Dear Family,
OK, ok, I can't stand it anymore! You are all too good, and I want to be one of you, so I will write my family letter, even though it's the 23rd of October, and I've missed the deadline by almost 2 weeks! Anyway, this Katie and Co., hailing from NC. (See, now you don't have to scroll down to the end first to figure out who the heck is writing this. You're welcome.)
So, let's see, what's been going on?
First, Alyssa Rose Christensen arrived, right on schedule, on July 24th, thanks to modern medicine and a doctor who was willing to induce me on my due date. The delivery was a dream, and she is such a beautiful, sweet baby with a grin that practically stretches from ear to ear. She nurses like a champ, only cries when she's got a real reason, and sleeps through the night, from about 10:30 to 7:00. At less than three months! She really is just fantastic. Unfortunately, she also spits up to beat the band, more than any of our other children, combined. Our pediatrician diagnosed her with acid reflux when she was about 3 weeks old, so we give her baby Zantac a couple of times a day. It has made a HUGE difference in how comfortable she is, and keeps her being the sweet smiley girl we know and love, but it hasn't helped the spitting up at all. She soaks through all my burp cloths, goes through 3 outfits a day, and frequently soaks me as well, so I need another outfit too. Feeding takes a really long time because I have to do it little by little, and then she'll spit up most of it, but I keep reminding myself, that this too will pass. That seems to be the solution for most baby things, I have found. In a few months, or so (I hope!) this will all be a memory, and Jeff and I will be able to say, 'remember when Alyssa, would spit up so much?' The pediatrician isn't worried about it, because at her last check-up she weighed 14 pounds, and was at the 95th percentile for both height and weight, so I guess there's no "failure to thrive".
Ben is doing great as well. He is such a sweet kid, and incredibly smart. He will come up to me multiple times a day, give me a hug, and say, "I love you, Mommy," for no reason in particular, just because he wants to. He's very athletic, and kicks a soccer ball like nobody's business. We started him in a Ready To Learn program at the elementary school because he's not old enough for pre-school, but he needs some guided instruction, so he can listen to somebody besides mommy. He loves his "class", and looks forward to going every week. I am also enjoying seeing him in a school-type setting, and seeing how much he knows. He can tell you pretty much anything you want to know: colors, letters, numbers, you name it.
Ben is like the little girl in the rhyme that when he is good, he is very, very good, but when he is bad....well, you know. He's charming and sweet, but he is also so stubborn that he makes me want to cry and tear my hair out. Jeff says that "He does not readily comply with our requests." That is therapist-speak for, he usually won't obey if he doesn't want to, unless threatened with bodily harm. Why is it that my children can fill my heart to bursting with love, and yet make me so angry I feel like I could explode? Sigh... In other news, Ben just has figured out how to put his shoes on with out help (velcro). Unfortunately he also used his shoes as brakes when he was riding his scooter down the hill outside our house, so he wore a hole through the toe box until you could see his socks. They were brand new too. I won't tell you how much I cried when I saw them one morning, knowing that we were going to have to throw them away, but it was more than I probably should have. I really do enjoy our time together, when it's just us, because I know it's not going to last forever. Right now he's going between the house and the yard, bringing me beautiful fall leaves for me to put in "my collection". What a sweetie.
Kelcey is enjoying first grade, and loves to tell me all of the things that her teacher says. She loves to sing, and dance, and has the loudest whistle of any 6 year old I've ever met. She's really coming along in reading, and actually loves to do math, which I think is fantastic. She also loves to draw and write letters, most of whom she sends to her grandparents in the hopes of getting a letter back. They're great about it, and always send good letters back. Thank heaven for awesome grandma and grandpa!! Taran and Jarom are doing really well in school as well. They love their piano lessons, and I (usually) don't have to harp on them to practice.
Taran is the un-sung hero of the family. She is obedient and generally a peace-maker, and doesn't get nearly enough credit for it. Jeff and I are really trying to make an effort to praise her good works, instead of just accepting them as a matter of course. She also has grown quite a bit in the last little while. I had to get her all new pants, so they'd be long enough, but she needs to wear a belt because they're too big around. Man, what a problem to have, huh? She is also my very best baby-holder, which is a real blessing when I am trying to fold clothes or make dinner. She volunteers to hold Alyssa as much as she can, and counts it a wasted day if she hasn't held the baby for a significant amount time. Thankfully, Alyssa also seems to enjoy being held by her. I hope they can continue to have a good relationship as they get older.
Jarom is in 5th grade this year, and he's very aware of friends and peers' opinions. He recently confided in me that he wasn't "popular" at school, and we had what I hope was a good chat about how being popular wasn't such a good thing, and that I would rather that he was nice and good. We also talked about how Heavenly Father doesn't care if you're popular either, He just wants you to be happy--and the only way for any of us to be truly happy is to live the gospel. I just hope that he will really listen and internalize it, and not worry about what other kids say. I didn't do such a hot job of that when I was his age, but hopefully he'll be smarter than I was.
We just finished 3 weeks of track-out break and I think we had a lot of fun. We went to several museums, a few parks, and picked our pumpkins at a farm stand that also had homemade ice cream. It was fantastic. I love Fall, and October in North Carolina just can't be beat. Beautiful, warm days (sometimes a bit too warm) and chilly nights that make the leaves just gorgeous. I was really blessed to find our Halloween costumes at the Goodwill this year, and spent only about $30 for all the costumes, instead of about that much for just one. I had to wash them, and do some minor repairs, but they all turned out really great. Kelcey is a witch, complete with hat and broom, Taran is a ballet dancer with a tiara and shoes that we painted pink, Ben is a giraffe, and Jarom is a skeleton. I tried to convince Jarom to be a pirate or a cowboy (costumes that we already had) but he wanted to be something scary this year. I guess that's something that comes with the territory of being 10. I then went for the idea of a pirate ghost, but no dice. I nixed the idea of a zombie or something else with blood and/or guts, so I was a little worried that we were going to find something we could both agree on. Luckily, I found some pajamas that had a glow-in-the-dark skeleton on them at a big consignment sale I went to, that were practically brand new, and they were pronounced "cool " enough, with the addition of skeleton make-up and a battle-ax. Phew!
We also just finished another season of city league baseball for Jarom, and he is really starting to excel. He had the most runs over the season of anyone on the team, and one of the highest batting averages as well. He also got at least one hit in every game that they played, which I think is pretty darn awesome. The best part was that his coach was a member of our ward, and so he rescheduled all of the Sunday practices as a matter of course, and we didn't have to worry about it at all. Jeff loved working with Jarom on his skills, so that was something that they got to enjoy together.
Oh, we recently got another bishop, but Jeff was called to be the first counselor again, so that didn't really change much after all. Jeff's practice continues to grow, and we count our blessings from the Lord every day. One thing that I have learned from the uncertainty of the last 6 months, is that we just can't do it on our own. Truthfully, we can't do anything on our own. We need the Lord for the big things, and the small things, and everything in between.
Wasn't conference great? I just sit there and drink it in. I am so grateful that my parents always had our family listen to all four sessions when I grew up, so that it was just what I was used to. I can't imagine missing any of the fantastic talks that were meant "just" for me. :o)
Well, that's all that I can think of for this (woefully) late letter. Have a wonderful rest of the month!
Love,
Katie, Jeff, Jarom, Taran, Kelcey, Ben, and Alyssa
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