McKay's 9 month check up

McKay is now 9 1/2 months old. Last week he had his 9 month check up and we got to go back to our old pediatrician that I love. I was able to leave Ty with my mom since he was napping and enjoyed my time alone with McKay. He was really good at the office and I just had a couple concerns for McKay at this appointment. Eczema and a possible ear infection. Dr. Gabe checked the ear and confirmed that McKay had a full blown ear infection. He also talked to me about Eczema. Little McKay has had Eczema since birth and it has gotten bad a few times but I have kept up on it with Aquaphor and Cortizone 10. However he has a little spot under his chin that just doesn't want to go away. Dr. Gabe gave us some cream that has helped a ton and we hope it will be gone in no time. Some things about McKay at 9 months.

He crawls everywhere and gets into everything
He pulls himself up and stands and really doesn't mind if he tips over and bonks his head
He is very busy and wants to always be where the action is
He can kind of wave bye-bye
He says da da
He is has sensitive skin and burns very easily
He wants to eat and drink everything we are having and usually gets away with it when grandparents are around
He loves his brother Ty
He loves to wrestle with Ty, Cache, Noah and Daddy
Prefers nursing but will take a bottle if needed. I have tried getting him to take one a day just to make it easier for those that babysit him while we are the temple.
Loves all kinds of baby food but mostly loves fruits
Went swimming for the first time on Monday and was a little fish in the water. He loves it!
He wears 6-12 month clothes, 9-12 month clothes and they fit him in the length but are a little big in the waist.
Loves his blank (blanket) and usually tries to find the taggy and play with it or suck on it
He is starting to like his paci a lot more than he use to
Loves drinking out of a cup but doesn't understand the sippy cup or straw thing yet
He is a clapper and gets so into it
Over the past month he has learned to clap, sit up, crawl and pull him self up

His stats from the doctor:
Height: 28 inches-75%
Weight: 17 lbs 6 oz-10%
Head circumference: 75%


He is definately a tall skinny baby but doesn't really look that skinny. When people ask about his weight they can't believe he is so tiny. The doctor isn't worried about his weight and thinks he will go back up after a little while.

We love him and we are so glad he is in our family. He is growing up so fast and I am already seeing that he is going to be one busy little guy. 

It passes all my understanding...

I think this world that we live in is amazing. I think being a mommy is something so special and I feel so blessed to get to be one. I love being a wife and I am certain heavenly father knew what he was doing when he put us in families. I feel so lucky to be a stay at home mom and to have the gospel. I marvel at the beauty of the earth and I think spring really makes me remember this. Everything always seems so new, so clean, so fresh and almost like it has a clean start again. It amazes me!

Those are just things that have been on my mind lately. On a completely different note I had a thought the other day that I wanted to share. I am often worried about what others think. I don't know why but I care what others think of me. I want them to think of me as organized, prepared, happy, honest, kind, thoughtful...you get the idea. Sometimes I think of others. I have been blessed with an interesting perspective of others. I can often find the good in someone when others can't or I easily find the positive in anything. I love that I see something in people that others sometimes miss. I love that I can find the positive in almost everything. Sometimes however I find myself being critical of others and while I was having one of those moments I had a thought. The thought came to me that they are doing their best and they are just being themselves. Don't be so critical of them! Who are you to judge.

It really made me think and immediately I found myself seeing that person that I was thinking about differently. I am blessed that I had that thought and I have told myself that whenever I have had a negative thought run through my head since then.

This is a completely random post. So be prepared. Kip found out he isn't getting the job at SLCPD. They are revamping the hiring process and although he is currently 11th on the list they are throwing out the list. They are requiring everyone to reapply and since he had been in the current hiring process for 2 years we decided not to pursue it longer. So Kip got a second job. He works Friday night to Saturday late afternoon evening. He is a driver for Bountiful baskets. It has been a tough transition. I hate seeing him work so much and with his other job requiring him to work about 50-60 hours, it seems he is never here. He is such a hard worker and I am proud of how hard he works for our family however I miss him and hate seeing him so tired. Now days the only time we have together is evenings and Sunday. In the meantime we are trying to find him other work. If any of you know anywhere that is hiring let us know.

The boys. The boys are getting so big. Time seriously goes by way to fast. Ty is showing us he is a 2 year old. He loves to copy everything we do or his uncles do. He is a tantrum thrower and he is getting more and more interested in getting potty trained. Some of his new things as of lately are things like, I can't believe this mom!, What a day and he is loving any kind of animal or anything outside. McKay is growing up way to fast. He is rice and baby food twice a day, he loves every kind of baby food and loves to drink water out of a regular cup. He is sitting up pretty well and gets into the crawling position. He does know how to scoot backward on his tummy but doesn't know how to go forward. It's funny! He just started learning how to clap his hands. He can say dada and mama but says dada more. He loves anything outside and loves his brother. He has his two bottom teeth and his top two have been coming in the last 2 weeks, which has made for one cranky boy.

This summer I think we will be living outside at the park or the pool and visiting people. It should be a busy summer. We are all looking forward to our trip to California in June for Kip's family reunion. We can't wait to see all his family and get away from life as we know it for awhile and just spent time together.

Ty and McKay's doctor visit

Today we had a doctor visit with our new doctor. When I quit working Kip picked up the insurance and his insurance would no longer cover Dr.Gabrielson. I have loved him and I will miss having him as my boy's doctor however I found a new doctor that I love. Her name is Dr.Barrera. She was referred to us and today was really the first time we got to get to know her. They were able to schedule Ty's 2 year check up and McKay's 6 mo check up today all in the same appointment. The office was so friendly to kids. They let Ty stand up at the table and help check McKay with a mini doctor play set. They had a new story book for Ty and McKay that they could each take home. They had a sucker and stickers when the shots were through. Dr.Barrera gave me time to ask my questions and didn't rush me. She is a lot like Dr.Gabrielson in that manner. She is so good with the boys and seems very knowledgeable. I really liked her!

Ty's stats for this appointment:
Weight: 27 lb. -34%
Height:  39 IN -77%

Basically we have a tall, skinny kid. He is still recovering from being sick and needs to get back onto his good eating habits.

McKay's stats for this appointment:
Weight: 16.9 lb -25%
Height: 27 in -50%

Basically we have a little 6 month old boy. He started out small and has been trying to catch up ever since. The doctor isn't worried about him since he has gained weight since his 4 mo appointment. He was only in the 16th percentile at that appointment. I'm glad we are moving up.

I have to say it was hard taking both boys to the doctor and having both of them get shots. It worked out okay since the nurses and doctor was so great. Ty is getting easier as he is getting older but he still has those moments that remind me he is a 2 year old. I am so glad I get to be home and I am able to take my little guys to their doctors appointment and not worry about getting back to work. I also love cuddling them the rest of the day once they've had their shots as well. They are both such cute little guys and I am glad they are mine.

The nice surprise for the day was Kip calling me during his lunch hour to check on the boys and their appointments. He is such a good, hardworking dad!

On a completely different note I have a few random thoughts that I don't want to forget about the last week.

I fixed Crystal's hair since she had let a friend dye it a crazy color.
We are spending the next 2 weeks at Kip's Grandma Beus' house since Kip's parents are on vacation in California. We have loved spending time with Grandma Beus!
We celebrated Caleb, Grandpa Barker and Asher's birthday's Saturday at G & G Barker's
We took Ty to Toad's for his first try at miniature golfing for Asher's birthday. Ty tried but just couldn't figure out the golfing thing yet. He made a good effort and Kip tried a few times to show him but he was content with just taking the ball and running up to the bigger cousins who were ahead of him.
Cassie (a.k.a the sweetest sister/person/friend anyone could ask for) Kyle and Noah took the boys for us from Friday to Saturday so that we could celebrate our 4th anniversary. We went to dinner and a $3 movie on Friday and I actually got ready. We slept in until 8 AM on Saturday which was awesome and we did nothing all Saturday well until about 1:30 PM when we went to pick up the boys. It was a nice little treat and I can't tell you how nice it was to just get to spend time with Kip. We both missed the boys and we were so glad to have them home with us again.
I am loving Instagram and playing around with it almost everyday. It's fun to document all the little things I see all day long.

McKay is 5 months old

McKay turned 5 months on January 28th. Poor little guy seems to not have as many posts documenting him as Ty did when he was little but I am vowing to do better. McKay is such a fun little baby and I am enjoying staying home with him and Ty. I am enjoying my time with this little guy. Here are some things about our little guy.

He is a smiley baby
He is a drooler. His shirts are always soaking wet from it and he loves to put everything in his mouth
He is getting his first tooth
He loves to be held
He loves to be paid attention to
He LOVES his big brother Ty
He doesn't let mom get much done without holding him
He doesn't sleep through the night yet but will go until 5 AM
He breastfeeds so well and really doesn't like taking a bottle
He is a a skinny tall baby. He weighed 13.5 lbs at his 4 month appointment and was 26 in long
He has to have one rice bottle a day due to him being so little
He is crier especially when daddy gets home from 5 PM-9 PM
He always get woke up from his naps by his brother so he is in the habit of taking little power naps and then he is ready to go. 


He is such a fun baby and has been so different from Ty. I love being able to be there through all of the milestones. I feel like a very lucky mom!

We have a 2 year old....really

I cannot believe we have a 2 year old and we are loving and hating this age. We love him of course and we love seeing him learn and grow however we do not love the tantrums or the "I want to do everything myself" parts. We are just enjoying the ride and taking lots of time outs ourselves.

Ty's birthday was last Wednesday the 18th. We enjoyed chocolate chip pancakes a treat we would not normally have for breakfast but it was his birthday. He was able to have calls from grandparents and great grandparents and most especially daddy. Daddy was able to call him at lunch and he enjoyed talking to him. Daddy also made sure he got Cars 2 in the mail from Netflix that day so that we had a fun movie to watch. We just had a chill day spent at home. He also got to have half of his presents from us which was a cowboy hat and an Elmo chair. We were shopping one day at Smith and Edward's and he saw the cowboy hat and wanted one. He is so in love with it. The Elmo chair was one my sister in law was getting rid of so I snagged it. He had no idea who Elmo was but seems to love the chair which is good.

We celebrated a second time on Sunday the 22nd. We had our family come over which included Kip and my immediate family and our parents and grandparents. We had a full house. We served dinner and cupcakes and brownies. We have amazing family support and we had a fun night. It was a very crazy night but Ty had fun and we enjoyed the good company of our family. Ty got lots of presents and has enjoyed playing with them all. One of his favorite is his farm. My mom and dad had the barn from when my brothers were younger and they weren't using it so I asked if we could give it to him. I picked up a bucket of farm animals from Target in December that came with 45 animals and it was only $7 on sale. It ended up being a really cheap birthday present but one that he LOVES. I am sure he will get good use out of it.

Things about Ty at 2 years old:

Loves to sing
Loves to dance
Loves to be read to if he is calm enough to listen
Can say his prayers
Sings the ABC's
Counts to 10
Knows his name, daddy and mommy's names and McKay's name (It's really entertaining to hear him say Christensen)
He has a lot of tantrums and sits on many time outs in the corner
He loves his brother McKay and gives him kisses and loves on him all day long
He is the only little guy in nursery in our ward and LOVES the attention from his teachers
He loves living with my family
He loves all of his grandparents
He loves his cousins
He is definitely an outside boy and is having a hard time understanding the need to stay inside

He is a fun little boy and we are glad he is in our family. We love you Ty!

P.S. These pictures were taken at the farm at my parents and around their house. It is so hard getting a 2 year old to hold still and smile. Add in Maggie our neighbors dog and then it's really hard to keep his attention. At least we should remember what age he is from the pictures.