Family Pics 2014

Well, I suppose I had it coming to me, I had picked out lovely coordinating outfits, and picked the primo spot, and got Sam on board to take family pictures with me, and the morning of, huge zito on my face-o.. but we took them anyway. The spot was still primo, and the boys were still so handsome…o, but needless to say…I am happy that we will have never shot at this family picture concept when we are in Utah in November. 

Still…so pretty. So amazingly pretty in Bend at this time of year. Oh my goodness, I truly cannot get enough of it. I am excited for more fall adventures. We will be revisiting the pumpkin patch this year, we have our fair share of apple cider already, we will be carving pumpkins, and we are counting downy the days to Halloween in our house. It has officially been a little over a year since we have been here, and oh, how much can change in a year! I love my silly little boys!

Mom of Boys Fail

The other day shopping I felt like getting my boys some superheroes, for no particular reason except, I thought it would be fun for them to have since we really don't have that many..yet. They named me ironman right away, which I have no problem with considering I really like ironman. So, for the next couple days I was always ironman. I found myself making sandwiches as ironman, driving the car with ironman at the wheel, tucking the boys in as ironman, and for Josh he wouldn't follow mom's directions, but he would listen to ironman, so I proceeded. One morning Josh came into our room in the morning he and handed me ironman. Then spiderman and ironman spark up a conversation. Josh as spiderman: hi, ironman. Ironman: Oh hi, spiderman. Spiderman: shoes. Ironman: Oh yeah! We have the same shoes!! Pause. Spiderman was looking at me, and Sam was looking at me and said: Um…superheroes don't talk about their shoes. Haha!! We laughed for a while about this, and I could hear myself saying this line over and over in my head. I have rolled with the punches when it comes to being a mom with all boys. The dirty hands, and muddy feet, the jumping off of couches and tables, playing superheroes, jumping in puddles right a long with them, but I must say this is the first time I relapsed pretty obviously that I grew up with a lot of sisters, and played only Barbies.

Milestones

It has been a busy couple of weeks, with a lot of new transitions. The biggest one, perhaps, is Kaj starting school. He is only going on Tuesday and Thursday for the morning, but it is definitely strange not having him around. I have to leave my house at 8:45, and drive him there, I am usually dressed but gross, and Josh and Rowan are in the pajamas, but at least Kaj is always dressed, hair combed, and ready to go, I walk Kaj inside-it only takes a moment, but by the time I get back Josh is in tears realizing he, once again, will not be joining Kaj at school. Kaj has told him he can go when he is 3 many times, but Josh does not want to wait till he is 3. Sweet kid. I am trying to come up with some special mom and Josh things to do while Kaj is in school so far I have: "Go get doughnuts" on the list, and "practice a letter" which with Josh's very short attention span would be over as soon as it begins, so I am looking into other ideas. Kaj really likes his teacher Miss Mindy, who is so hard no to like. She is quite amazing with the kids, and I am very excited for Kaj to have her as his teacher. He has a small class of only 8 kids, and I am just appreciating that everything about it so far. The first day I dropped him off I half expected Kaj to be apprehensive, but he was like," You will pick me up?" to which I was like: "H no!" really though, I said, "Yes, I will pick you up." And he looked back at the puzzles he was working on, and that was it. I was glad that it was so easy for him. The other thing going on with Kaj is that he will also be starting a speech group to help his articulation. I am also very happy about this for him too, after his evaluation they explained that technically he was still borderline, but the speech therapist, after talking to me about what I would like to do, was able to sign him up based on her "professional opinion." She said that Kaj is very bright, and that not being understand would start to get very frustrating to him, if he isn't already. I want him to be a lot more understood by the time he goes to kindergarten. So, now Kaj will have Tuesdays, Thursday, and Fridays where he will be gone for part of the day, and that will start in a week. 

In other news Rowan had his 9 month check up. 9 months?? I know, I know. He does not seem that old to me. He is still totally punky, and kinda lagging behind in some areas, not to the point where I worry, because I feel like he will be fine, and get there when he wants to get there. What I am talking about is crawling and sitting up. His brothers were crawling by 6 months, and Josh was full on trying to go up and down stairs, however, I am not trying to rush this little guy. He is very wiggly, and bounds toward the floor when I am holding him as if he wouldn't crash on to his face, and this is one of the reasons why I feel like when he is moving this one is going to keep me running. So, I say take your time. I have to say it- this face. I also realize how often I goo over him, but he is just a handsome little boy! He is also so a happy one. I seriously love to see him smile at everyone. He has this adorable smirky, squinty eyed, two teeth thing really working for him. 

And, of course, the latest with Josh, he..uh started making hats.. for his guys..out of play dough, and he is really excited about the prospects of this, obviously. Yeah, so basically the boys were playing with the play dough, and Josh suddenly exclaimed "Hats, momma!" And, of course, there were hats in many different shapes and sizes for his guys. Haha! So as usual, Josh is hilarious! I know that I am extremely biased, but he is such a cool kid. He makes every day fun for everyone. Life without Josh would be lacking so much. He is a smile. So, all in all, everything is good with our family. There have been some unexpected things going on with our house- like our garage broke, and the lights were buzzing, and our landlord isn't too awesome, but two-thirds of those things have been resolved, and everything else will work out, and be just fine. 

I am one lucky mom. 

Family and Bend in the Summer

And days later the boys are wondering where Mor Mor and Pappy are. This morning Josh ran in our room in the morning asking where "Pappay" is ( how Josh now says it-so funny), and in the afternoon asking where Mor Mor is. That is the only sad thing for me to hear after a very sweet and fun weekend. At least my parents know they are contradicting the phrase: "out of sight, out of mind," with the boys, and are more a long the lines of, "in mind, and when are we going to Mor Mor and Pappy's house? Can we go now?" ever popular phrases. Needles to say, the weekend was a success. My parents arrived on Friday afternoon, and after a little rest-(dad rested, mom and I did not) we went to the River Rim Park and walked to the creek/pond. This is definitely something I frequently do with the boys, but it is just really enjoyable. It is a great park, and I just bring their bikes, they practice riding, and we usually hit the market for a treat, and then the pond, but we were ready to hear from Sam anytime so we went to the pond, and Pappy was able to show off his skipping rocks skills. Quite impressive. I really mean that. Sam got home later than we had originally planned that night, so we ordered pizza, and then I went with mom and dad to the ever so awesome Chocolate Element while Sam worked on some notes for work. It was a really fun night. This Chocolate Element place is delicious, it has a coffee house feel to it, where it is very casual, but has a full bar- which is obviously the real reason why we went- (ha!) and after the server told us how he also worked for Apple, we were sold for life! It really is fun place to  take anyone who comes to visit. 

Saturday was going to be on the rainy side. We debated on what to do- downtown area, or still go on a hike even if we get rained on? "6 to 1 half a dozen of the other." I don't mind the rain, in fact, I really like it, but the boys? You never know. So we opted to go on a short hike to Tumalo Falls since my dad hadn't seen it, and then go get fish tacos for lunch. It worked out perfectly, the hike up to the falls is pretty short, you walk for 5 minutes- 10 minutes if you want to  lallygag and really take your time, and you are there. Its really pretty, and you can make it longer if you would like. Just as we had made it back down, it started to rain. We went to lunch at Parilla, a place we just found out about, and then went home to take a rest, and nap the boys. I went with my mom to the trail run I love. It is the 3 mile loop at Farewall Bend Park by the Deschutes River,  it so pretty! I don't think I could ever get sick of it. My mom really enjoyed it, and it was so nice to do that with just her and I. When we got back we headed back out with everyone again so we can ride on the surreys down at Old Mill. 

Why I love these somewhat awkward group bicycles is beyond me…well, actually I think it may be because they are actually AWESOME! They are so fun, and so funny to ride around on together. It is the best way to see the Old Mill area by far. You can easily ride around for an hour, and another nice thing is the kids love it. We were a sight to been seen that day, while we had a lot of people smiling as we passed, and others requesting to take our picture…it may have been because the boys were so cute or because my parents were there. We may never know.

We went to dinner to Pilot Butte for burgers, which tasted amazing that night, and then came home to hang. Sunday we enjoyed some relaxing, but made some food for a BBQ we went to that night. I was so happy that my parents had the next morning to hang out for a bit before they left  for Portland, because we took that opportunity to go on another hike to Benham Falls, one that was recommended for small kids, and it was so beautiful! It was right along the river, the sun was just coming out, and I was so glad that we decided to end the trip that way. 

I was so happy that my parents were able to come visit us this summer. It was such a great time. I really do miss living close to family, and enjoying there company on a regular basis. I miss my kids seeing their grandparents, and living near them, and understanding how much they are loved by them. However, it is really nice to spend time with just them and our family, I really value that time so much. I   know they enjoyed themselves too, and am pretty sure they will come back.

And, of course, the high light of the trip. Mom and I…got hydro flasks. Well worth the trip right there.

Portland Trip

 After a couple weeks of tentative planning, and then a week of solidifying those plans we made it to Portland! We- meaning my friend Alicia and her boys. I feel like I should probably introduce my friends in Bend officially to my blog. Alicia is my dearest friend here in Bend. She has 3 boys Preston who is 8, Connor who is 6, and then Brody who is 4. She is me is 4 years. She had her boys at 26, 28, and then 30. Exactly the same. Crazy. I have to quickly say how grateful I am for her friendship. Not only would I not be able to do half of what I am able to do without her-she is always willing and able to help me whether it is hold Rowan quickly or watch the other boys while I am with Rowan. She has never acted like it is a burden to her, and it is lifesaver to know that she is happy to help. Aside from that, she is just an amazing person, someone who is genuine, uplifting, and the truest of friends. So…anyways, Alicia's family lives in Portland and we were able to stay with her dad and his wife Tammy. They were very happy to open their up home, and it happen to be the house Alicia grew up in. The drive is 3 hours from Bend to Portland. We made amazing time getting there. We stopped so I could feed Rowan, and even with that and a potty stop off the side of the road we made it under 3 hours. The drive I am comparing it to is the one to Utah, so I feel like I could make this drive any time! (Not to say I would really want too, but it feels so easy) The boys were very excited to get out of the car, and explore. The yard was huge, with a rope swing, fresh blueberry, and raspberry bushes, an old chicken coop, and a lot of room to run around. We began picking blueberries with Alicia's dad after exploring the yard a bit, and Kaj and Josh ate of those blueberries like crazy! Kaj kept saying "hmm these are delicious!" Then there is Josh who was just eating anything, didn't matter if the blueberry was ripe or not. We probably had a good couple hours or visiting with her dad, and the boys playing, and then we got meet up with my dad, which I was so excited to see him! I knew it was going to be a very short visit, but I also knew that my parents would be visiting in couple of weeks, and we would get to spend good quality time together. I always seem to forget that going to a restaurant is not a relaxing event with children. So, there we were 6 boys between the two of once again meeting up at Red Robin. I saw my dad sitting in the car, so I snuck up, and gave him the biggest hug. It was so great to see him. I was happy he was able to see the boys even for the moment. He could tell Kaj was talking so much more, and see how much bigger Rowan had gotten. It made me look forward to a longer visit. We then went to IKEA and it had been so long since I had been there! We herded the children along, and we were able to get what we both wanted. I got picture frames, and am now wishing I had gotten tons more, because I love them. But, as we laughed, and got the boys to the car, I looked at people turn as we walked by, and realized what a spectacle we are. Haha! We got home, and got the boys to bed pretty quickly. The first night was pretty sleepless for me. Kaj and Josh were on this twin bed together, and I was on a queen blow up mattress, and when I snuck in, I had forgotten that my mom ears would not turn off, any little noise the boys made I was attentive to, and realized Josh kept hitting the wall whenever he moved, so I picked him up and moved in the queen bed with me, and then a little later Kaj came into the bed, and let me just tell you how comfortable it was sleeping with both of them-it wasn't. Josh is so wiggly, and had to keep moving them over, and there was no concept of space invasion, and then just as I would drift off, Rowan woke up, and I had to feed him. There was a point I had Rowan sleeping with me as well. Me with all 3 boys on a blow up mattress. So, I had a very off day the next day which was unfortunate because that was our zoo day.

Peace brothas

Kaj and Preston

Ikea treasure

Wing Spans

We got to the zoo at exactly 11:00. I had forgotten what it was like to wait in any kind of traffic. The boys were very excited to get there, and were quickly running off to see everything that was there. I did not take near enough pictures to capture the zoo experience, but it turned out everything we could do to keep eyes on all the boys, I felt like in just reaching for my camera I would lose sight of one of them. The crowds were that bad, it could have been worse, but it is not like we owned the place. We ended up going with Alicia's dad, and her sister and her 2 boys also met up with us. We saw most of the zoo which was amazing! And we ended with seeing these lorikeets, which are these little parrot looking birds only smaller, but colorful and friendly, that you could get nectar, and they would fly right up to to you and drink out of this little cup. It was fun asking what Kaj like seeing the best, and he said the giraffes, which conveniently was the only picture I got of the boys actually looking at an animal at the zoo. When we got back to the car, Kaj and Rowan were out so quickly, and Brody and Josh quietly watched a movie, while Preston rode with Alicia's dad, and Connor left with his cousin. So, we had a fairly quiet car, we passed the Rose Gardens, we went up to the Pittock mansion, and Bob's Red Mill. All the while-I had started feeling sick to my stomach with the windy roads, and probably some dehydration, and the sleepless night I had- so I had to stop at a few places just waiting to see what would happen with this sickness. Finally I decided I am going to get some gum, and hope for the best. After we got back to the house, and had dinner I felt so much better. The boys played, Tammy made hotdogs, and Alicia's sister and husband and kids joined us. It was a fun night, Kaj actually had a chance to ride on a couple different dirt bikes with Alicia's dad, who seemed to be so excited to take Kaj, and Kaj was just so excited to ride. He was so cute to watch! I let the boys play later than normal, and then say goodnight to their friends. The second night was much better. Josh started out of the queen bed, and Kaj stayed in the twin, and even though Josh still wiggled, and turned throughout the night, I was able to sleep. I was chipper and ready to roll the next morning. We planned on going to visit with her sister the next day whose home- I was told- was play heaven for kids. Her sister lived over the bridge in Washington, maybe 45 minutes away. Her house was a kid heaven which was a good thing because we had planned for her to do my hair. But, there was a playroom with tons of  action figures, dress ups, swords- it was great! But, as I realized her sister really gets in this hair zone, Alicia was watching 8 kids at once, and really not complaining at all, but it was chaotic. I have never in my life had my hair take longer than 2 hours to do-cut, color, dried, styled…it took 6 hours! I could not even believe it! I was warned that "everything with her takes forever" but-I can't imagine having thick lustrous hair, and I was thankful at that moment that I did not. My buns hurt from sitting. Can that even happen? So, that night we ended up staying there because we didn't see the point in driving in the dark over Mt. Hood. We had pizza, I got the boys settled, and as soon as I put them to bed they were out, when I checked on them they had not even moved an inch.

All in all it was a great trip, Alicia are still friends, which we laughed on the way there saying "isn't this the test of a strong friendship?" I would like to do a big road trip like this every year before the summer ends. In a couple of weeks tomorrow, Kaj will be starting preschool. I know this seems like such a silly thing to get so anxious and excited about, but we haven't done this yet. I think Kaj will really do well. It will be a mild change, and just help him adjust to school, and that kind of structure. It is only a couple days week, so it will ease him into it- and honestly ease me into it! My little boys are growing up so fast!

Looking at the giraffes 

After the ride home- the sound of sobs and craziness in the background can also be added here

Rowan Can Fix That

So, my little Rowan is growing up so fast. He has finally mastered the art of rolling over, and moving in circles. Now that he is doing this the boys always seem to end up in a line up next to teaching him how to crawl. His brothers love talking to him, and because he is still mostly immobile, and cannot speak he really has no other choice but to listen. He hears about owees, and bandaids,  often very detailed play by plays of what is currently going on, and is used to really loud angry bird impressions. Luckily, for Kaj and Josh Rowan seems very interested in all of the above. It seems Rowan has the ability to put every one in the family in a better mood. He can enter a room, and as soon as he catches your eye he is already smiling. Sometimes at church I will see him smiling down the rows at people, whenever anyone asks, "Would he be ok if I hold him." Not a problem. He loves new people, it seems he loves every one.  He is eating so good now, and pretty much does not know when to stop, and for the most part I have to put on the breaks or he will keep going. I am so happy to have Rowan fix my bad moods, because when I going crazy with the other boys, I can always look at Rowan, and feel so much better looking at his sweet smile.

The Christensen's Go to the Fair

Bend is a reasonably small town. Not so small that we wait for sheep to cross the road, but small enough that for the events that are going on in and around Bend, it is a big deal, and everybody is attending. The fair was the hype this last week. The fair itself was in Redmond, which is about 20 minutes outside of Bend, and there was a lot of friends, and work friends of Sam's talking about the fair. So, Sam came home from work one day with the idea of taking the family to the fair. I thought it was a great idea, I am a sucker for rides, and an even bigger sucker for an outing with the family. We decided to go on the Friday, which I had worried it would be busy but, there was really not much of a crowd at all. Sam only worked half day, and as he was gone I got all packed up and ready for when he got home. The first stop, however, was to get sunglasses for the boys- babiators. Highly recommended. They are adorable, they don't fall off, and they replace them altogether if they break- a win for a mom of little boys whose delight in life is jumping off of absolutely everything. As we were parking the car and they got a glimpse of the rides, Kaj exclaimed: "Josh! Look! It's a fair!! Yay!!" He was so excited!! He had asked the day before what the fair was and all I could think of was there are rides, and games…I didn't mention the carnies, but that did the trick and he was very happy to go to the fair. We first walked over the rides, and evaluated what Josh could ride-he has about a year before the two of them will be able to ride just about everything. They had so much fun riding the planes. We then went to walk to see the games, and they went fishing and won these blow up hammers, and it was awesome seeing the two of the walk around bonking each other in the heads with them. It was a hot day, and Josh was literally dripping sweat from his sweet face, so we spent some time in the indoor exhibits, which was perfect. They had a sandpile full of corn kernels with trucks, and they played in that contently for at least 45 minutes, which because it was so hot out we were totally fine with that. That way Rowan was able to get out of the stroller, and hang out with us also. And, as if I haven't said it enough…Rowan is a sweet one! He has the sweetest face, and the brightest smile, and he just lights up just saying "hi" to him. He was good. All the boys were. We ended with cotton candy..? Sam's suggested. And then another ride, and we went to get actual food at Baldy's BBQ which was really tasty. Sam teased that if we go out with the boys to a restaurant we should be able to get a stronger drink. Haha!! It was border line insanity in the restaurant. A lot of spills, and jumping up and down, blowing milk bubbles, and Josh's insistent pursuit of finding the garbage can to throw away napkins for no reason at all. Sam and I had a great time together with all the boys in tow. It was a great suggestion, and we will do it again next year, because I definitely was eye balling the biggest ride there, and I can't wait to be able to go on it with my boys.