helping me unload the groceries from Costco one day.

My Bowl! My Bowl!

2008-04-04T16:42:00.000-07:00

So this morning at about 3:30 a.m. I was awakened to Caitlyn talking/crying saying "My Bowl My Bowl" I instantly knew that she had thrown up or was throwing up. I ran in with the bowl to catch the end of her up-chucking.
Let me back-up a little. So last Friday Wade came home early, which was a great treat. I had been planning to go shopping but he came home so I wanted to spend time with him. I had been cleaning the house all day so I wanted to get out of the house and do something. We decided to go to the park. The girls played and had a great time. I had a spatula I need to return to a neighborhood friend and we ended up hanging out over there for about an hour. The next morning when I was talking to my friend she said her daughter had thrown up that night and was still not feeling very well. She didn't want to tell me because she knows how much I hate the stomach flu. I was just like oh well it is not like we knew she had it. I didn't have much going on this week so if we get it we will be okay. I have gotten through it before. So every night since then I have the bowl in Caitlyn's room and she knows exactly what it is for. I thought we had escaped getting it and was hopeful we had. I was wrong.
Caitlyn had thrown-up on her bed so I got a sheet and laid her on our floor, next to her bowl, so I could catch the throw-up the next time. We all finally got back to sleep about an hour later and were up at 7. Caitlyn woke up acting totally normal. Actually, even right after she threw up she seemed fine. I gave her few mild things to eat and everything seems to be settling fine. It is now almost 5 p.m. and she hasn't thrown up again and has been acting totally normal. I am crossing my fingers that it stays that way and that the rest of us don't get it. I fully expect her to randomly throw-up sometime again though like tomorrow night or something, she always does that. I had some errands to do today but didn't dare go anywhere in case things got worse. So my day has been spent doing all the throw-up laundry. Way fun! I am sure you are all jealous.

Hello?

2008-04-01T13:43:00.000-07:00

So yesterday started out pretty normal. I got up, got ready ,picked up the house, and went out shopping. I came home and picked up the phone to make a phone call but there was no dial tone. I went upstairs to get the phone and the same thing. I grabbed my cell phone to call my friend who lives in the neighborhood and I just got a busy signal. By that point I figured that there must be an outage in the area. I got my cell phone and called Embarq thinking they would comfirm that. The lady was like I haven't heard of any outage in the area but I will put your problem through and somebody will come out by 7 p.m. tomorrow night. I was thinking great that is a long time to be without the phone. Hopefully it is just an outage in the area and it will be fixed earlier than that. Oh yeah I also didn't have any internet either. My cell phone reception was also really bad and that is not normal. I do have to admit to that when I first got home and realized the phone wasn't working and my cell phone was being bad I thought what if somebody is trying to break in my house, cut my phone lines and bought one of those things that makes your cell phone not get reception. I did go upstairs and make sure nobody was hiding. There wasn't anybody in my house. I know I watch too many crime shows but I love them.
It was weird not to be able to call anybody. Elsa was napping so I couldn't go on a walk to confirm with neighbors that it was an outage so I just hung at home. Around 3:30 I went to grocery store and was able to get some cell reception but not much. When I was checking out they told me Debit was working because phones are down and the checker wasn't getting any cell reception either. That made me feel better but I just wanted to know what was going on. On the news they said that a contractor didn't "Call before you dig" and 12,000 people were without phones. Embarq was hoping the problem fixed by 9. Well, at least I finally knew what caused the problem but I still didn't have any phones. It was just kind of a weird feeling all day. I couldn't have instant communication with people. It is amazing how much peace I have knowing that if something happens, help is only a phone call away. I was feeding Elsa some furit puffs and was like if she starting choking or something happened to my kids I could not call 911. I felt trapped in my house. I have never experienced that before and I hope I never do again. We didn't have them back until 6:30 this morning. Even going to bed last night I was nervous not having a phone. Just another experience to make me grateful for all the modern conviences we have and really how much of a blessing and peace of mind they are to us.

Pictures from last Week

2008-04-01T13:30:00.000-07:00

This is Caitlyn's favorite outfit. I do laundry on Tuesday and so every Wednesday she picks this outfit out to wear. She also has a love of high heel shoes. These are some that my mom picked up for her from the junk store. She is all girl.
I saw the two girls at the window and had to snap a picture. They will often hang out in the kitchen while I am making dinner. It is such nice weather here that we have our windows open a lot. Caitlyn loves to watch the kids that are playing in the street and Elsa wants to be just like her big sister.
Have I mentioned we have a play room? It is about 4 feet by 2 feet. The girls will play in this corner forever so now I call it a playroom. They even have window in it. They just make me laugh.
Here's the room with them not playing in it.

A Day in Our Crazy Life

2008-03-24T21:29:00.000-07:00

So today when I woke up the only things on the agenda were to go to the Post office and to Costco. When you have two kids with you though nothing is really ever that easy. (I'm sure those of you with 3 or more kids would love to trade me but don't you remember when you thought 2 kids were hard?)
So by the time we were all up, fed and dressed we left the house about 11. We were in the car and headed to the post office. Once we got there I put Elsa in the stroller while Caitlyn walked. When we got in there I got my package all ready and then got in line. Of course the line was about 10 people long and they weren't efficient and everybody had all these difficult packages they had to send. Caitlyn was pretty good. She wandered but didn't really hurt anything. The lady that was in front of me said you can go ahead of me, I have grand kids and know how impatient they can be. I love nice people like that. (It is amazing to me sometimes how oblivious people are. My favorite is when I am pushing the double stroller and the doors don't automatically open and people will walk by me while I am trying to hold the door open while pushing the stroller through.) I was called up to counter and then about 3 seconds later she was called up so that made me happy that she didn't have to wait forever.
Now we were off to Costco. By this time it was about noon so I decided we would eat and then shop. Caitlyn does not let us leave Costco without getting a Hot Dog. Costco was not full of too many nice people. When I go to Costco by myself I don't really have much of an option than to push my cart up to the food line. Usually I eat before the lunch rush so I don't have to push it through the ropes. Today it was kind of crazy so I got in line behind a man. There was a lady in front of him that was chatting it up with some other lady outside of the rope. She was totally oblivious to what was going on. The man in front of me cut in front of her and I would have too but I had my cart. I thought about ramming her with the cart to get her attention but just said "excuse me" with an attitude. She finally moved. We got our food but the next task is getting Ketchup for the hot dogs and drinks filled. There was crowds of people but I managed to work my way through with the cart. The next task a table. As I am walking down the row there is one open where I can park my cart to. So I pull my cart back out of the way. I have my back to the table and while I am trying to unhook Caitlyn from the cart some guy comes and sits down at the table. I didn't say anything maybe I should have just sat there anyway. I'm sure he would have loved to have lunch with a 2 yr old and and 8 month old. So I walked around trying to find a table. There was not one table open. I really wanted to just start crying. It was just a lot of work today. It hasn't been that stressful in the past. I stood around for about 10 minutes and then finally a table opened. We ate and were off to shop. After that things were pretty smooth. We got home and it was nap time. Elsa fought me a little but finally went down. Caitlyn never did take a nap but she wasn't acting too bad so it was okay. I organized Caitlyn's toys and then went to start dinner.
I had dinner simmering while Elsa was playing on the floor by me. I look down to see what she is doing and she is trying to get some crumb from the floor, I pick up the crumb and notice some red on the floor I thought it was from a cut I had. Then I see Elsa with something and it is a pretty big piece of glass from a jar that I broke about 3 weeks ago. I took it away thinking that she didn't cut herself and then I remember the red on the floor and so I check her hand and sure enough she had a cut on the tip of her index finger. Elsa didn't cry at all. It was bleeding really bad though so I went up to our room to get the band aids. Have you ever tried to put a band-aid on an 8 month old though? She was not cooperating. Because of where the cut was she needed 2 band-aids so it stayed on. I put one set on but she bled through it. I got some gauze out and added that with the next set but it was a pain. I think I went through about 8 bandages until finally it stayed on. She wouldn't leave it alone and so she pulled it off. It was still bleeding so I had to start another round. While I was doing this Caitlyn took off her diaper and said she went pee in the potty. She really didn't, she just likes to sit on her potty. That is the next project in the next few weeks. I'm sure they'll be some good posts about that. Anyway, I finally got a band-aid on and we came downstairs. Remember that dinner that was simmering? Yes, it was burned. It is 6:30 and now I have a screaming 8 month old who had been traumatized from trying to put on a band-aid, Caitlyn running around and no dinner. We go outside to calm Elsa down and try and distract her from the band-aid. Caitlyn put leaves all over the porch and I told her pick them up or she was going to her room. Of course she didn't pick them up so she was in her room. I called Wade and asked him when he was coming home and it was not soon enough.
Elsa pulled off her other set of band-aids but thankfully it wasn't really bleeding anymore. I probably used16 to 18 band-aids. I got Caitlyn our of her room and Elsa calmed down so now I needed to worry about dinner. We ate a frozen pizza.
Tomorrow is a new day. Hopefully there won't be too much craziness.

Tagged A to Z

2008-03-24T15:24:00.000-07:00

I'm seen this around on a few different blogs and now I was tagged.

A - Attached or Single: Attached.....to my husband Wade
B - Best Friends: Wade and the Beehive Possee
C - Cake or Pie: Definately Cake
D - Day of choice: I don't know if I really have a day I love. They are all pretty hectic
E - Essential Item: Vaseline and Lotion
F - Favorite Color: Blue
G - Gummy Bears or Worms: Gummy Worms
H - Hometown: Born is Bellingham Washington but Las Vegas is all I really know
I - Indulgence(s): Chips and Chocolate
J - January or July: July because it is somewhat of a break from tax season.
K - Kids: Yes, Caitlyn 2 1/2 and Elsa 8 months
L - Life is incomplete without: Family and Friends
M -Marriage Date: March 22, 2003
N - Number of Siblings: 4 brothers
O - Oranges or Apples: I like them both but they taste even better when somebody peels and cuts them for me
P - Phobias or Fears: Living this life without any of family
Q - Quotes: In all of living, have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed; not just endured. President Gordon B. Hinckley
R - Reason to Smile: My husband and kids, Tax deadline, and eating out.
S - Season: Spring
T - Tag Three Friends: I tag anybody who wants fill this out
U- Unknown fact about me: I don't like chunky or chrunchy things in my soft food i.e. chunks of fruit in yogurt or pickles and celery in potato salad
V - Very favorite store: Gap
W - Worst habit: Biting my nails
X - X-ray or Ultrasound: Ultrasounds
Y - Your favorite food: Mexican
Z - Zodiac: Aries

Easter Weekend

2008-03-23T14:50:00.000-07:00

Since I have been so bad about posting I thought I would post twice in one day.

Friday night Caitlyn and I died Easter eggs. On Thursday we went to JoAnn's to buy a Disney Princess egg dying kit. I totally did not take any pictures. I am so bad at taking pictures and I am trying to be better. Sometimes it just doesn't cross my mind. While we were dying them I went to get some hot water to put these princess things on the eggs (they didn't end up working) I was gone 2 seconds and Caitlyn spilled the orange dye on the table and spilled on my carpet. So while I start getting that cleaned up Wade comes home. For most people that would be a relief, extra hands to help but for me it was bad timing. For those of you who don't know I have to move the van everyday so Wade can pull his car in our garage. We have a one car garage and my van doesn't fit in it and we can't park on our street, so most of the time I move it for him. So I had to get the kids into the van, I couldn't leave them unattended around the egg dye and Elsa would have crawled right where the orange was on the carpet. Anyway so it came out of my carpet thanks to spot shot. We finished the eggs and it was bedtime. Nothing can just be simple with a 2 year old in the house.

Saturday I had to wake up and finish filling out the auction sheets for our YW camp fundraiser. We all got ready and went to the Ward Easter egg hunt and ate lunch. Once again I totally forgot the camera so we didn't get any pictures of Caitlyn but it was kind of chaotic anyway. the auction was a great success and we raised more than enough money. The ward really came through. Once we came home from that I had to tally up things from the auction while the kids took naps. Saturday was also Wade and I's 5th Wedding anniversary. It is crazy to think it has been five years. My parents came over so we could go out and celebrate without the kids. It was so nice to go on a date with with Wade. It is hard to do that when you are living on a tight budget and have kids but hopefully we can do it more often. Also with it being tax season it was nice to get to spend some time with him. He usually comes home from work and goes to bed about an hour later. Only a few weeks left until the deadline.

Sunday- We got up and went to church. The Easter bunny came and brought Caitlyn 101 Dalmatians. Everytime that she has seen it advertised on the TV she says "mommy buy that" She has been watching it as much as she can today. I got the girls dressed in their way cute Easter dresses made by my mom and we were off to church. Now we are just hanging out and will go over to my parents for dinner. It has been a pretty busy weekend but fun. I did remember to get pictures of the girls in their dresses. As you will see Caitlyn was not totally cooperative but I'll take what I can get. I will be getting professional pictures taken in the next few months for their birthdays.

Here is Elsa, while I was trying to get Caitlyn to cooperate I took one of Elsa

This was the best I could of the both of them.

This is Caitlyn after church, isn't something missing? Oh Yeah that would be the white pinafore. She got 3 different colors of crayon on it during sacrament meeting. I was not very happy. No worries though a little bleach and oxi clean and and it came out. Those are 2 things that are essential with kids.

Random Pictures

2008-03-23T14:36:00.000-07:00

So I know I haven't been very good about blogging. Life has been busy with being a wife, mom and YW stuff. Hopefully this week calms down a little. Here are some random pictures from the last couple of weeks. I had another picture to share but I accidentally deleted it. It was of Elsa and Caitlyn playing on the stairs. Elsa is trying so hard to climb the stairs but hasn't figured it out quite yet, Thank goodness. She has recently started to pull herself up on the ottoman. She is getting so big!

Elsa's other love is rugs. She follows me around and if there is a rug in sight she will try and eat it.

This picture is on the Sunday that we moved our clocks forward. Neither one would take nap earlier but by 5:00 pm they were out. Of course they both wanted mom and within seconds they were asleep.

Mornings and Updates

2008-03-07T07:48:00.000-08:00

I would not say I am a morning person. I would rather stay up late and sleep in. Before I had kids I could easily sleep in until 11 or 12 and I loved it! Having children has changed all of that though. I now have no choice but to be a morning person. Every so often I will still get to sleep in but not very much, especially now that I have nursing baby, a husband that currently has to work Saturdays, and church at 9. Caitlyn has always been an early riser and I think that is because I had to go to work and so she had to be up and ready to go. Elsa is really good because she will wake up around 6 and then go back to sleep until about 9. Some mornings I do turn on the TV for Caitlyn and go back to sleep for awhile but it is not the same as sleeping in my bed until 9. I will take whatever I can get though. This morning was not one of those mornings that I was able to go back to sleep and I really wanted to. Elsa woke up and ate but wouldn't go back to sleep and Caitlyn was up at 6:30. Oh Well, I will just try to get a nap today.

It has been a pretty normal week this past week but I will tell you some cute things my girls have done this week.
Caitlyn - One morning after I was done showering I went to check on Caitlyn and she had gone downstairs got the grated cheese out of the fridge grabbed the scissors out of the drawer (all of our scissors have been put up for a while now but I must have put the kitchen ones back in the drawer out of habit) got a spoon and a cup and headed upstairs. She then cut the Ziploc bag open (she knows how to open Ziploc bags) filled her cup with cheese and proceeded to eat it. When I found her she was like "I tut it mommy" Thankfully nothing more happened with the scissors and I remembering to put them on top of the fridge. Caitlyn is starting to talk more and more and use lots of sentencing and it is so cute. When she sees things on the TV that she wants she says "mommy buy this" I don't know how she has picked that up she is so smart. She keeps me on my toes. It is harder to outsmart a 2 year old then I thought it would be. She has a little bit of a cold but so far it isn't too bad so hopefully it stays that way.
Elsa - She cut her other bottom tooth last week. She continues to get faster and faster at crawling. She will be on her tummy crawling and can get back into a sitting position. She is getting so big so fast and I cannot believe it. She is a really good baby.
Wade - continues to work at least 12 hour days and 5 or 6 on Saturday. In a way I am thankful for Utah Games because they get him home from work at a decent time some days.
That is all that has been going on in the Christiansen household.

What a Weekend

2008-02-25T16:14:00.000-08:00

As some of you know I watched my 2 year old Nephew Brock this weekend, and what a weekend it was. When my sister -in-law asked me a week ago I didn't think that much of it and so I said yes. Wade was a little more hesitant but he went a long with it. They were going to AZ to help her cousin with her house so I was happy to help so they could go to AZ. Caitlyn and Brock play well together for the most part so I thought this will be fun. As I starting realizing everything that was going on for the weekend I knew it was going to take a little more energy then I had planned on but I just kept telling myself we would get through it.

So Friday came and I picked Brock up around noon. We got some lunch and came home. The kids played and I tried to get Elsa asleep but that didn't happen. I turned on a movie for quiet time and I thought the kids would fall asleep but they didn't. Around 4 they were running like crazy up stairs and slamming doors. I was feeding Elsa and getting her to sleep so I couldn't yell at them to stop. I went upstairs to lay Elsa down and she woke up (she had not napped all day) I told them to stop running thinking I could still get Elsa to sleep, I just had to lay her down and she didn't go to sleep. At this point I lost it. I told Caitlyn and Brock (in not the nicest tone) to get downstairs and sit on the couch. Of course they didn't go so I walked them downstairs and put them on the couch. Caitlyn ended up in her room because she got off the couch. Come to find out they had knocked my closet door off track and colored on my wall with orange crayon (I'm pretty sure that was Caitlyn and not Brock) By this time it is a little after 4, I have to make Mexican Rice for the ward emergency fair that starts at 6 and I haven't gotten to the birp cloths and hairbows for the baby shower I had on Saturday. Caitlyn continued to cry in her room, Brock fell asleep on the couch and Elsa just played on the floor. She is a great baby. At this point I think is when I called Wade and said that I was ready to call my parents to take Brock, I don't know about 2 more days of this. I didn't call them. I finally calmed down and got Caitlyn to calm down. She came and watched some TV. I was able to get the birp cloths down and get the rice started. (The timing of cooking the rice actually worked out perfectly. I wanted to start it earlier but with all the chaos it was started later. It was done right when I needed it to be. It was just a small reminder that God really is in charge and continues to bless me because things do work out how they need to.) So I got the kids loaded up and headed to the church where I met Wade. Of Course Caitlyn and Elsa fell asleep on the way there. At the activity I ended up in the nursery helping out and taking care of the kids. We went home and put the kids to bed. If course Caitlyn and Brock wanted to sleep by each other so we put them on our floor in sleeping bags. After Brock coming down a few times and Elsa being stubborn all three kids were asleep shortly after 10.

On to Saturday.

The kids were up around 7 and Elsa about 8. I had to finish the hairbows so I did that while the kids ate Breakfast. The morning was pretty calm they just played and watched TV. There was one point where the kids were upstairs by themselves for 10 minutes and in that time they had water on the floor and were washing Wade's night stand. After that I put a safety handle on our door. There is already one on Elsa's so Caitlyn can't go in there when she is sleeping. When Brock is over though they always climb in the crib. so every door was closed except the Bathroom and Caitlyn's room. Of course they went in the bathroom and rolled the toilet paper off of the roll. So I had to lock that door. Wade came home from Work and I was off the baby shower and Grocery store. When I came home I told Wade to take them to the park or something because I had to leave to a YW skit activity. When I called home to check on them Wade said he turned on a movie, blocked off the kitchen, closed all the doors and went up to our room for a break. When he came downstairs they were both asleep on the couch. Hallelujah!

When I came home they were still asleep and when they woke up we went to Home Depot and Grabbed some dinner. Now it was bath time. Things were pretty good but Brock was taking a cup and pouring water on the ledge of the tub so there was a ton of water on our bath floor. Two towels later it was cleaned up. Now it was bedtime. We laid the kids down. Brock got out of bed a couple of times. Here was one conversation

Wade: Go upstairs and go to bed

Brock: I don't want to

Wade: I don't care, it is bedtime

Brock: No

Wade: Yes, it is bedtime

Wade carried Brock up who was crying. I finally got Elsa to sleep and after Wade trying to get them to sleep I went and laid down with them. Oh yeah I changed 5 poopy diapers this day.

Now Sunday

We wake up and go to church. Caitlyn is whiny because she is tired. Brock was good at church and Caitlyn continued to be whiney. They both went to nursery though so that was great. Wade took them home because I had to stay for a meeting. When I came home I was done. I had no patience left. Wade left and went home teaching so I turned on movie and they had quiet time. The didn't fall asleep during the movie but they did around 4:30. We woke them up about 5:30 to go to my parents who were going to keep them until Tyler and Sarah were home. Caitlyn was still whiney so she went right to bed when we got home.

I was so happy last night to be back to 2 kids. I am so grateful that I don't have twins. I don't think I could handle it. Overall, caitlyn and Brock weren't really bad they were just acting like 2 year olds. They would fuel each other and there just wasn't any down time. I love them but I don't think we will be having a play date anytime soon. Caitlyn was sad this morning to wake up and not have Brock here to play with. I am glad that I could help Tyler and Sarah out. And Yes, Wade and I are planing our weekend get away!

Here are some pictures from the weekend. There are some missing though, my breakdowns, I wasn't able to capture those on film.

Here they are coloring and yes if you look close there is crayon on my floor but thanks to Mr Clean it is not there anymore.

Finally Asleep!

Random Thoughts

2008-02-19T09:20:00.000-08:00

I get excited when I check peoples blogs and they have new posts. I on the other hand do not update my blog regularly because sometimes I don't know what to write. It is funny to me when I plan a blog when something goes on with us. Really though not much has been going on just normal kind of boring life. So I thought I would just write a few updates on what has been going on.

Wade is in full swing of the busy season. Thankfully he hasn't been working to late but he goes in early so by the time he is home he has worked 12 to 13 hours. Tax season is always a trying time but we always manage to get through it.

We now have the Disney channel so Caitlyn has discovered Mickey Mouse clubhouse and Little Einsteins. Sometimes it is so hard for her to decide what to watch and I have to turn the TV off because of the constant whinning! She wants to watch what she wants when she wants and doesn't understand that Mickey Mouse or Curious George are not on at her beckon call. I could DVR them but she doesn't need to watch them constantly. We have been going to the library and she has loved the books we can check-out there. Last week we went so I could pick up a book they had on hold for me and we left she started crying "no, my beet (that is how she says book) so we went back in and checked a couple books out for her. I like that she wants to read beets they are better than the TV. The princess of the week is Belle.

Elsa has still not cut another tooth but has had some sleepless nights so I am sure it is only a matter of time. She is scooting now and is all over the floor. The good thing about our house being for sale is that I don't have to worry about her getting into things but not much is out for her to get into. She is now scooting all over the place. As I was sitting here posting she finally rolled over from her back to her tummy.

I have a lot I need to do this week. A lot of house cleaning though. I do not enjoy house cleaning and wish I could have a maid service. I can't wait until my kids are old enough to help with chores. I have some baby gifts to make but those sre fun. And YW is always busy. There are always things to do for that.

That is really the update on what has been going on with us over the past week. Sorry, I know it wasn't to exciting of a post but it gives you something new to read.

Family Home Evening

2008-02-12T15:43:00.000-08:00

So we have been trying to have FHE regularly but sometimes it is hard. It is also hard to have with a 2 year old. She doesn't listen to the lesson so sometimes I just think to myself why do we do this? I know that it is important to get in the habit now though so that it is easy when she gets older and can listen. Hoepfully she is picking up something. She usually likes the games or visual aids the best. So last night I decided to make sugar cookies that we could decorate for our activity. We do not do activities like this often so when we do I feel like a good mom. So here are a couple of pictures. Wade was in charge of Elsa and sampling our work.

This is my battle wound from baking the cookies. We have these plastic covers for our stove knobs and one of them fell off into the bottom of the oven so I had to grab it fast because they melt. I grabbed the oven mit ( I had to retrieve one like 5 times while I was cooking dinner last week but I had a long sleeve shirt on so the oven mit worked great) but forgot about the other part of my arm and I touched the oven rack. It looks really bad but didn't really hurt thankfully.

Here is a picture I took of Elsa today being her cute self.

My Baby is Growing Up

2008-02-07T13:28:00.000-08:00

Elsa is getting too big too fast. She turned 7 months on Tuesday. It seems like just yesterday I was crying because I was still pregnant and could not go into labor and now my baby has a tooth! It is crazy how fast time goes.
Well, let me go back a couple of months, Elsa starting waking up at night screaming and the only thing that would calm her down is some Tylenol. I figured she was teething but I didn't know. I remember with Caitlyn thinking that she was teething but then she never cut any teeth until she was 11 months. In December when I was complaining to the Dr that she was waking up he looked in her mouth and said that her teeth are moving around. They might not cut through for a while but they are working on it. So off and on the last month or so she would wake up screaming and sometimes I would give her Tylenol but most of the time I just let her cry it out. So hopefully I am not a bad mom but I just can't get up every time she cries. I also didn't really think that she was actually going to cut a tooth because it took Caitlyn forever. It is too hard to know why they are waking up in the night.
So Tuesday she woke up from her nap in bad mood. She was just not herself. I was feeling in her mouth wondering if she was cutting a tooth thinking I was seeing something but not sure because I can never tell. I didn't feel a tooth though I finally was able to calm her down and then things were back to normal. Well, last night at mutual my friend Shelly was asking me if she had any teeth . I was like "no", while I was feeling her gums, and I was like wait yes she has a tooth. So sometime between Tuesday night and Wednesday night she cut her first tooth. I would try and get a picture but I don't have enough hands right now. I really have only seen it once. She does not cooperate with me trying to see it. So, my baby is getting big so fast. She will be crawling soon. She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks so it is only a matter of time. She is bundle of joy and always can bring a smile to my face.

What's New

2008-02-01T14:08:00.000-08:00

I know that it has been forever since I have posted but that is life. I have been trying to get to posting all week but by the time the kids are in bed I have been exhausted so I head to bed as well. First off let me just say that both of the girls are taking a nap and it is 2:00 p.m. I am so happy. I cannot remember the last time that that has happened. I think I will take a nap after I finish this post.
Well, the one thing that has been taking my time is that we have put our house up for sale. Really though I guess I should be honest and say that it hasn't taken that much time for me. I went off to scrapfest so Wade packed the boxes and I hired a cleaning lady to come deep clean the house. (I reccomend everybody hire one once a year for the deep cleaning it is amazing) So really I haven't done a ton but it has occupied some time. Luckily we have kind of been de-cluttering throughout the year so getting it ready to put on the market hasn't been a horrible task. We have put some things in a storage unit and that has made our house look nice. We want to stay in the same area that we live preferably the same ward. It is just such a good time to buy that we don't want to miss the opportunity of getting into something a little larger but selling a house is so hard in this market. We will just see what happens. We are fully prepared for it to take a long time but hoping it will be sooner rather than later. It is just a crazy market right now. Now when I leave my house it takes another 20 minutes on top of the 2 hours it takes to get us dressed and fed to get out of house because I starighten it up for the people that never come through my house. I know though the one time I don't pick up the house will be the time that somebody comes but I am kind of tempted to do that because then we'd actually get someone through it. I will keep you posted on the selling process.
Last weekend Elsa and I went to scrapfest. Since I am not a true scrapbooker, I like the pre-made ones that I just glue the picture on the page, I don't really take pictures either. If you want to see pictures you will have link to Sarah or Tristen's page. It was nice to get away. It turned out my friend Kara form my ward was going so I drove up with her and that was fun. It was nice to have a day to just work on Elsa's book without a lot of interruptions. Elsa was pretty good. She slept horrible Saturday night but I didn't have anything to do Sunday so it was fine. I am looking forward to next year when I don't have any kids. Then I can stay up late and get everything done I want to.
That is really all that is going on with us.

Taggged Questions

2008-01-16T08:07:00.000-08:00

So my SIL tagged me so I guess I have to answer all of these questions.

What's his name? Wade

How long have you been together? Almost 5 years married

How long did you date? Dated for 3 months and engaged for 3

How old is he? 26 but in a little over a week he will be 27

Who eats more? Usually Wade, but when I'm pregnant or nursing sometimes we eat about the same.

Who said I love you first? That would be Wade.

Who is taller? Wade

Who is smarter? Pretty much Wade but I could probably win a battle on Loans and Real Estate things.

Who does laundry? That would be me. 7 loads folded and almost put away yesterday. I think laundry is my favorite chore. I can sit and watch T.V. while I do it and still feel productive for the day.

Who does the dishes? This is a constant battle in our house. I would say now that I am not working I do them the most. I have negotiated so that Wade will clear the table and load the dishwasher but then the pots and pans are still sitting to be washed. I'll take what I can get though.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If the kids were standing at the foot of our bed looking up at us, I would be on the right side.

Who pays the bills? My accountant husband does. I payed bills all day at work so I had no desire to come home and do it. I love not doing it. I am in charge of staying within the budget though so I have to keep track of my expenditures

Who mows the lawn? Lawn, what lawn? Don't you have to have a yard for that. We don't have either. We do have some bushes and a tree that constantly puts sap on my car so Wade will trim the forest for me so I can get in the car.

Who cooks dinner? That would be me from scratch every night. I have put Wade in charge of Saturday night and we end up eating out which I don't mind at all.

Who drives when you are together? Always Wade unless he has a bad headache.

Who is more stubborn? Wade, sometimes I am but I always cave first

Who kissed who first? Wade kissed me first

Who asked out who first? Wade

Who proposed? Wade. We knew for about a month that we were gong to get married I just didn't know when I would have the ring. He did a great job at surprising me.

Who has more siblings? Me, I think that is why I want more kids than him.

Who wears the pants in the family? We are pretty equal.

Okay to keep it going I am going to tag Tristen, Angie, Jenn Reese, Natalie B. and Kara.

The Sabbath Day

2008-01-13T20:54:00.000-08:00

Oh aren't they so cute. Don't let those sweet faces fool you. A few hours earlier they were not so sweet.

So this year we switched chruch times from 1 p.m to 9 a.m. I was so excited to switch to 9. Yes, it is early but at least your day isn't spent getting ready for church. 1 was also hard because it was nap time for Caitlyn so come Sunday night I was ready for her to be in bed at 6. So last week was our first week at 9. I got up got ready and then got the kids ready. I actually think the spirit was in our home the entire time we were getting ready. I can't say the same when chruch was at 1. So we went to chruch and Caitlyn was just restless. She was so much worse than when church was at 1. I came home last week trying to figure out why and I decided that in the morning she plays a lot and is used to being active. By the afternoons it is usually quiet time. So today started out the same we got ready and went to church. As the sacrament was being passed I had to take Caitlyn out. We went back after the sacrament and she was okay but her okay is wandering along the bench, laying on the floor. Trying to get her to sit still is a joke. When I came back in with Caitlyn, Elsa started and was whining. Wade and I just took turns battling the 2 during sacarament meeting. Caitlyn had to be taken out again by Wade towards the end. At one point I was ready to walk out without any of my kids. 5 minutes before it was over I decided Elsa could be hungry so I grabbed the diaper bag and hurried out. Luckily my ward is loud so I think we just blend in and don't annoy people too badly. As I walked out with Elsa Caitlyn was in the hall with Wade and started fussing when she saw me but I just continued down the hall. Thank goodness for nursery. Elsa calmed down and just got fussy during YW so I had to take her out to get her to sleep. I was glad when we were finally home.

Then it was off to a YW meeting. I came home from that to more whining though. Elsa only likes to go to sleep for me and Caitlyn thinks she doesn't need naps. She was bouncing off the walls when I came home. I got Elsa to sleep ( who only slept and hour) and Caitlyn and I went upstairs to watch a movie for quiet time. Wade had stake priesthood so then I was left alone with the tired children. Caitlyn was in bed at 8 and Elsa shortly after. Now there is peace. Now I am enjoying my sabbath day.

I don't know what the solution is. It is just the time of life I am in. I do love my kids and being a mom. It is just very challenging sometimes but I always seem to get through it.

Here are some more pictures from the past week.

MMMMMM! I love those peas!

Just having fun!

Caitlyn rolls her tongue all the time so we took a picture of it.

Elsa's Stats

2008-01-10T14:41:00.001-08:00

Today I had to take Elsa to the doctor for her 6 month well check. Where has the time gone? I cannot believe it has been 6 months since she was born. She weighed 19 lbs 10 oz (yes I know she weighs a lot just be thankful you don't have to carry her around. Don't forget also that she started out at 9lbs 4 oz) She is 26 inches long and her head is 17 1/2 inches. She is totally healthy everything looked great.
Of course Caitlyn did throw up again last night. I am not sure when she did. Sometime after 2 but when we got her up this morning she had dried throw up on her. I know that might be too much information for some of you. She is acting fine today though. It is like I said in my previous post she always throws up randomly for a couple days. So we are doing lots of laundry again today. I had arranged to have my parents watch Caitlyn so I didn't have to take both kids to the doctor but since she threw up again I decided to take her with me. I didn't want to get my parents infected in case she still has some germs living on her. It didn't go too badly. Caitlyn must have thought the visit was for her because she gave me some resistance when we went into the exam room. Luckily the doctor had a sucker so that kept her entertained and calm while he examined Elsa. I have a great doctor. I recently had to switch because my doctor moved out of town but I have been really happy with the one I switched too. He'll answer all my questions and I never feel like he is in a rush. I did ask him how long the stomach flu can take to show up and he said 4 to 5 days so Elsa nor Wade are out of the clearing yet. Only time will tell.

Oh The Stomach Flu

2008-01-09T14:18:00.000-08:00

For those of you who know me well know that I HATE the stomach flu. If there is a family gathering and somebody has had the stomach flu, we usually miss the family gathering. I know that we eventually will probably get it from somewhere else but I will not put myself somewhere that I know someone had it. I'm sure my family thinks I'm weird sometimes but I don't care. I hate it that much. My dislike has grown even more now that I have kids. I hear people say sometimes how kids get it but the moms don't. Yeah that has never happened to me. If Caitlyn has it I get it. There was only one time Caitlyn had a mild case and I didn't get it. I was also 40 weeks pregnant so I guess I was blessed. I get the stomach flu at least 3 times a year. I don't know what my immune system is missing when it comes to being able to avoid it.

So I will start from the beginning. The weekend before Christmas my SIL Amy and 3 of her kids had the stomach flu. We around them a little bit on Sunday so I just made sure We all washed our hands a lot. It had been a couple of days and we didn't get it so I figured we were in the clear. However, the Wednesday after Christmas I needed to take Elsa in to the doctor for a diaper rash so I asked my mom to watch Caitlyn. (Have you ever taken multiple kids to the doctor before? That is a whole other post.) Well, that night my mom came down with the stomach flu. When I found that out I thought great, we are going to get it for sure. They say the stomach flu is usually more contagious before you actually have the symptoms so I figured we would be getting it. A few days went by and we were still in the clear so I was happy.

Well, a week after my mom had it I woke up thinking it was a normal day but after a few hours I was like I don't feel so good. Yep, I had it. Of course it happens on the day of mutual in the month that I am in charge of the activities so I totally had to flake and the other leaders had to pick up the slack. Compared to some of the stomach flus I have had this one was pretty mild. By Thursday I was weak (no food for a whole day for a nursing mother does not give you a lot of energy) but was able to eat and function. My kids were really good while I was sick so that was nice. This was my first time having to take care of my kids when I was sick. When I worked my awesome babysitter when still take Caitlyn for me when I was sick. I just kept praying that my kids would not get it. I figured well at least I have had it so of they do get it I can take care of them and not be paranoid about getting it. A few days past and we were in the clear so I once again I was happy.

Well, Yesterday Caitlyn slept in until 8:15 which never happens so I was just hoping she wasn't sick. I thought maybe not taking naps is just catching up to her. My mothers intuition was kicking in but I was trying to ignore it. She seemed fine when she woke up so I thought we would be okay. She wasn't really herself that morning though. Around 1 I was feeding her some yogurt and in the middle of that she threw up. All over her and the rug. So after getting her and the rug cleaned up I made her lay down. She was kind of restless but eventually fell asleep. When she woke up she threw up again. It is so hard to convince a 2 1/2 year old why she can't have juice or something to eat so it was a long afternoon. I just kept giving her spoonfuls of water that night but after an hour and half she threw that up. I decided to call the doctor just for the peace of mind that I was doing what I should be doing. I knew she wasn't dehydrated but it is always a concern. She finally went to bed around 10 and slept through the night. She did wake up sometime in the night though to get a sippy cup because there was an empty one in her bed with her this morning. She didn't fill it up or anything but it made me laugh at how smart she is. When she woke up this morning she was acting normal. She has been eating and drinking mild things and so far no throwing up. I can't get to excited though because typically when Caitlyn gets the stomach flu she throws up off and on for a few days. Hopefully this time is different.

I just continue to hope that Wade and Elsa don't get it. Only time will tell. Who knows where we all got it from. We always try to play the blame game but I know nobody ever wants other people to get it. I know it is just a fact of life. Thank goodness it is usually over in 24 hours. So tag we're it, no tag backs!

Random Pictures

2008-01-07T16:00:00.000-08:00

Nothing really exciting has been going on in our world so I thought I would just post some random pictures. We have some pictures that I am finally taking off of the camera and thought I would share with all of you. Enjoy!

Here's Elsa Playing in her saucer.

One day back in November, when Caitlyn still took naps, I was upstairs and when I came down this is what I found. Sad ending to this story is that tried to move here to her bed (which I have done a thousand times before and she stayed asleep) and she woke up. That was not a very good afternoon!

Elsa Likes to help me with Laundry.First Feeding of Rice Cereal. Yummy!Christmas Pajamas from Santa

Since I have had my girls, Sunday's are probably my favorite day of the week for getting them ready. It was fun when I just had Caitlyn and even more fun now that I have two girls to get ready. I especially love the Sunday's when they have matching dresses. Thanks Tiffany for the dresses.Here is Elsa sitting up all by herself. She is still kind of wobbly but is starting to get it. I can't believe how fast she is growing!

Naptime

2008-01-04T15:34:00.000-08:00

Since I have had children I have always loved and relied on naptime. When I first had Caitlyn and was working from home 2 days a week those were my most productive hours. When I quit work this past May I loved naptime becuase I was able to take naps. I love naps! When Elsa was born it was chance to catch up on much needed sleep. Naptime is also a chance to have patience restored and to give me the strength I need to get through the rest of the day. I need that break everyday.

So with that being said, the past couple of weeks my 2 1/2 year old, Caitlyn, has decided that taking naps are just not fun anymore. I can't say I blame her, I would want to play with my new kitchen or my dollhouse instead of take a nap. I don't mind if she misses a day but the next day she is totally ready for one and I am ready for her to have one. She will stay in her room and play for awhile before she comes downstairs but that is slowly starting to change as well.

I have kind of declared defeat on her laying in her bed and going to sleep like she used to. So I thought that I would try turning on a movie and that she would magically fall asleep. Nope, not Caitlyn. She thinks its game. If I could jsut focus on her I could probably get her to sleep but Elsa requires attention too.

So today was going well, Elsa went down about 1. She hadn't had a nap yet so I thought she will sleep for a couple of hours and then I can get Caitlyn asleep. After laying Elsa down I came down and held Caitlyn and turned on Polar Express. Everytime I thought Caitlyn was getting close she would move around. I was even starting to fall asleep. Then on the monitor I hear Elsa. No way she is not awake, it has only been 45 minutes! So I go up thinking I put the pacifier back and she would go back to sleep. No such luck. How can I be mad at her though when through the rails of the crib she gives a big melt your heart smile. I come back downstairs and of course Caitlyn is not asleep. That's it we are going for a car drive.

So off to Tropical Smoothie we go, It is kind of far and they have a drive-thru. For sure this will put at least Caitlyn to sleep who I can tell is tired. We drive about 15 minutes to Tropical Smoothie and she is not asleep, no worries we still have the drive home. We get to the exit and she is sill not asleep. We make another round through some streets and still not asleep. Okay I will get back on the freeway to Durango and if she is still not asleep when I get home I will just have to accept defeat for the day. As we are approaching our neighborhood I am begining to get frustrated because she is not asleep trying not to have a breakdown because I just don't know what to do. I pull into my driveway and she falls asleep. Better late then never I guess.

So there is my first post. After many months and people bugging me, I have finally started a blog. I hope you enjoy reading it and keeping up on the crazy fun life of the Christiansen's.