All of the Christensen Grandkids-5 boys and 5 girls. I can finally put this up. Every year we give Rob's mom a picture of the grandkids all together. Because it was a surprise I wasn't able to share it until now. I think it turned out really great this year.

Here is a picture of the family at my mom's surprise 60th birthday party in November. From this picture I morphed us all into elves with the help a fun website. See this website. http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1444868788.
Trust me it's worth it just to see us all dance. I know there is a way to make to make it a hyperlink but I can't figure it out right now so you will have to cut and paste. If anyone knows please share it with me...

We had our 4 way inspection on the house on Friday and passed!!!! Hurray!!! To celebrate we took the day off on Saturday and hung out at Tipp's U of U tailgate then drove home to watch the BYU game and nap the kids and then back to the U for the game. Tipp sent me these pictures of the festivities. It was the annual Chili Cook-off-Congratulations Tipp for winning 1st place 2 years in a row. Brit played beanbag toss and jumped in the bounce house with some lil' ute fans. Rob showed off his newest homemade T-shirt for Landon. We all had a great time and enjoyed the good food, friends and football. GO UTES!!!!

Tug of War

I haven't posted for a while because I've been kindof sad lately. It's sort of silly but I was just released from Young Women's. I know it happens all the time but after being with these great kids for over 2 years I have grown so attached to them that I feel like I've lost something. I tell myself I will still be able to see them and keep in touch but I know also that after we move it will be harder to actually do that. I didn't realize that this would affect me this much. In fact, I didn't anticipate much emotion at all. I'm usually very unemotional, sometimes to a fault. So I have been very surprised that I am having a hard time letting go.

My mind tells me all the rational thoughts like : "There's too much on your plate right now." "Your family needs you." "You are falling behind at work." "There's a lot to do on the house" "The girls deserve someone that can commit more time." " You are moving!"

All of which are great arguments but don't make the transition any easier.

There are also selfish reasons that I'm not sure I want to admit to but, here they are... First of all, twice a week the goal and focus was to organizing and carry out a spiritual experience. Usually it was something that was fun and exciting and still taught great values. As an parent who makes time to do this once a month let alone twice a week? I certainly did not until it was required. I have never been more touched then during some of these gatherings, mostly by the girls teaching me. I am going to miss that immensely.

Another selfish reason is that Sundays, while I attended meetings, were designated Father-son time. I often had meetings or preparation all morning on Sundays. It was a time that Rob was solely responsible for everything to do with the kids. Our church has been at 1:00 for 2 years now so there was always feeding, bathing, napping and dressing in Sunday clothes to be done. There's something different about Daddy being in charge. I know Britton loved it. I would come home and they would both be dressed up in blanket capes and cowboy hats ready to fight the dragons in the bedroom. It is so cute. Not to say this doesn't happen at other times of the week but it was guaranteed on Sunday mornings. There is no calling a babysitter/grandma or no waiting for mom to do it. It was just boys being boys. It does seem to happen less and less lately with Rob out of town during the week and either working on the house or attending football games on Saturdays. I know building the house is only a one time thing and luckily football season will be over soon. I just feel that Sunday mornings keeps them connected to each other. Who knows, maybe it still will and I'll just get to witness more of it.

This is Rob's very favorite place to be... asleep with Coop on his chest. Charlie is such a different baby than Britt was. Britton would never snuggle with us and couldn't fall asleep unless he was by himself. Don't get me wrong he has always been a great sleeper. We would simply wrap him in a blanket and then he would close his eyes and fall asleep happy and content. He just needs his space. Our new "bundle of joy" has wanted a little more cuddling and Rob has been more than happy to accomodate.

This was the first nap together in the hospital. The night before Charlie was born we both stayed up all night and painted/cleaned one of our rental properties so some people could move in. We also started construction on our new house that week., so while I recovered in the hospital Rob tried to organize the house situation. When he came to the hospital he was usually very tired and so this is how they bonded in the early hours. Luckily we both have great family that helped not only with painting/cleaning but made Britt feel special too.

This is my little comedian. Everytime I say smile at the camera this is what I get. He loves to make people laugh and is such a happy kid. He loves tractors and is standing on the scooper of a huge Backhoe (?). He could tell you the exact name of the tractor but I still get confused. Notice he had his Bob-the-Builder hat on and the Andre jersey that was a gift from his favorite Jazz fan Tipp.

You can't tell in this picture but Charlie's hair has one spike in the back. He has a tuft of hair that reminds me of Alfalfa on the little rascals. This day we were getting ready and spiked Britt's hair and he wanted Coop to get his hair spiked too. With the small amount of gel we created a single horn on the back of his head. Britt loves have Charlie copy whatever he does so he was so happy to both have spiked hair. Charlie isn't sure how he likes it.

October Post

Well it's been a month since I last posted. I knew it would be sporatic. However, I did add a lot of pictures to make up for it. Things have been more of the same. Rob is in town this week and has been able to work on the house a little more. Meghan and I picked out stucco/rock colors yesterday and they should get started on the exterior next week. Britton and Charlie are doing great. Charlie can roll over finally but is still more content to just lay on his back and smile at anyone that will look at him, including the dogs. He is getting more skilled with his hands and loves to chew on things. Britton has really liked the Halloween season this year. He helped his grandpa grow 5 big pumpkins in the garden and we carved on last week. He loved making it glow with the candle. He is so excited to be a Power Ranger and "power up" to fight mode.

First day of preschool

We have had an eventful week. Britton started pre-school last Wednesday and loved it. I dropped him off and he just ran in and sat down at the table and said "Look it's just my size". He didn't want me to stay, he just wanted to get on with school. Afterwards we went to McDonald's for lunch and while trying to get into the play land his hand was smashed in the hinge side of the a heavy glass door. It immediately swelled and he was inconsolable so we packed up and went to Instacare for an X-ray. Luckily, bones are still soft at the age of 2, so there weren't any broken bones. The swelling went down after a couple hours and he was only left with a bruise. He wants to take the X-ray for show and tell.

Friday, we went to see Dr. Lam and everyone got shots. Britt didn't cry but he said that "Charlie wasn't very brave" because he cried a lot. Charlie weighs 14 lbs and Britt is 34lbs. and 37 inches. Britt is in the 75th percentile and Charlie has fallen to the 50th. Dr. Lam said to start solids so Charlie will probably bulk back up.

Saturday was the first U of U game. Rob took the boys to tailgate and play with the other lil' Ute fans. Great food, good friends... great day. We can't wait to go again next Saturday and maybe the game will turn out better.

First Attempt

So I am told this is the easy way to keep in touch with friends and family so I'm going to attempt it. I can't promise consistant updates but I will try.

Recently our family has been pretty busy. Rob has been working out of town a lot inspecting bridges and when he is home he is trying to get the new house framed so the sub-contractors can start their work. So even when he's not at work he is working so he's pretty tired. When he is out of town however he does manage to squeeze in some golf, fishing and Xbox.

Britton turns 3 in one month and is really excited to start preschool. He received a letter from his teacher Miss Lilian and he carried it around all day to show to anyone who would look at it. He loves to play power rangers, baseball and trucks. His imagination is always going. He also loves having a little brother that he can say "coochie, coochie, coo" and make him laugh. He still calls him "Jack, Jack" from the movie Incredibles. I guess that nickname will always stick.

Charlie Cooper is almost 4 months old now and is doing much better now that his stomach has "matured". He will smile at anyone who smiles and talks to him. He sleeps 8-9 hours most nights so I can't complain. The hair he was born with is a little more red than before but the underneath looks blond. It will be fun to watch him change in the next couple of months to see if he ends up a red-head like his cousin Max or a toe-head like his Daddy. He is doing a lot of cooing and Britton likes to interpret by saying "Jack, Jack said he wants me to have another cookie" or "Jack, Jack said he likes it when I jump on the bed and bounce him"

As for me, I am loving being a mother of two boys. I am surrounded. I still work at the hospital doing neurological testing but recently I've been doing more MS research. I work M-Th and love to spend Friday with my boys even if it is spend running errands for the house. The house has been pretty slow going but it gives me more time to think about the design. We are hoping to be in around the first of the year. I don't really care how long it takes because it's happening!!!

Well, I'm going to try to figure out how to add pictures to this blog. Thanks for visiting.

Well I will try to figure out how to add pictures so this looks more professional.