Taking Notes

Life is happening so fast. One minute I'm changing Bruce's morning diaper and the next minute I'm putting him to bed. Here are a few photo's of our recent events along with me writing notes to myself.

Only take showers when Bruce is sleeping or playing with Kiel, otherwise he climbs in fully clothed and there is nothing you can do about it. Wait. when did he start getting into the tub by himself? This is new. Very new. You hate how fast he is growing but love every new accomplishment.

Rhyan is 3 months now and has many expressions.

She's mostly happy.But she has the sad face down when you stop holding her. Keep holding her, she'll be bigger in no time.
We went to the beach as a family. You loved it. It was Rhyan's first time there.

Rhyan gets her turkey neck from you, the above picture is proof.You love having a daughter. Especially one as sweet and angelic as Rhyan.
Baby legs are the best (the leggings she's wearing. But yes her legs are the fattest and cutest.) You need to buy more, they are starting to get tight.

Same picture but in different light. You can never decide on what pictures you like best so you just post them all.

Bruce walked in the sand all by himself for the first time. He usually wants to hold someone's hand but not this time. He now wants to do everything by himself. He sat down next to his dad after he pulled out a snack from your purse. He is getting so big. But this moment melted your heart.And this one did too!

Daddy's Boy

A couple weeks ago Kiel and I were wrestling downstairs while Bruce was upstairs, doing who knows what (I could take a gander and guess he was cleaning the toilet with dads toothbrush since that's where I found it...shhhh Kiel doesn't know. Don't worry I threw it away. Geez, I'm just trying to have a little fun!)Ahem, anyway, we were wrestling aka Kiel was being a giant bully and dominating me with all of his strength. Where's Celia when you need her? While I was trying to get a breath of fresh air and amidst being suffocated with a pillow I took a gasp of the most foulest odor I have ever smelled in my life. Kiel must have taken a whiff himself because he gave me the most horrendous look.

"That's not me!" I yelled.
"Well it's not me."
We both look up, and there's Bruce, ten feet away, with a giant grin on his face. We then both jump up on our feet and run across the room in opposite directions and away from Bruce. Kiel yells, "whose ever closest to him has to change him!" That was completely unfair, my sprint landed me near the back door and Bruce LOVES going outside. Bruce and the stench was coming my way. My only saving grace was to change the rules.

"No, we both need to be against the same wall and whoever he comes to has to change him." We both run into the dining room and stand next to each other. Poor Bruce probably feels like the kid who touched the cheese in the movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Kiel yells, "Bruce, who do you want to change your diaper?" Bruce comes from the living room peeks around the corner and sees us standing there. He pretends to go back to the living room but then he quickly turns around and runs full force at both of us, at the last second he tags Kiel's leg!

He's a daddy's boy! And this time it really paid off!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from the Christensen's

Rhyan the wicked witch of the west, Melissa a cowgirl with out a cowboy hat, Kiel a wall street protester and Bruce the cowardly lion.

I wanted to do a Wizard of Oz theme for our family this Halloween but the only two that stuck to the theme were Bruce and Rhyan. I ordered Bruce's Lion costume on Amazon and it came 2 hours before we needed to go to our wards trunk or treat party. I opened it up and it couldn't be any cheaper. The fabric shed everywhere and the inseam ripped after an hour of Bruce playing in it. I Ordered a 12 - 18 month size which is obviously too small. Poor Bruce had a wedgie the entire night. Oh well, I guess that's what I get trying to buy the cheapest lion costume. Luckily, Rhyan's costume was free. She borrowed her cousin Mariah's very first Halloween costume and pulled it off quite nicely. I just couldn't justify spending $80 on costumes for both me and Kiel so I bought Kiel a red bandanna for $1 (I'm still not sure why I did this) and he made a costume out of it. I wore cowboy boots and called myself a cowgirl.

Daddy helping Bruce with his costume:

I really wanted to get a picture of Bruce and Rhyan together but Bruce was being impossible.

So we decided individual pictures would have to suffice:

At the trunk or treat Bruce loved the trunks with the scariest decorations. Probably because they lit up and made noise. He ran around everywhere and at times was very hard to keep track of.

Saturday we went to Yucaipa and visited Aunt Shelley and Uncle Steve and cousin Mariah and Jack. Bruce had a blast playing with his cousins and they all got along nicely. We went to their ward trunk or treat party and it was a lot of fun. Bruce's favorite treat: A toothbrush. There was a trunk handing out toothbrushes and Bruce wanted us to open it immediately. He loves toothbrushes so this was a perfect treat.

After the party Shelley and I spent time on a craft project once all of the kids were in bed. Steve helped us a lot. I can't go into much detail but it turned out really cute. Pictures to post after Christmas!

Well both my children collected enough loot for us to last a couple weeks so we won't be going out tonight. My kids need to make their bedtime tonight since they've been going to bed late the entire weekend.

Happy Halloween!

101 ways to annoy your parents - By B.W.

Prelude: I'm 17 months now, so it's 'bout time I write a book! I'm sure other babies are probably in pre-school by now. Anyway mom says to write about stuff I can relate to or am good at, so here it goes. In no particular order:

101 Ways to Annoy Mom and Dad

1. stack shoes on top of the coffee table right after it's been dusted.
2. Hold onto the end of a roll of toilet paper and run as fast as you can (if you do this while mom is feeding sister you get a lot farther.)
3. Then tear up the t.p. in tiny little pieces. It makes it harder to clean up
4. Take out the tupperware and plastic bowls and throw them on the kitchen floor.
5. Turn your sippy cup upside down and shake it all over the house
6. Ask to be carried every where when they look busy.
7. Turn the t.v. off and on over and over again
8. Take their keys and hide them in a spot they will never find them.
9. Bring outside toys inside and vice versa.
10. Knock all of the dvd's off of the shelf
11. Throw your food after they just swept the floor
12. Take sister's hair bows and put them in a 5 gallon water jug, where it's really hard for mom to get them out.
    
13. While taking a bath try and dump as much water onto the floor as possible
14. Poop in the tub
15. Take mom's candles and hide them in your room.
16. Pull down the dish towels hanging on the oven so they land on the floor.
17. Demand to make mom carry you while she is cooking.
18. Get in to dad's watches
19. Hide dad's wallet underneath the area rugs (takes them forever to find it.)
20. Call 911

This is a work in progress, if you have some ideas feel free to leave a comment and might include them in my book ;)

baby B

My birthday weekend

I had the best weekend! I guess I will start in order.

My birthday was on a Friday, and since I work Mon - Thurs. I decided we needed to get out of the house or Bruce was going to kill us all. So I rounded up the clan and headed to Chuck E. Cheese. (P.s. does anyone know what the E. stands for? Why is Chuck so secretive about his middle name?) My friend Cambria and her two kiddos also decided to join us it was great fun. Plus, Bruce is at the BEST age for this place. You know why? He was completely FREE. The kid was so mesmerized by the games and flashing lights, he didn't need any tokens. I had a coupon for 10 free tokens and he used two. I spent 5 bucks at this place for an unlimited salad bar and drink. Bruce loved the salad bar.
Chuck E. or (hey Chuck do you mind if I call you Chuck?) Chuck came out and said Hi to the kids, I was very interested to see Bruce's reaction and the kid was fearless. He ran right up to the GIANT mouse with GIANT teeth and gave him high fives, asked to be held up so he could grab Chuck's nose and head butt his cheeks. (I seriously need to work on this head butting issue.)

After more play time, it was time to go home for nap time. And if you are wondering where Rhyan is, she's sleeping in her stroller, like always when we are on outings.
While the babies napped, I got ready for my hot date! Catalina Kitchen at Terranea Resort offers you a free surf and turf dinner if you dine in on your actual birthday. That's a $48 value folks! I couldn't pass up the free lobster tail and filet mignon so we made a reservation, asked my friend Cambria to babysit so we could leave BOTH kids and enjoyed ourselves. This place is gorgeous! It's a twenty minute drive through the cliffs with the ocean on one side and giant mansions on the other. A very beautiful drive.

While we were there, Bruce was well taken care of. Don't worry our sitter didn't whack him on the cheek that's his eczema flaring up ;)
And for fun, I included a pic of another Friday adventure we had last week. Here's Bruce dancing at Pretend City.

After dinner we walked around the resort a little bit and then headed home. It was a wonderful evening; the food was amazing, the weather was perfect and my date was REALLY hawt!

The next morning we took the kiddo's to the pumpkin patch. Again Bruce is the perfect age because he can't go in the jumper and is happy walking around and throwing pumpkins (Bruce we don't throw, it's not a ball, Bruce, no, no.) Okay so maybe he's not the perfect age but if you're not careful you could really do some damage to your bank account at these places. We walked out of there with two pumpkins. We spent 5 bucks, 2 dollars for grain to feed the animals and 3 dollars on two pumpkins. The larger pumpkins we didn't buy at the pumpkin patch, instead it was buy 1 get 1 free at Vons and I jumped on that deal. Thirty dollars for a pumpkin? Is it filled with gold? NO? O.k forgetta 'bout it. (read the last sentence with an italian accent, it's fun.)
My name is Bruce and I need shades, but I won't keep them on my face, so forgetta 'bout it. (read the three last words with a baby gibberish accent.)


He had so much fun feeding the animals, and I got a million pictures but just posted a few. I think he knows how to communicate with the lambs because he would walk right up to them and give them a solid head butt. (Bruce, stop that. I can't sanitize your forehead because of your sensitive skin. I said no, no...whatever.)
Before we left, Bruce picked out a pumpkin for himself and for his sister. And again, Rhyan was asleep the whole time. I thought it was amusing that he picked out a big and little pumpkin, just perfect ;)


Here is our pumpkin family: Daddy, mommy, Bruce and Rhyan.
Lastly, I have to post a picture of my bling. Kiel completely surprised me on my birthday gift. I asked for a gift certificate at Nordstrom and instead he surprised me with this beauty. It took a minute for me to get used to the size. But I absolutely love it, it's at the jewelers right now getting sized. Thanks babe! Well that about does it. A perfect weekend and not one picture of Rhyan because she was sleeping the whole time ;) I can't believe the year is almost over and this is Bruce's second round of holidays.

Bruce and Preslee

Yesterday, I watched Preslee so her mom could work. Bruce and Preslee play so well together, it's really cute! Here is a video of the two laughing hysterically. I guess Bruce and Pres both thought it was funny to lock Bruce in the downstairs closet.

Rhyan and her 2 month check up

Here is Rhyan on her two month birthday! Don't you just love those cheeks? And yes she is in her brother's pajamas but I figured it would be okay if I made her wear a flower to bed ;)

Rhyan is really strong and already tries to stand up with daddy's help of course.

She smiles and coos alot now. It's really cute.

Rhyan had her two month checkup last Friday and weighed 14lbs 10 oz and 23 inches long. She is in the 100th percentile in weight and 75th percentile for height.

Rhyan is such a joy to have in our family. She is so calm and patient. She allows me to take care of her brother without a peep from her. She goes everywhere with me! Rhyan has already been to two movies and did great at both! Kiel and I had a date night two weeks ago with another couple and had a babysitter watch Bruce. I wasn't comfortable leaving Rhyan so she went along for the date. We went to dinner and a movie. And then another time I saw a movie with a girlfriend and took Rhyan. She goes shopping with me at 10 o'clock at night while Kiel stays home and watches Bruce. I love it, she's my little side kick. She is doing really well at night now. She sleeps 6 - 8 hours!

Here is a video of her smiling and cooing. Sorry it's really annoying because I am also talking on the phone while recording.