Where Did All the L's Go?

"Hey E, will you go grab baby sister's toy?"

Scampering sounds as he disappears.  Scampering sounds back.


"Did you get it?"

Throws up his hands.  "Nope, sorry Mommy.  It's ost to-ever."  (It's lost forever.)


Another one of the phrases he says that makes me smile:

"Ook, Mommy, ook!"  (Look, Mommy, look!)  He says this whenever he's done something he deems clever.

"Dat siwwy Mommy?  Dat make you happy?  Dat make you aff?"  (Is that silly Mommy?  That make you happy?  That make you laugh?)

How could I not aff?  I mean, laugh?  This is usually when I smother him with kisses on those soft little cheeks.

8 Months

Weight: 16 lbs.

Dollface celebrated turning 8 months by sporting another ear infection.  Seriously, she's such a happy child and such a good sleeper, but something has been different about her the last little while.  Getting up 2+ times a night two nights in a row is not normal.  I think the doctors think we live at their office, we're there so much it seems.  So that makes 3 ear infections in two months.  Today we saw the ENT doctor and he recommended we do tubes, so she is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday to have tubes inserted.  I have to admit that I totally got teary thinking of handing my baby over to someone and not being able to be there with her, especially when she'll be under anesthesia.  Please don't mistake me for the weird anti-anesthetic type, because HELLO I'm a huge epidural advocate and all that, it just makes me nervous because she's so small.  I can't imagine having my child go through a major surgery and I hope I never have to experience that.  Luckily this procedure is very common and babies younger than her have had it done.  And everyone tells me how wonderful they are, so that will be great.

Anywho...onto more about the girl.

-She is officially a wiggleworm

-She has learned to throw tantrums when something is taken away

-She can feed puffs to herself pretty well

-She has baby food preferences, with sweet potatoes ranking #1

-She officially takes two bottles every day and we are in the process of weaning entirely because she is not too interested in nursing anymore.  (Nursing is great and all, but it sure will be nice to be done once again.  And really, it's not the best thing if they aren't getting enough, which is the case with me and my milk supply.  All I can say is, thank goodness for formula.  Hooray for peace of mind, convenience, portability, and all that.  I sincerely think that breastmilk v. formula is a personal choice and I don't think either one is wrong.  One of my pet peeves is when people get all judgmental about who nurses and who doesn't.  Nursing does not give a baby superimmunity for the rest of their lives no matter what anybody says.  So yes, I've nursed my two babies, but they've also had formula.  Maybe that's just a testament to my indecisiveness.  Sorry...tangent.)

 E is such a big helper with this.  Actually, he's only given her a bottle once...with close supervision.  But he sure looks proud of himself, doesn't he?

 

 -She will only sleep on her tummy or her side.

 Look at that sweet little face!

-She can scoot all around to get what she wants

-She's very close to crawling!  She can scoot herself backward extremely well, but can't quite figure out the mechanics of going forward.

-She is completely fascinated with my jewelry.  She doesn't grab and pull like Emerson used to do.  She just lightly examines my earrings with big eyes and gentle hands.  I think she's going to be a girly-girl.

-She is still the sweetest girl ever.  So patient, so calm.  I don't deserve her. :)

The Kiddos

(Holding up a bottle of body wash) "Mommy, what's dis?"

"It's special soap."

"Oh! To keep our bodies all nice and healthy?"

"...Why yes, Emerson.  That's right."  (???)


 (At Sam's Club walking through the TV displays, E spots the main menu of UP on one of the tvs)

"Ook Mom, it's the Disney Blu-ray combo pack!"

"What?..."  (Have you been watching too many Disney movies?)

As E plays with his trains, I often hear him him narrating his scenario with phrases like these:

"'Hello!' puffed Thomas"
"Bust my buffers!"
"Wheel turn by wheel turn, he pulled him to safety."
"Thomas was full of pride as he puffed a-ong."
"'Oh no!  Save me Gordon!'  'Don't worry Thomas, I will get some ropes!'"

He loves his Thomas shows.  Sadly, I could probably name the movie that each of these phrases comes from.  He just soaks it all in.

Do you like his wry smile?  He thinks he's so funny.

Here is a picture of his little playgroup.  It has been so much fun for the kids and Emerson looks forward to it every week.  (Poor Audrey is so outnumbered, but luckily she tolerates it well and she can definitely hold her own.)  It's hard to believe that Tucker (far left) and Emerson have been buddies for so long.  Looking back at the picture below, I can't believe how big they are now!

And as for that silly girl Sammi.  Her new favorite thing is sucking on her feet.  I love baby feet.  Adore them.  Even if, scratch that, especially if, they are a little bit stinky from being in socks or tights all day.

 She's a sweetie but has been teething lately and has yet another cold.  Hopefully she's her normal self soon.  E is pretty much the only one who can cheer her up these days with his zany antics.

One of my favorite things is getting the kids up in the morning.  There's nothing better!  They are both all smiles and so happy to be awake, ready to start a new day.  You have to be careful though, because unless you immediately get milk into both of them, this is what happens.  (See below)

Yet Another Trip To Utah

We actually do live in Columbus.  I promise.  We're just always making quick jaunts about every other week it seems back to Utah, courtesy of my parents. :)  We're always happy to go see family though!

This time around was unplanned because my Grandma Johnson passed away.  She's been declining for a long time so it was one of those times when it was for the best.  Plus she'd been a widow for about 27 years so I'm sure she and my Grandpa Johnson (whom I never met) are happily reunited.

Some happy memories I have of Grandma Johnson are:
-Picnics in her yard with Happy Meals

-A picnic in Ogden, and getting introduced to Nutter Butter cookies

-Couch cushion forts.  And she would actually crawl around in them with us.

-Special holiday treats.  Even if it was something silly like a box of conversation hearts, we loved it.

-The Hostess Outlet store.  She'd take us to get powdered donuts and then we'd watch the trains go by.  (Maybe this is where E got his love of trains in his little unfertilized egg-ish state)

-Picking raspberries and apricots in her yard

-Playing the Atari and pickup sticks

-Her always being at our school programs and piano recitals

-She'd always adjust the time so the cuckoo clock on her wall would go off before we left so we could see the little birdie pop out of the door

-She always smelled like soap

-One time I slid down the banister in our brand-new house and the buttons on my sweater scratched it all the way down so I got in huge trouble.  I was told to stay in my room the rest of the night while my mom and dad finished moving things from our old house and grandma was tending.  She came upstairs and told me everything would be all right and made me a sandwich.

-She babysat us when my parents were out of town for a few days and my older brother and I were probably 14 and 16, and she was very concerned about us being home at an early hour even though we were going to a multi-stake dance.  She was there, waiting in the dark, in her curlers, pink lipstick, and bare feet (ugh!) at 11:05 p.m. when the dance had ended at 11:00 p.m.  She was probably the most perturbed I had ever seen her.  Now I know how Dad felt growing up. :)

We missed her viewing due to a delayed flight, but luckily made it in time for the funeral the next morning.  It was great to be reunited with cousins I haven't seen for years.  The funeral was very nice and I enjoyed learning lots of things about my grandma that I never knew before.

Our other activities included going to Richfield to visit our only remaining grandparent between the two of us, Grandma Christensen.  She had never met Samantha May before, and the last time she saw Emerson he was just a little guy.

Playing peekaboo with Grandma Chris

E kept talking about "Grandma Great"

 E was so in love with this little gas tank truck that Grandma Great sent it home with him.

We also made it to Logan to visit both of our sisters at Utah State and our good friends the Humpherys.  And it's always good to enjoy a meal at the Copper Mill there.

The baby sisters

 You have no idea how difficult it was to get this picture.

We also ate at lots of good restaurants, celebrated my sister's birthday, saw a couple movies, and even squeezed in a date night!  My sisters and mom and I also got a personalized tour from Murray's Representative, Tim Cosgrove, of the Capitol building.  It was pretty neat to go on the floor of the Senate, House, and Supreme Court.  Another big piece of news is that Sammi officially (and happily) learned to take a bottle whilst in Utah once a day while I still nurse her for the other 3 feedings, but I am thrilled.  SO thrilled to have a little freedom.  Here's to feeling human again.

7 Months

Miss Samantha May got to celebrate turning 7 months with a visit to the doctor for a nasty ear infection.  She is usually such a happy girl that the fussing and waking up in the night was definitely not normal.  Thank goodness for antibiotics...I'm hoping they kick in before we get on an airplane tomorrow to fly across the country for my Grandma Johnson's funeral.  I am envisioning a nightmare, so maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

It was one of those visits when you feel like they think you're crazy for bringing your kid in because they're ridiculously happy at the office, but I was glad they actually found something wrong with her (not that I like her to be sick) but just so I knew what was going on with the poor little thing.

 Weight: 16 lbs.

I forgot to take a picture of her all dolled up during the day, so the one above is of her ragamuffin fluffy hair right after her bath.  But earlier we discovered she has enough hair to do a little sprout on top, and THEN we discovered she has enough to do two little piggies on top.  Better than Christmas for me. :)

You're so cute you make me want to throw up!  Oops...I mean you're so cute you make YOU want to throw up.  Gross.

Some new things about you:

-You have now tried all the vegetables and like them all, but especially sweet potatoes.
-You tolerate your rice cereal now that you know that there are other flavors out there.
-You are much more wiggly.
-You love to grab at things.
-You have figured out everyone's prized possessions and work very hard to get them (cell phone, trains).
-You are starting to throw tantrums when something is taken away from you.
-You sit up so well!
-You still spit up quite a bit.
-You still adore your older brother.
-You still adore your hands and feet.
-You adore your daddy
-You like mommy, and adoration comes around feeding time. :)
-You are allergic to penicillin (nice skin reaction with hives all over the place, didn't happen until about day 7 of Amoxicillin.)
-You are good at rolling to where you want to be.
-You are great at falling asleep in your crib and you do ok in Daddy's arms at church if you have to.

You are still a sweetie and we're so glad you're in our family!

My Kids Are Photogenic

My kids are so photogenic.

That picture reminds me of this one when E was about the same age:

Can't wait to show these to their future spouses.

What We've Been Up To

We've really just been building a lot of train tracks and playing trains.  And baking some.  And staying warm.  Oh, and most of my days are consumed by feeding children.  Why does it feel that way once you start baby food?  There are at least 3 elements to each meal.

1) Get Emerson some food.  (Included in here would be hounding him to eat and once again telling him he can't have a cookie/cake/candy until AFTER he finishes breakfast.  Oh dear...a sugar junkie at 9:30 in the morning.)

2) Nurse Sammi/Murder her with her sippy cup.  I've been trying to get her to get good at drinking from a sippy cup since she won't take a bottle.  Unfortunately she acts as though I am torturing her, though less than with a bottle.  I've tried offering it to her right when she wakes up, or after I nurse her, or in the middle of a feeding.  So far that's what has worked.  The girl likes flesh, so I feed her just enough that she's not hysterical and then she'll almost happily drink from a sippy.  What can I say?  I don't like being bitten by my vampire child.  When I flick her chin whilst she has me in a death bite, all she does is beam at me.  Like she thinks I'm hilarious as I'm wincing and shrieking.  Besides the biting, I'm also worried she isn't getting enough from me. Oh, the joys and worries of motherhood.

3) Shovel in some baby food.  It sounds like there would be large quantities consumed here, but that would be incorrect.  I actually just shovel the same spoonful in over and over as it progressively gets more watery.  The volume decreases eventually not because she's actually swallowing, but really because it's seeping into her neck folds.  We make real progress when she gags and her mouth is wide open...wide enough to fit that wimpy spoon inside.  She has one of the most overactive gag reflexes I've ever encountered.  Except perhaps my sister Stephanie who gagged when she put on a turtleneck one morning as she was getting ready for preschool.  Anytime you give Sammi something besides mother's fleshy milk receptacle, she gags and her eyes get all red-rimmed.  She's such a silly girl.  I think we may be steering clear of turtlenecks for awhile though.

Anywho, that's what we're been doing.  And now, the pictures of the kids:

I was so proud of E for building this train track all by himself.  Sammi seems to think she helped by the look of pride on her face.

Sweet girl with wispy hair.  Lots of people have been commenting on how funny her hair is lately.  I guess it is pretty wild and ragamuffiny looking.  It's so feathery though, there's not much I can do.  She now promptly removes headbands and eats the flowers.

Big brother let her play trains too.  She has been getting pretty good at scooting around and she scooted herself right into the roundhouse.

She can also sit!  She was in heaven when she was sitting there, watching E play trains while HOLDING a train of her very own.  And our one girl train, no less.  Lucky duck.

Ice Storms

So I realize this is a little late, but we've had some crazy ice storms out here.  It's difficult to describe freezing rain to anyone unless they've experienced it themselves.  It's much scarier than a snow storm in my opinion, because driving (and walking) is much more fraught with danger than with wimpy old powdery snow.  

 Our garbage can...kinda looks like an alligator.  It's pretty dangerous taking out the garbage. :)

 Our garage

Individual frozen blades of grass

Our backyard skating rink

Our neighbor's bush

Our tree with every twig and branch encapsulated in ice

That week our church parking lot was a complete sheet of ice.  I realized this, and being the sensible person that I am, I wore high heels to church anyway.  I was just carefully stepping out of the car when my foot flew out from under me and I fell out of our Expedition.  I caught myself before I went completely down, but I fell to my knees and then pulled myself up while Ben was shocked/helpless on the other side of the car.  I have some pretty good bruises on my legs, but no serious injuries.  Heck, I didn't even get a run in my nylons.  All that was injured was my pride, and I quickly (and sheepishly) looked around the parking lot, but luckily everyone else was having their own problems walking on the ice so no one noticed me.  (I think).

Nursery

"Emerson, what did you talk about in Nursery today?"

"Jesus!"

"You talked about Jesus?"

"Yes, and his sheep!"

"Jesus and His sheep?  What about the sheep?"

"The sheep are scary.  They are just really scary."

6 Months Old

 She got older--again.

Height: 25 3/4 inches (50%)

Weight: 14 lbs. 15 oz. (25%)

Head Circumference: 42 cm (50%)

Well, Miss Samantha May, you are half a year old!  I can't believe it.  You are still the sweetest, best natured baby ever.  Some things about you:

-Still adore your brother

-Laugh at fake sneezes or jumping

-Love to be flying baby

-Hate green beans, but love peas (so far)

-Are getting to like your rice cereal

-Like to try out those chompers when you nurse (big yikes), but then beam at me when I flick your chin and sternly tell you "no".

-Roll like a maniac both ways and have no trouble escaping your swaddle at night

-Have the most squishable thighs ever

-Giggle when we find your neck and kiss it

-Love when Emerson shows you how his trains work.  I can see in your eyes that you are biding your time until you can reach those yourself.

-Adore your father almost as much as your brother.  You beam whenever you hear his voice no matter what you are doing.

-Take 2 naps, sometimes 3 during the day.

-Will finally take a sippy cup since you refuse to let a bottle near you. (Nuk brand.  My salvation.)

You are a sweet silly girl who lights up our lives every day.  If the day is going poorly and I'm feeling frustrated, all I have to do is look at your sweet little beaming face and it all melts away.  Then a thigh squish just seals the deal. :)

Woes of Potty Training

I have long been absent from the blog because I have been potty training.

Oh potty training.

Why does no one talk about how horrible this part of parenting is?  I feel like it's a secret that everyone kept from me until it was too late and I already had offspring.

I was ready to do it when I came back from Christmas vacation, having read a book called Toilet Training in Less Than a Day.  I wanted to have the big picture in my head before I started giving out Starburst and Nilla Wafers willy-nilly.  Well...the book gave me the big picture but was also a huge source of discouragement.  My mom said she used it to potty train me (and I really was potty trained in a day, but apparently that didn't get passed down in the genes to my kids), but she couldn't remember much about it.  My mother-in-law also used it with her kids.  Just to be clear, Mom, this is in no way a poor reflection on you, and I in no way hold you responsible.  The book was a bit laughable since it was first published in the '70s.  Quite politically incorrect by referring to "retarded children" and containing illustrations of women in their house dresses and aprons with the fathers in leisure suits and handlebar mustaches.  But there were quite a few ideas that I liked from the book.

1. The positive reinforcement given shamelessly with candy and sugary drinks that kids love (since you're trying to get them to drink a lot so they wet a lot and learn where it goes) every time you do a dry pants check.
2.  The positive reinforcement for carrying out every action of going to the bathroom.  (i.e. pulling up and down pants, sitting quietly on the potty, emptying the pot into the toilet, replacing the pot, flushing the toilet, and washing hands.)
3.  The gradual weaning of children from treats and praise for going to the bathroom.  (Good in theory, but we haven't reached this point yet.)
4. The consequence for having an accident.  (Practicing the motions of toileting ten times quickly with their wet pants from different locations in the house, then wiping up their own accident and changing their own underwear.)  E really didn't like this, but it was effective because the consequence directly related to having an accident.
5.  Starting out by having the child teach a doll to potty herself.

I think he's really getting the hang of it now, but there have been countless frustrations along the way.  It has pushed the limits of my patience and made me crazy and worn out.  But he knows how to go in the toilet and is so thrilled with himself now that he does.  Yay.  I look like a total maniac as I over-the-top praise him for his small offerings of urine and the other, but it's ok.  I'm a mom now and I have zero pride anymore when it comes to this.
I was thinking before I started how wonderful it would be to only have to buy diapers for one child...and then I realized that Pull-Ups are just as expensive as diapers and we'll be buying those for a little while since he wears them at bedtime and naptime.  But we're on our way.

And Sammi can either choose to be in diapers until she's 7 or she can be potty trained in a day.  Her choice if she wants to be favorite.  The end.

Cleveland

 Over the long weekend with MLK Day, we headed up north to Cleveland to visit our friends from Logan, Jared and Liesl and their cute little girls.  They were such gracious hosts to feed us and put us up for a night.

We had a great time with them reminiscing and playing games.  We headed to the science museum on MLK Day because it was free, and apparently everyone else had the same idea.  It was busy, but still fun. 

E had a good time playing with Bailey and only pushed her out of the way a few times.  (Sorry Bailey!)  Sammi and Kelsey had a good time together with their spastic movements and big smiles.  But of course I was lame and only took these three pictures the whole time.

Monday night we had a quick tour of Cleveland on the way to B Spot Burgers, owned by Michael Symon.  He is one of my favorites from the Food Network, so it was almost a spiritual experience to actually be eating something that he created.  I like to think that he was in the back cooking my burger personally.  I kept watching for him to walk in the door, admire my children, and sit down and have a nice chat.  But alas, my dreams did not come true.  And what would I have said?  "Hi, I'm a Mormon housewife, and I am really good at making funeral potatoes and Crock-Pot concoctions.  But I am the head of our ward cooking club!  Maybe we could swap recipes sometime."
There were some pretty crazy things on the menu like the Vanilla Bean Apple Pie Bacon shake (which was pretty good) and some crazy burgers.  Pretty sure mine was the best.  I had the Philly Witt, which was a philly cheese steak on a hamburger patty.  It was divine.

Thanks again for hosting us guys!  We had a great time and can't wait for you to make another temple trip to Columbus so we can see you.

My BIG Kids

 My kids are big all of a sudden.

 E with Dr. Uncle Mike at his first dentist appointment.  His face tells the story--he was kinda nervous, but is secretly thrilled with his choo-choo toothbrush.

 Sammi acting so big in her highchair.

 Open your mouth...

 Show us that pearly white!

 He will hold her now.

 First time sitting at the big table for dinner.

 Action shots of Candy-and.  He can't get enough.

Big girl in her activity stand thingy.  She loves tasting all the toys.

Things I Never Want to Forget About E

If he's frustrating me by dinking around and being goofy he'll stop, begin obeying and ask while fluttering his eyelashes, "Dat make you happy, Mommy?"

I bought a baby for him to "teach" potty training to (beginning next week) and he found it and said,
"Mommy, you sew dis beebee for me?  Oh fank you Mommy!  She so cyoooot!  Oh she so cozy.  What her name?"
Me: "I don't know, what is her name?"
E: "It's Samantha!"
Then commenced happy trotting over to find the blue stroller.  He carefully laid the baby down so he could unfold it and then asked for help.  When I unfolded it, he carefully strapped the doll in, and carefully pushed her around.  He DOES have a nurturing side!


One day after letting my hair air-dry, E looked at me and said, "Mommy, your hair all crabelly."  (He meant "cravelly" which is a made-up word in my family that should be in the dictionary.  It means a combination of messy, disorganized, frustrated, general not-coming-together of things.  i.e. The sheets upon the unmade bed were cravelled.  or I feel cravelly when the house is messy.)

He adores Toy Story 3 and especially loves the part at the beginning with the runaway train.

He reenacts his Thomas the Tank Engine movies with the exact dialogue.  That means he uses phrases like "Cranky was in disgrace" or "Thomas puffed up to Gordon and pulled him to safety".  He will also exclaim "Bust my buffers!"  He knows the words to the Thomas and His Friends song and will sing it periodically throughout the day.

If you ask him what his name is he'll say "Emerson" but if you ask him what his whole name is he'll say "Emerson Benjamin Christensen TO THE RESCUE!"

He calls the railroad crossing signal a "sing-ding-al".  I can't bring myself to correct him because it's too cute.

I've been trying to teach him to say "No thank you" instead of "No way" but now he's just applied it to a yes answer of "Uh-huh Way" when he wants something.

He still can't say his L's so his sentences sound something like "No Mommy, Eave it uh-own." (Leave it alone) or "Oh no, it's Ost!"  (It's Lost).  The word I've had the most difficulty with is oil.  He was looking for the oil car for his train and said to me, "Mommy, you know where the oyo is?  The oyo is ost!"

5 Months

My daughter was apparently very nervous when she turned 5 months.  (It's okay sweetie, I want you to stay little forever too.)

Miss Samantha May is such a joy to be around.  She is still very calm and happy pretty much all the time.  We joke that she expresses what we call "mild annoyance" when she needs to be fed, put down for a nap, or needs to be changed.  She absolutely adores her older brother and just beams at him while her fat little face turns to follow his every move.  He's starting paying more attention to her by giving her rough little hugs and "sharing" her toys, but she smiles through it all just because she's thrilled that someone so cool is paying attention to her.

She loves to roll from back to front and looks very pleased with herself when she makes it to her tummy.  She's a drooling maniac and is getting so good at playing with her toys.  She loves the sound of her own voice and adores her hands and feet.  She has a silly little 5-month-old sense of humor in which any noises made with the mouth, tickling, jumping, or fake sneezing or coughing has her in fits of giggles.

Her mother was delinquent in starting her on rice cereal since we would be traveling and it is kind of a pain, so she started a few days after turning 5 months.  She only gagged a few times.

And...she survived.  I should make her a t-shirt for that.  Or I guess a onesie.

It's so funny thinking back to when we only had Emerson or when we didn't have any kids.  What did we do all the time?  I just can't imagine life without either one of them now and I sort of superimpose them on all previous activities.  Ben and I will be like, "Wait, what did we do with Emerson and Sammi then?  Oh yeah, we didn't have them yet.  Duh."  But I'm so glad we have them now even if they do make me feel worried, frustrated, overjoyed, and content all at the same time.