Ty's first day of preschool and potty training

Today was Ty's first day of preschool.

Let's back up to last week. We do a preschool here at home with 3 other little kids around Ty's age in the ward. When we moved in last January one of the mom's invited me to do it with them. I was so thankful. I knew it was an easy way to get to know other's in the ward quickly. Ty made friends with the kids and loves doing it. The mom's have all been so nice to include us. We took the summer off and had a meeting last week to plan this year. At the meeting Ty's friends had told him they were going to preschool two times a week and then our preschool one day a week. He wanted to do what they were doing. I told him he could as soon as he was potty trained. The next day he told me he wanted to be potty trained. So we tried. He only had three accidents in the first week. He is doing awesome. Fast forward to this week and we have a potty trained preschooler.

He just had to decide that is what he wanted to do. Here are some questions that I asked him and hopefully will ask him similar questions each year. He was also so excited that he had his shoes and back pack on an hour before it was time to go.

Questions answered by Ty.

Age: 3
Favorite color: Red
Best friend: Carson
Favorite thing to do: Wrestle
How do you feel about going to Preschool: Excited!
Favorite food: bananas
What he wants to do when he gets older: Run with horses, ride horses and catch Uncle Jordan's horses.
Favorite movie: Toy Story 3

He was seriously so cute going in to Preschool. He wasn't even scared. I am just a little sad that he is so independent but proud of how brave and grown up he is.

Ashlan Amy Christensen

Written in my journal originally Thursday March 28, 2013.

Ashlan Amy Christensen was born March 21, 2013 at 10:30 AM. She weighed 7 lbs. 13 oz. and was 19 in long. She is so precious and I am so glad she is here.

Her original due date was April 4, 2013 so she came about 2 weeks early. I went into labor around 4 AM that morning and sent Kip to work. I had the same feelings two days before and had Kip stay home assuming I had gone into labor. Since I didn't I thought this was the same thing. I told him I would text him if the contractions got closer. At 7:30 I called Kip and my mom to come. We got to the hospital at 8:30 and I was a 6 1/2. The anesthesiologist was busy in an emergency surgery so I had to wait until he was done to get my epidural. By this time I was so worried I wouldn't be able to get one. I was able to get something to help with the pain but it made me dizzy. He finally came in and it was seriously the best epidural I have gotten. She was born a few minutes after I got my epidural and in less than one push. She was so easy except for being in labor with nothing to help with the pain until I was seriously a 9. I don't know how those woman do it who go all natural. They are brave!

We are loving her sweet spirit. She is very dramatic and definately let's us know she is in charge. She snorts when she cries if she is really upset. She has two little dimples. One is very prominent but the other shows itself occasionally. We have had so much help from family and our ward has been so nice to bring in meals.

It's always amazing to me that with every new baby our love can grow. Being a mom is a challenge but the biggest blessing. I am certain she is a little touch of heaven and we love that feeling in our home.

3 kids is proving to be a challenge. I can't do the things I could do before on my own or with little trouble. It feels like everything takes longer and is harder with 3 little ones. We wouldn't change it for anything though. Kip is an awesome daddy and a great husband. He is so busy with school and work and yet does so much for us at home. The boys have been loving wrestling with daddy time. Something I am sure we will always remember.

24th of July

We had a really nice 24th of July. Kip had to work and we missed him dearly. We attended the Ogden Pioneer day parade. I was able to park really close to our spots and met my mom at our spot. Angie and Dave saved us spots. They were right across the street from the Ogden temple. I just kept thinking about how nice it will be to have the temple completed. The parade was fun and I was glad my mom was there to help.

After the parade we went to visit Grandpa and Grandma Barker. They were so happy to see them and I was glad to be there. We hadn't seen them since the 4th. It was fun to visit. I feel so lucky to have both sets of my grandparents still. They are awesome and I can't imagine my life without them.

We met Kip at home in the afternoon and we all went out to Grandma Beus'. We spent the evening with Kip's parents eating dinner, having a water fight and visiting. It was a beautiful night! I am very lucky to have in laws like them.

Some things to remember from that day.

The boys were so excited to go to the parade and Grandma Nette's.
Ashlan screamed every time Grandma Barker tried to hold her.
Having a water fight with Grandma and Grandpa Nette. Daddy even joined in.
Showing McKay a tiny green grasshopper outside Grandma Beus' house.
My mom and Annette's help that day.

If there is one thing I have learned since Ashlan has come it's that I can't do it very easily alone. Kip's parents, my parents, our brothers and sisters and their kids, our grandparents and Kip are all so helpful. We are lucky to have them all. Any where we go with family they are all so quick to jump and help us. For that I am grateful!

FHE and a promise

Yesterday I had a feeling that I needed to be better at documenting our everyday life. So here it goes again.

This last weekend I made a game for part of my sharing time. It was called Punch it out. The kids in primary loved it and I was glad it worked out. Ty had been asking to play it ever since I made it. Last night I decided I would incorporate it into our FHE. I finally got screaming Ashlan fed and got the boys settled into a movie so that I could get it ready. I got everything done with the game and found my scripture and pictures I would use and we got started. Kip was at school during this time and wasn't able to help so it took a little more time on my own. It's times like this that I am grateful for his help.

We had McKay help me say the prayer, Ty helped with the song and we played the game. Then we read the scripture story and looked at the pictures. It turned out great and they seemed to love it. It amazes me how much their little minds know already. Even though it took some time to prepare it, I am glad we did it and they learned a little more about the creation. Ty even answered the questions right about who created the world and what things were created.

This might sound like we had a smooth night but I want to remember just how crazy it was last night. Kip left for school about 5:00. Our last babysitting kid left at 5:30. Even though it had only been 1 hour and a half since Ashlan ate by this time she was screaming to eat. So I sat down and turned on a movie for the boys. While they were watching I quickly fed Ashlan. During my feeding time with Ashlan Ty pulled McKay off of the couch and he bonked his head. I had to hurry and put Ashlan down, grab Ty and put him on a time out and pick up and console McKay. Then I had to discuss what happened with Ty. You could say this was 15 minutes or so of pure chaos. After that I was able to calm everyone down and finish feeding Ashlan. Then I had dinner to get on the table. Then we fed everyone and started FHE. Once FHE was done we had bath time with prayer and scripture. Then it was bed time. I was ready for bedtime and so were the boys. Ty was asleep in less than a minute. McKay played quietly in his bed for a half hour or so before he finally went down.

I got them down and it was time to feed Ashlan again. Then I was able to talk to her for a few minutes then clean up the kitchen and dinner mess. At this time Kip came home. He brought 2 balloons home for the boys from his class. Each of the balloons had something written on them. One said Joker and the other said Husband. I asked what it was about and he explained his assignment. He said they each had to write out 4 titles they hold in their daily life. They got to juggle them after. Then they were asked to choose the most important. He chose Husband and I was surprised. Then he ate dinner while telling me about his day and we finished with a movie and ice cream.

It was a good day. There were moments of craziness and moments of happiness but it was a good day.