Dear Gracie

Dear Gracie,
The best and most recent news about you is that you are potty trained! Yippee Hurray! I was nervous about training you with a new baby around, but apparently I waited long enough because you pretty much got it in one day. You had a few accidents (and still do every now and then) but really you did so well and we are all so happy about it. Sometimes when you are sitting on the potty you will look up at me and say, "I go on the potty and you are proud of me". Yes, I am.

One thing about you being potty trained is that often times you put your pants back on backwards. This means that they fall down a lot. Which means we see a lot of you tush and I love it.

And you don't seem to mind either, cause when I tell you they are on backwards you just say "no their not".

One day recently when you had an accident I told you to go and pick out some new cloths and you found this Christmas dress and decided to wear it. I could tell that you thought you were so beautiful and of course you were.

In fact that day when William came home from school he took one look at you and said, "Gracie you look so pretty." You beamed and I died. You guys can be so cute sometimes.

Another awesome thing about you is you like really cool movies. I will show you movies that I think are cool or fun and you always like them. You, like William, could watch movies all day so we have to limit it to one a day. I love the picture below where you are chillin' with Joseph, eating an apple, wearing your Daddy's shoes and watching The Labyrinth.

Here you are telling Joseph all about the Goblin King. You love Joseph too much. I have to tell you to sit back all the time because you are always right up in his face. You love to talk and play with him and he loves it too.

You get so excited when Daddy comes home. You ask about him all day and you love to visit his work and play with the big green ball. You also love seeing Connie. You pretend to talk to her on the phone all the time.

You say "beenember" instead of remember. You say "I'm not bigger enough" when you can't reach something and then you go get the black chair so you can climb up and reach it. If you did something in the past it was on Tuesday and if you are going to do something it is always on Tuesday. For example, "beenember I went to the carousel on Tuesday?" You also talk a lot of gibberish and nonsense and I think it is because you want to talk, but don't have anything to say. So you just say the first think that pops into your head.

You love dance class eve since your recital. You can't wait to go back on stage again.You refer to the girls in your class as "my girls" and are always showing me pretty dance moves.

And last, but not least, you argue a lot. This just started and already I want to pull my hair out. It does not matter what I say, you will disagree with it or tell me no. Sometimes when I ask you to do something you will tell me "no" while you are doing it. You just like everything to be your idea. You will say things that are not true just to get William arguing with you - and he will always argue with you. For example when we were all driving in the car you turn to William and say, "Mommy is not in the car." To William has to respond, "yes she is". And then we have the "nu uh, ya huh" war going. This drives me crazy. I think it is going to be a long week of time-outs but hopefully we will stop this arguing business.
But mostly you are a sweetie that brings so much happiness and song (you sing all the time) into our lives and we love you tons. I love you tons.

Love,

Mom

We have entered an new era

Williams buddy Owen learned how to ride a bike without training wheels so William wanted to go home and lean how to do it that day! We tried to explain to him that it could take a couple days and you have to practice a lot. We took his training wheels off.

He wasn't perfect, but there were no tears - only smiles.

Good thing we put his helmet on him before he cashed into the fence.

Before too long he was doing it.

And he had to go show Owen.

And now we have reached a new era of little boys off riding their bikes. This means before school and right after they get home. This means William going to his friends house and his friends coming over here with out the texting between moms to see if it is okay. They just show up.

And they don't ride in the street anymore, that was just a good place to learn.

And don't forget Elliot on the tricycle. Love it.

Now I just need to get Gracie to ride her bike with training wheels. And I want to get a bike so that we can go on bike rides together.

Dear Joseph

Dear Joseph,

time has flown by and you are now 3 months old. Let me tell you about your three month old self. First of all these pictures were taken at more like 2 and a half month. you are still not  sleeping through the night. We are going to start working on that. You sleep pretty good, but you wake once at 10 or 11 pm for a bottle and then sometime around three or four. We have all had colds lately so you wake up more often. Sometime all you need is for me to stick your pacifier in your mouth and sometimes I don't know what you need.

You put your hands up on your bottle like you are going to start holding it or something. It is pretty cute. You also like to be fed with your bottle propped or me holding you in my lap facing outward. I think you like to see what is going on (William was the same way).

You are growing so much. Almost everyday you look bigger to me. we took you to get weighed yesterday and you are almost 16 lbs. That is about half the size of Gracie. You are one thick boy. You think you can sit up all ready. When I lay you on the pillows on my bed you sit up and then tip over and you seem to like doing this. You love it when your brother and sister talk and play with you. You are extremely patient with Gracie and the fact that she is always right in your face.

As far as naps go you are so-so. You seem to be getting better. This picture above is cute because it is not typical. Usually if you are sleeping you are swaddled tight like a burrito and you look like a floating head. You head is huge, by the way. You definitely got the Christensen head. You like us to pat your bum when you are falling asleep. Sometimes if you are having a hard time taking a nap I will load you in the car seat and go to the store. You usually sleep really good in your car seat, in the car or in the store. That is a huge blessing because, I go a lot of places. Right now, and for a long time you have slept in a bouncy chair. I am not sure what they are really called, but I think you like it cause when you squirm (which you do a lot) it sort of bounces you back to sleep. Right now we have put the bouncy chair in the bassinet. Maybe soon we will be able to transition you to the bassinet.

This is the bouncy chair you sleep in. look at the rolls on those thighs. I love them and you love having them rubbed after your baths (which you also love). These are your cloth diapers (my favorites are soft bums) and they make you look even bigger.

You are such a sweet little guy.Your smile lights up the room and my day. Three kids has been a hard transition for me, but not because I don't adore you. Everything you do it cute and I love watching you grow. I know it is going to fly by and I can't wait to get to know more of your personality. Right now I know you are strong, happy, hungry, and cute.

Love you much,

Mom

Dear William

 (all these pictures make me smile or laugh - I love having a kids who makes me laugh)

Dear William,

You are growing up so much. I probably say that every time I write you a letter. You are reading and writing more and that is very fun to watch. You love going to school (but sometimes it is hard to drag you out of bed for it) and doing your "works" and I love it when you show me things you learn. I don't like it when you think you know more than me. I know that day will come, but it has not come yet.

You are such a good brother to Gracie. You guys can play for hours together and for the most part you are really patient with her. The other day she had dressed up in a Christmas dress and you came in, took one look at her and told her she looked so pretty. It made her day and I am so glad you recognize that like to do that.

You really enjoy acting silly and sometimes I really enjoy doing that with you. You lovemaking people laugh. You love to play fight and cast spells. You are way into Harry Potter. We are reading it right now and I can tell you are a little impatient with it. I have to remember not to read too much at a time and also to let you read a sentence every now and then and I think it would be more enjoyable.

You are such a good big brother to Joseph. you always tell him he is, "the cutest little boy in the whole wide world" and it always makes him smile. If I am busy and Joseph starts fussing you will talk to him and play with him and try to make him happy. You love to move his arms around and pretend he is playing sports. He loves doing it too. You love that Joseph looks like you did when you were a baby and you tell everyone.

Here you are practicing going cross eyed. I'd say you do a pretty good job. I can also tell you are growing up because you have this desire to be good. You often ask, "have I had any bad moods today?". A lot of times the answer is no. You don't whine and complain and disobey as much as you used to. This makes me very happy.

You draw all the time and I love looking at your drawings. This one is of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. You bring tons of pictures home from school. Sometimes I feel like I am drowning in them. You also love maps and the planets. You love to talk about space. You say you want to be an astronaut so you can go into space. I can't wait to see what you do as you continue to grow.

I love you tons,

Mom

Can't get enough

This picture was taken on the first of January.

I love it when he wears his Dad's old baby outfits.

 Isn't it  a cute one?

I know this is gross, but it is also funny. I love babies, but I wish they didn't spit up so much.

It really isn't hard to get a baby to love you. You just have to smile at them and they smile back, but nothing feels better than a smile from a baby. We all love getting them.

I already can't remember life without him in it.

decisions, decisions

 He loves Newsies and he loves harry Potter. Sometimes I think it is hard for him to decided which one he wants to watch/play. But I love that it has him wanting to wear ties and vests to school. No joke he wore this to school. Twice.

Pretty impressive

William came inside one day to show me that he had caught a baby gecko.

The tail came off, naturally. It was a pretty chill little gecko. William made him a little house with leaves and was sad when he got away, but understands that he belongs outside with his family.

Scroll down fast

I totally need to make a flip book out of these.

He loves it.