The Kiddos

Sorry the blog posts are few and far between. It takes a while to update a blog and it is even worse for me because I am such a perfectionist, but at least I update about twice a month, right? That's what I keep telling myself anyways.

Delson is 17 months now and we are counting down the days until he can go to nursery at church. 2 Sundays left and then we will try to sneak him in on June 13. (I mean...come on....it's only 4 days before he turns 18 months.) We know he will love it and that we will love it too, so we just CAN'T WAIT!!! I think I can only count on one hand how many times Alex has been to Priesthood since Delson was born and I feel terrible about that. Kids....can't live with them.....can't live without them. Love them! Delson is saying all sorts of words now. I think I counted that he can say about 20 words and we are loving it. "Block," "clock," and "truck" all sound similar, but he knows the difference. He loves to say "juice," "cracker," and "cheese" just about as much as he loves putting them in his mouth. And finally we got Delson to actually SAY "please" instead of just signing it. While my mother was visiting almost 2 weeks ago, she was working really hard on getting him to say "please," but he just kept signing it. And the day after she left, he finally started saying it. So even though she didn't get to hear it, she put in a lot of hard work. Thanks Mom! Now he's a pro at saying and signing "please".

Kambria will be 4 months old on Saturday and I can hardly believe it. She is loving sitting up even though she can't do it on her own quite yet. So if Alex or I are holding her and we go and set her in her bouncer, she bursts into tears because she just hates to lay back. She just can't see as well and it makes her sad. So...she is getting spoiled because we hate to hear her cry. Only a month or 2 left and she will be able to sit up on her own. We look forward to that day. Kambria has also discovered her thumb, and she prefers it over her binkie, so I am a little saddened by this discovery. Don't get me wrong, it is nice not to have to get up several times in the night to give her her binkie whenever she wakes up and needs to suck something, but I am so worried she is going to turn out like me and have to wear head-gear and braces for 5 years. Not good! It is cute to see her sucking her thumb, but I hope she will break the habit sooner than I did.

And in other news, the fence is half way up and it should hopefully be finished by tomorrow! I will post pictures once it is done. I can't wait to take pictures of Delson's happy face while he gets to run around out back and play to his heart's content. And hopefully I can get a little sun too. Enjoy the photos!

The beautiful sky outside our house the other evening.

Delson LOVES Daddy's motorcycle and so Grandpa took him for a drive up the street on it. Delson loved it! I am pretty sure this is the beginning of things to come.

Delson likes to wear Momma's glasses.

Delson and Kambria together!

She's a pretty little princess.

First I found Kambria sucking her thumb in her crib while she was sleeping.

Then I caught her doing it while she was playing on her gym.

Then she was doing it in her Bumbo seat. I guess she is going to be a thumb sucker. Darn it!

WE HAVE GRASS!!!

Today the sod arrived and Alex, his brother, Dexter, his mother, Daneen, and friend, Scot, laid it down in about 2.5 hours. They were so quick. The guy that came out and gave us our sod estimate a few weeks ago said that it would take 4 men working all day to cover the area we have, which is a little over 2,600 square feet. Apparently he knows some wimpy guys because these boys laid it down fast! Oh my gosh....our yard looks so different and it is amazing! I can hardly believe my eyes every time I look out back. It is wonderful! And another great thing....the fence guy came by today and we signed the contract for him to begin work this Tuesday. He said it would be finished by Friday of next week! That is perfect timing too, considering we can't walk on the sod for a week so that it can root into the ground. The fence will be up just in time for Delson to run and play outside as much as he wants. I have a feeling he will never want to come inside once he knows what it is like to be outside all the time. I can't wait! Enjoy our before and after pictures:

Say goodbye to our nasty dirt and tumbleweed yard forever!!!

AAAAHHHH......GRASS!!! FINALLY!!!

3 Months Old

Kambria is officially 3 months old now and she is changing everyday. She is so big now compared to when she was first born. But she is getting more adorable everyday and you can really see her personality coming out. She is very sweet and she has the best smiles. Whenever I get upset at Delson, all I have to do is look at Kambria and her beautiful smiles melt my heart. Even though life is much crazier with 2 kids, I wouldn't trade either of them for the world. I love them both so much!

Also, our yard is coming along slowly. We had to wait for a week for an irrigation specialist to design the sprinkler system in our backyard, but now that we have that, things are moving again. Right now Alex is working on putting the rock around our backyard and tomorrow he is renting a trencher in order to start laying the sprinklers. Hopefully we can lay sod next week. Yeah! After sod, we only have the fence to finish. I am hoping that when my mom comes to visit 10 days that the grass will at least be in! I don't think those are too great of expectations. We will see.

Delson loves to pretend that he is talking on the phone like I do. He is so hilarious. He carries on conversations in his own language and even fake laughs. In this picture he is actually holding a play remote control to his ear. I will try to get him talking on his phone on videotape and post it on the blog soon.

Delson hated chicken nuggets until I introduced him to ketchup. Now he can't get enough of them!

This is the stack of burp rags that I have to wash every 3 days because Kambria spits up so much. Gotta love that baby puke.

Posing after church last Sunday. Look at those chubby cheeks.

Another Sunday dress. So pretty! (Double chin and all.)

Daneen found this adorable outfit for Kambria. They just have the cutest clothes for baby girls these days!

Kambria Is 2 Months and Other News

Well Kambria is actually 2 1/2 months old now, but she just had her 2 month checkup. She weighed in at 13.3 lbs and 24" long (both in the 95%-ile). She is still a big girl, but I am glad that she has lengthened out quite a bit to match her chubbiness. She is still a very good baby girl. She has been struggling a bit more with gas lately, but I remember that Delson's worst gassy month was between 2 & 3 months, so I am hoping this will be the worst month for her too. However, I am glad that despite all of her gas, she has still been sleeping between 6 and 8 hours at night. I can't complain about that at all. I am so proud of her. That long stretch of uninterrupted sleep does A LOT for making me a very happy mom and giving me the energy to chase after Delson.

Delson is also doing really well. It is hard to believe he is 16 months now. He is becoming a very smart boy. This week Alex taught him how to do Tarzan, so Delson will beat on his chest and holler and it is really cute. Also, he is telling me when he wants to go down for a nap. Today I asked him if he wanted to go "night-night" for a nap and he went into the other room and brought me out his blankets and waved his hands "goodbye" at me (which means he wants to go to bed). So I laid him in his bed and he went right to sleep. He can be such a good boy.

In other news, our backyard is coming together nicely. We had some landscapers come this week and in 2 days they built this massive retaining wall. Alex pretty much designed the whole thing too and I think it looks great. Finally, we are getting somewhere with our backyard! Alex will start working on getting sprinklers in and laying sod and hopefully by the end of this month, our yard will be done. It is amazing to think. I can hardly believe that we have lived here for a year and half and now we are just getting our backyard done. I am super excited!

Pretty girl.

My aunts got Kambria this cute chick coverup for Easter. Love it!

Bath time...Kambria loves her baths.

Delson had a sleepover last night with his girlfriend, Jaylie. Delson was excited about it, but you can tell Jaylie was not. It was pretty funny really.

Delson is going to be a piano player (hopefully). Like the milk on his face?

The backyard before the wall. We HATE tumbleweeds.

The right side of the wall.

The whole wall.

The left side of the wall.

Becoming Toddlerwise

I don't know if anyone has read "On Becoming Babywise" by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam, but I really think that their philosophy on helping babies sleep through the night really works. Kambria just turned 2 months old on Monday, and last night and the night before she slept 7 hours. That is not to say that it will continue that way, but at least I know she can sleep that long without eating. It can be super hard to let your baby cry, but it is so worth it when they learn how to put themselves to sleep and stay asleep.

So because I love that book, I decided to see if these authors had any other books because I have really been struggling with Delson and his temper tantrums lately. He has been very difficult. So I ordered their book, "On Becoming Todlerwise" and I am only 23 pages in and think they describe my life to a tee. This paragraph is absolutely perfect:

"During the one-year time span between 12 and 24 months, the walking, talking, exploring toddler multiplies the demands of mother's time, energy and patience more than any other period of his life.[...]Ah yes, the mobile toddler. There is no question that a toddler's mom is a tired mom, and for good reason. The emotional and physical energy needed to supervise an energy-packed tot can take down the most physically fit mom. If your toddler happens to be a boy, add fifty percent more energy. Never so beautiful does this child look to his weary mom as he does when he closes his eyes in sleep (p22-23)."

Delson totally wears me out. He has so much energy and he is constantly getting into things he shouldn't be. It's terrible and I LOVE it when he is sleeping and when he doesn't sleep, I nearly cry because I know he needs it and he is just being stubborn. I am so glad that this stage should only last for a year. And by the time he is done with it, Kambria will just be starting. What have I done to myself?

Kambria's Blessing Weekend

This past weekend, my parents along with my sister, Stephanie and her new husband Trent came to stay with us because we blessed Kambria. It was so wonderful to have my family here. Stephanie is a fabulous photographer and she took some adorable cherub pictures of Kambria in a new outfit she received. They are so cute! The blessing was lovely and Alex did a very nice job. Daneen picked out Kambria's blessing dress and it was gorgeous. We had a wonderful weekend!

Kambria continues to be a perfect baby. She hardly ever cries and she is so content. Her smiles melt our hearts. Once my family left, I finally moved her into her own room, which is really nice. Alex and I have both been sleeping better. I am trying to be tough and let Kambria cry herself to sleep so that she learns to self-soothe, but it is difficult since she hardly ever cries. I feel terrible about it, but I know if i keep it up, it will only be a matter of days before she can fall asleep faster and without much crying. I can't believe she is almost 2 months old. I thought time flew by with one child, but now time flies by even faster with two. I'm scared to have more children because I just know they will be all grown up at the blink of my eye. But I really love being a mom!

Blessing shoes.

Kambria in her blessing dress.

Our family.

Stephanie and Trent.

The Christensen Family: Grandma and Grandpa are holding the grandchildren of course.

Grandma Karen and Grandpa Walt.

Great Grandma and Grandpa with their first great-granddaughter, even though they have 8 great-grandchildren.

Aunt Stephanie's beautiful photography.

Grandpa Walt and sleeping baby girl.

Momma and her baby girl.