The Christensen Capers: Lately with my little loves.....

Kenadie

Kenadie made me this sweet flower bouquet for Mother's Day

Although we can still butt heads (this girl is one ~~stubborn~~ determined little thing!), she is becoming more and more concerned with making me proud of her with the good things she does. :)

She has such a sweet and tender side to her.

She loves to snuggle me and have me sing to her every night before bed.

We gave the girls their own copy of the Book of Mormon for Easter and Kenadie loves to mark her favorite scriptures and makes sure we have our family scripture study (nearly) every night. And she sleeps with her scriptures "because they protect me from the scaries".

She loves to be a pretty princess with her Jamberry nails.

She loves to take care of her brother and during our two zoo trips this spring, she was more concerned with pushing the stroller than actually looking at the animals. She pushed that thing THE ENTIRE TIME both times we went to the zoo.

My big helper!

She is also learning how to fold her own laundry and cook dinner with me--it makes both tasks take a really long time, but she loves feeling responsible and grown-up and I love spending that time with her. She was so proud of herself for making 90% of our dinner the other night.

Have I mentioned that she is starting to read and write?!

Still little words, but she loves it and I'm impressed with how fast she is picking it up! She really had the BEST preschool teacher, Mrs. Browner, and she already reeeeeally misses school and can't wait until kindergarten starts.

She is very excited that kindergarten will be "all day long" (about 7 hours); her mommy is a little less excited about that. :( I sure will miss my "bestest buddy" around the house helping me with her siblings and helping me with my chores. She really is such a blessing and a fun little girl.

She is (usually) so wonderful to love and play with her little sister. I love seeing these two together.

Lila:

Well I recently dedicated an entire blog post to this spunky littler sweetheart.

What can I say besides the fact that I love her death?! She has become increasingly sassy and increasingly goofy. She loves to make us laugh.

While saying goodbye to her grandparents yesterday, she kept saying "See ya later, gator!" under her breath. It was so cute but I told her to go up to her grandpa and say it so he could hear. So she went up to him and said, "See ya later, elephant!"

Then when kissing her goodnight last night, she smiled up at me and exclaimed, "I like alligators!"

Such a random little girl.

When she and Kenadie fight, she will boss Kenadie around and say, "Kenners, don't be so nassy (nasty)!!" It is so hard to not laugh.

She continues to adore both Kenadie and her brother, Soren, and still loves to snuggle up to Mommy and Daddy for short periods of time.

Lila still is a huge thumb-sucker (I've got to nip this thing in the bud!) and carries her blankey with her everywhere, but is proud of being a potty-trained (both day and mostly at night, which is a parenting first for me and feels a.w.e.s.o.m.e.!) big girl.

She loves to follow what Kenadie does and "write words" and do her own "reading". She also loves to meticulously fold her own laundry (aka carefully wad her clothes into tight little wrinkled balls).

As you can see, Lila's hairdos make her look like an orphaned child....but she'll rarely keep any clips or rubber bands in her hair and since her hair is still somewhat curly and I can hardly get her to hold still long enough to run a brush through it, it just ends up looking supremely awesome most of the time. Try not to judge my mothering too harshly by this girl's locks!

A few months ago when she moved into a big girl bed, naps immediately disappeared, though sometimes she'll crash on the floor or in the car (which always means it's going to be a long night).

Nothing cuter than an exhausted toddler.

Love her soooooooo much!!

Soren:

I can't get enough of this little man and his snuggles!! He is so cuddly.

He is also the smiliest baby I've had so far. All you have to do is look at him and he'll give you the biggest, open-mouthed grin.

Such a happy kid.

The sleep training seems to be paying off (mostly) and he's been a pretty good sleeper and nap-taker--except for the last few weeks as he's had fevers, a runny nose, and a cough--but when I saw two pearly whites poking through his gums the other day, I felt that it probably justified his waking at night.

(My only baby who will actually fall asleep in my arms on occasion. I love it!)

He's back to sleeping pretty well but when he does wake up to eat early in the morning, I actually kind of enjoy going to get him because like I said, I just love to snuggle him close.

Here is my sick little man:

Who still smiles big for me anyway:

LOVE!

He is finally starting to roll over and find means to entertain himself (my girls were practically crawling already at this age), but he would still rather be in his mama's arms. If only I had four of them......

Soren is growing like a weed! I have no clue how big he is or how much he weighs, but at 5 months old, he is in 6 month clothing and I even put a 9 month sleeper on him last night. I think it's pretty safe to say that all my kids will be TALL.

I recently ditched the baby bath and am letting him enjoy kicking around in the big bathtub. He love sit and will kick his legs continuously for a good 10 minutes if I let him (an awesome pre-bedtime workout to wear him out!).

I started feeding him some cereal and he has been devouring it like a starving beast. I have always hated the mess and time that accompanies starting babies on solid food, but Soren doesn't mess around and licks his spoon clean.