This month of November has really been a busy busy month for us! To start off , I got back from tending my sisters kids and Kinley finally started to crawl! So we now have a little one on the move. But its a good thing because I need her to be able to move around and do what she wants while I'm packing. Yes I said packing because also this month we went house hunting and found one, so we will be moving shortly.
We are moving because Patrick accepted a job in Ogden, UT to continue in the field of accounting. This new firm is a little bit smaller but he has much more opportunity to do more than just the tax side of things and he has room to grow here in this new firm. Also did I mention what a great atmosphere he will be working in..?? This firm starts all of their meetings with a prayer! I can't share with you just how good we feel about this opportunity, we know it's what the Lord wants us to do!
So this month we accepted the job offer and started house hunting. We started on Thursday and found a house on Saturday and our offer was accepted Tuesday. Interest rates dropped on Thursday and went back up a week later. We were so blessed in this whole process! It is amazing how The Lord has been guiding and blessing us. There is no way of denying it. It is such Bitter Sweet feelings we have. It is really scary to commit to buying a home and completely uprooting your whole family and changing every aspect of their life. Leaving all the good that we have here in Logan. Leaving our first home, the one we started our family in and brought 2 children home to. Leaving the wonderful amazing people that we have come to love so dearly and all of those bonds and relationships it took us 3 years to build. Yet buying our very own home that we can paint walls in and really establish ourselves in is an enormous blessing we have come to realize is something The Lord is giving us that will continue to bless our lives and make us happy. Also this month we celebrated a few things. #1- the house hunt. #2- Patrick passing his 3rd section of the CPA exam. And #3-Thanksgiving. We started Thanksgiving week off with buying us a van. Yes I'm driving what I call the Swaggon Wagon(A.K.A Swagger Wagon-with out plagerizing because I don't drive a Sienna). It's a Chrysler Town and Country Limited Edition that we had to swallow our Pride and take it because of the amazing deal it was. Then we celebrated Turkey day with the Munsons.
We really enjoyed our time with family and loved strengthening our bonds with those we love! We are so grateful for all our blessings! There is a hymn called Count Your Many Blessings and in the lyrics it says to count them one by one. I believe that we have so many it is nearly impossible to count them one by one.
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well.
Oh and how could I forget! We also enjoyed the first LEGIT snow fall of the year. Porter and I went out and played in the snow and soon after we were out there his neighborhood friend came out and joined him. They had fun falling in the snow and making seat in the snow as well as eating the snow. We built a snowman and the kids threw the head off and started eating the body of the snow man! It was really cute and I think they had a fun time!
So going on with the month of October... This month Kinley turned 9 months old. She had her Dr appointment and is doing well. Our Dr. was a little shocked that she wasn't crawling and told me that we really needed to start working with her on that skill. That was all he really had to say, beside that she is going to be a really pretty girl when she is older and that her fiesty stubborn vigor will come in handy for when those boys start coming around. LOL! Also new news for her is that I can finally put her hair in pigtails! These pictures are from the first time I did it. she only had enough on the sides to do. Isn't she adorable?
The last week of October I had the wonderful opportunity to take my two kids with me to my sisters house and watch her 6 kids plus my two all by myself. It was an eventful week and I really enjoyed that time I had with my nieces and nephews. They were great kids and Porter and Josh became best buds that week. They had the time of their lives jumping off couches and building fires out of pillows toys and blankets. And as you can see in the picture they had fun being silly little goofs at lunch time.
I came back Friday afternoon and got settled in and then later that night we went to a pumpkin carving contest with a bunch of our friends. We had a great time just enjoying great conversation and laughs at well..mostly my pumpkins!
But it was a great night and we had fun! Then the next day was Saturday Oct 30th. Since Halloween was on Sunday this year we went Trick-or-Treating on Saturday evening. It was fun considering it rained on us the whole time we were out there. We maybe went to about 10 houses. But we got some great candy! Porter was Elmo and Kinley was Zoe. The two BFFs! How cute! Kinley didn't much enjoy her hat because it tickled her face, but she loved her necklace and tutu. Porter wore his Elmo costume all day and had fun being Elmo. I was a Woopie Cushon. It was fun to dress up, even if I did get soaked out on the hunt for great candy.
So that was our wonderful month of October!!! Looking forward to posting about the month of November... You don't wanna miss it... Big stuff coming your way!
Well this month has been so fun filled I need to divide the post into different parts. The beginning of the month started out just AWESOME! We went down to be with families the first of the month over conference weekend. Patrick scheduled his 3rd CPA exam Friday in Lindon so we stayed with Grandma C that day and then Saturday we went up to G&G Munsons house. They so nicely took care of our children so we could go to the Saturday morning Conference Session and then to Zupas for lunch right after to make it a little date. We really really enjoyed conference and felt the spirit so strongly when President Monson stood up for his opening remarks. The kids loved being with their Grandma and Grandpa. Even if it did take about a whole night of warming up to do. ;-) haha. We enjoyed being with family and love the time that we spend with them. We know that time is limited and we treasure every moment of it.
Then we came home and that next weekend Patrick and were invited to a Murder Mystery Dinner Party. So that week leading up to the party I was super busy making our costumes! It was crazy and hectic, but lots of fun! especially seeing them in the end and how they turned out. I was a maid and Patrick was the butler, who got killed off during the mystery.
Then we had a weekend to do whatever and then the next weekend I went on a girls night retreat to Wolf Creek with my neighbor girl friends. It was lots of fun and totally beautiful up there! I stayed up til 5:30 in the morning and woke up at like 11AM so not a lot of sleep, but we enjoyed the hot tub and the talking! Something I don't get much as a S.A.H.M.
I seem to recall starting the month of September off with Labor day weekend. It was a wonderful weekend! We ended up going to Logans Zoo at Willow Park. It's a small park, but great for kids! We invited our friends the Bradfields to join us for zoo and a picnic at the park. They have a little girl named Lilly who is 2 months younger than Porter. They are seriously the best of friends! They both pray for each other in their prayers at night. How Cute!! I know!
This month was filled with a lot Saturday morning Garage Sales. We would throw the kids in the car and bring books and turn on a movie and hope that would keep them occupied. It was lots of to do. Something we will keep doing I think.
Porter and Kinley seem to be growing up so quickly, it's really hard to keep up and remember all the fun things they do. Forever Porter has always thought the way to smile to a camera was just by tilting his head. But this month we taught him to show teeth and now there is no holding back. He loves to get balloons at Macey's grocery store and bring them home and let go of them in our front room with the vaulted ceiling. This time around I told him I wouldn't get it for him if he let go because I was busy at the moment and he would have to wait if he wanted to get the balloon back. Well sure enough he let go and didn't want to wait. He decided to stack all the couch cushions and add his step/potty seat on the top to get as tall as he could to get that balloon. But he still wasn't tall enough. I was so proud of his critical thinking! Smart Kid I have there!
Kinley is growing up quickly too. She turned 8months old at the beginning of this month. She talks and babbles like crazy and adds loud squeals to it. She's definitely a girl. She is eating great and loves real food, none of this mush baby food anymore for her. I have to trick her into eating it every time. Still no crawling from her though. That's one we are working on. She has no interest though. Towards the end of the month we were lucky enough to be able to get a ticket off of our friend Matt for the USU vs. FSU game. We went with our friends the Tuttles and had a great time. The kids loved being in that atmosphere playing together and eating as much food as they could get. It was a little hot for the first 20 minutes of the game because of where we were sitting, but then the sun went behind the stadium and it was perfect! The kids were great and the game was a good one, even though USU lost. We had tons of fun and didn't spend a dime! It was an awesome way to say goodbye to Summer and hello Fall!
Well this month didn't seem to be fun filled, but as I look back on it we did some fun things.We just weren't going crazy and we re-did a lot of things we already have this summer. Such as Camping, and BBQs. We decided one day to go to the Logan Aquatic Center. When we arrived we put Porters Floaties on and he was super excited to use them, but the lifeguard told us we can't use floaties, but if we wanted we could use a life jacket provided at the front. We tried it out, but all it did was cause big tears to be added to the pools water depths. We decided we'd just stay close by and watch him, which we were doing ANYWAYS. Then we talked him into going down the big curly slide and once he did that, that's all he wanted to do. So we took turns taking him down, but mostly Patrick took him down. Porter really enjoyed being at the pool once we got rid of the life jacket.
Towards the end of the month we actually went back to Grandma C's house and swam some more. Porter had the time of his life, and got to the point where he needed about 2 feet of water between you and him. He wanted to swim all by himself.
So Lots of swimming and fun with friends and family. This month Patrick got his 1st test results from the Audit section of the CPA exam. Passing grade is a 75 and he got an 89!!! YEAH!! He took the second seciton the FAR part and we are anxiously waiting the results of that test, while he studies for the 3rd part, the BEC. Keep him in your prayers please.
Also this month our ward was split for the 3rd time in the 3 years we have lived here. We were really really sad and have had a hard time adjusting to our new ward. But change is good and brings growth. Patrick was the Elders Quorum Pres in our last ward, but has now been called to the Young Mens President. Boy did I think He was busy as EQ Pres! HAHA Joke was on me. YM Pres is twice as much! But it will be great! He is really excited to work with these Young Men and says that there are some really good Boys in there. Plus to all you Christensen's out there...He says he'd like to try and find a way to possibly get an honorary Eagle. We'll see if he has time for that, between full-time work and studying for the CPA plus is normal duties to the Young Mens.
That was all for this month. Til next month...
The beginning of the month started out by celebrating the 4th of July. Friday we went shopping for some things for the kids that afternoon and then went and saw Toy Story 3 in 3D after dinner. Porter and Patrick enjoyed it. I ended up in the hall with Kinley through most of the movie. I was fortunate enough to have run into a worker who said I could probably get a refund. Which I did!Saturday we woke up early because Grandma C was coming to pick the kids and I up to go to the Kaysville Parade and BBQ at my Aunt Kathys' house. Patrick stayed behind because he was going to go take his first CPA test that day. My Mom helped me out so much! I would have gone NUTS without her. Porter loved being with her and feeling her bumpy shirt! hehe At the parade Porter had no interest in going out to the road to try and get candy and toys. He preferred to sit in the stroller, eat a sucker and enjoy the shade. In a way I guess he's a smart kid! Enjoy the shade and relaxation. he was afraid of the loud firetrucks and police sirens so I think that added to it. We came home after all the parade and bbq and had pizzas and did our own fireworks. As well as roasted mallows and starburst in the fire-pit.We had to joke about the fireworks, because Porter wanted to go to bed. He was saying Daddy Sleep! But we brought him out for fireworks and every time they would be going off Porter would be whining and Kinley was quiet and in awe...Then whey they weren't going Porter was the quiet one and Kinley was the one whining! What a combo!
The weekend after the 4th we went up to Bear Lake with some friend of ours. Porter sat in his little mud puddle for 4 hours straight. And that's no exaggeration. He really sat there and played in the sand and water for 4 hours! He was focused and having fun! We had a great time there and hope to go back in August.
We were able to go boating with our friends at Willard Bay. Porter was so scared to go on the boat. It took a while for him to warm up to the idea of being free and moving so fast. Then he learned to cheer for everyone when they were doing well or even when they ate it in the water. Patrick was able to get up and surf the wake right behind the boat. It was awesome and we were so proud of him. He had a blast once he got up!!
Then for the 24th we stayed in Logan and went to the parade here in town. Porter actually got into the candy catching and enjoyed cheering for the Princesses! Yes, I know... Patrick tried to teach him to whistle instead of saying "YAY! Mommy...Princesses!" After the parade we came home and napped. Then had the Tuttles over for a BBQ and then went to the concert in the park with Peter Breinholt and firworks after that. It was an enjoyable evening. Then the last weekend in the month we had the Christensen Family Reunion. It was a shorter and simpler one this year. The adults went to the Temple Friday evening and then had a night of telling each other our lifes situations and receiving Priesthood blessings. Saturday morning we woke up and went to the Splash Park for a few hours and then came back to Grandmas house and swam in her pool. Porter LOVED it. In fact he's been begging to go swimming at Grandma's ever since. We had a BBQ that night with the family and let the kids play and dance. Overall this month has been busy, yet fun.The kids are growing up and learning to play together and enjoy one anothers company. The first thing Porter does in the morning is look for Kinley, in hopes that she is awake so he can give her a big hug. And when Kinley sees his smiling face she lights up as well.
Once again I have to say What a GREAT month it's been for us. The beginning of the month was a little iffy because of the rain, but soon enough the sun has decided to shine and brighten our days with it's warmth. We've been able to enjoy camping and playing outside.
Our highlights this month are:
We went on our first camping trip of the summer! We had tons of fun doing that with some of our close friends. Porter did great and loved being free to roam and explore outside. Patrick took him fly fishing and Porter loved catching fish. He'd shout ISY-More! And now whenever we go near a river/stream he thinks of catching fish.We were also able to use our new tent for the first time and boy do we LOVE it! It was great because we had ours set up by the time everyone else was laying their tents out flat getting ready to set up.
We were also able to enjoy a wonderful evening of BBQ with our friends the Tuttles and out to a concert in the park with Jon Schmidt and after wards some fireworks to celebrate the city Nibley. Porter was a little ill that day so he was a very mellow kid that night. Yet, he loved the concert and would bop his head to the music and say NANO! He also found it fun to clap and cheer and share his excitement of listening to the music. The best was when he did it all on his own and nobody else was clapping or cheering. He all of a sudden clapped and said "WOOHOO!" I think everyone in the park heard him! It was so cute!
I was able to take the kids down to visit family and go to a good friends wedding one weekend. We celebrated Fathers day and Porter sang I'm so glad when daddy comes home to him, even though he was super sick! He did a great job. So as I mentioned Porter was sick, he had a double ear infection AND strep throat on top of that. He was miserable! He's never been so sick before and it broke my heart to hear him come to me and say "Mommy...hurt!" And because it was all just the flu symptoms of sweats and chills and the aches there really wasn't much I could do to help him. We did a lot of cuddling and watching movies on the couch.
We've also been enjoying the nice warm weather, Finally, in the pool. Porter loves to play in the water! I don't think we've ever heard such a tantrum from him when it was time to come inside for dinner. He LOVES playing in the water outside.
Kinley turned 5 months old this month and has learned how to roll over! She can only roll over from her back to her front on the left side, but it's still a milestone being reached. Right now we are working on sitting up on her own. We've started her on veggies and she gobbles those down. She really likes the Green beans! Everyone tells us she is a feminine little Porter! We agree! She has such a contagious little laugh and a smile that could brighten anyone's day!
May is yet another crazy full month for us. At least this year it has been. With Graduation, our Anniversary, vacationing, and all of the fun things to do now that summer time has come around we have been busy!
This month we started out by celebrating Patrick’s Graduation. He Graduated from Utah State University with his Masters in Business Administration. We are so proud of him and couldn’t be happier for him and this major accomplishment. Bragging rights are that he graduated with a 3.9 GPA! He put so much time, hard work and effort into his schooling and has done a marvelous job. Lots of family came to the Hooding Ceremony to support Patrick and this great accomplishment. We thank them for coming and supporting Patrick through his school years.
We also had the opportunity to go with some great friends of ours to their Ranch in Aurora, UT. We spent about 3 days there and had tons of fun. We went hiking, 4 wheeling(mule riding with Kinley), Patrick and Porter went horseback riding, to the sand dunes, and we got to shoot some guns with clay pigeons and still shooting. We had such a great time while we were there and enjoyed our time with our friends and getting to know them better.
Over Memorial Day weekend we spent our time with family. We took some flowers to London and My Dad’s Graves. Had a bbq with the Christensen family. Everyone was there – Brandon and Holley =( That was real sad, but also great to be with everyone. Then we spent time with the Munson side of the family. Played outside and played games. We just had a lot of fun relaxing time over the memorial weekend.
Patrick has gotten our garden all planted and is doing well to take care of it! We’ve gone to feed the ducks up the canyon. Had lots of Picnics and block parties and played at parks. Patrick also took Porter on a Father and Sons Camp-out. Sadly it rained on them the entire time! They came home FREEZING! Kinley and I stayed home and did our own girl things! Haha! Even at 4 months old Kinley and I bonded that night!
This month has been a wonderful month! Full of lots of fun with family and seeing where our life is taking us!
Yes! My amazing husband did it! He graduated from College! More specifically he graduated with his Masters in Business Administration(MBA) degree. That's quite the accomplishment! I/We(family) are all so proud of him and the hard work and effort and time he put into accomplishing this very thing. Watching him and even listening to him I'd say he did it with such ease, but I know that even if it was easy for him he put a lot of time and work into it. And came out with a 3.9 GPA! Graduation day was a wonderful day! Porter didn't get a nap because the hooding ceremony was at 1:30. Yet he sat there for a whole 2 hours quietly in his seat. Thankfully there was family around to help me with the kids. I had to go feed Kinley in the bathroom, and yes! I did sit on the toilet to feed her. Patrick thinks I'm crazy for doing that! But the bathroom was actually really clean! Kinley would just jump everytime someone flushed the toilet and get this frightened face. After the ceremony we took some pictures and then went to Fredricos-a pizza place up close to campus.Then after came home and relaxed. It was a great day!
Wow! This month has been a great month! Full of lots of things to do and get done. As well as enjoying TIME together as a family. Yep that's right, the first of the month Patrick was busy finishing off tax season and then once the 15th rolled around we got our Dad/Husband back! With Patrick having more time to be home, the kids have been enjoying their special time with him. Porter is always so excited for the day when Dad is home and how he gets to go outside and PLAY! Dad has a rough time at work now-a-days because he realizes what he could be doing if he were home, playing with his kids, making them(and him) smile and laugh! We also took one day where Patrick built some shelves in our Garage to help with storage. We have absolutely no storage in our home and so we've had to improvise. Now that our family has grown to 4 we are realizing we are growing and need more space. More space for what we already have and for more growth. We told ourselves we were building the shelves to help with space not to free space for new things! Anyways Patrick did a wonderful job with the shelves and we are very proud of him and his skills.
The beginning of the month we started out with Easter! Easter was such a fun day for us. We woke up and saw that the Easter Bunny came to our house!! The bunny was very kind and left Porter for a good hunt for eggs! As soon as Porter heard there was stuff inside the eggs and then opened them and found candy...of course he had to eat all the candy in the one egg before he could move on to the next. It was too funny to watch.We had so much fun watching him! It was especially fun watching him get the egg from the clock.
The second weekend of the month, my niece, Maddi, got baptized and confirmed. Because it was still tax season I took the kids down to Utah County alone, w/o Patrick. It was an enjoyable weekend, and I was able to make the 2 hour drive by myself with a 2 year old and a 3 month old alright! Friday night we arrived at Grandmas and Brandon and Holley came to hang out and have dinner with us! I was really excited about that! We had tons of fun being with them and enjoying some of our last moments together before they move. Brooks is such a cute kid and growing up so quickly. Brandon was very kind and entertained Porter and Brooks with the Legos for about 30 minutes!
The next day was the baptism. It was a wonderful baptism and was lots of fun seeing family. It was the first time many of my family got to see Kinley. We enjoyed the lunch after the baptism at the park. Even if it was a bit chilly. Porter's cousins were great to entertain him and play with him! Especially Bryce who took Porter over to the Basketball hoop to shoot the Football, yes! I said football! Everyone was so confused when Porter would go up to them and point and say shoot. Because to them it sounded like he was saying ZOO haha what a funny kid!
Then to end the month Patrick and I were able to go to the 2010 MBA Graduation Banquet with the guest speaker, Elder L. Tom Perry. We were blessed to be able to go shake hands with Elder and Sister Perry and have a small little chat with them! He really is a TALL guy! Amazing how he's almost in his 90s and he can stand as tall as he does and also have the mind and speech capacity that he does! It was really neat to have that special opportunity. My first time shaking an apostle of the Lords hand. Dean Anderson compared Elder Perry to the Wellsvilles. The Wellsvilles are the extremely tall snow-capped mountains that I get to see everyday out my bedroom window. Dean Anderson not only compared the tall, snow-capped part about the mountians to Elder Perry, but also the steadfast and immovable constant man he is! It was great and I will forever remember that.
This month seems to have flown by for us! I honestly don't know where it went and how it went by so quickly!?! I guess I need to better prepare myself for the month of March each year and understand that OF COURSE it's going to be busy and fun filled with 3 birthdays in just our small family of 4!
We celebrated Patrick's birthday by eating a nice dinner and then going to Hollywood video to pick out a free movie that we could watch. Patrick ended up picking Star Trek and it was a pretty good movie. Even for someone who isn't a treky(Sp?) We got back and I made Patrick blow out his candles and then open his present. I had made him some hot/cold rice packs for his sore "old" body. And he was able to go buy him some more clothes which he needed.
The next day was my birthday and we had plans since it was a friday night to make it a date night and go out to eat. Well our babysitter got sick and ended up not able to watch the kids. A lot of people have said OH bummer! But really it was the best thing ever! Why not celebrate your birthday with your family?!? I don't know just a crazy idea I guess! haha. Anyways...I had planned for us to go to Texas Roadhouse. We had never been there before and I was excited to go. So we ended up taking the kids and having a BLAST! Porter loved the atmosphere there and was getting up and dancing and he got a cool cowboy hat, also he loved the food! Patrick gave me a pampered chef rice cooker. I'm pretty excited for it! It cooks more than just rice. Imagine this...Baked Potatoes cooked to perfection in the microwave in 3 minutes? AMAZING!! I love it!
The next weekend we celebrated Porters 2nd Birthday. We didn't do much on his actual birthday. We just had some friends over and let Porter and his buddy Brayden play. We opened presents and had Ice Cream and we watched some March Madness games. For Porters birthday we got him a Tool set/ Work bench, a kite and some chalk to play with outside and some clothes.
We actually really celebrated Porters birthday when we had everyone up for Kinley's Baby blessing. We ended up turning it into a Birthday Blessings party. We blessed Kinley at the beginning of the month. Patrick gave her a wonderful blessing! After church we had a luncheon and had cake and ice cream plus opened some presents from other family members. It was so wonderful to have as many people as we did come and support us and enjoy in our celebration! Thanks to all who came!
This month also included well-child visits to the Doctor. Kinley had her 2 month visit and is almost 12 lbs. and 23 1/2 in. Both of which are the 80%. So she's a healthy happy baby! As for Porter. he is 30lbs and 36 12 in. He is in the 80% for weight and 90% for height. The doctor told us that Porter is getting his 2 year old molars which really explains a lot!
This month for us has been full of health problems. It started out with Skye, Porter and Kinley all getting really runny noses and being pretty congested. We took Kinley into the Dr one day after she'd been suffering from symptoms of a cold for a full week and I was getting worried. I had read in the Parenting Magazine that RSV can look like a common cold, so I really started to get scared. Of course once we got into the Dr. my motherly instincts KNEW all was well and she was A.O.K. It's not at all in her lungs, she's eating great and from her weight gain which jumped a whole 3 lbs in 3 weeks showed us she's doing fine.After the whole month went by and Porter was showing no improvement, and started to cough I decided to call the Dr. to see if there were any medicines we could give him. Once I said he'd been sick for 3 weeks they said let's get him in here. So We took him into the Dr and they determined that Porter had an ear infection and gave us some medicine to get him better! Kinley on the other hand is doing really well and has seemed to overcome the battle of the cold.
Also to add to health issues; Patrick has been playing church ball lately and I kid you not when I say he has come home every saturday with some part of his body injured in one way or another. Luckily it hasn't been anything too serious. The most damage done has been to his back, of course, and that takes a toll on him for a few days. It's been fun going to watch his games and supporting him. Porter sure loves to go and cheer for his Daddy! "YES!!"
Also this month Patrick taught the Relief Society Activity. The topic being on budgeting. He did a Wonderful job! All the women came up to me and told me what a good job he did and how grateful they are for his teaching them new things. Some key points he taught were to number one PRAY as a couple before you talk budget and finances! He taught how we need to gain a testimony of keeping our finances straight and budgeting. He gave tips and told women about a few resources they could use to help them. It was awesome!
As we all know February is the month we celebrate Valentines Day. Patrick and I never really go all out and do things big for each other. Mostly it's just dinner together and I love it! This year Mom and Dad and Kelsey came up to visit us that weekend. They watched the kids so Patrick and I could go out on a date! It was so nice to be together as a couple without the kids for a couple hours. It was much needed! Patrick and I also got to go out on a date later that weekend. We went to the church and played basketball. We had fun with a few shooting games. Then afterwards we went out to eat. We had Subway! It was a wonderful time together AND cheap if you ask me! Sometimes the little things are better. Plus it helps to have access to the church building!
Last but not least an update on life for the kdis in this house. Porter has been showing a lot of interest in his little sister, Kinley. He is always trying to pick her up when she is crying! Which he’s strong enough to get her legs and bum off the ground, but not strong enough to pick her up by himself which scares me! I have to remind myself that it’s a sweet thing and so cute that he’s trying to help and love her! So we’ve been trying to teach him that he needs to ask if he wants to hold her. It didn't really work on one occasion and he picked her up and because she's not strong enough to hold her own weight and she's so limp he dropped her. It was terrifying to me, but all in all he’s been doing a great job and holds her a couple times a day! It’s super sweet and tender! We as parents can see the immense love and bond our children have with one another! It's Adorable!
Well, that's it for the month of February! Hope y'all enjoyed! Til next month!
P.S. The pictures from this month are from the latest Posts I've put up! Plus the one up top of Porter and Kinley!! So don't hate me for not adding pictures to this post. Please!
I finished the big projects in Kinley's Room about 4 weeks after she was born! YAY!! I'm still working on the decorations that are going to go on the Hutch, but that could be a while. So I decided I'd post these not so amazing pictures of her room so many of you can see what I've done and what I'm very proud of! Her room, in my opinion, is absolutely ADORABLE! It fits her personality perfectly too! I'm excited and trying to be very patient for it to be completely finished! ENJOY!
So you walk into the room and this is what you see
I made these wall hangings to help with adding color to the room since we can't paint! Then Patrick's sister Lacy painted these paintings! They are PERFECT! Isn't she so talented and AMAZING? Thanks Again Lace, We LOVE them!!
Then to the left is the window...
Then to the left is the crib.
Patrick and I made this mobile/chandelier the week before Kinley was born thank goodness! It took a lot of time, but well worth it!
This is our Cool Dude! He LOVES hats and will wear this hat all day long! Who knew he would grow up to love hats? Since he was so afraid of every person he ever saw wearing a hat when he was younger! He wants to be just like his Dad all the time now! He loves him and looks up to him so much! I love to watch these two together now a days. He used to always get into my hats, out of the 2 that I have and finally Patrick gave him this one to be his very own! It fits him great and matches a lot of his clothes so it works out perfectly! OH HOW I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!
My little girl is already growing up soo fast! I know it won't be long and I'll be saying 16 going on 17! CRAZY! Kinley is 4 weeks old and she is such a good little girl. Yes, she may still be a little confused about day and night time, she may have gas bubbles that she fights with along with the hiccups, and yes she might embarrass me by deciding to explode her pants at church during the sacrament(the most quiet time of church), but we still LOVE her and still think she is an amazing little girl! As for the rest of us and how we are handling having a 4th body in the home. We are doing very well! Patrick is doing an amazing job of helping me around the house and with the kids! I don't think there is a single guy out there that could/will do what he has been doing around here! Not to mention he's loaded with work( crazy tax season) and then finishing up his last credits in his Masters degree. Oh, and he is keeping very busy with being an amazing Elders Quorum President! I really admire him and look up to him for what a great man he is! I admire how he carries himself and handles so many things in is life with such ease! (Thanks Patrick, I love you!) Porter LOVES the Baby! Everytime she makes just the tiniest noise, he runs to me and says "Saah"(meaning sad). He then will run and get the binkie and try to shove it in her mouth. Or he'll just throw it at me for me to do it. He loves his little baby sister, but has also noticed less attention from his parents, and that has been rough on him. Let's just say he's definitely testing the waters. Me... I'm doing well. I get about 2-3 hours straight of sleep between feedings at night. If i'm smart and go to bed early and take advantage of all my time to sleep, I can get a good 7 hours total in for a night. I'm slowly learning the juggling act of 2 kids and myself and a husband, but like I said I've got a great Husband who has been helping me out A LOT!! These are some pictures of Kinley about 2 days ago! I did a little mini photo shoot right at home! Hope you all like them!
Sorry It's taken me a while to get pictures of our Christmas break up, but you know...we got back from our christmas and 2 days later I was in the Hospital having a baby! So Anyway-Our christmas was wonderful! We were able to spend time with both families. We spent time before Christmas with my mom! We opened our presents the first day we were there with her. I fought it and fought the idea of opening presents that early, but it was for a good reason. We tried to get Porter to be interested in opening presents, but he still doesn't understand the whole present opening concept yet. But, My Mom gave him a cleaning set!!! He played with the broom, the iron and the little hand vacuum all christmas break. Then for the reason to open presents early was--she gave me a SEWING MACHINE!! And I needed her expert advice while shopping for things to go with the machine. I was also able to sew Kinley's curtains while we were down there. Then Christmas Eve we drove up to the Munson abode. We had a wonderful night of playing games and what really made it feel like christmas to me was watching the nativity video! Then we woke up in the morning and opened presents with family! Porter got so excited at one point that he started grabbing presents throwing them up in the air! Some of his favorite gifts were the Slinky, his digital camera and he has learned to love his kitchen set! Oh and we can't forget his ELMO slippers. Patrick got some weights and a Roger Federer Hat!! I got a beautiful Watch! In short...it was a wonderful Christmas and we enjoyed being with family! The week after Christmas we went up to Bear Lake and had a blast with The Munson family and Kelsey's friend Jean. While we were up there we did lots of crafts, movie watching, game playing and playing in the snow! We took Porter out in the snow to play for his first time and we even got him sledding down a tiny hill all by himself!! He had so much fun and didn't want to come back in for lunch! One day he got going so fast down the hill he ended up being thrown at the bottom and getting face washed by the snow! That was not so fun for him. Here are our PROUD pictures of him and how he did such a good job of coming out of his comfort zone and doing something new!
This is our Snow-Woman that we built! It was perfectly round and everything! We used a bee hive for the hair! REally COOL!
While up in Bear Lake we celebrated NEW YEARS! I asked Jean if they have any fun traditions that they do in France on New Years and he told me that they count the new year in with the last 12 seconds and every second they shove a grape in their mouth! Well I thought that would be fun to try and so we were going to do it, but we got distracted and lost track of time. So I did it shortly AFTER the clock turned 12. Nobody wanted to join me so I was the loner who looked like a fool shoving her face with grapes! I think we'll introduce this tradition into our home to spice up the New YEars Eve party for our own little family! Even if I do it by myself every year! Hope you enjoy the picture!
Kinley-2 weeks old (on her actual due date) Hasn't she changed so much already?
Since we have been home from the hospital it has been quite the roller coaster ride I wasn't expecting to come with having a baby! I can say that #2 is quite the adjustment! Plus the sleep deprivation has just made it harder and caused me to feel the effects of what they call the "BABY BLUES" Also within the past two weeks we have managed to deal with passing around sickness. Patrick got it the worst out of all of us. After telling Kinleys Dr. about his symptoms he said that Patrick probably had Strep. Luckily none of us got sick to that degree and have been able to keep healthy! As for Kinley's 2 week Dr appointment-She is doing really well! All signs of Jaundice gone, she is now weighing over her birthweight at 7lbs even and has grown an inch and a half- 20.5 in. Porter is adjusting to the baby quicker each day. He still has his whinning moments, but he's not acting up AS MUCH AS he was the past week. All in all we are doing A LOT better and life seems to be coming together.
Also, I just have to show you how cute my boys are! Patrick has been watching a lot of basketball games lately and Porter has shown GREAT interest! (YAY!!) I'm just glad I'm now not a loner while the two of them watch sports together! I've got a little girl to keep me entertained!
Pre-Labor Story: It was Monday morning December 28th and we had just gotten back from Christmas with family the Saturday before.We were planning on leaving for Bear Lake immediately after I got back frommy Doctors appointment that Monday afternoon. I was 37 weeks along and the Dr. said I was dilated to a 3 and 70% effaced.Now, understand that the week before I was already dilated to a 1.5 and 60% effaced. I said to Dr. Horsley “ So am I still ok to go to Bear Lake? Please tell me honestly!” He replied, well I don’t want to ruin your trip by saying stay home and nothing happens, but this exam could start you into labor, so maybe hang back an hour or two and see how you are feeling. Then he added, while you are up in Bear Lake if you have 4 really painful contractions within an hour you need to get back here! So we left and came home, hung around for a while and then headed on up to Bear Lake. Labor:
Monday morning, January 4th rolls around myappointment was set at 9:45 AM. I had left some cleaning and laundry to be done, because I thoughtthat I was going to go to my appointment, come home and have some time to get things done while I counted contractions and then go into the hospital later in the day to have the baby. BUT Patrick and I both felt that we should have packed our bags and gotten things ready just in case we were sent straight up to Labor and Delivery. We had a small feeling that that could happen.
While visiting with my Dr.we found out I had dilated to a 4 and was 80% effaced.I KNEW that the striping of my membranes was definitely going to get me going.Then Dr. Horsley said well, lets schedule to induce you next Monday, if I don’t see you this week.Then as he was walking out the door he asked me how her movements have been. I told him that they have become less frequent, but I can still get 10 movements within an hour.Trying to find any reason to send me up to L&D he said well let’s hook you up to the stress testmonitor and check her movements.While we were sitting waiting for the test to finish ( which was 20minutes ) I had felt cramps and my stomach tightening.We could also hear her heartbeat and heard it intensify every now and then.Dr. Horsley came back and read the charts and said well, she just barely doesn’t pass the test, which is reason enough to send you up to L&D, but really it’s nothing to worry about, she’s fine!BUT You also have had 8 contractions within these past 20 minutes, so lets definitely send you up to L&D.
So, up to Labor and Delivery I went. Patrick was sooo excited and I was happy, but sad andhad mixed emotions about the whole thing.I was really overwhelmed because I had left a lot of things to be done that day that now I wasn’t going to have the chance to do. Plus I was so worried about Porter! I knew that I wasn’t going to see him for the next 2 days and that tore my heart into pieces.I also knew that now I would have 2 kids to care for and I wasn’t sure I was ready for it.
I was admitted into room 4 at 10:45AM and Patrick left to pack the bags and getPorter taken care of. Thanks to Matt n Kenz for taking such good care of my boy all day!!! I was contracting a little bit and as the hour went on I felt them getting stronger. The nurse came in and noticed I was feeling one pretty good and asked If I wanted the epidural soon.The anesthesiologist was giving another lady her epidural and they could send him right down right when he was finished with her. I said sure, but can we wait til my husband gets here? Of course the nurse said!So Patrick showed up around noon and I got the epidural at 12:30PM immediately after at 1PM Dr. Horsley showed up and checked my cervix and I was dilated to a 5 and 80% effaced. He broke my water and left. While waiting Patrick and I played zilch, which I slaughtered him in. He took a nap and I watched some TV.I could feel my stomach tightening and I knew I was having contractions. At 2:45PM the nurse came in and checked me. I was dilated to a 6 and 100% effaced.I KNEW this baby was going to be here real soon soI watched for the urge to push. Come 3:30 I was really feeling ready, I had them check me and sure enough I was fully dilated and effaced and she was head completely down and ready. Now I had to wait for my Dr. to show up so I could start pushing.He got there at 4PM and I pushedthrough 2 contractions a total of 6 times and abracadabra Kinley Anne was born at 4:14PM weighing 6lbs 140z and was 19in long.She was so beautiful right after she was born and looked EXACTLY like her brother.And she still is super beautiful!
HOME:
We brought her home and Porter was so excited to see the baby! He gave her tons of kisses and was totally ready to play with her. He shouted basketball when we came in the door and threw one of the lighter weight balls (thank goodness) right at Kinleys face. Then he ran and got his toy gun and sat it on her cuz he wanted to play with her so badly! Porter has already been such a great big brother! He constantly wants her in the same room as him and loves to get right in her face and say “HI” “BABY” and give her big kisses.He is really sweet.
Kinley has been a really good baby. She just needs to switch her time clock. She's got her days and nights confused. With 2 kids that can make you one tired person! We are so blessed and grateful to have 2 healthy happy kids and we love them so very much!
Also this month we celebrated a few things. #1- the house hunt. #2- Patrick passing his 3rd section of the CPA exam. And #3-Thanksgiving. We started Thanksgiving week off with buying us a van. Yes I'm driving what I call the Swaggon Wagon(A.K.A Swagger Wagon-with out plagerizing because I don't drive a Sienna). It's a Chrysler Town and Country Limited Edition that we had to swallow our Pride and take it because of the amazing deal it was. Then we celebrated Turkey day with the Munsons. 
