Happy Birthday Anne - 2 Years Old

Baby Anne turned 2 years old today. I guess she's not a baby anymore. She is still about the size of some 1 year olds though so I guess we can still call her baby. :) We had a really fun day. We opened some presents in the morning (mainly because the boys couldn't wait). She got really cute dresses from my mom and sister and a doll house from the family. Then we had a yummy breakfast and got Christopher off to school. It was also school picture day and I can't wait to see what his first pictures look like. After we picked him up from school we went to the park and had a small birthday get together with friends from church with kids her age. We had cupcakes and they played and had lots of fun. Annie especially liked the little squirrel she could ride. When we came home it was time for a quick bath and we played some more. When dad got home we had dinner and then it was CAKE time. Annie was so cute singing to herself and blowing out the candles...which we had to do twice because the over zealous boys did it for her the first time. :) We opened the last present after that. Then we played a very loud game of duck, duck, goose which was hilarious!!! Now they are all in bed and the house is quite.

Birthdays are so fun! I love my little Annie so much. Since it looks like I might not get another girl I'm so glad she is the little spirit I got. She is pretty strong willed but I hope that will serve her well in her life and she learns to control it. But she is so sweet and cuddly and her smile is the best. She has such a fun personality and the things she says sometimes just crack me up. I love that she loves her brothers and that they love her. She is such a special spirit and each morning as she lays with her head on my shoulder I am grateful that she is a part of our family. I love my little girl and look forward to having a wonderful mother daughter relationship with her as she grows.
Happy Birthday Anne!!!!!


Go for it Annie....rip that paper. Present from us. A little people doll house. She needed more girl toys. :)

Birthday breakfast...bacon and pancakes with peach syrup. My kids love breakfast meat. :)

Fun was had by all.

Cupcakes at the park.

Playing at the park.

I used to try to do really creative cakes, but I wasn't very good at it, so we go simple now. :)

Blowing out the candles was so cute. I wish I could get the video on here. She sang Happy Birthday to herself right along with all of us.

The ice cream was more yummy when she ate it with her hands.

Dad liked the cake too. :)

Opening present from grandma and grandpa Bearnson (Sutherland)

Whooooo Hoooooo!!!!

We just found out that Jeff passed (with very good scores I might add) the first two CPA exams he took last month. He has two more to take but I'm sure he will pass those just fine as well. He was nervous about it but I knew he would pass because he studied hard and had his family and friends praying and fasting for him. We are very grateful to his family for holding a special fast just so he would do good on the tests. We are so excited and are going to PARTY tonight. :) Way to go Jeff!!!!!

Christopher starts kindergarten...Boo Hoo...Hooray

Christopher started kindergarten a week ago. It was a day I was excited for and dreading at the same time. I was excited for him that he was going to start experiencing this part of life. I loved school as a kid, even though I was shy, and I knew there were things he was just going to love about it. But I was dreading it more for my sake. I knew I was really going to miss having him at home. He is my little helper and always makes me feel good. For weeks before school started I would cry even thinking about the first day of school. We also had a hard time because Secaucus has full day kindergarten and I prefer half day. But for some reason this move felt right and it felt right to put him in kindergarten instead of doing pre-k this year which is half day. (But they do have a half day for the first month in kindergarten to get them used to it)For weeks he was saying how excited he was for school and I was hoping that his enthusiasm would continue. When the day came he was still excited right up until it was time to go to class. They all met in the auditorium for a little intro from the principal and all that jazz, then they announced teachers names and it was time to go. Of course, his teacher was first and they didn't even let you go in the classroom with them (I didn't like that). At that point he just started crying and it really broke my heart. Jeff had told me I had to be strong for Christopher but I was already crying at that point so that was useless (I think Jeff teared up a little bit too). We gave him lots of hugs and one of the aids took his hand and led him to class. I was so nervous at home waiting to pick him up. I was hoping he hadn't been upset for long. When I picked him up he was so excited and said that he stopped crying when he got in the class. He hasn't cried once since then and is excited to go every morning. I barely get a hug out of him before he runs in to class and he always says how much fun he has when I pick him up. I think he really likes being around so many kids his age and he seems to really like his teacher. She seems to really like him too and always says how adorable he is and how he reminds her of her nephew. I'm just relieved that it has been such a good experience for him so far. I still can't believe I have a 5 year old. We've had to get on a much more strict schedule having him in school but it's been good for all of us. I still get a little sad when he's not here at home with me though. :( I miss my little Christopher. :)


Trying to wake him up on the first day.
Eating breakfast on the "You are special today" plate. A wedding gift that we have really enjoyed.

Here he is in his school uniform and backpack with his lunch/snack bag. I love little kids in their backpacks that are as big as they are...especially when all they carry in there is one folder and their snack. :)

Waiting to pick up Christopher after school.

Yeah Christopher! That is his classroom behind them. I think he was a little tired of all the pictures I had been taking and all the questions I had right when he walked out the door.

All the kids play for a while on the playground after school. This is where Michael gets to get involved a little bit which is nice so he doesn't feel left out.

This was after the second day. He is telling me all about what he did that day and eating the rest of what he didn't eat at snack time.

Goodbye North Bergen, Hello Secaucus

Our move was a whirlwind of finding a place, packing and moving all within a week. Of course, I had been looking at places forever, but as tradition with us, everything happens last minute. Here are a few photos of our new place. I haven't done a lot of decorating or anything yet, but at least most of the boxes are unpacked. :) This place feels a little more like a house than an apartment. It's a duplex and we have all 3 floors. It's not like it's huge or anything, but at least we aren't above or below anyone. The main floor has the living, dining, kitchen and a half bath. The upstairs has 2 bedrooms and the bath and then there is a basement with the laundry and plenty of storage. The kids can even ride their bikes around down there. We like it, although I have to admit I'm not a big fan of hard wood floors. I like soft carpet. :)
The kids room. Annie has been demoted to the pack n play until we get Michael a new bed this weekend. :)

We finally have our own room...what a luxury. ;)

P.S. Oh, Jeff got released as bishop this last Sunday. It was a surprise for us but it's nice to have him around more. :)
PPS. I'll let Maile announce who the new bishop is. ;)

Laugh Out Loud

My kids have been cracking me up lately. I usually post funny sayings on the side but there were a bunch so I thought I'd devote a whole post to my funny kids.



CHRISTOPHER
"Christopher, please don't jump on the bed."
"How did you know I jumping on the bed." (I wasn't in the room)
"Mom's just know these things."
"But daddy doesn't know when I do that."
"I know, that's the difference between moms and dads....mom's know EVERYTHING!" :)
Christopher likes to ask questions about how things are made. In the car he asked me how they make water. I said that Heavenly Father made the water and we get it from rain and rivers and lakes and places likes that. He said he thought water came in bottles (which is so funny because I never drank bottled water when I was a kid but the tap water is so gross here that's all we drink. I wish my kids weren't such city kids) :)
He says, "Oh yes mom, water in the rivers is SO tasty. I want to drink some water from the river." I said, "If we were in Utah you probably could." Christopher says, "Can I drink out of the Hudson river?" I said, "Definetly not! It's full of lots of dirty things and it's not very clean." Christopher says, "Like tomato sauce. I don't want to drink from a river with tomato sauce." I agreed that would be kind of gross. :)
MICHAEL
"That's a good tip mom"


"Good job my big brother. Christopher, say 'Good job my little brother' "


"That lady doesn't have a shirt on" (Said very loudly so she heard..she did have a skimpy sun dress on but that was it. Michael really says what he thinks)

ANNIE
"I don't WANT to MOM!" ( I have my hands full with this one...she is a little defiant but I almost laugh when she says this)

"You betta RUN" (while chasing Christopher in the back yard)

She says Christopher "de de pher"

"

Baby Update

I'm mainly posting the baby due date counter on the side for my benefit. People keep asking how many weeks I am and I'm such a bad mother that I can't even keep track. I usually just say..."somewhere in the high 20's, I think." :) Maybe it's just because there are so many other things going on. It's not that we're not excited though, we really are. :) And no, I will not post a picture because I am already bigger than all my friends who are weeks ahead of me and it would be too embarrassing. My doctor said that I'm just the right size and I've only gained 10 pounds....but I think she was lying just to make me feel better. haha

Teeny Tiny Pigtails and Dolly

Here is the first time I put Annie's hair in pigtails. I could barely get any hair and the tiny rubber band went around like 5 times. But it was sooooo cute!! You could only see them from the back though. If you looked at her from the front you couldn't even tell they were there....that's how small they were. She only left them in for a little while though. Hopefully someday when she has more hair she'll let me do cute things with it.

And here is Annie's newest dolly. Most of the time she plays with whatever the boys are playing with so I really like it that she loves this doll. She'll come up to you and say, "What dolly name?", which means she wants you to ask what the dolls name is. When you ask she says, "Annie!" So now we have 2 Annie's in the house to take care of. :)

Father's Day

I forgot to post about Father's Day. It seems that Father's and Mother's Day turn out to be very busy days since they are on Sundays and those days at our house are kind of busy and not always very restful. :) But Jeff didn't have meetings in the morning so we had a nice breakfast together before church. Then when Jeff got home in the evening we had a nice dinner and opened a few gifts. It was a nice day to recognize all that our daddy does for us. He is the hardest working man I know and the kids look up to him so much. I appreciate that he is teaching them to work hard and help others. He is also really good at giving horsey rides and camel rides (I can't really explain what a camel ride is...you'd just have to see it.) :) We all love our Daddy/husband so much and we're glad he chose us. :)

Christopher turns 5 !!!

I can't believe that Christopher is 5 years old already. It seems to me that time goes much faster once you have kids. It's hard to believe I don't have a pre-schooler anymore, but a "school-age child". I love this picture of him because it shows his sweet little personality. He can be loud, funny, boyish and even a little crazy sometimes, but underneath it all he really is a sweet little boy that is concerned about others feelings and loves to help people. I love it when he wakes up in the morning or from a nap and gives me a hug and asks me to read him a book. He is always concerned when people cry, especially at church and is learning to recognize the Spirit when he feels it. He has such an imagination and he and Michael can make up the most elaborate stories while they are playing. We are so grateful to have Christopher in our family and he will always hold a special place in my heart as my first little baby.

For his birthday we opened a few presents from Grandma and Aunt Tatia in the morning since it's too hard to make them wait until Dad gets home from work. After we did our chores (yes, we are mean parents and still make them help with chores on their birthday) we got Frosties and went to the park.

I told Christopher he could choose what he wanted for dinner and he said he wanted black beans. It's that so funny. I told Jeff and he just laughed so hard, so we decided to go to a Mexican restaurant for dinner.

Here is Christopher eating his black beans. The bowl is even shaped like a bean. :)

Then we went home and took quick baths and opened up the other presents. Here they all are showing them off since Christopher was nice and let Michael and Annie help open them.

Then we had our neighbors the Reeds over for cake and ice cream. It's fun to have friends that are like family living right next door. It was a really fun day. Michael kept singing a cute and funny version of Happy Birthday to Christopher all day and even in to the next day a little bit.

A Week of Firsts

The boys had a couple of fun firsts this week. On Thursday Christopher called a girl for the first time. I know 5 is a little young to start this, but it was pretty innocent. :) It was playgroup day and he kept asking me if Kaia was coming. I said maybe he should call her and ask. So he grabbed the phone and I dialed and told him to ask for Kaia when someone answered. Here is how the conversation went.
Christopher: "Hi, is Kaia there?"
Maile: Yes, just a minute
Kaia: "Hello?" - I think she was surprised the phone was for her
Christopher- "It's Christopher. Are you coming to sprinkler park today?"
Kaia- "Yes!. But we have to clean up our room first."
Christopher- "Oh, I have to do that too. Then will you come?"
Kaia- "Ya"
Christopher- "Okay, see you there." Then he hung up. I think Kaia would have talked longer but Christopher hung up the phone.

It was so cute. I hope that it will be that easy for him when he turns 16 and calls a girl to ask her out. :)

Then Friday night the Reed's watched our kids so we could go out for our anniversary. We got home late and they were all asleep. Annie heard us talking and woke up so we took her, but Shannon said we should just let the boys sleep so they had their first sleep over. I wondered if they would wake up a little bit confused, but Shannon said in the morning she just heard them talking away in the room and they were totally fine. They had such a good time and weren't concerned at all. So the first sleep over was a success!!! My boys are getting so big. :)