The Christensens

Merry Christmas! He wouldn't talk to Santa, but when I asked him what he wanted Santa to bring he said trains. Surprise! Surprise! We're off to AZ for Christmas for fun with cousins, aunts and uncles!

We took Evan to see some artificial snow for his "winter" experience this year! Since we are going to AZ for Christmas, it won't be white so we had to take matters into our own hands. It seems so crazy that we live somewhere where you really don't experience seasons. As much as I love it most of the year, it seems kind of sad that I have to take my kids to a park to see a little hill of artificially made snow. We had a super fun morning playing in the snow, jumping on the jumpies, climbing trees, riding the train and playing at the park! We will have to do this again next year.

Evan LOVED decorating the tree this year! Thanks to learning "Oh Christmas Tree" trees are now referred to as "Oh Christmas tree". We'll be driving down the street and he'll yell "Gook mom, Oh Christmas Tree"! Did you see a Christmas tree? "yah, I saw an Oh Christmas Tree".

Here we are at the annual Christmas party! Yuck to my leftover 10 pounds, but yeah for documenting it! Party on Wayne! Party on Garth!

I have vowed to take more pictures of me with my kids even though I don't love my weight or having my picture taken.
Evan likes hanging out with Kate. He often lays next to her and holds her hand-nothing makes his mom melt faster-or forget that 2 minutes earlier he was testing out what would happen if you tried to walk in her!

Just a little regression!

I didn't take too many pics, but these are the ones I've got! We had a great turkey day with my cousins Chris and Anna and their two turkeys. We did a small version of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and it was delicious! Goof thing we had a back up plan for our rolls!

I can't believe it's already been a month! Kate is the world's nicest baby. She is very mellow and just hangs out when she's awake. So far she is a great sleeper- she usually sleeps 6 hours stretches at night. I'm beyond grateful for that! She has been smiling and cooing for a little while and there is nothing sweeter in the world than that. I love the stage she's just entering when she is starting to engage you. I was holding her yesterday and looked down to find her smiling just waiting for me to say something. Nothing makes a moms heart melt faster than that "hey! I've been waiting for you" recognition. I forgot how special mornings with a well rested and just fed baby are! They don't last as long as I wish they could but so far we are just loving having a few moments of alone time. She's a trooper when it comes to taking in all the "love" that Evan has for her. In between the "close calls" of affection, he really does love her! We are so happy to have her!

What do you do on a beautiful Saturday evening when you live in SoCal? Head to Sea World! We took a little trip to see Shamu and play last weekend. These are the days when you really appreciate living where we live!
Kate's first trip to SeaWorld.
When Evan saw this fish he told me "that fitch is sad". How cute is that? He kind of does look sad.

We went to Arizona to watch this guy play ball.
Our nephew Zach is quite the baller! He came to Arizona to show off for some scouts so we made the trek out to watch hime play. It was fun to hang with the fam and Evan had so much fun that he literally slept the following week away to make up for the party.
Three kids stuffed in the backseat! Evan, Riley (my neice), and baby Kate comatose after a day of making forts, swimming, and a ton of running.
Paul's parents just moved into a new house and Evan discovered the doggy door. He would not use the real door the entire trip! It was the dog door or bust. After my initial panic about germs, dirt, and dog junk, I finally just had to let it go. He's still alive, right?!

Is this what they call "regressing"?
Bundled up on a walk.
Evan was "sharing" the CD's. I heard him keep saying "here" and "gook at this". He chooses to share with her when she is in her swing or laying on the floor. She's been intruduced to trains, books, his falling apart blanket, fruit snacks (which he actually slid into her mouth) and all sorts of toys. It sounds like I never watch them! I swear I do!
One night Evan was playing in the garage and came inside to tell me about riding his scooter. I thought he was actually riding the scooter, but instead he was giving it a ride! I think my little dude is so cute! It was pretty creative!

We had a couple of opportunities to celebrate Halloween this year. Evan liked getting candy, looking at decororations, and running from house to house, but he did not like being dressed up! So this is one of two pictures that I was able to take in the three seconds he left his costume on. I thought going with a Thomas costume would be a sure thing, shows you what I know. My baby girl was psuedo dressed up as a ballerina. She looks so cute! It's little Paul Frank outfit and it says "small Paul" on the shirt. Truer words were never spoken!

October 16, 2009
2:30 p.m.
8 lbs. 6 oz.
She was a week late, but little Katherine Joyce made her way to us! I was induced on Friday and she came soon thereafter. It was so great to finally meet her! So far she is a sweet baby girl who likes to eat and is a quiet observer. She will lay awake and just check everything out. She is super mellow! It's been fun getting her dressed,putting in bows, and trying to figure out what she's going to wear that day. I have forgotten how sweet babies are and the things that I love about this short stage. I love when they recognize your voice, I love teasing her with kisses and having her little bird mouth chase me for food, I love the balled up baby legs, and I love how tiny she is when she lays next to you. I am just trying to recouperate, be a mom to Evan, and enjoy this short sweet time before its gone! I'm already exhausted, but happily exhausted.

Everyone has warned me about the jealousy of the older sibling when bringing a new baby home. It hasn't been too bad so far, but I'm sure we are just beginning the transition from the one and only to one of two. Evan is very interested in Kate, and this morning he woke her up by singing a rousing rendition of "Kwinkle, Kwinkle little star" in her face. She didn't cry, but it did wake her. I think his real problem with her is that she is always sleeping. I can't tell you how many times I've heard him telling her to "gake up". He enjoys pushing her in the swing (which is kind of scary!), and yesterday he was sharing his toys with her when she was laying on the floor. So far, he's doing a great job of being a big brother.
What a helper! Here he is trying to put her binky back in her mouth. Be scared!
Evan wearing his big brother jammies laying next to Kate. He was resisting getting his picture taken and this is the only shot I have of him with his eyes open.

First bath. My mom prides herself on bathing babies and I was happy to let her handle Kate's first bath. As you can see she had a little "help" from Evan.
Thanks to my parent's who spent a lot of time waiting for her to come, entertaining Evan and loving their new grandbaby.
How cute is this blanket? My fabulous cousing Anna made this for us and I love it! How cute is my baby wrapped up in it?

I often lament how big Evan is getting, but tonight I'm loving him to pieces. I went upstairs to try to enforce bedtime and as I was leaving I said "I love you", only to hear "I lob you too. Night mommy." Melt. Does it get any better than that?

This is a long update! Seeing as I have been a better picture taker and we have had a busy month, I have to update the blog mostly for my records. We did a lot of fun things this month, I feel as if it has been one thing after another, but in a good way.
How could you not love this face?!

Yep, that's me 9 months pregnant and doing what I seem to do best lately- sitting. Evan is driving his trains on me. Who knew arms could make such good train tracks?

This year for Labor Day I made us stay put in San Diego. I figured with the new baby coming it would be a good chance to spend time as a family for the last time as we currently know it! We filled our weekend with a trip to the beach, an afternoon at the park, and a trip to Seaworld. It was a great weekend!


A parent's new best friend- kiddie cones at McDonald's!
How cool is this chair? I like it because now he can carry some of his own things to the beach!
He has finally figured out how to pedal and he CRUISES on this bad boy! He loves to go down hills as fast as he can. I love that he is such a boy!
It's a whole lot more fun when dad comes to the park!

It would seem as if my kid never wears clothes! I have so many pictures of him running half naked in our house. I SWEAR he DOES get dressed everyday, but he's a nudest at heart and if we let him hang at home to long eventually the clothes just come off!
I love to watch him play with his trains. He goes off into lala land. He makes noises and talks to Thomas and the other trains. Every morning the first words once we hit the stairs is "mommy make a track", so we make a track and remake it several times during the day. The best money we have ever spent on toys is our Thomas investment.
Chillin' with a sucker probably watching Thomas.
He is now starting to try to dress himself. He sat on the stairs for 20 minutes trying to put these pajama pants on.
We are starting the potty training journey. He was all about his McQueen underwear and requested to wear them one day. The catch was he wanted to wear them in place of pants! He insisted that his diaper stay on and we put the underwear on top. I guess that's better than nothing!