8 months already! And he has an eye for danger.

Unbelievably, Conner is now 8 months old!!! He seems to have grown overnight, and I'm not too happy about it. Maybe because he's #3, I feel like it went 3 times as fast (or maybe its because of some other factors like moving, holidays, hearing loss, etc may have contributed that).

He's sitting up, rolling and army crawling EVERYWHERE!! And he is only interested in things that he shouldn't be! He loves cables and cords of all kinds (he pulled my scentsy candle warmer off the counter and thankfully it missed him!). He loves trying to get his hands on the dog and cat (thankfully they are so sweet and seem to like the attention). But his absolute favorite danger--the wood stove! He loves the thing. I have to block it off, or he's for sure headed for it. What am I going to do when this kid is walking!!!!

Such a sweet smile he has. It reminds me so much of Dallon.

And so chubby! Look at those cheeks, and of course he still has some food on them :)

Conner trying to get the cat this morning. She was enjoying a nice warm spot by the fire, and didn't seem to mind that Conner was following her around the room. She just laid down and let him check her out.

She has been the most wonderful cat. She's moved with us more than a dozen times and in 3 different states. She doesn't scratch, bite or hiss at my kids, she tolerates the dog, and catches mice. She is lovable, but not too needy. When we leave town, we leave her food and water, and she takes care of herself. What's not to love?

I need to take some nicer pictures of Conner soon. He's changed so much since the last ones I took. I just need life to give me a little break, so I can clear my head enough to remember :)

Sleep trouble...

So Conner has been having some sleep issues. I think its a result of our 2 trips to Idaho in just a few days, and a growth spurt just before that. He's been basically refusing to settle down. I take him up to his room, turn out the lights, walk a little to calm him, swaddle him, turn on the white noise machine, and try to put him down. This use to work within 5 minutes. Now he squirms in my arms while I walk, fights and squirms out of his swaddling (which I've given up on completely now), then starts screaming when I put him in bed. I pick him up and put him back down a few times, and he's all keyed up like there is no way he's going to close his eyes any time soon--and he doesn't.

I end up giving up, and trying again about a half our later, only to get the same results. He falls asleep in random places (like his high chair yesterday), and doesn't sleep longer at night to make up for it. The last week has been pretty tense around here.

But today is a new day! For some unknown reason, today I went up with him, turned on the white noise, gave him a hug, laid him in bed (happy), and left the room to listen. After about 15 minutes he hadn't cried, so I went in to check, and sure enough he was sound asleep! Why do children do these things to their mothers? I was about to go insane because I had no idea how to fix what was wrong, and then just like that its gone (and apparently he didn't need me to fix it). [sigh] I guess I just need some more sleep and a chill pill.

Chris goes back to work!!!

Yes that's right! Chris is going back to work. He got the call this afternoon. They said he could stay here, and any arrangments for his disability will be made with his manager in Boise.

After all of the worry and stress of not knowing, and expecting the worst, we are TRULY grateful and very excited that he will be at work tomorrow. After 6 weeks of being at home, deaf, on steroids, stressed, and a little depressed, things are definitly looking great today.

Thanks to everyone who prayed for us/him and supported us through this. We really appreciate it, and it definitely made a difference to us.

On a different note, we returned late last night from a quick trip to Idaho to see my baby brother Berik off for his mission. He is headed to the Missionary Training Center in Provo on Wednesday, and then he will fly out to his mission in Minnesota about 3 weeks later. He seems so grown up--he was only 6 when I left for college--now that he is 19 and headed out on his own, it seems so strange that he isn't a little boy any more.

Good luck Berik! We'll be thinking of you, and we know you'll do a great job.

From Son Up 'till Son Down

So I finally took the advice of a few friends and started an etsy shop. You can check it out at

http://fromsonuptillsondown.etsy.com/

Yes, that cute baby in the pink hat is Conner :) Thanks Whitney for the inspiration for the name of my shop.

In Remembrance of December 2009

Ok, it seems like this happens every year, I take hundreds of pictures during December, and only post once or twice. So suffer through all of the pictures in this post if you dare.

Dallon had his first School Christmas Program this year. The school fed us dinner, and then the whole school (k-12) preformed. Bands, classes, choirs the whole nine yards (although I think the way Chris heard the bands was not much different than the rest of us! Nothing like 6th grade band!).

Wait, stop on this one!!!! Look, both of them sitting down, smiling AND looking at the camera, priceless...

Jace trying to entertain Conner while we waited for the program to start. Conner looks more than a little concerned--I can't say I blame him.

So Dallon walked on stage, looking pretty confident. Sang a couple of lines, and then....

decided to transform into a small transformer and do all of the choreography in miniature on the floor...once again, priceless.

Song number 3 was combined with the older kids, he lasted a few lines before transforming again, at which point we could no longer see him behind the other kids.

Santa visited the program, and boy was Dallon stoked!!! Jace refused to go up, I think it was because he was tired and there were so many people.

Grandma and Grandpa Christensen came for a quick visit to bring the boys their Christmas presents a little early. The trucks, trailers, and 4-wheelers were a hit with Dallon and Jace.

And Conner's Winnie-the-Pooh plane was all he ever wanted apparently.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa...it was a nice visit.

On Christmas Eve, we were invited to go sledding with our neighbors up by the Anthony Lake Ski Resort. It was soooo much fun for the boys, and Chris had a pretty good time, too. I mostly held Conner and took pictures (it was hard to pry a sled from the kids).

Getting ready.

He's on a little snowboard here, and he's not really moving...it just looked like a cool action shot!

Daddy and Jace coming down the hill.

Jace kept saying he went "fast" and wanted to "go fast" again. It reminded me of a movie...

Baby Conner all bundled up, but not well enough when you aren't moving around on your own. I ended up taking him to the car and warming him up before he fell asleep in his car seat.

Getting ready to go fast!

If you didn't want to lose your sled to another kid you had to stay with it even while on a break.

Mush! Mush!

Heading up the hill, looking professional.

And back down again....

Hot dog break before heading home.

This is the view on the way down the mountain on our way home...our place is on the other side of the hilltop in the middle.

Anticipation...getting ready to open their night-before-Christmas presents.

Transformer pajamas! They put them on, and went to bed so Santa would have to pass us by :)

Christmas morning in their new jammies, and I think they've spotted some toys!

Dallon is really into Bakugans. I still haven't caught onto what the hype is all about. Just little plastic balls that spring open into creatures I have no clue about...I must be getting old.

Jace and his Mater the Greater stunt set.

Ho, Ho, Ho! Yes he decided that stockings should actually go on your feet.

Our tree, looking pretty reflecting in the windows.

Conner got a Mickey, and a soft stuffed elephant. We'll see if he likes them.

And Dallon had a birthday! Grandma Sally and Grandpa Charlie came over from Forest Grove, and they brought the pinata with them. It was loads of fun. We invited a few neighbors over, and ate cake, ice cream, and candy.

If you made it to the bottom...CONGRATULATIONS!!! December was memorable for sure. And we're hoping that the New Year will bring great things.