Chloe Karen

The beautiful thing about having baby number two is being able to schedule an induction. We went to the hospital on April 8 around 6:30 am. Finished paperwork and put on Pitocin around 7:30 am. By around 11 I was dilated to a 4 and received my wonderful epidural. I took a little nap and then just after 2:00 the nurse checked me and said that the baby was faced the wrong way and wanted me to hold this peanut ball thing between my knees to try to get her to turn. I used the peanut ball for a little while and then started feeling lots of pressure. I was alone (Roland and my mom were both in the restroom and the nurse was out) when Roland returned I told him I thought it was time. My mom returned and I called the nurse. The nurse checked me, and baby girl had turned back the right way and - as I had predicted - I was ready to have the baby. They called my doctor, Doctor Thorpe, and he arrived shortly after. I pushed once and he told me to stop, but for some reason I started giggling and she came the rest of the way out. With one push my world changed and I laid eyes on the most perfect little girl ever.

We were blessed to have Chloe Karen Christensen join our family Friday, April 8 at 2:45 PM, she weighed 6 lbs. 6 oz. and was 18.5 inches long. Chloe was born with lots of hair and has been so mild mannered and sweet. She loves snuggling, dislikes being cold,  and sleeps really well during the night. She is the perfect addition to our family. The transition was hard for Kade but he has really grown into his new role of big brother.

We are so blessed. 

January life

I feel like life is standing still and going one hundred miles an hour at the same time. Kade blows my mind every single day with new things he is learning, and he loves to show off his impressive memory and vocabulary.

Kade turned 2 a couple weeks ago and we kind of might have gone a little more all out for his birthday than I initially planned. We got him a new bike (which he loves) a bunch of books, a Buzz Lightyear backpack to bring to church (which he was scared of at first. ha), and a garbage truck - since Christmas any present he (or anyone else) unwraps I will say "what is it!?" And he responds "garbage truck!" (Before it is even unwrapped...even if it is clearly shaped like a book. Ha). We also took him Monster Jam up in Salt Lake to celebrate his birthday. My dad got us suite tickets, and we were the only ones! It was pretty sweet and Kade absolutely LOVED the show and so did Roland and I actually. We will definitely be going to another monster truck rally.

He finally warmed up to his new Buzz Lightyear backpack

We also went to the Bean Museum a couple times in January. Kade loves the animals and the little play area they have there too. The first time we went he wanted to pet every single animal, it was pretty heartbreaking when he found out that he can't pet them.

He was BEGGING to touch this little deer...he kept saying "I wanna touch it" and I'd say "we can't touch it" (to which he would say "I wanna touch it"...you get it)

Last week we went through the Provo City Center temple for the open house. It was so touching to see the beautiful transformation from such a tragic fire just over 5 years ago. Kade was not the best behaved and desperately didn't want to wear those plastic baggies on his feet. We finally explained to him that he couldn't walk in the temple without them, and he gave in. He was pretty excited about the "pool" (baptismal font) and all the couches, he kept asking to sit on almost every couch we saw. Sometimes if we walked by one I'd set him on it briefly and then pick him up before we could get into too much trouble.

I love seeing how different yet how similar various temples are. The amount of detail is incredible and inspiring. We don't just slap together a building, the temple truly is the house of the Lord.

Kade updates:

Adds "L" sound to a lot of words. "Police chase the blad [bad] guys" or "that toy needs new blatteries [batteries]"

We are working on our letters and numbers and he is getting pretty good at recognizing some of them. I love how he says some of the words "Letter A-ya, letter B-ya, letter V-W (for the letter W)" (he is also working on learning his cars with daddy. Ha)

We went to Tucanos for my birthday and Kade kept calling it "2 avocados"

If I ever say "one more" (treat, time down the slide, etc.) Kade will say "two more?" ... and I usually cave and he gets two of whatever. Mostly because I think it's so funny and pretty clever bargaining. 

When he wants to watch a new movie or play a different game he will say "this is kind of boring"

Kade is also learning our first names. He will go around the house looking for "daddy" and if that doesn't work (dad is at school or something) he will start calling for "Roland". He also knows grandpa's name is Ross and marmee's name is Karen.

Finally, we have a few names we like for baby girl (obviously subject to change) and I really like to test them out on Kade to see how well he can say them. Recently we have kind of fallen in love with one name just because of how Kade says it. We'll see if it sticks. (Not telling the name until it is finalized and on a birth certificate, so don't ask)

Lots of changes

Lots of exciting things in the works for our little family!

We accepted an offer to one of the Houston firms Roland interned with over the summer. Roland feels it is a better fit for him than we could have ever imagined and I am excited (and maybe a little nervous/scared) for the adventure of moving out of Utah and across the country next year. Texas, here we come. Go Rockets!

Our family will be expanding next April! We will even the score and add a little lady to our posse April 8. We have three girl cousins on the Salmon side that will be close in age so it is fun to have lots of girl cousins close in age. We couldn't be more excited and feel extremely grateful for the blessing of another child. 

With this news of a growing family we decided to buy a bigger car. We found a great deal on a 2015 Honda Pilot and jumped on it right away. Literally. We found it and new it was a killer deal so we called, took it for a test drive, and bought it all in the same day.

Kade:

• Scared of band-aids and stickers. I think in his mind they are connected to shots.
• When he wakes up or when he doesn't want to go to sleep he will look at the monitor camera and say "I love you"...and if we don't respond he will continue to say "I love you" louder and louder until I talk back to him through the monitor and say "I love you, Kade." (and then we continue saying I love you to each other for as long as I can tolerate...which would be forever if he didn't need to take his nap)
• He is an absolute mamas boy. In the evenings if we watch a movie together as a family Roland will snuggle with Kade and when I get into bed Kade will push Roland away and say "get away daddy. Snuggle mommy" - I am sure things will change when there is some competition with baby girl.
• Temper tantrums are becoming a regular. They are actually pretty funny to us. We put him in "time out" until he says sorry, and we have learned that he can be quite stubborn. The way we get around his stubbornness is Roland and I will play with his toys while he is in time out, he immediately will say "Sorry mommy. sorry daddy. I love you mommy. I love you daddy. 
• The last week or so Kade has finally added "ya" to his vocabulary. It is nice to be out of the "no" phase and fun to have him actually approve and agree with some things.
• Kade loves getting scared. He loves when we sneak up on him or pop up out of the dark. 
• He loves spinning around and getting dizzy. I think he will be a little adrenaline junkie when he gets older. 

Disneyland

Roland had a week off of school in October so we decided to make a little family vacation out of it and go to California.

We spent a day at Disneyland, a day at California Adventure, and a day at the beach. Kade loved seeing all the characters walking around the parks and on the rides. I think his favorite rides were the Finding Nemo submarine ride and Autopia in Disneyland and the Cars Land tractor ride and A Bugs Life Francis lady bug spinning ride in California Adventure.

Kade with his "1st Visit" button

We also saw a bunch of characters walking around the park. Kade was so excited to recognize them and wanted to run up and hug or high five all of them...although being Disneyland there were massive lines to meet any characters so the only person we met in person was Buzz Lightyear because they set up his line right as we were walking by. The rest of the trip Kade was obsessed with Buzz Lightyear and even begged us to purchase a Buzz toy, which we caved and bought. That stuffed Buzz was probably the best purchase we have ever made because there has yet to be a day or night that he doesn't ask for "Buzz Lightyear".

Buzz Lightyear wins favorite character

The beach was fun too. We went to Shaw's Cove and the waves were kind of intense. Probably not the best beach for a one-year-old, but he loved the waves and walking through the water with dad.

Sitting with Daddy on the beach

On a side note - Kade travels like a champ. We feel so blessed to have such a happy, silly, smart little boy to call us his parents.

Hello Houston

Time has been going a million miles and hour and standing still at the same time..not literally of course - it just feels like it.

My wonderful mother and I were went down to visit the fabulous Fears family in Albuquerque a few weeks ago. We had a great time playing games, doing Easter egg hunts, going to the zoo, going swimming, and all sorts of fun things! To make the week even better, Jordannie and Colby joined us for the weekend. Kade and I loved spending some time with family.

Ky and Kade lounging in the stroller at the Albuquerque zoo

Kade slept the whole flight from Albuquerque to Houston

We are finally in Houston! Last summer Roland came down here for six weeks to clerk for a Judge, while he was down here he found a few internships for this summer (which is no easy task...my husband is a major rock star) We feel so grateful for this opportunity and are excited for what the summer has in store for us.

The nice waitress at The Cheesecake Factory brought Kade his own plate of bread and a sliced banana

The pool at our apartment in Houston

So far our adventure in Houston has gone pretty well. Our apartment is nice, it has a nice pool and BBQ area as well as a fitness center and sauna. Houston has been good to us so far, we went to the zoo (which is amazing) and the public library, we have seen some pretty exciting thunderstorms and have a huge list of things that we need to do this summer while we are here. This summer will be an excellent adventure.

On separate note Kade is has been developing into the funniest tiny person alive. I feel like all of the sudden he has grown up so much. It has been really fun to watch him grow into the adorable boy he is and I get so excited every single day to spend time with him. We sure are a blessed bunch. 

Playing in the trash when we were moving out of our old condo in Utah

He has become pretty snugly too...any time any place - especially if you have snacks

Sunday walk around our new place in Houston

Cruising

A couple weeks ago we spent all of our time sleeping, eating and living on a boat.  This was our first cruise experience and will definitely not be the last.  We went on the Crown Princess seven day cruise down to Mexico. 

The first two days were spent at sea enjoying all the luxuries the boat had to offer.  We ate, swam, watched movies, played games, drank delicious specialty drinks (virgin), ate some more, and went to lots of fun shows and other boat entertainment (we won BINGO).  Cruising is so incredibly care free and amazing. 

Our first stop was Puerto Vallarta where we went zip lining through the jungle, enjoyed incredible views, and ate delicious street tacos. 

We went to Mazatlan next where we visited a beautiful cathedral, went to a massive (and stinky) shopping center,  and Roland and I ate some amazing Mexican food at a local restaurant that didn't speak any English whatsoever - thank goodness for Google translate.  Our entire meal was only $7 (3 fruity drinks, 2 chimis, and 3 tacos). No English = authentic Mexican cuisine = yum. 

Final stop was Cabo San Lucas. This was a quick stop. We took a boat taxi over to Lovers Beach and enjoyed soaking up some sun. Ryan and Dallin decided to swim in the water we were strictly told not to swim in, and almost were swept out to sea (more than once).  After enjoying the beach we went to Taco's Guss, the food was ok. 

The final cruise day was spent at sea. We slept a lot, ate a lot, and rocked out at Karaoke. Overall, it was a successful and relaxing vacation. 

We were excited to see Kade after a week apart - hopefully it won't be too long before we enjoy another cruise!

First day on the boat, enjoying soft serve and a tasty drink.

See ya later Los Angeles.

We won the final round of BINGO on the second day of the cruise.  We wanted to end on a high note, so didn't play again the entire trip.

Gorgeous view at Puerto Vallarta after zip lining through the jungle.

Cathedral in Mazatlan.

Mazatlan.

Google Hangout with the Kade-meister.

The cruise ship doesn't port at Cabo, so we (and that creepy guy behind us) rode life boats to port.

Still riding to port at Cabo. Can't get a picture without a photo bomb creeper.

Finally made it to shore at Cabo. I felt like a celebrity with how many people were screaming to get my attention (locals wanting you to buy from them).

Lover's Beach.

Some local came over and held out his iguanas for us to pet, then (when we took the bait) proceeded to place them on our shoulders.  After we were done playing he simply said "tip". So we gave him a buck. Sneaky little Mexican.

Cabo.

Lover's Beach.

First cruise - and not our last.

'till next time Mexico.  xoxo

Has it really been a year (and change)

Kade turned one. I finally understand (a little) what parents mean when they ramble on and on about how fast time goes.  I remember my mom always teasing me when I was young, telling me I wasn't allowed to grow up anymore.  I feel that way about Kade.  Sometimes I get so excited for the next stage or milestone and as soon as Kade hits it I miss the old stage (a truly vicious cycle) I'm really working on enjoying the here and now, because it really is all you have.  Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift,  that's why it's called the present. (Cheesy kung-fu panda quote)

Anyway Kade has officially learned his first word. He has been copying things here and there the past month or so, but this is the first word that has actually STUCK, and no,  it's not mommy (I'd me lying if I said it doesn't break my heart) it's "ball" he knows what a ball is and points out everything and anything remotely round.  I made eggs for breakfast, every egg was a "ball" before it was cracked open.  Tonight at Costco as we walked through the produce section and Kade immediately zoned in on the honey dew and started getting so excited that he recognized a "ball" (not the only ball in the produce section too)  It is adorable to watch him learn, grow and develop meaning. He even recognizes balls in pictures (we have a picture of Bob Marley playing soccer)

Kade is also walking everywhere and occasionally tries to run. It's hilarious. Even more hilarious when he gets moving holding something massive (which is quite frequently actually) We sure do love that boy of ours.