The Christensens

The Christensens

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Avaree is the pink power ranger, Olivia is Merida from Brave, Asher is a purple minion, and Ledger is a tiger. He has also been a bumble bee and spider man so far this year. Whatever he feels like wearing is what he will be.

I made this costume, and I have to say... Nailed it! It is soooo funny! He has pvc pipe in the arms so he can lift the whole arm up and wave... Thanks Eric for that awesome idea!

My cute little duck!

Family pictures

Family pictures! I think they turned out pretty good.
Maclaine has already changed a ton though!
 



Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Time goes by so fast!

Sorry it's been forever! No camera... too many kids... not enough ambition! Anyways Asher is 9 now! Olivia is 7, Avaree is 5, Tate has been gone over 3 years, Ledger is 2, Maclaine our newest member is 3 months almost 4 months.  I can't believe how time flies! The oldest 3 are in school full day and I am loving having the little ones all day to spoil and play with! I love to be with my older ones too, they are all into different things and it's fun to spend one on one time with them.




Maclaine and Asher


Ledger
Avaree Olivia Maclaine and Asher
We couldn't get Ledger to join the gang.

Friday, May 17, 2013

For the past few years Avaree has had several bladder infections accompanied by extremely high fevers. After landing ourselves in the ER with her and the doctors office every other week, we decided to have some testing done to see if there was a bigger problem. The tests were awful and she was super traumatized from them.  It took her 2 months to be able to go to the bathroom without help and without tears. However the tests revealed that she had reflux from her bladder to her kidneys and one kidney was significantly smaller than the other and she needed to have a surgery to move her urators into the right position. So here we are months later at Primary Children's for Avaree's surgery. We were nothing short of anxious wrecks on the way up here, and neither Brandon or I slept much the night before. She went into surgery on Thursday the 16th of May at 10:00 am and we didn't see her again till 2:00 pm. The surgery went very well and she seemed to be doing amazing yesterday! The doctor told us we would be going home today most likely, but then Avaree is Avaree and likes to sleep and be ornery if you ask her to do anything she doesn't want to do.  She doesn't want to drink, eat, pee, or stand.  She just keeps crying that she wants to go home and is insisting that that's what she needs.  She has been trying to be very nice though to the nurses and it helps that they give her anything she wants before she wants it and they tell her how beautiful she is every time they walk in.  She likes some nurses better than others and will take her meds really well for some and not so well for others.  She is spoiled beyond comprehension which is totally justified I think! She has gotten a care package 2 times the size of her and several stuffed animals and flowers. Thanks everyone for thinking of her! My phone is constantly buzzing with a new text from friends and family asking for updates on her. She's very loved and we appreciate all the prayers and support from friends and family!






Monday, May 6, 2013

Wow I can't believe it's been over a year since I posted! Lots has happened with our little family in the last year.  Asher turned 8 last September and finished reading the b.o.m. and was baptized in October. We are so happy with the choices he is making and how big he is getting.  He is very responsible and strives to do his best most of the time. He is such an amazing big brother and cousin.  Being the oldest in the family of all the siblings and cousins seems easy for him.  He loves to take care of the little kids and make the little boys laugh.  He is big enough that he can give piggy back rides to the little boys and they adore him!! He is in scouts and loves it! He is also in baseball again this year and is loving to play the pitchers mound. He wants to be the pitcher when he can be in "real baseball" apparently machine pitch isn't real baseball. haha. On Saturday B and I were working on some house projects and he kept coming in and asking me if I needed his help for anything.  I of course would find him something to do to help and at the end of the day I had to hug him and let him know that I was so proud of him for even asking the question!  He's not perfect by any means, but I really can't complain because he really is such a good kid and I just LOVE him!!
Olivia is 6 and turns 7 in June. In the last month her front teeth started growing in and so we had to take the fake ones out.  She's a very cute toothless little girl, but I am glad that didn't have to go on for 2 years! She is feisty and sensitive and intense and loving selfish and giving. It all depends on her mood, but whatever her mood is she will portray it strongly! She is very concerned with others and I think it's a good trait. She is always worried about Avaree (tell that story in a bit) She says her prayers and it's always with concern for someone besides herself. She is very worried about the baby I am pregnant with now, and prays for me and the baby every day.  She loves to wash her hands over and over and over again, to the point that they are frequently dry and cracked. She loves to "babysit" for me. I let her be in charge while I went to the store once (B was outside doing yard work) I told her she got to babysit. When I got home the kids were all drinking chocolate milk and eating cookies. She smiled when I came in the door and says "Mom I am the best babysitter ever! They love when I am in charge!" I couldn't help but laugh!
Avaree is 4 almost 5 and she has had a rough year. Lots of bladder infections that led to some very traumatic testing that was so awful and took her 2 months to recover from and be able to go to the bathroom without help, just to find out that we will be headed to Primary Children's next week for surgery. She has reflux which is pretty common for kids her age, and they will usually grow out of it, but her right kidney is quite a bit smaller than her left so they don't dare take the chance of waiting it out for a year to find out that the kidney is damaged or non-functioning. B and I agree with doing the procedure and just getting it over with and fixing the problem. We are feeling a little anxious to have her go through it all though. We are hoping for a quick recovery and back to normal before this next baby comes.  Other than the sickness we see small glimpses of what she would be like when she feels good and I am so excited to have that little girl back!  She is so sweet and loving.  She's a cuddle bug and loves to be right by my side.  She won't let anyone leave the house without a hug and a kiss. She is such a nice big sister to Ledger and very excited to have another addition to our family.
Today is Tatum's 3 year death anniversary.  We all miss him so much and don't have a lot to hold onto. The grave side and the pictures and very few memories with him at the hospital.  We are holding onto them as dearly as possible! We decided this year to set up all of his stuff in the living room from his birthday till his death day and it looks a little like a shrine, but I love having it out and being able to touch it and see it every day and remember how real it all was.  Olivia is my sensitive one when it comes to Tate.  We have cried together on several occasions and she makes me tell her over and over that I know we will see him again and be able to be with him and that he's a part of our family forever!
Ledger is soooo 2 years old! He is into everything! He's talking up a storm and repeats everything! some of his favorite words are shoot you, darnit, ampain (airplane). For animals he makes the sound first like moo-cow or meow-cat. His favorite songs are horsey horsey, Twinkle twinkle, and ABC's. He is just like the rest of my kids- a total couch potato! His favorite place to eat is McDonald's. Any time we drive past it he yells Donnalds hungy! He loves when it's bed time he runs to his and Ashers room after prayers and finds a book and climbs into Ashers bed so Ash can read to him.  They are best buds.
I am 30 weeks pregnant with another boy and we are very excited for the final edition of our family. We have decided as for now that his name will be Blake Olen Christensen. All of the kids are very excited for him to come and the only sad part is when Avaree realized this was our last baby she yelled at me and said "you should have had a girl one!" I told her sorry that's not how it works, she said we should have another one. I told her someday she could have a girl baby and until then we will just have to enjoy other peoples girl babies. 
Brandon has opened a new business as part owner and is still working for desert door.  He's a pretty busy guy right now. He's an awesome dad and the kids are all so excited to see him when he gets home, so am I. He went out of town for a week this last month and by the end of the week I was worried we were going to start having anxiety attacks and major melt downs.  It was so nice to have him home! He's super handy to have around when I'm doing technical things like cake. haha. His ocd kicks in and he perfects anything I would question. I made a fondant cake for Ledgers 2nd birthday and was so glad for the help of amazing friend and neighbor Heather and for the input and final touches from B.
I am enjoying the craziness of our busy life and though it's overwhelming sometimes I can't think of anywhere else I would rather be. I am the Young Womens prez. in our ward which adds to my craziness, but i love serving the girls in our ward and working with the other leaders they are so fun to be with! I am always so hesitant to leave my family for meetings and activities, but they are so good at supporting me and it's a nice break sometimes.  B and I celebrated our 9th anniversary in December and are looking forward to having some kind of vacation for our big 10 this year. Time flies when you're having fun, and we are!
I'm hoping to get pic's soon, but I lost my cord to my camera and haven't taken the time to find it or get my pictures off my camera any other way. Soon though!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

first birthday for Ledger

Aunt Kristina made these amazing mater cakes for Ledger and Taegen!
Happy birthday boys!!!

Yummy!

He kept hitting his face with his chocolate covered hands. You can make out finger prints on his forehead.

The next night we did it all over again with the other side of the family.  This time Grandpa helped Asher get involved and Olivia voluntarily helped herself.

Can't get enough!
But he did and he didn't like the bath either night.

Madness!

Never take 6 children to harmons!!!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Tate's birthday was on the 26th of March.  He would have been 2!  Time goes by so fast.  We cleaned his headstone and repainted the black inside the letters.  It looks so good, I'm sure once the sprinklers hit it it's going to be back to looking weathered, but we plan on keeping it shiny and nice.
 Okay so I put Asher in almost every sport that comes along so he can see what he loves and wants to stick with. But we always hesitate to put the girls in things and really it's for dumb reasons.  We have been feeling bad about it and decided to make up for it and put them in a beauty pageant.  We did this pageant 3 years ago and they both won the Grand Queen title in their age divisions.  I thought it was a fluke that they both won that year, but nope!  I have beautiful girls! Avaree won the Queen title in hers and Olivia won Grand Queen in her age division, which is the highest achievement you can get.  So we are going to The Nationals!!! Should be fun!




Getting ready for the pageant

I got to escort Avaree on stage.  She's  so cute!



Avaree with her crown and trophy.  So happy!


Olivia got to go on stage alone without me and she did awesome!!!  Obviously she did something right, she did win Grand Queen!

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Ledger turns one in two weeks.
He can stand up holding onto things.
He loves to eat
When I tell him to say mama he says dada.
He has 4 almost 5 teeth

Avaree is 3 almost 4
She will finally jump on the tramp with other kids without me.
Her favorite phrase is "No I amn't"
She loves preschool

Olivia is 5 almost 6
She sometimes has front teeth
She drives too fast
She loves princesses and "all the handsome boys"

Asher is 7 1/2
He likes riding his 4-wheeler and hiking
He loves playing with his friends and playing the wii
He loves his family especially baby Ledger

March 2012

Olivia was taking pictures. The one of Ledger and the one of Asher are the pictures she took that had people in them.  The rest were pictures of toys and things around the house.

It is getting warmer and the kids are dying to live in their swim suits!

They loved helping wash the four wheelers! 
Ledger is standing up at everything now 
Ledger and cousin Jax 
We went camping and Ledger sat in a chair or on the couch or the four wheeler the whole time. He didn't try to get down and crawl at all. He wasn't feeling well though. Poor guy! 

Olivia and Asher giving thumbs up 

They found a rock that looked like a brown egg and they thought it was the coolest treasure ever! They called it a golden egg. 

Ledger sitting on the four wheeler.  He loved it! 

Poor baby got so sick, couldn't even hold his head up. 
He's feeling much better. Back to his normal into everything self!