While Mommy is away.... things get weird

Tonight I left to run an errand minutes after my husband got home from work. I told him the kids were ready for to eat dinner and left. I returned an hour and a half later and found...


This was "Take One"...
"Dylan, SMILE!!!! Daddy, Stop posing like you are still in the military!!!"

This was "Take Two". Notice their matching outfits, or "uniform of the day". By the way, when I left they were not wearing that!

And then there was Liam...

Crazy times. A lot of fun is had when Mommy leaves.

Self Imposed

Dylan got in trouble for being mean to his brother (he actually pushed him off the picnic table while outside eating snacks). He got scolded and put into the corner for 4 minutes of timeout. The microwave timer was set and we went about our business while Dylan whimpered in the corner. I look over to see how much time he has left, and saw that Liam had scooted his own chair to the timeout corner. He honestly wants to do EVERYTHING his older brother does... even if it involves punishment! What do we do when Liam is ready for timeout? It obviously wont be punishment for him. Help!

Maybe the old Heidi is still in there somewhere...

Ok... so, we are moving into our new house soon and I was packing some stuff in the garage and found this picture hidden under mounds of stuff we piled into a box in one of our 10 million military moves. I stared at it for awhile... admiring my thin arms, tiny waist, skinny face... I almost couldn't believe I actually looked like that at one time. I was 17 and about to be escorted in the Homecoming Assembly at school. (It's nice to see a visual reminder of the Heidi before children, or "B.C." as my mom and I call it) I am the one in the maroon dress in the middle, by the way, in case you don't recognize me.

But then I started thinking more deeply about the situation. Sometimes I forget there even was a Heidi before children. What did I do for fun? What music did I like? What was it like to sleep in till noon? I mostly like to reminisce about shopping "B.C." . I could browse through isles for hours, try on everything I had in my hand, and do it all without yelling "Come back here right now or I will strap you into this stroller!"... or replenishing fishy crackers on stroller trays after every isle (and then stepping on them and acting like I didn't just crush 10 fish crackers under my feet in the middle of a department store as we walk by).

But the thing that got me the most is that not only do I barely remember what Heidi was like "B.C.", but I forget what I looked like, too. I was afraid that pregnancy and childbirth had altered my body to a point that I was barely recognizable. I would give my right arm for a flat stomach again. Well... maybe my left arm, I still need to be able to write and open jars and stuff. Anyways, I was so worried about this that I then went straight to the backyard where my husband and children were mowing the lawn and put the picture in front of them and asked, "Which one is Mommy?". There was a moment of silence, then they both pointed right to tiny, little, perky Heidi right in the middle of the picture. Whew!!!!

Ok... so I am much different now than in High School. I can't shop for hours in silence without watching the clock and worrying about getting back to the chaos. I can't sleep in till noon. I don't have a flat stomach anymore. BUT..... I do have to say that I am a lot more selfless and my life is filled with hugs, kisses, and the most wonderful company a girl could ask for. And of course in true good husband fashion, my husband said that he prefers how I look now. Hmmm... I don't believe him one bit, but it's nice to hear. Thanks, babe!

Easter Sunday

My adorable little guys all dressed in their Sunday best.



Liam



Dylan



They were actually standing still... together... and not fighting!!! It was an Easter miracle!

DisneyWorld!!!!!

Last week we took an amazing vacation to Orlando and spent a week in Disneyworld. It was so much fun and so.... exhausting! We had a great time with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Chris and Kaylee. We can't wait for the next Christiansen Family Extravaganza!

Our New House

We bought a new house! It is also our first house and we are so excited. Our real estate agent carted us all around Visalia (Thanks, Leah!), showing us absolutely everything for sale and we finally chose a new home that was almost done being built. Right now the counter tops and floors and fixtures are being put in. I can't wait to move in now.

Ok, ok... we'll get a blog.

Ok, so I finally had to enter the world of blogging. Last year I finally entered the Myspace world, which I fought kicking and screaming, but now Myspace is so last year and everyone and their dog has a blog (That's not even an exaggeration). But, I do secretly go online and look at other people's blogs all the time so I see the why they are so popular. Who knows if anyone will even look at ours or not, but oh well... Anyhow... here we are! I feel hip now.