Colby. Casey. Madison. CJ. Finn.

Jensen Family Top Ten 2011

2011-12-22T23:05:00.000-08:00

Happy

Panic

Here is our Top Ten favorite things about 2011!

1. Colby and I celebrated our TENTH anniversary! Wahoo. I insisted that we take a trip somewhere awesome to celebrate and we did. We vacationed on Oahu, Hawaii for over a week. Luck for us my mom flew out here to "vacation" with our children.

2. Colby got a new job working in the Emergency Room at UVRMC. He is loving his new job but the schedule is brutal. He now has his own "bat cave" where he tries to sleep during the day while our children run around the house screaming and bang on the piano. Hopefully for his sake and our family's 2012 will bring him a better schedule.

3.We took a trip to Lake Tahoe for a family reunion. Yes people, I traveled in the car for 11 hours with my children, pregnant and sick. Oh and did I mention that I get car sick anyway? I made it all the way there just to puke in the driveway as we pulled up. Not fun. What was fun is meeting lots of Colby's family and hanging out with my husband for 4 days in a row! We went four wheeling, shooting, bike riding, and fishing just to name a few. The kids loved it so much they asked if we could move there.

4. C.J. learned this year how to ride a bike with training wheels, WITHOUT training wheels, and has lost his first tooth! We are convinced that he is the sweetest boy on the planet. If we ever take him to McDonalds while his sister is in school he will ask if we can buy her a toy so she doesn't feel left out. He even offered to give some of his Christmas money to Madison just in case her card didn't have anything in it. It did. :)

5. We sold our house! Yay! Oh my gosh, it is such a relief. Packing, moving, fixing the house, trying to sell the house....it is so stressful. Now we can just relax and take our time figuring out where we would like to be.

6. Celebrated Colby turning 35 and myself 30! We are officially grown ups now.

7. Myself (Casey), checked an item off the bucket list. I ran in a 5k race. I know it's not much to a lot of people but I'm the girl who pukes at the end of mile one. I entered the Freedom Run in Provo, which is on the 4th of July. I made it to the 2nd mile post before walking and never threw up so yay me! I actually loved it and am planning to run it again next July.

8. Little Finn. Our dare devil child. He can pretty much scale walls and repel from buildings. Our house is a little crazy looking from all of our child proofing. Luckily he is really coordinated and only has had one major incident where we thought he needed stitches. Luckily my super talented husband and mother-in-law gathered up some medical supplies and dermabonded (it's like superglue for skin) his eyebrow closed. It's healing quite nice and hopefully won't have a scar. Also our little Finnster will be turning 2 years old on December 28th!

3. Madison turned 8 years old this year! How did this happen??? Seriously we can't believe that we are the parents of and 8 year old. She has been patiently and anxiously awaiting her baptism coming up here on December 31st, 2011.

10.We found out that we are expecting another baby and it's a GIRL! Hawaii has the best souvenirs! (We have always wanted 4.)

We hope all of our family and friends have a Merry Christmas this year!

Boo!

2011-11-14T20:57:00.000-08:00

Halloween this year Madison said she wanted to be a vampire and C.J. wanted to be a pirate. Since Finn refused to wear footed pajamas I had to go out and buy him all new pajamas instead of using C.J.'s perfectly good footed ones from when he was that age. Lucky for him I found some cute little pirate pj's that I thought would be perfect for serving a dual purpose Halloween/sleep wear! Plus C.J. want Finn as his pirate buddy. Well you know how kids are, C.J. ended up being Batman and Madison changed her vampire costume into a witch. C.J. then asked if I would go out and buy Finn the Robin costume? I said no.

Isn't this the best family photo ever?! I had been feeling so sick right before these picture were taken. By the way we are pregnant with baby #4!

Can you tell he really wanted his picture taken?

All the little kids at Lynette's for Halloween Chili.

Still not wanting his picture taken and is trying to get down.

Coolest Batman ever!

Lynette has these plasma cars that Finn LOVES to ride. He is crazy fast on anything that has wheels!

I love the look on Finn's face as C.J. is chasing him.

Happy 10 Year to us!

2011-10-24T23:20:00.000-07:00

Talk about a long over due vacation! Colby and I were planning to take a trip together after he graduated nursing school but we had Finn 2 months before he graduate. (Smile) So we figured the next best time for us to go some place was for our ten year anniversary. Our anniversary is June 30th but we waited until August to go so that my mom could be here to watch my kids. I AM SO THANKFUL FOR HER!!! We decided to go to Hawaii! It was totally worth the money we spent. It is so beautiful and serene. We stayed at the Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore. The North Shore is where it's at! It's true what they say "Everything in Hawaii is overpriced!" The speed limit is so slow it almost kills you at times. But we loved it there. Places we visited while on Oahu included The Polynesian Cultural Center, Aloha Stadium, Dole Plantation, Waimea Valley Botanical Garden, Waikiki, Snorkled some coves, drove the whole island one day, shopped Haleiwa (my favorite town), Laie Temple, and visited lots of different beaches. I am still dreaming about going to Macky's Shrimp truck. It was that good! By the way, every where you go there are signs up saying "High Theft Area!" Don't even leave things in your car locked. I was scared to take my nice camera anywhere. :(

Thought about going Kayaking but then saw where they start and end and thought it was lame. They just circle the cove.

Waimea Fall.

Real picture I took! Sea Turtle would swim up right on the shore.

Laie Temple

Colby looking on Zillow to see if we could afford to live in Hawaii. The answer is no.

Dole pineapple ice cream. It was really yummy.

Us at the PCC.

Camera phone picture from our balcony on morning.

Beach at out resort.

Yeah I went running through there. I was scared.

Pioneer Day Bike Parade

2011-08-18T15:52:00.000-07:00

This year to celebrate the 24th of July we went to our neighborhood bike parade and pancake dinner. They encourage the kids to dress up like pioneers if they want and guess who really really wanted to? Yep. Madison wanted to be a pioneer. After searching through our house she found one of her baby dresses (size 18 months) and told me she thought it looked like a dress a pioneer would wear and then found a baby bonnet to go with it. I have to give her props for being original and I though she looked too cute.

4th of July

2011-08-18T15:39:00.000-07:00

I have had running a 5k on my bucklist of things to do so this July 4th I ran in the Provo Freedom Run. I have always thought I hated running so my goal was to #1 run the first mile with out stopping and #2 FINISH THE RACE. I did both! i actually almost made it to the 2 mile mark before I walked and the third mile was up hill! I couldn't believe they would make your last mile up hill but they did. I had a lot of fun and now I still run several times a week for exercise. I have really come to enjoy having my "alone" time and of course the benefits of feeling healthier.

After the race Colby went to work and I picked up the kids and took them downtown to the big parade. C.J. loved the Star Wars characters marching the street and Mady and Finn loved the horses.

This is how he smiles now every time he sees a camera.

Cutest Lady Liberty ever!

Me and my C.J.

Kids parade

2011-08-18T15:13:00.000-07:00

One night while we had friends over the kids decided to have a costume parade. It turned out so cute. They paraded around our neighborhood showing off their outfits.

Be Jealous

2011-07-05T22:42:00.000-07:00

I almost peed my pants when I came across these photo's the other day. Have you ever seen that website awkward family photos? These for sure could be on there! Our photographer offered us an engagement session with our wedding package. Thankfully Colby's brother Dave had already taken our "real" engagement photo. Otherwise we would have been stuck with these! HA! I am still laughing while looking at them. By the way, Colby and I celebrated TEN YEARS of marriage last week on June 30th! The real celebration will start Aug.2 when we arrive in Hawaii (childless) to celebrate the last ten years of craziness. Completely wonderful craziness.

So awkward. hahahaha.

Here we are both supposed to look serious. Haha. Still can't get over this one.

This one is Madison's favorite. Our fake conversation.

Wedding Day Bliss.

The real engagement photo :)

C.J.

2011-06-27T22:45:00.000-07:00

I am a little terrified to take all 3 kids to the pool by myself since C.J. and Finn both think that they can swim on their own but actually can't. Gloria invited us up to her new gym in South Jordan to go swim so I jumped on the chance to go and have another supervising adult. Her pool/gym is amazing. If I lived closer I might consider joining. Well while we were at the pool the life guards cleared the pool for like a 10 minute break or something. I was trying to explain this to C.J. that they need swim breaks too and he say's "Oh...do they get the cramps?" I just laughed. Where does he get this stuff from.

Also our baby boy turns 18 months tomorrow. I seriously can't believe it. I will post some pictures soon.

Crazy Pants is 17 months.

2011-05-30T09:24:00.000-07:00

You can see the bruise on his forehead from jumping off a chair and hitting his head on the couch. It hit right on the metal stud on our leather couch. Ouch.

Crazy Pants is what we are calling him these days. You can find him climbing up and onto EVERYTHING! I found him yesterday on top of the bunkbeds! Yikes. I don't even want to think about the injuries that could come from a fall like that. I am currently looking for a way to tether him to the floor. He is seriously fearless. He climbs up on my bed and jumps off feet first. I am amazed because most of the time he actually lands it. I guess it's just to tempting for him not to climb since we have boxes all over the house since we are moving. Needless to say, I feel like I am constantly pulling him down and off of things. I am so worried that he is going to get seriously injured.

2 weeks ago I found Finn in my bathroom standing at the toilet saying "Dip, Dip, Dip!" Gross right?! Well he was dipping my iphone in and out of the toilet water. Ewwww. A week later I have got it to turn back on but it's still not working right.

When ever I call Finn's name he yells back "What?" This is truly a sign that he has older siblings. He love eating "nack nacks" (fruit snacks). He can now say apple juice which sounds more like "appa jew." Baby talk is just so cute. We all just light up when ever he is talking. Finn also loves saying "Cee Day" (C.J.) And if you call out someone's name he will follow up with "where are you?" This has probably been his first real sentence since he has been saying it for months. He also say's "PU" or "shew" every time he is stinky. Finn also knows several animal sounds now for a dog, cat, monkey, cow, rooster, lion, tiger, bear, and horse.

I know I really shouldn't be excited about my baby starting to like TV but he really loves this cartoon on Nick Jr. called Bubble Guppies. He will actually sit and watch the whole 20 min show. This means I can take a shower with out worrying as much. Keywords here "as much." Like I said he is a crazy pants baby.

Show in Tell

2011-05-23T21:19:00.000-07:00

A few nights ago while driving home from a friends house C.J. asked me
"Mom, when can I go to a show in tell room?"
I said "A what?"
He repeated "A show in tell room."
I asked again "A what?"
He responded "A SHOOOW INNN TELLL ROOOM!" Somehow saying it slower was to help me get it.
I told him that he has show in tell at preschool.
He said "No not that kind of show in tell."
So I asked "Well where is the show in tell room?"
He said "I don't know you take me there."
At this point I am really confused.
He said "Dad knows what the show in tell room is."
I say, "Okay, then Dad will have to take you because I don't know what a show in tell room is."
He said, "Yes you do."
I then asked "Well what do you do in a show in tell room?"
He said "You know. That's where you get to sleep in a bed and swim in their pool."

The light went off. Oh! Okay you mean a HOTEL room!
C.J. "Yeah! A show in tell room! When can we go there?"

Haha. I have to agree with him. I like hotels too. They are fun and I am totally ready for a vacation!

2011-05-13T09:50:00.000-07:00

I love that we have awesome technology now so we can take pictures on our phones where ever we go. This was taken about a week ago. We took the kids out for ice cream on family night. Poor little Finn is still allergic to dairy. We feed him smarties. For the most part he was happy with that.

Finn 16 Months

2011-05-04T15:27:00.000-07:00

Finner Finner Chicken Dinner. Today Colby said "Baby you smell so good I could eat you!" I laughed because he had just eaten lunch and rubbed BBQ sauce through his hair. I guess he was hungry. Finn loves to dip his food in sauce and without fail he always rubs it in his hair. At 16 months he is talking a lot more. Trying harder to sound things out and copy what we say. We are dog sitting Chewy and he is constantly getting into the dogs water. Yesterday he dumped his water AGAIN and when I said "Finn!" he look at me and said "What Momma?" I was so proud of him for putting two words together I forgot all about being frustrated over the water mess. I really am trying to enjoy him being a baby. This stage doesn't last very long and I think because he is my third I have been able to appreciate his babyness a little bit more. I love the stages my other two are at but I miss them being in that everything you do is cute phase.

Finn is our climber. He likes to climb up and on everything. He actually has really good coordination for climbing some of the things he does. He likes to tip over the three sided dog pin to make a pyramid and then climb up and over. He also enjoys climbing onto the coffee table, onto the couch and then slide over the side of the arm. He also likes to push the dining room chairs over to the wall and then swing the picture on the wall.

My favorite things he says right now are "des go" (let's go) and "Rew"(Rude).

Finn also love the song "Who let the dogs Out" by the Baha Men. He barks along with the song. :)

Please forgive the out of focus pics.

Did you watch?

2011-04-30T20:55:00.000-07:00

Well just in case you missed it here are some of the highlights. Prince William married Catherine Middleton on April 29, 2010. Catherine "Kate" will now be known as "Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge." The royal bridegroom is now "Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn and Baron Carrickfergus." He'll go by duke of Cambridge but most people will continue to call him Prince William. So for sure we will all want to call them Prince William and Princess Kate but on their wedding day it's tradition for their grandmother, the Queen, to give them a new title to mark their marriage. So if Prince William ever does become the King of England than Kate will then be Queen Catherine. It's so crazy that there are still Kings and Queens on the earth. I love the fairytale idea of it but so glad that we are not subject to them anymore.

Seriously though all the detail that went into their wedding day was a fairytale wedding. I loved it!

I love how happy they look here together. And her dress is gorgeous!

Hat's I loved.

Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie of York. Craziest hat at the wedding!

I love how their whole country is into this wedding and you can see how excited they are.

Ooooh look at her dress here. So pretty!!!

The "L" on the front of the car means "Learner." They put these on the cars in England to warn others that they are a student driver or still learning how to drive. I loved that his friends decorated a car for them and put that letter L on there to remind people that they are new at being married and to not judge them to harshly.

In their getaway car after the wedding.

Here's where I got the pictures from
www.orlandosentinel.com

Monkey Business

2011-04-29T17:42:00.000-07:00

#1 C.J. was having a melt down one night before bed and I was trying to talk him down. Nothing was working. Every time I tried to say something to him he would start crying louder. After I got a word in this is how it went.

C.J.- "Mom! I said something and then you said something and then I said something."
Me- "Yeah, that's called a conversation."

C.J.- Well "I DON"T WANT A CONVERSATION!" Just listen to me!

We all started laughing and of course that made him even madder.

#2 We are dog sitting for the next two weeks and Finn is obsessed with all of the dog items around the house. Today I found him literally on all fours drinking out of the dog bowl. When he looked up I must have had "the look" because he said in his cute little voice "No. No."

Easter Bunny Tea Party 11'

2011-04-27T14:26:00.000-07:00

2011-04-27T13:52:00.000-07:00

Lauren Robinson 3 years old.

Lynette, Finn, Bernice, Madison, Ethan, Mackenzie, jack Lauren, and C.J.

2011-04-27T13:38:00.000-07:00

Who's ready to go on an Easter Egg hunt?!

Uncle Mike feeding Finn Nerds after he fell. Candy makes everything better.

Colby looks like he is trying to find eggs with a GPS but is actually taking video on his new iPad.

Baby's first Easter egg hunt.

So heavy for such a little boy.

That's right. I'm not sharing.

Everyone on the hunt.

2011-04-27T13:19:00.000-07:00

Our crazy family.

C.J. and Finn playing together. They have become good little buddies.

Mike and Gloria

Finn almost 16 months and Ethan 17 months.

Madison and her 97 year old Grandma Bernice.

Have you ever had a day like this?

2011-04-21T22:41:00.000-07:00

8:50 a.m. Madison isn't ready for school and her ride comes at 9 a.m.

10:30 a.m. T.V. guy calls to say they will be here between 12 and 2 p.m. which isn't that bad considering fix it type people usually say some time between 9-5 and then you are stuck home all day. The problem with this is C.J. starts preschool @12 and gets picked up at 2:15 p.m. See my dilemma. Really those are the hours they want to come.

11:40 a.m. Still haven't showered yet because I have been cleaning up one mess after another after all the TV man is coming and will totally judge me if the house is a mess.

11:50 a.m. Kids in the car with a snack we are on our way to take C.J. to preschool. As I am driving C.J. says "I don't want these fruit snacks any more Mom." I take them and eat them because there is no need to waste a good pack of fruit snacks and I need a little pick me up at this point. Oh wait, C.J. changed his mind and now they are gone. The meltdown begins.

12:00 We arrive at preschool C.J. is better because I promised him a treat on the way home. Say what you want but bribery totally works and I use it.

12:05 Back in the car racing back home (but going the speed limit of course) trying to beat the TV man so we don't miss him.

12:20 Back at home, feed baby, clean baby, change baby, lay him down for a nap.

12:30 TV guys are here. The prognosis is bad. The lamp has burnt out for the third time but it's not because of the lamp it "something else." They want to take it in to get a better look. Hum.... not sure I want to pay $150 for them to get a better look and then to tell me it will be $400 to fix. For that amount I want to invest in a new less problematic TV.

1:30 TV guys are gone and I realize all I have had to eat today were fruit snacks and a rice crispy treat for breakfast. It is made out of cereal after all. I made some luck edited some pictures for a Real Estate friend.

1:55 I look out the window and see a what appears to be hurricane winds and rain. Really?!?! I have to leave to pick up C.J. in 5 minutes plus wake up the baby because he is still sleeping.

3:30 p.m. Finally getting a shower for the day.

4 p.m. Madison is home from school and I make her a pizza which she begged for and then I found it uneaten on the counter. Kids are screaming and fighting so I put them in time out all while trying to switch the third load of laundry for the day with help from the baby. It goes so much faster when a 15 month old helps. The kids yell and ask if they can have time out in my room. I yell back "NOPE!" The baby yells back "NOPE!" My heart is soften for the moment and now I am glad he is with me "helping."

5 p.m. Kids eat dinner. Madison goes outside to fly her kite but the string is too short and she can't get it off the ground. She's livid about it and makes sure I know. Study spelling words. Clean kitchen with the baby's help of course.

7-8 p.m. Pick up Colby, pick up dinner for the grown ups : ), change the baby, put him to bed, get big kids ready for bed, C.J. say's it's his turn to say family prayer again but he KNOWS he just said it last night. Maybe it's just apart of his nightly ritual to say that it's his turn. I dunno. I kiss them both tell a few jokes. They laugh, I laugh. Hugs and kisses. I am feeling so grateful to be a mom and so thankful God made our bodies so that ~~they~~ we have to sleep at some point.

9 p.m. Going out to have a conversation with the Easter Bunny if you know what I mean. After all it's Thursday night and Easter is Sunday.

Do you ever have days like this?

Spring Break 11'

2011-04-17T22:45:00.000-07:00

When C.J. was let out of preschool a week ago Thursday he said "Mom, there is no school tomorrow!" "We're on bay-cation!"(vacation) I told him that he was right. It's called Spring Break. I also told him that we were going to do some fun stuff like going to some museums and swimming. He responded saying he wanted a "real" bay-cation and that he wanted to go to the beach or Disneyland. Gotta give him credit both of those ideas did sound more fun.

Needless to say though we had a good time this past week. It was more of "stay-cation" if you know what I mean. Colby took the kids to see the Easter movie Hop, we rode our bikes to the gas station and bought treats, went swimming at the indoor pool in Lehi, visited the church history museum, and the kids said that yesterday was the best day of their life. Haha. We have been helping Colby's parents remodel their rental home so I packed up the kids while Colby was at work Saturday and took the kids to the rental. The weather was great so I stopped at the Dollar Store on the way and bought the kids some plastic Easter Eggs, candy, and butterfly nets. When we arrived at the rental house the kids went to the back yard and filled the eggs with candy. When they were done I hid them in the yard and let them have an egg hunt. Of course they found all the eggs in like a minute! But it was a good activity to keep them busy. Filling the eggs, finding the eggs, and best of all eating the candy. Lynette came over at lunch time and brought the kids McDonalds and then the Young Men in the neighborhood found a snake in the yard while air rating the lawn. EEK! I hate snakes. Madison and C.J. wanted to keep it so they named him Pail and put the snake in their Easter basket with the butterfly net over it for the rest of the day. That snake entertained the kids all day! It was awesome. I reluctantly let them bring it home. The rules being that the snake was not allowed in the house or garage at all! They were all excited about having a new pet until it was time to go to bed and Madison said that she was scared to go to sleep because she kept seeing snakes in her head. Then she freaked out and screamed when she found a wet piece of yarn the baby left in her bed. She thought that it was a snake. LOL. Needless to say we let the snake go today at a pond near our house. Luck for me.

"Pail" the snake.

Awesome dance moves.


Seriously! What the crap. I beg my kids to let me take a picture of them all together and they literally look like they are puking! I laughed out loud when this one loaded onto the computer. I also feel the need to disclose my children dressed themselves and were very proud of what they picked. Madison even commented that I needed to take her picture in this outfit. : )

So after freeing our new snake we headed over to the park and played for 2 hours. The weather was beautiful. My mom has been harassing me about not taking pictures of the kids this past week but sometimes it's just too much when I have all three by myself out in public. For goodness sake I don't want to loose them and it could very well happen between chasing C.J. and Finn. I did bring my camera to the park today to capture some everyday fun. Here's what we got.

Maybe you are wondering why I am taking pictures of my baby eating wood chips at the park and not running to stop him? Well he is baby #3. I have come to realize that wood chips will not kill your baby or make him violently ill. I'm not saying I condone it. I am just saying I'm a little more lax now and not so uptight. Every kid does it. No matter how hard you try, the wood chips always end up in their mouth.

Penny War

2011-04-02T13:18:00.000-07:00

I just need a minute to brag about our little Madison. Last week at school her class was memorizing the quote by Mother Teresa, "We can do no great things; only small things with great love." She came home from school so excited and told me "Mom!" "We're going to help out Japan and it was my idea!" After asking more questions she told me that they were memorizing this quote and she suggested maybe they could help them out since their homes got washed away. Her teacher agreed and then her class brainstormed ideas of how they could help. They decided to have a penny war with the whole school to raise money. Each grade competing with each other. On the last day of the penny war I went up to the school to help count coins. It took two hours to count a little over $92 in change! And that was just the third graders money. The Daily Herald came to her school and wrote an article about what they were doing and put a picture on the front page with her and her friends!

I am so proud of her and love that she is compassionate to others.

Here is the link to the the newspaper article if you want to check it out! Daily Herald Article.

Here is the picture from the paper.

15 Months old today!

2011-03-28T09:39:00.000-07:00

15 months and I still think he is the cutest thing ever! Finn is a fun loving crazy baby. Haha. Seriously he is all of those things. He is starting to get more of his dad's personality every day. He likes to make faces at us just to get a reaction. He wants to be outside or in the tub more than anything else in this world. He cries every time we bring him inside and he likes to lay flat like a pancake and try to swim away in the tub when you try to take him out. He is learning how to be "soft" and not whack us. Finn is talking more these days. His newest words this month are "juice, Jesus, hello, banana and diaper." I am sure there are more. These are just a few that I can remember off the top of my head.

The poor thing still hasn't out grown his milk allergy. It's so hard with older kids who leave things out. Yesterday Madison put her bowl of Mac and Cheese on the side of the sink and that little stinker (Finn) flipped the dishwasher door down, climbed on top and grabbed her bowl to load it into the dishwasher. He loves putting dishes in and out the dishwasher. Anyway, his face totally broke out in hives and we had to give him benadryl. I know the dosage by heart now and don't even need to look at the box. We also found out this month he is allergic to eggs. : ( I am really hoping he grows out of these allergies in the next couple of years.

On to more cute stuff. Finn likes to growl like a lion and bark like a dog. He loves animals and other babies. When we go to the park these days he doesn't care for the swings. Finn loves to be independent and climb the slides and play structure. He likes to hang on to the railing and lean out giving me a heart attack. Like I said he is gaining more of his fathers personality every day.

Here are some pictures of Finn and C.J. wrestling. They are becoming good friends.

And just one more of my cute little Colby Junior. It's so perfect he was our first born son to be named after his dad.

Birthday Bash

2011-03-04T09:23:00.000-08:00

For Colby's 35th birthday I rented out the flow rider at this new place called the Provo Beach Resort. I was going to try and surprise him but I hate keeping things from him. Especially really fun and exciting things so I told him.

We went on a cruise a few years back and did a flow rider in San Diego. Needless to say I totally ate it and got whiplash. I was really hesitant to try it again but it looked like to much fun so I gave myself a little pep talk and did it again. It was so much easier this time! I actually didn't get my hair wet the first THREE times I went (total fluke). It was awesome! Of course Colby was a natural from the get-go. We really had a blast. It's so fun to watch your friends wipe out. : )

Like I said total natural.

Wipe Out!

The guys waiting for their turn.

I look totally legit here. Ha.

Becky riding the body board.

Spencer showing us how it's done.

Shelly on the body board.

After the Flow Rider we headed over to Malawi's pizza across the street and had a delicious lunch with our friends.

My 4 yr Old

2011-03-02T21:49:00.000-08:00

Things I love about C.J. being 4 years

-He is old enough to take to the movies.
-Potty trained day and night.
-He remembers fun things we do and ask to do them again.
-He tells jokes (sometimes not so funny) 4 yr old boys like to talk about poop a lot!
-He ask me almost every day if we can talk about the beach.
-He finds the sunny spots on the carpet so we can pretend we are at the beach.
-His imagination is developing and is quite entertaining at times.
-Spastic and full of energy.
-Super loving and kind.

He was trying to show me his scrapes. They are on the other knee. : )

C.J. is Offically 4 years old.

2011-02-23T22:06:00.000-08:00

We celebrated our Colby Jr.'s 4th birthday today. On each of my kids birthday's I alway decorate the kitchen the night before so when they wake up in the morning they are super excited and know it's their special day. For C.J. we decorated in BLUE since it is his favorite color and with Spiderman decor. Colby left a gift outside C.J.'s room last night so this morning when the kids got up I could hear how excited they were.

Here's Madison's and C.J.'s conversation

(screaming, laughing, pure excitement)

Madiosn: "I wish I was able to come to your party today." "I don't want to go to school!" (Lunch party @ McDonalds)

C.J.- "You can come to my party Madison!"

Madison- "No I can't." "Mom says I HAVE to go to school!"

C.J.-"But really you can come!"

Madison- "No I can't."

C.J.- "Hey I know!" "You just need to hide and then you can come to my party!"

This kid cracks me up. He loves his big sister more than anyone in the world. They are the best friends. He would do anything for Madison.

This was the first year C.J. has requested to have a birthday party with friends so I thought I would oblige. He is probably the least demanding out of all three of my kids. He invited 4 friends to lunch at McDonalds. It was so perfect. I didn't have to prepare the food, clean my house before and after, or entertain. AND I only spent 20 bucks! They loved it! Easiest party to date. Colby on the other hand mention that he sees why people need anxiety medication after taking a bunch of kids out in public. I thought it was funny because if us mom's just stayed inside with our kids all day we would be taking medication for that! It really was so easy and fun.

When Madison got home from school we made C.J.'s choice for dinner, Macaroni and Cheese and then had our own little family party since she missed out on the fun earlier. After dinner we packed up the kids and took them to this place called Jump On It. It's a wall to wall trampoline place. They also have those big blow up slides the kids can play on.

Birthday boy.

The McParty.

You should be totally impressed that I made this cake. Store bought cakes are gross.

C.J. asked for Lego's for his birthday.

Colby probably regretting his decision to buy these swords.

C.J. gave me several hugs through out the day and frequently told me that I am the best Mom ever and that it was his best birthday ever. By far the most rewarding feeling a mom can have.

My little 1 %

2011-02-16T23:29:00.000-08:00

Took Finn to the Dr. yesterday for his one year well check. I have post pone making this appointment because he has had illnesses off and on for what seems like forever now. So of course he gets sick the week before our appointment. All of my kids got this nasty virus that gave them fevers for days and a horrible cough. And poor little Finn gets an ear infection every time he gets a cold. I took him in for his well check anyway with the intent not to get him vaccinated but he didn't have a fever that day and I felt pressured to just go ahead and do it. The doctor said that his ears looked "pretty good" but to call back on Monday for an antibiotic if his cold hasn't cleared up. I like that they are pretty conservative on passing out the meds. I just get paranoid every time I get him vaccinated that something is going to go wrong and he is going to end up with aspergers or autism. A friend of mine already has me convinced that the reason all of our babies have had such bad ear infections is from the H1N1 vaccine we got while pregnant. Maybe it is, maybe it's all a coincidence. All I know is that none of my other children have ever had ear infections and Finn has had more than I can count on one hand in his first year of life.

Anyway on to the good stuff! Our baby is officially a peanut.

At 13 months almost 14 months
Head:    17.75 inches         11.12%tile
Height: 29.0 inches       14.57 %tile
Weight: 18.12 lbs                0.91%tile

So now we call him our little 1%. The doctor doesn't seem to be concerned at all about his weight because his body is proportionate and he looks healthy. Finn has been our smallest baby from birth weighing in at 6 pounds and 10 oz and 20 inches long and now at a year under 20 pounds.

Foods he will eat right now are blueberry waffles, rotini pasta w/tomato sauce, steak, chicken noodle soup, Gardetto's (rye chips are his favorite), chicken nuggets, french fries, crackers, cheerios, sometimes peaches and he loves to chew up apples and then spit them out.

He is talking a little more each day. He has recently said "C.J." and "apple."

One of my very favorite things he does right now is to lay his head down on my shoulder and pat my back. Melts my heart every time.

My Valentine

2011-02-14T09:45:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't know my husband Colby he is quite the character. The picture above is how we started out. I took a picture of him while he was on the computer. He then said "Take a picture of the good side of my face." And this is what we ended up with. : )

I love Colby more than any one else in the world. He is my very best friend. He keeps me laughing and makes life more enjoyable. Thank you for being my Valentine!

Be Mine.

2011-02-10T23:01:00.000-08:00

Today Madison and I worked on her Valentine cards. They are so cute. I uploaded this template to use for a VDay card and then stuck her picture on it. She was excited about it. C.J. on the other hand told me that he hated the one I made him and then went on to tell me how he really wanted Spiderman. : ) So C.J. got Spiderman cards and Madison is sending out these adorable ones.

So cute right?! Here she is in the process of making them out to each of her classmates.

Baptism

2011-02-09T14:50:00.000-08:00

We had the chance last weekend to attend our dear little friend Tyler's baptism. It was awesome. Minus having to be there at 9 am!!! three kids in tow by myself. Anyway it was special to witness once again a great ordinance being performed. Did I mention that Tyler is one of Madison's very best friends? Well you might remember him from our Nativity play from this past Christmas.

Anyway, after Tyler's dad baptized him C.J. asked "Can I get baptized Mom?" I said of course you can but you have to wait until you are 8 years old. If you reading this and are not of our faith wondering why we wait until kids are 8 it's that we feel by age 8 kids are mature enough to be accountable for their actions. Okay back to C.J., he starts crying and said "but Mom by then the water is going to be all gone!" I laughed and then explained that there will be plenty of water for him to get baptized in when he turns eight.

I just can't believe that Madison will turn eight this year! Crazy.

Problem Fixed!

2011-02-04T09:10:00.001-08:00

Thanks Ashley!

If you are blogger smart

2011-02-02T08:29:00.001-08:00

So I don't know why my blog has this huge gap at the top. It's so annoying. Not to mention anytime I try to go into the new template to try to see how I can fix it the stinking think won't pull up. If you are reading this and know how to fix it I would love to be enlightened. : )

Busy Boy. 13 Months.

2011-01-31T21:26:00.000-08:00

Our little Fin-der Bender is 13 months now. He is the sweetest baby and gives us love all the time. He even does great sound effects when he gives you hugs. We call them Ugh Ugh hugs because that is the sound he makes. The very sweetest is when he will lay his head down on my shoulder and pat my back. Along with his sweetness also comes his crazy. This kids might be the spawn of Spiderman. He can scale our couch in record time so that he can play in the blinds. He is still fascinated with the trash can and the stairs but we have now added the bathroom, kitchen cabinets, and pantry into the mix. He is a very busy boy and is constantly keeping us on our toes.

I have mentioned before that Finn loves the water and taking a bath. He has now found it amusing to dunk his head under the water while in the tub. I know that most babies hate having water in their face or their head under the water so he will probably end up being a little fish like his big sister and brother. They were the same way at his age.

This baby loves to be outside. He will stand at the front door and cry and bang on it until you take him out. The problem is most of the time it is FREEZING outside and he wants to play in the street. I need a gate at the end of my driveway. It will be so nice once the weather warms up so I can let him lose in the backyard. Right now it is still covered in snow. He has learned how to ride one of the little cars we have backwards. We are still working on how to scoot forward. Oh yeah he likes to eat sidewalk chalk and rocks. (gag!)

The rocks he loves to eat.

Making a bee line for the street.

So freaking cute! Look at that little bum in the air. It's hard work to stand back up when you are so tiny.

One more thing. This boy loves to dance! He can feel the rythm and shake his booty. Every time he hears music he will stop to dance or do the head bob. It's so adorable. I believe that some people are just born with music in them and he is one of those people.

Funny Kids

2011-01-27T16:09:00.000-08:00

The lamp burnt out in our TV again! Ugh. We bought our TV about 4 years ago and it appears that the shelf life of the lamps inside are ony about 1 1/2 years. It's so frustrating when you spend a lot of money on something and then it breaks. And then breaks again. Anyway, Madison was talking to Colby and said "Hey Dad we really need to get our TV fixed." He replied, "Yeah, I know." She then said "Well have you called Nationwide????" Bahahahah. I seriously had tears I was laughing so hard when Colby told me this. Then again it was late at night and everything gets a little funnier when you are tired. There is this commercial you guys have probably seen where they say "Call Nationwide" and then they do the little jingle "Nationwide is on your side." As you can see we need to get our TV fixed so that our kids don't miss out on any more awesome commercials. ; )

Oh and did I tell you guys that Madison and I were having a conversation one day and Madison said "Hey Mom what do you think I should be when I grow up? I just can't decide!" I asked her what she likes and she said "Well I think that I might like to be a Rockstar, a Makeup Artist, or a Veternarian (this is the one I am hoping for)." Just about at that point C.J. chimes in "I want to be a daddy when I grow up!"(My heart melts.) I asked him how many children he wants to have and he said" I want to have 2 boys and 2 girls." "But Mom......I am NEVER going to put my kids in time out." We then asked him "Well what are you going to do if your kids act naughty?" He replied, "Well, I am going to put them in time out."

Day to Day

2011-01-22T21:48:00.000-08:00

Here is a little glimpse of our day. It usually starts out by Finn dragging out all the pots and pans and then we move into the living room after breakfast and dump all the block everywhere. Typical day. Nothing fancy. Just hanging out and enjoying the company of each other. Have I mentioned that I love being a stay at home mom?

If you are wondering why Finn has pink marks on his face it was an allergic reaction to some kind of dairy that he touched and then touched his face. Not even ate. Just touched. Yes I do realize that I should remember what it was he touched but such is life and I am losing my brain cells by the minute. I am sure of it.

I love the innocents of this picture. Seeing this makes my heart happy.

And 24 days later......

2011-01-20T23:04:00.000-08:00

I am now posting of my sweet baby boys First birthday! Finn Van Jensen turned one year old on December 28th. Our family adores him like crazy. This kids is full of personality and has the cutest little grin ever.

Okay so for the big birthday bash I decided that we would make the day all about him and do what I thought would make his day the best ever. Since Finn refuses to touch baby food but loves french fries we headed over to McDonald's in Lehi to eat some lunch and let the kids play on the indoor playground. Are you shocked that this germ-a-phobe mother let her baby play on an indoor play structure in the winter and at a yucky McDonald's???? This seriously just shows how much I love my baby and kids that I can put their happiness first and put my crazy to rest for a day. After lunch we headed over to the Legacy Center to do some indoor swimming. Finn LOVES the water. I mean he loves it. At home in the tub he is constantly dunking his face in the water and laying on him tummy trying to swim. He's just a little fish. So yes not only did we play on a McDonald's playground in the winter but also swam in a public pool!!! We came home and took showers and a nap for the baby. I decorated the house for his birthday and made him a cake. I was really nervous since he has food allergies but he did just fine with the cake. (No Dairy) Luckily we all survived and no one got sick. From the pool, not my cake.

For his birthday we gave him a play tent with tunnels. He loves it. He also received a Fisher Price car ramp thingy from my mom, some cute clothes from Colby's parents and a mini piano from the Child's.

Here is the One Year summary.

-Height? um we haven't been to the pediatrican yet so i will say average to small.

-Weight about 19 pounds. Yep. Definetly still under 20lbs.

-Wears clothing size 6-12 months and some 12-18 month

-Eats waffles, steak, chicken nuggets, french fries, peaches, pretzels, Chicken Noodle Soup, Spaghetti (homemade sauce), dry cereal, orange chicken, still nursing like 4 times a day. ( and of couse some other random stuff) HATES BABY FOOD.

-Vocabulary- Mama, Dada, Thank you, Uh- huh, uh-oh
Finn has great receptive language skills for instance if you ask him to go get you a ball he will, if you ask him a yes or no question he will respond by either shaking his head yes or no.

-Favortie Toys- the ball pit he got for Christmas and his car ramp.

-This baby LOVES to Dance! Crank up the music and he will get down!
-Finally He Is Sleeping Through The Night! Yay! Only took us 12 months. And who knows, that could change next week. That's just how it goes when you think they've got it down.

I don't know where my pool pictures went. Hum.... I guess i will have to find them and post those later.

To Die For

2011-01-03T22:36:00.000-08:00

I LOVE it when I get good pictures of the kids. When ever I pull out the camera they usually go crazy and don't cooperate. I've gotta catch em' in a good mood.

Here are some of the outtakes.

Just incase you didn't see the movie Tangled the kids are pulling their "smolder" look like the character Flynn.

Twas the Season

2011-01-03T22:13:00.000-08:00

We had an amazing Christmas this year. I really wanted my mom to fly out here to be with us but as we were looking for tickets they were all like 900 bones! Yikes! Anyway we finally were able to find one a couple weeks before Christmas so we decided to surprise my kids since she was flying in at midnight Christmas Eve. It was so perfect! I picked my mom up from the airport and headed home. Of course we had to sit and chat a bit and wrap a few more gifts. As we headed to bed around 2 am I heard a little person coming out of their room. My mom fell flat the floor behind our stair case so that Madison wouldn't see her. I almost peed my pants with laughter and tried to put her back to bed. As I am tucking her back in she say's "Who's suitcases are in the hallway?" Dang it! I told a white lie and said they were ours and I was just going to put them in storage. Well Christmas morning came @ 4:30am and we told our kids to go back to bed. When 5:30 am rolled around they were wild and gitty so we decide to let them go ahead and open their presents since the baby had just woken up to nurse.

We took a video of them unveiling my mom (their Nanny) from under a blanket with a bow. At first I think they were a little confused and then they realized that it was real and that she was here they were excited. The baby on the other hand was like "who is that stranger hiding under a blanket in my house?!" Seriously though I loved that Colby had the day off of work and that my mom was here. It was a perfect holiday.

Since my children were up before the crack of dawn I had to use my flash in all my picture (which I totally hate). maybe next year they will sleep in until 9! A girl can dream.

Christmas Eve

2011-01-03T21:58:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve we spent with our best friends the Childs. We ate pizza and let the kids act out the Nativity story. So pretty much just Tyler and Madison. Asher and C.J. were running around, Alli had a meltdown, and Finn was trying to pull the ornaments off the tree. It was quite comical. We tried to get a video but you can imagine what utter chaos looks like so I won't post that video.

Don't they make the cutest Mary and Joseph you have ever seen?!!!!

Naughty but Nice

2011-01-03T21:45:00.000-08:00

Yes I am one of "those" mom's that threatens their kids if they don't behave Santa won't come. I was totally at my whits end with them right before Christmas and really really considered canceling Santa for them. But.....after many threats of no presents they changed their attitudes and decided to SURPRISE me with cleaning the kitchen floor. Even though it was a big soapy mess for me to clean up it did soften my heart and help me to see their sweet little spirits again.

Happy Birthday Baby

2010-12-29T23:50:00.000-08:00

Seriously my little Finn is a year old. That means he is no longer a baby and is technically (I think) a toddler???? Is that right? He is in fact toddling around the house these days. Speed walking when he can. He really wants to keep up with his big sister and brother. I will be posting on his birthday bash and first Christmas in a wee bit. Since it's now 12:48 am I am going to bed and then blog again when I have loaded my pictures. That's what everyone wants to see anyway. : )

Holiday Entertainment

2010-12-26T17:52:00.000-08:00

It's so hard to keep a secret! My mom flew out here on Christmas Eve to surprise my kids Christmas morning. I did a very good job not spilling the beans. Everyone else who knew did not. I covered for almost everyone who knew with "Oh yeah, she's not coming this year but we might see her in the spring." It almost became comical how many times Colby almost blew it. So far we have really enjoyed the holidays and having my mom here is like the icing on the cake. The kids were up at 4:30 AM Christmas morning! Telling them to go back to bed was a joke. They were running up and down the bunk bed and making so much noise we were finally up and opening presents at 5:30 am. We then made breakfast took a nap and baked cookies for Colby's parents house. We then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at his parents hanging out with family. I love holidays and how they bring everyone together.

Here are some video's of the kids finding their Christmas surprise and a little holiday entertainment.

M-I-C-K-E-Y MOUSE! Picture Overload!

2010-12-24T00:05:00.000-08:00

We finally did it! We took a family vacation! I kept telling the kids while Colby was in Nursing school that once he graduated we were going to spend some good family time together and go to Disneyland. And that is just what we did. We packed up the Pilot a week before Thanksgiving and drove down in sunny California. It was so nice to leave the cold and arrive in a warm sunny place. Thinking about it makes me want to go back SOOOO bad. I loved Disneyland, the hotel we stayed at (Peacock Suites), the nice cop who didn't give me a speeding ticket ;) the happiness of all the people at Disney, seeing my kids faces light up with anticipation before every ride and the joy and laughter I got to hear after. We seriously had a blast.

C.J. has no fear. He was just barely tall enough to get on all the the "big kid" rides. They measured him twice every ride. He went on every single ride he could with out any hesitation. He actually cried the one time they told him he wasn't tall enough to ride. When he exited the Tower of Terror (it's an elevator simulated ride that free falls) he had this blank look on his face. I asked him if he liked the ride and he just replied back so matter of fact, "No, it was scary." and kept walking.

Madison on the other hand has inherited my mother's anxiety and took a little coursing to get on some of the rides. Over all though she did great and loved almost everything. She said her favorite rides were Splash Mountain and the Tower of Terror. Although, when she got off the Tower of Terror she was terrified and said she hated it.

Colby and I had just as much fun as the kids. It was just so nice to be able to hang out together and not worry anything. I can't wait until we can go back again.

The kids were so EXCITED to finally be out the car and in a CLEAN hotel. The night before we stayed at the nastiest hotel in Vegas. Ugh, it really was so gross. If it hadn't been for the fact that it was midnight, I had already paid, and taken all of our stuff out of the car we would have just left. I won't even go into how gross it was. We literally took off our shoes beside the bed, got in and left first thing in the morning. Lesson learned, don't book over the internet before seeing the room. As you can see our California hotel was awesome!

Relaxing after the long drive.

So who knew you would have to literally chase down characters to get your picture taken with them. It's kind of ridiculous if you ask me. Thankfully our kids only wanted picutres taken with their very favorites. Madison LOVES Ariel so we felt very lucky that we saw her passing by and let us snap a picture with her before she ran away. Haha. Seriously they do.

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Colby went on the Tea cups with the kids with our friends Dallas and Makeila.

Gotta love that it's was November and we were able to wear shorts!

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Yep. That's my seven year old in the stroller. : ) We were waiting for the parade to start.

Can you tell Finn is so ready to be done? He just wanted to get down and be free for a little while.

End of day one, waiting for the bus to arrive.

All of Disneyland was decorated for Christmas.

I love this picture because you can just see the "magic." Yes Disney makes it snow outside in 60 degree weather.

This picture makes me laugh. The baby is crying and trying to climb out of the stroller and I look like a crazy lady. But notice the beauty of the castle behind me. This picture doesn't even do it justice.

Lately

2010-12-19T21:55:00.000-08:00

I really haven't had anything to blog about lately and then I remembered that I never blogged about going to DISNEYLAND! How in the world did I miss that one. Well I'm on the laptop and my pictures for that are upstairs to it will have to wait until another night here shortly. Until then here is C.J.'s latest funnies.

Last Friday's conversation-

Me: C.J.! When is the last time you took a bath?
C.J. : Um..... Father's Day. (Hahaha really like 2 days before.)

He also sings "Denise Navidad." It's cute.

BTW- the baby is walking EVERY where and he is turning a year old in like a week! Holy cow, where has the time gone?

Family Night

2010-12-06T22:33:00.000-08:00

Our kids really look forward to Family Night every week. Most of the time we stay home and have dinner together, read some kind of BOM story, play a game, and have dessert. The kids favorite games to play are "Stranger Danger" and "Do as I'm Doing." You're probably thinking what the heck is a "Stranger Danger" game. Well it's where one person pretends to be a stranger and then the other person gets to scream and say "You're NOT my mom/dad!" and then run away. Why they love it I'm not sure but at least they are learning a valuable lesson.

Tonight we decide to take the kids down to the Riverwoods shopping center in Provo. They have done an amazing job recontrusting that whole place. There are lights everywhere, FREE carriage rides, Santa, and of course a stop at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory on our way out. The kids were disappointed that Santa was at home "sick" tonight but we had a great time walking around and taking the carriage ride.

Maddie looks scared but is really just trying to smile and look at the horses at the same time. Haha. Crazy kid.

First Steps.

2010-11-30T21:18:00.000-08:00

This video was taken on the night Finn first started walking. No matter how many children you have it never gets old or less exciting.

11 months

2010-11-30T16:48:00.000-08:00

Baby Boy is 11 months! So cliche' to say but "where has the time gone?!" I can't believe that in less than a month he will be a year. CRAZY. Here's what is going on in his little world.

Talking- Says Mom,Mom,Mom,Mom,Mom when ever he is really tired or hungry. Mom was his first word. My guess is that he has heard it non-stop since the day he was born from the other two so it was really easy for him to pick up.

He also says uh-oh on occasion and night night sometimes. He is constantly babbling all day unless he is around strangers and then he is really quite and just stares them down.

Locomotion- Mostly walking around holding onto furniture but he is walking short distances between say the coffee table and the couch. Also the stairs are a hot new feature to him. He is getting pretty good crawling up but going down is still scary. Not to mention the big kids have broken the gate climbing over it so much that I have to keep a constant eye on him all the time. Whenever he is unattended he makes a bee line for the stairs or the bathroom.

Sleeping like a champ now! Yay! for mommy and baby.

Eating- Well...we are still working on it but WOW we have come a long way this last month! Finn will now eat some table food and LOVES the Blue Machine Naked drink. Since he never took a bottle the sippy cup has been great for him.

This kid pulls the craziest faces all the time. He is so funny and he knows it. He makes funny faces just to get us laughing. I really need to whip out my camera and capture some of them but when ever i get my camera out i always get the serious face. Typical baby right?.

Anyway I am really excited about his first birthday and can't wait to start planning the big day. First things first. Christmas Shopping! Ahhhh.

Gobble, Gobble

2010-11-26T22:43:00.000-08:00

Our family really has so many things to be thankful for. Always at the top of my list is FAMILY. Unfortunately since Colby is still one of the newer employees at his job he had to work all of Thanksgiving. So I was sad he wasn't with us but GRATEFUL that he has a job to support our family and extremely GRATEFUL that it has given me the opportunity to quit my job and be with the kids all day. He told me the other night that he would love to be a stay at home dad! He really loves them and misses them like crazy when he works.

Oh yeah. The baby is walking!

So this is what 29 looks like.

2010-11-12T00:03:00.000-08:00

This is my awesome self portrait taken with my iphone.

So I figured I should probably take a picture on my birthday to document the beginning of the the end. The end of my 20's that is. I really loved being 28 hopefully 29 won't treat me that bad.
I really had a fabulous birthday this year. My day started out awesome with sleeping in, showering with out kids banging on the bathroom door, going to see a matinee with my best friend (colby), followed by the best lunch at Zupas and then cookies from Paradise Bakery. Becky was so sweet to watch the boys so Colby and I could spend the afternoon together. And then later that night Becky and Isaac came down and ordered Wingers with us and brought me brownies. It really was a perfect day!

So on my kids birthdays I usually blog about what they are into these days and what they have accomplished over the past year. I thought it would be kind of cool to do the same for Colby and I so that in the future if our kids ever come across this journal they will know a little more about what we were like in our younger days.

Here it goes>>>>>>>>

My favorite color right now is purple.

My favorite music to listen to is country but I can tolerate almost everything. I love Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Colbie Caillat, Jack Johnson and Mindy Gledhill. Their music makes me happy.

Even though Utah is my home now I still consider myself an east coast country girl. I love the beach and wide open spaces.

Colby gave me a really nice digital SLR camera a few years ago for our anniversary and I love it to pieces. Photography has become one of my biggest passions. I love being able to capture the sweet little faces of my children. I hope that I can continue to learn more and become a better artist.

This past year I had a baby, Colby graduated Nursing school, I quit my job, and not even a moment later was called to serve in our Relief Society Presidency. I do believe that the Lord works in mysterious ways. I have been so fortunate to be able to stay at home with my kids and not work outside our home. I love being with my kids more than anything. This truly has been the greatest gift Colby has ever given me.

I feel like I have the best friends in the world. (East Coast and West!) I am so fortunate to have come across these amazing people who make me a better person just by knowing them. So if you are reading this I am most likely talking about you!

As many of you know, I have had issues with food allergies for years now. Fortunately when I am pregnant things usually get a lot better. So I am extremely grateful for this past pregnancy and year because things have really seemed to get a heck of a lot better and I am now able to eat dairy and soy. This is HUGE!!! You probably never realize how much these two ingredients are in everything until you start scrutinizing the back of every food product before consuming it. I am not sure if things will always stay this way but I am extremely grateful for God giving me the freedom to eat these foods again!

I love going to movies and watching "chick flicks." I am really grateful for a husband who doesn't fight me on it and is willing to watch them with me. : )

I feel like this past year I have become more comfortable with who I am and what I stand for. I definitely not one of those people who wishes they could be back in high school again. I love where I am at in life and love the work that I am doing. Lol. I guess what they say is true...."with age comes wisdom." Since people are living into their hundreds now I guess I should consider myself to still be in my infancy. That makes me feel a little better about turning one year older. :)

Here's to another GREAT year full of surprises and hopefully tons of fun!

Witches Night Out

2010-11-04T00:31:00.001-07:00

Seriously... I had SO MUCH FUN! For the past couple of years I have really wanted to go to the Witches Night Out at the Gardner Village but something has come up every year. So this year I was determined to partake in the fun and get all dressed up. #1 I was with out kids. #2 I was in a costume. #3 I went out with a bunch of girls! It was almost like I was in college again. Hahaha. But we all know that ship sailed long ago.

As you can see in the the pictures we laughed our heads off and danced the night away. (Okay until 9 pm) Anyway I was shocked to see so many people dressed up. I am talking Hundreds maybe Thousands of witches everywhere. You would definitely feel like the odd man out if you weren't dressed up. I can't wait for Halloween next year.

BTW pictures of the kids coming soon. I have to get them from Colby's mom.

And check this chick's costume out! Creepy yet entertaining.

Staying in the lines

2010-10-27T23:45:00.000-07:00

As Madison got in the car the other day from school C.J. hands Madison a picture he had colored at school and said "I colored this for you Maddie!"

Madison says "Well, why did you scribble? You are supposed to stay in the lines."

Here comes my motherly intervention- Madison! Be nice and say thank you!

Her rebuttal "But Mom, I showed him how to stay in the lines! No, really. I did!" and then she kindly tells him "Thank you, C.J."

By the way, he kinda hates coloring. Madison loves to teach C.J. everything she can do. I totally credit her and the leap frog alphabet movie to C.J learning his letters. He is doing awesome in preschool and loves to go now. The first two months I think he just kind of tolerated it because I told him he had to go. Now he looks forward to going and will ask all morning long "Is it time to go yet?!"

Brothers

2010-10-22T23:12:00.001-07:00

This might just be the first picture of my boys together. Kind of sad that it has taken this long. C.J. is just so wild when it comes to taking pictures that I usually deem it "unsafe" to have just he and the baby together. C.J. really loves Finn so much. He tells me everyday "Mom, my brothers face is soooo cute!" I love it. I am sure they are going to grow up to be the best of friends.

Okay I almost had a panic attack here because C.J. was trying to see how fast he could walk the baby. I was so scared he was going to face plant into the asphalt.

And can you believe I got this picture?!!! Pulling out my camera usually just brings out the crazy in him, seriously. This one will go in a frame.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-09T22:42:00.001-07:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

9 months

2010-10-05T16:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Baby Finn,
Our family loves you more than you can even imagine! You have been such a great addition to the Jensen clan. You are now 9 months old and cruising everywhere! You're preferred method of transportation is walking from furniture to furniture. When that runs out you crawl fast as lightning to what ever it is you have spotted. Most of the time it's one of the older kids toys that you're not supposed to have or some kind of lint on the carpet. You also really like the walker because you can chase after the big kids and run over our toes. (Ouch!)

Your days mostly consist of playing with toys, cruising around the house in the walker or on your own, eating, sleeping, and taxiing the kids to and from school. You love bath time the most. You are not in the least bit scared of the water and would totally dive in head first if I let you. You laugh your hardest at Madison and C.J. No one can make you laugh like they do. You also love being outside. At the park the swing is your favorite.

As far as eating goes....we're working on it. You have had some allergic reactions to things like formula and of all things Nilla Wafers. You will not take a bottle, eat baby food, or drink formula. However, you do like eating Cheerio's, pretzels,and crackers. Tonight you ate baby food for the second time ever. You ate half a jar of chicken noodle dinner. Hopefully you will start to like more foods so I'm not nursing you forever. You will drink water, Gatorade, and Slurpees from a straw. If we offer you something that you don't want or like you clench your jaw and shake your head no. If it is something that you do want you open your mouth like a little bird and say "yeah." I pretty much think you are a genius baby. : ) You make excellent eye contact with people when they are talking to you and you met all of your fine motor development skills at your last check up.

Here are your stats from your 9 month Check up:
Weight: 16.75 lbs 3.01 %tile
Height: 26.5 in 3.65 %tile
Head: 17.75 in 41.9 %tile

You are pretty much a peanut and the doctor says you need to eat more. You lost weight from your last appointment. We are pretty sure that it's due to your resent mobility and your lack of eating solid foods. The doctor said he's not concerned since your height and weight are proportionate but we are working on getting you more calories.

Most of all we love you and feel so grateful to have your sweet little spirit in our home. You have been the best Christmas present ever!

Horse Back Riding @ Sundance

2010-10-01T23:31:00.001-07:00

Once again my mom has spoiled my kids. (Thank You!) She took the kids up to Sundance to go horse back riding. The kids loved every minute of it. I am pretty sure they were equally entertained by the stable dog Wyatt. He played fetch with the kids until we made them get back in the car.

Haha. C.J.'s horse was totally taking a leak right as I was taking a picture. I'm glad I captured it b/c we still look at this picture and laugh.

Oh and this is Madison's scared face as we drive up the mountain. The girl is scared to death that we are going to fall off the side of the mountain.

Diggin' for Trilobites

2010-10-01T21:44:00.001-07:00

This past August while my mom was here we took the kids out to Delta, UT to dig for fossils. I know that we drove over 100 miles to get there. Seriously....it took forever! I was asking my self "Are we there yet?!"

This was definitely one of those trips that you walk away with too many funny stories to tell. The craziest things kept happening! For instance, Madison literally had a panic attack in the car because she thought we were lost driving out in the middle of nowhere for so long, there were unexpected dips in the road that made us scream like Kate Gosslin, and we ended up getting a flat tire from their "well maintained" gravel road. It was an adventure and we had a great time.

In their brochure it says to "travel 20 miles down a well-maintained gravel road to reach the U-DIG Quarry. Any type of vehicle can travel this gravel road." Then it states " Having a good spare tire, jack, and lug wrench is always a good idea when traveling on a gravel road." Hum... Maybe they throw this in at the end because their "well maintained" gravel road isn't so well maintained. It felt like we were driving on a wash board!

Luckily in Delta the town attorney (<<<<< say it like Mater) volunteered his services to finish changing our flat tire. He also strongly advise that we stay the night in Delta b/c you are only suppose to travel 50 miles on a doughnut tire at 45 miles an hour and the tire store was already closed for the day. To describe Delta, UT I'd have to say "one horse town." There is nothing there! I decided to risk it and drive as far as I could and then have Colby pick me up somewhere if needed. Luckily we made it all the way home. Too bad it took us 5 hours to get back!

This a what we were digging for

Guess which way we had to go? Yep. Death Canyon!

And this is the beautiful sunset we drove home in listening to Jack Johnson and driving at a snails pace so we wouldn't blow out the doughnut.

Sniff

2010-09-29T10:38:00.000-07:00

I almost cried yesterday.
Yep. School has been in one month.
I didn't cry when I sent her off on the first day.
But yesterday.....seeing her get out of the car and run for the front doors.
I almost cried.

Maddie Bear

2010-09-11T22:15:00.000-07:00

Oh. My. Gosh. We have a seven year old! I can not believe that my baby girl is seven. She is growing up way too fast. She is already trying to steal my jewelry, make-up, and clothes. At least everything I shrink in the dryer. Hahaha. As you can see in the picture above she is practically 7 going on 17!

SEVEN REASONS WHY WE ADORE HER:

1.Best personality ever!!! She is funny and loves to entertain us.

2. Super-uber helpful. She is almost always willing to help with the baby or her little brother.

3.I love that she is girlie and loves to dress up, paint nails, and dance around the house. : )

4. Madison is really generous. Every year on her birthday she receives money from family and each time she will not only buy a gift for herself but for her brother too.

5. I love that SHE loves to read! She reads to us all the time. Of course this does mean it's the end of Colby and I spelling things out to each other.

6. She has a genuine desire to be good and to be kind to others.

7. And last but not least....She still loves to cuddle. Nothing is worse than when your kids feel like they are too grown to cuddle and give you love. I'm not looking forward to that day.

Happy 7th Birthday Madison! We love you!

Almost forgot to mention that she has a fever. BIEBER FEVER!

I guess it's just a part of growing up but she has her first crush. At first I laughed and then I decided that we need to have a talk with her. Pretty much lay it out that she doesn't want to be one of those crazy girls chasing after boys. Now she tells me "I'm not one of those crazy girls mom! I'm just a fan." Haha. I just love this kid!

This is how we roll.

2010-09-05T15:22:00.001-07:00

Come to find out.......We really like bowling! The kids are hilarious. The balls are bigger than they are but they insist on caring them themselves. The kids (and my) favorite part is when they turn on the blacklight and disco ball and we boogie!

We like to hang in the backyard.

2010-09-05T14:41:00.000-07:00

This summer we have spent many late afternoons and evenings in the backyard. It's so much cooler there and the baby LOVES to be outside! We've had to be really careful with him out in the sun since he has had eczema so bad. It is starting to improve a lot so hopefully we will be able to spend more time outside now. We also use this time to wear out the kids by making them do races of various kinds from one end of the yard to the other. It has proved to be quite entertaining.

Back to School 2010

2010-08-27T23:10:00.000-07:00

So I am really behind on my blogging. I have a whole months worth of pictures, crazy stories, and good times that I still need to post about. I have just been feeling really lazy about posting lately. I hate having to wait for pictures to load. But here are some of my cutie pies on their first day of school this year. Madison is starting first grade which means she is gone from 9 am until 3:30 in the afternoon. She also gets to eat lunch in the cafeteria and has recess twice a day. So far she is loving it.

C.J. (sniff) just started a 3 year old preschool program at Learning Dynamics. We had such a good experience with Madison for the 5 months she went there that we ended up putting him there as well. When his teacher asked if he wanted to be called Colby or C.J. he told her Colby. I was blown away. He has just come around to the fact that his name is Colby and we're not talking about his dad just within the past few months. Anyway she said she would call him which ever he prefers so we'll see what he goes with.

Both of the kids picked out their outfits the night before school. Madison and her dad picked out a killer outfit and C.J requested to wear his "Dr. Vader" shirt. I have tried to correct him on that but he insist that it's "Dr. Vader." Also if you didn't know that Darth Vader was a doctor you would love to know that he is also a pirate as well. {:-) C.J. knows everything.

And here is our new ride! I am so excited that we decided to go with the Honda Pilot. I test drove some minivans and I just couldn't bring myself to do it yet.

So far behind

2010-08-20T23:33:00.000-07:00

Monkey Business. Yep. That's what we have been up to.

6 Months

2010-07-05T15:57:00.000-07:00

Our baby boy turned 6 months last week! Time is flying by. If only time would fly by so quickly while you are pregnant. Here is what happening in little Finn's world these days.

- He has grown accustomed to his crib and now naps well and occasionally sleeps through the night. I don't have the heart to let him cry it out.

-He wakes up almost every morning on the dot at 4am to nurse and then goes back to sleep until about 8 a.m. or until the kids wake him up. : )

-He has several nicknames Finners, Finn Finn, Finnerooskie, Finny, and Baby. But if you ask his big brother what his name is he will almost always say Finners and not Finn.

-Still haven't found a pediatrician that I want to take him to so from my bathroom scale he is weighing in at a little over 16 pounds. (he was 6 lbs 10 oz at birth)

-Loves playing with toys and stuffed animals.

-babbles when he is tired or hungry.

-pretty mellow most of the day.

-like the jumperoo but loves the walker because then he is mobile.

- he is starting to get some anxiety around new people. Especially when old people get right in his face.

-poor thing has my sensitive skin and food allergies.

-he started sitting up TODAY for a few seconds by himself!

-Loves his big siblings! He will smile at anyone but these two can get him rolling in laughter.

Really he just makes all of our hearts melt every time we see him. He has such a good disposition and people are always commenting on what a good baby he is. I feel VERY lucky that he is mine.

I'm sure I was more excited than the kids!

2010-07-02T22:57:00.000-07:00

This summer I kind of have a bucket list of thing I want to do. One of the things on my list this summer was to go down to Provo during Freedom Fest and see all the Hot Air Balloons. This means I woke my children up at 6 a.m.!so we could be there by 6:30a.m! Thankfully the kids we excited when I woke them up and got ready super fast.

It was amazing to watch the sun rise and check out all the cool balloons. I was a little disappointed at first because it was too windy for them to take off but one of the balloon owners (Eddie) totally let the kids help take down his balloon and then let them climb in his basket and pull on the burner to watch the flame go up in the air! I seriously wanted to jump in the basket with them. Secretly I was a little jealous and wanted to do it too.

On our way back to the car the Firemen let the kids climb into the cab of the fire truck and also put on their gear. We finally made it back to the car and headed over to Magelby's Fresh for amazing all you can eat French toast and pancakes.

Before we left Magelby's we took the kids over to the duck pond and let them run around and burn off some of that sugar. It was a perfect morning.

Just to paint you a picture.

2010-06-26T22:23:00.000-07:00

Today it's me and the three kids in the car. We are headed to the Bean museum.

We've got the radio on the a/c cranked and we are excited to finally be out of the house and on our way.

Well, low and behold we are driving near UVU.

I am driving 25 in a 25 and there is this guy in a van totally riding my tail.

Ugh, this makes me mad.

Anyway, I'm not going to speed just to make him happy.

People get pulled over by the college ALL THE TIME for speeding.

At this point I say out loud "This guy behind me is so rude!"

Then I proceed with caution through a yellow flashing arrow and he honks.

Seriously people he honks.

I then say to the kids "You know when people are rude you should just think happy thoughts."

Madison then chimes in "No you don't!" "You honk back!"

Hahaha. I love my little road rage daughter. : )

Bubble Blowing

2010-06-18T17:29:00.001-07:00

I'm trying to think of fun things to do with the kids this summer to keep them busy. One activity we did was make homemade bubbles. I found two big bubble wands at the Dollar store a while back and then we found other things around the house like cookie cutters and a mason jar ring to blow bubble threw. The kids had a great time!

Here is the recipe if anyone is interested.

1 cup water
2 tablespoons light karo syrup
4 tablespoons dishwashing liquid (we substituted this for baby soap so it wouldn't burn their eyes and it worked just fine.)

Mix together and have fun!

Finn Eats Rice Cereal

2010-06-18T17:19:00.000-07:00

All of my other kids have HATED rice cereal but I thought I would give it a go and see if he would eat it. The verdict is out and he likes it! I bought Organic brown rice cereal from the Good Earth. I'm not sure it makes a difference in taste from the others but I am glad he likes it.

Best buy lately- The Rainforest Jumperoo. I snagged this one used off of KSL for $40. Totally worth every penny. He loves it! As you can see he wore himself out.

Love Me Some Maddie

2010-06-16T22:45:00.000-07:00

Maddie: "Mom can you cut me some fangs?" (then she hangs her fingers over her forehead)

Me(rolling in laughter): "You mean bangs?"

Maddie: "Yeah, Mom!"

Me: (still laughing)

Maddie: "Mom!" "Slap out of it!" and then hits me. (I am totally still laughing while typing this)

Me: "You mean snap out of it?!"

Cracking me up tonight Maddie. Cracking me up! Now I have never heard "slap out of it" before but it is pretty ingenious to say before slapping someone.

The Griffins come to visit!

2010-06-10T22:10:00.000-07:00

We have been so excited all year to have our Alaskan friends come back to Utah to visit us. We pretty much hung out almost every day and did lots of fun stuff. I wondered how Madison and Kylee would react after not seeing each other for so long but they just picked up right were they left off.....being best friends. It was so sad tonight when we had to say goodbye. Madison cried all the way home. Good news is they will be back in a year for good! Yay! Until then here are some pictures.

Funny story. The girls picked these peaches off of our neighbors tree (totally not ripe or ours) and since no one has lived in that house for over a year they thought it was okay. The girls came to me and asked if they could sell them or give them away. I told them since they weren't ours they shouldn't have picked them and they needed to give them away. Well...next thing I know theu have made a little stand in our front yard and they are yelling "COME GET YOUR FREE PEACHES OR BUY ONE FOR TEN DOLLARS!" Wow! What a bargain. Get one for free or buy one for ten dollars?!?! So the little boy next door comes over and asks "Can I get one of your free ones?" I couldn't help but laugh and document with pictures.

Vance getting an airplane ride from Kaci.

One from our little photo shoot.

5 months old

2010-06-10T21:59:00.000-07:00

I just love this age! I really have nothing to complain about.

Finn is just the best baby. He is so patient with the kids being in his face all the time. He will sit in his car seat while I tote him around to my meetings. He is smiling ALL THE TIME which I love. He hardly ever cries. Hopefully in next months update he will be sleeping through the night. He is getting a lot better but still not consistently sleeping through the night every night.

Last day of Kindergarten.

2010-06-10T21:52:00.000-07:00

Here is our Maddie Bear on her last day of Kindergarten. I can't believe how much she has changed since the beginning of the year. I can't even keep up with how many teeth she has lost!

First day of school August 2009.

She is really looking forward to being able to eat lunch in the cafeteria next year.

Hmm...I wonder why the dryer isn't working?

2010-06-10T21:49:00.001-07:00

No your eyes are not deceiving you. That is a bird that we found in our dryer vent. It still makes me want to vomit looking at the picture.

Look who's walking!

2010-05-18T10:45:00.000-07:00

In a walker that is! Finn loves to be looking out and playing with toys. I was so happy that he is tall enough to stand in the walker. We have tried the bumbo but he would arch himself out all the time. I didn't feel comfortable having him in it to walk into another room for fear of him hurting himself. So now I can put him in the walker and finally get some stuff done!

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T19:31:00.000-07:00

For Mother's day I wanted to get an updated picture of my kids to send my mom so we set off to take pictures. Well my plan is not always my childrens plan especially when the camera is involved. There was fighting, crying, whining. You name it we had it. Not to mention the lighting was terrible and the kids were impatient. Madison packed a picnic for her and C.J. At first I thought this was a good idea until I realized that she brought chocolate milk. I turned my back and she had it spilled it all down the front of her dress. And then C.J. took off running through the orchard. I was frazzled. I started yelling at the kids and then realized I was being the worst mom. I toned it back took a deep breath, we put the dress on backwards for a picture, and said "Ok, lets be done." They squealed with excitement and had their picnic.

Here they are after they thought I put the camera away. Love it.

Funnies.

This morning as I was brushing Madison's hair she was complaining about all the knots in her hair. She turned around to me and said "This is no way to respect your child on Mother's day!"
But on the flip side she did bring me breakfast in bed that she and C.J. did all on their on.

Proud Mother's Day Moment.

Madison's Sunday school teacher came up to tell me how much she enjoys having her in her class. She said that today a little boy in her class said that he didn't love Jesus because he didn't earn as many Skittles as some of the other kids. She said Madison was very concerned and took some of her Skittles over to him said, "Do you love Jesus now?"

Funnies

2010-04-12T18:05:00.000-07:00

Here are the latest funnies.

C.J.-
"Hey Mom. If you eat all that (hash browns) then you will be one. (pause) And then someone will eat you."

Madison-
As she is looking through our DVD case.
"What's the Naughty Book?"
Colby and I- "What?" "Oh.... the Notebook!"
Here is to sounding it out NOT-E-BOOK.

C.J. wears his Buzz Lightyear pajamas every chance he gets. He is very serious about Buzz. Madison went up to him and pushed one of the "buttons" on his jammies and he spouts back at her "Be careful with that! It's extremely dangerous!"

And C.J.'s knock knock joke that never gets old "Knock, Knock?" "Who's there?" "How'd the chicken cross the road!" And then he laughs his head off.

3 months old

2010-04-11T14:26:00.001-07:00

Our baby boy is 3 months old as of March 28th. So far he has been an excellent baby. He is now cooing, giggling, and he SMILES! I love his cute little grin. I can't wait to get a good picture of it.

Oh yeah...and he is always blowing bubbles.

2010-03-22T14:19:00.000-07:00

I was talking to C.J. last Friday about going to preschool next year. I told him all about learning how to write his name, making crafts, doing fun worksheets. His reply to me was "That sounds Borrrrrring!" I had to laugh. I didn't even know that he knew the meaning of this word. Hopefully he will be more excited when preschool rolls around next August.

Finners Baby Blessing

2010-03-20T13:33:00.000-07:00

Look at that chub!

Last Sunday night Colby gave Finn a very special baby blessing. With our other children we blessed them at the church but this time we decided to do it in our very own living room. After all your home should be a sacred place as well. I can't guarantee it is everyday or even once week but on Sunday March 14, 2010 it was. I am so grateful to have this sweet baby in our home and all the joy he brings to each one of us. And I very grateful for our family and friends who support us.

We also had the pleasure of visitors! Katie and Stephen flew out here from VA to go snowboarding and to just hang out. While they were here Katie and I went up to Sundance, to a movie, out to eat (a lot), and we got spray tans. Hahaha. Yes, spray tans. We were both feeling really pale and thought it would be fun. It actually doesn't look that bad.

Perspective

2010-03-17T09:50:00.001-07:00

I am now almost 3 months postpartum.
What this means:

-Out of the 35 pounds I gained (maybe more I didn't weigh myself the last week) I have lost 24 pounds.

-I am still not fitting into my "normal" clothes or my "bigger" clothes.

-It's still winter so I have been a bit pale and I have dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep. (Yes I am looking a bit like a vampire on some days.)

I am going to go out on a limb and say that almost every woman who has had a baby goes through the dreaded phase after having a baby where nothing fits right and you just feel ugly. Well yesterday Colby and I took the kids to the zoo and I got a little perspective. As you will notice in the picture above (which I got off of the zoo website) here is mother Christy and her baby elephant Zuri. As we were standing at the Elephant Encounter Exhibit I started thinking..... "You know what? She's a mother and she is saggy, baggy, wrinkly, has dark circles under her eyes and her butt is WAY bigger and she could care less!" "I think I am just going to appreciate how I am today."

Finn 2 months and Ethan 3 months

2010-03-04T18:05:00.000-08:00

We went to Casie's today to get a couple shots of the boys together while they are still tiny.

Little cutie's taking a binky break. Life is hard when your a baby.

He's WILD. He's CRAZY. He's my SWEET BOY.

2010-03-04T17:16:00.000-08:00

C.J.'s 3rd Birthday

2010-02-23T21:33:00.000-08:00

Today our sweet little C.J. turned 3 years old. Instead of doing a big party this year with family and friends we decided that we would have a day dedicated to doing anything he wanted to do.

Here is how the day went down:

- C.J. wakes up and finds the gift Madison left outside his door the night before. (A Doc Hudson Disney car.)From my bedroom I can hear them both giggling and just being so excited.

Next Colby takes C.J. on a special trip to the store to pick out what ever toy he wants. He asked C.J. what store he wanted to go to and he said "Target!" I'm loving it because my favorite store is now his. :)

Colby calls me from the store and says, "Gosh, every toy I pick up he says "No Dad, put it back my Nanny will buy me that one." Hahaha I am literally laughing on the phone because shopping with him is close to torture. He has a hard time making decisions.(Just like his parents.)

Out of all the toys in the store he can pick he selects an $8.00 Fire Truck Mater. Seriously he is in love with the Cars movie.

Colby then takes him to eat in the food court at Target.

After they get home he opens his new cars and decides that he wants to take a bath with another one of the cars Colby decided to buy because it changes colors in water. HE LOVES IT!

When Madison comes home from school we head to Krispy Kreme to pick up his birthday donuts. (Why don't my kids like cake?) We watched them make donuts for a while, ate our free one and then headed to C.J.'s choice of entertainment Chuck E.Cheese.

Here is where it gets really interesting. Colby leans over and says "So... do you think after working here they hate kids?" My response "No. Why would they?"

30 minutes later C.J. tells me as he is sitting on a ride, "Mom, my pants are wet." I am really grossed out now because I realize that he has peed his pants on a ride. I went and told an employee so they could sanitize it. Then I realize that I only had a pull up in my diaper bag and not a change of clothes. Colby and I decided that I would go to the thrift store next door to us and grab C.J. a pair of pants so he can continue his birthday fun. As we are getting ready to walk out the door C.J. picks a cracker up off the floor and takes a bite. If you know me then you know I am FREAKING OUT because I am such a germ-a-phobe. So C.J. decides to spit it out on the floor right in front of the employee who I had told he peed on their ride.

I am now seeing how they could possibly dislike children when they go home.

Anyway, we found him some awesome pants at Savors and continued our fun. C.J. requested McDonald's for dinner so we picked it up and brought it home. We then sang happy birthday and opened gifts. It really turned out to be a great day and a great birthday for C.J. Nothing is better than feeling like everything is all about you.

Blowing out the candles on his birthday donut.

Opening up his tee-ball set. (Notice the cool thrift store pants. Not bad eh..?)

Showing off his new Buzz Lightyear and Sheriff Woody pajamas. And yes that is Madison in C.J's size 4 pajamas.

Cracking me up once again.

2010-02-17T10:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday from the other room I hear Madison singing "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow." Only she sings it like this:

For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow,
for he's a jolly good felllooow, Until Saturday night!
Until Saturday night, Until Saturday night,
for he's a jolly good fellllloooow, Until Saturday Night!

(After Saturday night you will no longer be jolly or good.)

Okay and then this morning I woke up with a massive headache. I got up with the kids and got them breakfast and turned on some cartoons and then went back to bed hoping my headache would go away. Well about an hour later the kids came up stairs being sooo loud (and you know how torturous that is when you head hurts.) I told them they had to go back down stairs and I would be down soon. Madison turns around at my door and with attitude say "Well....we just need someone to give us detention!"

Hahaha. What she meant to say was Attention not Detention.

Just Because

2010-02-12T23:49:00.000-08:00

I just want to savor every moment I have with this little guy. It seems like the first year always flies by because they are growing, changing, and doing new things almost daily. Finn is only six weeks but I already feel like he has grown tremendously and it makes me a little sad. One of the photographers I admire lost a baby not long ago and I think I ball my eyes out every time I read her blog. My heart aches for her and I totally admire the strength that she has. It really makes me look at my little ones and appreciate everything about them. So here are a few things I am thankful for in this moment as a mother.

-Sleepless nights, because this means I have a baby to hold in my arms and I feel extremely grateful for his precious spirit to be in our home.

-Changing diapers, because his body is healthy.

-My home. I can't imagine how it would be to have children and not have a safe place to lay their sweet heads down to rest each night. I totally feel for all the families in Haiti right now. Especially the mothers and children.

-My washer and dryer, because I am reminded every time I do a load of laundry how tiny Finn really is and how much my other children are growing.

-Toys everywhere, because hopefully this means I have spent the majority of my day playing and not cleaning and ignoring what is important. Soon the toys will be gone and so will they.

-Crazy older kids. Okay so they are not that old (6 and almost 3 years) but they can cause me to feel every emotion there is in one single day! Happiness, Sadness, Elation, Anger, Sorrow, Giddiness, pure Joy, etc. These feeling remind me that God has given me life and I need to do my best to fulfill my mission here on this earth. My children are constantly teaching me and keeping me on my toes. I am better off because I have them.

I am not going to lie. Having three kids is stressful! But I wouldn't trade it anything. I love being a mother.

The Graduation Cermony

2010-02-12T20:08:00.001-08:00

Colby's graduation was held last night at the Provo Tabernacle. They had a pinning ceremony at 4 p.m. and then the actual graduation ceremony at 5:30 p.m. With all three kids in tow it was extremely long for me but I have never felt more proud. I even got teary eyed. We are all so very proud of Colby for doing extremely well in this accelerated program.

Here is Colby pledging to be the very best nurse ever!

This is Colby's teacher Donna who he had become friends with.

Celebrating at Tucano's

2010-02-12T20:00:00.001-08:00

Sledding

2010-02-04T09:09:00.001-08:00

The first Saturday Colby had off from school he gave me the afternoon off to take a nap with the baby and he took the kids sledding with some of our friends. The kids had a blast. Before they headed out Colby found the kids purple swim whale in the garage and thought the kids could ride it down the hill! He said that the kids could ride it down but he fell off every time he tried. The kids were so excited and they had a great time. Colby took them to get pizza on the way home and after a short nap he took them out to see a movie.

Thank you Cyndi for these awesome pictures!

Wedding Cake Humor.

2010-01-31T15:03:00.000-08:00

Madison and I were watching a wedding on TLC this afternoon. When the couple cut the cake and they feed it to each other she said,"Hey I know why they do that!" I asked her why? She responded, "Because they have to check to make sure it's not poisonous first." "Did you and Dad do that at your wedding?" With a big smile I said, "Yes we did." Then she asked, "Well was it poisonous?"

Hahaha. I LOVE how little kids think.

I'm a big boy now!

2010-01-28T14:09:00.000-08:00

I am a little hesitant to announce this but C.J. is finally potty trained! You can imagine my enthusiasm. It's like all of a sudden it has clicked with him and we have had very few if any accidents lately. We really are so proud of him. He has really wanted to take a gymnastics class like Madison so we told him that only big boys can take gymnastics and this has helped to motivate him. Although we are very excited about this huge accomplishment it has brought on a new curiosity for how much toilet paper he can fit into the toilet, flooding the bathroom sink, and oh yeah wanting to wipe himself. I am all about self sufficiency but wow it's been a lot of work. Dirty work.

Also look who is one month old today! I can't believe that he is getting big so fast. Poor thing is already loosing his hair and growing out of his itty bitty clothes. Finn is a really good baby. He has already rolled over several times from his stomach to his back. I though it was a fluke but he did it three times in a row one night!

Hip Hip Hooray!!!

2010-01-24T14:03:00.000-08:00

Three cheers for Colby!!! We are so excited to announce that Colby is graduated from Nursing School! This has been such a journey for our family. We have been blessed in countless ways and feel so grateful that he has passed all his finals and his schools exit exam. Now we just have to wait for him to take the NCLEX (state board.) The program Colby completed was a super intense accelerate 19 month program to be licensed as a Registered Nurse. Colby has been so dedicated through out this whole program. I know I wouldn't have had the same amount of dedication that he had. He pretty much gave up all fun while he was in school. He is looking forward to getting a job and rejoining his family and friends again.

As a matter of fact, he spent his first day off taking the kids sledding, out to pizza, and then to a movie. The kids LOVE having their daddy back. I of course LOVE having my husband back! Colby is having his graduation ceremony February 10th so I will post some picture of that when it get here. Until then enjoy this picture of Colby and the baby.

I can't believe how big he is.

2010-01-22T14:13:00.000-08:00

One thing is for sure, as soon as you bring a new baby home you realize how big your other children are! I literally felt like C.J. had grown inches and gained like 10 pounds while I was in the hospital. He is becoming such a big boy these days. He will be 3 next month. I still want to savor what is left of him being little so here is a picture of him and his "friends." They go every where with him.

I am obsessed.

2010-01-22T14:09:00.000-08:00

Seriously, I am totally obsessed with my baby's cuteness! I just can't help it. I stare at him every chance I get. I love every little inch.

2010-01-19T19:33:00.001-08:00

Today the weather reached 41 degrees so I decided I would bribe C.J. If he would poop on the toilet I would take him to the park. Well lo and behold he actually did it! Now if I can just get him to keep doing it. (Potty training is SO HARD!) Anyway, the park was still completely covered in snow so I just put him on the swing. While I am pushing him we see a helicopter in the sky. Here is how our conversation went.

C.J.- Hey Mom! I see the helicopter!

Me- Yeah. I see it to. Where do you think it's going?

C.J.- To the Moon. Do you know the moon can talk?

Me- Oh really? What can the moon say?

C.J. Magic words

Me- like what?

C.J.- Mom! Magic words. Please and thank you. Those are magic words.

Seriously he is so cute I can't resist kissing him all day! I love how he is at this age where he wants to tell me everything on his mind and he is learning so much from EVERYWHERE! So yes, we do have to be careful what we say and monitor very closely what is on the TV. Having kids is so rewarding and so exhausting. Mostly I just love being a mom.

Story of the Name

2010-01-14T15:33:00.000-08:00

Okay so some of you might have heard that we were having a hard time naming the baby. Well....hard is an understatement! We were totally over whelmed and going crazy about what we should name this cute little baby we have been blessed with.

From the beginning (before I even found out I was pregnant) I really loved the name Evan. Colby really liked the name too. So through out my pregnancy we explored other names as well and also came across the name Finn (Colby's favorite). We would call the baby Evan and Finn to see which name would stick. Unfortunately, we went to the hospital not agreeing on a name. With both of our other kids we had their names picked out by the time we knew if it was a boy or girl. People told us "When you see him you will just know." Oh how I wish that was the case.

Meanwhile my mom is here insisting the baby's name is Evan and my kids are calling the baby Evan as well. Since we didn't have insurance to cover this pregnancy I only planned to stay 24 hours at the hospital. Well when our time was up we were still contemplating what his name is. I insisted that he come home with a name so Colby said just name him what ever you want. So I gave him the name Evan Finn Jensen. That way we both got to him the name that we liked.

Over the next two days we called him Evan but it just felt weird. I don't know if it is because I knew that wasn't the name that Colby really wanted, or the crazy drugs I was on, hormone imbalance, or that he just wasn't meant to have that name. I told Colby if he really loved the name Finn that much more than Evan he could change it if he wanted. After all I really liked the name Finn too. So that day he called and had it changed. Yes that's right. You can change your babies name over the phone. A little scary if you ask me.

So now the baby's name is Finn Van Jensen. Finn because we love it and Van after Colby's father. I really struggled with his new name for the first week but now it has just become his name and I am happy with it. I kind of feel like children just become their name.

2010-01-14T15:30:00.000-08:00

2010-01-11T14:02:00.000-08:00