CFFR8 and all things great.

The week of the 4th was so so so so crazy fun! 

I would say the only bad part about the whole reunion/celebration, was that I didn't get to see Dan very much. He loves being with my brothers and bro in laws, so they took every opportunity to play frolf, go shooting, go for soda runs, play cards, etc. The girls didn't need the husbands anyway---we were busy talking, cooking, cleaning, reminiscing, and just enjoying being family.

We literally had every single member of my family home and staying at my mom's house. (48 in total). There was room for everyone because part of our reunion tradition is camping out in mom's forest. Also, we live only half hour away so we came back to our apt to sleep part of the time because my pregnant self wasn't getting the sleep I needed because Stori was having way too much fun to sleep! She literally cried for "Granny's house" if we came back to our apt. But we would get home late and leave real early, so she somehow managed to survive. :)

A few highlights of that week

-80's theme reunion: Lot's of big hair, hairspray, makeup, and mullets

-beyond delicious food

-child-less date to Texas Roadhouse for Kristie's bday

-dress up with cousins

-4th of July parade in Menan: where the boys took a swim in their clothes

-Menan fireworks: literally has become our favorite spot to watch them

-Trapeze swinging for Stori and Daddy

-a huge backyard for running around

-hammock-ing

-perfect deck for relaxing and eating

-tricks on the trampoline

-building towers for Flynn Ryder

-cousin time

-BOUNCY HOUSE! this was a huge hit

-s'mores over the fire

-Listening to 80's music with the Queens of the 80's (sisters)

-picking up Corey from the airport in our 80's gear

-Ryders blessing and having everyone at church for it

-playing games after the kiddos are asleep
-not getting on my phone! I would go to charge it at night and still have 96% battery! It is wonderful to be disconnected from all the distractions I let in my life!

And holy cow so much more..... !! 

The best part is that it's not even over. we still have lot's of shopping to do, floating trips to take, shooting, hiking, more food to eat, and lot's of deck sitting in the perfect Idaho weather. I just love this time of year and my family!
The Christensen Family Fun Run year 8

The bouncy house and roasting some s'mores

taking pictures on daddy's camera

The Parade

 

it was so hot at the parade that these guys jumped in fully clothed. Dan didn't have a change of clothes but jumped in twice.

Getting all 80's

how we do... this pic is super pixilated so it has to be small

34 weeks preg and my freaking cute punkin princess

Ryders blessing day

All the sibs in birth order

all the ladies (and one giant)

haha

Grandma and ALL the grandkids Baby Rad 2 will make 33

My tiny human is not so tiny anymore...

July 17, 2013 marked the day that I became the mother of a 2 year old. 

To celebrate, we had not one, not two, but 3 parties! Well two and a half...

*July 11 (Hazels bday) 

We had a twin cousin Minnie Mouse birthday party. We made chicken salad sandwiches and the most heavenly cupcakes in all the land. Neither Dan nor I like cupcakes, but these really hit the spot. It was actually my first time making cupcakes from scratch EVER, but I knew I would like them because my sister made them for my baby shower when I was preg with Stori.

So we ate dinner both inside and outside due to the off-and-on rain storm, sang happy birthday, and then opened presents. Stori got a Rapunzel dress up doll from Granny that she hugged and hugged. It was a great day and we seriously have such an amazing and fun family!! 

As for a present from us....Dan had this grand idea to get Stori a power wheel because he always wanted one when he was little. Well I was very reluctant for several reasons:

1. I didn't want her to get spoiled by toys and material things---I spoil her pretty good by taking her on a walk to the park everyday.

2. I didn't want a giant toy to take up space in our apartment.

3. I didn't want her to want to ride it every day because I would have to haul the heavy thing downstairs and I'm 9 months preg.

4. And, I didn't want to spend the money. I thought a new book or some frozen yogurt would be just great for a tiny human.

 BUT

Everyone I told sided with Dan. And I guess it was pretty cute at how excited he was about his idea---like called me over 7 times in an hour as he was shopping for her. 

So he got all the info and it turns out the power wheel was a Minnie Mouse 4-wheeler that was light-weight, cheap, really small, and perfect for our Stori Rose. So he got it. And she LOVED it!!! She did a great job at sharing it with her cousins while they were at Granny's house too. All in all, a successful bday party!

wearing their twin outfits that they wore when they turned 1

and wearing their new twin outfits that Kristie got them

hugging her Rapunzel dress up doll from Granny

*July 17 twin friend bday party (Astoria's actual birthday)

Sticking with tradition, I decorated the house while Stori was sleeping. I placed streamers down her door so that she would walk through them when she got up. She was soooo excited to see those and called them her princess streamers.

Then we took a trip to the park with Tracen and Alana to play as much as she wanted, and enjoy a free lunch at the park! 

That night we got together for dinner with the Foresters and the Allreds. Lila Rose and Stori Rose have the exact same bday just one year apart. I was shocked at how much fun those 2 crazy girls had. They laughed and hugged for seriously 10 minutes. Alana is the sweetest and gave them matching birthday dresses from H&M and they looked so cute! We ate dinner, had cake and ice cream, and then played and played and played. I am so lucky to have amazing friends!

The beautiful Alana and Alicia posing with the 36 week pregnant giant!

*July 18 no ones birthday but still a party

A sweet girl in our ward works at a horse arena in Idaho Falls and let Tracen, Stori, and Lila come and ride her Pony "Little Bit." Tracen enjoyed the trucks they had there to play with more than the Pony, but Lila and Stori absolutely loved their Pony rides. The pony was small so it made our girls look way older than they are. She walked them each around the arena 4 times and these kids thought they were in heaven!

      

So far, turning 2 is 3x's the fun. She is talking so much and just makes our hearts explode on a daily basis with how much we love her! She is the best tiny human I could ever ask for! Love you Punkin! Happy 2nd Birthday!

the-every-day-kind-of-update.

I sometimes get overwhelmed with blogging---I feel like we do so much fun stuff and I don't get it all documented. If I had any talent in creative writing, I would be updating this blog of mine every day because I feel like each day is better than the last. But while I'm waiting to update my blog on the big interesting things, I decided to post on the small, yet meaningful things.

Small update #1: We have decided to stay at Peterson Pointe until after we have baby Rad 2. Possibly until December. Our original plan was to move out when our contract is over in July and live in Rigby, Lewisville, or IF. The main reasons we decided to stay are: awesome friends, cheap rent, we live close to parks, we have a great ward, and we just got an AC unit from Sam's, so now our apt is even better. Plus I don't want to change a lot of things for Stori because she is going to have the shock of her life when new baby comes---and she's potty training herself pretty much, so I don't want to mess that all up by moving. Dan will still have to drive a lot and spend a lot in gas, but we decided that this is best for now.

Small update #2: Dan got his scores back from the LSAT! He scored a 153!!!! That is a good score that can for sure get us into Law School, especially with his great GPA! However, he has decided to take it again in October to see if her can get a 160 so that he can apply to BYU and U of U. Those are our top pics. It's crazy to think that we only have one more year here! We have loved this journey so much.

Small update #3: Our stupid friends, the Allreds, move in just 2 short weeks!!! I could cry just thinking about it. Stori and Tracen play so well together and I hate the thought of them leaving. We are still recovering from when the Thompsons left us. We have been overly blessed with great friends here in Rexburg. I hope wherever we end up, we find friends like these! Luckily the Foresters don't leave until April!

Small update #4: I'm still pregnant. I am having the hardest time keeping track of how far along I am. I am pretty sure it's around 34 weeks??? but I'll have to do the math again. At my last Dr. apt I had to have another ultra sound because I am measuring behind just like I did with Stori. Luckily everything looked great and I am in fact measuring right on. The Dr. phrased it like this: "well, you just have great birthing hips."
 haha geez thanks doc! Just what I wanted to hear! But I guess it is a good thing even though it sounds horrible. The baby is head down and just sort of stays in my "deep hips" making it appear to the Dr. that I am measuring behind. He says he will do as many ultra sounds as he needs to make sure that everything continues to look great. He doesn't want to settle with "just ok." Which I appreciate

Small update #5: Astoria Rose. Just her in general. She changes so much each and every day! She knows all the words to all the nursery songs and knows most words to her favorite movies. I put Enchanted on the other day and she starting singing along---we haven't watched that movie in several months! She counts from 1-14 (after 14 is eleven-teen). She knows colors, letter sounds, the abc's, and she knows which roads to take to get to granny's house. She calls her baby sister by name and even thanks Heavenly Father for her in her personal prayers. It's too cute and sometimes my heart almost explodes! I love being a mom! She is addicted to the park and playing outside, so our mornings are spent outside, then I get to relax during nap time, then back outside for us after that! I have a pretty great life!

Well that's my update of the day. I feel a little bit better about documenting my blog.
P.S. Family is here for a long time and we have enjoyed going out to my mom's house several times a week to play! Stori has loved it! More on that later.

top left---girl movie night with the Foresters. Lila and Stori let us wrap them up like babies and actually almost fell asleep :) Other 3 photos from our daily park trips that turn into water park trips also.


A random puppy that found it's way into Stori's arms at my moms house. One of my favorite pictures of her!!!

Dan is the Dad and he is Rad

This guy that can make her laugh 'til she cries. Literally.

The Rexburg air show with the Allreds. Such fantastic friends we have here!!

I love how in the top picture they are making the same exact face. 

Well we love this guy a whole heap! 

He does so much around the house to help out (cleaning, cooking, making decisions), he's always willing to go get me ice cream, a great walking companion, and a full time PSR worker. He even fixed his very own Father's day dinner... and did the dishes. PLUS he was sick. I did have plans of making a fun dinner for him but then those plans changed and we improvised. 

We took our traditional front door picture again and this time it's Peterson Pointe 300. Dan, like I said, was sick so he didn't go to church---hence the sloppy clothes and non-showered appearance. 

I have written quite a few times on this here blog about why I love dan, so this time I decided to ask dan his feelings on why he's the best... here they are. haha enjoy

Dan says his 5 best qualities are: 

1. He's better looking than most guys, in fact, he's really ridiculously good looking

2. He knows all the songs/words to Tangled

3. He can clean a gun in the blink of an eye

4. He can make a mean BBQ chicken pizza

5. He's successfully won the heart of the two most beautiful girls.

I think I can agree with more than a few of those. :)

And now some pretty freaking cute videos of our Stori Rose. (FYI my "hat" is actually her sipper cup)

Pregnancy update

30 WEEKS!! Goodness gracious that's a long time that I've been pregnant. 

And so weird that I keep forgetting I'm pregnant. You would think my giant belly would help with remembering that. I guess the trick is to have a 22 month old who is attached to you at all times.

Anywhoo, here is my update...

*We have finally decided on a name! The only reason we would change the name is if:

 (a. we find a better one, duh. 

(b. if Kate Middleton uses the same name

or

(c. if we discover it also sounds good with Kardashian

But we are fairly confident that no famous person will be using this name any time soon. 

(And if they do, it's because they saw how cute our little girl is with this name).

*I see the Dr. every 2 weeks now

*I passed my glucose test 2 weeks ago

and

* At my Dr. appointment today, I was measuring 1 week behind (boo!) and my baby is measuring a week ahead so maybe it will all even out?

I grabbed this little questionnaire from babycenter because I keep forgetting to update about my pregnancy and this should be a good way to formulate my thoughts--because let's be real, my pregnancy brain is kind of fried. So here goes. 

How far along: 30 weeks!

Total weight gain: rhymes with shmineteen

Maternity clothes: yes and no. I only own a few maternity outfits. Most of the time I'm in my yoga pants and a t-shirt.

Stretch marks: Just the few from last pregnancy around my belly button so far.

Sleep: amazing! I haven't really needed to use the bathroom in the middle of the night yet, and I'm still pretty comfortable. Plus Stori sleeps 12 hours at night which is fantastic.

Best moment of this week: Dan taking the LSAT and hanging out with friends. (my answer is not pregnant related, but then again remember how I keep forgetting I'm pregs...)

Miss anything: sleeping on my stomach!!!!

Movement: SO much movement. My belly looks like something is literally trying to come out of it at times. We call it the baby wave or baby roll, because she will start on the right side of my belly and we will watch as she literally moves my whole stomach as she ends up on the left side! Coolest feeling ever.

Food cravings: Oddly enough, haven’t felt as hungry as usual this past week..maybe I’m beginning to run out of room in there! And I would also say ice cream, but that's nothing new to pregnancy.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Just Obama

Have you started to show yet: OHHH YEAHHH!

Gender: Girl!!

Labor signs: A few Braxton Hicks, but those have stopped now that I've stopped running. We walk 5 miles/day now instead and that has helped. And the Dr. told me to take Magnesium pills and those work great also. 

Belly button in or out: OUT! and has been since about week 12. I like to make people feel it. haha

Wedding rings on or off: On

Happy or moody most of the time: This is probably a question for Dan to answer. I choose happy though. :)

Looking forward to: All of my family coming to visit starting next week!

And now for my first ever dreaded-selfie. and to make it even worse, it's in a MIRROR! 

I'm so ashamed. 

Plus, I think my stomach is bigger in real life. I will have dan take one later and hopefully replace this nastiness.

P.S. I just had to include this picture of Stori. She got this shirt at a 6 months Dr visit and it just now fits... somehow it's a lot creepier now that she's almost 2 hahaha...

Summer days that are actually still our Spring days.

Spring is technically the current season,
but summer makes me happy, and this be the reason...

Bike rides and walks, fill up our morning,
playing with my red-head never gets boring.
Dan's work is ending earlier in the day,
making it easy for all three of us to play.
My friends in Rexburg are pretty dang cool,
we walk, we talk, and we swim in shasha's pool.
When Stori wakes up, she asks for the slide,
and doesn't even complain about the long stroller ride...

This summer is going to be great like the rest,
cause my family is coming soon and they are the best.
Also this summer, you best not forget,
we're having our second baby and gettin in major debt...

Dan takes the LSAT tomorrow and that's fine,
but after it's over we are going to party like it's 1999.
we find out in July how he scored,
and hopefully get's into the only school he toured...     (BYU)

Other fun things to look forward to this summer (that I can't get to rhyme).

-CFFR8

-July 4th festivities

-Astoria Rose turns 2

-Mel turns 28

-Dan and Mel celebrate 4 years of awesome marriedness

-Baby Rad 2 gets born

-Dan turns 29

-many nights of porch sitting

-endless bonfires and BBQ's

And not so cool things for the summer

-Friends moving away. Stupid friends! Who needs them anyway... 

his story-telling skills are very entertaining 

still crossing her little leggies

painting inside cause she's sick while her friends play at the park

Star Valley, Jackson, and throw up

Let it be known that I cannot recall a Memorial Day where it has been nice and sunny. Nor can I recall a Memorial Day that we haven't gone to Star Valley. Perhaps there is a connection there that I'm not picking up on.

But I still love me some Wyoming.

This year I realized that Memorial Day is becoming less and less about remembering loved ones, and more about shopping and camping. Shopping and camping are perfectly great activities, and ones that I happen to love. I can even love them on Memorial Day. This is just my little observation.

With that said, we spent the weekend traveling through Jackson and staying in a cabin in Thayne, WY.

One day was spent driving through Teton National Park searching for bears. Sadly we only found a Moose and lot's of duck poop. It's never too much of a disappointment because of the beautiful scenery. Even Stori noticed how "pretty" it all was.

Apparently we missed seeing a grizzly by 20 minutes, so when we found a Park Ranger we decided to follow him, thinking he was going where the bear was. Turns out he was just driving down an incredibly rough/bumpy road that gave one little red-head a case of the throw-ups. Yep. All over her carseat! It was so disgusting that I sat my pregnant self on the side of the road retching, trying my best to not spew all over myself. Luckily I married the most amazing man ever and he cleaned up Stori and her carseat without even a grumble. In fact, he gave Stori loves and told her he was sorry she got sick. Best. Dad. Ever. After that excitement, we decided to cut our Jackson trip a little shorter than planned and took off for Thayne after we ate a very late lunch. (For some reason we didn't feel like eating right after the throw-up fiasco).

We got to the cabin and my nice cousin washed all of the puke stuff while we gave Stori a bath and got her ready for bed. Dan and I watched "North America" while my mom hung out with her family.

before the throw up

As for memorial day, we (my mom) were able to take flowers to several of my family members graves (and even one to sweet Desi). My Dad's headstone looked exceptionally beautiful this year. I sent a picture of it to my siblings and my sister Aleisa replied, "...it's weird that it doesn't seem like a new headstone anymore." It's true, it doesn't. Stori loved climbing on it, despite our attempts to keep her off, but it was kind of fun telling her about her Papa. She counted all the names on the back of the headstone and it felt oddly comforting to have her acknowledge the words there.

After the cemetery we had a potluck at my Aunt and Uncles house. Stori played and played and played. Then she cried and cried and cried when she could no longer play. She is very spoiled whenever there are older cousins around because they all seem to want to make her happy. Which is easy for me! :)

After lunch and visiting, we made our annual trip to Maverick for some frozen yogurt and then drove home through Fall Creek. It is seriously such a beautiful drive! Dan and I made it our goal to really soak up the beauty around here before we move out of here next year.

Stori prayers

Each night we gather for family prayers in Stori's room. I've always had to help Stori say hers, but about 2 weeks ago she has started saying her entire prayer all by herself. Her typical prayer includes, "Father. Thank you. For. Daddy, Mommy, Shasha, Lila, Drew, Nornie, Ryder, (then she'll repeat all those again or more), Papa, Granny, (long pause) Christ, Amen."

So it is really quite adorable. At the end of her prayers she asks to say them again, so usually she will lay in her crib saying prayers for about 5 minutes. I tried to get one on camera, but this stinker spotted the phone. 

 At the beginning of the video, Minnie Mouse is hiding in the diaper box and Stori is telling her to say prayers with her. Then at the end, when she says 'ah, scary," that is when Dan enters in the room haha.

it is a lot more difficult than we thought.

I don't exactly know why picking out a baby name is so blasted difficult!
-maybe it's because this human has to live with this name forever and she has no say about it?
-maybe it's because I already have one child with a super unique name and all other names just don't fit?
-or maybe it's because Dan and I are quite possibly the worlds most indecisive people you will ever meet?

We have a list of names that are just mediocre at the moment. I like 2 quite a bit but dan isn't sold on them yet. I definitely have a great list of middle names to work with though! :)

Speaking of baby rad 2, I am now 26 weeks and feeling great!

Mothers Day 2013 by apartment #300 at Peterson Pointe, holding my 2 girls! 

I haven't reached the "complete freak out" stage of my pregnancy yet because I am busy with my other tiny human. Stori is just so much fun and I absolutely, 100% love her.

On one of our daily walks to the park, we noticed that the sprinklers were on and slightly covering the play area. I did my best to keep her away from the mud and puddles so that she would stay clean and warm. Well that lasted a whole 10 minutes before her curiosity got the better of her. She took off for the sprinklers and giggled from head to toe.
It was right then that I remembered the quote from Marjorie Pay Hinckley, "whenever possible say yes, they are only kids once!"

So she played and played and played. By the time we were ready to go home she was covered in mud and soaking wet. I LOVED IT!

{and just 2 cute pictures from the weekend} 

Stori playing the piano at Aleisa's house and dancing with Daddy at Cafe Rio.